Thanksgiving 2008

We had a perfect Thanksgiving day at my sister's house yesterday. It was our year to be at my Dad's house but since he's in Indiana Sherri and I decided there was no reason why our families couldn't get together. We decided to do it at her house since she has more room. Jose' fried our turkey and made the dressing and I was suppose to make the broccoli, cheese and rice casserole but he ended up making that too. He likes to cook, I guess. Sherri made a seven layer salad, sweet potatoe casserole, homemade mac and cheese, rolls and two pumpkin pies. Actually, Kinley and Madison made the pies.

We managed to get some family pictures before we ate and I even liked one enough to use as our Christmas card. This is the second year in a row Jose' and I have gotten in the picture. For years I just put the kids on our cards. Here's the picture I used.

We also got a picture of both our families together. Sherri got her neighbor to come over and take it for us....oh well, I can't get that picture to load.

Here is Kaylyn and I.Me with my twin sister, Sherri. After we ate Jose' and Jeff played video games and Sherri, Stephen and I played Spades for a couple of hours. I'm glad Jose' enjoyed himself so much and didn't mind staying as long as we did. The only thing that would have made the day better is if all our family could have been there.
I had more pictures I wanted to share but just can't get a lot of them to load. I have that problem a lot.

I'm so happy our families could be together for Thanksgiving. It's been a long time since we were all together like that. We vacationed together but Stephen wasn't with us.

Thank you Sherri and Jeff for having us at your house and for a perfect Thanksgiving day :-).

Stephen is home :-)

After six months Stephen is finally home for good. Six months!! Those first two and a half months were the hardest for me. He was in Arizona alone except for my brother, but he wasn't staying with them. He was in an apartment with a few other guys that he didn't even know until he got there. He was paying rent, buying his own groceries, cooking for himself, washing his clothes...everything. I am so proud of him and so glad he's HOME. He'll start school in December so we'll have a few weeks with him home.

He brought the new Guitar Hero home with him. Landon was SO excited! He's really good at playing but also just likes to sit and watch Stephen play. Landon was a little jealous when Stephen first got home. Everytime I'd hug Stephen or spend too much time with him Landon would want me to pick him up or would hang onto me. He's not use to sharing me with another son :-).

Here are a few pictures I took of them all playing last night.

Look at my sons :-). Makes me so happy to see them together. Landon most likely won't have any memories of Stephen living here. I have to explain why there is so much stuff on my living room floor. Most of it is stuff Stephen brought in but all the stuff beside the front door is my sister's bags...they spent the weekend and were getting ready to leave.

Stephen, Landon and my nephew Carter watching above and

Kaylyn and her boyfriend, Zach, below.

It's funny how when Stephen is home the whole atmosphere of the house changes. It's louder, a little messier and just feels right :-). I slept good last night knowing all my kids were under the same roof.

Our week so far

I got up Monday morning and went to work and sent Landon to school. I didn't want to but he had been asking me all weekend if he was going and saying he wanted to go. I can't keep him home if he's asking to go. I don't think he'd be asking to go if he were miserable or even feeling mistreated. When I asked after school if he'd had a good day they said he had one rough spot after morning recess and even told the aide he hated her but after that was fine. She said he did come back later and tell her he was sorry and that he loved her. She also said he had went up to one of the boys in his class who was sitting in his desk and kept pushing him. I told her I want him to learn he can't do that but also wanted the aide to understand that he wasn't doing it to be mean. In the book I'm reading, Look Me in the Eye, the man telling the story is talking about when he was a kid he'd hit or push to try to get a friend to play with him. The problem was he just really didn't know how to get other kids to play with him.

The past two mornings have been good because I've actually gotten him to eat all his oatmeal for breakfast. It feels so great sending him to school with something in his stomach and not worrying all morning that he's hungry. It's taken 11 weeks but I think he's finally gotten use to eating breakfast early.

I'm not suppose to have to work on Thursdays but my boss is going to be gone Friday so is going to do payroll tomorrow and wants me to be there. So, I'll go in early and work an hour then I have to come home because a lady is coming to my house tomorrow to talk about Landon and the services that are available to him. If I miss this appointment we won't get another one until December. Landon has to be here for that meeting so I guess I'll just take him to work with me in the morning and then take him to school afterward.

The fair is this week so of course it started raining yesterday. It always ALWAYS rains while the fair is here. It wouldn't seem like the fair if we weren't walking on wet, muddy hay that they've thrown all over the fair grounds. Sherri and her kids are coming Friday and we'll go to the fair Saturday. We all have our rubber boots ready :-). Landon is saying he doesn't want to go so if he still doesn't want to when the time comes he can stay with Jose'. In five years he's never once rode a fair ride.

So, that's what's been going on and is going on here. I'm ready for the weekend to get here.

Still not sure

I have no idea what to do and feel like I'm all alone in making a decision. Landon is not doing well in school and instead of things getting better they seem to be getting worse. Last week he had a rough day Monday and when I picked him up his teacher told me he'd said a bad word, a real bad one, to her in class in front of the other kids. It was a word we do not use in our house but I'm sure he heard it on the t.v. on some of the movies Jose' watches. I talked to Landon about it and told him that was a very bad word and not to ever use it again. He sit there a minute and then said "Is shit a bad word too?" He said next time he'll say dang it instead. So, that was Monday. Tuesday I got a call at work around 1:00 from the counselor asking if I could go ahead and come pick Landon up because he'd had another really bad day. He'd spent most of the day in either her office in the time out chair or the principle's office. He had thrown dirt at one kid and kicked another one at recess. Now, I don't condone him kicking or throwing dirt but I wasn't surprised to hear it was a second grade boy that has been picking on him. I've even seen this boy picking on him at the football games. I asked the teacher was she sure he wasn't just fighting back and she said the teachers on duty didn't think so. I wonder.

She asked me was he on any medicine for the cold he's had and I told her yes. She said maybe the medicine was making him irritable and I told her I don't give it to him in the mornings so he won't be tired and she said maybe it's residual from having taken it the night before. I really don't think so. He's on an antibiotic, allergy medicine and Musinex. She asked if I could keep him home until he's done with his medicine. So, that's what I did. I missed work the rest of the week and he missed the next three days of school. Am I going to have to keep him home every time he's on medicine?

So, I'm trying to decide what to do. Do I want to keep sending him to school where he's getting in trouble all the time, making the teacher's jobs hard, not really learning much and where I think his spirit is being broken. Or, do I pull him out now and homeschool him for a while? I know I could do it. I think I could even have him ready for first grade. What I wish is that everyone would stop telling me how wrong that would be to do that to him. How he NEEDS to be in school and how he'll never get use to it if I take him out. He's been in school for TEN weeks and he's not use to it yet. It's not a case of him getting use to it...why can't people understand that? I know they are just trying to help by giving me their oppinion but they don't know Landon and they don't know how hard it is to keep sending him up there.

I need to find out if he will still be able to get OT if he's not in the school system. I don't want to lose any help we are trying to get. I'll call Monday and talk to his social worker to fiind out these things. Landon has been asking me for the past few days if he's going to school and wanting to go so then I wonder, if he was miserable there would he be asking to go back?

I don't know what I'm gonna end up doing but I will probably go ahead and send him Monday and give it one more try. I need time to call and make sure he's not going to lose the help he's getting. But, if I am called one more time or if my instincts keep telling me he shouldn't be there then I will do what I think is right for Landon and try not to hear what everyone is saying.

What I'm Thankful For

I'm thankful for Jose' for being the provider that he is, working so hard and never complaining about it. I'm thankful that I got to stay home with my kids for 14 years and during that time he carried the whole financial load for our family...without ever making me feel guilty for being home. I'm thankful that he loves me so much and hardly a day goes by that he doesn't tell me how beautiful I am or how much he appreciates me. I'm thankful that even though things have been hard in the past at times right NOW they are good...we are good.

I'm thankful for my first born, my oldest son Stephen. I'm thankful for a very responsible young man who is mature beyond his years. I'm in awe of him leaving three days after graduating high school and driving 22 hours to work, away from home for the whole summer. I'm proud of the money he's made and saved. He has done so much more than most kids his age...so much more. I'm thankful for a son who loves me SO much and who I truly feel is one of my best friends. I am thankful for my oldest daughter, Kaylyn. I am thankful for her sweet spirit and huge smile that brightens everyone's day...everyone who can appreciate it. She tries to see the best in people and has a soft heart for people who are not treated fairly. I'm thankful that she loves God and is trying to live a life that pleases Him. I'm proud of her values and that she is determined to keep them...even when it's really REALLY hard sometimes. I'm thankful for her forgiving spirit which sometimes shows me I could learn a lot from her. I'm thankful that we are not only mother and daughter, but friends. I'm thankful to God for Kinley's life...that's she's still here with us. Not a day goes by that I don't look at her and know how blessed we are that she's here. I'm thankful that she listened to God when he spoke to her and look forward to seeing what he has in store for her life. I'm thankful that Kinley is not a follower and that she doesn't feel the need to do things like other people just to fit in or please them. I am thankful that she still likes to play with her dolls and is not trying to grow up too fast like so many girls her age. I'm thankful for the miracle of Landon's life. I'm thankful that God put it on my heart to have him and to trust Him and never give up. I'm thankful for the love of another son. I'm proud of who he is and I know that he is exactly the little person he is for a reason. God has big plans for Landon and all I can do is be here to help him and again, trust God. I'm thankful that Landon made me feel that our family was finally complete.I'm thankful for my sisters...my best friends. Where would I be if I didn't have them to talk to, cry to, laugh with?? Nobody makes me laugh as hard as they do...till I am crying. I need them and thank God that he gave us each other. I need thier approval and value their oppinions more than anyone else's. Thank you God for my sisters!! Sometimes, like now, when life isn't seeming fair and not much fun we have to remind ourselves how lucky we are. We have to remember what we have to be thankful for and how blessed we are. We should not lose sight of that. I just thought I would share some of what I am thankful for.