Gingerbread boy...

Okay, everyone dig back to your Sesame Street days and start humming "one of these things is not like the other" and read on...

I made some gingerbread boy's to bring to church and someone (RICK) decided to "help" me decorate them...he did a total of one, can you guess which one it is????

How you know it's Christmas!

This is how you know it's Christmas...let me introduce shepherd #5 (Jenna) and shepherd #6 (Sam). How nice, Jenna got to be first this time. Nothing say's Christmas like children singing "Silent Night" with shepherds costumes on.

Like every parent in the audience (and it was packed) we started holding our breath right about now...phew, she got it. Oh, can't breath yet we still have shepherd #6 to go....

..."Sent down from the Father, sent down with love". Okay, now we can breathe! It's not that they didn't know their lines, neither one of them had more than ten words but, for some reason when they put that microphone in front of your child....it's a brief moment of terror mixed with panic for the unknown of it all.

P.S. Please pardon my bad quality pictures but, they are from our video camera and it is obviously not digital. Plus, to make matters worse they had the lights down in the church...sorry.

Every journey begins with a single step...

A few days ago I noticed something, I don't really know if it's new or if I just hadn't seen it before. I was dropping off the kids at school just like every other day, they got out of the car, Sam bounced up the steps and Jenna dropped the books she was carrying. While she bent down to pick them up (it would have been easier if she had taken off her gloves first) Sam stopped at the door and waited. He didn't say anything just waited at the door until she got there, he opened the door for her and went in after her. He's done that every day since (she doddles), never tells her to hurry up, just waits patiently for her to go in first. Holding the door every time, like a perfect gentleman.

It made me smile.

Some of you may be saying "Oh, that's nice but, why is she telling us that story?" Well, when we started on this journey with Sam almost seven years ago this was something we were scared we would never see, one of many things we worried about. Would he have the ability to put others first, to have compassion, empathy and a host of other emotions. That's why when it happened again this morning...

It made me smile, again...

I read something today, another blog by a parent of a child with autism. I so wish I could write like he does. It made me cry...a lot. I want to share a little bit of it with you, if that's okay. It reminded me that even as we go forward on this journey we still need to look back, every once in a while.

From: http://www.bothhandsandaflashlight.com/

A few days ago, I was talking to a mom whose son is nearing five. He’s completely non-verbal. He has never uttered a single sound that wasn’t a moan or a shriek or some other shapeless noise. She said the following words, and as I type them I can still feel freezing water creeping through my blood as painfully as when I heard her say them.

“What if he never talks?”

She said it as a rhetorical question, like one you call out to the universe or the deity you are having a shaky relationship with at the moment. You don’t really believe an answer will come, and as with many of the questions we have as parents of an autistic child, no one can really give you one. We walk similar paths, but all of our children are different. There will always be steps we have to take alone. But we can sit with each other as we ask the question and understand much of the fear and despair it is born from without judgment.

For those of us whose children begin to find little foot and hand holds on the mountain of speech they climb, each inch they earn fills us with renewed hope. There came the day my son ran up to me after school and said “Dah-deh”, and I thought I would cry enough to fill every crack and furrow left in the earth by the years of challenges we have often feared were insurmountable.

But when I look back down the path and see the parents of the non-verbal children still searching the smooth, holdless face of this towering rock, tears and sorrow fill my gut. I remember being back there, secretly loathing those who had gone on ahead of us. I am not proud of this, but neither do I want to forget it.


We’re all part of this unfathomable relay of parents trying our best to ferry each other up the mountain in any way we can. But we can’t really climb back down and show others the way up. It doesn’t work like that, just as it couldn’t for us with those who came before us. The path is different for each of us. But I can still call back and give them what’s probably the best advice anyone’s given to me so far - “Just keep going, because that’s the way through.”

Jenna, Sam and Mary...

Confession....I am a huge Mary Tyler Moore fan! Thanks to my sister I have a bunch of Mary Tyler Moore Show DVD's and I watch them often. So, to see my kids next to a statue of Mary brings, well, tears to my eyes...okay, so it was probably the bitter cold wind that was whipping at my face but, that just kind of ruins my story. And these two were just thrilled, albeit, cold but thrilled to be getting their picture taken by the iconic 1970's TV star...okay, not really.

And of course there was the apartment, I so wanted that apartment. Big deal it didn't have a bed room but, that window and the step down living room and the carpet, oh, the shag carpet... guess what? The house is for sale (and yes, I know it was only used for the outside but, again that would ruin my story)it's still Mary's house; okay, technically it was Phyllis' but, really it will always be Mary's house to me. Oh, to own that window...does anyone have 3 million dollars they can loan me? It's to fulfill a dream after all.....

Tradition...

We've kind of created a tradtion of going to Macy's 8th floor holiday display when the kids are off school for a staff development day....less people! We did that yesterday with Granpa and Grandma...complete with a visit with Santa. If you live by a Macy's that does this...GO! It was really cool and the kids loved it (big and small). I was a little distraught at the sight of my kids dwarfing Santa...excuse me, but, when did they get so big??

Fabulous Forty!

Happy Birthday to a very special person, my little sister!

We love you, Jules!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

With so many things to be thankful for it's hard to pick just one to share so, I'll pick two...

Happy Thanksgiving from our crazy family to all of our friends and family!

Hello...

Sorry I've been a horrible blogger lately but, it's been kind of busy around here. I don't have any really new photos to share, at least none that haven't been through my rigorous Photoshop process. In case you are not aware (and if you read this blog you should be!), I am NOT a good photographer so, I have been forced to learn Photoshop and I have a ton left to learn.

This photo is from our movie night at school and my friend Joy, who was doing the face painting, could not talk her out of this. She's such a supportive daughter...I just love that about her! She also told me she was proud of me for being elected to the school board! That should make the long meetings, budget cuts and parents mad at me all worth it!

Have a great day!

Veterans Day 2008

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

Thanks, Dad!

Oh, how pretty!

We weren't exactly expecting this...oh, sure, they said flurries but, this was quite the surprise. It's pretty and most of it's already gone by the time I started writing this but, I'm fairly certain that there will be more coming...just a hunch. Have a great weekend and GO GIANTS (State Football)!

Just wanted to share...

This picture was taken by the mom of one of Jenna's friends. I love this picture it is totally her!!!

Sam wanted to help me make an apple pie and so, of course he had to put on the outfit...toooo cute! In case you can't tell he's a pretty good cook. And yes he stuck out his tongue the whole time...love it!

Next year...no wings!

Halloween 2008 is officially done...happy dance!!!! Sixty degrees on Halloween in Minnesota is a rare treat and we greatly appreciated it, especially one little pixie fairy in tights and skirt. The wings however proved to be a bit of a pain causing Miss Jenna to utter the following..."Mom, next year I want to be an angel WITHOUT wings"...It might be just me but, I think without the wings you will kind of loose the look. They managed to get full buckets even though quite a few of our neighbors were at the football game...GO GIANTS! We won so, it's all good!

And yes, I do know that Sam's "Mustache" is crooked but, he smiled halfway through it and that's what happens.

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from our house of twin goblins....

Boo!

Changing Seasons...

The following is Minnesota in the fall. Last Saturday I picked the last of my roses because the evil meteorologist said the four letter "S" word (that would be snow).

And then this...

Yes people that is SNOW! Cold, blustery and SNOWY...it's gone now but, it will be back.

P.S. I really do love snow but, I'm just not ready for it yet, it's too early. Besides we need it to be warm enough for someone in this house to be able to go trick-or-treating in her pixie fairy costume without a jacket (it doesn't match, oh, the horror!).

11 Years ago today...

"The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung."
-Walt Whitman

Why I love Halloween...Part I

Jenna is a pixie fairy for Halloween. Now, many of you may be surprised that I, miss-finish-the-costume-the-night-before-Halloween, actually completed her "costume" with so much time to spare. Well, let me assure you that the real me is still here 'cause she needed her costume for her Girl Scout Halloween party last Tuesday...I finished it at around 3:30 in the afternoon...party starts at 6 (I love being me).

Let me move on to the hair piece. When I think of pixie fairy (and I do soooo often) I think of wings, a wand with ribbon and this hair thingy. Last week when the kids were on "vacation" we went to Hobby Lobby...yes, I took both kids and it was ooooodles of fun (if you cannot detect the sarcasim in that please read it again), we then proceeded to pick out the flowers for her hair thingy (I call it that because I have no idea what it is actually called).

Already this is turning into a typical Halloween for me. I always make these costumes into a way bigger deal than they need to be. Hardly anyone sees them and they wear it once, maybe twice and then it's gone forever. I spent hours of my life that, by the way, I will never get back wrapping ribbon around a paper mache ring, gluing flowers (which resulted in numerous hot glue "burns"...prompting my husband to utter this sentence that I'm sure he wishes he could take back "geez honey, you'd think you'd know how to use that thing by now"-if looks could kill....) and let's not forget the glitter (more on that later). Anyhoo, the next morning I proudly show Jenna my "creation" to this response...."that's nice, Mom...thanks". Yup, reeeaaal enthusiastic...great! Okay, let's try it on....not good. It doesn't really sit on her head very well and she walks around the kitchen like when you used to when you would pretend to be a runway model with a stack of books on your head. She then say's the following..."Ummmm, Mom, I don't think this is working maybe we should go to plan B". Yes, she's nine going on 20. My response you ask? well, it was this...

"Jenna, THERE IS NO PLAN B!" We are going to have to make it work, okay?"

Jenna: "Okay, I guess".

Me: "Don't worry I'll figure something out by the time you get home from school".

Jenna: "What?"

Me: "I don't know but, trust me". and she does because well, she doesn't have a choice. So, I end up hot gluing (yes, more "burns") a little comb inside and we fit it over her "bun". I put "bun" in quotations because it barely resembled one. For all of you that have seen how thin her hair is you know that I deserve an award for actually getting her hair to kind of look like a bun.

All was well in the end and she looked adorable for the party. Pretty much everyone at the party was dressed in black (except for the one girl in a red power ranger costume) so, pink Jenna really stood out...she wanted purple and ended up in pink, don't ask.

One more thing regarding the glitter...upon looking at her hair "thingy" and noticing the glitter she made this statement:

"Mom, glitter looks just like the fairy dust that the tooth fairy leaves, really, it does".

Me: "Yeah, fairy dust and glitter are the same thing. When the tooth fairy uses it it becomes fairy dust...I'm sure she just buys it in bulk from Hobby Lobby". Okay, I added that last part for dramatic effect but, you never know she could buy it there.

And for the record I'm really not ready for them not to believe in the tooth fairy.

Fall in the country...

So, by now you've seen a million photos of fall colors well, brace yourself, here's a couple more. There are a lot of reasons why I love living in the country and this time of year is definately one of those reasons. We are surrounded by a cocoon of yellow, orange and red...and there is nothing like the crisp air with that fall smell. I try not to think about when the leaves will all be gone 'cause then I get to see what new "junk" my neighbors are "storing" behind their shed...that's when I so miss my curtain of green leaves.

Fall Traditions...

Every year we go to the "Scarecrow Festival" at a local apple orchard/general store/restaurant/pumpkin patch...busy place. They have tons of different scarecrows and activities for the kids. This week is MEA (MN Education Association for all you non-Minnesotans), which means all the kids in the state are out of school Thursday and Friday. I'm not exactly sure what the teachers do on MEA weekend...I guess they have workshops and lectures for them to go to but, what I really think is it's just a long weekend for the teachers to catch their breath after finding out what hooligans they have in their classes. Anyhoo, this little festival is packed on those two days but, luckily for us my kids also have Wednesday off. There were just enough people so that the kids had other kids to play with but, not so jam packed that you had to wait an hour for a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Lots of fun especially, picking out our first pumpkins of the year.

They have a bunch of these "photo things" and guess which two kids had to have their picture taken in EVERY SINGLE ONE? Luckily for you I'm only sharing one. Think I could get ONE good picture in the haystack? This is as close as I got...thanks guys!

This was my favorite scarecrow...can't you just feel the love?
For the record, Jenna's favorite was the Miley Cyrus Scarcrow and Sam's was Walle...shocking, I know.

This photo needs an explanation...

When you have kids you kind of hope that they might be interested in some of the same things you were into when you were little. Not that it's a big deal or anything but you think it might be kind of cool. For those of you who don't know I started dance class at age four until I was 22...now I'm old and the only "dance" I do is when I have to chase the dog around the house trying to get a pair of socks out of her mouth and she thinks it's ome sort of bizarre game, uuuugggghhhh! Anyhoo...when Jenna was five she went to dance class...let's just say it really wasn't her thing. She did fine but, she thought she just needed to memorize the steps and that was it (with her memory that didn't take long)...she didn't get the practice to improve part. So, we moved on to theatre...she was now amongst her people. It was a good fit for her. However, the drama is not limited to the theatre, she lives and breathes it...there is literally never a dull moment in the life of Miss Jenna.

I shall now explain the pieces of this ensamble (and I use that term loosely). Let me start with the only normal piece, the skirt; which was a gift from Aunt Julie...very cute and a darn shame that it is pared with the rest of this "get up". Then things start to go awry. The "pom pom" on her head (and who doesn't put pom poms on their head?) is from the Giant Day's Parade last summer. The lei is leftover from last weeks homecoming fesitivities, the wrist things are from a halloween costume from a couple of years ago (a princess costume, I believe), the "cape" is actually a skirt from one of my old dance costumes, the top is a cinderella dress-up piece that is NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR HER (did I emphasize that enough?) and last but no least...her pink slippers. One should alway finish an "outfit" with pink slippers, I say!

Life is never dull around here and we like it that way...

Super Fan

Hi!

This is one of the many (I'm sure) Minnesota Vikings Super Fans. You can't see it in the picture but even her finger nails are purple. Pastel...sheesh people do you think I'd buy a nine year old dark purple nail polish? I'm sure that will come up in her teen years. This super fan lasted approximately five minutes of the game. In case you missed it that would be just slightly longer than it took Tennessee to score their first touchdown. I'm sure the Minnesota Twins t-shirt will come out today.

Autism Walk 2008

Walk Now for Autism Minnesota - Canterbury Park, Shakopee. Now we know how the horses feel going around the track.

Leading the way...the whole way!

Sam and his biggest supporter

The "official" Sam's Club Photo

Meeting Tyrone from the Backyardigans (a Nickelodeon show, I think)

Jenna making a butterfly

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to Sam's Club - Walk Now for Autism Minnesota!! We met our goal and raised $1000 exceeding last year by $250 (again thank you all so much)!!!! It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time! Sam wanted to finish first (in Sam's Club) and he did! He did great...so much going on, so many people - definitely not an easy situation in autism world but, he loved it! They had some fun activities for the kids and he jumped right in...crafty stuff, even! It was one of those days I wish I could share with every teacher and therapist who has ever worked with Sam or still does.

It was awesome to see so many people raising money to help find the missing piece to cure autism. A very special thank you to Grandpa and Grandma Siefert for all their fundraising and for walking with us. We are so blessed to have such tremendous support from all of our family and friends...thank you.

I've got your back...

When you have twins you worry that you're giving equal attention to each twin. You always try to make everything "even" then, you find out one twin has special needs. You then become even more obsessed with making sure they both know how much they are loved. The thing you don't count on is the bond that twins have...it's not something even parents of multiples can't fully comprehend. You have to be a twin to "get it".

No kid with special needs could ever ask for or receive a better twin than Jenna. See, she knows him better than anyone. She loves him unconditionally and knows when to cut him some slack and when to chew him out. She teaches him without knowing that she's doing it and most importantly she's the first person to give him a hug and a big "woo hoo" when he accomplishes something that's been a struggle for him.

They don't really fight like siblings. Sometimes I'll hear them arguing and I'll stand outside the door to see if they can work it out and they almost always do.

They truely are each others best friend...I love that.

Here's a Sam and Jenna story for you...

At school every year they have "mix-it-up" day at lunch time. Usually the kids have to sit with their class at lunch but, on this particular day they are supposed to sit with someone else and well, mix-it-up. Who do my kids sit by at mix-it-up day...you guessed it, their twin

I know who the proudest sister will be at the autism walk on Saturday...I bet you do too!

Hi...Hello...Remember Me?

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth...sorry I've been a horrible blogger lately. I'm having a hard time getting into a new routine now that the kids are back in school. Between sick kids, a funeral, school, PTO, school meetings and laundry I haven't managed to get blogging time stuck in there. I promise I will try to do better!

Now, on to the important stuff...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LORIE!

Today, is my sister-in-law's 39th birthday!!

Everyone in our house would like to wish you a very, happy birthday. Your brother-in-law would like to remind you that he is still younger than you are. Don't feel bad, he does it to me all the time. However, you look younger than him so, therefore you win!

And you are welcome for me telling everyone in cyber space that you are 39.

First Day of 3rd Grade...

I just wanted to show you the first day of kindergarten for reference.

Happy first day of school...I was not ready to give my kids back this morning. But, you know what? they were ready to go. I'm glad that they are so excited to go back to school but, I'm really going to miss them. It's awfully quiet around here...

"Sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now."

-William Wordsworth

The end of summer.....sob, sob

So, it's the last weekend of the summer, that sucks! I'm sorry, I know it's a family blog but, stinks just isn't a strong enough word. This summer went waaaaay too fast!

We did a little family field trip on Friday, I think it's becoming a tradition...some little science day at the end of the summer; which is odd for me since I really don't like science. Obviously the rest of my family does so, I was out voted. Apparently antiquing was not high on their lists of things to do...humph! We went to the Bakken Museum which and I quote the brochure "is an electrifying experience"...it's a museum of electricity. For everyone who just said "a museum of what?"...I shall repeat, a museum of electricity and it's really, really cool. It was created by the guy who invented the pace maker and it's located in a gorgeous tudor mansion overlooking lake Calhoun in Mpls. So, the location had me at hello but, besides that it was fun and all three kids ('cause that is what Rick becomes in these situations) had a blast (oooh not a very good description to use for an electricity museum, sorry). They tried all the experiments...well, except for one that Jenna refused to try because it sent electricity through your body (safely, we assume) but, Rick? well, lets just say he wants to get one for our house 'cause he thought it was the coolest thing ever...he scares me sometimes.

If the summer must end then let it be by a lake on a gorgeous sunny afternoon with ice cream!

Happy Labor Day everyone!

I wanna be a rock star...

Sam: Hey, Mom...I'm gonna be a rock star when I grow up

Me: Oh, Okay.

Sam: How old do I have to be to be a rock star?

Me: I don't know but, I'm pretty sure older than nine.

Rick was teaching him the art of badminton racket guitar in the garage...wanna know what song they were "jamming" to? Night Ranger...Don't Tell Me You Love Me. Poor kid being raised by "80's" parents.