"Wildcats everywhere, wave your hands up in the air..."

I don't know how I could've forgotten to post such an important event in my children's lives...our trip to THE 'EAST HIGH SCHOOL'! And to make it that much better it is their Grandma Ellison's Alma Mater!! We have roots!

A few things I've neglected to mention...

I was just downloading some pictures and realized I'd taken many with the intent to post and then...nothin'.

So I will share with you a few thoughts that have been running through my head.

One of the things I really like about our house here in ID is my nice big bathtub...however...I have yet to actually use it (don't worry I do shower each day.) But I thought that for my friends who don't have multiple boys, you might like to see what 3 of them can do to a tub. GROSS!

I finally came up with a plan on how to help myself be less forgetful...I was inspired by my friend Molly to create my own calendar. So each week I put what we have going on for that week and it is right by the door to the garage, so I can't miss it. So far, so good!

Seth is loving soccer and we are loving how worn out he is on game days! Good thing we haven't moved him out of his toddler bed yet!

I love our neighborhood here in ID. A month ago the new high school (which is literally in our back yard) had their first football game and so had a sky diver bring in the game ball. Way fun to watch!

For those who aren't sure why we are feeding Luke "bacon grease" (I'm still laughing about that Shauna!) I thought I'd show you our goal...Let me introduce you to my friend the keto stick. For Rachel our goal is NEGATIVE...anything above and we kick into "flush those keytones out" mode. For Luke we are looking for the exact opposite. We WANT him in keytosis. The difference is that his body produces insulin, so going into keytosis won't kill him...Rachel it can.

So far the highest we have been able to get him is up to 80--the second to darkest. He fluctuates a bit...but after a few times dipping down to trace and having a total breakdown I have learned that it isn't the end of the world and doesn't totally ruin what we are working for. So belly up to the bar for some sausage and pork rinds!

I've fallen (into a rather large hole) and I can't get up...

This seems to be a pattern with me. I wake up each morning with grandeous ideas of what I want to do with my day and inevitably I am walking through sludge by 11:00 and ready for a nap by 1. Nothing real exciting to report. But if you are having trouble sleeping at night read on...this is certain to make you sleepy.

• We had our Primary Program (the 3-11 year old kids in our congregation). As always it was fabulous. The first and only time we will have ALL our children in it. What a treat to be sitting all by our little selves! The kids all had speaking parts, but Rachel also had a piano solo which was fantastic! She amazes me. She memorized her piece and used no music...she looked like a lounge pianist looking around as she played, almost as if she was ready to take requests. I'll see if I can video her and post it...


• Rachel and Seth are in soccer...Seth had 2 goals in his last game. He loves his long soccer socks and wears them whenever he gets a chance...pulled all the way up like "thigh highs"! Even when he has nothing else on!


• Jonah's head is healing...he should get his staples out Friday or Monday...whenever I get around to taking him in.


• Luke's diet is going...well...it's going. It stinks. He is a trooper. Me not so much. We have seen some improvement since he has been completely off his medication, and I think even in the past week maybe even some more improvement...it's hard to tell when he's at school all day. The teacher is pretty good about letting me know when she sees seizures. It is an emotional roller coaster for me...one that unfortunately Jared has to ride too. The other day Seth got some Starbursts and gave one for me to put up into the cupboard for when "Lukie is done with his diet." It was so sweet. He asks me frequently to check if it's still there. He doesn't quite get that we could be doing this for 3 years.


• My spare room is coming along...I am allowing myself a few bins that will fit into the closet and anything that doesn't fit into them has to find a new home. It's liberating.


• I've also been working on "decorating" really just getting stuff put up that I already had, but it is finally looking like "home" to me. The game room will showcase our love for the Lone Star State! I will post pictures when I'm done, but I found this cute metal bucket that I wanted to put some wheat lookin' stuff in. I was too cheap to buy the wheat stuff at Michael's so I went out at night in my pajama's with my scissors and cut me some from the common area landscaping in the neighborhood. Trust me you can't even tell...I check the bushes I "trimmed" each time I drive by and if I hadn't done it myself I'd never suspect a thing.

That's about it. Maybe someday I'll have enough energy to some up with a clever post...one that will make you laugh instead of putting you to sleep. 'Til then...

Another trip to the ER...

If you guessed Jonah you are correct! He is our emergency room kid with Seth a close 2nd.

Jared took the boys to the soccer fields for a Young Men's activity while I went to Back to School night and somehow a pole from one of the soccer nets fell onto Jonah's head. It bled pretty bad and was a gaping hole.

So a trip to the ER and 3 staples later...it's all closed up. Until next catastrophe...

P.S. Sorry about the gruesome picture for those of you with a sensitive stomache.

"Did you know Germany is good now?"

I feel bad that Jonah has gone for 9 years thinking that Germany was bad. Thank goodness for the public school system--we obviously are failing at home...

"It's soooo boring around here...

there aren't any hurricanes or anything..."

That would be a direct quote from my children who are envious of all their friends who are out of school until Thursday. Well, I'm going to steal some pictures from Carrie and show you what we missed out on...

(These are pictures from the Pearson's neighborhood about a mile from our Houston home...)

It made me sick to see these pictures as I know exactly where each of these homes is. So I've heard that power is in and out...as well as the water. No gas to be found and I'm sure that there isn't much milk, eggs, bread or any other groceries around, and probably won't be for a while.

I was so touched on Sunday at church...I had at least a half dozen people come up to me and ask me if I had heard from my friends and if everyone was okay. I even had one lady say, "I was thinking about you all night and how worried you must be about everyone...". Nice people here in Idaho!

I remember when Rita was headed towards Houston and it was all the buzz in the news, and then just like now it's been all but forgotten in the media. If you haven't been through it you don't realize that even though the storm is gone there is A LOT of clean up to be done and there is no gas or food to be had for days or even weeks because the trucks cannot get through. It lasts much longer than the 6+ hours it takes for the storm to get through.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing okay and getting really good at strategies in Phase 10 and Uno--I know ya'll have played about a million games by now. We love you and are praying for a speedy recovery.

"Hunkering Down"

In keeping with the spirit of the hurricane I have boarded up our windows--complete with "Take a hike Ike" painted on them...and I am watching the hurricane on the news. Minute to minute coverage on all the major cable networks. It's fascinating. I have to say while it has made me a little home sick for the rain and my peops--there is a calm felt in our home knowing we no longer own a home in the major wind zone.

I am on call to make a Diet Coke and Lime delivery to the Pearson's and the Jonses' if needed...just call. We've got your back!

Love to all!

P.S. my favorite hurricane info websites are...in case you don't have anything else to pass the time...

http://www.khou.com/stormtracker/

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Say a little prayer...

for our friends in Houston. The right side of the storm is the worst place to be and as you can see...that's where they are. I don't miss the worry and chaos, but I do miss those storms!!

Take Care! We miss ya'll!