School Talent Shows

This past week was the Class Talent Shows at the school. This is the FIRST year that either of my kids have signed-up for the talent show and I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO ASK THEM TOO! They both came home telling me that they had signed-up....on their own! YAY!! Maybe my kids are starting to outgrow their shyness!

When I asked Dallin what he was going to do he said he was going to just play basketball. I said, "well, what are you going to do with the basketball? Like dribbling and stuff?" He said, "No mom, just shoot some hoops!" He has never really played basketball anywhere but here at our house, so I was a little nervous as to how it would work, but he did great shooting his "hoops" into the PE teachers garbage can!:)

Oakley performed her clogging dance, "Lets Get Crazy!" She did a great job. It was SOOOO SLICK with her clogging shoes. Her and I were both worried about her falling, but she stayed up and did great. The PE teacher even asked her to come back and clog at the big talent show for the upper classes in a few weeks!

Remember this??

Well, his tooth just kept getting wigglier and wigglier and finally yesterday when the home teacher was here (of course) it just popped right out!! He wrote the toothfairy a note about how he was only 5 years old and he also left the toothfairy a few lifesavers....SO CUTE!! He was super happy this morning to show us the money he found under the pillow!

I HATE Messes!!

The 3 words I think I say the VERY most at this house.....No, it isn't I LOVE YOU like it should be, it is definitely, "I HATE MESSES!!" All of my children know that their mom hates messes. In fact, Oakley brought a Mothers Day paper home once about what her mom likes/dislikes and.....yup......right on the paper she wrote, "My Mom Hates Messes!" So, why is it that I agreed to a basement remodel. AHHHH!!

Early on demo

(A little more demo....and yes, the big silver/red thing is the Coal Furnace that we are replacing!)

For the past week we have been demoing in the basement. It started out as a "lets replace the furnace" project and has turned into a "lets replace the furnace, ceiling, sheetrock, electrical, insulation, tear down a few walls and put up a few new ones" project.

As much as I HATE messes, the VERY BEST NEWS is..........Good-bye Coal Furnace. This is a picture of where the coal furnace USE to set. Sorry for those of you who had not yet come by to see the musuem in my basement. For now it has moved to the garage and the sidewalk behind the house if you still want to see the Worlds Oldest Furnace this is your last chance because tomorrow my new furnace arrives! YAY!! I am hoping the new furnace is followed by the sheetrock man, carpet man and so on.....

St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Many of you know our story about Oakley being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on St. Patricks Day, some of you may have not heard our story. If you haven't you can read it at http://rnhawkinsfamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/happy-st-patricks-day.html. Well, it has been 4 years since that scary life changing day and we have come so far over the past 4 years. Diabetes is a disease that affects the entire family. Yesterday I heard Rhett explaining to his preschool class that his big sister has diabetes. "Do you know what diabetes is? It is when you have high and low blood!" he announced. We have all changed because of this disease, but none as much as Oakley. Oakley deals with things that none of us could possibly understand. She has learned and grown and is so mature about living life this way.

The thing that I think we have learned the most over the past 4 years is how to live with diabetes, but not let it run our lives. We do what we want, when we want, where we want,.........diabetes just tags along. There is NO CURE for diabetes and it is not something Oakley will out grow. Just a few days after she was diagnosed she asked me, "Mom, how many more days do I have to do this?" I cried as I explained to my sweet 5 year old that she would have to do "this" EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE!! Our favorite quote is, "I HAVE DIABETES, BUT DIABETES DOES NOT HAVE ME!!" We have learned over the years how to live life to the fullest and not let diabetes run our lives. We still struggle EVERYDAY and we are still guessing and learning and growing....I don't think with this disease we will ever stop doing those things, BUT Oakley is also going on vacations, playing sports, clogging, playing with friends, and eating anything anybody else does. She lives life to the very fullest. I have said this before and will say it over and over again......WE ARE ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES!! There are SO MANY people in this world that think this earth life is the only life. They think once you die that is it. We, as Latter-Day Saints, believe that there is a whole other life after this one and WE KNOW that in that life Oakley's body will be A PERFECT BODY....A DIABETES FREE BODY!! Yes, we hope and pray and fight for a cure NOW, but know that if one isn't found that there will be a time that Oakley won't have to deal with this disease that we HATE (that is right HATE, HATE, HATE) so bad!

We love you Oakley and are SO BLESSED to live during a time that modern medicine helps us to keep you alive!

Oh, P.S. If you haven't seen the video we made last year of Oakley on YouTube check it out! Go to YouTube....and search for Oakley Diabetes!

Who Knew??

Who knew that one little girl could love a $15 horse from the DI so much? This was probably the BEST $15 I have spent lately!!

MEMO

Date: March 10, 2010

To: Natalie Hawkins

From: STOP BEING SUCH AN IDIOT

RE: Rhett

Mrs. Hawkins, I know that you think you are a very observant mother, but I am here to inform you that "just because" you can sit in one room and can tell from the noise coming from the other room what your children are playing with, and "just because" you check on your children constantly, and "just because" you listen to your childrens conversations through the heater vents, and "just because" you are up in all your childrens business, DOES NOT MEAN you are an observant mother. I mean, come on.......how could you have missed THIS....???

Do you see what I see?? I know this picture is hard to see anything in (have you EVER tried taking a picture of the inside of one of your childrens mouths?? It is quiet the feat!) We went to the dentist yesterday and mid cleaning I went to check on how Rhett was doing and was BLOWN AWAY by what I saw. I had NO IDEA he had a tooth coming in behind his baby tooth. And, not just a little tooth either....an almost full grown tooth! His baby tooth isn't at all wiggly or lose. The doc said to give it 2 months and then we will see if we need to pull it or if it will come out on its own. Oakley didn't lose her 1st tooth until the very end of 1st grade, Dallin was 1/2 way through Kindergarten before losing one and now Rhett....my 5 year old.....has ALREADY got a permanent tooth coming in. I GUESS I better start paying just a little bit more attention...."just because!"

Our Little Sports Team

The kids went downstairs to play last night and all came up wearing these....

YES, RHETT IS DRESSED AS A CHEERLEADER! Rhett is in the process of trying out his feminine side.....STILL! He has been trying out this side for quite sometime now - maybe 3 of the 5 years that he has been alive that is. We are hoping with Kindergarten next year he will be able to meet some little boys and learn how to do BOY THINGS!, but until then we are just smiling about his girlie side and taking as many pictures as possible to hold against him as a teenager!:)

OKAY....AND NOW FOR THE PICTURE YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!! There is ZERO....I mean ZERO laughing at this DO YOU HEAR ME??

This is Ryan and I in our old jerseys! Please don't look at the double chins, no make-up and the rolls under the jerseys! (Yes, I do have a sweater under my jersey...thanks for asking!) It is sure fun to re-live the past....for a few minutes that is!

Oh, and NOBODY better tell Ryan about this. I PROMISED I WOULD NOT POST THIS ON THE BLOG!!

He's Ready

So today was the big DREAD day of Kindergarten Shots! For some reason I had in my mind that we took care of Rhett's Kindergarten shots one year when we got our flu shots, so I kept thinking we didn't need to go in. Then I found out that our school is not letting you request which Kindergarten teacher you want this coming Monday at the Kindergarten Round-up unless you have your copy of their birth certificate and their shot record updated. So, this morning I decided I had better check. Good thing I did because I guess my thinking was wrong and he did need the shots. He cried and cried this morning when I told him today was the day and we had major meltdowns, but by the time we got there he had decided he was going to be tough and do this whole shot thing without any tears. I told him to get his carebear so that he had something to hold, but he said, "can I just hold your hand instead!" (MELT MY HEART!) We held hands through all 4 shots and he didn't budge, didn't cry, not even an OUCH! He did just as the nurses told him and counted to 5 two times and was finished! He now has a few new "littlest pet shops" to show for his bravery! He is definitely growing-up and as sad as I am about it.....ready for Kindergarten!