Right of Passage

Growing up it was the norm to ride in the back of dad's pick-up now and again.  Not daily, mind you. But... if you had a boatload of friends over and you were heading to the beach or park or some other venue - or... the cab was full of adults and no room for you - you'd all pile in the back and enjoy the wind in your face, hair whipping wildly about as dad zoomed down the road.

Now a-days, that's a BIG. FAT. NO. NO!

Unless living on a farm or ranch, most kids don't get to enjoy this wonderful thrill.

Yes, I know the dangers.  I understand why it's illegal (I think) and frowned upon to pile a bunch of wryly kids into the back of the pick-up and take off.

Believe me, I've been 'that mom' in my own vehicle driving down the road to see another parent with kids sitting in the open bed of a pick-up truck and thought, "How careless to put their kids's lives in jeopardy; how idiotic to allow their kids to be in the back of that truck on this fast highway."

Key words being 'main road or highway'.

Yet, this day.... as we prepared to go clean the cabin of Doug's aunt and uncle... our kids did just that.

They piled in the open bed of our Toyota pick-up truck along with our vacuum cleaner and away we went.

A quick trip around our private road to go clean a cabin.
They ended up doing this twice this summer - this pic was the second time.

Granted -- the whole trip is along dirt roads and my speed never reached much more than 15 mph during the duration of our drive.

Not to mention, the drive itself is probably a mile or three at most and we didn't pass a single car on the trip there OR back.  For all intents and purposes it was LIKE we were on a farm or ranch.

So... the kids got to experience the thrilling ride of bouncing along in the back of a pick-up bed as we hit and dodged a myriad of pot holes and boulders sticking up from the dirt road.

They were thrilled and in our Williams homeschool fashion, the girls got to ride and clean in their dress-up clothes they had put on earlier in the day for a tea party.  (Unfortunately, I don' have the pic of them in their dress-up clothes downloaded.)

Country living has it's perks.

Prior to moving to the wild, wide open, west I would have NEVER considered plopping my children in the back of the truck to go for a drive.

Now - with the private dirt roads, slow speeds, lack of traffic and other vehicles - I threw caution to the wind and gave my kids a taste of my own childhood.

I imagine I may be opening myself up to being flogged, flayed, and brought before the firing squad, but....

It was fun.

It was safe.

It was a quick ride on a bumpy, dirt road.

Another benefit to our mini-mountain-menagerie.

We simply love our mountain home.

False Alarm

As promised, here's the update on our 'potentially pregnant' 6 month old rabbits.

Fortunately, it appears as though our 'worry' was a false alarm.

Phew!

Although it is always fun to have kits - these were just a tad too young for my liking to be bred.

Not to mention, most of these rabbits are set to be 'freezer rabbits' not necessarily breeding rabbits and of course the worry of 'in-breeding' as it was siblings that were in the grow-out pens together.  As well as the fact that we are in our 'cold season' which - from previous experience - can result in the loss of baby bunnies.

With the worry that one or more of the young rabbits might be pregnant, we held off on moving the cages to their winter location.

After last winter - we knew that EXTREME drifting in front of the hutch doors would be the norm once the snow starts flying so... we rearranged some things in the garage to make room for our rabbits.

The kiddos were thrilled with this decision as it means not needing to dig out 5 ft drifts each morning.  :-)

Plus, our make-shift hutch has seen better days and is in dire need of some repairs - which I didn't feel would be easy to accomplish in the cold, snow, and wind of fall/winter.  (Yes, I realize I SHOULD have worked on that over the summer, but... hindsight....)

As of last week, we have now moved all the rabbits into our garage for the winter months.

These cute little guys will be toasty warm - until they hit the freezer, anyway.

They didn't fit quite as concisely as I'd hoped so we now have rabbits ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE!

But... at least they won't get drifted in or dripped on by melting snow.

Hopefully, by next winter we'll have their permanent home built - a pole barn - which will be better all around for everyone involved.

Discovery Days

As Bethany and Elijah are in their senior year of high school, they have had opportunities to visit colleges and attend 'fun' activities.

Just this month, Techno and I went with them to Discovery Days at the University of Wyoming.

An all day event where we started by visiting 'booths' of the various colleges/careers/activities that the kiddos could consider.

We spent a great deal of time at the psychology, engineering, and honors college tables along with quick stops off at the performing arts and research booths.  (Techno and I also grabbed a little information from the health services and scholarship booths - because, you know... parents.)

After meandering around the tables, we sat through the opening presentations to give an overview of UW.  Hearing from a panel of current students was informative and enlightening - although somewhat redundant since Jacob is already a student there -- this isn't our first rodeo.

UW really is a great school with lots of options for various types of individuals.

We divided and conquered as Techno and Elijah headed off to the engineering program presentation while Bethany and I went to the Arts and Sciences presentation as that's where the field of psychology falls.

Once these presentations were complete, we met up at the campus dining hall and had a quick lunch.

Some students feel the food at Washike isn't very good, but our kids, Techno, and I have to disagree.  Maybe it's just in comparison to the meals we were offered when we were in college, but... the variety is diverse, they have plenty of gluten free options, anything we've ever eaten there has been tasty, and if all else fails, there's always cereal, waffles, and ice cream -- what more could you ask for?

A quick pic after lunch.
I had intended to take pictures of each stage, but it just didn't happen.  Sigh.

Since the kids have stayed on campus in the past, we've seen the dorms since Jacob lived there, we skipped the dorm tour to give ourselves a bit more time to eat a leisurely lunch.

Following our meal, we headed off to hear about the cost of attendance for in-state students.

Again, somewhat redundant as Jacob is currently a student, but it was good to hear some of the minor changes and see the prospects Bethany and Elijah have for covering tuition.

To end the day we trekked across campus to view the Honor's House.  The house where honor's students can apply to live.

Techno and I had toured the house with Jacob when he was visiting campus, but I had forgotten some of it.  The atmosphere is quite nice; the living space and kitchen are amazing; the study rooms are spacious; the 'game/TV room' is open yet cozy; but the bedrooms are TINY!  Yet, they have carpet and look cozy and welcoming.

Bethany fell in love; Elijah not so much.

To see their differing personalities emerge in these areas is quite comical.

Bethany loved the Honor's House.  The camaraderie of being with like-minded students. The homey feel of living in a house with others.  The potential for building friendships and connections.

Elijah on the other hand decided it was too close for comfort with all those people.

Ha.

So true to their personalities.

They've both been accepted to UW and will most likely be among the students tromping around campus this fall.

Now we simply wait to hear about scholarships; acceptance into the Honor's College; housing assignments; and roommate determinations.

An exciting time.

A nervous time.

A time of change.

Turning 21

So many milestones.

Just a few weeks ago Bethany turned 18.

Now..... Jacob turns 21!

When you have adult children that no longer 'live' at home, you have fewer updated photos.
This was from Christmas 2016.

Whoa, how did that happen?

Not only did he turn 21, but today, on his birthday he will fly out to spend the week in Virginia with his girlfriend, Jenna, and her father to celebrate Thanksgiving.

WHAT?????

WAIT!!!

A new era of parenting all around.

We now have 2 adult children, one of which is old enough to purchase his own plane ticket and skuddle across the US to visit his girlfriend and spend a holiday with her and her dad.

On his birthday, no less.

Yes, times are a changin'!

Seems like just yesterday he was a mere tiny babe in my arms.  The perfect little being that made me a mom... Techno a dad.

Now?

Now he's heading out on his own - not coming home for the holidays.

<<Cue tears here.>>

Don't get me wrong - we are so very proud of who he is.  What he's doing with his life.  All he's done so far.  The strong character he imbibes.  The independence he exudes.

We love his girlfriend and are thrilled he's getting this opportunity to spend some special time with her.

It's all just. so. very. new.

Different.

We raise our kids in preparation for them to spread their wings.

To move out on their own.

To live a productive, purposeful life.

I'm proud to say, Jacob is well on his way to accomplishing all that and more.

So....

on this.....

his birthday.....

 I say....

Happy Birthday, fabulous young man!

I LOVE that he still comes home and decorates Christmas cookies with his siblings.
Not sure how many more Christmases we'll have this memory with him.

Now that those wings of yours are spread.... fly high.  (Quite literally, today, as you hop on that plane to go see the young lady who has captured your heart.)

Enjoy your birthday.

Happy Thanksgiving.

We'll celebrate once you return.

I'm confident this is merely the beginning of many changes in our lives as parents of adult children.

Behind the Scenes with T1D

Recently, the girls had to do more finger pokes to check their blood sugar than is typical now that they have continuous glucose monitors.

With having the Dexcom continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), they usually only need to do a blood glucose meter test twice daily to calibrate their CGM sensors.  This eliminates a lot of needle pokes to their tiny fingers.

Usually we rely on the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor for the blood sugar readings. Sometime, the CGM fails or the readings are just off and we have to revert to using the manual blood glucose meter and finger sticks.
This technology is a Godsend and we are so blessed to have it at our disposal.

However, at times, the CGM's are off; not reading; in warm-up mode; or other situations that require additional blood drops for getting accurate blood glucose readings.

Accurate readings are paramount to safe treatment of their diabetes.

It seemed recently that was a prevalent event for both girls.

I watched as Selah washed her hands; pulled out her test strip; slid it into the blood glucose meter; grabbed her 'poker' (as she calls it); pulled back the plunger to prep the lancet for jabbing her petite finger; choosing one finger, then another, then another before deciding which to poke; finally plunging the lancet into her little finger to elicit a minuscule drop of blood; once she 'squeezed out' an adequate amount, she placed the test strip to that drop so it could be 'drawn in' to then be read by the meter.  A beep; a pause; another beep; then the number appeared on the screen.  54.  LOW!  Too low.

Checking her blood sugar.

A juice.

Wait 15 minutes.

Check again.  (The scene above re-enacted to discover if the fast acting carbs had worked or not.)

A better number appeared.  

Breath released.

Later, in the middle of the night, a similar scenario played out as Trinity, through sleep filled eyes and staggering, gangly legs, went through all the same steps.

Reading low on her CGM -- a mere 42 -- we sprang into action.  This was a new sensor and we know from experience that the first day or so of a new CGM sensor can result in inaccurate readings so a finger stick is advisable before administering any corrective measures.  Hence, the need to wake her slumber.

She stood in front of my footstool - command center for 'all things diabetic' in our home - and began the process of checking her blood sugar.

Trinity taking insulin via a pen needle early on after diagnosis.

The routine played out again -- just with a different child.  Washing her hands; getting a test strip out; placing it in the meter; picking up and pulling back the plunger on her lancing device; choosing a finger - like her sister, she places the 'poker' to one finger, then another before pressing the button to release the small blade that will pierce through her skin on her bony fingers to draw a small drop of blood to the surface; once said drop is sufficient in size, she brings her meter to it and allows the test strip to absorb the blood and begin the calculating process;  beep; pause; beep; the reading appears.  56.  Not quite as low as her CGM alerted, but still too low.  Particularly while sleeping.

A juice.

Wait 15 minutes.

The process begins again.

A better number so back to bed she goes.

Mom's muscles relax - tense from the fear such lows elicit.

As I watched both girls, I found my heart weeping.

Tears threatening to  pool in my eyes.

This IS their life.

It won't end -- not anytime soon.  Not till a cure is found - which seems far off if attainable at all.

As I watched them, I was struck with how the actions were so smooth.

So familiar.

So ordinary.

So...... 'NORMAL'.

Yet at the same time I couldn't help but ponder how 'ABNORMAL' it all really is.

They will be doing this every day.....

.....multiple times a day.....

.....for the rest of their lives.  

Pokes, prods, blood drops, shots, needles, insulin pump insets, dexcom sensor insertion needles, juice boxes, honey sticks, eating carbs even when they aren't hungry due to low blood glucose levels, NOT eating even when they ARE hungry due to high blood sugars, guessing at carb counts, measuring and weighing food, calculating insulin to carb ratios, figuring out correction factors, blood draws at least every 3 months, endocrinology appointments at the same intervals, carrying life saving supplies daily - EVERYWHERE they go, dealing w/insurance for said life saving supplies, insulin, glucose tablets, syringes, alcohol swabs, test strips, blood glucose meters, lancets, glugagon kits that cost a fortune.

Some of the many things the girls need.... Just. To. Survive!


THIS.  IS.  THEIR.  LIFE!

The life saving insulin that keeps them alive, but has the potential of taking their lives as well.

I'd take it away and live it myself in an instant.

Unfortunately, I can't.

For that, my heart breaks.  Tears sting.  Thoughts swirl.

At the same time pride soars.

These girls are so resilient.  So strong.

This is the needle that inserts the pump canola - that's a big, long needle if you ask me.
 No wonder they get nervous.  And to think I used to fret over getting my blood drawn.

They take it all in stride; they don't let it stop them or really slow them down too much.  

They are fighters!

Warriors!!

Pump site after insertion.  They have to go through this every 3 days.

My heroes!!!

OOOOPS!!!

Raising meat rabbits has become one of our journeys in 'homesteading'.

We have a very limited rabbitry compared to many..... maybe even most.

We have 16 rabbits now -- after selling 4 Silver Fox rabbits this past weekend: 11 of which are our meat rabbit stock.  Many rabbitries we know of have well over 100 rabbits.  I'm sure large meat rabbit productions have significantly more than even that.

WHOA!!  I.  CANNOT.  EVEN.  IMAGINE!

Part of the reason we have a smaller number is the cost, but also the limited amount of space we have to successfully keep rabbits.

This lack of space may have resulted in an 'OOPS' in our rabbit raising.

From research, we have chosen to start breeding our rabbits once they are around 8 months old.  Granted, some rabbit breeders choose a younger age - 5-6 months - but the limited research I did indicated that the doe will have bigger litters and will grow to a bigger size if you wait until she's closer to 8 months.

That said... we do allow our rabbits to 'grow out' together in larger cages until they get a bit older.  We had our rabbits mixed together:  does and bucks happily co-habitating in their little grow-out pens.

A couple weeks before selling our 4 meat rabbits, I separated the does and bucks -- placing several bucks together, 2 different cages of does together, and a single buck in a smaller cage.  (Rabbits not used to living together may fight and harm one another, so the single buck that had been with several does, ended up in his own little bachelor pad.)  Lucky him.  The others have to share their space.

Recently, the girls noted one of the cages where 2 does are rooming together, looked as though fur was being pulled.

See those tufts of hair?  There was quite a bit of that in/around this particular cage of 2 does.

Hmmmm.... that's a sign of kindling occurring soon.

Initially I thought maybe they were just 'molting' or pulling each others fur a bit since they are roommates.

However, the fur clumps were getting bigger.  More prevalent.  Not just a tuft or two.

JUST IN CASE - I went out and the girls and I separated the two does and put nesting boxes into their cages filled with a bit of straw.

This young doe appears to like her nesting box -- pregnant or not.  I imagine it's nice and cozy if nothing else.

As I moved one of the does, her tummy area did feel a bit 'full and lumpy' - both signs of kits growing within her womb.  The other one less so.

This is the one I THINK seemed 'more pregnant' but.... who really knows.

Time will tell now.

I hope that moving the mamas didn't cause too much stress if either of them ARE in fact pregnant.  I'd hate to be the cause of losing a litter (or two) of kits -- even if said litter was unplanned.

Another lesson learned in the trenches.

When separating kits from mama rabbit - put bucks in one cage and does in another.  Even with the best intentions - you may not get around to separating them later before 'accidents' can happen.

Stay tuned to see if one or more of these potential little mama's have baby bunnies in the next few days.

Costumes

As Halloween approached, the kids began their 'quest' for costumes.

I honestly think our kiddos enjoy the 'dressing up' WAY more than the actual act of trick-or-treating and getting candy.

The girls had expressed some of their plans.

A lady bug character from a Netflix cartoon they all watch; lego people from another show they occasionally view.

The older kids -- they were still discussing what they could be together -- a 'group costume', if you will.

Then...

.....we went to the consignment store.

Trinity found a 'goddess' type dress and decided she was going to be a 'Fall/Winter Princess'.

The cream and blue, long, flowy dress with a gold leafed headband cinched her plans.

Once she made this decision, the other two quickly changed courses on their costume choices.

Lady Bug and lego people were out - Spring/Summer Princess was in for Selah and a 'Royal Peacock' was the plan for Charity.  With how quickly they changed and with such precise costume ideas, I can't help but think they had a back-up plan in the works all along.  LOL!

<<Glad I hadn't started purchasing supplies for the OHTER costume choices they had mentioned.  :-)>>

Meandering through the same consignment shop we found a formal dress in a teal satin w/a teal blue and green mesh overlay covering the same teal satin skirt along with teal blue and black feathers adorning the chest area.  It was appropriately labeled 'Peacock Prom Dress'.  Originally I balked at the price -- this is a COSTUME after all, but an employee walked up as we were admiring the dress and informed us it was 50% off.  THAT made it worthwhile.  If I were to buy material to make a peacock costume, it would easily come to the cost of this dress or more -- at least at it's sale price.

We purchased both the 'Goddess' dress and the Peacock Prom Dress on the spot.

My work had just decreased exponentially with these purchases.

All I had to do was take Trinity's dress up a bit at the shoulder so it wasn't too low cut and the length was a bit shorter so she wouldn't trip.  Purchasing an off-white shirt to go under it to give modesty and warmth completed the package.

Taking in the side of the prom dress, cutting off a little length of the 'underskirt' and 'bunching' up the mesh and satin overlay in various spots, resulted in a nice, elegant start to a 'peacock' costume.  Adding a few 'sparkly peacock feathers' to the back of the dress, a headband with more feathers on her head, along with a black shirt under the whole shibang, and Charity'll be quite the 'royal peacock' for her dress-up debut.

A few days later - browsing through the costume section at Walmart - Bethany found a 'Goddess' outfit in a child's size colored pink and white that mimicked Trinity's dress.  PERFECT!  The two princesses were set.  A simple white long sleeved shirt will make Selah's dress warm and modest as well.

Pretty Princesses and a Perky Peacock.

Of course, they did want sparkly princess capes to 'complete' the look, but... that's not hard to accomplish.

A bit of mesh material, ribbon, some elastic and a few seams later - voila - princess capes were done.

Glittery cloaks and shimmering feathers to complete the look.

While at the Goodwill some days later, Bethany found a white and gold 'Goddess' dress that mirrored the girls' dresses.

The little girls BEGGED her to get it.  To have a costume that matched theirs.

It was rather inexpensive so we went ahead and got it.  Since the boys hadn't made any decisions about 'matching costumes', we were making it for them. They'd have to come up with something to go with HER costume. LOL!

Girls rule that way.

After some discussion, debate, and disagreement -- a compromise was made.

The older three are being 3 of the elements - fire, earth, and air.  Who needs water, right?  LOL!  The girls determined they are the princes and princess of said elements - the wind princess, the earth prince, and the fire prince.  Appropriate, I guess. Royal costumes abound.

Bethany, in her white flowing dress w/gold accents will be 'wind'.  A gold shirt and white leggings added under the dress and she'll be toasty warm not to mention her modesty will be in check.  A headband adorned w/gold 'gems' and ribbons and voila -- the WIND PRINCESS!

The Princesses with their Royal Peacock.

Jacob will wear red and orange to exemplify 'fire' - drawing flames on his shirt with fabric paint; coloring his hair to embody the 'flame idea -- and -- is having me make a grey and red cloak.  <<How does a cloak make one think of fire, you ask??  I'm not entirely sure, I think it's more because he simply likes cloaks. :-)>>  Edited after the costume debut -- he chose to wear black and grey with some red hair spray in his spiked hair along with the cloak I put together.  He didn't have time to make his 'flame shirt'.  (Not sure I'd say he pulled off 'fire', but... fun was had by all, none-the-less.)

The Princes and Princess of the elements - Earth, Fire, Wind!

Elijah will wear brown pants, a green shirt with leaves and moss sewn on by yours truly to represent 'earth'.  Bethany thought plants, leaves, vines - that would be a good way to express earth easily.  I agreed.  Since I'm the one making said costume -- that's how it shook out.

Earth Prince and Wind Princess.

Dressing up is such a fun event in our house.  I wouldn't be surprised if many of our kiddos get involved with Cosplay as they age.

How else can grown adults get away with elaborate dress-up costumes on a regular basis?

I guess they'll also have the chance as they have their own kids and dress up with them on Halloween and various costume parties.

The 5 kids at home all dressed up in their costumes for the day.
We even went to the girls' endocrinology appointments in these get-ups.

It's usually a fair amount of work, (often resulting in a bit of stress for the one MAKING the costumes) but it's fun to do - creativity flows - not to mention watching the joy on our kiddos faces as they ALL tromp around wearing their new imaginative dress-up clothes.  Giggling, smiling, pretending.  Living out their imaginations - together - as they 'become' whatever their costume represents -- a princess, a peacock, a fictional character enacting an element.

The memories alone make it all worth it.