Girl Scout Day at the Capitol

Me and two other insane adults took Gretchen's troop to the Capitol on Friday.  The kids were really impressed with the Capitol building.  They climbed up to the top to see the dome and we peeked into the Governer's office.  There was an expo too for the girls to go to but we had done the badges that they were putting out so the girls opted to dance as there was a DJ playing all their favorite songs and then some.  The highlight of the expo was the balloon drop!

California Adventure

For Spring Break we took an actual vacation:  flew to Anaheim on Sunday and came back on Friday. Sunday we hit the Discovery Museum (its in the shape of a cube) and then some swimming at the hotel, Monday we hit Disneyland, Tuesday we went to Legoland, Thursday we went to the other Disney park California Adventure and Friday we headed home.  It was exhausting but fun. We left Six Flags early to hit the Hollywood Sign and the Star Walk but traffic was so bad that we ended up just looking at it from the car..... I don't think the kids would've been able to handle it.  Gretchen though is now tall enough to ride all of the roller coasters so she and Steve hit almost half of the ones at Magic Mountain.  She is the little daredevil though her and Evan were just as freaked out as Sean on Disney's Tower of Terror.  All in all we had a great time.  Evan is already asking what we're doing on our next vacation.  We told him camping... he did not seem as excited.  Hard to top this adventure I guess....  Check out the exhaustive pics here.

Finally got to meet Mickey on our last day at Disney

Cookie Time

Gretchen sold Girl Scout cookies this year to earn money for a trip to Key Lime Cove and to go to Fall Encampment.  As her mother, I helped of course with cookie sales and pestered my friends at work.  I know there are some who think parents shouldn't help but it helps pay for stuff.  As the troop leader, I'm already pumping money into the troop so if I can alleviate that... I'm gonna do it.  Every year Gretchen does more and more selling.  And of course, I make her stand outside in 22 degree weather (not on purpose of course) so I think it all balances out.....

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Someone has questions.....

After reading Holly Claus, A Christmas Princess, Gretchen asked me if she's real. I told her I don't really know but it's possible. She said well I guess that's one more question for tomorrow. I hope Santa's ready because I have a lot of questions that I need answers for! ..... Well I hope Santa is ready today to answer her questions!

No Common Decency

Evan has decided he is going to do the Advent calendar every day even though the kids are taking turns... Sean could care less but he's doing it because it's his turn.  Gretchen set her alarm clock early today to get up and do it BEFORE Evan could since it's her turn.  When Evan tried to do today (and it was already done), Gretchen declared Evan has "no common decency whatsoever"..... Sigh....  

She's being good Santa

New Beginings

We had our meeting today with the neuropsychologist regarding Gretchen's testing.  Apparently Gretchen is through the roof on the verbal components but equally and oppositely low on the non-verbal.  We got a lot of info that boils down to these labels:  non verbal learning disability, math learning disability and ADHD.  The doctor is still writing the report for us.  Once we have it we will see our pediatrician regarding the ADHD and what kinds of options there.  We are considering medication but will be watching that very carefully.  We obviously don't want it to change the essence of who she is but we really want to get some help with the ADHD component because it's likely affecting her behavior in class (and her grades in reading and math).  If some wins in the classroom result of better focus, it would really help her confidence. 

Once we have the report, we'll let the school review it in anticipation of the IEP meeting we have scheduled in January.  The doctor did not feel that she had dyslexia but rather spatial processing that had her flipping words, skipping lines and substituting.  Gretchen saw an opthamalogist in Sept for a thorough examination so we know it's not a vision issue.

So.....  oddly enough, I feel some peace now than before.  I guess because we have confirmation on what the issues are...  And hopefully very soon some strategies for how to help her at home.  I'm hoping that rather than walking aimlessly down roads that look like the "right" one, we can start on a path that will really help her! 

The Nutcracker

Last year we saw an interesting Nutcracker at CLC.  Gretchen knew the story but I think the ballet is kind of long for her.  This year the family and the girl scout troop saw a production done by the lovely Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre for Kids.  It has the ballet highlights in there since it was only an hour.  I think we all enjoyed that.... 

Butterflies

Steve and I have butterflies today and that sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you think something awful may be coming.  We made the decision to have Gretchen tested for dyslexia and ADD. She has a learning disability that she gets services for but we still feel like something is missing.  She's failing math right now even though we sit with her and go over homework and concepts.  Reading is better but still below. You think when your child goes through the IEP and the whole services thing that they are going to improve however slowly.  While we are afraid of the results, we think it's time to see if there is a medical issue.  At least we'll know what we need to do for her.......

Santa's Minion

G: Why won't Santa bring me an elf on the shelf? 
Me: You buy them at the store. Santa doesn't bring them. 
G: Why don't you believe it them? They're real you know. 
Me: We didn't have them when I grew up. 
G: Well, that's 'cause Santa hadn't thought of it yet!

She's got an answer for EVERYTHING!

Cowgirl Gretchen

Gretchen wanted to be a cow girl this year.  We didn't have the annual "how do you keep a child warm all night?" predicament we usually have.  This year it rained all night but it didn't stop us from going.  We went for the 90 minutes - not too bad in the rain....

Gretchen and our neighbor friend