School's Out For Summer!!

I am done with school as of this week!! I am still waiting on grades but have my fingers crossed for A's! My kids are not out of school till June 5th so I have a few days till we are all home. I am not going to school during the summer because my kids will be home but I am ready for a break and some traveling!! I had a lot of fun this semester at school and am really glad I went back. I met a lot of great people and some really great friends!!

Boys are doing great and Jade is also doing great! We got her the omnipod pump for her diabetes and it is going pretty good with it! It is a wireless pump that has a remote to put in what she eats, ect. We are pretty excited because the part that goes on Jade is really small but in Dec omnipod is coming out with an even smaller version that is suppose to be 40% smaller by lenght and width!! That is just amazing to me because it is already so small!! The technology is pretty amazing with the omnipod too!!

Hope everyone is doing well and ready for summer!! I am I am ready!!!

Count Down

This coming Sat morning at 6:00 am (wow, that is early!) we will be waking up the the kids and saying "guess where we are going?" DISNEY!!!!!! We are going to Florida for Spring break with our neighbors that have kids the same age as ours. They are the same friends we went skiing with last spring break. We are driving. That will be the long part but that's ok because last year when we drove to the mountains we had a lot of fun. The kids have no idea. They asked if we were doing anything for spring break and we said we were just going to hang out at home. Kyler said that was ok because he needed to relax. LOL! We can't wait and I promise to take a ton of pictures!!! We took Kyler and Branson when they were 2 and 5 and suprisingly Branson remembers a lot about that trip! I can't wait!!

School Update

Well I started school this week! I really like my classes so far. Almost everyone in my Human Anatomy class is going for nursing so it was nice to meet other people with the same goal. Unfortunately we have all been sick this week so I wasn't feeling my best but I pushed through. Jade was sick last week, then Kyler was sick over the weekend, then I came down with it on Sunday night, Paul on Monday and Branson was today. Kyler and Jade are back to their normal happy selves and have been at school all week. Branson missed school today and will probably miss tomorrow. Paul has been in bed since Monday and I would of been in bed but have had to get out to go to school. I didn't want to miss the first week of school. I did pretty good today (I was tanked up on Day Quil) but crashed once I got home. We are all ready to get over this cold. It has been a strange bug because one day you will feel sick, then next day you will feel better like you are getting over it and then the next day you are back to feeling worse than every before. It tricks you. Hope everyone out there is feeling well and I will update again soon!

Update

So here is a quick update. I am going back to school for nursing. My classes start next week on tues Jan 20th! I can't wait to get the first week over with! I only have 4 classes to take before I can apply for the nursing program but have to take my anatomy class before I can take the other 3 classes. I also have a psychology class that i can take now so I am taking 2 classes and a lab this semester. I did have all my math, history, English out of the way so I was really glad that all my classes I took way back when still would count! Back when I was 19 and started college I had thought about being a nurse but had never really been around nurses, hospitals, ect and thought that you had to be as smart as a Dr to be a nurse and I didn't have the confidence to think I could do it. I had really no direction at that time and just took basics (which now I am glad I did that). Well now that I have been around a ton of nurses I realize I could be a nurse. We have had some really great nurses and we have had others. After I get my RN I would really like to work at a dermatolgist office or a plastic surgeons office. I really like skin care and love all the Dr 90210 shows. If that doesn't pan out I would like to work in labor and Delivery. Or I might just be a school nurse and have all the holidays and summers off. I just love all the possibilities! I may even stay in school till I get my masters and then I can be a nurse practitioner. I am really excited about going back to school and actually having a direction this time!

ps. Head on over to Phoneix's Fight down on the right side of my blog and leave him some love and prayers! Thanks!!

Time Off

I am taking time of from the blog for Thanksgiving. I will post pictures when I come back! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Walking Around Our Neighborhood And We Got a Pic Of Kia!! And Jade's Mouth Has M&M's All Over It! LOL!

Update

Hello! I haven't given a diet update in a long time. Back in the summer (yeah, I can't believe it is Nov already either!) I was trying to make a goal weight before going to Cabo in Aug. Well I got within 3 pounds of my goal when we went to Cabo so I was pretty happy!! Once we got to Cabo at our resort they had gourmet buffets and in a moment of weakness I thought...all bets are off, its my vaction! But after about 5 minutes I came back to reality and thought about all the hard work I had done to get to this point and decided I didn't want it to all go out the window. And believe me I can put on 10 pound in a matter of days!! So I worked really hard not to overeat. I ate what I wanted but didn't overeat and didn't go back for seconds. When we got home I had put on 3 pounds but I was pretty happy with that considering what it could of been! I got the 3 pounds back off and I am happy to say that I did get to my goal weight! I have been able to stay at my goal now since sept! I am going to try really hard not to fall off the wagon this winter because I don't want to go through that again. Last winter I really let my self go crazy and it was a lot harder to get back then what I thought. So my goal now is to not fall off the wagon and keep up with diet and exercise. So far so good!

Austin Fair Oct 2008

Austin had a small fair that we went this weekend. It had a few rides and a hotdog stand but the kids had a lot of fun!!! This was the first year that Austin has had one so not many people were there which made it even better as far as no lines for the rides. We had a great Friday night at the fair! ps. That little deer in Jade's pic was so cute and just followed Jade around at the petting zoo. I wanted to take him home!

BaseBall

This past weekend both boys had their end of season baseball tournament. Branson's team
made it through two games but the team did great!! All the players on Brans' team were 1st
timers this season so from the beginning till the end the improvements were amazing!! The last
game at the very end Brans was playing left field and the ball was hit out to him and scoped it
up and a runner had just ran to third and was running home and instead of throwing the ball
Brans ran it in and got the kid out right at home!!! Everyone was talking about it because the
speed that he ran to run that ball in was amazing!! I have never seen him run that fast!!

Kyler played 8 games this weekend!!! They made it to the finals and got second place!! The kids did a great job and they all worked really hard to make it to the finals!! Kyler made a lot of base hits and many trips to home plate!! He did a great job!! The last game for first place was really close and all the kids did really great! Kyler got a troughy that he is really proud of for 2nd place!

Sun night we went to the end of year baseball for Branson's team. We all had a great time and all the kids had a lot of fun with confetti eggs, pinyatas, playing tag, football, baseball, eating pizza. The adults had fun drinking! ha! ha!

Kyler's end of baseball party is in a couple of weeks and guess what they are doing.....Going to a UT game!!! And they get to meet the players!!! Kyler's coach knows the UT coach so all the kids are supper excited!! I will take lots of pictures when that day comes!!

So that was our weekend! Hope everyone had a good one!

Kyler And Branson's CF Appt

Kyler and Branson had their cf check up today. Everything was great! Both boys had
a growth spurt and weight gain. Kyler's pft's (lung function) FEV1's was 90 (he did have a higher one but he didn't breath in right at the end so they had to take this number) and his small airways 115%!! That is an awesome number!! Branson FEV1's were in the low 80's and I did not look at his small airway number. He is still getting use to the machine and they do not think his numbers are in the 80's. They think they are higher. But that is the highest he has gotten so he is getting better at the machine.


Our Dr decided to put Branson on Bactrim for 3 months during the winter (Bactrim is an antibiotic) to help him get through the winter. During winters if Branson catches a cold he has a hard time getting over the affects. Last winter we put him on antibiotics the minute he got a cold and that worked pretty well but this winter we will just put him on them starting in Oct for 3 months. Our Dr said that is the way they do it in Europe. Europe is way a head of us so we are hoping for an even better winter this year!

So this cf visit was a good one! Kids are doing great!

ps. I am doing a lot better! My hand is a lot better today and is not broken! The swelling is way down today and the bruising is getting better although Kyler and Brans Dr thought it was awful. Haha! He said not to fall while running....

Update

Hi everyone! Here is a quick update since I am typing with one hand. I am doing better today! I pretty much stayed in bed yesterday because my knee is so swollen and it hurts to walk. My awesome husband came home from work early to help out and make my favorite diner...spaghetti!! Thank you, paul!! Today I am still in bed but did get up to straighten the kitchen up. Tomorrow I will getting back to normal the best I can. My hand is still very swollen and black and blue. I can't move my fingers. I am hoping that will get better soon! Paul still thinks I broke my hand but I have not gone to dr yet as I am holding out hope it is just swollen. We will see how it goes the next few days. Hope everyone is having a good week so far!!

Update

This is Carolyn's Husband typing for her (so any mistakes you can blame me).

I am going to be taking a few days off from blogging because today while running I tripped, skinned my knee and jammed my left hand. It may be broken but I will decide weather or not to go to the doctor tomorrow. Never in my life have I fallen while I was running, except when I was 2. And not only that but I fell in front of other joggers so it was real embarrassing. Hope everyone has a great week and I'll update when I can.

As you can see from the pictures below, I have been living in the bed for a while. Warning: Graphic pictures below...

NetFlix

So far I am very impressed with NetFlik! I have the two movie deal. You pick out all the movies you want on your list and the order you would like them to be in and they mail you two movies. After you watch them you mail them back and then they will send the next two movies or you can watch one movie and mail it back and they will just mail you one movie, ect. Well we watched one movie and I put it in the mail yesterday at about 2pm thinking they wouldn't get it till tomorrow (Fri) but I got a email this morning informing me that they had already recieved it and my next movie is in the mail already!! I was very suprised at how fast they got the movie back!! Plus they pay for shipping the movies back! It is really easy!! Just thought I would pass this along!

Rambling On And On

So every time I go to target (even with a list) I instantly get ADD. I will go in the store and come out with everything I don't need and a lot of time forget the things I went there for! (even if I have my list!)

I LOVE bags and purses. I can look at them all day long! Awhile back I use to buy a lot of bags and purses but had to stop because I never would really use them. I would see them in the store and buy it, take it home and up on a shelf with a hundred other bags it would go. Not sure why I wouldn't use them. I would always swear that I would but for whatever reason I would usually stick to one purse or bad. It was a very bad habit I got into, good thing I broke it! I still love to look though!

Kyler and Branson are both in baseball right now. This is Branson's 1st year and Kyler's 2nd year. Kyler is really doing great this season! It is a night and day difference from last year!! His coach this year was suprised he had only played one season before this one! Branson is doing good too. He is still getting use to it but he is so proud when he is out in a game! He has so much enthusiusm!! You can just feel his excitement! They both have a game tonight so I will let you know what happens!!

Well it has happened! It happened last week. I didn't say anything hoping it would just go away but it didn't. FALL is here! We had lunch outside last week and a breeze was blowing and right there on the patio it happened...I felt the chill in the wind. You know the one- where it is still 98 degrees outside but you can definantly feel the chill. Yep fall is here. Now I know a lot of people LOVE fall but I am not one of them. Fall is my least favorite season. In fact a few years ago I wanted to chase summers. I wanted to be here in Austin for the summer and then as soon as it was over fly to Australia and stay there for there summer (Summer is just now starting in Australia). Just keep moving back and fouth so I could always be in summer. I don't want to move to Florida or some place warm all year...that is not the same to me....I want the season to always be summer. Weird-I know. When I hit the jackpot that will just be one of the crazy things we do! I love summer!

We joined Netflix finally! So far we love it! We really love the unlimited movies you can watch on your PC. Paul just hooks up his laptop to our tv and the quality is unbelievible! Love it!

That is about it for now!

1 Day Of School

Kyler 4th grade

Branson 1st grade

Update

Hello Everyone!

We went to Cabo last week and had a blast!! I started the pictures but started to add new photo shop software and now I can not get to my pictures. Paul will have to come to my rescue so until then I cannot add the pictures but I will as soon as I can. We had a great time!! We stayed at RIU Palace, an all exclusive resort. All our drinks, food, hotel stay were included. (You can also get airfare included but we used our miles for our flights) The food was awesome!! We ate and ate and ate and I really thought by the time we got home I would of gained 10 pounds back but I only gained 3 pounds!!! Yea!!

We stayed 5 nights, 6 days (leaving on the 6th day) and that was really the perfect amount of time there. We talked to a couple that had been there 7 days and they were leaving on the 8th day and they said they stayed too long and were ready to go home.

Our hotel did shows every night that were really good. They had different themes every night. During the day they always had a competition going on at the pool. Very entertaining!

We went shopping in Cabo, did jet skies, did a party boat, did a speed boat out to snorkel. The speed boat out to snorkel was the most fun! There were 12 people on this boat and your seat kind of looked like a saddle for a horse and the boat went 100mph over waves and did fast circles, ect for about 30 min out to a place to snorkel. The ride out was worth the money. It was so fun and you literally flew over waves!! Then you go to two places to snorkel and then a wild and crazy ride back. Loved that boat ride!!!

It was good to get back home! I really missed the kids!! One night half way through the week I woke up and was ready to go home to see them. I missed them so much I literally tried to figure out a way to get home early but then the next day came and I was ok. The kids had fun with Courtney and Diane. Courtney took them swimming, laser tag, out to eat, park, ect so they had a blast.

The day we traveled home was mine and Paul's 11 year annv. 8-8-08! I have a post to do about that so stayed tuned! I love you Paul and thanks for the best vacation and 11 years of my life!!!

I hope to get pictures up soon!

Precious Update

We moved Precious to the new place on Sat. The pictures below are at the old place where she has been almost two years. Notice her blue shipping boots on her legs. Those keep their legs and ankles safe while in the horse trailer. Precious is so funny when she has those on because when she walks she picks her feet up real high. It is cute! The move went smooth and Precious did really great like she always does. We went out on Sun and she was pacing out in the pasture she was turned out in which means she was not real happy. That made me feel bad but today she was doing a lot better. I went out and spent about a hour with her. I am going to try and ride tomorrow if there is enough time. I am also going to try and take pictures of her at the new place.

Update

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be taking a few days off from blogging. Lots going on this weekend. Moving Precious (my horse), family in town, friends in town. Hope everyone has a great weekend!! I will leave you with this...


If you loan someone $100.00 and they never pay you back and you never see that person again, it was probably well worth the $100.00!!

Update

The boys had their Dr appt yesterday and they did great. Kyler's pfts are back up! Yay! Branson's were the same but the Dr doesn't think Branson is doing the test right. They both got their picc lines out today (we had to finish the antibiotics we had left) so the are very happy!

The Dr talked to us about a new med that is still in trials but they are having good results. They are going to get a trial here in Austin and we talked about putting the boys in the trial. The drug has been in trial for a few years so it is not as risky as a brand new drug and the data so far has
been really good. The only issue is if they do go into the trial they have to go off one of there inhaled meds called hypertonic which for us is a very important drug that works very well for both boys. Now if the new drug works then it won't matter but we also have the chance we will be in the placebo group and if that happens not only will we be on something that won't do anything for us but we also will be off the hypertonic so we have to really decide if we want to chance it. Anyway just something for us to think about.

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Update

Finally the scale went down!! Wooo Hoooo!! It went down 3 pounds!! One day I was the same and the next day I was down 3 pounds! I still think something is up with the scale! Clothes are fitting better and better or should I say looser!! :)

So one reason I wanted to reduce my weight is because we are going to Cabo soon for our 11 year annv!!! My sister and niece are watching the kids and we will be on a beautiful beach for a week!! I cannot wait!! So I want to be able to wear the 3 bathing suits I got just for this trip and look good in them! We were going to go to Hawaii but we waited too long to book the tickets so by the time we got around to it the prices were sky high!! Our good friends/neighbors are going too. They will be celebrating their 10th annv.

So we went to the dr last thurs and both kids pfts are up but the dr asked us if we wouldn't mind doing another week of iv antibodics because the levels were off untill the last 4 days of the first two weeks. They like to have a certain amount in the blood stream and both boys were too low which means they metabolized it too fast. The dr thinks it is because of all the running they do. I asked if we should stop that while doing the iv's and he said no because it is so good for them. Anyway we go back to the dr tomorrow and hopefully be finished. Over all the boys are doing great!!

My niece is in town for 3 weeks so we have been hanging out. She starts college in the fall and I am very proud of her!! We are going to lay out today and see if I can get a tan for Cabo!!

I am also waiting on the air conditioning guy to get here to put in our new unit!! Last night was the hottest and it was unbearable. I did not sleep good at all! I tried to go upstairs but it was freezing so I couldn't sleep there either. I will be glad when we get that fixed!!

I also found a place for Precious (my horse) and it is close by!! Maybe 10 to 15 min drive. It is really nice and the have jumping and dressage which will be nice to have both. The place I have her now only has dressage so I have missed jumping! And this place is cheaper!! Yay!! We are moving her Sat or Sun. I do always feel bad when we have to move her. I am sure it is hard when you go to a new place and have to leave your old home but she has always adjusted well so I am sure she will this time too.

Hope everyone has a great week!!!