Square peg in a round hole.

As many of you know Mark has had a few school related issues this year. He started out in kindergarten, but due to his developmental delay issues he qualified for special education and was sent to a special kindergarten. He has thrived this year in his class. The class was small, only 12 kids, and all had issues similar to Mark.

Although I could see his academic progress, his fine motor skills, and processing issues were making very SLOW improvements. Its been a source of frustration for me. Never having had a kids with these types of issues, and never expecting to have a kid with these types of issues, I really have not known what to do, yet knowing I needed to do something.

My first instinct was to just practice with him over and over until he gets it. Problem: he doesn't get it. There is some sort of disconnect between what he sees and how he writes. He becomes easily frustrated and so do I. Result: I haven't practiced nearly as much as I thought I should and felt extremely guilty. I felt like I was spinning my wheels, and trying to push a square peg into a round hole.

I just assumed since he had not made a lot of progress on the fine motor skill issue that a repeat of kindergarten would be in order. I had mixed emotions on that issue. I want Mark to be successful in school, and Mark is clearly aware that when it comes to his fine motor skills he can't do what his peers can do. But at the same time, he is now reading, and I was concerned that another year of kindergarten would bore him.

In a recent meeting with his teacher, the director of the school that Mark attends, and the occupational therapist for the school district, enlightenment occurred. Mark tested academically on par with his peers, and his teacher felt he needed to advance to first grade. I have to say I was stunned. I asked about his fine motor skill issues. They concluded another year of kindergarten would not significantly improve Mark's fine motor skill issues, and that this is a learning issue he will always have.

Their suggestion was rather than try to make Mark do what his peers are doing in terms of fine motor skills, he needs to be accommodated in a way that he can function and feel successful. The answer, a computer. In reality, yes Mark needs to write, and over the years he will develop enough skill level to be able to write, but he will never be winning any penmanship awards. But in the mean time he should do his work on a computer. BELLS, LIGHTS AND WHISTLES, went off in my head. Truth be told I had wondered about this myself. During the last year Mark has learned to use the computer well, which has cause me to wonder if in our computer driven society, which will be even more so for Mark's generation, why can't he use a computer? Well apparently he can.

It is going to be part of his Individual Education Plan that he be allowed to use a computer in place of writing. Rather than expect him to sit down in his writing journal and whip up a story, he can sit at the computer and work on a story.

For the first time in a year I don't feel dazed and confused regarding Mark's learning issues. I feel empowered, I feel in control. I feel like there is a solution that will help Mark continue to learn and be successful, and it is a solution I can embrace. That is not to say it will not be an uphill battle, but for once the battle will not be with Mark, it will be with his first grade teacher, and in getting her to understand and accept that Mark will be cruising to school every day with his ipad in tow, and that is where much of his learning is going to occur.

Square pegs, just don't fit in round holes, unless you expand the hole!

Reuse and Recycle

I have made mention that I am currently working on re-doing my living room. Well I needed an end table, and didn't want to spend a lot of money. I had this "ratty" end table that was beat up and worn, and just sitting in my junk room.

I decided it was perfect for my living room, it just needed a little "re-tooling." I had left over red paint from the dining room, and since red is an accent color in my updated living room, a red table seemed like the solution.

Here is the "before." (As you can see I started painting, I almost forgot to take my "before" picture!)

Here is the "after." Can't tell you if I am more pleased with how the table turned out, or the fact it did not cost me a dime.....see I really am a closet environmentalist.

I HATE STICKERS!

Last week when we went to the dentist at the conclusion of our visit, as a reward, the kids each received a sticker. Now I understand why the dentist and doctor give out stickers, it seems a much healthier alternative to suckers, however.......

this is what happens to those stickers. This is Katie's Dora sticker, she thought it needed to be "on" the TV with Dora. Mark's sticker is stuck on the running board of my Jeep. You see its absolutely no fun to stick a sticker on a piece of paper, it must belong on some object of value, that will drive mommy to the brink of insanity as she tries to remove the sticker, even with goop designed to remove stickers.

Stickers.....arrrrrrruuuggggggggggg. I want suckers.

The banishment of beige.

I am slowly but surely banishing beige from my house. The next room to feel my wrath was my bathroom. For some time now I have wanted to have a blue bathroom. In fact several years ago I purchased the towels, and rugs with the color of blue I wanted to use. Even though my bathroom was not yet blue, I used my towels and rugs, because, well it was beige, which of course goes with everything...., but is a bit boring.

The before....


More before....

The after!

And yet more after...

And the last bit of after....

I love it! Its very updated and spa like now. As an added bonus, Lauren helped me paint the bathroom and she is equally impressed with the results. You know its never too early to start her design education!

Make it work....

I am in the process of re-doing my living room. I have this cheap RC Willey furniture that we purchased a few years ago when we needed some extra seating in our family room before we got our nice leather furniture. I am stuck with the furniture, because my budget does not allow me to "up grade" so in the words of Tim Gunn of Project Runway, I have to "make it work."

The Before....

The After....you can see a few hits of what I am doing in my living room, rest assured that when the project is complete, I WILL be posting about it on my blog!

Cupcakes!

As a special treat for Lauren, for helping me around the house last weekend, she got to stay up late on Saturday night and make fun cupcakes with me. I recently purchased a book called "What's new cupcake?" which has all sorts of ideas for creative cupcakes. Lauren chose to make pie cupcakes.

First you start with 24 cupcakes.

Two containers of vanilla frosting, mixed with a drop of yellow food coloring, and some coco powder to make the frosting resemble pie crust.

Next its red and blue M&M's for blueberry and cherry pies.

The cupcakes all ready for their pie crust.

The finished product!

The Dentist.

Yikes! Katie is almost three and it was time for her first visit to the dentist. She was excited, I was scared to death she would have some sort of a melt down when the dentist wanted to examine her teeth, and in a moment of soon-to-be three year oldness, she would refuse with a flat out "NO!" Apparently my dentist's office has had experience with difficult children, because they know how to butter those kids up just right....

Katie was met at the front door with a purple poka-dot balloon. You can see from the expression in her face, the balloon was a big hit. After receiving the cool balloon she was ready to agree to just about anything.

Then it was on the chair with sun glasses, to avoid the bright light of course, and a funky stuffed purple animal.

Nothing like being able to play with the equipment during a fluoride treatment.

By the time the dentist arrived she was more than willing to allow him to check out her teeth.

I do believe the verdict was the dentist is way better than the pediatrician who makes you strip naked and gives you shots.

As long as we were there, we thought Mark should have his teeth checked too.

Finally, can't forget Lauren.

Verdict: No cavities, well except for mommy, but that's another story.....

Kangaroo Zoo

There is this place....its quite a wonderful place....its a place of fun....its a place of joy....but best of all its a place that wears you kids out!

What is this place...Kangaroo Zoo. It is located in Lindon, in a big industrial sort of a building. Contained in this building are 13 HUGE inflatables, that include slides and bouncy houses. Your kids jump, slide and run until they can take in no more.

Best of all, management has considered the needs of the parent. There are lots of places to sit, tables and chairs, couches, benches. All designed with comfort in mind. Clearly management understands that once you get your kids in the door, you are not going to get them out anytime soon, so at least they make the parents comfortable. And free wi-fi to boot. Bring your lap top, sit a spell, its all padded, bouncy, safe, and fun.

Katie, in an area only for those 4 and under.

Lauren, loved the big slide.


Lauren and Mark, together on the big slide.

Mark, chillin.

Stuck in the jaws of a tiger...I told you it was a zoo.

Katie on her own slide, still fun, not quite as big as the one Mark and Lauren rode.

As for me, yep I came equipped with my notebook full of cases. My children ran around like wild little Indians, jumping on everything in site, yelling at the top of their lungs, and mommy worked, and was happy it was no occurring at home on the family room furniture, which is generally treated by my children as a bouncy inflatable.....

The obligation....

Much to my children's dismay they are obligated two times a year, Easter and Christmas, to dress up in their finest attire and pose for a picture. Here was our attempt yesterday..... (note, I took 25 pictures, three turned out half way decent...how was this done before digital photography????)

Believe it or not the first photo was the best, it went down hill from there....
My two cute girls!

Yep, they are full of it.

Easter, Part three.

Finally, no Easter is complete without the traditional egg hung. A hunting my children went, and from the looks of the pictures, they were quite successful.

Mark had to run fast to keep up with those sisters, better get used to that buddy!

Easter, Part two.

Lauren, Mark and Katie were a bit concerned that if they traveled to Colorado for Easter that the Easter Bunny might pass them by....well rest assured Mommy to the rescue, I sent the Easter Bunny and email and let him know that my children were going to be relocated to Colorado for Easter and that all Easter baskets should be forwarded to their temporary location.

Apparently the Easter Bunny got my correspondence because sure enough on Easter morning my children found baskets filled with fun treats, and a few small toys. (The Easter Bunny showed unusual restraint this year.....)

What made him smile this big? A Thomas Pez dispenser of course.

Easter, Part one.

Easter....what a glorious holiday it was, and for me very QUIET! Rick, being the brave soul that he is, or perhaps crazy, I will let you decide, took the kids, as in ALL three kids, to Colorado to visit his sister Jenni for the weekend.

What did that mean for me??? FOUR DAYS, count them, FOUR DAYS, of being ALONE in my house! It was heaven. I slept in each morning, worked on projects I wanted to work on, the only mess I had to clean up was any mess made by me, I got to eat whatever and whenever I wanted to, and had NO responsibility to anyone other than me! Truth be told on Saturday and Sunday I never even left my house.....

But I do have to admit I was a little sad to miss Easter with the kids. Grandma, Grandpa, Brian and Courtney accompanied Rick, so I sent my camera with Courtney to document the weekend. You will have the let the pictures speak for themselves, because I have no witty parlay or commentary since I was not there.....

It appears to me that Easter eggs dying was a success!

Bucket List #15

Item #15 on my bucket list for 2010 was to paint a room in my house some color other than beige....So I thought I would start with the room that is used the least, and is basically purely decorative.....the formal dining room.

The Before....

The After...

I have always wanted to have a red dining room, and alas now I do. Just a simple coat or two, actually three coats to be precise, and my dining room has a whole new look. The chair rail was a great feature to have, because I think floor to ceiling red might have been a bit much...... (FYI, The red is actually the color of brick, and not as stunningly bright as the pictures make it out to be.)

Alright who's coming to dinner to celebrate my new room????

Friday Rant.....

Normally on Friday Mark rides the bus home from school. His school is on the other side of town, so its almost an hour ride for him. Rick was planning on taking the kids this weekend to Fort Collins to visit his sister Jenni, and did not want to wait the extra hour that it would take Mark to come home on the bus. So I decided to pick Mark up from school.

I could not recall if he got out at 1:15 or 1:30 on Friday, because again, I am not really concerned with when he gets out, I just know what time the bus drops him off. I called the school to find out what time he got out so that I could be there on time.

The receptionist answers the phone and I explain that my son is in Kindergarten and I needed to know what time he was released from school, so I could pick him up. The receptionist, (this is the regular receptionist, not a substitute) pauses for a minute and tell me she does not know what time the kids get out of school, and wants to transfer me to the classroom to speak with the teacher. I explain to her I don't want to talk to his teacher, I just want to know what time school gets out and that as a receptionist this seems to be a pretty basic questions she should know the answer too. She places me on hold while she "checks," and then comes back a few minutes later and informs me school gets out at 1:15.

SERIOUSLY???!!!!

You work as the school receptionist and you don't know what time school gets out? Why is this women employed? Does she not know the national unemployment rate is 9.7% and in the state of Utah its 7.2%? On a daily basis I see a whole lot of competent people who would LOVE to have her job, and would probably be able to answer a simple questions like "What time does school get out?"

Bucket List #9

Yep, check #9 off of that bucket list. Clean the garage. Now I realize the picture really does not show a garage with lots of expansive space, pristine in its cleanliness, however you must note that TWO, count them TWO, cars can now be parked in the garage. That alone speaks volumes about the before and after condition of the garage.