MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and a great new year! It has been a great year here in the Meadors house. We are very lucky to have a beautiful home, 2 working cars, food on our table every night and love in this house. I am very lucky to have a husband who works harder than he needs to, so I can focus  on our children.

We are so lucky to have smart amazing kids. Who for the most part behave ;) 

We are so lucky to have a great extended family. We are more than lucky to have a great circle of friends, most of whom I consider our family. Thank you to those ladies who have kept me busy and sane this week, the first year both of my kids were in school full time. Although I don't think Brett appreciates how much I go to lunch with you ladies! :)  

I hope everyone has a GREAT 2009 and are as lucky and loved as we are!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKIE

Happy Birthday Jackie!!!! We all hope that you have a fabulous day, you deserve it!!!!! For the record, I do have new pictures, but I was going through the hard drive as saw these. 

Just to show you what we've been trying to fix

With Jake,

Here is what we have been reading since he was 4. This is actually one of his better writings, but the only one I had on hand. You can clearly see here why his spelling tests had to be checked verbally. ( reminder, you can click on any picture or image I post and it will become larger)

And the following is after wearing his glasses for one day. It is by no means perfect, but you can see he is no longer looking past the lines, and can write on them. It is legible. And probably the best Christmas gift I could get, having him ASK to read a book now. And ASK for paper so he can write and draw. I see him soaring through school now that this hinderance has been taken away from him.   

Education in the State of KY

Is about to get cut by 4% state wide. This year alone, Boone County Schools will loose 3.1 millon. That translates into 60 staff in the county loosing there jobs!!!   If you have a child in the state of KY school systems, or just care about education. PLEASE write you congressmen!!! I am headed to a meeting in Grant County tonight to hear Steve Beshear speak about education. He is against the cuts and tonight's meeting it to show that the people of KY are behind him. So if you are hanging around grant county tonight at 7, please come!

What is Convergence Insufficiency

I have learned the answer to this because Jake was diagnosed with this today. We are in early stages of figuring it all out. But he is getting glasses for reading and writing called Prizm lenses. And we are going to start vision therapy in school. Here is the highlights of what he has:HIGHLIGHTS:

• Convergence insufficiency is a common near vision problem that -- due to recent scientific research -- is gaining public recognition.
• Convergence insufficiency disorder interferes with a person's ability to see, read, learn, and work at near (close distances).
• In the past, convergence insufficiency disorder has often gone undetected because testing is not included in (1) pediatrician's eye tests; (2) school screenings; or (3) basic eye exams¹.
• A person can pass the 20/20 eye chart test and still have convergence insufficiency.
• Treatments range from passive (prism lenses) to active (office-based vision therapy).^1-4, 8
• Scientific research by the National Eye Institute has proven that office-based vision therapy is the most successful treatment.⁸
• Home-based pencil pushups therapy appears to be the most commonly prescribed treatment⁵, but scientific studies have shown that this treatment is ineffective.^3, 6, 8
• Eye surgery is rarely, if ever, recommended.^1,2
• While clinical results show that Convergence Insufficiency can be treated at any age, current scientific research has been completed on the pediatric population only.^{1, 2, 4, 8}

I don't know about how common the problem is because there is only 1 Dr in Northern KY who knows to test for this. 2 in the state, that I know of anyway. And trying to get anyone to recognize it took over 1 year!!! I'll keep updating as we know more, but if you'd like to read more you can go to

http://www.convergenceinsufficiency.org/

And of course I'll post a picture when we get his glasses!

Because he asked me to!

Rather than get ready for bed last night like he was supposed to be doing, he made this airplane. And proceeded to ask me to take pictures of it. So I thought I'd let you all see too!!!  By the way, Jake took his first set of AR tests at school yesterday ( its reading comprehension test you can take on every book you read, and you get points, then get to go to different parties) He got a 100% on both. And now has 2.0 points. He has to have 5.0 by January to go to the first grade Ice Cream social! It gets harder as you get older, case in point, Sophie has 80 points. Leader in her class!!!

Soph's turn

I just realized I never updated about sophie's turn at the allergist

Everything was pretty much as we thought, dust trees, cats, dogs. Anything you can think of. The shocker however was her nut allergy is still there! We really though it was gone. She is allergic to peanuts and all tree nuts. It was strong enough that the doc has now given her and epi pen. I have one in my purse, we have one in the house, and the school has one as well. That is a new and scary thing we'll have to get used to.

He is also concerned about her asthma, that is will turn into something more than seasonal. Her lung compacity was only I think 83%.  Her adenoids are also a concern now. She snores like a freight train. Worse than her daddy. So he put her on nasonex. we take it every night. That has really helped. Brett says she is not snoring anymore. So hopefully this will help us avoid surgery. She is also way less stuffy. She goes back December 12th to get a new check on her lungs and adenoids. I really wish now I would have gotten all this done years ago. 

That is where we stand now, and I'll post again after the 12th.

Milk doesn't always do a body good!

Or Beef, what's not for dinner!

I couldn't decide on either clever title. LOL  SO last week we figured out that Jake is lactose intolerant. Which lead me to want him get allergy tested incase we were missing anything else. We went this morning, and the boy is also allergic to beef. Well the protein in the beef, which is also found in the milk. Let me just say, that since we took him off lactose, this kid as been 100% better about everything. I did a ton of research on it, and found that the sugar from the lactose can also cause focusing problems. Pair that with the fact he just plain wasn't feeling good, you had a none focused whiney unhappy kid!!! His school work was never awful, infact he is an awesome student. BUT now he's getting things done much faster. He is the top of his class in math, but was always the last to finish his work. Now his teacher said he is the first done, and his paper is always right!! Last monday, we sat and went through EVERY toy in his room. Tossed about 3 trash bags full of them. And he helped me every bit of the way! He would just SIT in there before for HOURS when asked to clean his room. There was not one tear shed, no fights it was fabulous! Plus it has stayed picked up since then!!!! I can't get over all this because he was drinking milk! We have found a great lactose free milk that he loves, so he's not totally deprived! However it is hard to get. We went to 2 different kroger's yesterday and both were out! So if anyone sees Horizon lactose free milk in bulk, let me know! He is also allergic to every tree, pollen dust mites, weed, grass, hay, Dogs, Cats. Basically any shedding animal. The doc also thinks that he will end up having seasonal asthma just like Sophie. He was put on an inhaler for football season and did a lot better with it.

Friday is Sophie's turn. I should have had her tested years ago, but never wanted to put either kid through the pain. 

Happy 1st Birthday Charlie

Today is Charlie Bucket's 1st Birthday! Overall he's been a pretty great dog. Although he has issues with socks, and love's people a little too much. Anyone who comes in our door must go through Charlie first. He hates kids on bikes. Barks forever at them. He thinks he's bigger than he really is, and thinks he can guard this house from anything. Charlie loves to play fetch, and tug of war. He also can be very sweet, will snuggle in morning, prior to making you get out of bed to let him out side. He loves the kids, and get soooo excited when we get home. Even if I've only been gone 5 minutes to take the kids to school. Here is Charlie over the past year, see how much he has changed!

Charlie's picture from the Breeder's website!

His first day home

Charlie's First snow!

One of Charlie's Favorite things to do, irritate Sheba

Seeing the kids off on the first day of school!

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/dsjmeadors/IMG_5460.jpg[/IMG]

Charlie this morning with that same webkinz that was bigger than him!

Friday Night at school we had a silent auction, and I won an in home obedience training class. So Hopefully we can get that greeting at the door under control!

KYPOST.COM

http://www.kypost.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=d0faab6e-7b1d-4dbc-b637-99e2b2328253

Just had to share as well, how into the election sophie was. She DID NOT want to go to bed. She had her chart all filled out. We let her stay up until 10, although she was dying to see who won CA. We tried to explain how blue that state is. She eventually went to bed, a very unhappy girl. Only 2 people in our house went to bed happy last night!

We voted!!!

Did you?

Kids Vote 2008

Ask her who she voted for, she'll tell you and why, and then talk your ear off about it!

Jake's Turn

FIRST TIME VOTER!

All done!

Walked in for a trim

Walked out, without roughly 5 inches of hair!

I've been saying since mid August, that as soon as cheerfest was over we were cutting her hair. She did not want it at all. Today since there was no school, we went in for at least a trim. They took off about an inch or so. We get in the car, and she is being all pouty, so I press her why. She says now she really wanted it shorter!!! So back in we go, and came out with this cut! I'm not happy with the quality of the cut, but like the style. Next time I'll make sure she comes with me to my stylist! She looks so much older now doesn't she?

Cheerfest Video

Sorry its not very clear, once we compressed it, it blurred

2008 CHEERFEST CHAMPS! GO BLACK HAWKS

There are just too many pictures to post here so I did a slide show! All the girls did FANTASTIC! And as soon as I get the video off the camera I'll put that up as well. 

Soph did GREAT going to be last night, as we had to be up at 5:45am. Limo's were waiting for us at the walmart parking lot to take them to Ryle. We were the first squad to perform in our division at 8:40am. Awards were not held until 12:30 pm. It was a very long long day but really exciting!

Halloween party!

Our Good friend Wendi Hicks hosted a great party for the kids. There was food, candy, scavanger hunts and pinatas. A great time was had by all!

The kids on the way to the party. Sophie was a midnight fairy, and Jake was a ninja. Although that is not his actual costume

Jake's turn at the pinata. That is a good looking pinata, isn't. Hand made here at the Meador's house!

Kids always go crazy for the candy.

Group shot.

Jake and Caleb ( Wendi's youngest) chillin by the fire. Jake adores Caleb. 

Jake and Alyssa roasting marshmallows. By this point, I have no clue where Soph is. She was off playing with the older girls. 

Thanks again Wendi for a fun time had by all!

Could NOT post this!

Last weekend after the superbowl, there was a large Blackhawk Field Party. Another team members family owns, I would say roughly 15 acres about as far out in Boone County as you can get. It is just beautiful. So they threw up a big bon fire, complete with "fancy" outhouses. Well, someone drove their car back so all the kids could dance! Lacey Jeanne is a HOOT. She hopped up on the trunk, and was shakin her groove thing. I only took 15 seconds of video, but she went on for about an hour. This 15 seconds doesn't even show half of her dancing, but it is still funny!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

A great dad and grandpa deserves a fantastic day! Hope you enjoy it!

Artsonia

Our school's art teacher has invested in a new learning program called Artsonia. It allows her to upload the kids art work on to a website. They can look at other schools and learn from other kids this way. It really is a neat little program.  Sophie finally got her first piece uploaded yesterday. Take a look, and leave a comment. She gets a little award if 5 or more comments are left.

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=3785079

If that link doesn't take you to her site, her id is Sophie551

Happy Birthday!

Today, (if I'm doing my math right) you would have been 60.   That is crazy to me. I don't think anyone realizes how much I miss you. How hard the last 11 years have been. Although many new people have come into my life, no one replaces you.  There are 2 kids who are missing their grandma. They do however have a great stand in with Jackie. She treats them like they are her own 2 grandbabies. I know that you would have spoiled them, and spent every second you could have with them. Just like you did with Danielle and Dylan. And the short time you had with Logan and Nikki. Crazy that there are 5 grandkids you never met.  Our family is just not the same in the past 11 years, but we are all doing the best we can. We miss you!! 

Playoff Round 1 vs Bearcats

Playoffs for the starter bowl were on Sunday. Blackhawks won 28 to 0 WAY TO GO HAWKS!