So I couple of weeks ago I posted on FB that colored recipe cards saved my life and I have decided to explain here. Two of Dallin's teachers have had a color coded system in their classes to let the kids know how their behavior is for the day. Green=good, yellow=warning and so on. Well I have finally put this in to practice at home and it has been AMAZING. I went a little further though because I wanted to encourage better behavior and not just be happy with good, so the boys can earn a purple card which means that they have done something to help me or they have been playing together well or whatever I decide is "purple card" worthy behavior. The boys really love earning their purple cards and if one of them earns it then the other wants a job to do to earn a purple card too. All it took was a piece of printer paper that I folded to make an envelope to hold their cards and they each have a set of colored recipe cards. They get to start the day on green which means good, then yellow is their warning, blue is time out and then pink is another punishment suited to the "crime" committed and of course the coveted purple card. I was feeling like I was constantly yelling with no results prior to starting this and immediately it worked to stop a lot of yelling. Dallin especially likes the feedback to know how his behavior is for the day/moment. It might just be because he is already used to it from school. I started to wonder if the boys would want more than just a purple card for the good behavior (i.e. treats, prizes), but they really seem to take pride in knowing that they are doing good and don't require anything more than just that good feeling which is such a great lesson.

Well for those of you that know about Jared's heart condition, part of his follow-up care is yearly CT scans to check up on the repair work he had done in 2007. Jared had his CT scan in March and last Friday May 14 we meet with a vascular surgeon to discuss the results. The good news is that Jared doesn't have to immediate surgery, the bad news is that he will need more surgery in 6-12 months and it will be BIG and COMPLICATED! Once he has the surgery it will probably involve a heart surgeon and vascular surgeon. Apparently Jared has some kind of undetermined condition that is causing a dissection along the entire length of his aorta and in the arteries above his heart. The easiest way to explain what it means is that the inner most layer of his aorta has pulled away from the middle muscular layer creating two pathways for blood flow. The good news is that his internal organs are receiving adequate blood flow. The bad news is that the blood flowing toward the middle muscular layer is dilating his arteries and weakening them. This dilation and weakening of the arteries leaves him susceptible to aneurysms which is life threating if they burst. Most people have an aorta 1 inch in diameter Jared's is about 2 inches. Please keep us in your prayers. The surgeon said Jared has youth on his side since when they normally do this kind of surgery it is on someone twice his age, but we are still scared and uncertain as to what the future looks like for our family.

The boys got the Jazz Bear and the Jazz player's autograph on this poster. Notice Dallin was sure to use plenty of tape to make sure it didn't fall off the wall!
This is Dallin with his teacher Mr. Davis from Silvercrest Elementary. Spencer was in Mr. Davis's class also so it was great to have him come and suppport this great cause. All the kids really love Mr. Davis, when he arrived you would have thought a rock star was at the fundraiser. Since Anna is so bald people asked me if she had shaved her head too, I just told them she is refusing to grow hair in support of Spencer! You will notice that there is a bounce house in the background. It was an amazing event. I could not believe how many businesses were willing to help by donating stuff like all the catering and items for the silent auction. The fundraiser was even on the Channel 2 news last night and they reported that the event had raised over $10,000! It was amazing to see what the people in our ward could do to help this great family.
Here are Dallin, Nathan (my little bro) and Andrew posing at home with their Team Super Spence T-shirts. Nathan and Andrew were not ready to take the plunge and shave their heads for Spencer. I am so proud of Dallin and that he put his friend before his vanity!

Here is that last pic of Dallin with hair! The boys posing with Jazz player Wesley Matthews, he was kind enough to come to the fundraiser and sign autographs for the kids. Dallin even wore his hair in a mohawk Spencer Gooch style prior to getting his head shaved.

This is the helicopter that the Jazz player and the Jazz Bear arrived in for the fundraiser. The boys didn't have the patience to wait in line for the Jazz Bear after waiting in line for the Jazz player.

Apparently all pics are posting in opposite order they are chosen. Okay so this is AFTER the baptism at the luncheon with cousins. Dallin is opening some belated birthday gifts from family.
Jared with Andrew and Dallin before the baptism.
What cute brothers.
Dallin with Uncle Spencer.

Here are pics from Dallin's friend party. The kids had fun decorating cupcakes, much easier for me too!
Dallin got a lot of new toys from his friends and had a great night celebrating with his friends.

Okay so these pics were posted totally out of order, but you get the idea this is Dallin's birthday party at home. He was a little disappointed you could tell with the gifts because nothing was really "cool" to an eight year old (clothes and books and scriptures). We knew he would get toys from the friend birthday party so we weren't too worried about him going without and really Christmas was just a month ago how many toys does one kid need?!
Anna being such a good helper!
Dallin loves getting gift cards, he even loves just having one even if it doesn't have any money on it. This one does though, courtesy of Great Grandma Gloria (my mom's mom).
The books "The 39 Clues" were recommended to us by a girl in Dallin's class at the school book fair. She loves them. I am REALLY trying to get Dallin interested in reading chapter books instead of picture books. So far not having too much luck. We are reading these at bedtime, but I am reading them to him. So far I like them we will see how he feels about them later so far it is hard to tell.

Those that know me well know that I have high expectations; for myself, my kids, how clean my home is, my cooking, the holidays, just about everything. Well having a son with ADHD, ODD, and his therapist thinks some kind of mental processing problem (along the lines of Aspberger's syndrome) has a tendency to dash and sometimes destroy these expectations leaving me feeling frustrated (read: angry) and sometimes not as kind to him as I should be (read: yells A LOT). ADHD impacts every interaction you have with your child from the moment they get up or won't get up, to getting dressed for school or won't get dressed for school, eating breakfast, brushing teeth or not brushing teeth to finding their backpack and homework or ... well you get the idea. It impacts every interaction your child has with other children at school, sometimes these are not as good as they could be. Because of this I have often had a mental pity party (read: more than I should have) for myself when I see the way I "expected" things to be for me with other mothers and children. I also feel bad for Dallin when I see other kids having friendships that are how I "expected" things to be for my kids as they got older and had friends. Well my perspective on how things are "expected" to go has changed this month because of a friend of Dallin's at church and school that was diagnosed with a brain tumor and began chemotherapy yesterday at the tender age of 7. This family in our ward is going through something I am sure they never "expected" to happen to their son Spencer and yet they are handling it in the most amazing way. Holly, Spencer's mom even has the time and energy to blog about their journey through this experience. How she finds the time and emotional energy (she has two other kids) to be a mom, be up at Primary Children's with Spencer, be a wife and find time to do all the other things that life requires of us is beyond me. When Jared went through his heart surgery I felt like I was walking through a thick fog most of the time so how she can think clearly enough to write about and take pictures to document this is beyond me. I am posting a link on my blog to hers if you would like to follow along. Caution you will need tissues. LOTS!

Well these pics posted in the opposite order. Above is the end of her cupcake. She was so upset when it fell apart she wouldn't eat any more. She was so dainty eating it she is the only one of my kids that didn't required a bath after their first birthday.

Anna got this cute little stroller from Uncle Spencer, Aunt Tawny and Uncle Mike and Aunt Stephanie. She loves to push it around. So do the boys. As you can see above the baby doll has not been behaving.

Jared and Dallin enjoying some Rockband time together Christmas morning. Jared wants to be a drummer so bad, but the boys always want to drum too.
The boys opening their Wii.
Anna and her new pink shoes. I love having all this fun girly stuff1