Carpentry Merit badge

Duncan had to build a piece of furniture all by himself to earn the carpentry merit badge. His Dad was there to make sure no harm came to him, but he did it all by himself. I'll post a picture as soon as I get it in it's place.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at my sisters house. She cooked a wonderful meal, and we had a lot of fun!!

Duncan's last in door soccer game

Duncan played his last game of this season. He is turning out to be a pretty good goalie. DANG IT!!!!!

The kids sing along

The kids have a Christmas sing along every year. This year the orchestra played before it so the parents got to come and enjoy. The Gym is so full, they usually don't ask the parents to come. So here is all the fun!!!

Duncan and Grandpa

Duncan might actually be able to play the violin!

Jason's Christmas Party

Jason had a Christmas party at school a few weeks ago. Grandma and Grandpa came, and then Santa came!!! He enjoyed himself, and he didn't freak out about Santa. Progress!!!!

Preschool

I picked Jason up from school, and he ran out into the hall. I took his hand to lead him back inside, and he said, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take the word NO, from him anytime!!!!!

This weekend

We were a little out of it this weekend. Jason didn't really feel good, so he didn't sleep. He had an issue with his Asthma, so we all were a bit out of it. The one thing we did, was go to Duncan's indoor soccer game. The last little bit they put him in goalie, something I wish would never happen. He did pretty good, and he seems to think he wants to play goalie from now on.........sigh.......

Tori was sweet and paid for the rides with her own money. She is such a sweet heart!!!!!

At school with Tori

Jason and I went to walk with Tori's class. It was raining so the teacher decided we were going stay inside. We played, "4 corners", and "Heads up 7-up".

Jason sat in Tori's desk for a minute.
And then he decided he needed to run around the class room.
After school Tori told a story at the Storytelling Festival. Jason found the box of pillows and head dived into it. It kept him busy for a few minutes, anyway.

Jason's Teacher reports

I picked up Jason from preschool today, and he was enjoying himself with the books. Of course this meant that he was ripping the cover off of one, while the teacher was cleaning up.

While I was trying to get Jason ready to leave his teacher told me that he said, "Help" today. I can't believe it. She was helping him put a puzzle together, and he was directing her with his hands. When he said, "Help". She said she had to yell to the rest of the adults in the classroom to make sure everyone heard it. She didn't want to think she had imagined it. The other ladies said they had heard him say it as well. We'll have to keep our ears open so that we can see if he will use it again, or not.

Can he hear yet?

I went to my sisters house to get Jason's picture taken. She is our family photographer, she does a GREAT job. And of course, Jason is a hard subject and I figure if anyone will work hard to get a good picture, it's his own Aunt.

While I was getting him ready to go outside, my 5 year old niece Maren asked, "Mel, can Jason hear yet?"

I think a lot of people would probably think she was being weird or rude. But my sweet Maren, really just loves her cousins. She wants what she feels is best for everyone. I told her, he can hear ok in most circumstances. I also told her that I'm really not sure what Jason can, and can't hear so we are getting his hearing tested.

I finally told Jason it was time to go play outside. Maren looked at Jason, and then looked at me very seriously and said, "He can hear you." With a curt little nod she followed him outside.

Gotta love the five year old mind!!!

Homemade Marshmallows

Brett had a Holiday party at work today. They were sharing desserts, and Brett decided he was going to make some candy. He whipped up a couple of batches of homemade marshmallows. The first batch was just plain white, but the second he added some peppermint flavoring to and some green food coloring.

Here is the start.
As it whips it gets lighter,
And lighter.
This was the first batch. I was tired, so I fell asleep before Brett finished them up. But let me tell you. They are good marshmallows.

He then dipped them in chocolate, and sprinkled crushed candy canes on them. I haven't tasted the chocolate dipped version, and I hope that there will be some when he gets home from work. =)

Samantha's Braille reading

Sleepy boy

My poor boy crashed in his swing last night. I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner, but he was soooooo, tired. He's darn cute though.

Preschool

I went to preschool to watch Jason play on the playground yesterday. I got there early and had to film them trying to keep Jason still. He did REALLY good!!! Which is to say, he sat still for about 15 seconds at a time. I had to laugh, because his teachers are so persistent. They must be absolutely exhausted when they get home from work.

Swimming Lessons

Tori and Samantha finished up another round of swimming lessons on Saturday. Tori was really close to passing level 5, and Samantha did pass level 3.

They will start again after the new year.

Jason's latest hearing test

Jason had his hearing tested today. he did really well. There weren't any toys or puzzles and he really was able to focus., on a whole he is hearing 25-30 DB's. However, this is using both ears in a hearing booth. So we get to go back in a couple of weeks and try to find out if he is hearing the same in both ears. Lots of work but he did well and This is less stressful, then a sedated ABR.

Walking the track

Jason and I walked the track with Tori today. We discovered that Jason kind of likes his big sister. She was started to play with him a little less like a baby, and more like a kid that needs to be roughed up a little. It was really cute to see him actually taking to another person.

And of course I had to throw in the goofy behavior he exhibits on a day to day basis.

French Bread

My first attempt at making French Bread went pretty darn good. I made some garlic butter and we had awesome garlic bread. I got both recipes at allrecipes.com, which at the moment their server is down so I can't link the recipes for you. Brett has taught me to read the comments. They have suggestions on how to improve the recipes. It sure makes cooking fun, when things turn out the way they are supposed to.

Louis Braille Prensentation

The girls got to give a presentation on Louis Braille today. One of the first grade teacher asked Marcia to introduce her students to Braille, since they had been reading about Helen Keller. The girls did so well, I am such a proud Mom!!!

Teach Town

Jason has a new computer game, that his teacher gave us to work with at home. It's called Teach Town, and he loves it!! The other kids like to play with him too. I think it's something they all have in common. They love the computer.

Indoor Soccer

Duncan has been playing indoor soccer for a few weeks. The girls have had swimming lessons about the same time so I wasn't able to watch much until last Saturday. Duncan scored a goal, and in typical "Melanie Fashion" I missed it. As you can see, however, the boy is starting to be able to play the game. =)