apples

We went to pick apples and raspberries this weekend and we missed you, Jared!  Your the tall guy who can lift the kids up high to reach the best apples.  They had to get some that they could reach by themselves this time. 

We had a good time anyway.  It was warm and pretty windy, which kept the bees away.  The apples were good around here since we had a little rain this summer.

I made apple crisp, a large batch of apple sauce, and pies.  I only made 4 pies though instead of the usual dozen that we could get done when you were home.  My pies do not look as fancy as the ones you make since I am not great at doing that extra stuff, but they will get eaten just the same.

Silence

Do you hear the silence?  It started yesterday when Paul joined the rest of the kids back in school.  It is so nice to have a few hours of quiet.  I didn`r even turn the TV or radio on yesterday. The noise comes back shortly after 3:00 pm, of course when I have just gotten on the phone with the pre-op  nurse to go over the details of Lauren`s surgery.  Paul had to come bouncing, screaming, pounding, and screaming some more.  He was just a bit wound up after his first day of 2nd grade.

I have 10 days to get meals in the freezer, catch up on the paperwork, get clothes and bedding organized, and get schedules ready for everyone so Dad and the PCAs can take over here for 2 or 3 days while I sit at the hospital with Lauren. 

Lauren is having a programmable shunt put in so that the pressure in her brain can be regulated.  We have to stay there until her pressure is stable which is supposed to be 24 to 48 hours. 

I had better get back to work  while I have the chance to do so in silence.

A Day With Sonny Boy

"Mommy, Mommy, it`s time to get up, the wadio (radio) can come on now, I wove, wove, wove, (love) you so much, your Sonny Boy is here Mommy".

That is the morning wake up I get directly in my face every morning and 95% of the time it is before 6:00 am.  He can not say words with the letters l and r correctly and he has to hug and kiss you and climb all over the place, but he is cheerful so that gets the morning off to a good start. 

This morning the big yellow limo pulled up to transport 3 kids off to school  Lauren was moving slow, but got out the door okay.  She is starting her transition program.  She goes to her job for part of the school day and I think she is ready.  It is going to be a long process getting through this, but we will deal with it one thing at a time.  Allen is technically a senior.  Is that for real?  I just am not quite seeing it yet. Hanna is bored with the home rules and ready to get back to the school rules at least for a little while. 

That leaves me home with Mr. Paul, Sonny Boy, my buddy, or whatever else he is calling himself at the time.  He had 3 choices for breakfast this morning:
     eatmeal (oatmeal)
     mini weeps (mini wheats)
     my favorite ,pancakes with soap (syrup), doesn`t that sound tasty?

Until Thursday when they all go to school I am here listening to the nonstop chatter of my Sonny Boy.

Lets Get On The Train

Yesterday I spent ALL day having Hanna re-evaluated at the U of M.  Her fetal alcohol diagnosis and comprehensive assessment are a few years old so no one will let us use them any more.  This re-evaluating thing bothers me because she has the same Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder she has had since birth, the same intelligence, same impulsive behavior, with poor judgement, the same concrete thinking, essentially the same alphabet soup so why are we doing this again?  I really do not understand why there can not be a system in place where some persons who are permanently disabled can be given that information so they would not have to go through this re-evaluation nonsense over and over again.  Seriously this would save lots of money and time for everyone.

I do understand that there are persons who have disabilities which are temporary and those persons would need to be involved in this re-evaluation process. When a person has prostetic eyes they are not going to suddenly get their vision back.  When there is a traumatic brain injury, that is not going to go away.  When a person has lost limbs they are not going to grow back.  The Cerebral Palsy or Down Syndrome is not going away so lets just call things as they are and get rid of this re-evaluating thing and move forward.

All I want from this nonsense is a clear statement that addresses the fact that Hanna needs structure, supervision, and routine and her need for these things will be on-going for life.  Services need to stay in place for her when she is doing well, because if they are taken away we have a downward free fall which leads to major issues and then we have to go about getting those services re-instated which leads to more re-evaluations, paperwork, interviews, and on and on and on.  We need to stop this roller coaster and get on a calmer, more consistent train ride in the country and then maybe we can actually take some time to enjoy the scenery.

Ready To Go

About 2 weeks until school starts so I guess I had better figure out what needs to be purchased. 

I went through the drawers and closets and everyone is okay with the clothes they have, except for Hanna who can`t get any of her jeans on.  She has not gotten any taller so now I have to find girls plus size jeans.  It is hard to get those cheap, which is what I need to do since she is gong to destroy them anyway.  I need to get Allen and Paul some socks since their`s have no elastic left in them.  Paul has grown out of his shoes so he will need new ones.  I already got the black pants and shoes Lauren needs for her new job. 

Paul has a list of things he is supposed to have.  Looking at that list and considering his needs I am making lots of changes.  He is going to need extra clothes long before he will use 6 notebooks.  He goes through a lot more wipes and tissues then the average 2nd grader so I will send 2 boxes instead of one.

I have not seen any list for the older kids yet, but I think that replacing the toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, wipes, and folders is usually all I need to do.

There aren`t going to be any shopping trips costing hundreds of dollars taking place here before sending them out the door.

I think everyone is ready to get back into the school routine, I know I am.  I am also hoping that this school year allows me to have more mom time and less medical time.

Just Another Day...

Hanna gets her cast off early this morning so we will get a good look at how that foot of hers is doing.  She definently is in no pain the way she has been running and thumping around here.

After we get done with that drama we are heading to Gillette for the third day in a row.  It looks like the shunt situation is being put on the fast track since Lauren was having more issues then usual on Monday.  When medical people want things to get things done they can move it out in a hurry.

So that is what we are up to, filling out papers, waiting for this and that, filling out more papers, and yeah there will be some Hanna drama there too, just to keep things from getting boring.

Summer, Snacks, And RAD

Summer is moving right along here.  Next month the littles will be back on school schedule.  Paul is in summer school for the next couple of weeks giving us a quieter morning.  Allen has decided that he does not have to get up at the crack of dawn, so he is managing to get down here after the breakfast kitchen has closed. (That is after 9:00 am). Getting him back on school schedule might be a bit of a challenge.  The girls are up and running out of things to do by 9;00 am so they have been acquiring extra chores, just because I get tired of them watching me do all the work.

Our RAD child has morphed into a new state of radism that goes something like this. I hate you, I don`t wanna, I`m not gonna, you can`t make me, and on and on and on.  The mouth is working overtime at irritating everyone.  I guess this is the more adult version of RAD.  It is less physically violent that is for sure.  Is it any better?  Not really, it is just different.  It can be very annoying so sometimes we just have to tune her out.
Oh we still have all out melt downs 3 or more times a week, but not multiple times every day. Then last weekend we had an all out blow up which consumed the entire day with violence, just to remind us that we are on this RAD roller-coaster for life.

I was cleaning up downstairs when I came across 19 empty fruit snack wrappers, so I ask Hanna how the snacks were and she says "I didn`t eat any fruit snacks".  Since I had asked about snacks, not fruit snacks specifically I guess she told me exactly who had eaten them. I am guessing that when we get back to the orthodontist there will be a mess to straighten out in her mouth, aurgh!