My Favorite Christmas Present

I'm such a bad mom. Hazen's backpack sat in the back of my Jeep for almost a week when I remembered that we had ordered him a preschool sweatshirt for Christmas. When I got the shirt out (after Christmas, of course), these two things were in there wrapped in tissue paper.

Being a mom is the best, isn't it??

Funny Hazen!

We went to Indy today and on the way home we stopped at Uncle Bill's pet store in Noblesville. Hazen was looking at cats and told his dad, "I asked that kitty what his name was and he gave me the evil eye". It was a rather grumpy looking cat (maybe persian). He cracks me up!

Christmas is family time!

After everyone had their fill of Matt's fried turkey, Tony's homemade rolls, and the rest of the fixin's we migrated to the living room to exchange gifts. Hazen had to tell Grandma Brewer how happy he was with the gift she got him.

I'm not sure who put who to sleep. There is nothing like a turkey induced coma!

Uncle Stan with his granddaughter Julienne. She was playing shy today, so this is about the only picture we got of her! She is only 2 days younger than Hazen. It was nice seeing Wesley and Andrea. He will be leaving for Guam in two days for a 4-6 month deployment.

Rett doing his cat impression?! Actually, I think he was passing out gifts.

I think every one had a good time today and got their fill to eat. I really enjoy spending time together. Matt was a big help in the kitchen today and I am very thankful for that. I know there aren't a lot of men out there who would do that.

Annual Christmas Cookie Baking

Mom, Tony, Cherylyn and the kids came over Friday for our annual Christmas cookie baking. We made chocolate crinkles and sugar cookies.This year I made icing to decorate some of the cookies. Usually we just use colored sugar, red hots, chocolate sprinkles (known to our kids as "mouse turds"), and the little silver balls. They each enjoyed creating their own masterpieces. Of course, some of them are so full of sugar your teeth nearly crack with the first bite!

Wyatt even got in on the action with a little help from mom!

The kids were in heaven when they got to eat the cookie dough scraps (except for Hazen who didn't like it).

I'm always amazed at how well Rett and Hazen can play together considering the 10 year age difference. First, they made a track of Hot Wheels for the monster trucks and had a competition. Right now, I am watching a concert of sorts. They have one of Rett's "mix" CD's playing (everything from Cinderalla to Bon Jovi to Hendrix). Rett is "playing" the guitar along with it and Hazen is dancing. The music is awesome and the visual that goes along with it is pretty entertaining. Rett is such a good big brother. I am so proud of him.

Almost there!

Matt got a phone call yesterday evening to let him know that he was the finalist for the firefighter position at Frankfort. He has to go sometime this week for his psych evaluation and then Monday he goes to Indy for his PERF physical. It will take 4-6 weeks for the results (maybe a little longer with the holidays). Once he has passed, they are prepared to offer him employment. He was pretty excited.

Me, on the other hand, did not even get called for an interview at Western. I heard they had 15 applicants and interviewed 4. Oh well, it just isn't meant to be.

Merry Christmas?

Matt had been hearing that his department would be on shut down starting this Friday until the second week in January. Today, they are talking about laying off 500. Before the latest round of buy-out offers, he had 700 people under him. Now, he's not so sure. There were more than 200 people who took buyouts, but he is not sure where they were seniority wise. If he doesn't get laid off, he will be bumped to second shift.

Steve took the buy out, and has a new job but obviously is not making the same wage. He wants to reduce support by $30 a week. It is a worrisome time for us. I get upset, but then I feel guilty because I know there a people out there with situations more difficult than ours. One of our friends is battling cancer. Another friend recently lost her father and her mother has required around the clock care for the last several months. I need to learn to be more thankful for what I have instead of focusing on what is not going our way. God has always provided.

Matt is pretty much a shoo in for Frankfort Fire Department. We just don't know when. They have a pool of 40 applicants that they will use to hire from for the next couple of years. Matt is in the top 3. They want to have a name for the board meeting on the 17th, so he should know by Monday or Tuesday. If he doesn't make it this time, they are planning to hire 2 more by August.

I still haven't heard anything from Western. I went into the administration building to make sure they had my application from the last time. They did, but said I needed to submit another letter of interest, so I did.

We have a pretty busy schedule for the next couple of weeks. Friday, Rett is playing in the Pep Band. Wednesday, Rett has a winter concert and Thursday is a parent meeting about graduation requirements and high school scheduling. Do you think if I skip they'll make Rett stay in Middle School?

In Search of the Perfect Tree and Christmas Pictures

We made our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm in West Middleton tonight. Of course, this year we had to brave a single digit wind chill. Rett was really into picking out a tree, but I think Hazen and Kelsey were content just eating the snow. Rett showed off his upper body strength and sawed through the tree in record time. We carried it back to the truck and then went in to warm ourselves by the fire.

After setting the tree up in the stand, my husband the redneck, used the shopvac to get rid of the loose needles. We still ended up with them all over the floor. I place the angel a top the tree and strung the lights. I plugged them in and had large sections with no lights. I ended up having to take all of the lights off and start all over with different lights.

Finally, we got the tree decorated and got the kids in the football jerseys. I was hoping to get a quick picture for the Christmas card. YEAH RIGHT!! Here are a few that didn't make the cut.

I'm so frustrated with these pictures right now, but I'm too tired to mess with it. I tried to put the pictures after the text, but it won't work!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Matt got a call tonight from Frankfort Fire Department. They have narrowed it down to three candidates and he is one of them. He has to visit all three fire stations on all three shifts before December 11, and then they will let him know. He is pretty optimistic about his chances since they are hiring three (one right away and two more before August). One of the guys who sat in on the interview told him more than once what a great interview it was. I have been pretty nervous about the pay cut, but with the UAW re-negotiating contracts there is a good chance he will have to take a pay cut at Chrysler, too. At least this way, he will be doing something he loves.

I applied at Western for the nurse position in the Intermediate building. The posting closes Friday, so hopefully I will hear something. They pay about $6000 a year more than what I am currently making. That would be AWESOME!

What the heck??

Matt just told me last night that a guy he works with has his aunt listed as the beneficiary for his life insurance policy through Chrysler. She is also covered on his health insurance. She does not live with him, nor does he claim her on his taxes. She has been on his insurance for eight years with no questions asked. You wonder why the auto industry is in such bad shape.....they're a bunch of IDIOTS!!

OOPS!!

Matt went to Frankfort Fire Department for his interview this morning. He just called....apparently they meant 8:30 PM!! So, he is going back tonight. He asked if me and the boys wanted to ride along so we can eat at Ponderosa (Rett's favorite restaurant). He said we could walk around Walmart while he's interviewing. I joked with him that it was pretty bad dropping the whole family off. (For those of you who haven't heard, over the summer a lady left her toddler son there because she could no longer take care of him)

Wow, this 4-day weekend has gone fast! It is hard to believe that Christmas is less than a month away. Rett and I braved the crowds on black Friday. We waited in the check-out line at Walmart for 57 minutes. At least I can say I have officially started Christmas shopping, but I still have a long way to go.

We got our taxes re-done and faxed to Chrysler's benefits office. They said everything is okay now, so that is quite a relief.

Matt got a call from Frankfort Fire Department. He goes for an interview Wednesday at 8:30. I saw in the paper today that Western is hiring another school nurse. This time it is for the Intermiate building. I think I am going to apply again, especially since my building is closing and my future with Kokomo Schools is uncertain. I think they pay a little more and that doesn't hurt either!

I am so ready to put up my Christmas tree, but we are waiting until we have all 3 kids. I think we will try to do it this Friday. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Normally we do it the day after Thanksgiving, but that didn't work out this year.

More discouragement, but also good news.

First the kind of bad news. I talked to the school psychologist a little bit ago. She said they changed the special education laws in August of this year, and they no longer look at the discrepancy between IQ and performance to diagnose a learning disability (therefore the test results from Dr. McClurg are not acceptable). She is sending me the consent form to complete so she can test him. I am so stinking frustrated. My biggest concern is that he will have trouble passing the essay portion of the GQE and not be able to graduate. I don't know what else to do. Matt said maybe we should talk to a lawyer. I thought schools would want every student to work to their potential.

Now, for the better news. We almost have the insurance issue settled. Steve and Amanda have to redo their taxes to take Rett off and we will redo ours, adding him. It is going to cost us, but not as much as it would have been to pay back the medical bills. Also, Matt tested and passed the written and agility tests for Frankfort Fire Department.

I feel like I don't have much to post about since band is over. Rett decided he is going to do pep band, so Matt is happy he'll have an excuse to go to the basketball games. Hazen was so funny yesterday. We were shopping in Walmart. He was riding in the cart and he looked at me and said "Mommy, you're a cutie". Oh, and one more thing. I can't believe I almost forgot to say Hazen is 99% potty trained!!!!!! He is wearing big boy pants all the time he is awake. He told us he would do it when he turned 4, so we told him that the diapers were GONE and if he peed or pooped in his pants HE was going to clean it up. He had to rinse out poopy pants one time and that was enough.

Nothing is Easy

We got a letter from the school yesterday. They reviewed my request for testing Rett. After looking at his grades and ISTEP scores, they don't think he needs services. However, they do want to look at Dr. McClurg's report to see why he recommended testing. I am hoping they will do SOMETHING. I am so frustrated. I don't understand why they are so reluctant to help a child succeed.

State Champs!!

Wow! That about sums it all up. We are home for a little bit, then we'll be heading to the school for a midnight reception for our State Champs! The kids sounded great today and their marching was spot on. Our biggest competition was supposed to be Gibson Southern. When they were announced as the 4th place band, I was REALLY nervous. I guess I shouldn't have been. One of the directors was stopped in the walkway as they were exiting the field and he was told, "I didn't see your band, but I can tell you did well by looking at your kids coming out." All their hard work finally paid off!

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.

Okay, so I haven't been real successful with this whole blog thing, but I am going to try again. You would have thought being home all summer I would have had plenty of time to get things up and running. Now that I am back to work full time and officially a marching band parent things are going to be difficult. Basically it looks like my life won't be my own again until sometime in November. Of course, that puts us smack dab in the middle of all the kids' birthdays and the holidays. I have a feeling the remainder of the year will fly.

Just getting started

I have never tried doing anything like a blog, so this is just a trial and error type thing. I found out through the local newspaper that the school I have worked at for the last 7 years will be closing as of the 2009-2010 school year. I don't know what that really means as far as my employment goes. The Lead Nurse assured us at the end of the school year that the school board anticipates keeping all of the nurses. I am a little skeptical, though. I can't see them making cuts in every department except nursing. So, I am putting feelers out for a new job. The only problem is I've gotten spoiled working for the school corporation. I have weekends, holidays, and summers off. It is hard to find a job in the nursing field with those benefits.