Keep Calm * It's Almost Halloween!

 One of our favorite Halloween traditions is decorating a Halloween gingerbread house!

Look at all those cool decorations and all that yummy icing!

This year- Alicyn got to join in on the fun since her and Kaci were having a sleepover!

They all did such a great job! 

I wanted to make one myself this year---

but good thing I didn't.

 Mine would not have looked half as good as any of theirs!

They must have worked for at least an hour making them just right!

Love my babies!

Here is one of my favorite sides of Kaci's. 

She made the back of the house a huge spider web. 

So creative and cute!

 I love Bailey's ghost and the googly eyes on the side of his house.

Here are all 3 of the Halloween houses complete. 

From right to left-

Alicyn-- Bailey-- Kaci

The finished product!

Kaci took some time tonight to finish up our "Teal Pumpkin!"

 Here it is ....with all the final touches.....

 It looks great! It is ready to display on our porch Halloween night to let everyone know that we are part of the "Teal Pumpkin Project" this year. For now- I like having it displayed on the fireplace next to the pumpkins Kaci and Bailey painted at the Fall Festival!

 It's getting close everybody! Happy "almost" Halloween!!!

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Teal Pumpkin Project

This year we will be participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project. 

If you haven't heard of it before- keep reading to learn more.

The Teal Pumpkin Project was created to promote inclusion and respect of individuals managing food allergies – and to keep Halloween a fun, positive experience for all.

As stated on their website:

"Halloween can be a tricky time – quite literally – for families managing food allergies because many traditional Halloween treats aren’t safe for children with life-threatening food allergies. The Teal Pumpkin Project is designed to promote safety, inclusion and respect of individuals managing food allergies – and to keep Halloween a fun, positive experience for all. The idea for the Teal Pumpkin Project originated with the Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee (FACET), and FARE is pleased to be bringing it to the attention of families across the country for the first time this year.This campaign encourages people to raise awareness of food allergies by providing non-food treats for trick-or-treaters and painting a pumpkin teal - the color of food allergy awareness - 

to place in front of their house along with a free printable sign from FARE 

to indicate they have non-food treats available."

Even though Kaci is able to eat candy with Type 1 Diabetes- it must be covered with the correct amount of insulin. I will never forget how stressful the first Halloween after her diagnosis was. I have never been the mom that let my kids devour half of their bag of Halloween candy anyway. We have always chosen 3-4 pieces to eat that night and then saved the rest for later. But- we do have to cover any amount she eats with insulin. It is often hard to correctly guess how many carbs are in each piece of candy - since none of them are labeled. Then you have to worry that she will go high or low during the night- from not enough or too much insulin. It can be "tricky".

Here is Kaci as Hannah Montona- Bailey as Mario.

This was taken just 3 months after her diagnosis.

Like Kaci- there are other kids who also have to watch what they eat. There are many kids with food allergies: gluten, latex, wheat and peanut allergies. All of which can be life threatening. 

So, that is why we have chosen to participate "officially"this year with a teal pumpkin displayed on our porch. We will be passing out rubber duckies (as well as candy) -

as we have for the last several years. 

Kaci is working on painting and decorating our teal pumpkin. Please check back for more pictures later- and to learn more about this project and print signs and facts click on the link below:

http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project

 

First Place Champs!

So proud of these boys and this team! 

The Riverdogs went undefeated in the regular season and won 8 of 8 games! WOW! What an accomplishment~ 

They worked hard and played hard every game. 

They had fun and worked together. 

Way to go, Riverdogs- 

First place CHAMPS!

I'm back!

What has happened to me? Now that I am not working - you would think I would have LOTS of time to write on this blog. However- it seems like quite the opposite. Somedays I feel like I don't even have a chance to sit down! Well....I am going to do my best to start blogging again. 

I don't know if anyone has really missed me- 

but I know that I have missed getting my feelings out and on this computer.

It is hard to believe that it is already mid-October. This school year is really flying by. I wish I could slow things down a little. Hard to believe it is Bailey's last year in Elementary! ACK! That is so not cool!  Kaci is cruising through Middle school at lightening speed as well. They are both excited about being at the same school again next year. - me not so much, because that means I will have a 6th grader and an 8th grader! Oy!

Between Bailey's baseball practice/games and Kaci's dance practice/football game performances- it sometimes feels like we are never home! BUT I love it!!

This season Bailey is a Riverdog. They completed the season last Saturday as first place/undefeated champs! WOW! Way to go! He plays in the tournament tonight at 6 and they hope to go all they way! It is single elimination- but we are counting on winning- so that means they will play again this Saturday at 10- and then again at 2!~ Let's go Riverdogs! Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Town and Country Fields to watch him play this season! He makes me so proud!

Kaci had a great "kick routine" at the football game last night! Next Tuesday will be her last football game performance of the year! What? How did that happen so fast? She is so excited to perform their special Halloween routine! I can not wait to see their new outfits for the dance. I think we have a lot of friends and family coming out to support her that night and we want to thank you for that. Also- thank you to all of the family/friends that have already come out to see her perform. She has really enjoyed being a part of the dance team.  I am so proud of her.

We are getting excited about our 6th annual "Say Boo to Diabetes" walk this Sunday, October 26th. So far Kaci has raised right at $3,400.00! Amazing! 

We will never lose hope that a cure will be found!

We survived!

Well.....we all survived the first day of Line Camp!

I even think Kaci had FUN! YEAH!

On the way to pick up the girls an ambulance and fire truck pulled out in front of me. I got a little nervous, but told myself everything was fine. Then when we got the  stoplight at the school and they ran the light to pull into the school parking lot- I started getting a little panicky! - but again, I told myself it was going to be fine. They looked like they were going to go to the opposite side of the building,-but then they pulled right up to the same door I had dropped the girls off at! YIKES! That is when I quickly parked and started to speed walk inside.

I followed the EMS worker until I heard a teacher say, "In here...She is in here," She pointed directly to the gym where I had dropped Kaci and her friend, Kyrah off that morning.

That is when breathing got a little difficult! LOL! I looked in the gym, but the girl was way in the back too hard to make out who it was. So- I quickly turned around and looked in the other gym. Is wasn't long before I found Kaci's dance team and then spotted both her and Kyran.   I almost asked the EMS worker for a little bit of oxygen- holy crap! Instant headache!!

Shortly after, they brought a young girl out on a stretcher. She looked okay- so I am hoping it is just something minor and they were erring on the side of caution!

Here is a quick picture I took of Kaci this morning before Day 2 of Line Camp!

ADORBS!