Whoopee!!!! We love snow!

Well, the kids had the winter break in mid feb, so we took Arvie up to the sierras to a place called Donner. It is at the north end of Lake Tahoe. we wanted the kids to experience the snow, and to try to ski.

THey LOVED it! Anastasia went to a kiddie ski school and had a blast. Christopher (per usual) cried and cried when we put the boots and skis on him. HOWEVER... once he took his first run down the slope (firmly pinned between daddy's legs) we couldnt get him off the darn things! he loved it! at one point i even took his skis off and stuck them in the snow while waiting for anastasia to finish ski schoiol. A few minutes passed and he had them out of the snow, on his feet by himself and was trudging around.

We got us some skiers!

I love the school system

THis is what can happen when you have a school system that does not provide the proper level of supervision to a child with autism. this is also why sometimes people have to sue their school district in order to get the CORRECT schooling for a special needs child. I mean honestly... look at the number of cuts... how long did they have to leave him alone with the scissors for this to happen. 33 cuts for crying out loud!

AND WE LIKED THAT SHIRT!!!!

THey are certainly getting bigger!

This was a few days ago. Anastasia can now write her name! ah... growing up so fast, i wonder how long it will be until they are attempting to forge our signatures on school notes???
Christopher has also been able to write his name for a while. you leave him near something that he can write on... and he is at it!

The fireplace project

Ok, so this is not "baby" specific. but i wanted to show off anyways! after two years of NOT getting this done, the FIreplace project is mostly done (need to paint and apply a bit of trim.) But wouldnt you say that it makes some kind of difference!


This is what it was when we moved in. I promised Roxanne it would be fixed by christmas... And i did... two years later!







And this is now! Tiled over the old brick and then got a new mantle (thank you craigslist!)

What do you think???

Christmas 2009 Part 2

Well, the man with the bag picture really would not be complete if both of them were smiling right?

Christmas 2009 Part 1.

SO in the past, the photo shoot has always been a challenge. getting them both to look and smile keeps getting harder. however this year, we did get one REALLY great shot. A special thanks to Roxanne for remembering her iPhone... the spongebob app was instrumental in getting them both to look and smile.





The family shot was ok... but alas, sir stoneface refused to cooperate.

Happy Birthday babies!!!

Alright... so i am a little late with the birthday pics... But they came out nice dont you think?

School pictures 2009.

Ok, i have been remiss on getting pics up here. we finally got Christophers pics back, but here we go. We would LOVE to know what the photographer did to get him to smile and look at the camera in both pics.





And then there is her... Have I mentioned that I am so screwed?

Progress

Well, all the time we get asked, "how is Christopher doing?" and we are never sure how to answer since with autism it is always a game of some progress in one area, some regression in another. So hard to measure sometimes.

Well today i had yet another interminable meeting with the school district, but in the middle of it all, i had a few things that Christopher had done passed on to me and i wanted to list them here because they are great.

One of the things with kids with autism is trying to get them to do "representational play" where they mimic life with toys and then tell you about it.

Apparently Christopher was recently playing with a house and some of its components and he took a couch, placed it. Got a table and a tv and placed them as in a living room. THen got a child and a grownup and put them on the couch and then looked the teacher straight in the eye (dont even get me started on that!) and said "Snuggle on the couch!"

At a later point he did the same thing and then looked teacher in the eyes and said "watch a movie?"

While these things are normal for everyday kids, these are MASSIVE steps for our little guy. I have to say it even brought a tear to my eye.

Of course once i had to get back into the discussion with the school district, the tear was replaced rather quickly with frustration.

So if i am asked the question again... he is doing great!

Happy Halloween

Its Harvest time!

kids and pumkins... they seem like a match made in heaven!

This little piggy went to...

A princess fest on their Birthday!

Just like her grandparents and her Auntie Becky!

I guess it is hereditary, a gardner just like her grandparents and her auntie becky. Although the attire leaves a little to be desired as far as job site safety goes!

Attitude

I am so screwed!

Playing at the beach

Ok, so here is a little video clip from the kids playing at the beach. it was a fun day and yes the clip goes on a little too long.

The evolution of playing with little kids at the beach...

Pictures one and two... look at me... isnt this fun!!!




Pictures 3 and 4... Holy crap... where did that wave come from???