Updates :)

Wow, I haven't posted here in a loooooong while. So, here's the down low on the low down....or something.

Things have gotten a lot better with the school corp., although I'm still furious about it all. If they had done the job right, Cora's pending possible learning disability could have been caught last year. A year is a long time in the education of a little one. But, Cora is now on the list and will probably be tested sometime in February or March.

The kids are all healthy and well, but now I'm having health issues. Actually, I've had the issues for awhile but now they are getting much worse. For the past six years or so, I've had "pain in the upper body and extremities." Since it started in my wrists and since I work as an administrative assistant, the doctors all assumed Carpel Tunnel. So, I had numerous tests done. EMG's, blood work, inflammatory blood work, bone scan. Now, they are saying that it's NOT carpel tunnel. And, to make things worse, the pain is now so bad, it hurts and exhausts me to work. I have to keep working, though or we lose the car, the house, food, etc. On top of all of that, I've got some memory loss, blackouts, dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, and depression. My doctor thinks it could be either of two things: Fibromyalgia or Multiple Sclerosis. Both do not seem fun in my book. I'm trying to prepare for the worst, but I think the worst is not knowing. Until we know what it is for sure, we can't treat it. Which means, I'm in pain. All the time.

Work is stressful. We're getting busier and my boss wants me to take on more responsibility. Honestly, I think she wants me to move up and push the other guy out cuz he's a PITA. Never sure about anything, constantly makes mistakes, asks me for my opinion even though he's been doing this for about 10 or so years.

Okay, enough about me....back to the kids. :P

We took them to see Santa at the mall and my mother in law paid for pictures to be taken. Shiloh pouted the entire time cuz she didnt' want her picture to be taken. The picture is pretty funny.

Cora's school did this afterschool program where students, who volunteered, got to do two of the dances from High School Musical. Tonight was their performance. It was awesome. Ages ranged from Kindegarten to Fourth Grade. I have it on video on my camera and if I can figure out how to do it, I'll post it here.

I'm waiting for Juan to get home with Shiloh so we can plan dinner. I'm hungry. I think it's gonna be something quick--frozen pizza for us and sandwiches for the girls? We'll see.

Um---not sure what else. I'm tired. I'm hungry. That is all.

*Grrrr* I growl at the public school system.

I would just like to say that Michelle is livid. Michelle is pissed off. Michelle is ready to pull her six year old from public school, quit her job, homeschool, and then sue the South Bend School Corporation for racial discrimination. You see, last year, someone decided that because Cora is hispanic that she must be able to speak spanish. Someone decided that since she's shy and not very outspoken that she must have trouble speaking english. Someone decided, without a parent's consent, that Cora should be tested for english proficiency. We got the results in the mail over the summer. I did not read them, because, well, no one in our home knows spanish (aside from a few curse words and some numbers). I called, and got a voicemail recording in spanish. I had no clue what it said but I left my information anyway and simply stated that I wanted to know why Cora was tested for english proficiency. I got a call back and someone left me a message saying that the only reason they test children for english proficiency is if two languages are circled on their application. Funny, I only remember circling english, cuz that's all we speak in our home. Well, I decided to just drop it since, other than the fact that they tested Cora without my knowledge and pulled her from one of her classes when she was struggling as it was, the damage had already been done.

Let's fast forward to the present. Cora is struggling in class, especially with her reading. Every in class assignment she's been given, she's failed. The highest she got on any of her in class work was a 50%. The odd thing is that any work she is given to do at home, she gets 100%. I don't help her, unless there's a difficult word in the instructions that any first grader would have trouble sounding out. And yet, she gets 100%. On, literally EVERY piece of homework. My thought is that maybe Cora's not connecting with the teacher or maybe Cora has some anxiety issues during tests. I have a parent teacher conference scheduled at the end of October and even though I sent various notes to class with Cora that have gone unanswered, I figured that I would talk to her teacher then. Well, now I think I might have to bump up that talk.

Juan went to Cora's school today. He talked to her teacher. According to her, the english proficiency tests proved that Cora's thought process is in spanish. That she thinks only in spanish and that is the reason she's having problems with in class work. They are saying that because her thought process is in spanish and the teacher gives lessons in english, that Cora can't keep up because she just doesn't understand. And that we at home are helping her in spanish and that's why she gets 100% on her homework. It's quite absurd when I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH. I don't know how many ways I can say it. I don't speak spanish. I took it in high school, yes. Do I speak it on a regular basis? No. My husband knows less spanish than I do. And he's the mexican one. Take one look at me and it's obvious I'm not spanish. I'm whiter than casper and look very European.

So, now I'm pissed. And a pissed Michelle is not one you want to mess with. Someone's going to get an ear ful. Oh yes.

Fond, distant memories....

I just remembered this today when I was teasing Shiloh in the car. It's from when Cora was about three.....

We were in the car and I was teasing Cora by calling her by names of food. It started off with "chicken nugget head" to "pickle breath" and so on. It wasn't until she called me "cracker" did I realize this was not such a good idea.


Just wanted to share....

Cora's Story

Cora enlightened us with a story and I thought I'd share:

"Once upon a time, there two Shiloh's. And they used to fight all the time. And then, there was Yo-Yo. And, the Shiloh's never met a person named Yo-Yo, but they did see a person with a yo-yo. And they liked to say yo-yo. The end."


Applause, please.....:)

The Things I Love.....

I love that no matter what kind of cereal you have in the morning (Cocoa Puffs, Fruit Loops, Berry Crunch, etc.), you always call the milk in the bowl left over "chocolate milk."

Just one of the many things I love......

My daughter, the commercial....

Me: So, we got Cora's school supply list in the mail today. We should go get her stuff this weekend.

Juan: Okay. My mom said she wanted to take Cora to Old Navy and buy her some more clothes.

Me: Well, that's pointless. She'll grow out of them in a month. Let's just go to Walmart.

Cora: You know, KMart has everything you need for back to school.

Life's Little Differences

It's our differences that make this world a more interesting and brilliant place. But, what I don't get is how two children can come from the same parents, the same environment, with the same influences, and be so different. Case in point:

Cora
~Will not talk to strangers, or even look at them

Shiloh
~Loves to entertain and amuse everyone she comes in contact with.

Cora
~Loves jewelry, pink, and staying clean

Shiloh
~Likes the goth/dark color look, and although likes the jewelry, loves to get her hands dirty

Cora
~Is artistic and has her own flare

Shiloh
~Likes to color, but would rather play with her dolls (usually making
them fight like in the video games)

Cora
~Doesn't like sports

Shiloh
~Is 100% jock

Cora
~Will shy away from conflict and tell on wrong doers

Shiloh
~Will knock you out if set off and is usually the wrong doer


And that's just a few things. They are so different I can hardly believe their mine. :P But, it makes life interesting in this house, that's for sure.