what was lost is now found!!!!

YES!!!! sam's RIDER hat was found!! The museum called me last week to say that they had found it in an area of the museum (that she thought they hadnt been in) and they were holding it for us. So yesterday Dennis and I took Sam in for the last of his Phsyc. Eval. and while he was with the doctor, we went to pick it up. sam is just a "bit" excited on the return of his hat! lol

More good news is that the doctors we saw yesterday aer going to send info on the areas that Sam needs his help in to the schools -- for example... his problem solving (like math) is slightly deficient. (which is due to his organizational skills being low --makes sense...) his vocabulary is high!!!! (i was not surprised at this as the boy uses his words ALL THE TIME! lol) On the serious note tho we also discovered that there was a misunderstanding with the doctor that referred us to the phsyc. eval. told me that we were going to be going to those appt for PTS(post traumatic stress) but they were told to do a regular eval... so no wonder we were all confused and hoping for more!

But none the less Dennis was very happy with what he learned yesterday, but i on the other hand was expecting something different...maybe more(but then we thot it was testing for PTS...). I was hoping for some helpful tools to use with him at home. Dennis pointed out to me on our way home that maybe we need to stop expecting help from the outside and keep doing what i am doing and look on my own and we will continue to work by trial and error with all the kids (like we do with normal parenting skills LOL) He feels that if we stop worrying about when we will get some help maybe the stress in our lives will lessen... so i am going to take the advice of my husband (who usually is good at this sort of thing...) and try to not worry about the whole thing and we will take it as we have been day by day (sometimes hour by hour).

I have been reading "In an Instant" by Lee and Bob Woodruff. It is written by both on thier life together and thier journey with TBI. Bob was an ABC correspondent and while working on a story in Afganhistan his tank was hit by an IED. It is a very moving story and i identify so much with the story but not in a way I thought i would. I find it hard to read somedays without thinking about my dad and what i went thru with his TBI. (for those who dont know my dad was beaten up 12 yrs ago by someone and left a quadripelic and severely brain damaged.) It was because of my dad that when i was in college 4 years ago, doing my Educational Assistant Certification, that my major paper was on TBI and helped me to not only understand what the doctors all were telling us about Sam that first night and days after but on where to start on looking for information about TBI. (I have quite a bit of experience with TBI... too much some days and not enough on others. I have gone from the extreme of paralysis and the mental loss of my father to the next extreme of a walking/talking miracle but people not understanding that there is a deficiency.)

that was quite a ramble...

Other good news with our family is that Joshua, Isaac and Hannah all seem to be settling finally. There are still moments but then when isnt there with kids, right? But as an email from a friend pointed out that they:
"are so competent and pleasant to me and particularly each other. It's obvious that they are accustomed to working around home and they just go ahead and do things with out prompting. Their interaction with each other is so wonderful to see. I'm sure they do have their times but it is so evident that they usually enjoy each other's company"
It was an email that made me cry this morning when i read it. It made me feel good about our kids and that maybe (just maybe) we are on the right track with them and they might just be doing what God gave us families for...to pull together and stick together when times are not the usual.