Valentine's Day Craft Project

While I primarily function as the home's Artificial Pancreas, I also like to do a little crafting.  It feels good to create something and to bring a little decorating cheer around the house.  Not to mention, that it frees my mind from the wonderful world of type 1 diabetes.

It's rubbed off on my daughters too.  They love it as much as I do.

In this project, the girls and I played around with creating Valentine's Wall Art.  I found something similar on Pinterest before hand but that version required paint and I didn't really feel like doing that.  Sometimes, simple is better.

So for this project you will need a white canvas.  We chose a 16 x 20 sold at Michaels in a pack of 2.  Michaels 40% brought the cost down to just $6.00 (or $3.00 each canvas).

Borrowing my Naturally Sweet Husband's electrical tape for a cost of $0.00 and....

Using a piece of shiny red scrapbook paper that we already had for another total cost of $0.00.

We simply folded the 12 x 12 scrapbook paper in half to cut out a large sized red heart.  Any variation of this would look adorable.  Even a series of scattered tiny hearts.

Then, tape across the canvas in a horizontal pattern.  Be sure to cover the sides as they will be seen depending upon where your guest view the art from.

Then, glue on the red heart and voila! Instant sweetness!

Happy Valentine's Day from our house to yours!

Somehow we make it through.

A fellow t1d mom and I were talking about the difficulty in managing the endless amount of 'stuff'. 


OK, let me be honest.  I was really whining about how it seems like I am constantly toting a bag of medical junk.  And if I am not physically toting it, I am thinking about the two girls that will be and strapping survival bags to their petite frames.


Hey, one of us has to be prepared.  What is that warning about kids bearing too much weight in their back packs??  Weight load, schmeight load.  I kid, I kid.  Sort of. 


It.is.exhausting.  Who wants to pack like they are living for doomsday?


Yet, this is not a new problem.  It happened when we first had babies.  Remember those enormous diaper bags?  It became worse when the toddler years came along with bottoms that spouted like faucets while potty training AND never-quite-full-requiring-you-to-pack-a-mini-fridge tummies.  Around grade school, however, most of my parenting friends were able to ditch the suitcases and start carrying impossibly tiny and adorable handbags.  I think one of my besties even got away with a cell phone pouch with two types of ID delicately tucked away.  Her purse was so small, it could actually dangle from her wrist.  Yes. Really.  I am still jealous! 


The ongoing baggage issue is the same for all of us with kids that live with type 1 diabetes.  Like plotting strategy in a game of chess, we are anticipating and hoping to predict the outcome. Thus, the need to pack it all, just in case. That tricky type 1 diabetes!  You just never know in a world full of highs and lows!


The interesting part of all of this brain packing wizardry is that sometimes it works and sometimes, unforeseen issues thwart our attempts - BUT SOMEHOW WE MAKE IT THROUGH!


That's right.  We make it through.  I don't know how exactly, but we do. 


At that moment in our conversation, we suddenly realized that the most successful moments in the world of type 1 diabetes happen after veering off-course.  And we shared a few of our favorite stories.


Like when we went swimming and realized that the sticky side of the infusion set wasn't going to hold for much longer and we were also out of IV3000.  That taught us that in a pinch, duct tape from the kids craft project will keep the site on until we can finish the drive home.


Or when we forgot to bring tweezers and an itty bitty wooden splinter had somehow worked its way into the bottom of a tender toe.  That taught us that we could use a sterile lancing device to carefully work out the sliver of wood - without tears too.


And the time the bee sting hurt so much that we were glad to have a bit of EMLA (numbing cream) crammed into the bottom of our purse.


I would be remiss without sharing my personal all-time favorite story which was the time when we were too far from home to get back without missing the fun and we realize that we have NO more insulin for oldest daughter's pump... so we hooked up the second sister and let her have a bolus or two until we could get back. 


(Disclosure:  clearly I am not a doctor, nor am I advising you to do this.  Consult your endo if you find yourself without insulin)


On this journey, we will always be learning as we go.  Maybe that makes a bit more interesting. 


If you have any stories to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments or on our facebook page at facebook.com/naturallysweetsisters

I Bet Clara Barton Never Gave a Speech With a 496 Mg/DL....

Did Clara Barton ever give a speech with a blood glucose reading of 496 mg/dl?


Probably not.  Well, not until today, I suppose. 


Today, my own little Clara Barton did.


And now, we wait and see if it effected her grade (or not).


Because the tricky, sneaky, horrible, and frankly, awful part of type 1 diabetes is sometimes not realizing that you forgot to bolus for a delicious lunch until it is much later in the afternoon because you are so excited to pretend to be Clara Barton.


It is especially tricky, sneaky, horrible and frankly, awful to have type 1 diabetes, because sometimes you think that all you have is a case of nerves.


Or as youngest daughter explained to me in her own words, "I thought I had butterflies in my stomach from being really excited."


When I asked her how she thought her performance as Clara Barton was, she told me, "No one even knew that my number was so high.  I did a GREAT job!"  As she tells me this, she is giggling.  Her smile is wide and I can tell that she is feeling proud of making it through the speech. Clearly, type 1 diabetes is not getting her or her alter ego, Clara Barton, down today.


I asked her if she told anyone besides me about her afternoon blood glucose and she said no. 


"After I texted you, I put in my correction, sat down with my water bottle and waited for my heart to stop racing.  The teacher was busy listening to the other kids give their speeches and I knew that I was going to be fine.  I was too.  I took care of it."  She smiles even more broadly and holds her hand up for a high-five.  This makes me realize that she views me as her co-conspirator.  It is 'us' against 'it'. 


And for once, we won.  So I smile back just as broadly and scoop her up for a hug and a tickle.


Later this occurs to me; maybe she channeled Clara Barton, a.k.a, 'The Angel on the Battlefield'. 


Because sometimes I think the battlefield is the world of type 1 diabetes.