I've wanted to get back to blogging for awhile now, but every time I open my blog the first thing I see is my last blog post, dated JULY 27, 2013... and I get overwhelmed and think, "Where do I begin?" So I'm going to do a quick rundown of life over the past few months and then start fresh. Here goes...
Kaylee started the 5th grade and loves everything about her new school, her teacher, the responsibility that comes with being a 5th grader and being another year older. I have to remind myself that she is JUST a 5th grader, because she is fairly responsible and sometimes I expect more out of her than what I should. She has always been a huge help with Anden and I know that at times I take advantage of this. She played basketball this winter and her AAU team just finished their season this past weekend. She scored 15 of her team's 25 points in one of the games over the weekend! Jesse coached her team and was so proud of her! This spring she's trying volleyball for the first time, so we'll see how that goes! Of course, she continues to love working with her cows. She amazes me how confidant she is with them. I still remember the days of her running in to grandma's house at the mention of moving the horses or cows from one pasture to another. She was a wreck thinking they'd get loose. Now she carries a bucket of feed into the barn to get the cows to come in, throws a halter over the cows head, and walks her out of the barn all by herself.
Jacob is in the 3rd grade. This year has been a pivotal year for him. He has struggled with reading comprehension for sometime. I've always attributed it to the fact that he does not like to read. However, this year, his reading comprehension started affecting his other school subjects. In Math, a subject that he loves and had always gotten straight A's in, he now was getting B's and C's. When I looked at his papers, he'd get 100% on his math facts, but if the paper had any kind of story problems involved, he struggled with figuring out what he was supposed to do. Science and Social Studies are also difficult for him. After meeting with his teacher and trying to figure out options for him at school, it became apparent that without a diagnosis of some sort, we weren't going to get any help for him. Long story short, we had him evaluated by a Developmental Optometrist (Dr. Bauernfiend) who determined that Jacob would benefit from Vision Therapy. Jacob has 20/20 vision, however, it's not functional for him. It's like saying that just because a person has two legs, they shouldn't be clumsy. With Dr. Bauernfiend's help, we were able to implement a 504 Plan for Jacob and he's now allowed to read his test to someone and is given extra time to complete the tests. We see Dr. Bauernfied 2 times each week and she is pleased with his progress. We still have a long way to go, but his grades have improved some. I also noticed a change in his attitude towards reading and schoolwork in general. He actually told me the other day that he, "Likes reading." Say what?!?!? Never in a million years did I think he'd say that! Anyhow, moving on... Sports is still his thing. He played football in the fall, basketball this winter, and is already starting baseball.
Anden is in preschool again this year. His teacher is Mrs. Brenda and she walks on water. He loves everything about preschool. He's getting very close to being able to write his name by himself. He's recognizing more letters and the sounds they make. He can count to 30 and knows all his colors and shapes. He played soccer this past fall and basketball this winter, both at our local YMCA. I think he's following in his brother and sister's footsteps with his love for sports. Not sure that he had a choice though... I remember toting him around at the ballfield when he was less than a week old. I had to laugh though recently. His basketball games were always on Saturday mornings. It never failed... if the other two didn't have a game they had practice, so it was normally just Anden and I that went to his game and Jesse and I finagled getting the other two where they needed to be. The week before Anden's final game, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I just want my whole family to come to my basketball game." It happened to fall on the same weekend as our school's 3rd grade boy's basketball tournament, so I ended up stuck in the concession stand while Jesse, Kaylee, and Jacob went to Anden's game with him. That satisfied him to have them there though. He's always been so laid back about getting drug around to their activities. I'm proud of him for letting us know that it was not cool that he have to go to all their games and they not come to one of his. :)
So that's our life in a nutshell!
