Hoooooooooooooop, Skid Marks, Boys are the ENEMY!

Wow!

I can't believe it took me until today to make this post! It has been a crazy weekend with basketball, church and preparing for back to school after spring break! 

Hoop..... I am so glad that it is over! We spent way too much time at Dora~! 

Andrew's team worked hard and did a great job! They placed 5th overall in the tournament, falling after their 4th game. I love watching this team play! The kids all have amazing attitudes. They are good sports, they try hard and have fun. Sure, they get disappointed if they lose, but they never lose heart. In my opinion that is much more important than winning! I must also commend the parents of Dora... Not one time did I hear a parent scold, fuss at or put down their child, a referee nor the coach. All around us there were parents from other teams and communities that we would hear yelling at the ref, yelling at their kid or even an entire crowd from one team that were screaming and making tremendous noise in an effort to distract a girl making a free-throw. The girl was probably 11 or 12! To me, it demonstrates such poor sportsmanship! 

Many coaches were witnessed yelling at kids on their team and treated their own kids the worst. It was sad to see a young boy whom Andrew was playing against admonished by his father (the coach) for falling down and getting hurt. "What's the matter with you?!?! You're fine!! Get up and play!!!!!!!!!" his father yelled in a horribly mean tone. He didn't even appear to stop and consider that his son might actually be hurt. :o( 

It really broke my heart for that boy. This is, after all not the NBA. Theses are young kids, still learning and developing their skills and their self-esteem!

I must commend our coach, Jake Van Ruiten for his fine performance!

 Our boys took the floor, before and after their games, bowed their heads and prayed at half court. It was amazing to witness! This is a public school! Also, Jake would sit on the side-lines and allow the boys to PLAY! There was no yelling and screaming. There was no shouting at 3rd and 4th graders. I am sure that he would give reminders to the boys as they came off the court, "hey man, great job... remember, next time do this.... ".  The only stress ever displayed by coach Jake was simple. We would occasionally see his ball cap move a little further up off of his forehead!! LOL! Never once though was a child admonished, yelled at, fussed at, embarrassed, or made to feel that they were not up to par... including his own son! Jake, I am proud to have you coach my son. You are a fine example for him to follow. Thank you! 

Haileah got to PLAY!! Haileah's team placed 2nd in the tournament. The girls walked off the court with silver medals! Woo Hoo! They all played well. Of course there were many cute fumbles, mishaps and faux pas! They are after all, first and second graders. They too,  had a wonderful coach who loved the girls through their game. 

Unfortunately, Haileah did have an asthma attack after her game. We had given her a breathing treatment about an hour or so before her game, but the activity level during the game and after (she was trying to keep up with her friends who were running up the stairs!) got the best of her. We had to use her rescue inhaler 4 times before she could breath. It was scary! She recovered ok, but I will be making an appointment for her today to look at new medication options. 

SKID MARKS... Well, on our way to Dora we saw the skid marks left by the semi-truck that nearly hit us! It was a little scary to see! I am thankful for out guardian angels! If you drive the Dora Hwy, please slow down and pleas be careful! 

Boys are the ENEMY!!!!! This is the very first year that this over-protective mom has let her guard down a little and let the kids (especially the girls) have a little freedom and not have to be sitting within 5 feet of me. Haileah was playing under the bleachers, pretty much right under me and the also over by the wall not far from me. She was in my view  and of course I would stop and look to check on her every few minutes while I watched Andrew's game. All of the sudden a friend tells me to get Haileah because she is talking to a boy who is 14 and was kicked out of school for inappropriately touching little girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH! 

I stand up and immediately call her to me as I see her play slapping him. At the same time another friend is walking toward them and speaks to the boy. My friend did not even speak to him and he was already denying that he did anything!!!!!! According to Haileah, he was taking her shoes off, trying to tickle her and asked her to sit on his lap. Grrrrrrrrrrrr! I had looked at Haileah not 5 minutes before and she was no where near a boy!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, my foster parent training reminds me that he was testing her and attempting to groom her to see if he could get close to her. He also was caught last year trying to lure a friend's daughter into the locker room "tunnel" where the basketball team makes their entrance. I happen to know the little girl he harmed last year. the family moved back to Utah very quickly not long after school began. I had no idea why they left so abruptly.  The boy was at the game because he attends another school that was playing in the tournament. When Corry arrived, I informed him of what had happened and it was a good thing for the boy that he was no where in sight. Haileah's daddy's first response was "WHERE IS HE?!?!". 

Needless to say, Haileah didn't leave my side pretty much the rest of the day! (Mika wasn't there and of course Ambrelyn was with me every second!) So, I had to have a little talk with the girls about boys. We pretty much determined that they are the enemy! Especially if they are big boys! Especially if Mom or Dad are not around for some reason. It is such a fine line... Protecting our daughters without making them paranoid and fretful over everything!  We will keep on praying for protection for all of our kids from the enemies of this world! I will continue to be over-protective I am sure!! 

Overall, it was a fun weekend!  We are grateful to have our children at a school where most (nearly ALL) of the parents are on the right track, have their kid's best interest at heart and are watched by lots and lots of other mom's eyes! We are also so blessed that our kids have had nothing but wonderful, supportive coaches throughout their young lives! Our kids are praised for their efforts, regardless of the outcome!!!!!!!!!!

Have a blessed day!!!!!

More hoop and near death experience...

HOOP... Haileah's team WON!!! Hooray! 

They go to the finals tomorrow night. Her coach asked us to please consider letting Haileah play. Haileah is super good and LOVES the game!  The coach has kids with asthma too and knows what to look for. Also, she agreed to only play her for very short bursts so that she won't over do it. We agreed to let her play providing that she takes a breathing treatment shortly before hand and that she pull her right away if there is any sign of breathing difficulties. Haileah was THRILLED!!!!!!!!!!!! It IS the championship game after all!!!!!!!

NEAR DEATH.... Well, on the way home from the game, on hwy 206 (the dangerous one Julie and I spoke of earlier). I was happily cruising along at the speed limit playing my kids "songs" (they each have a song that is mine and theirs and they wanted me to play them all for them). Meanwhile, a car is cluelessly tailgating me. AND an idiotic semi-trucker on the PHONE is tailgating the car behind me!! GREAT!!!!!!!

I make it a point to turn my blinker on long before I am at my turn off and I am sure to tap the brakes a few times since I know how people drive on this road. Well, as I approach my turn (blinking and tapping) there is another Semi coming from the opposite direction, so I could not turn yet and needed to stop. Remember I am blinking and tapping!! (Hellllllloooooooooo!!) 

As I am attempting to come to a stop, the car behind me swerves onto the shoulder so it won't hit us. This leaves the cell phone occupied semi-trucker bearing down on us at full speed (or more). About this time the white car is pulling out in front of me, the semi coming toward us is passing by and the semi behind us is slamming on his brakes and SMOKE IS COMING FROM HIS TIRES!!!!!!!

 I really thought we were all going to be killed! I had absolutely no where to go. The semi behind us did stop (Thank the LORD!).... however...... all I could see was his grill! He was just inches from my bumper!!!!!!!!

 We were protected by angels I am sure!!! It was frightening to feel so helpless ! I could do nothing to protect my kiddos. 

Maybe it was all in God's planning though.... I realize now 100% that we all have those "mom" moments when we are just "off", but I saw the potential to not be there for my kids... that would NOT be a good thing. They need me... and I LOVE and NEED them!!!!! By the way... thank you Sarah for the love and encouragement! It is good to know that ALL moms go through those "mom moments" when they fell like they either don't live up or their kids brains fell out somewhere along the way!! LOL!! It always seems like all the other moms are perfect! (Gee Sarah, maybe if you didn't always hog the brain I might have realized this on my own!!)  :o)

I am so thankful to have them and so totally thankful that all of us are ok!!!!!

HOOP

Today the Basketball tournament at Dora began. The Coyotes are off to a great start!! Andrew's team was awesome! They started off trailing 1 to 12 at half-time. Bummer right? Well,  I am not sure what coach Jake told them at half-time but those boys came back STRONG!! At the end of the 4th quarter the score was tied at 18 each.  The game went into overtime with just 2 minutes on the clock. Here came Andrew, scoring an awesome shot taking it up to 20 to 18! Woo Hoo! 

Well, the Coyotes weren't satisfied with that so they just kept on going. The other team (Elida) hit one free-throw bringing the score to 20 - 19. It was tense for a little bit there, but the Coyotes pulled off a score of 26 to 19! Luke Cathey was the big scorer of the day! I think that boy smacked down a few bowls of Wheaties before the game! He was HOT! 

WAY TO GO COYOTES!!!! AWESOME JOB ANDREW!!

The next game for Andrew is tomorrow morning at 11:20 a.m. You will get an update tomorrow!

Haileah's team did well also. They didn't win this time but played a great game. Due to Haileah's asthma, the doctor will not allow her to play right now. Her coach is so sweet though! She offered Haileah a "job" as assistant coach so that she wasn't left out! Her team plays again at 3:30 today! We are so incredibly proud of our girl's attitude. She LOVES the game and it has been a huge disappointment for her not to play, but she has kept a positive spirit about not playing. She is a winner and an awesome team player! 

Also, I neglected to tell y'all about this a week or so ago.....

On the day of Andrew's last season game, we were once again in overtime and it was Andrew who must have had the Wheaties because the boy was on fire! He scored most of the 12 points that the  Coyotes had by the end of the 4th quarter! In Overtime with the score tied at 12-12 and just 6 seconds on the clock, Andrew stole that ball from the other team and SCORED!!!!He put that ball up with just 2 seconds on the clock.... SWISH!!!!  The game ended at 14-12 Coyotes!

  Andrew was the champion of the game! You Rock son!!!

:o)

What was He thinking....

Some days I have no earthly idea why God allowed me to be a mom.

WHAT was He thinking??? 

It seems like I can never manage to do anything right.  No matter what I say, what I ask, how I say it or how I ask it, I can never manage to get much more than kids that think I am wanting them to cut off their arm or something! 

I am just at a loss right now. :-(   

Anything from doing chores, picking up their stuff, doing homework, even taking a shower... it is a constant battle and leads to tears or fussing (from them) and frustration and bewilderment (from me).  I feel like most of the time I am grasping at straws or pulling ideas out of the air because I don't know what the heck I am supposed to do or how I should handle things these days. Then, when I do feel like I might have a clue, that backfires too and I am back to confusion and frustration (oh yeah, the tears sometime are there as well). I often pray for wisdom on how to handle things... I try it, I do it and then.... same thing.... crying, arguing or upset kids and a mom who feels lost and clueless.

It won't be long before the teenage years are upon us. Puberty, PMS, etc. How will all of that go over? I feel like the worst mom in existence now, what will it be like then?

Before I was a mom I had all of these lofty ideas of what being a mom would be like. Now here I am smack dab in the middle of it all and I haven't a clue what I am doing half (or most) of the time. These kids deserve so much more.

Like I said.... what has He thinking?

Dr. Luu and Nurse Dana (the healing nurse)

When MiKaylee and I were admitted to the hospital, we were blessed to have Nurse Dana as our night-time nurse 2 nights.  Nurse Dana is the the nurse that laid hands on Xavier and prayed for healing. As y'all know he was healed. Anyway, it was great to see Dana and catch up on her life and that of Xavier and the rest of the kids. She shared a funny story with us about our pediatrician's reaction to Xavier's healing: 

One day at the hospital Dana was walking down the hall and heard Dr. Luu (with his thick Vietnamese accent) say "Hey, Dana! Dana! Gramzow! What's up with Gramzow?!? I try and fix him 2 years!! 2 YEARS!! Can't find what's wrong! You walk in and 5 minutes You fix him!!!!!!!"

Dana replied, pointing upward "not me Dr. Luu! God healed him!"

Dr' Luu said "yeah, I know but still!!! 2 Years! 2 years I try to fix him!!!!!"

I LOVE THAT STORY!!!!!!!

By the way, the update is as follows....

Xavier is now 4 foot 5 inches tall and weighs 70 pounds! He has gained 9 pounds since he was healed in October! That is 6 more pounds than Xavier gained in the 2 years we were struggling to find out what was wrong with him! We have had to buy him all new clothes and it looks like more purchases are on the horizon! 

Xavier was baptized last month and feels God is calling him to be a preacher! he definately has  the life history at only 8 years old to relate to a lot of people, he has a heart for Jesus, the compassion, the friendly nature, positive outlook and that knack for TALKING! :o) So, we think it is an awesome possibility for him!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Home from the hospital

Hi Y'all,
Well, here we are, home from the hospital!

Yup...
Kaylee got admitted to the hospital Saturday morning with a fever of 106.*!!!! Her only other symptom was a sore throat and those hazy lungs (probably a little asthma). The Dr. ordered more x-rays, mono spot, EBV serum, another set of blood work, more urine tests, etc., etc., etc.... and NOTHING! So, she was put on an IV, given antibiotics and tylenol and motrin around the clock for the severe throat pain. We finally got home last night and needless to say we were both exhausted. We are all thankful that she is ok and that it was not major.

The nurses at the hospital are great but I really would prefer to only run into them at Walmart!!!!!!!!!! LOL!
Thanks for your prayers. God bless!

Here we go again????

Well.....

we just got back from the doctor's office with Kaylee. All of the sudden yesterday afternoon she gets a fever.... 101.00*. Not that big of a deal right? Her throat hurts, she is whiney, and falls asleep around 5 or so. This morning she is 105.2*!! The throat is very red and it looks like there may be a pus pocket on her tonsils, she has a headache, swollen and VERY tender glands. I am thinking strep throat. So, we call the doctor, give her the ol' lukewarm bath, some Motrin and take her into the office. The strep test is negative.... the flu test is negative so he opts for blood and xrays...... her lungs are "hazy" (oh GREAT!!), but it is not pneumonia....  at the moment, her CRP (C-reactive protein)  level is elevated. This indicates an infection/inflammation. 

So......

We are home at the moment but are on the look-out for Kaylee not improving within 24 hours on antibiotics , her fever going any higher than 105.3* or her becoming lethargic. If any of those things happen we have to go the ER or call the pediatric unit in Clovis so that she can be admitted to the hospital.  :o(

We are so not wanting to do that again! PLEASE be praying for our girl~ as we will be too!

We will keep you posted!

Parent-Teacher conferences!

Thursday we had parent-teacher conferences at school. Corry and I are so pleased at how well the kids  are doing! School doesn't come easy for all of them.

 Here are the updates:

Ambrelyn of course has no problems at this point, after all Preschool is FUN and there is no real work involved! She just has to show up, play, be cute and be nice! She got straight A's!!! LOL!

Kaylee is reading like a champ! The kids participate in the Accelerated Reading (AR) Program at school. The program involves reading a book and then taking a test on what they read. They get points for passing the test. Kaylee's goal was 4 points. She scored a 5.5!! Kaylee's  biggest issue at school is her knack for being impulsive!!!! Julie recently turned us on to the fact that her once fidgety and impulsive horse was well tamed by a vitamin B supplement, so we tried a human :o) vitamin B supplement on Mika with astounding results! Her teacher is pleased with the results as well! Kaylee has all A's and B's! Hooray!

Haileah is very smart, but has difficulties in school. Her profound hearing loss in her right ear has created some definite issues in reading, as the sounds of each letter are not clear to her. She struggles so hard to read  whatever words are on each page that she retains very little of what she has read. This makes passing those AR tests a real challenge for Haileah! She had a goal of 5 points and got an award for scoring a 7.7! WOW! That is a HUGE feat for Haileah! Haileah is blessed with the desire to learn and do her best and is blessed with the drive to give 190% (as her teacher says). Haileah scored a report card of all B's! WooHoo!!

School comes very easily to Xavier. He is #1 grade-wise in his class and has never misspelled a word on a spelling test yet! He never even studies! His grade's goal was 6 points and Zave scored 17.2! All this from a boy who at 3 years of age scored between 9-12 months on all developmental charts! WOW!! The progress that this kid has made brings tears to my eyes! Way to go Zave!!

Andrew is doing quite well in school as well. School is a struggle for Andrew sometimes. He has a difficult time putting his thoughts on paper and also struggles with spelling. Those letter sounds aren't always heard by him and those silent letters really give him fits. He sometimes struggles with certain types of math as well. His Auntie Julie has caught on to the fact that he is a lot like her and struggles with Dysgraphia. All of the struggles above sum up Dysgraphia. The cool thing about it all is that since Julie has it too, she can help him with the tricks she has used in her life to help Andrew learn! With all of his difficulties, Andrew pulled all A's and B's!! Andrew's AR goal was 10 points, he scored 21.7!!! All this from a boy who wouldn't pick up a book with out tears just 2 years ago!!! Awesome job Andrew!!

The kids are doing great and we are so blessed to have them at such a small school where their individual issues can be addressed. There is only 1 class for each grade and on average 14 kids to a class! If we were in town at a larger school, we believe the kids would get lost in the shuffle and would not receive the help and understanding that they need for their academic success. 

Way to go Dora Schools! Go Coyotes!!

Way to go Auntie, for all the tips and help that you have given this Mom!! I don't know what I would do without you!! I love ya sister!

~Jori

CUPCAKES FOR COPPERS!

We did it! Julie and I took in 2 dozen cupcakes to  the Roosevelt county Sherriff's department!! Darren Hooker, the local Sherriff and our buddy just about laughed his butt off! He was very appreciative though! After all, it is not everyday that the cops get a big ol' batch of cupcakes to say "Thank you!" The photos are a little blurry, but the cupcakes read... We love RCS (Roosevelt County Sherriff) , "bubble light" (an item Sherriff Hooker promised us, but will never deliver I am sure!!!), "badge" (which Julie and I DID get... even if it was a junior deputy sticker!!), "NM 206" (the highway that is in ill repair and is set at 50 MPH where everyone goes 70ish!) and 50 MPH (the proper speed limit!!!!). Like I said, he thought it was great!

On a serious note though, we have seen the deputies out there everyday, and it IS making a difference! This may seem somewhat trivial to some of you, but I have know many people killed on this road when it was in good shape! The road is a mess right now and is barely safe in many spots at 50 MPH! Julie and I have been in many a near miss with speeding drivers making unsafe passes. Recently, I even had to go to the shoulder (with 10 kids on board!!) to avoid being a part of what was just a few yards away from being a major head on collision. The semi trucks are quite possibly holding the WORST drivers! 

 Sorry to all of you lead-footed drivers, but I prefer my family safe and in one piece as opposed to having to be scraped off of your bumper because you didn't leave on time or you feel the need for speed!!!

;o)  Goodnight!!

Hi-Jacker!

Well!

Some people's little sister's! They borrow your stuff, they follow you around and then they go and hi-jack your personal space to write stuff (like a DIARY!!). LOL!

Just wait until I get a hold of HER blog!!

~Jori

Hi-Jacked Posting!

Yup, sometimes I hi-jack Jori's stuff....what else is a sister supposed to do!  She claims that her life is really boring and how s she going to have any posts?  So I will tell you what we did this morning!!

We recently cornered Sheriff Darren Hooker at the Ag Expo and begged him to send more patrols on the Dora Highway between Portales and Dora because of rampant speeder, suicide passers and basic reckless driving.  I believe our words included phrases like.."Run traffic control or you will end up scraping our van off the highway" ...  "it is only a matter of time before someone is killed."  You know, things a Sheriff loves to hear!

This morning on our way in to school, we passed a deputy with a car pulled over.  We CHEERED!!  On the way home from morning drop off, we saw the deputy had pulled over another-we slowed down and applauded to him!!  Then we called Sheriff Hooker and thanked him so much for the traffic controls.

Then we asked him for our very own bubble lights.  After he finished laughing he offered us junior deputy badges!  Now that was funny!  We are now...hmmmm...Jori is now making cupcakes that we plan on delivering to the department later to day.  Roosevelt County Sheriff Department ROCKS!!!!