update on school thing

both teachers called me. yes both girls are functioning well above their kindergarten counterparts. there is possibility to move both of them up a grade but in the mean time they will beef up their lessons a bit to challenge them a bit more. I also found out that Andre is functioning well below is class. his speech is hard to understand(duhh!) and while the teacher keeps asking for evaluation they keep refusing. so I told her to ask again that it was coming from me. I completely agree he needs to be evaluated. I cant believe they didnt do it sooner. their excuse is well the language is a problem. get an interp! it isnt like we dont have anyone in this community to who speaks the language! there are 2 that I know of for sure. one translated for Sophie and Ben when they came home. why they would pay for preschool evaluation but not elementary translation.not when its really crucial and they are already a failing school? makes zero sense. but then this is a public institution since when does it have to make sense?

frustrations with the school

The majority of the population coming into kindergarten have no academic reference or background and if they can write their name thats an accomplishment. but some kids, like mine, have had years of preschool, mom school, are very smart, and are well ahead of those other kids. the problem comes in that the curriculum bar is set SO low that my kids are bored. I remember that feeling. they dont even want to go to school now. its boring. I was an avid reader and I remember my frustration having to listen to struggling readers. it was almost painful! now imagine sitting and tracing basic numbers when you can do real math! you can add and subtract and write the answer. in fact you are getting so good at it you can do it in your head sometimes. can you imagine how difficult and boring it would be to sit and trace a number you already know how to write?

For my boys they are at that level of just learning to hold the pencil and write numbers and letters but neither has been in the country more than a year and one has physical disabilities making writing difficult for him, not to mention cognitive delays. for them this curriculum works just fine. but its sad that they snuff out the drive and love of learning in the kids who are above that level by not giving them appropriate work to do.

I called the school about it. dean of students is out. today and tomorrow. apparently it wasnt enough to have 9 days off. he needed two more. rather self centered of me I know. but it is so hard to talk to anyone there. if you call in the morning there are meetings or people arent in. if you call after school when the kids get home with info everyone is gone. if you call in the day they are either in class or in meetings. so how can I even get them doing work that is challenging? I cant. the teachers may or may not call me back if I leave a message. I really rather despise that I have to deal with them at all. but this is how ps works. I wish I could just take my brilliant learners home. The girls worked nearly through an entire workbook this week. they used to like school. used to be excited to go. now not so much. can you blame them?

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my ten wonderful beautiful children. 2 came from a former life and I am thankful for that life because of all that I learned and because it brought me to where I am now. We made one, who is still joined to my heart like no other. then came a Russian who tests me regularly to help me learn to be a better person. After that two wee Ukrainians joined our family. those two have shown us the true meaning of love and courage and being yourself no matter what. four more special Ukrainians came into our family this year and every day with them is Christmas for me. beautiful bright happy children, all of them. I am thankful for them every day but today is a day of thanks so I wanted to publicly declare my love for them and all that they bring into our lives. For them we are truly thankful!

something is heavy

heavy on my heart of late. I cant see how to deal with it. the way I would like to deal just doesnt seem like an option. The other way to deal leaves me breathless and panicked. I cant really say here what is on my mind but a few of you know precisely what I mean. I just cant find a way to make rights with it. Just keep waiting I suppose and one way or another it will be resolved. For it to be resolved in the way I would want remains to be seen and I cant wrap my head around it either way. I cant explain it it just IS.

life is crazy

I actually had a post in mind as well as a title but I got distracted brushing the dog with Natasha and now I have no idea what it was. the children are all fine.

Sophie and Ben got red and green striped casts. his is red with green stripes hers are green with red stripes. Ben has been walking like crazy in his. Sophie has been working on getting to standing in hers. We are hoping to get them a tenotomy next time or the time after. still no date for Sophie's osteotomy. but we did meet Laelia who was doing pretty well after hers so we have a little bit of an idea what to look forward to. we are learning that people in a wheelchair have a very difficult time to use a bathrooom. many times our stroller will not fit in the handicapped stall and still have room to lift and move the kids. there are not very many large companion care or handicapped accessible bathrooms that are not connected to the main bathroom. we found philly has many companion care bathrooms but they are quite small and never have papertowel and in one case the smell of cigarettes was so bad the kids even commented on it. In minneapolis we found what we thought was the perfect bathroom, only to discover that we couldnt get in the door! no matter which way I turned or tried there was no getting that stroller in the dooor. if I cant get a stroller in there ( a stroller designed to go through any 36 inch door way) would a wheelchair be able to get in there? I was exhausted and the kids and I needed to use the bathroom and I was nearly reduced to tears. I can only imagine what it feels like in a wheelchair to be excluded again and again.

When we returned from Philadelphia Eric brought everyone and the new baby down to the airport to meet us. we jumped in and went to the science museum. the kids had fun there but Jaeger was afraid of virtually EVERYTHING. Diana was mad because she wanted to see king tut and he wasnt there. Maia was just happy to have her mama back with her and went to sleep in my lap during the omni movie. She has been sleeping through movies in my lap for a long time. Andre kept asking Why museum? why movie?? why this mama? why that mama? talked through the whole movie. Jaeger and Natasha were sitting next to each other and fought for the arm rest through the movie. Then all the way home they fussed about the seating arrangements. a pretty typical day with them.

One child of mine has been recalling memories of their first family. they are very unpleasant memories. so much so that you wonder if they could possibly be true. I fully believe that the horrors described truly happened and look on in wonder that this child could be so well adjusted.

Another child of mine continues to take things, including money from me. Yet another child can not be more than 2 feet away from me or Eric. they cling constantly. like an affection black hole. take and take and take never getting enough. we give and give and give but sometimes it would be nice to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING, without little hands grabbing or nonstop talk and question asking.

The other night Eric made Saurbrauten and it was NOT a hit. many blechs were heard. except one poor chid made the mistake of saying to Daddy. he was a bit hurt and mad. That child sulked through most of the rest of the meal.

Last night we had spaghetti and squash and chicken patties for dinner. two kids apparently dont eat spaghetti OR squash so they were awful hungry when it came time for ice cream sandwhiches. I generally make what I make and they have the choice to eat it or not. but if you dont eat the meal you dont get treats afterwards. so several kids went without ice cream last night.

we had a blast playing monster in the dark basement. we turn out all the lights and try to catch each other. no flashlights. no lights. just pitch black. they all love this game. Cody started it and it has taken off since then to include more kids and now me to. When Cody and Chrysta were small we used to play this.
all in all I guess things are going fairly well. we do really adore the new kids even if they can be exhausting. and we adore the old kids with all their problems as well. generally life is good, crazy, but good.

done for the day

new casts sophie and ben. one got green with red stripes and one got red with green stripes. they saw a little guy named Ryan last night and he had those colors and so they decided to get them too. Sophie really wanted purple but they didnt have enough purple and When Ben went with christmas colors she did too. we only waited a half hour for cab and now are back at rmh. kids are so tired but refuse to sleep. tomorrow is another big day, early day. we saw Tracey Schalk at shriners as well as a family from IRELAND and another family from Ohio. we are looking at tenotomies soon. next appt or the one after. still no date for sophie's osteotomies. I laughingly asked if they might have a date when they would have a date. I need a nap. if they arent going to sleep then I guess they will be tired. I am going to take a nap