Thanksgiving in Iowa

We had a great Thanksgiving week road-tripping to Iowa to see so much of the family we are thankful for. We spent the first couple days in Cedar Falls visiting Grandma and Grandpa Haugen, and then headed to Fort Dodge (with a stop in Webster City to see Dan and Pearl first) for the second half of the week. Other than time together, including lots of cousin play time, we did not have much of an agenda, and were able to spend the week relaxing and catching up with loved ones.

We always know we're driving into Iowa when we get to the wind farms!

Walking to dinner with great grandma and grandpa.

Dinner night one.

Dinner night two.

Game time.

Sydney reading to Great Grandma.

Uncle David came to visit!

Grandma and Grandpa Schaefer came into town in time to have breakfast together before we headed out.

Saying our goodbyes after a great visit.

Cousin time!

With Great Grandma and Grandpa Steck.

A fun Thanksgiving, and now on to Christmas!

Myles and His Book Fair Money

It is of course our desire to see all of our kids learn to be advocates for themselves, but this is even more so the case with Myles. As an individual with Down syndrome, we are working to help him become a “self-advocate,” where he is able to advocate for his rights, wishes, and needs. I think he is well on his way…
 

Those that know Myles well, know that although he has a great smile, and can make anyone feel welcome and loved, he is NOT always happy, and honestly, not always pleasant to be with (I mostly feel this way at my 5AM wake up calls). He can be pesky and so super-duper persistent. This is great sometimes – like when he wanted to learn to do the monkey bars, and he stuck with it and kept practicing even when it got hard and took him longer to learn than most other kids. He didn’t give up, and now he can do the monkey bars all on his own.

It’s not so great when he gets something in mind that he has been told he cannot do or has to wait for. He will push, and push, and push until he either finally gets his way, or is willing to give up on it, which he doesn’t do without a stomp and a grunt to let you know that he is not a happy camper. 

The other night he got “stuck” as we refer to it and was incessant about requesting that he be allowed to bring money to school for the book fair. Gilby reported to me that after Myles had gotten off the school bus, he spent an hour and a half stating, “Money, money please, money NOW, money book fair, money school, money backpack,” and several variations thereof. Myles emptied Ryker’s toy cash register and wadded up the fake money to put in his pockets. He also resorted to carrying around a fake credit card. Gilby told him (several times) that he would go to the book fair with Myles on Wednesday night to pick out a book. Myles was clear that this wasn’t good enough, and he wanted to bring the money to school.

After I got home a bit later, Myles started in again. “Money, Mom. Money book fair. Money NOW!” He was again incessant. Knowing Myles and his excellent receptive skills, we thought it was likely that his teacher had said that kids could bring money to school to buy a book, rather than simply make a wish list for their parents. Myles clearly wanted to be one of the ones who brought money – but unfortunately, he doesn’t have the expressive language to be able to give us the whole scenario, so he just boils it down to, “MONEY NOW!” 

Nervous that I would not be able to get him on the bus the next morning without money in his pocket, I texted his teacher to see if kids were actually allowed to bring money to school. She responded by saying that yes, the kids had been told they could bring money, and that Myles had his eye on a couple of books to buy.

We sent money in an envelope and gave Myles instructions to buy one book. When I told him he could give the money to Mrs. Davis (his special ed teacher) when he got to school, he replied, “No, Lerner,” (Mrs. Lerner, his 2^nd grade general ed teacher). Not only does he know exactly what he wants (MONEY), he also knows exactly what he plans to do with it, and although his ways can sometimes be unconventional, he already advocates for his rights, wishes, and needs. People just have to be willing to listen…including his parents.

Myles and his book fair book.

Fall Soccer

Myles and Sydney both had another successful soccer season! We had awesome (hot!) weather every week, and it was a lot of fun watching the kids. We decided to have Ryker sit this one out since he wasn't quite ready for it when we tried last spring, but he probably had more fun climbing trees and playing at the playground during his siblings games anyway.

Myles played with the TOPS program again for youth with special needs. He was very focused this year and played hard during each session. He enjoys having his own activities and takes pride in his skills. This was probably his best season yet.

Sydney was on a new team this year with one of her best school friends, Olivia. Olivia's dad coached the team, and all of the girls made a lot of progress. At the beginning of the season, it looked like they might get crushed in every game, but they pulled it together, and won several games. Her team, the Rainbow Rockstars, was a great group of girls that all got along at practices and games. It didn't hurt that Coach Ian found a way to incorporate cartwheels into practice drills! Sydney still loves soccer and is naturally pretty good.

Way to go soccer stars!

School Pictures

Myles - 2nd Grade

Franklin Elementary - Mrs. Lerner

Sydney - 1st Grade

Franklin Elementary - Mrs. Collier

 

And Ryker...this is the best "smile" the teachers said they could get that day. What a stinker. He has a super cute smile, so I considered retakes, but I'm not convinced we'd actually get anything better. He's in a phase where he doesn't like the camera, and the boy's gonna do what he wants! I somewhat prefer this true representation of his current personality quirks.

Ryker - Preschool

The Village - Mrs. Tritz and Ms. Klein

 

 

 

Halloween 2016

Halloween 2016 unfolded over the course of a week and a half with multiple activities for the kids to enjoy. It culminated with trick-or-treating last Monday night, and overall was a success. I don't quite remember so many Halloween events as a kid - it makes for a busy week, but the kids love it and it makes for lots of fun!

Two Fridays before the actual Halloween day, we joined Grandma, Grandpa, Siri, and Raum at the Streets of Southglenn for their annual Spooky Streets. The kids trick-or-treated around the shops and we ended the night with pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

The Thursday night before, Myles was persistent about dressing up as "a mommy cheetah who runs fast" for Halloween. He had mentioned this about a month prior, but I thought he would change his mind and be agreeable to wearing something we already have. He didn't. So, Sydney, Myles and I took a quick trip to Goodwill where I found a cheetah print dress and the ears/tail/bowtie combo. I trimmed and sewed the dress into a tank top and painted his face. He was super happy with the outcome!

The next Friday was the school parade and class parties. On Saturday morning, Gilby took the kids to the annual Trick or Treat Street at Arapahoe High School put on by a couple high school clubs. On Sunday night, we carved our pumpkins. The kids were all grossed out by the insides, but had fun designing and helping to carve their own faces.

And finally, Monday was Halloween and we went trick-or-treating with our neighborhood friends. The kids were so excited that we couldn't get them to stop sprinting from house to house. Sydney, Ryker, and Gilby stayed out for about 2 hours, but Myles and I decided to come back after an hour or so. He really enjoys it and does well overall, but was getting too tired and cranky to push it anymore. We already had more than enough candy and instead came home to eat Ryker's leftover birthday cake!

Captain America and the butterfly.

Trick-or-treating with neighbors.

 Myles decided on a new costume about 3 minutes before we were set to meet neighbors on Halloween night - an Iowa football player!

Happy Halloween!

A Lego Party

We celebrated Ryker's 4th Birthday with a Lego party today. He really, really loves building with Legos, so this was a perfect fit. Myles and Sydney have never had a big interest in Legos, so I didn't really get the obsession until Ryker came along. I love having a kid who loves Legos! Not only are they so fun, but they are also a great creative outlet for our boy.

We had a few little buddies come over for the celebration, played some games, ate lunch, broke a piñata, enjoyed a Lego cake, and opened presents. This was Ryker's first real birthday party with friends, a theme, games, etc, and he wasn't actually sure what to think. He's been talking about his birthday and having a party with much anticipation since Myles and Sydney both had theirs in July. He's been super excited, but after the party started, the attention, high energy, and *controlled* chaos proved to be a bit too much, and he needed a couple moments alone to regroup...which of course led my parents to recall my 3rd birthday party when I took all of my presents up to my room and locked the door - while my guests were still there! Overall, Ryker had a great time and I know he will talk about this party for a long time.

Pin the head on Lego man.

Lego/spoon relay race.

Piñata

Silly Gilbert kiddos.

Food and presents.

A few decorations (I didn't get a picture of the utensil and napkin holders that Gilby made out of Legos. They were so neat!)

Gilby and I had fun putting the details together to add some personal touches to the simple party we had planned (there are so many easy and fun decorations to make with Legos!). Gilby spent a long time getting the Lego cake just right, which was worth it when multiple times Ryker said, "I love my Lego cake." It was a great day celebrating our precious Ryker.

Ryker turns 4!

Dear Ryker,

Happy 4th Birthday, Baby Boy! I cannot believe that my littlest boy is FOUR-years-old already! You are such a joy to our family and keep us all laughing (and sometimes pulling our hair out!).

As a typical 4-year-old, you are constantly learning, figuring things out, and bridging the gap between wanting to be a big kid and still being our littlest boy; it’s been fascinating to watch you grow. Although you are the youngest of three, you are your own little person different than your siblings, and I find our relationship growing me, and sometimes stretching and challenging me as a parent. You give great big hugs, and whenever I leave the house, you say, “I love you soooooo much, Mom.”

Things I love about you: I love your smile. I love your hugs. I love the teeny freckles on your nose. I love your sense of humor. I love how you call us "Mama" and "Dada." I love your soft cheeks. I love your morning cuddles. I love how absolute you are in knowing what you want. I love your dimples. I love your creativity. I love having conversations with you. I love your questioning nature. I love being with you one-on-one. I love that you are a homebody (I am too!). I love your little run. I love how much you want to spend time with me. I love your love and admiration for your daddy (you are a Daddy’s boy). I love you!

Things you love: You love dinosaurs, Legos, rocks and sticks, your siblings, being physical and active, exploring, riding your scooter, reading books, and once in a while still cuddling with your mom. You play really well alone, and have an active imagination, but one of your love languages is time, and you cherish when we are able to spend time with you one-on-one, whether it be something simple like building a Lego house, or something bigger like going to the Museum of Nature and Science (you are always asking to go there!).

Things you don’t like: You don’t like eating dinner (breakfast and lunch seem to be fine though!), wearing pants, putting on jackets, brushing your teeth…and on and on. Really, you just like to have some control over whatever we’re asking of you, but you're not quite sure how to manage that independence, and the learning can sometimes look like a big, dramatic, emotional scene. (We’re working on deep breaths and staying in control!)

This is your grumpy face. Grrrr.  

You’re in preschool two mornings a week starting this past fall, seem to really like it, and your teachers say they love having you in class. Although you tell us you play with the teachers and never the kids, they say that you are getting along with the kids really well – you stinker. Although, your best friends are still your brother and sister and you love spending time with them. You three are often playing house, family, hotel, or something similar. It usually involves packing bags, and moving pillows, blankets and toys all around the house. Sometimes you buddy up with Sydney, other times with Myles, and often with both.

We are proud of you, all love you so much, and hope for the best next year for you!

Love, Mama