The post without a smooth segue

September is getting away from me and I've been MIA yet again. 

This year, I've been helping at school in Dimples' class once a week.  Sometimes it's helping testing the kids on their facts (listen to 21 kids count to 120 and see if you don't see numbers swimming in your head!), and other times it's doing busy work.  Why yes, I can staple book orders and cut out laminated decorations.  You may not appreciate my cutting skills when I have to use scissors vs the paper cutter.. I may need to go back to Kindergarten to learn to cut straight.. LoL.   So far, helping out at school has went well, although Dimples now asks me every.single.day. if I am staying at school with him this day?

Between school, therapy (Dimples' has 3 therapies a week), and any other miscellaneous appointment that one of us may have we seem to always be on the go.  Gone are the days of sitting at home playing on the computer.

College Girl (Drama Queen) seems to be settling into school and enjoying it.  She called me the other day all excited about printing off Study Material.  Yes. I said STUDY MATERIAL.  It made me giggle that she is so excited about school. :)

College Boy (Attitude King) is struggling with getting up in the mornings. He has missed several morning classes because he is unable to get his butt out of bed.  :sigh:  Disadvantage to living in dorms and not having a parent or big sister to rip you out of your bed.  He has been sleeping a lot there lately- taking afternoon naps, oversleeping in the mornings.  It has been a big adjustment -staying up much later than normal for studying ect.. We are working to find a way to help him WAKE UP from far away.  It worries me somewhat due to his sleep apnea issues,  are they getting worse and is this the reason for his excessive sleepiness?

Fishing Pole is trying some new medication.  His ADHD is so not controlled.  He is constantly bouncing around in his seat, chewing on everything he can get his hands on (no books allowed in his room any longer due to some chewed up books), chronically humming (which incidentally drives Momma insane ) and always fidgeting with his hands or feet.  Sadly we had to take him off his sleep medication a month back due to his blood pressure being too low, so part of the behaviors he has recently started back up (not sleeping, getting into everything that he knows he shouldn't, inability to focus in class) I'm sure are in part to not getting good sleep.  Don't you just love complicated cases?  So we have upped the adhd meds to the max dose and crossing our fingers.  His psych is leary of trying a stimulant medication due to his heart issues but has agreed if the change in dosage doesn't help we may need to look at that option.  He also gave us a different medication to hopefully help with sleep - because it can also affect blood pressure, we are starting at 1/4 pill ...  which means I spent some time at the table last night cutting pills in half and then rotating them and cutting them into quarters..  Fun times.  You should all be so lucky !

IEPs- we are finally getting the school to work on IEP testing for Fishing Pole & Dimples.  Unfortunately the school psychologist wants documentation of all of the boys diagnoses. From each individual dr.  This could take some time...

My Poor Precious Baby *Insert sarcastic voice & eye roll*

Fishing Pole is home with me from school today.  His class is heading off to a field trip where there are lots of magnets involved..  I had called the place myself to ask them if there were certain exhibits that he should stay away from due to his pacemaker.   I was given the list which I promptly sent to his teacher.    In the end, it was decided that it was too big of a responsibility for the teacher to be in charge of this ( insert eye roll). 

It was all good and fine.  Dimples had a field trip to the zoo today (which I was going along on) and Fishing Pole as given permission to attend that field trip instead. This way he still got a fun day out..  Well naturally mother nature decided to piss all over those plans.  It's a rainy day & the zoo trip is postponed until next week. 

And so this is how Fishing Pole ended up home with me for the day - apparently dying from boredom.

I have promised him that we can go out to lunch- anywhere he wants.  Naturally that is met with "Well I know you'll say no to where I want to go."..  Hmm, what part of anywhere you want does he not understand..

Still he insists on being as negative as possible about everything. There has been one rule today-  No TV (movies, netflix ect).  Apparently I have just ruined his world because now he has absolutely nothing to do.   Nothing except sit on the couch, put on his best "I'm dying here" face and give big dramatic sighs.

I have offered several options.  Go play with your micro chargers!   How about coloring? You love to color..   Go draw me a picture or write a story.  How about blocks? Build something cool with blocks.   Each suggestion is met with an eye roll.

Finally I have threatened to go print off some math work for him to do if he doesn't get off this couch and GO PLAY..    For the love of  pete !! 

Signs you know your child has too much stuff and is a bit spoiled 101.

1, 2, 3 Strikes you're out..

I admit I'm a tiny bit of an over-protective momma..  It's in my blood.  I can't help myself. 

So when Fishing Pole (2nd grade) came home with a field trip slip to a baseball game (during school), I was leary of letting him go.  It's a bus ride about an hour away, going to be crazy busy..  The boy just had 2 surgeries a few months ago..   I have a hard time with all that he's been thru ,letting my guard down and actually trusting someone else with his care.   Eventually , Daddy Chaos & I agreed that he's old enough to speak up if he's having issues and that we should let him go. It doesn't hurt that he was recently cleared by the back dr & had a cardio appt today as well (cleared!).   So I signed the slip to let him go.  Tomorrow..


Yesterday I received a phone call from Dimple's teacher (kindergarten) that she didn't have a permission form for Dimple's to go on the baseball field trip..  Say WHAT?   Apparently K-2 are all going..  And then my peeps, I started to freak out.   No way was I letting the baby go on this field trip too.. I spent days agonizing over whether to let Fishing Pole go w/o me, sorry its simply not going to happen with the youngest.   Thankfully I mentioned it to Daddy Chaos who looked at me like I was crazy and said NO, he's not going.. lol.   

And then I sat trying to figure out how I'd keep him home w/o looking like that crazy mom who won't let her kids go anywhere with out her.  (Yes, I am that mom... but that's beside the point..).  My friend suggested I sign the slip, send it in today and then just call him in sick tomorrow for the trip.. lol.   Might have worked but I have a meeting before school tomorrow to discuss getting Autism added to his IEP and what all that entails (still makes no sense to me that  medical dx of autism isn't enough.. Stupid school systems).  So I have to be there bright and early which means I have to take all the kids with me.. ugh..

Dimples decided to solve it all for me last night when he announced his throat hurt..  Hmm, see he's getting sick, I guess he'll have to stay home.   Then he promptly puked all over my bed.  ugh.   And so he is home today with an icky tummy.  No field trip tomorrow..    Maybe I jinxed him??

Quite honestly, I don't think he would have enjoyed it. Sensory overload.  Too much noise, too many people  and distractions..   At least I'm not lying when I say he's sick now though. lol 

The week with no sleep

Life is crazy and with the transfer (surrogacy), Christmas, 2birthdays and a Disney trip all this month - I just don't see it getting any less crazy! lol!

We had a very busy week last week.  Dimples has been having some urology issues and so we went back to urology at the Big Hospital last Thursday.  It was an all day thing. First I ran to town A for my lining and bloodwork (surrogacy), then turned and headed 3hrs south to go to the Big Hospital appt.  Needless to say we were gone from 9am-9pm.  It was a long day.   Only to be repeated on Friday with all three boys going to pulmonary/sleep apnea dr at the Big Hospital. At least we got a good report on pulmonary- only one kiddos (Fishing Pole) has gotten worse on their asthma. The other two are looking a lot better! yay!

I'm tired.  Tired of driving and tired of eating out.  I bet you  never thought you'd hear me say that but honestly after eating out a few times in a row, I just want to be home and cook my own food. and SLEEP. 

The only advantage of going TWICE in one week to the Big Hospital is that we got to see their very BIG tree.

Saturday - quite honestly I can't even remember what we did on Saturday. I can tell you that we did NOT decorate our Christmas tree and let me tell you that Elfie the Elf (our Elf on a Shelf - new this year, thanks to Cowie) is NOT happy about our lack of decorating.

Exhibit #1 that Elfie is unhappy with us.  He decided to string the lights himself. Too bad it didn't work out quite the way he thought..  See, I'm partially decorated- I have the trees OUT. That has to count for something.. right? 

Exhibit #2 that Elfie is unhappy with us.  I moved the tree to the correct location but again that's all I got done.  :sigh:  Maybe he's really just unhappy that the kids named him ELFIE .  For the love of all that is Christmas, could they not have agreed on a better name. I guess it is better than DOM, which was one child's suggestion.  Sorry, I'm not combining 50Shades with my Christmas Elfie.. That's just wrong on soo many levels.

Sunday was a day that blessed me with a migraine.  On the day that we had a family Christmas party.. ugh.

So needless to say, Sunday night came not soon enough for anyone.  Anyone except Dimples.  When I told him it was bedtime, he immediately got a 'woe is me' look on his face and... well here's our conversation:

Dimples :  Momma, I so sick.
Me:  You are? You just have a sniffly nose.
Dimples: I cough alll day long.
Me: Oh my. I didn't hear you cough all day. 
Dimples:  I have fever !!
Me: Oh my, a cough and a fever.  Maybe we should stay home from school tomorrow, what do you think?
Dimples:   Yes. I soo sick.


And so it starts. In KINDERGARTEN.  My child is already perfecting the art of playing sick.  Note- He completely forgot about his deathly sickness this morning and off to school he went happily.  Ha.  He's so darn cute.

Signs...

The younger kids go to a pretty awesome elementary now that we have moved.  I seriously like it.  I like the people, I like the feel of it.  It's much 'friendlier' than our old school.

Side note- to understand the story I'm about to tell, you must have a little background.  Our school (and probably most) have instituted more and more security  measures in the past few years.  One new thing this year is that we must have a 'car pass' for those of us parents who deny our children the childhood joy of riding the bus.  So when I go to pick up the kids everyday after school, there is a line that you get in.  You hang this cute little pink car (with your name written REALLY BIG across it) on your rearview mirror and sit there until it's your turn.. The kids sit in the gym until they are called out by teachers b/c our car is getting near.  To make this all work, we have a teacher walk thru the line writing down the order of the cars.  This story is about one of those teachers.. He has long wavy hair- at least bra strap length down his back.  Some days it's back in a ponytail but most days lately, it's been waving free.  Normally when he walks past, I picture Fabio in my head and giggle.

Okay his hair is like this only with some wavy/curl to it.  

Okay, back to the our school rocks.  The PTO is always coming up with ways to help raise money.  Every Tuesday, if we order pizza from a certain place and mention our school's name- they will give the PTO 20% of the sales.   Pretty awesome, right?!    Occasionally, the PTO does something even better.. Like tonite.  Tonite was Culver's night.. Omg.  If you do not have a Culver's ( I believe it's just a midwest thing, if you live elsewhere, I am so sorry!) you are missing out.  I have a teeny tiny addiction.  I probably shouldn't admit this but I always order the kids meals.   Quite honestly, in our country I feel the portions at most restaurants are way oversized.. A kids meal at culver's comes with frozen custard as the "treat"!  O.M.G.  I won't even eat regular ole ice cream anymore..   So anyway, tonite was Culver's nite..  We already had supper planned but we decided to run out and grab some frozen custard and sponsor our school.. ha.. It's a good excuse anyway.

When we showed up, who was standing there holding the door for everyone but ponytail dude!  Immediately, the old song "Signs" by Tesla popped into my head.


*Warning -- apparently 'back in the day',  I only heard the clean version of this song.  Let me just say there is a LOT of f'bomb dropping that threw me for a complete loop.  Imagine me all irate yelling at the screen-- WHAT?? He doesn't say f'ing!   So now you are warned. *





I have been singing it all night now.. When I discovered it came out in 1990, good lordy did I feel old!  I mean geesh- my young friend Ms.Random was only like 6..  She was a baby.. ugh. I am feeling ancient right now.. lol!

*Ps.  yes I realize Tesla didn't originally come out with this song, but I grew up on their version.

#Review - a #LeapReader "Ready, Set, Read & Write " party courtesy of @LeapFrog

I was thrilled to be chosen to host a party introducing LeapFrog's newest invention- the LeapReader!    I have always been a big fan of LeapFrog who seems to know just how to make learning fun :) 

Let me tell you a little bit about the LeapReader ..

The LeapReader is a complete "learn to read and write" system that combines the three essential literacy skills : Reading, Writing and Listening.   By practicing them together, children can practice the skills they need to help them become confident independent readers.

Learn to Read-  you simply touch the LeapReader to any page to sound out words letter by letter, read sentences in lively character voices and play fun games that build comprehension.  * I have a few kiddos who struggle with comprehension, so I love that fact!

Learn to Write -  Use the LeapReader to trace letters and numbers, and write words stroke-by-stroke with interactive guidance as magic ink appears on special mess-free paper.   * All the moms loved the writing feature- it prompts you on writing letters, notices when you life your pencil and shouldn't and sounds out words when you have finished one!  Love!

Learn through Listening -  Develop listening skills, comprehension and imagination with LeapReader's popular audio books, trivia challenges and learning songs!  * We are big LeapFrog fans and own several (most) of the movies.  When we tried listening to some of the songs- my kids were happy to sing and dance along. 


Now onto the party and some pictures!

Naturally I invited several friends with their kids over to play with the huge box of stuff that LeapFrog provided for us!  *Note, not all were comfortable sharing photos of their children on the internet so you will just see my kids and MsRandom's kiddos.

  Although I received the products well in advance, I didn't open them for my own children to play with until the party because I wanted them to experience it like the rest of the party goers.   I will say that when the kids first got there, I sent them off to play as I was still setting things up.  Several times, different kiddos would come over to ask me what was on the table and if they could please play with it yet! lol!

Finally it was time to begin!  I'm not sure who was more excited, the moms or the kids?!

They all happily donned their 3D glasses.  I think everyone's first choice of books to look at was the 3D Monsters University!   We looked thru the book and then flipped to the back to work on some Nouns / Verbs action!  

The LeapReader would tell the kids to pick nouns or verbs (Nouns were in yellow, verbs in red).  I loved that it had two different levels - level 1 for the little kids reminded them that nouns were on the yellow page vs  verbs on the red page,  level 2 for the older kids would just ask them to pick a noun/verb without prompting.  Everyone loved this game and couldn't wait for their turn!   Dimples only had problems keeping his glasses on.. lol. Momma had to help hold them on for him : )

Next we all sat together and did "Tad's Song".  In this game, there are missing parts to the song along with a box to choose from.  We had to pick a word (Dimple's had control of the LeapReader) and then decide which word rhymed with our word.  At the end, we were able to listen to the song we helped Tad create! :) 

And finally they were all turned loose (taking turns of course) with the LeapReaders to practice some writing.  Dimples & Banana - the youngest of the pictured crew (both being 5) enjoyed tracing words.  The moms all loved that if you stayed on the lines there was a sound - an encouragement that you were doing it right.  If you lifted your pencil up off the paper when you shouldn't (ahem.  Dimples.)  we were alerted to keep our pencil down, don't lift it.  When each letter was finished , the letter was said and at the end of the word- the Leapreader sounded out the word the kids had just traced.   It was beyond amazing! 


Honestly, there was so much more to do- we ran out of time before we could do all we wanted!  One lucky winner took home a LeapReader set, while we kept one set for ourselves (my kids are thrilled!).

I took a poll of Moms & kids and here are what we thought were the pros and cons :

Pros

•  No batteries to buy - you simply plug it in and recharge.
• Large variety of books and even a large variety of stuff to do within each book.
• The Learn to Write books were thick enough that we could easily set the practice paper in it and not worry about messing up anything. 

Cons

• Practice paper-  the only con we could come up with (other than not having one system for each kid.. ha!) was that we wish the practice paper /writing were made differently so that it could be erased vs using once and throwing away (think of it like receipt paper, there is no actual lead but you write by making pressure with the LeapReader).   

When the kids were asked their favorite parts of the party / LeapReader they said :

• Writing
• Listening to the audio books
• Rhyming 
• The T-Rex story  ( which we listened to as an audio book)
• Stories & Writing
• Writing & Telephone game  (we lined everyone up, let one child listen to part of a story with headphones on and then stopped the story.  Then played the old game telephone of having the first child tell the last word they heard and everyone whispering it down the line.  They were all amused at how changed the words became at the end! lol!   Our closest was Dinoko to Diamond..)

All in all , it was a great opportunity!  With a larger group of children in various ages (5 -9), not once did we have anyone wandering off or acting bored!   I'm highly recommending this one if you have any children in need of a little help with reading or writing!   I am definitely putting more books and accessories down on my Christmas list to buy for the kids!


*Disclosure - I received free LeapFrog products in order to host the LeapFrog sponsored MommyParty.  The opinions expressed here are my own. *

Back to School shopping

It's almost that  time.   In barely over two weeks, the kiddos are heading back to school.   I've procrastinated this year and am just now trying to get my back to school shopping done!  ugh!..

I am pretty proud of myself that I actually remembered to use Ebates when I ordered online though!  I usually forget completely!! oops!   In case you've never used it,  when you go to Ebates.com ... you find the store you plan on shopping at and it will tell you the % cash rebate you'll get back, plus sometimes some great coupons!   For example- I shopped at Kohls to grab a few clothing items (6% cash back), Land's End for Southern Darlin's backpack ( 6% cash back), Victorias Secret for Drama Queen's backpack (2% cash back ) & Children's Place for some jean shorts for the girls w/free shipping! (2.5% cash back).   So now  I have the clothing stuff all done... but still have the lovely school  list..

Omg. This year I have a kid in Kindergarten, 2nd , 3rd & 4th grade.. Plus the high schoolers (Sophomore & Senior).. ACK!   Here's what I need to still buy for the little kids :

• 10 Boxes Large Tissue
• 4 pair gym shoes
• 6 bottles Elmer's Glue
• 1 pack glue sticks
• 1 watercolor paint set
• 3 school boxes
• 1 container baby wipes
• 4 pair Fiskar scissors
• 8 erasers 
• 3 sets markers
• 7 boxes Crayola crayons
• 2 packs dry erase markers
• 3 container clorox wipes
• 2 box Quart Ziploc baggies
• 1 box Gallon Ziploc baggies
• 4 art shirts
• 1 pack post its
• 4 spiral notebooks
• Ticonderoga Pencils 
• 2 packs Colored Pencils
• Ruler
• 4 Perforated notebooks
• 1 Composition book
• 1 journal notebook
• 1 Zippered Pouch for supplies
• 1 pack highlighters
• 1 Ball point pen 
• loose leaf paper

Whew!  I'm tired just looking at that list.. Not to mention the big kids will need notebooks, folders, pens & pencils..   I think I need to buy stock in office supplies!   So now I"m off to scour the ads trying to find a good deal on all this crap! LOL!

When does your school start back?? Have you started your back to school shopping yet? 

Summer Vacation here and gone..

Can you believe summer is almost over already?  We've been busy and I've been neglecting you.. Don't worry, once school starts you won't be able to get rid of me.  You'll be begging me to quit writing and leave you alone already!  We start back to school in 25 days...  Eek!  I'm not sure I'm ready yet...

Dimples will be going to kindergarten (full day) this year.  With no extra help.   Apparently he did pretty darn well towards the end of preschool (yay!) and they decided that other than speech, he was good to go.   Now that's all good and great, if I believed it.   The boy can hold it together for the 2 hours he was at preschool.  Now 8 hours of regular school ?  HA..  At his 5yr old appt, I mentioned to his pediatrician (a man I love completely) and he asked how I felt about it.. When I laughed, he nodded and agreed-  It won't take them long to realize he needs help in place - was his comment.


My mom sent me this on FB -- YES this is Dimples 100%.. lol.  Not only am I worried about how he's going to do in class, but lunch.  The boy doesn't eat and when he does it is normally at a snails pace.  This is at home, at the table where no one looks at him or talks (he will scream).. So I'm wondering how lunch is going to work in a crowded cafeteria where he has to choose his own food, carry his own tray and be expected to eat within 20 mins.   Yeah, I have worries.


On the other hand,  Fishing Pole did some summer school time this year for his reading.  He made such a vast improvement!  It was amazing!  He did wonderful during summer school- I'm not really sure if it's the smaller class (8kids vs 22 kids), meds helping, or if it's just due to him being in a better frame of mind.  Regardless, it was nice for him to not get in trouble for behaviour and actually get to earn prizes for GOOD behaviour!!   Woohoo Fishing Pole!!

The other kids, I'm not worried about.  Spoiled Princess really likes school and does really well.   Southern Darlin' has lots of help in place and is finally learning how to make friends.   Attitude King is excited about the opportunities this high school offers compared to our old one.  He's taking Latin this year.  I can speak pig latin, does that count?    Lastly, Drama Queen will be entering her senior year.  The past few months have been all about college hunting, senior trip planning and basically being reminded on a weekly basis that she's  "outta here" in a year.

Life moves too fast sometimes...

A Mashed up mess

Life lately has been a big mashed up mess.  If one kid doesn't have something going on , the other one does.  Why can't they take turns?? It'd be so much easier for me :(

On a good note- 

Attitude King turns 15 today.  It hit me suddenly, he's growing up. I'm not sure what I thought came after 14 because I was perfectly fine with 14..  15, not so much.   I dreamt a few weeks ago that he was driving Drama Queen's car (with her in it) and I was yelling at both of them b/c he's no where near old enough to drive and how irresponsible are they.. ect ect..    Then I woke up and was telling Daddy Chaos about it only to realize that my baby is turning  FIFTEEN  this year , which means he takes driver's ed this summer.. WHICH means he IS almost ready to be driving..  AHHH!  I don't understand how we got to this point already.. :sigh:

On a not so good note-

We recently had Kindergarten Round Up...  Yep, Dimples will be going to kindergarten next year.  He is in a normal preschool w/ a para for extra help this year and has been doing wonderfully.  Still, we knew that his developmental delay "sticker" would fall off this year and we'd have to do more testing in order to get him an IEP & help next year for Kindy.   It's been on my mind to call the Special Ed teacher at the school system and chat with her about it, but she beat me to it and called yesterday.  Imagine my surprise when she went on to say that she feels that he is very bright (why yes he is! A very smart boy!!) and is doing well in preschool (2.5hrs /day) and feels that he doesn't need tested and can just go to Kindy with no help. ...

......
......
It took a few moments for me to even formulate a response.   No testing?  No help?  While on the outside that may sound wonderful, inside it is instant fear.  I know this boy. I know how very very smart he is.  I also know his limits with behaviour, social skills & language.  You see, he can hold it in for a few hours if he's not with a trusted loved one.  He can do it, but the minute he's back in a safe environment- all hell breaks loose.

I called up my bestie and told her the news- she immediately said WHAT?.. lol.  Love her.  She has a 4yr old one month older than Dimples and so yes, I compare where they are not educationally but overall . 

Dimples-
-does not play with other children, he prefers to play alone.  Yes he can occasionally play beside them but it's rare for him to actually interact with others.  Even Special Ed teacher admits this.

- is still not potty trained.  Urology feels it has to do with his sensory issues and sometimes it takes longer for them to train..  Yeah, I can imagine their faces when he goes to Kindergarten without  a plan and wearing a pullup or diaper.

- has tantrums like you would not believe.

-just yesterday skipped preschool b/c he fell asleep at 11am and would NOT wake up for anything until 3pm.

oh there is more and more.. I am just shocked that this teacher who spends only 1 day per week with him feels that he is a typical almost 5yr old.   I did feel much better after talking to Ms Random about it and saw that it wasn't just me living in the past..  So we are heading back down to the BIG hospital to have another big evaluation. We did it when he was 3 and were dx with developmental delays, speech & language delays  & lots of autistic tendencies.    So I'm hoping now that he's a bit older they can help pinpoint the issues and make sure he has the help in place that he will need for Kindergarten.


xoxo,

Waving the white flag

Hi All !

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit.  If you read the review blog, you know I've been pretty busy over there lately.. It's easier to write reviews & do promos /interviews.. I don't have to *think*.  I think I've avoided here for a while because I just don't want to deal with the mountain of crap that's piled up and it's easier to avoid.. No excuse and I'm done with it! 

Soo... We've lived in the new house for 2 months now and I have yet to take pictures to share with you!  Sorry! I know several have asked.. I will make it my goal to get it done this month! lol! 

The good news is I have unpacked *most* our stuff.. The bad news is that all that's left is the misc crap that I don't need on a daily basis so I'm horrible about just leaving it in boxes tossed in the closet. Ugh! I hate that about myself but I have no motivation to find a place to put it..

I absolutely love this house. It is 100% perfect for us.  Some days I just come home and sigh and think about how much I love this house.  Pathetic isn't it?

We live about 4mins from Daddy Chaos' work so he has been coming home on his 30min lunch break. I love getting the chance to spend a few quiet minutes (with Dimples- ha, when is there really quiet with Dimples around?) with him each day.  I about have everything timed perfectly to where I can have his lunch ready and waiting when he walks in the door.. Little 50's wife I'm becoming. ha.  I even make my bed every day.  Shocked, I know!

The kids are all settling into their new schools.  They all seem to like it fairly well. In fact, I'd say that after just a few weeks at school- they(little kids) like this one better than the old school where they've spent 2-4years!  Even Dimples - who is horrible at transitions and took a full year of his old preschool before he would talk to them- LOVES his new preschool.  He is thriving in this new atmosphere.  Before he was in Developemental Preschool which was all inclusive . So while he only had 8 other students (1 teacher & 4 para's) some of them were pretty severe.  In this district, being so large, they only keep the most severe inclusive.  Dimples was sent to a church preschool but the school still comes in and does his therapies plus he has a private Para just for him.  It's amazing.  I never in my wildest dreams imagined that they would adjust so well.

Well I just wanted to take a few minutes to check in and make sure everyone knew I was still alive! lol :) I pinky swear to be back soon! 

xoxo,

Another year...

The first day of school has come and gone. 

The kids are all a grade older and I only have one year left before Dimples will be in Kindergarten which means ALL DAY school.  :(

I'd like to share our first day of school picture like I always have in the past.. Alas, the "highschoolers" have deemed themselves all of the sudden too big to pose.  Silly teens.  So here are the lil kids :

And because I'm that mom. I went outside and hollared at the highschoolers to walk their little butts back home so I could get their picture as they tried to sneak out of the house before I could capture them ..

 I quite frankly, have no idea how on earth Attitude King has gotten so big. A FRESHMAN people. The clock is ticking down :(  This boy, who once was so little, I now have to look up at as he towers over me.  Heck, he towers of Daddy Chaos too.. lol.

And Drama Queen, the junior, who is constantly wishing her life away and trying to be older than she is.  I don't know when she grew up either, I must have blinked.  Sorry for the fuzzy picture, they were by the road.. Please note that I was nice enough to crop her BFF out of the picture, even though said BFF huffed at the mere idea of getting a "first day of school" picture which means I promptly put it on facebook uncropped.. :~P

So school has started and life is getting back into a routine.  Sigh.   I think this is the first year I have ever looked forward to school starting.  The summer has been a shitfest of surgeries, pre-op appts, post- op appts and bedrest.  Back to school forces us back into a routine which I've come to realize it's not just the kids who crave it.

And because nothing good can come without a tiny bit of bad- Dimples has had his 3rd sinus infection of the year.  Our Dr decided to run some allergy tests- low and behold, the boy has a milk allergy.

Let me restate that- the boy whose pure existence is due to Boost (milk included), grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas- is allergic to milk.   Our life has just become not so fun.


xoxo,

Drugs stink

Drama Queen came home yesterday and immediately launched into the school 'gossip' as she tends to do if anything interesting has happened.

"We had a DRUG bust at school today! "

WHAT?!  Did someone get caught with pot?  (which is still illegal but seems lesser and easier for me to imagine highschool kids with)

"Yeah, the cops came in at 4th period.. Those kids are sooo stupid. We were told at the beginning of school that the cops would be showing up randomly.. One of them had it in his pocket.  Dummy.  "

I'm a tad bit concerned about the level of acceptance that her peers are doing drugs and they are stupid for bringing it to school... But I guess thinking back, even when I was in school it was well known which kids were the 'stoners'.    So the cops came in  and left with 3 kids (10th, 10th & 11th grades) is what they were told.

What makes me even more uncomfortable is that it wasn't just weed. (again, nothing is just when it's a drug but you kwim!)

Photo Credit - Getty

It was cocaine.

And some dill rod was carrying it around in his pocket?? Really?  I guess I see Drama Queen's amazement at the stupidity.

I was a "good" girl in school.  I got good grades, didn't drink & never once experimented with drugs.  Back then I knew a few guys that played around with stuff but I never knew that lifestyle. 

And then I became a foster parent.

A foster parent to DRUG babies.

Babies who are now MY Children because drugs ruined their parents lives. 

All four biological parents have been in jail for drug related charges.    All have lost custody of their children.

3 of the 4 kiddos have issues related to their biological mother abusing drugs (and God only knows what else) during their time in utero ..

Prior to my younger set coming into my life, I had never had to acknowledge drugs.  I didn't know how one did drugs.  I guess it's something I never was interested in, so why care?!  I had never dealt with felons.  I was sheltered and lived a quiet life.

My life now is much more jaded.    While I never used to think of drugs one way or the other - except teaching the older kids "Just Say No",  now just the thought of kids using drugs at this age makes me want to vomit.  Don't they realize how quickly they can get addicted and their lives will be over?

One of the biological moms started abusing cocaine when she was 14.  She's now in her 30's and although she might claim to be clean, she has never had a clean drug screen while I've known her.   More than half of her life spent high or trying to get the next high.   She has been clean more than once (stints in prison) but would immediately throw that away when it was available & go back down the drug path.

The other biological mom is younger but has been meth addicted for years.  She is supposedly clean now and I can only pray that is true as she is parenting 2 children on her own. 

Lives ruined- my kids with issues now due to their need for that high and inability to stop.  

Dimple's most recent trip to the genetics Dr - no immediately recognizable syndrome.  Leaning towards all his delays & issues being due to drugs (cocaine, marijuana, meth..) & possible alcohol effects.

Fishing Pole's heart defects were told to be most likely due to the cocaine use while his heart was forming.

Southern Darlin's learning disabilities are due to drugs (meth) and alcohol effects.


So a drug bust so close to home hits me in the gut.  So many lives that could be changed.  So many lives ruined.


As I teach my kids- "People who do drugs aren't "bad" people, they are just making bad choices." 


Apparently they need someone to give them a swift kick in the @ss and straighten them up before they ruin their lives or someone elses.


Remember people -- JUST SAY NO.  ugh.


**Edited to note that although rumors yesterday were that it was cocaine, today the story has changed to crystal meth- which scares me even more!!! UGH!   Geesh, I went to all that work to find a photo and then the darn drug changed on me..  No worries, meth will give me much better picture results to scare the bejeezus out of everyone..

                          xoxo,

I need a Bubble..

Week 2 of school and 4 of 6 have been sick.

This year is going to be fun.

Especially considering we have our Adoption Celebration coming up next month. Yay!  Which means the kids will be missing 5 days of school, unexcused -although approved by the principals.  Which means they can't afford to be sick a ton or we all get in trouble. 

Sickies (Dimples & Spoiled Princess) laying together watching a movie.

As you know, I was more than a tad bit leary of sending Fishing Pole off to school.  Kindergarten is all day long here which equals THREE recesses.   Everyone who has kids in elementary knows that recess is the time you have to worry about.  Those kids are crazy out there!

Still, I talked to the nurse.. I talked to his teacher.  I gave everyone his limitations which are pretty darn simple to understand :

• No physical contact sports
• Avoid any type of injury to stomach  (pacemaker is in his tummy)
• No outside recess in temps over 85* (he cannot handle the heat)
• No Swinging on tummy.
• No roughhousing ! 
• No sliding on tummy.
• No army crawling (on tummy).
• NO TUMMY ANYTHING!!

Pretty simple.. Avoid any trama PERIOD to his tummy.. and if it's hot out, keep him in. If anything happens, even if you question it please let me know.  Also, he has a very high pain tolerance so even if he's hurt, he may not tell you.  Easy peasy, right?

Apparently not.

Day 3 of school -  Fishing Pole comes home to tell me that some kid head butted him in the TUMMY at recess.. It really hurwt mom.    I asked if he told the teacher/aide?  Yes.  Did he go to the nurse's office?  No.    No note, nothing at all.  I emailed both the nurse and the teacher to find out what in the heck was going on?? The nurse wrote back very quickly to let me know that she had not been informed of it but she would find out what she could..  She then wrote back again to let me know that Fishing Pole's teacher was told of the incident but wasn't told that it was in his tummy so she didn't report it.. Ok, I can understand that.. I guess.  But here it is day 10 of school and she never once emailed me back or acknowledged my email to her regarding this.  A simple "I'm sorry I didn't realize this but will make sure you're notified in the future" would have been nice.  Ugh.

So that was day 3..  As I said we are now up to day 10 of school.  Every. Single. Day this week Fishing Pole has come home to say that some other kid(s) pushed him down at recess..  Jumped on his back and knocked him down.. or my favorite- pushed him down and made him hit his head on the ground (resulting in scrape above the eye)--  Every time I ask if he told the teacher/aide??  Every time he says yes, the other kid got in trouble.  Yet every single time- he has not been sent to the nurse at all.    Now Spoiled Princess can trip over her own feet at recess, scrape her knee and get sent to the nurse's office to get a bandaid and ice.. Yet Fishing Pole -who has more reasons to worry about, gets knocked down repeatedly and never gets sent.

I'm  --this-- close to yanking him out to homeschool.   It's just so quiet in the house though.. lol.

Seriously though, you had better believe that my typing fingers are getting practice with the emails I'm going to be sending off yet again..  I'm not making friends at this school, I can just tell.

                   xoxo,

School Day 3

I could tell it was going to be a bad day when I woke up and felt wet sheets.

No, it wasn't me.

It wasn't!!

So Dimples peed my bed again. 

ugh.

I don't care if he pees his own bed, but nooooo.. always has to climb into my bed in the middle of the nite and pee it.   It's so much easier to change a crib sheet vs a King size sheet set..  Ugh.

So a quick morning bath was in order.   As he's drinking his milk (and continuously throwing the cup at the wall then screaming that he wants his milk.. ), I asked if he was ready to go to preschool today?!  Have fun!! Play with your new friends!! 

NO.  I wat Phineas Fer. 

I thought nothing of it and put some Phineas & Ferb on for him to watch while I got the other kids ready for school. 

Time to leave.

I put the boy's shoes on him FOUR times before we actually got off the door..  I guess I should have listened.

He did NOT want to go to preschool today.

The 1 & 2nd day of school , it's all he could talk about.   I go pee-skool, pay toys?!  He had a blast and was ready for it..

Today was clearly a different day.

Fishing Pole was feeling better (aka no fever) and so he was anxious to get back to school before someone else snatches up his fiancee.

I drove the kids to school.  Parked.  Got out and put Dimples' shoes BACK on him again.  Got everyone out, backpacks on.  The tequila bunch took off to their classrooms (they are adorable.. The lil girls will take Fishing Pole to his room, then walk together til they have to split off and go to their separate rooms) with a quick "Bye Mom!  Love you!"

Dimples took 3 steps , looked at me and said No.

I gently tugged at his arm and would get him to take 3-4steps before he'd stop and say No.

I pointed out his teachers waiting for the bus kids a few yards away. 

No.  No skool.  I go in car. 

sigh. my heart is breaking just a bit.

Dimples, you have to go to preschool today. You'll have lots of fun.. You can go play with the kitchen (he loves play food!) . Tomorrow you don't have preschool and you can stay home with mommy all day long.

There were tears.  He was adamant that he did not want to go today.  I have no clue why.  He loved preschool for those first few days.  Honestly, this is what I was expecting those other 2 days.  He has a hard time transition.. a hard time separating from me.   But then he did sooo good, I thought hmm I guess I was wrong.

His teachers tried to entice him with all the fun they were going to have but in the end they just told me to walk away and they'd walk him inside.. 

He yelled NOOOOO!  the entire way into school as I walked away with tears streaming. 

He doesn't go back again until next Monday so let's all keep our fingers crossed that he wants to go then.  I'm not good at forcing him to do things that will make him upset.


On a better news day-- Southern Darlin', the one who was very anti- school, reports after 2days that it's not so bad.  She's made a new friend and so far likes her teacher..  I do think it helps that she's pulled out to work with the special ed teacher for Math (last year she just had a para in the room during math time).   Time will tell but at least she's off to a good start!!


xoxo,

School - Day 2

Day 1 of school :

Yep, he managed to get another tooth loose on the FIRST day of school.  Really,kid? Really?   When I asked how it got loose (wasn't loose that morning, or at least he hadn't noticed it yet) the response I got was " I hit my mouth against the wall and then it was loose"..  No reasoning to why he might want to hit his mouth against the wall though.. lol.   Daddy pulled that one before supper.  Fishing Pole has now caught up with Spoiled Princess on the tooth losing race.  Southern Darlin' (the oldest of the Tequila kids*) has yet to lose a single one.. Nothing is the slightest bit loose either!


Day 2 of school -   Fishing Pole is home sick already.   Really , kid? Really?  Sore throat, snorting up snot (eww, so gross.) & fever.  He was not happy with Momma that I had him stay home.

"But I really really like school!" 

I'm glad to hear it but fever says you stay home and rest.

"But that's soo boring!  Can I play wii? "

No

"Can I go downstairs and ride bikes or play with my dinosaurs?"

No.

"You are a mean mommy. You always say no.."

Yep, I like saying no.

"No you don't.  You're a nice mommy.. What can I do?"

You can lay down in bed and watch a movie?? Laying down, resting helps you get better faster so you can go back to school tomoro..

"Movies? YAY!"

And so the sick one is happy and Momma is just hoping it passes quickly and doesn't spread thru the rest of the crew!! Also, let's just keep our fingers crossed that this is not a sign of what is to come.. I can do without a year full of sickies, especially now that they are all *supposed to be* in school.


* Tequila kids is the nickname Drama Queen has given to the stairstep kiddos (Fishing Pole, Spoiled Princess & Southern Darlin') because the beginnings of their real names if shoved together sounds similar to Tequila.. lol.   That or because maybe you need to drink tequila in order to handle all three at once?

                   xoxo,

Bye bye Summer '11

The first day of school is tomorrow.

I thought I was ready.

I was wrong..

It's bad enough that Fishing Pole will be joining the big kids by entering kindergarten -- omg, the boy has broken his pacemaker lead TWICE under my very cautious mommy eye.. How is he going to survive kindergarten with 22kids per teacher plus recess with 6times more kids?  Hold me!

But I can handle that.  What I'm having a tougher time with is that Dimples will also be joining the big kids.. Developmental Preschool.

I'm so not ready.. He's my baby. I'm not ready to let him go out in the world and trust others with him.

We went to the school yesterday to find the lil 4's classes.

Spoiled Princess found her classroom and was able to meet her new teacher! Yay!  She's not too worried about going to school. As we looked over the other classmates' names hanging on the wall, we didn't recognize any friends.  She just shrugged and said "It's ok, I'll just make new friends and see my old ones at 2nd recess."

Fishing Pole was able to find his classroom and meet his teacher too. Luckily he has several kiddos from his 3yr old preschool class in his room this year :)  Especially his "girlfriend" who when told her cubby was next to his, he promptly stated "I'm going to marry her!"

Southern Darlin' found her classroom but her teacher wasn't in. Luckily we went back today and she was able to meet both her normal teacher and the new SE teacher who will be doing math with her.  Both seem very nice.  Still Southern Darlin's anxiety has been acting up quite a bit these past few weeks.. I've noticed it in several behaviors that we haven't seen since she first came to us.  She's nervous.. :(

Dimples found his classroom yesterday but like Southern Darlin' his teacher wasn't in.. So the principal & office staff were treated to his screaming as he kicked,clawed and bit me while I carried him out to the car and tried to explain that he could see his classroom tomorrow.. :sigh:.  We did go to Preschool Open House today. He loved his classroom and went in and played with a few toys.  We met the teacher & 3 parapro's.  Although he's eligible to attend all 4days that they have preschool, we elected to start with just 2days to attempt to make the transition easier on him.  We definitely wanted him to go on the day that they have the OT/PT so he will go on Mondays & Tuesdays.   Fine. Works for me.. Only while I was there, his teacher says "So, he's coming tomorrow right?"

Uhmm no? I thought since he's going to come on Monday & Tuesdays, his first day would be Monday.. (is it just me? lol).

"Ohh, you have to let him come tomorrow! It's the first day of school!!"

So now, I thought I'd get thru sending the other 5 off to their first day of school ok because I could walk out of the elementary with my baby on my hip.  Instead, I'm walking out alone.. probably with tears streaming down my face.  :sigh:

Ahh well, I thought I'd ask them all their thoughts on the first day of school  :

Dimples (preschool) : I go pee-skool, pay toys?

Fishing Pole (kindergarten) :  I just can't believe it!! I can't believe I'm finally big enough for school!  I think I'm dreaming!  *very dramatic sigh*

Spoiled Princess (1st grade):  I'm going to be such a good 1st grader!  I was very very good at kindergarten!  (she is very very good at everything.. lol)

Southern Darlin' (2nd grade): Can I skip 3 days and then go to school?  No. How about 2 days, mom.. 2 days? No. If you skip 2 days then on the day you have to go back you still won't want to go.   Fine, 1 day. I'll skip 1 day. :sigh:

Attitude King (8th grade- omg!):  Can I have lil AK over to spend the night?

Drama Queen (10th grade - double OMG!) : Oh, no.  Drama for another 180 days.  Yippee.  *eye roll*
(DQ has discovered early that highschool girls are full of drama.. lol)

We shall see what tomorrow brings. I sincerely hope that the only one with tears will be Momma.

               xoxo,

A break to celebrate

It seems like all I've been doing lately is talking about Dimples.

It's true, a lot of my concern lately has been centered around him- for good reason, but I do have 5 other kiddos..

So I figured I'd break into the Dimples- OMG series to share a little bit of good news about Southern Darlin.

You might recall that I fought for a while to get her tested & designated "special education" but I kept at it.   And they gave in and tested her.

The school psychologist did the normal testing, her teacher did a report, I did a report, her reading recovery teacher did a report and the speech teacher tested her due to some quirks in her language.

We had our official meeting a week or so ago.  

It seems an odd thing to celebrate but they have qualified her "special ed".  I felt like jumping up and cheering!  Yipping & doing a little happy dance! 

In the report, they were able to accurately capture my child.  The psychologist was able to show that although she did appear to do well on some tests it was only because it's very difficult to show the delay in 1st grade.  She felt that she tested much better than she actually is.   For example, she had a good score in math because she could write numbers and count.  However, she cannot add or subtract unless she can use her fingers and then has to touch her face with said fingers to do it.  Anything over 10 is too difficult.  In addition if she adds 3+2 , at this stage most kids would say 3 and then continue to count their fingers- 4, 5.  She instead holds up 3 fingers on one hand & 2 on the other and then proceeds to count all 5 fingers.

It was very interesting to listen to the teachers realize that their testing showed different things and at times contradicted each other which once again proved that some days she knows things and others she doesn't.   The one thing everyone could agree on was that she tries her absolutely hardest and is always happy to put in a good effort.

Regardless, she is in!  She gets to continue onto 2nd grade and will have additional help.  She now gets a parapro in the classroom for 20-30mins a day, plus goes to speech for some language quirks (ironically qualified under language delay & other health impairment) & still gets to keep Reading Recovery til the end of the year.  

The special education teacher said that she normally only writes in one-two goals in an IEP. 

Southern Darlin' likes to excel at things. She has 4 goals for math and 2 for language.  Overachiever.. ha

I'm happy.

I know we've won..

And yet I'm worried.

I'm worried that 20-30 mins with one on one time with her parapro won't be enough.  Her teacher already spends at least that much one on one time with her throughout the day.  Plus she has another student's parapro that works with her when his student is doing ok.    The school feels putting her in an actual special needs classroom would be too restrictive and I feel that 20-30mins of one on one time is not going to be enough.  But we shall see.

Time will tell.   Until then, my fingers are crossed.

                    xoxo,

Cooties

Do you know how to get your little boy to chase after you giving you kisses all over?

Simply tell him that he can't kiss you because he has icky boy cooties.

This might be a bad idea if your other littler boy follows suit.  Especially when the littler boy has snot pouring from his nose and redefines the term "Snot face".

Let's just say I'll be bathing with bleach tonite.  ewww.

*******

In other news...   The kids have been in school for 2wks now. 

Two whole weeks of Momma home with just two little kiddos.  It feels strange. It's quiet.  I'm adjusting. 

The kids are all loving it though.  

The Toddler is adjusting to the new schedule.. Having to actually get up early (to drive  SP &SD to school) is not his cup of tea but he's adjusting.  He likes that it's just Drool Prince at home because Drool Prince actually plays with him some. 

Drool Prince was glued to my side for the first week.  I think he just enjoyed soaking up Momma time.  He's now the oldest instead of one of the babies so he gets to help out. We do special preschool stuff,  just him & me,  when The Toddler naps.   Except for those days where he falls asleep waiting on The Toddler to go to sleep and then, well Momma gets Free Time!

Spoiled Princess loves her teacher! her class! her friends! her seat! Everything!!

Southern Darlin' had a good first week.  A not so good 2nd week. We got a straight face picture from the teacher (not a smile, not a frown).  She's having problems staying in her seat and actually participating.   I saw this coming. The first week of school went very well but she was completely out of control once she got home.  She held it together the best she could while at school and then all hell broke lose afterwards.   Heck ever the therapist commented when we went last week " Is she still on her meds??".   I think it may be time for an increase, we'll talk to Dr Cuckoo about it next week.   An odd thing I've noticed- before school started she was doing well.  We had some anxiety about school starting and she would repeatedly ask me to please make sure to give her the pill because it helps her and always swallows it down without a problem..  Now that we are all out loco, she is back to saying she hates the pill & coughs/chokes when she takes it.. Silly kid.

Attitude King is liking school as well.  He's still working out the kinks of trying to find time to actually get back to his locker vs just carrying all his books with him all day long.. ha. I can remember those days! 

Drama Queen is living up to her nickname. Oh the Drama of a teen in high-school who has parents that actually care about what she's doing and insist on rules.  Gasp!! I know, it's horrible.  Oh.My.Gawd, mom.. Everyone does it.    yeah, we're there.

Back to School :)

It's that time of year again..  Time for school to start up.

I am one of those mom's that others hate. I don't look forward to school most years. I miss my kids. I like having them at home.   This year was especially tough as it's Spoiled Princess' first year of Kindergarten (all day)..

It's odd to be at home all day long with just my two little boys.  It's quiet (which in itself is odd to say since I happen to have the two loudest kids on the planet at home with me).   We'll adjust in time.. Next year Drool Prince will be at Kindergarten too- then I'll really be going crazy!

So while I wasn't eager for school to start, the kids were.  They missed their friends. They wanted to go back Now!  Southern Darlin' was the only one who had the slightest bit of hesitation about going to school and even she did well!

With no further ado- the official First Day of School 2010 picture :

You can clearly see Spoiled Princess' excitement..

Drama Queen- voted child to make Momma feel old at every turn.  So what if I had her when I was not quite 19.. The kid constantly makes me feel old. How can I possibly have a FRESHMAN in highschool?  When did this happen?   It's going to be really weird when she's a Senior and The Toddler is in Kindergarten..  hmm, I see what Daddy meant when he cried- "We were almost done!!".  Too late now. oops!

Attitude King- starting 7th grade this year.. Unfortunately for his sister, this year also happens to be the year that our school system decided to combine 7 &8th grade with the highschool.. So her first year at Highschool is also his first year at highschool.. ohh burn! To make things worse funnier  they actually have Study Hall together.. I almost couldn't quit the laughing when I heard that..

Southern Darlin' was not really looking forward to 1st grade.. She wanted to stay in Kindergarten with her old teacher . She was comfortable there.  Just talking about going to 1st grade could result in tears.  Oh the anxiety!  The first day of school revealed a calm Southern Darlin'.  She immediately insisted on taking her pill because she didn't want Momma to forget (ha!).  Into her class she strode and sat down like a big girl! No crying, no running after me!  Yay!!   side note- apparently I need to have her brush her teeth before she gets dressed..

 Spoiled Princess is my poser.. She's always striking up her model poses and requesting a picture now please!  

She surprises me daily.

She was the clingy one.

The one that you couldn't get out of her sight or Else.

She never spent the nite at Gma & Gpa's because she had to be touching me at all times.


Finally she has grown into her own little person.  This independent child who happily walks into her classroom with a hug, kiss & a bye Mom!

:sigh:  It makes a Momma proud and a tiny sad all at once. Where'd my baby go?

Count to 3.. 1, 2..THREE.. Wait girls, Don't say three.. I'll count.

Ok. I know I said no counting and close your mouth. but you have to smile a little SD..

What? SD- why do you look surprised? SP- smile!!

Thanks girls! That will work :)

And another year starts....