Bureaucracy...I am so over it!

As I have mentioned several times on my blog, Killi, my perfect middle monster, continues to struggle in school. On Friday, I met with her new "main teacher", she receives primary support and speech from other teachers. We met and like all the others before her, the new teacher has her own opinion of what Killi's needs are. And once again, her "take" is not like the others. It is so frustrating! We have been at this now for 4+ years, and all we can get people to agree on is that something is not quit right. What is "off" you ask? Can't tell you because about 30 different people have given us about 30 different opinions!

Where do we go now? Well, I am very lucky to have a friend that is a special education teacher and is willing to work with her alittle and see if she and see anything. We have been advised by yet another doctor, to request complete IEP testing. However, school officials keep suggesting that we not have the testing done. The doctors tell us that the school doesn't want to pay for the testing and therefore are dragging their feet...School tells us that the doctors are jumping the gun! Who's right?

I am very angry! I feel like we are being lied to, by whom I am not sure. What I am sure of is that what is best for Killi, is not what we are getting. We I sent my baby to kindergarten last fall, she was the happiest baby ever! By the end of November she was crying EVERYDAY about school. Three weeks in now, she cries daily and thinks she is stupid! Something is not working for her! What the hell is it!

Please tell me if you think you know!

Not Happening...

It has been about a month now since school started and we are still not finding a groove. Working school, activities and sleep into a routine is proving incredible difficult and school has not started for Maggie or me yet, that comes next Monday! I guess the positive of Maggie starting school at the same time I am is that I can have quiet time for school work. I can also clean, grocery shop, exercise and PTO...wait, she is only gone for 3 hours a day:)

Football is over in another month and I am not sure we are long for the cub scout world this year. Killi has lots of homework and there is no good time for us to do it. I am glad she is getting the added support she needs, but they are all handing her "extra" homework and that is tough.

I am hoping to get back to spending more time at home with the family. Less stops on the way home. I would like to spend the time after school playing outside with them in the yard and not at the park with other kids. I am finding that playing after school is making the adjustment to home too hard. It takes the kids that much longer to decompress. The cold weather will be coming soon and football will be over, so we will get some good family time soon!
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On another note, Ben and I have decided that we will give the kids what they asked for for Christmas, two days at Disney World! They have been asking for awhile and I told them when Declan was 10(2yrs from now:-)but as our Christmas plans are ever evolving, we posed the question to them, "Instead of a gift from mom and dad for Christmas, would you like to go to Disney"? They were excited and very willing to forgo other gifts...they were even willing to give up Santa's gifts! I was excited that they wanted to spend time together as a family instead of getting gifts! Santa will still bring a few very small gifts for under the tree, but Disney is our big gift!

Declan has a birthday Friday, 8 years old! We started celebrating today and will probably wrap up sometime Columbus Day Weekend:) We will drag things out here for cake:)

What a Day!

Sundays in the Fall are my favorite days. We stay in all day watching football and just vegging, it is a nice break from the hustle of our daily routines. The girls have been MUCH better the past two days, although they still have room for improvement:) Declan has been Declan which is okay and minus the loss by both the Steelers and the Yankees all weekend, Ben was in good spirits.
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Things have changed since I started writing this post. My husband decided that he was going to act like a two year old and broke one of the computers. The screen is all messed up! He then wonders why Declan is a sore-sport and not a gracious winner. I am certain that children learn from example and that was not a good one. It is difficult for children to understand that they should take care of their things when their father is scream and yelling about a Football game, that oh-by-the-way he does not actually play in!

He walked around the house yelling for an hour and scared the monsters and that annoys me! Fine if you are mad at them, but a football game...get over it.

I am annoyed! A decent day ruined by a grown man acting like a f***ing two year old!

Oh What a Night...

Instead of putting the monsters to bed last night we "hung-out" with them. Ben and Declan played the Wii and the girls and I watched a movie together. Maggie fell asleep on the couch and I left her and went into bed myself. Killi followed me into bed, but opted for her own once I fell asleep. Ben reported that Declan also fell asleep on a couch and he left him:) Maggie did not last long on the couch before she wandered into my room. At 3am the dog decided he needed to go out, barking and barking!!! I threw him out and decided I would replace Maggie on the couch. I am not really sure what time anyone went to bed, but I am guessing there will be some grouchy monsters today...starting with me;-)

I have a killer sinus headache which now is feeling migraine-ish! I have got to do some laundry and make some meals for the week. I also need to clean my room, the bathrooms and do some reading with Killi...how much is really going to get done today??? It is Football Day in America according to Declan:) Tomorrow is another day and I don't have much to do outside the house this week. Maybe I will get the house cleaned before the Family comes on Friday, hahahaha!!!!

An Evil Force!

I am very unhappy to report that my daughters have been taken and replaced by two very mean, out-of-control beings. Ben and I have spent the past few days trying to correct horrid behavior. Last night, they lost t.v. and I thought that was the punishment that was going to work...I was wrong! They topped it tonight! Tonight, after they were tucked into bed, they decided to sneak into our bedroom and steal the nail polish, which ended up on the floor in their bedroom and who knows where else. Because that was not enough "damage" they decided they would try using nail polish remover on the floor to get-it-out! The smell of the nail polish remover is what lead to their room to uncover the latest mayhem! Oh and they were NAKED!!! Both of them running around NAKED!!! WTF!!!

I am at a loss. What do I do to punish them? I am starting to think that they do not care about anyone of anything! I want to cry, wait...I have!

This is the point at which I wish there were a manual! I just don't know what to do!!! They are insane! and it is both of them!

HELP!!!!

Bugs, Football & The Fist Days of School...

What a week we had here! Maggie decided that she was going to wear the "bug" costume we've had lying around the house. She wore it EVERYWHERE this week. By Thursday, the principle at Declan and Killi's school asked her why she wasn't wearing it:)

I guess the positive of the "bug" is that she is cute and the costume only enhances that;-)

Declan played in his first football game today!!!(They had a game last weekend, but the other team fore fitted) Today he played awesome!!!! We were very proud of him; except for when Ben was getting up to help him get a drink and Declan yelled,"I thought you were gonna beat me!" WOW!!! Maybe we need to start beating him;-) Out of the mouths of babes:)



Here he is in his uniform!!! Go Titans!!! And no, that did not go over well in our Steeler house this week:)


To round out the mix this week, school started for the two oldest monsters! And me too I guess as they were crazy enough to elect me to the PTO Board this year:) I am the volunteer coordinator. This was my sign for Open House!


The monsters had a good week! They both seem happy with their teachers and I am too so far, but you know that you would have heard by now if I wasn't:) They did not buy into taking the bus past the first day and that is really okay. Our routine isn't great, but that is us! For now, school is going well all around! And we had a good week! I hope they keep up this way!

All Good Things...

It is not for lack of trying, but I just find it near impossible to stick to a schedule! I really hate them! Well, maybe not hate them but find it difficult to live by them. It's not just me anymore though, the Monsters too are not good with routine! I find that our family does best with a loose guideline. Very little is set in stone and the few things that are, still have some wiggle-room. For example school, getting out the door to school is projected to occur at 8:25am, however they do not HAVE to be there until 9am, so we always have a half-hour to play with. It is the same with school pick up, it can be done between 3:30-4:00pm. Bedtime, no routine there either. I try to get baths done at night, but it is no biggie to do in the morning if need be.

I am told regularly that this is not a good thing and that we need a schedule, a routine, but that makes me unhappy! Crazy even, trying to get everything done the same way ALL the time! My kids do not seem unhappy or un-nerved by are lack of routine, in fact they seem much less comfortable when I try to push routine on them. Maybe I am just seeing what I want to, who knows!

So our house lacks a schedule and has a loose routine, I think I am going to start living with that instead of forcing the unnatural on the fam! Hopefully I will not screw them all up too bad...or I will and they will blame me at the therapist that I will be paying BIG money for:)

Tomorrow's The Day!

Declan starts 2nd grade tomorrow! Where has the time gone? Seems like just yesterday we were looking for preschools, now 2nd grade! I think he is ready and excited to get back to school. His teacher is awesome(and I hope she is a good teacher too:)

Killi Monster on the other hand is either very nervous about 1st grade or quit a manipulator. She spent about 2 hours crying that she could not sleep because she was scared to go to school and would miss me. I suspect she didn't want to go to bed, but I will pretend that she is really going to miss me:) She also has an awesome teacher that I know she is going to LOVE! I am really hopeful that together they will have the breakthrough Killi needs to get it all to click. I know that her teacher will do her best to find what works.

The Monsters will also be trying the bus this year. Killi is excited about that while Declan would be happy for me to drive and pick him up everyday:)

I promised brownies and blondies for dessert tomorrow night so I guess Marg and I will be busy bakers after we get the kids off!

I hope everyone out there has a great school year!

This is it!

Summer is ending. School is starting in just a few days and the cool air the past week has kept the Monsters from the pool. Life has been crazy here the past few days, there doesn't seem to be anytime for anything! PTO and Open House, football and babysitting we had a busy week. I think the kids will enjoy getting back to school after the first week or so of waking up early. The routine should be good for them! And our routine should stay about the same from here on until about January, then Football ends and we wonder what to do on Sundays:)

I am hopeful that Declan and Killian have the best teachers for them this year and that they will each have to work hard and will learn a ton! Fitting homework in with football and scouts should be fun:)

I hope that I am able to continue making a few meals on the weekends to freeze and put away for the busy nights. And that I am also able to get a good chore schedule going for myself so that my house might be clean!

Margaret does not start pre-school until Oct.5 so until then I will have a helper for house work and PTO! That is always fun:)

I cannot wait to post how GREAT our first week is going:)