Happy Birthday Mamo

I lost one of the greatest women I've ever had the privilege of knowing this past summer... My dear grandma, Mamo.  Tomorrow would have been her 91st birthday; she wanted so badly to live to see 100.  Mamo was integral in shaping the person that I am today.  She fostered my creativity and expected nothing but the best I had to offer.  She passed down her knowledge of textiles and sewing as well as quilting.  I inherited her sense of color, her dry witt, her love of design and most importantly her love of God.  I was fortunate to spend every single day of my childhood in her presence as well as just about every day of my adult life too.  My children are lucky enough to also have spent most of their lives growing up with her and have many fond memories to hold for the rest of their lives.  Mamo was one tough lady ~ strong in will, spirit, heart, and body.  She was the one that held our family together through the good times and the not so good times.  I'm blessed with a lifetime of memories that I pull out and wrap myself up in.  Goofy things like how she use to always make sure there were Lucky Charms for me at her house because my mom wouldn't buy "junk" food like that, and she never said a word when all I ate was the marshmallows and left the cereal.  When I was in jr. high home ec and the teacher didn't know how to make the pants I'd chosen as my project, so Mamo had me sneak my project home so she could help me make them and get an A.  Or all the driving lessons, not to mention before I was old enough to drive, all the years that she took me to the bus stop every single morning and was there to pick me up every single afternoon.  And the home made malts and stove top popcorn every Saturday night growing up to enjoy while we watched Lawrence Welk.  I hated that show, but I loved my time sitting next to her, listening to her hum along.  This year, as she celebrates her first birthday in Heaven, I hope that she knows what a legacy she left here in her family.  I see her in each one of my girls, I find her in myself at times, and boy oh boy do I see her in my mom:)  I hope that I leave as wonderful a legacy as she has someday.

Gracie and Max

This morning, Gracie was spending time with Max.  Just enjoying some snuggle time with her puppy not even realizing that anyone else was around.  Max's ears are really starting to itch and he's doing his best to work around that darn cone to scratch and get some relief.  Gracie noticed this and sat there gently rubbing his neck and behind his bandaged ears talking quietly to him.  Her daddy listened in to hear exactly what she was saying to comfort her sweet little pup...

Gracie: "I know Max.  It's hard when you have an itch you can't reach.  I get the itches on my site and can't ever get to it either cuz it's under my pod.  It's OK Max, I'll help you.  You know what Max?  Now you're going to be kinda like me; did you know that?  I'm different than everyone else too and now you match me."

What an insightful child.  At only 7 years old, Miss Gracie has such amazing compassion and empathy.  She knows what it's like to be different and also to be uncomfortable or not feel good and not be able to do anything about it except endure.  She and Max are a beautiful pair; perfectly matched up and understanding each other beyond what I ever expected.  They both share the same spirit of compassion and grace towards everyone who's life they touch.

Max's emergency

It's taken me a few days to wrap my mind around what's happened and to be able to formulate cohesive thoughts about it all. I appreciate all the prayers that have been offered up on Max's behalf and ask for them to continue.

Tuesday, December 27 started out as a perfectly normal day. It's amazing how your world can be turned upside down in a split second. As many of you know we have three other dogs besides Max William. They are golden retriever/border collie mix that we rescued when they were 7 weeks old and are now 3 1/2 years old. They have all been great dogs and have never ever shown any aggressive behavior towards other animals or people. Brody was introduced to Max the day Max joined our family and did really well with him. All three seemed curious about Max over the past few weeks but still no signs of aggression from any of them. We've always had the rule of "if Max is out back, the other three are in the garage". The three have a habit of chewing thru the fence if they want to see what's happening on the other side and we didn't want to keep replacing fence boards.

On Tuesday, Max went out to potty but nobody realized the others weren't in the garage. Within 20 minutes they had chewed thru the fence and Max was attacked. Brody and Felicity weren't anywhere near; they were off investigating the yard. Cooper however, has apparently felt that Max was invading his territory and took the opportunity to show him who was boss. This gentle, timid dog attacked Max:(. Nobody heard a sound. When Tess went to let Max back in the house she was horrified. Poor Max was hurt and the others were just roaming around the yard.

I had just left the house twenty minutes earlier; everyone including Max was safe and sound, playing in the house. I got the phone call nobody ever wants. Tess is terrified and needs me home immediately. Max is hurt. That 2 minute drive home seemed like 20. I pull into the drive to find little Max in his kennel, ears bleeding. We load him up and rush to the vet. He is calm the entire time. Two vets examine him. He's lucky that it's only his ears, no other injuries. But...the lower 1/3 of his right ear can't be saved:(. I'm hesitant to leave my precious boy. I tell him how good he is. Tell him how loved he is. Then entrust him to the caring hands of the two vets standing over him.

When we get home, I realize just how amazing my Tess Elizabeth is. At nearly 16 she handled a situation that most adults couldn't handle and she did it with decisiveness, grace, compassion and determination. She managed to get Max into his kennel safely without 6 young children seeing him. She put the children into Sarah's bedroom and told Gracie to not let anyone out under any circumstance yet kept them all calm and kept them from seeing anything that would scare them. She called me while getting the other dogs into their kennels. She called her dad. And she got Max out into the driveway so he could get to the vet immediately. And, while we were at the vet, this amazing daughter of mine cleaned the trail of blood thru the house so that the children wouldn't get scared. I'm still amazed when I think of how she handled all of this.

Max went thru three hours of surgery. And spent the night and next morning under observation. Throughout the night he walked on a leash to go potty, he ate dinner, and he remained calm and alert. His strong will has been his biggest asset in all this. He is determined to get better. When we brought him home, I didn't know what to expect but leave it to Max William to leave me speechless. He's alerted several times to Gracie's blood sugar since he's been home (I honestly didn't expect him to alert till he's recovered). He has shown no apprehension about going out into the backyard (I was concerned he wouldn't want to go out there anymore). And, when seeing other large dogs at the vet, he's shown no signs of fear (wow!).

Max has his head wrapped tightly to keep compression on his ears so they can heal properly. Needless to say my spunky little guy doesn't like this. Being the smart pup that he is, he figured out within a few minutes of getting home how to use the sofa cushion and the sofa back to his advantage and was successfully working his bandages slowly off. One more trip to the vet to get rewrapped. And now, he's earned the privilege of wearing a not so fashionable cone to keep from getting it off again.

Max is recovering and healing well. He will start puppy classes next week as scheduled. Even more important now so he continues to not fear other dogs. Cooper is his normal, laid back, loyal self. Brody and Felicity can't figure out what all the fuss is about. The two legged members of our family are doing better as well. However, we have made the heartbreaking decision of finding a new home for Cooper and possibly Brody and Felicity. Max requires a lot of time and attention to train for his life's mission as Gracie's service dog. That leaves little time for the others and they deserve more than the leftover attention and energy at the end of the day. Please pray that God sends the perfect family for Cooper and that He is clear on a decision about Brody and Felicity. They are all wonderful dogs and deserve love, affection and attention. I'll keep you posted on their journey to a new home (or if we feel it best to at least keep Brody and felicity) and on max's recovery.

One More "Must Visit" Site...

As many of you know, I LOVE MY CRICUT.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you may be of the male persuassion:)  I've had my Cricut cutter for almost 3 years, but didn't really start to unleash it's creative power until this year.  Now, it's used nearly every day and has made my life so much more fun (and easy:).  If you have a Cricut, then you understand my addiction and my constant need to find more cartridges (and uses for those cartridges:).  This past spring I ran across a wonderful site called Cricut Machine.  You absolutely can't beat their prices, especially since they continually have amazing sales.  It's kind of like Hobby Lobby, you never pay full price for anything because you know it will be on sale within a few days.  They also offer free shipping at times, making it even better:)  So, if you love your Cricut and want to splurge on some new cartridges or accesories; or if you want to take that leap and get a Cricut because you just can't go one more day without it, head over to cricutmachine.com  You will become hooked, like I am:)

Here's a few things I've made recently with the help of mine:

Above Rubies Studio

Alright, admittedly, I'm suppose to be getting some housework done, but I'm at my computer instead.  Ssshhhhh.... don't tell the kids because I think that I've sufficiently bribed them to get their Christmas stuff put away and clean their rooms:)  This is for my crafting friends and followers... my very favorite blog site for ideas, inspiration, and instruction.  Megan Elizabeth is absolutely AMAZING!  I stumbled upon her when I was trying to learn how to use my Cricut and Gypsy and purchased her instructional DVD's.  Not only is she talented, but she's easy to understand too.  Have fun visiting her blog:)

http://www.aboverubiesstudio.com/

Mama's helper:)

I can't wait to see this and use it:) How many times have you wondered what to make for dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon? I'm thinking this just may be a God-send for 2012 - Weekly Menus from Gooseberry Patch ~  It doesn't get much better than this:)

Gooseberry Patch

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Brunch Casserole | MyDailyMoment

I'm in the middle of wrapping all the presents and enjoying a bottle of White Zinfandel when I remember that I still need to plan Christmas breakfast and go to the grocery store (at least the third time today I'd forgotten and remembered this detail). Wanting to make it as easy as possible, I searched out a breakfast casserole recipe that was also kid-friendly and came up with this one. Served along with muffins, fruit and hot chocolate with marshmallows, I think we have a winner:)

Christmas Brunch Casserole | MyDailyMoment

Baby Moose

I just weighed Max William - 19 weeks old and 40.4 lbs. He's gotten so tall, that he's up to my knees now (which says a lot because I have long legs). Gracie is getting stronger too...she can still carry him but I hear her grunt when she lifts him up;)

The Nutcracker

For the third year now, Tess made it into the Nutcracker Ballet. It's becoming the official kick-off to Christmas for our family, to go watch my beautiful, talented daughter dance in this classic ballet. By any standard, even New York or Los Angeles, our ballet company is top notch. We pull the best dancers from the state, so it's quite an honor to be chosen. The costumes are broadway worthy, the sets are magical and include a growing Christmas tree, a working cannon, and a flying swan ship. The only word that comes to mind is AWESOME:). We roll Max William this year along with all the girls. He arrived and was on his best behavior. We found our seats, got settled in, and he alerted to Gracie being high then he settled down to enjoy the show. As the lights dimmed and the symphony began, I remembered the cannon. Oh dear! Max is still learning to handle loud noises and gets scared by them. For the benefit of those around us, we decided it was best to take him home, so we did just that. His short time at the theater however went well:). Tess did a beautiful job, and her younger sisters are so entranced by the experience that they are thinking of auditioning next year too:)

Supervising Mom

I was home alone the other night (a rarity:) and thought I'd make good use of my time by getting chocolate covered potato chips made for Christmas. Those of you who know me well are grinning ear to ear right now thinking "only Dawn would dip Pringles into chocolate". Those who don't know me well are probably a little bewildered about now. But, trust me on this... They're really yummy. Anyway, I look across the kitchen into the family room to check on Max William. He was being a little too quiet. I find him watching me with his bewildered expression, so of course I had to take a picture. Yep, I'm a bit biased, but I think he's the cutest thing around. He was a very good boy and didn't beg... The girls however, came home and kept snitching, thinking I wouldn't notice.

And the winner is....

Gracie wouldn't have Max William without each and every one who has helped us along the way. Saying thank you doesn't even begin to cover it. We held the drawing tonight for the wishing star quilt. Gracie dug deep in the bucket and picked...Andrea Ludden:). Yay!!! A little side note here, I went to school with Andrea way back when Madonna was brand new on the music scene. Wow! CONGRATULATIONS Andrea!!! I'll mail your quilt tomorrow morning.

Gracie...

I ran across this picture as I was going thru my picture library the other day and couldn't help but smile.  Gracie was about 2 1/2 here and was totally in love with the baby Jesus from our yard nativity.  When we had taken all the lights and decorations down that year and stored it all away in the attic, she was traumatized.  She just knew that Baby Jesus was freezing up there.  So, being the soft-hearted mom I can be at times like that, I climbed back up those attic steps to bring him back down.  He went EVERYWHERE with her... the mall, church, doctor's office, even the hospital ER and pediatric unit, and of course she slept with him as well every night.  Was this just a passing phase?  Well, kind of ~ it only lasted about 3 years:)  Where is Baby Jesus now, I bet you're wondering.  Back up in the attic?  No Way! He's in the playroom with all the other dolls of course:)  No, Gracie doesn't tote him around everywhere she goes anymore, but I just can't bring myself to stick him in with all the other decorations... after all, I can't have him getting cold;)

Christmas picture

It's nearly impossible to get my girls to all look at the camera. Throw Max into the mix and... Well, you can only imagine:). Since everyone was dressed and ready for church this morning, I thought I'd give it a shot. This was the best I was able to get. They're all ALMOST looking in the right direction:). Merry Christmas from the Schroeder Family

Max William - aka Super Dog

Max never ceases to amaze me. He is awesome at keeping Gracie's blood sugar in range. Believe it or not, this little pup can sense Gracie's blood sugar even when she's playing next door at the neighbor's home. The first time he did this, I thought it was a fluke but called her home non the less to test. Sure enough, she was high. He's done this at least 4 times since, and each time, he's dead on. AMAZING!!! Good dog Max:)

Sick day

It's the first time since Max William's arrival that Gracie is sick. It's always tough when one of your children is under the weather; when you have a diabetic child who doesn't feel well, that's tougher than ever because of the additional complications. Add into this a diabetic alert dog, who's sole mission in life is to alert you any time that diabetic child's blood sugar is out of range and you've got yourself a headache. Max is doing an awesome job today alerting me to Gracie's fluctuating sugar levels... Problem is, he doesn't understand why it seems I'm not doing my job since she's ran high all day. Oh well, that furry little angel is doing his very best to take care of his girl, and I've learned that earbuds are a real gift from God, since Max's main alert right now is still his bark. On the plus side of things, if you've got to be feeling under the weather like Miss Gracie is, today is the perfect day for it. It's been snowing and is icy and slick outside, so she and Max have been curled up together watching Christmas movies.

Fundraising... The journey to Max William

We have been so touched by the generousity shown to our family thru the financial support others have offered to help us raise the necessary funds to pay for Max.  Without each and every one of you, Max wouldn't be snuggled in bed with Gracie right now keeping a watchful eye on her.  My heart is so full of joy for your gifts.

There are three fundraisers coming to a close very shortly; if you'd still like to help out with one of these, it would be so greatly appreciated.  We still need to raise about $15,000 to finish paying for Max William and every donation, no matter the size, helps so very much.

Tomorrow evening, December 5th from 4-10pm, Texas Roadhouse here in Lincoln is hosting a fundraising night.  They will donate 10% of the sales of everyone who tells them that they're there for Max and Gracie to Max's fund.  It's a great opportunity to get out, enjoy some awesome food, a fun atmosphere and help our cause all at the same time.  Please tell everyone you know to come join us tomorrow evening:)

Marcus Theaters is also donating to Max's fund.  We are selling discounted movie tickets ~ $7 each ticket and for every 2 tickets you purchase you receive a $3 snack voucher FREE.  These are unrestricted and non-expiring tickets.  They make great gifts for everyone on your list.  If you'd like to order, please let me know asap.  I'm turning in the order Tuesday morning so that I can deliver everyone's tickets in time for Christmas.

Finally, The Wishing Star Quilt Raffle will end on December 15th.  This is a beautiful, amish style quilt, hand-quilted by me this past spring.  Tickets are only $5 each.  If you'd like to purchase any raffle tickets, just let me know by noon on the 15th.  I'll notify the winner that day and get it mailed out immediately.  I'll also post the winner's name here:)

Once again, Thank you to all my friends, and their friends, who've helped us get this far on our journey with Max and Gracie.  You have no idea just how much you've blessed Gracie and our entire family.  We praise God for each one of you every day.

Max's Hiccups

Max gets the hiccups quite frequently, but tonight he brought a whole new entertainment value to his hiccup episode.  It's 12:30 in the morning and I'm getting ready to do a pump site change on Gracie.  As I'm filling her pod with insulin, I keep hearing a soft squeaking sound.  I look down and see that it's Max. The mom in me kicked in at first, as I immediately go to him choking in my mind.  As I watch him for a second to try to figure out what to do, I realize that he's not choking.  Nope, little Max William is sleeping on his favorite toy, a 2 foot long squeaky snake.  Every time he hiccupped, his snake would squeak.  Of course, once I realized what was going on, I flip my phone to camera mode to take a video but by then it was all over.

After Max's hiccups, I'm working on getting Gracie's pump site changed.  While I'm in the middle of this proceedure, I cannot test her.  Of course it's at that very moment that Max decides to give his alert that Gracie's numbers are off.  Picture this ~ I have 4 sleeping children all tucked into their beds and would really like to keep them asleep.  I also have a barking puppy that will not stop barking until I show him that I am indeed checking on Gracie's blood sugar level. Then, out of nowhere my teenage daughter shows up because she hears Max's alert and can't figure out why I'm not testing Gracie, so she gets out of bed to come do it herself.  In the end, 3 out of 4 children stayed sleeping soundly, Gracie has a new pod on and it's working well, Max is happy and content that both he and I did our jobs and he's back to sleep... all in all, I'd say it was just another night in the paradise I call home:)

Oh yeah, by the way... Max was of course spot on in his alert.  Gracie was 151.  Good job Max William:)

The Golden Nose

Each and every day Max proves himself more.  It never ceases to amaze me how accurate he is.  Today at lunch, I tested Gracie so I'd know how much insulin to give her to cover her lunch.  Max was being just a normal puppy, chewing on his carrot and actually being a good boy.  She was a perfect 123.  Less than a half an hour later, Max is barking like a crazy dog.  We test Gracie... 236.  Good Dog Max:)

Shhhh... Don't tell Gracie;)

Hannah adores Max William. She tries so hard to understand and respect that he is Gracie's boy and is here to take care of her, but let's face it, that cute puppy face is gonna tug at your heart strings:). Max was hanging out with me in my office yesterday and Hannah just couldn't resist a little cuddle time:)

Best buddies

Stinking cute

Who can resist a face like this?;). Notice the fragments of a grocery sack scattered on the kitchen floor? A guy's gotta chew on something right?;).

Christmas has gone to the dogs

Those of you who know me, know I love Christmas. Our house is filled with reminders of the season. I love having a Christmas tree in each room and decorate each one with its own theme. Here's the one I did today for our dogs, Brody James, Cooper Todd, Felicity Hope, and Max William:)

Max the Mighty Dog

We've been blessed by Max William for two weeks now. He's such a character and just a perfect addition to our family. I'm thrilled to report, as well, that his golden nose is working beautifully. Since he has arrived, Gracie's blood sugar numbers have come down by nearly 25 points on average:). I can wait to see what her next a1C is going to be this next February. Good dog, Max:)

Max's first Christmas tree

Well... I'm not sure if it's bravery or stupidity, but we put the Christmas tree up yesterday; our thanksgiving tradition. I didn't want to risk our collection of hand blown glass snowmen ornaments, so we hit the store and got some fun, non- breakable decorations for this year. Max is, of course, fascinated by this 8 foot tall, sparkling tree in the living room and has already been caught chewing on a lower branch or two. He's just certain it's there for his personal entertainment:). Wish me luck in keeping him from eating the entire tree or knocking it over during the next several weeks. On a side note, Max had a great first Thanksgiving. He's such a chow hound! He was begging for turkey from everyone while we cleaned up from dinner. I will say, he was a perfect angel during our meal though, laying under the table where he belonged:). I am thankful for so many things, and Max, my newest blessing, I'm very thankful for too:)

Breaking the rules

OK... Look at those big, dark eyes and that sweet wet nose. Could you stop yourself from spoiling him? Really? I'll admit, I'm a softy. We started out with a "no Max on the sofa" rule. As you can see, he has his accomplice in breaking that rule;)