Christmas 2008

Here are a few highlights of Christmas at our house in East Grand Forks...

Avery, Peter & Bella in front of the kids tree in our basement on Christmas Eve...

We hosted Brad & Amy's family, Jan (Amy's mom), Aunt Becky & my folks on Christmas Eve--we fondue'd (our VERY merry tradition) and opened gifts with the kids. It was a blast! It was the first time we've hosted a holiday. Our house is set up perfectly for our yearly tradition of fondue!

Peter with his stunt car from Grandpa & Grandma -- Christmas Day


Santa Claus brought Peter a transforming WallE


Peter with WallE


Reaching deep into his stocking!


Wow! Pez!


Santa also brought Peter a Little Einsteins laptop. Peter calls it his "commuter".

Today (26th) Ben and Peter are driving to Ben's folks in Randolph, MN to see Ben's sister, Karla who is home from Honduras. I stayed home to work and celebrate with the Spoor family tomorrow afternoon. They will be gone until Monday. I will miss them so much! I don't think we've been a part for this long of a time...I'm not sure what I will do with myself...? Probably clean up the house and get some much needed R & R.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We sure did. We have celebrated a year of many blessings and we are looking forward to another wonderful year in 2009.

God Bless. Until next time...

First Storm...

We beat the first big storm of the year when we left town for our Rochester trip. It snowed 10 inches here and there were 50mph winds. When I talked to my dad on the weekend, at one point he said he couldn't see across the street. Punky was nice enough to blow our driveway out before we got home...Here is a few photos of what we missed...





We have 2 Christmas parties to attend tonight and we are hosting a get-together with some of our friends tomorrow night and we are getting another storm! Gotta love northern Minnesota...

All over the state!

Hello...
We learned that Peter is learning to adjust soooooooo well to his surroundings! Besides switching to a new daycare last week, we had a very busy 5 days and he sure rolled with the punches. We weren't sure how he would do, and we are glad to report that he did fantastic!

Last Friday we left town after work and drove to Mankato. We got there about midnight. We stayed at our friend, Tim's, house. In the morning we had breakfast with him and then went to visit Peter's old daycare. He got to see a few old friends. He warmed right up to them and ran like a crazy boy all around the house! It was so great to see that. He remembered everything! His best friend, Brady, even showed him how to play the Wii. We are now considering saving up for one, since we know he's interested in it. Around noon we had lunch with Haley & Jacob to celebrate Haley's birthday. Then on Saturday afternoon we drove to Burnsville (Mpls area) and had supper at Chuck E. Cheese with a group of our friends. We wanted to meet at a kid-friendly place so Peter could have fun while we caught up with Ann, Chad, Luke & Melissa. It was a blast. The boys won 500 tickets for Peter so he got a cool prize. After supper we drove to Ben's parents place and crashed. On Sunday morning we went to church and went back to the farm for a mini Christmas celebration. We also celebrated Ed & Paula's birthdays (Ben's parents). Peter got to see his cousins and take some fun pictures. After lunch--mid afternoon--we went to Ben's Grandma Jackie's house. Peter fell asleep there so he didn't get much visiting in with her, but we sure did. :D

Then we drove to Rochester about suppertime. We ate at A & W and checked into our hotel. The hotel we stayed in was awesome! It has only been open for 2 1/2 months. We swam in the hotel...Peter enjoyed it. He was a little timid and mostly played on the steps but we got him in!

He kept saying he was "at the beach"! The funny part, is we could see the snow outside the pool windows. hehe

Here is a picture of him in the tub with his new tub toys from Ann & Chad (a new Rocket from Little Einsteins & a group of Wonder Pets figures...I know, you totally wanted to know, right?).

On Monday morning we played at the Rochester mall. It's a nice mall and with all of our trips to Mayo we've never been there so we were glad to have had some time during this trip to go. I found a few good deals on dress clothes at Ann Taylor Loft (closing sale), while Daddy and Peter played in the "play area" and read books at Barnes & Noble. We ate at Applebee's. That part wasn't Peter's favorite (he doesn't really do restaurants) but we managed. We had an appointment in the Genetics department at Mayo at 2:45. Peter fell asleep on the shuttle on the way over and slept through the entire appointment! The doctor talked with us about Peter's progress. He said Peter looks "normal" so is pleased with that. :D They still have some of Peter's blood from our trips in the Spring so he will be sending it off for one more test to be sure that Peter doesn't have what is called Sotos Syndrome (I'm not going to explain because the doc is 99% sure Peter doesn't have it). We are to meet with Genetics again in 6 months to make sure things are still on the right track. Then on Monday night we brought Peter to a movie as there was a 14 screen theater next door to our hotel. We saw Madagascar 2. It was cute. Peter did well and sat through most of it. He kept wanting to play with the video games out in the entry (especially when there was a "scary" part but we managed to keep him in the theater). On Tuesday we met with Dr. Barboresi--Pediatric Behavioral Neorologist. He was VERY impressed with Peter's progress since our trip there in the Spring. Peter got to pick out toys to play with and interacted with the doctor very well. Dr. B wants us to come back in 6 months to make sure things keep progressing. Because Peter has ABA therapy and private PT, OT & Speech, he has made no further recommandations. He says Ben and I have covered all of our bases and Peter's progress is proof that the hard work is paying off! We are thrilled with this news! (Well, we knew he was doing better but it's always great to hear it from the best autism doctor on the planet) When we were waiting for the shuttle on Tuesday to take us back to the hotel, Peter took a few pictures with our camera...(he's getting kind of good!)

Daddy

Mommy

Pointsettias....

Artwork on the wall...

And I took this picture! It's Peter's new WallE shirt...when he moves, the small WallE on the shoulder lights up. He LOVES this shirt. :D By the way, I'm not sure if he's about to pick his nose, or what....??

We grabbed our van and left to head home. We stopped at Ben's grandparents house in Hampton to visit as this was our "Christmas" stop. We left there about 4pm and hit Minneapolis during rush hour and 4 inches of snow. We didn't get to St. Cloud until 9:30pm so we got a hotel there and stayed the night. So Wednesday was a waste of day as we didn't get home to EGF until after 1pm. Peter needed a nap and well, we were just exhausted so neither of us made it into work. Now it's Thursday so our work week is almost done! Yipppeeeee!!

So Peter did awesome this past week. I think it was partly because he was with us 24-7. When he doesn't see us all day and then has therapy at night, it takes a toll on all of us. It was great to spend some quality time together, even though it was a vacation/doctor/holiday all rolled in one! We drove over 1000 miles in 5 days! We are thrilled to be home for awhile, spending Christmas in town with the Beauchamps and in our new home! Woo hoo!

Gotta get going but I'll post more soon. Hope your holiday season is blessed!

Christmas Tree, Lights, a Blue Bath & New School!

Our Christmas tree with a flash



Our Christmas tree without a flash



Our house with lights!



Peter forced his entire blue crayon/soap to dissolve in the tub last night...guess who has a blue ring to clean out of their tub now? The way his little mind workds, he will think that every bath from here on out will have to be colored.

Other news...
We had to make a tough decision in the past couple of weeks. We have chosen a new daycare center for Peter. It is called Little Miracles. It is a daycare & therapy center. Our main reason for doing this is so that he can get PT, OT & Speech during the day as well as some ABA so our evenings are freed up a bit. We have had ABA therapists in our home 4 nights a week and one day during the weekend. We are so blessed to have this therapy for Peter, but they work with him in private (no distractions) and we don't get to spend much time as a family before bed. So we figured this is a good solution. We LOVE our daycare provider, Julie. She has been such a blessing to us as well. Peter absolutely loves her and all his friends there. When we moved in June it was a big transition for Peter (and us too!) and having Julie take care of him was wonderful--so much love, security & stability! Some unexpected events have occurred for Julie so Peter has begun at Little Miracles a bit sooner than planned. So today is his first day. I brought him there and got all his "stuff" situated. He played with some kids for awhile and then went off to eat breakfast. I stayed behind and handed in the paperwork. And the part-owner/head physical therapist wanted to discuss Peter's entire journey to this point, his many therapies, doctors and diagnosis. So I was there until after 9am (I got there at 7:20am). When Peter and the other kids came back from breakfast I told Peter I was leaving...I gave him a hug and kiss. I am more emotional about the whole situation that he is. We toured it last week and Peter was only there for 10 minutes and loved it! So we just kept telling him about it and talking about it at home and so he was totally ok with it. Anyways, what's really funny is that he kind of roamed around this morning checking things out. And when it was time for breakfast all the kids lined up at the door and Peter just charged on through the door and starting walking. :D Since it's a center or "school" he will have to get used to the rules and structure there. But that's ok. He's at the age that he has to learn these things. :) So when I gave him a hug and kiss good-bye he sat down for "circle time" and looked over at me, pointed his finger at me and said "Go to work!" So I guess that was it. He was adjusted. But we'll see if I get any calls today and we'll see what the report is tonight afterwards. He's such a good kid (I know I'm biased). I honestly in my heart of hearts believe that he never does anything wrong on purpose...he just needs a bit of guidance, direction, etc. He's kind of a follower so seeing the other kids in their routine will help him. Little Miracles is really unique in the sense that each child has their own curriculum. There are "typical" kids and "quirky" kids all mixed together. It makes for an interesting scenerio but it shows the kids that everybody is different...embracing that at a young age is important. Here is their website if you want to check them out: http://littlemiraclesinc.com/

We have a busy week planned...this past Monday night Ben and I finished our last minute Christmas items...well not last minute, but just stuff that was extra or minor that we wanted to get out of the way. So we are done and everything is wrapped! Woo hoo! We have more holiday items/birthday presents/new baby gifts than you can imagine! All of a sudden everything is happening exactly during the Christmas season...Last night Ben hung our lights outside (cause he is amazing) and I finished the wrapping. Tonight is my work Christmas party so we'll be there...tomorrow night I have Bunco with a group of girls I have known for years...it is one Thursday a month. I'm so pumped to be re-connecting with so many familiar faces, especially now that we're adults. And then on Friday we leave for Mankato, Minneapolis, Cannon Falls & Rochester...then back home on Tuesday. I will try to post over the weekend so you can catch up with us on those crazy festivities...basically we're stopping in Mankato & Minneapolis because Peter has appointments in Rochester on Monday & Tuesday--just check-ups. We'll be meeting up with friends and family along the way.

This is post is pretty darn long and you've been a trooper for reading this much! You know how it is this time of year--busy busy busy! Decorating a new home, having a new daycare, etc is just adding to the busyness. :D

Thanks for stopping by. I'll post again soon. Bye!

Thanksgiving 2008 : Vegetarians BEWARE

Hello everyone! We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving weekend! We traveled to Randolph, MN to spend time with the Gergen's. Here are a few pics...

Ed & Paula (Ben's parents) with 5 of the 6 grandkids



Me with my pie. Yes, I made a pie. It is kind of camouflaged by my shirt though. :D



On Friday afternoon, Ben & his dad slaughtered a pig. This is the "before" picture.



This is the "after" picture.



On Saturday we had lunch with our friend, Chad. Peter wanted to take a picture of the chips. Nice angle, huh??



On our way home we stopped in Albertville and shopped some of the outlet stores. Peter loved this thing. (He wouldn't let us put money in it to make it move though because he doesn't like that!)

This week we are back to the grind...next weekend we will be putting up all of our Christmas decor. We hope you are all enjoying the beginning of the holiday season. Come back soon for more!

Goofy.

So Peter's new favorite thing to do is take all of his toys out of our ottoman/bench/toy box and hide in it. Makes for a very clean living room. NOT. His face doesn't look so good in the photos as I caught him blinking, but he was asking for me to take pictures of him. :D Enjoy!

I guess I'm really home

When there is a wind advisory, flood watch and winter storm watch all on the same day, it truly reminds that I am home. :D

Thankful for a GREAT '08

We had a freelance photographer take our picture last week. He is a fellow designer in my office. I will be using them for a Thanksgiving card and other decor in our home. Enjoy! (Keep in mind that these are unedited)

Halloween

Peter was dressed as Diego (Dora's Cousin) for Halloween. He wasn't too interested in taking pictures so here are just a few.



On the front step



Ringing the doorbell at Great-Grandma Ione's house

We acquired tickets to the Sioux hockey game that occurred on Halloween night, so we went out for a drink with some friends of ours and rode with them to the game. It was an unexpected little treat for us! Here is a picture of Ben & I...Notice how I can NEVER get Ben's entire head in a photo??

Peter and the Beanstalk

Hello...
This morning I told Peter that after daycare today he could play in the leaves in our yard. He needs to know these types of things long before we do them because he has to process the information. So I told him 3 or 4 times in a row over the course of a few minutes. He looked very serious (as if he was having a deep thought) and then he replied,

"Ok, Mommy. Play leaves. Climb beanstalk."

Peter is not a very "imaginative" boy as he likes activities and games that are logical and black and white. I think he must believe that beanstalks are real.

Hehehehehe

Empty Bowl Project

The past few weeks we attended some painting sessions for The Empty Bowl Project in Grand Forks. It is hosted by St. Vincent de Paul in GF and the Catholic churches. Here is what Empty Bowls is all about:

In 1990 a high school art teacher in Michigan helped his students solve a problem. They were searching for a way to raise funds to support a food drive. What evolved was a class project to make ceramic bowls for a fund raising meal. Guests were served a simple meal of soup and bread, and were invited to keep the bowl as a reminder of hunger in the world. By the following year the originators had developed this concept into Empty Bowls, a project to provide support for organizations that fight hunger.


The basic idea for Empty Bowls is simple. Participants create ceramic bowls, then serve a simple meal of soup and bread. Guests choose a bowl to use that day and to keep as a reminder that there are always Empty Bowls in the world. In exchange for meal and a bowl, the guest gives a suggested minimum donation of ten dollars. The proceeds are then used to fight hunger.


Ben, Peter and I purchased some bowls to paint and we will be using them as gifts for Christmas. We plan on going to the meal on November 17th as well. And we think this just might be a yearly tradition for us!

Here are the pics:

Fire Dept Open House

We drive by one of the EGF fire stations everyday on our way to daycare and Peter is fascinated. So we went to the Family Open House last night. We had so much fun! Here are the pictures:



Peter concentrating on driving the fire truck!



Can you tell he was excited to be there??



Ben was the adult volunteer that got to put out a fire with an extinquisher! He did awesome! Peter kept yelling "Good job, Daddy!"



Still thrilled...



Peter was more excited about the Root Beer in his cup instead of the dog. :D



Peter & Daddy posing with Sparkey. At first Peter was scared but by the end of the night he was chasing the dog saying "I'm Peter"



Such a big boy!