One year already

One year ago today, I received the phone call that would change our lives forever!!

That was dramatic, wasn't it??!?!!

One year ago today, while working with a student, I received a call from the nurse at Luke's GI clinic that he did, indeed, have Celiac Disease. I remember being truly surprised because I think I had convinced myself that that wasn't his problem.


The last year has certainly been an adventure with lots of knowledge gained along the way. I've learned a lot about a disease that I never knew existed. I've learned a lot about a little boy that has to make hard choices everyday and does it with an incredible attitude. We knew when Luke was diagnosed that if someone had to have this, God chose the right little boy. He has been amazing about having so many "good things" taken out of his diet. Thankfully, he has some really great people in his life that get him his very own special things to enjoy.

The future is bright for people with Celiac. More and more foods are becoming gluten free on a regular basis. Just this week I got an email that most of the Chex cereals will be GF by June!! That's awesome news!!

Luke has done well at school this year. He gets to buy his lunch about once a week and absolutely loves doing that! The ladies in the cafeteria are really great about helping us decide what he can have and making him special things.

One year ago, I wasn't really sure how this diagnosis would affect Luke's future. How would he do at school?? As a teenager, would he come to resent these restrictions and fight against them? What would college look like for him?? Would he fall in love with someone who would understand his food issues? (I know...nothing like worrying about the really really long-term stuff!) I now feel much more hopeful about what's to come.

Special thanks goes to my mom who has put in countless hours of researching, searching for recipes, asking questions, planning, and buying special things for Luke. She dove into figuring out this whole celiac thing before I could even comprehend what we were dealing with. She's been huge support and help to me! Thanks, Mom!! Lots of thanks too, to my Grandma and BigPa who keep Luke eating high on the hog!! They bring him things he can only dream of (since I don't buy the expensive stuff!) and are always finding new possibilities for him. We definitely couldn't have had as successful a year as we've had without yall!

So, while Celiac isn't something I would necessarily wish on anyone, it's become our normal and I think I'm finally okay with that!!

Lake Ray Roberts 2009

Or is it Ray Roberts Lake??

Anyway, we did it!! We survived the first camping experience of our lives!!

While this post may contain more detail than you feel necessary, it will be the only memory I will have shortly, so I'm gonna put it down as I remember it!

A few weeks back, it was offered that a group from church would be going on a camping trip during Spring Break, from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday. Honestly, my first thought was, "who would want to spend their Spring Break doing THAT??!" Little did I know that it would be me!!

Scott signed us up with no discussion or mention of it to me so when I started getting emails regarding the trip, I laughed, thinking they didn't know we weren't really serious!! Well, Scott was serious so we discussed! In my head, I reasoned that maybe if we did this trip, then Scott would be able to take the boys in the future for a little dad/son time and a little alone mom time for me!!

So, the week before the big day, we had a meeting with our fellow campers to decide who would do what and how it would all work. We left the meeting thinking that we should try to put up our tent which had never been put together before!! That went fairly smoothly and we started to get excited about the trip. The boys were totally pumped and we all started looking forward to it.

I can honestly claim total and complete ignorance at this point. I had not thought about having to walk a distance to the bathroom or take a shower where a million other people had already showered. I really tried NOT to think about these things as I knew they could totally take any excitement I had away!! I just packed the best I could, hoping for the best.

Our fearless leaders were Colin and Kelly who are seasoned campers. They led the charge, encouraging us all the way and answering pretty much daily questions from me the week prior to the trip. They would prove invaluable in the process.

Finally Sunday comes and we load up after church and head north. Luke begins to feel sick with stomach issues. We didn't think a whole lot about it...fairly routine for him. Little did we know that this issue would not go away for the entire trip. Bummer for him!!

The drive was a little less than an hour but the boys asked almost continually "how much longer??" It's a good thing we weren't going far!! Finally, we arrived and pulled into campsite #115. My first impressions were MUCH better than my mind had imagined!!

There were a lot of trees and our campsite was much bigger than I had imagined in my mind. Here we are putting up the tent . . . and then a picture of our whole campsite.

Alex and Parker are ceremoniously hanging the lantern (which promptly broke the first time we tried to turn it on!!)
Here are Scott and Alex all bedded down for the absolutely, positively COLDEST night of our lives!! I'm not sure how cold the temperature got to that night, but we froze our booties off. Notice the nice afghans . . . not really the best choice for the coldest night, but we weren't expecting sub-zero temps!!

But thankfully, we survived and made it to breakfast the next morning. Here's Colin cooking our breakfast tacos. . . eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, cheese, salsa!! These guys don't mess around with their camp food!!

After breakfast, everyone kind of messed around, played a little frisbee and bocce ball, and did their own things. Lunch came and went and the kids were chomping at the bit to go fishing. While Luke looked like this up until this point . . .

. . . he managed to muster up some energy to do a little fishing.






I love this picture . . . Reese loved her some minnows!!

That night we went into Tioga for some dinner and came back for some s'mores. Here's Landry learning how to catch his marshmallow on fire so he could make himself a s'more!!

The next night was a little warmer and we all slept a lot better. We woke up to Colin's pancakes (with optional chocolate chips and/or Reese's pieces!) and bacon. Then it was time to hike. Luke still wasn't feeling himself so he stayed back with Julie and pretty much everyone else took off.









All in all, it was a great time! The kids had a blast playing with friends and even making some new ones!!

Finally, just a couple of funny pics - -

I think Landry really liked the idea of camping!!

And here's how Jackson feels about it

Just kidding . . . he'd just eaten a lemon!! I think Jackson is definitely going to be a good camper!!

Much thanks to Kelly and Colin for helping us navigate our first camping trip. We definitely couldn't have done it without you guys!

We lived to tell the tale!!

We survived the first camping experience of our entire lives, I'm so happy to say!!

I just uploaded 51 of the pictures I took and while I'm sorting through them deciding how I'll tell the tale, here are a couple of my faves!!

In peace and hardship . . .

It's finally Friday!!

And not just any Friday. . .

The Friday that begins Spring Break!!

Hip!! Hip!! Hooray!!

I love Friday afternoons. Everyone gets home and just does whatever! There's no pressure to get anything done. No lunches to make. No laundry that has to be done. It's just a good feeling.

Anyway, when we got home today, Alex wanted everyone to join him in a basketball tournament. While this is a fun idea, it is not necessarily a fun idea because a couple of boys that live here don't really enjoy losing. Well, actually none of them like to lose, but one of them always manages to win so he doesn't really have to deal with losing (unless he plays his mom, of course!!).

We had just done this little tournament idea last weekend and about three games in, it got kind of ugly.

So, you can understand my hesitancy to go there again.

I mentioned to Alex who is always in charge of setting up the bracket that it was just kind of hard because no matter how you did it, someone had to lose and it was just too big of a deal. I tried to convince him to lose HIS game, but that didn't go over well either.

Finally, he said, "I've got an idea" and he ran off.

A few minutes later, he came back and said, "I'm going to make everyone sign this contract that says they won't cry if they lose."

I kind of chuckled and asked to see it. This is what I read:

I will not throw a fit or cry if I lose.
I will have good sportsmanship in peace and hardship.
If not, you owe me 50 cents each time.

So, not only is Alex understanding that, at the ripe old age of 12, life has its peace and its hardships, he's also learning to try to capitalize on them if at all possible!!

I'm surrounded by greatness!!

Is it possible that 2 of my closest friends could be Teacher of the Year at the same time in the same district??? Why, yes, it is!!

My amazing friend, Emily, was announced today as the Teacher of the Year at our great school!!! This little award has been teasing Emily for three years, and finally, it became hers!!

I must give a little history so that when I'm 87 I can look back and think this sounds vaguely familiar!!

Almost 3 years ago, Alex was finishing up his 3rd grade year. It had been a pretty rough year for him. He was of age to begin the dreaded TAKS test and he really didn't enjoy it or the preparation it took to do well on it. By the end of this year, he felt sure he would be happy flipping burgers at McDonalds and thought the money would be pretty well too! Why did he need to continue school, he asked?? This was horrifying to me, as a teacher!! What a failure I was!!

Talking with friends about who our options were for fourth grade teachers, I became a little worried. I really didn't know any of the teachers so I didn't really feel good about choosing any one of them to teach Alex. I knew it was a pivotal year for him, as his love of education was waning. It was also his last year of elementary school and I wanted it to be a good one.

Enter my friend, P, who said she would recommend a certain Miss Estes. When I inquired as to why, she said she really didn't know but she had heard she was a good teacher. What she did know about her was that she actually played with the kids at recess instead of talking to other teachers, and she actually ate with her kids at lunch...in the cafeteria, at the same tables with her kids. Those two things told me she was obviously child-centered, or she was crazy!!

With much hesitation (not knowing whether it was better to pick someone you really didn't know, or let the chips fall where they may without my intervention), I asked Alex's 3rd grade teacher to make sure Alex ended up with someone named Miss Estes....someone who I could not have even picked out of a lineup!!

Summer came, as did a little anxiety about the new school year. Talking further with P, it was revealed that Miss Estes, on whom we had now put all our hopes and dreams, had just finished her FIRST year of teaching. I said to P, "I'm sorry....WHAT???" She confirmed that this amazing teacher now had one year under her belt!!! I thought that it was just her first year at Blue Haze...that she'd taught a few years somewhere else!! But, no!!

Now, I have nothing against first year teachers . . . I was there once upon a time, but teaching is definitely a job that gets better with a little seasoning!!

True panic started to set in!! Big year for Alex...not so experienced teacher...what am I doing?? I finally decided to let it go and see where it went!!

Alex got his postcard in the mail showing him whose class he was in and he was pumped!! Evidently, Miss Estes was the teacher to have, and he felt like he had won the jackpot!! He was even more excited when he learned his good friend, Jordan, was in class with him. We went to Meet the Teacher night before school started and met the amazing Miss Estes. (Now, I could pick her out of a lineup, if needed!!)

I remember clearly that one of the first things she told Alex was that he could pick the desk that he wanted to sit at. Choosing your own seat??? It was too good to be true!! Of course, he and his good buddies all sat together. What a great year it was going to be!!

And what a great year it was! Immediately, I could tell that this young teacher had it all together. Her take home folder was organized unbelievably and very thorough. She quickly began doing little things to encourage Alex and let him know how happy she was that he was in her class. If my memory is correct, within the first 6 weeks of school, she had done at least 1 over the top thing a week to develop a relationship with Alex. These weren't simple gestures either. They were hand written notes to him, coming to his ball games, notes to Scott and I, telling us what a great kid Alex was, and on and on. I remember thinking, "Are you for real??" What teacher takes the time to do this kind of above and beyond stuff for 22 kids?? I would learn that the answer to that was Miss Estes.

As the year went on, a relationship grew and Alex's whole attitude about school changed. He had gone from grudgingly getting his work done to doing it well and making great grades. He enjoyed school, even had fun!! It was a crazy concept!! He didn't want to miss anything!

That January, Emily joined us at Upward and coached a team of girls. The kids got to hang out with her a lot and really had a great time. She began coming to our church and got totally involved. The kids were thinking it was the coolest thing ever for their super cool teacher to go to their church too!

Fast forward a little over 2 years, and Emily has become a huge part of my life. She's the friend that hasn't been around forever, but it seems like she has! She makes my life so much easier on a regular basis and has done so much to enrich my life!! She keeps my kids regularly and actually acts like she likes it!! She even lets them spend the night!!

She started out as, in my mind, a first year teacher, and has become an amazing friend!! We have had many a deep conversation (deep thinking is a gift we both possess) and many a meal at Chipotle!! We have spend many hours shopping and most of those times came home empty-handed!! She is such a fun person to be around and a great person to do life with.

She is still the amazing teacher and it has been fun this year to do it all over again with Parker. She's still eating lunch with those kids and still playing football at recess. She's still dressing up in her crazy costumes (I heard all about Tick Tock this week!) and doing cool experiments to help kids learn the most they can. She gives so much of her time and her money to the kids, but most of all, she gives herself. That's why she's such a great Teacher of the Year!!

Here are some fun pics I found to commemorate this special day!! :)

(They have nothing to do with teaching, but who cares really??)

Emily, you definitely deserve this special award!! You are truly an amazing teacher and an amazing friend, as well!!

Way to go, Mrs. Chapman!!

One of my greatest friends, Jenny Chapman, had an amazing honor bestowed on her today!! She is officially the Teacher of the Year at her elementary school!! What a great accomplishment for a great teacher!!

Jenny didn't earn her degree the easy way. She started college, got married, became a mom, put her husband through school, and then decided to go back and finish up. Going to college with a preschooler is a challenge in and of itself, but Jenny pressed on. I remember so many times when all of us girls were hanging out and Jenny had to go home to study or finish up a project. While it wasn't always fun, she knew the end result would be way worth any inconvenience she felt in the short-term.


Before she even finished school, she landed a job teaching first grade. While this was great in many respects, it made life even more challenging because now she would be teaching 3 days a week and going to school the other 2. First year teaching has its own incredible challenges, but to do it while finishing your education...wow!! Jenny got tired, sometimes discouraged (who wouldn't??) but she never gave up! By the time she graduated, she was so far ahead of her game that she kept on and just got better and better. She got the opportunity to move to Kindergarten (where she'd always hoped she'd teach) and she took it. There she remains, changing and growing the hearts of the littlest people every day.

Jenny, I am more than proud of you!! You have stuck to it when so many people would have given up. You knew your future could be so bright if you could just perservere. So, you did!! I have so enjoyed watching you become the teacher you are. Your love for your kids is evident in everything you do. God definitely designed you to change the lives of Kindergarteners!! I've known for a long time that you are an amazing friend and now everyone knows what an amazing teacher you are, as well!!!

Way to go, girl!!

The Weekend Recap

The weekend was a great one . . . no major commitments!!

We cleaned out for an upcoming garage sale and found some older toys that were new again. Here, Landry (pretending that he's Dirk) enjoys the Aguadoodle --

We tried to get some rest, even though we lost an hour on Sunday. Angel, the cat, joined in on the rest time. Either we have the laziest cat on the planet, or she's getting sick. She sleeps alot and nothing really seems to bother her. In this picture, she's asleep in the playroom where the boys are playing an exciting game of basketball. Other than trying to cover her eyes, she's perfectly content in the chaos!!

Both Alex and Parker had a friend spend the night on Saturday night and this is what we ate. It struck me as funny that there was so many pizzas and that this was only going to get worse as the boys grow into teenagers!! I know they're little pizzas, but they're cheap too!! Just for the record, there was one piece left over!!


And finally, we got this bad boy out this weekend because we're going CAMPING for Spring Break!!!! I can't even believe that I'm saying that!! I am so not a camper but we're going and I'm sure it's going to be great!!


Thankfully, we're going with some seasoned campers and I'm sure they'll keep us from starving or getting lost in the wilderness!! haha!! I'm claiming total ignorance at this point. I really have no idea what we're getting in to. Each day brings new questions about should I take this/that.


One thing I know. . . the boys are pumped!! I'm sure we will have a blast!!

Just stuff

Time for blogging seems to be hard to find lately. All is well on the homefront.

Here's what we've been doing...in no particular order --

Alex and Luke both finished up their basketball seasons. Luke had a blast playing Upward!! Emily and I had the awesome privilege of coaching his team and they were so much fun!! I was a little worried about the "young-ness" of their team, but they were all so great! I really never got that I-can't-wait-until-this-season-is-over feeling and that's a good thing!! I finally ordered a couple of action shots of Luke playing because I could never seem to get a good shot with my camera, so I need to figure out a way to get them on the blog. Here's the team during the starting line-up --

After the last game, we had a little party at the church. Here's Luke enjoying his cupcake --

Here's the team with their great new backpacks --

Alex's season ends with a tournament and his team went all the way to the championship!! His team was really dominant this year and they won the championship with no problems!!

Speaking of Alex, this is what he came home with yesterday.

This is his binder from school!! HOLY COW!! The pictures don't even do it justice. It was so overloaded, you couldn't have put one more paper in it. I don't know where he gets this messiness! I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a neat freak, but this is ridiculous!! The funny thing is, someone (maybe Emily??!) just asked me if Alex ever brought any papers home so I could see his grades. I said, "No, not really!" Now I know why I never see them. Crazy!!

On a nicer Alex note, here is he reading to Luke and Landry. Aaaawwww!!

On to food...

Parker had the Writing part of the TAKS test yesterday and he felt pretty sure that he should have one of these for breakfast. Pretty clever, that boy is!!

And this is our new favorite snack...edamame!! Have you guys tried this?? It is so good, and so easy, and so healthy!! I buy it in the frozen section and you just put the whole package in the micro for 5 minutes, sprinkle with salt (or not!) and force those little soybeans out of their shell!! It is so not like me to try something new, but these are GREAT!! Everyone at my house loves them!! That alone makes them good!

And now, I'm going to end this completely random, rambling post!!