Gone again

I took Megan to Minneapolis the end of Jan. and she is settling in there. Seems to love it, no job yet. The twins are good. We've had a healthy winter so far, i swear it is because we all get flu shots. It's been a very snowy winter as well. Winters have been rather mild, so this takes some getting used to. But it will be spring soon.
Both of the twins have registered for high school. Same school, different classes. Colleen will be included for a few classes: science, gym, art. She will spend a lot of time in resource rooms with kids of all abilities. I hope she gets enough individual attention. We are trying some new meds. Now she had Down syndrome, ADHD , and OCD. She's a piece of work, not your average DS child. So much she has to struggle with. But she is happy at school with her friends, more unsettled at home. She needs lots of structure, but doesn't want it. I try to pick my battles, like with any teenager. I'm thinking of going back to work as an OT, but not in pediatrics as I did before. Some of my OT friends have gone back after long childrearing breaks. I may do volunteering instead. We'll see!!!

Homecoming

We picked up Megan from the airport on the 18th, so she has returned after 15 months in Asia. Looks good-skinny too. Colleen was so excited to see her. Megan hasn't been around much, running errands. Has to get used to driving on the right side of the road again. Didn't seem to have jet lag, but now she is crashed on the couch. It is a little overwhelming to be here with the fast pace, consumerism and prices. Sticker shock for sure. So we all have to adjust and not trip over each other. Her stuff is all over the house, a reminder she is here-don't mind the mess for now. Glad she is back and safe.
Colleen had a hearing test and she has some permanent nerve loss in her left ear. Hearing aid would not help. So we are getting an FM system, where Colleen wears an ear piece and the teacher has a microphone. It should help with her attention as well since it lessens all the background noise of a busy classroom.
Busy getting ready for Christmas. It will be hard that it is the first one without my mom. Megan also has the first one with her grampa gone as well. And that loss is more recent for her dad's family. I don't think that one has sunk in yet.
Hope all of you have a blessed Christmas with all of your families.

Whew!!

Colleen's 2 hour IEP was Wed., and it went pretty well (shock!). And she is progressing in her goals (also shocking!). I'm reviewing things now and need to comment on the paperwork. Now the big question looms-what high school she attend-what will be the least overwhelming for her (and me). And where will Patrick go too.
Megan will be home in 11 days, so I'm prepping for that and Christmas. But things are balanced, for now

IEP's and XYZ'S

It is that dreaded time of the year again-no, not family and holiday shopping. It is time for Colleen's IEP meeting, otherwise known as the HAHAHA!!! meeting. It is complicated by the fact that Colleen will be transitioning to high school (very hard to believe). She and her brother are having problems at school, so we want them at different schools. I have looked at the 3 public and 1 private school in our city. I also looked at 2 out of district. We have open enrollment so you can go out of district if there is room. I liked 2 schools for Colleen, one out of district and one in. They both say they are full, but might make an exception due to twins. I like 2 different schools for Patrick-one private, one near our house. Then today in the paper there will be a huge budget cut in our district, which also plays into this whole thing. In the middle of all this, my prodigal daughter will return from 1 1/2 years in Asia. Plus it is the first holidays since my mom died. So we are going to Texas to see my sister before "the storm". I hope the power of prayer will get us through this time!! He's really in control anyway. Blessings to all.

The holidays are coming!!!

It is almost Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and THEN...... CHRISTMAS! Who's family do we go to, yours or mine??....Who do we have to our house??...who do we buy gifts for??.....is there some way to decorate the house once for all 3 holidays??...Hallogivingmas??.. Oh, and Megan is coming home Dec 18, but who cares. Not really, I care, haven't seen her for 1 1/2 years!!(she's been in Asia/Thailand,Laos, Cambodia, India, etc.) I hope I recognize her at the airport. So there is much to do in the next 3 months.

I'm also school shopping for high school, which makes Colleen's teacher anxious. We have 3 high schools in Waukesha, plus I'm going to 2 out of district schools and a private school. Some of this is for Patrick's needs too. Colleen's IEP is in December and I want to be ready. It may be time to get her some sort of communication system, she has an expressive speech disorder and it is time to do something besides articulation.

We buried my mom's ashes-she died in June. Colleen didn't really get it like she did at the funeral in June. We also scattered some remains in a lake we lived on. Made me think of 9/11. The remains were ashes. bone fragments, etc. I washed my hands for a week!!

Hope fall is going well for everyone.....

October already??!!

We have a month of school under our belts, and are into the fall driving kids to activities everywhere. (we buried my mom yesterday-so this weekend is busy with family). These are our after school activities.
Monday: Patrick football, Colleen haircut during football, bible study
Tuesday:Patrick PT for his back, Colleen orthodontist, Teri support group
Wednesday: Patrick football, Colleen bowling, dinner with friends
Thursday:Confirmation for both, Colleen puppets at church, Teri assist
Friday:Patrick football, Colleen ballet,football game- followed by bonfire with hungry teens

During the school day this week, both kids have doctor appointments, dental appointments, I have a doctor appt. and haircut, maybe a pedicure. Also working on a ministry for special needs kids-we've met with the teachers and given them info on the child's disability. Now working on a parent pot luck and building up a reference library.

Also trying to find time for a date with my husband-ha! Helping to organize the family support program which gives families money to help keep there child in the home. Who gets what is a complex issue of points. Of course there is a waiting list.

The weather has been summer like, great for walks. Not you typical fall weather.
My 23 year old daughter has decided to come home Dec. 18th!!! She's been gone over a year. Recently they've had tsunami warnings, plane crashes, her credit and atm cards frozen (but that is fixed now). She's not all that happy to come home-loves Asia. It will be a major adjustment to have her back, but a blessing as well.

I'm also visiting the 3 high school for next year. I hear there is more mainstreaming without support,and less emphasis on adaptive skills which is the exact opposite of the jr. high program she's in now. Colleen's academics are low and slow, and I don't want her stressed and pulling out her hair again!! Plus she's ADD with some OCD issues as well.

But overall things are going well. I am blessed that I don't have to work right now, but I need to be with other adults sometinmes or I go nuts. And my time sure fills up. I need to be home at 2;30 when the kids bused come.

Hope all is well with you. Will continue to update if anything interesting happens.

Back to School

The twins are back in school, thank God. I love my kids but I was ready for summer to end. Everyone was up and ready for the bus on the first day, by day 2 Colleen had enough. So I had to dress her-she can do this herself-and drag her out the door to the bus. She did come home happy, and her teacher said she slid right into her school routine. Maybe next week will be better (one can always hope).

I have a program for my computer called Boardmaker, they also have one at school. It allows me to pair pictures with words. Colleen has a number of sight words that she knows without pictures, but she needs pictures for new ones. So I used the program to print out a story about her summer. She would never be able to answer questions without this visual cue. I do a sheet every weekend, so she can tell her teachers what she did. And now (after 1 year of begging) the school is doing a sheet a week so she can tell me what she did at school. It also helps because Colleen's articulation is poor. I'm always translating for others. And if I don't get it it's a guessing game, which frustrate Colleen. Some of my friends kids speak so clearly, and some don't speak at all. One of her classmates calls her mom a bitch all the time-thank God we don't have that to deal with!!

We signed up for bowling for special olympics which starts this week. We're skipping soccer so we can watch Patrick play football. Ballet starts this week too-my 13 year old with 5&6 year olds, but she loves it. It is good for her feet, balance and self confidence. I'm hoping we can move her up to an older level, but I don't want to push the teacher. I had to convince her to let Colleen try, and she did very well.

So we're gearing up for week 2!! Wish me luck!!