Big Night All Around

Wednesday night was a little hectic, but great all around. Brandon had a pack meeting and received his Tiger Badge. He also got 6 belt loops and some other awards. I was unable to go with him and Jim because Lauren had a big concert up at the High School. It was the first time she played in a concert with her clarinet. She found the whole thing very exciting. The last piece was very cool. They had all the kids from the elementary, middle and high schools playing one piece at once. They said they had about 600 kids playing and it took about 3-4 conductors to pull if off. The elementary section (all the elementary schools in our district) played two pieces. Then the middle did a couple and then the high school. The high school has a very good band. Their last piece was strictly percussion. Very cool. I don't have any pictures of the concert, because I sent the camera with Jim to get pictures of Brandon getting his award. I was able to take the video camera for the concert, but had a bad seat and couldn't see Lauren at all.

Museum Overnight

Last weekend we took our Girl Scouts to the Natural History Museum in Philadelphia. They have an overnight program for scouts. The trip started out with a very hectic drive. First of all, we all hate to drive in crazy traffic. We had 5 cars and we were all trying to stay together. We finally got there and checked in. The program was good and the girls had a great time. Mary (sister) and her troop was there as well. They put us in different groups, so we didn't see too much of each other. The next day we were able to stay and see anything that wasn't open the night before. There were only a couple of problems. The food was not that good and the floors were very hard. Sort of expected that. The most irritating part was from the other troops. Some times I wonder what these leaders are teaching their girls. They had some rules like no air mattresses and you were not supposed to bring PJ's or a change of cloths. Bathroom space was limited and there really was no place else to change. Mary's group got squashed because the group next to her had air mattresses and took up way more space than they should have. The group next to us had the leaders sitting up and talking while the girls were trying to sleep. I had to go over and ask them to stop. The thing was, they had a room set up for people that wanted to sit around and talk at night. They just had to go down there, but they sat there and had their little coffee clutch. Anyway, our girls did great and had a good time.

Lauren's New Photo

Here is Lauren's new photo. I think it is really good. How come the spring photo is always so much better than the fall photo.

Being Anal at the Grocery Store

Really people. Am I so anal that I let the grocery store check-out girl piss me off. Yes. Not only could she not grasp the concept of "NO" to the paper and plastic (that's why I have this large bag of re-usable bags), but is unable to efficiently pack said bags. She seemed to think that the bread and eggs would fare better in plastic. How, I don't know. She also thought the grapes "would be less smooched" in a plastic bag. I finally said "PLEASE, I don't want the plastic bags." To that she gave me a look of horror.

Derby Troubles

Last night was the Pine Wood Derby at school for Brandon. I think he really had his hopes up. He had done really well with the car in the Cub Scouts. Seems they were having some issues with the track. We noticed that not many cars won on the 1st lane. Lots of cars were falling off the 4th lane. So you not only had to be fast, but lucky. In the first heat, Brandon's car was inched out by his best friend. In Cub Scouts they race more than once or let two cars from each heat move forward, but at school they only let the 1st car go on. Brandon's friend ended up taking 4th place. After it was over, Brandon thru a major fit. There were lots of upset kids. First Brandon took off for the back of the gym to hide. I tried to calm him down, but he was in full shut down mode. NO TALKING. He then took off past me. I thought Jim had him on the other end, but Brandon took off into the parking lot without his coat. I grabbed Lauren and was trying to find Jim and Brandon. We went outside to find Jim walking around. No Brandon. He had followed him to the car and then Brandon took off again. Jim and Lauren said they would search outside while I went back in to recheck the gym. Just when I was getting ready to call in some teachers to help look, Jim texted me that he had him. I got to the car to find Lauren crying. Apparently, after Jim got him in the car, he started throwing stuff. The zipper from his coat (Jim had just given it to him to put on) caught Lauren in the face. I then caught his glasses. When we got home, he went up and hid in his bed. I guess he finally calmed down and went to sleep. This morning there was no sign of trouble. All was fine in the world again. The paper from school even said he did good in class. Wish I knew a way to calm him down. It's so hard when he won't talk. Oh well, it's been a long time since we've had one that bad. I hope it's a long time before we have another.

Brandon's car is the white one.

Lauren and Stress

Lately, it seems that every time I turn around that Lauren is stressing about something.This week she has PSSA testing and she was stressing about that on Monday. This morning it was about a project that is due NEXT Wednesday. She was up and dressed before I could even see straight. So as I tried to shower, she sat on the toilet asking me questions about her family history so she could write her report. HELP

Lauren's IEP

It occurs to me that I never posted about Lauren's IEP. Not really much to tell. They pulled the same old stuff with trying to remove stuff from her IEP. I noticed and had them put it back. Almost missed the one and had to e-mail the teacher the next day. They won't discuss dyslexia programs until she has a "formal" diagnoses. Lauren is set to see the Neurologist in late July with Brandon. I discussed meds with a friend (who has a similar daughter) and kinda hope that they don't use what Brandon takes. There are others that might help with the anxiety while helping with the memory and focus. Seems like a day doesn't go by without Lauren crying or having anxiety over one thing or another. This morning is was an upset stomach and headache. I'm thinking it's over the PSSA testing that starts today. She was better by the time she went to school. I just had to keep reminding her that there was no pass or fail.

The only other thing will be after the PT/OT testing is done. They set that date for mid April. It is being done by the county IU. I may also look into one of the PT places around here just in case the district pulls the same thing as the dyslexia. You know, tell me they see the symptoms, but won't say she has it and should be treated.

It Runs

Well, here is the new car. Not the best, but it runs and has 100,000 less miles than the rolling paperweight. Now we just need to get rid of the old one. Maybe someone will want it for parts.

LIFE

Life this last week has been absolute ciaos. The weekend (last weekend) went good. It was full of stuff for the kids. We went shopping and then rode bikes. I told Brandon if he learned to ride without training wheels that I would buy him a new bike. I needed to buy him one anyway, but it gave him incentive. I had him use Laurens old bike. It took him a bit to get over the pink part. Lauren is comfortable with her new bike. It's much bigger than the old one, but a really good fit. Brandon caught on in no time. Really cool. Now I have to buy a bike. On Sunday, we had Girl Scout Sunday. Lauren was to wear her vest and you guessed it, if she had to so did Brandon. She ended up having a panic attack in church because she thought she was the only one that wore it. She calmed down later when Lexie came to sit with her. She had her vest too. After church, we made candy. This was a first for them. They did pretty good.

Now the bad part. On Tuesday I blew the engine out in my car. Yeah, now it's a big rolling paperweight. Jim and I started discussing what to do. Can't really afford a new car. New engine was more than the car is worth. As we were discussing it the van started making a funny noise. Sounds like that one is not long for this world either. Later I found a car to buy from a old resident that had pasted away. Her kids are selling it for a good price. Can't beat $3000. Not a great car, but it runs and has no major problems. Mileage is low. I will just have to make do. Good thing is now we can replace the van if we have to. I just need the money from the 401K to get here NOW.