Egg Muffins

This is a great, quick way to cook ahead for breakfast and great for the family on the go.

What you'll need:

Muffin Pan
Eggs
Shredded Cheese
Ham, Bacon, Sausage...your choice

Set oven on 350 degrees.
Scramble your eggs in a bowl
Lightly oil your muffin pan and fill each about half full.
You can then add cheese, meat or meats of your choice
You can also add other stuff like salsa....get creative

Put in the oven and bake until light golden brown. There'll be no doubt that they are ready. You can set these out to cool then put in the freezer so that you have them weeks in advance.

I put a ziploc bag full of these in the refrigerator and they were gone by mid week. I plan to make several bags of these to have in frig and freezer....especially when school starts

Open Letter...

Dear Mr./Mrs. Legislator, Educator, Principal, Guidance Counselor or Anyone who will listen...

Do you have children, grandchildren, neices or nephews? Could you imagine picking them up from school and asking them about their day only to be met with downcast eyes or tears because once again they failed that test (very badly) that they studied so hard for? What about having to repeatedly try to convince he or she that they are not dumb or stupid? These are only mild scenarios compared to what we, parents of dyslexic children, go through here in MS.

Our children hold great promise, but their ambition has been quickly tainted by their inability to compete and/or perform in the classroom because they are unable to produce results in the way it is expected. Our kids can not participate adequatley in the classroom because they are not playing on an even playing field.

As parents we have called teachers, principals and guidance counselors asking for help only to be told "Mississippi doesn't recognize dyslexia as a learning disability....there's nothing we can do." Many times that is the end of the conversation. There are no offers of even helping us find help. We are left on our own to keep our children in the game, when they want nothing more than to give up.

If Mississippi is concerned about literacy, then we as a state should take a very proactive approach towards Literacy and early interventions involving all forms of Dyslexia. It is very unrealistic to expect our children to perform well on state mandated tests when they look at a one page vocabulary test and watch words and letters run all over the page. Should our children be punished with bad marks because they can't match twenty vocabulary words on paper, but if split up they can match five at a time? Should they be punished because they experience multi-sensory overload? Right now they are.

We are begging anyone who will listen....please help our children. If you are a legislator can you help us with the law? If you are an educator and you recognize signs of dyslexia can you educate a parent on avenues that they may take to get help? If you are a guidance counselor, principal or pyschometrist could you offer other avenues for a parent to explore in order to advocate for their child instead of just shutting them down with "MS doesn't recognize dyslexia...."

Our kids have a future and they have dreams. They should count.

Mississippi, Dyslexia and What I Just Learned

For the past five years I have watched my son struggle with his studies and try to keep him from giving up. I have heard him say "I'm stupid." or "I'm dumb" more times than I can count. He refers to people who do well in school as "those smart people" while lumping himself in the group of "zeroes". I have comforted him when he got in the car to tell me he was one of two people left in the bleachers at the Award's Day Banquet. It didn't matter that he had won Science Fair or placed at District....he was still left in the stands....alone...with no award because he didn't hit that all A or A/B Honor Roll. No matter how hard I have tried to drill into his head that he IS smart and that he is NOT a looser....it just doesn't seem to take. When I explain to him that HIS 100% is good even if it's a C or D (depending on the class) he can't grasp it because it's not the 100% that is expected from whoever. Let's face it....everyone's 100% is different but my son has learned at an early age that it is not.

When he was young we knew that this child was more energetic than normal. In fact, there is no candy-coating it. He was WILD. No matter what we did he could not focus on anything more than a few seconds and he was wide open until he literally passed out.

When he got to kindegarden I repeatedly told his teacher that I was concerned because he "didn't get" the site words. He couldn't remember them. He wrote sloppy and backwards. We got to first grade and again it was a nightmare. He couldn't retain anything and again I was concerned, but I was again told it would work out. During this time we decided to have him tested at our own expense in order to speed up the process of getting him help. He was diagnosed with ADHD and I brought all of that paperwork back to the school and was led to believe we were heading down the right road.

Second grade.....we saw a little improvement because we tried medication as a last alternative, but this year there was so much more that he was responsible for. His spelling grade was anywhere between 0 to 17, with 17 being the highest. He couldn't read. I repeatedly talked to the teacher and begged for help. I asked her if his spelling words could be cut in half like the previous year. We got nowhere because she said, "I have half a class scoring the same and I can't do it for them." You would think that would tell you there was a problem?? But, hey, I'm just worried about my kid at this point.

We scheduled a meeting and looking back I'm thinking that maybe this was a TST meeting? It consisted of the Principal, Psychommetrist, his teacher, other teachers and myself. Now remember, I work for the school district but have no clue what TST is, how it works.....nothing! I thought I was going to get help from my son in this meeting, but boy was I wrong. In hindsight I wish I had taken someone with me as a witness. After listening to my concerns they looked at test scores, which were not good. I told them that I really thought he may be dyslexic, but I was quickly told that MS didn't recognize Dyslexia as a reading disability and even if I DID get a diagnosis they would not make any accomodations for him based on that diagnosis. At that point the Principal, being very frustrated said.....AND I QUOTE "I don't know anything else to do other than put him back in first grade!" I absolutely thought I was going die. I could not believe what I was hearing. They seemed so frustrated and "out-done" with my baby like he was a burden! I quickly told her that would kill his self esteem. She very quickly told me....and again I quote..."You need to decide what's more important, his self esteem or his achievement!" After much discussion they decided that they would have him tutored with first graders and just see what happened. I left there in tears and went straight to Central Office and asked to have him moved to another school. After telling them we would sale our home and get an apartment in the other school zone we got our transfer. Imagine our suprise when they pulled him the first day at his new school and said he had strong dyslexic tendancies and was placed in the Texas Scottish Rites Program!! What we found out was that this program was only offered at certain schools so we were lucky we got him transferred to a school that had it. I still wonder why they did not tell me in that meeting that this program was available since I very clearly brought up the issue of dyslexia? The Psychometrist had to know it was there!

When we got our transfer, we were very fortunate to get a fine teacher who sat down with us and set goals for our child. We agreed that we had every intention of holding him back and that we would all focus on progress and not grades. When he started 2nd grade he read on a Pre-K level. At the end of the year he was on a 1st grade level. He gave up time during the summer to go to Knowledge College and again showed a lot of improvement. With a lot of hard work he finished Texas Scottish Rites but in third grade we hit another pothole. The medication that he was taking had built up in his system and he was no longer able to take it. Because of an underlying health issue we were afraid to try anything else so we went with no meds. He struggled and fought through 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. Home life was a nightmare. It's hard to get a kid motivated when he thinks he's dumb. When he does give it all he has and still fails....he sees no point in trying.

So now we are in 6th grade and worried sick about him. No idea how he will make it in Junior High, but I will say that this has by far been his best year as far as teachers. I am in no way knocking any of his past teachers, because they have all been good, but this year he has a teacher who "gets him." She sees his struggle and seems to know how he ticks. She recognizes that HIS 100% is not the same as the kid sitting in front of him. When we get excited over a C she understands that we aren't settling.....it's because that C for him is the equivalent of an A on everyone elses playing field.

I have been working at the same school my children attend for the past two years. I just found out about the 504 Plan and we were so excited that we may have found a way to level the playing field for him. We have his diagnosis for ADHD and with that we are hoping that some accomodations can be made that may inadvertantly help with his Dyslexia. Maybe by doing this he can go into the classroom and finally have an educational experience that is the equivalent of running across a field instead of trying to run wide open up a cliff. Thank God I wasn't holding my breath because I wouldv'e died.....I was told that the diagnosis in his file is no longer acceptable because it's too old so we have to start all over, fork out more money to go back to the Doctors and get re-diagnosed. Frustration is not even touching what I'm feeling right now.

So here we are.....back to square one. I'm frustrated beyond tears, but I can't show it. Not to him. I have to be his rock. He has to know that his Mama BELIEVES that he can get a fair shake because if his Mama doesn't believe why should he?

There are some serious questions and issues that need to be addressed. I want to know why I went through the expense of having him tested and getting the diagnosis if it wasn't used. I was told that they don't just automatically do something with an ADHD diagnosis. If that's the case why did I go get it and bring it to them to get help? If I needed to once again ask for help with the diagnosis in hand, why didn't someone tell me? All the times that I spent on the phone talking to the teachers.....did it count for anything? Why wasn't the 504 Plan suggested? I'm also concerned with the fact that we can no longer afford tutors to work through TST interventions so the kids are being buddied up with another student for tutoring. Has anyone stopped to think what this does to some of the kids? I understand that it has worked in some instances, but I can very confidently say that my 6th grader would have been humiliated beyond words. I am very grateful that he is able to work with an adult but what about the other kids? And the ones who aren't humiliated...do they take it serious working with another kid? If parents are to get involved they need to know what avenues are available. If the law allows different options then parents need to be made aware when they are struggling with their kid. A kid shouldn't have to fail to get help. We need EARLY intervention BEFORE they fail.

I recently called the MSDOE and found out that the statement "Mississippi does not recognize Dyslexia" is not a completely accurate statement. Our state does recognize it, but it does not recognize it as a criteria for a 504 Plan etc. Most kids who have Dyslexia also have another condition that DOES qualify them for a plan such as ADD or ADHD. I also found out that the state has grant money specifically to help school districts work with dyslexia. All we have to do is apply and that money has been available since around 1995....4 years before our son was even born!!! So why are we not trying to get this funding? If we want our kids to score high on all of these tests then they have to be able to read them. If the words are running together or running all over a one page vocabulary test, or if a one page test causes a sensory overload.....those test booklets are going to be a nightmare. Our kids need to be given the skills to cope and learn to work with what they have so that they can excel. They deserve that opportunity.

I won't stop fighting for my son. I believe in him and I know he is smart. I hope that because he has experienced what it's like to have a teacher believe in him that it will help keep him in the game. I hope that it will be enough. At the rate things are going we may not get help until it's too late. I don't want that for him. I want him to enjoy his childhood and education is a major part of his childhood.

Our loss...

Tonight I have finally decided to sit down and write down my thoughts about what has happened to our family over the weekend. We just returned from Rusty's house and I was relieved to see how well he was holding up. I don't think that I could be as strong, but I guess you never know how strong you are until you face something. We, as Sandersons, come from a strong stock.

Look at Mamaw Great....how many children and grandchildren and even g-grandchildren did she bury before she went home to gather them all in her arms? Through her grief she always held her head high and handled it with a quiet grace. I saw that tonight with my cousins. We have all faced our difficulties as we have grown up and raised our children. There are so many people in our family that I can think of that I would like to be like. I wish so badly that my children had the priviledge of growing up like we did....all together.... so that they could enjoy and lean on each other in the future.

I watched John John's Step-Dad speak to Channel 16 news last night and I have never met the man, but he handled the interview with a stregnth and dignity that should make us all proud as a family. I know that it had to have been hard on him answering the questions....it was very visible. God Bless him for handling it the way he did. Who would want to talk to the media at this time? I wouldn't....he did and it allowed that burden to be lifted from Rusty and Debra's shoulders.

They say that something positive can come from horrible experiences. I can't say that I can see anything positive coming from this. It was senseless and unneccessary. Parents and Grandparents shouldn't have to bury their babies. I truly pray that justice....HARD justice...is served.

I can say that once again I'm so proud of my family. It's just another example of how truly special our family is. 2nd, 3rd cousins....means nothing.....a cousin is a cousin. Aunt, Great Aunt....means nothing....an Aunt is an Aunt. Saw you last week....last year....or 10 yrs ago....doesn't matter. I still love you like I saw you yesterday. And when something happens we all come together....no matter the distance or the time apart.

For me, I remember a precious little boy named John John playing in the yard with Adam and my son Chris....all full of mischief and each one 100% boy. I know that Mamaw and Papaw Great were waiting on him with open arms and although we all hurt.....all is well with him.

RIP John John...you will always be loved and never forgotten.

Furniture, Paint and Me....Oh Dear!

I've been so motivated (and obviously totally naive of my own abilities) after looking at "Pinterest". I decided that I was going to give Kayla Grace's room a makeover and planned it with the website. I figured since we are moving in a few days and we were off today....it would be the perfect time to paint. I mean how hard could it be??

We took off to town and came home armed with 15 cans of white spray paint. I was doing the spray paint dance....Kayla Grace was making up songs about painting furniture. We were so excited. We even got Brayden in on all the fun and he helped us move all the furniture outside. I am now reporting that after fighting with two kids who wanted to "help" (the fun ended quickly), after knocking the sprayer off of 2 cans of paint while trying to open them, and after having gobs of paint run down the furniture I have succesfully ruined her bedroom suit.

I quickly realized that I was doing something wrong when there were lots of beads of white rolling down the sides. Figured I was too close and fixed it only to find that my dear son decided to help and one side of her dresser is nothing but lines and beads. She decided to get in on the action and help "fix" the beads with a paint brush which now leaves us beads and streaks on top of bubbles from God knows where.

I gave up....frustrated...tired...aggravated....grabbed the dog and took a nap. It will go in her room as is....even with some brown spots showing through. Mama says we should strip it but HA!! not happening in the near future. We will just start our own style....funky furniture.

A Sanderson Family Reunion Dream

Have you ever had a dream that was so real and so amazing you just didn't want to wake up. Of course you have....we all have, but the one that I have had twice makes me want to cry when I wake up. It is the absolute epitome of peace and I feel more love while I'm asleep dreaming than I can explain.

I grew up in the most amazing family. My grandparents and great grandparents lived next door to each other with only a lot separating them. Then my great Uncle and his family lived about two football field lengths from them.

Before I go any further let me say that in our family "great" Uncle.....only means Uncle....."great" Aunt or "great" Grandparents....are not different. Second and third cousins are no different than first cousins and are often referred to as Aunt or Uncle depending on the relationship between those cousins....ex. Uncle Joey or Uncle Steven.

So back to the dream.....

Everyone in our family had gathered under the tree that we always gathered under on Sunday in Mamaw Great's yard. Noone was excluded. Uncle Sid and all of his family came from Oklahoma, Craig and Kristen came from up North, Dickie and Donna and all of their family came....Al was there...Debbie, Haley....Nancy and her family, Cheryl and her family....you get the picture. Any bad blood between anyone was set aside. (We have an amazing family but we are human...we do have some serious personality conflicts at times).

There were chairs and lawn chairs spread out in a huge circle under the tree. There were quilts laid out across the thick grass for the babies to lay on. There was this huge slide that used to sit at Mamaw Great's and it was still there. There were tarp tents lined up going down the side of the house with tables, ice chests and wires galore. These tables were FULL of potluck dishes that everyone brought. They were set up in crockpots and warming trays. There were dips in bowls on ice and a HUGE tray of Aunt Dot's shrimp sandwiches graced the table that never emptied. There were tons of homemade biscuits and cornbread and a pot of Aunt Vie's potato soup with my name on it. (It's my dream...I get the soup)

In Mississippi, laying all of this food out all day is not exactly a reality. In my dream it was neither hot or cold...It was perfect weather. There was a breeze blowing and the smell of coffee lingered in the air.

The lot between Mamaw Great's and Mamaw's house hosted a softball game. There was no age limit on this game. Rusty, Chase, Donnie, and even Aunt Elaine participated right along with Brayden, Kellie Rae, Christopher and Adam.

The lot where Mamaw's house used to sit was full of kids and adults in a heated soccer game. The old tree out back where Mamaw built our tree house still stood with the old shed beside it. Hannah and Summer helped watch over some of the younger kids as they played house and babies and all the games we used to play out there.

In Mamaw Great's yard was one of those big inflatable slides that also entertained adults...mainly John-John....as well as kids.

There were kids of all ages everywhere getting acquainted or reacquainted with each other doing all the things that we used to do as kids.

We were there for a long time. It seemed as if time had stood still just for all of us. As I sat in my chair in the circle looking around I looked and saw all of those who had gone on ahead of us sitting under the tree on the outside of our circle....our grandparents, Aunt Marge and Uncle Jim, Uncle Glenn, Uncle J.D., Jimmy in his uniform...so many of our family sat there....some that us younger ones had never met. At our grandparent's feet and in their laps sat the babies that never made it full term and the ones who had left us to soon. When I turned and I saw all these people that I loved so dearly and who had made such a huge impact on my life...I jumped up and screamed for everyone to look and started running towards them. All I could think was wrapping my arms around my Mamaw and laying my head in her lap, but as I ran towards them they disappeared. I turned to look and I was the only one sitting under the tree in the yard.

I awoke trembling and I still get a knot in my throat thinking about it because I would give anything, absolutely anything to see my four grandparent's again....to hear Papaw Great holler at me from the back porch, to play under the house or have a weenie roast with Mamaw, cook with Mamaw Great, to hear Papaw holler for me...."Oh Missy Lea",  to get teased by Uncle Glen, to hear Uncle Jim sing "All the Gold in California", to listen to Aunt Marge give our girls a lecture on how to be a lady.

In my dream I kept thinking "is this real?"...The love that was generated on that little strip of gravel road in the middle of farming country was so overwhelming. As I think about it....it was never really a dream. The inflatable slide was a dream....but everything else was real. It was real to those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up in the time that we did. We experienced everything in my dream.... throughout our lives..... on Sunday afternoons on the Warren/Issaquena County line.

My Son and Reading....What I did to help him with his struggle.

I have an absolute passion for reading, and that is one thing that I had hoped to pass to my children. You can imagine my concern when in first grade our son couldn't do sight words, then when he was passed to second grade he could not read. I knew there was a problem, but I couldn't get anyone to listen to me. I remember sitting in a meeting with a group of teachers and wanting to absolutely bang my head on the wall because the only solution that was offered was to 1)Send him back to first grade or 2)Tutor him with first graders then let an assistant who didn't speak very good English help with his speech and reading. I begged them to consider dyslexia, but was told that it was not a disability and they would not take it into consideration even if I did have him tested.

Immediately following that meeting, I went to the main office and my son was moved to his present school within two days. Surprisingly, he was immediately tested at that school and was found to have "strong dyslexic tendencies". FINALLY....after struggling through Kindergarten and First grade we knew what we were dealing with. We had a new fabulous teacher who sat down with me and mapped out a plan. My husband and I did not expect miracles from her, but we felt like that is exactly what she performed. Our plan was to hold him back so the remainder of the year at the new school would be used for catch up. We were not so much concerned with his grades as his progress. He was also tested and put into a Texas Scottish Rites Program for dyslexic children that was offered at the school. He started his new school in the middle of the first 9 wks of 2nd grade. At that time he tested at a PreK reading level, but when school ended he was reading on a beginner 2nd grade level!!!

I thank God everyday for Beechwood Elementary, the Texas Scottish Rites program that was being offered there and his teacher, Jennifer McCaa. If we had not received the zone transfer to move him and  ....I don't know where my son would be.

In saying that.....has he still struggled? Yes. Self esteem issues are difficult, but also just finding what interest him so that he will want to read has been very challenging. Our school is big on Accelerated Reader, and our kids have to read so many books, as well as, take computerized test on those. Every year has been a constant battle to complete his goal. We are now into about the fourth week of school and in the past I would still be battling with him to get past a few chapters or even stick with the same book. This summer I had an idea to try to help him with his reading AND get him interested.

After receiving a Nook Color for Christmas, I started thinking that it may be helpful for him to read his books from an ereader. By using an ereader he can change the font and the text size. With him being dyslexic this is a huge help for him. After getting the Nook I found a website called AR BookFinder http://www.arbookfind.com/usertype.aspx that I was able to use as a reference to find if there was an AR Test and the AR level of any book purchased. We then sat down together and started browsing books to see what may catch his interest. I made it a point to write down the titles and prices so I could go back to them at any time. He presently has a list of books he WANTS to read that just about fills one whole page!! Not only that....he is one chapter book away from meeting his goal and we are not quiet half way through the nine weeks.

To say we are thrilled would be an understatement!!! It has been a long hard road, but I still have hope of him finding a passion for reading.