Oksana - After the shock of the genetics report we found an Undiagnosed Disease Clinic and we are trying to see if they will accept her to see if they can get a diagnosis.
Oksana's 11th birthday was earlier this month. Rather than a big party she chose to have a bunch of small celebrations spread out over a week. She got to have dinner and ice cream with her BFF, go to the American Girl Store, party with her respite center, and more!
She decided last week that she wants to join the cheer team that Anya is on. I think she will love it!
We had an IEP meeting and decided that she will go back to her original school (where Anya goes) because she has been doing so great. You would think I would be thrilled. Instead I'm rather nervous. At her current school no matter what she does she won't get kicked out. She can't stay there forever just because I fear her getting worse and getting kicked out of school again. It just makes me nervous.
Overall she has been doing great. The last week has been touchy and she has raged a couple of times. My body is responding by going into immediate freak out mode. Clearly 3 years of being verbally and physically abused has taken it's toll on me. I'm just praying it was a rough week and she isn't getting worse again.
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| Cookie cake was the treat of choice for our family celebration! |
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| This is the AG Doll that they gave her at the hospital. Her grandma and aunt took her to the store to get her hair done and get her a new outfit. |
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| Her BFF! He's an awesome kid who is also on the cheer squad. |
Anya - After her ADHD diagnosis we tried Ritalin with Anya and it was a bust. Our next option was Guanfacine (Tenex) and let me just tell you that this child has a new lease on life! She is the perfect example of mediation done right. She is spunky, active, and still gets in trouble.....just like EVERY OTHER KID DOES! She is so much more calm and focused and the results are showing in every area of her life. It has just been incredible to see her thrive now that she can sit still for more than 5 seconds!
Anya's birthday is coming up soon. We don't have anything big planned. She is obsessed with playgrounds right now so we will be celebrating at a playground with ice cream. She will be the happiest kid on earth!
Cheerleading is still her passion! The girl would cheer every day if she could! The competition season is over but she will have some summer practices to prepare for fall. We have the best cheer family ever. They are wonderful families, and the coach and "buddies" love the kids so much. Cheer has been one of the best things that has ever happened to Anya.
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| Anya, her coach, and her "buddy" |
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| Anya and her coach at the cheer banquet. Anya got the "most flexible" award! LOL! |
Clayton - There are so many exciting things happening for this kid right now. He is preparing to be in his first musical in May! He is the constable in Fiddler on the Roof. He's also still actively involved in technical theatre (building sets, sound, lights, etc) and taking voice lessons.
We visited our second college on Wednesday and Clayton told me that our search was over. He will be attending Greenville College in Greenville, IL. It was so incredibly impressive. About 1/2 an hour into our full day there I knew that this was exactly what Clayton was looking for. Even Evan went with us and now he wants to go there too! I really can't say enough about it. Now to find every scholarship on earth because it is expensive!! He will be studying psychology. After getting his undergrad degree he plans to get his doctorate and go into research.
Speaking of Psychology. Clayton took a psychology class last semester and one of his assignments was a research project. His teacher loved his so much that she asked him to represent his school at the St. Louis Science Fair. We just found out last night that he won a blue ribbon! We will pick it up tomorrow and I will get a picture.
June will be a busy month for Clayton. He turns 17, then he is spending 4 days in New York with a friend and their voice instructor. They are going to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Their voice instructor takes lessons from someone in New York so while they are in town they will get to see one of his lessons. I think it will be an incredible experience! The day after he gets home he will leave and spend a week on campus at a local college for an apologetics camp. Basically he will be taking theology classes all week to strengthen his faith and prepare him to defend his faith. He is very excited about it.
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| Making "cheese" for the Fiddler set in technical theatre. |
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| His science fair project. |
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| Getting everything set up. |
Evan - Horses, horses, and more horses! That sums up Evan's life! He takes riding lessons on Mondays. On Saturdays he works at the barn for a few hours to earn ride time. He does laundry, grooms horses, cleans dirty tack, organizes the barn, etc. Once or twice a month he works at a camp or birthday party. He gathers the horses, tacks them, helps the kids, untacks the horses, etc. Then once a month he has a 2 hours lesson with his equestrian team, and this Sunday he is also competing at a local show. My car could probably drive itself to the barn and back on its own by now!
Evan will letter in equestrian in June. He even has a letterman jacket for it! It's such a cool opportunity for a homeschooled kid. There are specific requirements about how many hours you are on a horse, how many times you compete, etc. that are required to letter. He's worked hard for it.
He will likely spend his entire summer at the barn. There are camps all summer that he will work and then he will do his own camp as well where he will compete.
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| Letterman Jacket |
Larry and I - We aren't nearly as exciting as the kids! If I had to pick a word that sums up Larry's life lately it would be "work". Oy.....Christmas went right into Easter and things still haven't slowed down! They should soon. Summer is normally the lightest time of the year when you work at a church.
I have been working the entire school year at the boys' school. I have loved every second of it but I recently made the decision to leave after the year is over. Working outside of the home has been so challenging since Oksana came home. I'm constantly juggling managing everything and cramming the 2 days I don't work with appointments. I barely have time to breathe. Something has to give. Unfortunately we really still need me to bring in some amount of income. That led us to decide that I would get certified as a Medical Coder. My friend is a coder and she works from home. That flexibility would literally change everything for me. It's also a career that I can advance in as the kids grow and I have people in college! In order to get certified I have to start with a Medical Terminology and an anatomy class because I don't have a medical background. I am about to take my final for Terminology. After those classes are finished I will take coding classes and then I will have to take a big certification test. It's a process but I think it will be well worth it.
That's the end of today's update. My goal is to post weekly now. Let's see how I do!
