Seriously.

It seems like every time a look at Cara lately she's got a different book in her hands.

"That's just my personality, Mom."

I can balance two books at the same time but she's got FIVE going on right now... As Jordyn likes to say, "Wha?"

First there was this one. She's reading the unabridged version (of course)...

Next, there was this one... I've been trying to get her to read the Percy Jackson series for a long time but she didn't pick it up until her friend at school suggested it... Go figure...

Then there's this one... gotta love Eragon. The movie didn't do this book justice. Do they ever?

And this one she read aloud at least three times after her first initial reading. Once to me on the drive home, once to Jordyn before bed, and once to Darby when Suzy's kids came over to play...

And, finally, some light reading... "My second grade teacher started to read this to us but never finished. I just needed to find out how the story ended."

She just flip-flops back and forth between books depending on her mood like it's nothing... hmm...

You win some. You lose some.

There's a girl in one of my classes...

She's a hard-worker. She asks questions. She's a smart girl. She really, really tries.

Yet, she's borderline failing. How can that be?

I'm not a diagnostician, but I'm 99% sure she suffers from dyslexia. All of the common markers we, as teachers, look for are there. Reversal of letters, atrocious spelling, last one to finish, not able to easily decode words, struggles matching up correct sounds with letters, etc...

So, I send a note home requesting permission to do a screener test - to see if I'm correct or if something else is the problem. Mind you, there is a problem.

Her parents are NOT interested in labeling their child. They don't want something as horrible as dyslexia in her file.

This is only the 5th grade. Her coping skills have taken her this far but, I've got news for them, it only gets harder from here.

The dyslexia training would give her a new set of skills. It could be the difference between being a C/D student who wouldn't dream of college (because it's too much work) and an A/B student who moves on to higher education.

I sometimes just don't think parents are able to see the big picture. We're too busy trying to protect our children that we don't see that we're hurting them.

I really believe these parents will look back on this later and say should've, would've, could've. You know?

There are much worse labels I can think of...

Like failure, wasted potential, or drop-out.

My current label: frustrated.

Could you tell?

Happy New Year.... VOMIT, VOMIT, VOMIT............

Round 1 - 5:00 am - New Years morning Hilary calls to me from the girls room, "I need you." As I was coming to consciousness I heard "fluid" being poured into a bucket. The "fluid" was the contents of Jordyn's stomach.

Round 2 - 5:30 am - Everything has been cleaned up. We (Me, Hilary, and Jordyn) are settling back into our bed now, with bowl in hand. Again, more comes up from the tiny stomach. Strip our bed of sheets, take them to the garage for cleaning, and set Jordyn up on the couch with a towel under her to catch anything we don't.

Round 3 - 6:00 am - Here we go again. This time we are more prepared. Can you see a pattern? The poor child wretched every 30 minutes from then on. Eventually, obviously there was nothing left in her belly but the heaving continued. She got pretty good at knowing when to sit up and find her bowl. This lasted until about 10:00 am.

I went to bed about 7:00 am and slept until 9:30 and then it was Hilary's turn to sleep. She slept until 12:30. Needless to say we were very tired on Thursday.

Below is a picture of how Jordyn spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

So NOT normal!!
This is a girl who hardly sits down, ever.













Hilary took Jordy to the Dr. on Saturday thinking she might be dehydrated and need an IV (she had eaten half a piece of toast and some water since Thursday). The Dr. said she had Strep, gave her a shot for that, and pretty much said nothing about the PUKE.

We did notice a change in her for the better Saturday night. Sunday she has pretty much returned to normal. Thank goodness.
















Hopefully the rest of 2009 is better than Days 1-3.

Happiness Is...

Can I get an amen?

Silent Night, Holy Night

One of my favorite photos this year was taken at our Stake Nativity.

My little angels joined by the Koenigs, Manns, Petersons & Teemants.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Our Christmas in pictures for your viewing pleasure...

The results of a gingerbread house Family Home Evening, truly a group effort.

Our traditional Paintbox Christmas Cookies. Yum-O!


Our little bit-o-everything Christmas tree right after Santa left.

The gifts Cara and Jordyn bought for each other... :)

The Parks mall had $5 ice skating on Christmas Day. We had a blast! Cara is quite the skater and, well, Jordyn hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. But there's always next year!

A Thanksgiving to Remember

We asked Bryan's brother, Trent, to come down over Thanksgiving to help him put a new roof on our house. My in-laws decided that sounded fun and they came too. We don't get too many visitors around here so we welcomed the company.

The boys got up on the roof to investigate what they were dealing with. Here's what they found...

10 layers of shingles.

Most houses have one or two. We thought we had three and that was pushing it.



They decided they did not want to take off 10 layers of shingles and we would hire professionals to take care of the roof. At the time it sounded like a good idea.

So, after the next morning's soaking rain that leaked all kinds of havoc into our house, they tarped it all up. Now, no roofing company is going to do the job until it warms up a bit... I'm sure I'll update that situation when I have better news...

My girls love Uncle Trent. He's tons of fun to play with and talk to. Ask Jordyn... :)

We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner (if I do say so myself)! The only thing on the wish list of food that didn't get made was the mincemeat pie my father-in-law asked for. It's not on my list of specialties - yet. But everything else was delicious especially the turkey that Bryan was in charge of.

The next day we braved the mall and went to Dick's Sporting Goods where Cara and Trent scaled the rock climbing wall. She's tried it once before but only made it halfway up before letting the heights get to her.

Getting the gear on and instructions from the wall workers...

Trent made it up the advanced side of the wall in record time.

Cara made it all the way up to the top of the beginner's side. She did AWESOME!

Grandma & Grandpa Boyer are turning their mission papers in (if they haven't already) and we're glad they came to visit before they leave. We love you!