4 of a Kind = A Happy Mom

Today the kids and I went to their second dental check-up of the year.  I am very happy to report NO CAVITIES!!!!  Amelia did such a great job that she was completely finished and holding her treats by the time Alex and I rounded the corner from X-Rays.  Alex had a hard time with the experience, but the weighted vest from the X-Ray area helped for a little bit.  I did end up having to lay a crossed him to hold down his hands and legs.  He made it though though and that is a big victory.  Addison was a very big girl.  She took her X-Rays all by herself and then went through the cleaning and check-up while I was helping Alex.  Adam of course did everything on his own.  He is an old hat when it comes to going to the dentist.  He didn't need X-Rays so he was in and out with his cleaning and check-up.  Adam took Amelia into the waiting room while I helped Alex.  He is such a great big brother :)

All of the kids had a few spots we need to watch and flossing needs to be more persistent, but I was very pleased!!

So...one of the things that I have learned recently is that a study was done that said fluoride effects Autistic children.  (Did you know that high doses of fluoride in water was used to torture and kill people?) I spoke to our dentist today and not only had they read the study, they had answers.  The fluoride used at our doctors office is gluten and dye free.  Not all dentist offices are so...you do have to ask!  They only apply it to the teeth and were very careful with the kids to suction really well so that none of the excess would be swallowed.  When we are brushing at home or chewing gum there is a natural substance called Xylitol.  The Xylitol acts as a natural fluoride and is from birch tree pulp.  Tom's Natural Care of Maine makes both a toothpaste and gum with the xylitol in it.  The dentist also told me that most dentist offices in Europe are already using Xylitol instead of fluoride. 

Our Devil's Day!

 Our family has found it pretty funny that Dadam was a Sun Devil at ASU and is now a Blue Devil at Duke!  Today is his birthday so....hence our devil's special day!  I thought that a look at his first Cross Continental trip to China for school would be a fun way to celebrate!

Above you can take a look at some of the food that was enjoyed during his visit!  One evening while he was talking to Lil Adam on the phone the question was asked "What do they drink in China?" so Dadam sent the photo of the beverages :)  Dadam said that his favorite photo of the trip was the gentleman making noodles on the upper right.

 While he and his classmates were in China for classes the Duke basketball team traveled to China to play in the Friendship Games.  The MBA students were able to enjoy the game and cheer on the Blue Devils to a victory against the Chinese Olympic Team!  As you can see Dadam enjoyed the game, I think it helped him truly feel like a Blue Devil for the first time!  Dadam said that the Chinese fans weren't very into cheering during the first half, but after the students example the second half was very entertaining! On the way to the game the China Police force not only provided an escort, but they didn't stop for traffic lights.  They truly received the royal treatment!

 China has many ways to travel.  Dadam enjoyed the bullet train, buses, taxis (Dadam loves negotiating the best price) and boats.  I think that the trains were by far his favorite though :)

 The Great Wall of China

After Dadam's classes were finished he traveled from Shanghai to Beijing.  He had a few meetings with Intel people and they told him how to get a driver and where to visit the Great Wall.  He and the people he traveled with (classmates) rode ski lifts to the top of the Great Wall.  Once they were done with their visit they were able to ride an Alpine slide down to the bottom of the wall.  How cool is that! 

Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

This was a fast visit for Dadam.  He and his traveling companions arrived an hour before closing.  They really were able to take in a lot in that short amount of time!

 What beautiful artifacts!!

 Olympic Park

Dadam enjoyed seeing the Olympic Park and meeting other tourists.  I love the AB pictures that he took outside the stadium.  The torch still looks awesome!

 The Birds Nest

Adam was lucky enough to not only get to visit the Olympic Park, but he was able to go inside the Birds Nest which was only open the day that he left.  I was surprised how much of the stadium he was able to view and explore.

 China was an awesome trip for Dadam.  He loved the people, culture, and total experience that he was able to enjoy.  The above pictures are a few random shots that he took just for fun!

Tonight we celebrated Dadam's birthday.  We enjoyed dinner at Outback Steakhouse and then come home for presents with cake and ice cream.  Dadam received his favorite portrait of the Savior Jesus Christ.  The name of the print is called O Jerusalem by Greg Olsen.  Dadam has worked on some homework and is now napping on the couch!! 

  

Primary Program 2011

Each year our church enjoys the Primary Program during Sacrament Meeting.  The program is a chance for our little ones to share the songs and messages of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father that they have learned throughout the past year.  This years theme was I Know the Scriptures Are True.  Each of the children not only get to sing, but have a speaking part as well.  

Our children have practiced their speaking parts and songs for weeks!  They attended practice on Friday and enjoyed the Fiesta following practice.  Today as we were driving to the church my heart was full of excitement and nervous for Adam and Addison as well as Alex and how he would handle the program.

As the children took their places on the stand and our family moved to our designated pew for Alex my nerves were definitely letting themselves be known.  As the program began though and my two oldest were on the stand singing my heart began to slow and melt away my nerves.  What happened next though truly was a gift directly from my Heavenly Father.  Alex joined his class and Sister Crezee on the stand and began to sing.  As the tears ran down my face I don't think there were nor still are words to express that moment in time for me.  Alex didn't really sing another song, but I will truly cherish that moment in my heart forever.

Adam memorized his part and said it very well.  Addison needed a little reminding, but her smile and excitement was a true joy to watch.  The Primary Program has always been my favorite Sacrament Meeting of the year.  I don't think I have to tell you though that today was by far my most enjoyable yet!  I am truly blessed by my little ones and their sweet spirits!

Our Amazing Alex

   Our Alex is truly Amazing!!  Over the past few months he has been making such strides and really overcoming the odds.  We have so many people helping our Alex and I truly couldn't be more grateful.  Our family truly is grateful for our family, friends, church family, medical family, school family and rehabilitation family.  Three weeks ago we began an autism medication for Alex and we saw great progress.  We visited the doctor this past week and he added another medication for Alex and the difference has been AMAZING!!!

  Potty Training has been such a hard thing for Alex and I am scared to announce it, but I think we are there!!  This past week I worked on a 10 lb weighted blanked for Alex's sensory issues and I am happy to say that not only does he love it, but it is really helping him out here at home.  

Alex's speech is truly coming along and he is not only learning a lot, but we are learning a lot about him.  He has really been sharing a lot about himself such as personality and sense of humor!

As we sat in church today for our Primary Presentation Alex was given the opportunity to go between the stand and our church pew.  I don't think I have cried so much in church as when my Alex went to the stand today and not only stood during the song Search Ponder and Pray, but he was singing along.  How grateful I am for the prayers, love and support from everyone that loves our Amazing Alex.  As we continue to "Go to Work" (rehabilitation, speech, school, OT) I am excited to watch our Alex continue to grow into himself!

A Tangled Affair

 We enjoyed celebrating Addison's Birthday with 10 of her friends from school and church, the Ashton Family, Nanee and Great Grandma Greg.  Addison picked Tangled as the theme of her party this year.  As the kids came into the house they were handed a Wanted Poster with their name on it to decorate with their own mugshots. 

 As you can see we had some very creative Wanted Posters!  The kids were also given take-out boxes to decorate as lanterns.  The lanterns were used as their thank you treat bags when they left.  Each lantern was filled with candy (I forgot to get a pinata) and the girls received a braid to hold their bows and hair clips at home!

 I pondered how I was going to do the cake/cupcakes for the Tangled party...I came up with using a jumbo ice cream cone with a cupcake set inside and a sugar cone on top to represent the roof of Rapunzel's tower.  The kids were able to use icing and candy to decorate their towers.  Emi (one of Addison's friends) created an amazing tower and right as Dadam went to take a picture it hit the ground.  I am happy to say though that she created another tower that was just as amazing!  

I tried the baking a cupcake in cone for the first time preparing for Addison's party.  I will give my instructions and tips on my food blog!  For Addison's cake I used fondant (should have rolled it thinner) for the river and roof, green coconut for the grass and pretzels to represent the forest and a cupcake on top of the tower to represent her home!

 As you can see there were some really creative towers built and eaten.  Even the birds enjoyed the cupcake on Sunday morning :)

 I love all of the fun expressions that Addison made while opening her gifts.  You can see Addison holding her Princess Barbies that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Lund.  She really had a wonderful time.  I am very grateful to her Dad for saving these pictures.  I had deleted them from my computer and memory card yesterday and Dadam found a way to retrieve deleted photos from memory cards.  THANK YOU Dadam!!!!

Addison sure had a fantastic day!  Thank you for all the love, support and gifts that created a magical 6th birthday!

Adam's Amazing Accomplishment

HE DID IT!!!  Adam started reading/listening to the Harry Potter books at the start of the summer.  Each day Adam would have his book and read along with the audio books on CD.  Jim Dale (the man that read the audio books) was fantastic!  He created over 200 voices for the Harry Potter series and was very entertaining.

Adam enjoyed finishing each book and getting to watch the movie.  Yesterday we finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  We have been working really hard to finish the last book so that Adam could see the movie in the theater.  Today was the final day in the IMAX so Adam and I hopped in the car as soon as we finished the book and headed to the theater.  We actually sat down right as the movie was starting, perfect timing!!  Adam jumped a few times and knew when to hide his  eyes.  

He is quite amazing, he can tell you the chapter of each scene as it comes on the screen.  He is used to talking through the movies to discuss the differences they have with the books.  Last night was hard for him to hold his comments in.  Luckily the theater wasn't very full!  

Adam is starting a book report for his class and so we will be following up Harry Potter with A to Z Mysteries The Talking T.Rex.

I am extremely proud of Adam and hope that we are building a true love of reading within him.  The whole family has enjoyed listening to the CDs off and on throughout the summer.  Hopefully we will start a new series soon.  Here are a few statistics to let you see what a truly amazing accomplishment Adam has made....

Number of Books....7

Number of Pages...4,100

Number of Chapters....199

Number of Audio CDs....99

Audio Book Time (hours/minutes) 116 hours & 10 minutes

I had an amazing time reading along with Adam this summer.  I even stated getting a book for myself so that I could read along to the CDs as well.  When we were reading this last book Adam checked out a copy of the book at school so that Dadam  could have a book too!  This truly became a family experience this summer :)  I am just thrilled that he accomplished his amazing goal.  Way to go Adam!!

Look Who's Six

I feel like it was just yesterday and Adam and I were being lectured by the hospital staff to name our new little girl.  As I sat up throughout the following nights nursing and staring into my new little ones eyes I began to call her Addi.  Adam agreed to the name and we officially named our sweet girl Addison Jlena.  Today as she came down the stairs memories of her previous birthdays and special moments flooded my mind.  You can see in the above photo that she lost another tooth.  We were camping when she lost her tooth and then dropped it onto the forest floor now truly lost.  

Addison took in Rice Krispy treats to share with her friends at school today.  She was able to bring home her class Birthday Bag and read a few stories as well as writing in the class Birthday Journal.   We had cake and the singing of Happy Birthday after family dinner.   I think she enjoyed the day and the extra attention that it brought her way!  Her party with her friends is on Saturday, but I just couldn't let today go by without wishing my sweet girl the happiest of birthdays.  How quickly she has grown and what strength and overwhelming will she has within her to be the person she is today.  I marvel at her strength and will power.  

My Dearest Addison,  What a wonderful young lady  you are becoming.  May your next year be full of new experiences that allow you to become the young woman that your Heavenly Father and your parents see in you.  Always remember who you are A Daughter of Our Heavenly Father.  He loves you as do your Mom and Dad.  Never loose sight of your dreams and always listen to your heart.  All my love, Mommy

Keeping Me On My Toes!

Amelia is training very hard for her terrible twos!! She is really starting to get into and onto everything.  She can now climb up the stools and get onto the counter or tables.  She is loving the pens, crayons and pencils that her siblings are leaving around the house.  As you can see she had one in the car that I didn't know about and when I opened the van door to get her out she was blue from head to toe.  Last week I found her in the garage after following the path of flour she had left for me around the down stairs!  She even tried to vacuum it up as you can see the pile of flour sitting on the vacuum.  Dumping food from their containers is another favorite past time of Amelia's as of late.  Yesterday she dumped a brand new bag of corn chips I had just opened to make lunches on the floor!  

She is super quick and smart I am happy to say, now if I could just keep up with her so the messes could slow down a bit!!

Our First Family Camping Trip!

 Our family enjoyed an amazing three day weekend camping in Ramah, New Mexico.  We enjoyed wonderful company, weather and food...what else could we possibly ask for!

The last time that Adam and I had been camping together was Labor Day weekend 2002 with the same wonderful Naverette and Dickerson families.  We were so excited to join them again with our little ones in tow.  Camping out always means good food!  Each family took two meals and a dessert.  From green chili stew to smoked pork butt and amazing breakfasts and desserts like  sopaipillas we all came home at least 5 lbs heavier :)

 The Dad's took the kids out to collect fire wood the first day we arrived.  They made two trips and by the end of the three days we used up almost all of the collected wood.

 The big entertainment for the kids over the weekend was hunting for lizards!  Each time one lizard was caught the remaining kids searched even harder so that they could have one too.

 Some of the lizards lasted days with their little owners, but others were sadly buried or let go.  Alex caught a Horne Toad all by himself after returning from a short hike.  He was like Lenny from Of Mice and Men with his little lizard.  When he had wondered off with a few other kids I took the lizard and let it go.  I wandered over to where I let it go a few minutes later and happily the lizard was no where to be found.

 We enjoyed rain everyday of our camp-out.  Most people would hate this, but being from Phoenix (not a lot of rain) we thought it was great!!  A good game of ultimate frisbee was started up during one of the afternoon showers.  Everyone had a wonderful time, but by the end of the night the Dad's were sore!!

We tried to get Amelia to nap while we camped, but she was not having it!  Adam even tried to lay down with her, but Daddy was the only one that fell asleep! 

What a wonderful three days.  I loved watching all of the kids play and learn about the outdoors.  I loved the chats by the fire with close friends and the amazing experience it was for the kids.

A very perfect weekend!!