The Week In Review

This week has been kind of crazy. First off it was early out from school for Josh and Matthew as well as parent teacher conferences. I am happy to report that I survived the week and more importantly the kids did, too. Josh's parent teacher conference went fantastic which I am not surprised. He loves school especially reading--YAY! When I tuck him and Daniel in at night I usually find Josh reading Daniel a bedtime story and I love it. As for Matthew once we have gotten him settled down medication wise he is doing a lot better at home and at school. However, during the conference he had a really hard time staying in his seat, listening to his teacher and participating in the conference. His teacher couldn't believe how hard it was for him to concentrate and follow along during the conference. I guess at school he listens, stays in his seat and participates--as much as Matthew can. I was wondering if we were talking about the same kid. We seem to have a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on between school and home. My theory is that he has to hold it all together at school all day that by the time he gets home to do his mountains of homework (yes he really does have a ton to do every night) he has lost interest and is ready to unwind instead of working on at least an hours worth of homework every night. That is understandable since all of us are somewhat like that in needing an period of time to unwind from a busy day's events. It is hard to keep him focused on doing his spelling packet, speed reading test, and reading a thick reading packet and a book every night along with a journal for the weekends. Now keep in mind this homework is EVERY night including weekends and holidays for a special needs kid who is only in THIRD grade. I seem to think it extreme, but the teacher isn't willing to change anything so we work on it every night. Matthew is progressing and seems to enjoy school and he is learning a lot so I can't complain--too much, anyway.

In other happenings we finally sold our van. We sold it to a normal, young family with 3 boys and a girl, too. I had mixed emotions about this. I didn't realize how attached I was to it until I saw it drive away for the last time. We brought home two babies from the hospital in it, drove to Yellowstone, Disneyland and Mt. Rushmore in it along with various other things. Lots of memories, but hopefully, the new family will enjoy it as much as we did.

This week Daniel had a belt test in karate. He tested from his orange belt up to his blue belt. He won't physically receive his new blue belt until the belt ceremony on Tuesday, though. After the belt test I kept calling him Mr. Blue Belt and he kept correcting me saying he is not a blue belt until he actually has the belt. I tried to explain that he was in deed a blue belt, but he was pretty adamant about it to and would get MAD if you tried to call him a blue belt. So until Tuesday you can only call him Mr. Orange/Blue belt just to appease him until he actually physically receives the blue belt.

All I have to say is Sarah is ever the opportunist! Thursday morning I had my OB appointment right after I dropped Josh off at school. That meant I had to gather all my things together BEFORE I dropped Josh off at school so I could go straight to the doctor's office. While I was gathering my stuff Josh decided it was time to open the garage and get in the car. Most mornings this is fine, but I prefer he tell me before he does get in the car so I know where he and Daniel are. Well Thursday morning Josh didn't tell me he was opening the garage and supposedly getting in the car. He just went into the garage with Daniel, opened the garage door and instead of getting in the car went out in the front yard to mess around. He didn't close the house tightly to the garage so Sarah seeing her opportunity escaped. Now I had no idea that my kids were running rampant and unsupervised outside because I was still gathering my stuff together for my doctors appointment upstairs. It wasn't until Josh came running in from outside and yelled, "Sarah's in the street, Mom!" that I knew she had escaped. Luckily, the neighbor kid saw Sarah in the road and grabbed her and brought her back. Why Josh came running inside to tell me she was in the street BEFORE grabbing her I don't know. At least we live in a relatively slow cul-de-sac so no cars were coming at the time. After Sarah was rescued Josh told me, "Wow, mom she almost made all the way across the street!" Really Josh? I told him if it ever happens again to get her FIRST before telling me anything. I am sure my neighbors think I am the worst parent because I let my 18 month old play in the street while my other two kids age 6 and 4 watch playing unsupervised in the yard. I really had no idea they were even out there until Josh came and got me all the way upstairs in my bedroom. I keep thinking to myself the nursery rhyme, "There was an old lady who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn't know what to do...." I can't wait to see what happens when we throw one more kid into the mix in a few months. It should be interesting.