Hectic, hectic, hectic . . .

Wow! We've been crazy busy around here for the last week or so. And I am pretty sure this is the only 5 minutes I am going to have for the next week to sit down and write as well. So, quick updates and then I'm outta here:

1 - New Solar Screens are AWESOME!!!!!! If you don't have them and you live in Texas, you should plan on getting some as soon as humanly possible. We are amazed at how much cooler our house is already and the best part is that the outside of my house looks like it got a face lift. If you don't know better, you would think I got fabulous new windows. Love it, love it, love it!

2 - I finally had Scooter's ARD meeting last Monday and because of a scheduling snafu, Scott couldn't be there. Basically, I went in there and got overwhelmed by the fact that they had completely reversed what I had originally been told about his proposed placement and schedule and wanted to put him in a PPCD Kindergarten classroom full time with only 15 minutes of mainstream per day. I stiffened my back when I heard 15 minutes and put up a fight and was granted an increase to 30 minutes. In a daze, I signed their papers and left. Then I got mad, sad and confused.

After consulting with a few professionals as well as friends, I emailed the next day and told the school that I was extremely uncomfortable with the level of services proposed and requested a new ARD meeting. They phoned me to ask what in particular I was looking for. I informed them that Scooter has no cognitive delays and 2 people who were not in this meeting had observed him for 2 1/2 hours only and were assuming he needed the max amount of services based on a number scale instead of seeing what he COULD do first. My basic feeling is that they were automatically giving him the most amount of services in areas that he functions normally or even above average. Anyway, it sounds like they are going to give me what I want, with only a maximum of 1 hour per week being pulled out of normal class for speech and communication therapy.

The new ARD meeting is tomorrow. Scott can't make that one either, but I am much more confident this time and prepared to exert my influence. (Turns out my input as a parent carries the same weight as their combined opinions.) I am prepared to revisit the situation after the first 6 weeks of school and concede if he needs help somewhere else. I just want to give him the chance to succeed first instead of assuming he can't succeed.

3 - Scott had Wednesday off and I was a bad mom and called Tyler into school as sick when he was perfectly healthy (I swear I have never done this before and taken the unexcused absences if necessary, but what's one little itty bitty time? Right?). We all drove up to the family Lake House in Texoma to clean it out in preparation for this weekend. It was a long grueling day and I'll spare you some of the more icky details of what we found, but I was so glad that we had taken the time during the week so we didn't have to deal with it on our holiday. There was a bit of weather drama in there too when Scott & Tyler drove up the night before through vicious storms and I had to put Scooter & Riley in a bathtub when sirens went off here at home. All is well though and everyone was safe.

4 - Scott got to enjoy a VIP pavillion booth at the Byron Nelson on Saturday and I took the boys to a birthday party. Tyler spent Friday night with a friend and then that dad got them up at 5 am and drove them to Arlington so they could camp out and be part of a video game tournament. Both were eliminated in the first round, Tyler by someone who hadn't exactly cheated but had used questionable means to build the powers of his characters (evidently a no-no, but I have no clue). Eventually we all met up and got ourselves to the Lake House in Texoma. We had a great weekend, enjoying our family and friends that were there.

The private beach at our club is usually packed on Memorial Day weekend, but not this time. It was fairly quiet and the kids had a wonderful time playing in the sand and swimming. Riley 'surfed' on a wave board with some assistance and then we outfitted him in a life jacket so he could play in the extensive shallows on his own (You have to wade out a good 100-150 yards before the water is deeper than an adult's knees or thighs). Tyler spent hours swimming and playing with his cousin, Laney, and reacquainting himself with a few of his strokes. Scooter got in the water a little bit, but mostly played in the sand. Actually, he had no qualms about the sand at all this year and even rolled in it on Saturday which is a huge triumph for his SI. Normally we have to coax him and he spends most of the time on a chair or towel, touching as little of the sand as possible. Yay for OT!

Tyler also got to go fishing several times with his Uncle Billy and our friend from way way back, Brandon on Brandon's boat. On Saturday, Tyler caught 3 large and very different fish. I know for sure one was a Striper and another was a Black Crappie, but I never did hear what the 3rd was. On Saturday night, in addition to our Brisket and Salad, we had a small fish fry with all that was caught. Tyler tried the fish he was responsible for and pronounced it great. Since he normally doesn't eat fish, this was a pretty big deal as well. Brandon snapped a photo, but I am still waiting for him to send it to me. And yes, I completely forgot my camera and I have absolutely no pictures from this weekend. Sigh.

5 - OT is awesome! Seriously. I know Scooter has been making progress, but it isn't visible for stretches and then wham! you see a bunch all at once. Last week he started using his 3 finger hold on his pen without prompting and even showed off for me at home. He went from not touching sand with Ms. Lauren very much to walking on the beach without shoes with no warm up time at all on Wednesday. On Friday, he ASKED Ms. Lauren to play in the sand. I had to take him to the doctor on Friday for a swollen foot (reaction to an ant bite) and they were so busy we saw someone we never have before. Scooter spoke to both the nurse and the doctor without prompting and even made some eye contact. I kind of felt like I had a different kid for a minute there!

My friend says that as we deal with his SI, he will relax more and be able to do those things he couldn't beforehand, even when he wanted to. Imagine that he was looking at the world through a glass partition, wanting to reach out but not being able to because of his sensory issues, we are working hard to remove the partition. Even hearing him talk through the phone, she says to her he sounds more relaxed. I think so too! He yelled goodbye and waved at Tyler and his dad the other night and I am not sure he's ever spoken that openly to Brian before. I know I have to prepare myself for some regression when he starts school, but I am so happy that we are making so much progress right now. Smelling and Tasting are just around the corner, I can't wait until we get there. I am so proud of Scooter and how hard he is working! Occupational Therapy is top on my list of best money ever spent, at least this week!


So that's our week in a nutshell. I am knee-deep in laundry as I try to prepare for our next adventure. I have 5 appointments in the next 24 hours and I also have to clean up the house a bit and pack all of us up for a long weekend. My tire has a slow leak I need fixed and oh yeah, I better pay the bills too! We leave tomorrow for Austin and then San Antonio. We are really looking forward to getting away as a family for some fun time. I only have one more morning to get up to the alarm for a school day as we are not sending Tyler on his last day (I worried about this a tiny bit until I saw their planned schedule that day - geez what a waste! He's not missing ANYTHING!). There is a ton to do and literally not enough hours in the day. Getting 5 of us packed, ready and out of town is not an easy task, but I am up to the challenge!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! I promise I'll remember my camera this weekend so I can show off pictures of the kids at Sea World and the Alamo!

Love and God Bless!