Christmas Eve and Christmas

Been lazy lately and haven't posted. Actually, I think all the radiation is starting to take its toll on me. I have a couple of good days with energy and then feel like I am ready to drop. Luckily, Jon has been home to pick up the slack.

Christmas Eve was nice. We went to the Peiffer's house. Jim and Carol were awesome to have us over with their family. Julie and Todd live around the corner from us and their kids Mitchell and Baby Ali play with our kids all the time. We met them at Austin's pre-school class a few years ago and realized they live around the corner. Austin and Mitch are great friends. Jim and Carol are Todd's parents. Julie's mom and dad and aunt were there as well. We were introduced to some polish customs and food. It was a great evening. The kids loved feeding the ducks.

On the way home we saw a big white light in the sky with a blinking red nose. WOW! How exciting to Santa and Rudolph in the sky. Santa even followed us most of the way home. Our children have never put on their pajamas and got in bed so fast in their lives.

We were awakened at 7:01 a.m by three little rugrats. At least they listened to us and waited until at least 7 a.m. Austin and Alison said they watched the sunrise in Austin's room and had peeked downstairs to see what Santa brought them. I believe they did this as the window shades were all open.

Santa brought Alison - art supplies, an easel, a purse with lots of gift cards, a nutcracker for her collection, and other things. Austin received a star wars toy, a teddy bear, some games, and other things. Mattie received a Cinderella Castle complete with all the Disney princesses, a digital camera, high school musical barbies, and other things.

Santa brought the entire family a Wii and some games but everyone thinks it is just for Austin. We love the Wii and have had so much fun with it. We have to kick the kids off and decided (jokingly) the adults need their own and the kids their own. I beat Jon at golf 3 times in a row and he was cranky.

We opened presents with the kids and played most of the day. At 2 p.m. we went over to our friends, the Barrett's. Julie fixed and awesome dinner and we were stuffed. We talked a while and played on their Wii for a while and had a great time.

My parents came on the 26th and the kids opened more presents and played and played. We made a turkey dinner complete with pumpkin pie this day. Overall, it was pretty relaxing holidays.

Tim and Karen (uncle and aunt to Amy) are coming on Monday to spend New Year's with us. Austin is so super excited to see their kids Will and Jonathan, he is counting the hours. We will be having New Year's again at the Rainforest Cafe. They have a wonderful kids buffet and balloon drop at 8 p.m. It is great fun.

On the 12th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 12 favorite pictures Okay, I am losing all creativity with this and I am a few days behind so I want to wrap this up! p.s. Yes most are from 2006 and not 2007 because I lost my hard drive and hadn't backed up for 6 months (shame on me), I have hard copies but not digital ones, don't feel like scanning. Sorry.

1. Halloween 2007

2. Disney's Animal Kingdom 2007

3. Christmas Eve 2006, Birthday Party for Jesus

4. Thanksgiving 2006, Grpa Denker's 75th Birthday

5. October, 2006 Kids actually touching each other and liking it

6. September, 2006 Mattie Bike Ride for St. Judes Hospital

7. August, 2006 Going to See Lion King at the theatre downtown with Julie, Kaylee, and Lauren Barrett, Kaitlyn Kem and Mattie, Alison, and myself

8. July, 2006 4th of July, Kids with Grpa/Ma Wine in Ohio

9. June, 2006 Mattie at Texas Children's Hospital before surgery

10. May, 2006 Mom's Tea with Austin

11. April, 2006 Circus

12. February, 2006 Alison Dance Competition

On the 11th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 11 Christmas Traditions...
1. Always read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the kids at bedtime on Christmas Eve.
2. Decorate at least one tree preferably more.
3. Buy each child an ornament (at least one) that reflects what they are "into" at that point in their life. Each child will then have a full set to be handed to them when they are grown and have a tree of their own.
4. Pray that the Elf on the Shelf comes back each year to watch over our children and report their actions, good or bad, back to Santa each and every night until Christmas Eve.
5. Open the box "What God Wants For Christmas" each year one week before Christmas and open the boxes, 1 per day, and read the store of Jesus.
6. Decorate the outside of the house.
7. Make sugar cookies and decorate them for Santa.
8. Three gifts per child under the tree, one for each of the wisemen that visited Jesus.
9. Have a birthday party for Jesus every year and involve the red velvet cake to reflect upon the blood Jesus shed for us.
10. Have a big dinner each Christmas Day.
11. Read the story of Jesus directly from the Bible.

On the 10th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 10 attempts at writing this message and still nothing comes to mind. This number thing is harder to do as you progress. Okay my true love gave to me 10 different types of baked goods... Alison and I spent all day on Saturday baking, we had a grand time. Once a year I get out my very favorite, extra special, nobody better touch it, recipe box from my Great Grandma Morgan and go through all of them. Each year I make a different recipe from her box and some old favorite cookies that I remember from her house when I was a child. We spent over 6 hours baking and making 16 trays. Luckily for me Alison still had energy and hand-delivered them to all our neighbors. Yummy!

On the 9th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 9 years of marriage Wow! Is that all. It has been forever since we have been together, 18 years. Just took us a long time to get married. My husband is a wonderful man and father. Even if he still acts like the "only child" he is, we just whip him back into shape. (hee hee) I couldn't have asked for a better husband. He helps out with everything around the house, the kids, shopping, etc. Hey, he does all the laundry at this house so that is worth a ton. Jon is my best friend and I love and appreciate the man he is. As a father, well I am not sure there is a better one or more attentive one around. He has extreme patience with all of us and is a great teacher. He brings me great joy and I look forward to the next few centuries.

On the 8th Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me an eight year old girl named Alison Jane Alison is eight years, yikes!! Time does fly when you have kids. Alison is a strong willed child, very intelligent, and acts way beyond her years. The tween and teen years with her might just put us in an early grave. Alison loves to dance and is doing her first solo this year for dance competitions. She had her first competition in November and won Gold and 2nd in her division. It was awesome. Her team dance won High Gold. Ali as we call her loves to read, do art work, and is currently writing her own storybooks. She desperately wants to be published. She wants an ipod, a laptop, a yorkie puppy, and a cell phone for Christmas. None of which she gettting. Santa told her she might need to revise her lists as her age and his pocket book weren't big enough. She loves to cook and be teacher to her little brother and sister. She had a heart of gold and often wants to help others. Alison is our activity child and there is not enough hours or days in the week for her to accomplish all the activities she has interest in. Ali definitely keeps us on our toes and probably will for a long time now. We love her very, very much!

Truth

Upon being told the diagnosis of Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, on the Autism Spectrum, for Austin the doctor looked me dead in the eye and said:

"Mom, you are today taking home the same little boy you had when you got here, the same one you loved and held before this minute, he has not changed, the only thing that has changed is a word that describes him."

How profound this statement was, so true, and it has stuck with me and allowed me to maintain perspective through even the roughest of days.

On the 7th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 7 sweet songs at Mattie's Christmas Program


Mattie had her Christmas program at her pre-school St. Johns this evening. Complete with her rubbing of her mouth (again) and the primping of her hair during the songs. She was very animated and exhuberant with her hand motions and singing. It was quite a cute little program. She did wonderfully. Her is a picture of her in what she calls "her santa dress."

On the 6th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 6 trips to the bathroom.... ooops cut...that is why the 6th day is late, stomach flu given to me on the 6th day of Christmas by...my true love gave to me one wondeful 6 year old boy!

Austin just turned 6 on 12/12 he was actually due on 12/25 and wishes so much that he shared his birthday with Jesus. Austin has a heart of gold and is truly worried about the feelings of others. He easily gets his own feeling hurt so he is normally sweet to others. Austin loves, star wars, ninja turtles, cars, and loves to count and add things with numbers. He also loves video games and has asked Santa for a Wii this year because "it is the coolest thing ever, mom" I hope his dreams come true.

Earlier this year on Mother's Day he was asked things about his mom.
1) How old is your Mom? 36
2) What is the prettiest thing about your mom? her hair and her shirts
3) What does your mommy like? she loves me the most
4) What is one thing your mommy tells you all the time? she asks questions, some times too many questions. (this was so funny because we were constantly asking him things at this time period.. at the end of March we learned Austin has an autism spectrum disorder (pdd-nos) and we immediately started several different therapies and teaching activities, etc. The poor kids was inundated with questions.)

Here is Austin on his birthday with his friend Grace. When he was asked who he wanted to have over for his family dinner we thought he would want to invite his usual friends, Mitchell and Connor, but nope...he just wanted Grace. So Grace and Connor both came, Mitchell was busy.

On the 5th day of Christmas

my true love gave to me 5x the fun at the Jingle Bell Jog,

Today was the Jingle Bell Jog at the kids school it was a 5k run or a 1 mile walk. The benefit was for Juvenile Diabetes so it was a great cause. Jon and I tried to not show up, as it is 50 degrees and rainy. The nice warmth of the house sounded and looked much better to us, however, the kids were not allowing this. Austin was very upset that we were not doing the 5 k run. Luckily, the rain stopped about the time the walk started. Lots of friends, teachers, and even the principals were there. At the end they handed out donuts and drinks for all. All in all I was glad we went after all. Here is a picture of the family (proof we were there) not a great one but hey, it works.
four dents in a brand new car, three wishes for you, two emergency room trips, and one video of Mattie!!!