Sharing DS and Santa's Breakfast

With the busyness of the season I tried to limit our activites to the ones that would be the most meaningful for our family. One of those was attending Breakfast with Santa organized by Sharing Down Syndrome of AZ. I wonder if I will ever get use to walking into a room of strangers and having them embrace us so openly while asking intimate health questions about our darling son. :0) Unlike the DS Walk, we had a chance to really chat with a few families. We admired so many of them as they dealt with so many more challenges in health than we do with Elias, everything from heart conditions to surgeries for strictures in the esophagus or major sensory issues. It was also nice to see hear from others that Elias was doing well and the few concerns we had were quite normal in children with DS.

Isaac and keila had a blast playing and making crafts

I got a chance to chat again with Gina, the lady who first introduced me to this wonderful group. She is truly enthusiastic and warm for all children, but especially for those with DS. Elias got a good amount of snuggles from her.

I'm grateful for these people in my life. While our interactions are brief, they truly understand - from the endless doctor appointments, running the hoops though an ever changing system to the profound pride when I can say Elias can sit up on is own. Our journeys are similar and it's nice to share in them along the way.

Toothfairy Dreams

Years ago (well, only 3 years, but that's a lifetime to a 5 year old!) Isaac watched an episode on TV with the Toothfairy and was captivated by the concept of a being who would trade him a tooth for money. For a time he'd wiggle his teeth in the hopes of moving the process along and so I was naturally shocked when the dentist informed me that he really did have one loose.

The tooth fairy was generous and gave him $2 and a note saying something to the effect of looking forward to more visits in the future.

A week later his second one fell out, now he REALLY has a gappy smile! (Ahh, the awkwardness of growing up, so endearing when it's your own children and not you!) This time the tooth fairy gave some hygiene advice - Floss your teeth often. Yay tooth fairy, maybe Isaac will listen more to her since she holds the purse!

Everything to Me

I love having a camera on my phone ... I love my phone. It's crazy how much our bill went up with our smart phones, but I must say it's nice to keep in touch. Anyhow, if I don't have the "second wife" on me (she is heavy to lug around!) it's nice that moments don't get lost. While the shots aren't as nice, it's the memories that I treasure.

Elias and I snuggling while working at the preschool nursery.

Kent and Elias were twinners that day and I couldn't resist this shot of the two of them playing on the floor. The sweet men in my life!

Keila loves Elias and always wants to smell or snuggle him. This was after a nice feed and Elias was content enough to let her hold him all by herself. What a proud sister.

We finally finished rocking in our front yard. After they delievered it the neighborhood kids has a blast playing on the pile. Isaac and Keila laid on it dreaming of how happy Kent would be if they did all the work for him. Then they used this little shovels and trucks to attempt the job. I think it was sweet, it's the thought that counts right?

Love these guys, they are everything to me!

Horsing Around Stepping Stones

This is one of the many reasons why I love stepping stone preschool. They are just large enough to afford fun activities for the kids and small enough to feel like a big family. Their field trips are all on campus and range from Jungle Jill (who has tons of animals to see and pet) to the canine division of the police as well as firemen. This time they brought the Singing Cowboy and his sidekick Dusty.

Notice the extremely attentive audience and my daughter sitting in the middle.

Isaac loved the part where Dusty steals the cowboy's s'more. " That's one smart horsey!" Keila was so darn excited and wigglely this was the best shot I could get with a camera phone. Silly girl!

Thankful

One of the things I miss most about Canada is that thanksgiving is held at the beginning of October. It's the first to the fall/winter holidays and isn't lost in the shuffle between Halloween and Christmas. The idea so celebrating gratitude for our blessings is really important to me since I'm not so good about it on a daily basis. We always put up our blessing tree and nightly added blessings to it. We had a lovely meal the day of and lounged about playing wiht the kids and then the following day we made a major Black Friday purchase. After nearly four years without a television, we bought one as a part of our early Christmas present. That evening we enjoyed Phineas and Ferb without squinting at a computer screen. The thing is HUGE! And now I can't help but ask the kids in a deep bass voice if they want to watch, "on the BIG SCREEN TV".

The following day we went out for dim sum and some play time in Encanto Park. They have an amusement area called Enchanted Island made for young toddlers and so considerable time was spent deciding which would be the 5 best rides to spend their tickets on.

It was clear Keila was more eager to try the "cary" rides so long as she could convince Isaac to go with her. With some urging from us they hopped on a dragon 'roller coaster'. Honestly the dragon head was much more terrifying than the ride). Keila proudly got on saying, "I be brave!" towing Isaac reluctantly behind her. They sat in their respective seats, Isaac resigned to his much dreaded fate. I think reality hit keila all of a sudden and this terrified look crossed her eyes as she decided to get out as quickly as possible. Isaac watched her go, rather bewildered and suddenly shout, "hey, I'm not going if Keila's not going!" And that was that! Kent and I tried to encourage them to try again but neither would hear anything about it.

Actually she looks terrified in most of the pictures with the exception of the carousel.

Little man was tuckered out. He loves looking around at the outdoors.

We wandered the park some more and caught a few nice pictures of Isaac chasing birds and a cutie boy with a smooshed nose sleeping on Mama.

Thankful for relaxing holidays!