Best buddies

Miles loves our guard duck

This little duck used to live in my Grammy's garden, but Miles loves it, so now it stands watch at our front door.

Real Life vs. the Text Book

argh...so much to think about today. I began a functional behavior assessment, working with a child, a school social worker, principal and regular education teacher...I have read so much about this process - multiple classes have covered it in text books, journal articles provide case studies and forms to fill out, procedures to follow, discussions to have among team members.

THEN - today, I met with a real kid - not a case study out of a text book or journal article - who has problems and needs help! Never have I felt so in the dark about what to do first, next, last, or at all. So much information, so many hypotheses, so many explanations, opinions, politicking, etc. etc. And the weight of the life of this child is heavy on my heart. God, give me the grace to do this job without too much unnecessary anxiety, heartbreak or fear that I'm going to screw it all up!

Tomorrow is a new day - a day that I will organize my information, do some research, make some calls, ask some questions, get some help to try and figure out how to do this! I've moved away from getting it done for a grade, and I really want to figure out how to do it for my career and for kids who will need it.

Welcome to the real world

Baby Preacher

I think I may have found something Miles could do...this baby and the yelling reminds me all too much of my own son. This is awesome.

Isaiah 30:18

18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Zoom, Zoom Bolt

So we added a new member of our family yesterday. After visiting the Panhandle Humane Society on Friday, Dustin convinced me we needed to go there on Saturday to puppy shop.
I told him this was definitely not a good time to get a puppy because of moving, school, house renovations, and various other very good reasons. Naturally we got a puppy the next afternoon.
Our new little guy is 3 months old, has huge paws, a long tail, the shoulders of a line backer and the head of a boar. The shelter staff thought he was pure bred lab, but if he is he's going to be big for a lab. He's ot the most beautiful dog in the world, but he's adorable because he's a puppy and so far he seems to have a sweet personality. Isaiah named him Bolt after his favorite movie...thus begins a new chapter of our lives with our new family member. pictures to follow

Movin' on out...and movin' back in.

So much has happened and I have not been a good little blogger.

My Grandfather "Papa" 's death in September was very difficult, but also a blessing because his Alzheimers disease was progressing and rapidly decreasing his quality of life.

He and Grammy moved out of their home of 48 years, where my dad and his sisters grew up, and into his nursing home and her snazzy new apartment at the Village in Scottsbluff, respectively, about a month before his death. Their family home was left empty, and my dad asked if my family and I wanted to move in. Of course we did! We love the house itself even without all of my family's history, my own precious memories, and the life in the country that comes with it. It has a horse barn, corral & pasture, a large dog kennel and best of all - it's next door to my parents / my boys' grandparents. This is how I grew up, with Papa dropping by every afternoon, and tractor and tail gate rides any time we wanted...and usually candy bars in the back of the truck.
The land with the house is all one piece, and my Papa and my dad have worked so hard to make it what, to me, is the most beautiful peace of earth God created.

We've been stripping wall paper, cleaning out cupboards, packing up old stuff, sorting, organizing, throwing out, packing up, etc. etc.

And so we're going to move...AGAIN.

My First IEP meeting

I recently sat in on my first IEP (Individual education program) meeting -a meeting to determine needs and services for kids who need special education services - and I absolutely loved it. It was actually very comforting and exciting that this was what I've been working so hard towards. Also, it was wonderful that I got to go with a close friend and see the situations through her eyes. I learned several things I would do, and definitely some I would NOT do. Short post...my one year old is standing on the top of the couch. yikes.

There is No Place Like Nebraska...

Saturday September 26, 2009 - the date of Isaiah's first Husker game.

He had the most fun with Jack Walker, my dad's good friend from college - John Walker's son. Jack is 12 and is Isaiah's new hero. He entertained him during tailgating.

Isaiah was "bored of this" before kick off while the band was playing, and I think a little overwhelmed by all the noise, but he had fun once he settled in.

He was quite appalled at the amount of noise Grandma made, as she is normally so sweet and compliant. He didn't realize she turns into a college boy at football games with the shouting and clapping and high fiving and shouting and shouting.

Overall, it was a great game - Lousiana Lafayette got shut out, but we were glad Isaiah got to see the Huskers win. Go Big Red!

Write, Write, Write

Oh I feel like writing or making something tonight...which probably means, oh crap, I'm ovulating. This happens one or two times a month, which usually means I write a song, attempt something on my sewing machine, get our my journal and art supplies to make a mess, or get out all my scrapbooking crap.



Anyway, I was just thinking of a recent conversations I had with some of the people I love most in the world, a group of girlfriends I've had for 12-18 years. We were discussing how, growing up in a small town, life is very much about the relationships you have. They, who live in New York City, Kansas City, Dallas, St. Paul & Omaha, contrasted this to their city social lives which they said were much more about what they are doing, where they are going, and what they are wearing. They're all tired of it. We had a great weekend of rekindling our relationships sitting in a house wearing tshirts and sweat pants (we went out once in 5 days) . It was definitely refreshing for all of us. Even though I'm in a different season of life with kids, so I'm not doing a lot of the same things or going to a lot of the same types of places, and certainly not dressing as splendidly as they do, I can understand how they feel.

My perspectives are shifting - I'm believing world culture less and less. I'm starting to form my own solid opinions about families, marriage, cities, jobs, women and men, churches, parents, culture, attitudes, mainstreams, etc. etc. I guess this is called becoming an adult. Realizing that much of what the world tells us in text books, in media, that we say to each other just really really isn't true. It doesn't work. It causes destruction. It leads to despair.

So far I know - Small town life is for me. Close to my family and collective family living I like better than the individual all-about-me attitude of many Americans. I'm excited to work - but I don't need to work to feel fulfilled. I respect and submit to my husband, and I don't feel like less of a person because of it. I love my children, and it's okay that they drive me crazy.

Unfortunately fatigue has overcome my compulsions to write - must be hormones after all...no pithy conclusion. Just growing up I guess.