I've been a bad, bad blogger!

Ok, it's been a while. I didn't realize how long until just now. I've got to say, I'm addicted to Facebook!!!!! I have thrown my little blog to the way side....cheated on it with another. I LOVE facebook!!! It is a wonderful place to keep up with family, catch up with friends you haven't seen in YEARS and make new friends!! Who could ask for anything more in a website? And with Chris and Hali members, it is a fun way for the family to interact. Love it, can't say enough about it, would trade it for this blog in a heartbeat!

Now, excuses aside.....I can't neglect by blog altogether. Lots of things have happened since my last entry. Mainly with the boy.

Hayden's PANDAS returned in January. It caught me off guard and hit me like a ton of bricks. Hayden came home from school one Friday blinking. Did I say blinking? How about rapid blinking. Blinking that makes your eyes water to look at. Blinking that makes you blink, rapidly. At first I thought it was dry eye. I bought Visine, I dropped it in his little eyes.....no change. Now, let me back track and say that he had missed a couple of days of school the two weeks prior here and there b/c the "thought" the might throw up. I chalked it up to a stomach bug.

Back to the blinking. So the Visine didn't cut it and the blinking was driving me up the wall. Hayden didn't notice that he was blinking, and the blinking didn't seem to hurt his vision. So, come Monday I had decided that we needed to see the eye dr. I decided I would check with my pediatrician first so I called and described the rapid blinking to the nurse. She told me to bring him right in. Still, I was thinking eye infection.

I was shocked when the doctor said this was his PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) flaring up again. This time in the form of a tic disorder, Tourette's Syndrome. In the past it showed it's ugly head as OCD. PANDAS can cause symptoms of Tourettes, OCD and Autisum. Hayden has not suffered a flare up since the Fall/Winter of 2007 so this was the last thing on our minds.

I'm here to say that during times like these you find out what many blessings God has given you. You find out how blessed you are to have a loving and supporting family. You find out who your true friends are, those who stand by you, who check in on you and who most importantly lift you up in prayer. You find out that the Lord has a plan for you, and picks the most loving and caring person to be your sons teacher, months before you get into the situation that you need a kind and loving teacher more than ever.

Here we are in March, and the boy is back to normal. It comes and goes in waves. He has made it to school two weeks in a row now with out missing or calling home. I'm proud of that little man!!!

After months and months of praying about it, we have a peace about deciding to send Hayden back to school next year. With his "issues" we feel that his school is the best place for him. This school is amazing. These folks love the Lord. It shows in everything that they do. They love the children. They push the envelope on teaching the children - going above and beyond unlike anything I've ever seen. Even the smallest things, like getting an email on my phone each time he takes an AR test warms my heart. That little message lets me know that Hayden is having a good day and functioning well at school. I look forward to those emails, maybe more than I should.

Hali and I are rockin' and rollin' on the homeschool front! I LOVE homeschooling her! I've learned more about Hali this year than I have in years prior. We have found our groove and it works well! I've already begun to order the curriculum for next year. Hali will do a blended 8th/9th grade year next year. We are going to play catch up since I held her back in kindergarten. This past week she went to a private school in Clinton to sit for the SAT. I want to keep her test taking skills up for college. Did I say college? Oh, my baby is growing up too fast!

Had will go back to her small kindergarten for K5 next fall. It was hard to decide what to do with her. I'm still not sure if she will be homeschooled or go to Hayden's school for 1st grade. I'm leaning towards homeschool. I would like to get more involved with the homeschool community and that is hard when you are going back and forth in the car rider lines. I recently talked with an adult who was "unschooled" and that has really peaked my interest. It's hard to think outside of the box, past what I am use to as far as school goes. But I'm trying.

We have enjoyed visiting a new church for the past couple of months. Hayden still misses our church, but Hali feels much more at home at this new church that we are visiting. We've enjoyed the fact that the Sunday School class that Chris and I have been visiting is made up mainly of folks from our church - it's like home away from home. Some have joined this new church, some are like us, just visiting. This church we've been visiting has LOTS of homeschooled families. That has been great for me. The preacher really hits home with his sermons. I'm torn because, you know me, you know I like to be ACTIVE!!! I'm a helper bee....and when you aren't a member, there isn't much you can do to help. On the other hand, I hesitate to move our letter until we are sure that we are doing what the Lord is leading us to do. So we wait, we pray and we listen with open hearts.

Chris is doing good. He is enjoying is bike and spending lots of time with the kids riding. He is coaching Had's soccer team this year and he really loves it. He has some GREAT kids on his team. Of course after Had BEGGED to play soccer, she now hates it and cries at the games. Wouldn't you know..... but it doesn't stop Chris from loving it.

Work has been BUSY! Houses have started to sell, finally!!!!! I've met some great folks in the business recently and have made some great new friends. One especially that I feel God placed in my life for a reason. Someone I could be friends with forever. A fellow Prayer Warrior! So that is what I value more than the extra money that real estate puts into the bank.

I'm working on starting a new hobby.....it's a secret, but trust me, you'll know when I get it off the ground! It's going to be a blast!!!

If you are reading this....I wish you many blessings. Be thankful for what God has given you. Kiss your babies..... look outside and thank Him for the beauty that you see.....know that Jesus loves you. No matter how bad things may seem in this world today, count your blessings. God is so good to us. Love one another.