Caleb is still working with JanaLee at the Peterson Wellness Clinic. He hasn't been on a scale since about 3 weeks after he started working with her (he went with for Nash's med check at the pediatrician). The last time he was on a scale (November) he was up 1.5 lbs. This was exciting for me because it took him 3 yrs to gain 5 pounds previously. When we went to his appointment in mid December we learned he was finally balanced and could start the NAET process.
NAET for those that are unfamiliar stands for Nambudripod's Allergy Elimination Technique. Travis refers to JanaLee as "The Shadow Woman" and what she does as "voodoo". Apparently, my uncle Todd works with her husband and he too refers to it as voodoo. At least we know it isn't the first time JanaLee has heard it! :) NAET uses a combination of Chinese acupuncture or acupressure (depending on age - Caleb is using acupressure) and several other methods of medicine. It's a little difficult to explain, but I'll try.
When we go to an appointment Caleb sits on my lap by JanaLee's computer and testing equipment. She sprays his left hand with water and hands him a copper tube to hold in that hand. Then, she takes another, smaller copper tool and applies it to various meridians on his right hand. By placing her tube on his meridians she gets a computer read out of what his body is telling her. Depending on what she is testing him for will depend on what viles she has sitting on her testing equipment. Right now we are working on vitamin c so that is one of the three viles she sets on her testing equipment. Once JanaLee determines if he body is responding well to the viles on her testing equipment she can move forward. If his body is not responding well to the viles on the equipment, she will test to see which of his internal organs are not "liking" the current viles. With the two that we have done, it has been ALL of his internal organs not liking whatever it is we are testing. Once she determines which organs don't like the viles she uses acupressure to open the meridians and clear the energy blockages. She then retests to see if his body is responding better to the viles on the equipment. If his body is responding well, she uses acupressure to close his meridians and then we wrap the viles on his arm and his waits in the waiting room for 20 minutes. Depending on what he is being tested for will determine which foods he must avoid for anywhere up to the next 25 hours.
We had our first NAET appointment on New Years Eve. The first test we did was for a mix called BBF (brain, body formula). Because he was balanced, he had a positive response and we were able to skip this one. At the same appointment we moved on to Calcium. Now, we've been told he does have an allergy to cow's milk so we knew there was going to be some treatment needed for calcium. He was a bit bummed he had to avoid all dairy for 21 hours but he survived and at his second appointment he was cleared of his calcium allergy. JanaLee did tell me that if he continues to have an allergic like reaction to the dairy foods that it's possible he's got an allergy to lactose (which will come up with the sugar test soon). Friday I had him in for another round (when we learned he had cleared the calcium allergy) and he was tested for vitamin c. I had planned to drop Sam off at dance and go straight home after this appointment. Things did not go that way and we ended up at my in laws for about an hour and a half. I didn't have my workbook with me that says what he can and can't have when he's been treated for the various allergies. I ended up letting him have one soda and a bun with melted cheese. My bad. Wasn't suppose to have soda (artificial sweeteners) or the cheese (in my defense, the workbook only says cows milk so I did clarify when we were there today). So, when we went back today I wasn't surprised that he didn't clear the vitamin c allergy test. However, he did pass about 75% of the test - just not enough to be considered cleared of the allergy. And, she had to treat him twice before his body accepted the treatment. So, here's to hoping that when we go back in a week he will have cleared the vitamin c allergy. She said that based on him passing 75% and then having to treat him twice today it's likely that the vitamin c allergy was a fairly significant allergy for him. Good to know.
And, in more good news....I went to buy the boys new pants today. I bought Caleb a size 6 slim. This is a big deal. He wore a size 4T until AUGUST of 2015 (he was 7 yrs old). I bumped him up to a size 5 at the beginning of the school year because the 4's were starting to become floods. The 5's were still big but not so much that it was worse than wearing the 4's. So, in just 5 months (3 of which we have been working with JanaLee), he's finally grown enough that I have to bump him up a size in pants! Wahoo! We are on the right path, finally!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
A new year means new decisions
2016 has already thrown me an unsuspected surprise. I was talking with the kids' principal today to find out if I would need to do school choice paperwork for Brookelyn before Kindergarten registration (that paperwork has to be done about February and registration begins about March). We talked about several different things (dual immersion possibilities, robotics club continuing for 6th grade, etc). As we talked she mentioned that she was still needing to hire another 6th grade teacher for next year.
Me: "6th grade huh?"
Stacie: "Yes, 6th grade."
Me: "Hmm..I've taught 6th grade you know."
Stacie: "You have?"
Me: "Yes."
Stacie: "Hmm....very interesting."
A new conversation ensued then. I explained that my license had expired due to do a previous principal not signing necessary paperwork in order for my license to advance to a level 2 license. She seemed completely fine with it (just some paperwork to deal with, no big deal).
My challenge, if I was to go ahead with this, is how to get Brookelyn to and from school and daycare. We don't have full day Kindergarten like they did the year Sam was in Kindergarten (in fact, that year was the ONLY year our district offered it that I'm aware of). My daycare person only lives a few blocks from the school but I don't know that I would dare let Brookelyn walk the distance by herself. She has too many daycare kids to load them all into the car to go down to the school to pick up or drop off B. As I'm racking my brain to see if I can figure out which kids I know will be going to Kindergarten I'm getting a sinking feeling that they will all go to different schools. And then, it hits me...one of my preschoolers has two siblings at Canyon! She goes to daycare while mom is at work and it's a different daycare, but it gave me enough of a push to continue considering my options here.
I had intended to only teach one 3 yo and one 4 yo class next year. This way I would be done teaching by noon 2 days a week, by 3 three days a week and have Friday through Monday off. However, if I was to take on a full time teaching position again I could quit my second job at the grocery store. I've also been looking at numbers as I've been prepping tax documents. I made roughly $9K (before expenses) in 2015 teaching preschool. If I took on a full time teaching position that would increase by $15-20K per year. Now, don't get me wrong, we certainly aren't hurting for money. BUT, we do have debt (a lot more than I like) and that extra money would go really far toward paying all that debt off. It would also mean that if Travis found a new job closer to home for less than he makes now, we wouldn't have to worry about drowning due to a massive pay cut in his paycheck.
After some internal back and forth, I finally broke down and called the District Office to talk to someone about what I would need to do about my expired license. Of course, he was out of the office for the day so I had to leave a voice mail. I'm hopeful he'll call me back tomorrow or send me an email. I also got online to look at the state website to see what it had to say. It looks like it's a fairly simple process (especially since I've actually been teaching for the last five years that my license has been expired).
The thing I struggle with the most is knowing that the hiring process likely won't happen until April. This means that there's a possibility that most of my preschoolers would have found a new preschool if this falls through. I hate doing that to people. I hate the idea of starting over. I like the idea of being at my kids' school (teaching the same grade one of my kids is in). I like the idea of less debt over my head. And I like the idea of making things easier for my husband to come home again. I suppose that if I didn't get the job and my preschoolers had found elsewhere to attend that perhaps I would have to take a year off. My husband seems to think that would be good for me and my sanity anyway.
So, Thanks 2016, for taking me by surprise less than a week into the year and giving me a little ray of sunshine that perhaps it IS possible to bring my husband back home after 7 years away.
Me: "6th grade huh?"
Stacie: "Yes, 6th grade."
Me: "Hmm..I've taught 6th grade you know."
Stacie: "You have?"
Me: "Yes."
Stacie: "Hmm....very interesting."
A new conversation ensued then. I explained that my license had expired due to do a previous principal not signing necessary paperwork in order for my license to advance to a level 2 license. She seemed completely fine with it (just some paperwork to deal with, no big deal).
My challenge, if I was to go ahead with this, is how to get Brookelyn to and from school and daycare. We don't have full day Kindergarten like they did the year Sam was in Kindergarten (in fact, that year was the ONLY year our district offered it that I'm aware of). My daycare person only lives a few blocks from the school but I don't know that I would dare let Brookelyn walk the distance by herself. She has too many daycare kids to load them all into the car to go down to the school to pick up or drop off B. As I'm racking my brain to see if I can figure out which kids I know will be going to Kindergarten I'm getting a sinking feeling that they will all go to different schools. And then, it hits me...one of my preschoolers has two siblings at Canyon! She goes to daycare while mom is at work and it's a different daycare, but it gave me enough of a push to continue considering my options here.
I had intended to only teach one 3 yo and one 4 yo class next year. This way I would be done teaching by noon 2 days a week, by 3 three days a week and have Friday through Monday off. However, if I was to take on a full time teaching position again I could quit my second job at the grocery store. I've also been looking at numbers as I've been prepping tax documents. I made roughly $9K (before expenses) in 2015 teaching preschool. If I took on a full time teaching position that would increase by $15-20K per year. Now, don't get me wrong, we certainly aren't hurting for money. BUT, we do have debt (a lot more than I like) and that extra money would go really far toward paying all that debt off. It would also mean that if Travis found a new job closer to home for less than he makes now, we wouldn't have to worry about drowning due to a massive pay cut in his paycheck.
After some internal back and forth, I finally broke down and called the District Office to talk to someone about what I would need to do about my expired license. Of course, he was out of the office for the day so I had to leave a voice mail. I'm hopeful he'll call me back tomorrow or send me an email. I also got online to look at the state website to see what it had to say. It looks like it's a fairly simple process (especially since I've actually been teaching for the last five years that my license has been expired).
The thing I struggle with the most is knowing that the hiring process likely won't happen until April. This means that there's a possibility that most of my preschoolers would have found a new preschool if this falls through. I hate doing that to people. I hate the idea of starting over. I like the idea of being at my kids' school (teaching the same grade one of my kids is in). I like the idea of less debt over my head. And I like the idea of making things easier for my husband to come home again. I suppose that if I didn't get the job and my preschoolers had found elsewhere to attend that perhaps I would have to take a year off. My husband seems to think that would be good for me and my sanity anyway.
So, Thanks 2016, for taking me by surprise less than a week into the year and giving me a little ray of sunshine that perhaps it IS possible to bring my husband back home after 7 years away.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Christmas 2015
We had an entire month of Christmas this year it seems!
Christmas break for the kids started when school got out on Friday Dec 18. Their dad came home on Dec 16th. Caleb's Christmas Choir concert was that night as well.
We went to Manti (no photos) the 19th and 20th and had Christmas with the Whitlocks and the Bowns. It was nice to see Grandma & Grandpa Butter and the rest of the crazy Bown crew. We got to stay at the farm (always makes for happy kids). We even took the puppy (Perdy) and she didn't run away (always amazing!). We had Wursten for dinner at the Whitlocks (Wursten and potato salad or pizza for the kids - one of my favorite holiday traditions). Most of the family made it out to both parties so we got to see lots and lots of cousins.
We did Christmas Eve at Cassidy & Chad's house in Paradise this year. It was eventful to say the very least, but the kids were just happy to play with each other for more than 20 minutes. Brooke asks me regularly if she can go to Sunny's house. I know for a fact we could have just gone out and visited and the kids would have been thrilled. Grandma Terri delivered with some amazing gifts she had sewn this year. New pajamas all around (Travis, Nash, Sam & Brooke all have pjs with one leg of zombies now). I think my personal favorite was B's new batman costume. Girlfriend ROCKS it! Nash's favorite was probably his new Rubix Cube. He packed it everywhere for a few days learning some tricks so that he is now able to get one complete side put together. It's a work in progress for sure but should keep him busy for months! Sam got a new I Spy quilt and a levi jacket that are probably her most favorite items.
We had Christmas at the Maughan farm the Sunday after Christmas. We didn't have all 98 of us there, but there was a good turnout still. It was good to see Grandpa and Marian and several of the cousins and their kids.
The Reeder party was also the Sunday after Christmas. As always, lots of food and lots of laughs. The white elephant game this year was a new addition to this party but there were some really special gifts that surfaced! I think my favorite was that Kayd took license plates off Justin and Colton's cars and wrapped those up! Sunny was sure bummed out when they got "stolen" from her! Mom also finished Jesse and Nessa's quilt that was intended as a wedding gift (married in May). I think it turned out pretty stinking AMAZING!
We got to have Travis home for Christmas again this year (not sure that will happen in 2016). The kids were nice and sort of let me sleep in until about 9 am. Travis managed to drag gift opening out for an entire hour and a half! Don't ask how he managed to pull that off without tears, but it happened! I think Nash's favorite gift was his new Ripstick. Brooke's favorite gift was probably the Wizard of Oz Dolls. Caleb's favorite is probably his new BB gun (although he's bummed out that mom won't let him shoot it without dad around). Sam got the Dirty Dancing movie so she's happy! I finally got new seat covers for the two front seats of the Tahoe (only been asking for a year and a half). Travis got his smoker on Black Friday (couldn't lift it out of my Tahoe on my own and didn't really have anywhere to hide it) - despite how super excited he was to get it, he still hasn't used it yet! I'm sure it's quickly approaching though!
Christmas break for the kids started when school got out on Friday Dec 18. Their dad came home on Dec 16th. Caleb's Christmas Choir concert was that night as well.
We went to Manti (no photos) the 19th and 20th and had Christmas with the Whitlocks and the Bowns. It was nice to see Grandma & Grandpa Butter and the rest of the crazy Bown crew. We got to stay at the farm (always makes for happy kids). We even took the puppy (Perdy) and she didn't run away (always amazing!). We had Wursten for dinner at the Whitlocks (Wursten and potato salad or pizza for the kids - one of my favorite holiday traditions). Most of the family made it out to both parties so we got to see lots and lots of cousins.
We did Christmas Eve at Cassidy & Chad's house in Paradise this year. It was eventful to say the very least, but the kids were just happy to play with each other for more than 20 minutes. Brooke asks me regularly if she can go to Sunny's house. I know for a fact we could have just gone out and visited and the kids would have been thrilled. Grandma Terri delivered with some amazing gifts she had sewn this year. New pajamas all around (Travis, Nash, Sam & Brooke all have pjs with one leg of zombies now). I think my personal favorite was B's new batman costume. Girlfriend ROCKS it! Nash's favorite was probably his new Rubix Cube. He packed it everywhere for a few days learning some tricks so that he is now able to get one complete side put together. It's a work in progress for sure but should keep him busy for months! Sam got a new I Spy quilt and a levi jacket that are probably her most favorite items.
Didn't realize how tall this girl is until she was next to all her cousins over the break. Apparently she's like an Amazon woman! I guess I'm use to it - she's only about 3-4" shorter than me!
She will even do the "I'm Batman" voice if you ask nicely :)
We had Christmas at the Maughan farm the Sunday after Christmas. We didn't have all 98 of us there, but there was a good turnout still. It was good to see Grandpa and Marian and several of the cousins and their kids.
The Reeder party was also the Sunday after Christmas. As always, lots of food and lots of laughs. The white elephant game this year was a new addition to this party but there were some really special gifts that surfaced! I think my favorite was that Kayd took license plates off Justin and Colton's cars and wrapped those up! Sunny was sure bummed out when they got "stolen" from her! Mom also finished Jesse and Nessa's quilt that was intended as a wedding gift (married in May). I think it turned out pretty stinking AMAZING!
These girls have too much fun together. Sam enjoys towering over them all just a little bit.
Sara (Feb 9, 2002)
Sadie (Feb 2, 2004)
Sam (Feb 19, 2003)
Jade (May 1, 2004)
Grandkids and Great Grandkids 12 years old and under
Sadie, Sam, Jade, Nash, Jack, Carson, Caleb, Rylee, Sunny, Brooke, Parker, Bryson, Rhett, Morgan, Allie, & Tate
We got to have Travis home for Christmas again this year (not sure that will happen in 2016). The kids were nice and sort of let me sleep in until about 9 am. Travis managed to drag gift opening out for an entire hour and a half! Don't ask how he managed to pull that off without tears, but it happened! I think Nash's favorite gift was his new Ripstick. Brooke's favorite gift was probably the Wizard of Oz Dolls. Caleb's favorite is probably his new BB gun (although he's bummed out that mom won't let him shoot it without dad around). Sam got the Dirty Dancing movie so she's happy! I finally got new seat covers for the two front seats of the Tahoe (only been asking for a year and a half). Travis got his smoker on Black Friday (couldn't lift it out of my Tahoe on my own and didn't really have anywhere to hide it) - despite how super excited he was to get it, he still hasn't used it yet! I'm sure it's quickly approaching though!
Instead of Legos this year, Nash got these. They are like magnetic building blocks. The kids always fight over them at the chiropractor's office!
All the kids got new boots this year!
A robot like they build in Robotics Club. Should keep the kid busy for a minute or two anyway!
Nash was a good sport and let B try her new tiara out on him
This year's new dress ups include - Ariel, Cinderella (NOT going to the ball), Sofia the first, a pink Cinderella dress, Elsa & Ana along with a tiara and gloves
2 peas in a pod here
We spent New Year's Eve out at Grandpa Scott & Grandma Kris's house. Dad was back in Alaska so it was a party without him this year. The good news is that even though he had to leave on Dec. 29th and is gone for 3 weeks, when he comes home he gets to stay home for 3 weeks. We are hoping he can find a new job in 2016, but who knows what the year will bring. Despite the challenges of his job, we are thankful he at least has a job. For now I'll continue working at Ridleys and teaching preschool. Hopefully I won't have to do it forever, but for now (again) I'm thankful I have a job I can rely on!
2016 Events to look forward to:
*Sam turns 13 in February!
*Sam turns 13 in February!
*A most epic birthday surprise for Sam will arrive in June
*Brooke turns 5 in May & starts Kindergarten in August! No more babies at home! What will I do?!
*Caleb turns 8 in July & gets baptized!
*Brooke turns 5 in May & starts Kindergarten in August! No more babies at home! What will I do?!
*Caleb turns 8 in July & gets baptized!
Here's to hoping that 2016 brings you lots and lots of joy!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Boy have we had a busy few weeks!
*This week we saw this:
Nash's comment was, "How stupid do you think I am?! I DID NOT do this!" Pretty sure it was Caleb's attempt to get Nash in trouble because Nash was trying to do what mom told him to and that involved telling Caleb what to do and Caleb didn't like it. Nice try kid. Better luck next time. And yes, that is dry erase marker on my wall. Thank heavens for Norwex cleaning paste is all I can say!
*I took Samantha and her friend Lizbeth to the Nutcracker over Thanksgiving. It was our first time ever to go see it. I've wanted to take Sam for years and this year she pestered me until I remembered to buy tickets. It was lots of fun to watch and I think she thought it was even more fun because she recognized several of the teachers from the Cache Valley School of Ballet dancing in it.
*Samantha is down and out with Patella Bursitis for the next two weeks. No dancing, lifting, twisting, kneeling, or heavy lifting. Today I caught her at the computer with her head phones on watching her dance videos from her choreography class and she was writing out beats and steps. Poor child is going to think she's died without dance for two weeks. She still thinks I'm putting her under some sort of cruel and unusual punishment for making her go to each class and sit on the sidelines to watch. Sorry kid, you'll thank me later. Maybe. Another unfortunate consequence of this injury is that since she is suppose to be off her leg as much as possible, I will be driving her to school every day until Christmas break. I will also have the pleasure of picking her up the two days a week I'm done teaching by noon. Hopefully she will follow the dr.'s orders to a T and she'll be back dancing in January. Otherwise I'm afraid we'll have one very sad and angry pre teen at our place.
*Nash's basketball team is still getting creamed at every game. This weekend they lost 30-4. On the upside, Nash finally got a little aggressive. For example; he clothes lined a kid! And, he grabbed at the ball and held on like it was his and he wanted it! Yes, proud mom moment! I've been telling him for awhile that he needs to play church ball for a bit in order to see what I mean about you don't have to be nice when you play basketball. It's ok to try and take the ball from the other kids! With him finally showing a little aggression I'll say I "MOMENTARILY" considered signing him up for the Jr. Jazz season. And then I remembered that they play that out in NORTH LOGAN and I'm in HYRUM and I really, really, really, don't want to drive to North Logan more than the three days a week I'm already doing it. Guess we'll wait it out and see. Only 2 games left for the season.
*Nash had another robotics competition while Travis was home. We went all the way down to Ogden for this one. Nash's team had their STEM project done and they were in the top 5 the whole day. Going into finals they were in 2nd place. They had an overall win in the bag. Nash drove the first 30 seconds and his partner drove the final 30 seconds. As the final buzzer rang their robot slid off the ramp. This cost them 1st place. They ended up tying for 7th as a result. It was a heart breaker. However, they did win the overall design award for the competition and were pretty excited about that. They are ready to crush the competition on Feb. 6th at their next competition.
*We've been back to the Wellness Clinic for retesting. ALL of the bars are now GREEN! His overall number that was 601 before, is now up to 937. This means that his body is balanced and we can proceed with the NAET testing (Nambudripad's Allergen Elimination Technique). I've received a thick book and a workbook on this testing. I am suppose to read the book and the workbook is to help while we do the allergen testing. This testing is much more in depth than the testing that he's had done at the Allergy Clinic twice already. My understanding so far about how this testing works is: when we go in he will get a treatment (not sure what that treatment is) and then there will be specific foods that he won't be allowed to eat OR touch for the next 24 hours. Based on his response then we can proceed to the next set of allergens to test for. I was told that he can pretty much always eat white rice (except when testing grains) and he can pretty much always eat french fries. Should be interesting to say the least. I think there may be a few times he eats nothing but french fries for 24 hours. I think the sugars test will be the most difficult of all for the poor kid. However, I have faith in this. Why? Because after just 3 weeks of the various drops he had been prescribed he was already up a pound and a half. It took 3 yrs for him to gain the last 5 lbs he's gained. This is not a cheap route to go, but I know it's going to be worth it in the end!
*So, you can see why I'm so terrible at keeping my blog up to date recently. My dang kids just keep me too dang busy! We have fun though, even when it gets crazy busy.
*This week we saw this:
*I took Samantha and her friend Lizbeth to the Nutcracker over Thanksgiving. It was our first time ever to go see it. I've wanted to take Sam for years and this year she pestered me until I remembered to buy tickets. It was lots of fun to watch and I think she thought it was even more fun because she recognized several of the teachers from the Cache Valley School of Ballet dancing in it.
*Samantha is down and out with Patella Bursitis for the next two weeks. No dancing, lifting, twisting, kneeling, or heavy lifting. Today I caught her at the computer with her head phones on watching her dance videos from her choreography class and she was writing out beats and steps. Poor child is going to think she's died without dance for two weeks. She still thinks I'm putting her under some sort of cruel and unusual punishment for making her go to each class and sit on the sidelines to watch. Sorry kid, you'll thank me later. Maybe. Another unfortunate consequence of this injury is that since she is suppose to be off her leg as much as possible, I will be driving her to school every day until Christmas break. I will also have the pleasure of picking her up the two days a week I'm done teaching by noon. Hopefully she will follow the dr.'s orders to a T and she'll be back dancing in January. Otherwise I'm afraid we'll have one very sad and angry pre teen at our place.
*Nash's basketball team is still getting creamed at every game. This weekend they lost 30-4. On the upside, Nash finally got a little aggressive. For example; he clothes lined a kid! And, he grabbed at the ball and held on like it was his and he wanted it! Yes, proud mom moment! I've been telling him for awhile that he needs to play church ball for a bit in order to see what I mean about you don't have to be nice when you play basketball. It's ok to try and take the ball from the other kids! With him finally showing a little aggression I'll say I "MOMENTARILY" considered signing him up for the Jr. Jazz season. And then I remembered that they play that out in NORTH LOGAN and I'm in HYRUM and I really, really, really, don't want to drive to North Logan more than the three days a week I'm already doing it. Guess we'll wait it out and see. Only 2 games left for the season.
*Nash had another robotics competition while Travis was home. We went all the way down to Ogden for this one. Nash's team had their STEM project done and they were in the top 5 the whole day. Going into finals they were in 2nd place. They had an overall win in the bag. Nash drove the first 30 seconds and his partner drove the final 30 seconds. As the final buzzer rang their robot slid off the ramp. This cost them 1st place. They ended up tying for 7th as a result. It was a heart breaker. However, they did win the overall design award for the competition and were pretty excited about that. They are ready to crush the competition on Feb. 6th at their next competition.
*We've been back to the Wellness Clinic for retesting. ALL of the bars are now GREEN! His overall number that was 601 before, is now up to 937. This means that his body is balanced and we can proceed with the NAET testing (Nambudripad's Allergen Elimination Technique). I've received a thick book and a workbook on this testing. I am suppose to read the book and the workbook is to help while we do the allergen testing. This testing is much more in depth than the testing that he's had done at the Allergy Clinic twice already. My understanding so far about how this testing works is: when we go in he will get a treatment (not sure what that treatment is) and then there will be specific foods that he won't be allowed to eat OR touch for the next 24 hours. Based on his response then we can proceed to the next set of allergens to test for. I was told that he can pretty much always eat white rice (except when testing grains) and he can pretty much always eat french fries. Should be interesting to say the least. I think there may be a few times he eats nothing but french fries for 24 hours. I think the sugars test will be the most difficult of all for the poor kid. However, I have faith in this. Why? Because after just 3 weeks of the various drops he had been prescribed he was already up a pound and a half. It took 3 yrs for him to gain the last 5 lbs he's gained. This is not a cheap route to go, but I know it's going to be worth it in the end!
*Thanksgiving was fun. We ate dinner at Travis's parents house. We haven't had dinner out there in about six years so it was a nice change of pace. Travis got to be home for Thanksgiving (he left the Tuesday after). He will be home for Christmas as well. However, once he leaves on Dec. 29th he will be gone for 3 weeks. The only upside is that when he comes home at the end of January he will get to be home for 3 weeks. Why the change? It's to offset the schedule he has been on. His alternate wants to get holidays home this next yr and in order to do that they have to essentially switch places.
*The kids had their Christmas piano recital this past Friday. They did a really good job. I was worried about the boys and their duet but all the work they did with Travis while he was home paid off. It's nice having a husband who plays guitar and can sit by the piano and play along with them until they get it figured out. The duet went off without a hitch. Sam was mad at herself because she messed up her duet with her teacher and they stopped and started again so she wouldn't mess the whole thing up - her hands were in the wrong spot.
*Brookelyn has finished up dance class until January. I got to sit and watch her final class. I finally figured out why she tells me class is boring and she hates it. They didn't learn a single dance - all they did was ballet basics practice. Brooke loves tap and loves to actually dance. This class was very challenging for her because of that. I asked her if she wanted to quit dance until next fall when I can sign her up at a regular studio or if she wants to keep going with ballet. When she realized how long she'd have to go without dance she decided to stick it out with her ballet class. Good girl. :)
*Caleb has his Christmas choir concert coming up on Dec. 16th. They did an amazing job at the Veteran's Day concert they did so I can't wait to hear the Christmas concert!
*We managed to put our Christmas tree up while Travis was home!
*Our friend, Scott, has been on vacation in Europe for about three months. I talked to him when he first went over and told him how much Sam loves collecting snow globes. This week we got a package in the mail. Sam got three new snow globes and the music for a music box, Brookelyn got a new Matroshka, the boys got a pirate German lego set and some dinosaurs to excavate. They were all pretty darn excited and I can't say as I blame them.
*I've been working with the boys and their reading to make sure they've been writing down what they are suppose to for school. Nash is participating in Read Across America this year. His goal is to read 35 books by the end of the school year. So far he's read 20. Books have to be a minimum of 80 pages. If they are over 300 pages they count as two books. Many of his books have been over the 300 page mark and have counted as two books. I found out though that he hasn't been turning in the book reports he's suppose to write if there isn't an RC test for the book. The kid needed to write 10 book reports! He was not a happy camper. I think he's about caught up now though. Caleb set a goal for himself at the beginning of the school year that he wanted to read 100 books this year. So far he's filled up his entire book in a bag chart and has had to ask for a new folder. I've literally only written down about 1/3 - 1/4 of the books he's actually read. We got to school 30 minutes early on Friday and he started doing his tests. He had 13 Geronimo Stilton books that he had finished and hadn't tested on yet. When I left him he had 129 RC points (they earn so many points for each reading test they take - depends on kind of book and how many pages it has). I'm pretty sure he's at least 1/2 way to his 100 books goal and that he's going to have more RC points than any other 2nd grader. Any suggestions on chapter books for a 2nd grader that reads on a 4th grade level would be great. He blows through an A to Z Mystery and a Magic Tree House book in about 1 - 1.5 hrs.
*So, you can see why I'm so terrible at keeping my blog up to date recently. My dang kids just keep me too dang busy! We have fun though, even when it gets crazy busy.
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