This and that.

So the kids are out for five days right now. Fall break and parent/teacher conference. To keep the craziness alive around here Reece decided to gash open his leg when we had a total of 9 boys, 1 girl and four moms at the house. To backtrack, on Saturday I ran into Larissa at a yard sale and her husband is MIA right now working on a grant at the hospital, also ran into Beth who is in the middle of a divorce and Anne who is divorced. Scott was out of town so we decided to get together, order pizza and unleash the kids into my basement. All was going well when I heard this blood-curdling screaming from the front (where they were not supposed to be). My first thought was that one of the kids has been hit by a car because I had never heard Reece scream like this. Then I saw the blood pouring out his shin. he has slipped and fallen onto a metal trailer that a friend has in our driveway. It was very gory. I wouldn't even post a pic if I had one. I will spare the details but we opted to not go for stitches because on the shinbone is very tricky and we thought he would tear through them. Plus he had just been in the E.R. last month when he gashed his forehead open at scouts.

Scott has to show Reece a couple of his scars (of his hundreds-no kidding) so Reece would not feel self-conscious. I have to give kudos to Larissa for calming both Reece and I down and being the soothing voice in the midst of the chaos. She is amazing. I love my friends. Reece was ok but Scott was really worried since he was in Ohio and totally helpless in the situation.

Noah also managed to bang himself up pretty good as well. He was running and tripped on his own toe (we are working on coordination). I actually heard his forehead hit the driveway. Having friends who are married to doctors is a wonderful thing. We watched his pupils for several hours and he was determined to be fine. He had a bump on his head so big that he kept trying to get it off. He has no spacial awareness of his ginormous head.

In great and wonderful news Parker was evaluated by a psychologist and was found to NOT be on the autistic spectrum. Just typing that makes me tear up. Three years ago our family was dictated by what he could handle. We have been so blessed to find wonderful therapists and teachers who did not coddle him and pushed him over and over. He is now the top reader in teh entire first grade at his school (well over 100 kids) and is reading almost two full grade levels ahead. All his academics are well above his grade level and his IQ score (which he took while he was still 5) came back at 118 out of 150. We still have to deal with his anxiety over certain things, a little OCD, auditory sensory issues and some social behaviors but he is officially transitioning into full mainstream classes because "There is no reason for him to be in ECE" (exceptional child education--a PC way to say special ed). We still have challenges and he is still quirky but we have come so far I cannot even believe it. Now if we can find the magic pill for Noah to talk then life will be just about perfect.

I read one of my friends blogs a little while ago. She has a very autistic child and deals so well. I know there are times that she struggles as she also has five other children but she is amazing. She referred to the parenting of Jericho (her son) as a "calling". I have never thought of it that way but what a great way to classify parenting special children. It really made me stop and think that I was given these children who have issues for a reason and I know a couple of them (I will share later) but it is interesting to look back and see other reasons that they were placed with our family. There are days that I come apart and have a meltdown because it is difficult to have children who are not what most would consider "normal". Many people back off from families who have kids like this because they do not know how to deal with it. To those people I give the following advice: Please do not leave. They are still children and we still need you. The best thing you could do is be there when we need you and PLEASE offer to babysit once in awhile. You cannot imagine how wonderful a gift that can be.

On another wonderful note I am leaving town on Wednesday (my birthday) for five whole days!!! My mother is flying in from OKC and we are going to Cleveland where my sistahs live. No husbands, no kids, no real responsibilities. I cannot tell you how much I need this. Once again I have to give a shout out to my dear friend Suzanne who has so kindly offer to be with the kids when Scott is at work. She is so selfless and giving. I don't know what I would do without her.
I know I will actually miss my kids even though I have to get away from them all. At night I lay with each of them. When they go to bed they always want to know when I will come up to "snuggle". Many times I fall asleep with them because I know that in the not so distant future they are going to be too cool to "snuggle" so I am soaking it up while I can.