June 23, 2013

Dry Brushing Video Tutorial

Remember the Dry Brushed Antique Dresser I shared a couple of months ago? 



While I was working on it I was also working on it's shorter, longer sibling. I restained the top and painted the body that same week but decided I would make a video tutorial of the dry brushing process when I had a spare moment. Well I finally had a spare moment yesterday ;)

I posted the video on YouTube and put a link to it down below for you to click on. Let me know in the comments if it's not working or anything please! :)

Also a disclaimer: This is my first video tutorial. I was nervous. :) The more times I saw/heard it while I was editing the more I wanted to forget the whole thing and throw it away! Hearing your own nervous voice for an hour straight isn't the funnest way to spend an evening ;) But my whole reason for making it was to be helpful to one person out there who is nervous about trying dry brushing and my hope is that that one person will find it and feel more confident :)

So here goes nothing.....


Link to Dry Brushing Video Tutorial


**Please excuse the kids talking and laughing in the 
background....my house is never quiet :)**





Linking up to:
Silver Pennies
Nifty Thrifty Things

June 13, 2013

Taking Back Control

(2 days before diagnosed, last day of 1st grade)

Last week my 7 year old son, Casey, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It came basically out of nowhere. After a month of on again off again drinking & peeing spurts I decided let's just take him in to be checked. Sure I was sick to my stomach that morning waiting for our appointment, but I kept telling myself to stop being silly, that I'd be embarrassed afterwards for asking some family members to pray before we went in...

And that's when diabetes took over. 

After being diagnosed we were sent straight to urgent care being told we were lucky he was healthy enough to not need a 2 day hospital stay as most children do. We spent the rest of the day there getting insulin, IV drips, blood tests, and lots of information.

We left with a nauseous, tired little boy, a bag full of samples and leaflets and our heads spinning. Don't get me wrong, they did a wonderful job helping Casey and us through the whole ordeal. There's just only so much information one brain can take in in a 5 hour period, especially when that brain is still trying to cope with a new diagnosis.


It's 6 days later. My house and my life feel like they have been taken over by this disease. Leaving the house takes 3x as long as I double check I have enough alcohol swabs, lancets, pen needles, and test strips. Planning lunch causes me to break out in a sweat, I need to know how much he is going to eat exactly, how many carbs will be in that meal and what his blood sugar is before he gets started. Then plug it all into a formula that decides how much insulin to give him 10 minutes before he eats. 


My house is a mess of papers and empty boxes and books and half put away groceries. My week has been about surviving from one meal to the next. I feel like our whole summer bucket list is a thing of the past. How am I going to plan a trip to Six Flags Great America when just packing a lunch stresses me out? How am I going to take my daughter for our special mommy/daughter day to the American Girl Store when I'm the only one who knows how to take care of Casey?

NO.

I'm taking back control.

Starting with my mind set. I will stop looking at my friends' pictures on Facebook and feeling sorry for myself. I will stop feeling like our life is over. I will get this mess around me cleaned up so that our house feels normal again. We will accomplish every single goal on that summer bucket list and we will enjoy it that much more because we will know that diabetes won't get in the way of our life. 

I heard this on the radio yesterday,

"God doesn't always call on the qualified. Sometimes he qualifies the called."

We may not always feel qualified to do the things God calls us to do, but with His help we are more than able. Can I get an AMEN???!!!