summer school

Yesterday Allison and I paid Nate a visit at school (Bri is away at church camp this week). I think he was surprised and excited to see us.

One of his favorite things to do at school is hang out in the ball pit. Yes, he was at school, not at McDonald's Play Place.

Nate was working on an art project. He has to pick the color he wants by touching it or vocalizing. It was neat to see him making choices.

Summer school will be over next Thursday. It's been a little different this year. All the students have multiple disabilities like Nate. Most are in wheelchairs and do not communicate with speech. In the past, he's been in an early childhood summer program where he had the most significant needs.

It was a great opportunity for Nate and hopefully we can continue some of these programs as he enters kindergarten in the fall. The plan for right now is that he will be fully included in the regular classroom with an adapted curriculum.

Summer Days

Summers for teachers are supposed to be 3 months of sleeping in, hanging out at the pool (or golf course), catching up on reading, staying up late, laid-back days, right? Well let me set you straight!

First of all, for the record, summer vacation is really only a little more than 2 months. Especially when you consider the extra days we spend in August getting our classrooms ready. Just wanted to make that little tidbit clear to everyone.

For us, summer does have its share of laid-back days. We piddle around the house, complete home improvement projects, take a family vacation, and the golf course sees plenty of Jeremy.
But we also spend a LOT of time at doctor's appointments.

Today we started the appointment season with a visit to the ENT for Jeremy. He's already had strep throat at least twice this year. I suppose you could count it as three times because after the first bout he had to get back on an antibiotic. And he's had more than his fair share of encounters with strep in his life. I won't go into all the gory details. But he is having a tonsillectomy in July. Lord give me strength!!!

Other upcoming appointments include visits to the neurologist, endocrinologist and pulmonologist for Nate. Dentist appointments for Mom, Dad, Bri and Alli. Orthodontist appointment for Allison. Delaney will see the pediatrician for more shots. Sports physicals for both girls. Mom sees the gyno (woohoo). And most likely Nate will have a bronchoscopy (annual procedure) toward the end of the summer.

In other news, Nate started summer school yesterday. He goes from 8:30 to 12:30 on Monday through Thursday for seven weeks. His nurse, Melissa goes with him and the bus transports them to and from school. It's so good for him to get out. I think he gets bored at home. I mean there's only so much baseball a kid can watch! Let me rephrase that...there's only so much baseball WE can watch! And it's nice for us to have a little bit of freedom from his care.
But there goes sleeping in.

So there you have it. Not a terribly exciting start to our summer. But we're starting to get into a routine. And before you know it, we'll be back to school and dreaming of the summer days we were sitting in waiting rooms, flipping through magazines.