Life is short....

The past couple days I have been lead to reflection on just how life is so fragile and sometimes way to short. If you want to cry, reflect and be lead to prayer for someone else check out the links below. Your perspective on the day might just change. (I usually don't cry and I even teared up.)

Preslee Sullenger

Amy Jackson

I can see clearly now....

Esotropia

What in the world in esotropia??

That is what I asked myself about 2 hours ago when the ophthalmologist told me that is what was wrong with Nora's eyes. She is severely far-sighted so her eyes try to bring things closer which confuses her brain. Her brain then send a message to her eyes and they end up crossing, sometimes one eye, sometimes both. Nora can comfortably see about a foot in front of her. The blessing is that no permanent damage has been done. We also received a major blessing when an ophthalmologist in the stake sent an e-mail to a colleague which moved her appointment up by 4 months.

Treatment:

Nora will wear glasses. We go back to the ophthalmologist in 3 months to find out if she will need surgery to fix the eye muscles. The doctor has given us hope that glasses will be all she needs.

Life Unedited

Sitting in someone else's chair

Today we had a special stake conference and Elder David A. Bednar was going to talk. I hoped and prayed that my kids would be good so we could listen. I was even tempted to find out if one of my non-member friends would take the little ones. In preparation I woke-up early so we could get a good seat. We arrived at the Auditorium at 8:30 a.m. everyone happy and ready to start the day. We found what I thought were good seats; the last row in the middle of the first section. I even made sure we were on the end just in case Nora couldn't make it. The meeting was to begin at 10:00 a.m. I brought the camera to take pictures outside while we waited. Lloyd and I took turns going in and out with the kids because 2 hours is a long time to want kids to sit. I was prepared with books, coloring books, and snacks. Very quickly after the meeting started I noticed the woman sitting in front of us would look back and sorta sigh. I was really trying to keep the boys quiet. I will admit they had the wiggles but I thought they were doing a great job. After the first hour and several sighs later the woman said something to her husband, he turned around and politely requested I keep my children from knocking the back of her seat. It was said very politely. I responded I really was trying. Minutes later when I couldn't get the boys to be completly still I left the meeting with the boys to go to the hall where it was difficult to hear anything. I have been trying to decide how I feel. Everyone there wanted a chance to hear one of the 12 apostles. I am sure the woman in front of us wanted to not be disturbed. My problem comes in wondering if because I have small children did it make my efforts to hear Elder Bednar less than someone else. I really wanted my boys to hear Elder Bednar to explain to them we have 12 apostles on the earth just like when Jesus was here. There are so many things regarding faith that you can't touch and today was a chance for them to shake an apostle's hand. The chance of them being that close to one of the apostles again is very slim. I just wonder how I would be feeling if I had been sitting in the other woman's chair.

School, School, School

School is out for summer!!

Well almost....the kids get out on the 18th I finish 2 or my 3 classes on the 30th.
I know that pictures are always more fun but I will bore you with a wordy update on our family :)

Nora: Back in January I started noticing something was quite right with her I even asked Leslie when she was here in April if she thought Nora looked Down-Syndrome. One day when I dropped Reuben off for preschool his teacher said "Her eye is turned in." That was when it clicked that the something was her eyes. We went to the peditrician and he agreed that something was wrong. Originally she could be seen by the specialist in October. Through an amazing connection we found out yesterday her appointment has been moved to July 7th. Most of the time it is her left eye that will turn in but occasionally her right. We will find out soon!

Finally, it is proven I am not crazy!! I have been asking the schools for help since Allie was in Kindergarten. This has involved changing schools and LOTS of testing. In the spring Allie did Neuropsych testing through a local university. We learned so much. She has a reading disability, Dyslexia, and ADD. At the time of testing she was a pretty anxious kid when it came to school and didn't feel like she could do the work. Now we know she will have an amazing opportunity to develop a strong sense of determination. I have noticed for a few years many of the same issues with Jackson. I have been on top of his issues since he was 2 1/2. However, since I just learned about neuropsych testing we also tested Jackson. Test results were very similar however, Jackson does have the hyperactivity part of ADHD. It has been a long road but I feel like we are finally making progress. As a result of this information we have chosen to change schools once again for hopefully the LAST time. I will be driving Allie to a middle school in Ann Arbor, Jackson and Reuben will be starting elementary in Ann Arbor. Typically Ann Arbor is not a school of choice but they opened 60 kindergarten, 60 first grade and 50 6th grade spots. Emma is thrilled they didn't open 5th grade she wants to stay at Fortis for another year at least.

Tornado Watch!!

Last night the tornado sirens blared, my phone starting ringing, Lloyd's phone starting ringing and a text came through on my phone. All of this commotion began at about 11:00 p.m. Before we moved our answer to tornado warnings was to watch out the window as we had no basement to move into. Last night I woke-up Lloyd and asked if we should move the boys and Nora. We decided since we have a basement it would fall under bad parenting if we didn't move them. So, we watched the news and listened to the storm. About 11:15 p.m. the cell had weakened and the watch expired. We moved the kids back to their beds.

Everyone except Lloyd went back to sleep. Then it was like ground hogs day. Sirens blare....you get the idea. This time we were smart parents. We set up the port-a-crib, make the extra bed and moved the boys and Nora to spend the night downstairs. Lloyd and I made ourselves a comfy cozy bed out of couch cusions. We had seen the line of storms stretched down to Ohio. It could have been a long night but we slept. Occasionally we woke up to the storms thunder, lighting and rage. This morning ou house was safe and outside looked fine.

A tornado did touch down about 20 minutes from our house and lots of flooding in the area. 5 people lost their lives in Ohio and only minor injuries for people in Michigan. Some areas look horrible. Many people were up most of the night trying to get generators hooked-up for the subpumps. I can't believe we slept and felt safe. What a blessing!!