WHO DAT!

Football season in Louisiana is something like I've never seen before! Schools are invloved, stores, newspapers, restaurants...EVERYONE! I don't even like football, but the vibe in the city just sweeps you in and makes you a fan.

Today at the boys' school is NFL day. They will be participating in NFL themed activities in both the classroom and during PE, and were allowed to wear their favorite team's jersey along with their uniform shorts. DJ chose the Saints and Cameron wanted the Steelers but there wasn't a Pittsburg jersey to be found anywhere in a three parish area...So he opted for the Saints, too.

Evan got in on the fun with her Fleur de Lis dress and matching NO Saints bow!

The List {Updated}

I am slowly, but surely making my way through my 35 before 35 list! I have accomplished so many new things (items 4,5,6 and 30, 31,and 32)! I'm also only one goal away from finishing compiling the list.

My J-O-B is going well and has been the driving force behind me accomplishing so many goals. I've got my office, my "SHELF", and was able to relocate south! As you can tell from all my previous posts Louisiana is FAB and there's a lot to see and do hear. It's DEFINITELY the best decision we've ever made.

35 before 35

1. own my own home (again)

2. spend my anniversary on a beach

3. finish my masters degree

4. get THE SHELF

5. put THE SHELF in an office of my own

6. relocate to the South

7. decorate my living room

8. have a real dinner party

9. learn to French braid

10. make Thanksgiving dinner

11. finish that third novel

12. take my kids to Disney World

13. go out on New Years Eve

14. celebrate homecoming at TSU

15. “Would Ya Like it” in the rain

16. Have date night once a week

17. Visit Washington DC

18. have a picnic with wine and cheese

19. wear red lipstick

20. go Up North

21. grow a plant

22. make a cake for a loved one’s birthday

23. restore a piece of furniture

24. attend a Broadway play (does not have to be in NY, although that’s a bonus)

25. get rid of all unnecessary debt

26. eat healthier

27. answer the question, “What’s wrong?” honestly, the first time.

28. institute a new family tradition

29. take a cooking class

30. Find the perfect school for Cameron

31. Learn to let go

32. Invest in great pics of the kids

33. Learn a new language

34. Renew my wedding vows

35.

Number 30-Find the Perfect School for Cameron- has been and on and off type thing. Last year when we placed him in Montessori we thought we had found the right environment for him...WE WERE WRONG. Montessori was way too free for Cam and he just took it as an excuse to do whatever he wanted. Now, he has an IEP and is in an Inclusion Classroom. He receives push-in services from a SPED teacher and para-pro and Pragmatic Language Services from a Speech Therapist.

Already wev've seen a MAJOR change in Cam's behavior and academics. He has only been to the office once and is currently receiving straight A's!!!

DJ is doing well too and we're seriously consierding having him tested for the gifted and talented program within the Praish they attend school.

Evan has moved up to the 2 year old room at daycare and with thatcomes potty training and Pull-Ups. I think she'll be much easier than the boys because she loves to take off her diaper.

Autism Speaks

Well, we decided to get a full battery of testing done on Cameron. We just weren't satisfied with the hasty diagnosis the outside psychologist gave us, so we asked the school to retest. He got IQ, Autism, and Speech evaluations, and this Monday his IEP meeting was held. We found that Cam has a very high functioning form of Autism and a pragmatic speech disorder. Basically, he's socially awkward, and doesn't know how to behave or engage in conversation is social situations. This diagnosis is spot on and we're so happy that we finally know what's REALLY going on with him, and have an action plan to deal with his special needs. He now has an active IEP the outlines his hours for resource services (push-in or pull-out), social work, and speech. He's going to be very busy. The new Louisiana school will have 30 days to hold another IEP meeting to discuss and revise the current IEP, and then he'll get started! We're hoping to get one to one or VERY small group modifications put into his IEP, because he really needs someone standing over him to get his work done.

The positive side is that his IQ scores came back great! He scored above average (superior intelligence) in performance based tasks and mathematics!

On the home front we are packing up and getting ready to get out of MI. Only 17 more days to go.

Goodbye Mitten, Hello Boot

Goodbye, Michigan! You guys have NO IDEA how long I've been waiting to say that! We're moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the end of June and couldn't be more nervous and excited at the same time. Jobs have been secured : (Damon will be teaching science at Central Middle School)

(I will be a Dean at Inspire Academy, the new school my company is opening in August)

The boys will be attending the primary school that funnels into Damon's school and we've sent down the application fee and deposit for our rental home.


This huge turn of events really makes a big dent in THE LIST.

35 before 35

1. own my own home (again)

2. spend my wedding anniversary on a beach

3. finish my masters degree

4. get THE SHELF

5. put THE SHELF in an office of my own

6. relocate to the South

7. decorate my living room

8. have a real dinner party

9. learn to French braid

10. make Thanksgiving dinner

11. finish that third novel

12. take my kids to Disney World

13. go out on New Years Eve

14. celebrate homecoming at TSU

15. “Would Ya Like it” in the rain

16. Have date night once a week

17. Visit Washington DC

18. have a picnic with wine and cheese

19. wear red lipstick

20. go Up North

21. grow a plant

22. make a cake for a loved one’s birthday

23. restore a piece of furniture

24. attend a Broadway play (does not have to be in NY, although that’s a bonus)

25. get rid of all unnecessary debt

26. eat healthier

27. answer the question, “What’s wrong?” honestly, the first time.

28. institute a new family tradition

29. take a cooking class

30. Find the perfect school for Cameron

31. Learn to let go

32. Invest in great pics of the kids

33.

34.

35.

Numbers 4 and 5 will also be crossed off, but I'm waiting until July (or whenever the school is finished) for those. Number 3 will be complete in December, and we hope to cross off Number 1 after a year of living in BR.

We've been so busy lately with cleaning up, throwing away, posting on Craigslist, and trying to finish out the school year strong. We still can't decide if we want to move ourselves of if we should stick with the company we've hired, and we're planning a get together for family and friends to say goodbye.

Lots of Work to Do!

We've been pretty busy over here at Baby Makes Five and pretty sick. Evan has been to the doctor so many times this winter that she actually knows how to get on and off the scale all by herself, and is getting pretty used to the nebulizer too!

I've been busy with running her back and forth to the doctor, being sick myself, and doing tons of school work. Here's my MAT- Reading and Literacy program.

The bolded, blue classes are those I have completed, and everything else is waiting for me. Monday I begin Meeting the Needs of All Learners, which shouldn't be difficult. I LOVE this program because I only have to take one class every 7 weeks and there are no tests. Just papers, projects, and online discussions.

Start	End
SEM1	5/4/09	6/20/09		Teacher as Leader
	7/6/09	8/22/09		Understanding Teaching and Learning
				Capstone
SEM 2	9/7/09	10/24/09		Instructional Design
	11/2/09	12/19/09		Effective Assessment
SEM 3	1/11/10	2/27/10		Teacher as Researcher
	3/8/10	4/24/10		Meeting the Needs of All Students
				Capstone
SEM 4	5/3/10	6/19/10		Foundations of Reading and Literacy
	7/5/10	8/4/10		Assessment and Intervention for the Struggling Readers
SEM 5	9/6/10	10/23/10		Reading in the Content Areas
	11/1/10	12/18/10		The Reading/Writing Connection
				Capstone

I'm also embarking on another class (crazy, I know!). This on is through my company on leadership. Your name had to be given to the corporate office by the principal as a top performer, then they picked all the names out of a hat for get the final list of 22 participants (out of 150). I was REALLY happy to be chosen because I am never chosen for lottery stuff like that. So far we've had the first session and it was really great. I can't wait to see what the next sessions have in store.

On the job front things are moving along. I have some news, but can't share just yet. Too many eyes on the net. Look for a new post about our plans late March, early April!!!

Same Song

We're singing the same song this week. On Thursday I got a call from Cam's new school that he'd spit on someone so I FLEW up there and sat in on his class for a hour and a half. I LOVE the school, and still believe that Cam is in the perfect place, but he's still getting into the same type of trouble. Friday he threw a snowball at the teacher (among other things) and was suspended again. I tried to get an emergency appointment with the therapist, but it's a no go. Unless someone cancels we'll have to wait until Thursday.

We've been watching Cameron and taking mental notes about his behavior. It's obvious that he has NO impulse control. He knows all the rules but doesn't stop long enough to follow them. We're going to continue with the child study process at this new school so that he can get classified. Bottom line - he needs a parapro with him during work times so that he gets his assignments done and stop getting put out of school. We're going to try to have his psychologist fax over the paper work verifying that he has oppositional defiant disorder. That way it'll be in his file and then maybe at 504 plan can be put into place.

His new teacher says that he's in the middle to high range in his class of kinder and first graders, but she can't get him to focus long enough to really do anything. When I was there and made him sit with the small group and do the vowel assignment he finished in about 1.5 minutes with no help from anyone. That's pretty amazing considering how much school he's missed due to trips to the office and out of school suspensions.

We've been talking to him about making friends and bucket filling, and he's finally starting to open up about his feelings. He's been great this weekend about filling up our buckets by saying kind things and following directions, but who knows how this will translate when Monday rolls around.

As far as THE LIST is concerned I'm beginning to cross things off! I still think we've found the perfect school for Cam and in the event that we move after this school year he'll be in another public Montessori school wherever we end up. So, right now #29 is complete as is #31- Pics of the kids. Yesterday I reserved our session with a local custom family photographer. We'll be taking family pics next week and I can't wait! I've been wanting something done like this for a long time, but could never afford it. Now I can. These are not sit down, posey pictures...these are pics that will capture the kids' personalities in an environment they're comfortable in-HOME. Check out the photographer's work here.

The shelf is also coming into view. Things are really beginning to shape up nicely, and while I have a few different irons in the fire, my number one choice seems to be shaping up nicely. Here's another pic of our new possible city.

Lastly, just want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who have been sending kind words, encouragement and prayers for Cameron. It's greatly appreciated and keep them coming! :)

These past two weeks...

I think these past two weeks have been our most difficult as parents. Cameron has been suspended until Wednesday (AGAIN), and we're pretty much over it. After talking to Cameron about his behavior, we learned that students are picking with him, calling him "weirdo", and just making his first year of school a living hell.

So, I can tentatively cross number #29- Find the Perfect School for Cameron, off THE LIST! We've decided to pull him out of school and this Friday we found what we think may be the perfect place. On Monday he begins at a Montessori school. Montessori believes in freedom with limits and that's exactly what he needs. He's not the type of kid to do well in environments where he's forced to do things, so he kept getting in trouble for not working in a group or sitting on the carpet with his class, even though he already knew all the concepts they were going over.

At the new school, Cam can walk around, get out of his seat and sit on the floor ALONE, and they have a peace room where kids who have extra energy can use a sit and spin, or jump on a trampoline before going back to class! He can even wear house shoes all day long and EVERYTHING is hands on. After touring the school he immediately said he wanted to go there...this from the kid who tells us everyday that he hates school.

The same day he was suspended we ironically went to our first therapist appointment. This one was just for the parents where we talked about our concerns and what we want to see for him. Before we could even mention looking at other schools for Cam, the therapist suggested it, because his issues may be environmental. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Here's a video of a Montessori classroom.

I also added #31 to the list- invest in timeless family photos of the children.

Busy, busy

So...I broke my promise. I know I said that I would blog more, but I've just been too busy with school, work, and dealing with all things Cameron.

We've been to a Piston's game, the orthodontist (Dj's getting expanders), the doctor to discuss Cameron's behavior issues again (after he got suspended), and gymnastics (which DJ started, just as we consider taking Cameron out because he WILL NOT behave).

On the job front I'm still awaiting word on the southern jump off. They're having a hard time finding a principal, so things are kind of at a halt. Damon and I are exploring our options though, and none of them are in our home state.

Next week Damon and I will be seeing a family therapist in preparation for Cam's psychiatrist visit. This situation has been a MAJOR point of stress for us, and we're really at loss. Child Study stuff has started and they have put new interventions in place to see if they can help him. So far, they've been working at school, but...The doctor also suggested we give him benadryl before bed to help him sleep. We see a difference, so I guess that's progress.

I also learned to make a new dish. It doesn't have a fancy name, but it's cabbage with bacon...sooooo good.

Here are some pics of what we've been up to.

The First Day of School and Monday Night Raw

The first day of school was a success! It was pretty hectic trying to get all four kids ready and out the door by 6:45am, but with planning and organization I managed to pull it off without a hitch.

All three kids were really excited to start the new year, and Cameron was the most excited. I was a bit nervous about how he was going to behave, but he got glowing reports from his Kinder teacher (DJ's old teacher) and the aftercare teachers who were used to the wild and free Cameron of last year.

DJ also received a great report, and Kayla was good overall, but has some things she needs to work on.

After school, I sat all three kids down in my room and we worked on homework and had computer time. Great Day!!!!





Last Monday DJ finally got to experience his 7th birthday present with a trip to WWE Monday Night Raw. Although I was initially a little skeptical about going but it really was a great time! I highly recommend it for a family outing!

Wow...

On Thursday I left work a little early to attend parent teacher conferences at Kayla's school. I knew that she was having problems, possibly failing, but I didn't know the extent of the issues. Now I do. After sitting down with her teacher and reviewing her latest progress report I mortified to say the least. 50% in math, 23% in reading, and 18% in writing. I nearly cried once the conference was over. Needless to say I'm retaining her in 1st grade. . There's no point in watching her struggle in 2nd grade, when she's still lacking Kinder skills. We're going to be working with her military style this summer, but 2 months is not enough time to make up 2 years worth for missed academics. I'm the reading and writing front line and Damon will be math. I'm going to be pulling Kinder and 1st grade curriculum and we'll start with the basics- letter and number recognition, then moving on to phonemic awareness.

I'm just hoping a spot at my school opens up for her, so I don't have to enroll her down the street at the new school my company is building. But, we'll see.

Mother Son Luau

Yesterday, DJ, Cameron, and I attended the Mother Son Luau at our school. We dressed in our Hawaiian gear, ate snacks, and Danced a grand total of three times. Once to the ChaCha Silde, once to the Cupid Shuffle, and once to a slow song I can't remember. The other hour and fifty minutes were spent watching all the boys in the gym running back and forth at full speed sweating like donkeys, telling DJ to stop crying because he lost at limbo, and chasing Cameron out of the bathroom. Fun times.







In more Evan news....

She now has 2 teeth!