Deklan's surgery went great! He was such a good boy... he didn't even cry. He teared up briefly when he realized that he couldn't open his eye because they had it taped shut. Once I explained that it was only for the day and the doctor would let him open it the next morning then the tears went away and all was well again. He took a short nap when we got home and then he was ready to play. He doesn't understand that he still has to take it easy because he has stitches in his eye that could still pop and cause damage. He has to wear the eye shield for a week... we go back to the doctor on Friday. When they took the bandage off and did the tests he could see right away. It was so great - yes, I cried.
Before the surgery.
After the surgery.
Before the doctor's post-op appointment.

Our vacation was awesome! We had such a great time. Since then the kids have started school again - 3rd grade, 6th grade, and 8th grade. I'm still president of the Parent Brigade (PTO) at the Middle School, which means I still help with the concessions, meals for the teachers, etc. and run the monthly meetings. I also am still co-leader of K's GS troop. The leader moved to Texas because she had to follow her job or lose it so she skypes to the meetings and her husband (R) and I do all the leg work here. We're hosting a booth at the annual church bazaar this year so R and I are doing the majority of the work for that - the leader will not be able to come back for that. Fun! Fun! Fun! I also am yearbook editor and member of the PTA at Deklan's school. Basically, I get to go up to his school every so often and take pictures - then I get to choose which ones go into the yearbook. That is fun - I really enjoy doing that. Wish I could get a job just doing that... but that's not going to happen! HaHa! I have also had knee surgery. Not doing as well as I had hoped or expected. It's been eight weeks and I'm still having trouble. I'm still on the board (treasurer) for the American Youth Soccer Organization in our region. I also am a member of the Friends of the Library for our local library. We're trying to raise enough money to build a new library which we desperately need. I spent nearly a whole week working a book sale for them... I figured the hours and it was nearly 40 hours! How funny is that - volunteering is almost a full time job. This will be my last year for Parent Brigade and AYSO though. I'm hoping to get a job soon. I'm torn though... I really enjoy being the "go to" mom that doesn't have to work and I enjoy taking all the vacation times the kids do. I know that once I get a job that stuff will not come so easily - even with a part time job.

Deklan is having eye surgery tomorrow. He's having a lens implant - right eye tomorrow... left eye in several weeks. Normally we would not be considering lens implants at this point. Hayleigh was ten before we even discussed hers - D's only eight. However, he has other eye issues that we're hoping will be corrected with the implants. Besides having poor vision (hence the implants), he also has eye crossing and difficulty focusing. This will be his fourth eye surgery but I'm still nervous. He seems to be dealing with it very well. He's been letting me put his eye drops in without any fussing. He knows that this surgery will help his eyes "be like Hayleigh's" as he puts it.

Halloween was fun this year. We didn't do a lot of regular trick or treating - we mostly went to the activities that the local churches had going on. The kids and I really enjoyed ourselves.


The girls have been playing soccer with AYSO. They were able to be on the same team this year. Thank goodness. Actually, R and I share the girls - ha! that sounds funny but he and I have a lot to do with each other and his girls are the same age/grade as my girls. We were able to put all four girls on the same team this time and that way we could see all their games. Otherwise we were going to have to switch up every other week - I take the older girls, he takes the younger and then switch for the next week. They haven't won a game yet but they are much better than last year. Anyway, R and I are always together for one thing or another and he treats my kids like his and I treat his like mine. In fact, K calls him her dad and his girls always call me mommy too. And since his wife is in Texas and my husband works nights we get along great.
Kodi and MaKenna
Hayleigh with the ball.
Kodi and Bayli

K also played tennis at school. She earned third place in doubles. I'm so proud of her. H wanted to do track but sixth graders aren't allowed to participate in school sports. She can't wait for next year though.


I can't wait for Thanksgiving... the kids and I are going to Mom's.

July

Ok so it's been awhile. I know... funny how life keeps getting in the way of my blogging. Anyway, here's what's been up this summer....

Deklan started day camp at Rainbows (a special needs camp) in June. He really liked it at first. Then he started throwing tantrums and saying he didn't want to go. However I'm such a mean mom, and we were getting a grant for him to attend, that I made him go anyway. And everyday when I picked him up he'd had a great day, lots of fun, field trips, etc. There were only a couple of days that he really screamed when I left but was completely fine when I picked him up. But it has been a struggle most days just to get him there. I really don't understand because he has such fun when he's there. He says it's because he doesn't get to spend any time with me.

Dakota spent a week at the end of June/first of July with my sister in law in Colorado. SIL's father retired so she went to his retirement party. Of course Hayleigh declined going on the trip because she already had plans with friends. My SIL made sure that she regretted that choice by buying Dakota dozens of new clothes and accessories. She got Hayleigh ONE shirt and Deklan ONE toy semi truck. Deep breath... we all know K is the favorite. Anyway, when Kodi got back from her "being the only child" trip she had a HUGE attitude problem.

July 4th was spent at my brother's of course. Just like every year; only this time we waited until later in the day to go over. Mainly because it rained all day. I was kind of hoping they would just cancel it, but it's such a big to-do in their neighborhood. All the neighbors and their friends/families come over and have a get together - food, beer, fireworks. It was ok - always is but I don't like my brother's attitude sometimes. He can be very mean and say hurtful things... of course he thinks he's joking so if I get mad then I'm the one blowing it out proportion so I don't normally say anything and just try to shrug it off. He wanted to take the "kids" to a movie the next day - K had free movie tickets from her birthday but only three. Brother dear was like so what? I have to pay for myself? He was taking them to the new Twilight movie (Eclipse?) and I knew that wasn't a movie for Deklan anyway. So basically what he meant is he wanted to take the girls to a movie. Little D was left ouit again. And after not seeing K for over a week, she and H both spent the night at Uncle's house. I was a little irritated. I told them that was fine I would take D to a movie after he got out of day camp. We went and saw Dspicable Me in 3D. It was kind of cute - first 3D movie for me ever. Deklan enjoyed our time together.

On July 7 all the kids started summer school. D chose to take an art class. Both of the girls had to take a math class because they did not do well on their grades. So now my schedule went from taking D to camp at 8:30 and picking up at 4:30 with errands, etc in between to... taking D to school at 9:00, picking up at 10:00, taking to camp at 10:30, picking up at 4:30, with all the errands in between. It sounds busy but really it's mostly driving. We finally got my car into the shop so the a/c works now (Thank God!) so it's not so bad... just the price of gas is ridiculous.

Only July 15 we took our Girl Scout troop on a trip to Texas. We went to Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor. It was fun. There were three adults, seven 13-year olds, two 11-year olds, and Deklan (7). Let me tell you if you are not used to 13-year old girls there is a LOT of DRAMA!! Everything causes someone to get their feelings hurt. But the important thing is that we survived.

We've also... been the dentist with the kids - H had to have a filling and about threw the biggest tantrum of any eleven year old you've ever seen. I thought I was going to knock her out. Chuck and I have both been to the doctor's (first in June then again in July)... He had very high cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure so he's on several new meds. He had his check up and blood work showed a huge improvement already. I couldn't get my blood work rechecked yet because I haven't been on the thyroid med long enough yet. I have another month to go for that. I had my annual eye appointment and then had to go see a specialist because my pressure was too high. Glaucoma runs in the family (mom is completely blind in one eye and can barely see out the other) so I take the pressure thing very seriously. Good news was pressure was great when we rechecked it and the full eye exam showed that I have healthy eyes. We took the dogs to the vet for shots. Riley had ring worm and was put on meds for that. She's doing much better. She's a tough patient for the vet though. It took three nurses to hold her down for the ring worm test (they had to remove some hair for a fungal test which happened to be right at her eye). She was not a happy camper. Gage has chiggar bites and is sensitive to the grass so his tummy is pink from irritation. Otherwise all is well with them. All the kids have had a virus which included throwing up and other things. Of course not at the same time so that was fun waiting to see who would be next in line. All are much better now and it only lasted about 24 hours each. We went with H's GS troop to see the new Ramona and Beezus movie. It was much better than I thought it would be. I applied for another job which I did not get. My friend got the job instead so I guess I'm happy for her. And next on the list....

Friday is Mall Madness with the Girl Scouts. Mall Madness is Girl Scouts spend the night in the mall. Stores stay open late, some have sales, Radio Disney comes out and has entertainment for the girls. It's fun and tiring all at once. The girls always enjoy it though. D cannot go to this one so he's staying at the neighbors over night. I asked my brother to watch D but he said that his wife would be out of town and he just didn't think he could handle it by himself, especially if D had an accident in his pants. He would only be there for the night... literally, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Whatever. But I am excited for Mall Madness this year. I think it's because we're leaving for an actual vacation the next day. We've taken family trips see relatives but this will be our first real family vacation since D was almost one. We're going to Nickelodeon Universe - one of the largest indoor amusement parks - located inside Mall of America in Minnesota. I'm really excited for this trip. I really love being with my family... the kids are such great entertainment and I really do love that they still like to be with me - even at age 13. :)

I'm Awesome... Not

Deklan was looking for his little Mighty Beans and couldn't find them. I found them without even really looking.
I said, "I'm Awesome!"
Deklan: "No you're not!"
Me: "Yes I am."
Deklan: "No you're not!"
Me: "Ok, I'm not awesome."
Deklan: "But you are loved!"

Woo Hoo!!!

We FINALLY got our tax refund in! It's been 5 months since we sent them in, but at least we got our full amount plus an extra $78. Yay!! Of course, most of it is already gone - paid bills (2 house payments, electricity, satellite, credit cards, and utilities) and we bought some much needed new cell phones. Ok, so only hubby actually NEEDED a new phone, but I really, really, really WANTED one. And we bought the kids (H & D) a new laptop - K already has one so she didn't get a new one, but she did get a new phone. I got the MyTouch Slide. It's very different from the Blackberry Curve so I'm trying to get used to it. I've only had it a few hours so I haven't really had time to play with it and get the apps loaded or anything. Maybe I'll even be able to blog from the phone. HeHe.

We'll get to take our big vacation the first of August - another yay! Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it back to Colorado or to my Mom's again this summer. I had wanted to do both, but all the kids start summer school on July 6 so that's out for any July traveling.

On the plus side, Deklan is totally enjoying summer day camp. He even takes naps during the day!! He never takes naps so that was a huge surprise. Today the leaders witnessed him in meltdown mode for the first time since he's been going there. They were a little surprised because he's always such a good helper and normally pretty good in general. I told them the best thing to do is NOT to touch him, but let him just scream it out if possible. At home I can just walk away and ignore him, but I know it's harder when there's a classroom full of kids that need to be tended to also. Fortunately this is a day camp for special needs children so this was not something they hadn't dealt with before. Miss M said that his fit was actually mild compared to some kids they'd had.

On the bummer side of things... don't you know there's always good news-bad news? I had my doctor's appointment on Monday morning. They did a full blood work up since it had been quite awhile since I'd been in. (Am loving my new doctor and his staff!) My sugar was good. My cholesterol wasn't - 200... not horrible, but definitely not good. My thyroid... too high. The results from all that? I'm already taking a cholesterol medicine, now I have to take a med for Hypothyroidism too. Ugh! The plus side is... my thyroid could be the reason I'm not losing weight (not gaining either thank goodness) and the reason I'm always hot and sweaty and tired. Maybe the meds will even things out.

Vacation #1 and other things

Our first vacation of the summer was actually a trip to my mom's. Our income tax refund still hasn't come in so we had to go cheap. I love my mom and enjoy seeing her, but I was really looking forward to an actual vacation. Oh well. Chuck helped mom put gutters up so that was good. On our way to Heavener, Oklahoma we took a detour through Oklahoma City (instead of Tulsa) and went to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma where we went to The Toy and Action Figure Museum. You heard right - an action figure musuem. It was kind of cool actually. (See pictures, but there's way more than that. You can see them on my FB page.)

Posing with the Green Lantern.
Those are all figurines - there were way more than that though!

Deklan started day camp on Tuesday. He's attending the Rainbows Camp Woodchuck for children with special needs. It's every week day, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He loves it! So far they've colored masks that have now been laminated, went on a field trip to the park, painted with colored ice, joined the Camp Woodchuck choir, read some books, and played games/had play time.
Deklan's first day of camp.

The Freak Out

So Deklan has a really high pain threshold and he doesn't cry when he gets hurt - unless there's blood. Blood completely freaks him out. Tonight he had a bloody nose... don't worry, he didn't get hit or anything, it just started bleeding. It bled a lot! He was freakin' out! I was driving when all of a sudden there is blood running down his face and drops all over his clothes. I had to pull over and find napkins and kleenex. Poor baby - I almost freaked out too, I do not like blood either. We put a dime between his upper lip and teeth and it quit. Don't know what was up, but hopefully it'll be ok now.

On a different note... I'm freakin' out because I found out today that it may be another four weeks before we get our tax refund. It's already been 3 months - 88 days to be exact. UGH!!

I've got a job - sort of.

So I went and filled out the paper work for the substitute secretary position. I just have to get a physical and TB test. Once I turn that paper work in then I'll be placed on the list that goes to all the district secretaries. The chances of working the last three weeks of school is slim to none. However, since I'll now be on the list, then the first of the new school year brings high hope of being called to sub. It also means that I'll have my foot in the door for the permanent position that I want - which I already mentioned to the HR person. Yay me! I'm kind of employed! :)

Job Interview

So after being an unemployed stay at home mom for nearly four years, I submitted my application and resume for a job. It's a job within our school district as a substitue secretary/building aide. Which means it's not a permanent every day job, but it could turn into something more permanent. And since it's a school job, I'd have the same days off as my children. Anyway, I submitted the application via internet on Sunday evening. I heard from the HR person on Monday and I have to go in tomorrow to "complete the necessary employee paperwork" that must be completed before I can begin substituting. Does that mean I already have the job? Keep your fingers crossed. I'm kind of nervous. I have not had a job interview in four years! I'll keep you posted.

Happenings lately

Ok so I feel obliged to write something since it's been over a month since I've blogged. I don't think anyone really reads this (except you Laura!). HaHa

Anyway... over spring break we went to Mom's in Oklahoma. It was a wonderful week. Deklan was a pure angel - mom could tell a huge difference with his meds. Wonderful... until the day before we were supposed to leave. Then it snowed - massively - more than it had in 25 years. Great. Although we didn't leave the house at all the first day of snow, it was still snowing the morning we were supposed to leave. I knew it would be fine to drive - I'm somewhat experienced in driving in the snow. Besides, I knew once we got out onto the interstate we'd be just fine. So we pull out and we're fine... for the first 2 and 1/2 miles! Then my car goes wacky... the check engine light comes on then the check gauges light comes on then my car completely shuts down. Shuts Down! It just wouldn't start. It was snowing, we're 10 miles outside of town on a mountain (yes they have mountains in Oklahoma) road. There were no cars coming - it was Sunday and 2 hours before church would be over. The girls walked back to find a house to get help. Before they made it back (after quite a while) D and I started walking, got only about 1/4 of a mile when a truck stopped to help us. We got the car jump started, but before we could shut the hood and put into drive, it died again. This time it wouldn't start at all. Luckily my cousin had driven by a few minutes before so he went to get my girls for me. Turns out they had walked to the nearest house - 1.1 miles from where the car died. Anyway, we pushed the car off the road and the guy that stopped took D and me back to Mom's. Of course all our stuff was packed into the van so we had to take Mom's truck and go get our stuff. I can drive on snow... but cannot 4-wheel in snow. My mother's truck has 4WD so we used it. Unfortunately it does not work on slushy ice. We slid off the road and could not get back on. Hayleigh and Kodi pushed while I gassed the truck.... Hayleigh and I pushed while Kodi gassed the truck... Needless to say we were all covered in mud. It took us 45 minutes to get the truck unstuck from the snow. It was actually hilarious. At one point I tried to walk over to the van and fell flat on my face - literally! At first I was going to cry then I just started laughing. I mean if I had just watched my friend do this I would have been laughing, so why not laugh at myself? The girls were really concerned at first until they figured out I was laughing. Hilarious! Anyway, the next morning - snow storm over, we're stranded in Oklahoma, and no way to get the van started. My cousin - did I mention he's my FAVORITE cousin - went with me to fix my van. The alternator belt had come off. He spent hours working on it, but couldn't figure out how the belt went on - it was either too long or too short every time he wound it through all the pulleys. He finally had to go to town and get a diagram for the way it was supposed to go. Anyway, we started off with my mom in her truck and my cousin in his following us into town. Before we got the other 10 miles into town, I lost power steering and all my gauge lights came on again. We pulled into the gas station to find that I had completely lost the belt this time. My cousin drove the van (because I had a hard time driving it without power steering) over to a garage in town. He had to replace the belt and the tensioner pulley. So we finally got going - 2 days after the end of spring break! Yeah.. wonderful spring break ending.

Then we started soccer. Every Saturday from early 8 or 9 a.m. until after 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I get really tired and it makes the weekend feel really short, but it's for the kids so it's ok.

We've already finished our "fun nights" at the schools for the year. Deklan's was last weekend. I hate fun night because it's so NOT fun for most of the parents who get suckered into volunteering. That doesn't mean all parents don't think it's fun, but when you get that call... "Could you please work the such-and-such booth because we don't have any volunteers?"... then you know you're done. And in Deklan's school I'm the stay at home mom that will volunteer if asked, but I am not in the clique of the other volunteers. You know? Give me the other kids' schools and I'm fine, but not little D's.

We have about four weeks of school left. Yay!! We've got our vacations planned. Vacations? Yes, two - my husband gets two weeks of vacation but not at the same time. The downside is that we're kind of depending on our tax refund to fund our trips. We bought a house this year so we've qualified for the huge refund. Ha! What a joke. We sent our papers in - had to mail them because of the new tax forms we had to fill out - the first week of February. I got a notice April 1 that they needed more information. I faxed the paperwork over on April 2. As of Friday, they still didn't show record of where it was in processing and didn't know when we'd get our refund. Just great! Get your paperwork in early, they said... you'll get your refund back quicker, they said... Yeah right! The IRS lady said - and I quote - "Well,the president wanted to get the refunds out quickly and it turns out that about 75% of the first set of refunds filed were fraudulent so we're trying to get that money back too." I swear I am not making that up... 75% fraudulent! No telling when we'll get our money back... maybe by next April?!

Snow Day!

This is our second snow day in two weeks! Each on a Monday of course. Our parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for this week so our kids were already going to be out Thursday and Friday for conferences and then Monday for President's Day, giving them a 5-day weekend. Now they're out Monday... then Thursday, Friday, Monday.

Deklan is doing well on his medications. He's actually very controllable and rarely has an outburst now. He doesn't even fight me taking his meds and going to bed - except twice he didn't want to go to bed when it was time, but was ready within just a few minutes. He's also a lot more loving - and he was always a hugger anyway. It's really sweet though. I'll tell him 5 more minutes and he'll come up and tell me he wants to spend his last five minutes with me. Awwww.

Dakota's grades suck, but she's not overly difficult to live with. We took her off her ADHD medication a few months ago because I was ready to knock her out! The medication makes her so mean and hateful. She takes the meds and gets better grades because she has more focus... but no one can stand her. Take her off the meds and her grades slide drastically... but we enjoy having her in the same room with us (most days... she is a teenager you know).

Hayleigh is doing fine - she struggles with math, but overall she's good with everything.

Girl Scout cookie sales began on January 16. Dakota sold 228 boxes; Hayleigh 233 boxes. They are still selling - we are getting ready for the booth sales. I love booth sales! We're going to be extremely busy - two separate troops to try to help with. Since I'm co-leader of Kodi's troop, I'll be with her troop the most. This is fun... I really do love it. Weird, I know. My delimma... Deklan cannot go to the booth sales and my husband works nights. Who to babysit? I do not have a regular sitter. 1. I'm a stay at home mom... that's kind of my job so why hire someone else? 2. I'm not always sure people will get Deklan - or that he will be comfortable with someone else. He's pretty laid back but his quirks tend to put people off sometimes. 3. Money is tight and I don't always know what to pay, nor can I always afford it. So I facebooked my delimma and was talking to a high schooler that I know. Guess what? My sister-in-law read the post and offered to take Deklan for all the times that I'm going to be in the booth. Wow! She and my brother NEVER offer to take Deklan. And, they've even offered to drive over here (about 25 minutes) to pick Deklan up from school. I'm really surprised, but happy because I don't have to pay anyone.

Medicated

We finally had to do it. It just about killed me, but we finally took Deklan in for a medication evaluation. His behavior had just gotten way out of control. He'd have fits for no reason. It would take hours for him to fall asleep - even after the 11th time of getting out of bed for a drink. He was starting to hit me when he'd get angry. He was hiding from me in public - at the church he would hide and it took six of us to find him! Not once, but twice! Don't even get me started on trips to the grocery store. Anyway, it was only a two week wait to get him in. He actually sees an ARNP but her direct doctor supervisor is a professional that deals directly with Autism on a daily basis. So she always has someone to turn to if she doesn't have the answer or we need further assistance than what we've got now. We put him on Abilify for the behaviors and Melatonin (herbal supplement) for the sleep. He's been doing very well. He even swallows the pills - I don't have to hide them or trick him, he just puts them in his mouth and takes a drink. I was a little worried about that because Hayleigh has a hard time swallowing pills without gagging - and there's nothing wrong with her. Anyway, he still has the tendancy to be a little hyper but he's way less emotional and very few fits. The good thing right now is that even though he has little fits, they don't last long and he can be easily distracted. I think I'm the one who needs to be medicated now - I have the I don't want to do anything, go anywhere, leave me alone blah's. Anyway, keep Deklan in your thoughts - this is a change for him.