Life's Treasures

Brent's teacher had told us a few months ago that she wanted to nominate Brent to be tested for the Gifted & Talented program because she really felt that he belonged in there. We went to the meeting to find out more information and then also spoke to Brent about it and he said it was fine with him so we allowed them to test him. It was 3 days worth of testing and they had mentioned that we wouldn't know anything until probably May because the committee has to review everything and they speak to all of their previous teachers as well. Well, last night we received the letter in the mail stating that Brent was accepted!!! Not to brag too much but off the top of my head I believe his scores were 96, 98 & 98. His overall testing was 96% which meant that he tested the same or higher than 96% of kids his age nationally!! I truly think the most exciting part about this whole thing was how excited Brent was when we told him. His eyes lit up and he jumped up and was truly happy. He will automatically be enrolled in pre-AP classes starting next year and basically just have more in depth projects. I know that as parents we all think are kids are smart and wonderful but I've always told my kids that no matter how well they do, it does not make them better than anyone or any smarter. Everyone has different strengths and talents and it is not for us to decide that ours are better than theirs. All I want is for them to grow up healthy and to be strong, capable adults and be their best them. You never know, Brent could decide in a few years that he is no longer interested in what he's learning the way he is now, but for right now, in this moment, I love that he truly loves to learn and is excited about his future and the endless possibilities available to him.

The weather in TX has been absolutely beautiful the last couple of weeks (when it's not raining of course) and this weekend was no exception. Friday night was the perfect time to take advantage of it so when Ivy sent a text about going to Joe T's for dinner, I was all about it. We met them and Mike and Nicole there and had SO MUCH fun. They sat us at a round table so we put all of the kids on one side and we all pow wowed on the other. At one point we realized that we were laughing more than the kids, which of course, just made us laugh a little bit more! Great food, great times, great friends...perfect night.



(Ivy and I have said since Nolan was born that him and R will get married, because truly, what could be better? Each of them will absolutely LOVE their in-laws and we would get to share grandbabies, it's perfect all the way around ;-). Anyway, we figured it would be great to go ahead and take this pic in case they decide to have their rehearsal or reception here...always planning for the future)






(As I was snapping pics, Ivy told me to look over and take a of picture of this. My sweet babies were doing this all on their own...melts my heart)


Gotta LOVE that grin!

For whatever reason Ryleigh decided to be an overachiever yesterday and lose not 1 but 2 teeth! Her top teeth have been loose since before Christmas but were hanging on for the long haul. In fact, they are both so past ready to come out that they have shifted and are starting to overlap (they started out straight and spaced out!). She also has 2 bottom teeth that are loose (on either side of her middle teeth) that she has been playing with. Anyway, she took it upon herself yesterday to mess with one of the bottom ones and lo and behold, she was able to pull it out by herself! She was very excited about this and before she went to bed she put it in a baggie. I then convinced her that her top tooth would definitely come out if she just messed with it more. It took a while but about 30 minutes later I got it to pop out. How cool to now have 2 teeth to put under her pillow! She asked if she could write the Tooth Fairy a note which ended up being more like a book. She apologized to the tooth fairy for her room being a mess and also asked her if she could tell her what she likes. On the inside she asked her if she could tell her all about her and on the back she asked if she could leave a picture of her with her wand and also if the Tooth Fairy's wand looked like hers. So funny and so sweet. I bet the Tooth Fairy had a lot of fun responding to that note ;-).

Yesterday started out as one of those days where it really hits you that you are definitely a mom and an adult and sometimes you have to deal with scary situations even though you don't know what the results are going to be. The last thing any parent ever wants is for something to be wrong with their child and it's hard when you can't just put a bandaid on something to make it better. About two years ago I came across an article about this form of cancer that children can get in their retinas. I started reading it and ended up being a hysterical mess. One of the main signs was the fact that when pictures are taken of the child, that eye will generally have a white reflection to it or always cause a red eye. The reason this scared me so bad was because Brent's right eye has ALWAYS done this in pictures. I think I can probably only come across a handful of pictures of him where there isn't some time of reflection on his right eye. Now, I normally am not the self diagnose and freak out type of person, but this really got me for some reason. I ended up taking him to an eye specialist that day and $500 later, thank God, I was told that he was ok and did NOT have cancer in his right eye but he did definitely have a lazy eye and needed glasses. Well, this wasn't anything new to me because I also have a lazy eye and had pretty much known since Brent was born that he also had it. It was just one of those things that I could see but most people don't ever notice it about him although his is worse than mine. Anyway, Brent now has glasses but hasn't been wearing them as often as he should over the last couple of months. This is partially my fault because I have 20/20 vision in my right eye and can see perfectly fine so I rarely wear my glasses and I think subconciously I just figured it was the same for him, until yesterday. When Brent woke up yesterday, his right eye was completely crossed. He could move his eye and look anywhere and follow your finger, but when he would try to look straight at you, his eye would go to the left by his nose. He had spent the night at my mom's so when he called and told me this, I tried not to freak out until I could see it for myself. Sure enough, when David brought him home, his eye just was not strong enough to stay straight. I tried not to panic and had him go grab his glasses. This helped just a tad but it was still pretty bad. The only other thing I could do was make him wear a patch. I put one on and luckily, this did the trick. As soon as that eye could no longer rely on the other, then it had to try to focus. You see the problem with a lazy eye is that it puts all of the strain on the good eye (thus the reason for the name). Glasses won't cure the vision but they help take some of the pressure off of the other eye. So my poor little guy had to wear that patch the rest of the day, along with his glasses, and this is where I couldn't have been prouder of him. Not once did he ever complain or make any type of face about having to wear that patch and be seen with it. Nor did he ever flip out about his eye being like that. He never once wondered what other people would think or say and he had a smile on his face all day long. As I spoke to him about possibly keeping him home from school the next day if it was still like that (because I was worried about him being made fun of), he just looked at me with such courage in his voice and said, "Mama, it's ok, I can go to school...I know how to stick up for myself". I told him that I knew he could but I also know that kids can say harsh things and what if someone took it too far and made him cry. He then tells me that unless it's me or Daddy getting onto him because he knows he's dissapointed us, then he rarely ever cries. After this I couldn't help but go to my bedroom and have a selfish and joyous cry. Selfish because I was so concerned over what others might say to hurt my son and so scared of what the future might hold for him, even though there are people everyday dealing with way worse than this but joyous because through it all, Brent was stronger than I could have ever been, especially at 10. The strength and spirit that he has in that incredible heart of his is such a gift and I hope he never loses sight of it. I am so thankful to God for giving me the priviledge of being his mom and pray that I am around long enough to see the amazing things he will do.