Life Goes On

Funny how it doesn't matter what is going on, life just keeps moving forward.  We have a lot happening and not much time to really sit down and process anything.

I have just a little over 2 months left of student teaching and I will be so glad to be finished!  I had no idea when I went back to school that it would be so difficult to manage home, kids, mom and school.  This semester has been the hardest simply because I am not home all day taking care of the usual mommy things.  I don't know how other moms work.  They must have superpowers.

News of the week...

John had a job interview for another VA training job.  I really hope that he gets it.  He really is going crazy being at home.  I knew that he would have problems with being at home once I was gone.  Staying at home sounds so easy, however, for someone who is used to working it is so hard.  He says that he feels like a duck without a pond and he is in search of his pond.

Michelle has been diagnosed with scoliosis.  This is a new area for me so I am researching.  Right now we are at the watch and see phase.  Anyone else out there dealing with this?

Larissa is now having seizures when she is awake.  She had one at home right in front of me and one at school. Thankfully I had talked to her teacher before it happened and she was watching for it.  Larissa is struggling.  She is failing school this semester.  I think that part of it is less mommy time but I also think that part of it is neurological in nature.  I have requested services for her since she went off of her IEP last year.  I wish that I had known that she would struggle so much this year or I would have had them keep her on it for one more year.  That process is limping along.  Sometimes I feel as though the year will be over before she gets any help.  I may have to homeschool her in the future.  She is just not able to cope with the demands of traditional school.

Anthony is struggling in school but not as much as Larissa.  He does have an IEP in place and gets extra help.  His biggest gift is the arts.  We went to the school last Thursday for an art show and his art teacher told me that there is an art program called Arts Arising.  Kids can start in the 3rd grade.  It is a summer art program and you have to test to be accepted into it.  Then she told me that she had sent the paperwork home for the test and since we didn't send it back Anthony wasn't considered.  The testing is on March 4th.  So I called the director of the program to see if there was any way that we could have Anthony tested.  We talked for a while and he agreed to let him test.   He said that only 1 in 5 of the student who tested were accepted.  I hope that Anthony is one of those kids.  He loves his art.

Foster kid is still here.  We are mean (according to him).  He really doesn't like consequences.  That is life.  Nine year old boys are hard!  It is quite possible that he will go to his grandmothers when they have court next Monday.  His GAL is coming for a visit tomorrow so maybe we will get some intel on the case.

My brother from Texas came for a visit.  We talked about mom and her unwillingness to work her physical therapy and how she has declined.  I decided that it was time to put her on the waiting list at a nursing home.  I did my research and talked to a lot of people and decided on a specific home.  We are on their waiting list which they said was 2-12 months long.  Big difference between 2 and 12 months but we are on their schedule.

Adoption worker was here today for the girls.  No new news.  TPR is next Wednesday then hopefully we can start to move forward again.  I told the girls SW the other day that she was like family now but that we would prefer that she stop visiting.  She agrees.

I finally got the girls on medicaid.  I called and said that I was their SW.  Then I emailed their SW to tell her how I got them enrolled.  She laughed and said that I should have done it long ago.  They asked all types of questions that the SW wouldn't have known.  This system is crazy.

I also got paperwork in the mail letting us know that Kassi is now covered by medicaid.  This is a relief!  We still haven't gotten back her adoption paperwork so she is still in limbo. We can't change her name at school without something to prove that we are her parents.  It is so frustrating.

Want pictures?  I have been so busy and haven't taken many!

Tasha is painting her furniture in preparation for her move.  She is leaving this week, I will miss her!