Pears, pumpkins, and IEPs

The weekend with help was a success!

On Friday, my parents were able to load two truckloads of firewood into the basement with the help of Ethan and Kate.  Matt hauled in the final load on Saturday.  Hooray!

Between Thursday, Friday, and today (Tuesday), all of the pears from the big pear tree were either canned, eaten, given away, or stored in our refrigerator.  In the end we have an additional 14 quarts and 30 pints of diced pears, 2 quarts of pear juice, and 5 quarts of pearsauce.  That was a LOT of pears.  (Here's a photo of only about 1/3 of the pears picked.)

The weekend also included a sleep-over for Kate, a birthday party for Anna, a soccer game for Ethan, and a date night (!) for the parents.

I'm slightly ashamed to admit that the date night is perhaps the first "real" one in more than a year.  We managed to fit in a quick dinner, a walk on the boardwalk, dessert, AND a concert in Stoughton.

Unfortunately, I came down with a cold on Saturday afternoon.  But, taking it easy on Sunday and resting a lot on Monday seems to have helped; I've been feeling much better today.

Time to back up to Wednesday evening and Anna's IEP/re-evaluation meeting.  This meeting was scheduled before we all realized that it was the Wednesday before a 4 day weekend and the same day as the 4th grade field trip.  We were all a little tired when it started, and even more so when it finally ended after 2+ hours (!).

Big picture ... Anna still qualifies for special education services under the Other Health Impairments (OHI) category.  Her physical disability and visual handicap, in addition to her cognitive challenges of slow processing and weak working memory, will qualify her for services for quite awhile yet.

Amazingly, Anna has yet another amazing team surrounding her again this year.  Part of the reason for the long meeting was the sheer number of people involved ... regular education teacher, special education case manager, educational assistant, adaptive PE instructor, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, nurse, school psychologist, county case manager, plus our family.  Yikes!

So far this year Anna has done a wonderful job of learning the grade level concepts and communicating them effectively.  Her team is doing a spectacular job modifying the amount of work required while still being able to teach and assess grade level expectations.

Also amazingly, Anna likes school.  She enjoys learning new things, interacting with a variety of people throughout her day, and she works hard to do her best.

We will continue to work as a team to help her develop as much independence as possible.  Some of the main areas to focus on this year will be her writing (both by hand and typed) to reduce her need for an aide, her task initiation skills, her time management skills, and her self-advocacy.

As always, finding the right balance for all of Anna's needs and goals is trickier and more time consuming than it is for our other kids.

After the meeting (which Matt and Ethan had to leave early so Ethan could get to his soccer practice) we ended up at Culver's for dinner.  The boys even joined us for the end!  Dinner and ice cream hit the spot, as did our family time piled on our bed telling Kat, Hannah, and Wheat Thin stories.  Those few hours together were a wonderful way to start the long weekend.

Carving pumpkins and a (disappointing) Packers game were a good way to end it.  Here's a few action shots of the carving process.

And the final products!

Quick updates

That day of catching up on life has still not arrived, but I am hopeful that it will happen soon.  The kids have off of school today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday).  My mom is coming today and my dad is arriving tomorrow to help out with some of the fall tasks that just haven't happened yet.  I have about 150 lbs. of pears that need to be preserved and we have not yet loaded any firewood into the basement.  Those are the main goals :)

In the meantime, here are some pictures and stories from the last week that provide some reasons why the extras haven't yet happened.

Last weekend was our church's confirmation retreat.  Every fall, the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders travel to a retreat center near Lake Geneva, WI, to spend the weekend together learning about the Lutheran faith traditions, but (just as importantly?) having the opportunity to spend time together and continue to develop their faith-filled community experiences.

As with all of Anna's life, this one required some extra preparation and communication about how to make it work best for her.  It was decided that I would accompany Anna as her on-the-spot helper, but also as an additional chaperone when possible.  Last week we knew that we had a few options for when Anna would arrive.

Much to Anna's disappointment, we decided to wait and join the group on Saturday morning instead of joining them right away on Friday night.  In the end, this was definitely the right decision.  Anna managed the 36 hours fine, but felt fatigued enough at the end to sleep the entire way home (kind of like after Timberlee).  She is wise enough to recognize that it would have been too much to go the whole time.

The experience was meaningful and memorable for all involved.  This group of kids is pretty cool.  Not only are they all generally "good" kids, but many of them have known one another since they were babies.

The 6th grader Sunday School class also had the added experience of dealing with Anna's diagnosis and treatment back in 2014; it was a rough year for those surrounding our family, too.  Several of them mentioned that they were most looking forward to being able to spend the whole weekend with friends from church, instead of just seeing them on Sunday.  Their community and togetherness is special.

The main memories of the weekend included gaga ball, the cup game, Foosball, playing games, food, cold weather, late night campfire, a movie, more gaga ball, more games, more food, and a little learning about baptism and confirmation thrown in for good measure.  But all of it happened at a gorgeous location.

We decided to pull the wheelchair out of the garage rafters so that Anna didn't have to walk up and down the hill several times a day.  After pushing her up the hill a handful of times on Saturday morning, I started recruiting the middle school boys to help get Anna where she needed to be :)

I would call the weekend a success for all involved.

When the kids were back in school on Monday and Tuesday, I spent my time trying to catch up on the home tasks and errands.  Much of the yard is ready for winter, but not quite all of it yet.

We added in a church meeting on Monday night for Mom, flu shots for Mom and the kids on Tuesday evening (Ethan DID NOT want his flu shot and very vigorously protested ... he is STRONG), and Anna's IEP meeting on Wednesday night (more on that another time).

Wednesday was the 4th grade field trip to Old World Wisconsin.  Kate really wanted me to go along, so since I could this year, I did.

Even though it made for some tricky scheduling with the rest of life, I am SO glad that I was able to join Kate's class on this expedition.  It was another beautiful fall day with another great group of kids who were able to experience and learn quite a lot about pioneering days in Wisconsin.

Just about every kid I asked said that the blacksmith shop was their favorite place to visit, although the animal encounters and the cobbler's shop were also high on their lists.

Whew!  And now on a Thursday morning, the kids and I are all still in our pajamas at 11:00 a.m.  But Matt is back at work after taking Wednesday off to help with some of the other family obligations of the day.

I am hoping, hoping, hoping to be able to give a more detailed update about each of the kids once we meet with their teachers and have the school's perspective on how the school year is going.  But first, other things need to happen.

Field Trips, Fall, and 4H

It's the middle of October, but I still don't feel like there's been much time to catch up on life since school has started.  I've had this list of "things to do once all of the kids are in school all day" for a few months (maybe even a few years) and I haven't made much headway on it yet.

So far the biggest accomplishment from that list was finally getting myself a back-up pair of glasses since my previous ones are at least 15 years old and no longer have the correct prescription. 

Somehow it feels like I should have more time to tackle other tasks.  But then things like taking the van in for maintenance happens, or field trips with the kindergarten class, or running errands to purchase necessary items like underwear and socks, not to mention hats, gloves, and boots.

I keep telling myself that one day I'll be able to do some of the non-urgent tasks.  I'll let you know when that day happens.

Last week included a couple of walking field trips for Ethan and Kate.  The kindergarten classes visited the fire station while the 4th graders walked to the public library.  Both groups had beautiful balmy weather for those trips ... before the frosty mornings began towards the end of the week.

Last week also included a few late nights due to 4H activities.  Thursday was the regular meeting whereas Friday night was the (rescheduled) family fun night at a local pumpkin patch/corn maze/farm fun location.

We were all excited to go and thought we could make the most of it with both of us parents around to help Anna as necessary.  But, somehow we forgot that she's extra tired on Friday nights ... and farms aren't exactly accessible locations ... and once Anna starts getting cold, she can't warm up very easily.

Kate was able to run around with her 4H friend, which meant that they missed the hot dogs at the bonfire and ate graham crackers and chocolate for dinner while they did the corn maze.  Hmmm ...

Ethan ended up having fun with a couple of the younger kids, especially when we went through the corn maze.

Anna ... not so much.  The small corn maze was okay, but then she was done.  Lesson learned.  At least Anna was able to recover over the weekend.

The other two didn't need much recovery time.  Kate had an extended birthday party on Saturday night; Ethan had a soccer game in the morning on Saturday and another birthday party on Sunday afternoon.  The girls and I wrapped up our weekend with our monthly book club.

After a few weeks of failing to take any pictures, here's a few I snapped in the last week or so.

Our fine, feathered friends are still doing well.  The girls are averaging about 2 eggs a day right now, but we're still waiting on the fourth chicken to start laying.

I've been encouraging everyone to get as much fresh air as they can in the afternoons, since the cold days of winter will be upon us before we even know it.  We'll work on enjoying the sunshine for as long as we can!

Another week

We're continuing to work on our adjustments to the school routines here in the Mischnick home.  I have jokingly commented to a few people that once 2 p.m. hits, there's little else I can "accomplish" on any given day, even if it's something as simple as sending an email.

This observation was confirmed one evening last week when Matt asked me what I thought about a particular school email that came home in the afternoon.  Sure enough, when I was finally able to read it (after the kids were in bed), I learned that it had been sent at 2:15 p.m.

One of the main differences this year is that the kids are in three different schools, with three different (yet slightly conveniently staggered) start times and end times.  I have learned in the last month to embrace the 10-15 minutes of one-on-one time I have with each kid in the car over the course of the day.  That kind of special time wasn't built into our routines during the summer months and I value it now.

But, that means that not much on mom's list gets crossed off after 2 p.m.  That's okay with me most days; I'm much more motivated and productive in the mornings anyway.

Last week was a little more full than normal.  Monday was the second week in a row where Anna stayed after school for Art Club while Kate had a piano lesson from me at home.  At first she was excited to get back into the swing of lessons and practicing, but then she realized how my expectations for her have risen this year :)

Tuesday we picked Anna up a little early from school and took her to the dentist for a regular check-up and cleaning.  Although this kid still has zero cavities, we are going to need to jump back in with helping inspect her teeth after she had brushed them.  We pushed for independence in this regard over the summer, but her motor challenges and reduced saliva (from radiation) mean that she still needs some more coaching to keep her teeth and gums clean and healthy.

The kids and I met up with Matt at Culver's for dinner before he took the girls home for homework/evening routines while Ethan and I attended his school's open house.  The new building looks stellar and Ethan was incredibly proud and motivated to show me around.  One of the few comments we got from his teacher that evening was "He's a keeper."  Agreed!

Wednesday was soccer practice for the boys.  Matt has been taking Ethan most weeks and jumping in to help the coach when he can with crowd control.  Although Matt will admit that he knows next to nothing about soccer, he's pretty good with kids and I think his help is appreciated.

Thursday was perhaps the only day last week when the sun was shining all day.  We've had a rough stretch of wet and gloomy weather here.  I took advantage of the cool, crisp day by going for a walk with a friend and then cleaning out the garden as much as I could.  The chickens have been appreciative of having more space our there to forage for bugs since Thursday :)

Friday we were scheduled to have our first family 4H event in the evening, but it was rescheduled due to weather.  Thank goodness!  Matt and I were in the worst days of our cold; Anna was still feeling yucky; and Kate and Ethan just wanted to play.  We did our best to recover over the weekend, but we're not all 100% just yet.

And finally, since Anna is half way through her first quarter of middle school, she had her first round of middle school tests.  She studied as best she could; we advocated for whatever accommodations seemed appropriate; now we will all wait until she learns how she did.

School germs :(

Since school began four weeks ago, Ethan has had two fevers, Kate has worked her way through one cold, and now the entire family is in the midst of a second cold.  Grrr ....  I dislike school germs.  I understand that it's simply the way things go when you bring 400-500 kids back together in a school building, sharing items and spaces, and then multiply that scenario by three schools.  However, I still dislike it.

The second cold began on Friday morning when Kate and Ethan both woke up with sniffles and dragginess.  At least they didn't have school that day.  Anna and Matt started with their symptoms on Sunday and mine began today.  The kids are annoyed with their own stuffiness and coughs, and are even more annoyed by one another's similar stuffiness and coughs.  It doesn't help that we are in the midst of a long stretch of gray, wet weather.  Grr ...

But let's try to find some good things from the past week.

The kids didn't have school on Friday!  Although Anna had speech/feeding therapy at 8 a.m. that morning ..., but she enjoyed eating an omelette that morning during therapy, so we'll count it as a win.

Ethan thinks kindergarten is awesome.  Most days he has good things to say about it.  He's had a few "homework" assignments and often chooses to do them right away when he gets home.  Let's hope that enthusiasm lasts.

After a recurrence of Ethan's restless nights, we contacted his doctor about giving him a small dose of melatonin at bedtime.  Since we started this last week, he's been almost a much more relaxed and easy going kid again!  We think his sleep is much more restful, which makes his mood much more pleasant during the day.

Kate is managing the added responsibilities of 4th grade just fine.  We think she has finally entered a phase where she has to manage elementary girl friendships.  Last year her group has very few issues; this year there seems to be more conflict among her friends.

We switched around our after dinner routines this year and, after some initial resistance, the kids are learning to help out more around the house.  Kate, specifically, has become very skilled at making lunches in the evenings :)

Due to Thursday being "Banner Day" at the middle school, Anna had fewer assignments to complete last week, which was a nice reprieve.  It sounds like Banner Day went well and provided the kids with another opportunity to build relationships and solve problems together.

Anna's weekend, however, included quite a bit of school work.  Daily assignments, projects, and preparing for tests certainly take her longer than another 6th grader; we hope her motivation and determination continue to propel her through middle school.

Matt was able to ride his bike to work a couple of times last week after a break of several weeks.  We're still trying to figure out how to make everything "fit" into our daily and weekly schedules.

Before the gloomy weather set in, I was able to finish up the sweet potato harvest.  We are currently curing an amazing 150 lbs. of sweet potatoes.  That's a lot!  (It took me a few days to make it through all three rows and then haul everything to the basement.)

I also picked the last of the apples over the weekend.  After a few more batches of dried apples and another round of applesauce, we are almost done with apples.  I'm attempting to make apple butter today, but the remaining apples in the fridge will just be for fresh eating.

We're still able to harvest some cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and pole beans every few days, but I will have to start pulling vegetables out of the freezer very soon.  We made it through September without starting on our winter supplies, though!

The last big harvesting items are the continued raspberries and the second pear tree, whose fruit doesn't ripen until mid-late October.  I think I may put away the canning supplies for now and then just get them out again when necessary.

In other news, Ethan has continued with soccer this fall.  It's been an okay first experience with organized sports.  We'll see where his interests lie in the coming months.

In addition to a soccer game on Saturday morning and a birthday party mid-day, Ethan also invited his fellow Cloverbuds to our house on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate how to make applesauce.

This sweet boy now only loves people, but he also like showing off mechanical tools.  He was certainly in his element that afternoon.

Now let's please have a few germ-free, sunshine-filled weeks!