It is January which means everyone is SICK. After Christmas everyone was excited to go back to school and I was excited to get on a schedule and get a few things done. I started off with a kidney infection, but by that weekend we were back at church and even got to enjoy a fun lunch out with some friends. However, by that night Kole was running fever and not feeling well. It turned out he had strep throat and a bad case of it. Two days later I caught Krews drinking after him, and shockingly two days later Krews had a sore throat. Fast forward to Saturday night and I was up with a sore throat followed that week by either a stomach bug or a reaction to ALL the antibiotics.
I hate having to miss commitments and make cancelations. I felt like I was in that mode for 3 weeks straight. I overthink it all. Some of the best advice I have ever received is to never feel bad when you cannot make events because of sickness or anything coming up with your children. It is just our stage of life right now. Luckily my weakness is Kyle's strength. He is very good about saying no you are not up to it and are staying home. He doesn't overanalyze situations like I do.
Even though I hate for anyone in my house to have to be sick, I have enjoyed our time inside being together. We have all been piled up in our bed watching movies together. I love it and know as they get older they won't want to be cuddled up with mom and dad.
This week we have been blessed with warm, spring like temperatures. While we are still hoping for some beautiful snow this winter, we have taken advantage of enjoying the sunshine! We have spent our afternoons playing baseball, soccer, riding bikes, and just playing running off energy. It has been so nice for all of us! I was made all time pitcher on the neighborhood kids baseball team...fingers crossed by next week I can move into the batting order. Rumor has it I'm only pitcher because I throw easy pitches. They can talk smack all they want, but I essentially control who gets Gatorade and post game Popsicles ;)
The best pick me up I had this week was being back at AWANA Wednesday night. One of my friends shared with me that her son had been praying for me while I was out with sickness and then prayed thanking God I was back. Then we got home and Krews revealed that he spent his AWANA bucks on silly string for him AND Kole and a Valentine's bear and box of chocolates for me. God is so good to provide us blessings thru children!
I plan to get caught back up on my blogging soon! I'm working on a post from Christmas this weekend. Happy Friday!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Dear Seth and Michael
Dear Seth and Michael,
I see the box office success of American Sniper has upset you both. This "cowardly" movie has upset you so much you have both been brave enough to hide behind your computer screen and type hateful messages to share with the world. I am sad my children live in a world where people like you make our American soldiers seem "less than" your Hollywood elitist selves. What happened to patriotism and pride of country where soldiers where placed on a pedestal. Especially deceased soldiers. Why now are people like you in the public spotlight? You are both lucky enough to live in a country where we stand protected by Americans like Chris Kyle, who are brave enough to FIGHT for our country. Yes, I am a conservative female in the Bible Belt of America, but my opinions count as much of yours. We expect these things out of you, Michael Moore. But you Seth Rogan, all I have to say to you is think about your career. Think long and hard about it and think about the timing that the Dixie Chicks career ended....and most importantly decide if you want an acting career or a political one. Either way you lose because I'm not watching any of your movies or voting for you. Oh and Seth, I saw where you tried to "take back" your original tweet and defend yourself. The only thing worse than a bad opinion is being too cowardly to stand by it.
Sincerely yours,
America's Fanny Pack Mom
I see the box office success of American Sniper has upset you both. This "cowardly" movie has upset you so much you have both been brave enough to hide behind your computer screen and type hateful messages to share with the world. I am sad my children live in a world where people like you make our American soldiers seem "less than" your Hollywood elitist selves. What happened to patriotism and pride of country where soldiers where placed on a pedestal. Especially deceased soldiers. Why now are people like you in the public spotlight? You are both lucky enough to live in a country where we stand protected by Americans like Chris Kyle, who are brave enough to FIGHT for our country. Yes, I am a conservative female in the Bible Belt of America, but my opinions count as much of yours. We expect these things out of you, Michael Moore. But you Seth Rogan, all I have to say to you is think about your career. Think long and hard about it and think about the timing that the Dixie Chicks career ended....and most importantly decide if you want an acting career or a political one. Either way you lose because I'm not watching any of your movies or voting for you. Oh and Seth, I saw where you tried to "take back" your original tweet and defend yourself. The only thing worse than a bad opinion is being too cowardly to stand by it.
Sincerely yours,
America's Fanny Pack Mom
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Speaking of Speech
I love documenting things on this blog! The good times and vacations are my favorite to post because they are happy and easy, but I also feel led to post about more difficult things. Hopefully by posting about these things they can be informative to someone in the same boat. And I want to document my "real" life.
Krews is my firstborn and he is one of the most precious boys you will ever meet. I know I am his mama, but he truly does have the most amazing heart. Krews is always kind, always happy, and has a servants heart. Krews is smart and his language scores are high. He always does well following instructions at school and pays attention to every assignment. Don't ever challenge him to a game of memory because he will beat you every single time! Krews does have a weakness though...he has a speech articulation issue and that is what I wanted to share today.
When Krews was 3 I noticed he used Ts for Ks, Ds for Gs, etc. I thought I needed to give him time to grow out of it, but also wanted to be proactive and hit the issue head on if there was one. We had his speech tested and sure enough he had an articulation issue. We arranged for him to have private speech with a speech therapist 2 days a week after school (he went to preschool two mornings a week at this time.) I knew early intervention and repetition would be best. That year he wasn't making much progress and was not that interested in speech. He was also sick a lot that year, so during the second semester we decided to give him a break and retest in the fall.
When school started back and he was 4, we retested and he still needed speech, so we arranged for him to work with a private speech therapist twice a week at his school. We found this was the formula that worked best for him! It was nice for him to be in school mode when doing his speech and was also great that his therapist and teacher could work together. She never pulled him out of class during "fun" times and made speech a treat for him. He was also more mature and ready to learn!
In the middle of the year last year, Krews had his tonsils removed and tubes inserted in his ears. This really helped him a lot with his speech. I was hesitant to do the invasive surgery, but we took our time researching and listened to our pediatrician and ENT. This is not for all kids, but he sleeps better, eats better, and is much more healthy now. We continued thru the school year and met once a week for speech in the summer.
This year is his final year of Pre-K and we started speech using the same formula as last year during the first week of school. Krews is such a hard worker and tries so hard! We have really been working hard to be kindergarten ready. Our struggle right now is pre-reading skills like knowing all letters and sounds. We have decided to start doing speech 3x per week this semester to give him extra help.
To be honest, his speech therapist says he is right where he needs to be and most of these skills are kindergarten skills. We just want to keep our Krews confident and on track by being prepared. I never want him to sit in class and struggle or feel like he is not getting something. And trust me, I know there is a fine line between pushing your kids and letting it come naturally in time. I have NEVER pushed him, but we do spend a lot of time working with him. We do fun things like writing letters in shaving cream on the shower door and sounding them out or playing with chalk outside. These are ways to "work" without him even knowing it is work. Kyle and I both have apps on our phones that help him and he thinks it's a treat to be on our phones. The hardest part for me is being consistent in correcting him. For example, he calls Kole "Tole" or "Toley" and I correct him when he says it. He is fully capable of making each sound at this point, it is just getting it into everyday speech.
The hard part about his speech is worrying that people cannot understand him. I once heard a girl tell him, "She couldn't understand a word he was saying." She is a precious girl and wasn't trying to be mean, she just honestly couldn't understand him. Moments like that break my heart for my sweet boy. The only way I know to combat it is to help him to correct it and to make him confident.
We have been so lucky to have a wonderful support system. Krews attends the sweetest school and has had wonderful teachers and speech therapists! I cannot say enough about how wonderful each and every one of them has been to Krews. They are always positive and encouraging so that has made him positive and confident. They all communicate constantly with me and give me such a peace about all of this. His speech therapist has also said that if he still needs speech next year we will just jump right back into it in Kindergarten and it will be no big deal.
As for Krews, yes he has to overcome his speech issues, but it has also been such a character building experience. It has made him be a hard worker and is giving him the skills to be a great student at an early age. Those two qualities will be skills that help him all throughout his life. I am so proud of him!
If you are having a similar situation with one of your children, I would love to be of any assistance. My advice is to hit the problem head on and be proactive. Always be an encourager, while mainaining an atmosphere of hard work and dedication. And most of all let go of your worry about the situation and turn it over to God!
Krews is my firstborn and he is one of the most precious boys you will ever meet. I know I am his mama, but he truly does have the most amazing heart. Krews is always kind, always happy, and has a servants heart. Krews is smart and his language scores are high. He always does well following instructions at school and pays attention to every assignment. Don't ever challenge him to a game of memory because he will beat you every single time! Krews does have a weakness though...he has a speech articulation issue and that is what I wanted to share today.
When Krews was 3 I noticed he used Ts for Ks, Ds for Gs, etc. I thought I needed to give him time to grow out of it, but also wanted to be proactive and hit the issue head on if there was one. We had his speech tested and sure enough he had an articulation issue. We arranged for him to have private speech with a speech therapist 2 days a week after school (he went to preschool two mornings a week at this time.) I knew early intervention and repetition would be best. That year he wasn't making much progress and was not that interested in speech. He was also sick a lot that year, so during the second semester we decided to give him a break and retest in the fall.
When school started back and he was 4, we retested and he still needed speech, so we arranged for him to work with a private speech therapist twice a week at his school. We found this was the formula that worked best for him! It was nice for him to be in school mode when doing his speech and was also great that his therapist and teacher could work together. She never pulled him out of class during "fun" times and made speech a treat for him. He was also more mature and ready to learn!
In the middle of the year last year, Krews had his tonsils removed and tubes inserted in his ears. This really helped him a lot with his speech. I was hesitant to do the invasive surgery, but we took our time researching and listened to our pediatrician and ENT. This is not for all kids, but he sleeps better, eats better, and is much more healthy now. We continued thru the school year and met once a week for speech in the summer.
This year is his final year of Pre-K and we started speech using the same formula as last year during the first week of school. Krews is such a hard worker and tries so hard! We have really been working hard to be kindergarten ready. Our struggle right now is pre-reading skills like knowing all letters and sounds. We have decided to start doing speech 3x per week this semester to give him extra help.
To be honest, his speech therapist says he is right where he needs to be and most of these skills are kindergarten skills. We just want to keep our Krews confident and on track by being prepared. I never want him to sit in class and struggle or feel like he is not getting something. And trust me, I know there is a fine line between pushing your kids and letting it come naturally in time. I have NEVER pushed him, but we do spend a lot of time working with him. We do fun things like writing letters in shaving cream on the shower door and sounding them out or playing with chalk outside. These are ways to "work" without him even knowing it is work. Kyle and I both have apps on our phones that help him and he thinks it's a treat to be on our phones. The hardest part for me is being consistent in correcting him. For example, he calls Kole "Tole" or "Toley" and I correct him when he says it. He is fully capable of making each sound at this point, it is just getting it into everyday speech.
The hard part about his speech is worrying that people cannot understand him. I once heard a girl tell him, "She couldn't understand a word he was saying." She is a precious girl and wasn't trying to be mean, she just honestly couldn't understand him. Moments like that break my heart for my sweet boy. The only way I know to combat it is to help him to correct it and to make him confident.
We have been so lucky to have a wonderful support system. Krews attends the sweetest school and has had wonderful teachers and speech therapists! I cannot say enough about how wonderful each and every one of them has been to Krews. They are always positive and encouraging so that has made him positive and confident. They all communicate constantly with me and give me such a peace about all of this. His speech therapist has also said that if he still needs speech next year we will just jump right back into it in Kindergarten and it will be no big deal.
As for Krews, yes he has to overcome his speech issues, but it has also been such a character building experience. It has made him be a hard worker and is giving him the skills to be a great student at an early age. Those two qualities will be skills that help him all throughout his life. I am so proud of him!
If you are having a similar situation with one of your children, I would love to be of any assistance. My advice is to hit the problem head on and be proactive. Always be an encourager, while mainaining an atmosphere of hard work and dedication. And most of all let go of your worry about the situation and turn it over to God!
Friday, January 9, 2015
The januaries
I have a case of the januaries. This is a made up condition in which I struggle in the month of January. I feel like December is such a joyful, exciting time and then January hits and all the beautiful decorations are down and it's just....January. I feel silly even posting this when so many people in the world have problems much bigger than the januaries, but wanted to share.
I thought I would defeat my case of the januaries when school started back and we had a routine. I had big plans to workout, organize, and so on. However, I spent the week with an awful kidney infection and on top if that we had 7 degree low temps here. It made my case of the januaries seem worse. I decided to spend a lot of time in prayer this week while I was down and it has opened my eyes.
I typically pray daily and throughout the day, but I spent time in deeper prayer. I was really specific with God and tried to show gratitude and give thanks. It is amazing what a stronger, deeper prayer life can do for your soul. It is also amazing when you slow down and look to see God's work, how many little and big things he is doing.
To cure my januaries I am living in prayer and trying to carry out my New Years resolution of trying to serve Jesus, others, and my family more. So far it has been amazing to see what a strong prayer life can really do. I am also praying bold prayers asking God what his will for me is and what he wants me to do. Sounds simple, but what if I am called to do something way out of my comfort zone? I just hope I can be trusting enough to do it. By serving others, I am not necessarily talking about big acts of service. I am trying to be a better friend to all, pray more for my peers, reach out to people more, and things of that nature. For my family, I am trying to do little things that make a big impact like fixing Kyle's favorite dinner or taking the boys to get ice cream on a whim. Little intentional things that make them feel loved. We also have more movie nights and quiet time at home together and are planning some fun future things. To serve Jesus I am simply trying to be more like him. It is such a challenge, but try is the key word.
I hope if you have a case of the januaries, you can find some peace in prayer too. It truly is an amazing thing to communicate deeply with God. Maybe next week, I we be in a better routine, but if not the januaries won't keep me down!
I thought I would defeat my case of the januaries when school started back and we had a routine. I had big plans to workout, organize, and so on. However, I spent the week with an awful kidney infection and on top if that we had 7 degree low temps here. It made my case of the januaries seem worse. I decided to spend a lot of time in prayer this week while I was down and it has opened my eyes.
I typically pray daily and throughout the day, but I spent time in deeper prayer. I was really specific with God and tried to show gratitude and give thanks. It is amazing what a stronger, deeper prayer life can do for your soul. It is also amazing when you slow down and look to see God's work, how many little and big things he is doing.
To cure my januaries I am living in prayer and trying to carry out my New Years resolution of trying to serve Jesus, others, and my family more. So far it has been amazing to see what a strong prayer life can really do. I am also praying bold prayers asking God what his will for me is and what he wants me to do. Sounds simple, but what if I am called to do something way out of my comfort zone? I just hope I can be trusting enough to do it. By serving others, I am not necessarily talking about big acts of service. I am trying to be a better friend to all, pray more for my peers, reach out to people more, and things of that nature. For my family, I am trying to do little things that make a big impact like fixing Kyle's favorite dinner or taking the boys to get ice cream on a whim. Little intentional things that make them feel loved. We also have more movie nights and quiet time at home together and are planning some fun future things. To serve Jesus I am simply trying to be more like him. It is such a challenge, but try is the key word.
I hope if you have a case of the januaries, you can find some peace in prayer too. It truly is an amazing thing to communicate deeply with God. Maybe next week, I we be in a better routine, but if not the januaries won't keep me down!
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Jariel 3.0
For the 3 of you worried about the lastest news on Jariel, here is an update. I mailed Jariel a letter along with a Christmas card on December 29th. I have not heard back from her yet, but she IS a world traveler. In my mind, I am picturing her in the South of France right now. Sipping tea with Lisa Vanderpump maybe? I cannot confirm that, however, because homegirl hasn't written me back. I think I expressed everything I needed to in the letter, but it does bother me to think of her having to read it and hear the news. Who knows if I will hear anything back? I may just be left waiting until Christmas to see if I get another card. I told you all about how I stalked Kenny Chesney and I can now confirm I have stalked Jariel as well. I can officially confirm she is NOT on Facebook. OK OK I wouldn't have "friended" her out of the blue, but it would have been nice to see her page. Actually, I couldn't ever friend her based on the fact that my pretend friend would see my 3 blog posts about her and then I definitely wouldn't get any more Christmas cards. Until then, here is what I had to say:
Jariel,
My name is Audra (Floyd) Wray and I am Sandra Floyd's grandchild. I am writing you because I received your beautiful Christmas card. What an amazing year of travels you had. I was the recipient of your card, as I now live in my grandparents house with my husband and our children. I am sure you know that my grandfather passed away in 2007. I realized upon receiving your card that you, and my grandmother's other dear Shreveport friends, might be unaware
(Insert dramatic pause and page turn here. It was unintentional and an awkward place to stop)
that my grandmother passed away in December 2011. She was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in May of 2011 and it was too far advanced by the time it was discovered. We miss both of them greatly! I hope it will bring you some joy to know her family is all doing well. We bought her house in 2012 and try to carry on her wonderful traditions. I enjoyed your Christmas card, as did the rest of our family! I hope to remain on your Christmas card list! I have such fond memories of visiting Shreveport!
Sincerely,
Audra Floyd Wray
Jariel,
My name is Audra (Floyd) Wray and I am Sandra Floyd's grandchild. I am writing you because I received your beautiful Christmas card. What an amazing year of travels you had. I was the recipient of your card, as I now live in my grandparents house with my husband and our children. I am sure you know that my grandfather passed away in 2007. I realized upon receiving your card that you, and my grandmother's other dear Shreveport friends, might be unaware
(Insert dramatic pause and page turn here. It was unintentional and an awkward place to stop)
that my grandmother passed away in December 2011. She was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in May of 2011 and it was too far advanced by the time it was discovered. We miss both of them greatly! I hope it will bring you some joy to know her family is all doing well. We bought her house in 2012 and try to carry on her wonderful traditions. I enjoyed your Christmas card, as did the rest of our family! I hope to remain on your Christmas card list! I have such fond memories of visiting Shreveport!
Sincerely,
Audra Floyd Wray
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
