Spring?

I can see brown, straw looking grass, in spots in the backyard. Today was a balmy 34 degrees, with the sun out. 34 Degrees is not just 34 degrees. If it is 34 degrees, with no sun, and wind, it is a much different 34. We have been seeing sporadic appearances of robins. However no one is sure if the are spring robins, or all winter long robins. We do have winter robins here. I saw about 700 the other weekend at the dog park, amidst a snowstorm. they were clustered on a bush eating berries, and my dog wanted to eat them....I just let him point.

I am tired of the house being filled with stale air, a dirty car, a car that needs vacuumed.

So it would appear that winter is not forever, even if it feels, and looks like it. Spring will come.

Because I have brown grass to prove it.

Grocery store confusion...

I started to loathe going to the grocery store when they started making orange flavored toothpaste, and the mega rolls of toilet paper...

Seriously I find it very confusing to go, and I feel terribly sorry for the 80 year olds hobbling along, reading the very small print labels on products, wandering what happened to Ivory soap, and Brawny paper towels.

You can buy 100 different kinds of orange juice, 100 kinds of toothpaste....and I love the free enterprise system I do. But seriously, it is getting ridiculous.

I am old enough to recall when aquafresh came out, and I remember thinking...."this new farcical toothpaste is going to be a flash in the pan." I was wrong, and now I am guessing they sell Aquafresh whitening, aquafresh tarter etc...


I am unsure why I hate making these choices. I think it makes people look like babies...Oh no I need antioxidants in my soda, none of that regular soda for me...it is just getting too weird. "You know what I am hungry for? I am really hungry for pomagranate, grape, apple flavored yogurt!" I also take a ton of time now, calculating toilet paper cost, etc. Double rolls, with lotion. I am also old enough to recall about 9 different kinds of salad dressing. Thousand Island, Ranch, French, Green Goddess, and Italian. What in God's name happenned? Now the salad dressing has an entire aisle. It is ridiculous.

I am guessing pretty soon they will have orange flavored, triple rolls, antioxidant, good for the envirement toilet paper...and everyone will have to have it.

I am also tired of store just getting HUGE. Seriously, we have all of these time saving devices, cell phones, computers, etc....and I swear I am using all of my extra time I have o facebook, and at the grocery store.

My legs are FROZEN....no really.

Week in review.

Today I picked up SR from Sunday school, and he proclaimed he has accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. If that did not make my spirit and heart restful, and full of JOY. Like any Mother, I just stood there with tears in my eyes....that is a good, and profound day. What a wonderful decision, for him to to make and I hope it is the beginning of what is sure to be a profound relationship for him.

We have just returned from the dog park. Day 3 of going in the blistering COLD temps. It is below freezing, and there was wind. DH is at drill, so for the last 3 days I have taken all 3 mammals to the park. 3 mammals at the dog park is an adventure. There are strange dogs, and you never know when a dog that is not used to children will get curious. There is also open water, so I worried about The collective, mostly SR who really wanted to push his Sister into the creek on the sled. Too much to keep track of.

Winter has me fatigued, it really does, the keeping track of hats, boots, coats, snowsuits, mittens, making sure they are always dry and clean and ready for play....the bouncing, and jumping and excess energy that goes with being locked up, the lack of sun and fresh air....this is the worst winter in years....a sort of baptism by fire if you will.

PN had 2 birthday parties last weekend, one yesterday, and 2 next weekend? REALLY? What on Earth was going on 6 years and nine months ago? Did the cable go out? Must have, because it is ridiculous.

Band Practice is going well, 2 other children have joined.

SR had an insane amount of homework this week. Seriously. 4 book reports, spelling, a Spanish quiz, and math homework, and some sort of alphabetical order worksheet. That seems like a lot for a second grader. He had to skip church on Wednesday in order to get it complete.

SR also got charactor student of the week in art, which I am confused about as he and the art teacher do not see eye to eye. I am unsure if she threw him a bone, or if he earned it. It didi make him feel good about himself to be recognized.

There is enough laundry for me to hire it, especially since beds need to be made. The collective want meatloaf, salad, and sweet potatoes tonight. So I am off to prepare the meal.

In good news Sarah's DH is home, and baby is in utero.

GuardWife will soon be getting an addition to her family by way of Ethiopia.

TAH, and USO girl are engaged.

My friend and blog Mom Tammi has worked HARD this year, and her hard work was recognized!

So many blessings.....your prayers are working folks

To the bone cold...

No joke, my bones feel bitter cold, it is currently 18 degrees, and dark out..it is night. I had to run to Walmart, because I was out of tissues, mascara, foundation, fruit, etc....I was very cold loading those groceries into the car....

I am one of those people that once I get cold, I do not seem to recover from it. Perhaps because I am sitting on my butter...and not doing laundry, or running around here cleaning.

I broke down and turned on the fireplace, and I will head to a bubble bath here soon!

Let me see, we are busy here. Nothing crazy this week steady. Which is fine, no unexpected bumps.

The fridge needs to be cleaned out. (while I am thinking of it)

We finally broke down and drove to Omaha yesterday and went to Nebraska Furniture Mart. We have been many, many times. Usually it is sooo crowded it is impossible to shop. What I like about Nebraska Furniture Mart, the prices cannot be beat. What I do not like, the size and set up. They have a normal storeroom, you know the little living areas etc... However lets say you do not like the coffee table that is with your set, you have to go to the coffee table section, and then wonder what it will look like. I have said this before I am not a decorator. I know nothing of color or balance, etc. all I know is what I like. I finally think I have thrown something together, which will be sort of snazzy, with actually grown up nice furniture. I had a lot of furniture picked out....went to pay, and the darn salesman could not get his poop in a group. We walked out. Long story short, the salesman did not listen to me say "we are limited on time, I need SKUs, prices, this fabric for this chair...etc....make it so PLEASE while we go find a bedroom set, we will be right back up with those SKUs". I came back up to find him empty handed. HOLY MOSES. Seriously? I tried to walk him through again, and let him catch up with us, he still had no sales slip. HE had a scratch paper, no prices....I said, we have cash, we want to pay, we want a discount for paying today too please." He kept going on about coordinating delivery times, etc...We finally told him, "write it up, we will be in later this week, we will pay for it today, but if we do not leave we will be late. (SR had his BoyScout blue and Gold banquet) seriously we do not have time for this part, we can do this later this week." 10 times he asked for delivery coordination. Ughhh finally said....."Now you are pissing me off"....We walked out with no furniture. I called and spoke with a manger today, they are going to make it right, and DH will go in this week, to walk someone through our items again..Ughh. Let me say, I am cheap, I do not like spending money, I hate to. I really dislike permanent purchases like furniture, and home decor too. Because really once you make the decision, it is done for a long time. I do not replace it frequently etc...

So when I offer to hand you over money...take it

Seasons...

As much as I go on and on about how busy I am...I am enjoying everything around me.

I am enjoying this Season of my families life. (even with the complications, the sort of effort we put into things is sure to teach us something) I would much rather be busy than sitting and watching everything around me. You only get one ride ...right? Let's make it worthwhile.

I do wish there were more hours in the day.

The boys stayed home tonight and did homework, and played Mario Kart. PN and I went to church.

For a brief moment I am at peace tonight. I have decided EVERYTHING will not be done EVER...regardless of how anxious it makes me. There will ALWAYS be an undone project, or task, or several....worrying about it does not help...action does.

I will also say we were late to school this morning by a couple of minutes. My bad, I apologized to the kids, and told them I would take full responsibility for it...culprit? Faulty curling iron...
Vanity took precedence over being on time. Not good, but it is what it is. Let me note I am the fastest getter ready I know. But I have horrid naturally curly locks, that are in dire need of a trim....and I looked like Medusa.

The kids are finally understanding the value of a good nights sleep. YAY It only took 6-8 respective years, but they notice the difference in how they feel with a full nights rest. Tonight they were in bed by 8:25pm. Not bad considering PN and I got home @ 8:00pm. so they will get 10 hours sleep.


I do regret one thing, the time with Husband, alone...unsure where we can fit this in our schedule. MIL is on her way and soon I would love to have a date night 1 night every 2 weeks.

Tonight, I am good, I am golden...all is well

I promise, only 30-45 minutes longer...

Who know Valentine week would be such a BUST week?

I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have is scheduled like I do.

I just finished making 30, unfrosted cupcakes for church. In good news, they are letting the kids frost them for an activity of some sort. YAY, no frosting. Now I hope I remeber to take them to church.

I also managed to sort of clean the kitchen area up...

And now I am back to mount Laundry. Criminey...the laundry never ends.

Tonight we had PN's parent teacher conference. It was wonderful. She is a hard worker, and a good student. YAY! I am never sure "where" she is, because of SR. Is she reading as much as her peers, is she writing correctly, etc. I found out, she is the second best reader in the class, I will take that, and continue to work with her. She lacks confidence. She ocassionally will write letters and numbers backward, I guess this is normal, and not a huge deal. She LISTENS, and follows rules. AAAAHHHH....

Tomorrow, women's Bible Study! I am GOING, I need it this week...I feel discombobulated for no reason. That is a feeling I do not get often, and usaully being uber busy helps...not this week.

DH is ill with a sinus infection, is on a z-pak, PN has a cold, and SR has a partial cold...

The dog is castrated Friday...Shhhhh....don't tell him. He is also going to stay at the Vet's office for 3 days, because DH is going ice fishing with 2 very good friends he has not been able to spend time with in ages. I do not want to sit here, and try and keep him calm etc...

Off to do 2 loads of laundry....then to bed...

you do realize it is 11:26 pm

I am sitting here with a towel on my head letting my hair color cook, and boiling 8 eggs for breakfast, and it is 11:23pm.

Frankly I should be doing my Wii Fit Plus, because the cold, and the winter, and my love of comfort foods has caught up with me.

I just need to move. So I will work on scheduling this in. tomorrow night will be easy. Everyone in the house but me will go to Boy Scouts. I can do it then. And now I have to figure out where to schedule it in to every day.

My brain misses my Yoga. My body misses my pilates.

WE have just been seriously busy, and well work. I work about 3o hours a week, not quite full time, but frankly if you add drop off, and pick up times for the kids, I am gone 40 hours.

In good news DH has become the grocery store guy. He does my grocery runs most of the time these days. Praise Jesus.

There is no balance here @ this time. The Holidays threw it off, and I have not recovered, my own problem I suppose. I was ill with the darn tooth, and sinus crap for what seemed like forever. I really did not feel good for a long time.

I need to figure this out, and will in the next 2 weeks.

This week I have Valentines Parties at school, a parent teacher conference, church snacks, women's Bible Study, and uhhhhh I am not sure what else. I need to look at brain book tomorrow and figure it out. February is a busy month.....who knew.

I will figure this out, I am feeling better and it is managable

Just you shut your mouth.....(China Girl~ David Bowie)

Psychologist visit was confusing, but ok. I think the Dr. is on the same page, and he will come with us to school, and help advocate for a different academic program, and try to help the teachers with the behaviors. I do not think he HAS to do this, but he agreed. He sees the school year as we do, a FAIL.

The discrepancies in paperwork are the problem right now. On the paperwork the school filled out, well you would think we had an out of control situation. However, when I take in the communication with the school, including report cards, and mentor reviews his behaviors meet school standards...go figure.

Confused much?

There will also be no pigeon holing at this time. There is alwasy time for pigeon holing.


Needless to say, the entire debacle has my head spinning. I am angry, and exhausted.

We have parent teacher conferences tomorrow for one child, and that should prove to be interesting.

I will say this, I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut through the entire process, and the psychologist probably would like to diagnose me with unable to shut the mouth disease. I could NOT help myself though. Seriously. He would go through the paperwork, and I would have something to say. Imagine that. I think DH would have liked to hog tie me. However I have 8 years of info in my head about this kid and one hour to communicate what I THE MOTHER sees.

Do not mess with a Mother's family, seriously. If you wanna see someone loose it, mess with the family, and watch a Mother......

WE get to go back in 4 or so weeks and MEET with someone else.....yee haw, good times.

Let me see, what else do I have to talk about.

My left eye is still twitching, only the left eye, and it is WILD. Nice, it is a good look.

Report cards came home today. SR is almost done with his 4th grade math book. Missed only 3 problems in the last three units. He LOVES math.

PN, did well too, she is a superior student and avoids any and all conflict at school.

Tonight I had women's Bible study, and let me tell you what a huge blessing it was to go, it helped me refocus. I enjoyed it tremendously. I love learning new things about the Bible, and the more I learn the more I realize how much I have left to learn.

So all is well for now, the Dr. seemed to support our thoughts about SR, and wants to help us advocate for him at the school, and will be present at a meeting we will be having in the near future....

Pass the duct tape, for Mom's mouth....

I do not think it is Asperger's....

Tomorrow is visit 3 with the Psychologist. First visit, the Dr. met with Dad and I, second visit the Dr. met with SR. WE have filled out all sorts of paperwork test fill in the dot thingys, one of those was for ADHD, one for Giliam Asperger's syndrome. We were not the only people to fill these out, school filled them out as well. (I am unhappy about that). Tomorrow is visit number 3, which I am guessing is diagnosis day. I am pretty sure I know what this Dr. will say, and I am prepared to go to a different Dr. if that is the case. 3 years ago, I would have said possibly Asperger's. Now, not so much. He does not fit the Asperger's criteria as we see it. He also does not have PPD. although these are the 2 most HOT, and common misdiagnosis for children like SR. Why a diagnosis is neccesary I have no freaking clue. I originally went to the pyschologist to help us figure out how to help us, SR, and the teachers with the "overexcitabilities, and asynchratic issues".

Frankly, I have been reading and consuming information like an insane person, printing things off for the Dr. (which I am sure he will love BTW). However all information is pointing to Highly gifted, with normal problems, and behaviors that come with that. Mostly reading about how socially asynchronous behaviors are NORMAL for these kiddos. For the past month, SR has been fine in classes. No visits to the office, no behaviors....appears all is ok. I have begged him to to his teachers when he feels "OVER sensitive" (These are periods that normally come after 1pm, in which if he tries to concentrate on anything, he can hear EVERY sound, feel every seam, smell every dorito eaten at lunch, he hates the smell of doritos) I am not sure what to attribute to this. I did buy SR some books on controlling his frustration, a survival guide for gifted kids, and a book on perfectionism. He told me the frustration book, really didn't help him, because he is not frustrated, he is oversensitive. All books included some coping mechanisms, for him to deal with his day. I keep reading these kids HEAR louder, feel deeply, and are hyper emotional. Just google High Ability Learner, and boom look at the emotional stuff and whammo, I have a textbook case. Also for those people who think I am trying to make excuses, I am not. I am just trying to teach him how to deal with the feelings. He knows what they are, and can feel them coming. I have asked him to tell his teacher. Normally he needs to clear his head for about 10 minutes, by reading something, or working on a puzzle problem, and then he can return. He is embarrassed that he is so sensory enhanced, and emotional.

The problem, an IQ of 160 is pretty rare, 1, in 30,000. So who knows what "normal" is for these kiddos.

The social stuff. Currently we have SR in the rock band, hoping this will help him deal with others, learning an instrument, working as a team. As you can imagine this is a double edged sword. The last lesson, all 3 girls (including mine) were wound, and were not cocentrating, and were jazzy. They were not concentrating, and the music was no longer music, it was noise. This posed a problem for SR, because he was there to play his intrument. The noise became an issue. (speaking of which I need to find him headphones this week. ) He collected himself enough to play. I will say this, he was right, the girls were annoying, and the sounds they were making were awful.

This past weekend, I let the kids invite a friend out to lunch, and they got to pick an activity. They picked ice skating. I have been talking to SR about how to generate conversations with others. He has trouble finding common ground with his peers. He thinks his peers interests are farcicle, things like Transformers, Star Wars, collections of toys that are not useful make no sense to him. This is a problem, because most kids his age have "a thing". SR's thing is science and math. This makes it difficult for him to relate to boys his age. So I got to spend the day watching SR interact with a friend from school. It went ok, until SR wanted to talk about squaring numbers, and negative numbers, microphages, and t-cells. They did talk aout videogames, and that seemed to go ok.

Wish us luck at the Dr. tomorrow, my gut is not good on this, I do not think we are with the right Doc. I need someone who has seen this before, and this Dr. seems pretty green with this stuff....

student of the week

PN was made student of the week by her art teacher today. She has been waiting ALL YEAR for this, and did not understand why she did not get it months ago. She listens, follows directions...everyday. MY guess is all students eventually get it, but why it took so long, I have no idea. However PN was thrilled, and proud.

Let me note this is the same teacher that engages my 2nd grade son in arguments, and frankly I think she would rather not have my son in her class. A personality conflict, I think that is what they call this. I am guessing SR will not get student of the week in her class. About 3 months ago this teacher sent me a huge e-mail, about a bad day SR had in her art class. He had put his hand in front of the projector she sat him by. (my first thought was ...uh yeah, not a surprise) He was not the only boy who put his hand in front. There were 4 of them. The art class was a wash from there, and they got into an argument, she walked him to the principal's office as he proclaimed "have mercy on me" the entire walk there. I think if things escalated to the point of her needing to take him to the office, she just should have not spoken to him, and taken him. SR is like a small lawyer. I am sure he felt as though the others that did the same penalty, and this made him most upset, and hence the arguing. (And note I do not argue with him, no negotiating...I also do not encourage him to argue with others ESPECIALLY those in positions of authority...) Anywho, they bump heads. It also does not help that is is not a fan of art. He would rather be in math class. I will say I am surprised at how she handles him, and it is never pretty. He does not like art without purpose. He likes schematics, maps etc...but drawing a house, and a kitty does not interest him. Nor does coloring. Her method of dealing with him, well it is lacking, and it will be a long 5 years for him in Art with her as a teacher. It is a personality conflict.

So I have the child that draws all day in detail LOVES art, and if you tell her to draw a house she will draw every shingle, and I have a son who thinks drawing a house is stupid...