State Send Off

So, today was the state send off for all sports. It was bittersweet. Bittersweet because it's a big chapter in Mr. B's life. Big. He loves it so much. It's always challenging. I see all of the kids and I think "wow" and I admire them and what they can do. I would have never guessed that the "jock' in the family would be Mr. B. He's not the fastest shark in the tank, but he swims with the most heart. His teammates enjoy him, help him, talk to him. They are good people. Some better than others. I always smile when MK, perhaps the best swimmer on the team, puts his arm around Mr. B and makes sure that Mr. B is included. It's just a nice gesture. A lot of kids 'don't understand Mr. B", but they prove 'just because you don't understand someone's unique needs, doesn't mean that you can't interact with them'. They may not interact a lot, but, to me, anything is a HUGE deal. My hope and wish is that they take that experience with Mr. B and then are kinder to someone else.

I'm BACK!!!!

Yes, I am back blogging. My goal (however idealistic) is to blog once a week. Lots of reasons for this. This year, I think will be an emotional one, just with the Big Guy 'graduating', but it's not really 'graduating'. After this year, he'll be going down to the Transition House. For me, it's just emotional and all. I 'see' all of my friends' kids going off into the world and 'launching' and we won't 'officially' 'launch' anyone until our middle guy goes off to college in 2 1/2 years. We hope to send the "Big Guy' out into the world, someday soon, but we won't know when that will be (there are a lot of skills he needs to learn, yet). Anyway, I'm back, I'm going to try to be consistent. NO HATER'S, please. My goal is that you understand a little bit more about what special needs families go through during this time. <3

Boy Scouts

My Oldest Dude is now a Boy Scout. He "Crossed Over" into Boy Scouts last month. We chose a troop that had had special needs boys (they currently have a boy with Aspberger's and another who has focusing issues). Oldest attended his second Boy Scout meeting and there is a funny story attached to it.


Last night, Oldest had his second meeting with the boy scouts. The Hub was a little concerned after the first one (he said stuff about the older boys were popular....boy scouts popular?). Anyway, they had a fun night last night. They were learning about first aid and how to move someone if they are injured. Somehow, Oldest was volunteered to be the injured boy. He got to be carried on a stretcher by four boys (as they were moving him, he shouted, "Go to the hospital!"). Then, he was carried by one boy (so dragged along on the stretcher). He thought that was really funny. The boys 'raced' to see who could go the fastest.

One thing that was interesting....there's been a lot of 'talk' since last week's "Parenthood" (an NBC show) about how to tell your child who has autism, that, they have autism. In the show (I only watched last week's episode, so I don't know much else about the characters), the elementary school boy finds out accidently that he has Aspberger's and the parents figure out how to tell him and explain it to him. There is a boy in the troop who has Aspberger's. Somehow, The Hub got talking to him (and The Hub explained, "My Oldest son has autism, etc"....the boy said to The Hub, "I have Aspberger's and it is autism")....while they were outside doing the races, the boy was explaining to The Hub, "there are x number of fire sirens" and all of the other noises that were outside (he was evidently having a tough time focusing). Anyway, it was interesting that the boy knew all about his Aspberger's and then, could verbalize what it is, etc. As you know, we've never made a secret of Oldest's autism or anything. Oldest, for sure, knows he's different and on some level knows he has autism, but whether or not he knows "this is how it manifests in him" is probably a higher order of thinking.

Pinewood Derby!

Yes, it is the last weekend in January, which in our house means it is "Cub Scouts" Pinewood Derby time.

This year, Oldest decorated his car with Pascal, the chameleon from the movie, "Tangled". He is obsessed with "Tangled" and Rapunzel. So, he decided to put Pascal in the driver's seat.

Middle Dude decorated his car with Phineas and Ferb. Here's where it gets confusing. See Youngest's Phineas and Ferb ornament fell off of the tree. Phineas was decaptiated. We tried, without luck using several glues, to replace Phineas' head. So, I ordered another one for Youngest. Meanwhile, Middle Guy was having to come up with something to decorate his pinewood derby car. The Hub was able to break (seriously) in two pieces the ornament, keeping Phineas and Ferb intact to use on Middle Dude's car. Phineas and Ferb were able to 'sit' (seriously) in the car.

Everyone loved the Phineas and Ferb car. All of the kids loved watching Phineas and Ferb go down the track. When they were talking about "Most Humorous", all of the kids went "Phineas!".

Christmas Cheer and Presentation Kudos

First of all, today was Oldest's big explorer presentation. He had to make a poster and give an oral presentation on his explorer, Sir Thomas Cavendish. Yesterday, he gave a practice presentation to the other special needs kids and today, he gave it to the "general education" kids. Totally a big deal, not just for him, but it also validates to his teachers that "yes" he can do the work of the typical kids. They worked really hard with him to help him with the poster and the presentation. I ran into his para pro and she said that she couldn't sleep last night she was so nervous. She said he did a great job and even answered three questions (what was the name of the ship he sailed, when was he born and one other). His general education teacher was so proud of him and said he spoke clearly and did a great job! Whoot!

Today was also Youngest's Santa's Workshop party. Typically, the kindergarteners do a "Christmas in Mexico", but due to time constraints (the Wednesday schedule and snow before Thanksgiving), they came up with the "Santa Workshop" theme.

He had six stations. He made a candy cane mouse. He played 'build a tree' math dice partner game (which I was assigned to monitor). He had a color word reading mini book patterned after "Brown Bear". He made a Santa apple. He played Bingo. He played another math dice game.

Again, I am tired after 'teaching' for a morning. What is wrong with me? I used to teach full days and be full of energy!

Final Conference

Last week, I had the final conference with Middle Dude's teacher. His conference is always interesting. I realize at these conferences that I have really the WHOLE spectrum of learners. My goal is always to try to understand how to deal with a high cap type kid, which is more challenging than a boy with autism.

Her first comment to me was, "have you had him tested for High Cap?". You know if that conversation starts out with that where the conference is going. We did have him tested last Spring (the first time he could be tested) and he did not pass. There were three parts and he passed one part and he barely missed the other two. She recommended we either have him tested again this year, or if he has anxiety (he's been having some anxiety, 3rd grade is a challenging grade and she said most high cap kids struggle in 3rd grade because they can no longer 'breeze' through it, they actually have to 'prove' that they know the answer).

Anyway, he got mostly 4s. A "4" is equivalent to a 95% or above (crazy above the norm). He would have gotten 4s on addition and subtraction facts, but he got a 93% in addition facts and a 94% on subtraction facts. She said that, even though they are just starting out multiplication, he has basically mastered multiplication. He does have to work on facts, but that is a memorization exercise.

His Reading was also good. I can't remember off hand what his scores were, but they were high. Again, this is a tough grade. He's been struggling with "Reader's Response' (comprehension questions) and she said that if they moved him down a level, he'd still be struggling (she does the same work that the upper group does, there are a LOT of fantastic readers in the 3rd grade). She said that everyone struggles with Reader's Response.

Anyway, she loves having him in class. I had to bring in all three boys and Oldest was going into random third grade rooms and drinking water. Who knows what that was all about. He was supposed to stay in the 'pod' area (where the computers are) and play on the computers.

A Little Post-Thanksgiving Cheer

Due to last week's snow when the district delayed school on Monday and cancelled Tuesday, Thanksgiving celebrations were postponed.

On a different note, as I was entering the school, I saw Oldest as he was getting off of the bus and he walked me in a talked to me (as in not grunting, talking to me!). Very cute.

Yesterday, Monday, I went in and helped for Squanto's celebration. Youngest had several stations....with me, he and his friends had to decorate their Thanksgiving Day card and do a 'caveman' writing (Man Go Mountain Tree Deer, all in symbols). Then, another mom helped by having the kids 'hunt' for dinner (ie. throw a spear at a 'turkey', "raccoon", 'beaver" and so on). With his teacher, the kids decorated a 'prayer stick' which they prayed for good crops and planted corn. In the other room, they 'traded' toys/goodies like Squanto and decorated a totem pole (of course, Youngest's told jokes instead of telling story, because that is who he is).

Today, the kids did a Thanksgiving play, complete with three songs and the story of Thanksgiving. They each had to memorize a line. Youngest's was "they did not have enough food in the forest". He did a great job. Then, each child had to stand on a box and read their three things that they are thankful for. Youngest said he was thankful for 'my mom, my house, and my movies'. Yep.

It was so much fun...I got to see Middle Dude and Oldest at school, too today. Usually, I see one or two of them. It was so fun to see all three of them.

Winter Weather

Well, the winter season has begun. Yesterday, about two inches of snow fell. The good news is that all three boys went outside (the last time we had snow, they did not want to go out or went out for only five minutes) for an extended period of time.

Knowing our district, I was preparing for the worst. Today, knowing our district like I do, even though the snow had melted here, it hadn't on the 'mountain'....well, our version of the mountain. So, school was delayed two hours and a.m. kindergarten cancelled. This was traumatic for me because I was planning on going in to help out with the 'encampment' (trading of goods and such for the Squanto celebration).

Most of the boys did okay with the change of schedule, but Oldest had his moments. He did fine in the beginning and then, his 'internal autism clock' went off ("I have to go to school, I am going to be LATE!"). So, he hugged himself (very proactive of him) and tried to calm down. In the meantime, I emailed his teacher and OT at school and told them about what was happening. Because of the school delay, he was going to miss OT (of course, he knew this because it's a routine thing). He kept saying to me, "I want to see OT Laura!".

OT Laura, being the fabulous OT she is, fit him in to, I think, her lunch hour. Bless her heart. She worked it out with his general education teacher and he was able to go straight to OT this morning. His general education teacher, being the former special education teacher she is, emailed me back (before I knew that OT Laura was fitting him in) and told me to tell him that it was all going to be okay and that teachers are a little 'off', too, today and to just be calm and that they will work together.

Love them. Tonight is another winter storm warning....so, I expect Youngest's Thanksgiving play will be postponed until next Tuesday and I'll go through another morning of Oldest being 'off'. We'll work through it as we always do. The teachers in this district never cease to amaze me at how generous of a spirit they are. We are truly blessed :)

By the way, Oldest had an assignment last Saturday from his special education teacher. He and her looked through the menu of Red Robin and found some new foods he'd like to try. I am not sure he really WANTED to try them, but he was told he had to try something new. So, he tried an onion ring. The first one he nibbled at and then decided he was full (totally fine) and then after the chips/salsa showed up, he decided to try another! He ate the whole thing (minus the onion part, which is fine, neither one of the other boys like that, either). Then, last night, his favorite server, Whitney, emailed him congratulating him on trying something new. She told him how proud she was of him. Whoot. Hopefully, that will encourage him to try something next week!

Mini-Olympics

Last Friday was the mini-olympics for the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Each classroom represented a "country". Oldest's class was China and Middle Dude's was Austria. Each class made a flag and cheered for their classmates. The kids had to qualify for the mini-olympics by being the top in their class in several competitions: sit ups, push ups, stair-stepping, rope climb (they had to climb up and down as many times as they could), the shuttle run and the bar hang.

Middle dude qualified by being the best in his class in the push ups. He said he wasn't necessarily the 'best' in his class, but other kids qualified in two events and other kids didn't want to do it, so he qualified by doing 12 push ups.

He got to sit up in the front of the school with his class and then when it was push-up time, he had to do as many push-ups as he could. He did a personal best of 22 push-ups. He got a medal for participation.

Oldest did a good job of sitting with his class (even knowing I was there). So, it was all good!

Whacky Wednesday

Today was one of those whacky Wednesday. Some good things and some bad things...not really anything in between....

My Oldest dude had to be a part of a play on bullying...he played the part of a student who was to tell the P.E. teacher about the bullying. He had to drop two books on cue and tell the P.E. teacher. He did everything perfectly and made his para-professional cry (love it when it happens). Goes to show you that he can do things.

My Youngest dude had an eventful day, too. He got the two elemetary school t-shirts that we ordered back in September. He promptly took off his t-shirt and put on one and then took that off an put on another. He is so excited to be at the same school as his brothers. He also had an eye doctor's appointment and his vision from February has gone from 20-70 to 20-25. We are still patching (we don't do it everyday, but we do do it 4-5 times a week for a couple of hours). Not as much as we should, but we are doing it.

Middle dude is going through the tweenies. I am hoping this will pass soon. He's just very negative and yells at me. I love him to pieces, but the tweenies are testing me.

We also got to go see "The Reptile Man". Now, Youngest dude wants to be a reptile man when he grows up. He was super excited. He was chosen after he said, "I am desperation" and he got to touch a snake. He was supposed to have a snake around his neck, but he didn't want that. Oldest got to be one of seven who held a banana snake. He did a fabulous job holding that snake.

Conference Week

On Monday, I had a conference with Youngest's teacher. It went really well. He is reading where he should be, his math is a little behind (not major behind, only because she is having trouble testing him because he claims he is 'tired') and the writing is progressing (he's on an IEP for fine motor). She said he has lots of friends and enjoys kindergarten.

I was a bit more skeptical for Oldest's conference. His teacher wanted him to lead the meeting (seriously, as in 'lead' the meeting, following a plan of information that he worked on and 'lead' the meeting). Oldest has autism, his medications wear off at 3:15, we couldn't get a sitter on the days she could meet. Are you sensing how this would go? All of us would have to go.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. Oldest said his favorite subject was Math (he doesn't really like Math and he's not really good at Math). He wrote the subject that he is not good at is Writing (because it is hard...which is so true, it IS hard for him...he has motor planning issues like Youngest). He said that one of his goals was to read a harder book with Mom. That is something we can totally work on...he read to me part of a book this week that is difficult. I feel like there is so much more in there (now that we got the medication thing under control) that we still need to find out about him. He also had to grade himself. He gave himself low scores on things such as paying attention and finishing his homework. These are things that I am sure he does, but I could see his thought process. All in all, his teacher is so pleased with his progress.

Yesterday, he had to give a presentation with a group of peers and he, evidently, did an amazing job. I was worried because on Tuesday, he was struggling with his paragraph on Aztec clothing and then, Wednesday morning, when he woke up, he walked into the hallway and he started reciting it. Go figure. I said to The Hub, "that's his Aztec report" (in a very tired way, it was 5:30 in the morning!).

Misc "Catch Up" Part Deux

So, as I mentioned earlier, my Youngest son asked the priest on Sunday if we could cancel church....well, I forgot to mention that he was fussy all during Mass. The priest said to The Hub on the way out, "I guess you are allergic to priests".

Today, I opened the box of goodies from my favorite bath store. It was full of fun Christmas-y bath items (hand soap figurals, plug ins, etc) and I asked the two younger boys to 'decorate' the bathrooms....which they did happily. I let one of them take the plug ins and the other take the decorative soap figurals. Christmas is coming!

Finally, Oldest was struggling with the information for his presentation on the Aztecs (he had to talk about the clothing that they wore). I was a little concerned. However, at 5:30 this morning (which is his usual wake up time), he walked down the hall and gave his whole presentation. Obviously, I didn't need to be concerned. His teacher wrote me a note that he did a fabulous job today on his presentation. Yey!

The First Amendment Discussion at 6:20 a.m.

So, this morning (a Monday morning) started out very boring. I did get up a little early, which was good because I was busily unloading the dishwasher and watching "The Today Show" online when my Middle Guy came over to me and asked me, "Mom, can I bring my Bible to school to read?" Yesterday, he got this great Bible, the Adventure Bible. On a side note, it is really well done for kids. It has little 'activities' for kids, great explanations, etc. He got it from my church (all 3rd graders get one before their First Communion year). Since yesterday, he has been reading the Bible, from the beginning, starting with Genesis. So, the discussion on the First Amendment began....

Him:"Can I bring the Bible to school?"
Me:"No, you can't bring the Bible to school".
Him:"Why?"
Me: "Well, I'll go to jail" (this is what I tell them when they tell me they don't want to go to school, it could apply here, I could go to jail if someone complained....)
Him:"Why?"
Me:"Well, you can't bring something from Church to school".
Him:"Why? I just want to read it when I would be reading a book".
Me:"Well, there is a rule and you can't bring something from church to a school".
Him:"Why?"
Me:"Well, the Bible is a book like from the church and school is like the state and there is a rule that you can't bring something from church to school".
Him:"Why?"
Me:"There is a rule called the First Amendment and the Bible is something from Church and the school is like the state and there is a separation of church and state".
Him:"Okay. Maybe, I can bring the school to my church and then I can bring my Bible to school".


Who knew I was such a Constitutional scholar at 6:20 a.m. on a Monday?

On a side note, this afternoon, I told Youngest, he could only have one bag of chips (when he brought the second bag and popped it and I said no, he got naked...I had to change his pants because he had Cheetos on his pants, but he stripped down to his undies after his tantrum). What getting naked has to do with chips, I don't know. Maybe, today I am living in the Twilight Zone.

Misc 'Catch Up"

So, I found out which 'girlfriend' my Youngest son was with on Friday. He was with Anna M., a girl in his class. Evidently, he sat next to her very politely during the movie. Three-quarters of the way through the movie, the PTA gave out free popcorn because there was projection problems. So, Youngest told me afterwards that he helped Anna, 'get more popcorn" and did so in a polite manner. He and Anna walked over to the popcorn window and politely asked for more popcorn.

This last weekend, I went to Portland for the annual MOMS Club Luncheon. I had a good time with friends and as usual, laughed so hard my belly hurt.

Today, The Hub took the boys to the Catholic church for Mass. Evidently, on the way into Mass, he walked up the priest and said, "Can we cancel Church today?". Um, no.

My boys, the heartbreakers part two

Tonight was "Movie Night" at the school. The Hub and the boys went to it. My Youngest is, evidently, sitting next to one of his 'many' girlfriends. Of course because he has several of them.

Pumpkin Party!

Today was a busy day in our household. Middle Dude had a 'pirate party' because 'parties' are not allowed in schools, so they were kicking off their study of maps. I was unable to attend as I was in the kindergarten helping out with the pumpkin party.

The kindergarteners have been learning about pumpkins (the life cycle for example). Last week, we went to the local 'Roots Garden" to see how pumpkins grow (no field trip money to go to a big pumpkin patch anymore) and see seeds in action. Each group got to pick a pumpkin and this week, they measured them, weighed them and counted all of the seeds!

Today was all about fun. They decorated cookies (they had to 'buy' their decorations ie. m and ms or skittles with ten cents that they were allotted). The frosting and sprinkles were free (bargain basement, you know). The station I was in charge of they were making Pumpkin Potpourri: one scoop popcorn, two pumpkin candies, three candy corns, four raisins, five cheese crackers and six Cheetos (can you tell that I did this many, many times?). I had to dust off my 'teacher skills' and manage with another mom six kindergarteners. The final station was making pumpkin eyeglasses with the teacher. They also went over to the other kindergartener room and made pumpkin lanterns and listened to a story.

This picture was taken at the end of the party with little dude eating his Pumpkin Potpourri and cookie. It was a very fun (but a little exhausting) morning! I am definitely not in the teaching groove and need a little more practice....I did run into Oldest and his BFF...his BFF kept saying, 'it's Miss Katie, it's Miss Katie"...Oldest was just looking at me. Then, I asked, "are you two where you should be?" They then scurried upstairs....

Great job, Writing!

Today my youngest came home with his usual "I Can Read" folder and his planner. I was putting back his things when I saw a red letter home and a coupon for a McDonald's ice cream cone. Puzzled, I looked further...He got to sign the school's "Success Book" for "great job writing". I was totally excited. He is on an IEP for writing/fine motor skills, so this is huge! He said to me today (before I found this note from the principal) that he doesn't enjoy writing because it's hard. It is hard for him. I am so happy for him.

My boys, the heartbreakers

I keep forgetting to blog.....the first day of school, my Youngest son comes home from school and he said to me, "Mom, I have a girlfriend". I asked him what her name was and he said, "I don't know". He has since learned her name. Her name is Susannah. Of course, he also has another girlfriend named Summer (Summer was the original not known named girlfriend). We saw Susannah who is really cute at the Baller Blast on Friday night and he went over and said 'hi' to her (they were in the same line for a train). He said she was wearing a 'pretty dress" at the carnival.

My middle son has girls who also like him. Last year, he had a girl call him to ask him who his teacher was. The girls in his class, typically, get along really well with him.

My oldest son also has girls after him. For his birthday last year, he invited a couple of his special needs friends (boys) and then he invited two typical girls (no typical boys, just two typical girls--Samantha and Ariel). At the school carnival, after dinner, he saw one of the girls and actually went over to her and said 'hi' to her. He did say 'hi' to a typical boy, Ben, in line, but he actually had to cross over the room and say 'hi' to Samantha.

All I can say is "oy".

New Jersey

My Oldest is learning about states and state capitals. This week, he is focusing on the North Eastern region. He seems to be 'clicking' with some sort of 'understanding' of the states and capitals. For today's worksheet, he kept answering "New Jersey". I haven't figured out why. I think he just can read it easily and has it memorized, but it's funny. I figure he'll be heading to the Jersey Shore to hang out with The Situation and Snooki. I figure he'll start telling me "GTL" (gym, tanning, laundry) pretty soon. Yes, I had to actually google that because I don't watch the show.