What a week!

I can't believe an entire week has passed since I launched "Sweet Eats" by Joli! It's been amazing, to say the least! My feet hurt, my back is killing me, I can't see a single counter in my kitchen and the refrigerator is a mess-success! I've been cranking out cake balls by the dozen and I'm loving every second! My friends and family have been super supportive during this new adventure, it hasn't exactly been easy, but it's been a lot of fun, and hopefully this is just the beginning.


Next week will be the last week of summer classes at the dance studio, it's bittersweet. I love having the girls enrolled there, they look forward to class each week, but at the same time, it'll be nice to have a couple of weeks where we have no where to be! The new fall schedule is released tomorrow, I'm very excited to enrolling them in new classes. Kenadi will take a "Rising Stars" class for her age group, just a couple of little girls learning to dance, how cute is that? It makes my eyes water every week watching how much she enjoys it. Laila is still deciding what she wants to do. Unfortunately, we can't afford the "unlimited" package ($2,000 for the dance year August-May) which would allow her to take as many classes as she wanted, so I am letting her pick 2. It's still a bit out of our budget, but I think she deserves it. She does great in school and helps a lot at home. Right now she's finishing up the summer cheer class, and today her teacher stopped me to let me know how awesome she's doing! I was concerned, Laila doesn't let on much about how things are going behind those closed doors, she never practices in front of me and she never talks about it. Ms. Beth said she's got great, strong legs and arms and she listens and catches on very well. I was so proud! Laila is leaning toward jazz/funk and cheer for her two classes, though hula is an option we haven't explored yet! We'll save that for another day.


Wednesday my little man turned 11 months old! I can hardly believe how time has flown! It's time to start planning his first birthday party! What a trip! He brightens my life every day with his sweet smile and his adorable little laugh! Yesterday we sat on the floor together for nearly 20 minutes playing with the vacuum cleaner! I took the hose off and let him explore sticking his fingers in it and sucking up the side of his diaper, he was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe! It was so much fun, I love seeing the world through the eyes of a child.


One of my most favorite people is coming to visit me in less than 2 weeks! My niece, Brandi-Lyn will be here for an entire WEEK! I can't express how excited I am, and the gratitude I feel toward her for taking the time, energy, and money it's going to cost and spending it on me. I hope you enjoy your time here in Arizona, even if we can't go outside without melting! I have things planned to do around  the valley that are mostly indoors, and we even get to celebrate my birthday together! What an awesome surprise it was to hear she'd be here to ring in another happy year with me! I have a feeling my jaw is going to be so tired from laughing and talking by the time she leaves! I am forever homesick, and this little slice of home is really going to brighten my spirits.

In less than a month Evelien, our exchange student, will be arriving in Phoenix! I can hardly wait to meet her and to share our lives with her! We have a lot of things in common, and I'm sure we're going to get along great! She's a type 1 diabetic, like Laila, and I think they'll be a great support system for each other. I look foward to a sneak peek of what life will be like 10 years from now-prom, sports, school, friends, the life of a teenager with diabetes. We have decided to do a little re-arranging in our house before Evelien arrives, a bit of a surprise to her. We are switching the girls' room from the very front of the house to the spare room just off our living room. We ordered doors last week and will have them in hopefully next week! I thought it would be a nice surprise for her to have her own room, her own bathroom, and be able to have some privacy. I think having the girls closer to our bedroom will give me more peace of mind too, I hate them being so far away at night.

Today, Laila has an appointment at Phoenix Children's Hospital. We're going to learn about an insulin pump and possibly order hers today! They said it would be 2-3 weeks after our "class" until we get one. I imagine we'll have some literature to go over and we should be able to play with one and get a feel for how it all works, how to apply it, and remove it. I know there are certain restrictions such as swimming, bathing, and things of that nature, and I'm curious to learn about how it will impact her activities.

For some reason today I can barely keep my eyes open! It could be the fact I've been up until nearly 2am lately, I just can't seem to sleep. My ocd is getting bad again, and it's frightening. I have trouble turning my mind off, and I feel like I'm physically out of control at times. Must keep chugging along though, orders await me in the "Sweet Eats" kitchen!