All ready for Santa!

Well, almost.
The boys are so excited. We put out food for the reindeer,





picked out cookies for Santa,


had our annual picture taken in front of the tree with our matching jammies on,




and even left a carrot for Rudolph to enjoy all to himself.


Now for the hard part. Getting them to go to sleep!

OH MY GOODNESS

OH MY GOODNESS is the phrase of the day. I will get to that in a second.

I am sitting here, overcome with emotion (yes, again) at the incredible generosity of people in this world. I just came home from Ryan's Christmas party at school. Some very special person made a donation so that all of the kids at the school would receive a gift from Santa.

I got there a little early and although Ryan was clinging to me for dear life (he doesn't do well with changes in his routine and me being there was a big change) he showed me how he sang the days of the week & months of the year. I had no idea he knew those but I am told he tells his teachers, every day, what day it is. I was amazed.

After a couple of songs & books, Santa finally arrived. He was fabulous. He was patient and kind and let the kids come to him when they were ready. I wasn't too surprised when Ryan wouldn't sit with Santa but he was so happy to get the big present Santa had for him and of course, the one thing Ryan was waiting patiently for, the Candy Cane. We had to open the candy cane right away and he thoroughly enjoyed it as we watched the rest of his friends sit with Santa. For once, Ryan was patient.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Santa and open our presents. "It's a box!" "I wonder what it is" "Oh Wow" Ryan was excited. He received a huge Mr. Potato Head set and a new Diego video, a little Christmas tree notebook & chocolates. With his hands over his cheeks (think Home Alone style), he kept yelling, OH MY GOODNESS. Then he walked over to his friend, I, looked at his present and said OH MY GOODNESS. He continued around the room to each of his friends. It must have been Ryan's phrase of the day. He was very excited to receive his present but he seemed so happy for his friends as well.

I wanted to get a small gift for each of Ryan's classmates. We bought books for everyone and made little goody bags. I would hand him the bag & book to hand to one of his friends and he would say Oh MY GOODNESS and then pass it on. So incredibly adorable.

Today was the first of many Christmas' Ryan will have and it just makes me so excited. To see the excitement in his eyes today makes me even more excited for the big day.

Ethan's Gingerbread House

I bought a gingerbread house kit (ya, I don't make homemade gingerbread) a while back and Ethan has been begging to make it. We finally had some extra time this afternoon (the laundry could wait) before Ryan got home and we had so much fun. There was icing & candy everywhere but he was so happy with the final product.
So.....drum roll please.
Ethan's first attempt at his very own gingerbread house.

Budget Friendly Gifts

In order to stay budget friendly this year, I tried to come up with an idea for a gift for the boys' teachers that wouldn't break the bank. A friend of mine told me about these adorable M&M jars and I knew that was what we had to do.

First, you separate the M&M's by color. You don't have to do this but I think it looks so my prettier.


Then you layer each color of M&M's in a mason jar.


We still have to decorate them and attach the poem. Cute, yes?


Poem:
How do you say thank you, to someone so sweet?
You take the colors of the rainbow and add them to a treat.
GREEN is for the inspiration you give to me each day,
BLUE is for your patience in showing me the way,
ORANGE is for your warmth and your caring style,
YELLOW is for the way you can always make me smile,
RED is for my heart that you have touched this year,
Thank you for celebrating all the colors of my rainbow.
Your guidance, love, and friendship have surely helped me grow.

Unofficial results

Ryan had his evaluation at the preschool today to see if he qualifies for services. He cried when I left the room but overall did great.

The good news is that he qualifies and he is in the school. He can start as early as January 14th but we are going to wait to decide. We love it so much at Easter Seals that I would hate to disrupt Ryan's world any more then I have to. This will be a very hard decision for us. Obviously, we will do whatever we think is best for him.

The bad news is that he didn't qualify for speech, which is the one thing we thought would get him in. I am shocked and not really sure what to think. I won't get the official, written results until January but that fight that I was so hoping I wouldn't have to do, might just have to happen.

So now I am in advocate mode. I guess it is time that I open up that huge book on Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that has been staring at me. I need to be sure I am aware of all of Ryan's rights and our rights as his parents.

Anyone BTDT? Any advice?

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday, we had breakfast with Santa at Ethan's old preschool. Ethan was very excited to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas this year and we got to enjoy some yummy pancakes. Don't my boys look adorable in their matching sweaters? Yes, I am "that" mom. :)
Here are some pics. Sorry they are a bit wonky. Still trying to figure that out.

Ethan & Santa




My big boys


Ryan wanted nothing to do with Santa this year but we did catch this great pic of him



Then we came home and decorating our tree. Now if only I could keep Ryan out of it.

Ryan's big day

Ryan has had a couple of big days and has another one ahead of him today. He has his evaluation at our school district to see if he qualifies for services. If he gets in, he will stay at Easter Seals for the rest of the school year (because we love it there so much) and then start at the special needs preschool in the fall. I just can't see him in a typical preschool yet and I know he needs this. I am prepared to fight for my boy if I need to but I am hoping it doesn't come to that. At the very least, they should provide him with some therapies, speech and possibly occupational therapy. Wish Ryan luck!