More knitting

So you might wonder. Why does the woman have a knitting blog while she still posts all that knitting junk here instead. It would be because I am inherently too lazy to have 2 blogs. I can't really compartmentalize my crazy life enough to have two separate blogs. It all kind of runs together. Case in point: This is supposed to be a homeschool blog and just how much homechooling do I actually talk about?

So bring on the knitting.



Here's Mom's finished hat. This is what she asked for. Brown cotton, plain Jane, roll brim hat. After much cajoling and me attempting to photograph myself, I finally got one of the boys to model the "girl's hat."

So there it is ...in all it's brown, rolled brim glory. In fact it has a serious brim on it. My Mom could actually unroll it down to cover her chin if she were so inclined. I kind of got crazy with the stockinette.
Specs: Two strands of Tamany Tweed cotton done on #8 DPNS. This is the hat that I was doing on #5's and then frogged it all out because it was the hat that would not end.




Same kid, different hat.

(sidenote: All of my kids have these blue eyes. It's rather shocking. The baby's are almost crayon blue. I have golden hazel eyes and ZooDad's are like chocolate. Gotta love those recessive genes.)

Here's ZooDad's hat that is way too small for his massive head. It stretches like crazy but it's just too snug. So J has commandeered it and I am knitting a new hat (my Olympic challenge) for ZooDad in the exact same yarn.

cascade Quatro on #8's. I love the #8 don't I? This yarn knits up so easy. Even the dark colors are easy to see the stitches.

So there's all my knitting news. Tomorrow, the knitting Olympics starts and you'll be overrun with knitting news.
Just what you wanted right?

My Possessed Van: Part Three...Linda is Back

Back in October and November, I told the tale of my van and its...um...odd behavior.

The van has had a history of unusual problems. First of all, there is the automatic door that might or might not close when you want it too. The same door has a habit of not giving the right away to people when it is closing. Like some Detroit Chicken game, the door just decides that it is closing regardless of what obstacle is in its way. And let me tell you, it can use its 20 pounds per square inch of pressure in the most efficient way. Most times the door loses, but every now and then, I am forced to concede that it is just too powerful for me.

Then there was the window incident where the window would not roll down and then spontaneously fixed itself. Oddly enough the same door had a lock issue. I never mentioned it...or maybe I did. I know I grumped about it quite a bit in Real Life. Anyway, the "unlock" button stopped working. And you had to either unlock it with the key or reach over. Either way it was a pain in the butt.
That fixed itself too. One day, it just stopped working and then one day, it just worked.
Weird? I think so.

Oh and we can't forget the day it stopped parking. That one was fun to explain to ZooDad and the guys at the Chrysler Fix-em-up shop. No one believes you when you say your van just won't park.

And I know for a fact that I didn't even bring up that the thermostat just froze in the open position leaving me with a van that never warmed up (the little engine pointer stayed on "C.") and lacking all manner of heat. It took the guys 2 trips to the shop to figure out that lovely little problem last week. Even after I told them that it was the thermostat.

So, just imagine the look on my face today.
At speech at the school as usual on Tuesday mornings.
With the boys doing school work and listening to SOTW on CD.
Just imagine my face when the CD player went dead after 20 minutes.
Dead.
No power.
Then I instinctively turned the key to hear... "click, click, click, click."
It was all I could do to keep the flood of profanity from erupting from my mouth.

It was Deja' Vu. I had lived that very moment. Heck, it hadn't even been long enough for me to get my oil changed again.

I got out of the van and stomped and flailed my arms, scaring the dickens out of the custodial worker taking out the trash. (Crazy homeschool mom.) Then I called ZooDad who made me do the whole "start the van" thing again. (Didn't work.) Then called my guy at the Chrysler place, (They know my voice. They know my van. They know my children.) to let them know that I was returning once more with my van ASAP and that I was not happy.

By the time, ZooDad arrived to rescue me....the van started right up.
Yep...another Chrysler miracle. If my van were a nun, she'd be a saint by now.

But I wasn't falling for it this time. I took it straight to the shop, straight to the manager and had a loooooooong discussion about the fact that my van stops working and the fact that is miraculously and disturbingly starts working again.

They think they know the problem now. Some regulator from the battery to the rest of the van. It should be ready by lunch tomorrow. I sure hope that's it because my van will be paid off next month and I plan on driving that bad girl into the ground.
Even if the face of Jesus fogs up in my rear window.

Saint Linda...Patron Saint of the mini-vans.

Swatched, designed and all ready to go.

I'm all set for the Knitting Olympics. (I know this should go on the knitting blog...but I clicked this one, so there ;P

I'm making another hat for ZooDad. I finished his first one and even with the massive amount of K2,P2 ribbing, it barely fits his massive noggin.

So I am starting a new hat, designed just for him.
I planned to do the Rebel, Rebel hat from the Lion Yarns book of hats. (picture to come later) That's the one hubby picked out. It has cables up the sides that turn into knitted braids that end in two (like pigtails) tassels on the top of the hat. It will be absolutely ridiculous on ZooDad's head.

The problem was that I didn't have any chunky weight yarn that ZooDad liked nor did I have #10.5 DPNs. My hat plan was foiled. (I have too significant of a yarn staff to justify buying more yarn right now.)

So I swatched a few rounds of Cascade 220 on #8 circular needles to determine how many stitches I would need to go around ZooDad's head. (104 with a little stretching on the ribbing) Then I swatched out the cables to see how to do it and rewrote the whole pattern to accommodate the smaller yarn and increased amount of stitches.
Now I am all set to go.

In fact, the project seems that it just might be a bit too easy. I mean, this is supposed to be a challenge. Something that is to push us to go beyond our level of expertise.
So I have a back-up Olympic challenge. I have cable socks (Never done any patterned socks) ready to go too. I plan to knit them on 2 circular needles (which I have also never done) at the same time. (New for me too.) I've already swatched that yarn and rolled two little balls.
The swatching went well. I'm right on gauge. The rolling of the little balls was a fiasco. I need a ball winder.
Since I don't have one and had never made two balls from one...I pulled out the whole skein. (Picture that mess)
And then folded the two ends and made one ball with two strands. Cut the end and unwound the ball into two piles. (twice the mess) And finally wound each ball separately.
Next time I will just buy two skiens and make two pairs of socks. It was bad. The yarn made it through but my nerves were shot.

Just letting you know

According to the official Zoo Schedule, The following dates in February are free (not counting our regular school stuff): 9th, 20th, and 27th. Every other day is booked up. Some are double booked.
Yep...To quote the Veggies..."I'm busy, busy...dreadfully busy."

I'm looking at the calendar and wondering how it's all going to happen.
sniff...sniff
I smell a challenge.
I Loooooooove a challenge.

I know it's big

It's really big. I'm sorry.
Photobucket is having some sizing issues and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and fire up the Harrier so I can use Photoshop.
Just scroll past the family. But while you are doing that, please notice just how close to the water my family is standing. We saw two alligators that day. TWO! One was about 25 feet from the location of the sign.

Thankfully, we didn't feed any alligators and came home with all four kids.

The kid has surpassed me

We have several bird feeders on our deck, right outside a bank of kitchen windows. I love having little feathers friends and I'm a sucker for a pretty brass bird feeder. Our yard also backs up to a Wetland habitat with a large open field that draws lots of non-bird feeder types.
So the Boys have grown up watching our daily visitors. A couple of Christmases ago, J was given an Audubon Bird Guide and the NG Field Guide to Birds. These really help cement a love for casual birdwatching. And they made it much harder for me to let the feeders run empty.

Both books are lacking front covers now and the two oldest boys have become quite proficient at picking out the important details needed for identification. My MIL has watched in wonder as 6 pairs of cardinals have perched all around the deck. (She never gets them on the farm and they are her favorites.) Lately, we've had Red-Bellied Woodpeckers at the feeders and picking at bugs between the deck boards.
It's quite entertaining to see a big woodpecker trying to perch on a feeder that the Cardinals barely fit on.
One morning we awoke to a Blue Heron in the back yard. We often see Turkey Vultures riding the thermals in great packs. We occasionally have a family of Canadian geese stop by but none live in the wetland. Red Tailed Hawks search for rodents, as does Max the Cat...but he seems to specialize in moles. Fat Mourning Doves sit on the Deck Rails waiting for food to drop. They've learned that they are just too awkward to even try to perch on the feeders.
We see Robins hunting for worms, Little Black-capped Chickadees hopping nervously, and Field Sparrows have claimed our front porch as prime nesting real estate.
Thrashers, Warblers, Sprarrows...all eating and fighting around the back deck.

So today I looked outside and spied something I hadn't seen before. (or so I thought.) I yelled for J to come and see this new little bird with black on the top, white on the bottom, and an orange stripe under its wing.

"Mom...It's just a female Tufted Titmouse. They come all the time."

Shoot. How could I miss a Tufted Titmouse

The sword has shifted slightly

It's still hanging up there but the position has shifted slightly.

Edited to add obscure lyrics to relate to the obscure mythical reference: "Oh Woe is me...My life is a misery." 100 ZooPoints to whomever can name that particular song. 50 for the mythical reference.

The school system has decided to provide OT/Pre-school readiness services to A one hour a week. AT HOME! Woohoo! And if the school person feels his need is too great, they will add services from an Occupational therapist...AT MY HOME!

No added running around. So we're back to just running around on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm so happy. Happy that he will get services and happy that they will come to me. It's a big relief.

Here's a bit for my "A cracks me up" file.
The other day he told me that when he's a Dad, his children will pick out their own names. I was kind of heart broken for a moment. Don't you like your name? It was my Daddy's name. It was a wonderful name and one to be proud of. Why don't you want to name your own children names that are special too?
"But I don't KNOW any names. So they can just name themselves."
Hee, hee, hee.

When I asked him what he would call these children until they were old enough to actually name themselves, he replied, "I'll call them Baby, Little Man, and Boo." (Our terms of affection for the boys.) Everyday, he talks about his "children that will have to name themselves." The speech therapist even brought it up. When I explained it to her, she didn't even try not to laugh.

You should hear his plan for their rooms, wall colors, and TV situation. He's got it all planned out...except names.

An education post

Lessons learned so far this year:

Rod and Staff grammar is great for my advanced reader and highly creative writer who just happens to be a gifted speller.
Rod and Staff grammar is a horrible fit for my troubled reader with poor fine motor skills that can not pick out details and gets frustrated by a lot of information in a small area.

Singapore Science is great for all learning styles as long as the Mom has a extensive background in science or knows someone with a great background. It is great for fostering scientific thinking but lax on vocabulary and hands-on learning. Thankfully, I can easily make up for that. I have more trouble paring down the info than beefing it up. For non-science moms or science moms with "Barney-brain" the teacher's guides are worth the money.

Explode the Code is awesome for kids who just aren't getting the "code." It also help with spelling and handwriting. The Pre-code books are equally fabulous. The drawings are all a bit...well...Unprofessional but that just seems to be Mom's issue and the the kids'.
MCP phonics isn't nearly as good as ETC and the Teacher's Guide is a total waste of money.

Spelling workout doesn't help spellers with speech problems and it isn't a challenge for natural spellers. But it is great for vocabulary.

Wordly Wise is an asset for children who gifted with words but torture for those who aren't.

MCP math is the bomb baby! Singapore math is just not for kids who have their own strong, spatial, understanding of math. In fact it can be a detriment for kids who have a good grasp on math. It messes with their way of figuring things out and not in a good way. It's cute though and has great word problems.

Story of the World is best done without all the activities and stuff. Just read and discuss. If you need pictures use a supplement book or look up stuff online. All the extra stuff just keeps us from getting it done.

Evan-Moore Daily Geography is fast and incredibly useful. We do the whole week in one setting and it covers most of the "social studies" stuff that SOTW doesn't.

Latin doesn't get done but that is ok.

Mind benders, Building thinking skills, and logic games like Rush Hour and RIver Crossing are worth their weight in gold.

Oh...and snap circuits are the greatest invention ever for boys ages 8 and up.

Because I just can't leave things alone

After Monday's meeting, I starting working up my new plan. (See I can manage anything with a plan. It's the whole "out there flappin' thing" that just rails on my nerves.)

My current plan for the "fellows of many needs" in our little zoo is:

Tuesdays: A gets 30 minutes of speech at school and them M gets his own 30 minutes of speech at school.
Wednesdays: M and A alternate OT in private therapy for 20 visits each and then we shell out some more big bucks to make up the rest of the 12 weeks of the year.
Fridays: A goes back to school for another 30 minutes of speech.
When summer hits, both boys go to private speech 1 hour a week for 20 visits each.
In the mean time I continue to fight the state for Medicaid bennies for A. I think this will turn out in our favor. So far all of the local cases have been reinstated. Let's just hope the judge agrees with us.
We will also have A re-evaluated using the Miller and Peabody pre-school tests. These new results go to the school and the state to fight for school therapy and re-instatement of state benefits.

Other news. I just got a call from our special needs coordinator. We have another meeting scheduled for the 30th, after she received further information from the state. I have no idea what that information is but I would HOPE that we wouldn't schedule a second meeting to tell us that A didn't qualify for services. That would just be cruel.

This all brings me back to that "things I have learned that I never thought I would have to" kind of feeling. Sometimes, I kind of step back and listen to the words I throw around in these meetings and think, "Dang girl, I don't remember anyone mentioning this stuff in childbirth class. This is soooooooo not what we signed up for."
A friend of mine told me that God gives parents these children with special needs to see how we will respond to the challenge. Whether we will view these children as a gift from God to treasure and do all we can for. Of if we will see them a burden to deal with.

I have to admit that sometimes I feel both ways. I see parents whose biggest worry is a kid with a cold and I envy them. They've never had to put a child under anesthesia for surgery. They've never watched a child with a feeding tube cry for milk. They've never sat with a child on a nubulizer fighting to breathe. They don't spend 4 hours a week in a waiting room, every week.

But then again to those people that first "momma" just isn't as sweet. Running down the hall without falling even once isn't that big of an achievement. A handwritten name with all the letters well formed and facing the right directions isn't grounds for a huge celebration. And they will never understand that making eye contact and saying "hello" to a stranger is a massive mountain to surmount.

And while I would love to spend just one day not having to make accommodations, I could imagine my life any different. My children's disabilities are just part of who they are. They will overcome them and it will make them stronger, more compassionate people in the end. And their "normal" brothers will benefit from watching their brothers preservere and succeed despite all that stuff in the way. They will learn true tolerance and acceptance. They will learn that anything that has value is worth working for. They will learn that it is their job when they become parents to do all they can for their own children and never, ever give up.

At least I hope that is what they will learn.

Out of holding pattern and starting to descend

Ever since we found out that A had lost his special needs medical benefits, I've been in standby mode. I just can't handle the unknown, especially an unknown dependent upon the whims of other people.

Today, things are not quite so unknown. We hired an advocate and yesterday we all sat down at the school to discuss what care he would get through them. He missed out on OT by .07ths of a point. Rules state 2 standard deviations below the norm in one area on two tests or -1.5 SDs in two areas. He scrored -2.33 in one area and -1.93 on the other test of that area (that translates into one point too high.) and he scored -1.4 in two other areas. (N retest was done since he "passed.")

He does qualify for speech though. He'll get two 30 minute sessions each week.
We're still fighting the other. He'll be retested and the school says that they will accept the results. They know he needs help. They know he does have significant developmental delay, even if the scores are a tad too to high. And they know he has know he has no cognitive problems (1.4 SD above average) and his language is wonderful (1.3 SD above average.)

So while it isn't the best outcome, I can now take the next steps. I'm not just circling and waiting on someone else to do their job.

Banging head against the table

I know his spelling isn't that great. I know his fine motor coordination makes his handwriting unbeautiful. I know his vision affects his reading.

But WHY, WHY, WHY is he not getting that sentences start with a capital letter and end with some sort of punctuation. We've done the first chapter of R&S grammar. We've done all the sentence stuff form at least 3 other workbook/textbooks and the kid still won't start a sentence with a capital letter and put punctuation at the end.


You know what bugs me the most though. For anyone else, he would feel compelled to perform well. He wants to please other people and tries hard to meet expectations...except mine.

All I want is a capital at the beginning and a period at the end.

I have a new blog

I didn't want to bore you with knitting and crocheting posts. (not that I mind boring you with all the other stuff.) So I started A Zoo Full of Knitting because the knitting needs its own darn zoo.

Just two posts and one of them you've seen before. But you have to see my socks. In fact if you know anyone who mind need the pair in their current condition...I'll RAK them to you. LOL

Close...very

From my IRL friend at Lover of Dolphins

What LoTR Character Are You?

You are most like Merry. Hooray for you! You have no problems fitting in with a crowd, and you are often the life of the party. Good thing you're really smart too. Although many people like you, you are very serious about life. Go ahead and make the best of it. Just remember that those who are closest to you will be lost forever if you forget them.

The remembrance thing hits home. I am the family memory. I keep all the special photos and trinkets, wedding rings, glasses, rosaries. When my father died, we called the cemetery for get the plot number. For some reason the needed to look it up by the death date of the last person buried. January 10, 1984. I knew it without thinking. My Nanny died that day. My brother was dumbfounded that I remembered it when I was only 13 at the time.

But I forgot MIL's birthday this year. So I am far for perfect. LOL

A victory for the kid who can't see so well

M has eye problems. He was diagnosed at 3 with strabismus. It was temporarily "cured" with glasses. When he was 4, the diagnosis was strabismus (accommodative esotropia), 4th nerve palsy and astigmatism in both eyes. Oh yeah, and he's far-sighted. By that time his vision in his turning eye had gone to 20/100. We patched for several months...8 to 10 hours each day.
It hard to teach letters to a kid with one eye...with 20/30 vision. Then there was the first surgery and the time without glasses to help his eye muscles learn to work again. And then the second surgery and more time without glasses.

It's been a year since his last surgery. His vision is currently 20/30 and he is still out of glasses until we get those eyes aligned as well as possible. We're close.

During this whole eye ordeal, reading instruction has been not been as dedicated as it would for a child with no vision problems. Plus his speech problems cause some difficulty in decoding. His ophthalmologist has viewed our homeschooling as a positive thing. We've been able to focus on his eye health instead of school grades. A school kid would have been back in glasses way before now and wouldn't get the chance to let his eyes align naturally. For us, vision and ultimately binocular vision is most important. The school stuff can wait.

The fact that the kid doesn't enjoy reading (and you wouldn't either if you had to close one eye and cock your head to see things. And if your eyes jumped enough to make you lose your place on the line with every few words.) doesn't help either.

But tonight I pulled out a copy of "My Father's Dragon" and he read the first chapter for me with very few problems thanks to bright lighting and a blue highlighter line to help him stay on the correct line. He's even over that "race right over the periods but stop sentences at the end of the line" thing that drives me crazy about little kid oral reading. He was able to understand what he was reading and didn't have to focus all his attention on decoding.

First chapter book. One chapter down...nine more to go.

It's better than Comedy Central

S is having a fine funny day.
Well not at the very moment. At this very moment he is asleep on our bed in time out for hitting one of his brothers in the head with a rather large stick/pine tree branch.
But earlier he was down right funny.

He came running to me and rubbing his head.
"Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie...I hurt myself"
Where did you hurt yourself?
"In the living room."
drum riff

This was after he told me
"I don't want to go to the car wash. I said NO!" Complete with finger waving and stern look.
I told him that didn't have the option of "saying no" but he sure was cute trying to be the little big man. It's hard not to laugh.

And the Little Big Man is might be wishing he hadn't whacked his brother with a stick also. He's going to have to start rethinking the whole "give me what I want or I'll hit you" thing. His brothers have shown great patience but they are no Job.

It's tough being two going on twenty.

Test season already

My second son goes to the local PS for speech therapy once a week. It's actually interesting to walk through the school on a weekly basis and see what the kids are up to.

Friday, we had a special visit for A to have a speech evaluation. Apparently it is already time to start pushing that State testing. The CRCT posters are up at every turn. The poor kids can't go anywhere without being reminded that the CRCT is coming soon. Because as we all know, the fate of the free world relies how well the school scores on a state test. Poor kids. They face months of testing stress at every turn.
Some of these posters are to me, borderline offensive. Rosa Parks says, "I will not move until you learn your multiplication facts." Martin Luther King, Jr. says, "I have a dream that all students will learn the parts of speech."

seriously.
I guess I am the only parent that thinks that the great stand that Mrs. Parks made shouldn't be used to get kids to score well on a silly state test. I also don't remember any thing about parts of speech in the I Have A Dream speech. It seems cheapening and it doesn't teach these children anything about the Civil Rights Era, math, or grammar.

Instead of pushing this test on every flat surface in the school, maybe the school should start pushing the information students should learn instead. Take down the posters about the high stress, up-coming, every-so-important test. And put up posters ON the parts of speech and multiplication facts. Homeschoolers do this. We do it.
Why not list the states and capitals on the wall for the lunch line. If state symbols are that important to know...put them on the lunch tables. Instead of just putting a calendar up of class parties, testing schedules, and field trips...make a "this day in history" calendar. Education is not just something spoon fed to you by a teacher. Kids can pick up all kinds of things by just being repeatedly exposed to it. If you read that list of capitals enough times...you can't help but learn a few.
Use those flat surfaces to educate students instead of scaring their wits out of them.

Oh...and when an art class does an exhibition on athropromorphic art, if would be more educational if you'd include an explanation and maybe a history lesson for the kids NOT in that particular art class. That way they get something out of the display.

That would be a lot better than the felt posters reminding students that about "The Keys to CRCT success."

The question might be, who cares about a bathroom?

Why even bother fixing up an out dated upstairs bathroom in the first place? Especially one that get frequented by 4 boys.

Well, because they are my four boys and I've already wasted 7 years bathing little ones in a cramped dark room that I absolutly hate. I've rushed bath time for 7 years because I just couldn't hang out in that room any longer than I had too.

The boys deserve more than that...even if their toilet aim leaves much to be desired. So the room is something special for them. Something bright and easy to clean. With 4 siblings, the bathroom becomes a refuge of sorts. A place to read and be alone. The one place wher you are gauranteed a little privacy.

It shouldn't be so ugly.

And if the boys get tired of the frog theme...we can always change it to SpongeBob. It's that yellow up there.

I smell of bleach and paint

A few months ago, I started redo-ing the boys' upstairs bathroom. I stripped the original 80's wallpaper to find horrible walls underneath. I primed the walls and then painted them a light yellow only to discover that there were holes everywhere. ZooDad tore out the 6 bulb light bar and found NO light box. None. Just a gaping hole with an electrical wire hanging grotesquely from some unknown origin.
After the original shock, he went out and bought a light box, installed it, and put in a sweet new silver light fixture with only 2 bulbs.

Well this weekend, I once again took up the task in the bathroom.
After spackling and sanding, I decided that the light yellow was just too light.
Thankfully, I have a paint stash. I decided on a darker yellow. (Pismo Dunes Behr) and starting painting everything all over again. I primed the vanity and painted it an antique White. Once, I had painted everything I could...I called ZooDad to remove the toilet. The plan was to cover the old original 80's yellow linoleum with new, seamless, sage green speckled vinyl.
That was the plan. After removing the shoe molding, I found that the old linoleum wasn't as glued down as I hoped. I pulled up a corner and it shattered.

So tomorrow the plan is to pull up all the old stuff. I figure this will be a lot harder than I expect. I'm sure that it is still glued down right in the middle. I'd love to be wrong though. Then I have to clean everything...again and make a template of the room to cut the new vinyl.**

After that, I paint trim and start gluing down the new floor. Finally is the details. Hanging all the doors and adding hardware. Shower curtain, border, and the accessories. This is going to be the frog bathroom. Since it is my least favorite room to hang out in, I thought I'd pick a fun decor that I liked. Oh yeah...and reinstalling the toilet. That's got to happen too.
It is currently in the tub. The boys are having a huge laugh over that and the gaping hole in the floor.

It will be finished by Friday. I'll take pictures.

** You might wonder why we aren't tiling the floor. Did I mention that I have 4 boys? Did I mention that this is their bathroom. Would you want to clean grout around the toilet used by 3 and soon to be 4 four boys? Don't you think that solid, seamless vinyl would be a better idea and easier to clean? Yeah, me too.

Awwwwww, Man!

I just checked my camera. I "forgot" to take pictures. Well, that's not true. I took some pictures but not nearly as many as I should have.
I have NO pictures of:
the gigngerbread house the boys made
the ornaments the boys made
the other trees in the house
the boys baking cookies
the special ornaments we collect. (I vow to take pictures every year and never do)
the boys in front of the tree
my fireplace with all the stockings, garland, Santas, and the other tree.
the outside lights
the toys before the boys "found" them
my mom

I am so disappointed.
The pictures I do have, well, let's just say they aren't goign to winning any blue ribbons.

It was a great holiday though. The house looked awesone until the toy bomb went off. I guess there is alwys next year.

8 hours 'til I hit the ground running

Tomorrow is our first day back to school. We've taken about 3 weeks off for the holidays and we have to reluctantly get our collective noses back to the grindstone.
Of course, I have to go all out. No half hearted start up for me, so sir-ee. Tomorrow, we'll have school, speech therapy at the school, and 2 hours of Cub Scouts.
Wednesday, we'll start A back at speech and OT. At least for a month or so. On the 23rd, we meet with the school to see what services they will provide and what they want from us in return. I also have to call A's social worker and see where we are in getting out trial date for Medicaid.

In all honesty, I'm beginning to feel defeated in my quest to get my son the treatment he needs. I feel that I have lost the fight before even getting the chance to speak for my son. Every one has already decided that his need is not great enough. The school has the teacher from the special Ed Class coming to the evaluation. This is the class for intellectually disabled children. The state has denied our continued coverage until the hearing. They say he doesn't need 5 day a week treatment. (He does but his therapist can't request it because the state will only pay for 10 sessions a month.)
So we are at an impasse.
The state says he's doesn't have a high level of need.
The school says he needs to be in a special ed classroom.
The therapist say he is profoundly speech disabled and severely developmentally delayed.

But no one but me really knows this little boy.
It funny...when he goes for these evaluations, I tell the evaluator what his problems are, what are his strengths are, and how to get the best out of him. When the test is concluded, they are always so surprised that I was right.
I'm not sure why they are so shocked.
Why shouldn't I know my son best.

I wish I could get the state, the therapists, the judge, and the school all together in one place and just sit them all down and say:
"This is my son. He has Severe Apraxia of Speech. He is also dyspraxic and is developmentally delayed. However, he is extremely intelligent. His cognitive abilities are above average. He is clever, creative, and loving. He will someday be a productive citizen if we can get his body up to the speed of his wonderful mind. I will do all that I can to make this happen. This is what I need you to do to help. A needs 3 one-hour individual speech sessions each week and one one-hour occupational therapy session. I would be interested in adding one or two group speech sessions and possibly a group OT session each week. We can do the group sessions at school, but A will not be enrolled in the special-ed classroom as he is not mentally handicapped. I will make sure that his education is equal to or superior to anything the school can provide a "normal" student. If you could make sure we can get appropriate therapy, A will turn out just fine."

You think they'd make that happen?

Well, tomorrow we catch up on math, start teaching A how to blend sounds other than "fat cat sat," and introduce some new triangular pencils and see if M and A can hold those a bit better.
Wish me luck