Cindy!

Thank you so much for your kind words! Trying to post pictures in the picture forum...but gotta wait on permission from the powers that be!!!! Way exciting, though!!! We're moving in a bit at a time!!!! Nothing like owning your own home.....awwww...the freedom!!!!!

We are THRILLED to announce that we just bought a house!!!!! It's a 5 bedroom, 3 bath home with a 2.5 car garage (anyone know where we can get a .5 sized car? ) in a very nice neighborhood and none of our kids have to switch schools! We officially move in on July 1st....but we'll be starting our garden there and moving boxes in a bit at a time starting tomorrow. Will post a picture asap!

Seth, yes, I agree. I wish we'd known about the bi-polar before now for Zach. But I'm glad we know now!

pletho they are in tallahassee, fl you can find them by doing a people search on yahoo.com put in gregory english

Pipes....thanks for the kind words! The hospital Zach was in is very very good. His psychiatrist is excellent. Zach is now in their transition program, it's a day program that helps these kids transition back into school. We use a points system at the hospital during the day and at home at night. When he achieves a certain level for a certain number of days, he will go back to school. If he has problems in school....he goes back to the transition program for the help he needs. It's worth every single anxious moment and every single penny. The change has been amazing! Abi...when Zach went into the hospital he was on effexor, concerta, and risperdal. The effexor is an anti-depressant, concerta is adhd medication, and the risperdal is a mood stabilizer. He was taken off the effexor (it apparently doesn't work for our genetic make-up....I had to be taken off of it, too). He is now on the same dosage of concerta, the risperdal dose was doubled, and trileptal was added twice a day for the bipolar. We had him on Straterra, but it seemed to cause depression and increased the mood swings, so we took him off of it. Like Aaron, he still had the mood swings, the risperdal helped eliminate them. Now he is a normal, healthy, cheerful and cooperative boy. It is a major relief to us! He is gaining weight (he's been way thin and not eating well for years) and he is a food hound!!!! I've added desserts and extra courses to our meals (before we had three courses at each meal) and he is eating very very well! He also wanted to learn to cook...so we are teaching him. He cooked our whole meal the other night. In the hospital he had violent fits due to the meds being adjusted and had to be sedated. The dr said it was perfectly normal...it is and was chemical, not emotional.

Our son was hospitalized for three weeks. He is home now and doing wonderfully!!!! My main question though is....has anyone heard of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Bipolar disorder being diagnosed in conjunction in an 11 year old? If so...what have you heard, learned, experienced??? Our son is doing wonderfully now....his medicine has been adjusted and he is "my Zachary" again. Just curious....

Aw George....what a sweet post! We !'s are doing well!!!! Steve is kickin butt and takin names at work. I'm enjoying the heck outta my students and looking for a job that lets me be closer to home. We nixxed the idea of the online masters degree through DeVry cuz they just don't know what they are doing and I got tired of walkin em through it. So I decided to go with one of the top ten grad schools in the country for education and will begin my Masters in Educational Leadership this summer (I go next week for my final acceptance meeting). I'm excited!!! Jessica has a new boyfriend whom Steve! and I really, really like. He is a sweet boy, albeit a teenage boy, who treats her the way she should be treated. (her previous boyfriend we didn't like at all) Kat has been invited into the advanced gifted program in high school next year. She is looking soooo forward to working with kids as serious about school and learning as she is. She did wonderfully as cheerleader this year in middle school and led an assembly, with the principal's ok, on name calling in school and how damaging it is. We are very very proud of her. Josh has advanced in boy scouts quicker than any scout in the history of this area. Of course, this was hampered when he broke his wrist two days before surgery on the thumb he damaged and ended up in the ER with us TWICE (exwaydaryl visited him there, too). But he had surgery and all is well now. He also is being courted for gifted after making the 99th percentile in standardized testing. Zach is a cub scout and making some sweet friends. He and Josh built a fort in the back yard with Steve's help and they groove on that thing!!! He is also doing well in school and is interested in martial arts. As far as a baby goes....at this point, that's in God's hands. Steve and I both signed w-2's with our employers not claiming the kids and being withheld at the higher rate. But we did not get the refund that would have paid for my surgery. We are in too high a tax bracket (kind of a bitter-sweet situation). We have been working on being debt-free for two years now.....putting all of our disposable income into that (even not attending Oakspear's wedding)...we will reach our goal this coming fall. So there still may be baby news to share once we are debt-free!

I had a bad reaction to some medicine my doc put me on. The hospital did all kinds of tests, got rid of the meds I was on, and put me on new stuff. Then they watched me for a few days to be sure I wouldn't have another bad reaction. I went in on Monday and was discharged on Saturday. Steve and our kids took and are taking extra good care of me (visits, flowers, chocolate, and other kinds of major spoiling techniques) and the folks I work with sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I also made some new friends in hospital! I'm feeling fantastic!!! Thanks for your words of concern, comfort, and love....and for the offer of an omelette!!!!! Cindy

Hiya, Just a note to let you know that I was in hospital for the past week or so, and came home to an abundantly over-flowing inbox, despite Steve's trying to weed it out every day I was gone. So if you sent an email in the last week and a half or so, please resend it! (some were lost) I wadn't ignorin ya!!! Doin wonderfully now...no cause for alarm! Cindy

We're still around, alive, and doing very well!!! I am way too busy at work to breath...in fact my principal has waived all my evaluations for the rest of this year (I'm not tenured...he's supposed to do 5), Steve has been given a nice raise and a window, Jess is doing very well her first year in high school, Kat is cheerleading, student council, and too many clubs to mention, Josh is first chair in band, has a sweet girlfriend, and is living up to his nickname of "whoops, dang' with visits to the ER (ExWayDaryl's hospital), and Zach is doing wonderfully with school and building communication skills in counseling. Hope your holidays are happy, joyous, and shared with those you love!!! It's a time of miracles....even my ex has come around a bit...he's getting counseling, has apologized for what he did to me and my children both during the marriage and during the divorce, and will be visiting in the summer. Can you say "miracle" ... I knew that you could! Here are pix of our Christmas day.....we'd love to hear how yours was!!!! !'s Christmas Day

dmiller....no, psalmy and I are NOT sisters but Mom DOES love me MORE!!!!!!

Rascal,Oak, Def.. thanks for the wonderful words!

Yep, he hit 5000 a few days ago. Thanks for all the kind words and good wishes! See ya'll around!!!

We have a very busy year coming up!!! We have a new high schooler, a cheerleader, two chorus participants, 1 band participant, 1 boy scout, 1 cub scout, one on student council, and then there are the clubs too numerous to mention. PLUS….Steve! is making waves, advancing in the corporate world, and teaching at the university part-time, I am on the leadership team for my school, writing curriculum for a new writing course for my school, as well as a few other teams and clubs…plus starting a new honor society this coming year….as well as being parents to four very healthy, very active, and very involved kids. Not to mention, the beginning of my masters degree program. We may not be leaving permanently (whoever does that posts about it???), we just wanted to let those we care about on GS know that getting in touch with us through GS is going to be very difficult. Email would work much better. Our emails are in our profiles….and most of our friends have our cell numbers. We would be less than honest if we did not admit that this decision was influenced , to a large degree, by some behavior here on “the spot”. We are very thankful, grateful, etc.. for those here who are honest, straightforward, and without agenda. Steve! and I talked about it and we decided that after his 5000th post….we would be done for a while. Maybe for good. In February or March, we will be going to Atlanta for the surgery I need so that we can have a baby. If you are in the area and want to meet up for dinner the night we arrive, please email either Steve or me. (though I prolly won’t be eating much, due to the surgery comin up!) In March or April Steve and I will be taking our yearly trip to get away from the cold of Chicago…we’ll probably be going to Las Vegas…and would love to meet anyone in that area. In the summer…we’re booking a houseboat for a week…we’re looking at Kentucky, North Carolina, Illinois, and Tennessee. As I said…this break from the forums may not be permanent….but we didn’t want to leave for our hiatus without a word! So long for now!!! (this was composed by both Steve! and me)

Moonstruck Here's an easy one: Help, help I'm being repressed!

You're right karmicdebt...your turn!

5000 posts, Steve!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang "It's like I've taken Love Heroin..."

rascal...that is in the end of the fifteenth chapter in HPatSS specifically, the paragraph that begins, "It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else...." Unicorn blood only keeps you alive for a bit of time

muhahaha

Happy Birthday, krys!!!!!!!