Thirty Years Ago Today....

This is a post I did one year ago today. Due to time constraints, I will just link to this post instead of creating a new one.

Thirty years ago today, my mom passed away. This was one of my biggest life-altering events. On one hand, I feel that, as tragic as it was to all of us, it also helped define who we all are today. On the other hand, I just wish she was here...even if that would mean I would be a weaker or less determined or less strong person. Her passing and then the continuation of life without her truly did make us all closer and stronger, that is without a doubt in my mind. However, sometimes strength, determination, and closeness is a tad overrated! I miss her!

Another Addendum....

Well, the second screening went well. Our daughter dared to speak up even a little bit more, bringing her voice from a whisper to a soft speaking voice, still only answering to me though, never to the screener.

Some of her answers to the screener's questions:

Screener: "What is an umbrella?"
Her: "Um....for cleanin' up and puttin' away." *brilliant smile to me*

Screener: "What are boots?"
Her: "Shoes! For people!"

Screener: "What do you do when it starts to get dark outside?" *answer she was looking for was, "Turn on a light."*
Her: "Go inside."
Screener: "And what do you do inside the house when it starts to get dark?"
Her: "Go to bed!" *We do not encourage light usage in our house, apparently!!!*

Screener: "What is a candle?"
Her: "Mmmm, I don't know." *looking right at a couple of them that were sitting on the table in front of her. She knows very well what a candle is, I think she was overthinking these questions just a tad...just wasn't sure how to explain exactly what a candle is.*

The screener had to go back to her office and score the testing results but felt that our 4 y.o. almost certainly didn't qualify for the early childhood preschool intervention. I guess that's okay since that means that academically she probably won't struggle once she does start school as long as we somehow get her more comfortable in a group setting. I personally think she will do fine once I saw how much she warmed up during the at-home screening process. We will just have to make sure to either enroll her in a very parttime preschool program or enroll all of us at-homers next year into some community ed classes geared for her age.

Addendum to the "Pick!" Story (yesterday's post)

I guess I didn't give all the details and maybe should have about the preschool screening.

The reason they had our 4 y.o. do her preschool screening at home then, after two attempts at screening her at school was that, although she passed the screening on the second shot, she barely passed due to her not daring to do some of the physical stuff and then not answering some of the questions. The screener thought that she could possibly benefit from one more screening, since she was pretty sure that our daughter was pretty bright but still thought maybe she could qualify for the school funded preschool, just to get her on track socially so she wouldn't lose ground in kindergarden. I know that our third daughter really lost a lot of ground in kindergarden and first grade due to shyness and now in third grade is finally catching up and beginning to seem like she is reaching near her full potential.

The screener at the school had asked if we had planned on enrolling our 4 y.o. in preschool next year and I told her that we actually had. We've never had any of our kids in preschool before for multiple reasons but in this case I felt that it is almost dire that she gets used to the group/school environment before kindergarden. In a lot of ways, I don't want her in preschool but think that if we could have her in just for a couple hours a few times a week, she would greatly benefit from it.

She did, by the way, do much better at home after she warmed up. She started out whispering very, very quietly in my ear but after a while of "playing" with the blocks, paper, coins, etc., she started whispering a little louder in my ear...finally to the point that the screener could hear her without me having to repeat everything she said. The screener is coming back on Thursday since she didn't finish the screening before our other kids came from school but she was very impressed and said it was fun to screen a child that did so well. I'm happy she did well so far but on one hand, wouldn't have minded if she hadn't since she could then possibly qualify for the preschool that they have right in the school system (in the kindergarden building, as a matter of fact). For one thing, it builds right into the school curriculum, and for another, it would have been free! Gotta love free!!!

What Do You Do With....?

Our 4 y.o., yes, this 4 y.o., can actually be quite shy!

Doesn't appear to be the shy type in this photo, but we had her go through preschool screening twice and she wouldn't answer anything except in a very, very small, quiet whisper and only to me, in my ear, in a very tickley kind of way!!!

Because of this, at the second screening, although they gave her credit for answering to me, then me saying the answer out loud and she passed, they decided to do an in-home screening to see if she would be more comfortable in her comfort zone-at home.

On the morning of her screening, after I got home from work, I remembered that I hadn't finished her paperwork for this screening. I looked over all the forms, finished the few things I had left, and then noticed a 300 question questionaire that had to still be completed. In that questionaire, there were areas such as, "Does your child know how to recite the complete alphabet?" and "Can your child name at least three colors?" and "Can your child count at least up to 10?" then a little later, "Can your child count at least up to 15?" then a little later, "Can your child count at least up to 20?" Then, "Can your child dress independently?" "Can your child dress independently and button up a button-up shirt or sweater?" "Can your child hop on one foot?" "...hop on one foot at least three hops?" "...stand on one foot without assistance?" I would many times just look at a question and just go, "Huh? Didn't they just ask me that?" I mean, how many combinations can one think of that has to do with one foot???

Okay, moving onward. At one point, they asked, "Is your child able to tell you what certain body parts do when asked, such as what he/she does with his/her eyes, ears, nose, etc.?" Does she ever!!! Me: "Um, what do your eyes do?" Her: "Roll!" Me: "What do your ears do?" Her: triumphantly and confidently, "Wiggle!" Me: smirking at this point "What does your nose do?" Her: "Umm, what does yours do?" I paused for a minute, then thought, "I suppose I should ask it how they worded it. Although it does seem more unclear to me...for a 4 y.o." Me: "Okay, what do you do with your eyes?" Her: "See!" Me: "What do you do with your ears?" Her: "Listen!" Me: "What do your do with your nose?" Her: ".....mmm....Pick!"

I couldn't help it, I just snorted out with a tiny burst of laughter and quickly tried to mask it with a snuffle and cough. She didn't like it. "Don't laugh!" she reprimanded. I tried to lamely say I was laughing at the next question, which was very funny. I don't think she bought it!

All About "The Bats and The Hornets" or Was It "The Birds and the Bees"?

"Mom. Is S-P-X a swear word???" Me: "S-P-X?" Her: "Yes." Me: "Nooo..." Her: "So, 'sex' isn't a swear word?" Me: "Oh. s-e-x. Um, no, it's not really a swear word. It's just one of those words we don't really need to have discussions about at this age." Her: "'Cause I read something about, "..dog's sex..." Me...and 12 y.o.: "Oh...in that sense it's gender. Like, is it a boy or a girl."

Later. Her: "Mom. Holli told me that 'sex' is a swear word." *Back to that again* Me: "Well, there is another meaning to that word that I will have to...uhhh...try to figure out at some time how to explain to you. But you really don't need to know much about that meaning quite yet!"

Oh these enlightening conversations you're never quite prepared for!

The Month (whoa, was it a MONTH?) In Review

Ahhhh, it was a nice break actually. First, when I decided to take a break to hammer down already and get my nursing continuing education credits done, I thought I would have severe withdrawals from blogging. I didn't. It actually was kinda nice. I took a break entirely for a little bit and tried real hard to get my courses done. Then, I snuck into my favorite blogs and just lurked around. I read them quietly and just as furtively snuck out. Then after a bit longer, I commented on a few as well as lurking on the regulars. What I noticed is that I was just ready for a hermit's life for a little bit.



Well, I got all my credits done as of a few nights ago. Here are some of our month's shots. I have pictures in various places so I have a few more posts worth of pics.

Relaxing, yet hair-raising. That was our month.

Baby's favorite place as of late: the Kitchen!!!


HEY! What do you think you're doing?

Oooops! Busted!

Hang on a minute! Here. Have some. It's delicious!

One of the girls dressed her up as "Christmas Baby". She was dazzling!

My little poser (one of them).

Remember my post from about a year ago? The one about this little lovey crying and crying and crying? This one.

Well, this little girl is so good natured. She doesn't cry that much anymore. Now I can say, "See this little girl? She smiles and smiles and smiles." She's a charmer!


JUNIE B. JONES HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING!

(Ummm, I'm not sure where she learned to pose like this. I think she just makes it up as she goes...you would see what I mean if you watched her posing for pictures. She just kinda...acts...or flounces around like she always does in her little life, with a few crossed arms thrown in for good measure. I think her oldest sister, the photog that she is, taught her to cross her arms for some pics and she hung on to that tip!)


And in her dressier dress-up dresses:

Big Sis joins in the dress-up fun:

Our latest charge. These two 4 y.o.'s are so much alike. They get along pretty well. And when they don't, they are very equally versed in their bickering. They even bicker alike. We babysit this young lady now, and when we aren't babysitting her, we still enjoy her and her cousin's company several times a week.

Our activities as of late. The older sister of the 4 y.o. asked me tonight, when she saw all the bags of food and treats after I came home from the grocery store, "Are you having a party over here for the girls tonight?" I just told her, "Every day is a party over here when I'm pregnant! I looove eggnog, and mint M&M's, and gingerbread cookies, and chips with chili and cheese...." She just laughed! The kids are loving it! And I'm gaining weight a bit more than my last few pregnancies! :) Here, we had just finished supper of rotisserie chicken, bread, chili with cheese, chips, and eggnog. The girls are decorating their sugar cookies for dessert.

Umm, A-hem! Still Plugging Along!!!

I cannot believe how hard it is to get these credits done! It definitely is much more challenging to stay awake and focused when trying to complete courses (as stimulating as they are) than blog surfing and posting!!!

My hubby and I got in a mini-honeymoon last weekend, from Thursday to Sunday! Heavenly!!! I've got pics to post from then and otherwise but I just re-peeled my eyeballs open from reading all about Congestive Heart Failure and lots and lots about treatment of it and such. YAWN!!! It sure is interesting though! Just wish I could somehow convince these eyes of that fact!

Okay, later!