Mon. 1st--Calvin's 15th birthday was spent at his tennis banquet at school. Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for him, someone told Coach that it was his birthday and they all sang Happy Birthday to him. Haha!
*And now for some pregnancy pictures with Jake and Trina at six months into her pregnancy. Super cute.
Tues. 2nd--Karole was having some heart palpitations and a few other symptoms that caused her to go speak to her doctor. Who later asked Kevin and Jared if they knew about these episodes. Which, of course, they didn't and consequently felt like the worst sons ever. But it was important to look into these issues so they got Karole an appointment to get her heart looked at. Hopefully, it would be a basic, exploratory procedure, but if they needed to do surgery, they would. Turns out, she had some major blockage, so the minor procedure turned into major surgery in Lubbock. Which is a good thing! Karole was pretty worried about it, understandably so. But what a blessing that they caught it when they did and could perform this life saving surgery.
I was administering my big state math STAAR test to my students that week, so I was virtually no help at all. Which I felt bad about. A lot of these things ended up falling on Christina's shoulders.
Everything went super well. The doctor was very pleased. So yay for that! Now Karole just has her road to recovery.
Sat. 6th--It was a wonderful day at the temple for me. First of all, the Stake Primary was doing an endowment session at 11am, so my Primary counselor, Janelle Haws, and I did that together.
Sun. 7th--Happy 26th Wedding Anniversary to us! We spent it at church, fasting. Rolo taking his day of rest very seriously. Every day is a day of rest for him!
Mon. 8th--After school, I did bus duty til 4:15pm, then I drove up to Lubbock to go visit Karole. She was looking much better with more color in her face. Speaking didn't seem like a chore for her. It's amazing the difference two days made. She was told she would be in the post-op/rehab center for two weeks. Then she would stay with Kevin and Chris for about a week or so until Aunt Stacy and Uncle Mike come down from Stillwater, OK to help out at Karole's house. She and I had a lovely visit. I was there for a couple hours and was even able to smuggle in some contraband like Diet Dr. Pepper and a few sweet snacks. :)
Tues. 9th--I got a sub for a half day in the morning because Karcyn had an appointment at 10am with the speech therapist as part of our exploration regarding her anxiety and developmental issues. We got right in with Jaci who administered about three verbal tests to Karcyn while I sat and observed. Some of the things Jaci aske her to say were a bit tricky even for me. In the last diagnostic test, Jaci presented Karcyn with social scenarios and asked her about them...for example: she's sitting at the lunch table and two guys come and join who were talking about dissecting worms in class. Then a few people around them grab their stuff and leave. Why? And Karcyn responded because they were talking about something gross at lunch. There were another handful of social situations like that and when Karcyn finished that go around, Jaci said, "Well she passed. She did great." I nodded and said, "Yes, but knowing and doing are two different things for Karcyn." Jaci wanted to know more, so I explained that Karcyn misses a lot of social cues. I thought for awhile it was because she didn't talk until she was almost 4 years old and missed those social cues. I also figured she could catch up. I've worked SO hard to help her learn to use a filter, to watch what she says, to not hover around people, etc. But it's been a long and difficult road. I got emotional talking with Jaci because I feel like I'm ruining my relationship with Karcyn in my effort to try and help her navigate these social things that most people have long learned by now. I gave Jaci the Cliff Notes version of how the school/district staff in Oregon told us she might be autistic, but didn't support us in any way after that. Just told us to keep it in mind. They didn't provide any resources or things to look for. They didn't say when we should be concerned or what to do about it. They didn't suggest we speak to our family doctor to inquire about a medical diagnosis because I was this many years old when I learned there are two diagnoses for autism. An educational one and a medical one.
I also explained to Jaci that two of my friends from Oregon have autistic sons and when I explained what the school told me when she was exited from speech, they both adamantly said there was no way Karcyn could be autistic because of how social she is. Even, Doc, her grandpa and physician, felt the same way.
Then, after moving to College Station, TX, her 3rd grade teacher thought something was amiss. She wanted Karcyn evaluated by the counselor, which I agreed to, but the counselor didn't see anything that was a red flag to her regarding Karcyn's behavior. As a result, I wanted our pediatrician to weigh in on this. Karcyn's check-up was the first time the doctor had met us. After talking with Karcyn (age 8) a little bit, the doctor was very casual and completely unconcerned when she said that Karcyn might be high on the spectrum, but that wasn't what she was worried about. It was that Karcyn was not even on the growth chart. As a result, we ran tests, x-rays, and scopes, and that's when we discovered she had Celiac Disease. So we ran down that rabbit hole for a while. Even though Karcyn continued to struggle socially. And every time I brought up the possibility of Karcyn having social issues to admin at school or psychologists, etc. I kept getting brushed off and were told things like: "Some kids are just quirky." "Even if she does have autism, if it's not getting in the way of her education, no one will do anything about it." So I resigned myself to the fact that it would be up to me to do whatever teaching and training was needed. I'm her mom, after all. So I worked, and struggled, and cried, and cringed at all the awkwardness, and tried guiding Karcyn through those years of 4th grade through her junior year, offering prayers of gratitude that Karcyn is as sweet and gracious and forgiving as she is. I feel like all I've done is just nag Karcyn over the years. This can't be healthy for our relationship. Wouldn't be surprised if she resents me for it one day.
As I related all of this to Jaci, she was very sympathetic. She said her ten-year-old son was diagnosed with severe autism at about 9 months old and she struggled with extreme mom-guilt for a long time. Still does sometimes. She also informed me that autism in girls, does not present the same as it does in boys. The girls are smart, social. They look you in the eye when they speak to you. Hearing this missing, yet vitally important part of the puzzle made me feel even worse, but validated at the same time. Deep down and in the far recesses of my mind, I always had that nagging thought that Karcyn has autism, but no one would listen to me or they were certain she was fine. I should have fought harder for her. But I didn't know how. The professionals weren't concerned. Shouldn't I trust the professionals who know more than me? And it wasn't just one professional. It was a handful. Surely they know better than I do. And then I'm right back to feeling like the worst.mom.ever. What about my mommy sense? My gut feeling? The Spirit? I never had the compelling feeling to fight back and not backdown on the issue. Perhaps that means things are playing out exactly as Heavenly Father intended them? Maybe this lesson and struggle has been more for me than for Karcyn.
Jaci asked Karcyn how she felt about the idea of her being autistic. Karcyn said she's wondered a few times if she might be. It doesn't scare her or anything, though. Jaci reiterated that if Karcyn is autistic it doesn't change who Karcyn is, just gives us more information.
And that's all I've ever wanted! Information! Skills! How do I help Karcyn be successful? She's almost done with her junior year. She can do some stuff well, but other things, not so much. Like driving? She gets her lefts and rights mixed up. There's no way we can put her behind the wheel right now. But she needs to be independent. And it worries us.
Jaci said she thought getting her evaluated for autism was a good idea. I already told her that Karcyn was on a waiting list (6-12 months) because there were only two people in the area who did these evaluations. A lady in Lubbock, who just died, and a guy in Abilene. So now there's only one and we're on his waiting list. Jaci said she is actually trying to get certified to do these evaluations and will let us know when she is so if we're still waiting, we could have her do it. Jaci also said she'd really like to follow Karcyn's progress. She said girls with autism fall through the cracks all the time and she'd like to keep track of her. I also told Jaci that Karcyn was getting counseling for anxiety. Jaci said that there's probably some comorbidity. If there are certain social settings that stress Karcyn out, that could be causing her anxiety. I wasn't sure what to expect from our appointment that morning, but I felt better when I left. Hopefully we're moving closer to getting Karcyn all the things she needs to lead a wonderful and successful and independent life.
*Karcyn and I were walking to the car after our meeting with Jaci around 10:30 when I got a text. It was from Karole to us adult kids. She said she was being released and someone needed to come pick her up in Lubbock. She said, "I'm being discharged today and do not qualify for inpatient rehab--I'm doing too good." Jared responded that this wasn't much notice--considering we live over 90 miles away. Plus, I was just there on Monday evening and no one said anything to Karole or us about her not staying in rehab. Kevin had some meetings that afternoon, but arranged it so he could leave Snyder at 3pm to go get her and Christina and the kids would work on getting her room ready.
I had taken a half day, so I didn't have to be back at the school until 12pm. Karcyn didn't have to get back until 12:30 for lunch and Calvin didn't either. He stayed home because the 9th graders were taking the Algebra 1 STAAR test and he already taken and mastered it last year. So I texted Christina and told her I would be right over with the kids so we could help her get the room ready. She was grateful.
Karcyn watched and played with Amaya to free up Chris. Calvin helped Chris dissemble the bed frame to lower the bed for Karole and vacuumed while I cleaned out and organized the bathroom and shower. It wasn't much, but it definitely lightened Chris' load so she wouldn't have to do that all by herself with a toddler in tow. Plus, we wanted to do something to help.
I had to get back to work before the kids did, so they stayed with Chris and she took them to school for me.
Wed. 10th--We had noticed our friends' yard across the street was getting a bit overgrown. They had both relocated to Lovington, NM, but they hadn't completely moved out or put their house on the market yet. Stephany had a grown daughter living there at one point, but I wasn't sure what her status was. If she was a young adult, I'm sure that tending to a yard was the last thing she wanted or felt she could do. The kids weren't doing a youth activity, so I rallied the troops after dinner and we took all our yard supplies/machines over and got to work. We did ring the doorbell to let whomever was there know we would be working in their yard (assuming they didn't mind). But no one answered.
BEFORE
Sometime after we got started, we were surprised to hear the front door open and two young women stepped out. Calvin recognized one of them and said, "What? No way! What are you doing here?" It was his biology teacher, Ms. Rodriguez. That was the last person he expected to see. I guess she was rooming with Stephany's daughter. They were surprised to see us, but so grateful.
Before school started, however, like two minutes before school started, Alexis Batchelor, another reading teacher, came to me and asked if I could French braid her hair. Another teacher said she'd do it for her, but hadn't shown up yet. I have braided Karcyn's hair once, maybe twice. I told Alexis I would try, but made no guarantees. She wanted two braids, one on each side. I took a deep breath and got started. I mean, I know it's not life and death, but I didn't want to disappoint her when I was her only option. Her hair was super thin compared to Karcyn's and considering I had less than 3 minutes and students were arriving, I was pretty happy with the results.
Hermosillo and I walked our classes to the stadium together and honestly it wasn't so bad. We left right at 8am and it was already getting really warm. It was a hot morning, but the kids enjoyed themselves. Ms. Alarcon, the teacher I replaced, decided to show up. The kids were excited to see her. And they said they missed her. I'm sure they do. I'm pretty strict and structured.
I took this picture of Alexis from my seat in the stadium as picture proof of my last minute French braid attempt.
When we returned to the school, I was told my order was in the front office. I said that I didn't order anything. They said it had my name on it and I was really confused. But sure enough, there it was...my name on this cute and very appealing snack board. Turns out a parent had ordered it for me as a gift. I was most grateful and enjoyed it very much!
*I really like this visual. Growth comes in a lot of different forms and shapes.
He was honored as A/B Honor Roll.
And a ribbon for earning 5th Place in Oral Reading at the District UIL competition.
It was really cool! Somehow I didn't realize there gliders in WWII. Let alone that they trained here in West Texas. I definitely learned a lot and would go back.
*This is what it looks like when siblings make unnecessary comments or try to parent each other at our house. Let's just say some of our kids are much more swol than others.
Sat. 20th--Karcyn is great about including JJ in her activities, like sharing her stories and videos with him.
A much deserved award!
*A storm was brewing...
*My niece-in-law, Patricia, had baby #2. They named her Nadia. That face, though!!! Adorbs.
*Karcyn had a debate banquet that evening. She was elected by her peers as "Newcomer of the Year" and was recognized as one of the hardest working. Her debate coach, Coach Carlock, was so proud of her and how she really came out of her shell her first year in debate.
A happy girl with her second academic award in two days!
And then the rain came. Cooper pulled up and Calvin ran out so they could see if there was a storm worth chasing.
This is me and Elizabeth Hermosillo--partner teacher extraordinaire. I'm sure it was really difficult and a caused a bit of apprehension to work with a "walk-on" and "new" teacher to the school halfway through the year. But she knocked it out of the park and had my back every step of the way. I'm so grateful for our friendship. I respect Elizabeth greatly as a single mom, wonderful reading teacher, partner teacher, and mentor. I'll miss working with her.
Goodbye, Room 104.
The administration presented me with the "Rookie of the Year" award. :)
JJ and his 5th place ribbon from his district Oral Reading UIL competition.
Calvin and his bros with a End-of-Year bash at our house.
Calvin at the far head of the table in red, then going clockwise: Griffin Cypert, Carson Posey, John Gregory, and Ean T.
*Need I say more?
*Cooper's 1st grade teacher, Ms. Sanders, would always say this with her class. Maybe I'll memorize it one day. But today is not that day. Haha!
Tues. 30th--Ahh, little Rolo. Look at you folding your paws.
Such a good boy.
Fri. 12th--Hermosillo and I had another field trip planned for this day at the FiberMax Discovery Museum--an interactive agriculture-history museum. Hermosillo arranged it since she's been before and knew what we wanted and what was available there.
That morning, however, Elizabeth said she wasn't feel well, that she got a really bad sunburn at the stadium the day before. Which meant...actually I'm not sure what that meant. That I'd be the only teacher going on the field trip. The office was sending a paraprofessional with me, Ms. Johnston. That would help. Then someone told me she hurt her foot and couldn't walk. But then they said they'd send another paraprofessional (a former teacher), Suzanne Doolittle. She's really good, so I was happy about that. But then Johnston ended up coming, too. Yay! I'll take all the help I can get. Field trips are a scary proposition for teachers. So many things can go wrong and while I try to think positively, I gotta be prepared by running those scenarios through my mind. Not to mention, we have to drive 90 miles to get to Lubbock to do anything. So it's not like it's 20 minutes away. That's a long bus ride--3 hours or more round trip.
Fortunately, the drive up was uneventful, except that I learned I LOATHE the "1-2-Buckle My Shoe" song.
As we pulled up to the FiberMax Museum, there were a few parents who met us there. I told everyone to wait while I went in to deal with the admissions. That's when a lady met me at the bus door and asked if we were lost. No, we had reservations for our two classes from Snyder. She said she never heard back from us so she didn't schedule anything. *stunned silence* Excuse me? I told her that my partner teacher had set it up but she couldn't come last minute due to illness. I tried calling Elizabeth to see if she could help clear this up, but she didn't answer. She was probably sleeping. I told the lady that we were supposed to get a tour, a tracker ride, make a craft, have a special place to eat, etc. None of that was available to us. Because they didn't have us on their schedule, they didn't staff the museum. So even if they wanted to accommodate us, they couldn't. I couldn't believe it. 90 miles from home and no field trip. There really wasn't anything left to do except go back to Snyder. Ugh...all these parents waiting around, wondering what was going on. As I walked back to the bus trying to figure out what to say to the students and parents, the lady followed me out and said that we could just walk around the museum on our own, but we'd have to leave by 11 when another school group was supposed to arrive. I took it because at least the drive would not be in vain. We arrived at 10, walked around in a few small groups and the parents that were there, signed out their kids at 10:55. So the rest of us needed to find a place to eat lunch. Fortunately, Dolittle knew of a park nearby. So that's where we went. And we let the kids play on the playground for a little bit. Unfortunately, there were no bathrooms nearby, so we had to stop at a gas station before we got on the highway. We survived, but when Hermosillo found out how it all went down later that day, she was livid. We couldn't even get 50% of our money back because we went into the museum. She had the email confirmation and everything. The museum dropped the ball. She was so embarrassed, too, because it made us look like we didn't know what we were doing. I told her it was certainly unexpected, but in the end we had a lot to be grateful for since there wasn't another school there that morning, allowing us to see a little bit of the museum. I was so glad to make it back to campus though and so grateful to have those other women with me.
A picture of me milking a cow. ;)
Sun. 14th--Mother's Day with my peeps.
Wed. 17th--I took a half day to go see the Ira School Awards for JJ.
Thurs. 18th--Another Field Trip in Lubbock to the Silent Wings Museum. This is what Wikipedia says about it. "The Legacy of The World War II Glider Pilots," is a museum in Lubbock, Texas. The museum is housed in the former tower and terminal building of Lubbock's airport during the 1950s, and 1960s.
Fri. 19th--Jake signed up for a storm chasing class as an elective credit. How cool is that? It required him to travel for a couple weeks, May 18-30, through the mid-west and even into New Mexico and Texas and had some success! Pictures below. As they drove down I-55 in Illinois, Jake took a picture of the exit to his birthplace of Pontiac, IL. :)
At the University of Oklahoma--admiring the Dorothys on display that were in the Twister movie.
**This bad boy was spotted in Sudan, NM on May 24th. They were 1/4 of a mile away from the tornado!
**Jake and his team tracked this tornado and he caught it on film on May 25th in Tucumcari, NM, 2 miles southwest of the supercell.
Mon. 22nd--Karcyn worked SUPER DUPER hard in Algebra 2 honors this year, staying after school for tutorials many times (even to the point we thought she had gone missing :) to make sure she understood the material that had been taught. Consequently, her end-of-the-year MAP test score jumped the highest in her class for showing growth. And as such, Mr. Nana, her teacher, nominated her as the "Most Improved Student" for Algebra 2 (honors). We were so proud!!!
Tues. 23rd--Jake sent Calvin a very special birthday gift...a Canon Rebel T-100--a really, really nice camera. A very, very generous gift. Jake and Calvin enjoy storm chasing and taking pictures of sunsets and sunrises and weather formations together. Now Calvin could do it on his own and share them with Jake. Needless to say, Calvin was pretty much speechless. Quite a feat, actually. Well done, Jake! Haha!
*Another storm was brewing. I love Texas weather in the spring! Look at those clouds.
Ooo, the coloring.
Wed. 24th--We had a 2-hour delay on the second to last day of school due to the severe weather that was still in the area! The students were understandably crazy!!
Thurs. 25th--This was the last day of school--only a half day--and we did our class awards at 9am. It was fun to give out growth, high achievement, and most improved awards in math. We also gave out candy awards so all students received something. These are just a couple of the students I had the honor of teaching. Highest achievement from both homerooms.
Sat. 27th--Karcyn's room could use some more storage, so I got her a small bookshelf and had her put it together. She did well.
