Holiday Happenings!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas/New Year's/school vacation week! I'm having a hard time getting back into our "normal" routine! I enjoyed the more laid back tone of the kids' vacation time very much!

I wanted to share some of our Holiday Happenings! It was an exciting end of Advent/Christmas/New Year/Vacation Week! 

1. Visit With Santa

Jay's mom invited Kate and Luke to a Christmas Party put on by a local historical society. They do a great job! There are crafts, games(with prizes), and story and song time with Santa and Mrs Claus! Kate and Luke loved it! :)

Kate with Grandma

Luke(aka "shifty eyes") with Grandma

I LOVE how excited Kate is!

#2 Christmas Concert

This was Luke's first year in the school's Christmas Concert! Jay and I are convinced that he is part muppet! He is always making the goofiest faces and noises! Lucky for us, (insert sarcasm here), Luke was up front and VERY visible the entire time the group was singing! There were multiple people around us laughing at that "cute little guy in the front"...who was making goofy faces, only singing the first line, and picking his nose occasionally! Oy! My sil said he was the "funniest kid at the concert"..... Too bad it wasn't a comedy show!

 Thankfully, Ellie was a joy to watch as part of the Chorus! She did a great job in her duet!

#3: Kate Turned Four!!!

Kate loves watching Playdo Princess videos on Youtube, so that was one of her gifts!

She also loves dinosaurs! I was super psyched when Jon found this dino set at Toy's R Us.
It has a baby triceratops that is pink! Kate's favorite!

 #4: Family Christmas Party(a few days early)

Most of my dad's family lives out of town, so we celebrate Christmas the weekend before the 25th. It's always great to spend time with everyone! 

#5: Happy Birthday, Kate (part deux)

We had a family party for Kate the day after her birthday. Jay's mom always makes a cake decorated in whatever the birthday girl/boy wants. Kate wanted a Rudolph Kate. 

#6-7: Warm Weather + Crazy Kids= Necessary Outside Play!

It was so warm on the day of Kate's party, that it was a great opportunity for Kate, Luke, and their cousins, Brayden and Mya, to get rid of a little energy and their sugar rush outside! Since Jay wants to be considered the favorite uncle...he had lots of fun playing with them! Since I love to take action shots....I took way too many pictures! I will try to refrain from posting too manyhere...but I know I will so I'm apologizing in advance!!!

Such a cutie pie!

action shot!

goofy uncle shot #1

goofy uncle shot #2

more action

I saw this shot unfolding and I couldn't get my camera fast enough! Jay's in mid air!
 (And Brayden's face is pure glee!)

 

lol

Clearly having fun!

Love the sun in this shot!

2 on 1

Having lots of fun!

More crazy uncle time

action shot!

The girls practicing how to pump while they swing!

Kate wanted in on the fun with Daddy!

Daddy's Little Girl!

Happy Weekend!

In the Moment

Peter's class had a little Holiday Open House today.

Peter is part of a local collaborative and his classroom is in a high school just a couple of towns over from where we live. Peter has Autism and is not able to be in a regular classroom. Because we live in a small town that doesn't have a program for kids like Peter, we get to choose one of the local Collaborative programs that services the small towns in the area.

Peter just transferred into his new classroom in early November. He had been in a collaborative classroom in a local middle school prior to that, but all of the other kids had "aged out". So, when he started the year, Peter was alone. It really bothered me and I spent lots of time communicating with his teacher and the person in charge of the program. They were trying to plug Peter into more activities with other "neurotypical" kids to give him opportunities for socialization...but it still didn't feel right. All that kept popping in my head was, "It is not good that man should be alone."

After speaking with our SPED Director, we decided that switching classrooms and schools would be best for Peter. It was the best decision for him and is thriving in his new program! :)

Peter's class has 8 kids in it, including him. They have one main teacher and three aids. There are also various therapists that come in and out over the day. They also have neurotypical students from the high school that are part of a program that come in different periods each day to work and play with Peter and his class mates. (This is by far my FAVORITE part of this program! Peter even calls one of the student helpers his "girl friend"! lol I love that Peter has role models and I love that the role models are getting exposure to kids with disabilities. The level of acceptance and kindness is incredible when neurotypical kids...sorry, I hate the word "normal"...spend time with kids with disabilities. There is no fear or awkwardness...they accept kids like Peter for who they are. Neurotypical kids that have spent time with special needs peers see beyond their limitations...the lack of eye contact, the lack of speech, the weird noises...and they connect with them on whatever level they are able to.

It's a blessing to everyone!

I signed up for Dynamic Catholic's Best Lent Ever. Today's message happened to be on "Visiting the Sick". I didn't listen to it until I had already gotten home from visiting Peter's classroom....but it talked about being present when you spend time with people that are ill, and not just seeing the visit as something else checked off a list.

I know that for myself, this time of year is SO busy that it's a struggle for me to stay in the moment and just enjoy whatever activity I'm on! It's something I have to work at all.the.time!

I enjoyed my visit to Peter's classroom. My Dad, Mom, Kate and our buddy, Declan came, too. I think Peter was happy that we were there. His teacher said he spent much of the morning looking for us outside the window. He came right over to us when we got there. Of course, the whole time we were there he played on the Ipad or walked around the room. The questions we asked him received minimal answers. I had made the pasta dish that he likes before we left to see him so he could share it with the class. He hadn't taken a bite, yet, from what I put on his plate before we left.  He was more interested in the mashed potatoes and pears that I had packed in the morning from home!

I got to meet a couple of other moms and I got a chance to talk to his teachers and speech therapist a little. I enjoyed spending time with Peter's classmates. Some were more withdrawn and just did their own thing like Peter. A couple were more talkative. One young man in particular, Ben, came right over, introduced himself and shook hands, and enjoyed watching Kate and Declan check out the giant exercise balls in the room. Ben was a BOSS with a rubics cube!! He would mess it all up and then solve all the sides perfectly in just a couple of minutes! I am SO impressed!

As a mom....we give and give and give and give until we have nothing left...then we somehow manage to squeeze just a little more give out! SO many times we give without much in return. I think this is true with any child...but especially with a special needs child. There are so few things that cause Peter to have a reaction that shows pure joy...(aka one of the ways that makes me feel like a success as a mom!) But that doesn't mean that I don't keep trying! His happiness might not be the same happiness that our other kids have....but that's ok. Just as long as he's happy! :)

Kate and Peter enjoying lunch at the Holiday Party!
Note that Peter is eating his potatoes...not pasta!

The Evolution of the Christmas Card!

I've written dozens of blog posts in my head that never made it to my blog space! So many times I have thought of how much I miss this space...yet, life and the lack of hours in a day, always managed to get in the way.

There's so much I haven't shared...haven't chronicled for my own kids. It just felt overwhelming!

But I've missed this space! I can't promise it will be consistent...but I will certainly try to just jump back in!

What was the catalyst to begin blogging again? 

Well...I FINALLY got around to ordering Christmas Cards today! And, unlike last year, all of the kids are in the picture! At least I hope so! I don't pick them up until Saturday, but I paid VERY close attention and counted to 8 multiple times to be sure! (Jon was closer to the middle this year, so if someone gets cut off it won't be him!)

I took over 20 shots and I had 3 to choose from! With our crew, you know none of them would be perfect! (And they lived up to the expectation!) And I'm ok with that! :)

Since it's 7 Quick Takes Friday, I'm going to share our "Not Top 7". Pay close attention to Luke's face! I laughed so hard I cried! (literally...Jon came in to make sure I was ok! In his words, "I thought someone died.")

 Then I showed him the pics and he laughed out loud, too!)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame perhaps?!?

Can you see who Luke reminds us of?!? He's a LOT like one of his big brothers!
(cough, cough...Jon!)

Note: Kate is just super cute throughout the "photo shoot" sitting in that tree! 

Ellie is always smiling. 

Mike has his "too cool for school" face on...maybe I' should cut him out of the photo on purpose this year! ;)

Andrew has the same "grumpy cat" face in every.single.pic! 

And Peter was just not interested in any way what so ever! 

Oh, well! 8 kids later and I'm happy that most of them look good!

Here's the winner:

Have a great weekend! :)

It's October!!!

It's October!!!

October is my favorite month of the year! I love the cooler weather, football Sundays, apple picking, apple pies, apple crisps, cooking in the oven(there's a homemade chicken pie cooking as I type), wearing sweatshirts, the changing leaves, apple cider....I could go on and on!

October is the month of our Anniversary! 23 years on the 24th!

October is also a month filled with some power house saints! There's no waiting, either! Right from the get go, October arrives ushering in the littlest power house of a saint, St. Therese of Lisieux!

I love the Little Way of St. Therese.  She's a saint that everyone can emulate because she spent her life focusing on doing little things with great love.  Those "little things" are really hard to do well! A hundred times a day I have opportunities to do little things with great love! Yet, so often, I totally miss the chance!

St. Therese has popped into our lives in special ways over the years. I read a random prayer to St. Therese while dusting in the late summer of 1997. In late September, early October, a dead rose bush in our yard started to bloom and produced lots of roses! We named our first daughter, conceived by the doctor's calculation on October 1st of that year, Therese Elizabeth. During our Therese's short life, God was very present in so many ways. One of the moments that has stuck out the most was the gift of a single rose that our next door elderly neighbor brought over the day we brought our daughter home from the hospital. It was the most beautiful rose I have ever seen. It bloomed fully and perfectly, as did our daughter, when God brought our Therese home to Himself at 2 am the next morning.      

Not a pic of our rose...but it was orange and beautiful like the one in this pic!

More recently, St. Therese has been on my heart after finding a book in Adoration. It's a mini retreat book that focuses on how God's love poured into St. Therese and how she returned His love so perfectly, that the love spills over as grace for the world. 

Another "St. Therese Moment" for me started with a question from a very good friend's conversation with my Sarah. Sarah asked me, "Mom, what's the area that is the focus of your mothering?" It took me a little while, but when I really pondered the question, the answer was, "Love. Trying to make sure that each of you feels loved as much as I can. Even in the little things."

By little things I mean: buying someone's favorite treat because it catches my eye at the store. Cooking someone's favorite meal. Creating a menu every week that includes at least a couple of meals I know that my pickiest eater will like...and making extra so he has leftovers. Spending time listening to my older kids late at night when I'd rather just go to bed. Giving thanks that I seem to always be the one that gets to change an empty toilet paper roll. Always looking for God's inspiration to make any of them(and all of them) feel special. 

I think that's why I love St. Therese's little way! I'm just a mom, but all the little things that I do in love can do big things! 

Another friend from our parish sent out a link to a St. Therese Novena last week. I'm not usually good at doing novenas...and I'm a day behind because I forgot one day. But over the course of the novena, all of the things that I've prayed for have had either answers or opened a path for the next step I need to take. Thank you, St. Therese!  

I put on my Jamberry Nails with a rose design today to honor St. Therese and our little Therese, too!
The flowers were a surprise from Jay last week, "Just because"! :)

Happy October!