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Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
CONNECT in Hungary & Croatia
So while Jody and I lounged on the beach in Croatia, the boys got to spend a whole week with Nonie and Papa at CONNECT in Sopron, Hungary. I asked the boys if they missed us and both said "not really", which is good because Jody & I really didn't miss the guys. Either we are a really "healthy" family or not..... :o) Anyway, I think it was a very special time for both Zane and Tab. They made new friends from all over the world and are looking forward to visiting a few of them later in the year. One of the highlights was getting to be with Nonie and Papa all week long. They gave the boys a lot of freedom and I think they both responded well. They both appreciated Nonie reading to them every night before bed. They had a blast swimming, going to Kid's Club, playing at the park, feeding the Koi fish and playing Runescape. CONNECT is just that...a time to "connect" with people who work with CAI, mom and dad's organization. The organization was celebrating 40 years. Congratulations Hud & Nancy.
A Blessed Time with Melissa
It was so much fun to have Melissa and Riley come for a visit....especially since the dollar is so bad. We had a great time. It was fun to see Riley growing up so beautifully and getting to visit with my sweet Mel. Mel and I had some great conversations late into the night. (Ok, maybe not that late into the night, but late for me.) We learned that we have a mutual friend, Caryn B. and even gave her a call to catch up. So much fun. The biggest blessing in talking with Melissa was that she had some great input into the lives of Zane and Tab. You know how sometimes God is just hanging out up there on his throne waiting for a special day and time that He ordained before the world began? I can just see Him smiling and tapping his hands together saying, "Oh boy, here it comes...I can't wait to see there faces!" It truly was one of those moments for Jody and I. I don't mean to go on, but I'm going to anyway, so if you need to skip ahead then feel free. I've known Mel now since about 1996. She's one of those people that you are grateful to count as one of your friend's....a true friend. One that really wants to know you and be known by you. Guy and her are terrific. Anyway, at my request, she took a look at Zane's writing folder from school. (She's a 3rd grade teacher.) She had some great insight, asked some questions and then hopped on line. Guy is a counslor and she hollered at him for some input with the guys. We started a journey with 2 weeks of school left to locate an educational diagnostician to do some tests on Zane and Tab. Yes, they've been through testing before, but this kind of testing would combine intellectual, visual and hearing testing. A full battery of stuff to help us see some of the boys unique learning styles. Both Zane and Tab have struggled somewhat in school from the get-go. After spending some time looking for some help in Germany (which, sadly we were unable to locate) we turned our focus to the states. In Colorado we located the GDC, Gifted Development Center, The Able Kids Foundation & Lynn Hellerstein and Beth Fishman. OHMYGOSH what an exciting time. We quickly made appointments for the short time we'd be in Colorado for our home visit. All of the people we were in contact with worked quickly to see us and help us out. What we walked away with after 3 weeks was an unbelievable amount of information and HOPE! The boys were willing, patient, and true champions with all of the testing that took place. I think they are just as excited about the out come as Jody and I are. Jody and I are reading like crazy to educate ourselves to help our fellows at home and at school. So you are probably wondering about the outcome, huh? Well so are we. This is just one part in the journey, but it's an important one. It will be interesting to see how the school year progresses. Both boys have been "labeled" Twice Exceptional. This is an unfamiliar term, but one we are learning more about. It's where the boys have very high IQ's, but most of their scores are "depressed" because of learning disablities and vision and hearing processing problems. Sometimes I feel like a bad parent, but I'm realizing that I've done the best I could up to this point. Lynn H. said "don't look back, the future is wide open for these boys." I think that this is good advice. Both boys are wearing "hearing filters" in their left ears. Neither of them have balked at wearing them. I haven't had to remind them to put them in...amazing. These filters are amazing. They "filter" out the high frequency noises so that they can more readily focus on what a person is saying. This will help tremendously in the classroom to cut out pencil tapping, paper rustling, whispering, fan and computer noise, etc. They are both right-hemisphere brain learners (most of the world learns with the left-hemisphere.) Through Lynn H. we have located the ONE Vision Therapist in all of Germany, trained by none other than Lynn H. herself. We meet with her next week to begin a year process of Vision Therapy. I consider this to be a miracle in and of itself seeing that Heike Schuhmacher is only an hour and ten minutes north of us and that she has a year long waiting list. Thanks, God. I won't go into all that VT entails, but needless to say this will be a difficult year for Zane especially because his eyes are so much more involved (Amblyopia in the left eye that wasn't caught early enough). If you think about Zane and Tab this year...PLEASE PRAY....for strength, self-confidence, and the ability to see and make progress. We are incredibly grateful and excited. There is always more to tell and if you need more info, email me and I'll give you all the "low-down" details. Thanks Melissa for being here just at the right time!!!!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Mom & Pop's Birthday Visit
Jody turned 40 this year....Mom and Pop were able to visit after being in Portugal. Perfect timing. While they were here we went to see the Rembrandt Exhibit at the Schwetzingen Schloss. It was a rainy day and we were the only one's in there. The collection of Rembrandt's work included pen and ink drawings. Simply magnificient. The next day we drove down to Dachau. It was the first concentration camp of its kind in Germany. When people asked us what we were doing while they were visiting and we said that we were going to visit Dachau. Their response was almost always, "why would you do that?" Very interesting. I personally feel sad for the contemporary German culture in that I think they feel shame when it's not their job too anymore. Apparently, all German schools have written into their curriculum that the kids (High School) visit a concentration camp. It's a good thing and we were inundated by many school age kids. (I don't think they were able to actually grasp how deeply meaningful the exhibit was.) Mom didn't feel good at all that day. I wonder how much was internal and how much was emotional. It was a very good learning opportunity. Maybe at the end of our visit here we'll be able to expose Zane and Tab...not yet, not yet.
Easter Break 2008
Heidelberg International School LOVES breaks. We love that they love breaks. It gives us a chance to check out, travel and see the European world around us. Jody up to this point, has been extremely busy with work, but gave us his blessing and let us make some short trips. He was missed very much, but we really had a great time. I think we will eventually go back to these locations so that he'll have the opportunity to visit them as well.
Our first visit was to Amsterdam. Our friend's the Graf's were gracious enough to host us. We had such a GREAT time hanging out with them in the evenings at their incredibly neato house. They fed us and made us feel comfortable. The boys were sad that Kelton and Branson had school and that they had to site-see with me. :o) Each night however, the boys had a blast rough-housing, having gross farting competions and basically laughing alot. It was so good to see them having such a great time. During the day we got to visit Anne Frank's house, The Van Gogh Museum, and the I AM-sterdam sign. We rode the tram all over town...(thanks Chelsea & Sydney for all of your help). At one point I told the boys to keep their eyes open for tourist shops so that we could buy patches for their jackets. (They are collecting them at all the different places that they have visited.) Zane spotted a shop by the tram and as we approached it, I noticed that it had many rainbow flags and crude things. I was attempting to steer the boys away when Zane noticed a huge black and white photo on the outside of the building. He said, "Hey mom, look at those two men...their tongues are stuck together." YIKES! I promptly redirected his view and said we'd have to find patches elsewhere. Oh sweet innocence!!!!! The next day on our way out of town we went to Haarlem, where we got to take the Corrie ten Boom tour. We were the only one's to show up. It was very neat. What a lady...what a testimony.
The following weekend was Easter. Jody was able to join us for a trip to Lucerne, Switzerland. We stayed at the Waldersee Hotel right by the train station. We were able to ski at the nearby Titel Ski Resort on Eisenberg Mountain. The first day was beautiful. The Swiss Alps are beautiful...different beautiful. Being used to the Colorado Rockies, Jody and I decided that the mountain ranges should trade names. It's very rocky in the Alps. We've also decided that I shouldn't be allowed to ski with the guys on the first day...ever...never...ever. It seems I slow everyone down. I keep thinking I'll like it more, but I never do. I seem to have a very short term memory problem. Anyway, the guys had a blast and the second day, (when I graciously said that I'd let them do their own thing) and I'd go snow-shoeing with Lolli. Simply beautiful. The last day we visited the town of Lucerne. Their was much to see. Old bridges. A beautiful carving of a lion, right into the mountain to honor a martyr or something like that. (Ask Jody, he knows all the historical details.) It was great.
The last weekend of the break we travelled to Prague in the Czech Republic. Some of our friends, Greg, Rachel, and Bayley went with us. They stayed in a hotel, while we stayed with our new friends Craig, Sarah & Isaiah. What a blast. Rachel and I ran in the Prague Half Marathon. It was truly the best way to visit and site-see all over the town. It was windy, but other than that...a lovely day. We had so much fun. Prague was beautiful but seemed a little sad to me. We stopped by a Czech Beer Company on the way home. Beer, beer and more beer. Unbelievable!
Our first visit was to Amsterdam. Our friend's the Graf's were gracious enough to host us. We had such a GREAT time hanging out with them in the evenings at their incredibly neato house. They fed us and made us feel comfortable. The boys were sad that Kelton and Branson had school and that they had to site-see with me. :o) Each night however, the boys had a blast rough-housing, having gross farting competions and basically laughing alot. It was so good to see them having such a great time. During the day we got to visit Anne Frank's house, The Van Gogh Museum, and the I AM-sterdam sign. We rode the tram all over town...(thanks Chelsea & Sydney for all of your help). At one point I told the boys to keep their eyes open for tourist shops so that we could buy patches for their jackets. (They are collecting them at all the different places that they have visited.) Zane spotted a shop by the tram and as we approached it, I noticed that it had many rainbow flags and crude things. I was attempting to steer the boys away when Zane noticed a huge black and white photo on the outside of the building. He said, "Hey mom, look at those two men...their tongues are stuck together." YIKES! I promptly redirected his view and said we'd have to find patches elsewhere. Oh sweet innocence!!!!! The next day on our way out of town we went to Haarlem, where we got to take the Corrie ten Boom tour. We were the only one's to show up. It was very neat. What a lady...what a testimony.
The following weekend was Easter. Jody was able to join us for a trip to Lucerne, Switzerland. We stayed at the Waldersee Hotel right by the train station. We were able to ski at the nearby Titel Ski Resort on Eisenberg Mountain. The first day was beautiful. The Swiss Alps are beautiful...different beautiful. Being used to the Colorado Rockies, Jody and I decided that the mountain ranges should trade names. It's very rocky in the Alps. We've also decided that I shouldn't be allowed to ski with the guys on the first day...ever...never...ever. It seems I slow everyone down. I keep thinking I'll like it more, but I never do. I seem to have a very short term memory problem. Anyway, the guys had a blast and the second day, (when I graciously said that I'd let them do their own thing) and I'd go snow-shoeing with Lolli. Simply beautiful. The last day we visited the town of Lucerne. Their was much to see. Old bridges. A beautiful carving of a lion, right into the mountain to honor a martyr or something like that. (Ask Jody, he knows all the historical details.) It was great.
The last weekend of the break we travelled to Prague in the Czech Republic. Some of our friends, Greg, Rachel, and Bayley went with us. They stayed in a hotel, while we stayed with our new friends Craig, Sarah & Isaiah. What a blast. Rachel and I ran in the Prague Half Marathon. It was truly the best way to visit and site-see all over the town. It was windy, but other than that...a lovely day. We had so much fun. Prague was beautiful but seemed a little sad to me. We stopped by a Czech Beer Company on the way home. Beer, beer and more beer. Unbelievable!
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