Christmas

This year we had a wonderful time at Christmas. Kailey and Cope recieved a Swing Set from Santa, and we got them a wagon. The wagon folds almost flat and will easily slide into our trunk. We are especially excited as we are going to use it for our visit to Disneyland in February. The swing set is the only outside toy the kids have and I am thrilled that we will now be able to have something for them to play on when we venture outside during the day.

I also made Cinnamon Roll Christmas Trees. I think my mom use to call them Sugar Plum Trees, but there is another candy/dessert called that. I have made it a tradition in my family to make two and have them, along with whatever is in the stocking, as our Christmas morning breakfast. Here is the directions to make them:

1) Click on Recipes on the home page. It should take you to my collection of recipes so far. The very first one will be called Mom's Dinner Rolls. Use this for the Tree's. I do 1/4th the recipe and usually add a little more sugar then it calls for. If you are making some for someone else, the complete recipe will make four medium sized trees.

2) After the dough is made, roll it out into a rectangle.


3) Spread a light layer of butter over the rectangle. After the butter, sprinkle with sugar, add a layer of cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and then sprinkle with brown sugar.

4) Once a thick layer of sugar and cinnamon are added, fold one side and then the other so that the rectangle becomes a triangle. Once in a complete triangle cut two verticle slits in the bottom of the triangle. Then begin cutting slanted slits up the side on either side. After the slits are cut take each section and twist it.

In the example above, the red lines represent where the slits should be cut before they are. The next tree is a representation of the slits being cut but not yet twisted. Once the slits are cut remember to twist each section a couple of times to ensure that the cinnamon and sugar will remain inside the tree.

School

Cope is in Early Childhood Intervention, which in the San Juan County area is through Roundtree. They just recently told me that in January-February we'll have to start the transition process to pre-school. Even if I don't want to put him in school quite yet, I still have to go through the process. Because of that, I've started trying to research schools in my area. I posted on facebook and got some really good ideas and comments, but I still don't have enough information. I wish there was a website with a conglomeration of the areas schools, their resources, teaching tactics, what they provide for both special education and gifted education. I wish parents could go to this site, click on the schools they are interested in, and then have it compare those schools according to certain parameters. This would allow the parents to get a quick idea of what they are looking at. Since I haven't found such a site, I'm going to have to make calls, visit schools, and get all the information I can that way.

The helpful tips I've been given so far are:
1. Almost all public schools have school district sites. Find the district site and use that to find the school you would be in. Included in that should be a number to reach the school. Call the school directly and ask questions. Make a list before calling so that you don't leave any out or forget to ask something important.
2. Ask around. There is usually at least one person you know that has been to a private school in the area, and can tell you which ones there are, and then from there you should be able to search them and find a number to call. Ask them the same list of questions you would ask the public schools.
3. Talk to teachers. They know the ins and outs of the school and would know best the positive and negative aspects of the school they teach at.

If you have any more advice or helpful tips let me know. It looks like I'm going to be making a ton of phone calls in the next little while to find out the information I need to know.

The other thing I'm not sure of is what questions I should be asking aside from the resources, teaching tactics, special education, and gifted education. As I come up with my list of questions/concerns I'll post them.

Playing in the Snow

Took the kids out to play in the snow today.
One thing I realized, never try and put a glove on a child who has had a stroke and doesn't use their hand much. It was next to impossible to do.

Notice his right hand in the picture. I guess I need to get him mittens. I finally left his hand bunched up in a ball inside the glove and quit trying to distribute the fingers.
Cope hated the snow. As soon as I sat him down in it he began to cry.

I helped him make a snow angel and that is about the extent I could get him to "play" in the snow.

The top one is a close up of Cope's. The second one is Kailey and Cope's. Cope's is on the left and Kailey's is the bigger one, on the right.

                                              
                                               

I took him back inside and he took a nap while Kailey and I finished playing.

She made a snow man, with a little help, and then we went inside for hot chocolate and lunch.

Happiness

With the spirit of Thanksgiving still in the air, I started going over all the things that make me happy in my life. Today I am especially thankful for my little family.
My daughter for the first time in at least six months asked for me to pick her up. When she was little I couldn't wait till' she didn't ask anymore; now it has become a precious moment to be cherished. I resolve to never again take for granted those moments I get to sit quietly and hold my children. Those moments when I can read them stories on my lap and tickle them till' they laugh so hard we are both laughing, are the moments I am truly happy.  I will try harder today to be thankful for all the little things. Tomorrow these moments will be faint happy memories. May I be happy with my multitude of happy moments today, rather then regret those times I could have been happy and wasn't.

Welcome

The purpose of this blog is . . . well it has lots of purposes.

1) I want to be  able to increase my writing exposure. I thought getting on wikihow and then creating a blog would be a good start. I love writing in all forms, but what I enjoy more is editing. I love to take a red pin . . . or click on the editing tab and tear a paper apart. If you've ever had me edit a paper you know I mean that literally. For me the more red the better, and the best part is I use that theory on myself as well. I'm not the best writer. I make mistakes, especially when I'm typing. Sometimes what I say doesn't make sense, but when I'm able to take what I've written and tear it apart, then usually what I write turns out to be something worth reading.

2) I want to be able to use this blog as a sounding board for those who need it. Life is hard, but it can be easier if we know that others have similar struggles. No one has the exact same hurdles in their life but many are similar. There may be parents out there who like me have had to figure out how to get a child who refuses to sleep to go to bed, parents who have had a child who had a stroke, parents who have been told they can't or shouldn't have anymore children, parents who are looking at adoption. The list could continue for pages. I've had many struggles in my life, but I've also had many joys. Joy greater then I thought I ever could have. Joys that outnumber the struggles. I want this site to be a place to share the struggles with the joy, to give those struggling hope.

3)This will be a place to brag. I have the most wonderful family in the world and therefore have the right to brag about them. So yes, this site will include what awesome children I have and how amazing my husband is.

4) This will be a place of ideas. The more heads together the better ideas are, so as I find good ideas, recipes, crafts, pictures . . . pretty much anything I like I will be adding.

The basic purpose is for each person who visits to leave knowing that there is more to a person then what appears at first glance.

Here is what I have created on my blog so far:
*  I have a Writer's Corner. I'm going to try and give grammatical rules, writers tips, and information I find. I'll start with one or two a month depending on the time I have. Click on the picture of my daughter writing for the first time, and it will take you there. Under what I have written is a place for comments and questions. Feel free to leave them!
* Right under the main picture are sites that I like and pages that I've created. If you click on the name it will take you to the site or page.
At the bottom of the page is my brag column for my kids. Click on their picture to get their monthly updates.
* Each month I will also do a post. It will be on whatever I want, but if you have a question or requests feel free to comment under the previous months post and let me know. More will be coming in the future.

This site will be a constant evolving project, but for now welcome to my blog!