Laurel's Birthday

I just wanted to put a little blurb about Laurel's birthday. She had a fun one with 3 of her friends and a little neighbor boy who hijacked his way in. I didn't have to heart to kick him out. He kept asking where the pinata was and I told him we weren't having one. For someone who wasn't invited until the last minute he was quite the critic. He even asked for a gift bag at the end and I had to explain that I only had 3 girly bags.....I almost expected him to ask for one. Anyhow, my friend, Diana made the cake and Laurel LOVED it. She asked for a Barbie princess cake with a dress with pink and white flowers with butterflies. What do you think? Laurel is already planning on her next birthday theme and has invited some people WAY in advance. I have to keep telling parents that there is no party for at least another year. Ha. My baby is now 5!!!

Unintentional Hiatus

Christmas 2005

My sister in law wrote me an email the other day and asked if I was still doing my blog. And that is when I realized that I hadn't gotten on here for too long. So this may get long winded. If it does, I am sorry and I hope that it isn't boring for you to read.
So what's been happening since I least wrote.....Laurel cut her hair again! I so tired of that and told her that if she does it again I am going to shave her head. I would rather have her looking like a chemo patient than to have a semi mullet thing happening. I am able to hid it for the most part, but I am STILL annoyed with it and it has been at least 2 weeks ago that it happened.
My sister came to visit right before Thanksgiving. It was so fun to have her come!! We did a lot of shopping and eating out to lunch. She also came just in time for Twilight to come to theaters. We went to the midnight showing the night before it officially came out. I am glad that I went that night. You could feel all the excitement and anticipation from all the teens and rabid Twilight fans radiating out from all sides. I loved the series so I was excited to see the movie. Alas, as it is always so, the book was way better than the movie. I did have a fun time watching it and it was an okay movie, but the script was weak and so was some of the directing. I hope since they have a better budget for the next movie that they will make more of an effort and make a movie worth making. I felt that this one was basically only for the fans of the book. I wonder if people who haven't read the book would like it (or understand it all) as much. One of my friends who saw it said that she was so excited to finally see Edward in the sun and when she finally did, he just looked sweaty. Ha. I thought that was funny.
My big news(or maybe not so big since I alluded to it in a post a few back) is that I am now officially a Homeschooling parent. I prayed really hard about it and that was the answer that I got. It makes sense for me right now to do this. In the long run, I really feel like it will benefit Connor to be home with me and get some good, intense, one on one teaching. I don't plan to do it for more than a year or two, as of now. During this winter break, I will be refining and organizing what I will be doing with him. I am in a bit of shock since I never thought that I would have the patience to do this, to even want to attempt this.I is amazing how things can change when the circumstances arrange themselves just so. I could have gone to the mattresses with the school, but in the end, I didn't want to put my energy toward that. I am burnt out on fighting. I am going to leave that to another parent.......I may even have to be that parent later on. But I felt my energy was better spent on getting him more up to speed now so there will be NO question that resource classes are where he should be later. The school says that he is functioning at an academic level of 3rd grade......if that is the case, it has been that way for about 3 years now. I have got to wonder why he hasn't progressed more. So, I am removing some of his daily anxieties and stresses and teaching him here. We are getting into a homeschooling group with whom we will meet with once a week. He will also be taking piano lessons, working out daily with me, and at least once a week doing something active like swimming class or rock climbing. It will also give me a chance to teach him practical uses of what he is learning and to see where he excels so that I can steer him that way in his future schooling.
So Christmas is coming up.....It has managed to sneak up on me faster that I was ready for it. There is so much that I need to still do. I am annoyed at Connor and Laurel because they keep changing what they "really want from Santa"....I started telling them that it was too late to change their minds. Connor told me it wasn't because he has just talked to the Santa at the mall the other day. So should I pop his bubble or let him continue to believe?? Laurel was cute and worried the other day that Santa might not come because"it doesn't snow in TX so he won't know where to go..." I told her that he always knew where to go no matter what the weather was like. In the meantime, TX can't make up it mind....it is 32 degrees and the cold just bites through your clothes, but 2 days again it was 77 degree and on Friday it will be again. At least we are getting the FULL use of our shorts here. Screwy TX! So, I need to get my Christmas baking done, get out all my family packages, send out Christmas cards, grocery shop for Christmas dinner, finish getting the last little items for stockings and gifts.....crud, I can't write anymore! I need to get with it. Hopefully I won't go so long in between writing anymore.....

Another genius moment

Today as I walked out the door with Connor and Laurel to take them to school, I noticed that Tim's cell phone was in my car. As I looked at it, I thought, I know he is gonna miss that. He uses it a lot during work. As I was dropping Connor off at school, Tim's cell started to ring.
Me: Hello?
Tim: who is this?
me: your wife, Alice
Tim: hey, I think I left my cell phone at home.
me: you think?
Tim: can you bring it to me......
Anyhow, I couldn't stop laughing. It was a definite"here's your sign" moment.

The movies were right....well this time

Okay, so I learned that not everything that we see on TV is exaggerated. My boys are really into Bakugan and have been trying to do extra chores around the house to "earn" one. It is routine for them to unload the dishwasher, but to do something extra, Connor asked to load it. I was more than happy with that and they should be doing it anyhow.....anyway.....Connor loaded up the dishwasher and then looked for the detergent to put into it. Not seeing it, he got creative and squeezed liquid dish soap into the detergent holder. He then made sure all the right buttons were pushed and then started the cycle. I had no clue of any of this until about 20 minutes into the cycle, I went into the kitchen for a snack. ARGH!!!!!!!! There were bubbles everywhere!!!!! My dishwasher looked like it had rabies or maybe even mad cow disease. Bubbles were oozing out everywhere and they were diligently trying to take over most of my kitchen. Ha. I stopped the cycle, drained it, wiped out the remaining liquid and then started it again with no detergent. Disaster was averted. I had a good laugh after freaking out about it. Wish that I had taken a picture though. BTW, the pix above is not from this incident, but another fun time we had.

Thanks

I just wanted to write a quick note to say thanks for all the support from friends and family. It helps. I was just so down and angry when I wrote that last post. I know that I haven't gotten a chance to call some of you back and I will....I have just been so busy. A quick update.....the aide that said that the kids in the FASP program couldn't go to High School until they were 15 was wrong. Why someone in that position doesn't know what she is talking about is beyond me. You would think they would be better informed because she really freaked me out. She had also told me that they had NO Sp.Ed programs at the high school and that was wrong too(although I already knew that). Some of you asked if what they were doing is legal. Yes, it is. This is why: Resource classes work at a lower grade level(about 5th grade) and sometimes work slower, but Connor has regressed and is working at an even lower grade level(about 3rd grade) than a Resource class is set up to do. They have been modifying the work to meet Connor's needs, but to "show" me he doesn't belong there, they will take away those "further" modifications. Their intent is to point out that he needs to be in a more restrictive enviroment. I don't agree....I just think he needs an extra push and guidence and they don't have the "time or staff and no money in their budget to find someone" to do so. I am still deciding what to do, but I feel much calmer now and am looking at ALL my options. Right now, I am looking into the option of home schooling. It would be a BIG undertaking, but I can do just as good a job, if not better, than this system that I am stuck with. I know some of you won't approve of that,but I am not looking into it lightly. Anyhow, there's the latest. Thanks again for the support, advice and prayers.

Why Me?

Okay, first you need to know that I hate the question that I used as my title. It is nothing but unproductive. But I am having a moment where I am asking myself, "why me?". The mantle of my responsibilties to my children is weighing heavy on my shoulders at the moment. I am so drained and need to find my inspiration to move through it and I am sure in another day or so I will be over this pity party. So, what am I talking about, you may ask.....I am going through it with the school that Connor goes to, Audie Murphy Middle School. I feel like I do this same song and dance every couple of years. Last year, I went through it so I came here with the confidence that I had my ducks in a row and everything would be smooth sailing....at least until he got into High School. He is in a Resource program. That is when a child who has learning issues goes to a series of classes that learn things at a lower lever than his mainstream peers. It can mean that the work is at a lower grade level or learned at a slower pace. The school he is in is telling me that he is struggling so badly that he can't be productive in this learning enviroment. I find it interesting that he was able to do it in MO, but not here in TX. It could be a product of a few things though......moving and the change that brings, he is no longer on his meds, he's being lazy....I don't know. But in the meantime, he isn't doing so hot here. They want me to put him in a FASP or SKILLS program....they are the same thing just 2 different ways to say it. That is a contained classroom in which you do all of your work at whatever grade level that you are able to learn at and maybe you get to leave for elective classes if you are able and up for it.It is the most restrictive learning enviroment in the public school system. I went to the class at the school they want him to move to and observed it to see what it was all about. What I found was a class of children that were much more severely handicapped then my child and if they weren't, then they were being WAY underestimated. I don't want to sound snotty in any way, but it isn't where my child should be. He does have his issues, but he is capable of more that what was going on in that classroom. This is what I walked into:
On one side of the class was a table with 4 students sitting at it. They were the group who were the most impaired. Even though it was reading time, they were being taught life skills....it happened to be a lesson about a place setting. An aide was giving them a plate, fork, knife, spoon and cup and asking the kids to touch the item she would name. In another corner was a group of kids that were having the teacher read them the story of Little Bear, a children's book with pictures. And asking them basic questions like who is in the story and things like that. Then there was a group of 2 students reading a piece of paper with a story paragraph at about a 2nd grade level to an aide. When they were all done with the reading hour, the students got to do a round of singing "head, shoulders, knees, and toes". Through the whole thing there was one more student that sat at a table in her wheelchair with her sippie cup doing nothing, but looking off into space. It was a sad commentary to see this girl and all I could think of was what a sad waster of time...she wasn't learning diddly and she needed way more than this setting could ever give her.
As I left, I just felt insulted that this is where they wanted to put Connor. I will concede that he may be struggling, but I really felt like this isn't the answer. It felt too much like giving up. He would never meet his potential or be pushed to progress in this enviroment. If anything, I think he would regress and be distracted by all the movement and noises that the children around him would make. So I went to the school meeting that I had hoping that there was another choice....a way to find a happy medium. In the meeting, I was basically told in so many words that his current school was not an option and that if I insisted that they leave him there, that they would take away all of his modifications that help him learn and "let the proof be in the pudding....he will either sink or swim and we think he will sink". Then they would have the right, according to them, to force my hand and put him where ever they want....meaning this FASP program. They also tell me that I have one more option....I can go look at the same program at one more school....because "every classroom has a different personality and you may like the one in that class better". So I go to look at another school, same program. The next school had 2 classes. One room had the severly impaired children in it and the other seemed a little more Connor's speed. It was close to being what I was looking for if I have to do this. Some of the children would leave to go to Resource classes and electives. Then, I talked to the aide in there and she informs me that any child that is put into this program isn't allowed to go to High School until they are 15....no exceptions. WHAT??!! If that is true then Connor would end up doing the 8th grade at least one more time, probably 2 since his birthdate is June 26, 1995. So, I am back to the mind frame of this choice really sucks....what am I going to do? I went home and cried due to my frustration and anger at the whole situation. I am doing a lot of questioning, soul searching, and praying. I began to wonder, "why me?" Why was I chosen to have this child when I can't seem to find the path that will make him successful. It is one of those times that I wish that I had money. Sadly, if I had that, then a lot of this would be moot. I could afford to do so much more for him. But we live on a military salary.....So, no crying over spilt milk. Today I am really drained from the whole ordeal. I know that I need to talk to some more people and that,with some faith, I will be guided to the right choice and situation for Connor.......but I am so tired of it being such a battle all the time.
Okay.....enough of my complaining and venting. I know that in the long run,I am blessed. So I will end it with that.

Halloween Funny

I had a good time walking around with Laurel last night trick or treating. It was just her and I. At one house, they has really decorated and the whole family was out front waiting to give out candy. As we got closer, she saw that there was a witch(mom) and a vampire(dad) standing there.
"Look, mom! There's a witch and her husband, Spatula!"
It took me a minute to realize she was talking about Dracula. Ha. What an unscary name for a vampire.
She also asked me if I was dressed up. I was wearing my superman t-shirt last night. I told her that I was super mom. She looked at me and said:
"yeah, right! You must be dreaming."
I know that she wasn't putting my mothering skills down.....just telling me that I couldn't fly or be as fast as a speeding bullet. It still came out funny though.