Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Just a few snapshots of the kids decorating our tree. We LOVE this time of year. It is so much fun to see the wonder on the kids' faces when we go see Christmas lights, receive cards in the mail or just read a Christmas story together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Frivolous Thanks

This list may seem pretty frivolous, but I am so very thankful for:

online bill paying
direct deposit
microwaves
dishwashers
washer/dryer
text messaging
email
cellphones
parking in my garage each night
pedicures
AND...........super cute blog backgrounds........I might have to try a new one each day until the Holidays are over!!

etc., etc., etc.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

There is SOOOO much to be thankful for......
Wonderful hubby
Wild, crazy, loving kids
Medical technology
Amazing teachers
All of our fabulous family
Our fantastic friends
Playing piano and singing with my girls
Watching Spencer grow in his art
Temples
The Gospel

The list goes on and on......some days its easier to remember than others. I need to check back on my list when its 'one of THOSE days'.

Doing the Duck Walk

So, I met with Andraia's new eye doctor today for our parent consultation. They did lots of testing with her last week. The testing included: copying designs from one paper to another, circling backward letters, walking on a line on the floor, etc.

Today when I met with Dr. Price he showed me lots of info about how our eyes and brain work together to process what we are seeing. Andraia's eyes have a hard time focusing together on an object that is withing closer range. She also has problems tracking objects at the correct speed with both eyes working together. Poor girl. Dr. Price had me read a paragraph from a book while looking through a lens that would mimic what Andraia sees. I was so busy concentrating on reading the words, that I had no idea what I had read when I was done. And I just wanted to give up. It was so hard to focus on the page.

The issues she has with her eyes explain why her writing skills, reading skills, and even math skills are delayed. She can't process what she is seeing in order to learn from it.

Her vision training will work on helping her learn how to use the muscles in her eyes to focus and align her eyes properly. To do this, we will be starting with some large muscle exercises and work our way to the smaller muscles. Currently, we are doing duck walk, pigeon walk, army crawl, crab crawl and several other exercises that will help her learn to use large muscle groups. We will also be working with tracking bubbles and balloons to work on her larger eye muscles. And to help her use different parts of her brain at the appropriate times, we will be using magnetic letters to call out the name and color of the letter. Using both her right and left brain at the same time.

Chloe is very excited to play all of these new games with her Big Sissy.

I had tears in my eyes at several times during the office visit. I'M SO EXCITED to finally have something to focus on to help her!!!!!!!! YIPEE!!!! What a wonderful 'day before Thanksgiving'!

Our real therapy will start in January, so our insurance will cover at least a small part of the costs. She will be seeing Dr. Price 2 days a week for 3 months. Then one day a week for another 3 months. Then we will work with her for another 6 months at home with occasional check-ups in the office. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!

The Wonderful Fashions of a 2 Year Old Woman!

So, you can tell Chloe is getting a mind of her own when it comes to her fashion choices! These pictures were taken days apart from each other but both include her Minnie Mouse shirt. We are certainly BIG Disney fans!!

In the first photo, she is a ballerina/princess combo. Must not have been able to find her Cinderella dress that is a staple in her dressing up choices!

The second pic is her new snow boots that look so cute with her summery-flowery shorts!

Gotta love that girl!!!!

What did you say is wrong with my eyes?

Wow. After only 3 months at our new charter school, we have made a big leap in helping Andraia catch up with her academic and motor-skills. At the prompting of her new Occupational Therapist (the therapist who helps with her fine motor skills like writing) we had some special testing done for her vision. While she has perfect 20/20 vision, she has major problems with getting her eyes to focus on the right spot at the right time. One of the issues is called Convergence Insufficiency. Her eyes don't focus on a spot up close at the same time. This totally explains why she has a hard time following a line of words on a page, and why she knows the answer to a math question but can't actually write it down correctly.
Luckily, the fix for her eye issues doesn't require surgery, only a few months of vision therapy. Unluckily, this isn't covered by our health insurance. So, it won't be a quick, cheap fix. But we are determined to give her the best start in her academic life, so we will make sure that things get taken care of. I feel so blessed that we have been able to find out that there is something we can do to help her!!! To live in a time and place where this is something we can fix. We are so blessed.

Brayden's Birthday Party

Last night was Brayden's birthday party. Little stinker didn't care if we had one or not. Honestly, he probably would have been happier if we DIDN'T have one, but we did it anyway! We had the Thurston side of the family over for dinner.....pizza, garlic bread, salad....yummy stuff. We picked them for Brayden, after all, it was HIS birthday, but he didn't eat much. That isn't unusual lately.

After dinner, he insisted on going for a ride. Now, for a little guy who doesn't talk, he really knows how to get his point across. He will go find his shoes and socks and hunt you down. Then, he'll follow you all over the house, pulling at your arm and trying to hand you his shoes until you finally sit down with him and put them on. Believe me, it is best to listen to him! He will resort to THROWING the shoes AT YOU unless you get the point!

So, Earl took him and Chloe for an after dinner venture in the car. Arriving home just in time for The Ige Family to be here for birthday treats. We sang to him and tried to get him to open his presents, but he SERIOUSLY wasn't interested. So, we let him escape upstairs.

He got:
the biggest bag of pretzels I've ever seen
BBQ chips
new pants
chicken noodle soup
more chips
Goldfish crackers
Matchbox cars

you know, all the basics!

Now we just have to think of ideas for Christmas!!! This boy is SO HARD to shop for!!!

Holy Cow! He's 10!!

Brayden is 10!!
Where did all of the time go?
This is a picture of him dressed up for Halloween (he was a doctor). He is generally too wiggly to get pictures of, so we take what we can get! Yesterday (his birthday) he woke up with a hole in his smile. He has lost one of his top, front teeth and the other is loose. He is NOT THRILLED!! It is really irritating to him that his mouth feels funny. Now he doesn't want to eat.........back to that battle again. Oh well. He did eat some BBQ chips before school today. We are always trying to fatten-up the poor boy.

Yesterday his bus driver was surprised to learn that he is 10. She thought he was turning 6 or 7. It is hard to believe that there is only a bit less than 3 years between Brayden and Spencer. Brayden will always be my 'little guy'.

We are so BLESSED to have him in our family. I can't imagine life without him. He can melt hearts like no other person out there. He snuggles up to you and you just want to spend the day with him......everything else is so trivial.

I am so THANKFUL that we had no hospital trips this year.....that is an amazing record for us. His seizures have been more under control. I don't dare say that out loud, but hopefully typing it won't bring out the bad luck.

We have a special Spirit in our home because of Brayden. For FHE, the other day, we talked about what it is like to feel the Spirit. One of the kids mentioned that they didn't know what it was like to feel the Spirit.......I was a bit concerned........until Earl and I talked to them about it. Our basic conclusion...we feel the Spirit so much in our home that when the kids feel it elsewhere, it just feels 'normal'. We reminded them that what they are used to feeling IS the Spirit. Now we just have to help everyone remember that...and not take it for granted.

Brayden is our constant reminder that we are an eternal family. He is my personal motivation to LIVE BETTER, DO BETTER, BE BETTER. I want to make it where I need to be to truly know his as the incredible person that he is. I look forward to one day hearing his sweet voice and having a conversation with him about all the he knows. His physical body may not be normal, but his spirit is perfect and miraculous. I want to be like Brayden. He is my hero.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Here's the recipe!

1 medium pumpkin-cleaned out!
1 chopped onion
1.5-2 lbs ground beef
2T soy sauce
2T brown sugar
4 oz can mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1.5 C cooked rice
8 oz can water chestnuts, drained

Preheat oven to 350.
Brown ground beef and onions. Remove any fat.
Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup.
Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked rice and water chestnuts.
Spoon into pumpkin.
Replace pumpkin top. Place on baking sheet.
Bake 1 hour or until pumpkin is tender.

You can use cooked pumpkin for your veggie. My kids weren't really into eating the pumpkin. Earl and I ate some, but you'll want to season it to taste.

For me, the pumpkin is more for presentation and tradition than for eating as part of the meal, but we love it!!

I've Been Tagged

Thanks Mindy, I think.....
I'm supposed to post 10 Random Things about myself. I won't be nearly as entertaining as Mindy. She always cracks me up!

So, here goes..........

1. Earl and I dated for only one month before we got married.....I was only 19....don't let my kids do that to me!!!
2. I have a horrible addiction to Oreos.
3. I'm always trying to learn/try something new. In fact, I just learned how to make my own laundry detergent.....exciting huh?
4. I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE to cook!!!
5. I lived in France for a summer when I was in high school......and NO I don't still speak the language.
6. I'm always looking for a way to help people....not always the best at knowing what to do....but I try.
7. I love to scrapbook....haven't done it for far to long, but it is a great creative outlet.
8. I was a member of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) when I was in high school.
9. I am a Disneyland groupie.....would move closer if it didn't mean leaving my comfort zone in Orem!
10. I love comments on my blog....so, if you're reading this....will you comment? I don't care if its something stupid....just let me know you're out there?!?!

Hope you didn't fall asleep!

......oh, oh, oh......one more!!!
11. I am not a very outgoing person, but I'm vowing to change my ways and get to know people. It has blessed my life to get to know more wonderful people in the past few months....so if you ever see me being a wall flower.....kick my butt!!!