A Splishin and a Splashin

End of the year means WATER DAY here in Phoenix for most schools!! Nate had his a few weeks ago for the special needs kids and Neve had hers last week for the preschool class.

They started by singing some songs about goldfish in the classroom before going outside..

Then it was time to COOL OFF!!!!!!!! They had tons of fun. I mean, who wouldn't?!

The girls loading the water shooters to take on the boys. :)

Neve and her buddy, Jazelle.

Next was water balloon time!!

POPSICLE TIME!

CHEERS!

3 of her preschool pals are moving on to Kindergarten as well..she is super sad to leave her other friends behind....but hopefully she gets at least ONE of her buddies in her class next year! We shall see!

WHO LET THE BUTTS OUT?!

End of the year is such a mad dash! Let's see.... Neve's preschool program was this week. They started by doing a couple songs for the parents...

Hahaha..typical preschool stuff- ya know, where some kids just put their heads down and refuse to do anything. :) Funny, funny.

Ok...and let me tell you about what came next. Neve told me last week that she was going to have a "solo" in the program. Hmmmmm...I could only imagine. So I asked her teacher what that was about and she said that Neve had volunteered to do a solo..and all the kids were welcome to, but it was just Neve doing one at that point. So at home I asked Neve what song she was singing..She said she was singing, "Who let the butts out?"...and she proceeded to dance and sing to the tune of "Who let the Dogs out?".

Oh dear god..this was going to go over just SWIMMINGLY with her Mormon teacher....

BUT, thankfully, Neve did not sing her song. PHEW!!! :) abut half the class got up and sang Twinkle Twinkle and then Neve sang a 2 second song she made up called "Strawberry Shortcake". Crisis averted.

Then the class did two little plays. Neve was in the second one..The 3 Little Pigs.

 

Neve getting her preschool diploma.

Congrats to Nevelicious!!

Rapunzel and the White Trash Water Slide

Today Neve and I headed off with some friends to see Rapunzel at our favorite little children's theater here in Gilbert. She was super excited and loved it. She was really good until we had to wait outside to meet Rapunzel and she got super cranky. I am sure a lot of it was that she hadn't eaten so she turns into super-crank. Mama does too, so I get it. :)

We got to go out to lunch afterwards and neve loved goofing off with her little friends.

Aaron was working all morning, so we scheduled one of Nate's therapists to come stay with him for the day. It broke my heart when I left because he started crying and saying, " I want Dad, please." :( he basically said nothing to me all morning and then that is what he says?! ) Just killed me out of guilt for leaving him. We rarely do. We can usually work it out between Mom and Dad so he is never without one of us. Clearly, he notices.

So...after the play and lunch we headed home and Dad was there- Yahoo!

We figured it was in the high 90's here today so it was time to breakout the white trash water slide.

Pure bliss. Hard to beat that, right?!

Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail...

Headed out to old people resort land (aka My Mom's House) for Easter to see my mom and family that was in town.

The Easter Bunny found us there and left a trail of eggs. The kids did great.

We had a BBQ and we dyed eggs. I have never done this with the kids before- thought they would be really into it..um, not so much. Oh well!

Nateman got a new ipad in his Easter basket so he was a happy camper.

Wishin we had more family out here to spend holidays with, but I am grateful we have my mom! Nate and Neve love Grandma Ding to pieces!

HAPPY EASTER!!

Nate the Great and the IEP Games

Nateman. Love this kid. He actually let me take a few pictures of him today which is a miracle in itself. Spring- absolute stress time for most special needs families I know. Why? It's IEP season. That time of year where you duke it out head to head with the school district to obtain appropriate services for your child. I wish I could say that I know families that have a great relationship with the district and everything goes just swimmingly..that is not the case. In all my years now of living in Autismville, and taking our journey across state lines, I have yet to meet ONE family where that is the case. Typically it is the district railroading the weakest family to save a buck for the district. I get it. They have a budget. Every kid cannot get equal services despite their level of need. Cuts have to be made somewhere and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It's disgusting, but oh so true. There, I said it. I know some people question my tactics and they can say what they will. I love that family can't support us. I am sure they envision me ranting and raving against a board...when they are thinking if I just talked it out, everyone would reach an agreement. HA! I invite ALL of them to attend a meeting with me. Oh wait..that would involve family support and hands on involvement. My bad.

So let me paint a more accurate picture. If you know me, you know I love a good debate, always have. I come prepared. I do my research. I know my rights,and better yet, I know Nate's. I always have tangible evidence of my accusations and proof of wrong doing if need be. I bring evaluations that support my requests. Most importantly I come with an unwavering faith in myself and what I believe is right for Nate. I love to listen to others and their opinions of Nate, but when grilled it's almost comical on how little they actually know.

I am thankful I am Nate's mom. I know that he ended up with an advocate that doesn't give up or give in to "see how things go". Um, no thanks. Take your budget cuts to your 2 o'clock meeting. Special Needs advocacy does NOT run on honey..vinegar wins the war. I love hearing others rant on about moms that receive the services they have fought so hard for, and how we gloat. Damn skippy we do. Why? If you have ever entered this world you KNOW how emotionally, physically, and mentally draining these fights are...and I earned my reward. I make sure every other parent knows that it's not impossible. It's sure as hell not easy, but it's not impossible. You just have to have a strong backbone. I might have an ENORMOUS chip on my shoulder, but my backbone is STRONG.

Happy IEP Games. May the odds be ever in your favor.