Knock, Knock. Who's there?

Actually they never even got to knock on the door. Our loungeroom window faces the driveway and we can see all the cars coming and going in our shared driveway. So I actually saw the posties van pull up. I received the first of three parcels I am expecting this week. I'll tell you about the other ones once they have arrived. I can't spoil everything and tell it all at once ;) 

Thank you Mr. Postman, Luke, who brought me a parcel!

This particular parcel I have been expecting for about a week or more but it had to travel all the way from the UK. It arrived a bit earlier than I thought it would. In fact I was thinking it might arrive at the end of this week not the beginning.

Looks like yummy healthy slow cooked meals will be coming our way soon!

Would you believe that buying books from the UK is cheaper than getting them here in Australia? Well at least from this ebay seller. If I make some of the recipes I'll try to remember to photograph the finished product. Although I am not always that good at remembering to take pictures of something I have just made. I really am very forgetful that way.

I received a phone call from Brodie a little while ago. It looks like he is heading for another suspension. I told him to make sure he brings some work home & his TAFE folder just in case. He mentioned something about being kicked out of VCAL Literacy and swearing at the teacher *rolls eyes* That kid drives me to distraction! I pick him up from the bus stop in about half an hour. No doubt he will tell me more about it when I see him. Ratbag!!  

Thankful Thursday & Some Other Stuff

I know on a Thursday I usually list a few things I am grateful for but there is something I need to get off my chest first. You see Brodie was a butt head at school today and has been suspended. I receive a phone call at 9:15am stating that I need to come and collect said butt head from school. Not bad considering school starts at 9am and I get a phone call within the first half hour. Needless to say that I am NOT impressed with Brodie. I thought that all of those suspension were well and truly over and done with. It was almost like being transported back a few years when I got 'those' types of phone calls ALL the time.

Here's what I am thankful for this week

• my postie. He brought me my Tunisian crochet hooks this morning (it almost makes up for me having to drive up the mountain to collect Brodie from school)
• the wonderful weather we have had the past couple of days. I might even drag Brodz out for a walk to the chemist & the supermarket. He can be my pack mule helper if I buy anything from the shop (although he has already said he wont do that but I know he will). 
• that Angus has made an attempt at doing some homework this week (not sure how long that will last) 
• that Mark is cleaning up the boys room (not that I am happy with the amount of washing coming out of the room) and it is looking almost 'normal again. I can actually see carpet! 

What are you thankful for this week?

I had to share some photos of my new crochet hooks. They are quite big. Around 35cm (13 inches or so). I am really excited about getting them although I am not exactly sure what I with them yet. I know that I will be checking out some youtube videos though so I can learn how to knit & purl with them. Perhaps there will be some patterns on video too.

My Tunisian Crochet hooks.

They are heavier than I thought they would be.

Head Banging

Why is it sometimes I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall? Lucky me huh!! I just got off the phone with the High School. It seems that our boy has been a BIG potty mouth and misbehaved quite a bit. He's now earned himself a weeks suspension from bus travel. That's one privilege that we cannot afford to lose!

Why on earth does Brodie feel the need to misbehave on the bus is beyond me. I asked him why he does it and his reply was that he doesn't do it deliberately. Well come on. I wasn't born yesterday but if you choose to swear you know that you're doing something wrong. The thing is you CHOOSE to do it so it IS deliberate!!

Thankfully Brodie's suspension doesn't begin until next week and his aide is able to pick him up and bring him home on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. If I want him to go on Thursday I have to take him. On Friday his aide can take him but he is unable to bring him home as he only works for half a day.

Long Weekend

Goodness what a weekend. I am so glad that it's over. I've had it up to the eyeballs with the boys fighting. It was really getting to me. I guess the fact that it was rather hot (mid to high 30's) and that the boys were inside for most of the day didn't help. They constantly bickered over just about everything. I was ready to bang their heads together for some peace. Thankfully the cool change came and they disappeared outside after tea.

Roll on Tuesday and back to school for Angus at least. Tomorrow I have to take Brodie to the Monash medical Centre in Clayton for an appointment or he would be at school too. However I would have to take him as he has been suspended from bus travel AGAIN!! The little scamp really must learn to control that potty mouth of his. A neighbour near the bus stop phoned the school to complain about the swearing. Mind you I would love to know how they knew it was Brodie and not some other child!!! I know that he doesn't always have a 'clean' vocabulary but how did they know to blame it on him. I bet he wasn't the only child who was swearing but I can bet that he WAS the only child suspended from Bus travel!!!! Sometimes I truly believe that the pick on him. I just need to be able to prove it!

On The Buses

I took Angus to the local High School this morning (the boys will probably tell me off for putting High School rather than Secondary College they think it sounds way better!!). He's going on an excursion to Melbourne to the State Library by bus as part of the Boys Blokes Books & Bytes programme that he has been involved in. Angus was so excited as he gets some more free books today to add to his collection.

Speaking of buses ... I went to Brodie's High School yesterday for a meeting with the middle years coordinator. I was able to have a really good talk about the elective programmes available next year for the Year 9's and which ones we thought would be suitable for Brodie. While I was at the school I was also asked to see the Assistant Principal so that we could have a chat about Brodie's behaviour while he travels on the bus after school. It seems that our boy cannot behave as well as he could in the afternoons (its not wonder and I pointed this out that his medication wears off by then and he isn't able to concentrate or behave as well by late afternoon).
Anyway it seems that Brodie has it in his head that it is okay to get in people's faces, swear and just be silly in general. There is only so much the bus driver can to to prevent the silliness and he needs to consider the safety of all the kids and especially his driving. So to cut a long story short Brodie his now suspended for three days bus travel next week. We were given a grace period for the rest of this week .. to be able to work out some other arrangement for getting him to school. However if he messes up today or tomorrow he will be suspended for a full week of bus travel.
WELL .. there is NO other arrangement to be made. I either drive him to school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday or he doesn't go it's that simple!! I don't think we can truly afford to keep him home next week as Brodie already has way too much time off school as it is through his suspensions and all. I don't want him to get even further back on his school work than he already is. He's worried that he may fail Year 8 and have to repeat some stuff as it is.

The other day I mentioned the hot weather and how a cool change was meant to arrive. it certainly did and it rained all day yesterday. It was lovely. I didn't have to save any water from the washing machine for our veggie garden. It's certainly saving my arm from getting sore that's for sure!!

Oh Well ...

So much for me trying to do this daily. At least I made a good start but I know I should try harder. Okay let's talk about what happened since I last posted.

It seems our boy Brodie cannot manage to do the right thing at school very often. He got into trouble for pushing someone on Wednesday and for swearing too. Great huh! Just what I needed to hear. I was told all about this when they middle years coordinator phoned me up at lunchtime on Wednesday. He did however choose to talk calmly and maturely with her about the incident and also about what 'electives' he would like to do next year. So because he calmed down and was able to behave he was only given a one day suspension. Brodie spent the day home yesterday not doing a thing for school like he was meant to. I have it in my mind to phone them up and get them to make up for his slacking off at home!! I don't know what to do with that boy!!

These electives that he has been asked to choose from are interesting to say the least. I really need to make an appointment to go up there and talk with someone about it all. My goodness when I read what the costs were for each unit I could've died! The units range from $100 to $150 each. And he must do two of them. Now the units he has selected (which I must sign and agree too) are ones that I do not truly wish for him to do. I mean its a lot of money to pay and the fact that he is hardly ever at school I don't see why I need to pay so much money for them. Like I said I need to talk with someone at the High School before I agree to any of the choices Brodie wishes to make.

I had my Visiting Teachers come and visit today. I showed off my applique and the new quilt cover I have been making for Angus. I picked up the rest of his material the other day and I finally got around to washing it. I'll be able to sew it all together soon. I don't feel up to doing it just yet. At least not today as I know as soon as I get stuck into doing it I'll need to pack up ready to go to the Primary School to do the newsletter.

We've got the Federal Election coming up next weekend. I telly you what I am getting fed up with all the advertising and the junk mail from the prospective candidates. I'll be glad when it is all over and things get back to normal. It was funny as the boys want to know who I vote for and Mark asked too, which I didn't think he would. All I can say is I don't particularly like little Johnny Howard and I honestly don't want him back in the saddle again. He's done so many things that I disagree with. But sometimes its better the devil you know .. right?? I'll probably vote for who I always vote for so it really wont matter then will it.

Suspended for Hugging!!

I don't really have a lot to say about this past week other than Brodie was suspended again for two days. This time for giving a girl a hug. Hello!! Since when is it a crime to hug someone? The kids at Church do this all the time, they even had a lesson this past week about friends and caring for them. The boys and I hug often. So Brodie doesn't see it as a bad thing!! He even asked the girl if she wanted a hug and she GAVE her PERMISSION!!! He was dobbed in for this and it wasn't even the girl he hugged! It was another girl that was with them. Maybe she was jealous that he didn't hug her or something!! He was so upset about this. He couldn't and still doesn't understand that hugging is sexual harassment (that's what they called this 'offence') I don't blame him for being upset. I'm annoyed with this and have told Brodie that under no circumstances is he to hug a girl at school ever again. He can touch their back, shake hands or touch them on the arm but nothing else.

How dare they suspend him for caring about a friend??!!! Do they not realise that he has special needs and doesn't always understand like other kids do?? Do they realise that Asperger kids don't always get it?? Shame one them!!

This Past Week ..

Golly what a week this one has been. Where do I start .. at the end of last week I guess.

Friday~ Brodie was home as he was suspended from school Not bad for the first week back of Term 3. This time it was for being exited three times in a matter of two days. He had been throwing snowballs (not a big deal in itself - well not to me at least) but the teacher did ask him to not throw any and he refused to listen. That was one exit. He chose not to follow instructions and was rather loud and disturbing others. That was the second exit. The third one .. well I'm not too sure what happened there. I think he walked out of class without permission or something like that. So needless to say he was home from school and would not be going back until Tuesday.

Saturday~ Woohoo! IT was D DAY!! Well Harry Potter Day at least. The seventh and final book of the series was released and we went to the Warehouse to get our pre-ordered copy! We all went actually. It wasn't as smooth sailing as I would've liked either. The store computers were down. It seems that head office hadn't gotten their act together and switched them on. You'd think they would have had a back up system for when things like this happen.
We also went to foodbank, our usual Saturday excursion, we don't all normally go for that one. Sometimes it's Mark & our neighbour or its me and one of the boys.

Sunday~ I didn't feel up to going to Church so I stayed home. We didn't do all that much apart from watch movies, play games or read Harry Potter.

Monday~ Brodie was still home from school. We had to go to Frankston for our LDS Social Services appointment. That went reasonably well. Well I think it did. It certainly seemed more helpful than just visiting with GCAMHS. We got a phone number so that we can contact and Elder & Sister who have an adult son with Aspergers. They might be able to help us out with ideas and come and chat to the people in our ward who are associated with Brodie.

Tuesday~ Not a lot happened today apart from picking the boys up from school and going grocery shopping.

Wednesday~ Brodie had an appointment at GCAMHS after school. I'm not too sure what went on in there as I was waiting outside in the waiting area for him. I at least got to read an interesting article or two in a magazine. They need to get some new ones soon though as I have read nearly all of the ones they have there lol. Oh I got another phone call from the High School once I go home though. It seems that our big fella has taken to covering his head again and didn't have that great a day at school. I would've been nice to know this before we went to GCAMHS. Oh well. I also gave our old phone away on freecycle today & I got some genealogy magazines from freecycle too. Plus I just had to buy some new quilting magazines. They have some really neat projects in them.

Thursday~ I was very busy trying to sort out my Scratch That Darn Itch blog. I was labelling all of the posts and changing the page format around. Golly I did not realise that I was such a whinger on it in the earlier posts. Thank goodness I am not like that now. What a complaining bore!! My Visiting Teachers also came over tonight. I had completely forgotten that they were coming until they knocked on the door. Lucky us, Mark cooked a lovely vegetarian rice dish which I told him he could cook again as it was so yummy!!

The Weather, Another Suspension & LDS Social Services

Boy has it been cold these past few days with warnings of black ice on the roads. There was even snow at Brodie's High School and he got busted for throwing snowballs. He got an exit for that one. I was worried that we might have ice on the roads but luckily I haven't come across any but I have been driving slower just in case.

I got a phone call from the HS again this morning. They phoned yesterday when I was out grocery shopping. It seems our boy has been suspended AGAIN! He has had three exits already this term and the term is only 4 days old!! He'll stay at school for the rest of the day but I assume not in his classes. He is off until next Tuesday and he will need to complete 5 hours worth of work for each day that he isn't at school. Good luck in trying to get him to do that. Last time I may as well have pulled my own teeth out.

In some ways with his suspension being on Monday it's turned out okay, as I have an appointment with LDS Social services that afternoon. The person we are seeing is a member but he is also a former Bishop and a psychologist. All things which will hopefully help us. I didn't want to take Brodie to start with but since he is home any way it wont hurt for him to be there. That way LDS SS will be able to see what we 'put' up with. I think it will be of great benefit to talk to someone from Church as I believe that they will be able to help us much better than an 'outside' psychologist.

~~Update ~~

There really isn't a lot to say about what's been going on at home. Not sure if that is a good thing or not rofl. The routine has been pretty much the same. Take the boys to school bring them home. Take the boys to appointments bring them home again. Take Mark to appointments come home again. Same old thing really.

Brodie has also been suspended a couple of times since I had blogged. The little scamp!! Pushing teachers and throwing furniture etc. He really has no excuse for his rotten behaviour and I am truly surprised that he has not been expelled to tell you the truth. He has been blinking lucky!! The little rat!!

The boys are on school holidays at the moment. So far so good we've survived 90% of the first week. It's been pretty quiet though and mostly we have stayed home. Next week is another story though. The boys have paediatrician appointments on Monday. Brodie also has an appointment with GCAMHS that day. I need to double check that though. Either tomorrow or next Tuesday we will be going shopping to buy Brodie his birthday presents. Should be interesting to see what he chooses. On Wednesday Brodie is going to the temple with the youth from Church. I know he loves it there. The little dude and I will have a nice quiet time without him!!
Thursday is Brodie's birthday. My goodness he will be 14. Where has the time flown??!!??!! It's just gone by so fast. I'll be taking everyone to the cinemas that day. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix comes out next week so we shall be seeing that. I can't wait!

That's about it for now I guess. As I said there really isn't much to say.

Suspended!!

It seems that things got worse after the third phone call I received from the H.S. I got a fourth call stating that Brodie needed to come home because he had thrown furniture and threatened a teacher with a pair of scissors. I am at a loss as to what to do with him. He has been suspended for 5 days. With the public holiday we have on Monday he wont be going back to school until Wednesday of NEXT week! Grrr he needs his butt kicked big time!!

The High School!

I cannot believe it. Things had been going so well but it was too good to be true! You see I got yet another phone call from the High School this morning (well this afternoon really ~ it seems that our phone had been off the hook. Saqarra stood on the TTY [teletypewriter] phone and had the TTY part switched on).

It seems our boy is suspended again! He back answered, didn't follow instructions & was very angry with the middle-years coordinator (the same teacher we had A LOT of suspension problems with last year). It seems that our boy didn't want to stay in his Art class for a double lesson or something like that. The teacher told him otherwise. It escalated and now he has a two day suspension .. so he is home until Tuesday of next week.

The school wanted me to come and pick him up but I just couldn't do it. Money is so tight this week, most weeks really, but we don't have the petrol to go up and get him & have petrol left over for the other things we need to do later on this week (and for the weekend like going to Church). I hated to say no but to be honest I didn't want to drive up there anyway. I know I should've but Mark had a Dr's appointment and a meeting to go to this afternoon (with the prospect of a pay job) so he needed the car more than I did. I was supposed to go with Mark this afternoon anyway but he said it was okay for me to stay home.

Anyway the school had to keep him there as we just couldn't go get him. He will be coming home on the bus as usual. Hopefully the school has provided him with work for the two days. As last time we had great difficulty in opening the work they sent via email. I didn't have the right program to open the work they sent and I can't print stuff anyway because we don't have any ink for the printer. In a way with the big fella staying there it gives the school time to collect the necessary, relevant work for him and a letter explaining (in detail I hope) what occurred to get his suspended in the first place.

On top of this the big fella had been sending me an email or two from his school account. Telling me various things that have been happening. I received an email not all that long ago saying how he has packed his stuff up ready to come home and that he will NOT be going back to this school ever again! That he would rather transfer to the school in town. That will NOT be happening!! I replied to him telling him that we would talk when he got home. That he cannot run away from his problems because even though he isn't at the school doesn't mean that the problem no longer exists. A change of location doesn't mean that the problem has gone away.

I am not looking forward to his coming home if he is in a bad mood. I just hope that he has calmed down now. I don't want things to be worse when he gets home. When will things ever be normal??

Almost Forgot ~ Suspended AGAIN!!

The big fella got suspended AGAIN this week. This time for telling the teacher to "eat Sh*t and die!". I don't know how on earth he thinks he might be able to get away with saying something like that. When will he ever learn!

He said he couldn't even remember saying something like that but I know he would because he says that sort of thing at hoome all the time. Does he think Mark and I wont know if he is telling the truth or not? Does he think we will believe the teacher over him? Well in some things perhaps but not all.

So for now he is home from school for two days~~ The little scamp!! The HS sent a few emails with worksheets for him to do. Too bad we can't print them here we need more ink. Thankfully next door has offered to let Mark print them there.

Would you believe ....

I don't believe it!! Number one son has been suspended again. The 'potty' mouth kid can't keep his trap shut and was told his language was NOT suitable for the HS. They did not appreciate the way he was talking to some students ot some of the teachers! So he has another LONG weekend this week!!

Babyish behaviour!!

I don't know if it had to do with the fact that he forgot to take his meds this morning or the fact that I was there with him during his session with GCAMHS today but the big fella acted so immature this morning during his session. I am just hoping it was because I was there. Not only did he fidget and not look at either Cate nor myself when we spoke to him he kept complaining that he was bored. Yet when we went to the supermarket shortly after his session he was like a totally different child! He did as he was asked and was no problem at all.

The big fella even managed 2 and a half hours of school work today once we got home. Mind you he had taken his medication by then! Although once he stopped at 2 pm there was no way in the world he was going to go back and work no matter how much I told him to do more. Sometimes I just cannot get over how defiant he can be.

With this suspension he needs to make up 40 hours of school work before he goes back next Monday. He has only manages around 6 and a half altogether. I tried so hard during the school holidays for him to do at least an hour a day but he wouldn't. There is only one way he will learn and that is to do it the hard way. I might even suggest to the school on Thursday when we have our meeting that the big fella should sit there in time-out until he finishes the required 40 hours.
I also need to tell them that I think it is totally unfair that the big fella is required to do certain English tasks that need to be done as a group activity. How on earth can he do that if he isn't there?? They really need to make sure that he has tasks that he can complete as an individual project not as a group. There are things he just cannot complete because he is unable to do them or has not been shown the skills by the teacher.
We really need to get him on an Individual Education Plan!!!!

He's done it again!!

I no longer know what to do. The big fella has done it again. He has been suspended for 7 days this time... which means that he will be home for 3 and a half weeks because school holidays started last Friday!!

This time he was suspended for pushing a teacher. Thankfully Graham, the teacher (assistant principal) he pushed, said that he didn't want to expel him which is what he could've done! There will be NO next time!! He WILL be expelled if he does anything like that again!

He also got caught with a cigarette and lighter! I told him he needs to talk to the Bishop about that.

He was also swearing and being really disgusting.

Almost forgot, he was also caught with a cigarette in his hand. One of the kids 'asked' him to hold a smoke and then took out their camera phone so that they could take a picture of him. When they got to school they went straight to the Principal to show him the photo!! How is that for a set up but he still got busted for it!!

I'm At A Loss

I no longer know what to do with the big fella. I just cannot seem to get through to him anymore. I have such a hard time getting him to listen, to pay attention for a few minutes without interrupting. It seems too much to ask of him since he is either unable to do it or chooses to ignore any adult he feels like.

I went with him to school because he had been suspended last week on Friday and only went back today. I thought it might be a good idea if I went with him so that I can hand a copy of some Asperger Syndrome stuff I photocopied for the High School. (I sure do hope that the teachers read this!!!) Anyway I went in to see the Assistant Principal and the big fella was just SO rude the whole time. No eye contact, mumbling or talking over the AP. It was just plain disgusting! If he had been home I would've given him a back hander and sent him to his room. Honest I don't know how Graham (the AP) could be so patient with him I would've lost the plot by the time he had finished.

The big fella managed to get through this little session and was able to go back to class.
I swear though he did NOT have a good day. Somehow he set off a fire extinguisher. Now the teacher said that the pin was in the extinguisher but it went off. They think the big fella pulled the pin out but my question is where was the pin if he pulled it out?? Was it on the floor, in his hand or what? They never did tell me.

A good day???

I woke up with the most awful headache this morning. I couldn't believe how much it hurt. In fact if I had been a 'drinker' I would've sworn I woke up with a hangover (not that I have EVER had one of those). My head was just pounding like mad. The boys arguing this morning didn't help, especially with that loud voice the big fella has!! I popped some codeine and by the time I took the boys to school my head was feeling a lot better. I'm thinking that the lack of sleep I had last night was a major factor in my headache. That will teach me to stay up and watch Stargate.

When I got home for the school run this morning I noticed that the big fella hadn't taken his meds again. The little rat bag that he is. So I rang the school and told them. They at least gave him one tablet shortly after I phoned. The bad news is though it was too little too late. About an hour after I phoned the school they phoned me back saying that the big fella was suspended for two days and that could I come and collect him. I swear I don't know what to do with him sometimes.
At least this time they have supplied me with a sheet to 'LOG' the hours that he works on his school work while at home. He needs to complete 12 hours which is the amount of time he would've been working at school if he had been there during the two days he is now suspended.
I mentioned to Graham, the Assistant Principal, that I have a booklet that I received from Asperger Syndrome Support Network and that I am going to photocopy it and bring it in for the school. I thought it would be very valuable for them to read through it to 'refresh' their memories about what Aspergers is like because I don't think that they really have a clue at times.

After I collected the big fella I needed to go to the optometrist to collect my glasses. I tell you what I cannot believe how much crisper things look when I am wearing my new glasses. The TV looks better. Seeing things half way across the room looks better. It's too bad that I can't see things up close properly when I am wearing them. Faces and writing look too blurry for me.

Mark and I also had an appointment with Cate at GCAMHS today. We had to take the big fella with us which kind of put a damper on things. Although I don't think the big fella minded because he had some time to talk with Cate. I don't know how helpful it was for her or not. Next time it should be just Mark & I talking with her. Hopefully it will be only the two of us. W will then be able to discuss some of the differences between ADHD and Aspergers so that we are able to identify some of the big fellas behaviours more easily. Sometimes its a little hard to work out if its an ADHD trait, Asperger trait or him just being an obnoxious teenager!

I feel lost

I don't know why its happened again but the big fella has been suspended from school once again.
I cried on the way to the High School to collect him and I cried on the way home. Apparently he threatened to throw a chair at one of his teachers (not the first time either mind you).
I just feel so lost right now I no longer know what to do with him any more.

Life stuff!!

Gosh I just don't know where to start writing at the moment... So much has gone on since I last blogged I don't know where to begin.

Let's see on Wednesday the big fella was suspended but I already wrote about that. Hmm on Thursday we stayed home and didn't go out at all. After all what's the point huh. I didn't have to take the big fella to school the little dude was on camp so there really was no reason to leave the cabin. It makes for a change because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have to go out somewhere.

Ok now for Friday ... would you believe there was ANOTHER meeting at the High School. I only have to walk up to the reception and they know me know and I don't think that's a good thing. In fact its downright sad really because I never go up there for a good reason now. Gosh I don't even want to think about that because I'll start crying. I can feel the tears stuck in my throat. I hate that feeling.

The meeting .. well the big fella was included in this meeting and the poor fella I bet he felt smothered with 5 adults in the room with him. I know if I was him I would've felt very uncomfortable. Apart from Mark and myself there was the Assistant Principal, the Middle Years coordinator and the Guidance Officer. I can't remember the exact details of the meeting, in fact the meetings all seem to say the same thing. I'm sad to say that it's kind of becoming a blur. Almost like one meeting melts into another.

Anyway during the meeting we did discuss a 'testing' session that the big fella had on Tuesday with the Special Ed teacher/worker. It turned out that she was the same lady who tested the big fella way back when he was in Grade 3 or 4. Back then she said that he did NOT have Apsergers Syndrome which was around the time he was diagnosed with it by the paediatrician. HELLO!!! It's not like the paediatrician didn't know he specialises in working with children! Well anyway this woman has now agreed with us that he does have it, well according to what the Assistant Principal said anyway. So where does that leave the big fella??? If she had said so all those years ago would the big fella had extra help? Would he be in the same predicament he is in now if he had an integration aide all those years ago? Somewhere in the not to distant future we will be getting a report of the testing that was done.

After the AP and the coordinator left the Guidance Officer (GO) had a chat with us. Well he got to see what the big fella is like interacting with us and how he reacted with the teachers. I can't remember exactly what happened but the big fella was in one of his moods. Refusing to follow instructions and not listening properly. The GO said that we have A LOT of work to do ... well as if I don't know! I know I sound snarky but it wasn't like he was pointing out something I didn't know.

After we had finished at the HS we had some time before we needed to collect the little dude up. He was arriving back from camp. We had at least 45 minutes to waste before going to get him. So we went to Tarago Park. It was on the way back from the HS. It was okay but I don't think I would go back there in a hurry. Not at least until the weather was nicer anyway.

So we went on to the school where the little dude was being dropped off. We had a bit of a wait before the bus arrived. So Mark and I talked with a couple of the Mums from our school and the Principal who arrived about 10 minutes before the bus did. I think he was surprised by the little dude while on camp. He was amazed at how much he could eat. Apparently the little dude ate 4 meat pies for lunch!! Mark & I laughed .. we have a missionary in training after all rofl.

Last night we also went out for dinner to a family from Church's place. It was really nice to go out. Hopefully we'll make some really good friends with these people. I know the boys loved being there. In fact they've already asked when we can go back again. The boys were even relatively well behaved while we were out which was such a wonderful thing.

I know I said the boys behaved last night but they made up for it today .. they were beginning to fight a lot today. The big fella has such an annoying way of talking to his brother. It's like he thinks he is the Dad and orders him around. He really needs to stop it or one day I can see the little dude turning around and punching him out.
Mark & I tried to get the boys to clean up their room this evening. In the end he and I were so stressed that we just gave up. There is always tomorrow .. after Church that is.

I've typed up just about all I can for now. My arm is still hurting like crazy, not to mention my skin is hurting so badly I just want to cry. Mark says I should go back to the Doctor but what's the point? It's not like he will really do anything. All he said last time was take some nurofen that should help!
Oh well I'm going to get ready for bed and read for a bit!