*sad News* Good News

Meet Jordan. I'm sure most of you have heard me talk about him. Look at that gorgeous face. It is not possible to spend time with him and not fall in love. Jordan has Autism. I have learned a lot about Autism since beginning my work with him. His story is very simple (yet very complicated). He can not function in a regular classroom or on a 1st grade level, which is where he was at St. Matthews Elementary. It was very obvious from the start of school that he did not have the ability to stay in a regular room and not be a constant distraction. So in comes Mrs. Potts. Helping and caring for Jordan is what I have spent my time at work doing. Now that has come to an end. Jordan has been excepted to another school to be in an Autistic unit. This is where all the kids in his class are Autistic and he will have one on one help. This is the best possible setting for him and he will succeed in this environment. Yes I knew from my first day that it was possible he would leave. I just never thought it would be so hard to say good bye.





Good bye came today. He starts at his new school tomorrow. He is very excited about going to his new "big school". Yes I cried, and cried, and cried.


Here are some of my favorite times with Jordan.


1. playing roll the ball in the hallway.


2. Him saying Mrs. Potts


3. Eating lunch with him.


4. The smile on his face when he saw the treat in my lunchbox for him.


5. Taking him outside to the playground and spinning him around on the spinners. (very theraputic for Autistic children)


6. Him grabbing my face and holding it when trying to talk to me.


7. His huge smile.





I am going to miss him very, very much. For those of you that didn't know Jordan leaving means I don't have my job in Mrs. Armstrong's class anymore. I will still be working at the school as a sub, but in different rooms. I'm hoping for a full time position sooner or later. Tomorrow I am going back to say goodbye to the class I have been with. Yes I will cry again. It is impossible to spend everyday with them and not get attached. I have had a wonderful experience and it has helped me know for sure what I want to do with the rest of my life. Teach!


I'm leaving you with one last picture. This is the very awesome class and teacher that I have been with since Sept.

Please keep me in your prayers that another job becomes available at this school. It has been such a wonderful experience.

I will update everyone about school and the kids tomorrow. Right now I just wanted to give Jordan the credit he deserves for how he has touched my life. I will never forget him.

A SNOWY Day!

Ok glad I could make you laugh. Can you believe his sister did that to him? Crazy kids. Today we woke up to snow and a 2 hour delay at school. The kids got to play in the snow before school. They tried to make a snowman, but really don't know how. So funny.

What is going on here??? I'm working on birthday arrangements and Valentine's Day before starting school next week. I'm going to wrap it up tonight and will post more tomorrow night.

My lil' COWBOY!!

Well, if this doesn't make you laugh nothing will. This is Nick's impression of riding a horse. John and I watched a cowboy movie a couple nights ago, then last night he came in "riding". Sorry it is turned sideways, but you have to watch it. Hillarious. Check out Nick's cool cough. We've been doing that for 12 days. Nick got a duplicate game so when we returned it he picked out the guns, holster, and handcuffs.

I have been participating in a challenge "365 album". You take a picture everyday and put them in an album. I was playing around with my camera last night and this turned out to be my favorite picture so far. I love the way our legs/feet are in the background (darker) and hands in the front.

Right now John and me are watching American Idol. My favorite are the auditions when the crazy people are on. I have laughed so hard. Everybody needs a good laugh.

Hopefully, everyone will be back at school tomorrow. Have a good day!

Hello from the 'ville!

Well we are still breathing (even if it is with a nebulizer) here in sickville! Nick got sick Saturday Jan. 5. He was out of school all last week with croup. He went to school on Friday even though he didn't really feel like it, but we were back at the dr today. Now he has pneumonia and a double ear infection. He looks horrible and has really had us worried. Caroline also got up sick this morning and has an ear infection. I can't believe was are sick again.

Oh well enough of that. In case you didn't know I am going back to school to get my teaching degree. I registered for classes on Friday. My first 2 classes are Christian Traditions (which I am very excited about) and college math. I start Jan 29. They told me it would take about 2 years going nights and weekends. They did away with the online options. You rotate classes every 6weeks. I am very excited and looking forward to getting started. (and finished)

If you have time check out this post on HeatherAnnMelzer. I absolutely love this color (Clinton Brown) and the room of course, but especially the color. Thinking about it for the living room before I order a slip cover for the couch. We just got this desk at Goodwill for living room to put the computer on and for me to do homework so we are trying to do some decorating which I can't do without an Uhls', Dean, or Barfield. Any tips or suggestions girlies????

This is Caroline playing legos in her bed today after some meds and a trip to the dr. She loves these new legos they make a house and little kids (the girls have pig tales...the cutest). She has been in this postion for about 5 hours now. You know she feels bad to stay in one place for this long. Hopefully, she will feel better tomorrow.

That is all for now. Have a good week.

A VISIT WITH THE UHLS'

Check out those cheeks! After 6 long months we finally got to spend some time with the Uhls' Family. WE had an awesome day. Reed looks so good and is so very sweet. Riley has gotten so big and my kids had a blast playing with him. Soliders was the big game of the day. The boys looked so cute with their guns running through the house talking to each other. Caroline played for a little while, but my little mother was more interested in Reed and of course spending time with Aunt Mel.

Here is the very cute video I got of Reed. I can't believe how well he is moving around and how happy he is. He has a very contagious smile.

Caroline wanted to read Reed's favorite books to him and he listend for a little while, but mom wasn't finished so she followed him around on her knees still reading. It was so funny. Here she is reading to him.

Reed enjoyed playing this

balloon game with

Caroline too. He was

quite taken with her and

she with him.

I also got to do my favorite

thing feeding a bottle. It was

very different from the

summer. In July he just

laid in my lap, now he is

moving around every-

where and holding his

own bottle.

Riley was running around so much I didn't get many pictures of him. My kids love his bunk bed. Nick came running downstairs yelling Mom this is so awesome. You have to come upstairs and see this. They have been talking about them ever since our visit.

Ok. I think I have enough pictures. I just couldn't pick my favorites. I had so many. We had a great time and can't wait to go back.

Now, let me update you on what is going on here. Nick has been sick since Sunday morning. He has croup. I stayed home with him today and got several treatments in him and made him lay in the bed all day and rest. He will be out of school the rest of the week. Speaking on school Caroline was testing in reading today and you won't believe this, but she is reading on a beginning 1st grade level. How about that. They like for them to be at a level 3 or 4 at the end of the year and she is already at a 4. I am so proud of her. I guess all those late nights are paying off. I hear scholarship in her future. Ha ha!

Alright I'm heading off to bed incase Nick is up during the night. Enjoy all the pics of the Uhls boys.

Family Movie Night! / New Year's Eve

Hope you enjoyed my Christmas pictures.

We decided this year we wanted to have a family movie night. We chose Underdog for our first movie. As I was keeping up with my blogs I ran across this idea. So I copied it.

Here we are in our capes. I made these out of a $1 plastic table cloth. I also made dog biscuit sugar cookies using a candy cane cookie cutter. I cut the curve off the candy cane and then rolled balls of dough and put them on the ends. Here are the before and after. They were very good.

The kids loved doing "something" special for the movie. Caroline said it was the best night of her life. Isn't that funny. We all wore our capes and ate cookies while watching the movie. We plan on doing this every week.

Before I new it New Year's Eve was here. It was a cold day here and we stayed in most of the day. We decided to eat veggie soup, go see Alvin and the chipmunks, roast marshmallows, and then ring in the new year with Dick CLark. We ate soup and made the movie. This is hillarious. If you haven't seen it yet you need to go. The focus on the family says there is bathroom humor and if you are curious what that is it is them talking about how big theodore's butt it and saying "Dave wears stinky underwear". If you can get past that it is the best kids movies I've seen in a while. We all really enjoyed it. When we left the movie it was pouring rain so the marshmallows were out for the night. We rang in the new year with Dick Clark, party poppers, and special toasting drink (sprite and Cherry flavoring). It was a special night for us as a family. The kids learned all about new years and enjoyed all the popping and special drinks. One serious thing we did was go around and tell our favorite parts of the past year. It warmed my heart to hear the kids tell theirs. They were very sweet.

Yesterday we spent the day in Lex. with the Uhls' Family. I will update the pics tomorrow. Hope you enjoy this.

merryCHRISTMAS!

Ok stay with me. I'm not sure how good this picture is, but it took me 2 hours last night and 2 hours today to put it together. Plus a call to Melanie. I'm so very proud of myself. I can't believe I got this far with it. Ok click on the picture above to see the pic bigger. Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo!

Ok now for our Christmas. It was very good. You can see above some of the stuff we did. We had a friend over to make cookies, put the tree up, went to a choral performance, opened presents, saw Baby Katherine (got to help give her a bath...my favorite), and many other things.

Santa was very good to both kids. Nick got the much anticipated drums (video below), a remote control firetruck, and a car road rug.

Here is his debut performance.

Caroline received the money machine she wanted, Julie the new American Girl doll (santa had to mail it bc it didn't get here before Christmas...we are still waiting for her), and a video camera. The memory card was full Christmas Day. Sorry, no video of Caroline.

The kids also received lots of presents from other people. We enjoyed time with family and friends. Aunt Carol is on her way home New Years' Day and we can't wait to see her and spend some time in L'burg. We are heading to see Aunt Mel and the boys on Jan 2 and hoping to spend the rest of our break having fun. We go back to school on Jan 8. We want to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and go to the indoor pool for a swim.

That is all for now. I hope each of you enjoyed your Christmas and have a happy and safe New Year.

cabin fever

Things have been relatively slow around here this weekend. Yesterday it rained and rained and rained and snowed (very little) and rained. Nick couldn't take being in the house any longer so he grabbed his rain boots and umbrella and headed out to walk in the huge puddles. He was so funny.

Friday night we spent a full hour at Wal-mart spending gift cards the kids got in the mail from Aunt Carol. Thank you Aunt Carol. We are now the proud owners of a rc dodge truck and a scottie puppy in a purse. This pic is for Aunt Carol.

Today we had a birthday pool party to attend. Mollie turned 5 today. She has been waiting so long to turn 5 and she was very very excited. I took my camera planning on getting lots of great pics and my battery ran out shortly after I started. Here is what I got.

I started this weekend with one goal in mind....getting student gifts completed. Here they are! I have 2 more to finish and I can't until I talk to the twins in the pictures. I can't tell them apart so I am going to have to ask. They don't like it when you mix them up. I am so happy to have this project complete. I also got all but 3 gifts bought this weekend so my to do list is looking pretyy good. I still have to finish a bucket for the kids teacher and a couple of ornaments, but that is all! I plan on enjoying this week and doing lots of stuff with the kids. WE are anxiously awaiting out holiday break which is 17 days. Whoo hoo!

I love these ornaments that I got from here.

I have made about 2 dozen this year. They make great teacher gifts and kid gifts.

The kids have really gotten into nintendo in the last couple of weeks. So we have been playing the original nintendo that John had. The kids are hillarious. They have gotten so much better just in the last week. I have a super nintendo that we moved upstairs this week. John and I have been shopping on ebay tonight for a few more games. WE only have 1 for the super. Ebay is absolutely the best thing ever.

I hope everyone has a good week. I deleted the traditions post that I never put anything in, but it is coming. I'm still trying to get my thought together. I got a little too emotional when trying to write it.

Have a good week! Merry almost Christmas!

Dad where was Jesus born?

this question got my attention so I listened.
John said "I don't know where?"
Caroline said "He was born in North Carolina." priceless.

I have no idea where she comes up with all this stuff. She was "reading" her bible story book.

Nick is feeling better, but I have been sick for 2 days. I'm hoping to be back at school tomorrow. I made myself get out of the bed at 11:00 today. I have gotten a lot accomplished today for being sick. Finished the Christmas cards, started albums for 1st graders, filled out Financial aid forms, ordered transcript, and cleaned up desk. All of it could be done sitting down. Whoo hoo!

That is all from here. I just wanted to tell you what Caroline said. Hope you have a good day tomorrow.

Howdy

Well it is another sickday here. Nick woke up with a fever 103.8. I took him to the dr and he has another double ear infection. At least it is something he can go back to school with. Tonight we have been cleaning Caroline's room. It was a pig mess. You wouldn't believe how bad it was. I don't understand how it gets so dirty.

We are going to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. Hope you had a good day! Hopefully more tomorrow.

SLEEPovER

with Grandma. For the first time the kids spent the night with Grandma Friday night. I didn't think they would actually stay all night, but they did. They rushed home from school, packed their bags, and were waiting on Helen and Dave at the front door. They had such a good time. I can't believe they are this big. I didn't get a picture of them before they left bc things were so crazy and they were so excited. John and I had a great night of quiet time together. We went out to eat and then shopping. We spent the morning running some errands. I feel like we got a lot accomplished. Whoo hoo!

We ventured out this afternoon to light up Hikes Point ( pathetic...horrible) which was a waste of time. I had been wanting to take the kids to Brown Park (duck park) to see the lights so we headed over there. Here are some great shots I got. The lights on the tall Christmas tree were to music. The kids that it was great. My favorite is the fat snowman. The kids didn't cooperate while I was trying to take those pics, but they are still funny. Tomorrow we are going to help Helen and Dave put their tree up.

Here are a couple of pics from our mommy/daddy date day. Nick and I went to McDonalds and John and Caroline went to Starbucks. It was very interesting bc Nick didn't say anything and CAroline talked John's ear off. Wonder where she gets it?????

Not too much going on here. We are working on many crafts, have lots of presents to wrap, and some more decorating to do. I should have done it today it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Oh well I'll get to it.

Last but not least here is a picture of Nick's room decorated for Christmas. The lights are strung all around the room and he has a tree. They lite up his whole room.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I'll try to post more often.

It'sBEGINNINGtolookALOTlikeCHRISTMAS

around here. We put up our tree today. I'm stressing a little about getting all the decorating done so I started with the tree. The kids wanted to put it up anyway so we did. It has been a very busy weekend. CAroline and myself spent a few hours at the mall today and yes Santa is there. Now I'm just working on cards, ordering some gifts, and watching a movie with the kids.

Ok here is the most exciting thing I have for. This is a movie of Nick playing his drums. It is so funny. He makes these drums everynight on his bed and "practices". Mr. Seibert thinks he has talent. He has asked Santa for a drum set. It is number one on his list. We'll see if he agrees. We found a place that gives drum lessons and the kids play in bands. I really think Nick will love playing in a band. You never know you might get an invitation.

The kids and I have school Mon, Tues and then we are off 5 days. Whoo hoo!

Reportcard Day!

We got our 1st official report card today. The last one was a progress report. Both the kids did great. S= successful, O=outstanding NI= needs improvemet. Caroline got all S's. With an O in music. Nick got all s's with an O in music and an NI in science.

Teacher comments: Caroline continues to make strong progress in all subject areas and is an enthusiastic student. She is a pleasure to work with.

Nick continues to make steady progress in all areas and is an enthusiastic student. Nick just needs to slow down a little and not rush through his work. My expectations for Nick remain high. I admire his energy and enthusiasm.

John and I are very proud and Grandma and Grandpa gave them some money for good report cards. I'm excited about the O in music. I love that they get as excited about music as John and me do. They love Mr. Seibert and he loves them.

Granny saw the derm. yesterday and they are going to wait until after the first of the year before removing the spot. He told her it was more important to fix her eyelids first. She is feeling better about things now. She was worried about Thanksgiving. Aunt Carol and Uncle Danny are planning on moving back to L'burg very soon. Caroline (especially) and Nick are excited about them being here and getting to see them more often.

The kids and I have 3 days off next week that we are looking forward to. I'm hoping everyone stays healthy and we can have a fun 5 days. Ok that is about all from here. We love and miss you all!

ENT says

she would like to wait another month before deciding if Caroline needs to have another set of ear tubes put in. I was so happy I could have kissed her. I was afraid the pediatrician was rushing a bit. Yes she has had 3 ear infections since they took her last set out in August, but it just seemed a little to soon for me. She says this is the age they start to outgrow ear problems and if we could make it through the winter she didn't think she would have any more trouble. She did warm me it might be a long winter though. It has already been a long fall so I think I can handle a long winter. I felt much better after hearing her opinion and talking it through with her. She did tell me if at any point she started having more trouble or I felt they needed to be put back in I could call and they would schedule the surgery. Hopefully we won't need it.

The kids fall festival at school was Sat night. It was really cool and the kids had a blast. I didn't even think about taking my camera. I wish I had. Nick dunked Mr. Seibert (the kids favorite teacher) in the dunking booth and he was very excited about that. Caroline danced in the disco room with her friends from class and they all played lots of games. Each classroom makes a basket to sell in a silent auction. Grandma came and bid on 2 baskets and won. John got into a bidding war with another person for a New Year's Eve package that included seeing Mr. Seiberts (the kids favorite teacher) band play. They are called V-groove and have been voted best jazz band in L'ville for the last 5 years. They are very good. Luckily he got outbid by $10. I didn't take my checkbook in. Oops!

We are back to school tomorrow and I am hoping everyone is better and won't get sick for a while. I've had it with all the sickness. Nick seems to be doing well on the new asthma med combo. Please pray it continues to work.

I did get a lot accomplished last week while we were off sick. Things listed on ebay, basement cleaned, toys weeded through, and my Christmas cards are almost finished. I have never been this far on them this early. Usually I'm still working on them the week before Christmas. Not this year.

That is all from here. Hope everyone is doing well. We love and miss you all! I haven't taken any new pics so I posted my favorite from the park pics we took.

QUICKupdate!

More sickness here....John took Caroline to the dr on Friday and she was diagnosed with a double ear infection. We started an antibiotic. She has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming with pain in her ear. We haven't been to school all week. I took them to the dr on Wed. to hear .....

Caroline's ear infection is worse so we are back to the ENT tomorrow to see about putting tubes back in her ears. Yes you remember correctly she just had them removed in August bc the dr said they had been in too long. Can you believe it?????

Nick has a sinus infection, ear infection, an eczema breakout and an asthma flare up. Whoo Hoo!
They changed his asthma meds a little and we are still on nebs 2-3 times a day. Yes we thought he was growing out of the asthma and we are stilling praying he is and it is just this season that bothers him.

John has been in Tampa, FL this week. He left Tues afternoon and gets back some time Thurs night. I took the kids Tues morning to vote. They were very intrigued by it and actually got to vote too. They had no idea who they voted for they just picked ovals to color. It was cute though. I didn't know they did that.
This weekend we have the Fall Family festival. it is kind of like a carnival we used to have. Including cake walk.

Chris, Beth, and Katherine are in town for Beth's birthday. They are going to Churchill Downs Friday to present a race. They are having a race named after Katherine. So we will be seeing them this weekend too.

I haven't taken any pictures this week bc we have all been sick. I will try to get some this weekend. We got a good update on Reed. His new medicine is working great and he is doing much better. They are visiting DD and the girls in Idaho.

Hope you are all doing good. We love and miss you all!

Happy Halloween!

Here are my very cute trick or treaters! This is my favorite pic from the night. I love the way they are standing and the looks on their faces. They did this on their own. It was a great night for treatin'. The weather was great. We had lots of company that walked with us. Grandma and Grandpa, Jim, Melissa, Lesley, Eric, and the kiddos. Then Jennifer, Ashley, and Charlotte came over when we got back home.

The kids have always been shy about going to the houses, which is why we always just go to the neighbors. This year they were totally pumped and ran from house to house. Caroline couldn't get there fast enough with Nick hot on her heels. John and I laughed so hard. We got tons of candy. Buckets full. Too much. Everyone had a great time.

Here is the crew!

We discovered none of our clothes from last winter fit so we did a little shopping this weekend. Caroline got lots of very cheap stuff at gymboree and Nick got cool stuff at Target. He loves these pants and baseball long sleeve t-shirts. Nothing too fancy. I can't believe how big they have gotten. I guess that is to be expected.

Caroline has another ear infection. This is the 4 or 5 since they took her tubes out. I'm really worried they are going to want to put another set in. She is so hard to deal with after the anesthesia. I guess we will deal with it if is comes up.

We are having a restful weekend playing, watching movies, and resting. We are off on Tues and looking forward to it. (at least Mrs. Potts is- I need a break)

Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good weekend.

Reading, Reading!!!!

Caroline has started reading in the last week. I am amazed at how many words she knows and what she can figure out. Nick has no interest at this point which is ok. He has lots of time.

Sorry it has been a whole week since I blogged last. The week nights are just so busy. I'm glad it is getting dark earlier bc it doesn't seem as busy. It was a good week. We got good news about Reed. The kids had their first field trip, and I got my acceptance letter from Spalding University.

The kids went to Huber's pumpkin patch on Friday. They got to ride the school bus and now want to ride it everyday instead of riding to school with me. Isn't that funny. They would have to get up an hour earlier. Not happening. They got pumpkins from the field and apples. Got to feed the animals. Caroline said she fed the deer. I'm not sure they have deer, but whatever she says. For lunch they had a picnic with their sack lunches. They were both a hundred miles a minute when they got home.

Saturday we went to the Halloween party at the duck park. It was so very cold, and Nick was scared of everything. Wed night will be interesting. Nick is dressing up as a baseball player and Caroline a cheerleader. Here is a pic of them.

After the park we had a birthday party for John. His bday was on Thurs. The kids planned his party by themselves. It was so funny. They planned games and picked out the cake. I think John had a good time.

Today we went to the kids movies this morning and say Spookley the square pumpkin. It was cute. Then we headed home to rest. Caroline started coughing and running a temp last night and got up with it this morning. I'm hoping we can make it through the whole week of school. We haven't made it through many so far.

We got to meet Baby Katherine last weekend and I never posted her picture. She is very cute and fun to hold. They all seem to be doing well. They are coming back next week for Beth's birthday.

I think that is all from here. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Have a good week.

Migraine, Migraine

go away....don't come back another day. I have spent the whole day with a very bad migraine. I painted a desk in the garage yesterday and I think that is why I have one and why it is so bad. Oh well live and learn.

It was a good weekend other than today. We got to meet Baby Katherine and she is gorgeous. I love holding, feeding, and changing newborn babies. She seems to be a very good baby. Beth did pull a "muri" and ask me to lay her down (babywise) so she could get some sleep.

We also went to the schools Pancake breakfast on Sat morning. The cakes were awesome and the kids got to see some of their friends. The funny thing was Mr. Leffert (the principal) was wearing jeans and that seemed to be the talk of the day. How funny kids are. They have heard me talk about not wearing jeans to work, bc he doesn't like them and never wears them to school.

Lots of thoughts and prayers are going out the Uhls' family tonight and tomorrow. Baby Reed will have his EGD in the morning to try to find the reason for his "vomitting" . Our prayers are they find the problem tomorrow so he doesn't have to have any more test. LOts of love, hugs and kisses to you guys.

HOpe everyone had a good weekend.

PS I can't find my camera right now so I will post a pic of Baby Katherine tomorrow.

No more stitches

We went to the dr on Tues to have stitches checked and he told us if they hadn't broken by Thurs I would need to cut them. Well, we did that tonight. After much crying we finally got them all cut. They all came out, but one. Here is a pic of her after removing them.

Right now we are watching news bc we have tornado warnings and strong storms coming through. We did manage to get a walk in before the storms started. Wrapping up another week of school tomorrow and looking forward to a good fun filled weekend.

Aunt Carol has been in the hosp this week due to her heart. Please pray for her. We miss her and wish she was closer so we could visit and hug her. So Aunt Carol we send XOXOXOXOXOXO's from all of us. HOpe you feel better soon. I love you!

New hairdo!

After a small adjustment with Caroline's bangs she headed to school today with no stitches showing. Nobody asked her about them and she was happy about that. We follow up with the plastic surgeon tomorrow morning. She is NOT excited about seeing him again. I will let you know how the apt goes.

Short post today bc we are trying to get to bed and not much going on here. Hope everyone is doing good!