Christmas 2008

Ok. So I'm a little late. If you know me, then you know this is typical for me.....I have good intentions, but Christmas is such a hectic, crazy time so I often have difficulties keeping up. Which means my blog most definitely takes a back seat to everything else.

This Christmas, we visited family. School got out on Friday and we left the next morning to travel to Illinois to visit my sisters. When we left Texas, the boys were wearing shorts and t shirts. It was probably around 75 degrees. By the time we made it to the hotel in Blytheville, Arkansas, which is on the Arkansas/Missouri border, the temp was down in the 40s. The boys decided to put on jeans and get their hoodies before we went out for dinner. We had a yummy Mexican dinner (well.....Eddie, Trey and I had Mexican--Kyle had McDonald's chicken nuggets) then went to Walmart to do a bit of last minute shopping before going back to our hotel to watch a Christmas movie and fall asleep.

The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed on to Illinois. It. was. COLD. The temp, when we got in the car, was 23. Definitely not what I was used to anymore. As the day progressed, we drove further and further north and watched the temp steadily drop. 20. 18. 15. 12. 9. 6. 4. 2. -1. -3. -6. It was FRIGID! And the wind chill made it feel more like -30!! It started snowing BIG flakes when we got around Bloomington, IL. It was so pretty. As long as we were inside the car, we really enjoyed the sights. The roads were clear. It was a little windy and that meant we were being blown around a bit on the road, but it was not that bad.

We finally had some bad roads when we got closer to my sister Staci's house....the country roads were icy and snow packed, so it was a bit dicey at times. We got to Staci's and glory be! she had a fire lit in the fireplace and that's where I stayed most of the afternoon----curled up on the sofa with a big cup of coffee right by the blazing fireplace. :o)

Time Didn't Stand Still

As you can see there is a HUGE gap -- over NINE years!! -- between postings.  Life has been crazy  but suddenly I have this strong desire to get my memories down, not on paper, but at least saved so that I can look back on my amazing life.

I have to admit, one big reason for this, is that I pulled up this blog, looking for pictures of Kyle to put in my yearbook tribute to him.  Yep!  He's a SENIOR!!  My last post was about him being diagnosed w/ Aspergers, so I have a LOT to write about.

It's hard to believe that the precious baby sleeping above, is now almost 18 years old and will soon be graduating and leaving the nest.  I am so proud of the young man he has become and I can't wait to see what lies ahead in his future. 



Life's Ups and Downs

It's amazing how when things are going well, I don't have time to update my blog, but as soon as something rocks my world, it's one of the first places I head.

Life has been going along so very well....boys are doing well in school, I love my job, Eddie is wonderful. Life. is. good.

Trey is a freshman in high school and is struggling a little with Biology and Spanish II, mostly because he hasn't figured out yet that he needs to consistently study, instead of sporadically cramming the night before a test. He'll figure it out soon. In the meantime, he's staying for tutoring for some extra help. He plans to play on the school soccer team next semester. I can't wait! I love watching him play. He is on a club team this fall and is really doing well.

Kyle is doing well academically. He's in a Gifted/Talented Cluster class, where they put G/T and high achieving regular kids together. He is loving the extra challenges and all the projects. He's also part of a Destination Imagination team. I'm hoping that is a good fit for him.

This summer we finally had Kyle tested, and they confirmed my suspicions that he indeed did have Asperger's Syndrome, which is a high functioning autism. I KNEW deep down in my heart, but I sure wanted to be proven wrong this time. We just got the results a couple days ago and I'm still trying to process everything. Part of me wonders if he is this way because of all the fertility drugs that I took, or because I was older when he was born. When I stop to truly think about it, I know that it's probably not my fault, but Satan sure knows where to send his jabs to do the most damage. I hope I won't have a difficult time getting him help at his school, but I'm gearing up for a fight, because the testing was done outside of school, and they have already told me there was no academic need to have him getting special help. The doctors this summer disagree, so I hope that by sharing their findings, I will be able to get him some extra support, especially in speech and social skills.

Life is Good

Sunday was Mother's Day. I sat in church between my wonderful husband and my handsome almost teenaged son. It's not often that Trey worships with us, because he is involved in youth activities and usually sits with his friends. (This time, his friends sat with us.) :o) As I sat there, I reflected back on past Mother's Days....back to 2002, when Kyle was dedicated...then to 1997, when I celebrated my first Mother's Day--Trey was almost a year old and I was so happy......to 1996, when I was pregnant with Trey, but had to stay home in bed that day because I had PIH ( pregnancy induced hypertension).....to 1994 and 95, when I was so heart broken because I once again was NOT a mom yet, and the future looked so bleak......to the many Mother's Days I spent with my mom and some even with grandmothers. I realized, once again, how very very blessed I am. Even when life looked so dark, God had it all under control. He knew what I couldn't see...the love, the happiness, the struggles, the pain, the tears of joy and sorrow, the proud moments......He was there through all of it....never failing me. Never abandoning me. Celebrating. Loving. Giving.
How can I NOT praise Him? He gave 2 precious sons, who are my reasons for living.

God's Timing

A very dear friend of mine messaged me last night on Facebook. ( yes....that's where I've been. I know I have MUCH I need to share here, but for some reason, my creativity, which was never around a lot anyway, seems to be on an extended vacation. I have thoughts that swirl around my brain, especially at 3 or 4 AM!! But for some reason, the thoughts never make it from my brain to my fingers.)
Anyway....back to my friend's message. She is struggling with infertility and my heart goes out to her and her fabulous hubby because I've been there. In fact, I stayed there for a very long visit. Too long. Nobody should have to suffer that long on such an emotional roller coaster. She is near the beginning of her journey and shared that she had cried twice yesterday just because she wants this so badly and is afraid it's not going to happen. Yet. Ah the tears. If I could have bottled up the tears I shed while trying to conceive, I would have the greenest yard on the cul de sac this August.....no drought for me!
She asked me how I did it for so long....3 years for Trey and 3 years, then a miscarriage and 5 more months for Kyle. I couldn't give her an answer. At least not a concrete answer... I don't know HOW I got through those long painful years of shots, fertility drugs, blood tests and pee sticks. All I could say was first of all I had a patient husband who loved me ---who held me when I cried when once again, the test was negative or when another friend called me to tell me her wonderful news....she was expecting and I wasn't. He's the one who kept me sane when I wanted to throw my thermometer across the room and never take another temp. ( I don't want to admit how many I broke when they hit the closet door.) He's the one who kept me from scratching out the eyeballs of a well intentioned, albeit quite fertile friend who told me I just needed to get a dog! ( Uh...no...I didn't want a dog---I wanted a child!)
But the main thing that helped me through that time in my life was the knowledge that I didn't have to be in control....God had it all planned for me and while I didn't understand why it couldn't be RIGHT NOW, I was able to accept that HE KNEW BEST. One of the verses I claimed over and over was Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'" I claimed that promise....over and over and over and over.
Philippians 4:11 "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." This verse was given to me in a Sunday School class...2 of my closest friends had just announced their pregnancies earlier in the week, and I prayed and asked God for something to help me to be happy for them even though I was fighting jealousy and envy because I wasn't pregnant too.
Today my friend is going to the dr for a bloodtest and I've been praying for her all morning. And just now, God gave me a song for her.....It's from the movie "Fireproof":

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am hopeful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it is painful

But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead,

bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve you while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Looking back, from the other side of infertility, I can see that I did that.....and God rewarded my patience and my very long wait with two incredible gifts. And everyday, when I drop Kyle off at school or talk to Trey about what's going on in his life, I thank God for his good and perfect timing, because no other gifts could fit our family so perfectly.

No! Say it isn't so!!

Has it really been almost 2 months since I posted? I never updated our Christmas trip or Kyle's birthday or anything?
I hate to admit it, but I've been bitten by the Facebook bug and catching up with old high school buddies has taken priority.
But I PROMISE to be a much better blogger in the future, and I will even go back and write about what's been happening since I last appreciated my boys.
They may not come in order, because I already have a thought swirling in my head that deals with my anniversary yesterday, so I'll start there, and work backwards and go forwards both at the same time....this should be interesting!
Hang on----it could be a bumpy ride! LOL

-----Things I love about my boys-----

I saw this on another blog and decided to "steal" the idea and share on mine.
Things I love about Trey
1. He still shows me affection, even though he's 12 and taller than I am.
2. He likes a lot of my kind of music.
3. He doesn't like wearing the baggy pants, or the gothic look like so many jr. high kids do.
4. He has a variety of interests...sports, history, music, Nascar, church
5. He's very good with little kids
6. He likes getting good grades
7. He has a great sense of humor
8. He's not high maintenance
9. He likes to tease me--this is huge, because so many kids ignore their parents
10. He talks to me....*really* talks to me

Things I love about Kyle
1. He still calls me "Mommy"
2. He is so smart
3. He has a generous heart
4. He likes things neat
5. He has a beautiful singing voice
6. He's funny
7. He likes to do crafts and help me cook
8. He is willing to try new sports
9. He is very imaginative
10. He likes to snuggle, especially when he's had a bad day

This year, Kyle seems to be having a lot of difficulty in school. Not academically---he's reading at a 2nd grade level, his math, science, and social studies are all above average, and he even likes to write stories. No, the difficulties he's having are social/behavioral. So much so that I've been researching and asking all my experts if they have any ideas what could be going on with him. Since I am teaching a student with Asberger's, which is on the autism spectrum, I've been researching it and the more I read about it, the more it describes Kyle and some of my experts agree. So I went off to the school to ask for him to be tested. They had a psychologist come out and observe him and decided that there is no educational need so they denied him testing through the district. So now I'm having to look outside the school system to find a dr. who will test him, because without the diagnosis, the only thing the school district will do is put together a behavior plan for him. That's a good start, but I think he needs more, especially since he's having problems with his handwriting and writing his letters backwards, which has now caused him to fail his last spelling test because he writes b's instead of d's. So I'm not sure what the answer is but I do know that it looks like I've got a long road ahead of me to get him where he needs to be.

The Joys of Being a Parent!

Turkey Trot

*~*~*~*pictures to come later~*~"*~*~*

Kyle heard on the radio about the Turkey Trot, the annual race held uptown on Thanksgiving morning, that also included a kids' fun run. He said he wanted to run in it, so I looked it up online. When Trey saw me reading about it, he decided he wanted to run as well. So very early on Thanksgiving morning, we loaded up the car and headed into Houston so the boys could run. Trey ran Cross Country this fall, which was 2 miles, but he signed up for the 5K run, which is a little more than 3 miles so he had a much harder run than he'd ever done before. For a first timer, he did a pretty good time--running 5K in a little over 26 minutes. Kyle did the 1K kids' run. I was at the finish line, watching for him, but parents were pushing so badly, I somehow missed him.....my heart was racing while we looked for him in the crowd of runners and parents. After a crazed few minutes, he found his dad, who then brought him over to where Trey and I were frantically searching. We were so relieved! And Ky was so proud of his run, and the medal that all finishers received.

Thank You, Veterans!

A friend of mine sent me this video to honor our soldiers. Her brother is one of the soldiers in here and it reminded me that no matter how we feel about the war, we need to remember that there are men and women over there sacrificing everything so I may live in a free country. And I wish those who have to voice their ugly opinions about the war and the leaders would remember that those who are fighting deserve our support and our prayers, and yes, even our praise.

Kyle's First Race

My Soccer Star

More to come.....

My Halloween Robot

Pumpkins and Halloween

I was just getting ready to email a good friend of mine and give her a hard time about not updating her blog, but then I looked at mine and saw that mine, too was way overdue! In fact, she and I posted on the same day last month and it's been over a month.
And I've decided that I'm no longer going to say that my life is crazy or I'm too busy to post anything because it's really no excuse. Everybody I know has a crazy, hectic schedule.

So.....instead I'll write another update on my boys......
We're having a cold snap right now---well cold for us, which is not really cold in comparison to many parts of the country, but for Texans, when the temp drops down in the 30s, it's COLD! It's also been windier than usual. So the other night, Kyle came in our room around midnight and said it sounded like Halloween in his room. I couldn't figure out what that meant, but since I wanted to go back to sleep, I just moved over and let him sleep with us. Around 3 am, the wind started howling loud enough that it woke me up and I figured out that's what he must have been talking about.
Yesterday, we carved our pumpkins. Well.....it started out with the boys each carving their own pumpkins, but Kyle didn't like getting his hands dirty with the "innards" of the pumpkin, so it wasn't long until I was carving his. A little while later, Trey gave up carving his, because he chose an intricate design of letters and he made a couple mistakes and wanted me to fix it.

WaCkY WeDnEsDay WaMbLinGs

Here is a kind of rambling post about the first 10-15 things that pop in my head.....

1. Yesterday Trey was supposed to have a viola lesson. A lady at my church is a music teacher and is going to give Trey private lessons in her ( our) *spare time*. We've been trying to get together for weeks.....first it was the beginning of school, so we both canceled--decided to wait until after the first week of school. Then Trey got sunburned over Labor Day ( I'm still a little miffed at the coach for that!) so he couldn't even put his viola up on his shoulder. ( It was a BAD burn.) Then she got sick. Then Ike hit. Yesterday we were FINALLY going to do the lesson. After school, I picked up Kyle from school, came home and got them both a snack. We got in the car to leave, I backed out of the drive, and I had a FLAT TIRE!! Trey and I tried to change it, but I had to call and cancel once again. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!! I'm not sure if we'll ever get this lesson in!

2. Today was SYATP (See You at the Pole). One current student and one former student of mine was there. It was nice to see them there. :o)

3. Traffic was HORRIBLE this morning on the way to work! They say we may not get all the stoplights fixed until the middle of November. Ike certainly did a number on us!

4. One of my students lost the roof on her house. 2 students are not back yet...I've heard that one is in Miami and the other one...nobody knows. I tried calling but there was no answer. I hope they're ok.

5. I'm so behind....I really shouldn't be typing this...I have papers to grade.

6. School will be out in 10 minutes---I can go home in 25 minutes.

7. I need to find something exciting for supper.....my hubby may leave me for another woman if I don't start cooking better!! LOL We always eat the same old stuff.

8. I just checked Trey's grades and his lowest grade is an 89. I'm so proud of how well he's doing in school.

9. Kyle loves math....hope that continues throughout his school years.

10. I really need to get back to exercising. I did so well for many months, but now I can't get motivated. If I don't watch it I'll be back in my bigger sized clothes again.

11. Grey's Anatomy starts tomorrow!!! Can't wait!

12. Many of the people of Galveston were allowed back on the island today. Hope they are able to rebuild.

13. Two weeks from tomorrow I'm flying to Chicago to see my family!! Can't wait!!! Kyle and I will have so much fun!

14. Trey has a girlfriend.....her name is Sam. He's so cute when he talks about her ( or doesn't talk about her and just blushes!)

15. Kyle loves to tease his brother about his "gool fwend" ( I love Kyle's little boy talk....I'm going to miss having him talk that way, but I know it won't be long now. *sigh*)

Hurricane Ike

Here is a slideshow of the devastation we faced (and still are facing!) after Hurricane Ike hit the Houston/Galveston area. It could have been so much worse....it's great to see the way Texans reached out to help each other in our time of need.

How I met your father......

My best friend was also the assistant principal at my school. She knew that I'd had a rough time in my last relationship and had basically sworn off men for a while. So when she started suggesting a blind date, I wouldn't listen. As soon as she broached the subject, I'd cut her off and change it to talking about something else. I was not interested in the least. Finally, as a joke, she wrote me an administrative directive, "ordering" me to go out on this date. I still wasn't interested, but at least started listening to her description of the man in question.

New Year's Eve, 1989. JoAnna and I had a girls' night. Her husband was out of town and had taken their daughter. Her son was at his dad's, so it was just the two of us. We went out for dinner and then watched the movie "Always." It was the breakthrough I needed...time for me to let go of the past and move on. So I agreed to the blind date.

Here was the scenario: JoAnna's best friend from college knew this guy who worked for her husband at his veterinary clinic. JoAnna knew me. Both were looking for the *perfect* person to hook up with their friend. So once I agreed to go out with him, it was just a matter of getting all of us together. The plan was for JoAnna and Wes, Debbie and Jack and Eddie and I to go on a triple date--country dancing.

Problem #1: When? After 3 weeks of one of us not being able to go, it was beginning to look like we'd never get together. Eddie had a wedding to go to one week, the following week it was my turn to go to a wedding, and in between the other couples had plans also.

Solution! Eddie got tired of waiting so he got my phone number and asked me out. So we were going to go out dancing the next Saturday, without our chaperones! lol

Problem #2: I couldn't dance! The church that I raised in is very conservative. We didn't dance. I had attended a few school dances; could slow dance (if you considered putting your arms around the neck of your partner and swaying dancing!) but I had never even had basic dancing instruction.

Solution! All week, one of the teachers at my school tried her best to teach me to 2 step in the back room of the library during our conference period, lunch and after school.

Problem #3: What to wear? Do people really wear all that cowboy stuff to go out dancing? Isn't that just during rodeo time? I had no boots--could I wear tennies?

Solution? Everyone insisted that yes, I should wear cowboy clothes. Jeans yes. Nice cotton shirt ok. Tennies? NO WAY! So the school librarian loaned me a pair of boots....the pointiest toed things you have ever seen! We are talking U G L Y!!!!

So.....it's Saturday. I took ALL DAY to get ready....took 2 showers because I didn't like the way my hair was curled and decided to start over. Then ended up fixing it back the same way. Did my nails. Vacuumed my apartment 3 times. Tried on 4 different pairs of earrings. Ended up wearing jeans and a yellow short sleeve sweater with a denim jacket with rhinestones all over it. ( the jacket was borrowed from the same lady as the boots....she insisted that it was the rage at the dance clubs.) Talked to my sisters long distance....all 3 of them! Jan laughed at me because she just knew I would be going out with a Kikker---a good ole boy cowboy type who drove a truck and said "yes ma'am." So NOT my type!!! I liked men who were more sophisticated--city folk--

Yikes! There's the door bell......at the last minute, I kicked off the ugly boots and put on my tennis shoes.

I answered the door......not bad! Nice height--taller than me but not too tall. Blue jeans. Cowboy shirt--but that's to be expected...typical costume for our plans. Ooh! He brought flowers! Nice touch.
As I put the flowers in water, he slips a tape in the stereo......no--not setting the stage for seduction. I told him I didn't know how to dance so we were going to practice a bit before we went out. He looked down at my feet. Uh, do you have any other shoes? You won't be able to move with tennis shoes on. You need something with smooth soles. Darn! I got those butt ugly boots out again. Eddie was polite--he didn't say a word about the ugliness of the boots...he just smiled and said those would be fine. So we practiced dancing. We fit perfectly together. He smelled so good that I really couldn't keep time very well so I ended up stepping on his toes quite a bit. Finally we decided that was the best we could do, so we left for dinner.

We went downstairs to the parking lot. He drives a truck...a blue shiny Chevy pick up truck. We get inside. He listens to country music. And I already knew he said yes ma'am----he'd already said that to me several times by then. Holy cow! I'm dating a KIKKER!

Casa Ole. He got a taco salad and ice tea. I got ..... I'm not sure...some kind of combo plate and a coke. We left and headed to Desperado, a country western dance club.

Now, I was always a good girl. I didn't drink, didn't smoke, went to church 3 times a week, did all the things the "right" way. I could count the number of times I'd been in a bar/club before that night on one hand. Eddie was aware of that from the very beginning.

We went in and ordered cokes and just watched for a while. Finally we decided to go out on the dance floor....I just hoped everyone would be interested in their own dates and they wouldn't watch me mutilate Eddie's feet, or dig a hole in his shin with those stupid pointy boots. I didn't need to worry.....we did ok. We danced for a while and then took a break.

We tried to talk but those places are not really conducive to conversation. Finally we decided to go back out and dance some more....just as we got to the dance floor, a policeman walked to the middle of the dance floor, and stopped a lady who had been dancing with her friends. The floor quickly cleared, and suddenly the cop started stripping---right in front of me! That was definitely a FIRST for me!!! Eddie was right behind me and I heard him gasp and then start apologizing. He tried to pull me back but the place was crowded so we couldn't move. We didn't know that there was a bachelorette party going on there that night. After a few minutes, I figured, hey, can't leave so I might as well enjoy it. :o)

Eddie decided to leave soon after, so we headed back to my apartment where he continued apologizing over and over. I just laughed at him.....it's not like he knew it was going on. But I defintely had something to hold over on him--he took me to a strip show for our first date!

All in all....it was a nice date. I'd already decided I'd go out with him again if he asked. As he left, he hugged me and said he'd call. But I'd heard that before so I really wasn't sure.

*sigh* The End of Summer Reflections

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of August. Just like for most other families, it signals the end of summer and the starting of school. I love buying school supplies. I hate all the start of school expenses. I love seeing my new classes. I hate getting up in the mornings. I love going to school in new clothes. I hate shopping for new clothes for school with all the rest of the world who waited until now to buy new things. I love seeing all my colleagues and catching up with their summers. I hate faculty meetings. I love that my boys are back in school. I hate that I can't stay at home year round.

Well you get the picture....This summer, we didn't take a vacation. Anywhere. We were lazy and stayed home most of the time. I did take quite a few pictures so I'm going to review my summer pictorially........

I got another year older.

So did Trey.

We celebrated Father's Day. My boys have a WONDERFUL daddy.

Kyle got his tonsils removed.




Kyle took swimming lessons.

I redecorated Trey's bedroom----Go Dynamo!!

Kyle played basketball.

Kyle lost a front tooth and found out that his tooth fairy is purple. (Did you know that if you put a lost tooth in a glass of water, you can find out what color your tooth fairy is? When the fairy touches the water to remove the tooth the water changes the color of the fairy. One of Kyle's basketball buddies told us that and we tried it and found out Kyle's was purple. He was surprised because he thought his fairy was green. Go figure!)

We toured the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory and began a wonderful relationship with new ice cream flavors each time we went to the store---my personal favorite was Banana Pudding and Kyle's was Cookies and Cream. Trey and Dad liked anything that had chocolate in it!

We went to Washington-on-the-Brazos, the site where the Texians signed the Declaration of Independence from Mexico, that started the Texas Revolution and the beginning of the Lone Star Republic. The boys pretended to sign the document.

We wandered around what's left of the original settlement, and Kyle got tired of walking. It was pretty warm that day! Trey was a wonderful big brother and gave him a ride.

Trey went to Alaska.

All in all, it was a good summer......

My Baby is in Alaska!!

Trey left yesterday evening to fly to Alaska for a week. I already miss him! But I know this work and witness trip will be a trip of a lifetime and I'm so glad that we were able to send him. Kyle thinks this week is all about him---with lots of special mom/dad/kyle times, and I'm sure it will be. It's hard to believe my baby is old enough to send on these trips....w0w!