Hey all! It's been forever, but wanted to pop in and say hey! Also just giving an update on my dad for those who are interested. 😉 Feb 11 will be one year since his accident. WOW. Time has flown and dragged by. It's funny how things like that happen. Anyway, he's doing really, really well. No more PT or speech therapy. He has a neurologist he sees now - I can't remember if I told on here, but Mom took him to the hospital back in November(?) for possible mini-strokes or partial onset seizures. They still aren't completely sure which it was, but he's on medication for both. Aside from that, he's doing really well. He was approved for disability, but they're not getting much because they're still getting payments from Workman's Comp. We're not sure how long WC will be paying out, so that's a bit frustrating, but it is what it is. 🤷‍♀️ He is able to drive which helps mom a lot. But, he still has a lot of deficits - like, he doesn't understand money - he bought a $60 harmonica back around Christmas. lol 😳; He also can't identify money, so that's fun. He has minimal sarcasm comprehension, too, which can be difficult since we're all pretty sarcastic. Random things that peope don't always understand right off the bat; you could look at him and think everything was normal if you didn't know what to look for. We joke that he's turned into Rain Man. He can't tell a dime from a nickel, but he can look at a diagram of a shed and immediately tell how it was put together incorrectly. He notices the most minute variations in width, if something is barely off center, etc. So...yeah...He's our own Rain Man. Over all, though, he's made an amazing recovery from Feb 14 when the doctor was pretty certain that he could NOT save him. So, we'll gladly take the remedial math and language deficits. On Feb 10, the church is doing a small "Yay! You're alive" celebration. (That's what I'm calling it because it makes me laugh.) We'll go down to celebrate, then go out to eat, and enjoy the fact that we aren't remembering a loss this time of year. Anyhoo, we're all good, just busy. Riv's good and loving co-op and doing well at church since she wears headphones and has some buddies that check in on her. She's also almost done with OT. PT is getting better too and I think we'll be down to one session by next fall. So, that's us in a nutshell. 🙂 I'm hoping to pop in more often now that I have figured out a better schedule and routine for school and my 2 at-home jobs. How are you guys?!

Crazy enough, I have never had it plain!!! I was first introduced to it with blueberry pie filling and that's all we do now. haha I need to try it like that.

We did it the pretest about a year ago and she did AWFUL. That was before we did the CTOPP to see where her deficits were, ADHD meds, and all the therapy. I should do it again and see how she does. The SLP was working on quite a few things including phonological processing. We have work sent home, so we're doing it at home and at speech. Dd also works on the HearBuilder app at home and does some phonological awareness stuff. I do know that dd has met all or most of her initial goals pertaining to the MRELD (which is partially why we did the CELF again), but I honestly don't remember everything that was listed. We had so much in the beginning. 😕 We haven't reevaluated the goals yet, but I know the SLP will be doing that soon.

Sopapilla Cheesecake is really easy and versatile. I used to make it for all the parties and potlucks I used to go to. I like to put pie filling on top of the cheesecake mixture, then put the top crust on. The most popular has been apple pie filling with caramel sauce. Then when it's done cooking, I do a drizzle of caramel sauce on top.

We have to slow down a lot, so I'm anticipating it'll be more like 150 EZ lessons or something like that. haha

Yeah, I'm hoping the new curriculum will help with the "almost always a hit" aspect. I've seen a lot of recommendations for the 100 Easy Lessons in my APD group on Facebook, so I grabbed it and the next Explode the Code level (she did really well with ETC beginning books). (Her other curriculum didn't have enough reinforcement for her, so I'm hoping this does the trick. If not, oh well. I got them used. lol)

For real! We had a big dance party. She had a hard time believing that she read, though. "That's not reading. Looking at big words and knowing what they say - THAT is reading. I just looked at little words and put sounds together." I had to call my mom who reassured her that she did, in fact, read. lol Yes, our SLP and our new OT are fabulous! She has really bonded with them both, which helps.

No idea. I had to come up with something! lol We pretty much just did the CELF again for comparative data, to see where her numbers were falling. (This is what was used for her Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder.) She still struggles with the phonological processing. Letter sounds are hit or miss, but we're getting more hits than misses now, which is good. It's definitely slower, but she was able to fumble her way through the first BOB book (Mat sat. Sam sat. etc.) Having a purpose behind the sounds (and her desire to read) is helping and we're getting ready to try a different reading curriculum that I've heard can be good for APD. She's hearing rhymes and identifying phonological differences more easily and the SLP is implementing Buffalo Method strategies to help with that. Also, not sure where the narrative language is right now; but it's not low, I know that. I do know they do a lot of picture narratives - she will look at pictures and tell what she thinks is going on, they do games and play with a doll house and she's supposed to talk about what's happening. She always does really well with that, too. We go back to Able Kids in May, so I'm curious to see if her CANS has developed more and her APD is slightly improved or if most of her improvement has been due to therapy and ADHD medication.

Oh my gosh - I've been meaning to get tips on chocolate covered ants. I always seem to burn them. Can not figure it out. Might be because I'm using fire ants...😕 Side note and not so humble mom brag - Yesterday, dd's SLP talked to me about her second CELF5 scores. When we first tested her, she was a year or more below her age in almost all the sections. This time, she's above her age in almost all sections! Her listening comprehension is the highest of all which is a miracle considering she has auditory processing disorder! It was hard not to get up and do a full-on happy dance!

Meh 🤷‍♀️ I wasn't a fan. However, I sold mine to my best friend and she swears by it! I think it just honestly depends on your life and how you like/need to cook.

Found what I needed. 🙂

I got them for my nephew's birthday. He loves them.

My friends have this for their 3 boys : Summit Rock Climber If that's too expensive, then maybe a rock climbing wall (either indoors or out). Does he build fort outside? Sticklets are awesome for connecting sticks and making forts.

HA - I was trying to figure out why you were so excited about my toilet! Yeah - the doctor even cleared dad to drive (oh goodness!! Mom says it's going to be awhile, though) and that he could stop speech therapy (they're just working on short term memory). The doctor said that with the interactions dad has with people, that he feels comfortable letting him top the therapy. They go for testing in a couple weeks to see about disability. The doctor and the insurance adjuster really don't think they'll have a problem. Per the doctor, the files state "severe traumatic brain injury", which is just a step above death in their book. ? So, even though there is extreme progress, he doesn't expect a denial because of the diagnosis, neither does the adjuster; but they both say, when you're dealing with the government, you can never tell.

HAHA - just one this time. But, the dork turned the water off while mom and dad were here to keep the water from running. Like, DUDE! The water has been running for at least 3 months! lol One day isn't going to make a huge difference. *face palm*

Mom and Dad came to visit. It was so nice. Dad is even growing his beard back. It's like he's himself finally. Also, DH is fixing the toilet. This should be interesting...

It was so crazy good. Didn't taste like fish at all.

I'd laugh more, but I've been in that situation too many times to count!

oh wow - DH just brought home a salmon steak that a friend caught just 11 days ago in Alaska! It is the most gorgeous orangey-pink I've ever seen. I'm not even a huge salmon fan, but I think I could like this. lol

Morning all ...or wow...good afternoon! Lazy morning for us. We need to do some school today and then clean because my mom and dad are coming up tomorrow! YAY!

Just popping in to add - I know your doctor is concerned about articulation. But, when you talk to the SLP, I would request a test like the CELF-5 or CASL or something similar - anything that can check language.

My daughter still struggles at 6.5. She has auditory processing disorder and mixed expressive-receptive language disorder, so names and things are difficult for her. The letter names are hard for her and for a long time, even number identification as hard (and she's really good with math). (The retention issue is what made us get pursue testing - after 2 years in preschool, she only knew A and X.) AAR did not work for us - in fact, it was downright painful. Explode the Code's "pre" books (Get Ready/Get Set/Go for the Code) have been a life saver. She still struggles with retaining the sounds, but we're much further than we were last year at this time. If AAR isn't working well, the EtC books are only $6.95 on Rainbow Resource. So, not even $21 for all 3. If your ped is suggesting a speech eval, it can't hurt.

I have one, but I also have a regular one as well. A lot of my cans have the pop-top tabs, too. So, I don't have to use either.

I'm annoyed. I bought cute shoes yesterday to wear with my new shirt. I wore them to church, then Sam's Club. We were going to take the kid to Wonders of Wildlife since we haven't been in a few months, but the shoes gave me awful blisters. ? I had even planned ahead and brought tennis shoes to wear since it takes at least 3 hours to walk throug WoW, but I couldn't even cut it with the tennis shoes. So, DH said we had to come home. #losermomaward #blisterssuck #Ijustwantedcuteshoes

I had to look up babka. It looks similar to povitica, in which case I say chocolate babka for breakfast is perfectly permissible on a Saturday! Also, I love strawberry rhubarb! I can never find rhubarb in this area. ? It makes me sad.