This has been a long, taxing week. My head is spinning from all the thought going on about Samuel, his school, finding a good place for him at his school.

I did manage to find out that Samuel's class will not be moving to a "modular classroom" (there are so many different names for these things I have learned!). A story goes along with how I learned this, but I probably shouldn't share it here. I will say that this situation has caused me to wonder if I'm hearing the full truth from school staff and administration. I have heard statements from different people that just don't jive. The bottom line, however, is that Samuel's class won't be in a modular classroom and in spite of the questions I now have about who is saying what, I'll just be happy with that knowledge.

Samuel is enjoying an afternoon outside in our backyard. His younger brother, who turns 5 in a few weeks, has discovered the joys of playing games on the computer. Great, now I have 3 boys who fight over 2 computers! There is also Dad's laptop, but it isn't always available. (If I was my husband I would NEVER let it be available to them!) When my oldest lamented about not having a computer to play on I jokingly told him "Just think, some day you'll tell your grandchildren about how you had to endure the hardship of sharing electronics with your brothers!" He didn't sense my sarcasm.

We all attended a car show that was part of the Apple Blossom Festival up in Winchester, Virginia. We let Samuel know ahead of time that he could not touch the cars and he did terrific! He also did very well walking with my husband and he played nicely at a playground before we left. He fussed a bit when it was time to leave, but I gave him a 2 minute countdown. I had to get him when time was up, but he accepted that and then willingly walked the 3/4 mile back to our car with us. It's great to be able to all go out together like this. It takes a bit of planning and strategizing, but it always does with young children anyways!

My husband and I have decided that we are going to attempt a vacation to our favorite place on Earth.. mid-coast Maine! We went there on our honeymoon, which was the end of May almost 11 years ago. We have returned there many times together, usually the same time of year. As mid-spring approaches now I always start thinking about going back. Our trips there used to mean staying at quaint inns and B&Bs, but not any more (though we may attempt one overnight stay at one of the inns)! We now either stay with friends we have made up there, or we rent a house. We're going to try and rent a charming house we stayed in four years ago. I have not been up there in 3 years, so I'm very very excited at the prospect of returning. Two years ago I was pregnant and last year my husband just took the boys while I stayed home with the baby. I'm not even going to think about the 12 hours of driving up there with a fiery tempered baby girl who hates car rides!

Our rite of spring and other things

The arrival of spring is affecting the members of our family in various ways. My husband is suffering from seasonal allergies now more than in the twelve years I have known him. I'm suffering a bit as well. The worst is still probably a few weeks away. It usually gets to the point that I cannot wear eye makeup for several weeks, which will occur some time around Memorial Day Weekend (the end of May). Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it does make me a bit groggy.

Samuel has become much more withdrawn the past few weeks. This is probably due to a variety of things, only one of which is the change in season. I'm still carefully monitoring his computer activity, both for quantity and quality. His latest obsession is to use Writing With Symbols to type in words. After doing this he uses the speech function on the software and listens to the words being spoken. One evening I caught him typing words off the collection of videos he was carrying around that day. He also types in character names from favorite TV shows, and tonight he asked me to type in "Klasky Csupo" (the producers of Nickelodeon shows like Rugrats). I was amazed that the software speech pronounced it correctly! I probably shouldn't encourage this activity too much, but I like to let him have a little bit of fun in his day, even if it is quirky.

I have re-started Samuel's religion lessons at home. The children his age are going to be making their First Communion next weekend. I had thought at the beginning of the school year that he would join them, but our lessons at home became a bit sporadic when I started focusing on school academics over the winter. I also decided to have Samuel wait because of his behavior in church. I am hopeful that it will improve the next few years. Samuel is interested in God and in religion, so I am very grateful for that. He thinks about heaven alot and asks me questions about it:

"Mom, where is Grandma?" "She is in heaven, Samuel." "Can she come back?" "No, she cannot come back" "I don't want to go to heaven!" "We all want to go there someday Samuel. You probably won't go there for a while yet."

He has decided that the dreamy scenes in a Disney vacation-planning DVD we received are heaven. He asks "Mom, can you come back from heaven to go to Disney World?"

Another favorite topic of late for Samuel is area businesses. A restaurant we frequented years ago went out of business (well, I'm assuming it went out of business) and was replaced by another restaurant a few months later. When we drive by it the questions start.."Mom, why did the G__________ go out of business?" "It might have gone out of business because they didn't sell enough food." "I want to go to the G_______________!" "We can't, it is no longer there. Now it is The S_________________". As we drive into town on Sunday mornings for church he asks us to notify him whether businesses are open or closed.

I e-mailed the school principal over the weekend asking about the portable question. She tried calling me back while I was out this morning, so now we're playing phone tag.

Portable Classroom

I have found out that there is a possibility that Samuel's special education class will meet in a portable classroom next year. My gut reaction is to think that this doesn't sound like a very good idea, but I'm trying to approach this objectively. The room they are in right now is very small, so an advantage of a portable room would be more space. However, I don't like the idea of the class being removed from the rest of the building, both because of the proximity issues and because it seems to imply that they are "separate" from the rest of the school.

I'd like to know what others think of this.. I know portables classrooms are used in many places. My sister teaches in one at her school.

I'm going to call the principal of the school to further inquire..