Maybe some good news...

I talked to Earl and Alice's neighbor last night about our insurance dilemma. She was not very optimistic, but said she would pull up Matt's info and call Detroit today. She talked to Matt's dad this afternoon and said the person she talked to said all we needed was something with Rett's name and our address. She said something from the school would work great, so I copied his report card. Keep praying because it is working!

Band Nerds Gone Wild

Thursday night the band parents hosted a party for the kids at Oak Brook Valley Park. There was plenty of food, a DJ and outdoor activities. There was even a football game, Drumline vs. Brassline. It seemed like they all had a good time. Hazen wanted to go, too and he had a blast. While the older kids werer outside playing, he had the dance floor to himself. A couple of Rett's friends were teaching him some new dance moves.

The highlight of the night were the awards that were handed out. Rett didn't get any and that is a good thing. There were awards for losing uniforms, not wearing black socks, putting a uniform in the bag completely upside down and things like that. One boy likes to sleep on the way home and his mouth is always open, so he got the "Fly in the Mouth" award.

Brithday Party

Friday night we celebrated Kelsey and Hazen's birthdays. We had a houseful! I think everyone had a good time despite being confined to the house due to the weather. The kids had a costume contest and then made mummies out of each other. Personally I voted for Napoleon Dynamite (aka Johnny), but Hazen won.

State Finals Here We Come

It was a blustery day at Pike High School Saturday. Our poor little piano player has tendonitis and on top of that her fingers were frozen, but after the first passage she still sounded magical. We had one other minor mishap...a flag got caught on a clarinet and sent it flying. Marching wise, their shapes were better and their steps more crisp. Music wise, this was not their best performance. Hopefully, next week they will put it all together! At least then we'll be inside and not have to sit in the cold for 5 hours waiting for results. It's hard to believe this time next week it will all be over.

Mixed emotions

Well, I finally broke down and had Rett tested for ADHD. I talked to the counselor he has been seeing about his dyslexia, struggles in school and my concern that he is going to just give up. He said dyslexia and ADHD often co-exist. I never really felt like that was his problem, but I was told they could get him help at school if he did have ADHD. It breaks my heart because I know he is smart. I have resisted in the past because I've heard so many stories about how kids on medication become such little zombies.

I met with the doctor to go over the results last night. I won't bore you with all of the details, but the results showed he does NOT have ADHD (maybe mom isn't so dumb afterall). I was afraid that would be the case and I would be sent away once again with no more options to get him help. However, this doctor said the testing showed a significant discrepancy between his intelligence and his ability to spell (I wonder.....is that consistent with dyslexia?). The discrepancy was enough for the doctor to diagnose him with a learning disability in the area of written expression. That is what I have been telling everyone all along....the knowledge is there he just struggles getting it down on paper.

The doctor told me to request testing at school. He said any good school psychologist would come to the same conclusion. He said with his testing and the documentation from the Dyslexia Institute they would have a hard time denying him services. If they do, he said "Hang them out to dry".

I talked to the counselor this morning and got the ball rolling. I think the process take about 90 school days, but the doctor said it shouldn't take that long because they can use the test he did. God does answer prayers.

Not so good news...

Matt's mom kind of filled her neighbor in on the insurance issues we are dealing with. She wants us to still come talk to her but said we could be in some trouble. The Cerberus Capital Group that took over Chrylser is going after every little thing they can find. She just dealt with a guy in the same situation and they went after him for about $10,000. She said they started taking it out of his check. We are either A. Going to have to switch Rett back and forth depending on who claims him on taxes or B. Get Steve to let us claim him every year. I called Steve this morning and he said he would work with us. So keep your fingers crossed for us...

Semi-State Bound!!!

Western's band is AWESOME! Seriously, I never get tired of watching this show. Next week we'll be at Pike High School in Indy. Our directors say we shouldn't settle for anything less than a State Championship this year. I sure hope they win. Indiana Marching.com has us ranked third in the state according to their writers' poll.

Peace and Quiet

Matt went out with a friend from high school tonight and the kids are in bed. The house is so quiet! I actually have the laptop and the remote at the same time. I usually have to give up one to get the other. Of course, I can't find a thing to watch. It is kind of hard to relax because I look around at all the things that need done. We're having a birthday party here next weekend and the house and yard are nowhere close to being ready.

We went out to dinner with Steve, Georgann, and Sandy tonight. Jay was supposed to join us, too, but he got called away. It was a nice dinner anyway. I joked about it being a family reunion because our cousin Wendy was there and our other cousin Sue's husband works there.

I really need to think about going to bed. Rett has to be at the school at 6:30 in the morning. YUCK! These early mornings are the one thing I won't miss when marching season is over. Only 2 more weeks to go!

More insurance drama

The last we heard, I faxed the wrong part of our tax return and all I needed to do was fax the right part and everything would be okay. We got two different letters today from the insurance company. One said Rett was dropped as of 01-01-1800 (no, that is not a typo, the letter actually said 1800) because he is not eligible. The other was a packet of information on COBRA since Matt was supposedly laid off as of Sept. 30. What's funny is that if that were really the case, wouldn't the entire family be in the same boat? The benefits lady in the factory told him that ALL employees would have health insurance for 48 months once they were laid off. Another paper said he was insured from 01-2007 to 09-2008 and then coverage would pick up again 11-2008. I don't know what the heck they are doing. We have talked to 3 people and have been told 3 different things. Rett has an appointment tomorrow and I don't know whether to keep it or not. I don't want to get stuck paying for it. We tried calling the corporate office as soon as we opened the mail, but of course, they were closed. Can't wait to see what story they tell us tomorrow!

Stoney Creek Farm 2008

We made our annual trip to Stoney Creek Farm to pick out our pumpkins. It was very warm for what was supposed to be a fall day. The pumpkins were very big and plentiful this year. Our rule is: we don't care how big the pumpkin is, as long as you are able to carry it. The kids had a hard time finding one they could carry. Of course the highlight of the trip for the kids is the big pile of hay that they can crawl all over.

On the way home, Hazen fell asleep listening to his I-pod. I tried to take his headphones off and he started saying "no, no, no". Rett decided he would rather spend the day at his dad's, but we had to promise to bring home a pumpkin for him, too.

Ben Davis Invitational

They added some new elements to the show today...some dance steps during the marching and this lift at the end of the show. The result....another first place finish. We can listen to judges comments online and the they all agree that this has the potential to be a great show.

Next week we will be going to Lafayette Jeff for the Regional Competition. I truly believe we have a very amazing group of kids. They are so fun to watch!

Tomorrow we are going to try to go to the pumpkin patch in Noblesville. I'll post more pictures then.

I HATE INSURANCE!!!

So, we just found out today Rett is being dropped from Matt's insurance. They changed dependent eligibility requirements in Jan. 0f 2008 to state they must be claimed on the current year's tax refund to qualifiy as a dependent. Nevermind the fact there is a court order stating that Steve gets to claim him every other year. The only course of action we have right now is to put him on Steve's insurance (which they assure me he still has even though he is laid off). Then after that, we can see if Steve will let us claim him all the time. My thing is.....they both work at Chrysler, so either way he is covered under Chrysler's policy!!! What difference should it make?!?!?! Not to mention the fact that Steve is so hard to get ahold of. Is he really going to get me the insurance card; he's on a different plan than we are, so are we going have to switch doctors? What about all the claims from Jan until now, are we going to have to pay?? I am SO frustrated right now, and so is Matt. He's already unhappy with his job and this is just the icing on the cake.

Sorry to vent, but this is just frustrating.

Addicted??

I have spent way too much time these last 2 evenings messing with this silly blog. I liked the music on Erika's so much that I decided to copy and set it up on mine. It looked like it should be easy, but I kept ending up with rap songs (not exactly my taste in music). I FINALLY got it to work and then decided to tackle the slideshow. The pictures I put on that are from Hazen's first field trip. Chapel Hill Christian Preschool went to Farlow's Orchard. Matt was on shut down that week, so he got the privilige of going with him. Missing out on things like that is what I hate most about working!!

AHHHH! It's good to finally be home. We have had a busy day today.

We started at 10:00 to cheer on the band as they left to go to Lewis Cass for their District competition. As soon as we were done there, we went to join the rest of the family at the Heart Walk. Michelle started a team to walk in memory of Dad. It's hard to believe he's been gone 2 years now. The kids had a good time and walked the whole way without complaining of being tired.

From the Heart Walk, we went to watch Rett perform at Lewis Cass. He had quite the cheering block today. His dad actually came to a performance. They got a gold rating and will go on to compete in the District contest at Lafayette Jeff in 2 weeks. The marching season has gone so fast! It's hard to believe he only has 1 more home game and 4 more contests. I have been so impressed with his musical ability. He seems to be able to play any instrument he picks up.

After we picked Rett up from school, we went to Matt's parent's for dinner. Their 15 year-old neighbor was staying with them while his parents were out of town, so they thought he might like to hang out with Rett. The boys (including Hazen) all played outside racing tricycles. We ate pizza and made S'mores. Then they broke out the old photo albums. It's amazing how much Hazen looks like Matt and Uncle Doug.

HA! 2 posts in one day, I'm Superwoman! Here are a few pictures from the band's trip to Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a long day, but a lot of fun. I hope we'll be going back there Nov. 1st for the State Finals.

new haircut

Okay, so I don't know why I even try to do something different. I picked out a style I liked and it was supposed to be somewhere around shoulder length. This is what I ended up with... I was in tears of couse my dear husband said "it will grow" (notice it was nothing like it's cute, I like it, etc.) I thought maybe if I washed it and styled it myself I would like it better, but no such luck. I cried even more, but you'll never believe what Rett did.....he said "it looks good mommy" and he started brushing it to try and help me. It's hard to cry when your teenager does something so sweet.