Christmas at The Salvation Army

This past Saturday we went to the Corps Christmas Dinner at the Salvation Army Church.  We all had a good meal and the kids got to visit with Santa Claus.

Birthday Girl

This past Thursday was Mia's birthday. She turned 7.  I can't believe how fast time flies.  Seems like just yesterday I was snuggling her in our bed minutes after she was born.  She may be much bigger then that day 7 years ago, but she'll always be my little "pinky".

Mia decided that she wanted to have a bowling party this year, so we planned it for Saturday at the New Hamburg Riverside Lanes.  It's a really reasonable party and they provide the pizza, drinks and ice cream.  The kids bowl for an hour (it's 5-pin, so the balls are nice and small) and they they get to be in the party room for an hour.  Everyone had a great time, and the boys and Ryan stayed for a bit and bowled a game too.

I made her cake again this year.  She wanted chocolate with chocolate icing.  Turns out that all the kids were too full from the pizza and ice cream so nobody ate any of my cake.  Ethan was really happy with this though because now he gets to eat it at home.

Mia got some really cool presents, and everything was things that she loved and/or wanted.  I gave her my (very) old iPod Touch and she's quite happy with that. (And really, how can I NOT be happy since that means that I get a new iPhone at the end of the month!)

Help Support KidsAbility

KidsAbility is a very important part of our community and we are very lucky to have services like theirs!

My four kids have all been through KidsAbilities doors.  Cody, Mia and Sydney were all there for speech therapy.  The patience and kindness that those therapists show is just amazing.  Sydney was also there for Occupational Therapy and PhysioTherapy.  It was those therapists that figured out that she had severe reflux and that's why she couldn't (wouldn't) sit or crawl.  Once we got the reflux under control, the PhysioTherapists helped her catch up with her crawling and walking.

All of this happened within the Early Years programs.  Those kids are discharged once their kindergarten age.

Recently, a new set of programs has started.  The School Years Program is for those kids that are over kindergarten age who still need assistance.  Children and Youth up to 18 years of age.  This is the program that Ethan is in.

Three weeks ago Ethan was diagnosed with (mild) Cerebral Palsy.  He started PhysioTherapy on October 24 with a wonderful Therapist named Jennifer. (I have another post about her over HERE on my other blog too.)  It's programs like these that need help with funding.

That's a picture of Ethan at Therapy.  Core strengthening exercises on the "peanut ball" is one of his favorite exercises.
Just this week, we found out that his right arm is also affected by the CP, not just his legs.  Though his arm is not affected nearly as badly as his legs, he probably will need therapy for it too, so we're not sure how long we're going to be seeing Jennifer.

All this is to say that KidsAbility is a wonderful place.  My family and I would be lost without it.  This Saturday, November 5th, there are some fundraising initiatives going on to help out KidsAbility.

Swiss Chalet in Waterloo, ON on Weber St. will be donating $1 from every 1/4 Chilcken Dinner that is purchased, to KidsAbility.

DairyQueen at Laurelwood Plaza is donation 18% of all purchases to KidsAbility.

So go have a nice dinner and then a treat afterwards and help out a wonder cause.

Happy Halloween

Two ghouls, one skeleton and a little cow!

Ryan took them out while I was passing out candy to the 135 kids that came to our door.  Syd gave up first, so she helped me hand out candy too.  Ethan finished next...then finally Cody, Mia and Lewis came home for the night.  Everyone had fun and we have enough candy to last us until Easter!

Cody was thinking that this is his last year for Trick or Treating...but I guess we'll have to see what the next year brings.  If he's taller then me by next year, I think he'll have to be done...if not, I don't see what another year would hurt!

Last Hurrah!

We decided to head up to Grand Bend this weekend so some end of summer swimming.  The weather and water were cold and the wind was really blowing, but we went in anyway!

Well, that's technically only a picture of Ryan and the three big ones, but Sydney and I went in too...well, I went in...Syd mostly played with rocks on the shore!

We had fun though, especially when the sun finally came back out.  I hope we can go up again next year when it's warmer...maybe Syd will even come in the water!

Fresh From Garden

We planted a garden this year and we finally got something good from it!

You see, in May and June, we got so much rain that half of the plants and seeds drowned.  Then we got the heat wave, and the things that survived the rainy season, fried in the heat.  My cucumbers and peas never were any good.

I did get 2 nice cauliflowers! One I gave to my Grandma and the other one to Cindy.  I also have Kale, TONS of Kale.  We like it cooked slightly and mixed in with mashed potatoes and sausage in a Dutch food that I can't spell, but love to eat.  I have so much that I think I'm going to start blanching it and freezing it for the winter time.

I also have some broccoli still growing and some carrots that I think are still growing.

But today I got my first pepper!  It was just a little guy, but it tasted really good!

I will definately plant another garden next year, but I've learned from this year.  I won't plant nearly as much kale and more peppers.  I will NOT plant any lettuce.

Happy harvesting!

A Boy and A Dog

I haven't posted any pictures of Lewis lately, so I thought I'd show him off.

He's definitely outgrowing his crazy puppiness and calming down a little, but he's really not growing into his ears!  I never realized how camera shy he is either! It took me 6 tries to get this picture of him...he wouldn't look at the camera!

Now, I have to say, I think Lewis is the only living creature that is going to be sad to see the snow finally melt for good!

We use the extend-a-leash and hook him onto the banister of the front bridge so he can't get away, but he can still jump and flop around in the snow we throw at him.  I just wish he loved the water as much as the snow!

And finally, I always love a good kid/dog picture.  Almost every night, Ethan and Lewis snuggle on the couch until one or both of them, fall asleep.

Awwww, isn't that sweet?

Visiting the Polar Bears

Most of you know that we're members of the Toronto Zoo so we like to go down about once a month.  Well, we headed out there this past Sunday.  It was wonderful, there were hardly any people so we could go as fast and slow as we wanted.

Sydney and Ethan rode in the double jogger stroller.  The bear that Ethan is holding is Addison.  He's a school project!

Ethan has his head inside a terrarium.  It's really neat actually.  I took my turn after him and it's really quite interesting.

A little froggy inside the terrarium

The two polar bears were napping when we got to their area.  They were so cute all snuggled up together like that.

Overall it was a fun day and we will definitely go out in the winter time again.