Mi Alegra Familia

Landon's 7th Birthday...Superbowl

2010-02-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

A little late on this but I usually am :-).

It's still hard for me to believe that Landon is seven years old. I still think of him as a baby and I guess since he IS the baby in our family I always will see him that way. As usual, we had his birthday party on Superbowl Sunday. His real birthday was the day before so we had a little party that night too. Jose' had to work all night unloading a barge but my sister, Sherri, and her three kids were here to help make it fun. I made spaghetti, garlic bread and a chocolate cake. I saved his big gift for the real party but got him a couple of small things just to have something to open...a John Cena wrestling man and a Ben 10 figure. He loved them both :-).

Superbowl Sunday I had my whole family here except two BIL's and a niece and nephew in law. We had more food than we could ever eat...everyone brought something. Jose' cooked on the grill even though we really had enough food without it...he wouldn't be happy if he weren't cooking LOL. He also made his yummy shrimp dip and stuffed jalepeno peppers.

My SIL, Ashley, brought a Mexican dip and my stepmother brought a brisket and rolls to make sandwiches. My sister, Lori, and her best friend had a good time cooking :-). They made a cheese ball, dessert ball, potato logs, meat roll and rice crispy treats.

Of course there was birthday cake too. Kinley and Kaylyn made his cake...a Ben 10 cake. I think they did a good job on it :-).

We did cake and gifts before the football game started.

He was so excited about his Mario game for the Wii he didn't even want to open the rest of his gifts...I guess we did good :-).
Kinley and Madison, my niece

My sister, Lori, Jose' and Teresa

It was a very good day! We had family, friends, GOOD food, Landon's birthday and a victory for our Saints :-).

Ornaments

2009-12-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here looking at my Christmas tree and all the ornaments on it. There are so many and they are all special to me. I can tell you where every one came from or who made it. I have some as old as when I was a kid and some I got this year. Last year when I was taking down my tree I decided to get pictures of some of the most special ones.

These are ornaments we've made either here or at school. The tree and snowmen aren't an ornament but I threw it in there because I'm proud of it :-)...I painted that about six years ago.

These are ornaments I've received from online friends. We do a gift exchange every year and I usually get an ornament. We didn't do that this year and I really missed it. Some people think that online friendships aren't real friendships but I'll argue that one with them. I am very close to some of my online friends who I've never met and probably never will.

The next ones are very special to me. On December 27th, 1989 I had a doctor's appointment. I was 9 months and three days pregnant with Stephen. I just knew he was going to keep me that day but once again he sent me home and I cried most of the way home. We stopped at Walmart that day and bought these ornaments on clearance. Stephen was born the next day.

I use to order from ABC Distributing a lot...did a LOT of Christmas shopping there. Every year I would order some of their ornaments. I stopped when our tree started getting so full there was nowhere to hang new ones.
My sister, Lori, has given me and the kids a lot of ornaments over the years. She made some of them and bought some.
This one deserves a closer look LOL. She gave me and Sherri (my twin) these last year. I love how Sherri and I look alike. It's the perfect ornament for us!!

Here are the ornaments made by the kids at school or ornaments given to them at school.

My best friend, Marcia, and I exchanged ornaments while she lived here and for a couple of years after she moved.

Oh, I forgot about these super cute ones. I LOVE my glass candies. They also came from ABC Distributing. I use to have more of these but have given a few away.

These are ornaments from when I was a kid so they are very, very special to me.

And here is our tree skirt. I made this YEARS ago. It's made of felt and sequins and took forever to make. I actually never finished putting the sequins on it. Every year I say I'm going to get a new and prettier one but just can't part with this one.
So far this year we've gotten three new ornaments...two LSU ones for Jose' and a Veggitale one for Landon but I don't have pictures of those yet. There's also several that didn't fall into any of these catagories that I didn't take pictures of.

Still here :-)

2009-12-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been almost five months since I wrote here! Buddy was so little in that last post. He's a big dog now!

I love this time of year but am sad that it's going so fast. Next week is Christmas :-0. I'm not tired of my tree yet and not done with my shopping. I am ready for the kids to be out of school...two more days. Stephen will be home next week and Jose' will be off work for two weeks. We'll all be here :-).

Thanksgiving was good this year. We went to Daddy's and the whole family was there except Jose'. His mom was in Idaho and his sisters didn't come home like they had planned so he stayed with his Daddy so he wouldn't be by himself. I missed him being with us but thought he did the right thing to stay with his Daddy. We did Christmas cards that day so since he wasn't there I just did one of the kids this year. I did get one shot with me in it and sure do wish Jose' was in it because it would have been a great family picture.

This is the picture I used for my Christmas cards...which I'm not done mailing out yet. I'm so behind on that this year. So, if you haven't gotten one yet it's still laying here beside my chair LOL.

I wanted to do a card with two pictures and use this one too but decided to just go with one picture. I do love this picture, though, because they are all hugged up so sweet :-).

I took several really good pictures of just the girls. I had the first one enlarged and framed for Jose' for Christmas. He's getting so many pictures in his office he may not even have anywhere to put it. He's going to have to start bringing some of them home, I guess.

I also got some good pictures of the kids, minus Stephen, before Church a couple of weeks ago.

So, I guess that's enough pictures for today :-). The kids get out at noon today and the rest of the week. Tomorrow is Kinley's Christmas play at school and after that she and I are going to finish our Christmas shopping.

I'm going to try hard to write more. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!

Buddy's Playdate

2009-07-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

Kaylyn dog-sit her friend's dog last week for a couple of days. She mostly kept him in her room because he's not completely house broke but she would take him out every now and then to potty and to play with Buddy. They were SO cute together!! Oh, and about Pete's coloring...he is purple LOL. Kaylyn and her friend decided to put a little coloring on him that they thought would wear off quickly...it didn't.

Poor Pete, no dog should have to be purple LOL.

Buddy has grown so much since these pictures were taken. I'll have to take some recent ones of him to put here.

He also had a playdate with Lori's puppy, Maggie, but we didn't get any pictures. She'll have to bring her back soon.

Stephen At Work

2009-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

Stephen posted these pictures on his Facebook so of course I had to steal them. I love having pictures of him working on the pipeline and especially love the one of him with my Daddy, his boss. I am so proud of Stephen and how hard he is working to put himself through college.

These pictures were taken in Ohio. It's so beautiful there!! He is getting to see so many places working on the pipeline. So far he's worked in Arizona, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. There's a chance he may even go to Alaska in 2011.

Our Trip to Ohio

2009-07-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

We left for our trip Thursday morning at 4:30. We spent the night at Lori's house the night before so we could leave earlier. The kids were excited and I had no trouble getting them out of bed and dressed. I have to brag on my kids :-). We could not have asked for a better sixteen hour drive than we had with two kids and a puppy. I gave the kids motion sickness medicine before we left and Landon slept probably 12 of the 16 hours and Kinley is just a good traveller. She slept a lot too but when she wasn't asleep she was happy to just look out the window. The few times Landon was awake I kept him happy with the DVD player.

Maggie was in her pet carrier for most of the trip but we did let her out some to get a break from the carrier. She loves attention!!

Kinley thought it was cool that we were in six states in one day...Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. Here's Cinncinati...

Daddy, Lynn and Stephen are staying in the cutest little house. The kids called it the Christmas house :-). It sits up on a hill by itself and the backyard is a park. Across the road was another park with great stuff to play on. We spent a lot of time there and the weather was so cool we never even broke a sweat. It was in the 60's and 70's the whole time we were there.

The first day we were there we went and picked up Lori and went to some garage sales. Kinley found a LOT of baby clothes for her dolls. Then we rode around and looked at some Amish farms. We also saw a bridge built in the 1800's called an S bridge. After we dropped Lori off we came home and played in the park. After Daddy and Stephen got home Daddy took us riding out to where they are working. He drove us up the huge hill/mountain they are going up. It scared the kids!! I loved getting to see where Stephen is working.

Saturday, the 4th, we went to a place called The Wilds. Lori and Deano didn't go with us because they went to Niagra Falls for a couple of days. The Wilds is on 10,000 acres and we rode in an open air vehicle. They had a lot of endangered animals there. It took three hours to see it all. They stopped a few times and let us get out and walk around, feed the fish, get a snack.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my Daddy with my kids. He's never gotten a chance to really get to know Landon because he's gone a lot and because Landon has never been one to spend the night away from home. Also, with his Asperger's, for so long he wasn't good at interracting with people. This trip was so great because they got to see a side of Landon they've never seen and he got so close to them. He told them all the time he loved them and they laughed at him so much...he's funny with the things he says. Daddy and Lynn both told me several times what a good kid he is and that made me feel good :-). On the way home from The Wilds we went to eat at the Chinese place. Stephen said they eat there every Saturday night. It was a long day and we were all very tired but it was a good tired. That night MawMaw Lynn, the kids and I sit on their front porch and watched fireworks over the mountain.

On Sunday, we went to Trade Days, which was a huge flea market type thing. Before we went Daddy took us riding again through Amish country. It is just so beautiful there and so much to look at...so different from where we live. After we got home Stephen and I went to Walmart and Daddy and Lynn kept the kids. That evening we had a cookout under one of the gazebos in the park behind their house. It was Daddy, Lynn, me, Stephen, Kinley, Landon, Lori, Deano and Uncle Richard and his son Corey. Daddy cooked hamburgers and Lynn and I made some dip. Landon even met a couple of little friends he played with for a while. It was a perfect day!!

We left at 4:30 (Ohio time) Monday morning to come home. It wasn't as easy to get the kids up and going as it was Thursday morning. Daddy had to carry Landon asleep to the car. Kinley was very sad about having to leave. The trip home wasn't as easy as coming because the motion sickness medicine didn't make him sleepy like the first time. He probably only slept three hours out of the 16. But, he was very good and mostly watched the DVD player. We rode by Graceland in Memphis, which was a huge disappointment for me. It's in a really bad part of town and just not what I had pictured. I enjoyed this trip so much and all the time I got to spend with Lori and Maggie in the car. She makes me laugh so much I'm sore the next day. Kinley said there were a couple of times Aunt Lori almost made her pee in her pants LOL.

We let Maggie out a little more on the way home because she'd just had enough of that carrier.

We got home around 7:30 that night and back to our house around 8:00. Jose' and Buddy were SO happy to see us. I think Kaylyn was even glad we were home :-)

Buddy

2009-06-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it...we got the kids a dog :-). I've wanted to do it for a long time but either couldn't find the one we wanted or couldn't talk Jose' into letting us do it. A little over a week ago Kaylyn and I were going to Walmart and right there in the parking lot these two boys were giving away puppies. I stopped, just to look, and immediately fell in love with the only chocolate brown one in the bunch. He said he'd hold him for me until we got done in Walmart and I tried hard to talk myself out of getting him while in there but didn't succeed. We went back by and got him and even turned around to go back once because we thought maybe we shouldn't do it. But, he looked up at Kaylyn with his blue eyes and she said "I can't do it Mama". So, he went home with us. Luckily Jose' loved him as much as we did :-). I never thought I could love a dog but I love this puppy!!

He doesn't have that spot on his leg anymore, it's all filled in now. Not sure what it was.

Buddy works hard trying to make friends with Spade, a neighbor's dog. He spends a lot of time here and I'm glad because it keeps Buddy company. I don't like that he eats Buddy's food sometimes but...what can we do?

He's a happy puppy and gets LOTS of attention. We are leaving Thursday going to Ohio and I am going to be so worried about him. Jose' and Kaylyn will be here but they won't give him as much attention as Kinley and Landon do. He will be glad to see us when we get home, I'm sure.

Poem for Landon's Teacher

2009-06-13T10:48:00.001-07:00

Here is the poem I wrote for Landon's teacher. I put it in a card for her along with a picture of him in his cap and gown.

Thank You

In my mind I see the day so clear,
The day I had to let him go;
I had to tell him, "Don't be scared"
Without letting my own fears show.

How could I turn and walk away,
Surely my heart would break;
Seeing him so confused and scared
Was more than I could take.

How could anyone understand
Landon wasn't like the other kids;
Who would see past what was wrong
And love and accept him like I did.

I needed them to understand
His habits and his moods;
And that when he turned his back on you
He wasn't being rude.

If he didn't want to stay in his seat
Would they think that he was bad?
Would they know when he started to bite his hand
That meant that he was sad.

Looking back now I'm able to see
That God was in control;
In Landon's life he placed a teacher
Who would help him learn and grow.

Thank you Cherie for not giving up
And for encouraging US not to quit;
Landon loves you and he will miss you,
I know you will miss him too!

Goodbye Sandy

2009-05-28T09:59:00.001-07:00

Our sweet little Sandy is gone :-(. We are all so sad and can't believe we'll never get to hold her again and feel her soft fur and cute little ears. We'll never get to see her wash her tiny little feet and sit on our shoulders. I can't believe how much I loved that little mouse. I think I loved her so much because I knew how happy she made Landon.

He held her early this morning and then put her back in her cage. A few hours later when he went to get her she was dead. We found a beautiful little red box to bury her in and wrapped her in a pretty purple cloth. Before we wrapped her up Landon asked to hold her so I let him...he needed to. He held her up to his cheek and said, "Well, I guess this is it". ***Big Sigh***

She's buried now and we will miss her so much!!

Landon's Graduation

2009-05-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over and we made it through...barely. I'm proud of Landon and glad it's over.

It all started out well with Landon walking down the aisle with a big smile on his face and went straight to his seat where he belonged. I was feeling pretty good at this point :-).
Sitting in his seat like he was told to...
Then he started to get a little restless.
He did pretty good but then started not wanting to stand up or sit down when he was suppose to so I motioned for him to come down and sit with me. He stayed with me for a while, until it was time for him to say his part...he had the letter S. I was SO PROUD of him for walking up there in front of all those people and saying his part perfectly and very clear :-). As you can tell, he was very proud of himself. His part was..."Sue buys sausages on Saturday. Sam cooks sausages on Sunday. The sausages sizzle S S S (he made the S sound) when hot. Sam eats sausages, Sue does not".

After he said his part he went back to his seat up front. Things went pretty good for a bit and he even got a certificate for Most Improved Socially :-). Then things started going downhill. His hat was getting on his nerves so he took it off and then decided the tassle would be fun to play with. Then it was time for them to get their diplomas. He found a good use for his diploma too :-)...he told me later he was a pirate. Then it was time for them to move their tassles to the other side of their hats, which he didn't have on. Mrs. Cherie, his teacher, went and put his hat back on and fixed his tassle and when he went to sit down he missed his seat and hit the floor :-0. ***Big Sigh*** None of the kids laughed at him but I did hear a few chuckles from the audience. I guess I can't blame them, I laughed a little too. And then it was over and the music started for them to leave the stage. I don't even know where his tassle was by this time :-/. And it was over. So what if he couldn't sit still...so what if he ate his tassle like speghetti...so what if he used his diploma as a periscope and didn't have his hat on for most of the time. He did the best he could and I am proud of him. Everyone told me what a good job he did and really I don't even think they noticed all the things I did...or they didn't think it mattered.

Afterward was the reception. We each decorated half a table for our child and those tables were all in the reception area.

Landon's Aunt Lori and Uncle Deano came and I was so happy they were there. It meant a lot to me that they took time out of their day to be there for Landon. Lori had her good camera with her and it's because of her I have really good pictures. I got a few but I was so nervous and busy dealing with Landon that I didn't get a lot of pictures...but she did. Thank you Lori!! PawPaw Byron and MawMaw Lynn were also there. They gave him a cute little card and $10.00. Landon opened it and said "I'm rich". It doesn't take much to make little kids happy.
Before the ceremony Mrs. Cherie gave each of the kids a ring for graduation. Landon's has 2009 on it and some of them said Graduate. They are so cute and Landon is very proud of his ring.
Before Lori and Deano left she took a few pictures of our family...the ones who were there.

I wanted to also share the poem I wrote for Landon's teacher but this is already too long so I'll wait.

Kindergarten Graduation Pictures

2009-05-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we were finally able to get the Kindergarten graduation pictures done. We had to put it off once because the photographer hurt her neck and again because of all the rain. The day we did them was hot and humid but at least the sun was shining and no rain.

I knew Landon wouldn't be too happy about the hat he had to wear and he wasn't but did better than I thought he would. At least he had it on for the individual and group picture.

For the first time we had their pictures done at the same place the Seniors have their's done every year. It will be cool when they are Seniors to look back on when they were so little and standing in the same place :-).

This is him getting his individual picture made. His teacher is trying to block out some of the bright sun.

Those little girls in Landon's class love him and it's so cute to watch them. One little girl, Ashley, came up to me and asked me if I would take a picture of her and Landon and she just wrapped her arm around his neck so sweet!!
Well, little Anna Grace saw them getting their picture made and also wanted one. She's a little shy so had Ashley ask me to take one of them so I did :-).

Then when we went in the house I saw all the girls sitting on the couch and told them I wanted to take a picture. Ashley said she wanted Landon in the picture too. It makes me so happy when I see how much his classmates love him and accept him for who he is. They never tease him or make fun of him because they just know this is Landon and this is the way he is. Watching them all together I felt so happy that I had chosen to put him back in school. I believe it was the right thing for him...he needs to be with his friends. He is not even the same little boy that I put in school back in August. He doesn't turn his back on people, he doesn't face a wall and cross his arms, he doesn't bite his hand and is not afraid of so many things. He also strikes up conversations with complete strangers. Even though he is way behind his class I don't feel like the school year was a waste of time because he has made a lot of progress. He will move on with his class because it's what's best for him. I will work with him this summer and his teacher wants to tutor him two days a week.

Their graduation will be Tuesday night, the 19th. He did it :-).

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Day started a few days early when Kaylyn came in one day with a dozen orange roses for me. It was a sweet surprise!! I don't normally like to get flowers but I really loved these and loved the color.
Then I got a nice surprise from my good friend Rhonda. She brought me a gift and said she just wanted me to know what a good Mother she thinks I am...how sweet is that :-). She gave me a Paula Deen candle, Pear Crisp scented.
Saturday Stephen came home so I had my whole family home :-). Jose' cooked crawfish for us. When he was cooking the last batch it started getting very dark and the tornado siren in town went off. So, Jose' and Stephen moved everything under the patio and we kept cooking and eating. The bottom fell out!! It rained so hard and the wind was blowing hard. I'm so glad we have that covered patio. That night Kaylyn went to her best friend's house and Stephen went out so it was just Jose' and I and the two little ones here...again. We joke and say we only have two kids every weekend.

Sunday morning I slept until 9:00 and Jose' was up with the kids. I thought for sure he would go ahead and get the kids bathed for Church and maybe fed. But, when I got up they hadn't had baths yet and I knew we didn't have time to get ready so we didn't make it to Church. Jose' and the kids gave me my gifts. My big gift hadn't come in yet so he just gave me the blank DVDs to go with it. He got me a machine that converts VCR tapes to DVDs. I've wanted it for a while. I am so excited to get this because now I can turn all our old home movies into DVDs and we can watch them and easily store them. I can also take all their old movies and put them on DVD so they can watch them again. We don't even have a working VCR right now so haven't been able to watch any of them.

After Stephen woke up he surprised me with a gift. Him coming home was gift enough for me and I never expected him to give me anything else. He went out to his truck and brought in a bag from Bath and Body Works. He knows I love their lotions and got me three bottles. I have the sweetest kids!!
Kinley made me a card and Jose' gave me one.
The kids and I ate the rest of the crawfish for lunch. I ate so much I thought I'd be sick!! Cold crawfish is just as good as hot. Kaylyn left to go swimming with a friend and Jose' and the kids took a nap while Stephen and I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. That is a very long movie and very good.

Then the weather got bad again. Within ten or fifteen minutes the ditch and yard were full of water. The wind blew so hard and limbs were falling out of trees and stuff blowing everywhere. The tornado siren went off again and this time I believed there really was a tornado somewhere. Later we went riding and sure enough there were downed trees everywhere, power lines down, telephone poles snapped into, tin scattered...definitely a tornado. We were without lights for five hours. Here are some pictures I took during the storm.

And then the sun came out. It was so beautiful...this picture doesn't come close to showing how beautiful it was. The sun was shining just in the tree tops and it was a eerie color outside.
After Stephen left to go back to school Jose' and I and the kids went riding and then went to MIL's house since she still had lights. Kinley took a shower and then at bedtime we went home. The houses across the road had their lights back on but we still didn't. So, we went to bed and soon after that our lights came back on.

It was a good Mother's Day, even with the storm.

Pets

2009-05-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

I can't decide if I feel more sorry for the cats or the mouse LOL. This is how Grace and Sister spend a lot of their time now. It really drives the cats crazy when Sandy is running in her wheel. They don't seem to bother her at all.

Landon loves Sandy so much! Every day after school on the way home he starts asking me if he can hold Sandy and asks me until I let him. I have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't get too rough with her or love her to death. But, he's very sweet with her and Sandy never tries to run away.

He even has a little car for Sandy and she'll sit in that car for as long as he wants her to. Sometimes he puts her in it and lays on the floor beside her to watch t.v. It's really cute :-)

He finally did it :-)

2009-05-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

It took Landon almost a week but he finally got all the way in the pool yesterday :-). He was afraid it was over his head and it was too cold for him. He loves it now!! I'm sure he'll be swimming like a fish in a few more weeks.

The whole back yard just feels so much better with the pool back there!!

Before Church :-)

2009-04-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

I realized Kinley and I had dressed alike that morning so of course I had to have some pictures. Landon assumed he was suppose to be in there too :-). So, we let him and then took another one. Look how tall Kinley is getting! WHEN did that happen?? I have no doubt she will get as tall as Kaylyn, if not taller. I guess I did give these kids something :-).

Pictures

2009-04-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the pictures of our new pool and patio furniture. Jose' and Deano put it up pretty fast but it's still filling with water. We'll let it run all night. The kids played in it while it was filling up. I don't think I should have let Landon since he's been running some fever with an ear infection but I just didn't have the heart to tell him no. He's on the couch now not feeling so good so maybe it was the wrong thing to do :-(. Anyway, it was a fun day. Jose' cooked on the grill for us, of course. That man loves to cook!! It was so HOT today...definitely felt like summer. I even got a sunburn on my back and arms.

Landon helping us get the ground ready.

Landon and Uncle Deano

Here is our new patio furniture.
This picture shows the color better.
And here are the new rocking chairs for my front porch. Jose' sprayed them with some water seal and had them drying. They are solid oak and will hold up in the weather better than my other ones did, I hope.

I'm So Excited :-)

2009-04-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Today will be a fun day! Last night Jose' came home with new patio furniture and a new POOL :-). He got them the big 20 across 4 feet deep one. It's going to look so great back there! He also got me two new rocking chairs for my front porch.

My sister, Lori, and her husband are coming over to help us put it up and Jose' is going to cook outside for us. I think Lori and I are going to get plants for my patio and front porch and shrubs to plant in my front yard in front of the bedroom windows.

I told the kids the pool won't actually be ready to swim in today and they are fine with that. Landon can't anyway since he's had fever and an ear ache. He probably shouldn't even be outside but I can't keep him inside on such a beautiful day. The fresh air can't hurt him.

I'll have pictures later when we get it all up :-).

A Fun Weekend

2009-04-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice weekend and a lot of fun family time. Stephen came home Thursday night and was here until Sunday. Friday night he and Kaylyn were both with friends and Jose' and I and the two little ones had our regular pizza night. Saturday we went shopping in Monroe and all four kids went with us. That hasn't happened in a very long time and will probably not happen again for a long time, if ever. It was almost strange having them all with us...and loud. First we went to Old Navy to get summer clothes for the kids. Kinley got 3 pair of shorts and some flip flops. We couldn't find any shirts for her because she's in between children's sizes and adult sizes. They don't have her size in the store in the kids' department and all the adult shirts look too mature for her. Kaylyn got 3 pair of shorts, 2 pair of flop flops and a bathing suit bottom and Landon got the cutest pair of brown plaid shorts, a shirt and flip flops. Then we went in the mall. I had hoped not to have to since Landon does not do well in there but we needed to and he did better than I expected. I could tell he was overwhelmed and even Stephen said it makes him very nervous having him there because he wanders off so bad so he was constantly helping me keep an eye on him. He is so good with Landon!! In the mall we went to Aeropostale where Stephen got some shorts and two shirts and Kaylyn got two shirts. We ate lunch at the food court and then got out of there.

Next stop was Petco :-). Kinley has been saving money for a hamster and we told her we would get the cage and stuff for her. She got a teddy bear hamster and a super cool cage. Landon had a fit over all the animals but especially loved the little mice :-o. We decided it would be good to also get him something so he wouldn't be bugging Kinley wanting to play with her hamster all the time. So, we got him a little brown mouse and small cage. Because he got something too we didn't let Kinley pay for her hamster...it was only fair. They were so SO excited and I guess I was too LOL. On the way home I put them in their balls so the kids could hold them and watch them on the way home and so the poor things wouldn't be stuck in those boxes for so long.

This is Jerry's cage in Kinley's room. I was afraid he would keep her awake running in that wheel all night but she said it puts her to sleep and she doesn't hear it at night. I don't see how she can't because I can hear it from my room!
Sandy's cage.

I didn't think I'd ever think a mouse was pretty but, she's pretty! Look at shiny she is! She's so friendly, too.

I love seeing them so happy :-) It was hard to get them to go to school this morning and leave their new pets. I promised to take care of them.

Sunday morning we all, but Stephen, made it to Church. We've missed the past two Sundays because of having get togethers at our house and so many people here. After Church we went to Pizza Hut for lunch and then to Lori's for her MIL's birthday cookout. It was her family, her MIL and FIL, Lori's friend Teresa, us and Daddy and Lynn. The food was good and Landon had a ball, as usual, on her trampoline.

It was a busy weekend...a really good weekend :-)

Rare Moments

2009-04-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

It's not often I get to enjoy all four of my kids being home. Stephen comes home every few weekends and Kaylyn, like most teenagers, is just gone a lot. Lately we feel like we only have two kids, especially on the weekends. So, moments like these are meaning more and more to me :-).

First Place :-)

2009-04-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Kinley was in an art contest at school. They had to draw Louisiana themed things. When they judged them at school Kinley came in third place in the higher elementary division. I was just so happy she placed at all. Her picture, along with all the first, second and third places moved on to District. I forgot about it until Kinley came out to the car after school carrying this :-). I was SO HAPPY!! I think this meant more to me than it did even to her...First Place in District/Higher Elementary division. Way to go Kinley!!

Easter 09

2009-04-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Easter is not my favorite holiday and I usually dread it but I really enjoyed it all this year. Even shopping for their basket stuff and clothes was fun.

We had Easter at our house this year. It was suppose to be Jose's family and mine but ended up being only my family. Jose's sisters all had other plans and his mom and dad didn't come. We had close to 20 people here, mostly family plus Kaylyn's boyfriend and my niece's boyfriend.

We dyed our four dozen eggs Saturday. I've always done a dozen per child and even though Stephen wasn't here we still did a dozen for him. Kaylyn wasn't here either so it was just the three of us doing them.

Easter morning Landon woke us up around 8:00 telling us the Easter Bunny had come and he was so excited. We woke Kinley up but let Kaylyn sleep. I do not wake up teenagers! She didn't get up for another hour or so. They got their baskets and hunted the four dozen eggs that were hid in the house.
Jose' cooked on the grill. He made burgers, ribs, sausage and boudain and I made baked beans and the kids and I made Easter cookies. My stepmother brought banana pudding and a frozen coconut/pecan pie for Stephen because it's his favorite. Everyone got here around 1:00. We hid the eggs for the kids before they got here because we wanted to do it before it started raining. Not long after eating our lights went out and stayed out for a couple of hours. So, we played Apples to Apples in the playroom floor. There were 10 of us playing...it was fun. After the lights came back on we played the Wii.

Kinley and PawPaw Byron
And with MawMaw Lynn

My two beautiful sons :-)
Stephen and my niece, Jessica.
When the lights were out we couldn't find Landon. This is where we found him..in Kaylyn's room :-).

What a fun day!! I always love how it feels after we've had a really big get together at our house and it was a success. Even with losing our lights for two hours, we still had fun.

Crawfish Boil

2009-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again...crawfish. It's been a while since we've had any so decided to have a big crawfish boil at our house. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was beautiful. We were suppose to have scattered showers and possible severe thunderstorms but didn't get any rain :-). The sun was shining and there was even a cool breeze blowing. We had 21 people here and still had a little crawfish left over.

Landon spent the whole day playing with the live crawfish. He would carry them around and play in the mud with them. But, when it came time to cook them he had no problem throwing them in the pot. I was worried he would have a problem with seeing them cooked but he was okay. Kinley liked playing with them too but not as much as he did.

Jose' did most of the cooking but the other men helped him. Jose' is never happier than when he's cooking outside.

It happened to be my stepmother's sister's birthday so I made her a cake and we surprised her with that and some gifts. She was so happy! I made a huge cake and was so proud of it until it split all the way down the middle. So, it was ugly but sure tasted good!
Stephen and his college room mate stopped by on their way home from Gulf Shores. They were here for a couple of hours and then had to go back. I was so happy to see him!!

It was just a perfect day...so much fun!

Cookout

2009-04-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday my family went to my sister, Lori's, house for a barbque. It was sort of a last minute, throw together thing...which is usually the kind that turns out the best :-). It was Jose', me, Kinley, Landon, Lori, Deano, Erica, her boyfriend and Lori's best friend, Teresa, and her daughter. Deano cooked on their new grill and Jose' tried to step back and let him LOL. Landon spent most of the time we were there either on the trampoline or begging someone to go jump with him. Erica and her boyfriend played with him a lot. It was just a really good day/evening. I loved getting to spend time with them like that.

We are having another cookout this weekend but this time at our house. We are having a crawfish boil and expecting close to 20 people to come. I am really looking forward to it :-). I hope we have nice weather but even if it rains some we have a covered patio so it will still be okay.

Prom

2009-03-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Kaylyn's prom was last night. She told me this morning she had a really good time. Her date was a friend in her class. She said she liked going with a friend and someone from her school because she didn't have to worry about if he knew anybody or if he was having fun. I checked her out of school at 12:30 when I picked Landon up and took her to have her hair done. I wish we could have gotten a later appointment because that was a lot of time for her hair to have to last. But, they sprayed it a LOT! It didn't help that it was a rainy day but we were happy that the heaviest rain held off until after they were in the dance.

They had to be at the Country Club at 6:00 to serve at the banquet. Then Kaylyn came home and got her dress on and I took her to her best friend's house where their dates were picking them up.

I think she was so beautiful!! I also think she looked a lot older than what she is, which her Daddy didn't like too much.

I took Kinley with me when we took Kaylyn and she spent the night with Kaylyn's best friend's little sister, along with another friend. So, Jose' and I were down to one child.

Look how much taller Kinley is! I don't know if she's going to be very tall or if the other two just haven't had the growth spurts she has. I look at this picture and I know in the blink of an eye they will look like Kaylyn and her friend in the other pictures...it happens so fast!!

At Aunt Ashley's house

2009-03-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today Landon went home with Ashley, my sister in law. We saw her at the beauty shop and he asked if she could go home with us. She told him she couldn't but he could go home with her and play with their dogs. He looked at me and asked if he could go home with Aunt Ashley...and he did! What a big step for him :-). He doesn't know Ashley all that well because my brother, Kevin, works on the pipeline and they are gone a lot. We only see them a few times a year. I still can't believe he went and am so proud of him. He stayed about three hours and then told Ashley he thought he should go home because his Mama would be worried about him. She called and I went and got him. While he was there she took some pictures of him with her little dog, Tucker.

As Promised...

2009-03-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures I took of Landon the day after he learned to ride his bike without training wheels. They are still on there but raised up very high and we can tell when he isn't using them because you can't hear them.

When I had him get on his smaller yellow bike with no training wheels just to see if he could do it knowing they weren't there at all. He did great :-).

That's "white dog" in the picture with him. We've recently learned her name is Hunny but Landon still calls her white dog. She only has three legs and Landon sometimes says there's that dog that lost one of her legs. It's hard to tell by looking that we have no outdoor pets. If Landon is outside there is usually at least one dog or cat out there.

I guess I'll share these of Sister while I'm sharing :-). I don't think she got up there by herself. I'm sure Landon put her there and she just decided to stay LOL.

Eight more weeks...

2009-03-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today makes me so ready for summer to be here. According to my computer it's 71 out there but I really think it's warmer. After Church I put my bike riding clothes on and went for my first bike ride in over five months. When I started riding it was like I had never stopped...except I was more out of breath than usual. It felt so good to be riding again because I've really been feeling out of shape lately. After I was done I stopped at the house and got Landon, Kinley didn't want to go. He only had one training wheel and was having trouble so we came back and Jose' put another one on for him. The training wheels are too small and don't even touch the ground so he was trying to lean too far either way. I got off my bike and pushed him off and he started riding w/out the training wheels :-). I am so proud of him!! I don't think we'll take the wheels off yet because they make him feel more secure.

I think it gets warmer earlier every year. I remember when Stephen and Kaylyn were little and we had a pool I wouldn't even start cleaning it and getting it ready until May. Then I remember with our last pool I would get it ready and they would start swimming in April. Now here it is March and I think if we had a pool they would already be in it. We had decided not to get a pool this summer because we have two pools we are allowed to use here and one anytime we want to but I think we've changed our minds. I want one we can use in the evenings and on weekends and I want one so when I sit on my patio swing and read the kids have something to do out there. The one we are looking at getting is a LOT bigger than the ones we've had in the past. The biggest one we've had was 15 across and the one we are looking at is 24 and four feet deep. I'm sure Landon would be afraid of it at first but he'd get use to it fast. I'm hoping he'll learn to swim really well this summer. Also, this one is not the one with a blow up top but the hard sided ones that will last longer.

Back to school tomorrow. Landon said yesterday he's ready to go back because he misses his friends. I hope he still feels that way tomorrow morning. I feel like school just started and now we are down to our last 8 weeks.

Oh, Kaylyn is now driving Stephen's old car...the green Dodge Spirit. At first she wasn't happy about having to drive it and thought we'd be able to get her something else. But, she's resigned herself to driving it now and even seems happy to have it. We put insurance back on it and tags and Jose' fixed her air conditioner and did some other work on it. It's so weird to see her in it instead of Stephen.

I guess that's enough rambling...

Spring Break

2009-03-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is going by too fast! I can't believe it's already Thursday :-(. The first part of the week was rainy so we didn't do anything, but yesterday and today are beautiful! Yesterday we spent the whole day out. We went to Walmart first because Kinley has outgrown almost all her summer clothes from last year and badly needed some shorts. They had some Sofie looking shorts for only $3.00 so I got her six of them. I wanted to get her some shirts too but they didn't have anything, which doesn't surprise me. After we left there we went to eat lunch at Fox's Pizza. I love that pizza!! We had planned on getting chicken or Sonic and taking it to the park to eat but we all wanted pizza instead. After we ate we went to the park for a while. It doesn't take much to make Kinley and Landon happy and I love that about their age. I want to keep them the ages they are and not let them turn into teenagers. I love that they still enjoy being with me so much and that I can make them happy just by playing with them. I had planned on reading while they played but ended up playing with them instead.

I had a few more park pictures I wanted to put on here but it won't let me. I hate it when it does that. I'll have to try again later.

Before we came home we went to the library to take back some books and get more. The kids played on the computers there for a while and even though I didn't need another book I found one. It's no fun to go to the library and not check out a book. When we got home I sit outside on my patio swing and read while the kids played. Kinley found a block of wood and got out the paint and painted a picture on it. I think it turned out really cute!

Today we are staying home because my mother in law called this morning to see if Christopher, my nephew, could stay with us for a while because she had something to do with work. I knew the kids would love having him here so told her it was fine. They have been outside some but have mostly been playing on the Wii. Christopher also gave Landon a boxing lesson, which he loved!

After I'm done here I think I'll go sit outside and read. I'm sure when I do the kids will come out there with me. For some reason they enjoy being outside more when I am out there with them :-).

Update

2009-03-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Stephen's surgery went fine and he's recovering so much better than I thought he would. I expected him to be in a lot of pain yesterday right after the surgery and he just wasn't. He was talking and drinking plenty. He was still a little loopy from the drugs, though, so probably wasn't feeling much. He did get very sick the first couple of times he tried to get up but that's normal. We got home last night around 6:30. On the way home we stopped and I went in Walmart to get him the new PS3 baseball game so that's been keeping him very occupied. This morning he ate scrambled eggs and had pancakes for lunch. I don't think he'll be losing any weight.

As for his grades, he heard from one of his teachers yesterday and his very high C is now a B thanks to some extra credit Stephen did that the teacher had not given him credit for. So, now he has a 3.3 grade point average :-)...even better!!

I have another sore throat, mostly just burning every time I swallow. I felt bad yesterday while at the hospital with Stephen so I called my doctor and his nurse told him and he called me in an antibiotic. I started taking that last night so maybe I'll be feeling better soon. I can't be sick while trying to take care of everybody else. Kinley is also coughing and throat scratchy. I'm just ready for the weekend so we can all hopefully do nothing and get well.

My Son

2009-03-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a minute to say how proud I am of Stephen. He just finished his first semester of college and came away with a 3.0 grade point average :-). He was SO close to having a 3.3 but fell short by 2/10 of a point. But I am very proud of him because he worked HARD for what he got and he did well enough for TOPS and to keep his truck insurance low. I knew he would put everything he has

into college because that's how he is with everything he does.

Another reason I'm proud of him is because he had to pay for his next semester and he wrote a check and paid it. I told him I felt bad and that I wanted to pay some of it and he said no because that's why he worked all summer...so he could pay it. He has no idea what it means to us that he does that. He said paying his own way makes him want to try harder so all that work he did on the pipeline won't be for nothing.

Tomorrow he's having surgery to have his tonsils taken out. He's needed this done for a long time, for most of his life. It was postponed over and over for one reason or another, usually because of baseball or football and then again last summer because he was ready to go off to work. But, it's gotten so bad that it just can't be put off anymore. He's got the worse tonsils I've ever seen and has even had a doctor and several nurses say the same. So, we have to be at the hospital at 8:30 in the morning and his surgery is 10:00 or so. My sister, Lori, is going with us. We thought Jose' wasn't going to be able to go but he is but she still wants to go. Lori sees everything as an outing LOL. I'm happy she's going with us :-).

When I look at Stephen I know I am a good Mother because if I weren't how could I have a son who is so mature and so responsible for his age. He will go far and he will be successful, there is no doubt about that!

As Promised

2009-02-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

We walked back down to the horses yesterday and this time I remembered my camera.

On the way home it started sprinkling hard on us and we had to run home. I do not like to run!! By the time we got back to our patio Kinley and I were gasping for breath and could barely talk and Landon was still going strong. He wasn't even breathing hard. It was very warm and Kinley asked if they could play in the water...why not :-). I can't believe it was that warm yesterday and today it's in the 40's.

Here's Landon playing with Spade, a neighbor's dog who decided to spend the day with us :-)...and the night. He slept at our back door. The kids were disappointed to see that he was gone this morning. I really do need to get them a dog!!

Three Day Weekend

2009-02-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

We've had a very nice day so far. The kids didn't have to go to school today so we get a three day weekend :-). We got to sleep late, which late for us is 8:00. I think the kids were up by 7:30 but they were quiet and let me sleep.

After breakfast we went for a bike ride. The weather is SO nice and there was a cool breeze blowing. We rode down to see the horses and feed them and played some in the little barn. They love playing on the hay. I was so mad at myself for not taking the camera. I told Kinley we may go back down there later with the camera. We stayed 45 minutes or so and then came home and started cleaning the back yard and patio. I picked up all the trash, Windexed the glass table, dusted the rocker, swept and now the patio looks inviting and I can sit back there and read and watch the kids play. While I did that Kinley cleaned up the playhouse and fixed it up nice. It felt so good to be outside!

Now we are inside resting and Kinley is taking a nap. Landon has gone back out to play in the playhouse.

We don't have any plans for the weekend, which is fine with me. Kaylyn is with a friend and Jose' has to work some this weekend. If the weather is nice we'll be outside a lot, I'm sure. Next week will be busy because Stephen is getting his tonsils out. Unfortunately his doctor wants to do the surgery on Wednesday and Jose' has a barge coming in so he probably won't even get to be there :-(. That bothers him, I know. So, my sister, Lori, is taking us. The good thing is that I didn't even have to ask...she offered. She's so good about things like that and I appreciate her SO much!! I don't know how long the surgery will take or how long he'll have to stay afterwards but it will be nice to have her there.

That's about it...boring entry, huh? If we go walking later I'll edit this and add some pictures :-)

Have a good weekend all!

A Girl's Best Friend

2009-02-18T07:38:00.001-08:00

Kinley wasn't feeling good last night. Looks like she caught her daddy's cold :-(. I gave her cold medicine and before long she was out.

Feels Like Spring :-)

2009-02-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

I don't usually like springtime but for some reason this year I'm looking forward to it and summertime. It feels so good being outside with the kids and I always feel great after a bike ride or walk with them. It makes them so happy when I say "let's go". I'm glad we live in a neighborhood where we have plenty of places to walk or ride bikes with very little traffic.

I love how there are so many boys in our neighborhood for Landon to play with. Two of the boys are in his class. I just wish there were some little girls for Kinley to play with.

When we got down the road his friend's grandmother was about to walk around the big block with four boys so we joined them.

Landon with his friends. The two little boys on the ends are the ones who are in his class.

Kinley and Landon love feeding this horse. He loves them and when he sees us coming down the road starts running to the fence. They feed him grass and onions that he can't reach from the other side of the fence.

Kinley with her walking buddy. She was scared of him the first few times but now likes him. He follows right beside her, unless the other dogs come along wanting to play with him.

We didn't get to walk today because it was too cool...maybe tomorrow. The kids don't have to go to school :-).

Back in School

2009-02-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

After a two week break, Landon is back in school. His teacher called me last Friday and asked if I was bringing Landon back. I told her I just didn't know what to do and I felt torn. I felt like he was doing great with his school work but was feeling guilty about taking him from his friends and the only real social interaction he was getting. He needs that, especially since social issues are a big part of Asperger's. He has made friends with his classmates and they like him and missed him. I want him to stay with these kids all the way through school. I was seeing him regress after only two weeks of being home with me. When we would go to the school he would cling to my leg and not want to talk to anyone, even his friends. I don't want that. I felt like all the progress he had made socially was slipping away.

His teacher told me she missed him and that his classmates asked about him every day...that they were worried about him. She asked if I would just come in on Monday and talk to her and the principle about some alternatives and some changes that would be good for him. So, that's what we did. It was hard to get Landon to go in the classroom to play while I talked but he finally did. What we worked out is that he will go in at regular time because they actually get good work out of him for about the first 45 minutes of the morning. Around 9:00 the aide takes him down to the computer room and lets him do some learning games on the computer and unwind. He's doing well with that. After the morning recess his teacher does 30 minutes one on one time with him while the aide tends to the rest of the class. After lunch and recess I pick him up, around 12:30. They said we can do half days until we feel that he can handle more.

The first day back I was worried because he woke up saying he just wanted to stay home with Mommy. I had trouble getting him up and around but once he was dressed it was like he was back in his routine and he was fine. He picked a toy to take with him and when we got to the school he got out, told me bye and he loved me and walked in with Kinley with no tears. His teacher said he did great, like he had never left. When I picked him up he seemed happy. When we were leaving he ran back and hugged his teacher and said "Bye Miss Cherie, I love you...thank you for teaching me". ***Big Sigh***

This is all new to me and I'm never sure I'm doing the right thing but I feel good about this and like I'm doing the right thing for him. This is also all new to our school but they are trying and that means a lot to me.

One day at a time with this child...we will get through this!!

Happy Birthday Landon!!

2009-02-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

My Landon turned 6 years old on February 6th...SIX!! If I really think back it feels like he's been here that long. Actually, it feels like he's just always been here. But, if I think back to all I went through to have my reversal and then to the day he was born it feels like yesterday. We got out his birth tape on his birthday and watched it. It was just as weird to see my other three kids and how young they were as it was to see Landon as a newborn.

We had his party on Super Bowl Sunday...like we always do. He's not comfortable being in a crowd so I still don't do big parties with his friends. There were 12 here, though...Jose' and I and our four kids, Sherri and her three kids, Kaylyn's boyfriend, my mother in law and for a while one of Kinley's friends. Jose' made shrimp dip, a sausage dip, those little barbque wieners that you put in the crock pot and cooked chicken wings, mushrooms and boudain on the grill. I made cupcakes and decorated them with football stuff. We did the cupcakes and gifts at halftime of the game, otherwise there would be no way to get the guys in there.

Some of us played cards during the game...

I couldn't let Landon's actual birthday pass without doing something. So, my MIL made supper for us and we went to her house. It was just her, my FIL, me, Jose', Kinley and Landon. Kaylyn and Stephen had gone to a basketball game. My MIL made tacos and tostadas.

I made him a cake...I think I did okay :-). We had already given him his big gift, Guitar Hero, at his party. But, I wanted him to have something little to open this night so we got him a football and MIL and FIL gave him $20.00.

He was so cute here watching his MawMaw sing "Happy Birthday" to him. It was a good night and I loved that we got to spend it with the in-laws. I think Landon had a very good birthday :-).

Trying Something New

2009-02-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

Things have not worked out well for Landon in school. I really thought things were getting better but the last few times I talked to the teacher she said he was falling behind, won't stay in his chair and that something had to be done. The only reason I've kept him in school as long as I have is because of his teacher. She cares about him, she's good with him and she wants to help him. But, I just think he's got to have some one on one time to get caught up. So, last week I took him out of school and will be home schooling him through the rest of Kindergarten and hopefully can get him ready for first grade.

The principle called me this morning and asked if I would be willing to come in for a couple of hours a day and help with him. Of course I said I would. However, when I talked to his teacher today I didn't get the feeling she was okay with that. She said she wasn't sure it would work out. I felt crushed...I didn't expect that. But, I do understand. That is her classroom and I respect that. I will continue to teach him here. She gave me all his workbooks and books...I appreciated that. My only regret is that he won't be with his friends. Today when we went up there they were all so happy to see him. The ones who were in the hall went running into the classroom saying "Landon's back, Landon's back!!"

Last week I started with A and will take one letter a day or more than one day if he needs it until he can write the big and small letter prefectly on his paper, between the lines. He's doing great and has A, B and C perfect. We then work on reading, sight words and math. I give him long breaks between each so he won't get frustrated and because he's just not able to sit still for that long.

We even got the chance to do a little Science. He got this playing Bingo at my niece's birthday party. It was a dinosaur egg made out of dirt and buried inside were dinosaur bones. It came with a little pick to dig with and a little brush to brush the dirt away. He tried to dig it out by himself and did a little but it was hard. So, Kinley and her friend helped him.

When they got all the bones out we put them together.

So, I'll just take this home school thing one day at a time. I know I can help him. I know I can teach him to read and write. I just worry because I don't like him not being around other kids. I'll have to work hard to make sure I get him together with his friends sometimes. I just want to do what is right for Landon. I hope I'm doing the right thing.

In the kitchen

2009-01-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

So far I've had three kids who enjoy cooking...although Kaylyn only became interested in the past few months, so it took her longer. Kinley loves it! She makes cakes all on her own and decorates them. She makes Ramen noodles after school and has cooked supper with supervision a few times. We have an old cookbook for kids that my stepmother gave to her a couple of years ago. She got it out the other day and found a few things she could make. On this day she made something called Wake Up Drink.

So, we got our ingredients together...I had to add sugar to the ingredients since our orange juice was unsweetened.

I cup up the apple while Kinley put everything into the blender.

Then she did the mixing. I was the only one who liked the drink...I actually loved it. Landon drank some but didn't love it. If I had the ingredients I'd make some more...or get Kinley to make it for me.
The next thing she wanted to make had something to do with peanut butter...I think I'll wait a while on that. I don't know if we have the all-clear on that yet.

Helping Daddy

2009-01-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

Jose' gave Landon a lesson in changing the oil in my Expedition this past weekend. He loved it!

His Other Mom

2009-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a Mother in their life. Someone who loves them unconditionally, no matter what they do and someone who cares what happens to them and worries about them. Some people spend their whole life looking for that Mother figure. Not Stephen. His Aunt Sherri, my twin sister, has been there for him from day one. We named her as his godmother and she has lived up to that responsibility. She stayed with us for the first two weeks of his life and bonded with him, maybe more in the beginning than I did. I was recovering from a c-section so she slept with him, got up with him, fed him and got him back to sleep. Those memories are precious to her. I'll never forget how when he was a week old she left for the weekend to give us some alone time. She went to my other sister, Lori's, house and when my BIL asked her how the baby was doing she broke down. She cried like she had left her own baby. She loved him like he was her own. She still does. I hope she knows how much I appreciate her. I hope she realizes what an influence she has on his life. I know if anything ever happened to me he, along with my other three kids, will still have a Mother.

Thank you Sherri for loving my kids like they were your own. Thank you for welcoming him into your home and making it his second home while he's at school.

Happy New Year

2009-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

We had a very quiet New Year's Eve. It was just Jose', Landon and I here for most of the night. Stephen was out with friends, Kinley was at my sister's house and Kaylyn went to her boyfriend's house for the first part of the night. My sister and her kids usually come for new year's eve but didn't this year. Jose' and I cooked our usual food for that night...ham, black eye peas, cabbage and bread in my bread machine. We decided not to do our fireworks since it was just the three of us and Landon usually doesn't enjoy them much. We saved them for the next night when my sister and her kids would be here to do them with us. We played the Wii with Landon a lot and after Kaylyn and Zach got back they played with him.

New Year's day Sherri and her kids and Kinley got here and they stayed for a few nights. The first night we did our fireworks and Landon LOVED them. We started him on a new medication that I thought wasn't working but I realized that night they are. He's never wanted anything to do with fireworks and would usually stand way back with his hands over his ears. This time he was right in the middle of it all and even did the sparklers...a lot of them. He was just so happy :-). I loved seeing him have so much fun with something he is normally afraid of.

The next night Jose' made a fire in the back yard and we roasted wieners for hot dogs and made smores. It was a perfect night for it, not too cold but cold enough to want to be close to the fire. Jose' had 80's music playing :-). After a while Jose's cousin and three of his kids and two cousins came over and stayed until midnight. The kids played football in the back yard until we called our's in for baths. It was a fun night.

Kinley and Madison were busy those few days throwing birthday parties for their "babies". New Year's night they did a party for Madison's babies, Grant and Anna. They made their own cake...did a good job on it, played games and even had gifts for them.
The next day was Tommy and Molly's party, these are Kinley's babies. Again, they baked and decorated a cake by themselves. We played pin the tail on the donkey and some other games and had cake and gifts.
I can't get ANY of the pictures from her party to load :-(. Maybe I'll try again later.

Making Cookies

2009-01-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

I love seeing my kids do something together and get along doing it. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them have fun doing something together :-). Christmas Eve Kaylyn made gingerbread and sugar cookies as gifts for her boyfriend and his mother and asked Kinley to help her. They even gave Landon a job. It took them several hours and not once did they fight about anything.

At first Kaylyn was having trouble getting the dough to roll out so I showed her how to use flour so the dough won't be so sticky...that worked. After that they did the rest.

Our Christmas

2009-01-04T18:10:00.001-08:00

I'm just now getting around to doing this but better late than never, right :-). It is Sunday night and the kids go back to school tomorrow. I don't know if I am sad because I will miss them or happy because I need some alone time. Jose' also goes back to work tomorrow. Landon has been saying he doesn't want to go back but while taking a bath tonight he said he misses his friends and could he go to school tomorrow. Kinley has been sad and watching the clock all day. Stephen left this afternoon to go back to college.

We had a very very nice Christmas and I had all my family home for two weeks. We've gotten use to staying up very late and sleeping late the next morning. It will be hard to get up at our normal time in the morning. Christmas eve we did the same thing we do every year. First we go to my dad's house around 5:00 and stay until around 8:00. There were 21 of us there. My niece, Jessica, drew my name and got me some pajamas and houseshoes from Victoria's Secret. They kids got too much to list between the four of them. It's so chaotic during present opening that I sometimes don't even know everything they got until we get home.

My dad and Kaylyn

Daddy and Lynn with all the grandkids.

I think it's time for Kinley to stop standing in front of her Daddy for pictures LOL.

After we left my Dad's we went to the in-law's house. We try to save room so we can eat again there. My MIL makes turkey tamales every Christmas eve. My contribution is always a vegetable tray w/dip. Most of the family was there but we were missing a couple. One BIL didn't come and one niece was with her Dad this year. My MIL got me a very nice Thomas Kincaid snowman. He's glass and the front of his belly is open and you can see a village in there with lights on in all the windows. Then there is a little train that goes around and around the base. It all sets on a wooden base. I was so surprised!! She usually doesn't know what to get me and will sometimes even just give me money. It made me feel good that she chose something that nice for me. My SIL got me a picture frame. We stayed there until around 10:30.

Me and my father in law.

When we got home we let the kids play a little while with their new toys. Then they got ready for bed, set our their gifts in separate piles and Kinley put out the milk and cookies and a letter she wrote to Santa. The letter says...Thank you elves for making all the toys for all the boys and girls. Thank you Mrs. Claus for making Santa Clause so round and plump. Most of all thank you Santa for delivering presents to all the boys and girls. I hope I am on the Nice list.

The kids all went to sleep very fast and it felt so good to finally get in bed that night. My favorite part of Christmas is going to bed on Christmas eve excited about the next morning and listening to Christmas music until I fall asleep. I'm just so happy at that moment!!

The kids didn't wake us up until 7:00 the next morning. Like always the kids waited in the hall until everyone was ready and then I opened the door. Landon had been practicing running down the hall LOL...he was ready. We spent the next hour seeing what we got and opening our gifts. We take turns opening one at a time so we could enjoy each one. I had a very nice Christmas! Stephen got me an IBook, Jose' got me a personal DVD player, house shoes, Victoria Secret panties, a goodie bag of things he knows I like and earphones for my dvd player. We helped Stephen get a Mac laptop and we got him Doc Martin boots, a Fossil watch and jacket. Kaylyn got a pink Dell laptop, down comforter and sheets, cross necklace, hair straightner and blow dryer. Kinley got American Girl twin dolls with a stroller, a chalk and marker board easel, disco light for her room, art supplies, Crayola magic light, Pictureka game and a footprints ring. Landon got a Wii with three games, guitar, Crayola magic light, dancing reindeer and a Trouble game. There were other small things but this was most of it. Jose' had a good Christmas too. I got him a cross necklace, pajamas, a Snapfish calendar I made and Stephen got him a surround sound system for the living room.

Kinley with her new babies, Emma and Andrew. I had more pictures from that morning to share but for some reason it's not wanting to add certain ones.

After we did gifts we ate Grands cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then Jose' and I started cooking lunch. He fried the turkey and made dressing and I made a brocoli rice and cheese casserole, homemade mac and cheese and bread in the bread machine. We didn't eat until around 2:30 because we ate such a late breakfast. We watched Elf while we ate and then just played the rest of the day. When it got dark we did our stockings. We started that tradition a few years ago. It gives us something to look forward to all day :-).

So, that was our Christmas. It was over too fast and as always that night I was sad. It's just such GOOD family time.

One More Week

2008-12-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Another week almost over and that much closer to Christmas break for the kids. I'm so ready and of course so are they. The kids always get so tired right before this break.

I am getting very close to being done with our shopping. I'm done with three of the kids and just have Stephen to shop for. Oh, I do still need to get Landon something Thomas because he thinks he's getting something Thomas and so far I haven't gotten him that. I guess he remembers all the Thomas stuff he got last year. I still need to buy for two nephews and two nieces, one teacher, one family name I drew and Kinley's gift for her school party. I ordered Jose' a calendar from Snapfish and got him some DVDs he's been wanting but still need to get his big gift, a GPS system. I'll wait until I get paid next week to get that. I want to pay for it myself.

I have most of the Christmas cards ready to mail. I'll do the last few in the morning and get them out tomorrow. I love mail days in December! I look forward to getting cards and seeing everyone's pictures. I get mad on days the mailman doesn't bring me any cards LOL.

Stephen started college last week. He moved in the first day by himself but Jose' and I went over there the next night and shopped some with him and helped him fix up his room. We hung some black curtains, put down a big rug, a floor lamp, a couple of chairs and some pictures. Stephen paid for all of it but the big chair. He has a private room...I'm really glad about that. I didn't like the idea of his stuff being open to anyone who came and went with the room mate.

Landon has his OT evaluation this week. It took three days to get it all done because once he lost interest there was no finishing and I don't like pushing him too hard. I was very irritated with the lady on the second day. She was not prepared at all and wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what she was suppose to be doing, finding the cards she needed out of a big stack and even cutting out stuff she needed. You would think since she knows she's going to be working with a child with attention issues she would have everything she needed ready. After an hour and 45 minutes we still weren't done and Landon was very frustrated...was even biting his hand. She said we still had one more book to get through :-0. I asked her what the book was on and she said communication. I told her we've been here for almost two hours and he's biting his hand...how do YOU think he's gonna do on communication. She said probably not too good so said I could come back the next morning to finish. I wasn't letting her push him any further at that point. Luckily, this is not the lady who will be doing his OT each week. I realized during these three days of the evaluation that he is going to have to have some help. I took him back to the doctor and asked to try him on some medication but she said she can't prescribe anything without talking to the doctor who diagnosed him. She called him the next morning and he said he'd have to see him again first. WHY? He's already seen and diagnosed him. What is another meeting going to show/tell him that he doesn't already know. ****BIG Sigh**** So, we have an appointment next week with him and then we'll see what happens from there.

I guess that's about all that's been going on. My sister told me I better start updating at least once or twice a week or I will lose any readers I might have. I don't know that I have that many but I don't want those to give up on me so I will try to do better.

I'll leave you with a few pictures taken recently.

Landon with his teacher.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

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 :-)

2008-11-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-08T15:28:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

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.

Not the best Halloween :-(

2008-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've had a rough couple of days here. Yesterday morning as soon as my feet hit the floor I knew something was wrong. I was just very off balance and felt weird. I tried to go about my morning routine but had to sit down for a bit. When I got up again the whole room started spinning and I felt sick, almost passed out. I made it to Kaylyn's room and lay on her bed and called Jose'. I'm not sure what I wanted him to do. I guess I wanted to hear him say I was okay LOL. I am pretty sure I scared Kaylyn because she's never seen me like that...I was crying. For the next fifteen or twenty minutes I sit on the edge of the bathtub by an open toilet waiting...and waiting, but I just don't throw up easily and didn't. I called my MIL and asked her to please come help me get the kids ready and to school. She did :-). I was very surprised with how well Landon did with the change in routine. After MIL left I took a phenergan and don't remember much else. I thought I had only closed my eyes for a few minutes and it had been two and a half hours. Then before I knew it the kids were home...the day was just gone so fast!

This morning I still felt a little off but got up and ready for work because it's Friday and my boss needs me on Fridays. Plus, it's Halloween and the kids need me and Kaylyn had a pep rally and I wanted to be there for that. But, I got a call from the school at 11:00 asking me to come get Landon because he wasn't feeling good :-(. I knew this morning he didn't feel real good but they were going trick or treating this morning and he was excited about that. Guess that wasn't a good call on my part. They said he enjoyed it, though, so I guess I'm glad he didn't miss out on that....especially since he won't get to go tonight. When I got him home he had 101 fever.

So, I wasn't able to stay all day at work, I sent Landon to school sick, I can't take the kids trick or treating tonight or go to the game with them to trunk or treat and Kinley is unhappy about that and making me feel very guilty and I didn't make it to the pep rally. I am in shut down mode and Jose' is taking up the slack.

***Big Sigh****

A near perfect weekend :-)

2008-10-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday Jose' only had to work until noon. We've not had too many weekends together lately so it was really nice having him home for most of the day. He cooked on the grill...ribs, sausage, boudan (sp?), mushrooms, pork chops and made shrimp dip. Sherri came for the day and night without her kids. So, while Jose' watched the LSU game she and I played cards and ate and ate some more. The kids were playing outside so noone was asking anything of us. Jose's sister, Lena, and her daughter came over for a while too and Kinley enjoyed playing with Grayson. The weather was perfect...just beautiful.

Today, Sunday, we made it to church. It's been a few weeks since we went for one reason or another. After church we went to the in-law's house for a very big get together for Verna (my MIL's) birthday. I didn't realize there were going to be that many people there. It was all Jose's sisters and their families, our family, Kaylyn's boyfriend, SIL's boyfriend, an aunt and her daughter and three kids and another aunt. The only immediate family missing was Stephen, Sil's baby Holden and one BIL. I took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures for MIL's calendar for Christmas. Here are some of them...

Landon with his grandmother.

Me with my inlaws, Rene and Verna.

Kaylyn and Zach...they are so CUTE together :-).

So, the weekend is over and I'm ready for tomorrow. It was a very good weekend with a lot of good family time.

More Landon

2008-10-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

We had a meeting yesterday at the school about Landon. It was a committe they have set up that included two teachers, the school counselor and the principle. Other people at the meeting were Jose' and I, Landon's teacher and the social worker assigned to him. The social worker brought a copy of the doctor's report. The school was hoping he would have some guidelines for them to follow in the report but he didn't. The school really wants to help him but this is all so new to them. But, they are trying. The social worker even told me today that she was very impressed with our school and how hard they are working to do right by Landon.

They talked about ways to help him in different situations that are hard for him. They have gotten funding approved to hire a full time aide for him that will stay with him all the time and will even go to the next grade with him. I guess this aide will stay with him until he doesn't need her/him anymore. Another thing they are doing for him is getting him a laptop and some educational games to use at school when he has to be taken out of the classroom. They are also getting him the weighted blanket that I've wanted for him for so long. I've never gotten it because it's so expensive.

I don't like trying to explain to people what Asperger's is. It's hard to explain. There are so many things involved in it and really you have to be around him to see it all. It only took his teacher a few days to pick up on it after he started school. Last night I went on Amazon and ordered three books. I'm hoping after I read them I can get Jose' to read them...even though he hates to read. The books I ordered are...

"Finding Ben: A Mother's Journey Through the Maze of Asperger's"

"The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome: Advice, Support, Insight and Inspiration"

"Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's"

In other news, my job has been cut down to three days a week starting next week. I should be happy about this and about getting to be home two days a week but I'm sad about it. I can't believe how much I enjoy working again and that I never dread going. I love it!! She did say she would call me back every busy season so that's good.

Stephen is in Indiana now with Daddy and Lynn now. He said they are staying in a very nice cabin and it's almost like being on vacation. I hope he's taking pictures. He'll be there for two weeks and then he'll be home for good. He's gotten to see so much since he graduated and has learned a lot. It's been hard on him and on us being away from him but it's been good for him...he's grown up so much.

The kids just got their report cards. Kaylyn had A's, B's and only one C....the best report card she's had in a long time. I am VERY proud of her!! Kinley had only one B and the rest A's :-)....I'm VERY proud of her too. Makes all those nights of homework worth it. We won't talk about Landon's....he's doing the best he can.

I'm looking forward to the weekend :-).

Why?

2008-10-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Why do some kids not have to work as hard as others for what they have?

Why can some kids do wrong and not have to pay the consequences?

Why do MY kids have to work harder than others just because they don't have the right last name?

Why am I always perceived as the trouble maker when I'm just fighting for what's right?

Why are teenage girls so mean?

Why do some teachers and other people in authority not praise our kids when they do well and forget so easily the things they have done well?

Why do some parents believe anything their kids tell them and wear blinders to the bad things their kids are doing? Do they think as long as they ignore the bad behavior it will go away? Are some grown ups really that ignorant?

Why do people have to play favorites?

Why do some teachers tell kids they are not smart and that they should just drop out and get their GED? Yes, my child was told this and she has A's and B's this nine weeks.

Why do some people think the only right way is their way?

Why do bad things happen to good kids?

I could go on and on here but I'm sure most people didn't even make it this far. I am just feeling sorry for myself and my kids today. I'm mad at myself for having really bad feelings toward some people right now. I am not a trouble maker. I don't like anyone being mad at me and try to make peace when I can. But, when my kids are being hurt that's very hard to do. Seems like every day or so one of my kids are being hurt by either a teacher, boyfriend/girlfriend, friend, people in authority, grandparent....I guess even by me and Jose'. I just want them to know that no matter what anyone says to them or does to them WE love them and we think they are GOOD PEOPLE. I don't always agree with their decisions but I know they are good, if given a decent chance.

I guess that's all....

At Daddy's House

2008-10-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I felt like a kid again :-). The weather was perfect and reminded me of so many childhood days spending the whole day outside playing. We'd make playhouses in the cotton fields across the road and sometimes, not knowing the danger, would ride on the irrigation thing. For a moment yesterday I was wishing my sisters and I were kids again and were planning out our day of playing.

One of my sister's kids asked me how far they could run out in the empty field and I told them until they get tired :-).

We took a trip out to Daddy's new land he recently bought. After we got there most of us piled into the back of his truck to ride around the land and look. I forgot how fun it is to ride in the back of a truck...it's been a while. Daddy even let us stop and take some pictures :-).

I felt like a kid again!!

My Cheerleaders

2008-10-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's been fun this school year having two cheerleaders in the family. It's been a big adjustment with Stephen being gone and not having anyone playing football, but we've still been just as busy going to the Varsity and peewee games. Cheerleading is something, really the only thing, Kaylyn and Kinley have in common. So, here are some pictures we've taken this year :-).

This was from the cheerleading camp the Varsity cheerleaders did for the peewee cheerleaders this past summer. Kinley is on the right in purple and Kaylyn in the very middle sitting down.

I had more pictures I wanted to share but either I don't know what I'm doing or this site doesn't like me because I can't get them to show up.

Landon

2008-10-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Landon's appointment with the pediatric psychiatrist from New Orleans, Dr. Neil Boris. I've waited a long time for this and was so nervous. Nervous for what he would tell me and at the same time nervous that he would say I was crazy and there was nothing wrong with him. We were there for a little over an hour and answered a lot of questions. While the doctor talked to Jose' and I, Landon and a social worker were in the room with us and the doctor was watching Landon play with all the toys they had in there. He was watching how Landon interracted with him and the social worker. At the end of the visit the diagnosis was just what we thought it would be....Asperger's. For anyone who hasn't heard of that, it's in the Autism spectrum. Picture a rainbow and at one end is Autism which is the lower functioning end. At the other end is Aspergers. Aspergers, along with Autism, is a Pervasive Development Disorder. Here's something I read about it online.

The term pervasive development disorder (PDDs) refers to a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others, to communicate and to use imagination. Children with these conditions often are confused in their thinking and generally have problems understanding the world around them.

So, what are we going to do? I don't know :-(. I thought the doctor would give him a prescription for some medicine that would "cure" him. At least something that would help him concentrate in school and be able to sit still. But, he said he does not see an ADHD child with Landon. ADD maybe but that is just a side symtom of Aspergers and for some reason he does not want to put him on medication. I want to do what is right for Landon but right now I don't even know what that is. I don't know if I can keep sending him to school when I know he's not doing anything there. I know what a hard time he's giving his teachers and I don't know if it's fair to them. Should I just pull him out of school for now and homeschool him until he is older and can learn to cope with things?

We really liked this doctor and he went on and on about how bright Landon is. He said he's just as smart, or maybe even smarter, than the kids in his class but that he is just wired different and does not learn like the other kids. I won't make any dicisions now...not as long as his teachers and the school are so willing to work with him.

I'm Here

2008-10-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm here but have almost no clue what I'm doing. I have a blog somewhere else but I have a lot of family and friends here so here I am. I'm not a very faithful blogger but am going to try to do better. With my new job, football games and just life there's not a lot of time for the computer.
I'll start by posting some pictures of mi alegra familia...my happy family.

This was Stephen and I in Chicago this past September. We went with my dad, stepmother, sister, bil, niece and a couple of friends. It was the first time either of us had been there and it was such a perfect and FUN day

Me with two of my favorite men in the world...Stephen and my Dad. This was taken on my trip to Illinois to see them. Kinley...she's a peewee cheerleader this year. Kaylyn June 08 at our family reunion.
Landon, Jose' and I at Navarre Beach this past summer.
Now, let me go see if I did this right.