A Christmas Concert to Remember

Papa, Logan, and Mema Before the Big Show

Miss Kate, Mommy, Leah, Logan, and Daddy

Miss Kate and Leah - The Best Duo in Town

Today was a special day in the Knight Family Adventures! It was the girls first ever Christmas Concert! And was it ever special!!!

Leah and Logan have been practicing their songs, stories and motions for weeks now at Primetime Preschool and boy-oh-boy did it ever show! It was a fabulous production of 3 and 4 year olds showing their Holiday spirit! And what spirit Leah and Logan showed! They used their voices to share their joy, they shook their jungle bells to welcome Santa and his sleigh, and they gestured and motioned each of the songs to keep us all right on-top of the show!!!!

Logan was thrilled to see Mema, Papa, Mommy and Daddy in the audience. She waved and shouted a few "Hi Mommy's" in between the festive songs! And Leah did an outstanding job signing her heart out in front of a crowd of 50 or more adoring adults!

After the show, the girls received another treat of lunch out with Mema and Papa! Who can top off a fun concert full of praise and applause other than Mema and Papa?!?!? As the four of them drove off to lunch, Mommy and Daddy drove home. And what else does Mommy do...Cries tears of pride! Tears of joy! Tears of...they are such beautiful souls and I'm blessed to raise them! Thank you God!

Little Diva

Many of you don't know, but we are raising a little diva. Yes, that's right. Logan has decided to become a singing, princess diva! We've been blessed with a 3 year old little LADY who wears her Daddy's iPod around the house singing pop tunes! Check her out and listen to her...can you name that tune?

Yep...Mercy by Duffy!

Can You Say Communication

Tomorrow morning Josh and I are heading to yet another meeting with Leah's school district. We will be learning how to more effectively communicate with our team of teachers and therapists as well as the administrators that we work with. They have invited a nationally known and well-respected mediator (we respect this individual as well) to facilitate this oh-so-necessary instruction. Because as you probably all know, a University instructor, special education provider herself and someone who considers herself 'well-educated' doesn't know how to effectively communicate. Funny, but the University will be employing me this spring to teach a graduate level course titled Consultation and Collaboration! But really, I have no idea how to communicate with others! (Does something seem wrong here to you too????)

This is what I'd really like to communicate to the district tomorrow:

• You are not providing what my daughter needs in terms of goals and objectives
• You are not providing what my daughter needs in terms of activities throughout her day
• You are not providing what my daughter needs in terms of behavior intervention (this intervention is proven effective with Leah based on documentation and ... just look at her from the start of the intervention until now...come on!)
• You are not providing my daughter approptiate behavior intervention because of lack of training of staff and refusal to do so
• You are not providing my daughter appropriate behavior intervention because of ignorance regarding the methodology and have adopted 2 other behavior interventions that are not nearly as effective (as proven in research) and not appropriate for Leah (as demonstrated in TWO separate psychological evaluation reports)
• You haven't progressed her skill set in the cognitive or occupational therapy domains
• You are restricting her social, behavioral and cognitive development by not recognizing her Least Restrictive Environment with non disabled peers for 2- 1/2 days with her twin
• You are limiting my daughters educational programming because we are pioneer advocates within this county and we are making you challenge the status quo...something that your mission statement says that you will do...but you refuse
• You are limiting my daughters possibility to become an independent individual in the future...you WILL NOT succeed

But I will not...I will sit there and learn 'how to communicate effectively', because I clearly am ignorant in this subject. I will allow my two renowned advocates talk for me as I sit and shoot daggers through their cold hearts and blank eyes. I will take notes of EVERY word that EACH of them say to nail their a$$es to the wall if and when it's necessary.