Finally SUN!

Hello everyone.

Things here are going well. We are drying out from all that rain--not as bad as Florida with Tropical Storm Fay, but still flooding here. Roger has been working on a wood shack and playset for the girls. He is making a structure over some of our wood that will also support a climbing wall and ladder for the Climbing Sisters. Next year will be a swingset. Chris helped with it before he went back to school--his senior year!!!

The boys are back in school. We moved Chris in on Sunday. He is training this week to be a dorm leader--that is not the right word, I am blanking out. I brought Nick up on Wed. and he is training to be a delion, he will be a mentor/cheerleader for the freshmen on his floor.

Alex has been getting funnier and wiser. She is very humorous in her approach to viewing life. I will give samples later. :-) Kath has continued to show amazing strength of spririt and heart. She worked on Friday and Saturday with the hippotherapy. She rode Mark on Friday and today she and Alex both rode Cody. Kath also had healing touch and yoga. I see such a great deal going on with her. Alex has even remarked how much more Kath is understanding and following directions. She washes herself, she gets napkins for dinner (she usually only gets one--brings it to the table and then either gets bored or forgets and that is the only napkin for the night, but it's a start!), she gets her sneakers/sandals when we say we have to go bye-bye. She tells us (when asked) if she went to the bathroom. She is still not speaking but she makes herself known-especially if she dislikes what you did or did not do. She continues to push herself physically and we continue to as well with her therapies.

This week she did not have speech since Liz was on vacation, and she became a bit frustarted with Laurie (OT) and Sue (PT) but in totally normal kid-way. It was great to watch, on the one hand, because it was so NORMAL. It was so TYPICAL of her actual age.

Kath was evaluated (did I tell you this already?? Too tired to double check, sorry) by a teacher for the visually impaired. She qualified. The teacher who evalued her said that she could only do a once a month evaluation with her, so Kath will have a special ed teacher once a week. I will also have a social worker who will help me keep everything straight--no pressure Stacy!

We are a little (ok a lot) disappointed that our insurance told Liz (hippotherapy) that they cover the hippotherapy for unlimited visits for 120 days. We will be up to that in the first week of September. After that we will have to pay on our own until the next year starts. So we are going to try to fit in as many days we can before school starts. And then decide what we can do. EBC Therapy is working very hard to keep us going, they love the girls! :-) Who doesn't??

Well, I am off for now. My computer keys are sticking--hmmm, wonder why ALEX! :-) PBSkids.org Girl. Good night.

Mid August

Somehow, I thought I would be further along in my 'To Accomplish" List for the summer. The list that grows and grows throughout the school year, but then does not seem to have anything crossed off during the summer. Ah. But I have made some progress this week. Though I seem to have had to hit a bottom in order to get back up.

I mentioned before about the down feelings and the dragging feelings that I get. They really smashed me this week. I was so heavy feeling and cranky. One positive was that I read in one of my mom books from the libe that many American's (moms) are short in Omega-3 and that contributes to the depression that overwhelmed moms feel when dealing with disabled childcare. So I started to take Omega-3 and St John's Wart. I also read how important it was to get outside and soak up 'sun' even when the sun wasn't 'out.' I am unwilling to allow this feeling to take anymore days from me. I feel guilty when I get down, I feel like I am wasting my life moping when things can be so much worse, but anyone who has ever felt this hopelessness and helplessness knows that it is not rational, it seems to be more ingrained or internal. Anyway, I am chipping away at it and working at it.

I have been writing. Yea! I have been taking time to write at night, but it has been a little weird for me since this is the first time I have ever written where I truly feel like the story has a mind of its own. I start off thinking I am going in one direction and I end up somewhere completely different.

We are all enjoying watching the Olympics. Love Dana Torres. What a woman. What an inspiration! Micheal Phelps, Jason Lesiak and all the other swimmers (blanking out on their names) are so amazing. Love the beach volleyball and of course track too. The marathon was amazing.

Gymastics! Alex started to tie a ribbon around her hand or leg and do 'tricks' like the athletes she saw on TV.

The boys were home today and we went out for lunch to cover Roger's and Chris' birthday since we will not all be together again until November. We move Chris in tomorrow and I drive Nick on Wednesday. Janine and Abbi came over afterward to enjoy dessert with us. Their birthdays are coming up too.

Kath has been doing great. I have started to release my tight lease on her. Mostly because she is showing me that she can do more. We went to our neighbors', the Collins', to play on their swingset. Kath loved the swing and held on with both hands to the ropes. Go Kath! She liked climbing up the slide-not the ladder. :-) She liked to RUN down the little hill. At first I freaked and yelled, "Kath! No! Slow!" Then I could do nothing but watch as she threw herself down. She fell. I told her she was okay and to brush it off. She did. Then she pulled herself back up, walked back up the hill and continued to 'run' down it until she could do it without falling-which only took another two times or so.

She has also started to enjoy climbing more and more. She likes to climb on my outdoor reclining chair. I put the bottom portion down for her so it was a ramp she had to climb. At first she struggled to pull herself up, then she started to walk up it. Then down it. The boys complained that I would never let them do that. I told them, "You are right." I would have yelled at the other three for trying anything like that, but with Kath I see all of the work it takes her to balance and pull and rebalance. She is amazing. Not that they aren't too. (smile)Nick was a nervous wreck and yelling at me to take care of 'my child' as he saw her walking up and down the chair. "She's goingto kill herself!" Then after a few minutes of watching her and working with her she told us that she is doiong it fine . . .now that he trained her. (hee,hee)

More soon!