Brotherly Love?

Craft Corner

Last night we decided to repurpose some baby food jars by making homemade snowglobes. They turned out pretty cute, don't ya think?

Thanksgiving Weekend

We've all enjoyed a fun, four-day Thanksgiving weekend together and now it's coming to a close. Time flies! Like Karen wrote in her last post, Gavin had a great gluten-free meal prepared for him and he loved it! He ate some of his stuffing, most of his turkey and all of his gluten free rolls. And for dessert - gluten free pumpkin pie! (We won't mention that he decided to skip the gluten-free pie crust and stick with just the pumpkin part.) Karen found her true culinary calling: making the most kickin' stuffing this side of the Food Network, with apples, sausage, and all sorts of good stuff. Karen's mom made a great turkey and controversial mashed potatos (that I stand by 100 percent) that made for a great meal. We all had fun hanging out with the Worlton's and stuffing ourselves silly.

The next day, we decorated our house for Christmas. Gavin and Abe loved trimming the tree - it's in a constant state of flux, with ornaments being moved every few minutes. On top of our usual decorations, we bought a few strands of battery operated twinkle lights for hard-to-reach places. They shone brightly for a grand total of 6 hours before fizzing out. (Needless to say, don't buy battery operated lights.)

We also went to the Naperville Christmas Lights Parade with Karen's parents and Dan, Marci and Ethan. We almost froze Abe and Ella solid in the process, but it was still fun! And Santa Claus was the big ending of the parade!

It's back to reality tomorrow, but we're definitely feeling the Christmas spirit after this weekend. Let the Christmas season begin!

The Grinch Loves the Ladies!

Activity Page Genius

"Don't even try to top me, mister. I'm the connect-the-dots master!"

Gluten free Thanksgiving

I am so excited about Thanksgiving! Mostly because Gavin is excited about Thanksgiving. Gavin is never excited by food or eating. He is more of a drinker....orange juice is his weakness. But, since it is a holiday, he has been talking non-stop about eating turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin pie and all the other fixins. If you know Gavin, you know what a big deal that is (Karina, I know you understand). He is not usually open to new foods (those foods may not seem exotic to you, but for Gavin they truly are). Not only is he gluten free, but he is also EXTREMELY picky. This is our 2nd Thanksgiving since he went gluten free. Last year he didn't eat much. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, so he didn't have much to choose from. This year I am making gluten free stuffing and I bought gluten free dinner rolls. My Mom even bought a special gluten free pie crust to make him some pumpkin pie. I am so excited to see him eat something other than peanut butter and jelly and apple slices! It might just be a Thanksgiving miracle! He is also excited about Christmas dinner....he has been reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and can't wait to "carve the roast beast". Maybe I can disguise some spinach as a roast beast and really expand his palate!

A few of my favorite things....

Our kids drove us CRAZY this weekend! My first instinct was to vent to you all and wow you with how difficult my life can be. BUT, in an effort to have an attitude of gratitude during the Thanksgiving season I have decided instead to share with you some of my favorite things about each of my kids.....
Ella:
-The way she sticks her thumb in her mouth, snuggles her blanket to her face and looks up at me adoringly as I lay her in her crib (check out my "Ella Bella" entry from June for a visual).
-How she lights up when she is around animals. I take her to a pet store almost every week just to watch her face as she looks at the puppies in the windows.
-How she loves to look at herself in the mirror. She gets a big cheesy grin when she catches a glimpse of herself (I would too if I was that cute!).
-Her tender feelings. She is so sensitive to a harsh voice or look. She has such a sweet girly temperment.
Abe:
-The adorable monkey/baby talk voice that he uses when he talks to Ella. He is always so sweet and gentle with her.
-His love of food. He reminds me of the rat in "Ratatouille". He loves to experiment with different tastes and textures.
-His enthusiasm. He loves life so much that he can make the most mundane task seem amazing. When we drive in the car he gives a running dialogue of all the great things he can see out the windows.
-His social skills. Abe really has a way with people. I have yet to meet someone who can resist his charms.
Gavin:
-His mind. Gavin is so smart that it sometimes scares us. He will definitely be surpassing Matt and I in intelligence very soon.
-His imagination. He can turn a box into a spaceship or a newspaper into a pirate's map. He is never bored!
-The questions he asks. I know my brain will always be challenged by him. Just this weekend he asked Matt and I to explain the differences between colons, semi-colons and ellipses....and he is in Kindergarten!
-His innocence. One of the benefits of Gavin's disability is that he is blissfully unaware of social stigmas. He is just happy with who he is and he is teaching the rest of us to be too.

So, there it is. I feel better already!

Primary Program

Today was the annual Primary Program at church. Gavin has been really excited about it because he inherited his Dad's love of public speaking (he definitely did not get that from me!). He only had one line, but with Gavin you never know what that will mean. Last year his "one line" turned into a mini sacrament meeting talk. Our morning started out badly. For some reason Sundays are horribly chaotic for us. Ella was screaming, skippy was doing his nervous pee thing, Abe was really emotional and Gavin was obsessing over a new activity book and refused to get dressed. When we finally made it to church it was fun to see that Grandma and Grandpa Worlton and Uncle Dan and Aunt Marci had all come to see us. Gavin did a great job saying his line. He did it just like we practiced and sat still through the entire program. Abe had a lot of fun watching the big kids and is excited to be a part of the primary next year. I can't believe how grown up our kids are getting. Life seems to go at warp speed lately.

Tricks and Treats

Halloween this year was a scary ole time . . . in more ways than one. Gavin spent the night before following Abram's example (see Karen's "never cease to be amazed..." entry below), so he missed school and the class parade. Luckily Karen made the boy's skeleton costumes and used comfy jogging suits, so he was able to spend his sick day in his costume. This is Gavin:





We went to Gramma Worlton's house for treats and she made the day especially memorable. Then, after a lot of rest. we headed out to hit a few houses for trick-or-treating. Ella was a bee, Karen was a butterfly and I was a bug catcher (follow the theme?). We gots lots of candy, and despite having to adjust our plans, we had a great Halloween!




It was pretty cold, but as you can see Ella was as snug as a bug!

Ray of Light

Ella exhudes so much sunshine, it actually comes out of her mouth! Don't believe me? Exhibit A: