Journey: a daily portion; the act or an instance of traveling from one place to another; trip. Any course or passage from one stage or experience to another.
Casper agreed to help me start blogging again and write this first installment of 2012. Sadly, we've been on more journeys in the last year than we'll take in the rest of our lives and I guess we were just too busy to blog! What a loss! So, as we slow down our travels and my kids 'speed up growing up,' we begin again a b'log' of our growth and other adventures.
I'd certainly call it a journey: cleaning out the hermit crab cage. Did I mention that I can clearly see the fleas co-habitating with the crabs in their 'substrate?' It's disgusting. So, I 'googled' what to do with such a problem and, sure enough, there was an answer on eHow! Below is the story of our own eHow demonstration. I introduce you then to my cohost, "CJ Ghost."
I am dunking my hermit crabs in this salt water to sanitize them. I thought it was really weird for my hermit crabs to have fleas like my dogs--now I know that it can happen.
To sanitize the hermit crab toys, I put the toys and dishes in the boiling water for 5 minutes.
After we were done cleaning the crabs, we put them in this cage with a paper towel.
It was fun to watch them climb, again! It would be bad if I accidentally boiled the crabs for five minutes...
The last thing we did is take the toys out of the boiling water. Oh and remember not to put anything with glue! Our shell food dish fell apart!
To clean the cage we put apple cider vinegar and rubbed it on the sides and bottom.
We let it air dry and then decided to fill half the tank with sand and half the tank with a coconut matter to help keep in the moisture. We added the clean food dishes, a new climbing log, fresh sponges and clean shells.
You won't believe what happened...now we know the true reason the Tower of Pisa is leaning!!!
Tonight for family home evening we had some friends over to read Luke 2 and re-enact the Nativity. Stuffed sheep--Check. Eyeore as donkey--Check. Angel costume and Star--Check. Manger and baby--Check. Total chaos--Check. It WAS fun, even though our dog Oscar ended up in the manger with the doll and kids laughed through the entire narration.
Now I'm listening to my kids and husband play Monopoly. Is writing on my blog an excuse to miss out on playing Monopoly? Maybe. I get tense just thinking about it! :) I did want to share that it was Casper's turn this week to give a talk in Primary. I'm constantly being reminded that amid all the 'Crazy Christmas Preparations,' you HAVE to make time for what it's all about.
"In December, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We sing and think about that peaceful night when He was born in a humble stable. One day, He will come again but in great glory. No one, not even the angels, knows exactly when He will come again. However, the scriptures tell us this about His Second Coming: “I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God; wherefore, gird up your loins (which means to be brave and righteous) and I will suddenly come to my temple” (D&C 36:8).
Both Simeon and Anna were at the temple and saw Baby Jesus when He was there. They had been hoping and waiting to see the Messiah, or Savior. (See Luke 2:25–38.)
When He was twelve years old, He surprised the educated men in the temple with His understanding and knowledge. They knew the law and the commandments, yet the boy Jesus taught them. (See Luke 2:41–47.)
The “more righteous” of the Nephites saw the resurrected Savior when He appeared to them at the temple. Jesus Christ comforted and blessed them and filled them with joy and peace.
My friend Spencer was sealed to his family 2 years ago in the Mesa, AZ temple. My family and I were so happy for them and we drove to the temple to wait outside and celebrate with them. He was so surprised to see us. I was so happy, too, and it helped me want to go inside someday.
Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Those who keep the commandments will one day rejoice to stand in His presence. If we choose to do what is right and learn to help and comfort others, we can be the kind of people who will be at the temple when He comes in glory."
Plus, when you try to do what's right and help and comfort others, there is so much more happiness and peace in life!! I'm just praying that my kids come to understand that as they grow. Jesus is the REASON for the SEASON!
I haven't published in a little over a year--which is really a shame because we've really had some amazing journeys in the last year. Currently, we live in Virginia Beach, VA in the Great Neck area about 10 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Matt was mobilized from a Reservist status in Phoenix to Active Duty Status at Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach. We decided to move with him and experience the East Coast.
We attend the Cape Henry Ward and Whitney was assigned to speak in Primary on this month's theme: Jesus is born. A video would best depict her angelic delivery, but I don't have that, unfortunately. I still had to share it, though, since she typed it out herself using spell check, the search engine on lds.org under "angel" and the cut and paste feature from a Conference talk she found online by none other than Whitney Hinckley, "This Shall be a Sign Unto You." You may question her ability to do all this at the age of seven in the second grade. At their elementary school, kids are required regularly to Skype, Blog, type, write stories in Word and create math problems complete with drawings on the computer. It's amazing. The kids rise to the occasion. So, that being said, Whitney really wanted to do this talk without mom helping or practicing with her--I'm quite impressed! "Every year the first Christmas decoration my mom gets out is the nativity. She has always let us play with it. It’s fun for us to imagine that baby Jesus would like to visit Santa or ride on the train, too! One year when I was little my mom found me playing with the Nativity, holding the angel high above everything, saying, “Jesus is born!!!! Jesus is born!!!!”
The Angel is very important. He is a messenger of Heavenly Father for ALL of His most important events. For example, when Joseph Smith first prayed about which church to join—do you remember what happened? An angel visited him in the grove and told him to join none of them. Later, an angel visited and taught him in his room. All through his job as the prophet, angels gave him messages from God.
The angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth that she would become the mother of the Savior. (See Luke 1:30–33.) The same angel told the father of John the Baptist of his son soon to be born. (See Luke 1:13.) When Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus fled to Egypt, it was an angel who gave them direction. When the wicked King Herod was killed, the angel told them to return home. (See Matt. 2:13, 19–20.)
I love dressing as an angel when we act out the Nativity story at Christmastime. It reminds me of my important job to tell others that Jesus was born and that he lives today."
So, I'm just DYING that I don't have a picture of what I'm going to talk about...POOP! Yep, POOP at Disneyworld! Can you imagine? On our last day in Florida, we arranged a late checkout and planned on spending the morning in the hotel pool. Matt, Stewart and Casper were already down swimming and Whitney and I came down later. I left the room without my room key and walked to the elevators. In the same instant that I pushed the button, I said to Whitney, "What is that smell!?!?" I looked down, and sure enough, my foot was in the middle of... POOP! Several other logs remained, untouched, and I stood there in shock. Marriott is known for allowing pets, which I appreciate. But seriously, people? Without my room key, I could not get my camera, nor could I take care of the poop on my shoes, so I had to head down to the lobby to ask them to wash off my shoes and report the disgusting incident. Needless to say, they were as shocked as I was. The manager quickly took my shoes to the laundry room and washed them for me and then I headed out to the pool to tell Matt. However, he was dealing with his own poop problem. Even after all the swimming we've done in our pool without incident, Stewart had decided that this was the day to poop in the pool. No, it did not stay contained in the diaper, either. GROSS!! Once all the poop was cleaned up and reported, we did have a good laugh and the lobby smelled wonderful and clean, better even than when we arrived, which leads me to the point of the title.
POOP HAPPENS. Even when you plan the dream vacation to Disneyworld. However, sometimes a little poop--or A LOT--makes the end result smell sweeter than before.
Originally, the trip was planned around Matt's annual training in Orlando in August and we were to meet him there when his work was over. Even better, the military is offering a great deal for a 4 day hopper pass and Southwest has some killer deals on fares, if you're watching. So Matt scored both and we were packed to leave, Matt taking our suitcase of clothes early. That night, Matt went to print our boarding passes and there was no email of confirmation, no tickets, no record of any purchase. To make a long story short, POOP HAPPENED and we didn't get to meet him on that trip. The military passes had to be used by September 30, so he found some plane tickets that were almost as good and we planned to go in September. It was difficult to find the perfect time to go around school, work, scouting and all the other stuff. Even despite our efforts, the kids still missed school pictures and our school doesn't include the retakes in the class pictures. We just did it, anyway.
When we started planning what we would each day based on a tour book, we realized that moving our trip just one month later guaranteed that about 25,000-30,000 fewer people would be in the parks and the temperatures would be actually tolerable. When we got off the plane in Orlando and went to get the rental car, we were able to score a free upgrade and the hotel allowed us a two-room suite instead of a 1 bedroom for no additional charge--all because we'd waited to travel in the off-season. Things were really smelling sweet!
Because Matt and I had never been to Disneyworld, we were blown away by the sheer size of the place. A 4-day pass would barely touch all that we could see just inside Disney and we headed off like gangbusters, tackling Epcot on our first full day. We were able to enter the park, heading straight for Mission:Space, the most popular ride, and discovered that Stewart was not tall enough to ride most of the rides in that park. However, he didn't seem to mind, especially since we took a detour immediately to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald. Later in the day, we met Stewart's favorite characters: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Watching the kids' faces, particularly Stewart's, as they met them was the highlight of the trip for me.
We picked up right away how to split up, Casper with one parent, Whitney and Stewart with another, and we covered the park pretty easily. It was estimated that we walked 13 miles in that first day in close to 100% humidity. I think that we had the most fun at the educational games as a family. I also loved the talk with Crush, the sea turtle from Nemo and the Nemo ride. Casper had the most fun on the Test Track and Mission:Space.
The next day we tackled Hollywood Disney, which, in hindsight, is for kids Casper's age and older. Whitney was overcome by the noise of the shows and we slowed down, repeating things that she enjoyed. First aid gave us several pair of foamies which blocked the noise somewhat. The fireworks each night were particularly rough until we rigged the perfect getup: foamies and folded goofy ears, with mom or dad's hands over the top.
The highlight of the day for Casper and Whitney both was fighting Darth Vader after attending Jedi Training.
The third day was our rest day which we spent in the pool and then decided to head over to the beach at the last minute. Being used to west coast beaches, the warm, rougher water was really something to see. The kids probably would've enjoyed an entire day, running in the water and digging in the sand.
We were really looking forward to the next day at Magic Kingdom, beginning with breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. We awoke early to the sound of Casper vomiting. He had not been feeling well the night before and we had been unable to get his blood sugars down all day or night, even after changing his sites and insulin 3 times. I just thought that he was getting sick and that with time, he'd be fine. We took him to the breakfast because we had reservations that could not be cancelled. He was so brave, smiling for a few pictures, trying to have fun.
While Whitney and Stewart laughed and had fun with the princesses, POOP HAPPENED. Casper continued to vomit through the breakfast and we took him to first aid to rest immediately. I took Whitney and Stewart on a few of the rides while we hoped that Casper would feel better with rest and hydration. But at 11 when we met to trade, Casper was no better. Even after having diabetes myself for almost 30 years, I didn't recognize his illness for what it was: diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA. After wise encouragement from the nurses, they called an ambulance for us and we took a ride to Arnold Palmer's Hospital for Children where we spent the next 2 days and 1 night.
As soon as he was given the IV, he stopped vomiting but didn't begin to 'perk up' until the following day when his electrolytes were balanced enough to bring his blood sugar down so that he could start eating. He had incredible nurses and a staff of doctors who apparently see this ALL THE TIME: kids in DKA while at Disneyworld. I was SO disappointed and angry at myself for not recognizing the symptoms brought about by the stress of the last 3 days, the heat, dehydration and high blood sugars. POOP happened.
As I layed in the bed with Casper, I was overcome with so many emotions: gratitude that we were in a good place that could get him on his feet again, a husband that was able to help Whitney and Stewart still have fun, health insurance, medication to keep my son and me alive and a family that gave us so much support. Wednesday night we were discharged and when Matt came to meet us, he told me that not only had Disney given us our two days back, but he was able to change the plane tickets to Saturday with only a 5 dollar difference in cost. We were able to still take Casper to Magic Kingdom, using a wheelchair this time so he wouldn't get too tired. Overall, it was an amazing, exhausting, overstimulating, expensive, magical, sweaty, tearful, beautiful, unforgettable, full of family-bonding vacation.
Poop happens. Even when you plan the dream vacation to Disneyworld. Sometimes a little poop--or A LOT--makes the end result smell sweeter than before. I never would have enjoyed Magic Kingdom as much as I did those last two days, grateful that my son was alive and that we could all spend the time together as a family.
I looked out my parents' living room window today and saw all the flags. I was puzzled for a moment, Labor Day was Monday. Then I remembered that today marks that anniversary of one of the most terrible days in my nation's history since I've been alive: September 11, 2001. It is fitting, too that I'm here in Utah, again, visiting my parents as I was back then.
"Matt and I had just been married that January and he was deployed at the end of August to Saudi Arabia. It was a difficult separation for me, so I was in Salt Lake City visiting family and working on a project for a professor that had overseen my thesis at the University of Utah. I was sitting in the car, waiting for my mom to take me up to the U. and listening to the radio. I heard the announcer break in and say that a second plane had crashed into the twin towers in New York City. I first thought it was an advertisement. Then I ran into the house to tell my mom and turn on the TV. I watched in disbelief and cried. I went up to the University but didn't do any work, just watched TV with all of the students and teachers in the cafeteria. Matt didn't call from Saudi Arabia very often due to the difference in time and his schedule, but he made sure to call me and his parents as soon as he could to let us know the base there was safe but in total lockdown. For the rest of his time there, 3 months, he carried a gas mask wherever he went and never left the base. A year later, Matt and I were able to visit Ground '0' on the 4th of July. We talked about several men he had known in his career that died that day in the airplanes. I cried then and felt so angry that anyone could hate a nation or people enough to destroy so much, especially so many lives. I'm grateful to live in a nation where terror is not usually the norm, that I can be angry about it when it does happen and that so many good people have come together to heal and help each other."
My next post will give the details of what it's like since that fateful day to go through an airport and fly on an airplane with a 30 lb. compressor, a nebulizer, two insulin pumps and all the medicine that goes with them.
I'm sad to realize that my last child is old enough to go to preschool. I'm thrilled, though, that I get to be part of his preschool years with a great group of ladies and their sweet kids. This week was my first turn and we focused on the letter D. I couldn't resist my own 'dinosaur dig' and a Mercer Meyer favorite, 'The Lost Dinosaur Bone.' Anything with paint is always a hit, even over playdoh! We covered ourselves in paint and stamped out a few dinosaurs in all colors.
How can you study the letter D and not talk about dad? The kids really had warmed up on their second day at my house, so I got to hear their sweet comments about how they loved their dads to sing and read to them and that, "My daddy wears a watch!" They each showed pictures and then we painted the word, DAD. We had a blast singing, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!" and it reminded me of my own mom practicing that song with us to surprise our dad when he came home from work. I'm really thankful for dads today and was just so happy that each one of my new little friends has a special dad, too and that I know them and respect them all. One is an amazing organist, one is the Cubmaster that I now work with in Cub Scouts; one dropped their daughter off today so that his wife could 'get stuff done;' they all make it a priority to spend time with their kids and be silly with them. Dads are so important and I'm so glad that my kids have one that will spend all evening practicing math, reading school books and even practicing the piano. I'm grateful for my own dad, too, who still always makes time for me.
I'm a SAHM of 3 kids: two boys ages 10 and 5 and a girl in the middle, age 8. I'm trying to be better organized (and a better housekeeper) and love to get ideas from others' blogs. My other job is helping my oldest stay healthy as he lives day to day with cystic fibrosis, Type I diabetes and celiac disease.
