Philomena's New Glasses

Philomena loves her new glasses.  Bonus that for free we were able to engrave her name on the temples so if she has to take them off for any reason, people will know who to return them to!

 

Sleepover and Goodies

Adi spent the night with Philomena and Ellie spent the night with Maggie.  It was Ellie's first time and she fit in very well with our family.  Adi as usual was great.  I made the kids granola bars and no bake cookies.  I left them on the kitchen counter so they had to come out of their bedrooms at least to get food before holing backing up for their teenage conversations :). I found Ellie and Maggie making jewelry by the flashlight on her phone.  I thought the overhead light might help but my suggestion was ignored so obviously their plan worked just fine :)

 

Maggie and Desdemona

 

Maggie has been lighting candles at church and we've been visiting Grandpa and Grandma at Waterford on Sunday afternoons.  Peg and her family had been on a trip to CA and brought back these t-shirts for Mom and Dad. They look so cute together and Dad's been doing pretty well lately with holding conversations and taking walks up and down the halls.  

 

Coffee Cake

Over spring break, I booked a lot of appointments while we were off school/work.  It was a daddy week, but I was taking the girls to their appointments each day.  Monday was two appointments for me and one for Philomena.  On Tuesday, I took both girls with me.  We picked up my mom in Waverly and drove to Fremont to see Grandma Olson and Uncle Jim.  

Wednesday, Philomena had an OT appointment in Lincoln.  Then we left to see Dr. Lopez at Boystown in Omaha.  Dr. Lopez diagnosed Philomena with Developmental Motor Dyspraxia.  Developmental means she's had this since birth.  Dyspraxia means that her muscles don't always do what she intends them to do.  She has to focus to make the left side of her body do something and even then it won't always do what she wants immediately.  After leaving Boystown, we ate lunch at Runza in Omaha.  Then we drove to the Lincoln Running Company to get her a new pair of athletic shoes before track starts.  She's been "dying" to try Crumbl Cookies which opened in Lincoln this week.  We stood in line about 20-25 minutes to buy 2 cookies.  The Cookies & Cream cookie was delicious.  The Butterscotch Cookie was too salty.  We both thought it was weird to sprinkle salt on top of the cookie.  Philomena really wanted some one-on-one time with me and to have a break from Maggie so she spent the night with me while Maggie stayed with Gene.  We hung out for the evening during which she looked at what she'd like to bake for the 4H County Fair.  She chose this Quick Danish Coffee Cake recipe from my dad's mom.  It turned out delicious!

Thursday, Philomena saw Dr. Bohl, the neurological ophthalmologist.  Dr. Bohl said that her eyes are now testing in the normal range for how her brain is processing what she sees.  She gave her a new prescription for glasses so I brought Philomena home so we could get on zenni.com to order new glasses.  On the way back to her dad's, I was teasing her about how expensive our 24 hours together had been with Runza, shoes, cookies, and glasses.  She started giggling and wondered if she could come up with anything else she needed me to buy her! We both were laughing when I dropped her off.

 

Parent - Teacher Conferences

Lines were long to talk to Maggie's teachers.  She was so tired that she laid on the floor to rest! haha. Some of the lines, I was near a parent that I knew so I could chat with someone, but otherwise it was boring waiting our turn.  She had good reports from all her teachers except one.  That teacher started commenting on behaviors that are classic examples of autism and ADHD.  I responded that yes, I was aware and that's why she has a 504 plan for her autism and ADHD.  That teacher responded, "Oh I didn't know that."  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?  A 504 is a legal document that she needs to follow with my child.  I emailed the coordinator that night and he said he'd talk to the teacher about reviewing who has accommodations and that the information had been supplied to the teacher in multiple ways.  Thankfully that teacher is in the minority and most of our experiences with Mickle Middle School have been really good.

 

Music Festival

At band contest this year, Philomena played a solo and a small ensemble with Nick and Hailey.

 

Band Concert

Philomena played her trombone solo at the concert which was great practice before she'll be playing it at the music festival before the judge.