Busy fun with mother-in-law

Anne flew from Nashville, leaving in the afternoon on the 13th and finally getting in via the shuttle at 12:45 am.  Her first flight was canceled,  her second flight was delayed, finally made it to Phoenix for connection and then hoping to make up time so as to get to Seattle in time to catch the last shuttle of the day at 11:30 pm!  Then when she got to Seattle, the bags were on a different plane, and she waited more, but finally got her bags and cought the shuttle.  Meanwhile, back at the house, we are waiting to hear from her about her arrivals, and if she will actually make it to the shuttle so we could go get her in Marysville.  Gary was willing to go pick her up and take her to Sammamish for the night, if things didn't work out for the shuttle.  Gladly, it all worked, except then on Friday there were three zombied out people that didn't get much sleep.  We got through it and had a nice time at the Ward Christmas Party/Dinner on Friday night. 
Saturday I was up early baking the peanut butter/hersheys cookies, sure love the Kitchenaid mixer!  Then Anne and I went to Arlington Hardware to pick up Tom's Carharts that were on order.  Managed to find a few more things while we were there, clothes for Caidoc, something for Cara. 
Sunday was a marathon, church, tithing settlement, then Anne and I went to Mt. Vernon for the Magical Strings Celtic Yuletide Concert at the Lincoln Theatre.  It was wonderful in every way.  Too marvelous to even describe it.  Just say, it may become a new tradition every year. 
Tom was home for dinner Sat and Sunday nights, we all sat down together.  Don't think it will happen at all the rest of the week tho.  As usual, he is working non-stop to get two kitchens done and people are breathing down his neck, didn't help that he took on another job to squeeze in before Christmas.  But typical of him, we will not see him much from now on and he will be too tired to even converse with his mom, much less get anything done for us for Christmas.  Should be used to it by now, and I am, doesn't help much when the Holidays go by with no effort from him.  Oh well.
Glad Anne is here.  We went to Kohl's on Saturday early evening and shopped.  then went to the Mt. Vernon Kohl's yesterday while Cara was with Sommer.  The dogs now have two really soft cushy dog beds, and they are enjoying them, esp DeWalt, who is getting older and bonier!
I will be paying off the Kohl's bill for a few months, but feel that I have gotten good bargains there, and for just a few weeks it is good to feel like a normal person and go shopping!  I should be about done, and now just want to finish up baking and making up the plates for people!  Gave a few out on Sunday at church.  So, another trip to Mt. V today and then done with tutoring til next year!

Feeling hyper and having fun!

This is a photo of Downtown Baker City that I got from Facebook from Eastern Oregon Visitors Assoc.  It speaks to me of the magic and beauty of the downtown area, and I feel very peaceful when I look at it!  I am in the Christmas hyper-mode right now,  having fun but feeling drained of energy at times due to adrenaline rush/crash!  Have had so much fun with Cara, singing Christmas songs in the car on the way to Mt. Vernon or around town.  I have good memories of doing the same thing with Heather when she was small and we drove the VW beetle!  Yesterday on the way to see Buckwheat, and then to Kohl's for shopping Cara read to me "Green Eggs and Ham"  quite a moment, as she was so unwilling to even try to read last year, and would get frustrated and cry and shut down.  At koh's she was shopping for her mommy for Christmas, and also something for Sommer from her.  She took forever to make her choices, in the end, mommy is getting a very pretty sparkly dinner ring(costume jewelry) and Sommer is getting an angel ornament with LOVE spelled out in separate letters that the angel is holding.  Cara wanted a fleece blanket that was in a bin, so I told her if I got it, would have to wait til under the Christmas tree.  She was ok with that.  When we got home she wrapped the ring box, Sommers gift and the blanket, using yards of tape as usual, but had fun doing it.  She loves to wrap!  Just have to put tape on my shopping list for today!  We watched silly videos that I made on jibjab and she laughed hysterically over them and that entertained her for at least a half hour until Heather came.  Traffic must be bad now, Heather has not been getting here until 6:15-6:30 pm.    Lucky for me, besides the 50% off at Kohl's, I had a 30% coupon and also a $10 card to use, so got away with less that $40 for the haul of stuff!  gotta love that!    Tom's Mom is coming tonight, so she will be on planes all day, and then get the shuttle from Seattle.  We get her at Tulalip around 10:15 tonight.  so, yesterday was cleaning the bathroom, changing shower curtain liner, etc.  Doing what I could with the laundry room,  Tom needs to put up a shelf for me to get the soaps, etc off the floor.  today change the sheets, as she has to use our bed.  Washing the comforter, bed coverings, etc, remaking the bed and sweeping out the room.  she did fine in there last year, once she arrived, unloaded her travel bags and I didn't go in the room again until she went home.  She is kind of messy, like Tom, so chaos is the order for her. so I keep out of it, and just try to keep the living areas of the house tidy as I can.  Well, I better go now and get the flannel sheets on the bed.  First load of laundry is going!  12 more days until Christmas!

Pictures from Nativity Festival 2012

December joy!

I see I got a couple posts out of order, but no one reads this but me mostly.  A post from last summer was in the drafts file, so I actually didn't go a whole year without posting!  Who cares, anyway?  So this month so far has been busy and fun.  the Festival of the Nativities last weekend was a great way to start out the season with the true meaning of Christmas.  Cara opted to display her very own little Nativity set, and was very proud when we went there and she had to look over all the hundreds of displays to find hers.  It is just a cute little Fisher-Price one  from a couple of years ago.  She has it back home now, on the little table with the "village people".  I let her set up the table herself this year, and she hasn't moved the people around, like she kept doing last year when I set it up myself!  The tree looks great in the corner by the fireplace.  I may leave it up permanently, as the corner will be depressing without it!
Saturday between Choir rehearsal and concert, the Winters came over with their horse trailer and picked up Buckwheat.  She now lives about 2 1/2 miles away at their place with a cute barn with two stalls, and another horse named Sunny.  So she has shelter and a friend!  A big improvement as Tom has not built me the promised shelter for Buckwheat, and it has been raining alot and getting really muddy here in her pasture.  So the Winter's horse has company, and it is a win-win for all of us.  Cara loves to go over there and play in the barn and with their dogs, and we can brush the horses and feed them hay.  I am very relieved to have her  under cover in this wet weather!
Tom's mom coming tomorrow night for a couple of weeks, so am getting the bathroom really clean today, and working on the laundry room!  Tom has to clean his desk off, as she stays in the room where we usually sleep, which is like Tom's cave most of the year.  He had to clean the desk off last year for her, and it has piled up since then!  Tomorrow I will put the flannel sheets on the bed, and wash the covers.  She is not a fussy person about the house, takes after Tom(or vice-versa) but personally, I like to have made an attempt for company coming!  Between the three dogs, Tom and Cara, it is somewhat of a losing battle most of the time!    I will post some photo's of the Nativity Festival!

Full time Grandma Summer

It's been many months since my last post!  Cara finished out first grade, still struggling with schoolwork.  Last year it was the seizures and finding the right medicines.   Now it's a learning disability and her discouragement doing the schoolwork.  After many months of talking with Gale while at the morning pool workouts, and looking on websites, finally found someone to test her for dyslexia and tutor.  The school system has finally taken steps to get her into special ed for next year.  so basically after a whole school year of first grade, and not much improvement in her reading and math, we have a plan in place.  She has been going twice a week since school got out to get help from the tutor(Summer Holt).  They are using the Barton system( an Orton-gillingham approach) and Cara will learn  how to approach learning in a way that her brain can process.  The good news is that she got started early, compared to most of Summers students who don't get to her until around fourth grade.  She always seems happy after the sessions, and after over two months she seems to be starting to catch on to the code(of reading).  We still have a long way to go, but at least the process is started.  I will continue to take her up there during the school year, she will need two years at least before it all sinks in.  It is costing Heather $90 a week for the two sessions, and my time and gas money, but we all feel that it is necessary.  Cara's dad is still catching up on back child support from his year of unemployment, so basically, Heather is on her own paying for this.
This summer has gone better with me and Cara.  Still not perfect, but since she goes to the playroom at the gym while I workout in the pool, it has given a little structure to our mornings.  Then Monday and Tuesday we go to MtVernon to the tutor.  We go to McD's for lunch, and she usually has a nap in the car on the way there and on the way back!  June was a rainy month, but we survived it, and mid-July it was warm enough to go to the lake.  Heather, Cara and I went for a week to Myrtle Beach to see my mom.  So, now it's August and won't be long before school starts again.  Cara is in cheerleading now with Heather as the coach.  So three nights a week practice until school starts, and then two nights with games on Saturday through Sept. and Oct.  Also, we just started a once a week half-hour swimming lesson on Mondays.  So we won't be going to dance classes this fall.  Maybe in January, she really loves dancing.
We have had Caitlyn over once to play, and they do great together.  Then one day she went over to Elinor's and we had Elinor over here this week.  We take Maddy to the beach with us, and yesterday we went with Maddy to Lake Ki right across from her house, and that was really nice.  then had Maddy come home with us to play.  Today we will have Maddy this morning and then go meet at Olive Garden with some ladies for lunch later on.  It is definately easier for me when Cara has someone to play with!  She found her old baby stroller in the garage, so they have been playing mommas and babies outside for two days.
This morning Tom is going to help me get 40 bales of hay over across the road at Jerry's.  he sold all the hay before he even got it baled, so I am lucky to get some at all!  Tom is so busy and has been working until 8-9 pm every night. He's tired and run down, but keeps going.  Just finished a two month remodel, and needs to stay home and get the bill done!  Last time he did that it took him five hours making out the bill.  He was overdrawn the other day, so I hope he will take tomorrow and get it done so he can get paid! 
Heather's Explorer has been acting up, so this whole week I have taken her to her van pool and then picked her up.  Plus she takes my car to cheer practice.  Her car is supposed to be done tonight.  It has given us more time together, so that has been nice.  Monday Heather had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and so there was alot of driving and shuttling going on.  We have had over three weeks of warm even hot days and no rain!  I can say that my house is warm, even the bathroom!  Takes alot of heat to get this house warm.  Supposed to cool off tomorrow and maybe have a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Hate to say it, but it would be nice to have some rain!  My garden attemp has not been very successful.  Put two zuchinni plants in a big black pot.  A tomato plant in another pot and two bell peppers in another.  Slugs eating the pepper plant.  Zuchinis are small and I think a rabbit is nibbling on them,  there are a few small tomatoes growing, but the plant really never took off.  so, between slugs, moles and rabbit, and the fact that Buckwheat has the yard to graze during the day, need to figure out another plan. 
My back went out yesterday, and still hurts this morning.  I wasn't even doing anything strenuous, just was bending over and reaching.  Has happened before.  usually when I am loading the firewood in the stove.  Well, better go and get ready to take Heather to her van pool.  Will take a shower after the hay hauling!  Forest fire in Cle Elum on the news this week.  We are getting the smoke haze over here, reminds me of being in Baker!

A Year goes by!

Well, I see it has been over a year since my last post.  Better check what I've done, so I don't repeat! Bear with me for a minute.  Ok, well what a year!  What have I been doing.............spent alot of time early in the year discussing Cara's seeming learning disability int he first grade.  My friend Gale who exercises in the pool with me is retired from the school district as a Special Ed administrator, so we had lots of talks during our pool time and sauna time.  Cara was not getting the "code" of reading and having problems with math and focusing in general.  Would not do her homework, just would "shut down" when faced with the pages of words.  We would go over the spelling words every week, and when the test came she would get one or two words correct for the most part.  Anyway, teachers started to realize(she had a team of two teachers who job shared) that Cara couldn't read the directions, or follow along with the learning.  Anyway, gets me frustrated just writing about it.  They started paperwork to put her in special ed, and it took the whole rest of the school year for the procedures.  So that basically meant that for the whole first grade year, she was a sad kid that felt "stupid" (her words).  With Gale's help, I was looking at websites and googling dyslexia in general.  After many searches and reading about learning disabilities with dyslexia, I was able to find someone who could test and also tutor that was in the next county north of us(Skagit).  We had Sommer Holt come to Heather's house at the end of April and test Cara for two hours.  Then a few weeks later we met with her and got the test results.  Her dyslexia was mild to moderate, but her learning disability was evident in the way her brain functions.  Sommer also mentioned that a thorough neuro-psych testing might be helpful because of the seizure disorder. (We got a referral from the neurologist-it took four month to get the appointment-more on that later).  So, Cara continued to struggle in first grade, and the last week of school was the final meeting with the Special Ed people, they did an IEP and she would start in Second Grade with help for reading, writing and math.  When school was out we started going to Sommer in Mt. Vernon twice a week for tutoring, beginning in July.  Sommer uses the Barton method, which is an Orton-Gillingham based program for dyslexia learning disability.  Skip to now,  Cara is in Second Grade, loves her teacher Mrs. Norquist, and goes to Mrs. Rancich for Reading in the morning and Math in the afternoon.  At some point she also meets with an occupational therapist for writing.  I still take her to be tutored twice a week.  I pick her up at 11am and get her back by 12:45.  She misses lunch and recess and a little bit of school, but that is the best we can do.  She eats lunch in the car, so my car is always a mess, but we make it work.  She has been making progress, and goes to school eagerly now.  I think alot of the problems I had in the mornings with her last year were due to her really not wanting to go to school, now that I look back on it.  We also had the neurologist allow us to reduce the amount of depacote she takes, and we have notice a difference in how Cara behaves, and she seems to be able to focus more.  After the neuro-psych testing in Seattle, they diagnosed her with ADHD, and brain function disorders consistent with the seizure disorder.  We still wonder if the meds don't cause alot of that!  So, this year with Cara has been easier, helping her learn in a different way.    Sommer is a godsend!  Well, I have to do my chores and get off to choir rehearsal, big concert tonight at the Nativity Festival!