update

On the way home from school, Jessie was telling me there was a new girl in her class named Pavin. She said she was completely deaf . I asked her if the T.A. was translating for her and Jess said yes but her teacher also knew sign language. I told her she would have to learn more signs so she could talk to her because it must be hard for a little kid to not be able to communicate easily with friends. She said that Pavin could speak and read lips. I asked if Pavin had a cochlear implant and Jess said yes. I asked if she was making friends with her and she started laughing and I asked her why she was laughing and she said it was because she made up the whole story. She does have a T.A. who is deaf and has a cochlear implant so I am thinking that is where she got the idea. Nothing wrong with her imagination.





She was sick this last week with what we thought was just a bad cold and fever but when she went to the doctor for her regular checkup, she had a major ear infection and we didn't know it because her ear wasn't hurting her. She is feeling much better, especially now that she is done taking the antibiotics, which was torture for both of us to get her to take. She still loves school, although I have trouble getting her to do her homework because she gets bored easily. Especially the sight words; if they aren't in a story she doesn't care. This new kindergarten teacher is much better than Brandon's was though and Jessie is much farther along and already reading pretty good on simple stories. Her biggest problem is that she is so used to making up the words she forgets to actually read what is there and still tries to make up the words.






Brandon is starting the TCAP testing in school. It used to be CSAP but they changed it. I am not sure if it because of the testing or what but his attitude hasn't been very good lately. You would think he was a teenager already. All he can say is he is stressed but he doesn't know why. I think he does know what's wrong, at least to a point, but he doesn't want to put more pressure on me so won't say. He is way too observant for his own good and he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yesterday he was asking me about the tornadoes that killed all those people and wanted to know if we were safe. I told him that it was unlikely but yes we have had tornadoes in Colorado and if one did happen all we could do was pray. He told me that we would not only pray for ourselves but for everyone else. Like for instance, if a family was divorced and a mom had one kid and the dad had the other then you would not only pray for yourselves but for the other family that was separated from you so that they would be safe also. I am not sure where he got that analogy from but it gives you an idea of the thought process he has. Nothing is simple with him. Which is why it surprised me when he picked a really simple science project for the science fair at school. Why does pop explode when you shake it? Brandon was liking school better, especially since he has started to go to small groups for some of his work and was feeling more confident, but he is starting to not want to go to school again. Maybe because of the testing.

BJ is just as onery as ever. The winter is hard because he is stuck inside a lot. Not that he minds the cold but no one is out to play with him. He is having trouble because Fear is not playing with him as much as he used to and he doesn't understand why. Fear is doing good considering he is almost 12 but he doesn't tolerate a lot any more. It is hard because he gets so grouchy and growls and snaps at everyone when he is not in a good mood which is more often than not but we don't have the heart to do anything about it as long as he is still doing ok. BJ will be much more controllable when he has a younger playmate. In the meantime luckily it is starting to get warmer so the kids can take him outside more often. He still likes to play with Socks (the cat) but they have to be careful since he is bigger than Socks. They chase each other around and will lay on the ground next to each batting at each other while BJ "talks" to him.

We had to take Socks to the vet and spent a fortune on him because he got some sort of infection that almost killed him. They don't know what is was but he is fine now. He must have been not feeling well for a while because he is a lot more active than he had been. Now he goes crazy tearing around the house. We changed his food to something hopefully a little more healthier and he likes it so much we have to hide the bag because he was tearing into the bag during his transitional phase between the new and the old.

Scott's unemployment has completely ran out now so hopefully fire season or something else will happen soon. It is so frusturating to apply to so many jobs and not even hear back. At least he doesn't have to waste a lot of time putting in 7 applications a week for jobs he know he doesn't stand a chance at to satisfy unemployment any more and concentrate on ones he stands a chance on. We still have money from the last fires so we are still ok as long as we only do bare necessities. It is amazing what you can get by on when you have to but I am so tired of telling everyone no we can't do that all the time. Somehow I became the responsible one in charge of finances so there the bad guy. Scott backs me up but I still feel like I am the one saying no since I do the books. I am hoping to use a little of the income tax refund money to do something fun after we buy things we need like another shed. We want to move Brandon into the other room this summer and we need something to store all the stuff in so that is priority. They are really looking forward to having their own rooms especially Brandon. I have posted Jessie's birthday pictures to shutterfly so if anyone is interested in seeing more pics they will be there shortly.