Schools Out for SUMMER!

Today is the last day of school and sometime today Steven will be surprised by Grandma picking him up early. I told him he had to go all day but I knew it wouldn't last! Good news, Steven did manage to pull up his grade to a 62. I have never been so happy for a D in my life. I was the good student and I was in trouble for anything below a B. School just comes natural to me and I would stay there if I could be paid to do it. Great Job Steven, Mom's proud!

I also have a funny story from this morning! Bryce was playing and watching Cars while we were getting ready to walk out the door. I had gone into the garage to throw something away when I heard something spill on the floor. I came in the kitchen and there he stands with a whole box of Fruit Loops in the floor. He looks up to me and says, "OOHHHH Bryceeee"! It was so cute that I couldn't get mad at all! I hope you all have a great day! I can't wait for the weekend, the sun may finally get the pool temp up to a decent level!

AHHHHHH

We have struggled all year trying to help Steven be a better student and to just turn in his work. Steven was diagnosed with ADHD many years ago and it is a real hardship for him. Anyone who thinks that this is not a real disease is truly wrong. While there are many children who have been diagnosed in the last 10 years compared to very few when I was growing up, it is a very frustrating disorder. He does take adderall and without it he has enormous problems with sitting still, unconscious movement, and paying attention in class. I have tried with all of his teachers to keep me informed on progress of schoolwork and if he is having problems with keeping up or turning things in. Basically in Steven's mind (which is like most kids just more severe) his brain runs constantly at 300 mph! While he is well behaved and has wonderful manners (most of the time)completing anything to the finish is a huge problem. I made a large mistake last year and signed him up for Advanced English in 6th grade. He had received English awards last year and he has always been a mediocre student. (A's and B's only one C in 6 years) I had to sign a waiver but I didn't think it would be a problem. Well this class is probably the hardest English class I have ever heard of. My college professors were never this hard. This has really been a rough year, harder than previous. He is going to pass but not by much. Steven does have all A's and B's in all of his other classes but this one is killing him. I have tried everything from asking for a syllabus or lesson plan to asking the teacher to email me when work is not turned in. I have received no help from the teacher other than explaining that he just should do his work. While I understand this, he has a legitimate disorder that he sees his doctor for every six months! I have had 4 conferences, sent multiple emails, and even met with the principal in one of the conferences with nothing solved other than he just doesn't turn in his work. I am so frustrated right now because after working super hard on a poetry project and pulling his grade up to a 61.75 he didn't turn in a crossword puzzle yesterday and now has a 59! Now he will have a F for the nine weeks because of a stupid crossword puzzle!(he does have other bad grades but we had finally pulled it up) AHHHHH! I suppose that I just needed to vent. I know that the Lord wants transparency so that was what I was trying to achieve. I have found comfort in these words:

1 Peter 1:6-7 (Contemporary English Version)
6 On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. 7 Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.

Memorial Weekend

Our weekend started out very slow. The weather had a funny way of dampening our Jubilee plans but we still had to man the tshirt stand! We stared by rising at 4:30 AM on Saturday to load the car up and head to Pt. Mallard. It was very windy and overcast so the pilots had decided not to fly. A few of them tethered a little but not for very long. Steven worked a little extra while Blake, Mom, Michael, Bryce, and I checked out the antique car show. We then headed home to try to get something done in the garden. (the garden is Blake's fun thing, I just want the veggies) Sunday started the same way however, it was pouring! While I laid in bed at 4am and listened to the downpour I pondered HMMMMMMMMMMMM, do we really have to go!?! We did go on and work again at the tshirt stand but it was a nasty morning and we did not have many customers. So after a lovely nap that afternoon we were ready to do something other than the Jubilee! My BIL was having a cookout and we went over there so that the cousins could play. Brandon cooked up some great burgers and chicken. We had such a wonderful time but you will have to scold me because I forgot the camera. It was raining again that evening so we headed home thinking that the rain would forego the fireworks. Well we were wrong and those fireworks had to be good because we could hear them in SW Decatur. Point Mallard is on the other side of town from where we live! I was so upset but it was nasty. Monday turned into a GORGEOUS day! We had to get out early to pick up some diapers and then we headed home to play in the pool out back. I definately have water babies! Steven was hard to keep out of a pool and Bryce will be the same way. We played in the pool while Blake played in the garden again. After a little while I talked Blake into going out to my mil's house. She has a real pool and I couldn't wait to take advantage of it! It was still a little cold so we didn't stay too long but it was so nice to be in the water. We headed back home and Brandon and Bronson came to play! The boys love playing with each other. So now we are back to reality and trying to finish up the schoolyear. I have got Steven all signed up for summer activities and even found him a drum tutor! Bring on the summer!!!

I hope that everyone thought about our troops this weekend and thanked a veteran. I would never make it in the military but my brother and brother in law were both in and stationed in Iraq at one time. What a blessing that they are home and we don't have to worry about them all the time. But I remember what it was like to watch the news and wonder oh no are they there!?! Thanks servicemen for all you do and for keeping us safe!

Here is Steven at the jubilee selling shirts!


Here's Blake's garden. Looks great!


Our fun in the sun!

It hasn't been a blog worthy week!

Sorry I have been MIA this week but we are wrapping up school and just not been doing anything that is blog worthy lately. Steven did get a 94 on his poetry project! I had to give a shout out for that. This puts us in the passing category so we are ectastic at our house. We were very low key for Steve-o's birthday. Grilled some hot dogs and had some chips and dip. He loves it and we had already celebrated at our house so we mainly hung out together. My brother did get a new X-box game so he and Steven played it also. Other than that we are gearing up for the Jubilee. I can't wait, I love the balloons and they have a tractor area(Bryce will love it), plus my sweet husband wants to check out the antique car show. We are selling t-shirts with the Troop. It is so much fun. Here is the balloon that our scoutmaster pilots. We also have another parent that flies also. It is a great time and I love to have holiday weekends!

Happy Birthday STEVEN!!!

How do I have a 12 year old? I cannot believe that he is 12. I swear he was just a toddler! I am so blessed to have him and he is an awesome young man who is well mannered and well behaved.(most of the time) I feel so lucky to have him! My life completely changed when I had Steven and I cannot imagine life without him! So, Happy Birthday to my big Man!





Also, please say a prayer for these people today. There 9 month old daughter is having heart surgery right now. I cannot imagine what they are going through. Just remember them and count your blessings. Even when I think it is so bad, I am reminded that I am truly blessed to have happy, healthy children. Thank you Lord!

One other request, I promise! My friend Summer is going to court today to try to win custody of her step daughter. It's a long story but a bad situation. Summer and Brannon are great people so please say a prayer for them also that the mediator sees the good that these two can bring to that sweet girl.

Have a great day guys!

My Mother's Day

I had the best mother's day ever! Steven was baptised and it made me so happy to finally have this done. As I had said before, Steven's dad and I made the decision years ago that we would leave it up to Steven, due to the fact of our very different faiths. I have struggled with this and prayed about it. Our pastor has said that God will not deny grace to the children. This has helped me and I feel good for letting Steven make the choice. I feel like it is even more special because he initiated it and everything. All I had to do was try to schedule it and that was another problem but we finally landed with it being on mother's day! How great was it for Steven to feel so special and have his whole family there watching?!


After church we took about a thousand pictures! I told Steve that we were practicing for his wedding day(OMG can you even imagine?)! My family decided that we should go ahead and celebrate Steven's birthday that is coming up. Steven is a busy boy and his weekends are full for about the next 4 weeks so I was ready to party! I cannot believe that my baby is going to be 12 on the 20th. It seems like yesterday that I was craving Pepsi Freezes and living at Granada! He is a great kid but we do struggle greatly in school. I wanted to make sure that all of his school problems were not even thought of and that he had a very special day! He was really excited when he found out that mom hadn't even bought him anything yet, but that was because I am going to buy tickets for the Green Day concert in July. He has been to a few concerts but only to things that I liked and Green day is his favorite so to say the least he was very surprised! I am very excited too because my brother likes Green Day so I am not going to have to go! Yay for Uncles!







Doesn't he look big? I have a new printer/scanner at home and as soon as it is hooked up I will add some pictures from when he was a bambino!


So to sum up this very long post... celebrating my children is the best way to celebrate my mother's day!

Steven was Baptised!

When Steven entered this world I was ready to baptise him right away. However, being in the south, it is not a normal thing to have your baby baptised right away. Most churches here wait until people are older. I can't say that I understand this but when my husband at the time asked me to let Steven make the choice, I agreed. Well...Steven made the choice and on mother's day he was baptised! It was great because his whole family was there.

Sweet Cousins!

Bronson spent the night with us on Friday and the boys had a blast! I love that they are so close in age but the one bad thing is that Bronson will stay a year behind in school because his birthday is 8 days after the cut off. Oh well! Bryce will have to help him with his homework one day! They are both wonderful boys and they love to play with each other.