living in a winter wonderland

I am so sorry that I haven't posted for such a long time.  There are two reasons:  I have been busy around the house and SJ's been having noneventful, typical days.  This a good problem to have.

It has been so cold and snowy where we live that the boys have had several school cancellations and delays.  Mrs. Banks hasn't tutored him for a few weeks for the same reasons.  

He has been at speech with his new therapist, but she has been testing him.  There hasn't been any homework or skills that they have been working on to report on.

The good thing about the cold and snow has been that SJ and my husband have been skiing every weekend.  SJ really enjoys it and it is a great father-son bonding time.  When SJ skis, he is not noticeably autistic.  He is just another 11 year old skiing.  That is what I love about him skiing.

This past weekend, SJ told my husband that he needed a "break" from skiing.  My husband was disappointed, but he understood.  Plus, he doesn't want SJ to get burned out.

We still had some snow fun.  Meryl and Goldie's mom invited us over to sled ride with them, Ami and Willie's family and Mags and Topher's family.  Meryl and Goldie have a perfect yard for sledding.  SJ had a great time sledding with his friends.  Bob quit much sooner than the other kids.  He said his hands were freezing.

After the kids finished up, we all went in to warm up.  We had dinner with them and the kids played.  The girls were busy playing "spa day" while the boys were playing Wii or on their IPods.

We had a great time at their house, but we always do.  We have such great friends.  I hope you are keeping warm wherever you are reading this from.  I am trying to stay warm while we are experiencing this crazy "polar vortex".

sleepover at willie's

Sunday evening I got a text from Willie.  He was on his way home from the ski resort.  He wanted to have the boys over for a sleepover.

I replied that was fine with me, so I gave SJ the info when he got home from the ski resort. He was thrilled and Bob was excited too.  

I had the boys grab their pajamas, some clean clothes for the next day, sleeping bags and pillows.  They grabbed their game controllers and I reminded them to get their toothbrushes.  

I drove them to Willie's at 9:30.  I didn't think they would be up super late, since they all were skiing all day (except for Bob who played soccer).  

I picked them up on Monday at 9:30 am.  I thanked Willie's dad and Willie for having the boys.  While we were in the car, they were chatting away about the evening.  

Of course, they played video games.  They also watched silly videos on You Tube.  SJ said they stayed up until midnight.  They didn't really eat much for breakfast, but they had time to play video games in the morning.  Priorities, right?

When we got home, I had them unpack and I fed them breakfast.  I am so happy that the boys have such great friends like Willie.  We are blessed.

aunt jojo turns 40 = cousin time

My sister Jojo turned 40 last week.  She drove in with her family so we could celebrate her milestone.  She has two boys, Gabriel and Cedar, and one girl, Laurel.  

Gabriel is a little older than Bob and Cedar is just a little younger than SJ.  Laurel is two years younger Cedar.  The boys play very nicely together, but Bob tends to buddy up with Cedar and SJ buddies up with Gabriel.  

On Saturday, we went over to my parents' house for her party.  My mom made dinner for everyone and had a yummy birthday cake for Jojo.  

We ate and watched a video that my mom also made.  The boys hung out for the rest of the evening.  They played video games and watched tv.

On Sunday, SJ and my husband took Gabriel and my brother in law skiing.  My husband said they had a great time.  I was so glad to hear that.  

While they were skiing, Bob and I spent the day with Jojo, Laurel, Cedar and my parents.  We went to Bob's soccer game, out to lunch and hung out at my house after lunch.  It was a great weekend.

delays and cancellation

When we returned to school last Thursday, it was snowy and cold (VERY COLD).  We had several two hour delays and one cancellation.

I love 2 hour delays.  Not only do we get to sleep in, but I get to work at lunch time.  Double bonus!  

On the two hour delay days, the boys got to sleep in and had extra gaming time.  We had our cancellation day on Tuesday.  It was negative 15 degrees that day.  

The boys and I stayed in the house all day. While they were video zombies, I took the opportunity to clean our house from top to bottom.  

The boys thoroughly enjoyed the day off.  After the long Christmas break, I was very happy that we got to slowly get back into the school routine with shortened days.  

new year's flu

The Tuesday before we returned to school was New Year's Eve.  We were supposed to go to Willie's house that evening.  However, SJ and my husband were sick with some kind of flu. This was déjà vu from the year before, except that my husband joined the flu party.

So those two spent most of the day sleeping or laying around watching tv.  They didn't even make it until midnight.  I celebrated with Lloyd Dobler instead (an awesome character from Say Anything).  

SJ felt a little better the next day.  He ate very little, but was feeling well enough to have Topher over.  Those two played his new Wii U for 3 hours.  After Topher left, he went back to relaxing.

Our last day off (Wednesday) was another lazy day.  The boys were enjoying every last minute of their video game time.  Maybe that is what the doctor ordered, because he was feeling like his well self (just in time for school).

slushing down the icy slopes

The Monday before we returned to school SJ, my husband and I went skiing with our group of friends.  There were 14 of us going.  Bob didn't want to go, so I took him to my parents' house the night before.  

We met our friends at the park and ride.  SJ rode with Topher, Willie and their moms.  The ski resort was 2 1/2 hours away.  

After we got to the resort, we went into the lodge to get our lift tickets and to put on our equipment.  It was very cold that day (upper teens), so we had a lot to put on.  

We made it out to the slopes about 30 minutes later.  The resort wasn't very crowded (a big bonus), but the hills were VERY ICY (a big negative)!  We skied for about 90 minutes and then went in for lunch.

After lunch, we skied for a few more hours.  SJ quit about an hour before the other boys were done.  He said he was cold, so he sat in a chair by the fire.  He ended up passing out in that chair.  

When everyone else finished, we woke up SJ and loaded up our car.  We drove 2 hours to pick up Bob at my parents' house.  We stayed and visited my folks for about 30 minutes and then drove home.  

We were all exhausted.  It takes a lot out of you when you ski, but it is so much more difficult when it is icy.  We will all be feeling it the next day.

parties, ho, ho, ho, parties

Sorry that I am so behind on updating this blog. We were just so busy over the holidays (that is a good problem to have).  We hosted three parties (Christmas Day, a friend get together and a family party) at our house over the break. We enjoyed all three parties, as well as the one we attended at my sister-in-law Jean's house.  

That was Christmas Eve.  My other sister-in-law Ann's family was also supposed to attend, but couldn't make it.  So, it was us, Jean, her boyfriend, his mother and Jean's kids, Nicole, Jackson and Leo.  Nicole's fiancé and Jackson's wife also attended.  

Jean made a yummy dinner and then we played games.  Our niece and nephew's are much older than our boys, but Bob and SJ always enjoy seeing them.  There weren't a ton of gifts to open, but the boys did have a gift to open from Aunt Jean and their traditional Christmas pajamas.  Before SJ opened his presents, he said he was going to be mad if there were clothes in that box.  

Mad was an understatement.  He threw a huge tantrum and yelled, "I warned you not to get me clothes."  He then stomped off to Jean's bathroom to pout.  We let him go for awhile, but then reminded him how ridiculous he was being.  Eventually he calmed down.  

When we got home, I told him that Santa wouldn't be happy with his behavior (he is a little too old to still believe, but that is a bonus from the Autism).  He decided to write Santa a letter.  This was his letter.

The next day, it was Christmas Day.  SJ opened his presents first.  He loved everything he got. He opened his favorite present last (couldn't have planned it better).  His whole face lit up when he removed the wrapping paper and saw his Wii U.  He proclaimed, "I love Christmas!" What a great moment.  I don't think I will ever forget it.  

That evening, we had my husband's extended family over for dinner.  It was a very lovely dinner.  Everyone seemed to have a good time. The boys enjoyed spending time with their older cousins.  

Two days later, we hosted our friends.  We get together with them usually every two months. The kids are all girls, except for one boy.  He is one year older than Bob.  He played Connect Four x Four with the boys.  They also watched a movie.  We always have a great time with the gang. They are wonderful people.

The next night, we had our last Christmas party. My Aunt Eliza was in town with her family, so I had them over and my other Aunt Kate and my cousins. The boys played with my cousin's son while we visited.  We had a lot of fun, so I was glad they all came over.  

As much as I enjoy entertaining, I think that three parties are my holiday limit.  I hope you all got to enjoy your friends and family this holiday season.

school's out for Christmas

The week before Christmas break they did many fun things at SJ's school.  They have a charity event (Kids Helping Kids) where students can sell treats, drinks, small toys of fun activities (hair painting, knee hockey, face painting, etc.). All of the money goes to local children's charities. I love this event!  SJ and a classmate had an airplane throwing contest.  They charged 50 cents a chance.  The winner got a mason jar filled with gumballs.  Here is a picture of their sign.

I am not sure how much they raised (the friend was in charge of the money), but any little bit will help.  I also gave SJ some money so that he could buy some things.

The next day, they had movie day.  He was allowed to wear pajamas to school.  They watched Despicable Me 2.  SJ enjoyed that movie.  He also had a How To presentation to do that day.  His partner and himself demonstrated how to make popcorn.  He did very well with the presentation.  

The last day of the week was party day.  They had a chorus concert in the morning and the parties were in the afternoon.  SJ said he had fun at the party.  I was so glad to hear that. Once he moves on to the junior high, all the holiday parties stop (that fact makes me a little sad).  Oh well, school's out for Christmas!

after school tutoring #11

The last Monday before the boys' Christmas break SJ had his weekly tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  They continued to read more of The Island: Escape.  

After they finished reading, she had a fun activity for SJ.  It was a maze where SJ had to guide an elf to the gift he made.  She said SJ enjoyed this activity.

Next, she had him complete a Christmas Tree Glyph.  SJ had to decide on the color of the tree's ribbon (red-we put up our tree after Thanksgiving), the color of the tree's trunk (dark brown-we decorate a real tree), the color of the star (yellow-we don't let him open presents until Christmas morning), the color of the tree (dark green-he is a boy) and how many presents to draw and color under the tree (4-there are four members in our family).  See the completed glyph.

After the session was over, SJ gave her a mason jar full of green and red Skittles.  She have him a candy candy filled with Skittles and a cool handlamp.  SJ loved the gifts.  

She said he did very well for her and she continues to be pleased with his progress. Hearing that is a Christmas present for me.