First day of school

The kids were really anxious to start school this year, which was a good thing. Usually they aren't so excited, with the exception of Hannah, who loves school. Even Luke was looking forward to it this year. I guess that is because he is a senior and has early release every day! Alex started high school and likes it so far. Hannah came home with a big smile on her face. I wish that could happen every day! Shauna is the only one who came home upset. She said that it was confusing. She thinks that some of her classrooms have changed places since the orientation last week. I doubt that, I think she just got mixed up on where she was. She also said that the teacher was explaining things and going too fast and she was listening, but couldn't get it all. I told her things will get better and easier, but she doesn't agree!

Alex's 8th grade graduation

Alex graduated from 8th grade last Thursday. The ceremony was actually very nice, as opposed to Steven and Luke's ceremonies at the same school. The older boy's ceremonies were really long and boring and it had to be 90 degrees in the school gym. It was warm, but comfortable enough at Alex's and the speakers were short, to the point, and for the most part, interesting. Alex got nominated to give one of the kid speeches, but didn't make the final cut. They picked 4 out of 12 kids nominated to actually give speeches. The girls who gave them did a good job, but one had only been at the school for 1 out of 3 years, so she didn't have all that much to say that was meaningful.

After the graduation, my mom took me and Alex out to lunch. We had a delicious lunch, although the restaurant service was extremely slow. They just started opening for lunch and I don't know if they had people who didn't show up or they just weren't properly prepared, but they only had one guy working the whole room. He joked that he was also cooking and I think he might have been, as he was disappearing into the back for long periods of time! Once the food finally came, it was really yummy and none of us passed out from starvation before it arrived, so that was good.

Quick post

I have to make a quick dinner and then go pick Alex up from theater class. He got a scholarship to go to a performing arts school and he started yesterday. He is very excited. He took classes there about a year and a half ago, but had to stop after 6 months because we just couldn't afford it. They now have scholarships for boys only and he applied for and got one. We are still waiting to see exactly what classes they are going to let him take. So far, he is just in musical theater. He is hoping for dance and voice lessons, as well.

I had Shauna's IEP meeting yesterday morning and she got approved for an IEP! Yay! I was really lucky to have the support of a teacher who has known her since kindergarten, as well as the school social worker and psychologist, who just happen to be married to each other and friends of mine! After all the testing was done, it was determined that her IQ is on the higher side of average. However, she has a severe math disability, that only 1% of the population has. Ugh. She also has a lot of memory issues, probably due to prenatal alcohol exposure. I'm so happy she is getting the IEP because she will be in middle school next year and will not survive there without one. I just hope she gets the same special ed case manager that Hannah has this year.

The cats helped with Hannah's science project!

Hannah had to do a project for science. In the past, projects have been really stressful for her and me. This time, she was allowed to work with a partner. She did a great job, not waiting until the last minute and working hard on all the paperwork part of the project. They had to make an edible Bohr model of Zinc. Hannah decided that she wanted to make a pizza model. We made the pizza last night and it came out really good. She used cheese for the rings, turkey for the electrons, sausage for the protons and pepperoni for the neutrons, with a sauce-only nucleus. It actually came out much better than I thought it would, so we were happy with it.

I put the pizza on the counter to cool. When I went to cover it and put it in the refrigerator, I was horrified to discover that one of the cats (who shall remain nameless, mainly because I don't know who it was!) had eaten a bunch of the neutrons!!!! I didn't have any more sauce made and putting the pizza together had been a huge pain in the butt, so there was no way I was going to make another. So, this morning, I had to cook some more turkey and replace the eaten areas. It worked out fine, thankfully.

On a related subject, Luke is so smart. Hannah and I were frantically searching the internet (because she forgot which website she had found it on previously) for what the model was supposed to look like. I had no idea what it was called and Hannah told me to search for "a round thing with zinc stuff on it". Hmm, I didn't try it, but I'm pretty darn sure that doing a google search for that wouldn't have turned up an answer! Luckily, Luke came downstairs while we were searching and I asked him if he knew what it might be called or what I should search for. He matter of factly replies, "Oh, a Bohr model, B-o-h-r". I must have learned that at some point in my life, but I sure don't remember. I guess it just always surprised me a little when Luke comes up with things so easily. This is the same kid who spends every spare moment playing computer games and scours the internet for "useless facts" when he finished his classwork in computer class. I think he also has the script for every single Family Guy episode stored in his head. Of course, he is also addicted to the History and Discovery Channels, so I guess that might offset some of the other things. It will be very interesting to see his resume when he graduates from college!

Thank God and Greyhound they're gone!

Just kidding, but that song tends to pop into my head every once in a while! It is an old country western song that I thought was hysterical when I was a kid. Anyway, the four youngest kids are off to their first day of school. Hannah was up early today because she was so excited and she got ready without any fuss or tantruming. How I wish I could count on her to act like that every morning! Shauna looked so pretty with her new braids, I'm going to try to remember to take pictures after school, since I totally forgot this morning.

Mike left for the DMV with Luke at 7:45 am, only to find out that it doesn't even open until 9:00. So they waited and Luke almost didn't pass the eye exam. He has an appointment next week for new contacts. He had to take it twice, but he squeaked through. He also passed the written test so he won't have to drop driver's ed this semester. Jack and Steven are going up to DC to pick up a used car for Luke that one of Mike's co-workers is selling. I will be so happy when all the older boys are driving and they all have drivable cars. It will be a huge help to me. Steven is busy paying us off for the months we had to make his car payments and insurance payments, but when he gets that paid off, he is going to start saving for a new transmission for his car.

Back to School Charts

I just spent about an hour and a half, preparing daily checklists for the four youngest kids. I'm hoping that this will make things easier in the mornings, since all of them have ADHD and tend to forget everything. I finally found some charts that you can edit online, rather than having to print them and write everything in. This way it was easy to customize them to each child without having to write the same information in over and over.

I even made one for Luke, who is going into junior year. He probably won't be happy with it and might not use it, but at least he has the option.

Now I just have to figure out where to hang them for easy access. I'm thinking the front door would be best, I'm just not sure how to attach them. I don't want them falling off every time someone slams the door, which is every time they close it. I'll have to think about that a little and "problem solve" like I always tell the kids!

Not a good idea

I WAY overdid it today. In the last five weeks, I have only been out of the house for PT and the cul-de-sac party. Today was open house day at the middle school and high school. We left the house at 3:30 to go to the middle school for a meeting with Hannah's resource teacher. The meeting went really well and we really liked the teacher. She or her assistant will be in every single class with Hannah, offering help and making sure her IEP is followed. They also help all the students, so it doesn't get embarrassing for the special ed kids, which I think is great. This was my first time driving in more than 5 weeks. It was a little tricky because I had to sit on a fluffy pillow and try to keep my left thigh off the seat as much as possible.

When the teacher meeting ended, we had to go straight to the high school for Luke and his best friend, Stephen B., to pick up their schedules and meet all their teachers. We got there when there was only about 30 minutes left, but we managed to see all of their teachers and still get out of there only about 15 minutes after it officially ended.

Then we had to head back to the middle school for Alex and Hannah's open house. That was a little chaotic, since they had it set up differently this year and no one knew what to do. It was also very crowded, so it was a lot of fun maneuvering the wheelchair around the crowds. I can never figure out why groups of people will stop in the middle of a doorway or hallway to talk, when they are clearly blocking everyone else. We went to see Hannah's teachers first and they all seemed pretty nice. Steven was on the same team as Hannah, when he was in 6th grade, so a couple of the teachers remembered him, even though he was there 7 years ago. Some of Alex's 8th grade teachers also remembered him. I guess they tend to remember the kids who excel and those who are troublemakers. I won't say which group Steven is in!!! Then we headed over to the 8th grade hall, with Alex pushing my wheelchair. Hannah had pushed me when we went to her classes, as Luke and Stephen B. had headed straight to the choir room to hang out with their most beloved teacher, Mrs. Stone. I think I mentioned before that Alex was extremely embarrassed to have me in a wheelchair to begin with and pushing it was apparently the last straw. He was so obnoxious that I had to restrain myself from jumping out of the wheelchair and smacking him across his smart-ass little mouth! Since I don't want to model violence, my other option was to make him pull over a couple of times, while I quietly, but firmly told him to knock off the attitude and behave. That didn't work, by the way. Anyway, we got to meet all of the teachers and he only abandoned me once, when he suddenly zipped down another hall, yelling over his shoulder as he ran, "I'll be right back, I see some friends." He was around the corner before I even realized he was going, so I had no chance to yell, "Don't leave me here!". So there I sat, in the middle of the hallway, waiting for him to come back. The hallways go in kind of a square, so a few minutes later, I see him ahead of me, walking away, not towards me. Luckily the hall was pretty empty at that time, so when I hollered to him, he heard me. He had been walking quickly away with three girls. By the way, he had already hugged at least 25 girls by this time, we had to stop every few feet, whenever we heard those high pitched screams of "ALLLLLLEEEEEX!" So he hears me yell his name, turns around and yells to the girls, "Oh my gosh, I forgot my mom!" Thank you, son. At least he apologized for forgetting me, so that lessened my urge to smack quite a bit!

We got out of the middle school at 7:00 and by this time, my leg was KILLING me. That probably contributed to my desire to commit physical violence! It had started to get sore about halfway through the high school open house and by the time I got home, it was so painful I could barely make it up the driveway and stairs. I went straight to my room and plopped on the bed, where it has continued to ache for the last two hours, even though I've taken a double dose of painkillers. Ugh!

Tomorrow we only have the elementary school open house, with only one child attending, so that should be quick and easy, thank goodness! I just hope my leg is feeling better by then and I haven't set myself back. I didn't really have a choice, we had to go to open house and Mike is at work, so he couldn't do it for me. I have to say that Luke was very sweet to me the entire time. He wasn't at all embarrassed to push me around his school and he kept asking if I was alright and was I hurting. He was really worried about my pain when I was driving and kept asking if I needed more help. That sort of made up for the kids who treated me like a leper. Although, I also have to say that Hannah was fine with me, once we actually got to the school. She didn't act embarrassed at all.

Steven's Job

Well, he has been working at a local restaurant for a little over 3 weeks now, full time. He still loves it, which is great! The first day he washed dishes and since then they have had him cutting food, preparing salads, peeling potatoes, etc. He has been coming home and giving me advice on how to cut and cook!

Yesterday, he came home from work and told me that he really loves working in the restaurant and is thinking that if he continues to like it, he might go to community college to get his Associates degree and then go to culinary school. WOW! What a change from the kid, who three weeks ago, was only interesting in getting high or drunk as much as possible.

I know, from lots and lots of experience, not to get my hopes up too high. This could all change in a heartbeat and he will quit the job and go back to his usual ways. I know that, but I can't help but hope that this will be the time he truly changes. It would be so wonderful for him to find something he truly loves and have him follow through with it. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and praying that this works out well for him.

When I am feeling better and can start cooking again, I'm going to see if he would like to help me out a little, maybe even teach me a few things!

Oh, I forgot about this, Chef let him cook burgers for himself and one of the other workers and
Steven said when he flipped the burger, it broke and Chef told him not to worry that he would learn with practice. That seemed to help raise Steven's confidence.

He also, very sweetly, brought me home a bacon cheeseburger a couple of days ago! He isn't usually thoughtful, so this was really special!

School Supplies

Since I can't go shopping, Mike has taken over the back to school supply shopping this year. He took Alex and Hannah shopping yesterday and they each got some new jeans, since their school doesn't allow shorts. Hannah got two pairs and Alex got one. They did a great job picking them out and making sure they weren't too expensive (they used their own money for those).

Today, Mike took Alex, Hannah and Shauna shopping. They got backpacks and almost all of the other school supplies they needed. Shauna and Hannah got some shoes as well. I am proud of Mike, he did a great job. It is stressful and confusing to buy school supplies for a lot of kids and he handled it very well.