I HATE sick households

Our family is getting over a nasty bug. Hit ALL of us. I mean this thing took Shea out of school and therapy for close to 2 weeks, knocked Matt out for a long time and gave the rest us colds (excluding Matthew).

On a good note Cody had 4 out of 5 black stripes needed to graduated to Brown Belt so he is doing great with that. We now have a reasonable plan to get us to graduation and it doesn't include us killing ourselves with karate. We can go to 3 days a week including Saturdays instead of 4.

Cody's class is going to Murphy's Landing in May. I am bummed I wasn't picked to be a volunteer. Sad I am good enough to volunteer on a regular basis but not lucky enough to be drawn for the field trips. I have never been there.

Shea has an Ipad and LOVES it. Amazing how the kid runs the thing. Skye and Cody love using it when Shea is not but everyone knows that it is Shea's and he gets it when he wants it. Now we just need to get the communication programs completely up and running and make him use them.

Skye is getting so big and talking like there is no tomorrow. She claims the puppy is hers. In fact she is very insistant about it. Next fall I hope to get her into doing preschool together like I did with Cody. I think it will be good for her.

Matt and I are working on getting our computer business up and running. I am hoping to have the name registered and business cards printed up next week. Then we will move onto the rest like brochure, website, marketing. Needless to say Matt is NOT looking forward to the marketing piece of it. Part of what I want him to do is to take brochures to local business in St Michael and the cities around us. Since I know nothing about computers and would be unable to answer any questions I can't do it.

So you mean I am supposed to post?

I mean come on people how much time do you think we have? Although Matt seems to think I spend all my time in the bat cave, I mean den.... Come to think of it I think that may be the pot calling the kettle....

Hey this is what Facebook is for now isn't it?

Anyways kids are still brillant (yes I believe Shea is a genius waiting to pop out of his prison) Matthew is doing much better, or at least according to him he is. Since we are not speaking to the witch we just have to take his word for it. Really should contact his teachers but epic failure there I am afraid. Seems to be dealing with the breakup of his mom and Tom pretty well. Scarily next fall he will be in high school. Only 4.5 years left of child support YIPPEE!!!!

Cody is still doing well in school. I volunteer every other week in his classroom and work with him and 2 other very smart children. Then I work with 2 other children that are a little behind. Definately have to switch gears but they are all good kids. It was fun going to his music concert last night and seeing all the kids I have worked with over the years and just know by them being in his classroom or MOMs club. He hasn't been bored like he was last year so hopefully this will continue the rest of the year. Oh and he will be graduating to a brown belt in karate the first Sat in March. A major accomplishment.

Would REALLY love to take them on a spring vacation to Wisconsin Dells but not sure we will have those funds available. Let's hope. Plus I think it would do him well to get away. He REALLY wants to go on a vacation and I do want to take him. Damn this economy!

Shea..... Man he is a hard one. Supposedly he will be getting into Frazer this month, then he will go to his Autism preschool special ed class, home for lunch then take a Care Cab to Fraser for the afternoon. I have heard such wonderful things about the program I really hope it will help him. In many ways I feel like an epic failure with him. WHY didn't I get him into something for the year we were waiting? I do have my reasons but of course I question them. Should I have worked with him more myself at home? It just seems like I should have done more rather then being lazy or doing the other things I have been doing. It is tough to go to my support group and hear others talk about the wonderful progress their kids have been making and not be able to say that Shea has done a lot. For all the progress he has made he keeps falling further and further behind because of what he SHOULD be able to do. Love him but man I want him to have a somewhat normal life.

Skye, oh what a dynamo there. We were able to get an Ipad for Shea 2 days before Xmas. Well little missy at 2.5 runs that thing like a pro and believes it is hers. To get her to share with Cody is a challenge. "Cody put it on table. Cody put it on table NOW!" "My T (for my turn), My T!" No Skye you have to wait for the buzzer, 2.5 seconds does NOT count as Cody's T! But she does watch Shea so there are things she doesn't do, like potty on the toilet. We are working on that. I think around when she turns 3 I am just going to put her in underwear and not give her a choice. Plus she REALLY likes chocolate so hoping to use that as a motivator. Little stinker goes in her diaper then tries to demand chocolate.

And Matt and I received a gift from the Women of Today of Albertville so we were able to go out to dinner last night, alone. Definately a novelty. Last time we got out was I believe for my birthday in Sept. Oh I think we have gotten out once since then when mom watched the kids after we put them to bed and we went to Red Lobster. Or that was my birthday thing, it all runs together! So we went to Claddaugh in Maple Grove and guess who showed up. Yup Traci the person we would like to see the least. But we just ignored her and probably made her evening a little uncomfortable so it was probably worth the entertainment there.. Yup I am sick and twisted.

So I am FINALLY Posting!

Kids had fun with Halloween. I took Cody and Skye to Michaels in the morning where they did a craft and received a nice bucket with stickers and a piece of candy. Then we went to my mom's to visit.

Then took Cody to his Dojo for their Halloween party, boy was that manic. I think we will skip it next year.

Then the Larsen's came over and we had dinner then off trick or treating. Shea was confused and wanted to go into everyone's homes but he did well. Skye didn't want to sit in the stroller and little missy walked and was carried by Matt or Tom. After a bit Matt, Skye and Shea stayed home, were the candy was being passed out swiftly! Seriously we went through 8 bags of candy and could have gone through more but I wasn't going to bankrupt us on candy!

Cody was worn out so went home a little early with Tom. He held up pretty well considering he hasn't been feeling all that well since Wednesday night. I am happy to report that he is on the mend today. I continued on with Traci and the boys. Where oddly enought at the end of our night we encountered the neighborhood pediphile and his friend. Since neigher one lives in the neighborhood I am not sure why they were here.

School is going well for Cody and they again cannot keep up with him! He is reading at about a midsecond grade level or higher. Dad printed out a couple of math worksheets from grades one and two, so Cody looked at him and asked him for a 3rd grade sheet!

Shea is still going to lots of Occupational Therapy and Speech therapy in addition to going to his autism preschool 4 mornings a week. We have also started the listening program. He making more sounds but not talking yet. He seems to be saying some things at school so hopefully he will start doing so at home also. I know OT would like more progression. We had him using a fork but now he is resisting that again.

Skye is an adorable trouble maker! I just had her in for her 18 month check up. She is 22 pounds 8.5 onces (25 %), 31 3/4 inches (50 %), and her head is in the 25 percentile. As she is usually in the 10-25% for height not sure when she shot up! She is talking in sentences, now if we could only understand all the words LOL. So far her favorite color is pink and she LOVES animals.

Matt is getting some things accomplished with his lay off. Now with quite a few events over I am hoping he can get more done. We have some walls painted and I am hoping to get most of the rooms painted by Christmas. And the Basement and Garage clean. Would be nice if the kids could pay downstairs, so that is a goal. I think Matt is now going stir crazy so we will see how long he lasts at home.

I got away for 5 days without Matt or the kids. First time I have been away from the kids for more then 2 nights in 7 years. While I missed the kids it felt great to get away and met some friends I had only met online. And we managed to do Vegas very cheaply. It was warm and sunny and mom and I enjoyed the pool every day.

Wow Time Flies!

I suppose I should now update as it has been awhile. Cody finished up school for the summer on Thursday, Matthew finished up on Friday. Can anyone tell me why the kids get so squirrely and sassy right before break. Makes one want to quick schedule LOTS of activities for the kids LOL. Actually our activities are pretty minimal as we plan on biking, playing at the park and playing at pool and of course we will keep Karate in the mix also. Plus my sister and niece will be here for two weeks in July. Shea will be in summer school (for Special needs kids it is acutally ESY, Extended School Year). They didn't have him on the list then had to quick scramble when I pointed out that according to his IEP he IS elligible and I expected him to be there. At least the morning bus drivers are the same so they will be here to pick him up.

Anyways Shea has made a lot of progress with the school based Special Ed. His Occupational Therapist has noticed a difference and he seems to be becoming more and more engaged. In fact today he was playing with Skye having a good time. Monday we are adding private speech to the mix. We are doing cotherapy with speech and OT and hopefully he will respond well and start communicating better. I really like the staff at North Memorial Rehab clinic in Maple Grove. So far my experience there has been worlds better then what I experienced at the Maple Grove Children's. Somehow that just seems wrong to me but oh well I don't care as long as Shea is being helped.

Cody is scheduled for 2 sessions of swimming lessons, I am hoping he gets past level 2 this summer. However he hates to practice so I am not sure he will build up his endurance. He can swim underwater like a fish, but to actually do the the strokes is a different matter all together.

Matthew's baseball team has been doing very well. They are wrapping up the normal season and will be heading into tournaments/playoffs soon. We would have liked to make it to more games then we did but difficult with the situation, especially those 8 oclock games that don't get over until 9:30-10:00! With summer we should be able to make it to more of his games coming up. Cody also loves spending the time with Jacob.

Oh and I have begun helping Cody to ride his bike without training wheels. He is excited to do it. I am somewhat fearful as you just know they are going to fall. I think I will have to go over the how to stop and get off the bike before it tips over on you more.....