Review: KinderBach App

Imagine our complete surprise, and joy, when we learned that we were going to get to review KinderBach again!! We loved it the last time that we reviewed it so we were just thrilled to hear that this time we were going to review the new KinderBach App.

About the KinderBach App

From the Website:

KinderBach's App for iPad or iPhone brings the teachings of Karri Grego to your device. The KB App features Levels 1,2, & 3 and offers a year's worth of entertaining music education for 3 to 7 year old children through video, interactive coloring pages and games. Miss Karri introduces preschoolers to the keyboard characters with stories and fun tunes. Kids will enjoy playing simple songs, identifying music direction and pitch, learning rhythm notes and their beat value. Levels 1 to 3 cover proper hand and finger position, as well as note reading by pattern for voice and keyboard.

* The most fun and engaging piano and music app on the App store
* Improves all forms of musical skills including the piano itself.
* Try the first game and two lessons for FREE, then choose which lessons you wish to purchase for your children. Lessons can be purchased one lesson at a time, or at a reduced rate for an entire level.
* No subscription required, once you purchase a lesson it is yours for good.
* Hours of content for children of all ages over the 3 levels, each containing 10 lessons.
* 150 videos allow your children to work directly with Karri Grego to learn concepts and skills.
* Keyboard included in the app for use during the video lessons.
* Six Mini-Games are unlocked as you purchase further lessons to learn more advanced concepts. he first Mini-Game is included with the application along with Lessons 1 and 2.

Our Experience

Well I'm sure that it's no surprise to anyone that we loved the App. It's everything that KinderBach online is and a little bit more. The App contains levels 1-3. Each level contains 10 lessons and each lesson contains  an intro video, 4 video mini-lesson as well as printables and games that you can unlock.

The printables are the same ones that you would get with the online version. However you can access and print them right from your iPad. Well you can if you have a wireless printer. Which I do. Yay me!!! If you don't have the wireless capabilities you can buy a pdf file of the printables for less then $2.00 each.

One of the first things that I did was download all of the videos. The first time you download them it takes a couple minutes. It goes much faster after the first time because they're already loaded onto your iPad.

You are meant to complete one lesson per week but we did our lessons over a two week period because that worked better for our schedule. We did a quick review of some of the earlier lessons and then we picked right up where we left off.

Kayleigh was in love with the little keyboard on the iPad. It was just the right size for her little fingers, much better for her than our full size keyboard. That just thrilled her.

There are two games for each level. They are a fun way to reinforce what your child has learned. There was one game, The Train Game, that had a glitch that would shut down the entire program. The fabulous KinderBach people were quick to start working out that bug as soon as they were notified. Their customer service is top notch. A large majority of the time, your questions are answered by Karri, the founder of KinderBach.

The videos themselves are 2-4 minutes long and they are the same ones that you get with the online or DVD versions. The teacher, Karri, is just delightful as are the characters. The lessons incorporate movement, instruments, some basic pre-k skills, as well as music instruction. So much fun packed into a short time.

The only difficulty I had was remembering what lesson we left off on. I'm old and my mind is going fast so I'd forget where we were day to day. I would love to see a way to mark them off as completed in future updates. For now I entered them all into my Homeschool Tracker so I can just add them to our assignment sheets.

The app is also compatible with the iPod Touch and the iPhone as well. However, the small screens on these devices could can make using the keyboard difficult but it can be done. Some of the games are perfect for playing on the smaller devices.

We definitely feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to review this app. It is an incredible value for the money. $26 dollars might sound like a lot for an app but it such a huge savings over the online program because you have access to the lessons forever. A real bargain, especially compared to private piano lessons. Trust me know, I foot the bill for those for my oldest. ;o)

F.Y.I.

Website: http://www.kinderbach.com/index.html

Age Range: 3-7 years of age

Price: Full App $26.99 available on the iTunes App Store. You can also purchase individual lessons for $ .99 or each level for $8.99.  If you're still not sure, you can try the first two lessons for free.

And guess what?? KinderBach is offering my readers 30% off. Just use the code: TOS_crew2012 

Disclaimer: I received this app for free for review purposes. All opinions are my own or those of my family.

Review: Zoo Whiz

We were recently given an opportunity to review an online learning program called Zoo Whiz. It's learning and fun all-in-one.

About Zoo Whiz

Zoo Whiz is curriculum-based motivational learning. With levels for kids 5-15, it covers math, reading, word skills, punctuation, and grammar.

It motivates kids by making them zoo keepers. As they complete the learning activities they earn coins to buy animals for their zoo or play fun games in the arcade.

Our Experience

We were blessed with a Premium Subscription to Zoo Whiz and I was able to make my account for both of my daughters, ages 11 and 4.5. I'll start off by saying that they both LOVE it. Even my little one, who isn't very interested in the computer in general.

Each child starts off with 5000 coins when they make their account. They then earn more coins by completing the learning activities and they get 100 additional coins every time they log in.

To complete the learning activities the child needs to be able to read to answer the questions. There is no audio other than an encouraging word or two after giving the correct answer. For my youngest, I had to read the question to hear. She didn't mind at all and it gave us some nice bonding time.

While this program did not teach any concepts, I found it to be a great way to supplement my children's learning.  Since the program was created in Australia some of the questions the accents or different spellings can make some of the questions a little confusing. Although my older daughter and I, having had the opportunity to visit Australia, enjoyed hearing the accents and reliving some of our favorite vacation memories.

After completing the learning activities, they can spend their money playing games in the arcade or purchasing animals for the zoo. The more animals that they buy, the higher their zoo level. This really motivated my oldest daughter. She loved watching her zoo level go up.

What I loved was that even purchasing the animals was educational. With each animal purchased you would learn about their habitat, diet, interesting facts, and whether or not it is endangered. Even my four year old liked it when I read the information to her. So even though science isn't an subject area that the program claims to provide, it really is in there.

Another feature that I liked was that I was able to set the level for each child. I was able to control the level of the learning activities so they wouldn't be too challenging or too easy. I wish I had that ability in all of my children's online gaming.

It's easy to check their progress by checking their milestones under their account. And even better, you will soon be able to check your child's progress from your parent account. That premium future is currently in the works.

Both my girls have a lot of fun playing on Zoo Whiz  and I feel good knowing that they are reviewing important skills.

F.Y.I.

Website: http://www.zoowhiz.com/

Age Range: 5-15

Price: Great news! They are currently running a fabulous promotion!  Premium subscriptions are currently $14.95. That is an awesome deal.  That is 75% off the normal cost.

Disclaimer: I received the premium subscription for review purposes. All opinions are my own or those of my family.

E is for... Everything In It's Place

What you are looking at is our I affectionately call our "Diabetes Cupboard." When monitoring ones need for insulin it is very important to be organized with the supplies. And there are a lot of supplies for required for a diabetic so it's important to keep everything in it's place.

Top Shelf l-r:

1) The mack-daddy of all food scales. This bad boy not only weighs your food, it also gives you important nutrient information. Such as carbs. A real bonus for those with diabetes.

2) Our "Grab & Go" bag. In it are various supplies that a diabetic needs to have with them at all times. If we leave the house that bag goes with us. What's in it? Snacks. Emergency juice boxes and cake gel. Seriously. They're for emergency lows. Test kit with monitor, test strips, alcohol wipes, "pricker", needles, insulin pen, and the Calorie King book for counting carbs on the fly.

3) Our log sheets in a great big binder. I already had the binder so I used it. We log her blood sugar levels, carbs eaten, insulin given. Writing it all down helps us figure out patterns so the doctors can adjust her care.

Bottom Shelf l-r:

1) Test Kit (the small black pouch) which contains the meter and all that other stuff I mentioned in #2.

2) Our drawer with weekly supplies. Drawer 1: Glucagon needle, or as we affectionately call it "The Red Pen of Death." It's large and scary looking and comes in a red box. Insulin pens, 2 kinds, test stripes. Drawer 2: needles for insulin pens and lancets for the "prickers." Drawer 3: Alcohol wipes and gauze pads for good hygiene.

3) Sharps container because nobody should have to be pricked by someone else's needles. Especially not the sanitation workers whose service I greatly appreciate.

4) Drugs. They're not Mackenzie's. They're ours. Our parents horrible genes are finally starting to kick in this year. Both sides of our poor children's gene pool is not exactly stellar. The poor dears.

And as a side note...

E is also for exhausted!!! We moved this week. Let the unpacking begin. So far the only things that are in place are those diabetes supplies. =o)

First Day ~ October

I've just discovered a really neat meme called first day, hosted by Journey to Josie. How do you participate? On the first day of every month, just snap some photos of your day. Easy Peasy!  And how fun it will be to look back on these over the months.

The final walk through of our brand new house.

Closing scheduled for 2 p.m. on the dot. Except that the under writers apparently don't have to stick to the schedule. The paper work showed up one hour and 47 minutes late. But we finally made it in to start signing.

Happy to finally start. Sad to give away our money. Disappointed at the lack of pens to take home.

Finally the keys!!!!!

Now that the papers are signed, the bank-imposed spending freeze was over. Time to shop for the new house!

Just the tip of the iceberg pictured here. =o)

Click the First Day blog button to join in.

Review: Beeyoutiful Skin Care

If there's one thing that is tough for moms, it's taking time for themselves. I've found it to be even more difficult as a homeschooling mom, since the kidlets are with you 24/7. I'm lucky to get five minutes in the shower before the interruptions begin. And forget "fixing my face," it's only the kids who get to admire it anyway. (How lucky are they?)

So while us busy moms might not have the time to run the full beauty regime, we should take the time to take some basic care of the bodies that God gave us. So when the opportunity arose for me to try out the some of the skin care products from Beeyoutiful, I was excited.

About Beeyoutiful Skin Care

From the Website:

The skin is the largest organ of the human body, but we can often be so careless in the way we treat it. These products are designed to only help you protect and improve the health of your skin, but to do it without the addition of harsh and harmful chemicals and doubtful ingredients that can enter the body through the skin.

Beeyoutiful skin products contain NO Parabens, Formaldehyde, Petroleum derived ingredients or SLS Detergents. They are all manufactured in the USA using pure, all natural ingredients. No testing done on animals. All testing personally done by Beeyoutiful Staff and family.

Our Experience

We received the Beeyoutiful Skin Care Set which included the Laveshmint HydratingToner, Laveshmint Moisturizing Lotion, Hair Shine, and Vanilla Dream Body Butter. And these goodies do a lot more than the name implies.

Since my daughter Mackenzie is just hitting the fun tween/teen years, and all the wonderful skin changes that goes along with it, I decided to have her try out the Laveshmint Toner. She hasn't had a real big problem with acne so far, but their have been some changes with her skin over the last year. She's only had the occasional pimple appear but her skin has been producing a little more oil and not been as smooth. She's been using the toner every day and I've noticed that her skin is less oily and a bit smoother.  And since she's been using it not one stray pimple has appeared!!!

And that's not all the toner does. It's also good for sunburns and cleansing wounds. Cleansing wounds? That's the beauty of all natural ingredients. We haven't had a chance to try it out on sunburns but we are excited too. If it had arrived one week earlier we would've been able to give that a go. But I'm sure we'll have a chance to try it in the future seeing as we live in a beach town.

I also let Mackenzie test the Vanilla Dream Body Butter. The first thing I'd like to say about it is, yum!!! It smells so good that I was tempted to eat it with a spoon. I refrained, however. lol Mackenzie had recently started getting some really dry skin on her elbows and since this product claims to have "healing oils...that soak into dry, chafed skin for long lasting relief" I thought this would be perfect for her. Her elbows started clearing up right away. I'd imagine that they'd be totally cleared up by now if we hadn't gotten distracted by some health issues.

I'm really excited to use this with her this winter. Every winter, the tops of her hands get extremely dry and scaly. We've yet to find anything that gives her relief. We are definitely going to be using this product to help us fight that battle. It's also nice to use on your legs after shaving. I know my skin gets really dry after shaving and the body butter really helped with that.

Next up is my favorite product, the Laveshmint Moisturizing Lotion. It has a yummy peppermint smell that makes you feel better by just sniffing it. It's meant to sooth and refresh your face and neck and refresh it does. You can feel it start tingling, in a good way, as soon as you put it on. So nice.

But that's not why I really like it. The company website suggested using it on tired feet. So I did. Oh me, oh my!!! That is the best idea ever!!!  My feet feel so wonderful after rubbing this stuff on them. Even after a long day of trudging around Busch Gardens. And I'll have you know that Busch Gardens is almost entirely uphill. You're always walking up and rarely get to go back down. Strange but true. lol So you can rest assured that your feet are exhausted when you leave the park and they could really use some pampering. This moisturizer is a real treat for your feet. =o)

Last up is the Hair Shine Spray-in Conditioner. This was probably our least favorite because the scent in very strong. So strong that I'm the only one who was willing to use it more than once. lol As a detangler, it did a great job on my long wavy hair. It did a fair job on my daughter's long and extremely curly hair. It didn't really control the frizz well enough on either of our manes. We wouldn't be able to use it for stand alone frizz control on our wild locks. I'm think that if you used this product on your hair for a length of time, then you'd see better results with the frizz control. Unfortunately, we really couldn't handle the strong fragrance of this one. Especially so close to our sniffers.

The neat thing about this product, for me, is it's other uses. You can use it on your face as a toner/astringent and for bug bites. Yep, bug bites. From mosquitos to ticks. A quick spritz of this on an insect bite lessens the itch and it's supposed to help prevent infection and scarring. I can't speak about how it works as far as infection goes but I will say it helped my itchy mosquito bites stop itching. And it's been a year for mosquitos around here. And, while reading customer reviews, I saw that one mom used it on her baby's cradle cap and got instant results. It's also supposed to be good for sunburns.  Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to some one that I know getting a sunburn so I can try these products on it? =o)

All in all, I'd say that the Beeyoutiful products live up to what is promised, and then some. I was also pleased that they are really good for sensitive skin. This is very important to me as I have very, very, very sensitive skin. I never know when I'll have a reaction to something. It happens to me all the time. But these products were very gentile on my skin. I didn't get any weird rashes. Woot!

If you are looking for health or beauty products that don't contain any weird stuff that you can't pronounce, then I'd suggest checking out what Beeyoutiful has to offer. The carry wellness products, skin care, make up and more. There is a lot to choose from and some of my Crewmates tested some of their other products so be sure to read the other reviews.


F.Y.I.

Website: http://www.beeyoutiful.com/

Age Range: all ages

Prices: Laveshmint Toner $14.00/  Vanilla Dream Body Butter $15.00/ Laveshmint Moisturizing Lotion $12.00/ Hair Shine $15.00
   

Disclaimer: I received these products for free for review purposes. All opinions are my own or that of my family.

D is for the... Day that Changed Everything

I had a lot of different ideas for my "D" post. D is for... Drama or Diva were my top two choices. Life with a pre-teen girl. Unfortunately, that post will have to wait for another day as something came into our lives last week that changed it forever.

So I decided to title this post The Day that Changed Everything. September 17, 2012 was that day. And this is our story.

Crazy 1 and Crazy 2

It started off as a wonderfully ordinary day. We had breakfast, did our school work, ate lunch. After lunch we were off to a local park to hang with our good friend, Kristy, and her two children, Morgan (3) and Connor (1). We have known Kristy for a long time. Long before Kayleigh was born. She and her hubby Matt were our neighbors and family when we were all stationed in Guam many years ago.

We reconnected last year and have been hanging ever since. My Kayleigh and her Morgan are BFFs and Toy Story nuts. And sometimes bathroom buddies. lol They generally enjoy being weird together. They enjoy doing things like walking around the park while wearing bicycle helmets. Aren't they sweet? lol

On this day, the little girls brought their scooters, Mackenzie her bike, and Connor his knack for sitting on the edge of a picnic table in just the spot that will freak me out. He's such a boy! =o)

Mackenzie was biking around but complaining that her bike wasn't working right. It was too hard to pedal. So I kept messing around with it and riding around on it but it seemed to be working just fine to me. I decided her issue was just the tween 'tude that we've been enjoying lately so I declared her Connor's keeper and take him to play. So she followed him around the playground.

Eventually it was time for Connor to have a little TLC. You see, Connor was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes this past July. It was such a shock for everyone. It's heartbreaking to think of such a wee one having such a horrible disease. You can't even wrap your mind around it when you see this tiny, little guy hold out his tiny finger for a check or watch him get an insulin shot without a peep.

But have it he does and it's been a huge adjustment for his family. Watching Kristy deal with it has been nothing short of amazing. It's one of those things that a mom has to jump right into and she sure did. She learned a lot in a very short time. But there is still a lot of unknown. With all the details that go into caring for a child with T1D, I couldn't imagine ever letting him out of my sight if he were mine. And feeling like it's not ever safe to leave your child with someone else is a huge stress in and of itself.

After his diagnosis I began picking her brain and asking about what she does, how she does it because I wanted to learn how to care for him in the hopes that one day she'd be able to go out and feel like somebody would be able to care for him for a couple of hours.

BDFF

So any how, back to the story... It was time for Connor to have his glucose check and a snack so over he toddled to do what he does several times a day. Finger prick, snack, insulin. Mackenzie came grumping over in a mood. So I began to razz her a little bit about it and suggested that maybe her blood sugar was low too and that she needed a snack. Food is generally a quick way to cheer this scrawny child up. She's obsessed by it and eats like a teen age boy.

So she agreed to eat her snack and Kristy said something along the lines of hey wouldn't it be fun to test your blood sugar? You know for science? So after some goading she agreed to do it. So Kristy loaded up her meter with a fresh supplies and the finger pricking began.

The results popped up on the meter and Kristy got quiet. She showed me the results. The machine said hi. I wasn't sure what that meant exactly but I knew it wasn't good. Then she suggested that we do it one more time, in case of a glitch. The result was the same, hi. Then Kristy decided to test herself just to be sure there wasn't a malfunction. She was within the normal range.  She told me that the machine only measures up to 500. Any levels higher than 500 come up as high.

I think this was the point that I knew something was really wrong. And I was pretty certain that I knew what it was. I think Kristy did too. It was probably a bit of a flashback to when she first tested Connor. Next she tested her ketones, which I won't go into what they are today, but those were extremely high too. I asked her what she would do and she said she'd get her into her doctor ASAP.

So I called my husband and then our doctor before we even left the park. I was a little surprised by the reaction of the doctor's office. I had expected that they'd either try and get her in ASAP or tell me to go to the ER. They did neither. They offered me an appointment for late on Wednesday. It was Monday.

I took the girls back home to discuss this further with my husband. At this point he didn't really think anything was wrong and that it was a glitch with the meter. We ate dinner and then headed over to Kristy's to pick up her extra meter, as we planned to test her again in the morning, after fasting all night. Before we left, I packed an overnight bag for Kayleigh and grabbed sweatshirts for the rest of us. I had already made up my mind about the next course of action. I knew that Kevin would come to the same conclusion after talking with Kristy.

Sleepy Time!

Once we got there, we tested Mackie in front of him. It was sobering to see that "hi" pop up again. We even tested Kevin so he could see that it wasn't the meter. As I expected, he wanted to take her to the ER. How convenient that I had an overnight bag for Kayleigh. =o)

We got Kayleigh settled, not that she cared. She was just excited to be having her first sleepover.

First stop the Naval Medical Center emergency room. (We are retired Navy.) It's one of two hospitals in the area that has a pediatric endocrinologists. And we knew that everything would be covered by our insurance there.

We spent a few hours in the ER where she blew the numbers off of their machine. She gave a urine sample, blood, and had a host of other tests. We dealt with a bunch of interns and medical students who talk a good game but say very little. I swear one of them was barely 12.  I refer to him as Doogie now and forever more. =o)

They have her bag after IV fluid to flush out the sugar and bring her levels down.  The urine test showed her levels as greater than 1000. She was down to 640 after the first bag, 580 after the second.

The ER is boring.
Insulin is good!

Finally the peds doctor showed up. (Just the regular pediatric doctor, not the endo.) He introduced himself. Guess what his name was? Guess, guess, guess?

Dr. Love. For realz! Of all the awesome things to come our way. Dr. Loooovvvveeee. It was after one in the morning. We cracked up. True story.

He said that she had diabetes, most likely type one, and were beginning treatment for it immediately.

It was exactly what we expected him to say. It was exactly what we had prepared her for as we sat there for hours reading a book on diabetes that we had borrowed from our friend. It was exactly what we had feared.

He said they were continuing with the IV fluid and starting her on an insulin drip. They'd be moving her up to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) where they would continue to work to bring her levels down and monitor her. In the morning they would move her to the regular peds ward and we'd begin our education on how to care for her.

Around two, they finally moved her up to the PICU. It was a long night. We could stay with her but we weren't allowed to sleep in the room. I was too tired to remember the why behind that. There were sleeping beds in the PICU waiting area but we didn't want to leave Mackie alone as she was understandably frightened.

They brought her a pair of pj's but she refused to put them on. She had it in her head that if she put them on she'd have to stay there for a long time. We finally got her into the bottoms so she could rest more comfortably than in the jeans she was wearing.

The nurses checked her blood sugar hourly. A lot of times she slept right through it. She woke up for a while around 5:30. At 6:30 Kevin and I had to leave the PICU for an hour while the staffed turned over. Patient privacy and all that. Mackenzie did not like that at all.

When we came back, the educating began. The first thing they did is stop the insulin drip. We were about to learn how to give her the insulin the old fashioned way, with a syringe. Her breakfast arrived, she ate it, and they showed her how to count the carbs. Once the carbs were counted, they gave her a carb ratio. How many units of insulin she needed to take for the amount of carbs she ate. They started off at 1:25.

I say started because that number is just the first of many numbers she'll have. It's pretty much a game of trial and error to figure out what works for her. Anyhow, she and the nurse figured out how many units of insulin she need to take to cover what she ate.

We had a quick visit from Dr. Jensen, her endocrinologist, and new best friend. He wasn't going to be able to give us the big talk until later in the afternoon but he popped in to say hi. For a quick visit, he had a lot to say. lol We all gave him two thumbs up.

Next we were shown how to draw the insulin into the syringe. The nurse tried to get Mackenzie to try it out but she was not interested. The poor dear. So the nurse did and gave her the injection. Mackenzie was surprised to find that it didn't really hurt.

The brilliant nurse brought out a vile of saline (similar to how the insulin was stored) and left it and a syringe for Mackenzie to practice with. She suggested drawing it into the syringe and shooting it out like a water gun. What a great idea. Mackenzie was all over that. It was at that moment that Mackenzie started to relax a bit and feel like she could do this. I heart that nurse.

Next a dietician came in. She talked to us more about counting carbs and about eating a balanced diet. I was very surprised to learn that they didn't have any real food restrictions other then to eat a healthy, balanced diet. She can eat whatever she wants as long as she takes the insulin to cover it. Not that they recommend eating whatever you want but to maintain a healthy balance and treat yourself now and then.

Third on our list of important vistors was Linda, the diabetes educator, and Mackenzie's other new best friend. Linda, along with Dr. Jensen, make up Mackenzie's diabetes management team. They make themselves available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They not only make the decisions regarding her care and medications, they are instructing us how to take over for them one day.

Holy prescriptions Batman!!!

Linda went into more detail how to use the syringes/pens for injections. Explained a bit more about how the ratios work. Explained things we need to look out for in regards to high and low blood sugar. Introduced the scary world of glucagon. (You'll probably learn more about that when we start blogging about G.) Had us practicing giving injections. Quizzed us. Gave us all the phone numbers and emails we'll ever need. Loaded us up with reading material. She had a lot to say. My pen almost ran out of ink.

After she left it was well past lunch time and Kevin and I were starving after the pathetic breakfast we ate in the galley. (Note: if the military offers you some bacon do yourself a favor and say no. I can't believe my husband didn't warn me. Gag!) So we got Mackenzie settled with her meal and we set off in search of food and were going to pick up her prescriptions.

It had been a very sobering, exhausting, and overwhelming day so far. Who knew that we'd get our first chuckle since Dr. Love at the pharmacy. We went to the window, handed them our ID and then it was BAM!

Do you see those two large bags my husband is holding? Those are what the clerk plopped down onto the counter. They were filled to the top. And then she said, "Oh wait! I forgot something," and scurries off to get two more items. The insulin. It was in the fridge. We just started laughing and asked if we were set for the year now. Apparently what we had was a months worth of supplies. That's ONE month's worth in case you still aren't sure.

It's like Christmas only sucky

What was in the bag? Two glucose meters (complete with meter, "finger pricker", sample size blood test strips, and a handy dandy case), 6 boxes of alcohol wipes, 3 glucagon kits, 2 boxes of insulin (long-actiing and rapid), a billion boxes of blood test strips, a slightly lesser amount of ketone test strips, lancets for finger pricking, needles for injections, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Actually we're getting the pear tree with our new house. No partridge included.

Eventually Dr. Jensen came back and educated us some more. The man is brilliant and could probably have talk for weeks about diabetes. He quizzed a bit about various situations regarding her care but gave us the green light to take her home.

Generally when somebody is diagnosed with diabetes there are in the hospital for at least three days learning about how to care for the child. Unfortunately, I already had some knowledge of the disease and the care involved because our friend's sweet, sweet baby boy was already diagnosed.

So not only did our friends misfortune save our daughter's life, it got her sprung from the hospital early. Talk about bitter-sweet and mixed emotions.

As I wind down this post, you're probably wondering why the tone of it isn't as heartbroken as one might think someone in my situation would feel. It's not that I'm not heartbroken, I am. This is something she'll have to deal with every day for the rest of her life. It's just that I'm too busy being grateful to focus on the sadness.

Mackenzie is very, very fortunate that we found out the way that we did. When I say that our friend Kristy saved Mackenzie's life, it's because that's exactly what she did. Most of the time, the diabetes comes on more suddenly. More of a one minute they're fine and the next minute something is off.

Apparently Mackenzie is one of the rare people whose symptoms came on gradually. The doctor described it as a smoldering fire. It's small and almost un-noticable one mind and then BAM! You're in trouble. We were so blessed to find out before the something terrible happened.

After talking with us about the various symptoms, the doctor guesses that's she had it for quite a long time. Probably at least a year. Hindsight being what it is, there were signs. Unfortunately, a lot of the signs are also typical of a child hitting puberty. Weight loss, extreme hunger and thirst, moodiness, frequent urination, fatigue.  Mackenzie exhibited quite a few of them.

She lost a lot of weight last year during basketball season. Well running up and down a court for a few hours a week could cause that. She started eating like a horse. Typical of a growth spurt. Drank water by the gallons and then peed it out. As moody as the day is long. She's a tween. The hormones are kicking in. The only symptom she didn't really seem to have was the tiredness. She's never been a great sleeper and the diabetes didn't change that.

So as we adjust to our new normal, I'm going to continue to praise God that we found out the way we that we did because it could've been a million times worse. I'm going to rejoice that she can pretty much enjoy life as usual with just a few adjustments. And I'm going to be thankful that she's still here with us.

Also linking up to The Weekly Wrap-Up, The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Photo Collage Friday

C is for... Chaos

We are within two weeks of our closing date on our new house. So it's a tad chaotic over here at the Smith household. For realz! Chaos is reigning supreme.

First off, I'm trying to pack while schooling my children and running them around to all of their activities. It is a certified disaster zone around here. Boxes are every where. In every room. Walls of boxes.

Enter at your own risk. Oh my!

We also have a list of things that we have to get done outside of packing. So I think I'm going to  switch to C is for Crunch Time from here on out.

In our current house we've got a long list of things we need to do to get it ready to rent out. Scrubbing, carpet cleaning, painting, some minor repairs. Not to mention find some renters and a rental company that we trust.

There is also the ever growing list of things we need for the new house. Lamps, ceiling fans, appliances, paint, bedroom furniture, a fence and on and on. None of which we can buy because the banker says no shopping until after the closing. He's no fun.

Maybe C is for Crazy is a better description? lol So how's it going at your house?