Let's get ready to RUMBLE!

She's at it again. Poor Nate. He was not gifted a gentle sister. He lives with Hurricane Neve and she takes down anything in her way.

He tried to take her down at one point...

..but evil prevailed.

Sweet boy, Nate. We will get her next time. She has to fall asleep SOMEtime. hehe.

Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

I truly regret our decision to move to Arizona, for the schools alone. The schools are so ass backwards here. They are trying to sell us their crazy ideas and pass them off as law...I'm not buying. I can't even read their intentions quite yet. Are they hoping we will just say, "Huh. Oh well!",  and walk away? Not frickin likely. The district denied all of our requests. They even tried to make their shit shine in the form of "rewording" some of Nate's services. Ha! Nice try. All of this came down from the District's head of Autism. So I guess the only question that remains is, "Who's above YOU?". ....and then we keep on squeaking. It was a little different in Ohio. I was able to go straight to the Superintendent for a review and could bypass all the mediation bullshit. I don't know if that is possible here in Arizona, but now my quest begins. We have calls in to advocates for assistance with special needs lawyers, so we have that cookin. In the meantime, we called another meeting. I honestly don't think anything will come of it AT ALL, but if someone is gonna hand me a steaming pile of crap and tell me that's what my son needs, then they need to tell me to my face. I have some wonderful questions to throw back. We are in for a LONG summer. yay! :(

Anyway, we tried to block all of that out and just enjoy the weekend. It's still disgustingly hot here in Hell Phoenix, and it's only getting worse. We had lots of indoor bounce time, trips to the pool, and today we went to the train park. The train parks here are so fun. We are lucky enough to have 3 of them here in the East Valley. There is a large covered playground, a splashpad, a carousel, a duck pond, and a train. I am pretty sure the kids could ride that carousel forever. I am counting down the days til they can do THAT alone. Mama doesn't spin so well anymore. hahahahha

Tomorrow Neve is headed back to gym camp, and Nateman has therapy. We still have 2 weeks until Nate's school camp starts. Good times. Not quite sure how I will entertain him tomorrow while Neve is at her camp..time to get creative. :)

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten

HEY!!!

Did you hear the news? I graduated Kindergarten!

And so another year comes to an end. How is my baby old enough to be a first grader? He's only 5! Very sad end to a difficult school year. This also means we have been back in Arizona now for 9 months! crazy!

Nate on the first day of school (August 2010) and the last day of school (May 2011).

I hopped into Nate's classroom for a visit today and to snap some pictures and videos. I usually stay out of his classroom with my camera as it bothers the kids that are sensitive to that..and just me being there is a huge distraction in itself.

Goodbye, Greenfield! I wish I could say that we will miss you, but not so much. lol. You have provided us with an extremely stressful year and your principal is the biggest meathead on the planet. Here's hoping for a better year next year as we are transferring to a new school.

Nate at circletime with his class.

Nate working on the smart board.

Nateman at recess.

 ..and holding on the line rope one last time.

We love you Nate T.! You make us so proud everyday.

...oh, and as I left the classroom yesterday, Nate's teacher, with her head down, handed me the school's final proposed IEP. It was nothing short of a joke. It's ok, I am past the anger stage of wanting to burn things on people's lawns and now I am at the revenge stage. I am good at this stage. Game on, Gilbert Schools.

I will post an update this weekend. I need another day to stew. I am afraid my post now would be riddled with more swearing than usual. :)

The Rapture

The countdown is on. The Rapture and the end of the world would actually be preferred to the end of school. (maybe then I wouldn't have to read FB posts of people saying how cute it is that their 2 yr old daughter burped and said, "It was Jesus in me!" (true story).lol. I kid. well, sort of.).
Nate has a day and a half left of Kindergarten and then school's out for summer! Do other parents dread this? I know I do. I actually have nightmares about it. Sometimes I wish my summer would be long days at the pool, watching the kids run around in the back with their friends, and BBQs. ...BUT that's not the hand I was dealt. Nateman thrives in a school/therapy setting. THAT makes sense to him. Free time does NOT. Not even close. Weekends are a struggle for that very reason, but we have Dad home then. Summer is mostly all me. Gulp. I am just psyching myself up by saying that it is what it is, just surrender to horribleness for 2.5 months and then it will get better.

Neve started gym camp today(thank you Grammy and Grampy!!) and had such a great time. One of her friends from school is joining her and she was so excited to have her there today. I love watching her form these little friendships at this age. Very very sweet. The camp was themed WILD WEST this week and they made cute little laminated placemats with their photos on them. I watched all the other parents get their child's picture handed to them, and then came mine. Lordy. I don't know why I expected anything different. Every class has ONE, right? lol.

In Nateman news, we are still waiting on IEP verdict. We did hear that 50% of our request has been approved, although I won't believe that until it is actually in black in white. The other 50% hasn't been denied, just no word on that yet. Tick tock.

Nate has another DAN! doctor appointment this Friday. Reading the latest bloodwork this time.We are still getting into the groove with our new doc out here..and it also is spread out due to finances. It's hard to shell out 250$/hr every month for a couple hour appointment so we have to spread out our visits. UGH. Thankfully Grandparents jump in now and then to help out with some of the visits, testing, or even other things for Neve so we are ABLE to spend this on Nate. I have never regretted my decision to stay home with Nate, but times like this make it impossible with one income and Aaron's ENORMOUS undergrad/grad school debt that unfortunately I acquired when we married. My kids pay that debt as well too. Oh well. Onward. I would rather die than put Nate in day care and watch him "just get though the day". Makes my heart sink when I see it happen all too often with parents of Autistic kiddos, so I be thankful for being able to spend so much time with Nate...even if he does drive me batty. :)

"Price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. I repeat: price check on Vagiclean, aisle five."

Took Neve to the Phoenix Children's Museum today..so fun! She is at such a GREAT age for that kind of place. It was a madhouse, but we met some friends and had fun exploring.

The grocery store was a big hit. Neve and her little friend loved checking out the groceries. At least she has a fallback career.

weighing beans and painting castles...

Fun day for all. I love when Neve gets to play with kids her age. Playgroups seem so difficult as it's usually kids much younger than Neve, so this was such a nice change!

We walked around downtown afterwards and took the kids out for lunch. Neve had guacamole and blue corn tortillas and I think she was in heaven.

I am looking forward to a night of relaxing here at home with Aaron. I went on a girl date last night and I am feelin the margaritas this morning. HA! Seriously though I met such a fun, REAL, NON-MORMON mom that wants to be friends-HALLELUJAH! She rocks and I am gonna research some 5K stuff for us tonight. So excited to connect with someone again! I have really felt isolated out here in Little Utah- it's nice to meet someone that isn't scared off by my crazy family and all of our "needs". ") Here's to new friends!!!! Glug Glug Glug!

Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!...well, at least for one kiddo. Neve's last day of preschool was Tuesday. I can't believe my baby has finished her first year of school! That's so insane to me. She has grown and changed so much in the last nine months...I am so proud of her!

Neve on her first day of preschool (August 2010) and her last day of preschool (May 2011).

Aaron and I wrestled with the decision of whether or not to send her at age two, but we are THRILLED that we did. She has learned SO much- and not just academically, but socially!..and she loves, loves,loves school- so I hope she carries that love for quite some time. I know I loved school too at that age and thrived on being a smartypants as well as a troublemaker- ha! I am pretty sure the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Sorry, Aaron. hahahha. I just figure we will ship her off to live her teenage years with your sister and Jessica (if they will have her!). That's still the plan, right?!

Neve's preschool set up a water party for their last day with a big water slide, etc..

Ganging up on the boys.

Neve loved the slide and her teacher was so sweet and kind to go down it with them..repeatedly. lol.

..and to finish he day, she had her first ever Popsicle. :)

I still am so sad about her leaving her school and friends for next year, but I am going with my gut on this one and hope it all works out next year at the new school. Nateman has a few days of school left at his school and then we are into full summer camp mode. I am hot just thinking about it.

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Yesterday was medal day/show day at Little Gym- end of the semester. Neve was super excited, mostly because Daddy was coming to watch. :)

She was her usual goofy self in front of an audience. She has a hard time when people are watching but she did a great job this time. Not too many smiles, but we will take it. haha.

They had stations set up around the gym and made a "train" to each station (just like they do in weekly class).
Next up: BARS

Then on to beam...

Then came the medals. It doesn't get much better for a 3 yr old. She was so happy.

Look out, Magnificent Seven! There is a new little girl with stunted growth and mad skills workin her way up the ranks.

Just Peachy

The Portnoys headed peach pickin' today. :) Nateman LOVES apple picking so we thought this would be right up his alley...and we were right! I can't tell you how happy it makes us when he seems to actually enjoy our family outings rather than just tolerate them.

The hayride out to the orchards...

mmmm! PEACHES!!!

Great day! After peach picking we spent the afternoon chillin at the pool. Ugh..now back to Monday. :(