Grades

I had a horrifying experience this morning. First, Eddie kept waking me up last night, which he has never done before. He cried at me and licked my hand. When I got up, I went in the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker AND. . . a burner on the stove was on. It had been on all night. I could feel it the second I walked in the room. I wonder if Eddie felt it and was trying to tell me something was wrong. 

When I got Maggie up, I brought her in the kitchen and asked her if she made ramen the night before. She said yes. I told her she left the stove on (I knew it was her anyway because Ruby isn't allowed to touch the stove and she can't reach it without a chair) and she could have burned the house down and killed all of us and all the pets. I told her she has to be more aware of what she is doing. 

I'm getting a second job. Things are tight as is and I'm about to have to add so much. Maggie will do drivers ed (with me!) this summer. But that means adding her to my insurance, maybe buying her a car in a year or two. She will need a phone. She needs braces. Ruby has all her ADHD stuff coming up and I doubt testing, meds, etc are cheap. I got a job at a foster/adoption agency doing home studies. I know how to do that, and it pays more than my previous job.

Maggie's grades have improved so much. I guess she just needed proper motivation. I check every day and make sure I tell her how proud I am. Maggie has decided to take theater next year. I also saw that they have web design/animation classes which I will put her in if at all possible. I think that would be so good for her. 

Ruby also is doing well. I knew I had seen a huge growth in her reading and everything. But I got her Middle of the Year assessment results and they confirmed it. Everything is "graded" on a spectrum. There's below average (needs support), average, and above average. At the beginning of the year, she was in below average to average. She is now above average across the board. Her current reading level is the level expected of 1st graders at the end of the year and she's almost ready to move up. I'm so proud of her!

Eddie may be a hospice foster. The rescue told me the vet would know more after his appointment. But then the vet canceled so now I have to find a new vet and get a sooner appointment. His legs shake when he stands but, on Wednesday when it was warm day, he was like a different dog. He ran and played with Annie. So maybe it's just the cold weather on his old bones. 

Valentine's

 I have to have Ruby tested for ADHD. I don't doubt that she'll qualify. I am very unsure about the whole thing. On the one hand, I have zero doubt that she has ADHD. She's been different since birth. She's into everything. She is so impulsive. And I know, for sure, that she is starting to believe she is bad and gets into trouble a lot. That's really my biggest fear. 

Her teacher emailed me and requested a meeting. I met with her, and she said Ruby is just constantly going and she doesn't want to be constantly signing her folder. We came up with some things we're going to try but I'm also going to get her tested. 

I'm pretty sure this is from her Valentine's party last Friday. She had to come to my work for a half day. It was bananas. I made her a plan for if my kids got crazy. I told her she takes my phone and runs to the library. She said, what if I just stand up for myself and tell them leave me alone? I told her, NO! You can do that with kids in your class but not my students. 

Maggie created this outfit and has been looking to buy the pieces. 

Some of Maggie's art. We go to Future Fish Night at Martin this week. She's going to introductory sessions for Web design/animation and theater. Very exciting stuff. She'll be in high school in August!

Snow days

 I taught Ruby a joke. Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9. But, I guess, she didn't understand that it stood for 7 ATE 9. So, she would say, why is 1 afraid of 2? Because 3 4 5. I spent quite a lot of time explaining the joke to her so she would say it right. I'm not sure if she still doesn't understand or it's a silly joke for her to say it wrong now. 

Alan and Emily had a birthday party at Laurie's house. He was 50 and she was 20. It was so much fun as always. 

Ruby's teacher made the classroom a surgery center to fix contractions. Aren't they cute?

We had school on Monday but the ice storm was coming in. Mrs. Krueger had the kids pose for a picture and instead of cheese she said, tomorrow is a snow day!

Look at that snow! Our driveway was the sledding driveway but it was too steep for Ruby. She went to our neighbor's driveway which is much less steep. 

This is my new weighted vest. I was using a water bag but to get it heavy enough, it wasn't flexible anymore and I was having to put my neck at a weird angle and it hurt. Wow, that was a long explanation. 

Treacherous.