I Love You Because...

Silent Saturday

This year? The Viper

I think it's turning into his favorite event of the year.... 
2011 

 

 

Read

I love it when she reads to him..... LOVE IT. 

 Never, EVER Shout in A Zoo   By Karma Wilson  

 

She has always been my little reader. 

 

Updating Chairs

This project I've been wanting to post for a LONG time but never got around to actually taking the after pictures until today. I bought this chair at a Bethlehem yard sale for $5 back in June, the week our offer was accepted on this house. Bonus, it was actually a set of two! I knew we'd need a lot more furniture and I had always wanted to learn how to reupholster so I figured for ten bucks I couldn't go wrong. I love the shape and the actual chair was in wonderful condition. 

When I got these home Husbandface was completely sceptical and kinda annoyed 'to haul more crap' in the upcoming move. I promised him they wouldn't be another unfinished project moved around but I'd be done by then. I only had 3 weeks so I knew I better get busy! I started by just taking the thing apart, just to see how it was put together. The original material was an ivory pleather so I knew that had to go but once I was poking around I realized that the batting and cushions were in great condition. SO i decided to keep everything and just add another layer of batting over the existing pieces. 

At this point Husbandface started seeing it's potential and he got involved. While I did appreciate his help, he opinions on the fabric made that process take way longer then it should have. So we started painting. I just quickly sanded the existing arms/legs down with my Mouse Sander, cleaned it with a wood conditioner and let it dry before pulling out the black spray paint. I knew I wanted that professional look and so after a little research talking to my go-to furniture finishing expert (aka my sister-in-law Teri) I put on three layers of PolyCrylic.... First time I used it and let me just tell you? I'm in love. BEST STUFF EVER. If I were you I wouldn't get the spray paint like me though.... too many bubbles and twice as expensive. 

One we had the furniture arms/legs drying and once we finally agreed on the fabric. I started covering the pieces of the chair that I had taken off. Batting first then fabric and just holding it on with staples on the inside.

Doug hated the fabric but since this was a chair he wasn't emotionally attached to he didn't get a say, I told him if he hated it I'd sew a pink pillow or two to put on them and I'd stick them in Lorali's room... He liked that idea and I knew it's beauty would grow on him... eventually. 

After the fabric was just where it needed to be we added the black the bottom to give it that perfect store finished look. At the last minute Husbandface had to admit how impressed he was with them and decided to give it more attention by 'man-ing it up a little' with silver nail heads to the edges front and back, I loved it and couldn't wait for them to be in the new house displayed by my piano in the living room, or creating a sitting room in my bedroom with them, or at dining room table in our new dining room, or.... yeah, I had no idea where I'd put them. I just knew that I was in love. 

We'd bought the chairs for $5/piece at the begining of June. Spent $50 on fabric and batting and staples. Another $20 on paint and then at the last minute Doug spent another $10 on Silver Nail Heads.... Two weeks and $90 later we were pleased as punch with our first official  reupholstery project and packing them into the moving van.

We've lived here what 7 months? and They've been moved around so much we wish we had a set for every room in the house to refinish and update esp. for only $90! Right now they're seperated. One in the entryway and one as my desk chair in the music room. I'm sure they'll be moved over the years alot and maybe even refinished again but for now they're perfect just the way they are. 

Thanks for keeping up with us! 
Joanna  

 

 

 

Missing Grandma

My Mom was in a pretty serious accident this afternoon and it's times like this I kick myself for living so far away. I hated getting random updates and not hearing her voice. I hated myself for not being able to jump into the car and head to the hospital to sit by her side. She is my best friend in the entire world and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. As much as I hated all the bad news and scary thoughts pouring in, I LOVE that it has all ended with some great news. She is okay! A few cracked ribs so she's in pain but it could have been WAY worse! Her car is totaled but at least she will be home soon. I can't wait to talk to her and make sure she knows just how much we ALL love her! 

Simple Saturday

A perfect rainy Saturday.... 

Snuggling on the Couch with our little ones and working on Pinewood Derby Cars before heading out on a dinner date to Shakespeare Tavern with Husbandface to see Merchant of Venice. 

It doesn't get much better then this. 

We got Annie!

I love, LOVE going to live theatre productions... It's my weakness and moving in closer to the city has really brought the addiction passion to new heights. Last night I splurged a little and took Lorali to Annie! We planned to go with a few friends and it was such a fun girls night out!  

We stopped at Cheesecake Factory for a quick bit then it was stright to The Fox Theatre. It was such a great production made even better by Sally Struthers starring as Miss Hannigan. I love her! I mean, Hello?! What self respecting Gilmore Girls fan isn't? She did a wonderful job and stole the show. My favorite part wasn't in the production though... it was when I looked over at my daughter singing along with the music with the biggest smile on her face ever! TOTALLY WORTH the late night to this pregnant lady who loves her sleep. ;)  I think I'll make a theatre lover out of her, yet! 

Ethan's 9th Birthday

 

Dear Ethan

This past year has been one of huge growth for you. You've turned into such a strong, confident and loving boy. You are growing so much and you have learned a lot over the last 12 months. You've learned how to be a friend and how to have a best friend. You've learned how to make new friends and even how to say good-bye to so many people you love. You have worked hard in scouts and accomplished so much, it has been wonderful to teach you so many new things and see the wonder in your eyes as you discover them. I hope you NEVER outgrow that. You've learned how to adjust in new and different scenerios and you've handled all the changes we've thrown at you since the move better then anyone expected. You have become happier this past year and you have really become a wonderful big brother. You are always checking up on the little kids and always reminding them of the rules. You are so excited for the new baby and I can't wait to see how much you will love and protect him. Your brothers and sister are going to be in your life forever and they will always be there for you. I hope you are able to remember that and apprieciate them and devolope strong friendships with them that will be unmatched. Ethan, I am lucky to be your Mom. I'm lucky to have you stay younger longer, I'm honored to see so much progress and hardwork from you. You are constantly accomplishing things that others say you can't do yet. This year you have also become more aware of people and thier emotions around you. You come up to me when I'm having a bad day and love on me, you try to cheer up your brother when he's hurt and you are always trying to get your Dad to play with you and goof off with you. This year we decided to buy you a puppy for your birthday. You have been begging for one for months and months and I can honestly say you have proved to me in just one week how responsible you actually are. You remember the rules and you clean up after her. You love her constantly and you feed, bath, walk and take her out all the time. It's been a happy surprise how good you are with her and I hope you are able to make her into your best friend.

Please remember this year, Sunshine how much I love you. You mean the world to me and your giggle is one of the happiest sounds in the world. Happy Birthday, Big Boy! 

Love Always,
Mommy 

eight, seven, six, five, four, three

Puppy Shopping Today

School Update

I know, my positing has been sporadic at best but I've got a new years resolution to fix that so stay with me! I thought I better update everyone on the Ethan/school situation since I've been so silent about it on here. Not because I've been busy this time but because it's been too painful of a process to go through let a lone write about. 

First of all let me say that I think you have to fight for your kids education no matter what kind of student they are. I fully believe in the public education system in this country working if it is applied the way it is supposed to. That being said? It doesn't always protect the students the way it supposed to and instead can be used as a weapon against them so, as a parent I think taking an active role as lead educator in their lives in the best thing you can do for them.... Having a special needs child? Yeah well that will only show the cracks or the strength in a school system faster...

When we moved this summer I knew that the hardest thing about it would be leaving the school... Saying good-bye was heartbreaking not just Ethan but me. I knew how lucky we were to have an entire staff in love with my son and so dedicated to his success. Everyone believed in him and raised him up. It took years to get to that point but we were finally seeing major success on all fronts. Before we had even recovered from saying goodbye it was time to start up school in a new district and a new staff. In the hopes of easing the transition, I called the Special Needs Co-ordinator back in May and gave her copies or IEPs and BIPs and even came into the school for a meeting with her. I was reassured repeatedly that everything would be set up for him to start in fall..... Come the week before school starting, I couldn't find anyone that knew our son even existed let alone knew he was about to be coming into the school. "Let's go meet the your new Speech Therapist.", I said at back to school night. "Nope, he's not on my rolls." We were told... okay, that's odd but let's go onto his teacher... "What? He is supposed to have an IEP?" his teacher questioned with a scared look in her eyes when I started telling her about Ethan.... yeah that's when this Momma started sweating it. Regardless of the hopes we had on the first day of school, things just went downhill for Ethan. Fulton County Schools wouldn't even let us have an IEP meeting in the 6 weeks he was at the school. Ethan started crying and begging not to go to school and when I went into the classroom to see what might be going on.... I was escorted from the building.

In the 6 weeks he was there, not one good experience was had at Abbott's Hill Elementary regarding my special little boy. If you have a special needs child and are consider that school? Just know that the entire staff was a nightmare to deal with in regards to special education from the Principle (who was the worst) to the Therapists (they actually didn't even have an OT hired for the school even though it was required.) and the teachers (Ethan's teacher's mantra to him was "You're allowed 1 question, 1 time, for 1 worksheet. After that you're on your own..."). On the flip side, I do have a main-stream daughter in that school and she has had nothing negative happen to her while at that school. Her teacher is wonderful and attentive, the PE, Music and other teachers she interacts with have been great. So the take away I have on it is that as long as you have a 'typical kid' you're okay but requiring anything above and beyond of that staff is just unrealistic. 

Okay, enough of my thoughts on them. :) After a month or so we were left w/ a decision.... So we made the leap of faith and put him in private school... We thought at the time that it was a great move. We loved realizing the different ways that Ethan learns and seeing his teachers expose him to learning techniques that were specifically developed for the autism spectrum. He wasn't making any friends but really his behavior was great, his handwriting and reading levels were improving and it was great to see him challenged. But things still weren't perfect. The director of that school was constantly butting heads with not just Ethan but, me. Ethan got in trouble with his teacher because he explained the theory of Evolution to his classmates and she doesn't believe in it and I was constantly defending me parenting to the staff. Ethan connected to the art teacher there but that was about it. Just a few days after Thanksgiving, I sent in a Coca-Cola to school and well... the shit hit the fan. The owner of the school felt like I was an irresponsible parent and was awful to me and took it out on my son, the teacher accused Ethan of being 'hyped up' and he threw a fit when they took it away. After a lot of arguments and threats we basically learned that because it's a private school Ethan's student rights (and even ours as parents) were non-existent. They can literally do whatever they want in every situation. What worked for the Director's Son was the philosophy set for every child there. We quickly learned that it was "Hayden's Way or the Highway." They could decide to follow the IEP or not they could tell us what diet to feed our child and if we had any concerns there was no debate. We could take our child out if we wanted it different, in doing so we would be forfeiting the thousands of dollars of tuition that we had already paid in advance. The owner got very ugly, lied to both Doug and I and refused to any type of mediation or compromise. It was shocking to see such intolerance and narrow-mindedness in a school founded on accepting these wonderful kids. 

So... We took Ethan out the first week in December and started looking for a private school that would fit his needs better. Ha! We were obviously wearing rose colored glasses.  TWENTY private schools later we still hadn't found a place. Some private schools really are Preparatory schools and it's much more advanced so obviously they couldn't accommodate him. There were quite a few 'Autism specific' schools but in visiting them it was obvious that Ethan was too hight functioning for those. Even his Therapist begged us not to put him in some of them because she felt like he would just learn bad habits that she'd have to spend the next 5 years correcting. Many were behavior/therapy based but the curriculum was always just a second priority. So Ethan was in a tight spot. Too slow for the advanced kids and too advanced then the Autistic kids....  So many tears throughout December and we were still left with no answers. 

Then Doug got the superintendent of Fulton County Schools involved....

Things started changing. 

Last Monday we put Ethan in a great public school that has the staffing to help Ethan succeed and the support of the administration. They have already scheduled an IEP mtg. They have been very active in communicating concerns and successes and even the Special Education Superintendent had checked up on him to see how his first week of school went. Obviously was are still stressed about it all but, we have a little hope. Ethan's really excited about it, he loves playing with kids again and having a schedule and he has said nothing but great things about his teacher. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. 

Primary

No more Nursery! I think it's been about 7 yrs since I haven't had any kids in nursery... It's exciting and sad at the same time.