I Survived

It is Thursday, which means I survived Wednesday. God's grace and God's strength...not my own.

The big shot in the arm yesterday was Pepper's 504 Plan meeting at school. We are incredibly blessed to have our kids in a wonderful public school. We moved into this neighborhood 3 years ago, specifically for the school. We were right in that decision, for sure! Pepper's teacher and I were able to tell the district nurse and our school's ESE coordinator all about the things Pepper struggles with as a result of Inattention Type ADHD. We discussed his strengths as well. He is gifted, and highly intelligent. The ADHD dramatically impacts his learning and achievement. The nurse and ESE coordinator worked with Pepper's teacher and me to develop an accommodation plan for Pepper that will maximize his potential and give him the supports he needs to succeed. Probably the biggest, most important one of all is that Pepper will receive accommodations during Benchmark and annual standardized testing. He gets to take the test in a separate room, free from peer distraction. He has the option of taking the test on computer or paper. He also will not have time limits during the testing. This is HUGE! Another wonderful couple of accommodations for Pepper are 1) He has the freedom to eats snacks during the day, as needed, and 2) He is to be allowed the freedom to move around. If he needs to squat on his desk chair to work, or sit on the floor with a clipboard, he can. I am so thankful!

After the meeting was done, I came home and had a conversation with my hubby. I was feeling very pressured to get all of Bubbles' schoolwork finished with her yesterday. We're trying to be completely done with school for the year by the time the baby arrives. Matt looked at my to-do list and quickly crossed off yesterday's math lesson, Bible lesson, and writing assignment. Then he circled NAP on my list and made it the #1 priority. He was working from home yesterday, and took charge of keeping Bubbles occupied so I could sleep. He didn't do any school with her because he had his own work things to attend to, but he did set her up on math games on the computer. She played quietly and I got 90 minutes of rest. I tried to sleep, but Baby Sweetie was too active. Every time I would doze off, Baby would start kicking. Even though I didn't sleep, the rest was very helpful and I felt better when I got up.

Somehow I managed to get through the day. I talked to Pepper's teacher and requested an extra day to turn in his homework. She gladly granted that, which took off some more pressure.

We had a line of severe weather move through last night. Five years ago when I was the commander of our Awana when we lived in Arkansas, we had a tornado warning. We moved the kids into the downstairs hallways of the church while the tornado went by, less than a mile away. It was a terrifying experience then, and I figured it would be a once-in-a-lifetime event. I was wrong. Last night we were in the church in the middle of Awana, and we got a tornado warning. I could tell by looking at my radar that the rotating part of the storm was about 4 or 5 miles away. Still, we moved the kids into the sanctuary and rode it out. The gust of wind that first hit the building was a monster! I don't know if a tornado actually touched down last night, but it was still unnerving. Not a fan of tornadoes. Poor Snapper was a blubbering, snotting, sobbing mess. She hates storms because of all the storms we went through in Arkansas.

Today is running more smoothly. Bubbles is much more cooperative today. A friend from church has offered to homeschool Bubbles for me one day per week to help lighten my load. I will be taking advantage of that, for both Bubbles and me! It will be great for us both. Matt and Piper have a performance of their play tonight, so I'm on my own with the rest of the kids. We'll be finishing up Valentines, having pizza for dinner, and early bedtime for everyone.