607 + 503 Weeks

We have had a really nice week.  Georgia and Zach arrived on Sunday and are staying nearby, and Zachy is settling in to the university here.  Georgia is staying another week to make sure he is settling in OK.  We have seen them most days, including lunch today out at Cafe Vie in Buderim.  It is really nice having family up here, and I'm glad it will be happening more often.

The kids are doing well.  Arley in particular is having a great week.  He seems to have turned a bit of a corner, and is now getting himself ready in the mornings without incident, which means I am back at the gym.  He hasn't taken his ADHD meds at all, and he has been concentrating fairly well.  He did much better at Taekwon Do this week - not as well as when medicated, but still good.  He is also eating much more too, which is such a relief.  Carmie, on the other hand, is eating like a bird, and so much junk food, so it is now my mission to fix her diet as well.  It can only help.  She had a couple of nights this week with little sleep - one was on Tuesday night, so she didn't feel up to going to her social group, wolfpack, on Wednesday.  Incidentally, I found her sleep med on the floor, which is why she didn't sleep!

On Saturday we had our friends Andrea and Cav over for drinks, as well as Chayse.  He plays so well with both Carmie and Arley, but not at the same time - they tend to tag team.  He and Arley went fishing on their own again, and it has had such a positive benefit for Arley.  He wants to do it more often, and this morning he took his OT down to the lakes, and before this he would refuse to walk anywhere with her.  Chayse also fell in the pool, so he and Carmie had a good swim.  They all ended up staying for dinner, and afterwards Arley and Chayse hunted and collected cane toads in our backyard.  They put them all in a box to show us, it was funny and gross.  It was a fun day.

Carmie is spending more and more time in her room.  It's like she's suddenly become a teenager.  She has an online friend in the States who she chats to all the time, and she spends a lot of time in her room drawing.  I took her to a homeschool meet on Friday (Arley was fishing with Clint), and it surprisingly went quite well.  We met my friend Rose there, with her kids Tahlia and Mason.  Tahlia is very good at inviting Carmie to play, so they did, and then they slotted in with some other girls playing a card game.  We are going back to the homeschool meet tomorrow, so I'm hoping this becomes our Friday thing and Carmie makes more friends in real life.

Arley and I have been to the beach and a park two mornings this past week, to get some exercise. I've had to bribe him with a day of screens afterward, but he is getting out in nature and running around.  His OT thinks eventually we won't have to reward him with a day of screens, so we plan on doing this a couple of times a week.

I don't have much more to add.  Keep your fingers crossed that next week is as good as this one!

Beach exercise

Chayse and Arley practising fishing in the pool :)

The many faces of Arley.  This is what happens when I ask him to smile!

Night time toad catching

Carmie and Chilly doing carrot stretches

606 + 502 Weeks

Once again, we've had a few ups and downs this week.  I've only gotten to the gym once because of all the morning drama with Arley.  He can be so great and get all his chores done (like breakfast, put dirty clothes in laundry etc - we are not asking much!), then suddenly he'll be dysregulated and all hell breaks loose.  I feel so bad for him when this happens, and I can't wait until these tough times are part of the past.  He is now officially off his ADHD meds, except for a half dose on days when he really needs it.  He has been eating SO much more, which is excellent.  His diet hasn't gotten broader, but he is eating more.  Now that we have done his bloodwork and know what nutrients he's lacking, I have been able to supplement his diet, and we are seeing changes in him, which is really great.

Carmie had physio last week.  She is still doing her physio exercises, but her posture hasn't changed much.  Her physio is sending a video of her to a paediatric podiatrist, because she might need shoe implants as well.  It's just one more thing!

On Saturday we went to a kids' social group that takes place at a farm sanctuary.  It was quite lovely, but very hot.  We stuck it out for two hours, which is actually longer than I thought we would last.  They had beautiful therapy alpacas and donkeys, a therapy dog and a shetland pony.  The alpacas were amazing, so super friendly.  They were following us around, nuzzling us, and letting us pet them.  Their wool is so dense, they were like giant woolly sponges.  We loved the animal part of the day, but afterwards it was a little hard to keep the kids entertained.  After lots of convincing they went on the slip and slide and cooled down, then they learned to do some tricks with the therapy dog.  Neither child did much socialising though, which was the point of the day.  But we will get there!

Arley went fishing for three hours with Clint on Friday, and didn't catch a single fish.  He is still keen on fishing though, and is going again tomorrow.  I can't quite believe it, as Arley gets so bored with downtime.  It is bizarre to me that he loves to fish, but I'm all about it!  He goes off every Friday with Clint, and it's the best.

Carmie had her wolfpack social group on Wednesday, and she had such a good time.  Sadly one of the girls, Shelby, has decided to try high school, so she won't be going anymore.  It will be just Carmie and the other girl, Sprinkle (!!) until more girls join.  Carms still wants to go back though, so that is a good sign.

We did a fair bit of swimming this week, because it has been SO hot and muggy.  Horse riding was moved to early Monday morning to try to beat the heat, and both kids powered through it.  I was sweating just sitting in the shade in my shorts and tank top, I don't know how they did it in their thick jodhpurs and heavy boots out in the sun.  

Carmie and I just came back from an excellent Taekwon Do class.  We are having so much fun with it - we'll be testing up again in May, and we are working hard for it.  Arley will be testing too, and is doing really well in his own program.

We have a new support worker who has been taking the kids to Chambers Island to see Clint for us.  This means that Jeffrey and I get a few hours to ourselves every Wednesday.  Mum and Geoff will be moving up here in about three weeks, and the kids will actually be having sleepovers again.  That's when my mind will be blown!

605 + 501 Weeks

Our week has been good, with a few dramas.  On Saturday we had our friend Andrea over for a drink, and she brought her son Chayse to play with the kids.  It's good because the kids take turns to play with him, which is what they need, as they both seem to like a lot of down time.  Chayse and Arley went for a walk by themselves to find fish in the lake.  They came home and decided the were going to catch turtles, so they got our scooters and scooted to a further lake with bread and nets.  They didn't catch any turtles, but they fed them.  And this was the first time Arley has left the house with a neighbourhood friend by himself.  It was so nice seeing him be independent, and I could tell he felt good about himself.

We have been having a problem getting Arley off screens, and we have a rule of no screens in the morning before breakfast and morning jobs.  Despite this rule, every single morning he 'forgets'.  We bought a lockbox for the iPads, and this week we put a password on his computer.  Oh, the drama!  We unlock the box and his computer every morning once everything is done, but the first day of this was a nightmare!  He was not happy.  I think it will take a little bit of time for him to accept.

The good news is Arley finally got back to horse riding properly, not just grooming and being led around.  He is starting out on the lunge again, and he has to be patient, but I'm thankful that he's riding again.  He has decided to stop taking his ADHD meds - he forgot one day, and felt better, and so has refused them ever since.  He has been pretty good, except at Taekwon Do where getting him to focus was next to impossible.  His paed is recommending a half dose just on the days we need him to focus.

Carmie started another creative writing course on Outschool.  She also went to her second Wolfpack session.  There were two other girls there this time.  It will be the same girls every week, which is great, except that Carmie is convinced that they don't like her as much as each other.  I chatted to the support worker, and she is going to keep an eye on it, but we think it might be Carmie's rejection sensitivity at play.

Arley actually climbed a tree this week at his Wednesday session with Clint.  This has been about 9 months in the making, so we are considering it a big win.  They couldn't go fishing on Friday, because the heat was so extreme, so Clint took Arley to the aquarium instead.  Clint is becoming a major influence in Arley's life, for which we are very thankful!

Only photos of Arley this week - not sure how that happened!

604 + 500 Weeks

Argh, these weeks are going too quickly!  It seems like I'm always writing this blog!  Not much has happened this week - we are still doing therapies, and now I'm also on the hunt for a new house.  Jeffrey and I have been looking when we can, and sometimes I go alone.  Competition is stiff too.  But we will get there!

The kids have had a good week.  On Friday we went to Aussie World to meet up with some homeschooling friends.  We had a blast.  The kids made me go on the Redback ride.  It was mine and Arley's first time, and it will be my last!  I was screaming at the kids the whole time to shut their eyes.  It was so scary!  The other rides were fine - really fun in fact - and we had a great but exhausting day.

On Wednesday after Clint, Carmie started at a 'Wolfpack' for girls social group.  It was only her and one other girl, but there is a new girl starting next week too.  Carmie really enjoyed it, and made a new friend.  She was nervous to go, but Carmie doesn't back down because of nerves.

Arley has had a pretty cruisy week too.  No big dramas, no big meltdowns.  He is having a hard time separating from me in the mornings, so I haven't been going to the gym, which is a bummer.  But I guess it's OK because I'm resting my shoulder.  I got my results back - bursitis in my foot (yay, not broken!) and also bursitis in my shoulder, but the pain is coming from an inflamed AC joint.  I have to go in to have cortisone injections via ultrasound, but I can't bring myself to make the appointment!  Too scary!

I don't have much else to report, except that the weather has been INSANELY hot this week, and looks like it is just getting hotter over the coming weekend.  We are staying inside with air con, and running out to the pool to jump in.  The for sale sign went up outside too, so that is not very nice to see every time we come and go.  But it is what it is.

My photos haven't been great lately, and I apologise for the grumpy shots of Arley!  He refuses to smile for photos, even when he is happy :(