Always Sisters, Forever Friends~

So, we have yet another Feb. birthday and although we celebrated this special day a little early (as you will see from the pictures below), we certainly couldn't forget to post a little something for our dear Aunt Tonya.





Here are a few quotes that I wrote down and wanted to post on this day:

Growing up, sisters are probably the most competitive relationship within a family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.

God made us sisters, but our hearts made us friends.

Birthdays are good for you....statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.

Well, baby sister, you are officially 34 today. You should be very proud at everything you've accomplished in life already, yet I feel the best is still yet to come. Although we aren't there with you, we are thinking of you and hope all your birthday dreams and wishes comes true.

And, we couldn't do this for Angie and not do it for you, too, so here goes....



Happy 34th Birthday! We love and miss you!

XOXO,
J,T,J & little E

Oh Lordy, is she really 40?

It's not just another birthday, it's the BIG 4 - 0! This post is dedicated to my big sis, and I have to say, you are officially "over the hill!" Just kidding. I guess I shouldn't say that because I'm not that far behind you. Turning 40 is certainly a big milestone. I think some might see the Big 4-0 as the entry to middle age, but isn’t it also true that the 40 is the new 30? As you get ready to celebrate your big day, just remember that you are old enough to have learned from your mistakes, yet young enough to chart a new direction in your life. Remember...it’s all about the journey.

Happy 40th Birthday to our big sis, sis-in-law and Aunt.

Here's a video just for you on your special day (sorry, it's turned side-ways, but that's what you get when you need to be out the door by 8:00 and it's already 8:05):



Hope you have a happy, joyful, fun-filled, special day. We wished we could be there to help you celebrate, but you are still in our hearts!

Lots of love,
J, T, J & little E

I finally got it-

I pinned him down long enough to grab a picture. I rushed home from work in order to be home by 5:15 so Todd and Jacob could leave and try to get to the ballpark by 5:30. I didn't want Ellie to have to go sit out in the cold longer than absolutely necessary, although I don't think she would of cared since she was excited to see her "best-friend" whose brother plays on Jacob's team. So, needless to say, the boys were in a hurry to get out the door when I got home. However, I insisted on grabbing a few quick snapshots of my favorite little guy.

So, here's the first of our 2010 spring season baseball pic:



A full body shot, although he was trying to be funny and amuse his Momma. I told him I was going to post this...



a better shot, although he's still slouching...



and we had to take one of the "cool," or as Daddy says, "tight" new cleats...



If I didn't know any better, I would think that Todd was the one playing baseball. Granted, Jacob picked out these shoes, but I think Todd was more excited to see them arrive in the mail. And, yes, you read that right...we had to order these on-line because the sports stores around here don't have the latest "cool" styles in stock. And someone please remind me again...who is the one playing baseball? Would that be Jacob or Todd? Sigh...

Okay, off to watch my favorite little man play some ball. Go Rays!

We are back on the crazy ride!

It's that time of year again. Our so-called sports "break" certainly didn't last long enough...not for me anyways. The spring baseball season is under way and we'll be back to spending every night at the ballfield, or just about every night. I've already made my husband promise that we will commit to having more "us" time than we've had in the past, so we'll see how that goes.

So this year we decided to sign the little one up for t-ball to see how she liked it, and after Opening Ceremonies today, it sounds like she LOVES it.

Here is the first official picture of Ellie in her t-ball uniform...yes, she truly is under that hat:

It was so much fun to watch those little kids run around out there today. For some reason, I don't recall it being quite this funny when Jacob played t-ball. We had kids running every which way and tackling the balls on the ground as if it was a fumble in a football game. That's no joke...there were kids literally piled on the ground. We had one kid hit the ball and instead of running to first base, he decided to run after the ball in the field...with the bat. We had another kid hit the ball off the tee and run to 3rd instead of 1st. It was a very comical show, but more importantly, Ellie had a blast. I think she was most proud of the groundball she stopped on the pitchers mound and then threw to first. It was a good throw, but unfortunately, the 1st baseman didn't catch it. There weren't too many balls that were actually caught out there today.

At the end of the day, Ellie said, "Mommy, sorry I keep talking about it, but I had a lot of fun. I liked it much better than cheerleading." I'm so happy she enjoyed it. Will we have another softball player in the family? Only time will tell...

Sorry, guys, but no picture of #1. I will be sure to get one next time. He's hard to catch now-a-days. I pretty much see him during his game; otherwise, he's roaming the park with his friends...kind of like what I did when I was his age.

That's all I have for today. Have a great weekend and enjoy the BIG game tomorrow. I'm not really much of a football watchin' fan, but my vote is for the Saints...simply because 1.) they've never won a Super Bowl before and 2.) New Orleans could use a little lift after the devastation they experienced a few years back. I know those aren't really good football reasons, but they are my reasons.

XOXO

2/01/2010

So, that was an important day to our family and shame on me for letting it fly by unnoticed, even if we only missed it by a day. I had thought about it the week before and kept thinking...what special thing could I do? I had good intentions, but in this hectic Harrison life, it flew right by me. Yes, 02/01/09 was when Ellie was initially diagnosed with diabetes, so 2/1/10 was her one year anniversary and she kindly reminded me of that on 2/2/10. "Mommy, isn’t this when I first got diabetes?" She knew because we had talked about it a few days before, but I had to look it up on the internet and confirm that 2/1/09 was indeed the day the SuperBowl was held and that is a day that I will NEVER forget.

So, we chatted about the last year and what we were doing at that same time one year ago...

M: "Ellie, at this time last year we were in PSL Hospital just learning what was making you so sick."

E: "Yeah, Mommy, I had tubes hanging out of my arms and I was scared."

Thinking back, I could only imagine how scared that precious girl really was, but boy was she full of surprises. To this day, she continues to amaze me with her resilience and how she’s taken this hard life change all in stride. I don’t know that I, as an adult, could of handled it any better. Without even knowing it, I think she's taught us all a few life lessons.

Even though it’s been a very challenging year, I am very proud of my little girl and how she has stood so strong and brave and has continued to fight this disease day by day, with very few complaints. Not only does she have to face the everyday challenges of managing her disease, but she also has to deal with the lack of awareness from the general public. I have heard numerous stories how she goes to the clinic at school to check her sugar and the kids sit and stare at her, or say, "what are you doing?" I know they are just curious little kids, but I’m sure it gets old.

There are times when I still get mad or upset, especially if I feel like I’m failing her if I can’t get her sugars at a level I’m happy with, but I have to remind myself that diabetes is not our whole life. It is never easy and we all feel a range of emotions, but that is normal and those emotions will pass and change with time.

Biomedical research has cured many diseases and has helped many diseases become survivable, so we, as a family, will do whatever it takes to make sure diabetes is the next disease on that "cured" list. With that being said, please support us and join us in our walk, or make a small donation in support of "Ellie’s Team." For those of you who have already donated, some we have never even met, THANK YOU! Every little cent counts and we couldn't do it without you.

Lastly, Ellie, as I’ve told you over and over, Mommy and Daddy are soooo proud of you. You are such a beautiful, smart, funny and kind, precious little girl, but most of all, so VERY brave, courageous, strong and tough as beans. Mommy and Daddy will always, without a shadow of a doubt, be there for you and stand by you every step of the way.

GO TEAM ELLIE!

XOXO,
Mommy & Daddy

8 days is a long time for a child...

and for a wife/mother too. After a few ice and snow delays, Daddy is finally home. Okay, so it wasn't as terribly hard to handle all the day to day family matters as I thought it was going to be, despite the fact I couldn't get my kids everywhere they needed to be because of that little thing called "work." However, it certainly puts things in perspective and makes you realize just how important that one little word is between a husband and a wife...teamwork! Yes, we all get irritated and have little "spats" from time to time, but for the most part, I'm pretty fortunate to have a partner that does his fair share and believes in teamwork.

Just 2 simple things I've been reminded of...

1. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and

2. "There is no "I" in Teamwork."

Glad you are home, Daddy! We missed you!

Time to roll out 2009 and ring in 2010

Whew...what a year 2009 has been. So, I'm sure you are wondering...why a bluebird? Well, let me explain. Many years ago Esther gave me this Christmas ornament...



which hangs faithfully on my tree every year; it's suppose to bring good luck. Apparently it is a tradition in many countries to place a sheaf of wheat outside the door on Christmas Day for the birds. If a bluebird is to land upon it, good fortune is believed to fall upon all who live there. Hence, the bluebird on my blog. I could use a little good luck in the coming year. All I have to say is 2010 has got to be better, right?

Well, I've had this in my draft box for about 2 weeks now and it hasn't changed. It was suppose to be 2009 in review, but this is as far as I've got and I don't anticipate that I will get much more done in the next week, so this will have to do for now.

Daddy has officially left us for a week. He is working today and leaves tomorrow morning at 4:30 to go to Vegas. Yes, it is for work, but my guess is they will have their share of fun too. If today and the next 2 days are any indication, I have a feeling the next week is going to be a little crazy for me. To start, Ellie is feeling a little under the weather with what I think may be an earache, and of course it's Friday night, so now we won't be able to see our doctor for 2 days. Jacob had practice today and he has it again tomorrow and Sun., so we are officially back in baseball season full swing. Plus, he has now injured his elbow, and as we all know, he's not the toughest cookie, so I'm sure I'll be listening to him whine all weekend. The first thing out of his mouth was, "am I going to need surgery?" Sigh....

Although I thought it was going to be tough on Jacob when his Daddy left, I'm starting to think that it might be a little tougher on the little one. She's already cried twice today because she misses her Daddy and she's already drawing him pictures asking me to send them to him via text message.

So, although I will miss their Daddy too, I believe I'm going to have my hands full and a schedule that is jammed packed with activities, so hopefully that will keep me a little preoccupied until Daddy returns home.

I think it's going to be a crazy week, but I'm ready. Have a fun and safe trip, Daddy. Hurry home...we will miss you!

XOXO

We are playing musical pillows with the tooth-fairy-

So last week it was Ellie stealing Bubbe's tooth and confiscating the money from the tooth-fairy, but this week it was Ellie's turn to lose a tooth. She was biting down on a popsicle last night when her bottom tooth fell out. She was actually going to let me pull it out earlier that morning, but I was even a little to nervous to do that. I knew it was only going to be a matter of hours because her tooth was simply hanging on by a very tiny piece of skin. One more tooth down....



So just like last week, Ellie was once again terrified of being in her room alone awaiting the tooth-fairy's arrival. She was trying to make her way into our room again, but we weren't having it last night. Rather than fighting the long fight and listening to the moaning and groaning, here was Daddy's compromise this week: Daddy put the tooth under his pillow and the tooth fairy came to our room. Does that mean Daddy gets to keep the money? I guess not - Ellie was much happier this time...."Mommy, I got five $1's this time!"

I bet the tooth-fairy is quite confused when coming to the Harrison household?!?

So I was reading the blog of one of Essie's dear friends who was starting a-week-in-the-life blogging project this week. I guess you photograph your day and narrate it for 7 days straight. I might try this, although I can't say it will be all that exciting. I can say that if you want to see a lot of football, baseball, cheerleading photos...then this will be the place to be. We'll see if I can get this moving....

Happy Monday, All!

The things kids say - Part 3

I wonder how many posts will actually have that title...I'm at 3 now. I’m almost too embarrassed to post this, but on the other hand, it gave me a good chuckle, so I’ll reluctantly share.

Last night Ellie and I were giving my room a good fall clean..scrubbing the baseboards, moving some furniture around, wiping down the walls, etc... It seems I have this recent "nesting" urge (no, I’m not pregnant) to go through every room in the house and just give it a good cleaning from one side of the room to the other. I sooo wished I was a stay-at-home Mom to get this all done, because with my current schedule it will likely take months to do and by the time I finish the last room I'm sure the first room will need it again, but we won’t go there...that’s getting away from my point and that's a whole different story.

So back to the story... Ellie found Jacob’s tooth that fell out months ago still sitting on top of my jewelry box...just sitting there...waiting to be stuffed away under that comfy pillow to be "cashed in." Although Jacob still won’t come out and say it (although I’m anxiously awaiting this talk about all the holiday fairies), I, unfortunately, believe he’s at that point where he no longer believes in the "generous" tooth-fairy...he just doesn't want to tell Mommy and Daddy yet.

Since Bubbe clearly had no interest in cashing in that tooth, Ellie asked if she could put the tooth under her pillow and collect the money, so I said, "I don't see why not." So she put the tooth in a baggy and wrote the following note to the tooth fairy:

"My Brother did not want this tooth so i took it."

and drew this cute picture:

The rest of the night that’s all she talked about. I don’t know why she was soooo excited...perhaps the anticipation of receiving money for a tooth that wasn’t even hers. On the flip side, she was also a little scared. She didn’t want to be left alone as she anxiously wondered when that "beautiful" fairy was going to arrive. Todd couldn’t keep her out of our room. He came in there several times between 8:30-11:30 shooing Ellie off to her own bed. After a little crying and moaning, she would go back, but she would eventually land back in my bed and quickly fall right back to sleep. Todd was finally ready to hit the sack when he arrived in our room again and whala...there was Ellie again. At this point, he was getting a little frustrated, so he mumbled something under his breath and walked out of the room. I could hear him in there fumbling around in the coin drawer, grabbing the notes from under Ellie’s pillow and stuffing them away. A few minutes later he came back into the room and this is how the conversation went:

Daddy: "Ellie, you can go back to your room now. The tooth-fairy came...she must of came while I was in the bathroom."

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Ellie says, "Really?"

D: "Yep, go look."

It was almost like Christmas morning...Ellie quickly jumped out of bed and ran into her room excited to see what the tooth-fairy left her. Then, this is what I heard next....the embarrassing part of this blog:

E: "$2.00? Way to dig deep tooth-fairy!"

I kid you not. I couldn’t believe that came out of my 6 year old daughter. Although a little thrown back by the selfish comment, I just chuckled and knew it would only be seconds before Todd peeked around the corner and said "did you hear that?" Yes, I did...SPOILED...that’s about all I can say!

The things kids say - Part Two

I don't know where this came from, but here's a quick conversation I had with Ellie this evening:

Ellie: "Mommy, don't ever adopt me."

Mommy: "What?"

Ellie: "Don't ever adopt me!"

Mommy: "What do you mean? Do you mean don't ever put you up for adoption?"

Ellie: "Yes, that."

Mommy: "Why in the world would you ever think that, Ellie?"

Ellie: "I don't know, but don't ever do it."

Mommy: "Ellie, Mommy loves you so, so much...you and Jacob are my world and I would never in a million years ever even think of doing something crazy like that."

Ellie: "Good, we are on the same page."

We discussed this in greater detail after that, but goodness gracious....the things kids say.

Our trip to Nick Hotel-

We decided to take one last weekend trip away before school and football/cheerleading starts, so we took the kids to the Nickelodeon Hotel. This is going to be a post of mainly pictures that will simply tell it all...

Here was our hotel:



This was the water park by the pool area...

which is where this little guy spent most of his time:

Her...not so much.

This is where Ellie liked to spend most of her time...

going down the slide and...

and getting soaked by the bucket waterfall:



Here's Jacob shooting a few basketballs:

and then to their favorite time of the day.

This big bucket just under Sponge Bob was filled to the rim with slime and then the countdown began...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

and then it was .....SLIME TIME!!!

By the time I got to them through the crowd, most of the slime had already slithered off their slick bodies, but in these pictures, you can still see a little bit of the slime on them.

I was really there...here's the proof:

Ellie in Blue Clue's thinking chair:

Ellie with Dora, whom she had to high-five every time she walked by:



Jacob and Ellie in front of the Rugrats:

Then we met the Aunt's/Uncle and had a nice dinner out at...

RUN FORREST RUN.....

The Bubba Gump Shrimp giving Jacob the bunny-ears:

After dinner, we went to play putt-putt and watched some of the other visitors feed/tease the gators in the pond...

A picture of the best two golfers around....

and lastly, a picture of Ellie with the ladybug she caught on her hand. I just thought it was a cute picture and wanted to share (you'll have to double-click the picture to get a good look).

That's about it for now. It was definitely too quick and we were back to the work/school grind before we knew it.

Happy Monday!

Is it already here...really?

The summer flew by and today came much too quick, but they're off and today marks the official start of the 2009-2010 school year. So, to keep up with yearly tradition, here are the first shots of our 6th grader (do I really have a kid going into middle-school?) and our 1st grader....

Any different from last year? They are certainly growing up... I will upload more pictures later, but I'm at work and these are the only two pictures I got on my phone, so they'll have to work for now.

Although both seem rather excited, we have many new beginnings this school year....new schools, new teachers, new nurses, changing of classes, bus rides, etc... Admittingly, Mommy was actually a little nervous for my two favorite people this year, although I would never tell them that.

With a year full of many new "first," we had one that was a tad more nervous than the other, and I'm sure you can only guess who. I really think our Bubbe was more nervous about the bus ride than anything else. There was a lot of..."what if I miss the bus?" - "what if I forget what building to go to?" - "what if I don't know to get off at the right school?" Yep, he even asked that. Granted, his bus is stopping at Northport too, but my dear son, I think you will know the difference. Sigh...

Todd said he had a mini-breakdown on his way to the bus-stop, but I'm sure it's just all nerves. Jacob's bus # is 2629 and the first bus that pulled up at his stop was 2926. Thankfully, Todd was there with him and discovered that Mommy didn't write the numbers down incorrectly, it simply wasn't the right bus. Way to go, Transportation Dept., and confuse a kid who is already a nervous wreck. Couldn't they of picked a bus with numbers that weren't so much alike? Geez...

As far as the little girl, she told me she was "a teeny nervous, but not like Bubbe." I didn't even have to walk her to her room. We went through the drop-off line and she walked up to the school on her own like a very BIG girl.

Well, I'm sure there will be lots more to tell a little later this evening. For the time being, I guess I will watch the clock and anxiously await for my day to end.

I love you, Jacob and Ellie. Mommy is SOOOO proud of both of you and I can't wait to hear about your day!

The things kids say~

So, it's a hot, summer morning and Ellie's outside running around and playing with her little friend, McKenzie. The next thing I know she comes storming in the door all hot and sweaty asking me if she can have one of the diet grape sodas that her Daddy bought for her yesterday. I check the soda and it contains 0 caffeine, 0 carbs and 0 sugars, so I say, "sure." A couple of minutes later I go out to the laundry room and see both Ellie and her little friend sipping on one of the sodas. Because of Ellie's circumstances, I've learned that it's always important to ask before giving food/drinks to other little ones....you just never know if it's something they can't have. So I asked Ellie if McKenzie's Grandma said it was okay for her to have the soda and, although I didn't know why at the time, they both stood there with the deer-in-the-headlight frightened looks on their faces. I'm sure Ellie's frightened look was because she knew she didn't ask, but McKenzie quickly puts the soda down on the shelf and says, "I can't have it if it's got diabetes in it." All I could do was chuckle....how do you respond to that?

We are leaving soon for our last weekend get-away before school and football starts. I'm looking forward to spending a weekend away with my two littles at the Nickelodeon Hotel watching them get slimed...ha!

Happy weekend to all!

A few weeks ago, I talked about...

a little beach time;
relaxing in the sun;
getting a little tan;
listening to and playing in the waves; and
wiggling my toes in the warm beach sand.

Well, now that we got a LITTLE break from all the baseball craziness, we finally got to do that today! Here are my toes doing the wiggly in the warm beach sand...



It was a beautiful day at the beach, so we soaked in the sun, played in the sand and waves, relaxed and enjoyed the day. Here are a few pictures to share:

The kids building a little castle...







Ellie was catching a lot of these snails and giving them all names. I think this was Eddie, or wait... maybe this was Fred?



Ellie made me a sign in the sand. I know it's hard to see, but it says Mommy above the little heart :)



Jacob, or is that Ellie, picking his/her head up off the ground.



And the boys taking action on their plan to soak me with a pail of water. Daddy, who I'm sure was the master-mind behind it all, was taking the picture while sending Jacob off to do the dirty work:



One of me and my favorite girl:



A cute one of Ellie...



and one of Bubbe showing off his physique while doing a little flexing for his Dad.



Definitely not a bad way to spend the day with the ones you love....



Hope your day was as good as ours!

XOXO