Christmas comes but once a year

This one will fill our hearts and linger there. What a wonderful Christmas! On Christmas eve we went out to visit a new friend for a while and when we returned Santa had come. We quickly snuck our children off to bed so they would not notice until the morning and then we marveled at the beauty of it all.

There were dozens of beautifully wrapped presents under the tree. The most beautiful rocking horse ever, and my freezer had been filled with gluten free delights to last for months to come.

Walking in to a scene like that can't help but take your breath away. We set out the few things that we had to add, and went to bed. Or at least Steve did. It was so beautiful that I couldn't sleep. I tip toed out to the living room for some time to think and pray (an cuddle with that amazing rocking horse.)

The kids were very grateful for all they had been blessed with. My only sadness of the whole day? I'm too big for the rocking horse of my dreams.

November Newsletter

Here we are writing another Family news letter, as I try to think of what to say I am amazed at how fast the last two months have gone. In the month of October we got the chance to farm our kids out to various family and ward members and go on a stake temple trip. It was nice to go without the kids and nice to be able to go to the temple together, as this does not happen very often. Living as far away from the temple as we do we still seem to be able to get the chance to go every few months.

We have also pulled Brokton out of School. Chantelle has been working with him to make sure that he has the tools he needs to learn in the best environment possible; she has also started Evelyn on a schooling program as well. Both of our kids are doing very well with learning at home and in a real every day environment. Brokton has been excelling in reading, he is learning about five new words a day. Lately, if he finds a new word and does not really know what it means, he will go to the dictionary and look it up. Then he will ask someone to read it to him and tell him what it means. Evelyn has been working on her Number and letter recognition, as well as understanding how they sound. Evelyn has been doing very well with her math work sheets, she loves to do math; she is definitely a numbers kind of person. At the end of October we took Evelyn in for an Evaluation at the Department of Children with special health care needs. We took Evelyn in to have her tested for her IQ as well as to see if she may have any problems with attention (she could not pay attention to save her life.) She also is unable to look you in the eyes when you are talking to her; we have to hold her chin in order for her to look at you and even then it's difficult. We went in a few days ago for the results of the testing, we were told that she has an IQ of 143 and is a very smart little girl who just has "Disruptive behavioral disorder not otherwise specified". This is basically a wastebasket diagnosis they give people so they don't have to look hard enough to find the problem. So basically they really did not help us in any way and just wasted our time. We have an appointment on the 12th of December to have a real psychologists who already works with Brokton do an evaluation.

Jenai is still growing in her imagination. Lately she has been pretending to be her cousins. She gets a cute little look on her face and curls up her lip. Then if you call her by the wrong name she will correct you. This has been fun for us to watch.

At the end of September Steven got a speeding ticket on the freeway, he was going 72 mph in a 50 mph zone. In November he had to go to court for this Ticket, the ticket will cost us $1232.00 he was only Fined $110.00 for the speeding portion of the ticket, $72.00 for Court Costs and $1050.00 for what Virginia is calling a "Civil remedial fee". This new remedial fee is a new law that passed in July and is still being thrown around in the courts, but in till a higher judge rules against it then law it is.

Our Thanksgiving this year was pretty quiet, we went over to Chantelle's Brother's house, we made our traditional rice meat dish and also all of the usual thanksgiving dishes.

We would attach pictures but can't seem to find our camera. So any prayers to find our camera would help as Christmas is fast approaching. That's about it for us here hope all is well there.

Home schooling freedom

Ahhhhh I smell the freedom of being able to teach my children the way God wants me to. Imagine being able to call morning devotional "school". Imagine having a time each day when you can ground your family in the lord. For me I no longer have to imagine it.



We have had such a wonderful turn around in our home since we began home schooling. Before homeschool we would have at least one meltdown from Brokton in the morning before the bus. Then after school at 2:30 we'd have 4 to 5 meltdowns until we finally put him to bed at 6:30 or 7. That was a good day. On the bad days, meltdowns were counted by the minutes.

Now we have 2 to 3 meltdowns in the whole day from morning to night. Brokton actually came to me a week into homeschooling and said "Mama I want to read to you." He was able to read me a book "The Birthday Car." His reading has picked up a lot. He is doing well with our family and loving life again.

I have to say that I can see how God really works on your heart to do the right thing. Last spring I started looking at homeschooling materials for Evelyn who is still a year away from "official" kindergarten. I kept wishing that I could do something more for Brokton for school but felt incapable. When things started to go awry with the school I really started to pray to know the right thing for my family. I began to feel prompted that if God wanted me to home school Brokton that he would make me able to do it. Just days before we pulled Brokton out we had made a tentative plan for Brokton to be home schooled starting next year. Then the day I pulled him out I just felt I should go to the school to check on him and a series of event unfolded and I pulled him out. I am grateful that I did because later I found out some more information about the teacher from Brokton. I am so glad that I listened to the Lord and went to the school and got my son before more damage was done.

Home Schooling

We Have Made the step to home school our children; it is something that has been a long time coming. There have been a lot of things that have led us to this decision. First off we are just tired of not knowing how Brokton's day has gone at school, sometimes he just does not have the capability to tell us everything that has happened in his day. We have not been getting very good communication from the school on how things are going and what changes that they plan on making for testing that they feel they need to do. When the school year started, and even before then they were already trying to be sneaky about things, we had found out after a few days that they were mainstreaming Brokton with other classes without even consulting us. We went to the school to find out why this was happening, we were told by the principal that he did not know why he was being main streamed & that we would have to talk to the teacher. I came home & called the teacher, and you guessed it she claimed she did not know why that was happening ether and that we would have to talk to the principal. I spoke with the teacher & told her he was just told that she knew why, her story quickly changed and we were then being told that the IEP did not specify anything about him not being allowed to be main streamed. After going round and round for two weeks we finally got an IEP meeting setup, we laid out all of the rules for Brokton, we thought by doing this that it would force them to comply, apparently it doesn't.
The last and final straw happened on Friday October 19h Chantelle was driving by the school and felt that she needed to check on Brokton as he had a hard morning before school. She went into the school signed in like we always do; she then went to the class room. Chantelle walked into the room and was given a most unwelcome glare from the teacher. Chantelle tried not to let Brokton to see her but he did. Chantelle went over to him and was told by the teacher that he was doing seat work and that it HAD to be done alone, that is the point of seat work. Chantelle then left the class and saw Brokton's old teacher and was invited into her class to say hello. After Chantelle left the class room she saw Mrs. Abnet Brokton's current teacher in the office talking to the Vice Principle, she was then called into her office and was told that she is not allowed to go into the class without talking to the VP first as it is to distracting to everyone else. Chantelle stated that she understood that the class needed to have little disruption, but if the school to trying to tell her she is not allowed to see her child when she feels the need to then she will just have to home school him and he would not be coming back. The VP continued to harp on her point and then brought up that Chantelle had gone to see Brokton's old teacher. The was the final straw. We pulled him out and just decided to be done with it for good. Later after this whole thing was done, Brokton said he didn't want to go back to school (he has said that a lot this year.) He said that he did not want to go back to Mrs. Abnet because a few days ago she told him to sit down do his work grow up and stop being a baby. We knew at that point that we had done the right thing, and that Chantelle was guided to take him out of school in order to prevent any further abuse by this wonderful school system that our children are growing up in; it's certainly far worse than when we were in school that's for sure.

------Steve------


A mom's commentary:

You really have to wonder what the school system is coming to when they have lost all decency. A week and a half before school we tried to find out which teacher Brokton had and the Prin. and VP looked at me in the face and said they couldn't tell me because it wouldn't be fair to the other students who had to wait for the letters to come out all the while knowing full well who the teacher was! Then two months later look at you in the face and tell you that because your child has a special need that you have to get special permission to visit the class. SO let me get this straight I have to accommodate them but they don't have to accommodate me???????!?!?!!? In the words of Wil-E-Coyote @#%$% $^%^&# $%@#!

Harris Family October News Letter

This seems to have been a very long two months, but at the same time the summer has gone by so fast. In the last two months we have done a great many things, & been many places. Let's start off with the places first. At the end of August into September we took our yearly scheduled family vacation. This year we took a trip to Florida to Disney World. When we arrived in Florida after traveling all night, we went to Josette's house ( Chantelle's sister who moved to Dunedin this summer.) We left the kids with her for 2 NIGHTS while we went to Disney World without kids!!! We had a lot of fun; it gave us a chance to remember why we got married, and why we enjoy spending so much time together. After our day at Disney World we took the next day and spent it at the Orlando temple, this was the first time in about a year and a half that we have been to the temple together. It was very nice to be able to go as a couple again.

After our two days of being free of kids, we went back to the kids talk about a fast way to raise your blood pressure. It took about a day to acclimate to the higher blood pressure for both of us. We spent Wednesday and Friday with the kids at The Magic Kingdom. Brokton, Evelyn & Jenai loved Disney World, especially the parts with Mickey Mouse. We took the kids on most every ride surprisingly enough their favorite ride was Space Mountain, Steven had met another parent who has an Autistic son & he said it's a sensory thing; the kids like the feeling of going fast. Disney World was also very accommodating with all of our children's Dietary needs, they were able to provide Gluten free Pizza, Hot dog and hamburger buns even dinner rolls!!! For once we felt like we were all eating just the same as everyone else. They were also great about people with special needs. We got a "guest assistance card" which allowed us to go in through the handicap entrance and get to the front of the line quickly. This greatly decreased the stress we would have felt if we had to wait in line with Mr. I can't wait, and Ms. Talkative. Brokton tried to convince Chantelle that he didn't need the card so we waited in line to see Ariel without using the card. He wasn't even in the line most the time he was playing nearby but he was still on the verge of a meltdown at the idea of waiting in the line with all the people around him. So he decided that the card was a good thing after all. While we were there it was very hot & very humid even more so than it is in Virginia, we also could plan on a daily basis that it would rain at least once. We all came home very tired, but very well rested as the vacation was needed by all.

We soon got Brokton back in School, However we were Surprised to find that his teacher had changed and that he was being main streamed into other classes. It was a very long first two weeks of school, each day finding out newer things that they had decided to change. Steven finally went in and spoke to the principle to find out why he was being main streamed; he only found that the Principle was pointing the finger at the teacher. Steven came home and called the teacher who then began to try to blame the principle, he then pointed out that the principle had blamed her. The story soon then came out about how they felt it was best for him and he didn't have any "educational goals" in his IEP so they thought it would be okay. She was just lucky that Chantelle wasn't talking to her because she would have gotten a piece of her mind right then and there. In the coming weeks we met with the teacher & had an I.E.P meeting and set some new goals & also specified how much time he was allowed to main stream into the other classes. We have tossed the idea back & forth of just having all of our children be home schooled, the system is getting so political & hard to work through that you almost do not have any control over what they do with your own children. The jury is still out on the whole home school thing.

In the past we have been talking about adoption, we have always wanted to have just one more Child, we feel like having a family of six would be the perfect number! We have put in our papers to start the process of adopting a baby through LDS social services. We are very excited that we may have the Chance to add someone new to our family.

In the past months since school has started Chantelle has been teaching Seminary for our local ward and an adjoining ward, except for the early morning part of it she is having a good time. She is really loving the chance to get in and study more about the Old Testament and more about where her ancestors came from. Steven is still working hard and getting ready for the busy retail season, he will be going into Vacation lock down on November 17th all the way till after the New Year. He will also be going into a six day work week as well, hopefully with the flexibility of his current position it will not be too demanding on our family.

In the past few months Evelyn has been spending more time playing with Jenai, this has help Evelyn's problems with imagination, she has in the past not been able to pretend play. Jenai is great at doing so and is teaching her big sister how much fun it can be to pretend. Today she was out in the backyard with playing with the Telescope, sticking it through the hole on the patio table and playing she was on a ship. It was so cute and such a joyful thing to watch her play on her own using her imagination.

In the past three weeks we have also been attending some classes as a family on managing our anger, As Brokton gets older we have been seeing an increasing problem with his anger. The classes have been great; they have classes just for the kids and one from Mom & Dad too. The classes have really taught us a lot about looking at things in other ways and not just jumping to a conclusion about a situation with our children. This has really helped things around the house a lot more. Brokton & Steven are getting in less arguments and we are also able to help Brokton recognize his anger & channel it in different ways; even find new ways to express his anger through words and not just actions.

Hope all is well with everyone. If we have some time in between kids, seminary, anger management, and trying to file a years worth of papers sitting on the dining room table we will put together a photo show to post.

August 2007 News letter

Our family has had yet another crazy last few months, but what else is new. We recently had an opportunity to travel to New York City; Steven had training for 3 days in Orangeburg NY. Chantelle took the kids to the New York Science center in Queens. On the way there from the hotel the kids got restless so she got off the freeway and ended up at a playground in the Bronx. It was fairly nice. Basically it was a small triangle of land where 3 streets met and they put a playground there. There were city workers cleaning it when she pulled up so she decided to let the kids out to play. They had fun. She also took them to the palisades mall which is the 2nd largest mall in the world. It is several stories high and carpeted so it wasn’t too loud. We also had to have our car serviced while we were there. We got some bad gas at Shell. There was WATER in our gas. So we had to pay$400 for a service we just had done 2 months ago! We are filing a claim with shell for that one!!!! While we were there we got a chance to go to the Manhattan temple, it was very interesting to see what appeared to be an office building on the outside but a beautiful house of the Lord on the inside. While we were in NY we went to Central park (the kids got to play on a cool water playground,) the Empire State building and road the subway that was an experience in and of its self- talk about packed!

We have done some redecorating in our back yard over the last few months, we were given a wooden play set for the kids, we also moved some very large stumps into the back yard, we also put in a fire pit; this has all been very nice; as well as made for some very fun back yard parties. Steven also had his 30th Birthday last month. Chantelle had a 70’s theme surprise party for him with about 35 guests. She even made colorful curtains for the sunroom as a gift. (They were vinyl tablecloths she picked up at a store for $1 each so all he had to do was sew the top.) We had a party for Jenai, she has turned 2yrs old. Our baby is growing so fast we want to cry. Our next door neighbors sold their house; the good news is that we had a member family move in next door. (Chantelle was praying for one and here they are) They are from Ogden Utah, he is in the navy, and he shipped out for 6 months after only living in the new house for 4 days; so needless to say our two houses have pretty much become one. We spend a lot of time sharing meals babysitting & our kids get along great with her kids (girl-2 boy-4). Evelyn plays so nicely with them it is good for her to have a few little friends. Brokton is now out of Summer school, we are now trying to survive the next month before he goes back to school. Josette just moved to Florida, her husband is in the Coast Guard and got new orders, unfortunately they left quite a bit behind. I am now trying to sell two cars a jet ski and loads of other things. Steven had also applied for a new job as Manager of his own Verizon Wireless Store, he did not get the position; but we know it’s just not the right time for that now, although the District Manager did say it was real close between him & one other. We have all been staying very busy, doing all kinds of fun things.

Hope you are all well, talk to you on the next letter.

June Family News Letter

WOW


That’s about how I am going to sum up this last few months, and boy has it been crazy. Let’s see since the last news letter our family has been to Baltimore Maryland and I went by myself to Richmond Virginia all for work. (The nice thing about the various trainings that I go on the family can come too! That means lots of new experiences for all.) This is not to mention the week I was in Arizona while Chantelle was at home with the older kids and her mom was visiting.


In Baltimore Chantelle was a real trooper with the kids. She took them swimming all by herself which is a real feat when you figure that Brokton usually melts down just with anticipation of something like that. (Which by the way we have learned that has a name called anticipatory anxiety.) She also took the kids on a big adventure on a Water Taxi which is a pontoon boat that they take you around the harbor. They got to see fells point which is an area with cobblestone streets. Then she took them to the Maryland Science center which was incredible. She was able to get in for free because it is a reciprocal museum with the Air and Science Center that we belong to. The kids even got to into an area of the museum called “Grossology” which is supposed to be an additional fee. The man running it was so impressed by how polite and well mannered they were that he let them in for free!!!! Score one for us!!!!!!


The kids keep getting bigger and smarter. Brokton has now figured out how to blame his mischief on someone else. However, he didn’t try and blame his sister, he blamed two little monsters for eating all the dove chocolates, Reeses mini cups and half the ice cream. Needless to say he’s been a bit wired lately. Brokton is graduating from kindergarten and we can hardly believe it. He got an award for most improved behavior today. He had a class party and Mom shed a tear for her boy growing up.


Evelyn is really growing in her imagining and has been having pampered chef shows. She made two pennies. This is now down to one because she decided to swallow one yesterday morning. That was a pleasant way to be woken up at 6:25 with Brokton yelling that it was an emergency, “Evelyn swallowed a money.” Unfortunately I’m not so sure that she learned anything from the experience because she couldn’t even answer the question of what she SHOULD do with money. Needless to say she gets NO MONEY for a LONG time. We were finally able to get her pictures taken today (we’ve been trying since November) every time we were about to go for pictures she had a major sore break out on her mouth and they take WEEKS to clear up all the way. Chantelle curled her hair all pretty and Evelyn sat SOOOOO still. She really wanted to look all pretty and grown up. She is such a doll baby.

Jenai has been pretending with her dollies too. She always has a baby that she is feeding or singing to or pushing in her stroller. She also loves to lead us around by the hand and say “feed you” this means either she is going to feed us her pretend food or we are to feed her. WAY cute!!! She also has cute names for us. Daddy is Daddie-O Mama is Mama-No and Evelyn is Onion (which Evelyn has now proclaimed as her nick name ) Brokton sometimes sounds like Don-ton and sometimes sounds like Donkey. Take that one however you want it ! She also calls her cousin Alexia Sisi because Alexia is a harder name. Our favorite is when she prays for cute things like “bess cousins” or tonight when Chantelle said for her “help my rash not hurt” (she has a BAD diaper rash from something she ate) and she said “help rash better”.


Overall our kids are becoming more of a joy everyday, except when they’re not but aren’t they all like that??? Brokton looks forward to tossing the ball with his Daddy every day in the back yard. Evelyn looks forward to her story time and Jenai loves when she cuddles with Mama and gets sung her very own song that Mama wrote called Cuddle time.


Steve has been busy putting in the garden. He did manage to get his foot stuck in the mud about six inches up his leg and lost a shoe which he had to dig out. This of course while he was home alone with the Jenai and Evelyn. Jenai was attacking Evelyn (our guess is she wanted Evelyn to be quiet). And to top it all off the sunroom door locked so Jenai couldn’t come out which also meant he couldn’t get in! Of course being a dad he called his wifie to get help/reassurance then he handled the situation like a real trooper.


Chantelle got to model her wedding dress that Josette made her for a Stake fashion show. Steve and the kids even joined in. She is also venturing out of her comfort zone some. She entered a “American Idol” type contest at Wal-mart to sponsor a children’s hospital. She sang a song she wrote for Steven called Six in the morning. She is working on the music for it as well as some other songs. She also went beyond her comfort zone by returning to a counselor that we had met with once about Brokton that had made her feel like she was in the wrong about “Waiting for the other shoe to drop” when he was doing well. Well she put it behind her and now we have gone back and gotten some good advice. Maybe the lady was having a bad day that day.


Other than that we have been struggling with our would be buyer of our Tooele house who is currently renting. Chantelle spent the better part of the day yesterday working on it and talking to attorneys. We found an attorney who gave us a free hour and a half phone conversation. He picked through all the legal garbage and we hope to be able to move forward without any more drama.


Oh, we have also gone to a minor league baseball game the “Tides”, participated in a free fishing day where we caught 2 bite sized fish, gone to an emergency preparedness fair at church, as well as a super cool Harbor fest with some amazing sail boats, and taken out our canoe multiple times.


Hope all is well with everyone else. If you want to chat and don’t mind kid noise

just call. 757-636-1760 if we don’t answer we will call you back.


Link to view Steve family pictures http://skyalbum.com/showAlbum/77129


HUGS KISSES AND ALLTHAT STUFF