Zoe is new ours . . forever.

Best Day Ever!

End of the year reading review

I read 33 books in 2014.

My top pick for nonfiction is a tie: The memoir "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" by Malala Yousafzai and the biography " Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie.

Favorite fluffy fiction: The Selection trilogy

Favorite fiction: Mistborn

It's official!

Zoe is ours! Adoption finalized! 

Gingerbread houses

The kids are having fun at aunt nae's house. 

New stockings!

New Belts

Spencer and Jacob tested for their next level belts today. Spencer tested for his Purple belt. He did great. He has been in Karate for 16 months and has really been driven to learn the katas and defense techniques. I am so proud of him and all that he has learned. I am amazed that he has been so devoted and also so athletic.

Jacob started karate just after his 4th birthday and in the last 6 months he has really done well too. I think it helps that Spencer is always working at it and loves to practice.

Spencer will now focus on his Blue belt and I think it will take quite some time. It is much more complicated. He also will also be able to work with nunchaku and is really excited.  Jacob's next goal is orange belt and I think the kata memorization will be much harder for a 4 year old.

We love Hanshi, he is really a great teacher and our boys really admire him. What a great mentor for our boys. I can't wait for Luke to be old enough and who knows if Ella's balance can improve we give her lessons too. She loves watching the boys and shows some interest in it.

Special Friend

Spencer met a Special Friend at school today.

My first, but not last, run-in with Jordan School district over Ella.

So yesterday I spent an hour and 45 minutes at a 30-minutue meeting to discuss Ella and her needs at a preschool the school distinct offers kids with special needs.

It did not go well.

Here is the jist. . . 5 teachers and administrators felt Ella qualifies for the preschool based on her test scores and observing her in class. One person, the English as a second language coordinator, felt that Ella's delay is based on English being a second language and does not want to "fill the system" with kids that do not have a disability. She said all Ella needs is time and she will "catch up." She also said it can take ESL kids 5-10 years. . . (YEARS) before they are on par with their peers.  Then someone else at the table said, "I do think time is important, but I think that now is the time to address this before it gets worse." The language lady then said I should work with her at home. I was about to not so calmly explain to her we already do a lot of therapy and training at home. . . but before I could someone else interjected. "I'm sure she spends time at home working on these things."

Ella is at the first percentile for her expressive communication and LESS then the first percentile for her receptive communication skills. And if all she needs to "time" why shouldn't that time be used to help her? Ella does not "qualify"? If her language skills are so poor, does it matter why? She needs help and it is so clear. She has been home for 11 months and still has the language skills of a 1-2 year old. Also many of her social skills are at a 1-2 year old.

I am so angry and frustrated.

The language coordinator kept saying "I hate to be the bad guy but. . ."  All I could hear was the boss from The Incredibles saying, "But what about our shareholders Bob, who's looking out for them?"

So, we ended the meeting with Ella continuing on for 6 more weeks. She has been going for about 5 weeks already.  So they can continue to "assess" her needs. (Bologna.) Then at the end of January we will have another meeting and she will either qualify for the program or we will pay to have her attend as a non-special needs student.

"Bob, I'm not happy."

Look at that face. . .

Some one likes squash

November Sales

The book sold 21 Kindle copies and 34 paperback. Plus 10 paperbacks purchased directly and given to family and friends.

Grand total 65 for the first month.

I am feeling happy that it is out there and available.  Now that that blitz is over, we'll see how it goes.

Christmas lights are up

Got the lights on the house :) 

On to the tree and inside decor. . . Tomorrow. 

Pie

Just pulled the cranberry apple pie out of the oven.  I love Thanksgiving baking. 

Sibling love

I love it when they get along. 

New Ward?

They are doing ward divisions next Sunday. It should be interesting to see what will happen. Three wards are in the mix, so we might get one new ward or perhaps 2. . . I'm excited to see what happens in the end. Our ward has 650 members. . . it's just too big. I'm looking forward to a more manageable size. There are so many peolpe I just don't know anyone.

Here is the current map of the ward boundaries, you can see that the southern part of our ward doesn't have many dots (members). This is because it is all new construction and homes are still being built in this area.  Once those homes are built it will be crazy big. So, I'm glad they are realigning the boundaries now. Sunday should be a fun day. The meeting is at 4:30PM. 

Toothpaste

 At our house toothpaste is apparently a snack and a hair care product.

Let the games begin!

The boys had a great time at the State Karate Championship. Spencer ended up placing 4th in his age division for padded sword fighting.

Book Numbers

I love an excel spread sheet and one nice thing about self publishing is I get all the sales numbers. It is fun to see it all play out.

For kindle books . .  Since Nov. 1, I have seen 20 books sell. I did my email and FB post on Nov. 7 and you can see I got a little bump on that day.

For the paperback (since Nov. 1) I have seen 19 books sell.  With 6 of those books being sold yesterday. That coincides with a FB post on LDS Missionary. So clearly I got a bump from that post.

In the last 14 days, 39 copies have been sold. I am really happy with that number. I know the numbers will most likely drop off now that my little promo-blitz is done, but I feel satisfied.  Beyond that number my family also purchased around 15 copies in October. So now that about 50 copies are out there floating around in the universe I'm feeling pretty good.

Also my book is #23 on the top 100 and also #2 on "Hot New Releases."

Silly? Or amazing?

When I chose a chandelier for our master bedroom, I fell in love with a smaller mini-chandelier and thought it might be perfect over the bathtub or perhaps the master walk-in closet. I was wondering if it was silly or amazing. . . I have deiced on amazing.  Sometimes when I am surrounded by the craziness that is 5 kids 7 and younger, I can take a deep breath walk into my closet and make a phone call with out interruptions. Every woman needs a little sparkle, am I right?

# 32

Well, my book hit # 32 on the top 100 for Amazon. I'm pleased. It was a good PR thing to share on Facebook. The top 100 is updated hourly so it can fluctuate quite a lot. I think that will do it for me and Facebook and promoting my book.  No one likes to see tons of posts flogging your book.

Right now I have a Mormon blogger who will do a post on the book  and also a FB page for LDS missionaries. So, that about wraps up the PR. I wish I could do more, but feel just happy it is out there. So far have sold 31 copies. (Plus my mom bought 10 more. . . can I count that? If so . . . then the grand total is 41)  :)

The book is complete

My book is complete. It has gone through the final proof. My cover is done and the first hard copy is in my hands.

I have such a supportive family. I am feeling good about having this project done.  It is fun to see it out there. Now the scary part is waiting for peolpe to respond to it. I sent out a mass email this weekend and next week I will do a post on Facebook. Then that's about it. I might look into seeing if I can get it at a book store, but being self published makes that avenue rather hard.  We'll see.

So far. . . I have sold 12 ebooks and 9 hard copies. I might just have to get used to the idea that I might not sell very many. Of course I am disappointed that I don't have the PR for the book that a publishing company would offer. I just have to remember that I was following a prompting to do this and that being obedient is more important then feeling embarrassed  that no one buys the book.

So. . .onward.

The Weekend

We had a great weekend. Filled with candy, hanging out and breathing treatments.

The kids had a ball trick or treating, unfortunately Luke couldn't go. On Friday afternoon he started wheezing. That sound sends me into panic mode. Please, not again. So we started breathing treatments and pushing fluids. He couldn't go trick or treating, but he helped Dad pass out the candy. I took the older kids and spent about an hour going door to door. The kids were polite and very excited. As soon as we got home they sat around the table and basked in the sugary goodness.

On Saturday the kids had candy all day and maybe a couple of stomachache. When they went to bed on Saturday I took a couple of hand fulls for each bucket and tossed it in the trash. Shhh, don't tell.  There is no way I'm letting this hang out for months and finding candy wrappers in the couch over Christmas.

On Sunday Luke, Zoe and Dave stayed home from church and I took the older three. They were surprising good.  Or maybe because the mayhem that is Luke was not there everyone else seemed so good.

On Monday Dave had a 14-hour day at work. . . which means I also had a 14 hour day. . .. at work. I did 8 trip today between preschool, school and doctor appointments. Eight. Then of course the regular whining, "he hit me", vomit-is-not-friend. . . moments. And of course what would a day be without a few loads of laundry and the dishes. I'm so glad the day is done.

On a cheery note. . . I am one step closer to getting my book ready for launch. As a matter of fact my final copy has been submitted for review. Once it is approved I will order a hard copy. My mom will read it and do one final check for spelling and grammar and then. . . it will be ready. I have read it so many times that I can't see it. . . if you know what I mean.

Also. . . I have a mystery purchase. I have sold 6 copies of my book . . . I know my sisters each got one and Dave and I each got one for our Kindles, to do proofing.  So that leaves one mystery copy. It could be Jenet, my buddy in Idaho, she knows it is out there. But on Sunday (Nov. 2) someone got it for their Kindle. Maybe my brother???

On Thursday I am telling the ladies in my  book group about it. I am also going to bring a couple of hard proof copies and see if anyone would be willing to read it and review on Amazon. So, one more step forward.

Well, it is 8:58PM and I am so ready for bed. Ta-ta.

3T

Zoe is wearing Ella's 3T jacket. 

Resting

I've been sick the last couple of days and finally called it quits after nap time today. I gave the kids their tablets and went to lay down. . . Luke had other plans.

Karla

Love my sisters!

I have the best sisters in the world. . . no doubt.

My book went live over the weekend on Amazon. I sent the final draft to my sisters and asked them to post a review. . . and since they all helped me with editing and feedback in the writing process they are pretty familiar with it. I was so excited when the book went live. It felt so real. Also, I was not super happy with the first cover from the cookie-cutter template they had and am glad I could create one I wanted. . . mostly. It is hard to find royalty free clip art, that is all I'm saying.

I was just sitting there staring at my book, for sale and all real. It was like seeing the completion of a long goal. I am still working out some bugs. When I downloaded the book to my kindle the Table of Contents link was not working. And there were a couple misspelled words I missed. So this morning I was able to hopefully fix the broken link. I am waiting for the new file to be processed and available before I can check it. I also ordered a hard copy to proof. It should be here by the end of the week. Once I get all the kinks worked out of the kindle and hard copy I will be doing a little self-promotion on social media.  But first I need a few reviews, all the glitches worked out and then BAM, done.

Janelle, that total sweetheart, has posted the first review. My first review ever!!!

Even though I was bummed out the traditional publisher did not work out. This has been such a great process. I am glad it ended up this way. I have total control and that's kind of nice for a Bassett girl. When I did the pricing, I listed as low as I could on Kindle, $0.99. For the paperback the price could be set no lower then $6.80, so I listed it at $6.99.  This puts my earnings (royalties) at about $0.30 for each ebook and $0.13 for each paperback. I hope this makes it affordable and accessible. But who knows, maybe no one will buy it.

That is kind of the gamble right? You put in all the work and then maybe the market just isn't there. But, I still remember very vividly when I first got the idea. I felt that I needed to write the book and was committed to the idea. I knew I had to write, even though it won't sell a million copies. The basic reason I wrote this book was to be obedient to that prompting.

I learned a lot from this process and do hope it does well. In general if an LDS book sells around 5,000 it is considered successful. And my market is even smaller then general LDS readers. So, I don't even know what type of numbers to hope for or expect. Right now I am casting my bread on the waters and hoping for the best.

Crazy hat day

At school for Spencer it is crazy hat day. Looks like Zoe fits right in. 

Book cover

So excited. . . I just revamped my cover. . . I love it!

No dice

Well, after 7 months I finally got a reply from Covenant publishing. . .

Karla,

I wish I had better news, but we’ve decided not to publish your manuscript. It made it all the way to the new product selection committee, which is impressive—a very small percentage of submissions make it that far. While the committee really liked your book, they just didn’t feel it would resonate with the target audience.

I’m sorry it didn’t work out this time, but if in the future you write something you feel is worthy of publication, I encourage you to submit it to us because we’d love to hear from you again.

Best wishes,

Aubrey Warner

Submissions Editor

Covenant Communications


Of course I am bummed out. Now it means that I will be going the self-publishing route, which is more of a headache for me. It would have been nice to have someone else do all the formatting and getting some really great cover art. But, on the bright side, since it is self-publish I can list it at what ever price I want. So hopefully, it will get into the hands of more missionaries. And that dear friends was the whole point of writing the book.

I submitted my copy to Amazon Kindle for review and in the next few days it should be live and available on Amazon for the Kindle. I am pretty chuffed about that. I set the price at $0.99. I am still working on formatting my book for print, so that peolpe can order hard copies. It should be ready very soon. My mom has already assured me she will purchase several copies to give to missionaries leaving form her ward. I love it! At least I know I will sell 6 copies. . .

A friend of mine who published a novel said that she was going to take the money she earned and buy an RV. Well, she said she ended up spending the money on a weekend camping trip to Moab. Perhaps I will spend my money on a nice pair of warm socks :)

At any rate, I am happy to have a way to move forward.  It has been over a year since my book has been in review from various publishers. Now it is good to just put this project to bed and make it available. It is kind of exciting actually. 

Here is the cover art  for the book:

Not the most amazing thing, but it works.

I will keep you posted as things move forward. I am kind of excited to see it in hard copy. That will be kind of fun.

Speaking of fun. . . Dave installed a chandelier in our bedroom! I have been eying this bad boy for 6 months.  Now my wish has come true. I simply love it. It makes me feel like our room is a French chateau. The tall tray ceiling was just begging for a statement light fixture. 

Some one likes root beer floats.

I love mom & daughter time.  It's just me and Ella and we stopped off for a special treat. Just got the results from Ella's testing. She starts a special preschool on Monday. Her test scores were in the first percentile for communication. . . as in 99% of 4 year olds communicate more effectively. They also said her memory and attention were low (14th percentile.) It is hard to know if this is also because of her communication or if there is an intellectual disability there. Only time will tell.

At any rate, I am thrilled that she will be getting the focus and teaching she needs from a professional who is trained for her needs. She will also have access to a speech therapist in the class room and OT and PT also come to help in the class room. She will go on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:40AM- 1:40PM. And the best part is that she qualifies for busing. They pick her up at our home and drop her off. How cool is that?! I already make 4 trips a day on M & W, so this will be so nice to not make 6! I will be making 6 trips for a little while, until I can get the busing squared away, but I am super happy they offer it.

It feels good to be making progress in treatment for Ella.  We are crazy in love with this little girl and think she is amazing. Her Sinemet is just not making any improvement in her movement. I'm just not seeing it at all. It is annoying to shell out $170 a month on a medication that works as well as gummy vitamins. At least now we can focus on some cognitive issues and hopefully see some improvement with early intervention.

In love!

Totally in love with this little girl. Looks like her helmet will be here this week. It'll be good to get her started on her treatment. 

Ungifted

I am reading a great book. . . Ungifted by Scott Barry Kaufman.

This book has been so great for me. At first I was drawn to the book because we have been doing all this testing for Ella, to see if she has developmental delays or if perhaps it is more then simple delays. Also because Spencer is in the gifted program at school, this book really intrigued me. This book has really shared some great ideas and philosophies. The research is so solid. I detest books that just offer fluff and ideas without substantial research or any basis other than personal opinion. 

At first I when I picked up this book I was reading it through the lens of Ella and her needs and also Spencer and what it means to be "gifted." But this book quickly made me see myself. The author starts each chapter with a personal experience of when he was labeled as "special education" and "remedial" as a child. It really made me remember when I was in special ed and how having dyslexia shaped my identity.  

There was a section about dyslexia where I really saw myself. Dyslexia is a learning disability, but dyslexia also means a person has other skills (like oral communication, organization and spacial understanding).  The author noted that dyslexia could also be called "spacially gifted." When peolpe with dyslexia read, they take longer because they get lost in all the words (all the peripheral noise) on the page and take longer to recognize words. This is something I have always dealt with. Even now as an adult, I am not a "fast" reader. I prefer reading on the kindle (less words on the page) and also audio books. It truly is just another way to see things and learn.

This book really focuses on how all the boxes we use to label and sort children can be a detriment. I could see all my kids in this book and my students. I love the focus looking at more then IQ. So much more is can be seen in tenacity, creativity and passion. The book points out that determination and work ethic have a great impact on academic success then IQ does. Ultimately I want my kids to lead a happy and fulfilling life, whether or not they are a "genius."

One thing I love about the book was that it pointed out that some intelligence is seen as gaining and remembering knowledge and some intelligence is seen as producing and applying knowledge. Intelligence does not determine greatness or even happiness. 

This book has really redefined how I think about IQ. I loved all the history on how the IQ test was created and what other tests has added to the field. This is such a great holistic approach, without throwing out the baby with the bathwater.  I am only about half way through the book, but am enjoying it so much. I hope this book makes me a better mom and advocate for my kids and also a better teacher for my students.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch last weekend and they had a ball. Everyone got to wear their costumes and also choose their pumpkins for carving. Spencer and Jacob both chose the biggest ones they could find. We did the corn maze and got lots of photos.

I love Halloween! It is too fun and I love to see the kids so excited.