A Genius On Our Hands?

Wednesday, Hazen had to go to Lebanon/Thorntown to take Grandma Ward to the doctor. While riding in the back seat with Grandma Alice, he was writing in a notebook. He made a bunch of letters and asked what he spelled. Alice said, "I don't know, what did you spell". To which he replied "orbit". She looked at the paper and sure enough there it was, only slightly misspelled (an O in place of the I). He has been all about phonics lately wanting to know which letter makes which sound. I won't be suprised if he's reading in the next 6 months.

Answered Prayers

After 3 years of frustration, I think we have finally found some help for Rett at school. For those of you following this ongoing saga, the school finally completed their testing and we had a meeting with them yesterday morning. They all agreed they have never had a case quite like this one and they were unsure of what to do. Usually it is very cut and dry, either a student qualifies for special education, or they don't. Rett fell into a gray area. After sitting with them and discussing our concerns for over an hour, they decided to qualify him. He will now be in a study hall with a resource teacher that can give him a little extra help with his writing. He knows his material and can tell you when asked, but something gets lost in the translation when he puts it down on paper. I pray that this will be the boost he needed to start feeling successful in school. I appreciate everyone that has offered up a prayer on our behalf. God is good!

We do owe a special thanks to Brandie Oliver, the middle school guidance counselor. She did research online about dyslexia and also talked to all of Rett's teachers about his strengths and weaknesses. She was very familiar with Rett because of the peer mediation program he was a part of during 7th grade. She said she felt like he was honestly putting forth his best effort and truly wanted to do well in school. I think this conference would have turned out very different if not for her standing up for Rett.

Things are falling into place

Things are beginning to look up for us. Matt turned in the paperwork to take the most recent buyout. The deadline is Feb. 25th so hopefully we'll find out when his last day is sometime soon. He has been working both jobs this week and it is getting old. Hazen is the only one who has seen him since Sunday. On a positive note, that's a little extra money coming in right now, and that is definitely something we can use! I also got a child support check for the first time this year, and it was a big one so he's caught up again. That gave us enough money to pay for the rest of Rett's class trip to Washington D.C.! And the final (I think) piece of good news...Rett's science book, that has been missing since November, reappeared! It was in another student's locker! I'm really glad we didn't pay for a new one!

Rett decided he was tired of his long hair and got it all cut off last night. He also decided to shave his peach fuzz with a razor and shaving cream. I guess he's growing up...actually there's this girl.... Oh well, I think he looks quite handsome. Hazen is pretty cute too!

Pep Band

Rett has been playing in pep band at the Western basketball games. Matt is excited to have an excuse to go now. Hazen has really been getting into cheering and does amazingly well at following what is going on. Last week when Western lost to Caroll, he burst into tears!

Another funny quote by Hazen

Hazen has decided that he wants a dog. It has to be black and white and he is going to name him......Cow.