A Busy Week

The week is only half over and I already feel like its been at least a whole week if not 2 weeks that have gone by the last few days. We have had a lot of good things going on and I thought I'd share.

Monday was a huge day. It started with being Daniel's birthday. My the last 5 years have gone by SO fast! What happened to this cute adorable baby?

(Daniel with his friend Preston)

It was also the day that we got a Neurological Psychiatric Evaluation done for him. It meant that he spent 5 hours with a doctor doing testing. He was exhausted by the time he was done. (Unfortunately for him his day wasn't done yet.) This will hopefully help us to determine several things. It will help us learn how he is going to learn the best and what his strengths in various areas are, tell us if he has any further diabilites and help document the ones he does have so that we can get the services and support he needs. It's a good test and we are hoping that we will get some good feeback from the doctor. Unfortunately we have to wait a month for the results.

While he was doing testing, I took Reagan over to her dance and music class at The Music Machine. We had found out that she had gotten a scholarship for the first session of the summer the week before. I had presigned her up for this planning on doing it but then found out we had some really unexpected expenses come up and didn't think we would be able to do it. But then they told me about the scholarships and I had one happy girl! She sings and dances all day long (and all night) so this was a really good fit and I had been wanting to find something for her to do  as we are always taking Daniel to stuff and she doesn't get to participate in those things. It's a M-TH class and quite a time commitment. But she loves it! When they get older they can choose music or dance (or both) and they either do a musical review or a play with dance.

We did take Daniel to lunch for his birthday so that he had something fun. Unfortunately the resturant took so long to bring our food that he had to eat it in the car on the way back to the doctor and then it made both kids sick. Not so fun for your brithday!

After he was done with his testing we ran over on base and got his TB test read so that we could enroll him in Kindergarten. After the TB test was read we took him over to enroll him in school. We are enrolling Daniel in a Homeschooling Charter School here.We have decided to homeschool Daniel this year for several reasons. One is the school that he would go to has used condoms and hypodermic needles all over the playground. Not exactly safe. And while I fully support him being around children and adults of other races and ethnicities I really don't want him to be the only white kid in his class. Which, literally he would be. I've been over to the Elementry school on a couple of occasions and there is 1 white child per class. Also currently with Daniel's issues, the school district will not recognize them until they actually see him acting out to the point where he is on the verge of being expelled. I've had several advocates in and out of the school system tell me this and I really don't want to set him up for failure before he can get the help he needs. I'm also told that the kids in kindergarten and first grade in this school use the foulest language you can imagine and it isn't corrected by the teachers. It's just not an environment that we want to place either of our kids in.

 Alaska is really a great state to live in as they will actually pay for your homeschooling. For Daniel with the school that we will be going through it's $2600 a year, and it just goes up as he gets older. Half of that can be used for things like music, dance, art, and sports classes. They will pay for our internet as well as a few other things as well. We will be picking out a sponsor teacher who works with you to make sure you are on target and that you have all the supports and help you need to succeed. Daniel will get a report card (not that I'll need it as I'll know exactly where he is) and diploma just like kids going to school. We are really excited to start this new adventure. He's already been learning how to read ,write and add and subtract we'll just be doing it more formally.

Poor Daniel didn't get a cake that day because I never could make it home to get one baked for him. But he got presents that night and he helped me bake the cake the next day.

Tuesday we started out with Reagan's music class, came home for lunch and left again about 45 minutes later for Daniel's first Occupational Therapy apt. What a revelation it was! Why haven't we been doing that all along!? They were able to see things with Daniel immediately and understand. They work with him on doing normal kid and life stuff that are hard for him. The therapist asked how he was in a store. I just looked at her and said, "they are both usually crying by the end of it." She said that they take them to the store and work on going through the store, and acting the way they should. They will take him for bike rides and work with him on sticking to things that he thinks are hard. It was with such a sense of relief that I left there yesterday. They knew what he needed and how to help him. What a blessing!

After OT we rushed home as I had the Young Women from church coming over to learn how to make Banana Bread. We had a really good time with them and got to play one of my favorite games -Spoons, while we waited for it to bake. That night we went and picked up a fishing rod for Paul and I to share so we can take the kids fishing. We have a fishing trip planned for next month. Daniel can't wait that long, so we are going this weekend...

Today Daniel had Speech Therapy. He has that on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-11:45 a.m. It's through the local University with Students who are getting ready to finish their schooling for Speech Pathology. So far I've been pleased. We are still looking for a private speech therapist as we still feel that Daniel needs some more help. While Daniel was at speech, Reagan and I were off to her music class and then rush back for lunch and then off to OT again.

In the middle of all this I've been trying to schedule Physical Therapy for me, find a speech therapist that will take Daniel, schedule a sleep study for him (he is still occasionally having problems where he will sleep too much), interviewing sponsor teachers for school, getting ready for girl's camp... It's been crazy but good!

Kids Free Fishing Day

Daniel has been BEGGING to go fishing ever since we moved up here. We haven't taken him because I just felt like he was a bit too young and with the issues that he has the thought of him having something with a sharp hook on the end of the line terrified me. However now that he was almost 5 I felt a little more comfotable. A couple weekends ago the Forrest Service put on a a Kid's Free Fishing Day in Portage AK which isn't that far from here. Paul had drill that weekend so he wasn't able to come with us.

They had shirts for the kids to paint rubber fish and then apply to the t-shirt. Reagan put a starfish on hers and Daniel had a small slender fish on his. They fed us lunch, and then they had games to play with fishing poles, and they had tanks with fish set up for the kids to actually go fishing and catch fish. Unfortunately the fish weren't hungry at all. Daniel and Reagan's favoite part was just going to the river and practicing casting as you see in these pictures.

Smokey the Bear made a visit too and they were really excited to meet him.It was a really fun day though we really needed winter coats it was so cold and it kept sprinkling on us. We spent about an hour and a half there.(Reagan couldn't take any more of the cold.) But Daniel didn't want to leave. He was "hooked" so that say. He thought fishing was the best thing ever. Fast forward a couple weeks to his birthday and what did he get but a fishing pole. He has been asking for it for at least the last 6 months. Paul is going to take them fishing this weekend while I go on the Girls Camp hike. Daniel wakes up every morning asking if today is the day.

Pardon us while we play

Since I lost my camera I haven't been taking as many pictures... And until the last 2 days we have had the most gorgeous weather! Long days at the gardens and parks. I have everything planted now except for my radishes in my garden. Somehow they keep getting left out. So pardon us while we live in the sunshine and bask in the opportunity to go outside and play and discover the world around us. We'll post as we get a chance, but summer calls!

A Visit from Grandma

Grandma Lois flew in for a visit last week and we had some really excited kids to see here. She didn't get to the house until about 11pm so they had to wait until morning to see her. Daniel graciously gave up his bed so Grandma would have a place to sleep. (Really though he was excited about sleeping in his Lightning McQueen sleeping bag so he didn't mind.)

We spent the next day driving around Anchorage area and showing her where Paul works. The next day was Sunday and Stake Conference. No one ended up going. I was going to go but I had a combination cold and allergies and I took Benadryl and went to bed. We had a quiet day with just playing around the house. Paul later took Lois and the kids out for a drive up to Palmer and Wasilla area, on which Lois got to see her moose. Daniel fell asleep in the car about 5pm and didn't wake until 5 the next morning.

Monday was a special treat. We drove 2 hours down to Seward which is really a beautiful drive and took a 6 1/2 hour cruise on the ocean. Here are the kids getting ready to start.

 And the boats in the harbour...

 I believe this is an Orca whale. Also known as a killer whale. We saw several of these as well as Humpback whales, Porpoises, Sea Lions, and Mountain Goats (these weren't in the water but climbing the sides of the mountains). I have never seen a Humpback whale before and I think we saw about 4 of them. It was awesome! We were told that these whales are the same whales that you see in Hawaii. They come up here to eat and swim back down to mate. The Porpoises would race the boat and it was really exciting to be on the bow of the boat look down and watch them racing by under your feet. The Sea Lions are brown up here and massive! Lois said they looked like giant slugs and really, they did.

 Our table was on the first level but Reagan and I went up to the 2nd level (there were 3) and would sit at the bow of the boat and ride the waves. The second level you felt it more and she would just giggle and say, "Mommy that makes my tummy feel silly!" No matter how rough the seas got she loved it. (We had about 6-7 waves that we were experiencing through a couple parts of the trip.) She needs to do something on the sea when she grows up as she loved it. Daniel on the other hand spent most of the trip asleep. He slept 19 hours that day. We are still trying to figure out if its the medication or something else.

 Here is Miss Reagan modeling the hat I'd bought that morning. My coat doesn't have a hood and it was cold and overcast and the wind was blowing before we got on the boat, so I decided a hat was necessary. They had a Junior Ranger program which they are also working on here. They had to complete several of the pages and at the end they had a special ceremony where they made Daniel and Reagan Junior Rangers of the Kenai National Fjords Park. The Ranger asked Reagan where she was from and she replied, "California". Wishful thinking on the part of both of my kids!

Here they are watching for whales.

 This was the Glacier that we had lunch by. It was probably about 100 ft. tall and you can't see it very well, but the ice is actually a beautiful blue. (About the color of the kids newly painted bathroom.) I've forgotten why they said it was blue, but it really was beautiful. Lunch was delish. The Prime rib was excellent and the Salmon wasn't that bad either. But I had to laugh, they would serve Salmon and alcohol on a cruise that got a bit rough... At least a couple of people lost their lunches...

 Here is Grandma Lois and the kids at the Glacier.

And Paul.

The next day we took Grandma to the Anchorage Museum, the kids played in the Imaginarium and Grandma and Dad got to go upstairs to the Alaska exhibits and learn more about Alaska. We then took her to a very good restutaunt called the Sourdough Mining Company. It has the best corn fritters you have ever tasted. Later that night we also took her to one of Paul's hockey games.

We had a fun time with Grandma Lois and hope she comes back soon.

What has Paul been up to?

In March Paul was gone to California and Nevada for his annual National Guard Training. I've been married to him for going on 9 years and this is the first time he's actually gone on the training as he always transfers into a new unit just as they have finished it or they are either deploying, or just got back from deploying. He was gone about 3 weeks. They spent a lot of time shooting... Which Paul loved and unfortunately I can't seem to find pictures of. They did some rock climbing and some skiing. This is where they skiied. It's called Sqaw Valley I believe.

 This one suprised me. Who would think that when you live in Alaska, you would go all the way down to California to build a snow cave and sleep in it? Paul said they dug about 8 feet down in the snow to make this snow cave and then they spent the night in it. I thought it was pretty cool.

 A couple of weeks ago Paul was invited to go on a fishing trip into the prince William Sound with our friends the Darringtons. Another friend of theirs went with them too (as he owned the boat). Here is Mr. Lowell Darrington.

 Paul said they caught Red Snapper, Halibut and Cod. He was a little disappointed as he was hoping to see a bear and take one while he was gone but he did see a full whale breach which is pretty cool.

Conversations with the kids...

The other day, Daniel came up to Paul very excited.
"Daddy, I want 1,2,3,4,6 things (carefully counting his fingers to make sure he had 6 of them up, and he did). I want 1 blue light saber, another light saber, a red light saber and another little light saber, and a purple light saber, and a pink parasol for Reagan."
I couldn't help but laugh it was so cute and carefully thought out, but he has definitely learned the principle of quantity!
Today we had to leave a friend's house early because she got a call that her son was sick at school. Reagan wanted to know why Asher was sick. I explained about germs and how they get into the body. She replied," But Asher's Daddy came home and he's Germy!" --- His name is Jeremy. Leave it to a little kid to make that connection. She was really worried then. I just tried to redirect.

Making Finger Paint

My daughter LOVES arts and crafts. Me... not so much. She has been wanting to paint lately as she has seen me painting. We were out of paint (for her) and I ran across a recipe today for making finger paint. So we tried it.You can find the recipe here. It's at the bottom of the page.

And here is Daniel's picture...

And here is one of Reagan's MANY pictures.....