Testing day...

We don't put much stock in tests. Especially standardized tests. In my mind, standardized tests are meant to test standardized children... and those children do not exist.

But I like to know where my children are in the scope of things and how they are progressing. And if (God forbid) something should ever happen to me and they would need to go into public school, then I think the test scores are good information to have on hand. So for the last two Springs, I have set up a day to do the MAP test with an online proctor.

Today was the day. They had their water bottles filled with water, I bought fruit bars as snacks, and they were allowed to chew gum. (Whoohooo!) This took out most of the test anxiety they may have and I got Cyan ready to go.

This year she switched from the test being electronically read to her, to reading it herself. I had let her know ahead of time and had prepared her by going over the Dolch words, and reviewing the rules of sounding things out. She was set. We started the test today in high spirits.

That didn't last long.

She got through the first questions with flying colors. They were mostly deductive reasoning and I was shocked at the level of vocabulary they were requiring of my 8 year old... but she was doing ok. I stayed in the room and as I watched her she got all of the first 5 problems correct, even though some seemed quite a bit above her level. Then as I watched I started to get irritated. The questions didn't come back to a 3rd grade level... they kept going higher and higher until she was having to read entire pages worth of work and then they would ask her questions like "now find the false statement on this page". WHAT? Um... She's 8.

I sat with her and watched the next two questions closely. The first one was a page of instructions on how to install a fire alarm in a hallway. It had about 2 paragraphs worth of info, which is heavy for her age level. Ie: hard but do-able. But then, when we got to the multiple choice answers it asked her 'which of these four sentences did not appear in the instructions' and it had four choices... and NONE of them had appeared (word for word) in the (painful for her to read cuz she is 8 years old) instructions.

The next one was worse. It said:

"You are writing a children's book about the dentist. The book is about a child's very first visit to a dentist office. Please choose the words that would keep the focus of your young audience."

A) Oral Hygienist, Calcification, Plaque, Surgical Tray

B) Cavities, Cleaning Tools, Tooth Brush, Dentist's Mask

C) Gums, Bite, Enamel, Aspirator

D) Oral, Tarter, Orthodontist, Cuspid

At this point she started crying cuz she didn't know what ANY of those words meant and I told her she could be done now. I signed off the computer and called the proctor.

I told the proctor what had happened and I told her that in no way was I going to watch my daughter cry through a test. (We were only through the first part of three.) Plus, I was pretty sure that when I left the room she was just pressing buttons anyhow to get through it, so that wasn't going to show us anything. She told me that the first five questions (all of which my daughter got correct, remember?) set the level of the test and that level could be anywhere from 3rd to 12th grade level. I was blown away to say the least. So basically, my daughter was getting 7th to 12th grade questions because she has good deductive reasoning skills?? Apparently, the answer is yes. Gosh that sucks!

Yeah... I told the proctor that we were all done with that, and that we could try another test tomorrow, but my kids will not be taking the MAP test again. But what makes me even more angry is that Cyan spent an hour after her test saying that she was sorry she couldn't do it. Poor thing! In NO WAY should a test EVER make a child feel like that.

A big huge owie...

We have had some drama going on this past couple days.

On Monday, I started to feel kinda yucky just before my husband and I set out on our weekly date. I made the choice to stay home and sleep instead of go out. I really wasn't feeling good and I wanted to rest so I was ready for my busy week ahead. I was talking my husband through making dinner before I went back to bed when Logan started screaming.

I walked into the other room, and Logan came out holding his hand, which was covered in blood. Alex and Cyan were both crying and it took me about 2 seconds to figure out that we were headed to the ER. Logan had gotten his right ring finger slammed in the hinge side of the door and it took most of the pad of his finger off. I snatched him up, grabbed a clean towel, wrapped his hand and started putting pressure on it. I called to Don, while running to the car, and he got in and we drove to the ER. I called a friend to come be with the other kids (which was such an amazing blessing!) and we headed off.

I kept pressure on it for most of the next two and a half hours before we got in to get it stitched up. We only looked at it twice, but man... it was enough to turn my stomach. What a horrible wound! Logan was doing alright. It hurt quite a bit, partially because I was putting pressure on it, but I really wanted it to keep the bloodflow restricted so that when I released it, it would bleed on it's own and they would not have to poke it or anything to get it ready for the stitches. When we got into the back of the ER, the doctor told us that there may be some other damage that we couldn't see, but he was going to put the skin back in place, and then they would X-ray to see if it was broken.

They had to put Logan into a full body restraint, but amazingly enough, he did alright with it. I laid next to him, and put his favorite music on my iPhone and played a toddler flash card application with him while they stitched him up and he only cried for a second.... then was telling us what bears say, and whether or not he liked bananas as they were stitching up his now numb finger. He was doing WAY better than me. I had to hand the game over to Don several times so I didn't get sick.

It took them over an hour to do the stitches (his finger is so little and was so damaged), but when it was done, Logan seemed almost like normal. (Toddlers are amazingly resilient!) In the end, he had 9 stitches in the tip of his itty bitty ring finger to put it all back into place.

They left him on the restraint board while they took the x-rays, and then we were able to hold him again and he even asked to go potty. He was just amazing through the whole thing. It was about then that I started caring that I didn't have on shoes or a bra. I mean, after all, I was about to go to bed when it happened! Don gave me his sweatshirt and I just padded around in socks the rest of our time there. What else could I do?

Around 11pm we got home, but on our way, the Dr called and said that Logan's finger was fractured and since it was an open wound, he would need to be on a heavy dose of antibiotics for the next 5 days. That is not my favorite thing, but when the alternative is bone infection, better to be on the safe side. We got the kids all picked up, home and in bed, and Don headed back for the prescription.

Between the time that he left and the time he got back, my health took a big fat turn for the worse, and I ended up throwing up for the next 24 hours. Whatever I was getting before we left, decided to take the advantage of me being pumped full of adrenalin and when I crashed, I crashed hard.

Today Logan is doing fine and I am sore, but on the mend. Thank God. And I am just very, very grateful that he didn't loose his finger. We go to see the pediatric orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning to have the dressing taken off for the first time, and honestly, I am dreading that. But it really helps that he seems nearly back to normal. He is very protective of his bandage (which is great), but other than that, he has been his feisty self for the last 24 hours.

My sweet goofy boy.

Field trip with a side of homicide.

This morning Cyan asked if we could go to our favorite farm instead of the zoo like we had planned. I thought that sounded like a great idea as we hadn't been there for a few months now that we live 25 minutes away. We started getting our chores finished and then got ready to head out. Logan started in on his before nap routine about an hour early and so I begrudgingly decided that we would have to wait until after nap. I wasn't happy about it. But it was better to wait if Logan was going to melt down on our little field trip. So at 3:30pm we get on our way to go see the goats and pick up some apples for sauce to can.

It takes us a while to get down there since we have moved... but the kids got really excited as they started to see the familiar stuff around the farm, and the horses and houses... along with the huge pumpkin patches that we have gone to every year for pretty much their whole lives. When we pulled around to go into the parking lot however, it was taped off with yellow police tape. Don and I were both thinking that something was really strange... and then we saw the police cars... and then news vans. We knew as we drove by that something was really wrong.

I called my aunt who lives close to there and asked her to check online to see what had happened. This is what she found:

Woman Shot at Lattin's Cider Mill

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A woman showing up for work was gunned down by her former boyfriend who then turned the gun on himself.

Co-workers tried to stop the horrifying and deadly encounter as it played out at Lattin’s Cider Mill, a popular farm near Tumwater.

How stinkin' crazy is that? And on the one day we were going in the last 4 months??? SOOOO strange. So very strange. I seriously went to this farm once a week for 6 years or so. We spent Easters there, Halloweens there... We got all our eggs and produce from there for years! I have taken field trips with my homeschool group to there numerous times. I have pictures of Cyan feeding goats there as a toddler right next to my desk this second. It was a huge part of our Olympia lives. Just crazy.

I am having a crazy week folks. Feeling very strange and disjointed.

Early Ed ~ Tongs and cotton balls

On the early ed shelf this week is a tray with 10 cotton balls, tongs, and two plates. Having already tried the other transfer activities it took very minimal explaining for him to get the idea of this one.

Pick up, move over,

Put down:


Then yell at the top of your lungs "I DID IT!!!!" and look COMPLETELY adorable:

This activity is one of my new favorites. Not only does he love it and continue to do it in his spare time, but you can see the finger dexterity get better each and every time he does it:

It is very easy to see the connection between this activity and early writing.

And I have to admit, the photo opportunity was quite wonderful:

Acidentily picking up two cotton balls.

Informing me that he was "almost done".

More on Logan. He has been a handful these last two days or so. Pitching fits, yelling at us when we say no, deciding that he isn't going to eat anything unless he is standing... and on top of that, he is allergic to something random that we can not identify. About a week ago, he got hives all over his pour little body. Thinking that it was the strawberries I had just brought home (first of the season) I tried to get him to avoid strawberries for the next week... but the hives kept coming. And being that it was strawberry season, and I was freezing as many as I could, I knew that I couldn't keep them from him completely. So again... I just assumed it was the strawberries.

Well, two days ago, he got into the strawberries I was topping while I thought he was down for nap. Made a huge mess... and I waited with him, with Benadryll on hand to see how bad the hives would get. Nada. None. It is completely something else. And I have no idea what it is. Luckily, it looks like they are clearing up, slowly but surely.

On top of that though, he has been adorable lately! He is really starting to talk completely in sentences all the time. They are clipped and short, but very clear. A couple of weeks ago he was playing outside with the kittens and his big plastic car and he came running in crying. When I asked him what was wrong he said "MAMA! Dat kitty, right der, ate my dirty string cheese!!" and low and behold, there is Bo, string cheese in her mouth, growling at Logan every time he came near. LOL! He also has started to ask us all day long "Hi! How you doing today?" lol... it is completely adorable. If his new language skill didn't come with the screaming back at us when we said no about something... well, it would be the cutest phase yet.

Broken Bones

Alex broke his arm yesterday. Broke it bad. It is amazing how much a kid can handle when he has to.

My son, who sounds like he is giving birth when he stubs his toe, barely made a peep when he fell, hard, while rollerblading (he was racing and I was watching) and dislocated and broke his wrist yesterday. It was incredible. I went through this mental dialog outloud as I watched... He won the race, but as he hit the finish line, the guy leading the race yelled "RED LIGHT!" and Alex stopped and dropped to the ground trying to stop as fast as possible. I say, out loud "Ooooo... you're ok buddy. Ok, get up." As he rolls over, looking at me with this strange look, then tries to put weight on his wrist and I say "unless you broke your wrist..." and go BOLTING across the roller rink floor, scoop him up and set him down on the side of the rink. I turn over his wrist and it is literally bending backwards at an impossible angle. Immediately I start delegating what needs to be done. "YOU! You help him take off his skates please. CYAN! We gotta go. NOW. Can you help her take off her skates? I will go get their shoes and the car. Can you get something for his arm to rest on? Thank you." I go get the car, pull it up to the very front of the roller rink, toss Cyan's car seat in the way back so Alex can sit closest to me, go back in, and someone has gotten Alex a roll of paper towels to lay his wrist on and they are handing me a gauze roll to wrap it with. I do this, carefully, the whole time helping Alex breathe. "Ok buddy... in through your nose, out through your mouth." "Mama, it really hurts. Oh god, it looks so weird! Mama, I'm scared. Will it hurt when they put it back." "Yes Alex, but then, honey, it will feel a LOT better. Very very soon. We are going there right now. Right now bud." "Ok, but it looks so weird! I'm scared." "It's ok to be scared, just keep breathing, in through your nose out through your mouth. Cyan? You there honey? Put on your boots. No honey, we can't stay. Don't start crying... we will come back next week ok? You're ok. We have to go right now. Can you get my purse. That is a really important job. Can you handle it? Great!"

We get to the hospital. The dr looks at it. He says yes, it is both dislocated and broken. Looks like a fracture, just in one of the bones. We need an x-ray. Before that, we are going to give him a shot for the pain and the nausea (he was feeling pretty sick because of the pain) and then we will take him to x-ray.

X-ray shows where it is broken and dr immediately says that we need to go to the neighboring hospital for the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. I ask why, he can't really explain it, but it is more of a repair then he can handle in the urgent care.

This whole time, Cyan is starting to freak out. She, of course, is crazy worried about Alex, and has nothing to do. She has a scratch from the bunny the day before, on her belly and she needs to have the dr look at. The dr, catching on very quickly to what was going on, gets her a cold pack for her scratch as I go out to call Don to get him to come and get her. He is still asleep. When I come back, Cyan is sitting next to Alex, with an icepack on her belly, while he has one on his completely broken arm. They splint his arm and we are off and ready to go.

So off to the other hospital we go. To wait, apparently, for the Orthopedic Surgeon to get there and set Alex's arm. On the way, Alex says he feels a 'pop'... and then his arm feels better. (His wrist popped back into the socket on the way there... probably because he was so relaxed at this time.)

Alex is totally loopy on the pain meds at this point. Talking in circles, showing me what he can do with his broken arm all of a sudden because it doesn't hurt (as I try to get him not to move it), being 'very serious' about lots of things where I 'need to listen' or 'am not listening'... lol... '

It was interesting.

Cyan's emotions are hitting fever pitch about this time. The poor little thing is crying, following me as I am trying to help Alex walk, saying things like "Nobody is paying attention to me. It doesn't even matter if I am here." I try to reassure her... giving her the 'really important' jobs of watching my purse and making sure Alex is sitting down while I go to the vending machines to get water and try to find her a snack (it is nearly 7pm at this point)... I know that she is having a really hard time feeling useless, and I am not sure I did anything to help, as she knows that if I take my wallet with me, the job of watching my purse isn't really that important, and Alex is sitting there watching tv like he is stoned. So nothing big to do there. But I was all out of creative parenting tips for that moment.

We sit for about an hour (this is a total of 3 hours so far) in the waiting room watching America's Funniest Home Videos (which, btw, shows TONS of potentially bad injuries and then everyone is expected to laugh. At this point, I am not laughing... in fact, I was disgusted by some of them). When we finally get to the triage nurse, she tells us she has no idea what she is expected to do here and it is completely odd that they would send us to a different hospital to set a broken arm. I didn't fully understand myself, so was of little help. But somehow, magically, we get placed in a room almost right away.

Then dr #3 comes in to look at Alex. He is a real piece of work. Total jerk. He tells me that my son can't have his arm set tonight because I gave him water and they have to put him to sleep. I said that didn't make any sense. I gave him water because they gave him heavy duty pain meds that gave him cotton mouth and that was what they were doing so they could set the arm. Now all I needed was the ortho dr guy to come and fix it. "Ortho dr?" "Yes, the man that is coming to set my sons arm... right now." "Well he won't be able to do it tonight either because you fed him." "I gave him water because he is ALREADY on pain meds." "Whatever." and he leaves. Seriously, this guy was an ass.

Then, in walks the 'ortho guy'. Oh gosh. What a life saver. So sweet, kind, talkative, honest. And good at what he does. Don showed up while he was telling us what was going on, and then left with Cyan after the nurse came and gave her a pudding cup, a graham cracker, and some stickers. Ortho guy tells me that Alex's wrist isn't out of socket.

To which I say: 'Yes, I know that, it popped back in when we were on the way here, is that all that was wrong with him?'

Ortho guy: "Oh no. He broke it. Broke it good. But... he broke it right at the growth plate. So if it isn't fixed correctly (like perfectly) he could not grow in that wrist again."

Me: Deep breath. "Hence, why they called you."

Ortho guy:"Yes, and also, why you had to come over here. We need to do the repair under live x-ray to make sure it is set just perfect."

Ahhhh... it is all clear now.

So they give him more pain meds, but this time locally (just in his wrist) and hang his OMG messed up wrist from two fingers from the ceiling... that was an experience. Seeing my sons wrist bent the wrong direction, but hanging from the ceiling with a water weight hanging from his elbow to help it pull down. OMG... I still can't get the picture out of my head.

Anyway, about 10 minutes after ortho guy gave Alex the local med, he comes back in, and asks Alex how he is doing... Alex says it feels weird and looks totally wrong, but it doesn't hurt more than a 3 (they were doing a pain scale with him the whole time to see if he was going to throw up or pass out). The guys says "Ok" and grabs his arm, shoving the bone back where it needed to go. I think my eyes nearly bulged OUT of my head at this point... and I had to turn away. Alex just gave this gasp, turned white as a sheet, and then looked back at his arm. It looked 100 times better. "This guy is good!" Alex says, with his drugged, loopy overtones. "You'd think I'd done this before or something" says ortho guy. lol...

The next hour, I wasn't allowed in there. I stood by the door and watched, but they had to use constant x-ray for the rest of the setting to make sure they got it right. Everyone in the room was draped in led vests. Including Alex. So it was a good hour of doing that... then they were finally done. They set up his arm in a expandable splint, because apparently he can't get it cast until it stops swelling, which could be a full week and a half with this bad of a break. So we have to meet with ortho guy in his office and get that done Monday after next.

We got home just after 9:30pm, and we got there just before 4pm. It was a long, hellacious day. But Alex is doing great. The guy was really really good. And as long as Alex babies his arm for the next week and a half while the bone is starting to heal up again and the body is recovering from the strain of the dislocation, he should recover completely in the normal 6 - 8 wks.

What a day.