by Sarah | Oct 3, 2010 | Photography, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XTi.
For week 9/26-10/2/10
The title says it all. For some reason I didn’t take my camera up in hand until Thursday of last week. So it was slim pickin’s..
Dinosaur Down
*Taken for Aiming Low’s Outside of the Box challenge week 1 – Aiming Low
Ready for Roasting
5 years old + 1 lost tooth = Big Girl
It’s Alive!! (Sourdough starter sponges)
Perfect Nook for a Nook
Okay, so despite the fact that I didn’t use my camera 4 of the 7 days, I still ended up with a decent amount of pictures for the week 🙂
That’s all for this week. Head on over to Lotus‘ digs to see more!!
by Sarah | Oct 1, 2010 | All About Learning, All About Molly, Autism, Cross Country
Earlier this week Archie got a call from the woman we’re working with in Special Services. She has recommended moving Riley to All-Day Kindergarten.
In essence she’s saying “There’s something going on, she does have issues – but we wont’ give you an IEP or diagnosis yet.”
The reasons were….
1) All-Day Kindergarten is for children that “need more attention.”
2) All-Day Kindergarten would give her more time in the day to evaluate her.
3) All-Day Kindergarten would give Riley more time to adjust to her day and settle in before it’s all over.
4) All-Day Kindergarten has a smaller class size – less chaos, more individualized attention.
All valid points. All reasons to go for it.
But then there’s…
1) All-Day Kindergarten lends toward more chances for Fire/Tornado drills (oh won’t that be fun).
2) All-Day Kindergarten means lunch. Riley can’t handle the chaos of snacktime in a classroom – you think she’s going to handle lunch in a crowded cafeteria?
3) She loses her comfort zones – her teacher and her best friend J.
4) All-Day Kindergarten means all day. Means behaving to the best of her ability all day. Means putting all that effort into being good at school – what unholy hell will we be unleashing upon ourselves by asking her to do this?
****
Well, we’re taking that risk.
I’d be lying if I said the thought of All-Day Kindergarten didn’t scare me on a number of levels…
But the thought of them having more time to evaluate her and getting this all out of the way is what’s holding me together. I still am not confident in the school’s ability to get this done – but at this point it’s our only hope. With the changes in insurance, getting her evaluated at the hospital is totally not in our pocketbook’s reach.
(And yes, it totally pisses me off that because of sh*tty insurance we have to rely on the school for Molly’s evaluation and diagnosis…and no, the geneticists diagnosis is NOT enough for us to get the insurance assistance we need. I’ve tried it before. We need one from a psych…thus we are dealing with the school…but that’s a totally different post that I won’t write for many reasons.)
by Sarah | Sep 30, 2010 | All About Me, Random
The weather is (finally) getting cooler. The days are getting shorter…
And my brain is wrapped around five million craft projects.
Yup, it’s getting close to Christmas. I’m trying to figure out measurements for the girls for dresses, pettiskirts…trying to knit faster than I type (not even close at this point)…laying out what materials I have, figuring out what I need. What presents are bought and what we still need to acquire.
Christmas is closer than ever. I’m happy that I started to buy presents a few months ago (just a little bit here and there)…and that we only have a few more to get – but as always it’s the pricey ones…and we need new tires this year on the truck (desperately)…and oy. Things always have to happen all at once don’t they?
But I love this time of year.
The colors.
The urge to cook and bake – not to mention the joy I get from the activity. This year I’ve created my own sourdough starter. A living, breathing, growing sponge for bread. I can’t wait to make a batch of it this coming week.
The cool, crisp air that isn’t yet cold enough to freeze my nose off.
Apples.
Pumpkins.
Fall.
It always was my favorite time of year – even when I wasn’t allowed to play in the leaves (sap allergy…yup. Seriously).
Now excuse me while I get back to knitting. I have gifts to finish, you know…
by Sarah | Sep 28, 2010 | All About Me, Photography
These pictures both sort of fit with how I’ve felt all week…out of focus, fuzzy, unclear.
WINE
*no wine was abused in the taking of this photo
FOCUS
*Or total lack thereof
**** Head on over to check out who else is flipping out:
by Sarah | Sep 27, 2010 | All About Learning, All About Molly, Crap
But really, wouldn’t you make allowances for this face?
I met with Riley’s teacher last week. A pre-IEP/pre-parent-teacher-conference meeting. A “she’s beating the crap out of her sister, how is she behaving in school” type of meeting.
Her behavior scale is different than the other students – she has been granted more leeway.
But she hides under the desk. She doesn’t talk. The class has had their seats moved several times already this year – Riley has remained stationary. She plays alone. She shuts down if things don’t go perfectly. She has one friend.
One friend is better than none.
The other kids try, from what I’m told. Riley just isn’t sociable.
One of the biggest problems at the moment is that it’s mid-terms. The teacher is required to test every student the same. Riley does not respond to the testing the way it is. Without an IEP there isn’t a thing the teacher can do to accommodate her needs. We can’t get an IEP until the testing is done. Rock. Hardplace. Us. Suckville.
We are learning from our (vast) mistakes. But not fast enough to spare some pain.
The teacher is worried sick about what will happen during a fire/tornado drill.
I’m worried sick about how this all is affecting her. Affecting us. Our meeting with special services will not be until November. Our hands are tied until then.
I thought we were done with the “hurry up and wait”.
It will never end.
**********
*Apologizing for negative nature of post. Feeling negative/stressed. It’s carrying over.*
by Sarah | Sep 26, 2010 | Photography, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XTi.
For week 9/19-9/25/10
Unfortunately somewhere along the line I lost two days of pictures – and my photos for this week were not up to much quality at all. So due to my double disappointment, my selections are few this week.
Not my best Moon shot
I couldn’t get my settings right, so this isn’t my best, moon shot…
But the Full Moon begged to be photographed
Clinging
Needed Drops of Life
Neglected
Forgotten
That’s all for this week. Head on over to Lotus‘ digs to see more!!
