What Goes Around, Comes Back Around...

It feels a bit surreal to be writing a blog entry. Once again, I have lapsed and been involved in daily life.   August kind of flew by for us. There was girl scout camp for Bella, illness that overtook members of our family for a week or two, my civic duty as a jury candidate, and the State Fair.

Harry- 8th grade
Bella- 5th grade
Becca- 11th grade

Now we start back on a routine, just as I was getting used to the lazy days of summer. Harry started back to school last week, which was nice, as it gave a slight glimpse into our Fall schedule, without involving the whole family. There are always kinks to be worked out at the beginning of the year. Perhaps it is missed school supplies, a necessary change in schedule, or the ever popular "this is what time I have to wake up" adjustment. It always takes a good 2-3 weeks to feel fully back in the swing of things.

This year I am still homeschooling Bella for part of the day. The plan is for her to go all day next year and assimilate in the special ed program mixed with regular lessons in the classroom. I do feel an extra pressure to "get her ready" and teach her a lot this school year, so she can be her most successful next year. In addition to the added pressure, her Montessori school has flip flopped their day for academics. In the past, they did a 3 hour study period in the morning, now it will be in the afternoon, after lunch. So Bella will go to school in the morning and come home after lunch for homeschool time. Not sure how this will go. I anticipate a lot of tired afternoons, but the plan is to do some work before she goes to school in the morning to combat this problem.

Since returning to the school routine, we have already experienced a few memorable moments. Last Thursday, Harry got in the car with some bad news. He had thrown his retainers away after lunch in a paper lunch bag. Just another reason why using paper bags is bad for the environment. To clarify, he does have a reusable lunch bag that he did not have that day because he forgot his lunch at home and I had to drive it to school. Some background knowledge for you; a set of retainers retail for about $300.00. Don't ask me why, because I am pretty sure I could construct a new set from some Shrinky Dink material (reference for kids of the 70's and 80's) and a piece of metal from a spiral notebook. Harry did offer to pay for it with his caddy money, but as I drove home from the bus stop with him, I was no where near admitting defeat. I explained to him that we would be going back to school to search for the missing retainers. He started to complain immediately, telling me that he had looked for 45 minutes in the dumpster after he realized they were missing. I have to say, I was not discouraged by his claim of having already searched without luck. There have been many times I have asked him to find something in his room, been told it was not there, and then walked up myself and saw the item in plain view. Some things I was discouraged by: the temperature was 95 degrees outside, lunch had been over for 4 hours, and I have a sensitive gag reflex.

The whole way to the school, I was criticized for my decision to return. We were let back into the school by the teacher that, funny enough, had monitored Harry's search the first time around. She said she totally understood my wanting to come back to search again, and freely admitted that she herself had been a part of "dumpster diving" missions of her own for her kids' lost retainers. So out to the dumpster we went, equipped with a chair and some disposable gloves. I wish I could accurately describe for you the smell that greeted us. All I can say is imagine the worst thing possible and add 300%. My motivation to find the retainers rapidly began to disappear about 2 minutes into the first bag of garbage I began to sort through, (gag reflex fully engaged) and $300 sounded like a super bargain. Then just as I was going to admit defeat (about 7 minutes in) it was like a choir of angels began to sing and from a place in the dumpster, a small halo of light. There was a brown bag with writing on it. I grabbed it quickly and nearly doubled over in delight as I read the name "Harry Rowe" in my own rushed handwriting. Mission not yet complete, I opened up the bag that was wet and torn, and prayed for one more miracle, that the retainers had not fallen out. I literally began to shout with joy as I spied the two pieces of plastic at the bottom of the bag!

The teacher was quite amazed that we had found them! And it took less than 10 minutes! Truly, it was a meant to be moment. Was Harry excited? No, he said he could tell by looking at them that they had gotten warped from the heat in the dumpster and they would no longer fit. I will spare you the response I gave to him.

This week we have been challenged by 25 minute morning showers. When everyone now has to get ready in the morning, this does not work. I have decided to introduce a handy egg timer to fix this. Here's hoping.

I am sure next week will be easier...

Harry and Mom at the Fair

Baby animals at Fair

Ready, set, go!

Family fun!

No Boundaries...

Comfort zones. We all have them and most of us try hard to stay inside. Staying with what we know is easy and comfortable. Going beyond? Well, that can be very unsettling. Three years ago, I made the decision to homeschool Bella for 1/2 days. Did I want to? Not really. I was unsure I would be able to meet her needs, but I understood that one on one teaching was the only way she would get the repetition she needed to retain key information. So I dove off my cliff of fear into the big sea of the unknown.

Two weeks ago I was attending my favorite Zumba class. In this class, the teacher invites people to come on stage if they want to dance. There are a number of people who attend on a weekly basis and know the dances really well. There are also people in the class that you just know took dance all the way through high-school and are super coordinated. Let me just assure you that I am NOT one of those people. Anyway, before I went to class, I made a decision. I was going to get on stage that day, if they played a certain song. Most weeks the song was played, so it was pretty certain I would be going up. It is not a super complicated song. In fact, it is probably one of the easiest, but there is a lot of butt shaking in it. Next thing you know, I am in the class, and then came the moment. I heard the song. Decision time. Did I go up? Yes, I dove off another cliff.

So what is the payoff for going outside your comfort zone? I think that is the scariest part. Sometimes there is no payoff, except for the satisfaction of knowing that you tried something new. That is a small payoff for a risk that might negatively impact your life for a long time or make you look like a fool.

10 years ago this August, my husband and I dove off a mountain. I daresay it was the Mt. Everest of comfort zones. We sat through an 8 hour surgery with our six month old child to have her bilaterally implanted with cochlear implants. She was the youngest in the world at the time, to have the procedure done.

And then there are the times you are rewarded greatly for taking a risk. A few weeks back, we were at Mayo Clinic for Bella's annual cochlear implant tune up. I asked them to do an audiogram on her since she has been learning about them with her Deaf/hard of hearing teacher at school. Usually they just do sentence testing on her and she performs extremely well, so they figure her audiogram is fine. Looking at her audiogram was amazing. Her scores were in the zone of "normal hearing" across the entire span of frequencies and decibels. For some frequencies, she scored above the line of normal hearing. Truly amazing.

We went on to see the speech pathologist we usually see on a yearly basis, while at Mayo. Last year we did not see her because Bella got a new updated version of her implants and there wasn't time to fit in both visits. I was nervous about hearing Bella's results. Last time we had discussed how as kids get older it becomes harder to gain ground in speech because vocabulary increases at a great rate and figurative language comes into to play. She came out of testing with great news! On the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) Bella showed evidence of strong phonologic memory. This was in contrast to two years ago when she showed weakness in short term auditory memory.  In the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) Bella made significant progress since our last visit. Last visit Bella was at the 16% for the Oral Expression portion of the test. This year she was at the 39%. In the Listening Comprehension part of the test she scored 47% last visit. This time she was at 58%. The big increases in these tests are significant because it is hard to gain ground in language when you are behind. As you gain more language so do others you are scored against. The hope is that you can just "stay your ground" and have your scores remain the same. To see significant growth is in one word "phenomenal".

Final payoff? Last week I received Bella's MAP scores in the mail. You may have read in past blog posts that I dread getting her standardized test scores. Standardized tests are supposed to reflect problems in kids learning. Well, since I am already aware there are problems for Bella, showing them on paper is little help. When I saw the tests results in the mail, I left them for a day because I didn't want to deal with them right then. So imagine my amazement when I opened them and saw that in reading she went up 31percentage points and in language usage she went up 22 percentage points. The first results were from Fall '11. The final results were taken in May '12. Pretty good year, I'd say!

So the next time you think about pushing outside of your comfort zone, DO IT! Sure you might fail or look like a fool, but maybe, just maybe the results could be amazing.

For The First Time...

The first time you ever experience an event is special. A first concert, a first love, a first car. For Bella, a few weeks ago, she experienced the feeling of being "first". Her swim team runs practice swim meets every month or so to get the kids ready for true swim meets where the times count. Everything is pretty official. There are timers, the starts are just like competitive meets with the three whistles to signify, "Get ready, get set, go!" Unlike a true swim meet, there are no DQ's or officials looking to make sure each stroke is legal. It's more about getting the kids to understand what the environment of a real swim meet is like before they go to one and get all freaked out and they can't perform. Ultimately, there are a lot less swimmers than a traditional swim meet and the distance is shortened to 25 yards instead of 50, except for a 50 freestyle at the end. Okay, enough back story. So there was Bella, ready on the blocks to swim her breaststroke. She is working hard to be legal on this stroke. Due to muscle tightness in her right calf muscle, she has difficulty keeping her foot flexed during the entire frog kick. That is a requirement for being legal. Right now we are trying kinesio tape to see if that helps to help her get the feeling. Anyway, usually Bella is slow off the blocks (somewhat to do with her hearing loss), but on this day she was very good! Into the water she went and she went into a very solid breaststroke.  As she neared the end of the pool, it was evident that she was going to get first place. Everyone started to cheer, including the three coaches. It was something to behold. When Bella got to the end, she didn't realize that she had won. Becca was timing in her lane and even she was excited. Bella's eyes were about the size of dinner plates when one of the timers handed her the blue ribbon. So maybe it doesn't count officially...but it sure counted to Bella!

Below is a clip of her 25 fly. She also did really well in that race and got 2nd place!

Here We Go Again...

Hard to believe yesterday was the official first day of Summer. Sometimes I swear I blink and months go by. The end of the school year was a virtual blur. We had a wedding to attend, Erick and I got away for a very nice weekend without kids, and there were the usual end of school ceremonies and picnics to attend. Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Last week we kicked off the summer with a bang. Harry and Becca finished up their caddie training. They are both going to be caddying this summer at Hazeltine Golf Club. It is very near to our house so the kids can ride their bikes. Well, at least that was the plan. So far Mom has been the chauffeur. Harry has gotten out more than Becca to caddy due to Becca's busy summer schedule, but it is a great opportunity for both. It really looks like it will be a great job for them. The money is good, they get exercise and are outside for their shifts, and the more respectful they are, the more success they will have. Sounds like a win, win, right? I will have to get a picture of them in their uniforms and post soon.

While Harry was out caddying last week. Becca and Bella were at church camp together. Another activity Becca is doing this summer is being a camp counselor. She went last week and she also went a few days this week. It was Bella's first year at camp, so we thought it would be nice if Becca was up at the same time as her to assist in any questions/troubleshooting that might arise about her implants. It was a bit of a tough call to make. There were advantages and disadvantages to having them go up the same week. Advantage number 1 was I would only have one child at home. That was a nice change of pace. Although, I will admit it got a bit boring by the end. I guess my body has become accustomed to chaos and drama. Anyway, the week went off without a hitch. Bella loved camp, but came home pretty exhausted.

Bella enjoying summer

Next week we are headed to Wisconsin Dells for a week to spend with family. Hoping for nice weather and great times!

Leader of the Pack...

Life lessons occur on a daily basis. Sometimes they sneak up and surprise us. Last Friday, Bella's swim coach handed her a plaque. It had been awarded at the season end swim banquet that we had been unable to attend. It was the leadership award for her last swim level. Her current coach said, "Coach Brenda's exact words were, "She's the best listener, even though she can't hear half the time in the water!"

Receiving the leadership award was such a great lesson to Bella. Does she have the fastest times? Can she swim the most lengths? No, but as he coaches have said in the past, she is always willing to work really hard and give it her all. Life isn't always about doing the best. As I have often told Bella, a strong work ethic often trumps final results. At some point everyone encounters a time/event where success is not easily achieved. For those without a strong work ethic, it is more difficult to power through the tough times. Having things always come easily is not always a blessing.

Bella was so proud of her plaque. She wanted Erick to hang it up right away with the rest of her swim ribbons.

I hope it is the first of many hard earned successes for her!

Too Close For Comfort...

A few weeks ago, I attended my first Twin's game at the new Target field. Well, I say "new", but this is the third season it's been open. New to me, anyway, right? The experience, and several other things that have been going on lately, got me thinking about how things don't always turn out the way you expect.

Some of you may know that almost 2 1/2 years ago, I set out on a New Year's resolution to lose some weight. With a combination of self control and hard work, I was able to lose 30lbs. Last summer, my gym was giving out $50 that could be used on club services if you wrote a story about any weight loss success. I submitted my story and received the money, which I used for some swim lessons for Bella. At the end of March, I received a call from Lifetime asking if I wanted to be "member of the game" for an upcoming Twin's game. They explained that Lifetime is a sponsor of the Twin's and that each game they have a member come onto the field, show them on the jumbotron, then tell a brief summary of their Lifetime success story. My first thought was, "Oh, I better put down the jellybeans!" Not to say I haven't stayed in shape, for the most part. It's just that like everyone, I have certain downfalls. I am a sucker for jellybeans and any other kind of gummy candy. I have maintained a regular workout schedule, but in recent weeks, I may have missed some strength workouts. Everything I hadn't done or had done wrong popped into my mind. Being on the jumbotron and being heralded for being in "great shape" is a bit intimidating. And if the camera adds 10 lbs, I can only imagine how much a jumbotron adds. Still, it seemed like an exciting opportunity, so I agreed.

So here's my picture of how the Twin's game was supposed to go. The sky would be bright and sunny, there would be a warm breeze blowing, my family would be smiling and happy to support me, and everyone would be excited about the game. Not exactly. First of all, I only had 4 tickets so one of the kids was not going to come. Instead of fighting over who GOT to come, they fought over who HAD to come. Bella was out of the equation since she couldn't stay home by herself, so the battle came between Becca and Harry. Harry lost out to Becca, so let's just say he wasn't thrilled. When we got to the game, the kids were starving so we bought food right away. Then my big event happened in the pregame. I must say it was pretty cool going under the bowels of Target Field and then getting to go onto the actual field. I was amazed at how much went on before the game. There were two guys who went out with me who were going to try and catch pop flys for a charity event. Everything is timed to the minute. So here is me on the big screen.

I must say it was pretty unnerving. They have a big TV camera facing you, while they read a summary of your story. The whole thing took about  1 1/2 minutes, but it felt more like an hour. Staring into the camera made me feel very self conscious. At one point in my life I had wanted to be a news anchor, now I know I made the right choice not to pursue that field. Personally I would have been less nervous to give a speech at Target Field than stand there for the 1 minute. The weather for the game was rainy and cold. Thank goodness for the heaters at Target Field. My sister and her family happened to get tickets to the game too! My nephew also made it onto the jumbotron that night!

 A few innings into the game, Harry started to complain about frostbite (he's a little dramatic) and I was a little worried that Bella was going to get sick for her nature camp week long trip on Monday, so we left after the 4th inning. Wimps, yes, I know. My sister and her family (the children are quite a bit younger) stuck it out for almost the whole game. What can I say?

Harry is also discovering things don't always turn out the way you hope or expect. A few weeks ago, he bought a new pair of sneakers. You might have read about how he had four pairs, but none of them seemed to be quite right. He used money he had earned from yard work to buy a new pair of Nikes. He got them from Nordstrom Rack and was happy for about a week. Then a little piece of netting broke on them. He now blames me for telling him to try and save money by getting them at Nordstrom Rack and says he has learned his lesson to never try and get a bargain in the future. Yes, because they were discounted is why the netting broke. Not because he is a very active boy who is very hard on his clothing. He is now asking for a new pair of shoes. Talk about not having things turn out the way you expect, that is almost the definition of parenthood.

Teacher, I Need You...

Teachers- individuals who are underpaid (in my humble opinion) and handle a large workload, often accompanied by complaints, criticisms, and stress. Not a true definition, but I believe true enough.

Bella's teacher at the World Learner School is so great! In an effort to get her some recognition for her outstanding service, I nominated her for a local contest. It is for "teacher of the year" at Let's Dish. If she wins she will get a free 8 meal session. Not much, but a little something she will enjoy and would make a hectic life slightly less hectic for a small period of time.

I would love it if you could vote! Vote often and help her win! Follow the link and pull down the menu to the Eden Prairie location.
http://www.letsdish.com/mnteachers/selection.aspx