Taking the Scenic Route

Autumn Glory

2011-11-09T15:37:00.000-06:00

Father and Daughter, playing with the camera

2011-11-09T12:14:00.000-06:00

Lonely Barn Ivy

2011-11-09T12:03:00.000-06:00

Painted Pumpkins

2011-11-09T11:57:00.001-06:00

After bringing home the pumpkins from the field trip, Zora asked to paint them.

Zora painted this one, then asked Dad to help her make the eyes, giving careful instructions.

This is Zane's. He wrote "Happy Halloween" on his pumpkin and declared himself done.

Zora's First Bus Ride

2011-11-09T00:45:00.000-06:00

Zora had her first school bus ride on the way to the pumpkin patch with her class field trip. I really wanted to go, but it seemed like a really bad idea with my seasonal allergies (hay is baaaaaad) when I am already having a massive systemic allergic reaction that wasn't under control yet.

So, Zach had the honor of watching her excitement when he went with the class. He said it was a lot of fun.

There was also a hayrack ride, a snack, a presentation about pumpkins, and actually getting pumpkins. Some of it has photos, but he was also helping the kids actually cut the pumpkins, so his hands were busy during the actual pumpkin picking part.

I really wish I could have been there, but it was awesome that he and Zora had such a great day. She gushed about the whole experience, just what a mom wants to hear. Happy day!

Garage Cleaning and Aftermath

2011-11-08T12:20:00.000-06:00

We had a Friday with awesome weather, and it was likely the end of nice weather since we were having forecasts that started creeping towards freezing. When we moved, the last loads were done in the middle of the night and we were exhausted and just put a bunch of stuff in the garage.

Then, during the summer sometime the garage window broke, and then the landlord came and cut the beautiful rosebushes down in front of the window so he could do some repairs on the barn without having to go through a rosebush, so it was left open with our stuff inside. We knew we might as well trash everything in the garage if we didn't get it taken care of, so we decided to get it done.

It was PACKED. It was overwhelming in every way. It looked like an episode of hoarders (no joke). It took the entire day, and included Zach having to go to the basement to rearrange and make room for stuff. Finally as dark began to fall, we finished up. The only things left in the garage were the bookcases that had water damage, but could still be used for random garage things, some boxes of toys that needed to be hosed down before selling them or taking them to the thrift store, the kid chairs that we don't really have room for, and our bicycles. YAY! We could get a vehicle in there in under 5 minutes now, if we wanted to.

The aftermath

As you would suspect, after cleaning out a garage in an old barn, it was dusty, dirty work. I was never so glad to jump in the shower as I was that night because every inch of me itched and my muscles were already sore.

The problem was, I couldn't get the itch to go away. Over the coming days I did every over the counter and home remedy I could find on the internet, to no avail. I stopped using my regular lotions and went to just using the oils directly. At the same time every joint in my body hurt. I felt like everything in me was inflamed: every muscle was sore, every joint, and it was pinching and causing considerable shooting nerve pain all over the place. There was no position I was comfortable in, sitting, standing, laying down, so I was constantly moving trying to find something comfortable. At one point I had nerve pain shooting down my arm and I actually wondered if I was having a heart attack. A good massage (thanks to my wonderful husband) helped my back and seemed to unpinch something enough to make me realize the nerve pain was everywhere, not just my left arm.

Finally, when I told my folks what was going on they helped me out by paying for a doctor's visit. I started Prednisone the next day, and by the next night I didn't feel like I was ready to cry, and by 5 days later I mostly felt back to myself. Not 100%, but a WHOLE lot better. I sort of wish I could be on prednisone longer because I felt much more 'normal' on it. More even tempered, more calm, and definitely in less pain. I even slept better. That is so backwards on what I was told the side effects were supposed to be...I was looking forward to "big burst of energy", but that never really happened.

So, I learned that I absolutely HAVE to wear a bunch of protection if I ever do work like that again, systemic allergic reactions are massively horrible (felt like I aged 50 years in a few hours), and I do not react badly to prednisone (which is a good thing, considering this could happen again).

But at least the garage is clean.

Grandparent's Tea at School

2011-11-08T11:53:00.000-06:00

The school has an event called "Grandparent's Tea", where the grandparents (or substitute friend) comes after school, has cookies and tea with the kids, tours the classrooms/school, and then can take them to the Scholastic Book Fair. (gotta think this is a brilliant idea to sell more at the book fair).

Since Zora is in half-day kindergarten, I had to bring her back to school to participate, and had them waiting in the building so it eliminated the possibility of them running across the road to greet my folks and not paying attention to traffic.

So, here they wait.

Once I saw Mom and Dad crossing the street, I let them go outside for greeting hugs. Everybody was excited. I was concerned about Zane handling the event because it was really crowded, loud, and chaotic. (it was the first time they had run this event and I don't think they anticipated the level of crowd). I actually trailed them for a bit to make sure Zane looked OK before heading home and waiting for them.

As it turns out Zane did fabulous. Both did. They each got books from Grandma and Grandpa, and had a lot of fun showing them around. We met up with them after the event at the Subway restaurant, which Zane had been asking for the last few weeks/months (he loves the meatball subs there), and we had a nice conclusion to the afternoon's events.

It was a Wednesday, and not long after returning home it was time to leave for Wednesday Night Church, and Zora, as usual, popped right up ready go, but Zane got agitated. When we told him it was time to go he desperately yelled "NO MORE PEOPLE!" He was DONE with crowds and people. He did such a great job at the event, and after seeing the crowd that amazed me (he would not have been able to handle that even a short time ago), so when he said he was done, we told him that was fine. We also told him that we were happy he used his words to explain why he was upset instead of just losing it. That, in itself, deserved to be respected. So, Zora went to church, Zane stayed home and unwound away from the people.

Bugs.

2011-11-08T01:09:00.000-06:00

Zora has a serious love/hate thing with bugs. She says she hates them, but she actively pursues them, captures them, and wants to know what they are and all about them. Her favorite phrase is "let's Google it!" The end of fall means that some of the scary bugs are all slowing down enough from the cold that they can be captured and watched up close. She is delighted and will spend a good amount of time just watching to see what the bugs do.

Above the Kitchen Sink

2011-11-08T00:19:00.000-06:00

The kitchen sink area is my favorite part of this house. This is the sill above the sink, and my view when I wash the dishes.

Lots of memories in this small space: The tiles, little ceramic eggs in the distance, and the plant pots were made by the kids, the hot pad was made by Zora, Zach got me the aloe plant July 3rd (the day before he burned his finger and I used it for that), the pink one at the end was a gift to me when I was a speaker at an Autism event. The little dish I put my rings in when I do dishes was from his Grandpa Lou & Grandma Hazel's kitchen (a little Christmas tree, but it stays there all year round), and the flowers were picked by Zora for me and, amazingly, keep blooming despite not having any dirt. Not seen is the awesome knife I use several times a day that my mom gifted me with. I have had most of these plants for a while, and they had always been sickly and sad looking, but in this home, they have all thrived and come back to life, and surprised us by actually blooming again. Change can be a wonderful thing.

First Leaf Fall

2011-11-08T00:07:00.000-06:00

Reading Resources

2011-11-06T00:38:00.000-05:00

Trying to find books that fit Zane's reading level is very challenging, but using Scholastic's lexile measures really helps. The school does the "Reading Counts" program and this helps me figure out which books are good ones to rent for him to keep him on track and improving.

Scholastic has a fabulous book search wizard on the site, which is my first stopping place. I find books I think he might be interested in at the right level, then I search the local library sites to see if they have any of them available for rent.

Occupy

2011-11-05T20:26:00.002-05:00

Zora, collecting rocks

2011-10-15T02:35:00.001-05:00

And she DID IT! Riding her bike (with video)

2011-10-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

There she goes!

Not long after this she rode her own bike (we started her on Zane's little bike because the pedals come off and on easier). My mom stopped by (to pick me up for an event) and got to see her maiden ride on HER bike. We are all very proud of how hard she worked to ride.

Zora

2011-10-12T13:58:00.002-05:00

Suddenly she looks a lot older. Too fast.

Zora, spelling it out

2011-10-12T11:25:00.001-05:00

Zora now goes to the chalkboard and asks us to give her words to spell out. Child-directed learning at it's best. We are very proud of her. It is fun to see her excited about figuring out how to spell, and is even starting to get it when we throw in a similar word, not in the same word family (like "cap", in this case) If you notice, at the top, she wanted to put her name on it so we would know she is the one who wrote it, but she ran into the word "hat", so she wound the letters of her name around the word.

I married a mechanic and didn't know it.

2011-10-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

I knew that he knows how to do stuff like change oil and other basic car stuff, but despite knowing him for almost 22 years, I had no idea he knew how to fix bicycles. Just added another thing to my list of "things I love about Zach".

Zach fixing Zane's bike

Zora on her bike again, with video

2011-10-11T17:28:00.001-05:00

Checkmate Mate

2011-10-11T17:28:00.000-05:00

When your kid pulls out a chess board, you know you have done something right

More Mantis

2011-10-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

Praying Mantis vs. The Cricket

oh, HAI!

super sneaky sneaker mantis stalks his cricket prey

Zora's Turn, Coasting

2011-10-10T12:34:00.000-05:00

We first focused on helping Zane figure out how to bike without training wheels, and Zora was ready to give it a try now too. It was amazing the difference from the time she started to the time she finished. By the time she packed it up to go home, she could coast about 30 seconds at a time. She did take a couple of spills and wants her own pads and helmet, instead of using big brother's.

pedals off, running to gain some speed

pulling up her feet to try to coast along

Starting to get it

Serious work.

Homecoming Parade

2011-10-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

The church the kids go to for Wednesday Night Church (not our regular church) invited the kids to ride on the float in the parade. Zane wanted to watch the parade, but Zora wanted to be on the float.

On the way to the parade route, we dropped Zora off at her float.

getting ready

waving to the crowd as she passed by

I forgot that people throw candy at you when you watch a parade.

Zane was happy about this development.

enjoying a sucker watching the parade

We actually ended up sitting to a group of people we knew. Some through school, some through swim this summer. I saw them sitting near each other and realized it probably wasn't going to get any better than that and parked it there. It is a relief to be around people who know who Zane is and check to make sure he is included in the fun and got some candy too.

Dinosaurs and Mommies

2011-10-09T17:57:00.000-05:00

Zora seems to have an enduring interest in dinosaurs, so it was time to finally show her some real bones. When we told the kids we were going to the Museum of World Treasures and showed them the video (we can't just surprise Zane, he needs to have a bit of a heads up, even if it is something he will like) before going to church in the morning. So, after church and a quick drive through snack, we headed downtown with our coupon. WooHoo!

love

A table of cool things to touch and talk about. (those are eggs she is looking at)

Some fish fossils found locally, from when Kansas was ocean.

Zora apparently heard wrong when we were discussing the cool things in the museum, and as soon as she had seen the dinosaurs, her #1 priority, she wanted to go see the "Mommies". She kept pushing a map at me asking where the mommies were, and it took me a few times to figure out she meant "Mummies". They had two of them there, and they just intrigued her. She actually hung out in the little Mummy room asking a lot of good questions about them.

Zane was really interested in looking over the big model of the Navy battleships. I called mom to see if it was the same ship her Dad served on, but it wasn't. It is likely very similar though. (He was on SS Ticonderoga during WWII)

There was a whole floor of military related stuff that, other than the ship, we went through pretty quickly. If you are into military history, it would probably be really awesome, but we aren't, so it was a little creepy, especially some of the Nazi stuff. They did have some old propaganda posters that were interesting though.

Madame President and her reluctant Aide. (not sure if it is the real thing or a replica, but it is the desk that JFK worked on, and you could see where the little door is in the front from that famous picture of John Jr playing under the desk.)

Zach explaining to Zora what a suit of armor is, how it works, and what it is used for.

Later, when it is just Zora and I, Zora wants to show me the suit of armor and tell me about. Here she is explaining, very matter of fact, that this is where they pee from. My inner 3rd grader giggled.

One last look at the dinosaurs before we head out.

We had an interesting time, and it was well worth a visit. It only took about two hours to go through the museum, but that was because we aren't really into the military stuff and we only have one kid who reads, and there is a limit to how much he feels like reading. Zora loved hearing about stuff, but after two hours of stuffing her brain, you could tell she had hit her limit too.

The gift shop was also pretty cool, and we will have to remember it during Christmas/Birthday time. Lots of cool, nerdy things there.

Occupy NYC, AKA, when relatives make the news

2011-10-09T17:56:00.000-05:00

Kaz headed up to the Occupy Wall Street event in NYC, and she made the news.

This is such an appropriate picture of her. Iconic even. (she is the one with the green sign, out front)

Occupying the nation, and the Web

What began as a small group of protesters expressing their grievances about economic inequities last month from a park in New York City has evolved into a national phenomenon — and an online conversation that is spreading across the country on social media platforms.

Inspired by the populist message of the group known as Occupy Wall Street, more than 200 Facebook pages and Twitter accounts have sprung up in dozens of cities during the past week, seeking volunteers for local protests and fostering discussion about the group’s concerns.

The overriding theme? People who see themselves as victims of not just a sagging economy but also economic injustice.

“I don’t want to be rich. I don’t want to live a lavish lifestyle,” a woman wrote on Tumblr, the social network, describing herself as a college student worried about the burden of student debt. “I’m worried. I’m scared, thinking about the future shakes me. I hope this works. I really hope this works.”

The online conversation has grown at the same time that massive street protests have taken place in cities nationwide — Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Portland. A website, Occupy Together, is trying to aggregate the online conversations and the off-line activities.

What the movement doesn’t have right now are the same concrete goals of some past social movements — a lack that many demonstrators seem to be embracing, at least for the moment. But organizers have been encouraging people to tell their stories on Tumblr, spotlighting people of different backgrounds, each tale of economic hardship ending with: “I am the 99 percent.”

— From wire reports

Edited to add new picture found on another website

Kaz marching

Zane & His Robots

2011-10-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

I love this robot. Zane and Zach have so much fun working on projects together with it. I can see it developing into so much more as the years go by too.

We are still in the phase where he wants to build already designed robots, but he finds the projects on his own, and does most of the building. He does ask for help with pieces that he can't get together (some of them are really tough to get together, even for me). Zach helps him troubleshoot when he runs into problems or wants to modify something.

These are no small projects either. Zane started this particular robot in the early afternoon, and he was late to bed by the time he got it up and running. It is worth it though.

your lack of generalization makes me want to rollerskate

2011-10-05T22:07:00.001-05:00

Figure 1 (submitted for your approval)

While teaching my daughter the art of coasting on a pedal-less bike, I noticed the following sign screwed onto multiple locations around the tennis courts
(figure 1).

The first couple thoughts I had:

Well, heck! It doesn't say anything about rollerskating, so I should be fine to bust-a-move on these fine courts with rollerskates.
Hmm...It doesn't mention unicycles. Too bad I don't own a unicycle. Oh wow! We do have a couple tricycles around, and it fails to explicitly exclude those, as well. Just not allowed to ride something with 2 wheels...but WAIT that's not entirely correct.

I continued helping my daughter -- more through encouragement since she was picking up the coasting so darn well -- and after awhile I had formed a list of things you weren't explicitly disallowed to do on these tennis courts.

Scooting on scooters
Ripping on RipStiks (questionable)
Motorcycling
Roller-sneakering
Pogo-jumping
Go-carting
Bumping bumper-cars
Horseback riding
Dog sledding
Cross-country skiing
Pogo-jumping
Oh, have I mentioned Pogo-jumping yet? No? Pogo-jumping. A massive city-wide pogo-jumping contest....not explicitly excluded, is it?
(verb)-ing (mad lib style)

So, in response to your sign of finite splendor, I declare your lack of generalization makes me want to ________________ (verb)

Zora's First Field Trip

2011-10-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

Zora was very excited to take her first field trip. The stops were based around a book they read in class, Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip with Kindergarten . Like in the book, they went to the library, the fire station, the bakery (donut shop), the post office, and ended at a local park before walking back to school.

walking from the library to the fire station

at the fire station

A surprise extra; the police blocked off an intersection to let a plane drive down the street

the donut shop surprised the kids with trays full of happy face donuts

eating her donut at the "bakery"

At the post office, with the letter she is going to mail to herself

at the park

playing "dinosaurs" and roaring at a classmate

Zach and I had almost as much fun as the kids did. I would definitely consider the first field trip a success.

Zip & Oma, after an "Oma Day"

2011-10-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

My mom sometimes picks Zora up after school and the two of them have an "Oma Day" together. This time when she dropped Zora off I grabbed the camera. They had been out on the farm this time, so Zip (the dog) was with them. Zora loves Zip, and she is one of the reasons she wants a pet so much.

Asking Oma if she can have some of the cool colored band-aids.

A few snuggles with Oma before she leaves

After a bunches of blown kisses, "Love you", and "Bye", Oma reluctantly gets ready to pull out of the yard.

"Oma Day" is a blessing all the way around.

Marble Runs

2011-10-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

One of Zane's favorite things to do is build and play with marble runs. It has been his favorite since he was just a little guy. We used to use it during his ST, with each piece being the thing he was working for during ABA therapy. Over the years his collection of blocks and marble run pieces have gradually increased, and Zora has decided that she also enjoys marble runs. Over time, it has become a family activity to pull out a portion of the blocks and start building, combing multiple sets of runs and blocks to make new and interesting marble mazes.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf, by Tony Ross

2011-10-03T19:42:00.001-05:00

Thankfully, we got this one from the library and didn't buy it. It would probably be awesome for an older child (older than kindergarten) that was already familiar with the original tale, and had a dark sense of humor, but this was amazingly BAD for a Kindergartner who gets upset about any mention of death.

This wolf eats people, not sheep. The little boy shows up naked on several pages, and while nakedness isn't too much of an issue for me, even Zora was like "why is he naked?". The wolf eats the grown-ups after they tell the boy that he shouldn't tell lies (yeah, great message), then he eats the boy. The last page is the wolf laying in the boys bed sucking on his bones. What the Heck? This is just insane.

I can see an older kid getting a kick out of the twist, (like kids who love "Good Night Goon", an awesome take-off of "Good Night Moon" meant for an older kid audience) but it is a phenomenally bad choice to introduce the story to a child, particularly if you are trying to introduce the morality of the story and/or the origin of the phrase "don't cry wolf".

I think about the only valuable thing she learned from it was to stay away from wolves because they might throw salt on you and eat you, especially if they are wearing tuxedos.

State Fair!

2011-10-02T22:37:00.000-05:00

This year the pictures aren't great, but we had the best time. For the first time in years, probably decades, I also got a wristband to ride all the rides, courtesy of my parents, who we met up with. I wasn't sure about it, but since Steve wasn't running around with us, and an even number works better, I decided that I would do it this year. Zora wasn't just happy, she was ecstatic. It made it so much fun to join in instead of being on the sidelines.

The ride I thought was going to be the easiest ended up being sort of scary for me...that one where it is a bunch of swings that spin in circles. Every time it changed speeds it jerked me back and I felt like I was going to get dumped out of the seat backwards, combined with my seat continually swinging too close to the empty seat in front of me. I was never so glad to get off a ride in my life, including some massive roller coasters.

The one that scared Zora the most was not the roller coaster or some of the other "bigger" rides (including the swings), was the dinky "haunted house" thing. She was clinging to me as we wiggled back and forth in one of those converted semi truck trailer sized rides, where lights occasionally flashed. It was the only ride she had no interest in riding again. That surprised me.

Both of the kids were thrilled that they were both big enough to finally ride the bumper cars. We had a blast aiming for each other as we spun around. Both kids were giggling so hard.

Zane, the daredevil that he is, rode some rides on his own this year because Zach and I looked at them and said "no way am I getting on that thing!". So, he had fun on things like the zipper. One other ride requires the riders to help pull themselves around to make it scarier, and after the first time, with a kid his age, he was frustrated that it didn't go fast enough. I told him that if he wanted to go faster, find some bigger kids to sit with. He ran back, found a group of high school kids and joined them. At first, they were being nice until they understood he wanted to go fast, and then they all had fun spinning like crazy people.

It was cool and threatening rain, but the weather held off until it was late and time to go anyway. It was cool enough that we told the kids that we wouldn't do the log flume (water ride) until the last ride so we wouldn't have to walk around wet. It ended up being notable when we got stuck going up. Apparently, we also completely soaked the riders below us when we came down the first run. Ha!

We had so much fun. We even ran into Steve & Nora for a bit. For the first time the kids were actually interested in the educational stuff in some of the buildings (the one where they have the Parks department, and the water safety stuff, in particular). It was an awesome time, probably the best year yet for us.

"My Favorite Things" by Zane

2011-10-02T21:21:00.000-05:00

A book he made in school. (some of the captions are scribed for him by his aide)

Mantis on the Dais

2011-09-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

Mantis on the Dais

Zora and I watched this mantis (unsuccessfully) hunt
a rather large grasshopper.

Sticking the camera in its face seemed to bug the mantis, and then proceeded to watch us wherever we went. I'm sure it was happy
once we left.

"shake the dickens out of it."

2011-09-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

How to peel a head of garlic in less than 10 seconds...."shake the dickens out of it."

WSU SLH Clinic Grand Opening

2011-09-26T14:27:00.003-05:00

After the IEP determination meeting we rushed to Wichita to see how all of the remodeling looked at the Grand Opening of the WSU Speech Language Hearing Clinic. We have had services there for over five and a half years and it felt like a second home, and the staff is practically family. I thought we were going to go this fall, but the school services have been good enough that we are on hold at WSU right now. We will probably go back for summer friendship groups for Zane. Zora graduated from services, but she might go back to be a peer model in the future.

We have seen the slow evolution over the last few years, and did many of our speech sessions amid paint fumes, sawdust, and hammering noises last semester, so we felt like we were really a part of the transformation. We even donated our old train table when we moved, since we didn't have room in our new place. It was hard to let go of, but I know it will be well loved. (It will be in the waiting room, it was just stowed in the preschool room for the Grand Opening to make room)

Zane checking out a very familiar train table.

It really was well done. From the subtle things, like changing the therapy rooms from a bright white to a soothing mix of brown tones with variable lighting (would have been a big deal when Zane was little), to the more dramatic, like a new activity room for older kids (and adults, presumably) so they didn't have to meet in the preschool room. There were new microphones in the rooms so the observation rooms and recordings would have better audio, and just a dramatic increase in the number of rooms. There are also huge changes in the facilities in general, including new offices for the faculty and staff, the whole lobby area, and even the entry way doors. (they made it a double entrance so Kansas winds and wild weather didn't cause so many issues with the doors.)

The two changes I am the most jealous of is the new, large conference room with these awesome comfy chairs. Oh, that would have been wonderful for all the conferences and the adult education segments of Reading Explorers where we used to cram ourselves into tiny rooms. The students also got a massive improvement to their work room. They even have lockers now so they don't have to haul so much stuff around with them everywhere, and there is actual space to spread their work out.

I am so happy for all of them. They so deserve to have a nice place to work. They are an amazing group of people who do an incredibly challenging job exceptionally well.

They even updated the brochures, including a photo of one of Zane's friends and this really cute little girl. :)

the photo in the brochure was of her first day of pre-school there

Now both of my kids star in brochures for speech-language places in town. lol.

SpEd Determination Meeting

2011-09-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

We had our first "official" meeting in the IEP process. It wasn't the first meeting with his team, in fact, I think it is the third time we have met. (not to mention the many shorter, individual, communications over the weeks)

Anxiety chased away sleep most of the night. Thankfully, my mom picked up Zora after school for an "Oma Day" so Zach could come with me to the meeting. I felt like the meeting went well and the testing results were reasonably accurate. (I would argue with some of it, but the things I would argue, they noted that the there were circumstances that probably affected testing, so I didn't argue too much. There are bigger hills to climb)

I wasn't surprised that he didn't qualify for physical therapy. (PT) He is borderline, and he has always almost qualified, but not quite. He has lower tone, but not low enough, he has poor coordination, but not quite poor enough, etc. The areas he has problems with have been addressed, over the years, with OT, and his biggest weaknesses are related to sensory issues.

Now, from my perspective, it is a waiting game. From their perspective, a whole lot of work. He will be getting services from an SLP, OT, and a resource room. I know he is also getting literacy interventions, which I think come from another person (not the SpEd teacher in the resource room), and they are going to try to incorporate some social skills training. I brought up the idea of peer training, and was met with general agreement that it would be beneficial, but figuring out how to fund it (because you work with non-disabled students) is a problem in some districts (coming from the county person, not the site/school side), but that they would discuss how it could be implemented. I was left with the impression that they agree and it is a matter of figuring out how to make it work. There are even a handful of students that immediately came to mind as good candidates for peer training. Considering the typically developing peers are going to be interacting with Autistic people all of their lives, it is an important social skill for them too.

Overall, I am still impressed with this district. They have given every indication of being the kind of district that should be held up as an example of HOW TO DO THIS. They aren't a specialty school, nor do they have a large district, and yet they seem to really understand and they are what you hope all educators are: caring, passionate, smart, and possessing common sense and decency, and, so far, it appears to be pretty across the board. It kind of restores your faith in humanity.

And, finally, after watching this week's episode of "Parenthood" (they are mainstreaming Max in a public school), and knowing that is a more typical experience, I am even more thankful for the people we have around us now. I have identified with that storyline quite a bit, but this week I could, thankfully, see more that was different. It reinforced my belief that success for an Autistic person, who, by definition, struggles with social interactions, is determined largely by the reaction of their teachers and peers. It doesn't matter how hard our kids work at learning the rules of social engagement if the people on the other side of the equation, regardless of age or occupation, lack compassion, emotional intelligence, or patience; true success is only accomplished when BOTH sides work at it.

Some Art by Zora

2011-09-25T19:42:00.000-05:00

I sat with Zora and told her I was going to post these on my blog, but I needed titles for them, so the supplied titles are from Zora.

As always, you can click to see bigger pictures.

From School

(from school) "Plaidy the Platypus"

(from school) "truckish"

"sort of like the fix-it duck, but not really"

(other side of duck) "circle thing with my name" or "decoration"

drawn on the back of some of the school registration paperwork while she waited.

From the Chalkboard at Home

Zach and Zora drew an underwater scene together,

Zach drew animals on the top, Zora on the bottom.

(on chalkboard) "Whooshing Octopus"

(chalkboard) "Kiss Kiss Fish"

Made at home

A combination of crayon, marker, oil pastels, and colored pencil

"Monster Growls. One of the people (on the right) is worried. The other one isn't listening"

Princess Folder/Notebook Zora glued together

(outside of folder/book) "Prince looking at the princess"

(middle of floder/book) "Princess Style"

(back of folder/book) "Princess runs away because it's time to go and get to work"

"Horse saying nothing"

"Buffalo"

"Buffalo yelling STOP"

(other side of buffalo...stop) "GO horse"

"Giraffe"

"I always love the days. I love Dad, I love Mom, I love Zane, I love Zora."

"Two Birds and a Bunny"

"Happy in the Wind. Happy to Drink in the Water Fountain"

"Hot-ness; We Don't Want it Hot" (gray thing is water fountain)

"One kid on skateboard, bigger kid on skates"

"Smart House"

made from one of the Crayola clays, I think Model Magic

"Little Kid"

"Big Kid"

"Robot"

Looking Back: Early February 2011

2011-09-24T23:34:00.000-05:00

Since I skipped about 8 months of blogging, I wanted to do some quick catch-up posts.

These are some of the highlights from the first half of February 2011

Zora snuggling with Zane as he plays his Nintendo DS

I forgot how long his hair used to be

I only intended to trim the ends, but he decided he wanted it like it used to be.

Post hair cut, looking at an infinity of Zane's in the mirror

Oma treats us to a meal at Subway after spending the day with Zora

Gymnastics

Enough snow that it buried our planters. (notice the 4th one you can just see the handles)

And some of my favorite pictures from that time period, taken while Zane and I waited for Zora to finish at Reading Explorers. He was playing his "Nintendo DS Extra Large" (he always adds "Extra Large" on the end of the name)

My Happy Guy

Brown Bear, Brown Bear....

2011-09-24T20:15:00.001-05:00

Zora's class was studying the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, a book that both of the kids have loved over the years, and the class put together a book to show off on parent's night.

Her page in the Kindergarten Class Book

After doing that in class, she came home and made her own book. She will proudly tell you she is the "Arfer" and the illustrator. She first had us make the book itself out of construction paper, with very specific instructions, then she disappeared for a while. When she reemerged she asked us to help her write exactly what she told us too. She wrote the story backwards (the pages open on the left instead of the right side, and the books starts at the back, but that's ok)

(on a special glued in page)

the back cover, with the pictures of the author, etc on it.

Zora Kindergarten Self Portrait

2011-09-24T19:38:00.000-05:00

On the wall at the first parent's night a few days after school started. She told me later that she forgot to make the sky blue, but she liked it a lot.

Kindergarten Self Portrait

Biking: Time to try the Sidewalks

2011-09-19T23:50:00.000-05:00

This is going to take more work than we were anticipating. We did one last try the night before the big class bike tour through town, in hopes that it would click enough that he could ride safely with his class.

It was looking like it might happen, but then he crashed. He hit one of those phone utility things poking out of the ground, and went down hard. It was a miracle he didn't break his arm considering how it was tangled in the bike (Zach had to straighten out the handlebars to line it back up again). He got a nasty scrape around his eyebrow/eye socket.

On the plus side, I do think I am going to like the new doctor. They got us in within a few minutes of the crash (a few blocks away) to check him out, saving us a trip to the ER, even though we hadn't turned in the paperwork yet. We were pretty rattled, but after a bit, Zane seemed like he was doing better than his parents.

So, that evening we emailed his teacher to tell him about the crash. Morning came and we weren't sure if he was going to ride a small segment where they were on the street (skipping the part where they are confined to the sidewalk) or just sit it out. We brought his bike (even loaned out an extra helmet) to the set up point to see what the plan was. There we were informed he was walking with a group of other kids who weren't riding, so we loaded the bike, drove a few blocks, and met up with his group as they were arriving at their intersection.

giving high 5's to passing bikers

The kids Zane was with helped man the intersection where they stop traffic, allowing the entire line of 100 bikers to stick together as a group.

tag

He even joined in a game of tag while we were waiting for the tour to make their way back through the intersection on the way back. I was concerned that he would be upset because I know he really wanted to ride, but was relieved to see that he handled the change of plans smoothly. He really enjoyed watching the tour, which made me happy. He really wasn't ready to ride like that quite yet. So close though.

"war" played by pacifists

2011-09-19T22:55:00.002-05:00

Zora, after growing tired of playing "Go Fish", wanted to play something else. Me, not wanting to dig out a new board or card game suggested we play a new, different, game with the fish cards we already had out. The only thing I could think of was "war", but being who I am, didn't want to call it that. I couldn't think of what we called it as kids, so, inspired by the cards in front of me, I asked if she wanted to play "Fish Fry". So, we played, the winner "frying" the loser. Zach even joined in after a round to make it a 3-way Fish Fry.

A very Mennonite game. lol.

Happy Birthday Steve!

2011-09-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

Met up with Steve and my folks for his birthday supper. The kids made cards.

Zora's card to Steve (I helped her put together a page to color, she made the choice to make a Shelby-esq orange strip on the hood...that part wasn't part of the drawing)

A Mustang

Zane's card to Steve

The Crew

And we missed you Nora! Hope to see you soon.

Kindy Math Fun

2011-09-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

Zora came home super proud of her "pattern" necklace. She wanted us to take lots of pictures of it because it was "so beautiful", and explained, in detail, how she made it and what the pattern was.

Then she ate it.

That's my girl.

Bigger

2011-09-13T20:18:00.000-05:00

We bought a refurbished bike from a neighbor and went to test drive it. Zane was upset with the situation at first. He tried the new bike in our driveway, but the uneven surface mixed with more obstacles (like the street) and a bike that balanced very differently and was much heavier, was very discouraging for him. We packed the bikes up to go back to the smooth, large, mostly empty parking lot for him to get used to the bike. The entire way there he loudly voiced his complaints and wanted his old bike back. He wanted us to take off the pedals again, but we couldn't get them off (screw started to strip), so he had to be content with Dad pushing him for a bit while he found his balance.

After a few minutes, once he was resigned to the fact we weren't going to let him back on his old bike again until he tried this one, he calmed down and got to work. It took a bit of coasting and Dad pushing him for him to start pedaling again, and soon after, he was up and going. And this time, with a bigger bike, he could go considerably faster. He was THRILLED. Mom and Dad....not so much. Luckily the two spills he took were not when he was at full speed, or we would have spent the evening in the hospital.

Bigger Fears. : /

Dad helping as he tries to find his balance on the much heavier, much bigger, differently balanced bike.

Bigger Bike! : )

Checking out the braking/pedal system. This has the adult style brakes rather than the pedal brakes.

Bigger Wait Time for my Big Girl

She got tired of riding and took a break to mess with the tools.

Bigger Distance

I sat in the middle of the parking lot and watched as they both rode all the way to the edges.

Bigger Speed! :O

He was LOVING the speed. Way too much.

Bigger Smiles! :D

Bigger Bruise. :(

His cheek hit a fencepost. OUCH! He was making stimmy noises and enjoying hearing them echo against the buildings and wasn't paying attention to where he was going. The cheek looked pretty horrible the next day.

So, the day was a success. Next: Sidewalks.

Do they make full body bubble wrap?

Oh, and if anybody knows of some super cheap/free adult bikes, we would be interested. He now officially goes faster than we can run. Well, especially me, but he could almost do that on the little bike, so that isn't saying much. lol.

And, as a side note, I am thinking it is such a bad idea to have "fall picture day" at school four days after the class bike tour of town. I am hoping we don't end up with a "memorable" photo.

Church kick-off party

2011-09-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

Every fall, at the beginning of the "new year", the church has a kick off party after services.

Zane decided his chair wasn't close enough to the Bluegrass musicians and he wanted a better view.

After setting up, Zora thought it was a good idea too, then others started following his lead

Zora HAD to go on the pony ride. She was pleased.

I didn't realize the kids liked Bluegrass enough to sit for more than 10 seconds to listen to it, Awesome. We will have to make a trip to Winfield this year to the big Bluegrass Festival.

I also noted a phenomena I see over and over. Sometimes not caring so much about "being weird" has it's advantages. He wanted to see the musicians, and instead of just sitting back like the crowd, he did something about it. He moved chairs so that he could get a better look. Once he started the trend, others followed.

On a different note, a part of me thinks we should find a church more local, but then I sit in fellowship with my friends there, and I can't imagine another church being such a good fit for all of us, even if it means a drive. There is something so liberating about mostly agreeing with those around you, and enjoying discussions, both personal and theological, without it turning into a predictable debate. I know of at least one church that is closer to us that might be a good fit too, but I am just not quite ready to leave this one right now, even though it would seem logical to move. lol.

Mud

2011-09-12T16:24:00.000-05:00

Zora's current favorite Poem. When we come across it in Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young she wants me to read it over and over. And over.

Mud

Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes!
I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
Than smell a yellow rose.

Nobody else but the rosebush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes

~Polly Chase Boyden

hmmm.....I wonder why this would be her favorite.

What if I don't want to remember?

2011-09-11T21:11:00.001-05:00

I don't. I don't want to remember a decade ago, that horrible day. I didn't lose anybody close to me, but I lost my security in a lot of ways. It certainly destroyed my belief that the people around me are generally reasonable and kind.

I was 5 months pregnant with Zane, after 7 years of infertility and miscarriages, I had finally made it far enough in a pregnancy that I could feel him kicking just the week before, while in the car driving from the very, very small western Kansas town to the "BIG CITY" (Lenexa, in the Kansas City Metro area). My husband was on day two of the job we had moved there for, moving because we had been told the company hadn't laid anybody off in over 40 years. He was working in one of the buildings that was jokingly referred to as the "twin towers".

I was sitting in the living room, surrounded by boxes, settling into my morning cup of coffee and flipping through channels. I remember that as I was flipping I saw a building on fire and, continuing to flip through channels, somewhere in the back of my mind I thought it was a Die Hard movie, but then, realizing that it didn't quite look like that, flipped back to that channel. Just as I was starting to realize what was going on, I saw the second plane crash into the building. In that instant I never felt farther away from people, more isolated, or more vulnerable. Pregnant and wholly alone, and scared, with no way to contact my husband, in a city I didn't know yet, and very little money because the move had taken nearly every cent we had. Trapped.

That day, as I stared at the tv screen, and as I stood in line for hours to get gas, one thought kept ringing through my head. "What kind of world am I bringing this baby into". Well, now I know. It could be worse, it could be much worse, but it sure isn't a better world than it was on September 10, 2001.

Meanwhile, my husband was working in a room that resembles those mission control rooms in NASA you see in the movies, with all the desks and massive, gigantic wall of television screens everywhere, tuned to every news and weather channel in the United States. It was at Sprint's NOC (Network Operation Center), where they monitored any events across the US which could interfere with internet service. So, not only did he see the first news coverage of it, he saw it over, and over, and over again, in every permeation, on every news channel, all day. Those images are still burned in his near-photographic memory today, and they still haunt him.

The event, as horrifying as it was, wasn't as enduring as the aftermath. I knew that there were terrorists, I knew people could do unfathomable damage (after all, the Oklahoma City Bombing was more local, and I participated in helping gather some of the evidence the FBI had to sort through, and I had one degree of separation from both victims and bombers), but the reaction of the people around me was so totally different. People came together, but it was in a supportive way. After 9/11 it was bloodlust. Bloodlust and Nationalism on a level that shook me to my core.

After 9/11 the vigils weren't a feeling of community and shared grief, it was a feeling of, well, terror. In the vigils that followed the buildings coming down, the streets were lined with people blasting "Proud to Be an American", holding candles, and talking about killing, and the people around me didn't lose anybody personally either.

I had 2 Native American friends, in two different cities, that were threatened repeatedly because they were mistaken for being Arabic. I am quite sure my Arabic friends had the same experience.

When the Kansas City paper came out with their edition the next day, it included a newsprint flag. Initially, I refused to hang the flag because it wasn't a "proper" flag. Being printed on newsprint meant it was disposable, and I found that offensive. However, when I had no less than 3 people actually threaten me physical harm for being "un-American" by not having the flag displayed, being alone and vulnerable, I displayed it. I kept it up until it started to discolor, and then I couldn't stand it any more. I was really upset by how many people displayed flags improperly during that time. You would think that if you felt moved to display a flag, you would at least look up the rules. A line of tattered flags on your extended cab giant Red Chevy Pick-Up truck does not make you look patriotic, it makes you look like you have no respect for the flag.

I think the part that I found the most disheartening is that people across our nation began living in fear, and let it dictate how they treated people, and what they allowed to happen to our nation. The ironically and ill-named "Patriot Act" was just the most shameful thing that our people have ever let go through our government, and it's effect is enduring and invasive. That day was the catalyst for the loss of thousands of lives in the Middle East, both soldiers and civilians, both Americans and our "enemies", lives that should not have been lost, but were, because of the fear that has swept our nation. The security theater that happens everywhere, especially airports, means the terrorists did actually win the day. They won. The fear mongers keep feeding us, keep dividing us, and keep us focused on hate. That is not what we should be about. If we truly are a nation "Under God", we should be a nation of Love, not Hate. And, right now, we are, without a doubt, about as far away from a nation Under God as we have been since the inception of our country, but not for the reasons the "right" wing would have us believe. Quite the opposite. Really.

So, if you will forgive me, I don't want to remember. But, I will remember. I will always remember. For anybody old enough, how could we possibly forget? Even those of us who weren't there, who didn't smell the smoke, who didn't have somebody stolen from us that day, it is a part of who we are now. It doesn't really matter if we want to remember or not.

Bike Riding a SUCCESS! (with video)

2011-09-10T01:35:00.001-05:00

We found an empty parking lot in town. The one we were using is next to the football stadium, and on a Friday night in Small Town America, that means it is jam packed with cars at the high school football game. So, after driving around, we find a nice, wide open, smooth parking lot. Just a little wet from the scattered showers, but not bad.

Putting the pedals back on

Zora zooming

And there he goes!...

...and goes...

..and goes!

And here is the live action, after a few minutes practice.

We had to hurry home soon after this. Between the sun going down and the incoming storm, bike riding conditions were deteriorating at a fast clip. It was awesome though. He was so excited and proud of himself. On the way home he asked if we could call Oma and Opa to tell them. That is the second awesome point to the day. He also pointed out that we could go get the new, bigger bike, now that he knows how to ride, so I guess we will get on that as soon as we can.

First Day of School

2011-09-09T18:13:00.000-05:00

A belated post, I know.

Dad and his favorite kids

It is the end of homeschooling. A major part of "who I am" is changing. It will be a good change.

We moved to a new, much better, school district and enrolled the kids. I started talking to the school before school was out last spring in anticipation of the move, and we got started with the IEP process before we were even fully moved. I am pretty gun-shy after my last public school experience, but I am working really hard to trust that it will be OK. (praying hard too, this is really a journey of faith for me) I know that if I have to, I can homeschool. I just don't think homeschool is the best option for Zane any more. He is getting older and it is getting much more complex for me. But mostly, I am burned out right now. After nearly a decade of being with the kids 24/7, I need a break.

So, this year we were among the throngs trying to find the things on the list, get those "non-marking shoes", finding new backpacks (the old ones were preschool sized and both needed big ones), and doing all the registration stuff. Add to that the meetings with the people who will be working with Zane (which, I must add, they were very open to). They even suggested doing a school tour the day before school started, before I brought it up (I thought I was going to have to argue for it), so he could see the rooms, read all the posters and wander around the facilities at his own pace. It means that he wouldn't be as prone to the distraction and anxiety of an unknown place his first day. School hadn't even started and they were doing things you normally have to fight for in an IEP. Awesome start. He was also given two aides, one morning, one afternoon, to fill in until the IEP meeting sets up the official PLAN...I am still in shock. Talk about OPPOSITE of USD 259. Seriously, it is incredible.

Mom and her favorite kids

So, after pancakes, sausage and fruit they got dressed, Zane in his favorite Robot shirt, Zora in the new outfit from Oma & the hairbow I made the night before to surprise her, they put on their new shoes, grabbed their new backpacks and headed outside for pictures.

Then we made the trek to school. It is so cool to live close enough that walking is an option.

One more block

Zane hamming it up.

And, one last shot for their first day.

I didn't cry until I got back home. I know they are in very good hands. Zane had a familiar face there for him for today (she made a special trip down just to help his team get the supports set up for him with less trial and error), somebody who understands him better than most, so it really helped both of move through the changes easier. That was truly an answer to prayer.

My babies are both school age now, and both of them are going to a regular school. This is going to be quite the transition for all of us.

Once the kids went into the building, neither looked back. They were ready.

I think I am too. We will see.

We're Going on a Bug Hunt...

2011-09-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

On the Hunt

...gonna catch a juicy one. (Zora was quite pleased at Dad's revision of the "Going on a Bear Hunt" song)

My budding entomologist has been dragging Dad & Zane out to hunt for bugs a lot lately. (notice she dressed for the occasion) It has mostly yielded moths and random "ugly bugs", but this day they had more excitement when they captured the butterfly. We think it is the same Monarch that has slipped the net at every try the last few days, but they finally had success. (the humans. The insects wouldn't define it as "success")

Zane kept reminding us to leave the bees alone.

It is sort of amazing anything could be caught with the little nets, and once we caught one we had to make it clear to the kids that using the magnifying glass was fine, but to keep the tweezers that came with the kit away from the butterfly.

Zane gets an up close look at the butterfly.

Letting Go.

After observing and discussing the butterfly for a while, it was time to let it go before it injured itself in the small space. We learned that this butterfly didn't really want to exit when held the regular way and she had to tip the carrier so it could fly up before it could zoom out of there. For some reason, once it made it's escape, it went straight to the treetops. No hanging out on the plants for a while. Smart butterfly.

Progress on Wheels

2011-09-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

We are all diligently working helping the kiddos learn to ride bikes. When the typical way wasn't working (you know, push them along and let go, like our parents did), we consulted the internet. After sorting through a plethora of suggestions, we settled on a combination that seems to be working.

Take off the pedals (so they don't hit their legs)
Drop a saltine cracker every 10 feet or so (then farther and farther apart, in varying patterns)
Have the biker scoot along aiming for the crackers.
Add knee pads before they fall and end up with 2 bloody knees (yeah, forgot that step the first try)

"Cracker Smashing" was a success. It got him to stop thinking so hard about falling, and start thinking about aiming for the cracker while the back of his brain worked on learning to balance the bike. A part of me is disturbed by wasting crackers, but the local birds seemed pretty pleased with the idea.

After balancing and scooting to smash the crackers, he was more interested in letting dad push him and gliding.

gliding along

After a few days of doing this, he is able to glide for more than a few seconds, and now he can glide down a mildly sloping sidewalk, use his feet to slow himself and turn the bike around the corner as the sidewalk changes directions. He even went over a curb and didn't lose his balance. We have a lot of hope that next time, after a few minutes of gliding, we will have success when we put the pedals back on. He is certainly working hard at it. Once he gets pedaling down, we are picking up the "new" (used, refurbished) bike from our neighbor so he has a better bike, instead of one as small as Zora's.

Determination

Zora is also enjoying tooling around the parking lot and sidewalks in the bike she got from her Uncle Steve & Aunt Nora. As soon as Zane is riding on his own, we will work with her on ditching the training wheels too. Right now it looks like our biggest challenge for her is to get her to quit leaning to the right. The right training wheel is noticeably dirtier and bending. Right leaning is baaaaad. She is starting to get some speed while riding, so hopefully it will help her make the transition.

Paperwork and Xanax

2011-09-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

You know, there are days that I think the biggest PITA about autism is the paperwork. There is too dang much paperwork when you have a Special Needs child. This week, it was filling out one of those monster forms, again, that want to know everything from how many pregnancies I had (thanks, just what I want to think about with every major stack of paper for him. That question just seems mean), all the minutiae from my pregnancy with him, to when he rolled over, said his first words, his first sentences (and does echolalia count?), all the way up to the current time. I don't remember that stuff. That was a DECADE ago. I have problems remembering things that happened last week. Do you know how I fill out paperwork? I dig out the old paperwork that had me fill out all that annoying stuff already and start copying. I figure that when I filled that out, it was at least closer to the time they are referencing. Or I just semi-randomly guess. For me, that means asking "Ok, where did we live when X happened?" and taking a stab at it from there.

I also get really tempted to put in goofy answers. Especially on really long forms that ask the same questions 15 different ways. One of the forms I just filled out asked about my child's friends, and if any of them drink, smoke, have sex, do drugs, ect. Particularly funny when it followed questions like "does your child have friends" (no, not really), and "how well does your child interact with friends". Dude, if he had actual, close friends, maybe the questions about the quality of the friends wouldn't be funny, but as it stands, I am imagining his (7-11yo) autistic therapy mates drunk & high, and it is pretty dang amusing, especially after pages of this junk.

I have to tell you the single most annoying/amusing part of filling out forms like that is that they assume a certain level of being able to infer meaning. Considering that the likelihood of an autistic kid having at least one parent that brushes the spectrum (a really high occurrence of engineers, computer nerds, accountants, and other sciency things), why, oh WHY would you not take the time and effort to make the questions more precise. Seriously. You are going to drive the parents insane. This should not be a test for the parents (either the nerdy one, or the one having to explain each. and. every. question. fifteen. gazillion. ways. to get the other parent to understand why it should be answered *this way*). I see a questionnaire like that and I just want to cry in anticipation. You should get an automatic bottle of xanax with every questionnaire. (I have never had xanax, but I am aiming for "drug that makes you not give a hoot/shuts down panic attacks" here...feel free to correct my assumption).

I would take a whopper of a meltdown over a stack of paperwork any day. Truly. At least the meltdown ends. The paperwork only seems to spawn more paperwork. And, at this point, experience tells me that only about 5-10% of it gets read, and only by 5-10% of people who are supposed to read it.

Can a person have PTSD from paperwork? I think they can. I need to write to the DSM-IV people, STAT.

"I'm still ME!"

2011-09-08T00:55:00.001-05:00

Zora, upon entering the school, saw the principal and ran up to her, where she enthusiastically declared "I'm still ME!". It took a second to realize that she thought her glasses made her look like a different person.

Zane, Entertaining Himself

2011-09-08T00:52:00.000-05:00

Math homework again. Nothing quite like hearing him giggle as he writes out equations to entertain himself.

He is going to be one of those people who writes funny math shirts that only other really nerdy people will get. Isn't he.

100000 x 0 + 5 x 3 + 1 = 16. That would not have been on my list.

Erases what?

2011-09-07T20:49:00.001-05:00

Poor grammar and punctuation leads me to wonder if I am using the correct tool.

I want to erase erroneous pencil marks. This Pink Eraser erases clean. What does that mean? Does it leave a mess behind once it erases the clean?

I prefer erasers that erase cleanly and clearly.

Reminds of the book Eats, shoots and leaves. Plus, it doesn't even smell like an eraser. *pbzt* :D

Motivational words

2011-09-07T16:24:00.002-05:00

I'm excited, and making a mess and much ado while making sense of making friends. Does that count?

Little Math Dude

2011-09-07T13:29:00.001-05:00

Zane didn't even make it past the kitchen when he came home from school yesterday. He dug out his homework and pulled out his math worksheet. Clearly, his father's son there.

I am not sure what the teacher was expecting, but at least it was done with enthusiasm. (and yes, I know the handwriting is still problematic, but he is at least trying his best, so I don't harp on it unless it degrades to unreadable). I will find out during the IEP meeting if his math is on par with peers, but being behind on math was my biggest concern with placing him in the 4th grade. I knew he was going to struggle with reading comprehension & social skills no matter what grade we put him in, but I am hoping that he is at least at grade level with math.

Looking at it, we are going to have to review how to use parenthesis to make the point more clearly. Yes, you are supposed to multiply before adding, but us non-math people have to look that up to make sure we did the equation the right way if there aren't any parenthesis to give us a hint. (4x6+1=25, not 28)

Upcycle Artist in the House

2011-09-07T12:54:00.002-05:00

When I tried to tell Zora to stay out of the trashcan I heard her familiar rally cry "But Mom! I'm making something very special" Well, good thing I listened, because I got to see another creative Zora project.

She took a discarded donut box, apparently wiped it out or washed it (it was a tad wet for a while), and wrote out her directions in her notebook.

She has a plan

That dot in the middle of the page, between the boxes, that was where she came and got me for help. That dot was "make a hole in the back of the box so it can be hung on a nail" (you'll notice on the bottom of the instructions is a picture of a nail, to show that it is supposed to be hung up.)

The square under the dot is "tape the picture so it stays in place"

And, VOILA! Completed picture frame with family portrait.

Can we hang it up now?

Finished.

New Eyes

2011-09-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

Both kids now wear glasses.

Looking at the world with new eyes.

Zane first. He is nearsighted with high astigmatism. About 20/30, so not terrible. On an amusing note, the day we had the appointment we were sent an article by Temple Grandin. I was familiar with the article already (Genius may be Abnormality), but there was something in the article I never really noted before and it made me laugh out loud. "A study of mathematical giftedness, conducted at Iowa State University by Camilla Persson, found that mathematical giftedness was correlated with being near-sighted and having an increased incidence of allergies." Considering we had just gotten glasses *that day* and had realized his seasonal allergies had kicked in and refilled his prescription two days before, it was an amusing coincidence.

Happy with new glasses

The eye doctor we go to specializes in kids with special needs, and was impressed with his ability to cooperate this time around. No eye drops this time. The biggest problem we had was getting him to sit still to try on glasses. Any time I turned to look at a different pair, he gravitated away from the optical area and back down the hallway to a big poster that described a variety of eye conditions. (the same photo repeated, each distorted differently to illustrate the different eye conditions). He kept asking "What is wrong with my eyes?", slightly distressed that something was wrong. After telling him, he had problems pronouncing "astigmatism" and I had to stop him and clap out the syllables and have him look at my mouth a few times. He was determined to get it, but was upset enough he wasn't processing what he was hearing. I finally had to make a deal with him that I would let him look at the poster for a while AFTER picking out the glasses.

End result: Glasses he picked out and seems to be fine with wearing. All reports from school say they don't have a problem getting him to wear them, and he isn't ripping them off his face as he walks away from the school like he did the first few days.

And, now Zora.

The same day we picked up Zane's glasses, Zora had an eye exam. Although she is borderline for needing glasses, hearing that they would probably not be optional in 6 months prompted me to go ahead and relent to the begging. She wanted glasses SO BAD. Pink ones, and ONLY pink ones. And none of mom's suggestions of "just try these" was met with anything resembling enthusiasm. My own mom found this funny. Can't imagine why. Going home without the glasses really ticked her off. She did not "get" why she had to leave her glasses at the office.

A few days later, her glasses finally came in. I got the call the morning of a planned "Oma Day", so instead of just Oma and Zora, I came along too and we picked up the new glasses. She was SO excited. She even got a pink lens cleaning cloth from them, which she has made ample use of.

Pink glasses are awesome!

Adjustments.

Want to know who had the hardest time adjusting to the glasses?

Come on, Guess.

It wasn't Zora.

It wasn't even Zane.

It was the Dad.

I come from a family where glasses are practically a rite of passage, so I always assumed that the kids would be wearing them. Zach, owner of freakishly good vision, did not have this expectation. Not even a little bit. His tongue probably still hurts a little from biting it those first days, making sure not to say anything that wasn't completely positive within earshot of the kids. Being the awesome dad he is, he came around pretty quickly, but it was an adjustment for him.

Moved

2011-09-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

Well, we moved in more than one way. First postal address, now blog address. In an effort to streamline things, I am moving the blog, as you can see. I am settling in, will add some pages, and decide later if I am going to move the entire old blog over, or just keep it linked. Most likely it will eventually be moved, but it is WAY down on the priority list.

So, I found Blogger. It looks easy, and it connects with Picasa, and it looks easy, and it looks easy. So, maybe I will be able to actually keep this thing more updated now. lol. Bonus: Zach can blog on the same blog at the same time without it being a big pain, so he might drop by and make things more interesting, or nerdy, or weird. We will see.

Expect to see the background and such change a million times. Blogger has all sorts of neat stuff, and I also have the option of using my own graphics, so that will come in time too. Maybe. If I can get Zach to invent one of those time stopping stopwatches I might actually catch up on my "have to do" list and do my "want to do" list with more frequency.

Finally, a link to the old blog. So down the road, when I haven't loaded up the old content and people want to look back, it is right here at what will, then, be the end/beginning of the blog.

http://www.takingscenicroute.com/