So as many of my readers know, our family moved again! This time to the windy state of Kansas with the sunflowers and some of the best sunsets I have ever seen… And can I tell you how much of a tornado it has felt like getting everything settled!

House buying is always tricky, especially lately… But my husband managed to find us a good home in a good neighborhood, in a great school district and near my sister… With the help of my sister of course, and her realtor/cupcake making friend.

But did I mention I signed for the house in Utah before ever stepping foot in it in Kansas? Yeah, this past summer was a whirlwind of selling our house, packing everything up, unloading it in a storage unit in Kansas, road tripping to Utah, signing for our house there, stopping off back in Kansas to get the keys to our new home, before driving back to Indiana for my son’s karate camp, dropping him off, heading up to Michigan, lending my other two kids to my in-laws and then resting by myself in northern Michigan by the lake with some friends before getting my 3rd oil change on the way back through Michigan and Indiana, picking up my kids and getting unpacked in Kansas with 2 weeks to spare before school for them started? Wow, longest run on sentence ever.

But the kids did great, the van held up, we saw family, we had play dates, we saw states, we made memories and traveled while waiting on the house selling and buying timeline to work itself out.

Moving to Kansas was the right thing to do. We are near some of my family, the schools have been good, and we learned just how much more Mr. L needed from this new middle school he’s now in. We didn’t realize how much he was outgrowing his old school until his new school said, “Hey, cool IEP but can we offer more?” Yeah, we had never heard that before! In the past, at best we got a, “Yeah, we can accommodate this”. But never have we experienced a school offering more at the table than we asked for. It’s been really cool watching his academic independence flourish this school year.

For the record, we are so grateful for previous schools, teachers, therapists, aids, and staff- helping Mr. L along the way. Because he wouldn’t have the skills he has today to do the things he can do without the work those wonderful people helped him through.

But ya know what? He walks himself to his classes- his 7 classes! He has some overlap with some of his teachers, but he has 7 classes including; art, cooking, science, and math. He still has a one on one para, but his aid doesn’t need to escort him to his classes. His paras give him his space and help keep him on task in class, but he writes his own notes and keeps track of his own iPad.

He’s doing amazing.

But remember how I mentioned getting settled here has felt like a tornado? Yeah… here’s a small glimpse as to what I mean by that: I had to find a new insurance, and then a pediatrician who is taking new patients and our insurance. Then I needed to get all of my kid’s medical records, of which their old doctor’s office refused to send over unless I WALKED in and signed for them…. Yeah, Kansas to Indiana was a bit too far for that, and forget that I had already signed all of the release forms, because those were past 30 days and no longer relevant. So that was a fight and a hundred phone calls.

The schools wanted medical records, the new doctor wanted them, and so did I! The new nurse didn’t want to give Little Miss A her daily inhaler without a doctor’s note, but I couldn’t get one. So I had to walk in and explain that if she went to gym or recess without a puff that she could stop breathing and I didn’t think the nurse wanted to resuscitate her. So they put my daughter on a do not run restriction until the paperwork- over a month later- finally came through. So that was fun.

My son Mr. C still doesn’t have his daily meds officially set up- that he successfully took for 2 years in Indiana- because his new pediatrician “doesn’t prescribe ADHD meds long term” and the new insurance needed him to take the wrong meds first and then we had to prove that he successfully took his preferred meds for 2 years before they would approve it. So we are still looking for a therapist who will manage meds 🙃

But the good news is that my daughter has now been officially diagnosed but we can’t find her a therapist or meds! So yeah, it has felt like a bit of a tornado of doctors, insurance, meds, wait lists, new jobs for both my husband and I, new schools, new church callings coming up quick, and just learning where the good restaurants are.

But like I said, it’s been the right move for us. And NO we don’t plan on moving again for at least 12 years ❤️