Apple Art

We have been learning about John Chapman also known as Johnny Appleseed, the myths and the facts.  To add some fun today we had art class.  Painting arms, using fingers to make apples on our trees and painted with apples. The kids tried 5 different types of apples and used them to paint with.  Learning which they liked the best to eat as well as learning which were the best to make apple star prints. 

In a few weeks we will make a trip out to a local apple orchard.  Some where they have never been to, me either for that matter.  It should be lots of fun!

 As you can tell the kids had a ball making their paintings!  I enjoyed it too!

And the Award Goes to.....

JARON DANIEL KELLYHe did it! He graduated Elementary School with flying "A's" in all subjects, in all grading periods and his final grades for the whole year 98-101%!!!! How awesome is that! We are so PROUD of him! Today was the 5th grade graduation ceremonies at his school.

Here he is walking across to receive his Certificate of Completing Elementary School :)

To his and our surprise Jaron received not one but 5 awards this year! FIVE!!!! WOWSA!!! Talk about a proud Momma moment! :) I couldn't stop smiling and neither has he!
His first award was the Presidential Academic Excellence Award signed by Pres. Barak Obama and a letter from the President as well! He had to work hard for that! Having a GPA of 3.5+
(his was 4.0) all year, receiving high marks on on his state academic testing, recommendation from the teachers, guidance counselor and the principle.
VERY PROUD MOMENT!!!
Jaron had to point out the Presidents Signature!
He received awards for Jr Beta Club and Academic Team.

In each class 1 or 2 students were chosen for a Citizenship Award and our Jaron received one!!!
Way to go Jaron!!
After the initial ceremony we were released to take our children home if we desired to. Before doing so we were to meet in their classrooms. There, Mrs Miller handed out their rewards that had not being given out during the ceremony, their report cards, a special poem she had written them (which was beautiful and made me cry!) and another award that the students themselves voted on. There were only 5 given out and once again Jaron was chosen :) This time for the Best Student of Social Studies/History.
His wonderful 5th grade class!
Jaron and Mrs. Miller...she has been a fantastic teacher , Jaron really enjoyed being in her class.
I can't believe the school year has come to an end. We are very proud of Jaron but are equally as proud of our other three children as well. I truly can not believe that this coming fall we will have a JR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT! Seriously, where did the time go? I want him to be that cute bumbling 2 yr old that was in love with kittens and lizards again...sigh!

Teacher Conferences

Yesterday afternoon was the dreaded teacher conferences. No it wasn't really dreaded. Our kids are great kids and do well in school and have never been in trouble. So for that am SO THANKFUL! I met with Jaron's teacher first. She is an interesting person. I will lave it at that! Although I know she is a good teacher and Jaron is enjoying the class she is different. It was good to know that Jaron is doing well. His teacher stressed what a positive influence he is on his peers and how well behaved he is in class. That makes a Momma's heart soar with pride!

Then it was off to talk with Kristofer's teacher and special ed teacher. Honestly I talk with them so much that last night was a recap basically. But I did learn some things that really encouraged me! The biggest question I had was, "how much work is Kris doing in the classroom compared to the resource room?" YAY! Kris is doing 98% of his work in the classroom! This is HUGE! It means that once or twice a week other than tests, he may take a worksheet to finish with the special ed teacher. Otherwise when he spends time with her he is actually doing other things to increase his reading skills. Which he is very low on but they are seeing improvements and that is very encouraging too!

Oh Something I wanted to let my readers know...I have a new blog. It's called Broken Potterie. When I first started this blog my intentions were to use it to update our extended family on the goings on of our family. This way family members from Florida to NY to Colorado could keep up to date and feel a part of our lives from afar. Since starting it I have realized I have a desire to write more about spiritual things, devotions that truly touch my heart, a journal so to speak. An honest open discussion of the struggles and valleys an the mountain top experiences. So I have started a new blog. I hope to write daily there but I can't promise that. I have been writing on another site under the same title but decided to bring it here close the other site and let my faithful readers know about it. On the other site I kept it private but that doesn't encourage anyone and I want Broken Potterie to do just that, encourage others to know;

1. You are not alone in your struggles!

2. Even Pastors and Pastor's wives struggle!

3. There is hope when you trust in Jesus!

4. We are all human and have flaws!

There is a link to Broken Potterie on the right under the blogs I follow. Come by check it out and let me know what you think!

AMAZING!

We received the boys report cards last week and I have had little time to just sit and share with our family how well they did. Michele over that An Adoptive Family's Life blog reminded me that I hadn't shared with the family and since i know most if not all the family comes to read what is going on with the kids thought I better let ya'll know. We are so proud of both boys!

Jaron has a very tough teacher this year! Put it this way, if Jaron does not put the date on his papers he gets 5-10 points taken off so even if he had a 100% if he forgets that date he ends up with a 90-95%. Which really stinks cause how many 8 year olds remember to put a date on things? I mean I am good to remember to put a date on letters and cards I send out. Anyway the boy did fantastic for his first grading period! He got all B's and A's! YAY JARON! I know he could have had all A's had he just applied himself a little more. But as we stress with all the kids all we really want is for them to do their absolute very best!

In fact that is the theme in children's church this year. Doing everything in excellence to give God the glory. I stress every week as long the kids are doing their absolute best in school academically and behaviorally then they are giving God the glory through their actions. I explain to them how their actions and behavior can be a witness of God's love and work in their lives to their classmates and to their teacher. They all are doing great!

As you know if you have been reading this blog for any time, Kristofer had a very hard time the first 7 weeks of this grading period. But we have a fantastic group of people from the OT assistant, his teacher Mrs Moore down to the lunch aides. They really stepped up to help him move forward and push through that difficult transition. He is doing so much better! Although I am sitting her listening to him and Eli playing this morning. Just when I though all the kids would be back in school today...he woke up with pink eye in both eyes and Eli has it in one eye as well. I can't wait for my kids to all be well at the same time!

Anyway, we were sure how Kris was doing academically. WE see his papers but I don't keep every page that is sent home. We were pleasantly surprise to see his grades! At our school the grading system lists the percentages but until they are in 3rd grade they actually receive S, N, & U. I was expecting more "N" but he had all "S" and one "N" in PE. His actually percentages were As and Bs. His percentages were even higher than Jaron's. Which surprised Jaron. SO we are very happy with how he is doing! His behavior in class has gotten a lot better to.

We know that for Kristofer academics present struggles for him and he needs the extra one on one instruction to help him push through to focus and get his work done. Jaron told us that he is super proud of Kristofer but thought the special ed teacher was giving him the answers. We had to explain that the special ed teacher does what I do, and works one on one and helps him focus not give him the answers. That made Jaron feel better and he shared how he was worried Kristofer wouldn't be smart.

Jaron is such a great big brother. He worries about Kristofer and loves playing with him. He gets so frustrated when Kristofer goes into his own world. But he understand that when they get home from school Kristofer needs time to retreat from "having" to participate and be attentive to things going on in the room. It's just his way of destressing. We all need that time when we "escape" from the pressures of the day for me writing and playing video games gives me that escape.

God is so good!

This week has been a long week for our house. Actually the last two weeks have been filled with activity. SO lets catch you up on the Kelly activities....in the last two weeks:

* Kris was baptized...YAY!

* Jaron was healed of hypothyroidism (with evidence)

* I was diagnosed as diabetic - controlling with diet and
exercise for 4 mo. then will return to see the doc and
do more tests and possibly start meds.

* Friday. May 30th, went to the boys' school musical...very cute!

* Sunday, June 1, had a Snow Cone Party for the kids celebrating the
end of school beginning of summer break.

* Monday went to the pre-K picnic with Sara & Eli. Enjoyed talking with the other parents. Got to witness to another parent about God's healing. Her 3 yr old daughter after catching the flu at 18 mo almost died, has a heart condition due to the flu. Such a beautiful little girl. Was able to invite them to church. Hope they come. Really pushed the children's ministries.

* Tuesday was the last full day of school for the boys. They went to school on Thursday to pick up their report cards. Both did very well! Jaron had all A's. Kris master all of the tasks he was to master educationally and on the IEP tasks. He master a few and for the first time this year was progressing on all the rest! Huge improvement for Kris. Both have been advanced to the next grade!

Which brings me to Wed. and my wonderful knee surgery on my "Florida knee". I have been calling it that so that family and friends in Florida understand I finally got it fixed up. YAY! Plus the fact that I just had surgery in Jan on my left knee. I had a scope done as seen above and the orthopedic surgeon basically fixed the two tears in the cartilage. One he snipped out the torn pieces and the debree left behind. The other he sewed the pieces back together and hopefully it will heal on its own. He also did some poking at the cartilage taking small pieces out hoping to create enough scar tissue to add cushion where the cartilage has been worn down to the bone.
I also found out I have Chondromalacia patellae which means "softening of the articular cartilage of the knee-cap." Basically the underneath of my knee cap was a mess. The doctor describe it as blistering bone and he basically shaved and smoothed it out. As well as did some smoothing (shaving) of the femur bone where the knee cap glides over it. We are hopeful that will take care of everything.
I go for my 2 week post-op visit and we will see from there. The doc told Sean I will need cortisone shots on a regular basis. I am suppose to get the pictures of the inside of my knee from the surgery. If I do I will post them here as an educational tool and so show off my knee. So far this surgery although has been painful has been a lot easier because I am able to bear weight on it as tolerated. Which I can only tolerate a little bit at a time right now. Everyday is a little better than the last. As long as I ice after doing my exercises and after doing any type of standing and walking I do well at controlling the pain that and pain medicine. Here you can see I have three incisions. Two are larger than the other. Don't let those small incisions trick you...small does not mean no pain! In fact in my case I was in severe pain and still have bouts with severe pain when not taking the pain meds regularly. I came home with an ace bandage from the middle of my thigh to my toes and on the other leg I had a surgical stocking. The kids thought it was hilarious. In fact Sara, our 4 yr old, wanted to know why I was wearing tights, and said, "you look funny mommy!" Which through tears I said thanks. The pain at that point was so bad I cried for 2 hrs even with the strong pain meds. The picture above was taken Thursday night. I had to change the bandages. Looks good! Today I have more bruising and no more ace bandage to wear except at night when sleeping. Although wearing it through the day does make it feel better. Today I plan to spend sometime outside sitting inthe sun. As you can tell I have lost my "Florida" tan. I miss Florida....you can be tan all year long all free from the sun of course!

God was good to me during the surgery. I had no nausea like I have in the previous surgeries. I also asked the Lord to show the doc that I did not need a lateral release, a lateral release consists of dividing the vastus lateralis muscle. By dividing the vastus lateralis, this muscle is weakened, and if tight, stretched out; hence restoring balance to the Quadriceps muscle. It would mean another 6-8 weeks off my feet and longer PT time. Thankfully Dr. Morgan did not perform this procedure. Which means I will be able to enjoy the summer a lot more. I prayed that I would not need the procedure and God answered that prayer! Thank You Lord! Later I will post about my first PT experience. Lots to me angry about here....but God has been good again and provided me with a very experienced PT and on that will help me where the other two have not! Explain later in a different post.

Get out and enjoy your day! I am!

New Life!

Spring brings much more than April showers (or earthquakes) or May flowers to our home today. We have a neighbor's cat, Taz who is a beautiful long hair grey and white cat. He is gorgeous and I think he thinks he lives here. We open a door and he runs in. We probably haven't helped that much because we do feed him. Which the neighbor doesn't seem to mind. Needless to say Taz has a sister that is also grey and white but is short haired. Snowbell is very pregnant and today she came over to visit and look for food. I was enjoying our beautiful weather and sitting on the porch in the warm spring sun when she came and layed down next to me.

This was remarkable to me because Snowbell is sorta skittish with strangers. The kids were all riding their bikes and eventually ended up on the porch with me. As I was petting Snowbell I realized there was a wet spot that hadn't been there before. I thought it was odd and made a joke with the kids that Snowbell had peed herself. But as I was petting her I realized immediately that she had not peed herself but was in labor! I lifted her tail to see a tiny foot and a small tail emerging. I got the kids to all sit and quiet down. Sara, Jaron, a neighbor girl, and I watched as Snowbell had her first baby right on our porch.

This is not the baby!

I have seen it before but the kids hadn't. Sara was in awe, "Oh Mommy, she says, "Look how cute!" Then it was "oh gross what is Snowbell eating, ewe she pooped the baby out!" Kris was so excited he was coming unglued. Then he saw blood on the kittens two feet and he just about freaked, "Snowbell is eating the baby!" I calmly explained what was going on. They watched at Snowbell cleaned the kitten off and listened to it meow for the first time. The looks on our children's faces were priceless. They were smiling from ear to ear with big eyes all glued on that baby.

Once Snowbell had cleaned that baby off it was time to scatter. She picked that baby up and immediately the kids thought she was going to hurt it and eat it. ( Neighbor dog had puppies and killed a couple) But she was so gentle as she positioned that kitten in her mouth and ran home. I am sure she had at least another 3-4 babies earlier this evening. We made sure to let our friend know that Snowbell had started having babies. She was as surprised that she had the first one on our porch as much as we were. She told Jaron she would check on her in the shed. That is where she had been nesting I guess.

On our porch spring brought new life all to the amazement of our children. What a glorious way to end the day!

Elmer

Let me introduce you to Elmer! He is the newest member of our family. Our Elmer has a red plaid shirt on. He lives in a brown box and loves to sing...My name is Elmer and I love the Lord. My name is Elmer and I love the Lord, He is the greatest and He saved my soul.. My name is Elmer and I love the Lord. Al with an Elmer southern drawl.

Elmer is my new toy so to speak. We purchased him and have no intention of having our church reimburse us. The kids love him. I have completely enjoyed creating a personality for him. For those that do not know I am the children's ministries director at our church. I teach children's church on Sunday mornings and on Sunday evenings we have Adventure Kids Club and I teach that too. Since being laid up with my knee problems I have been getting all kinds of ideas to enrich the lives of our kids. Another ministry we will be starting as soon as I can get back to teaching will be a kids worship team. They will be learning how to play hand bells while participating during our worship/song service.

Anyway, Elmer is so much fun. His head is at least 2 feet in length. I am doing a lot of practicing with him. We purchased his legs so he can sit on my lap as well. His head is pretty heavy so every now and then he just goes to sleep (my arm starts aching bad! anyone that has done puppets will understand just how bad it can get! well imagine it at its worse. His head is that heavy!)

Elmer has become a great social friend with Kristofer. Kris really lights up when Elmer wakes up and comes out of his home (box). It's easier to talk to the puppet than to me sometimes. All the kids love Elmer and I can't wait to introduce him to the kids at church.

I talked with Kristofer's OT today about his behavior at home. I wanted to make sure he wasn't having problems at school with aggression and crashing into things and people. I got some great reports! YEA! He has learned to tie his gym shoes in one day. I have never worked on this with him. His OT showed him a few times and he got it! His fine motor skills and pencil grip has improved dramatically. All great news!

At his IEP meeting back in Dec it was suggested that we have Kris evaluated for autism. He seems to be borderline with his behaviors and social issues. Well this is nothing new for us. But to be honest I just haven't been ready to hear a diagnosis. Sean and I have been discussing it alot and I just asked Jennifer today point blank what do you think. Naturally she made sure to say that she is not a professional that diagnoses this type of thing but because Kris is so much like many of her autistic students that she works with she thinks he may be and highly recommended that we get him evaluated. SO that is what we are going to do. Just as soon as I am able to get out of the house on my own and we get our doctor situation fixed. We are in between doctors right now. It's a long story and unless you want details I would rather not discuss it on here.

AUTISM what does that mean? This is what wikipedia.org states: Autism is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old. This set of signs distinguishes autism from milder autism spectrum disorders (ASD) such as Asperger syndrome.

Its just a word, really. You see the Bible says He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it. I am standing on that fact! I believe that regardless what a doctor may tell us that Kris is perfectly made and that God has a purpose and a plan for his life. I believe that God has been and will continue to heal Kristofer and one day he will be standing before a crowd of people giving God the praise for his complete healing! Kristofer is an amazing kid! Yes everyday is different. A few years ago he was fixed on dinosaurs. We ate, breathed and lived dinosaurs. The kid knows more about dinosaurs than anyone I know. He knew things way before we even let him watch educational tapes Discovery tapes on dinosaurs. He just blew us away with what he knew. He couldn't say basic words clearly like cat or dog but he could say brontosaurus and other long dinosaur terms. Now he is fixed on Transformers. So much so that he everything is about Transformers. I say this to share about yesterday.

Yesterday we surprised the kids with small little toys. Eli and Sara had birthday money they wanted spend and both wanted to share it with the older two boys. So Eli picked out Transformers for himself and Kristofer. Inside one of the packages was a advertiser with other Transformer products. Well Kris found one that he wants. So he gets dressed, gets his shoes and coat on and says come on mom lets go get it. Like I can just get up and go! Needless to say it took me almost an hour and a half to calm him down when I told him we couldn't go. SO today he comes home from school and for 3 hours he keeps saying, "Lets go to store and get my toy!" Now we don't just buy our kids things all the time. We just happen to have our tax check and wanted to bless our kids. It took me all 3 hours to get him to understand that we were not going to just go buy this toy that costs $30. He will have to wait till his birthday. Well then we had to get the calendar out and he says that is too long, it's making me tired. No I told him, He is making ME tired.

Now the little guy is laying next to ME. He is sick. Threw up all over the living room carpet. Then after he had gone to bed while sleeping proceeds to do it again. Now he is laying on towels on my bed and has thrown up 3 more times. Poor Sean had to give him a bath. Good bonding time for them.

A song comes to mind....

My Redeemer Lives

Eugene Greco

My Redeemer lives and I will see His glory as He works all things
Together for my good.
Whatever things occur of this I can be sure, I know my Redeemer lives.
(Repeat)

Even though I walk through the valley, I will fear no evil He is with me.
And on the battlefield, although the pain is real, my struggles soon will fade as His glory is revealed.
(Repeat chorus twice)

The Astroid that Got to close to Earth by Kristofer age 5 1/2

Ok, the kids got out of school yesterday at 11:30 and did not have school today either. Teachers training days or something like that. needless to say it has rained here all week and has been dull, cold (high of 60 was the highest all week), and rainy. Does not produce a great time for the kids to be home. Specially Kristofer cause it means I have to get really creative on how to keep him from coming unglued.
But today has been a relatively quiet day today. Tonight we carved out a pumpkin and added cross ears. The kids love the smells, I always add Cinnamon inside the pumpkin and on the lid, it smells like pumpkin pie in our house right now. Kris has been quiet and calm most of the day and then at at 10 pm (Friday night is the only night they get to stay up late) he became a wild talking man! He did not stop talking for 1/2 an hour! Honestly I didn't think I would ever get him to stop talking! It was actually very funny!
Needless to say during all the talking he was drawing pictures as well. That is when he began telling Jaron and I his story! Hope you love it as much as we did! It's the first time he has talked so much, so clear and had a purpose in the talking. He wasn't rambling just retelling us the story over and over again!

The Asteroid that Got to Close to Earth

by Kristofer age 5 1/2

One day two spacemen went into space. They saw the sun, all the beautiful planets, the starts and the big dipper. They saw 100 thousand asteroids, they were going around the planets. Then the spacemen traveled around the planets. There was a huge asteroid and it was heading to earth to crush it. They used the magnets and pulled it to the sun. They saved the earth. They were the biggest heroes in the universe. Then their spaceship ran out of power and they were heading to Pluto. They landed on Pluto and fixed their spaceship. Then they hurried back to home on earth. They were happy to be home and to be super heroes. They were given $10,000 million dollars so they could buy a bunny.

The bunny talked to them and they screamed, "ah ah ah!" and the bunny said to stop screaming and then he went to outer space.

The END!

Fall is in the air!!!

We awoke this morning to wonderful crisp fall air!

The temp was 50 degrees and the high is only

suppose to reach 70 today. Later this week we are

suppose to have highs in the low 60's!

AHHH fall is here!

The leaves are starting to change. Some have

actually lost all of their leaves. The picture above

is from last year. It was taken just down the road

from where we live now.

I love fall! I love the crisp air, the falling leaves,

the variety of colors all around and of course all of

the pumpkin patches! Fall is one of my favorite seasons.

It is why I love the northern states. Florida can not

compete when it comes to fall!

In a few weeks Sara and Eli's pre-K class has a

pumpkin patch field trip that is open to the whole family.

It is actually on a pumpkin and apple farm which

will be lost of fun for the kids. When we lived in

Florida we would go to a local church that sold

pumpkins for missions. It was so much fun to go

and take pictures of the kids sitting in the midst

of the pumpkins. This year shall prove to be even

better. I have been told that it is a wonderful

farm and the kids will have a great time!

So be looking for those pictures at

the end of the month!

Mom's know everything...yea right!!!

Before you read any farther please check this out

http://wisemantis.tripod.com/wahlum/pics.htm

This site has some beautiful pictures and I am

unable to produce with my camera!

Then read the rest of this little tidbit!

EWE WHAT IS THAT!

What is that thing???
EWE! It looks like a roasted marshmallow!
It's gross maybe it's poop!
No it can't be poop!
Mom what the heck is that thing!

Like how am I suppose to know???
My children always seem to think that I am the
genius in this family! They really need to go to
their father! He is a genius!

But I am not sure he would even know what this
thing is! So what is a Mom to do...
well a modern Mom that is computer savy gets on the
internet and does searches till we figure it out!
Now I have to be honest, I had help, you see in the, what has a habitat
for four toads and a tree frog is now the lone inhabitant....
A HUGE PRAYING MANTIS!

So I figured it had to be something to do with the bug!
I was right! Its a Praying Mantis egg sac! It is suppose to hatch in the spring I believe is what I have learned so far!
This info is from http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/bugclub/mantids.html

The eggs are produced in an eggcase called an ootheca this may produce 30 to 300 young mantids depending on the species. The ootheca is a frothy mass created by the female, the froth hardens to form a tough case for the eggs. Hatching usually takes between 3 and 6 months. The young may hatch all at once or in batches over a period of several weeks.

My goodness what have we gotten into! Last summer and the summer before that we had hundreds of monarch caterpillars, from eggs to butterflies. We watched as the caterpillars grew and then formed its beautiful green crystalis and then watched as the butterflies emerged! It was an awesome sight!! One I had never experienced until I had my kids...especially Jaron our budding biologist or bug scientist! And now we have this...oh my goodness! My son is teaching me more about bugs than I really care to know and learn! Just give me a can of Raid! I love do love it though! My kids are teaching me isn't it suppose to be the other way around!

The above picture is from: http://pt.treknature.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/Midwest/photo76179.htm

My camera could not take pictures of our egg sac but this is what it looks like!

Good news!

Today I got a call from Kristofer's OT, Jennifer. She wanted to let me know that Kris has not been receiving individual therapy due to not have the prescription from the doctor's office yet. Isn't that nice! I called the doctors office twice in within the last month. Both times being told they did send it out. Well Jennifer and I both agreed that if she doesn't get it by Friday she would call me. All I have to say is the doctor's secretaries (they have 3) had better get it done this time!
Needless to say though Kris has been benefiting from group therapy in the class because another child recieves therapy. She told me Kris is doing well. She has seen a few things other than his fine motor skills that he needs to work on though. But over all he seems to be adjusting. I shared a bit about what he does at home and how or what we do to help him get what he needs. She was very encouraged about that. She wants to talk with me at lesat once every two weeks to let me know what is going on in school and so she knows what is going on at home.
Thank you God for placing an OT in Kristofer's life that cares about him both at school and at home! YEA! That is great news! Also from the way she talked she thinks he will probably continue to recieve OT till at least 3rd grade but it depends on how he improves this year and next. I am so happy that we have a system here that does help! I know it is God moving on his behalf and I also know it's because we push every button and knock on every door to get him what he needs!
Just like I told my friend Michele, God knows what kind of Mom our kids need that is why He gave them to us! Thank you God for Kristofer and having the confidence in me to do what is best for him!

Super Star Kid

Today Kristofer came home excited! He was wearing a Super Star
Crown and was carrying his Kristofer book. You see in his
class for the last 24 days each child has been a Super Star.
At the beginning of the year Kris had to fill out a couple
of fact sheets about himself.

What his favorite color is: Orange

Favorite Pet: Ferret ~ "Uno"

Who his best friend is: Jaron

How old he is: 5

What his favorite activities are:

swimming and making mud balls

Then on his day he gets to share it with the class.

Each child practices writing his name on the dry

erase board and then they write his name on a piece

of paper and draw a picture of Kristofer

hence the name "Kristofer Book!"

Let me tell you something, Kristofer was so excited

about his book! He was so happy to share it with us

today! He tells me;

"I'm a Super Star cause

I am super just the way I am!"

He was beaming from ear to ear!

So today I have to thank Ms Robertson for

creating a wonderful way to lift up my son and

his classmates! He seemed to walk with his chin

lifted a little bit higher today!

Thank you Ms Robertson!

Teachers do make a world

of difference in a child's life!

Troubles and worms in the pockets

Well, the 2nd week of school is over. The twins had a great time this week in pre-K. Jaron has realized that 2nd grade is going to be harder than 1st grade, lots more homework. Kristofer has started therapy; OT, Speech and he has resource daily. I talked to the teach at length yesterday after sending in a letter. What I really wanted to know was if he has started the therapies or if she knew what was going on concerning that. But what I found out is that Kristofer is having a bit of trouble in class. Nothing huge when it comes to bad behavior thankfully! But he has a difficult time concentrating on the task at hand, this is something I am completely aware of. Honestly if he doesn't have someone to help him stay on task he forgets what he is suppose to be doing. I had suggested an aide for him during the IEP meeting and they didn't think that was necessary. I may have to push for it if things don't change. Ms Roberson wants to give it a few more weeks before we go that route. Right now she has the speech therapist, OT and resource aide coming in daily to help Kris and another student so she doesn't need the aide. We'll see though. In the mean time I am going to find out what Kris' rights are concerning and aide in the class.

The teacher has moved him away from her desk hoping that in the new area-which is less congested-he will be able to feel more comfortable and be able to concentrate more. She has said that as long as she or the resource aide is there keeping him on task he does well. But as soon as they walk away he stops what he is doing and starts daydreaming or goes into his own little world. He is always thinking about stuff. It's hard to know how to help him.

He is also taking things. Stealing is how the teacher put

it but I don't believe he realizes that what he is doing is wrong. He knows better than to take things that do not belong to himself. He has been sticking small items, such as counting blocks, push pins, small objects into his pockets. Now his class is aware of it and they immediately tell Ms Robertson. What I think is really funny is that she told me that the other day Kris was messing with his pockets and she thought he had taken something so she asked him to take it out of his pockets. SURPRISE!! WORMS-2 long slimy earth worms in his pockets. That's my boy!! She said it was the first time she has had a student put worms in his pockets! Kris asks me all the time if he can have pet worms! This doesn't surprise me one bit!

Ms Robertson is such a sweet heart. She understands that Kris has some issues and she is doing her best to help him. She has two special needs kids in her class this year. She hasn't had special needs in her class in over 5 years.

I am completely dumbfounded as to why he is taking things. What was I suppose to say, other than sorry. We have talked to Kris about the issue of bringing things home from church and school before. For some reason he gets it in his head if he plays with something that it becomes his.

Any suggestions as to why???

Ugh! I hope things get better and not worse!

I mean its not terribly bad just a little concerning...