Monday, I tried to get some more cleaning done around the house and wash clothes. I was busy around the house all day and was marginally successful. And that is about all I have to say about that.
Tuesday, I packed up Rachel and headed over to see an oral motor therapist in Orlando. Her name is Debra Beckman. She is supposed to be really good. She has done a lot of work in the field of oral motor therapy and has developed her own therapy program. She says that she is very excited about Rachel's potential and says that she will have Rachel speaking clearly "soon". She told me to lots of changes in the next several weeks. She has given us three exercises to do over the next two weeks, and we are to go back for another visit on the 31st. She thinks that insurance might cover the sessions. I really hope so!! I just feel that it is time to try something else, because it is clear that Rachel understands what we say and that she really wants to communicate, but she does not have a lot of words she can communicate to us clearly and she cannot speak in sentences. After getting the big girls done with homework, it was time to go to Allison's soccer practice.
Wednesday, I was at the girls' school volunteering. I had to work with this poor little girl for about two hours, trying to help her write a "book" for a writers competition. The teacher was really pushing her to get it done, and the little girl worked really hard, but after two hours, she and I both had to call it quits. From the school, I ran to Walmart to return somethings, and then picked up Rachel. When Leah got home from school, she was complaining of a sore throat and headache. Her eyes were red and she was running a fever. No soccer practice for her that evening-which I was thankful for. I called the pediatrician, and she called in some antibiotics for Leah, thinking that the strep from two weeks ago was not completely cured from the first round of antibiotics.
Thursday, Leah was home from school. She did not run a fever and seemed to be doing well, so the antibiotics were working quickly, thank goodness. I was supposed to be at the girls' school again, but with Leah home, I was not able to. That gave me a good chance to do more cleaning around the house. I was glad to get more of that done. I cannot remember the last time I had dusted!! We were going to be buried in dust, if I didn't get around to it soon. The girls had been writing in the dust on the dining room table-always a sign that it is time to dust-or maybe even past time!
Friday, was another day spent volunteering at school. Allison teacher believes that I am her personal assistant, and she put me to work editing papers for a writing competition, typing papers, calling moms and asking them to retype papers (they were loving me!), and taking the completed papers to the post office to be mailed-they had to be post marked no later than yesterday to qualify for the contest. I was able to work at school from 8:30am until 12:00pm, but at that point I had to run get Rachel. After picking up Rachel, we raced back to the big girls' school to see Leah's music presentation at 12:45pm. After the presentation, I went back to Allison's teacher and collected all the papers, came home and finished typing them, and at 4:30pm I ran them to the post office. So much for getting anything done around the house on Friday!
Today I have been so lazy. Rachel did not have horse back riding today, so we actually had a morning with nowhere to go!! It is 4:00pm and I am still in my jammies. I am not just being lazy, though, I swear. If I don't get a shower in the mornings before everyone else gets going, it is difficult to get one later. I have to have the stars all line up right to have Mike or the big girls around (and as for the big girls, they need to be in a relatively decent mood with each other). I cannot take a shower with Rachel on the lose around the house alone. This morning, the big girls wanted to go outside before I got to the shower, and after lunch, they went to the zoo with the neighbor. Mike has been at work all day. So, I am trying to say that I sort of have an excuse for still being in my jammies.....sort of. That, and I am just lazy today! I have been alone with no one to keep an eye on the squirt Mike told me to lock Rachel in the bathroom and go ahead and take a shower. I started to, but now the big girls could be home anytime from the zoo, and they would be locked out if they came home while I was in the shower. I should have sent them with a key.......no, they probably would have lost it and still been locked out.
Below are some pictures from the past week.
Last Saturday, Mike and the neighbor attempted to get a wiffle ball off or our roof. Fortunately, they decided it was too risky to climb up on the roof. I could not watch.....I had to go back in the house. Allison took these pictures.
My nursing school buddyand I during her visit to Melbourne on Sunday. 
Rachel hanging out in the kitchen. She does not have pink in her like it looks in the picture, but the marks on her face are green paint from school. 
