Last night Chad and I finally had a date night, THANKS TO KRISTEN, NICK AND BROOKS watching Alex so we could go! Naturally Alex kept saying... "Don't leave me"... always pulling at my heart strings that hasn't changed, lol. We headed out to a double date with Tom & Viki at La Nopalera and then out to movie "Grown Ups". Dinner was nice, we actually ran into Vik's family.... gpa, who I adore, Daddy L and Miss Sandi, Vik's sweet momma... LOVE YA'LL and it was great to see you out! We headed out to the movies and once we got there.. SOLD OUT... IMAGINE THAT! ugh! Sooo, we opted to head back home with our bellies full, lol. Date night was NOT all the way successful but nice to get away with Chad and some adult conversation without repeating myself a million times or up and down waiting on someone hand and foot. I actually got to relax at dinner!
While we were out, Kristen was working with Alex on his English III class on Compass Odyssey and did AWESOME! This is her thing with him and she and Alex have completed TWO assignments..... One last night and one today. He is doing waaaay better than we could have hoped for and I am very very optimistic about his senior year and reentering the school system with his 2011 Senior Class! I asked Kristen to write about her experience with Alex and fill you all in on the details.... I will let her be the bearer of GREAT NEWS :0) WAY TO GO ALEX... MOMMA IS SO PROUD OF YOU!
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KRISTEN:
Hi all :) I'll be honest- I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I got here. As much as I knew Alex was doing well with his therapies throughout the week, I was keeping my fingers crossed that he would do just as well when working with me on school work at home. I do not want to jinx anything, but so far, so good!
To give you an idea as to how the program works, each lesson is made up of 2 parts - a mini-movie, and reading passages. Alex is able to watch the movies with ease, and I read the passages to him aloud. Alex worked through his first lesson yesterday, which was followed by a quiz - all together, he spent about 2 1/2 hours "in school." Fortunately for the both of us, his humor is still fully in tact, so we were able to have a few laughs as we went through his work!
Two concerns that I initially had were 1) whether or not Alex would be able to fully retain/comprehend the information being covered, and 2) whether or not he would be able to maintain his focus for the duration of the lesson. Well, to say that I am proud of what Alex achieved yesterday is quite an understatement! I stopped often throughout the lesson, because I wanted to ensure Alex was understanding both the literal and inferential information being shared. It did not take long for me to recognize that, considering what he has been through, Alex is cognitively in a terrific place! He can not only identify the "what" in a story, but also the "why." For example, Alex was not only able to identify that the character within the story was feeling sad - but beyond that, he was able to explain what events led to the character feeling sad, as well as how the author used different objects in the story to symbolize that sadness. After a while, I found that we were moving through the lesson more quickly than I expected because Alex was able to understand so much of the lesson and story on his own- he needed little, if any, prompting.
When the lesson was done, Alex took his quiz - there were 10 questions, and boy did he make it hard for me to keep my mouth shut! He, like any clever kid, would ask things like, "do you think that's the right answer?" -- "Do you agree with that?" --"How am I doing so far?" -- I told him that he'd get my opinion as soon as his quiz was done, but fortunately his score spoke for itself - he got 8 out of 10 questions correct! Alex wore a big smile and gave me a high 5 - and then it was time to relax and watch a well-deserved movie.
Today was the same thing - another lesson and a quiz, with the same score - 8 out of 10 questions correct! Alex realizes now that he will not be getting any help during quizzes, so instead of asking me if I agree with his answer, he gives his answer, and then simply says "you would agree with that." I guess it's his way of reassuring himself, which is okay with me! I'm most impressed with how when he gets stuck on a question, he talks it out to himself - once his picks his "final answer," he tells me his reasoning. It's one thing to be able to answer a question, but it's quite another to be able to explain WHY you chose the answer - Alex is able to do both, and I can't help but be extremely proud of how far he has come, and how much he continues to achieve!
We currently have 4 out of 43 lessons done, and have until July 30th to finish the rest. I'll be the first to tell you that no one wants to be "in school" in July, but the blessings that we are given each day are vastly different than the fears we had 6 months ago, and for that we are beyond grateful!
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More vacation pics... LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM!!
Alex went scalloping in Crystal River, Florida with the Brannon/Vlacos families
& to
St George Island, the St. Joseph Peninsula & Mexico Beach with Ellen & Joe Oconnell
LOOK CLOSELY.. it says
PRAY FOR ALEX
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALWAYS THINKING OF US AND GIVING YOUR UNENDING LOVE AND SUPPORT! LOVE YA'LL!
Tomorrow we have a very busy and hectic day... Therapy at 12-1, ENT at 1:30, Therapy at 3-4, Therapy at 4-5!! Plus Kristen has to get in a lesson tomorrow so that we are still on track with getting all assignments completed by July 30th! Praying that the ENT visit will go smoothly with no reports of the growth needing to be removed and MAYBE... JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUST MAYBE that trach will come out tomorrow... fingers and toes crossed... BIG PRAYERS TONIGHT.... GOD WILLING IT WILL COME OUT TOMORROW, LOL!
Inspection tomorrow on the remodel of the shower that COMFORT PLUMBING SERVICE, 904-545-0030, contracted out by Builders Care, is hooking Alex up with. Flamur, the owner, is Alex's new BFF.....GREAT GUY and does great work if anyone is in need of plumbing or 48 hour bathroom remodel! They can do it all.... can't wait for ya'll to see the finished product! Hopefully all goes as planned with that and it will be complete by Wednesday?! One bathroom with 6 people gets a little tricky... especially in the mornings, lol!
Alex has been eating and drinking much better lately..... of course eating more than drinking lol.... his newest love is the chocolate chocolate chip Otis Spunkmeyer muffins ... OMG... and they are like 440 calories so I really have to watch him and how many he tries to sneak in when I am not around, lol! He does not understand the word NO. Imagine that!
Hope you all had a great weekend...wishing you all a fantastic week!
PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!
Lisa
