Ever seen that movie? It's amazing how creepy birds can be. After a few errands this morning Holland and Egypt were in the kitchen getting ready for a snack. All of a sudden, about 30 birds came swooping into our three feeders. I grabbed the camera (I mean, what else would a good blogger do?) and took a short video through the kitchen window. It's a little blurry and it was hard to get the overall picture of how many birds kept flying in. But it's amazing to me that we witnessed that. It wasn't creepy like the movie, but it was just weird and amazing and wonderful all at the same time.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I've Been Scammed!!
This just makes me so mad. With all we have going on, I'm constantly online either researching all the different ailments my kids have, finding homeschool resources or looking for ways to make some extra cash. This is what I was doing and got scammed. Snookered. Taken. I can see how elderly people can get ripped off so easily. If I wasn't going to be so busy writing a book about the big puzzles that my children are, I would get involved with keeping people from being taken.
Several months ago Holland's OT told me about 2 different grants. One was for this exercise vehicle and another was a dollar amount to help with medical bills. I didn't get either grant, but I thought there must be more and scoured online to find out. It was impossible to find anything. It's like back in high school when all the guidance counselors told me there were just hundreds of thousands of dollars to be had in scholarships. Well, I didn't live in New Jersey; my family didn't farm and I wasn't the daughter of an entomologist. (That's about how crazy they all were). I found several companies that offered CD's to help you navigate the web to find all this money. FREE MONEY! whoopie! I found one that charged shipping only. I got the CD and it wasn't any more clear than what I was already looking at. I gave up trying to figure out how access to services had anything to do with getting or writing grants.
Tonight super-hero is checking our balance online (again). We are so tight and can't figure out why. He doesn't get paid until Friday, but I had to buy food and Holland has two doctor appointments tomorrow. I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner and he starts yelling. I come in to see what in the world is going on. Turns out we have been paying for a service that I was conned into signing up for. That CD I bought? It was actually a monthly service fee for accessing the information. Are you kidding me? I thought that's what the CD was?? And to top it off, I mysteriously signed up for THREE of these! It goes back to like April. It was about $300. Three times every month. And because I didn't "cancel" (cancel WHAT?) within 7 days of receiving this valuable information, they automatically took the money out of my checking account. I cannot believe they are actually getting away with this. I found other people online who had the same thing happen to them. There's no phone number to contact them; just an email address.
Now I've got to figure out if Hardy Myers (for you non-Oregonians, he's our state's Attorney General) even cares if this is happening. I can file a complaint, but what will actually be done?
It's just unreal to me that a company can be so vague and manipulative to the consumer.
Several months ago Holland's OT told me about 2 different grants. One was for this exercise vehicle and another was a dollar amount to help with medical bills. I didn't get either grant, but I thought there must be more and scoured online to find out. It was impossible to find anything. It's like back in high school when all the guidance counselors told me there were just hundreds of thousands of dollars to be had in scholarships. Well, I didn't live in New Jersey; my family didn't farm and I wasn't the daughter of an entomologist. (That's about how crazy they all were). I found several companies that offered CD's to help you navigate the web to find all this money. FREE MONEY! whoopie! I found one that charged shipping only. I got the CD and it wasn't any more clear than what I was already looking at. I gave up trying to figure out how access to services had anything to do with getting or writing grants.
Tonight super-hero is checking our balance online (again). We are so tight and can't figure out why. He doesn't get paid until Friday, but I had to buy food and Holland has two doctor appointments tomorrow. I'm in the kitchen cooking dinner and he starts yelling. I come in to see what in the world is going on. Turns out we have been paying for a service that I was conned into signing up for. That CD I bought? It was actually a monthly service fee for accessing the information. Are you kidding me? I thought that's what the CD was?? And to top it off, I mysteriously signed up for THREE of these! It goes back to like April. It was about $300. Three times every month. And because I didn't "cancel" (cancel WHAT?) within 7 days of receiving this valuable information, they automatically took the money out of my checking account. I cannot believe they are actually getting away with this. I found other people online who had the same thing happen to them. There's no phone number to contact them; just an email address.
Now I've got to figure out if Hardy Myers (for you non-Oregonians, he's our state's Attorney General) even cares if this is happening. I can file a complaint, but what will actually be done?
It's just unreal to me that a company can be so vague and manipulative to the consumer.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
I'm so forgetful
This weekend was a whirlwind of activities. The boys both had soccer games at different times, at different locations. That meant finding all the paraphanalia that goes with soccer season; getting food in everyone and packing the cars with water, snacks, coats, chairs, etc. As I was watching Romania's game, I was chatting with another mom and mid-conversation realized that I had missed the team picture re-takes for Holland. My mind was so bogged down with the entire week of places to be, things to do that I completely forgot. I was also trying to get ready for Egypt's birthday party. It wasn't anything fancy, but at 2.45 I was still running around buying ice cream, wrapping paper and Necco wafers. So it's really not surprising that I forgot.
The birthday party was nice and so very low-key. We had my sister and her kids over and both sets of grandparents. The kids just played outside and we watched to make sure Egypt and Cutie Patootie didn't escape the backyard. I didn't get very many good pictures because the batteries in my camera died as soon as the candles were lit. I ran around the house looking for batteries with juice in them. We have reject batteries still in the box we keep the good ones. The boys just end up switching them around so I never know which ones actually work. They go from the Rokenbok, to the Wii, to remote control things, to Holland's newest pet project: his battery powered inventions. (Which reminds me I have to get a picture or a video of what he made. It's a shoe box made into a vehicle, with a pinwheel that spins, an alarm that rings all while it actually moves - forwards and backwards! I'm very impressed he could do this)
This week there's more insanity with ceramics, doctor appointments, blood draws (for me and Holland!), the homeschool co-op, meeting with my ES, speech and OT.
The birthday party was nice and so very low-key. We had my sister and her kids over and both sets of grandparents. The kids just played outside and we watched to make sure Egypt and Cutie Patootie didn't escape the backyard. I didn't get very many good pictures because the batteries in my camera died as soon as the candles were lit. I ran around the house looking for batteries with juice in them. We have reject batteries still in the box we keep the good ones. The boys just end up switching them around so I never know which ones actually work. They go from the Rokenbok, to the Wii, to remote control things, to Holland's newest pet project: his battery powered inventions. (Which reminds me I have to get a picture or a video of what he made. It's a shoe box made into a vehicle, with a pinwheel that spins, an alarm that rings all while it actually moves - forwards and backwards! I'm very impressed he could do this)
This week there's more insanity with ceramics, doctor appointments, blood draws (for me and Holland!), the homeschool co-op, meeting with my ES, speech and OT.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Happy Birthday Egypt!
Today is Egypt's birthday. She kept asking me when the people were coming over for her party. Even the boys have trouble with this. They think the party has to happen on the day of the birthday. I let her open one gift - a pink tutu skirt, kitty shirt and sweater. She was most excited about the "ballerina" skirt and ran around the house, twirling and spinning.
She is having so much fun withe the cats. Here's a quick video I took on my camera. She set up a box on a chair and is reading to the cats. It's hard to hear, but she keeps saying "something" is "destroyed".
She is having so much fun withe the cats. Here's a quick video I took on my camera. She set up a box on a chair and is reading to the cats. It's hard to hear, but she keeps saying "something" is "destroyed".
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Finally They Have Names
For some reason, I take too long to figure out names. It happened with the kids. Holland's (real) name was decided almost immediately. The grandparents emailed us pictures of him right after he was born and from the list of names we had, there was no disagreement on his name. The next two, were completely different. Romania's (real) name took me almost 3 days to come up with. Mostly because it's so unusual and Super-Hero really didn't like it. But in the end, he agreed with me. Same thing with Egypt's name. Not only did we not agree on a first name, but I complicated things by adding two middle names - those of great-grandmothers. But here they are. Super-Hero keeps calling them "Molly 2" and Millicent 2". I've decided he doesn't get to know the real names because he won't stop calling them that. I'm so much more original than calling a cat "the second". So, kitty in the first picture is "LuLu" and kitty in the second is "Fancy". Lulu's name was easy for me to come up with. It just fit her personality. Fancy took awhile. I wanted something that wasn't too long, or weird, or comical. But in the end, it was her face, it was 'fancy'. Here they are lounging on the couch around 9 tonight. I love how they sleep and walk all over each other. When I was taking this picture, Fancy got up from her nap and walked right over to the camera and started to paw at it. Then she climbed on my shoulder and head and walked around. The whole time LuLu, just lay there looking at her sister, probably wondering why she was disturbing her nap.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Kitty Adventures
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Pumpkin Party
This afternoon we were invited to our uncle's house for hot dogs, smores and picking pumpkins. My sister and her kids came too and the kids got to search for a pumpkin that had each of their names carved into it. They had such a great time running around. Here are some pictures of the pumpkin part; I'll have to make another scrapbook to fit the rest of the pictures!
Because I'm such an industrious blogger, here's another slideshow. I didn't bother taking out the duplicate pictures. It won't kill you to see them twice. Make sure you click on "full screen" (I paid for that feature, so you'd better use it!)
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| Make a Smilebox scrapbook |
Because I'm such an industrious blogger, here's another slideshow. I didn't bother taking out the duplicate pictures. It won't kill you to see them twice. Make sure you click on "full screen" (I paid for that feature, so you'd better use it!)
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| Make a Smilebox slideshow |
Welcome the Newest Members
Last night we picked up our new kitties. I was planning on giving one to Egypt for her birthday, but the kids quickly became possessive about which one belonged to them. So now they are both mine :-) They are both female and very sweet. Holland made a little box for them to sleep in and put a sign on the bathroom saying they were sleeping and not to disturb. We are having fun watching them roll around together, and play under the couch trying to grab our feet. Cats are so entertaining.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Science Guy
Today was the last day of Holland's "fun with electricity" class at the co-op. He had a great time building circuits and lighting up little bulbs. The last experiment had me holding a balloon that was popped when the teacher made an electrical connection.
When we got home he was still so excited about having the circuits he built at home that he built this circuit that lit a bulb and made a pinwheel turn. Here's a short video I took on my camera.
When we got home he was still so excited about having the circuits he built at home that he built this circuit that lit a bulb and made a pinwheel turn. Here's a short video I took on my camera.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Everybody On Your Toes
Today was just one of those weird days that you can't do anything about. It actually started last night when I got a call from Holland's psychiatrist at 9:30! We hadn't been in for awhile and I had asked him several weeks ago about possible med changes since we started the gluten-free diet. He called to say he'd had an opening and did I want it? It meant a lot of finagling because it was right when Romania needed to be picked up at the bus hub. I said I'd take it and I would call the receptionist in the morning to check on the time.
So at 9:30 at night, I call the only person that can help me out - a mom of one of Romania's friends at school. Would it be possible to have Romania come home with you? Sure, no problem. So in the morning I called the school to make sure they knew about the transportation change and also emailed his teacher. Whew. Then I called the doctor's office to confirm the time. "The doctor is not in today." Um. Exsqueeze me? He just called me last night to offer me this time slot. She said she'd email him, but was pretty confident that I had my pages mixed up.
Two hours after calling his cell and leaving a voice mail, the doctor called me and said "oops! I got my days mixed up". Oh boy. He had no idea how involved I already was in this ordeal. This meant undoing the transportation mess I'd created, and telling Romania he couldn't go to his friend's house. I called my friend and asked if she'd still be available for tomorrow afternoon? Yes, she would. Great. I offered to flip the deal and have her son come over to our house (as a little peace offering for all the trouble I'd - I mean the doctor - had caused). So I called back the school and explained that now to confuse the school even further, I needed Romania to come home on his regular bus and to boot, why not throw his friend on there too?
The boys had a great time running around in the backyard. And they also got to play legos, Rokenbok and a little Wii Star Wars. I even got Egypt to clean her room (gasp!). I told her the friend's brother was coming when his mom picked him up and would she like to show the boy her room? Yes - she would! Okay, then you should go clean up your room so he can see it. In 10 minutes it was spotless! Of course, most of it ended up in her closet, but lately I've been cleaning the same way.
So at 9:30 at night, I call the only person that can help me out - a mom of one of Romania's friends at school. Would it be possible to have Romania come home with you? Sure, no problem. So in the morning I called the school to make sure they knew about the transportation change and also emailed his teacher. Whew. Then I called the doctor's office to confirm the time. "The doctor is not in today." Um. Exsqueeze me? He just called me last night to offer me this time slot. She said she'd email him, but was pretty confident that I had my pages mixed up.
Two hours after calling his cell and leaving a voice mail, the doctor called me and said "oops! I got my days mixed up". Oh boy. He had no idea how involved I already was in this ordeal. This meant undoing the transportation mess I'd created, and telling Romania he couldn't go to his friend's house. I called my friend and asked if she'd still be available for tomorrow afternoon? Yes, she would. Great. I offered to flip the deal and have her son come over to our house (as a little peace offering for all the trouble I'd - I mean the doctor - had caused). So I called back the school and explained that now to confuse the school even further, I needed Romania to come home on his regular bus and to boot, why not throw his friend on there too?
The boys had a great time running around in the backyard. And they also got to play legos, Rokenbok and a little Wii Star Wars. I even got Egypt to clean her room (gasp!). I told her the friend's brother was coming when his mom picked him up and would she like to show the boy her room? Yes - she would! Okay, then you should go clean up your room so he can see it. In 10 minutes it was spotless! Of course, most of it ended up in her closet, but lately I've been cleaning the same way.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Check This Out
Since we are being bombarded with talk of the upcoming election, I thought why not add one more potato to the pot. I don't get to listen to the radio much, but Michael Savage has a great radio program that is really addressing some important points about our two stellar candidates. Since the mainstream media is controlled by those leaning towards the liberal agenda (that was tactful, right?), we don't get to hear much about what is really happening with current events. Here's a link to his website and many eye-opening articles on information you probably won't hear on Good Morning America tomorrow.
Michael Savage
Michael Savage
Friday, October 10, 2008
No Child Models Here
Egypt's 4th birthday is coming up and I always try to do pictures to mark each birthday. Since Romania had school off today, I thought I could get a few pictures with all three of them. I do not know what I was thinking. Why did I think my kids would do what they were told in a photo session? Why did I think they wouldn't touch things, roll on their brother, make faces, laugh their heads off or walk out of the room? So any fear you had that I was going to subject my kids to the rigors of child modeling is out the window. Seriously. How do they get kids to stand still for pictures? Do they fire you if your kid doesn't stand the right way? I always thought it would be fun to get Egypt in the hanna andersson catalogs because she's got that Scandinavian look. You know, earn a few extra bucks for college or pay some bills. It ain't happenin'. I didn't even stay to see the pictures on the computer.
Oh and for my headache of a picture session I drove to a McDonald's drive through and ordered a drink and fries for me and Holland.
Oh and for my headache of a picture session I drove to a McDonald's drive through and ordered a drink and fries for me and Holland.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
I Heart Electricity
We had dinner at my in-law's house on Tuesday to celebrate grampa's 79th birthday. The kids got to bed kind of late and I knew I'd be waking at least one up in the morning to get to the bus on time. It was Egypt. I barely got her dressed and was later thankful that I took the time to do this. After waving good-bye to Romania, I chatted with another mom and then headed back home. It was now that the garage door opener decided to stop working. It's been fussy lately, sometimes working, most of the time not. We can never seem to get out to Sears to buy a new battery. To make it all the more comical, I didn't have a house key on my key chain. And I had also forgotten my pager. Couldn't send an email to super-hero, couldn't even call my sister. So we did what any normal person locked out of their house would do: we went to Target.
I had to kill about an hour and a half before Sears opened. So we wandered around Target, picking up Halloween candy, kitchen scissors and tape. Finally it's 10 so we drive over to Sears. Showed the salesman the remote and he picked up a battery and handed it to me. I was able to pry open the thing before we left and put the new battery in. We get home and it's probably 10.45. More comedy: the door still wouldn't open. Holland had eaten a rice cake for breakfast and Egypt didn't even get anything before we left. The only way I was going to get in touch with super-hero was to email him from my sister's house. He answered pretty quickly and said he'd meet us at 11.30 at a store halfway between us. My sister gave my kids a few things to eat and as I was leaving asked her to reply to his message to say we were coming.
We got to the location and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Every 10 or 15 minutes I debated whether I should leave or not. If I left and missed him he would not be happy. Thirty minutes goes by. I'm thinking, 'he'd better have been in a car accident because 30 minutes is ridiculous'. The kids and I were so hungry, we opened the Halloween candy and started to eat lunch. Since Holland's diet now requires no gluten, I couldn't just run to McDonald's for something to eat. Finally at 12.15, he comes into the parking lot. He said he was waiting for my answer to make sure I was meeting him. My sister got sidetracked with her kids and doing an inventory for a new part-time job and didn't remember to reply until noon. I gave super-hero all the remote pieces and the batteries and he said he'd stop on his way home. We were locked out about 4 1/2 hours and after not having breakfast, Holland decided he wanted pancakes for lunch. So I'm exhausted from my morning of non-productivity and decide to let Holland build with Rokenbok in his room. His design turned out pretty cool. I'll have to get a picture before someone falls on it or something.
Oh yeah. We still cannot get the remote to work.
I had to kill about an hour and a half before Sears opened. So we wandered around Target, picking up Halloween candy, kitchen scissors and tape. Finally it's 10 so we drive over to Sears. Showed the salesman the remote and he picked up a battery and handed it to me. I was able to pry open the thing before we left and put the new battery in. We get home and it's probably 10.45. More comedy: the door still wouldn't open. Holland had eaten a rice cake for breakfast and Egypt didn't even get anything before we left. The only way I was going to get in touch with super-hero was to email him from my sister's house. He answered pretty quickly and said he'd meet us at 11.30 at a store halfway between us. My sister gave my kids a few things to eat and as I was leaving asked her to reply to his message to say we were coming.
We got to the location and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Every 10 or 15 minutes I debated whether I should leave or not. If I left and missed him he would not be happy. Thirty minutes goes by. I'm thinking, 'he'd better have been in a car accident because 30 minutes is ridiculous'. The kids and I were so hungry, we opened the Halloween candy and started to eat lunch. Since Holland's diet now requires no gluten, I couldn't just run to McDonald's for something to eat. Finally at 12.15, he comes into the parking lot. He said he was waiting for my answer to make sure I was meeting him. My sister got sidetracked with her kids and doing an inventory for a new part-time job and didn't remember to reply until noon. I gave super-hero all the remote pieces and the batteries and he said he'd stop on his way home. We were locked out about 4 1/2 hours and after not having breakfast, Holland decided he wanted pancakes for lunch. So I'm exhausted from my morning of non-productivity and decide to let Holland build with Rokenbok in his room. His design turned out pretty cool. I'll have to get a picture before someone falls on it or something.
Oh yeah. We still cannot get the remote to work.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Not So Fast
We keep getting these bills from the car accident that Egypt and I were in back in February. I keep ignoring them because, well, I'm not paying them! I finally had to call the billing service to find out why it wasn't getting paid. She told me that the other insurance denied the claim. What?!? So, I dig through my paperwork and find the other person's insurance number, call and leave a message asking why they haven't paid. He calls back and says that my insurance needs to pay and then they will get reimbursed from the other insurance. He then asks if I'm still receiving treatment. Oh - I hate these questions! In the beginning I would get bugged at least once a week asking when my treatment would be done. I answered, "No, not right now." "OK. Good, then I'll go ahead and write up a report and close out your case." Ummm. Excuse me?!! I was actually able to think fast enough to realize what he was doing! I told him that I would not be closing the case until next February, a year after the accident. They are so sneaky, those insurance agents. I wouldn't be able to get anymore treatment if I had agreed with him. And if I had had kids around me, distracting me, I wouldn't even have realized that he was trying to close my case.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Yummy Pancakes!
I finally opened the pancake mix that I bought last week. The price could give milk or bread a run for their money. I figured it's about 30 cents an ounce. Which doesn't seem like a lot until you look at this piddly bag of 24 ounces and the recipe for one batch of pancakes says: "yields 6, four-inch pancakes". Wow. That's a lot. (I'm rolling my eyes). My griddle that my mom gave me (I just typed 'girdle' and had to correct that before moving on! Spellcheck is completely worthless.) has gone kaput. I can only cook one lonely pancake at a time on the stove in a skillet, but Holland was really craving pancakes. He ate 2 ricecakes for breakfast before we took Romania to the bus stop, so I figured I needed to do something more.
The brand is Pamela's and I think they are equal or even better in taste than these buttermilk pancakes I've been making lately (sorry gramma Nora!) The mix can be used for pancakes, waffles or even as a flour in any baking recipe. One of the tricks I'm learning about gluten-free cooking is that you have to spray the pan or griddle or iron that you are using before cooking. I made that mistake with the first two little pancakes I put on the pan. I usually don't spray a non-stick pan, but after scraping pancake off, I decided I'd better follow the directions.
Egypt ate three pancakes and Holland had two. He usually can barely finish one pancake, so this was great for him. I'm still trying to figure out how to fill him up. He ate constantly all morning while we were doing school. It's all healthy stuff, so not complaining, but sometimes I wish he'd just eat a pudding cup and get on with it!
Now I just need to get my hands on some black market Pamela's so we can afford to eat pancakes for dinner.
The brand is Pamela's and I think they are equal or even better in taste than these buttermilk pancakes I've been making lately (sorry gramma Nora!) The mix can be used for pancakes, waffles or even as a flour in any baking recipe. One of the tricks I'm learning about gluten-free cooking is that you have to spray the pan or griddle or iron that you are using before cooking. I made that mistake with the first two little pancakes I put on the pan. I usually don't spray a non-stick pan, but after scraping pancake off, I decided I'd better follow the directions.
Egypt ate three pancakes and Holland had two. He usually can barely finish one pancake, so this was great for him. I'm still trying to figure out how to fill him up. He ate constantly all morning while we were doing school. It's all healthy stuff, so not complaining, but sometimes I wish he'd just eat a pudding cup and get on with it!
Now I just need to get my hands on some black market Pamela's so we can afford to eat pancakes for dinner.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Dining Out on Gluten-Free Pizza
Tonight was the night. October 1st. This really good pizza joint would be introducing their gluten-free menu. Holland was so excited. We picked Romania up from the bus stop, got Holland changed into his soccer clothes and met super-hero dad at the restaurant. Their gluten-free pizza came in one size, so Holland got a pepperoni pizza all to himself. Here he is enjoying his first dining out experience since being diagnosed with celiac. (I even tasted it and it wasn't that bad!)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Hooray for IEP's!
Today Holland had his ceramics class at his charter school. I only signed him up for one class a week. We're already doing a homeschooling co-op and the more I'm out of the house, the less school work I get done if I'm running around every day. I tried to get there a little early so I could make copies of his work for his work sample notebook. It wasn't enough time before class to figure out the copy machine, so we just sat on a bench outside the door to his class. I overheard one of the secreteries talking to the art teacher and picked up on key names (one of them being Holland's name). I figured out that they were talking about the woman who is now involved in his IEP and works for the school district. We had talked about her coming to observe Holland during his class so she could check on his behavior goals.
She's really nice, so I didn't mind at all. We actually have an annual review IEP meeting this Friday and we were able to discuss current goals and possible goals for this year. Imagine how surprised I was when she said "I think I'll just take all his behavior goals off. Is that okay?" Uh, yeah! She said he had met all his goals from last year and didn't see any reason to add more based on my observations and what she saw today. Yahoo! And what's even better is I get to write his IEP goals for reading, writing and math. How cool is that? I have all these great notes from the Language specialist evaluation last week and I'll be able to put down 'no phonics'; 'writing to read' through shared context, drawing about the context, labeling, writing and reading back what he wrote. I also started his picture dictionary. I used bubble letters and drew a small picture above the word and every time he needed to access the word for a reading comprehension workbook, he knew exactly which word it was. I'm so excited to see his progress!
She's really nice, so I didn't mind at all. We actually have an annual review IEP meeting this Friday and we were able to discuss current goals and possible goals for this year. Imagine how surprised I was when she said "I think I'll just take all his behavior goals off. Is that okay?" Uh, yeah! She said he had met all his goals from last year and didn't see any reason to add more based on my observations and what she saw today. Yahoo! And what's even better is I get to write his IEP goals for reading, writing and math. How cool is that? I have all these great notes from the Language specialist evaluation last week and I'll be able to put down 'no phonics'; 'writing to read' through shared context, drawing about the context, labeling, writing and reading back what he wrote. I also started his picture dictionary. I used bubble letters and drew a small picture above the word and every time he needed to access the word for a reading comprehension workbook, he knew exactly which word it was. I'm so excited to see his progress!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Who Cares About Oatmeal, Anyway?
Holland has been really wanting oatmeal. He used to eat it for breakfast or lunch or just a snack. But now since he can't have it, we've gotten more creative with his menu. Like this morning, for example. He was in a soccer tournament this weekend. He played two games yesterday and a game today. His lunch yesterday was a handful of almonds and chocolate chips and a juice drink. He said he wasn't that hungry, so I just let it go. When he finished the games, he did eat the rice bar I brought. He did not want the costco chicken that super-hero brought home, so he just had corn for dinner. I think he did eat another handful of almonds later on and maybe some popcorn.
This morning while I was getting the other two kids ready for church, I couldn't find anything to feed Holland. He had poured through the pantry and all he could find was gluten-free gingersnap cookies (which he ate). We are out of wheat-free cereal, out of eggs, can't have toast, forget pancakes. I was just stumped. Then I remembered I had a little bit of sherbet left for a fruit smoothie, so I made one really fast. Lunch wasn't much better. I had to make tacos (again. How many times is that now, in the last week?). He ate one and then went outside to play. Dinner was baked salmon, sticky rice and broccoli with fresh lemon. I really was in the mood for some dessert (we've stopped buying cookies, muffins, etc. We're on the South Beach diet and didn't even try!) I had returned all the gluten-free cookbooks and the boys were on the computer. So I just decided I would find a brownie recipe and make it. A couple months ago I bought two Martha Stewart cookbooks from costco: one is entirely cookies and the other is a seasonal cookbook. I found a brownie recipe, substituted my GF (gluten-free) flour mix I have already mixed up and added a few chopped pieces of Hershey's chocolate bar for a double chocolate brownie. The boys were so excited and I hadn't even told Holland it was gluten-free. I gave them eat a plate with a warm brownie and a glass of milk. He said it was even better than what I usually make, which is the boxed Hershey's brownie mix from Costco. Then I told him it was gluten-free and he couldn't believe it! I also had to tell super-hero to stop eating them and save some for Holland. He said he couldn't even tell they were different!! Wa-hooo!
Forget oatmeal. We have chocolate.
This morning while I was getting the other two kids ready for church, I couldn't find anything to feed Holland. He had poured through the pantry and all he could find was gluten-free gingersnap cookies (which he ate). We are out of wheat-free cereal, out of eggs, can't have toast, forget pancakes. I was just stumped. Then I remembered I had a little bit of sherbet left for a fruit smoothie, so I made one really fast. Lunch wasn't much better. I had to make tacos (again. How many times is that now, in the last week?). He ate one and then went outside to play. Dinner was baked salmon, sticky rice and broccoli with fresh lemon. I really was in the mood for some dessert (we've stopped buying cookies, muffins, etc. We're on the South Beach diet and didn't even try!) I had returned all the gluten-free cookbooks and the boys were on the computer. So I just decided I would find a brownie recipe and make it. A couple months ago I bought two Martha Stewart cookbooks from costco: one is entirely cookies and the other is a seasonal cookbook. I found a brownie recipe, substituted my GF (gluten-free) flour mix I have already mixed up and added a few chopped pieces of Hershey's chocolate bar for a double chocolate brownie. The boys were so excited and I hadn't even told Holland it was gluten-free. I gave them eat a plate with a warm brownie and a glass of milk. He said it was even better than what I usually make, which is the boxed Hershey's brownie mix from Costco. Then I told him it was gluten-free and he couldn't believe it! I also had to tell super-hero to stop eating them and save some for Holland. He said he couldn't even tell they were different!! Wa-hooo!
Forget oatmeal. We have chocolate.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Language Evaluation
I got the report back from the Language and Learning specialist. I think it was totally worth the money, although I'm sure super-hero would disagree. She wrote some pretty interesting things about the way he processes information, how he uses language, his fine motor skills and speech.
"Motor development is typically viewed as a function of fine and/or gross muscle groups, with speech motor acts produced with fine muscle movements; and walking produced with gross motor movements. The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is necessary for these motor acts. Damage to the spinal cord affects the motor function at the peripheral level (limbs, trunk, etc.) but not at the cognitive, speech or language levels. However, damage to the cerebral cortex can affect not only the motor ability to physically perform an act but also the ability to consciously want to execute an act. Thinking about execution is a cognitive (cortical) function. Execution of cognitive motor acts is not only a function of the motor strips but also a function of the frontal lobe in concert with the temperal and parietal lobes. The temporal and parietal lobes provide information about the language that a person is able to put to a motor act. For example, a child sees the feet move up and down. An adult watching this movement says the child is "walking". The child learns that when the feet move up and down a certain way, that motor act is called walking. Conscious execution of motor acts is a language function."
She observed his fine motor skills when he drew pictures, played with legos and spoke words. But she said he had "overflow" of the motor acts. For example when he ate a snack he used his left hand to pick up the small pieces while his right fingers were moving in parallel ways. Also when he wrote with his right hand, his left fingers would move. The movements on the opposite sides of his body show a "shadowing" which is more typical of a young child. He has this "lateralized" movement that affects his connection of motor patterns to the space that the patterns are in. This was interesting: "His body is divided into two equal parts and his eye movements see the letters on both sides of his body but in opposite position. Likewise, he sees the letters upside down and right side up at the same time. This means that he cannot use letters for the sounds of words. But, he can feel the shape of what he sees so that if he can store an idea as a motor shape, then it has no letters, no directions, and he has a visual pattern attached to an idea that he can retrieve." When Holland was asked to write a word with his eyes closed, he was able to do it. Dr. Arwood said because he can store the idea as a motor shape and he has a visual pattern attached to an idea he can then retrieve the information.
This makes complete sense to me. Recently I started signing words to him while he was reading when he got stuck. Sometimes he would try to "sound" out the word, but most of the time he would sound out letters that weren't even in the word. When I added a sign, he would be able to retrieve the picture for it and know the word. So he is obviously using "pictures" he has in his mind to retrieve information, reorganize it and give it back. Dr. Arwood also suggested that I fingerspell in his hand for vocabulary words. That way he could feel what the word looked like.
Speech requires fine acoustic motor patterning. "He responded well to falling or rising intonation indicating that he could hear the paralinguistic tones." He also heard a distant phone ring and asked about it, which suggests that he can also attach meaning to sound patterns of everyday actions. "However, the complex fine motor movements of speech for longer phrases or sentences and for sounds that require rapid movements during production such as glides and some blends, are often problematic for Holland. This is typical of auditory processing issues. Auditory processing requires a neurological connection of acoustic with visual patterns. Holland can produce the acoustic patterns and the visual patterns but his learning system does not integrate the two types of patterns for auditory concepts." He will also run his words together when words become too complex and he lacks the sound segmentation. (She called this "cluttering").
Holland's language and cognition was evaluated and it was found that his concepts are represented in visual form. He can see single pictures and is beginning to make those pictures into short "movie" clips. But because his speech showed auditory processing difficulties, Dr. Arwood asked him an auditory question. "What do you do on a typical day?" He replied, "playing, do math, stuff like that." This reply showed no "sequence of time, time-based wording or an understanding of the time of these events. He does not use the time-based properties of language."
When he was asked to read a first-grade passage, he immediately used his mental pictures to tell the story even though he could not read 80% of the words. For example, he would say the fox wanted to eat a hen. The passage read, "He was looking for food....He wanted a nice fat chicken." "He could mentally see what the meaning of the print was even though he did not know the names of the words. This means that Holland has visual or pictured concepts mentally to which he can put some sound for speech but cannot use sound for developing the meaning of ideas."
She suggested that I have Holland draw what we've read, add the words to match the picture and label the people/objects in the picture. She also said it was important to include thought bubbles and word bubbles so he could create perceptual patterns. I asked if I should correct spelling while he was writing and she said definately. It takes an average of 40 times to spell a word correctly that was learned incorrectly. If he learns a word that is spelled wrong, it will take him so much longer to "unlearn" that and learn the correct spelling. Good advice for all those "inventive spelling" teachers out there! That's what I was taught in my teaching program. 'Let the kids sound out words and experiment with spelling.' I suppose that would work if 100% of your students were auditory learners. But I'd be willing to bet that more people are visual rather than auditory learners.
The other thing that we will be doing is making a picture dictionary. She had a paper with about 12 squares on it for writing a word and then "bubbling" it. I had been 'framing' the words before, but this was new. She actually outlined the word, like you'd see on a high-school dance poster! Then she would erase the letters, so just the outlined showed. She had an example of a whole sentence written this way. At first Holland was uncomfortable with all the lines, but when he was shown the 'bubble' sentence, he was able to read all the words! Amazing. He could see the shape of the word, rather than be stuck on what the letters represented phonemically. She also had a little box for what she called "glue words." These were all those words he got stuck on like; I, me, you, they, their, there, them...etc. She drew a small picture above the word. Like the word "go" she drew little feet so he would have a picture to connect to a concept and then be able to create meaning.
So now you'll be able to use all these great ideas if you have a more visual than auditory learner. You're welcome.
"Motor development is typically viewed as a function of fine and/or gross muscle groups, with speech motor acts produced with fine muscle movements; and walking produced with gross motor movements. The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is necessary for these motor acts. Damage to the spinal cord affects the motor function at the peripheral level (limbs, trunk, etc.) but not at the cognitive, speech or language levels. However, damage to the cerebral cortex can affect not only the motor ability to physically perform an act but also the ability to consciously want to execute an act. Thinking about execution is a cognitive (cortical) function. Execution of cognitive motor acts is not only a function of the motor strips but also a function of the frontal lobe in concert with the temperal and parietal lobes. The temporal and parietal lobes provide information about the language that a person is able to put to a motor act. For example, a child sees the feet move up and down. An adult watching this movement says the child is "walking". The child learns that when the feet move up and down a certain way, that motor act is called walking. Conscious execution of motor acts is a language function."
She observed his fine motor skills when he drew pictures, played with legos and spoke words. But she said he had "overflow" of the motor acts. For example when he ate a snack he used his left hand to pick up the small pieces while his right fingers were moving in parallel ways. Also when he wrote with his right hand, his left fingers would move. The movements on the opposite sides of his body show a "shadowing" which is more typical of a young child. He has this "lateralized" movement that affects his connection of motor patterns to the space that the patterns are in. This was interesting: "His body is divided into two equal parts and his eye movements see the letters on both sides of his body but in opposite position. Likewise, he sees the letters upside down and right side up at the same time. This means that he cannot use letters for the sounds of words. But, he can feel the shape of what he sees so that if he can store an idea as a motor shape, then it has no letters, no directions, and he has a visual pattern attached to an idea that he can retrieve." When Holland was asked to write a word with his eyes closed, he was able to do it. Dr. Arwood said because he can store the idea as a motor shape and he has a visual pattern attached to an idea he can then retrieve the information.
This makes complete sense to me. Recently I started signing words to him while he was reading when he got stuck. Sometimes he would try to "sound" out the word, but most of the time he would sound out letters that weren't even in the word. When I added a sign, he would be able to retrieve the picture for it and know the word. So he is obviously using "pictures" he has in his mind to retrieve information, reorganize it and give it back. Dr. Arwood also suggested that I fingerspell in his hand for vocabulary words. That way he could feel what the word looked like.
Speech requires fine acoustic motor patterning. "He responded well to falling or rising intonation indicating that he could hear the paralinguistic tones." He also heard a distant phone ring and asked about it, which suggests that he can also attach meaning to sound patterns of everyday actions. "However, the complex fine motor movements of speech for longer phrases or sentences and for sounds that require rapid movements during production such as glides and some blends, are often problematic for Holland. This is typical of auditory processing issues. Auditory processing requires a neurological connection of acoustic with visual patterns. Holland can produce the acoustic patterns and the visual patterns but his learning system does not integrate the two types of patterns for auditory concepts." He will also run his words together when words become too complex and he lacks the sound segmentation. (She called this "cluttering").
Holland's language and cognition was evaluated and it was found that his concepts are represented in visual form. He can see single pictures and is beginning to make those pictures into short "movie" clips. But because his speech showed auditory processing difficulties, Dr. Arwood asked him an auditory question. "What do you do on a typical day?" He replied, "playing, do math, stuff like that." This reply showed no "sequence of time, time-based wording or an understanding of the time of these events. He does not use the time-based properties of language."
When he was asked to read a first-grade passage, he immediately used his mental pictures to tell the story even though he could not read 80% of the words. For example, he would say the fox wanted to eat a hen. The passage read, "He was looking for food....He wanted a nice fat chicken." "He could mentally see what the meaning of the print was even though he did not know the names of the words. This means that Holland has visual or pictured concepts mentally to which he can put some sound for speech but cannot use sound for developing the meaning of ideas."
She suggested that I have Holland draw what we've read, add the words to match the picture and label the people/objects in the picture. She also said it was important to include thought bubbles and word bubbles so he could create perceptual patterns. I asked if I should correct spelling while he was writing and she said definately. It takes an average of 40 times to spell a word correctly that was learned incorrectly. If he learns a word that is spelled wrong, it will take him so much longer to "unlearn" that and learn the correct spelling. Good advice for all those "inventive spelling" teachers out there! That's what I was taught in my teaching program. 'Let the kids sound out words and experiment with spelling.' I suppose that would work if 100% of your students were auditory learners. But I'd be willing to bet that more people are visual rather than auditory learners.
The other thing that we will be doing is making a picture dictionary. She had a paper with about 12 squares on it for writing a word and then "bubbling" it. I had been 'framing' the words before, but this was new. She actually outlined the word, like you'd see on a high-school dance poster! Then she would erase the letters, so just the outlined showed. She had an example of a whole sentence written this way. At first Holland was uncomfortable with all the lines, but when he was shown the 'bubble' sentence, he was able to read all the words! Amazing. He could see the shape of the word, rather than be stuck on what the letters represented phonemically. She also had a little box for what she called "glue words." These were all those words he got stuck on like; I, me, you, they, their, there, them...etc. She drew a small picture above the word. Like the word "go" she drew little feet so he would have a picture to connect to a concept and then be able to create meaning.
So now you'll be able to use all these great ideas if you have a more visual than auditory learner. You're welcome.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Projects For Everyone
So this year seems to be all about the projects. Holland made gliders to test differences in wing size; we made a bat house (which is for our next study in flying creatures); and today we did an art project based on "Fish is Fish" by Leo Lionni. He created a new fish/animal, did a background texture rub with crayon and then he wrote a story about his Fin-fox (body of a fish; head of a fox). He's also really enjoying his ceramics class on Mondays.
So today I needed a project. And since food has become a major focus lately, I decided we needed something we could all eat. Last night we had hamburgers and (store-bought) french fries. Holland didn't even mind that he ate his hamburger without a bun. (I even gave him some of my pop to make him feel better!) We had leftover patties today and Holland actually said that sounded good. But of course, all the french fries were gone. I found some russet potatoes in the pantry and decided I needed homemade french fries to go with my hamburger (and a tomato from my garden!) I peeled, sliced and soaked the potatoes for about 15 minutes. I cooked them for about 3 minutes, drained them, cooked the next batch and then cooked them a second time. They were soft on the inside and cripsy on the outside. Holland loved them. He was so excited that potatoes were not a forbidden food.
So today I needed a project. And since food has become a major focus lately, I decided we needed something we could all eat. Last night we had hamburgers and (store-bought) french fries. Holland didn't even mind that he ate his hamburger without a bun. (I even gave him some of my pop to make him feel better!) We had leftover patties today and Holland actually said that sounded good. But of course, all the french fries were gone. I found some russet potatoes in the pantry and decided I needed homemade french fries to go with my hamburger (and a tomato from my garden!) I peeled, sliced and soaked the potatoes for about 15 minutes. I cooked them for about 3 minutes, drained them, cooked the next batch and then cooked them a second time. They were soft on the inside and cripsy on the outside. Holland loved them. He was so excited that potatoes were not a forbidden food.
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