Juleigha's intake conference was this afternoon. At the meeting was Juleigha's speech pathologist, myself, the principal, the girls Kindergarten teacher for next year and the lady in charge of special ed for that school. We spent about an hour discussing Juleigha, her strengths, her difficulties, things it will be good for them to know so that they will have a better understanding of her. I let them know that she is very shy, and will not talk for the first week or so, and that during that time Melyssa will do the talking for her more then likely. I told them how she doesn't like to be touched, especially her face. How she has texture issues, but she doesn't not particpate in them, she's just very neat about it. I let them know that she gets frustrated easily when she can't get you to understand what she's saying. I let them know all my fears for Juleigha next year, how it scares me to death that she won't be able to get her needs across to the teacher. We discussed that she has slight delays in her fine and gross motor skills mostly due to low muscle tone. Talked about ways to draw her out when she has become frustrated. They all seemed to get a clear picture of Juleigha. The girls will have the same Kindergarten teacher that Daynah had, and she's very nice and caring and i hope that she will be able to get Juleigha to warm up to her quickly and be able to have the time to listen when Juleigha tries to speak. I'm glad we had the conference today, i'm not any less afraid about what next year holds for her, but i at least feel like the school will be better prepared for her (if they remember any of what we talked about today 3 months from now). And yes, i cried several times during the conference.....

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Wanted: "Somebody"

Description: never been seen

Crimes: spilling milk, peeing on the floor, breaking toys and otherwise causing mischief

Reward: one mother's sanity for the apprehension of this "somebody" that is up to no good and making it look like Melyssa is at fault.

Tomorrow Juleigha has her special education intake conference at what will be her school next year when she starts Kindergarten. Today, her speech path gave me the progress report she is going to share with the school. Now I KNOW how significantely delayed her speech is due to the apraxia. I KNOW she's come a long way in the two years that she's been in therapy. But reading the written words on paper again, it makes me cry. I want so much to just be able to wave a magic wand and have Juleigha have normal speech. I want so badly to have it not be so difficult for her to get across what she wants to say because she can't form the sound to make the word. My heart aches for my beautiful girl. I really hope that the conference goes well tomorrow, and that it sets the ground work for Juleigha's success next year.

So its Memorial Day weekend in the states, and as an American living in Canada, i notice my homesickness is worse during holidays and holiday weekends. Because its the long weekend in the states, i feel like my husband should honor me by taking the monday off, regardless of the fact that canada's long weekend was last week. It's funny, i've been living here in Canada for 9 yrs now (9 yrs just last week, i came up on Victoria Day weekend), and yet it's still not my home. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE canada. I love the health care system, i love how friendly people are, i love the multi-cultrualism. I am a proud canadain citizen (yep got that 5 yrs ago now), but i'm also an incredibly proud american. Its' that proud american in me that makes me want to celebrate this long weekend. To spend time with my family and friends, to grill hamburgers and eat macaroni salad. To walk around downtown annapolis eating icecream cones and watching the boats (do i ever miss that). I haven't been home to see my family and friends in 6 months now....and this long weekend is reminding me of that. So enjoy your friends and family for me, have a great long weekend whatever you plan to do. I'll be spending my regualar weekend with these four (below), letting them talk to grandma and grandpa on the phone and maybe doing a little bbq and macaroni salad just to stay connected.

The Soccer Players before the game

Melyssa practicing her kicks during warm-ups

Juleigha getting ready

Lucas as the goalie...he pretty much stood there smacking his gloves together

Daynah before her first game
running after the ball
Well the kiddos first games are done, and they went surprisingly well. Daynah did fairly well running after the ball and even managed to kick it a few times. She seems to shy away from the ball though, hopefully as the season goes on she'll get more aggressive. The younger kids were very surprising though. Juleigha was REALLY into playing tonight. She played the whole 30 minute game and really went after the ball, kicking it on several occassions and then running over to us with a huge smile on her face. Melyssa played all but about 10 mins of the game, she was too upset to play the last 10 mins, because although she was eagerly running after the ball, she hadn't managed to kick it, and this promted tears, lots of them. Lucas was unsure at first, but then he really got into it. First he was the goalie for the first 15 mins of the game, and he pretty much just stood there looking at his gloves. BUT he stayed in the goalie box and that's something. Then he played the last 15 mins and he ran all over the field chasing after the ball. It was seriously great to watch them have so much fun, such a difference in the girls from last year when it was like pulling teeth to get them to even walk after the ball.
Of course next week is when it starts to get really interesting. The trio play at 6pm at the soccer fields, while Daynah has practice at a school at least a 5 min drive away at the same time. Fun times ahead i tell ya....

So this Tuesday night begins SOCCER SEASON. All three girls played last year, and my husband and myself as well as our neighbors were the coaches for our twins team. We were lucky in that Daynah and the girls each played on Tuesday nights, most of the time at the same time, so i'd go watch half of her game then go watch the twins play all while keeping Lucas contained. There were some hellish nights where one would play at 6 and the other at 7 which made for an incredibly long night, especially since the twins and Lucas all go to bed at 7 (and still do). At the end of last season I SWORE that the kiddos were not going to do soccer again. It just seemed like too much rushing around, and the twins weren't really into it last year either. Then this February the flyer came in the mail again for signups and I started to contemplate it. Then a few of the moms in our playgroup said they were signing their kids up, so i contemplated it a bit more. Then i found out that the fourth kid is free lol, which since Lucas is eligible to play this year was great. So Peter and I discussed it. We figured as long as we didn't coach, it would make things easier, so we signed all four kids up. Lucas and the twins would all be on the same team, and Daynah would be on another in her division. Of course my thinking was since she was still 6 they'd keep her in the Under 6 division thereby playing the same nights as the other three kiddos. You know what happens when you ASSume something...ya.

So tonight we went out to meet Daynah's coach and pickup her uniform and get the schedule. I called up the trio's coach to see if i could pickup their uniforms since i'd be in the area (otherwise he was just handing the out at the first game and i wasn't going to dress them on the field). Anyhow, Daynah's coach had called earlier in the week to arrange the meeting and had told us the first game was this coming Tuesday and since i know the under 4's play on a tuesday i again ASSumed things were going to work out well. The coach hands us the schedules and tells us that they play on Thursday nights, except for one tuesday a month where they will play on tuesday nights. Practices however are always on tuesday nights, at the Catholic school about 5 mins away. My jaw hit the floor as the information hit me and sunk in. The trio plays on Tuesday nights, every tuesday night, at the soccer fields in the community. Daynah practices on Tuesday nights, at a location at least a 5 minute drive away from those soccer fields, at the same time as the trio plays. This is going to suck BIG TIME. This means that either both of us will only see roughly half of the trio's games, spending the other half of the time at Daynah's practices (alternating of course), or we need to find someone else to take Daynah to her practice. While the trio are supposed to play soccer and be under the coach's supervision, i have visions of the three of them taking off on me, each in a different direction, laughing maniacially. At least with two of us there, the odds of us keeping them under control are better.

As of tonight i've decreed that next year there will be NO soccer for us...now i just need to figure out how we are going to survive this season.

I was tagged by Dana for a "When i'm an old woman" Meme. I loved being tagged for meme's so here's my answers

When I'm an old woman:

* I will travel the world
* Will babysit my grandchildren and my great grandchildren
* celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
* make sure my family knows their history, every single shred
* cherish all my wrinkles and laugh lines
* play a mean game of bingo LOL
* own a huge home with lots of land for my grand/greatgrand children to play on and to visit

Things i won't do when i'm an old woman:

* wear knee hi's with shorts, skirts and housecoats
* guilt trip my kids and tell them after a visit that i'll probably be dead before they come to see me again
* get my hair washed and rolled once a week
* visit one family member longer and more often then another

now i'm tagging Kath, Alien and Mary

I took the girlies for their 4 yr portraits yesterday...aren't my girlies adorable!! My absolute favorite picture is of the two of them hugging...

Happy 4th Birthday to my beautiful girls, Melyssa & Juleigha. Watching you grow is such a joy. I love you with all of my heart. I can't believe 4 yrs have gone by since you entered my world...

It seems like only yesterday you were like this....

I'm up to my ears in cake batter and icing today. A few days ago i mixed up a double batch of icing so that i wouldn't have to do that today too. So far today i've made ice cream cone cupcakes and squeezed some icing on them to look like whipped cream and added some sprinkles. I've also baked up a crown cake and a dora cake, both of which are currently cooling on the counter. I still have decorating both cakes ahead of me, but for now i get to take a minute to rest.

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So Lucas is surrounded by girls, all of which have their ears pierced. He has been coming up to me for the last week or so, pointing at my ear and saying "me want one". Now, I'm totally cool with him getting an earring, i think he'd look cute...but i'm not sure what other people would think of him. I'm pretty sure my parents and Peter's parents wouldn't approve. I'm not even sure my hubby would like it, although he hasn't specifially said no. So would you get your three year old son's ear pierced??

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Melyssa went to preschool by herself this morning!! This is HUGE!! Before whenever one of the girls was sick, or had to miss school for whatever reason, the other would insist on staying home too because they didn't want to go alone. This morning i had to take Juleigha to the doctors because she was complaining her ear hurt, and then afterwards i dropped her off at school. I talked to their teacher and she said Melyssa was fine the part of the morning Juleigha wasn't there. I don't know if it was because Melyssa just realized she doesn't need Juleigha around all the time, or if it was because i stressed to her that Juleigha would be at school in a little while. Whatever the reason, its a good thing and i hope it continues. Next fall when they are in Kindergarten i'm not keeping them both home when one is sick thats for sure...

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I need to start following my weight watchers program more religiously again. I just can't seem to get myself motivated to do it. I WANT to do it, and yet i'm not. *sigh*

Overheard:

We were in the car, coming back from a birthday party that Daynah attended. As we'd been in the car for awhile, the kids decided it was time for a movie.

Juleigha: movie?

Daddy: alright, what would you like to watch?

Juleigha: cowboy cowboy

Melyssa: NO cars!

Juleigha: Go sleep

Melyssa: No, Cars! close YOUR eyes.

***Toy Story 2 starts***

Juleigha: COWBOY!!

Melyssa: Yeah!! I love cowboy too

Thirteen Things about the kiddos birthday party

1. There were 10 kids in total, of course 4 of them belonged to me

2. It was held in a community room of the local library. We got this amazing deal: the room for 2 hours, games, a craft, pizza, drinks and the best part of all...a super energetic party hostess to be in charge of EVERYTHING!!

3. A not quite two year old, with a penchant for throwing things, can quickly become the life of the party.

4. Kids, even mature 7 yr olds, will fully believe that a roll of crepe paper can explode when dropped and at the same time contain a monster.


5. If your son sees you putting special bracelets and necklaces on his sisters, he too will want to wear a bracelet. You can see it on him in this picture.

6. 10 kids, play games and having fun can scream quite loudly, and they don't get when the hostess says to act like they are screaming but without the sound.

7. Freeze dancing is a lot more fun when you are not the one doing the acutal dancing


8. Sometimes you just need to sit in the corner with a friend looking at at train book in between partaking in the rest of the action

9. Remember to bring a knife with you in order to cut the cake, and forks for eating the cake. If you don't you'll have to drive the 5 minutes back home to pickup a knife and then head to the grocery store to pickup forks. Be thankful though that its not you that needs to entertain the kiddos during this brief intermission

10. If you are the parent bringing the cake over to the kids, and your husband is videotaping, be sure to pass your camera off to one of the other parents, otherwise this is the only cake shot you'll end up with. And the real fun happened during the candle blowing

11. There is no easy way to have three kids unwrap their birthday presents all at the same time, seriously its just chaos. Not to mention they then want whatever they unwrapped open, and well you really can't pull that off and waiting isn't in a toddler's vocabulary.

12. best part of the party was having the hostess. Seriously can not rave about her enough. She had all the kids up and playing and enjoying themselves. She was enthuastic and the kids loved her. And i got to have conversations with the adults there and enjoy the party, whether i was watching or helping lucas run in circles during musical chairs

13. After a fun filled birthday party, even kids that haven't napped in nearly 2 years, will turn into puddles of discontent because they are exhausted. For the record, 10 kids screaming in joy is music to my ears compared to two tired girls screams