Nothing is safe in our house!

Hannah and Jon got to go to the BEAUVOIR House  - The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. If you live in Mississippi or are driving through Mississippi then you have to stop by Beauvoir in Biloxi. There is just so much history and you will feel “southern”, really and truly!

When they went there they took gift shop money. One of the things Hannah got was this cat that is fur covered (before you bash me I did explain that rabbits were killed to make this cat and let her know that I really didn’t want her to ‘collect’ these because it’s just not right. She agreed, she even felt a little bad for the rabbits that died to make it). It has lived perfectly happy in our houses for a few months, and then Calvin discovered it. I think he fell in love. We have had to resort to putting this poor ‘cat’ up on shelves to keep it safe. He will sit below it and stare longingly up at it. He will meow and call to it. It’s really pathetic.

Here's a picture of Hannah's cat safely on a shelf:

Without fail if we walk out of the room we will come back to him assaulting this poor figurine. No matter where we put it he’ll get it. And he’s stealthy about it as well. We will sit just on the other side of the door and wait, listening for any sound that may give away that he’s kidnapping (or is it catnapping?) this poor thing.

We’ll walk in to find this:

                                           Puuuurrrrrr.....mmmmmmm-nom-nom-nom..............

                                             Puuurrrrr......me amore..........puuuurrrrrr!!!!!!

                                                         Do you mind, I'm busy here!

We'll finally wrench it away from Calvin - he's possessive of this cat, he'll growl at us; threatening to take some flesh off us if we come near it. Anyway, we'll finally get it away from him and it will be soaking wet where he's been licking and cleaning it. He's such a freak. But he's my little, furry freak. I love this cat!!!!

Attention: We Have a Winner!!!!

Eating gluten-free has its ups and its downs. Of course one of the biggest “ups” is that we are eating healthier and that Hannah isn’t hurting and sick every night.

One of the “downs” is not getting to eat your favorite foods, friends not understanding why you’re different, and finding tasty gluten-free foods.

I love it when friends send me recipes.

And I love the opportunity that social media gives us these days. I can go online to chat rooms specifically for celiacs or those choosing a gluten-free lifestyle and find out what is tasty and what tastes like cardboard.

One brand that we have grown to really trust is Udi’s.  We’ve only found one local place that carries it (in the freezer section, for freshness). It’s pretty good! And Hannah really likes their products.

You can also sign up for Udi’s recipes. So far they have been pretty darn good. But we got a recipe from them the other day that hit it out of the ballpark:

Hannah even took some to school and all her classmates all loved them!

I'd do anything for her, and I'm willing to prove it

There are few times when you feel as helpless as you do when you know your child is doing all that she/he can do and is still struggling so hard in school. They are embarrassed and ashamed. They see their friends and peers “getting it”, yet it just doesn’t click for them.  It can be even harder if there are other children in the household who excel academically. The emotional pain they feel is excruciating.

This is what we are going through with our oldest daughter Hannah.

She is a wonderful little girl. She lights up the room with her smile. She is goofy, funny, silly.

She is amazing. But she struggles so much with her schooling.

There are drawbacks to both public and private schools. In the public sector she was getting lost in the classroom. But in the private school there are only a couple other kids in the class, so every one knows everything about every one. The competition is horrendous. And just because it's a christian school doesn't mean there isn't bullying going on. Believe me, I've gotten pretty vocal about their need to whoop some kids' butts!!!

When we had her in a public school she was able to get into special education classes. She was given an IEP (Individualized Education Program). But in this private school that option is not available for her. I'm not asking for a pity party "Oh, poor kids for going to a private school". Not at all, we are fortunate to have all three kids going to Central Baptist. But we aren't so sure if we will keep the kids in Central next year, even if we do stay in Mississippi.

In public school we have been able to get her a lot of testing, and a lot of help. When we lived in Texas the Public School System even did a determination of disability for her.  She underwent so many tests it made my head spin. What the counselors told me was nothing short of disturbing:

Let me assure that I’m not in denial. I just know that my daughter is not mentally retarded. And if she was I would love her just the same and offer her the same help I am now.

Last school year she struggled. We got her in with a tutor and it helped but not like we were hoping for. This year has been extremely difficult, it's beyond frustrating for her father and I so I can't imagine what she's going through.

I finally bit the bullet and called The Tutoring Club. Hannah and I met with Mr. Wade, who runs the office here in Hattiesburg yesterday. We brought in all her classwork and tests for the past couple weeks and we looked over everything. He let Hannah know that The Tutoring Club was a 100% honesty club. That she would never get into trouble for being completely honest with him, no matter what was said.

He asked Hannah a few questions, asked her if she liked school. She said “Yes.” He asked her if she had a hard time in school, “Yes”. He asked her if she wanted to find a way to make learning easier, "YES!!!" He asked her if she would hang out in the study room while he and I talked.

He said “It almost seems like she doesn’t understand what is being asked of her in any of these tests. I’m going to suggest we go ahead and do a skills assessment for everything, then we’ll see if what I’m suspecting is right.” I agreed.

The test took an hour and then we went over it. Her vocabulary skills were at a 3.0 level which means she is placing like she should be just entering the third grade, not nearly through with the third grade. But then came the startling discovery. Her comprehensive skills placed her at 2.1 like she was just entering the second grade. She doesn’t understand (comprehend) the work, so of course she’s failing.

He called Hannah back in and laid out some of her work from school, “Hannah, quick question, why did you answer these questions like these?”

“Because I didn’t know what else to put down, I didn’t understand it but I can’t turn in a blank test, so I just put down anything.” She paused then shrugged her shoulders, “I just don’t understand why I’m dumb.”

My heart died right there.

“Oh, you aren’t dumb, not at all. Your brain just works differently and we’re here to figure that out. Are you willing to work with me so we can get you back on track?”

“Yes!” She was beaming that beautiful smile now.

Then Mr. Wade turned to me, "Just like with what I said to Hannah, what I say to you will be 100% honest. If I cannot help a child I will let the parent know that I cannot help them, that it is beyond the realm of my expertise. I can help Hannah!" We start on Monday, going twice a week. But he’s guaranteed that he’ll have her ready for the fourth grade on time. There is hope, even if that hope comes with a hefty price tag!

p.s. I'd give up my Starbucks, my Wen haircare, going out to eat, my Yellow Box flip flops addiction, even cable if it meant affording tutoring for my Hannah - or any of my kids, for that matter. Fortunately The Tutoring Club is very affordable, so if your child is struggling I urge you to give them a call!

Maybe WWIII starts in my fridge, beats me!

The Boy makes me laugh. In fact, his laugh makes me laugh; it’s addictive and contagious. I love it.

Today I survived Corner Market and Sam’s. Conquering both of these stores in one day without a migraine is enough to celebrate (I rewarded myself with a new k-cap flavor from Bed, Bath and Beyond). So I made it home and started the dreaded “Ugh, now I have to put all this stuff away.” I’m busy unpacking when something catches my eye. I took another look and laughed:

Can you see it? Here’s a closer look:

Some of y’all will remember a while back when I found this in the other fridge:

Does anyone else find things in their fridge that their kiddos place in there?

I’m going back to bed!

I had big plans for today.  I had a lot that I needed to get done. Jon’s birthday is this Saturday and I haven’t done a whole lot. Not that I need to do a lot, GattiTown is doing most of the work.

Everything was going along great, I dropped the kids off at school and was headed back to the house, on the way home I pass Morrison Farms, a horse farm. I always look over there because there’s usually deer or turkey out in the pasture. Only that’s not what I saw today. Instead I saw this:

My heart died a little right then and there. I immediately pulled over and called my friend Stacey. She was dropping off her kiddos at Central Baptist, I told her what I saw and where I was and she said she’d be there in a minute. I got out of my car and walked through mucky yuck (in my flip flops) and slowly approached the deer. He was struggling. My heart broke even more. He had obviously be hit by a car.

I called the Fire Department. They were no help. There was nothing they could do.

I saw the deer put his head down in the water, bubbles blowing from his nose.

 I cradled his head in my hand, squatting down in the mud puddle my feet sinking ankle deep in the muck. He didn’t even struggle.

 His right leg was obviously broken. He had bloody wounds on him in other spots, but nothing too horrible. But he was on his way out. But I couldn’t leave him there.

Stacey pulled up. She started calling around to see who would help.

A lady stopped and offered to help. Upon seeing me and the deer she started crying. Now there were two crying ladies and a dying deer in a puddle. Awesome.

Several men stopped, one offered to ‘slit its throat and take it home for the meat’. The lady ran him off; I really wish I would have gotten her name; she was very nice and extremely helpful. She ran up to her truck and grabbed some towels. It was then that Stacey called down (we were down in ditch off the road) and told us that a Police Patrolman was on his way. The other lady and I were able to get the deer out of the water and up on dry land; we laid him on his side and covered his head so he wasn’t frightened. He stopped shuddering and struggling.

Finally an Animal Control Officer pulled up. He took a look at the injuries; the bone in the deer’s leg was sticking out about 4 inches. It was bad. He called in and said that a patrolman was indeed needed for a “putdown”. Now the lady with me started crying even harder.

I had been crying on and off and I swiped a tear from my cheek.

“Ma’am, the deer seems to be calmer when you have your hands on him, if possible could you keep your hands on him?”

Really? Really????? Now the deer feels better when I touch him (which is what I hear). So now I start to completely bawl.

A Sherriff pulls up and makes his way down to where we are, at this time the Animal Control Officer says “Ladies, I’ll go ahead and ask y’all to leave. You don’t wanna be here for this. Thank you for your time.”

I called my husband and cried and cried and cried. And he sat on the other end of the phone and let me. He’s awesome like that.

I went home and took the officer's advice and took a shower and washed my clothing in hot water in case I got any ticks on me (and yes, he was covered in ticks and no I really didn't care).

When I got out the shower I grabbed my Tiny, buried my face in her soft fur and told her I loved her.

Now, I'm going back to bed.

I’m on the road to ruin, thanks Lochers!

Thanks to Facebook I’ve found a fabulous website that sells the greatest necklaces known to womankind- Lochers!

I have my favorites. Like this one:

Heehee. I think it’s great for Laura Ledford (blogger for Fetch My Flying Monkeys, go there NOW!!!)

And this one:

How about this one:

Some cuss, a lot, and I try to keep it clean since the kiddos like to copy EVERYTHING I SAY. I want to get this one, though:

Because, yea….

So go on over to Locher’s website: http://www.lochers.com/accessories1.html

It you’re easily offended you might wanna skip it. But they crack me up.

I think my doctor is ordering me a straight-jacket. I’m fine with that.

I had to go see my doc today. He’s a great guy. When we leave Mississippi I totally plan to stuff him in my suitcase and bring him with us. Since he is my husband’s doc as well, I think he’ll be fine with it.

My migraines have been pretty much in check with the Topamax, I do have break-through migraines, but I am certainly not suffering like I was before. And I do have little headaches here and there, but I am a mom (and a wife) so that comes with the job.

The Doc asked me all about my health, all the typical stuff. Then asked about my period, (he’s the one who sent me to Dr. Drake in the first place, but I guess my file wasn’t updated yet).

Doc: So let’s talk about your period.

Me: Ooooooo, Let’s!

Doc: How’s it going?

Me: Awesome!

Doc: Still a really heavy flow?

Me: Not at all, it’s like isn’t even there.

Doc: (weird look, probably because of the crazed smile I’m flashing back at him) Still clotting?

Me: No clots, what-so-EVAAAAHHHH!

Doc: You’re messing with me, aren’t you?

Me: Yep!

Doc: Ablation?

Me: Hysterectomy!

Doc: Awesome!

Me: Absolutely!

Then we high-fived. Yea, my doc is the fabulous!

So we talked about my restless leg syndrome, it can keep me up for an entire night. It’s crazy. And since I had such a nasty reaction to Mirapex he was cautious to put me on anything too extreme.

I also told him “Hey, ya know how when I told you about Mirapex causing me nasty headaches and you were all like ‘That’s just unheard of, hhhmmmmm, weird’? Yea, well I did some research and headaches are one of the most common side effects of that drug, over 16% of patients prescribed it had that side effect. Do your research!”

Yea, he loves the verbal beat-down he gets from me.

So, now he’s prescribed me Neurontin. I asked him if he has researched the drug. He shifted around in his seat like he was getting uncomfortable and said “Pffft, of course.” Then he started tapping away at his computer again.

So, here’s to Neurontin knocking my a$$ out and letting me sleep at night!

p.s. I totally know Neurontin will help me out because when my legs get super bad I sneak over to the Hub’s nightstand and steal one of his Neurontin’s (he has issues that needs some tissues as well) and pop one, and within 20 minutes my legs are happy! Woohoo!