Wordless Wednesday: Who needs toys when you have a dog bowl?

Kindergarten transition IEP success

I know to many folks with kids with special needs the mere mention of an IEP conference makes the hair on the back of their necks stand up, their stomach get queasy and their head pound.

For me it doesn't.  

Maybe it is my special education background.  I have been on the other end of the table so many times writing and discussing IEP's with parents and I know my intentions were always good.  I loved teaching and loved seeing kids soar.  

Or maybe it is my positive attitude that the girl's team wants the best for them.   They are great people who are in education to make a difference and we are blessed that they certainly have made a difference in our girl's lives.  We might not always agree on every detail but, I know they want the best for my kids and push them to do their very best just like we do.

Our conference went fabulously well as it always does.  I always bring a little treat, not because I have to, but because I used to be a special ed teacher and I know how much work goes into just the paperwork let alone working with my girls every day!   We began by showing the video I made and then stating our goals for the girl's lives.  The team loved the video!  I highly recommend making one for your own IEP conferences especially when transitioning to a new school.

The girl's case manager, Ms. Juanita always provides me a copy of the IEP the week before so I can review it.  I am a total visual learner so need to read it myself before the meeting to have input.  If your case manager doesn't provide this I would ask for one before your meetings.  I usually email her any questions/ comments/ additions or deletions I have so that those can be included in the IEP.

We were able to meet the girl's special educator and speech therapist for kindergarten as they joined us for the meeting.  We also are blessed with a down syndrome guild representative in our school district.  This is a teacher from our district who has attended the workshops provided by our guild so that they can be a down syndrome advocate and resource.  The district staff invited her and she was a great resource adding great tips and ideas for the girls like using peers more to motivate Alayna. 

The girls will probably be in the same kindergarten class.  We asked for half day, separate classes.  However, so many parents requested full day kindergarten that it looks like there will probably be only one section of half day kindergarten.  

They will each have 30 minutes of daily pullout special education instruction, speech 3 times a week, occupational and physical therapies 1 time each a week.  The rest of the time they will have push in services of either a special ed teacher or para being in their inclusion kindergarten class.  

We are excited and nervous for the beginning of elementary school for the girls.  The girls are ready and super excited.

We know that our girls are in great hands with excellent teachers and therapists.

Beyond blessed...

Kindergarten transition

Today is our kindergarten transition IEP's for the girls.  Wish us luck.

Here is the video that I made for the meeting.

Happy birthday, Aidan!

Eleven years has passed 

and I can hardly remember life without you.

You taught me how to love unconditionally and without abandon.

Aidan, you have delighted us from the moment we found out we were pregnant.

Your caring, tender heart and desire to serve others

always takes my breath away.

You are intelligent, handsome, loving and kind.

Resourceful, talented, silly and quick witted.

Aidan,

You are a rising star!

We are so proud of the young man that we see maturing before us.

We pray that you always seek God's will and follow His path.

We pray this 11th birthday is blessed beyond measure!

We love you no end!

xxoo

Busy but fun weekend

April seems to be crazy busy for us between church, school, piano, soccer, dance, recitals, birthdays and everything in between.  We are booked solid.

This weekend was no different.

Saturday morning the boys headed to Aidan's soccer game while the girls and I took in the Easter egg hunt at our church.  It was a beautifully sunny day for being outside!

One girl was hopping over to maul hug the bunny while the other one was a little standoffish.

They soon got to business harvesting eggs.  There were hundreds of them!

My child who usually doesn't care for sweets too much decided to plop down and investigate a York peppermint pattie.

One taste and she was in heaven...she decided the hunt was over she was going to chow down on the treats!

Alayna decided hunting eggs wasn't fun enough so decided to practice her dance moves!

Once Dariya was cut off the chocolate she decided to throw a fit cry a bit.  

Dominic to the rescue!  He is a peer model in their pre K class and also is in Sunday school classes with them.  He said, " Come on Dariya" and away they went to the play set, happy as can be!

Is this the cutest?

I told his mom to expect a double date for prom.;)

Sunday brought church, a dance competition for the girls and more volunteering at church for Aidan and I, some birthday shopping for the soon to be 11 year old (more on that later) and another soccer game that thankfully, darn the bad luck was canceled due to the thunderstorms ;)

I love that I caught Dariya in mid jump!  So cute!
Both girls LOVE dancing and love performing!

The crowd always goes crazy when the girl's dance troop comes on.

We are blessed to have such a great set of volunteers to work with our girls.

What a busy but, fabulously fun weekend we had.

We hope your weekend was super fun too!

Piano recital

Aidan 's piano teacher, Ms. Nancy held their recital this week.

The kids all did a fabulous job.

Aidan still loves music and enjoys learning all different genres.

He still amazes me at his ability and ear.

Here is a glimpse of the evening mainly for the grandparents! ;)



Aidan didn't get to play Fur Elise on the program but, wanted to play it on the grand piano before we left so excuse the background noise as the recital was finished at this point.

Weighted blanket update

If you didn't see my first post about making Alayna a weighted blanket you might want to check that out first.

I have been asked numerous times for an update on how the weighted blanket and Alayna's sleeping has been.

All I can say is...pretty fabulous!

I wish I would have made the blanket much sooner.

The first night she slept straight through the night without waking for 11 hours.  Then we had a few nights where she woke up but we put her back in bed and put the blanket on her (which she LOVES) and she went right back to sleep.

It has been a huge improvement.

She asks for it many days when she is snuggling on the couch reading or watching tv.  She absolutely loves it.

I am waiting for the company to give us more poly pellets and then I will make Dariya one.  But, she is sleeping better as they aren't waking each other up every night.

I highly recommend making one.  They were pretty cost prohibitive for us, especially with two girls but, wow what a difference.

Have you made one?  What has your experience been?