Sunday happenings

Today was going good until I ran into troubles in our church parking lot. You see, it was really slippery and we had parked our truck and we were getting out. I stepped out, slipped, and caught myself with the truck door. Good for me right? I didn't actually fall to the ground. Well, not so good. I've been seeing the chiropractor for 4 weeks now because of my DDD. I can tell I jarred it again.

The second thing that stinks about the situation is this...my door came to a sudden stop when it slammed up against the car next to us. Ugh. Nice scuff, dent, whatever. We didn't know whose it was, so we left a note with our number. Then after church we waited for them to come out. We talked to them about it and will now wait to see if they call. I guess it's something that would come out of our pocket more than likely, as it wouldn't pay to turn it in to insurance.

So that wasn't a great way to start the day. However, our church sermon was awesome...to say the least! I'm anxious for next Sunday as today was only the first part of this sermon.

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Today is a busy week for Jayden. We are going through two more evaluations for him for his IEP. Tueday there will be a psychologist coming to observe his behavior and on Friday the speech therapist will come to evaluate that part of it. Lots happening!

saturday shmaterday

A typical Saturday for us. Shawndra started the day with basketball. Then we had a make do lunch of leftovers. I cleaned all morning. And stayed in my jammies until 1:30pm until I felt so nasty from cleaning that I had to take a shower. I think everyone else appreciated that shower as well. Or at least the results from the shower. Ahem.

We went to town and we got our rings cleaned. Mine needed it badly. The girl who helped us was more concerned about her hair falling in her face than us and she was also quite amused to hear that "home cleaners don't get my ring clean". Seriously? Don't stores always make the diamonds look more sparkly than anything at home? I think they have magic stuff they use. Either way, my ring sparkles like it's new again. Well...until I smothered it with lotion. (Sigh)

Then our weekly almost daily, inevitable shopping trip to Wal-Mart consumed several hours and over $400. Wowzers. But I digress, we are a family of 8, so our grocery bill is nothing shy of gigantic. And no, we didn't buy a TV or some fun game, it was all stuff we needed. Well, except our movie we bought, but that's pocket change in the grand scheme of our grocery bill.

And now the agenda for tonight, date night on the couch, to watch a movie. G'night all!

very busy (almost) 3 year old Part 2

At 7:30pm, my son went to bed. This is why.

Yes, that is a flute case with soap in it. Oh and note the cupboard is no longer an open shelf, but a closed cupboard with a lock and key. Sadly, my husband forgot to lock it this morning after he used the soap.

Yes, that is the flute, laying on the floor covered in laundry soap.

No, I am not amused by this. At. All.

bailing hay

Last night I was driving home on HWY 81 and there were so many strange things that almost made me feel like it was a dream. The scenery beside me was flying by me so fast it felt like a whirlwind. I went to pass a vehicle and as I pressed down on the gas, I noticed 3 deer to my left peacefully eating in a field of snow. About a mile later, I found another set of deer looking around. I questioned if this was my time, my time to finally smack a deer? Thankfully, I didn't.

As I approached HWY 14, I was coming up the curve and out of nowhere, the entire road was full of hay. I remember saying, "oh crap!" as I braced the steering wheel, shut my eyes and turned my head. I waited for the impact, for the feeling of hitting a block of cement. But I didn't feel anything. My heart was racing and my breathing was rapid. I had taken out that pile of hay like nothing!

The rest of my drive was uneventful. I arrived home safely, parked the car in the garage and went inside. Later, my husband had to go pick up a child of ours from the school. Then, my daughter comes upstairs and says, "I'm supposed to ask where you were bailing hay?!" I busted out laughing.

I knew there must be evidence on my car, so I grabbed my shoes and went to the garage. And here the entire front of my car is covered with hay. It looked like a hula skirt. I laughed and laughed. No wonder people were looking at me weird when I was turning into town.

the things kids say

The things kids say are so innocent and sometimes so funny. A little background information. I have a zit on my face that has turned into a scab basically from scratching at it. I know that's gross, but it happened. Anyhow, I go on this home visit today and this little 2 1/2 year old girl says, "you have an owie". I said, "i do?" not fully aware of what she was meaning. She then points to my face and says, "right there, you have an owie". At this point I'm thinking, this is just great, let's focus on my zit face and talk about it. LOL. But she then says, "my mommy gets owie's like that too!". Oh bless her little heart. So innocent.

Is it Spring, yet?

Because I'm sick of this weather.

Phase 10 Twist addiction

My family has an addiction. A bad one. It calls our names at all times of the day and causes strange reactions among everyone, including withdrawal. Well maybe not.

The cards are shuffled many times. Some are better shufflers than others. Our mouths salivate waiting for a handful of cards.
Hoping for whatever your phase calls for, unless you're lucky enough to get a Twist.

Be the quickest to lay down your phase and go out. Draw from the pile. Think hard. Play fast.

Our family has an addiction. It's called Phase 10 Twist.

very busy (almost) 3 year old

Jayden woke up this morning and came out of his room quietly, so quietly that I did not hear him. Let's just say, he found something to occupy his time. He usually wakes me up, but not today.

This was the first view coming down the stairs. Cat food everywhere. It was an entire bag of food dumped out, throw on top of the freezer, behind it, under it, under the furnace, ducts, you name it. It was everywhere.

Then I turned into the laundry room and found this mess. Baskets and white powder everywhere. The white powder was my brand new box of laundry soap that I opened last night.
Garbage was thrown inside my laundry baskets along with laundry soap.
He spread it all over the counter where clothes are usually folded.

This is looking in from the garage door. He was a very busy little boy.

He spread the laundry soap on top of the washer, behind it and beside it.

Then I discovered the laundry soap was in the shoe rack and inside the shoes.

Shoes were literally buried in laundry soap. It was the biggest mess I'd ever seen.

I moved the basket away and snapped another picture of the soap that was everywhere.

The laundry basket had inches of soap in them along with garbage.

He played in the soap on the counter. I planned to brush it back into the box and try to salvage what I could, but....

when I got to looking at it closer, I knew my soap didn't have blue specks and balls in it. That's when I found the empty box of Color Safe Bleach. He had dumped out both boxes and mixed them together, then played in it.

Slowly making progress. The girls were great at helping me clean up. They tackled the cat food while I tackled the other mess.

Over an hour later, many times sweeping and scraping, dustpans filling, buckets of water for mopping, the laundry room is again clean.

Someone should really watch this boy. Geez.

eye-opening poverty simulation

Yesterday and today I have been in Watertown for a conference for work. (I deleted and restarted that sentence at least 9 times.) The first day was great and the beginning speaker had us laughing so hard we were wiping tears away. It was a great way to begin.

Later in the day we all participated in a poverty simulation. What an eye opening experience. Everyone walked in and grabbed a name tag, which was flipped over so you couldn't see it. The names were fake. Then we had to find our "family". My name tag said I was 7 and had ADHD. Let me tell you, I played that part well!

Every 15 minutes was considered a week. We had bills to pay, many facilities to visit, work and school to attend, and we also faced typical problems that our families would face in real life. Some families were evicted, some were doing drugs, some went to jail, some were denied medical coverage, food stamps, or groceries, while others were laid off from their jobs. It was really a neat experience to walk in the shoes of people who live in poverty. Neat probably isn't the right word. It was more eye-opening.

Back to my part...I went to school (8 minutes out of 15) and couldn't sit still, kept interrupting the teacher, poked the kids next to me, and was just naughty. (Imagine a bunch of adults acting like we're in school...it was great!) I said I had to go to the bathroom and the teachers said ok. But I got distracted and ended up on the playground outside, until the police found me and I went to jail. My grandparents had to come and pay to get me out. (Remember this is all me as a 7 year old.)

Anyhow, to actually face the daily problems of someone in poverty was again, eye-opening. The whole simulation was 2 1/2 hours long. When we finished we had a debriefing session where we talked about how stuff like this really affects the people we work with. It was an awesome experience to say the least.

ready...set....GO

Since I am not home and am currently out of town for work, please enjoy another set of pictures of Jayden. We took many many pictures the other day!

Jayden loves to play Ready, Set, GO!

Ready Jayden?

Set!

GO!

He just loves it. We played Ready, Set, GO all the way home on our walk. And he won't walk or run until you play that with him!

walking the dog

Jayden really wanted to walk the dog on our walk. So we let him.

But the dog doesn't walk beside us, instead, he walks way in front of us, usually pulling our arms out of our shoulder socket.
Jayden took several spills, but still wanted to walk him, so we let him. There were several times where we were scurrying after the dog to make sure he didn't run away because the leash was pulled right out of Jayden's hands. Someone should really teach this dog to heel.

And he led us back towards home. Jayden loved walking the dog.

And I think the dog really enjoyed walking Jayden.

1st evaluation

When Jayden turns 3 years old, he will no longer be on his IFSP. We have started the evaluation process to see if he will qualify for services through an IEP. IFSP is for kids Birth-3 years old. An IEP is for kids who are 3 years old and older.

Jayden has received occupational therapy since he was 7 months old and speech for almost 2 years now. Sadly, if he doesn't qualify for an IEP, his speech therapy will stop in February when he turns 3. He still really needs speech therapy, as most of his language is still jargon and very hard to understand to the untrained ear. We have gotten better at home to start recognizing things he says.

Today he had his first evaluation to see if he will qualify for early childhood play therapy. He did really well during the evaluation and only got upset twice. Now, doing really well is good and bad. It made me feel very proud to see how smart he was and how well he could do what was asked. He did things that I didn't think he could do, like matching shapes and colors. Doing bad, so to speak, is bad because you would likely need special ed services. But that's our goal.

He needs speech therapy.

He still has to go through a behavior evaluation for his fits and severe tantrums and also another evaluation for his speech. The lady who was here today felt like he would still qualify, but did say about the time she says that, he won't qualify.

As much as I want my son to not qualify, I want him to qualify because I can see how beneficial the speech therapy is to him.

After the next two evaluations then we'll have a meeting to go over everything and discuss whether or not he qualifies for an IEP and then go from there. I'll keep you posted.

a few pretties

Coming home from Madison the other day, I couldn't help but notice how serene and beautiful the trees were from the earlier fog. Enjoy!

Now, I wonder what the impending "ice storm" will bring us tomorrow.

football

I don't get football. I've tried to get it. I've watched it like I'm interested...well, rarely. However, having a husband who loves the Vikings, I do manage to hear some of the game. Typically I'm sitting with my laptop while he watches the game. Just like now. Which is why I'm tweeting so much and blogging so much.

Want to hear a funny story? I knew you did. If you don't, then don't read it. How's that? Ok, anyhow.


A few weeks ago, I was getting dressed for the day and jokingly asked my husband what color underwear to wear. He blurts out, "purple" because I am! I asked him why purple? And he said he didn't know at one point and then he said because purple looks good on me. Seriously? I remember giving him the look like he was crazy and he was acting really strange.

We headed to a family Christmas and while standing in the kitchen everyone was listening to the Vikings. The place we were at was not a house, but a church, so there were no tv's to actually watch the game. I laughed at him and asked if he remembered to record it. He said, no, but that's ok and started to laugh. I couldn't figure out what was so funny. Well, a few minutes later, he says and you wondered why I wanted you to wear purple underwear! My jaw hit the floor.

Back to football. I'm sitting here on my laptop and my hubby keeps making me "watch this", or "check out this hit". So I look at the tv, and I don't even have a clue which person to watch! Heck, I usually can't figure out where the ball is unless it happens to be someone out in the lead with a few guys following. I think that's a touchdown in the works. Ok, so I'm not totally dumb when it comes to football.

I get more amused by the Cowboys coach who has man boobs, or the facial expressions of the coaches, or when they hide their mouths with a clipboard so you can't read their lips, or just the guys in the tight spandex. Ok, enough about that.

Have I ever told you that Favre is pronounced "Favor" in my world? Yes, I realize this is not correct, but it's so much more amusing to say the names wrong and poke a little fun at him.

Anyhow, I'm ready for this season to be over. I wonder what will replace football?

snow play

First time in the snow for Jayden this year. He was so excited to go out in it, but became quickly apprehensive about the situation. Stewie was loving the snow.

Jayden did love the paths in the back yard. He ran and ran, then Stewie knocked him down. He got up, brushed off his mittens and said, "I k"!
After a very long time of Jayden not wanting his picture taken, he has finally started posing for the camera and saying, "cheese"! His language has come so far. I will update on his speech in another post.

Posing in the snow. He wasn't too sure about sinking.

i'm slacking

I see I'm slacking in my blog lately. Hmmmm. Guess I should have made it a resolution or something to do better at this. Maybe I'm just pulling a Kathy. Well, except she hasn't been too bad this year. Although there were many times last year that I had to give her a nudge to do some updating. Figured it would be amusing to poke a little fun at her on my blog. Which gives me an idea...maybe some day, I'll actually post some really old pictures of her.

In all seriousness, I've been extremely sore with my DDD (degenerative disc disease) and seeing the chiropractor frequently. It sounds like Monday we will be doing the x-rays to see the progression of the DDD.

I took lots of pictures yesterday and Friday. So I'll sign this post and start some new ones with pictures. Happy Sunday!

degenerative disc disease

I have Degenerative Disc Disease in my C2-C7 vertebrae, which is basically my entire neck. I have known this for about 6 years now. It was actually discovered after a very minor car accident, where I should not have had as much neck trouble as I had. After a continuous 3 weeks of care, I mentioned that minor accident, which then explained everything. X-rays were taken and the obvious was seen...by my doctor, not by me. I mean, after it was explained to me, I vaguely understood it.

What does have DDD really mean? Well, at that time, when I was about 26 years old, I was told my neck was in the shape of a 60 year old woman. Little things can jar it and cause weeks, if not months, of pain and problems.

I have learned to deal with it and I loved my chiropractor, Dr. Scott Munsterman. He was my doctor for about 17 years and he was wonderful. He would still be wonderful, except he no longer is practicing chiropractic because he is running for Governor of South Dakota. So in my new found pain, my new flare up of DDD, I find myself trying to build a relationship with a new doctor and his ways of practicing. And it's not the same.

Yesterday, I was placed in a traction machine which was an experience of a lifetime. I'm sure it would have been ok, but I have a huge history of watching scary/horror movies which have led me to believe that this traction machine could easily be used in one of those movies. I was told to lay on my back and stick my head in these tight side barriers around my neck and then my head was velcrowed down. This machine would literally pull my neck causing a stretch.

After strapping me in, velcrowing me down, and asking if I was comfortable, I was given a button to stop the machine if it caused me pain or I got tired of it. The doctor then explained I could undo the velcrow and I would be out. (I wonder how many people freak out in that machine that they have to tell you how to get out of it??)

Anyhow, as I was laying there, all I could picture is what if this machine goes haywire and keeps pulling and my head comes off? Or how funny do I look with this contraption on my head and my eyes bulging out my head because the velcrow acted as if I had major plastic surgery or botox? Then I would chuckle at myself and think, geez, I need to watch more chick flicks and leave these scary movies alone!

My neck is still stiff and sore. I'm still seeing the chiropractor 3 times a week. At this point, he is talking about doing some x-rays to see how far the DDD has progressed. I've been having lots of tingling in my hands and tough nights of sleep due to the pain. Right now, I'm just doing moist heat with a heating pad on top of my neck, stretches, appointments with him, and traction therapy. We'll see what the future holds.

Pizza Ranch review

My thoughts on our local Pizza Ranch, on my most recent visit.

Positive: Yummy salad bar.
Negative: No cottage cheese for my husband's salad.

Positive: Lots of open space for seating. Our choice of booths.
Negative: Splintered wood on sides of back rest which attacks clothing and rips it.

Positive: Eating lunch together with my husband.
Negative: Football game being broadcast through every speaker in the joint, so loud it was hard to think.

Positive: Delicious chicken.
Negative: Costs an arm and a leg.

Positive: My absolute favorite chocolate pudding.
Negative: Little tiny spoon to dish it up with.

Positive: Lots of pizza to choose from.
Negative: Who eats their pizza anyhow? It's disgusting.

Positive: 3 dessert pizza's to choose from.
Negative: Goes to hips immediately.

Positive: All you can eat, as long as you take a clean plate.
Negative: No people to pick up dirty plates from table.

Positive: A basket of mints as you leave.
Negative: Mints are guarded by an employee.

Enough said.

Shaylee's winter program

I see I've been slacking with pictures. Probably mainly due to the fact that my lens still doesn't work like it should and only focuses when it's having a good day. Yes, my camera has a mind of it's own, much like me. Anyhow, I did manage to take some pictures using my zoom lens at her Middle School Winter Concert.

She is growing up way to fast. Look at that posture. She loves playing the flute. I remember trying to persuade her to play an instrument and she was so mad at me. Just look at her now.

"What mom!"

Shaylee has an amazing voice, a voice so beautiful that I think she could have a career by using it. She was accepted into Honors Choir. In February she will go to the PAC on campus and will practice all day with the SDSU teacher and then perform that night. Only 4 kids were chosen from Sioux Valley and she was one of them. I'm so proud of her.

Those four kids even got to perform during the concert as a group solo. They sounded great.

I'll post more information regarding the February performance when I know more.

grandma's funeral

Well, what can I say. Today was my grandma's funeral. The weather was crappy. School let out at 12:30pm. We're in a Blizzard warning, or something like that. So all in all, today wasn't a great day by any means. But it still came and now it's nearing the end. Thank God.

I walked into the church and could feel my eyes welling up, but wasn't about to lose it that early in the process. I was able to clear my thoughts, dry my eyes before any tears rolled down my face, and talk to family. My mother and father-in-law came too, which was a surprise! A good surprise. I mean talk about a wonderful set of caring people to come to my grandma's funeral.

The final peek in the casket was hard and that's when the tears rolled. Listening to the pastor talk in our family service was initially hard and the tears rolled even more. Death is hard. Like I've said before, I know grandma is in a much better place where she feels no pain, she can see, she can hear, and she came be with the Lord, but it's still our grieving here that is hard, missing her spirit, her smile, her stories and the way she would light up when I walked into the room.

The service was nice. I learned that my dad sported a fancy pair of white jeans and a baby blue shirt way back in the day, for a night on the town....that made me laugh. There were tears of happiness that she had passed to a better place and tears of sadness for missing her here with us.

We went to the cemetery for the burial immediately after the funeral. Only immediate family. The van carrying the pallbearers in the front got stuck rounding a curve. They tried to get out, but ended up backing up out of the way to try to let the hearse through. The hearse couldn't make it up the hill in the cemetery, so the pallbearers got out and pushed the hearse up the hill. Then my uncle Doug's car couldn't get up the hill. More pushing. Lots of pushing. The next few vehicles were 4x4's. They all made it. Finally, the last car just parked in the first aisle and walked through the snow and reversed it to get out of the cemetery. It was a short 10 minute service. Dad showed me the other stones and who's they were and showed me where their plots are.

Back to the church we went and ate a very enjoyable meal with sandwiches and salads. I ate way to much grape salad, but it was so delicious! I visited some more, gathered the flowers I was taking with us, and headed home.

I came home and went straight to bed. I was/am emotionally exhausted and needed a nap. I foresee bed in my near future as well. I loved my grandma and will miss her dearly. But at least now I know she is finally in the place where she has always known she was going someday.

And now, now I'm ready for the New Year to begin and for life to get back to normal. Thank you everyone for your kind words, emails, prayers and cards. It all means so much to me.

Visitation and Funeral

Grandma's visitation is tomorrow and her funeral is on Wednesday morning. The day I found out about her death has been the hardest, but I think tomorrow is going to be even more difficult as it will be the first time I see her looking like her, or at least the her that I remember.

I talked to my dad tonight in detail about her death. That tore me up inside. And outside. The tears flowed as I listened to my dad tell me he was holding her hand while she took her last breaths. And man, is my dad strong. To be able to tell me the vivid details and hold it together was amazing. I hope I can have the strength he does when he or my mom pass.

Wednesday morning we will say good bye to grandma. I hope I can be strong. I hope I can fully understand that she is in a better place. That her quality of life was extinct here. I will need prayers to get me through the next two days.

Grandma Ann

If grandma didn't know you, I can guarantee she knew someone you are related to. Grandma always knew my friends or their relatives, even if they weren't from around here. And it seems that many people knew grandma Ann as well. She always got a kick out of that!

She worked at Spies and then Hy-Vee for many years. Grandma loved her grandkids and her great-grandkids with all her heart.
Grandma took great care of grandpa when he was still living and continued to take care of herself and her house for many years before moving into an assisted living center and later, a nursing home.

Grandma's pride and joy was always Shaylee. She always wanted to see her and for me to bring her by. Grandma's friends always told me how much she loved me and Shaylee. Later, Jayden came into the world and grandma loved him too.

This afternoon, grandma went to heaven to be with the Lord whom she had all the faith in. And I'm sure grandpa was waiting for her, saying, "It sure took you long enough!"

I love you grandma. I will cherish the memories you and I had together. Give grandpa hugs from me. I love you.