Resistance is Futile

There are a few things my kiddos can not seem to resist the temptation to do:

Jacob can't resist the urge to run around shooting invisible aliens that are apparently frequently visiting our dwelling. Thank goodness for the invisible laser beams he uses to protect the universe.

Joshua can't resist being a race car. Yes, you read that correctly - he's the race car, not the driver. Even better, he is "the Cheerios race car".

Cassidy can't resist the call to dress up. No occasion is too casual for her to wear a dress. :)

Elena can't resist the urge to dance the exact instant music is playing. CDs, commercials, movie credits, the ice cream truck driving through the neighborhood - she's not picky. :)


I got an Easter layout done yesterday:


credits: Papers and elements from the "Ribbit Kisses" freebie created by Rebecca Gold, Lauren Grier, and Amanda Rockwell. The entire kit was HUGE and absolutely adorable! You can get it at Elemental Scraps.

Happy Birthday, April!

I just wanted to pop on here long enough today to wish a very happy birthday to my best friend, April! I hope you had a great day despite having to work. :)



credits:
Papers and elements - April '06 Mega Kit contribution by Corinne Fragata
Font - Kayleigh

Easter Pics Part 1

We had a very nice Easter. We started the day with church. It was a very nice service. Afterwards, we headed home to change clothes. We met the grandparents for a picnic lunch, an egg hunt, and some playground time. :)

Our eggs:


The kids in their Easter outfits:

Easter Pics Part 2

Our own personal Cingular Commercial

Edited to add: I found another site that has the clip of one of the original commercials. ;) Just click on the picture to watch the video. http://www.dhadm.com/index.php/dhadm/cingular_bars/

Help for Sensory Integration Disorder

I truly wish I would have known about this last year when we were having to pay for Josh's OT out of pocket. I hope by posting this here it will somehow help someone else. :) Straight from the SpinKids Website:

SpinKids, Inc. is a not-for-profit, charitable organization that raises awareness of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and provides grants for the training, therapy, and equipment needed to treat SPD throughout the United States.

http://www.spinkids.org/index.html



I also got a Jacob layout done!
Finally got a Jacob layout done. Yay!



Credits:
Papers - Jeanine Baechtold, Independent Digital Designer at http://www.scrapdish.com and http://www.scrapbookbytes.com
Rickrack from ?
Font - Goudy Stout

One year (and 4 days)

That's how long ago I started this blog. Can you believe it? I totally didn't even realize my one year anniversary of sharing my life through this blog had passed. My posts have been few and far between at times. Life has a habit of getting in the way of everything I wish I could do. I get sidetracked way too easily. LOL

Frustrating week

You know the kind. One of those weeks where the best of intentions and plans all blow up in your face and there is nothing you can do about it but sit and wish for it to get better.

You read about our field trip and the loads of fun we had there. I'm still upset about the final part of that trip. My letter to the curator is in its final draft now. I included the recall notice for the Magnetix toys, so hopefully they will look into things after receiving it.

Flash to the following day, when Josh was scheduled for speech. Joshua was tired and extremely grouchy. This isn't abnormal for him on therapy days at all. He hates getting up before he is ready, and who can blame him? But you have to do it sometimes. I always give him a bath in the morning instead of night because the water has a calming effect on him and we are usually fine from that point on.

So, the day is going as planned. Josh had his bath and had perked back up to his regular happy and silly self and we head over to my mother's house for her to watch the other kids. We were following our usual routine just fine. I always make a point of getting there at least 15 minutes early so Josh gets the chance to go in and find a car to bring with him. It's his transition object and is something he needs, so we do it and that's that. No questions. I've learned not to question why he needs the things he does...we just do it and life is good, so long as the routine is kept.

We get to my mother's and due to circumstances beyond her control involving an elderly neighbor, she is unable to babysit the kids while I take Joshua to therapy. Unfortunately, I do not know this is going to be the case until 2 minutes before we have to leave. We thought it would be settled by the time I would have to go, so I didn't have time to prepare him. HUGE mistake!

So, I drag all of the kids to therapy with us so my mother can help the neighbor. This TOTALLY threw Josh off. I tried explaining to him on the way to the clinic what was going on and why, but of course, he couldn't get past the fact that he didn't understand why we were taking the other kids. Traffic was horrible, which we haven't had happen in months, so that didn't help matters either. When he wasn't asking me why Jacob and the girls were with us instead of staying at Nona's, I was being asked why we were stopping.

We parked in the same parking space we always try to get. Josh was fine at first, busily showing Jacob everything he looks at each week before we go inside...but then I took out the stroller. HUGE mistake #2. He decided he had to ride in it. I told him he couldn't because the girls had to ride in it...he's a big boy and doesn't need the stroller anymore, etc, etc.

He proceeds to throw a major tantrum over this. All the way up the elevator, the entire time we are in the waiting area. The therapist, came out to get him and he starts screaming and yelling about having to go to see her and he doesn't like her, etc. Some guy actually came from the opposite side of the room to stand in front of us and stare at him throwing this tantrum. It was so embarrassing. I just wanted to melt away to nothing.

This is the first session I have sent Joshua in the room by himself for therapy. I always go in with him to see what she does with him, because Joshua can't understand my questions well enough to tell me what they have done. From what the therapist said, he pitched a fit for about 10 minutes back there. Then they played (with him grouching most of the time) and she only spent a couple of minutes asking him "wh" questions.

I hate that one little thing being different can throw him off so bad. I hate that I have to live on pins and needles all of the time waiting to see if I screwed up a routine that I didn't even realize I had made. I hate the stares we got, especially by the guy that came specifically to watch while Josh was throwing his fit...he watched us as if he thought I was beating him when all I was doing was sitting with Josh on my lap, the therapist right next to me. I hate days like this past Wednesday.

I love Josh so much. It isn't his fault. I still haven't figured out how to make the unexpected changes a little easier for him. Don't get me wrong...he has improved dramatically in the past year, so long as he is given a lot of preparation for the chage. And I am so extremely proud to see the progress that he has made. Now I just have to work on what to do in situations such as the one presented on this particular day.

I spoke to the therapist about us possibly taking a break from speech for a little while to try and regroup and give him a break. She said of course it is always up to me, and it might or might not do any good. I'm frustrated...we are so close to being caught up to where he needs to be, so I worry taking a break may have disasterous consequences. At the same time, I could use a break myself. I am worn out. Anyway, what we decided to do is finish the two sessions we currently have scheduled, and then take about 3 months off to see how he does. We'll schedule a recheck type of visit at that point to see where we're at, unless I feel he needs to return sooner.

In the meantime, I'm going to be looking to see if there is some sort of speech curriculum I can use here at home and sneak it into his school time without him realizing it too much. I have the list I made of what his newest goals are since his re-evaluation, so I am sure we can meet some of those by the time we go back in.

Daytona's Museum - plagued by criminals?

I took Jacob and the rest of the kids on a field trip to the Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences today. My mom came along to help keep the girls busy while I tried to teach the boys and also because I didn't really want to make the 2 hour drive on my own.

We have a membership to the local museum, and as a part of that membership, we also get deals to other museums. I checked the listing and sure enough, the Daytona museum was covered. We were to get a free membership for all members of the household to their museum...that is the recipricol deal that they have listed in the paperwork and it is supposed to be good through April 30. I printed it off to be sure I would have no problems when I got there.

So, we drive the two hours and I show my card and am immediately told, "Sorry, we don't take that". I brought out the paperwork I printed off and showed her that according to their recipricol agreement, they are supposed to take it...I showed her what the paper said the agreement was. She told me to hold on a minute and showed my card to another person who showed her yes, they do take it, but according to her, the deal is a discounted admission. She told my mother since she was 65 or older she could get the sr. citizen discount (she was a little disgusted about that one seeing as she is not in her 60's at all, and she actually doesn't even look like she has hit 50). And then for Jacob they charged the regular child's admission. I asked her why this was the case and she said it is because it is a special event. So I asked her what special event was going on and she said it was the Egypt exhibit...well, that was exactly what we had gone to see, so I didn't argue with her right then. On the way home though, I looked at a billboard and checked the brouchure. Their "special event" has been going from mid-November and does not end until the last week of May. How the heck is that allowed to be something that will cause us to not get the recipricol admission as stated? So, she rings us up full price instead of the discounted price and I guess I look like I am a real idiot because she tells me the price and I tell her no way is it that much. "Oh, haha, sorry about that. Looks like you are right".

Then I asked if they allowed us to take photographs...She said no, so I had to check my camera at the desk. Ok, fine. But then my mother and I noticed on top of the tons of security cameras, we apparently deserved to have our own personal guard following us around. THAT ticked me off. I felt like a criminal...like we were wanting to take the encased goods? Give me a break! The majority of the things there were models of the actual artifacts and not the real thing.

Then we had a bunch of class tours going on. EVERY single time I would go to show Jacob something, this one tour leader would come directly to the exhibit we were looking at with her mob of kids. Jacob and I even skipped a few of them so we could go back to them, figuring she would go in order. Oh no, she would follow us. Sorry, but we purposely avoided where they were and did not interupt their groups, so we should have been given the opportunity to take our time looking at the exhibits we were trying to see.

Then we went across to the Root Family part of the museum. This family had a special on PBS a couple of months ago, real late at night, but I had no idea that their display was at this museum, so I was excited. They had hundreds of teddy bears displayed and tons of Coca Cola memorabilia. Our personal guard followed us around for a while and then my mom decided to make sure he knew we noticed him following us everywhere, so she asked him if he knew why they grouped the bears how they did. He was rude and said no, but he got the drift and left us alone for a few minutes. As we were walking out of that section, he went back to look around, I guess to see if we had broken one of the cases and stolen one of their precious teddy bears for the kids. {{Rolling Eyes}}

So, want to hear the best part? We go in the kiddie area, and it was ok...the kids had fun and were finally able to touch something, so they were happy. They had a bunch of tables set up for the kids and tons of toys for them to play with. At the second table, I saw the Magnetix toys that were recalled this past week. Keep in mind, there were stories around Christmas about children getting sick, and one child dying because he swallowed two of the magnets and they were so strong that it caused his intestines to close. So, as I am getting my camera back at the front desk, I tell the woman who rang us up that they have some recalled toys in the kids section, and explained that I had closed the boxes for them, but they may want to get them out of there before someone got hurt. So she runs over to tell the other woman who decided to give us the discounted admission prices and do you know what she tells me? "Those couldn't have been recalled. They were handmade". Ummm, yeah lady...and I am sure the legos and everything else in there are handmade too. So, I looked at her and told her she was crazy and even though they were supposedly handmade, it is still the same concept. I explained that it is there liability and they are the ones that are going to get sued when a kid dies because they didn't want to listen. So, she tried to hand me a card so I could talk to the curator of the museum, and I told her she could keep it, because I'm not calling long distance to save them a lawsuit. All they have to do is walk two rooms over and take the toy out of the room until proven safe.

Can you believe the way they acted? That last part ticked me off completely. I am writing a complaint letter to the curator (is that how you even spell it?) of that museum, to our local museum in which we have a membership, and the organization which runs the reciprical membership list (and anyone else I can find that may be interested in this information) and let them know I not only did not appreciate how we were treated, but how disgusted I am at what happened at the end. To sit there and act as ignorant as they did just disgusts me. I know there will be no more patronizing of that museum by us.

Josh's Progress Report

I spoke to the psych about how Josh did in his socialization classes this time around. He did pretty good, and she noticed improvements in the same areas I did. She said in the beginning there was the resistance that she expected and she attributes that to the fact that most of the kids were older and more advanced, so he had to play catch up and that posed a challenge. He did step up though, and did what he needed to do, so that was good.

Speech was not so good this week. I had my mother bring Josh last week because I was feeling so rotten still. I gave her the entire routine to follow...told her which entrance to go through, where to try to get a parking place, etc. And it went so wonderfully that it was joked that she should bring him every time. Basically, he was ecstatic about riding in my mother's van. He has a ton of family members with minivans - me, my mother, my father, my MIL - yet, the only van he gets overly excited about is my mom's "blue bird". So, it was an extra special day as far as he was concerned, because he rarely gets to ride in her van.

So, this week it was back to me bringing him. It went horrible. He went in ok, and it looked like it would be a great session. He ran straight over tothe OT steps like he does every session...he looked out the window to check on the "fans" (part of the building's air conditioning system) and then we were off to the little speech room. Same routine as every other week we are there.

We walked in and something set him off. He went to sit in the chair but noticed the toys on the shelves were different than he thought they should be. I didn't notice any big changes, but he mentioned a bus was missing. Then he was convinced that Ms. J. had stolen one of the toys from the "duster's office". I explained that he meant the dentist office. I don't think Ms. J. was ever able to convince him that she didn't take it and it was her own.

Anyway, he was grouchy the rest of the time. Ms. J. always starts out by reading a book or two. The first book she read was one they have done a minimum of 4 times now, and he knows what to do. It is "Elmo's Guessing Game". The first page was about Elmo needing to go into the snow and wanting to know what he needed to do so. On the second page Josh was given about 5-6 choices of objects to choose from - I think there was a plant, snow boots, and a few other options. Josh chose the plant and then a few other things that he knew were not the right answer. Another page asked what Elmo needed to walk across the street safely. The right answer was an adult or mommy, and he chose a cactus plant. He has never gotten these wrong before, so it was painfully obvious he was just giving wrong answers on purpose.

It was interesting though that when she was reading an animal alphabet book, he totally showed he knew his sounds. I was shocked. We have worked on this, but he has never been one to show that he has actually learned something without a LOT of probing. She started out with telling him that A was for aardvark. Being in the grouchy mood he had suddenly gotten into, he told her "No it isn't. A is for apple!" I had to laugh, because up until now I had no idea he actually knew that. Later on he also stated that F was for flower and J is for Jacob. He refused to say J was for Joshua...go figure.

So, as we were leaving I asked Ms. J. if she knew what set him off and she said no. I have no idea either. When we left I got in the van and cried. It is so frustrating having a really good week when I am not there. I feel like it reflects on me. He has had good weeks with me there, but it seems to be a growing problem that his mood becomes grouchy when we go to speech. My mother thinks we need a break from therapy for a little while. I hate to do that though with us being so close to being caught up. Plus, if we take too long of a break we will have trouble getting back into the same therapist. I haven't decided what we will do yet. I think I will talk to Ms. J. about it next week and see what she thinks.

Speaking of Joshua, My latest layout was of him:


Credits: Shabby Princess Kit - Sweet Serenity