Calmer heads today

When in doubt, take it to the source. Act like an adult, discuss and give the 'accused' a chance to speak. Yep I actually did that!! (Hahahaha, never thought you'd see the day huh ;) )

After much yelling, screaming and outright temper tantrums I went in to the school on Fri am to have a 'chat' with the Principal. At first, it seemed like she was giving me the brush off, but I pushed my case and managed to squeeze an apt. for later in afternoon, rather than wait until Tues (Mon is a PD day). She maintains that she wasn't going to take Miss Sandy away permanently, but to 'borrow' her for the other classrooms when she is not needed with Kenny. Now this is different info from what I originally heard, but I think that she has received so much flack that she has had to back down.

Now both Hubby and I agree that she wasn't about to inform any of us parents. Which I guess legally she doesn't have too. BUT (and yes I have a big one) I guess she completely underestimated the fight we (as parents) were/are willing to wage to keep Sandy in the classroom as much as possible. Sandy herself is trying to work out how to keep as many people happy as she can, by dividing her time to help everyone involved, but without comprising the children she is already attached too.

I'm still ticked that she was trying to change Kenny's care without informing us. Being that even small differences to his routine can cause major outbursts, but I'm hoping that by approaching her like I did, that she will tell me next time and we can be prepared for any possible fall-out. I also really don't like the idea that he will be left in a classroom full of kids without another adult to help if he does have a meltdown. They can be so quick and so violent that I am truly scared that another child will be hurt before someone can intervene. But I did state this, and she (principal) seems to think that it won't happen. We will see I guess.

Now on to other topics. We are back to visiting a bunch of doctors for Kenny again. Something is wrong and we have no idea what. About two weeks ago, at school, he started to complain that his tummy hurt along with his pee and he wanted to go home. That in itself is concerning, 1) he doesn't complain anything hurts and 2) he has never wanted to go home from school. So a trip to the walk in clinic was in order since we couldn't get into see his Dr. that afternoon. While there they made him pee in a cup (which he thought was the absolute best thing!) and gave him a complete once over. Except for white blood cells in his urine, nothing else seemed off.

Dr at the clinic recommended that we make a follow-up apt, did and sure enough still no sign of infection, but white blood cells in his urine. So off to a Ped. Went there on Monday. Now he is sending a referral to get Kenny an ultrasound on his kidneys and lower abdomen. Poor kid, who knows what is going on right now. He certainly isn't going to tell us.

Other than that, things are going ok. Busy with a bunch of stuff. Soon hopefully we can start working on the house again. We are going to strap the living room and dining room ceiling and then put up drywall. That should solve the crack problem (we hope) without tearing down all the plaster and making one heck of a huge mess.

I had carpel tunnel surgery on Thurs and it still hurts but is getting better. The nerve is acting funny and jumping around but apparently that is it healing itself, or at least trying to. Oh and I am going to see my Doc on Mon for what might be a heel spur. For around 3 weeks now to walk has been hell. I can't seem to catch a break (shhhh, wrong word to use!!)

Gotta run. Maddy has decided to pitch a fit and we are trying to get out the door for Wellington Rural Romp. Gonna go visit a bunch of cows, pigs, chickens.......... Such fun huh :)

I'm PISSED!

That's right, PISSED! Completely, totally, yell it from the rooftops PISSED!

The principal at Dudes school is trying to take away his E.A.(Educational Assistant) to work in another room. The ONE reason he goes to school willingly, wants to go, begs to go, to play with Miss Sandy. And the (new)principal wants to take her away. This cannot happen. We are already watching him regress again with physical issues that we can not figure out. And now this?!?!?!?!? Why, WHY would you take someone away from an autistic kid, when routine and consistency are what holds these children together! Why, WHY would you take his E.A. away when for the first time he was writting letters (alphabet) by himself!!! Not tracing, no guiding his hand but BY HIMSELF!!!!

I just dont' get it. I really don't understand. Given that this principal was a special ed teacher in the same school when Tana was there. She of all people should know that this is a VERY BAD, STUPID, FUCKED UP IDEA!!! And now I get to fight with another school system. I lost badly with the Etobicoke Board when it came to Tana. I never thought I'd need to do it again here! I tried to teach her to take what was dealt, make the best of it and prove them wrong. But it wasn't until we moved here that we saw a change in her attitude towards teachers and schools in general. And I'm not fighting to choose specific teachers, just to keep the ones he has. He does need to learn change and there are times that you may not like someone, but you still need to deal with them (without biting, pinching, hitting, spitting etc) and learn to find a way to co-exist in peace. But why after a yr and a bit would you even think of taking away the ONE, get that, ONE person he loves. He already knows that he will not have her next yr. We've already started to prepare him for that. But to take her away with no damn warning?!?!!?!?! Why in the living fucking hell would any rational, supposedly educated person do that???????

And in case you are wondering, I have a call in for his Occupational Therapist. She is a great advicate for 'her' kids, especially when it comes to the school system. Oh and the topper of the day, not that anyone asked but your going to hear it anyway, I have CT (carpol tunnel) surgery today. Just bloody perfect, isn't it.

5 yrs.

Yep, 5 yrs. 5 long, eventful, fun, sad, enlightened, scared yrs. 5 yrs since my Kenny-Dude was born. Unbelievable.

Happy 5th Birthday Duders!!!! We all love you so much!

Only in this house

will you hear the words "Kenny, put your penis away" repeatedly. That is all.

The heat is here

and I hate it!!!! Never happy am I ;)

I'll tell ya, it's been busy, busy here. We just finished two weeks of a non-stop vacation. First on Aug 3, our friends from Ohio (waves hi to Bannon and family) were up for a week. Imagine, 4 adults and 4 kids in a 1250 sq/ft house with only one bathroom. Yes we are insane, but a fantastic time was had by all. We visited Riverside Park (twice), had Maddy's birthday party at Swiss Chalet, went to the Ontario Science Center, Halton County Radial Railway Museum, the Fergus Scottish Festival and a Toronto Blue Jay game, plus rode a Go Train & subway, saw a working railroad turntable (that was cool!) at the old roundhouse in downtown TO and the men bought Steam Whistle beer. That was the first week.

Second week we went camping. This was one of the first times I was ready to pack it in and head home early. The campground was mud, all mud. Since it has rained so much this summer, nothing has had a good chance to dry out so about 2/3 of our campsite was un-usable. And of course Kenny + mud/puddles = one hell of a mess. Didn't help that a thunderstorm went through after we got there, soaking everything, again. And the mosquitos were horrible. We went through 2 1/2 cans of OFF spray and they were still biting. But we stuck it out, the weather improved (no rain anyway) and we managed to go swimming two days in a row. Course packing up with the ever present mud was fun. Our blue tarp, was black. This stuff clung to everything. I do have to say that camping during the week is so much better than on the weekends. Quiet, no neighbours, no loud thumping music, it was so nice.

Came home on Friday cause we thought Booga had her last soccer game. Nope. Not Friday. So a disappointed little girl played without getting her medal to show off and brag about. But Saturday was Dudes last game. He played with his usual flair.


Yes, that is him laying down, covering the goal. That's my boy :)

So what do you give a group of 3-6 yr olds after playing their last game of soccer? Well Timbits of course........


And there is my son, with the chipmunk cheeks as he tries to get as many as possible. And finally what does getting a medal mean without showing it off and making older sister jealous.....


You can't see it, but the pout on her face was priceless! She was so ticked that she didn't get her medal first. She is certainly making life interesting.

Now, have I mentioned how well his OT is going? We are on a steady time (that will change when he starts school again) and he loves it. The 'play dr' (as Kenny calles her) has managed to get him to write some letters!!!!!!!!! Real letters!!!!!! From the alphabet!!!!!! We have never seen him write anything without us holding his hand and guiding the pencil and even then you could barely make out the letter he was attempting to write. And he will actually sit down and listen to her. Really. Honest. Yes he tantrums alot still, but she can talk him down and calm him quite quickly. We are very happy with her. She is a very remarkable lady.

Well that is all for now. We are waiting, not so patiently I might add, for the thunderstorms to start. I'm kinda hoping they don't as we still have the tent set up in the backyard to clean it. I just want it dry so it can be packed up and put away till next time. So to all, later gator!!

Oh wait, I forgot to mention we got his bloodwork back and his iron and white blood cell count was low. So at some point soon we have to get it redone. Sort of verify if they really are low or if that was just a temp thing. At least there was nothing more serious. Thank God for that.

Getting sick of the rain.

How bout you? It's hard to plan any outdoor activity with the threat of rain almost every day. But on the days that are sunny we do manage to get out and enjoy.



This was taken July 4 at Port Maitland, Lake Erie. It was a beautiful day, not to hot, not to cold. And the sunset was fantastic.



And remember keep your eyes open for fun!

Wow, July 1 st already

Where does the time go? And why is it going so fast?

So, a couple of updates on our little house of horrors. My wonderful oldest has moved, yet again. Although this is the first move in 2 yrs it doesn't seem like it has been that long. So she is now on the east side of town almost directly across the road from the old provincial jail. She finally asked for help on Monday, knowing she was moving Wed. Typical eh. I will give her some credit. She did have stuff packed and had a truck on reserve, but everything else was true to life for her.

I won't comment on the condition of the apt she moved out of. How she can live like that is well beyond me. But it is her life, not mine and I can't (won't) have that here. She wouldn't be willing to live with our rules anyway so that is a useless point anyway I guess.

I'm guessing she is settled into her new home. We haven't heard from her yet, so I'm guessing (no, hoping) that things are going well for her.

Now on to Duders. We think we have found a therapist to work with him for 1hr a week. Not much, but at $40/hr it's the best we can do right now. I'd heard some really great things about this lady from a few people around town. I got really interested when a lady at the local toy store started singing her praise. Well, low and behold, this same therapist was having an open house/bbq at her parents farm and we decided to meet her and see how Duders interacted with her. He seemed quite taken and she was so full of energy it was almost scary! We definitely liked what we saw, liked the range of autistic children/adults she works with and liked the way she got down to Duders level and let him lead the way. So we will see how that goes. He still needs a lot of help with fine motor and socializing. Eating is a disaster, writing is, well a few scribbled lines, if we are lucky and he still needs constant watch and reminders that he is not the only one and has to wait his turn without hurting others. Makes it so much fun in a crowd, let me tell ya! But I'm hopeful that this will start to change for the better.

We are still waiting for the blood results. Our new appt is July 20. After that I'm considering trying a gluten free diet for all of us. Boogabutt's allergies are getting so bad, the poor kid is constantly suffering now. Will that make a difference for her? Who knows, but I gotta try something. We have definitely noticed a huge difference in Dudes behaviour with no chemical additives or preservatives. He has calmed down so much. Impressive to say the least, and scary to think of what they are putting in kids food.

Now on to a funny note, I stopped a runaway horse today. There were three girls riding the local trail through one of the local conservation areas. They had stopped to get a drink and give the horses a bit of a rest when the youngest one jerked his head, yanking the reins out of the riders hands and took off toward the kids and I. Not at a full gallop but a fast trot with the rider chasing on foot and one other rider starting the chase on her horse.

I'm tellin ya it's quite something to see a large horse running towards you with no rider in the saddle. He did stop easily enough for me. So that made it easy to return him to his owner. The kids were in seventh heaven to be that close to a "real live biggie horsey" :) And then they got to pet two of the three horses. One was so big, Dude could run right underneath without ducking. And yes I know that was dangerous, but you try to catch him! All three riders were extremely apologetic and very grateful for the quick catch and return of the horse. One said that happened before with another horse and it took 3 hrs to catch it cause no one would stop to help, just spooked the horse more when they started to squeal. Poor thing. So that was my good deed for the day I guess.

Now for the rest of summer. Hopefully I can keep both young ones happy and entertained!