too funny

Picture catch up #2

picture catch up part one: the boys and a cute family picture

more to come!

I know it's Thanksgiving. I know we've had Halloween, Tyler's birthday, a concert or two, the cutest little Thanksgiving performance known to preschool and 6th grade camp. I know I should just take time to download those pictures instead of watching "Lie to me" (new fav. show on netflix) or Dancing with the Stars. I haven't even had a chance (or let's be honest) taken the chance to look over all of Spencer's pictures from camp. In my defense there are thousands!!! My excuse today is that I have to get 5 people and one dog ready and out the door in 3 hours. Tomorrow will be another excuse, but I promise it will get done!

I know you are on the edge of your seats.

The world of Dereth

Have you ever googled your name? I have. I googled "Dereth" after a tip 7 or so years ago from a young, very excited, I suspect extremely computer literate DMV photographer who wanted my autograph and photo. After leaving the DMV a little scared of the young man I googled it. The search came up with all sorts of interesting site names and articles:

The Dereth Museum

About Dereth

Crossroads of Dereth

The Dereth Conservancy

Dereth Cartography

derethguard.com

Rangers of Dereth

Pirates of Dereth

Dereth on Twitter

Dereth and general maps

Dereth Exploration

The clan of Dereth

The wars of Dereth

So, weird right? Well, it is unless you know about the alternate online universe where I assume one of the world's is "Dereth". I don't know the details of how it all works having never actually clicked on any of the websites. I just thought it was cool that my little unusual name has reached new heights of fame and familiarity.

Sammie is Awesome!

Sammie got straight A's on her report card! I went in for her parent teacher conference today and the teacher absolutely gushed about how great a student Sammie is and how nice she is to everyone and specifically how great a writer she is. We are so proud of her. She is an amazing daughter and a wonderful student. I've posted a few things that she's written before and here's her latest narrative. The assignment was to write about a moment in time.

The Day I Got My Scar

By Sammie Atkins

Tyler ran out of the room first. He's the one who saw the pile of shoes and coats. I on the other hand, didn't.

Bam! Blood everywhere! I had just hit the corner of a wall! I couldn't see anything as if I were blind. I could feel the blood gushing down my face. The pinching pain of layers of skin being split apart. AW! What's going on!? What's all this stuff dripping down my face? That's what I was thinking. My dad saw what happened. I could hear him rushing toward me to help.

He lead me to the kitchen so he could call the ambulance. Next thing I knew I had a bundle of paper towels on my head. My dad said "Keep this on your head to stop the bleeding." I did exactly as I was told. "Do it as hard as you can OK?" He said with gleaming eyes. I shook my head yes.

He held me against his chest as hard as he could while talking on the phone. "I HAVE TO BREATHE!" I said. "Ok" said Dad. I was so scared! After he was done with the phone he lead me to the living room and put me in a chair.

The ambulance came in about 1 or 2 minutes. I was amazed at how fast they came. Two men walked through the door wearing uniforms and carrying cases. Then they walked toward me to help. They did a quick check of my head, talked to my dad about a few things, and helped me walk to the ambulance.

When we arrived at St. John's hospital they used that roller thing that I laid down on to get me inside. I was thinking: "Did you know that I'm afraid of heights?" Apparently, they didn't know.

I got almost 200 hundred stitches and that's how I got my scar.

update

A few things to update-

1- Spencer is surviving his many tests. So far just blood draws and an EEG (which is a huge deal that I had no idea how huge it was- he's such a trooper). Up to come is the MRI and Ultrasound of his heart.

2- Tyler is doing great at school. He's already met 2 of his IEP goals and it's only been a month! What a kid. We've been able to decrease his minutes of language therapy from 90 minutes a week to 60 minutes a week. He's doing great with going to two schools as well. He loves his "school bus school" and his "Good Shepherd" school.

3- Sammie is enjoying playing the string bass. She got a 100% on her math test last week! She was so proud I thought she would ask us to frame it! :)

hmm... what else... oh

We have begun the halloween costume hunt/decision making process. Tyler and Spencer are decided, but Sammie as usual is having a hard time figuring out what she wants to be. She thinks she will be an ice cream cone, but Mary Poppins, a coconut and a monkey are still contenders... not sure about that coconut. How will people know she isn't a rock with hair?

Tyler's going to be a motorcycle guy and Spencer will either be Sponge Bob for the 4th year in a row or a karate kid. He can choose the day of if he wants since he owns both! Thomas and I will go as ourselves again this year- boring I know.

I guess that's it for now. We appreciate all of your prayers and thoughts. We are doing fine, stressed at times, tired most of the time, but overall feeling good and look forward to getting some answers about Spencer.