What a Difference a School Year Makes

This was the kids last August, on the first day of school...

This was today, the last day of school. I didn't notice how much taller they got!
Daniel was not happy about school ending and was in no mood for pictures this morning. That's why he looks like he does. LOL!

5th Grade Farewell

Jacob's 5th Grade Farewell was tonight. I cried, but only during the slide shows. They had one where they took their kindergarten picture and morphed it into their 5th grade one. It was really neat. If I can figure out how to copy it to my computer, I'll post it. Anyway, here are some photos from tonight. I can't believe Jacob's in 6th grade!!!





They asked us to bring in photos of the kids as infants and their current picture. They hung them up like this.
The 5th graders line up for a song.

Jacob gets his certificate from Mrs. P, the school counselor (remember her? I haven't mentioned her in a long time!) and from Mr. L, the principal.
Jacob with Lanston and Louis
Jacob and Andrew

Jacob and his best friend, Kellan. Kellan was smiling right up until I took the picture. He did the same thing to his parents when they tried to take one. Gotta look tough, I guess.

Jacob and Mr. L. See that chair to Jacob's right? There are a couple of moms that call it my chair because that's where I usually sit to wait for them to get out of school. LOL!

Where Has This Week Gone????

Kids' rooms...done. Yep, I said done. All three really like them. Daniel's is dramatic and totally him. Jacob's is, well, grey. What can I say? He really likes it. However, he's been begging me to paint the ceiling. What? I have to say that Hannah's is my favorite. It's a pretty blue and I put some white clouds along the top. I love them. I rehung her fabric butterflies and was inspired to put up some more. I need to get some other colors but we're going to paint handprint butterflies on the walls. I thought it'd be a fun way to really personalize the room. I'll have all of us put at least one up, even Mike and me. Of course, it'll make it that much harder to paint over in the future, but thought we could put one up in each of the kids' closets that wouldn't get painted over eventually. I'll post pictures soon.

I'm still finding it hard to believe school ends next week. Where has this year gone? It was so nice to pick up all three kids after school today and just head home. No Hebrew school. No running club. Just home. Soon, we'll just have baseball, gymnastics and TKD. I'm so excited. We've bribed Jacob into not doing baseball next year with violin lessons. I talked to him about how, while he likes baseball, it's not really his passion. Violin seems to be his passion. We told him that if he didn't have baseball, we would get him private lessons. He loved that idea.

Tomorrow, I have to clean this house. I've been ignoring it while I've been painting.

It's May Already???

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of May. I love it because Spring's in full swing and the flowers are starting to bloom. The trees have their leaves and it's getting warmer and warmer outside. May's also the beginning of the end of the school year. Of course, that's where the hate begins.

I hate the wind-down. The end of the school year. The parent volunteer luncheons, 5th grade farewell, final concerts, the teacher retirement parties. The end of the Scouting year (both Cub and Girl Scouts). The end of the Sunday School year. The end of the Hebrew School year. Trying to get everything all wrapped up before the end. Then, trying to get all registered for the next year. Ugh! The mountains and mountains of paperwork that it entails to get these kids registered for next year. And, wouldn't you know it, now we're adding a whole other school into the mix. Whee!

I'm really sad because this is the last year we will EVER have all three kids in the same school. And, just as we'll be getting used to PRMS, we'll transfer over to the new middle school when Jacob's in 7th grade. So, we'll get to do all that paperwork next May. I'm not ready for middle school.

On a side note, I discovered that one of the local MOPS groups has the MOMSnext (MOPS for the school-aged set) group as well. :) Of course, they're winding down for the year but have put my info in for the next school year. I'm such a flipping joiner. LOL! I just really missed MOPS and the support this year. PTO just doesn't fill the gap.

Who Said Jacob Could Go To Middle School?

I was so excited because I got to have coffee with my dear friend, Shanna, this morning. She was my MOPS coordinator when I was involved and her sister passed 3 weeks before Mom did, so we formed a tight bond pretty quickly. I've chatted, briefly, with her over the past year but I haven't been able to really talk with her. What was supposed to be an hour long coffee thing turned into 2 1/2 hours. We decided to go for pedicures next Wednesday. I'm so excited. I've really missed having her around.

Tonight was parent orientation for middle school. I am so not ready for this. It was, however, very nice to see many familiar faces from our elementary school there. I have a feeling I'm really going to like Jacob's new principal. She is a riot. She tends to go off on random tangents, but the stories are hysterical. She was even showing us about how to use the parent portal to check grades and told us about how, last year, she pulled up her son's grades and it showed he had an F in band. She said she was horrified but was proud to show us that he'd brought it up to a C this year. LOL! Nevermind that it took her three tries just to get into the parent portal because she couldn't remember her password. She actually reminds me, a bit, of Mrs. Burroughs.

There are several core classes that they have daily: Reading, Communication Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. They also have an Explo class. Each area is 7 weeks. The areas are Visual Arts, Family/Consumer Science, Integrated Technology (explained as shop class), Speech/Drama and Technology Education (computers). In 7th and 8th grades, they'll get to choose two of those as electives, running a semester a piece. They'll also have Spanish, PE, Guided Study (study hall) and Music (strings, band or choir). Jacob is really excited because he'll have strings every other day. Stings alternates days with Spanish. PE alternates with Guided Study.

Jacob seriously can't wait for middle school. I'd be thrilled if I could hold him in 5th grade forever.

The Weeks Just Get Stranger and Stranger...

Jacob's well into his baseball season. Well, baseball practice season. His coach said he and another boy have the most natural talent on the team. Nice. Jacob has reclaimed his love of baseball and all seems to be well. Hannah started soccer and even had her first game last Saturday. Her team lost but her team won as well. Clarification...they split the team into two so the one team becomes two and they play on 1/4 of the field. It gives each girl a ton of playing time. Hannah's told me that she never wants to quit soccer. Finally, a sport I can actually help with! I know the rules, I know how to help. Yay!

After Hannah's game on Saturday, Mike took Jacob to baseball practice while Daniel, Hannah and I headed to the grocery store. While we were there, I noticed they had a sale on these really pretty spring flower bouquets, so I picked one up. We also ran into an old TKD friend while we were there and it was nice to catch up in person instead of the occasional Facebook post.

Anyway...

We get home and put everything away. I put the flowers in a vase on the kitchen table and we all eat lunch. As I was cleaning up, I see Bella munching on some of the flowers. I shoo her off the table but a red flag raises in my head. Hmmm. I decided to Google lily plants and find that they are the number one most toxic thing to cats. Like, 100% of cats that eat them and are left untreated die kind of poisonous. Awesome. I call the vet immediately and they ask me how fast I can get her in there.

30 minutes from when she ate the three ends off the lily plant, we're at the vet and Bella's whisked away as soon as we walk in the door. The vet comes out to tell me that she's hopeful that they've acted in time. They've pumped her stomach, given charcoal and started fluid diuresis. They also did some baseline bloodwork so they know where she's starting. She can't guarantee anything but they're doing what they can to protect the kidneys. Oh, and if she pulls through, she could be looking at a lifetime of dialysis. Also, they close at 4 (it's 2pm) so she'll need to be transferred to the Emergency Vet to continue IV fluids for the next 24 hours. Ummm, okay.

So, I go home and wait for 4pm to come. At about 3, Hannah comes in, crying. She has a massive bruise, already, on her right cheek. Apparently, Jacob's knee and Hannah's face met on the trampoline. Really? Are you kidding me? Fortunately, she was fixed up with an ice pack and some Motrin.

Mike volunteers Hannah to go with me to transfer Bella from our vet to the ER vet, which I wasn't happy about because I had no idea how long it was going to take, but whatever.

Poor baby Bella, she looked so confused when I picked her up. They'd left the catheter in and the vet said that they'd given her a sedative. I'm seriously hating this. At the ER vet, they whisk her away and the new vet explains that it's not 24 hours of fluids, it's, ideally, 72, so we can't pick her up until Monday but we have to do it before 8am. Now, did I want to sign a DNR for Bella? (How stupid is this...I said no. That I wanted them to do kitty CPR. I've become THAT lady)

I was able to talk to the vet several times on Sunday. Each time, he told me that she was doing well but wasn't eating but not to be worried. And don't forget that she needs to be out of there by 8am Monday morning.

I arrived at the ER vet at 6:10 Monday morning. The tech told me that she was more than ornery that morning and that she was requiring the attention of everyone at all times or she'd scream. When the tech brought her out, she was doing crocodile death rolls in the carrier. Bella also decided to rip the catheter out while they were unhooking her. Fantastic.

We get home and she won't stop screaming. Jacob did what he could to console her but it wasn't good enough. She wanted out of that carrier. I didn't want to because I knew I'd never get her back in. *sigh*

So Bella goes back the the regular vet. I tell them what the tech told me and she's still screaming. They take her back and tell me that they probably won't put in another catheter unless her bloodwork comes back wonky. They'll give me a call when they know more.

Two hours pass...

The vet calls and says her bloodwork looks good and I can come get her. I'm out the door before I can even hang up the phone. At the vet, she shows me her results and says the ones that are high and low are completely normal for a kitty that's been stressed and on IV fluids. She told me that Bella's not completely out of the woods and won't say she's completely recovered for a week, but she feels that Bella's well on her way. I'm given a list of things to look for and told that this is the best possible outcome. She also makes sure that I know that had I waited another hour, things might have been very different so, kudos to me for recognizing it when I did.

Bella was completely back to her normal self this morning, tripping me on the stairs and following me from room to room as I woke the kids up for school. Let's hope this is completely over.

On a side note, I went to our school board meeting on Monday night...the one where they're looking to cut $6.2 million from the budget next year. I was concerned because 4th and 5th grade band and strings was on the chopping block. Fortunately, that program is staying (for now) but our fees are increasing 100%. Freaking awesome. Because we don't already pay through the nose.

I wasn't anticipating the TV crews that were there...NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox...I wish I'd thought to do my hair and makeup because two of the channels, Fox and CBS, decided to do long up-close shots of me. Multiple times. ABC tried to get me to do an interview after the meeting (she actually grabbed my hand and pulled me over) but I declined. I lose too many IQ points when you stick a mic in front of my face.

I can't tell you how many texts from friends I got today saying they saw me on TV. LOL!

Grrrr...

A few years back, our school district decided it would be a great time to start building some new schools around our area. The high school we feed into was nearing capacity and there was a lot of potential growth in the area, so let's build a new elementary, middle and high school. Then, the housing market crashed. All of the new developments stopped in their tracks. The new subdivision slated for across from where the kids go to school currently has a lot of roads and streetlights but only two houses. And they are model homes. It's been sitting like that for two years. Of course, it doesn't help that those homes are between $500,000 and $750,000. I'm guessing there are at least 100 lots available. It's kind of sad to see everyday.

This school year, the new elementary school, TC, opened. It's at 1/4 capacity. Next school year, the new high school, BVSW, opens (this is where we will eventually feed into). It's projected to also be at 1/4 capacity and enrollment will probably open to anyone in the school district in order to fill it. The following year, what's currently known as Middle School 10 will open (when Jacob is in 7th grade). It's unknown what the enrollment will be at this point. I do know we will feed into it, so he'll go to PR for one year and then transfer over.

Shock of all shocks, our school district is $9 million short for next year. Do they delay the opening of the new middle and high schools? No. They decide to make massive cuts elsewhere.

Specifically, 4th and 5th grade band and strings is totally eliminated. I am more than unhappy.

Other cuts include: cutting 7th grade track (whatever) and all 8th grade sports (most kids play through the park district until high school here anyway). Cutting middle school French (they teach French?) and 1/2 of the full day kindergarten programs (they really need to cut them all and go to strictly 1/2 day, and get rid of the preschool program altogether, IMHO. There are no cuts slated at the preschool level). They also want to increase maximum class size at the elementary level by either 1 or 2 (max class size already is 26...and those classrooms are cramped).

I understand that it's belt tightening time but I just think cutting band and strings is unacceptable. I may not be popular for saying this but I've never seen a district that relies so heavily on paraprofessionals. I don't know exactly how many our school alone has but it's a lot. I get those that help with Special Education but there are several that just randomly help out with things like bus duty and making copies for the teachers. I never understood that. Yeah, it would suck for the teachers to actually have to do stuff for themselves. They get quite a bit of planning time per day (over an hour)...let them do it then. Or, do like Hannah's teacher does and ask a parent to come in and do it for her.

I'm quite sure band and strings will be cut, which will be a huge shame. I guess we'll have to go private for lessons for Daniel and Hannah when the time comes. And for Daniel, that's next year.

Friday, Friday, FRIDAY!!!

My entire house had the hardest time getting up this morning. Mike was about 30 minutes behind where he normally is and the kids and I were running about 10 minutes behind. It's all okay, though, because I usually get the kids to school pretty early anyway (get there early and wait, right Dad?). We didn't have a lot of wiggle room since Jacob had hall monitor duty this week but we were okay on time.

I also couldn't come home and sit on my butt since today was South West Day in the third grade. I got to work in the Texas room, where they were line dancing and eating nachos and chili. Nice. We were all trying to remember the Boot Scootin' Boogie...I'll have to YouTube that one later. We did teach the kids the Cotton Eyed Joe...at least a modified version of it. Some of the kids (mostly boys) were unwilling to participate but most had fun. After several hours of working at the school, I often wonder how in the world I ever taught all day. I'm always so wiped out.

I'm having a hard time believing we don't have much going on this weekend. We had nothing tonight, so the kids were outside from the time we got home until after 6 when they came in for dinner. It was so awesome to look around and see kids everywhere. I'm so excited for Spring! We also don't have anything going tomorrow, which is a first. I think I might break out the grill for the first time this season. That is, if it doesn't rain. :(

Hmmm...

Last week I had a parent/teacher conference with Daniel's teacher. She talked about how he's made huge improvements this year and is at grade level in all of his subjects. He's a good writer and loves art. He's also quiet in class, never disruptive, and seems to have many friends. However, she had some concerns about how he looks like he's working but he's really doodling. She also said that he has to sit in the front of the room because if she moves him, he goes off into his own world. She's concerned about third grade because, "they have to work so much more independently."

At the end of the conference, she told me that she thought it would be a good idea to chat with our pediatrician about Daniel. She'd be happy to write a letter for me to give to him if I'd like. I told her fine (to get her off my back). That letter came home yesterday.

I was more than angry when I read the letter. She's given me no indication, before now, that things were as bad as she says they are. The line, "his mother has also expressed some issues at home that complicate his performance at home and with homework," irritated me beyond belief. WTF? I told her that he hates doing his homework. Ugh. Anyway...

She listed his strengths and weaknesses as she sees them. I did smile when she said he is "uniquely creative" and listed it as a strength. However, some of her weaknesses piss me off.

*doodles, fidgets at desk when attention is needed
*reads in a flat, monotone voice
*lacks organizational skills
*doesn't seek help when needed
*homework is often late and is not completed thoroughly (this, I know for a fact, is crap)

She's also concerned that he relies heavily on her. Honestly, I can't believe some of this stuff. I'm not saying Daniel is the greatest student in the world but come on. She even had the nerve to bring up crap that happened in kindergarten. Seriously?

Mike and I decided to make Daniel an appointment with his pediatrician (for Monday) but refuse to even consider medication (unless he has an actually disease or whatever) and we will be telling them that.

I'm not kidding myself here, though. I know Daniel can be a challenge. I've been doing a lot of research online and, while I don't think he has ADHD, I do think there may be an underlying learning disability of some sort. He fits very nicely in some of the categories (trouble learning letters, rhyming, etc). I can't help but think that, in some ways, he's lost. Here's the problem: the school has to do the LD evaluation and testing. This brings in my favorite person in the world, the school psychologist. The same guy that said Daniel was clinically depressed and had severe anxiety disorder. Awesome. However, it's a ton of work for them, which makes me smile just a little.

The good thing about a possible LD diagnosis is that he would either fall under a Section 504 and/or IEP (individualized education plan). This would mean that his teacher's concern about more independent study in third grade would be thrown out since if he needs more personalized attention, he's legally required to have it.

I think what makes me so mad is that the possibility of anything other than ADHD has been completely ruled out by his school up until now. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here but grrrrrrrr!!! That's my baby boy they're messing with!

This Is It...

My last official thing as Room Mother for Hannah's class. Once the Valentine's party is over today, I'm done. DONE!!! Never again will I be the Room Mom. NEVER!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

Sorry...I'm a little giddy. :)

Another Snowy Tuesday

At some point last night, it started snowing. When I woke up and looked outside, I decided to check the school closings before waking the kids up. I knew I'd have no problem going back to sleep but once the kids are up, they're up. I come downstairs and find Jacob watching cartoons on the couch. I turn to NBC and wait for the closings to start over since we're at the beginning of the alphabet. The schools jump over our district and I tell Jacob, who is anxiously awaiting word that there's no school, that he needs to get some breakfast because he's got school. He's more than mad. In all actuality, there really wasn't a reason to close school. We only got a couple of inches. What surprised me was how many people were mad that there was school today. For crying out loud people. Grow a pair and get the kids to school.

I was really surprised when Mike called around 2:30 to tell me that he'd gotten an e-mail saying all evening activities through our school district were cancelled. It had stopped snowing and the plows were active. WTF? It normally isn't an issue but the boys had a Pack meeting tonight. Mike decided to call our Packmaster to see if there'd be a meeting tonight. Turns out there was but it had to be moved since the school would be officially closed. How annoying.

When I picked the kids up from school, everyone was buzzing about how there wouldn't be school on Thursday. What? Why? Well, I guess there's going to be this big ice storm Thursday that will cancel school. The teachers were all talking about it. Ugh. I really hope there's no ice storm on Thursday because we'd like to leave for Illinois on Friday and Hannah has her holiday party Thursday afternoon. I guess Jacob has a class pizza party that afternoon as well. In any case, if it's going to do something, I'd rather it just snow. Ice sucks.

I'm so tired of winter already.

Photos for Bobbi

Here are a couple of photos from the first day of school yesterday.

The kids before leaving for school
Hannah gets ready to do her first bit of work as a kindergartener.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for the kids. This has to be the first time that I've ever seen a school start on Monday. Love it! Anyway, we got to the school a little early so that I could drop the kids off at their classrooms.

Jacob wouldn't let me walk him in...I guess he's too old for that now. Daniel was fine with me walking him to his class until we actually got there. At that point, he pretended that he didn't know me. Oh well. I then walked Hannah to her room. I wasn't prepared for the reading of The Kissing Hand by Hannah's teacher and walked out of the school in tears. She was so excited and looked so happy when I left and I can't wait to hear how her day went.

After dropping the kids off, I headed over to meet Mike at the Fitness Center. I couldn't get an appointment to actually join until Wednesday so I went in on a visitor's pass. One of the trainers took my blood pressure and heart rate (both good!) and showed me how to use some of the machines. She then let me go on my own. I managed 40 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the elliptical machine before I was done. I'm excited because they'll put a nice plan together for me so that I can work the areas that need help. I'm excited and I hope that I can stick with it.

Here We Go...

We had lots to do up at the school today. This morning was the PTO registration stuff. Unlike last year, they didn't have the class lists posted which was kind of obnoxious. We picked up our school supplies (our school lets you order them through the school so you always have exactly what you need and it's all wrapped up together so there's no rushing around to pick it up), signed up for a couple committees (of course) and headed home. Jacob had Ambassador training at 3:30 and we picked him up 45 minutes later. They finally posted the class lists at 4 and we got to see who they were going to have this year.

Two years ago, Jacob had Mrs. G for 2nd grade and Daniel had Mrs. T for kindergarten. This year, Daniel has Mrs. G for 2nd grade and Hannah has Mrs. T for kindergarten. I think that's pretty funny because there are 3 kindergarten and 4 2nd grade teachers. I've heard great things about Jacob's teacher, so I'm hoping he has a great year.

This evening, they held the back to school fair. Jacob was working as an Ambassador for the first quarter of it so I took Daniel and Hannah into the gym for a little while (it was raining so they brought some stuff inside). I'd seen some of the Ambassadors lined up in the hallway so I went out to see if I could find Jacob. I found him coming up the cafeteria stairs. I went up to him to say hello and he stopped, looked at me and said, "not now, Mom. I'm giving a tour." It was really cute.

So, I think we're now set for the school year to start on Monday. I still don't know where the summer went.

School Days

Poor Guillermo. Today was our day at school for Animal Show-and-Tell. He was the animal picked to go. I tried to get Daniel to take the hermit crabs but he told me, "the crabs are boring! I want to take Guillermo!" So, off we went to school this morning.

He howled all of the way to school. And all of the way into the building. Interestingly, he stopped once we got inside. I signed in and headed to Daniel's class. Guillermo was not happy about the 20 kids that descended upon him and tried to hide under my arm. Daniel was thrilled to answer questions about him and found it even more fun to call on his friends to take questions. Fortunately, it was only a 10 minute ordeal and he easily went back into the carrier. Once we got home, he immediately ran from me and hid for about 30 minutes. After that, he was fine and back to his normal self.

I also had Hannah's parent-teacher conference this morning. Hannah adores her teacher and it seems like the feeling is mutual. Mrs. M just gushed and gushed about Hannah and what a great girl she is. Apparently, she has some of the best fine motor skills in her class (she was able to cut out a tracing of her hand...I thought Mrs. M had cut it out for her!) and does well with the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors. She also has lots of friends in every class. Mrs. M said that most of the kids know the other kids in the school but aren't friends with them the way that Hannah is. She is, indeed, a little socialite. It is so nice to come out of a conference feeling good about it all.

We Got Our Answer

Hannah got into full day kindergarten next year. I'm kind of sad about it. She's my baby girl and will be gone all day. :( I think it'll be good for her, though. I keep telling myself the positives...I'll get to help out more in all of their classes since I won't have to worry about Hannah, I can go on field trips, the house might actually get clean (I wouldn't count on it). I just wish I could get over being sad since she's so excited.

Cell Phones and Baseball and Bunnies...OH MY!

Mike was able to upgrade his phone last week. It arrived via UPS on Thursday afternoon. In true passive-aggressive form, I decided to make sure Mike got it...in front of everyone at TKD ("Hey Mike, your new phone arrived today...here it is"). Everyone at TKD knows how unhappy I had been with my 99 cent phone (it worked but was very annoying because it was so large). Well, the next day, Mike came home with a brand new cell for me. He had intended to get me the same model as his but they were out. The next one up was out as well. Soooo...I'm now stylin' with my new Motorola i880 camera phone (my previous phone was an i205, so this is quite a step up). Sweet. It's also the first time ever that my phone is better than Mike's. I love it!

Jacob started baseball practice last Saturday. We didn't play at all last year, so I wasn't sure how he'd do, but he was excited so I didn't think twice about just dropping him off and heading home. When I came back 1 1/2 hours later, I was pulled aside by one of the coaches and told that he cried through the whole practice. I then witnessed him throw his glove on the field and stomp off crying and saying that he wanted to quit (for that reason alone, we don't quit. Sorry but no). In the car, I asked him what had happened. Well, he has a new glove that's not broken in at all and, at one point, it fell off his hand. That led to the other kids laughing. Had it happened to Daniel, he (Daniel) would have been the first to laugh. Jacob felt that everyone was laughing at him and the practice went downhill from there. He said that everyone could do everything "perfect" and that he couldn't do anything right. I asked him if he got to bat. He told me, "yes, but I only hit the ball, like, 4 times." I certainly don't think that's not doing anything right. Fortunately, I know, from experience, that Jacob usually has a meltdown at the first practice and is fine after that. That knowledge didn't make me feel any better when I dropped Jacob off at practice last night.

When I pulled up to the field near the end of practice, I saw that they were fielding ground balls near third base. They had to get the ball and throw it to first. The first thing I noticed was that the other boys were far from "perfect" (I already knew that but it was nice to see it confirmed). I smiled when I saw Jacob, through at least three rotations, run right up to that ball and throw it to the coach at first. No tears, no problems. I was pretty proud of my little guy. I did get a little nervous when I heard the coach tell his son, "if you let the ball get past you this time, you're running 4 laps around the field!" This guy is very serious about baseball (he seems okay with the other kids but is nuts with his own), whereas the rest of us see it as a fun way to kill a summer. I hope we don't have problems.

Ruby got to be a first-grader yesterday. Monday, Daniel took a photo of him and Ruby to school to show everyone. His teacher hunted me down after school to tell me that Tuesday was going to be Rabbit Day and could Ruby come spend the afternoon with the kids? So, after Bible Study, Hannah, Ruby and I headed over to the school. Daniel was so proud as he held Ruby and I told his class about rabbits and how to care for them. What was cool was that even though we just got her on Sunday, I was able to talk about rabbits like a pro. The kids were shocked to hear that fruit (and carrots), to a bunny, is like candy to kids. They had lots of good questions and I had a lot of fun doing it. I had printed up a bunch of bunny facts, some specific to Ruby, and left them, and Ruby, with Mrs. H.

I got to the school a little earlier than normal to avoid the crowd while picking up Ruby. Mrs. H had printed up some pictures she took and showed me a flier she made of Ruby to send home with all of the first graders. Hannah and I then headed back to the front of the school to wait for the boys. I can see the first graders heading down the hallway and immediately look for Daniel, forgetting Ruby's sitting on my lap. Before I know it, I'm surrounded by about 30 6 and 7 year olds wanting to say goodbye to Ruby. Daniel's still beaming. After some prodding by Miss K, they all head outside. I see Jacob and some friends heading down the hallway and now I'm surrounded by a bunch of third graders wanted to see Jacob's new bunny. "Awww...is this Ruby?" I hear more than one kid ask Jacob. Jacob beams. They are all shuffled out the door and we begin to make our way out as well.

Had I remembered that I had to walk past the third and first graders outside, I would have chosen another way out of the building.

We are, again, overrun with children. It took us a good 15 minutes just to get out of there. It was fun, though. Granted, Ruby was not happy with me and hid in her igloo for about 45 minutes after coming home, but she seems okay now. She's such a sweet bunny.

A Fine Line

We've known for a while that Hannah has some speech issues. So, why is it that when someone confirms it (even just confirms the suspicion), I get get upset and defensive?

The Speech Therapist met with Hannah during Kindergarten Roundup last week. She pulled me aside and said that she felt that Hannah needed to be screened so that she could start right when school started. She said she'd leave me a voice mail with the instructions on how to set up the screening. A week went by and I forgot about it.

Until today.

She apologizes for leaving me the message a week late and then goes on to tell me that she feels that Hannah is really behind in her speech development. Then, she gives me the low down on how to get her screened. She tells me to keep her in the loop...if she doesn't need help, that's great, but if she does, she needs to be part of the IEP process. This is where I got upset. IEP? Ummm...for a speech problem?

Ever since, I keep thinking that Hannah's fine and that she doesn't need to be screened or have speech therapy. I know, in my head, that it's wrong to think that way...if there's an issue, we need to get on it now. But my heart wants to believe there's nothing wrong with my baby girl. This is just the dumbest and craziest thing to be feeling right now.

Tomorrow, I'll set up the appointment for her screening and keep my fingers crossed that it comes back normal. Even if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. I mean, come on, it's speech therapy. Big whoop.

Roundup and Other Thoughts...*Updated* (at the bottom)

I just found out that one of my new favorite series...Life...has been picked up for a second season. They won't shoot any new episodes for this season, but just knowing that it hasn't been cancelled is awesome!

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I woke up this morning to the sound of sleet hitting the window. I turned on the TV and our local NBC was running their version of the Today Show instead of the national one...that's never good since they usually only do that when it's really bad outside. Tons of schools are scrolling across the bottom, but not ours. I get the boys up and Jacob's crying that he doesn't feel well. I can't tell if it's that he just doesn't want to go to school or if he's really sick. I send him to school, telling him that I'll be there until 10:30 and if he still feels sick, I'll take him home then. He reluctantly agrees and I drop him and Daniel off at school.

The roads were terrible. Not just the side streets, but the main streets as well. If we ever really needed a snow day, today should really have been one but that's okay (we probably have over an inch of graupel on the ground on top of a layer of ice). Sleet is the most bizarre thing...it's just pouring out of the sky, even now. And, it's so darn cold out there. I'm so ready for winter to be over. Bring on Spring!

Anyway, we head to kindergarten roundup and Hannah's excited because she knows most of the teachers/paras that were there. Mrs. L (the reading para that worked with Daniel last year) walks Hannah into the library while I head down to the cafeteria.

Mrs. R, the principal's secretary, greets me there and tells me that this should be old hat by now. I laugh and begin filling out some paperwork. Katie from down the street comes in and sits by me, as well as Lynne, who's my MOPS table leader. Early on, Mrs. P (the school's wonderful counselor) comes in and reads some poem that sends me into tears. Lynne makes kind of a big deal about it and gives me a hug. Apparently, I'm the only one crying because all eyes are on me, which makes me laugh. At the end, I walk up to get Hannah's birth certificate and Melissa comes over to tell me that she's glad she wasn't the only one that cried. Since most eyes were on me and I was busy being embarassed, I didn't even notice that she was crying as well. Her kids are the exact same age as mine...Nicole's in Jacob's class, Michael is in Daniel's class and Katie goes to the same preschool as Hannah, so we've become friends.

I go up to get Hannah when I'm stopped by the speech therapist (probably the only support person in the school I haven't met). She tells me that she thinks Hannah needs to be screened and if we do it now (through the district), she'll be able to start working with Hannah from the first day of school. If we wait, then it'll be between 8-12 weeks from the first day of school before they can give support. I ask her if she can voice mail me the information on how to get her screened (because she really does need speech therapy, in my opinion) I get Hannah and ask her how roundup was for her. She tells me that she's set up about 5 playdates with her best friends (she has about 15 best friends) and that I need to call their moms. LOL. She's such a social butterfly.

I go into the office to see if Jacob's with the nurse. I don't see him, but I do see Mrs. H, the nurse. I ask her if she's seen Jacob today...she says no. Mrs. P comes around the corner and tells me that she saw Jacob this morning and he could hardly pick his head up off of his desk. Mrs. H says that she'll go get him if I want her to and I tell her to go ahead. I sign him out and suddenly, there's Jacob. Mrs. H tells me that he was already walking up to the office as she was walking back. Good timing. So, I have a doctor's appointment for him at 1:30 because there's so much going around here and I'm not going to wait to see if it gets worse. He's hardly gotten up off of the couch and has told me that he's dizzy when he does. Hopefully, it's nothing too bad.

*****Update...Just got back from the doctor...Jacob has strep again. His pediatrician told me that he's the first positive case she's had all week. At least it's not the flu. So, we'll be picking up antibiotics after picking up Daniel and Jacob gets another day off of school. He's not happy about that since he has Jump Rope for Heart and Chat 'n' Chew (book club) tomorrow. Maybe he'll get lucky and it'll be a snow day.

Friday Coffee Talk

The snow day we had on Wednesday has really thrown me off. I completely forgot that yesterday was Daniel's 100th day of school (although with the snow day, I don't think it technically was) so I forgot to send his 100 Skittles to school with him. Apparently it was okay because he said Josh had a lot of extras and shared with Daniel. That was nice.

Hannah has not stopped talking about the fact that she missed kindergarten roundup. I keep telling her that she didn't miss it, it was just postponed. She would then scream, "I'm not going to get to go to kindergarten!" We went through this about 5 times yesterday (many more on Wednesday) and was thrilled when I got a voice mail from Mr. L, the principal, saying that it was rescheduled for two weeks from yesterday. Hannah still didn't quite get the concept, telling me that she'd have "kindergarten ride-up" today. Apparently, she told Roxanne from TKD that it is on Sunday. I can't wait until she gets the concept of time.

Speaking of Hannah, she and Mike are testing for TKD tonight. Hannah's very first testing cycle. Normally, she'd test tomorrow with the boys but with Mike caucusing tomorrow, we thought it would be easier for her to test tonight. That, and Mike will be able to see her test. We're not sure how Daniel will do tomorrow since Master Johnson told Mike that Daniel still has some work to do before Saturday. I will just be so happy when the boys move to the every other (or more) testing cycle. This time, they're testing for low blue...in April, they'll test for high blue (assuming they get their belt promotion)...in June they'll test for low brown...then they can't test again until October at the earliest. I get the impression that once you hit low brown, it takes about 6 months to get to the mid brown belt and then another six months or so after that to get high brown. I think it can take almost a year after that to get your black belt, so this is no quick and easy thing. I hope the kids stick with it. Getting that black belt is quite an accomplishment.

I got a phone call last night from Mrs. P, the school psychologist. She was making a "much overdue call regarding Daniel and the follow-up to what we began in September." Considering that all of the "test" results came back in early November, I'd say that it was, indeed, a much overdue call (almost 4 months). I think she sensed that I was annoyed (I actually laughed a little) and basically she just wanted to let us know about the progress Daniel has made in the classroom. You think he's made progress? Seriously, it's called he's getting older! Of course there's going to be progress in his attention span and behavior. It'll be interesting to see if this meeting actually happens since we've scheduled this thing twice before. I'll keep you posted.

Now, I have to figure out how to make a papier mache rat for Daniel's den centerpiece for the Blue and Gold Banquet. Wish me luck!