I'm baaaaccccckkkkkkkk

Told you I'd be back. So I guess we'll start with updates. We're all healthy, that's important and something to be thankful for.

Carlos is almost done with 7th grade. He did way better this year than last, when he really slacked off. He has been on the cross country, wrestling, and track and field teams. He seems to have for the most part kept on top of his work despite his sometimes crazy schedule. He's done good.

Amber is almost done with 1st grade. Whether or not she will have to repeat it next year remains to be seen. We have her neurological evaluation coming up this week. It is the first step in the process to see how they can teach her better. We will also try to determine if her inconsistencies in reading and language are learned disorder related. She was put in and after a few months removed from basic skills reading class, because she reached the maximum reading level. She has worked super hard, and has come a long way. She makes me proud.

Jewel. We are removing her from outpatient speech therapy for the remaining part of the school year. We think she needs a break. She is almost done with pre-k and has become a social butterfly. She is also coming close to being discharged from occupational therapy because the majority of her issues are behavioral related and not sensory, although she does have some oral sensory issues. Not surprised, but we are brushing her teeth and with toothpaste, so hooray for small things. We seem to be at a stand still with school and her Dynavox, this will be brought up at her IEP next week. Out loaner device is awesome but with no technical support with it, I am lost. Currently it is not being used because I can't reset one of the vital behaviors on it, without this behavior she can't use it. As for her spoken language she still lags so far behind her peers. Her intelligible language is still hard to understand for the unfamiliar ear. But I still smile every time I have to correct her grammar because that means she is making progress.

John is working. Hard as usual. Now summer is here, well almost here. Summer is rough on him, winter is his thing. Hopefully this summer we'll make it to the beach more and he will be able to relax some. That'd be nice. I am convinced he is getting arthritis in his hands, but tough guy won't go to the doctor.

I am well, the same. An insomniac by night and tired all day. Trying to figure where I should be working come September when the kids are all in school full time. The housing market still sucks so I am not sure if I want to go back to Century 21 right away. John thinks I should. Who knows? I have time to figure it out, I guess.

We're mid-dilemma with one of our dogs. He has shown aggression towards the kids. Not cool. I will be having him fixed in the near future, but still wonder if even that is the right decision or if I should find him a new home, one without children. The kids are upset, and want him to stay with us. It is hard. We're not a give a pet away kind of family, but when safety becomes an issue, we are really left with little choice sometimes as much as it sucks.

I really need to wrap this up and got a certain little 1st grader out of bed and ready for school. As for my renewed commitment to my blog. I will try. I do promise I will do a "Wordless Wednesday" every week and at least one other entry. I am not even sure how many readers I actually have, but I do like that I have to blog to look back on for memories, if nothing else.