1st School day on Meds

Today was Youngest's first school day on meds for his ADHD and I sit here with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.  He was almost a totally different child.  I'm not sure that he has noticed yet, but today the only tears are the ones in my eyes.  Did he sit completely still in his chair or not fidget?  Not in the least, but that is not what we need.  His fidgeting  was diminished and he actually finished school 1 1/2 hours ahead of when he normally does.  He was able to concentrate on his reading, comprehend and restate what he had read, discussed with me, and made it through math in 30 minutes after the lesson was taught. When he got a few problems wrong, he didn't break out in tears, but calmly explained why he put that answer and we were able to work through the problem.  There were no fits of anger in not being able to express an idea or the pressure to get it perfect... **sigh** Thank you Father, for a good day with Youngest!

Just the other night he came to me with tears flooding his eyes.  He said he thought he "had lost my Faith because I make bad choices, get into trouble so much, and argue. Mom, I don't know what's wrong!"  It just broke my heart. 

I know that we will have rough days and we will have good days. It would unrealistic and put undo pressure on Youngest to expect all to be perfect or that this is a "magic" fix.  Today is a day filled with hope and joy for this child that I love and desperately want to succeed and feel confident in himself. Today we were surrounded by prayer and we so much needed a day like today.  It was like a breath of fresh air - life giving breath from Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New American Standard Bible)

 For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

I know there are many people that have been praying for him and us.  Thank you so much!  Today was a good day and he walked away from school with a smile. I especially want to thank Raine and Michelle for their prayers - they mean so much to me. You have encouraged me greatly. 

Raine wrote:  "Lord, connect everything in Youngest's brain the way it is supposed to be so that he has clarity of thought, organization, good memory, and strong learning ability. "May the Lord give you understanding in all things" (2 Timothy 2:7) Lord, enable Youngest to experience the joy of learning more about You and Your world. Amen"

Youngest

When Youngest was born, we were told he had attitude and was a fighter.  In those 11 years since he was born we have been challenged by him and the uniqueness he presented our family. Through our journey with him, we have learned about more things than we ever thought we would and our journey is far from over.

I think if you were to ask people that know Connor, they would describe him as being the Energizer Bunny, has a huge love for reading, adventure, thirst for knowledge and how things work... 

Friday we were thrilled to watch our Awanas team do fantastically at the Quiz Bowl.  Connor took home Quiz Bowl Champion, Highest Honor (quizzing out during his round), and 1st place in Bk 3 with his partner Andie!  We're so proud of them all! 


 Two weeks ago he was diagnosed with ADHD.  This was really not a shock to us and we expected this as we've seen the signs for a few years now.  I think he is a little relieved to find that we can get some help.  He has been so frustrated (honestly we both have been) in school for a while now and we have tried various things to help, but they have not worked. We started medication on Saturday and have a follow-up appt. next week to see how he's doing on it. We know there are so many pros and cons on doing medication, but our focus now is to find a way to help him.  

Through his life, Connor has struggled through many things - his heart surgery, years of therapy, some GI problems that we continue to work through... One thing we have learn through all of this is that Connor is a fighter and our Faith is in Him who gave us this energized child.  We look forward to seeing how God is going to work in his life and how He will use him!

My nose won't fit

In case you need a laugh today, I thought I would go back a few years for a story that was included in Liz Curtis Higgs book While Shepherds Washed Their Flocks. 

When Only was little, probably 3-4, she was having a very rough day.  I really don't remember what she did, but it warranted some discipline

    "Only, put your nose in the corner",  I told her.
 

"But Mommy, my nose won't fit!"  

Start here with me please!

I must admit that most of the time I'm not on the same beat when it comes to music and the rest of the family.  They love music with a really hard fast beat, but because of a slight hearing loss, I have a hard time understanding the words and it sounds muffled, especially at a concert. So when they turn up Toby Mac, Kutless, Sanctus Real,  Thousand Foot Krutch, Audio Adrenaline, I reach for my  iPod and ear phones. We've (mostly Honey) taken our kids to Winter Jam more than a few times and Newsboys (when Peter was in the group) always get ALL of us really excited when they've been close enough for us to see. Their concerts were always more like a worship experience than a concert. One song that has really caught my attention on Air 1 is by Toby Mac: City on Our Knees.   It always makes me stop and evaluate what I'm doing with my life, my day, my kids,school, and my marriage.  Have I done my best in my relationship with God and life. No, everyday seems to be a struggle to balance, to get it all done.  What this helps me with is that it's an everyday renewal with God, and I desperately want it now!  On that day when He comes back, I don't want to think about regrets of "I'll do it right after..." that constantly plague my days...

If you gotta start somewhere why not here
If you gotta start sometime why not now
If we gotta start somewhere I say here
If we gotta start sometime I say now
Through the fog there is hope in the distance
From cathedrals to third world missions
Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave

Tonight could last forever
We are one choice from together
As family
We’re family
Oh Tonight could last forever
We are one choice from together
You and me
Ya, you and me
Tonight’s the night
For the sinners and the saints
Two worlds collide
In a glorious display
Cuz its all love tonight
When we step across the line
We can sail across the sea
To a city with one king
A city on our knees
If we gotta start somewhere why not here
If we gotta start sometime why not now

I tell you that immediately after posting this, I walked into the kitchen and turned on Air 1 and guess what was playing... Yep!  City on Our Knees... "Okay God!  I hear you!" I told Him.  Almost immediately Satan started in on my day.  I just felt like yelling at him to get out of my house! It was a good day to not come for a visit!  Days like this, I have to keep reminding myself that He is in control, He is in control, He IS in control!

SNOW!!!!

I didn't cancel school this morning - I honestly didn't  believe we would get snow.  God proved me wrong!  Oldest came home from high school just after noon and I called home school off about the same time.  Honey just arrived home four hours early and we've got a long snowy day ahead of us!  We're so VERY excited! 


This is our first real snow of the winter season and it looks like it's going to be a good one!  I'm thinking some snow ice cream may be in order.  I remember my mom fixing that when I was growing up as a special treat. Maybe we'll break out the board games, pop some corn, watch a movie...

Yummy White Chicken Chili

Only was so excited.  She had watched Rachael Ray Show Monday morning and saw a recipe they fixed and said it looked so yummy that she wanted to make it for dinner.  Since I was in town, I stopped at our local Aldi store for most of the simple ingredients and then a quick stop at the grocery store for the chicken breast. Almost as soon as we got in the house, she was in the kitchen working on dinner, making the homemade salsa, chopping cilantro, adding ingredients, and finally mixing up cornbread from scratch... I must say that it was a HUGE hit with our family!  Only did a fantastic job organizing, preparing, and serving a great new recipe on a cool day.   We had plenty for our family of five, with a little less than a gallon to put away in the freezer for another day.  Of course we had to have our Fritos and some extra Montery Jack Cheese on the top.  We got so excited about trying it that I forgot to put out the sour cream!  Here it is - give it a try and let me know what your reaction was.

Mandi Forester’s White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 32-ounce box chicken stock
• 3 cans white beans, left undrained
• 5 cups cooked chicken (rotisserie or boiled)
• 1 16-ounce jar salsa
• 1 8-ounce block pepper jack cheese, grated
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Black or white pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup finely crushed corn chips (optional, if you like your chili thicker)
• Sour cream, for garnish
  
  We added a tbsp of fresh lime juice for a bit more Southwest flavor (because we have a hard time following a recipe "by-the-book")
  

Yields: 6 servings

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients except the corn chips in a crockpot. Cook on high until the cheese is melted.
2. Chili may also be cooked on the stovetop over medium-high heat until cheese is melted.
3. When the chili is ready, add the crushed corn chips, if using, and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. Garnish with more chips, cheese and/or sour cream and serve. 

 The salsa recipe is from a friend of ours and I posted it the first of this month here, but here it is again.  So good with all fresh ingredients!  

Pam's Salsa
1 29 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
Season with salt
Add 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp cilantro (fresh is best) to taste.
Dice up 1 jalapeno, de-seed if you don't want it as hot
Garlic - only take a few cloves (or you can add minced garlic if you don't have fresh)
Sugar - a handful or about 2 tbsp. This is to taste as well.

Put into food processor and pulse a few times.