IEP

Last week I had Helen's IEP meeting with her new team, it went well. The only change that was made was to the amount of time she spends in the mainstream classroom for reading. Since this subject is her strongest, we feel the additional time spent with her peers will be a benefit to her without affecting her schoolwork. I was told throughout the whole meeting how much they love Helen and love having her in the classroom. They all wish she would have been in their class earlier so they could have spent more years with her. She only has one more year at that school and then will move to a middle school. I'm going to start looking into that now so that I know what my choices are. Like everywhere else, there are some schools that are better than others. I am relieved it went so well, I have heard horror stories of other IEP's. So we are set for another year, unless any issues arise.

Ted went HOBO camping last week-end with his Boy Scout troop, they slept in boxes. Our weather here was cold and rainy, ALL week-end. Ted had so much fun, he didn't care about the weather. The only things he took were his sleeping bag, boxes, spoon, cup, and a stick. They used their sticks to roast hot dogs and make pancakes. They would put pancake batter on the stick, let it dry a bit and then dip the stick back into the batter until it formed a ball. Then they roasted it over the fire to make the pancake...how clever is that!?!! This week-end they are cleaning their part of the highway they adopted, having a cook-out and then swimming at a club pool. Robbie's Cub Scout den is going to join them for the highway clean-up and cook-out, they don't get to swim. Since Robbie is still in Cub Scouts, guess who gets to go with to help...ME! He still needs to have a parent with him at his outings. I just heard the weather for tomorrow and they are saying we should be clear of rain from 9am-2pm...perfect!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Field Trips

The school year is almost over and the kids have field trips scheduled left and right. Ted and his class took an overnight field trip to a Bible camp here in Wisconsin. I was able to go during the day and help out. They had a lot of activities to keep them busy. They did horseback riding, fishing, canoeing, archery, poetry, animal tracking, fire building, orienteering, nature hike, paper making, and owl pellets. I have never seen owl pellets before, I didn't even know what they were. Do you? It's what an owl regurgitates...I know, YUCK! They are like big hair balls. The kids pull them apart and inside are the skeletal remains of the prey they have eaten. The kids are supposed to try and identify what's in there. The only way you can figure that out is if there is a skull in the pellet. Ted had three skulls in his! At night they made a big fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. They told a few ghost stories and played elbow tag with their teacher, he stayed the entire time with them. All the time I spent this past year helping raise money for this trip was worth it, Ted had a blast.

While I was helping out at Ted's trip, I missed a field trip of Robbie and Noah's. I wish I could have gone, but there weren't very many parents that offered to help, so they needed me to be there. Robbie has another one coming up next week, but they leave as soon as they get to school. Helen's bus comes after I drop the other kids off, so I won't be able to go to that one either. I will be able to go with Grace on her final field trip, I'm looking forward to that one. Ted, Robbie, and Katie have done this field trip, but I have never been able to go. In fact, when Ted went, Peter and I were at the Mayo clinic getting his initial testing done. This is the time of year when the battle began for Peter. This is a difficult time of year for me, I'm glad to be so busy!

Last Saturday we had a fitting with the new pattern for the jeans. It went very well, the jeans fit Helen so much nicer than the previous pattern. We are going to have a pair made in every size and then send them out to have other kids try them on. We want to be absolutely sure these pants are going to fit nicely on everyone before we manufacture them. I'm so excited about the next step!! Keep checking with us so you can get the latest news!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Still Sick

We missed marching in the Greek Independence parade on Sunday, the kids were sick. Ted had a fever, Katie was coughing, and Grace was still blowing her nose. I wasn't feeling that great myself, so we stayed home. On Monday, Ted stayed home from school recovering from the fever. I received a phone call from the kid's school, Noah went to the office first thing in the morning and had been laying on their couch. They called to see if I wanted to pick him up or send him back to class. After talking with him, I decided to go and pick him up. Once he got home, he was fine, he played on the computer. He could have stayed at school! About a few hours later, another phone call from the school, Katie wasn't feeling well. After talking to her, I decided to bring her home. I worked on getting the laundry done during the day, about an hour before school was over I received another call from the school, Robbie wasn't feeling well. I talked to him and we agreed he could lay on the couch until school was over. Once everyone was home, I had two with sore throats, one with a headache and stomachache, and one still blowing her nose. Ted and Helen were the only ones feeling fine.

On Tuesday, Katie was feeling better so she went to school along with Ted, Helen, and Grace. Robbie and Noah stayed home with sore throats and no fever. Because Robbie had strep a few weeks ago, I called the doctor and they ordered a strep test through the lab. They told me if Robbie was positive for strep, they would prescribe medication for any other child in the household with the same symptoms. I didn't have Noah tested because of that. The rapid test came back negative. I sent Robbie and Noah to school on Wednesday because they were bouncing off the walls. The only symptom was the sore throat, other than that, they felt fine. The twenty-four test came back inconclusive, meaning, something was happening with the sample and they wanted to wait another twenty-four hours.

Now it's Thursday and I just heard from the doctor's office. Robbie has strep, but it's a different strain, so the other kids have to get tested, they will not call in prescriptions for them. So now I have to take Noah, and also Katie, who has since come down with a sore throat, to the lab. Katie is the only one who stayed home from school today. She is complaining of a sore throat, headache and stomachache. I will run them over to the lab after school to get tested. I'm hoping the rapid test, about ten minutes, will come back positive. Otherwise, they have to wait a couple of days to start medicine. I wish now that I would have had Noah tested the other day. Nothing is ever easy!!

On Saturday we have a fitting for the jeans. If they fit Helen and look good, we will have a pair made from the jean material in every size. We will then take those jeans and go around to different groups and have fittings. We want to see if the jeans fit all different body types, not just Helen's. Keep checking back, I will keep you posted on how things are moving along.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue