Day 193...Friendly the elf

Well, I survived my 13th Black Friday at the G.A.P.  It was madness!  Thanks to our "manny" (aka Papa) for watching the kids. 

On Friday night the kids got a surprise before bed. As they walked up the stairs they saw The Elf on a Shelf.

"Friendly" the elf is the moniker the kiddos gave him.  As the story says, Friendly was sent from Santa and each night he magically flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa who was naughty and who was nice.  Then each morning, he is somewhere different in the house for the kids to find.  You cannot touch Friendly or he will loose his magic!  I'm not sure who is going to have more fun with this...me or the kids.  (Thanks Auntie Amber for the recommendation!)

On another note...In some of my research of Angleman resources and news, I stumbled across a video of a family who's son Ethan also has the syndrome.  It has some harsh realities, and some positive thoughts, but also does a good job explaining in a nut shell the basics of AS.  I thought some of you may find it informative.

Angleman Syndrome NBC LA

Day 191...Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. The linens, the dishes, the food, the chaos, the football, the heat in the kitchen, and the fullness at the end of the evening.  Thanksgiving is a teaching holiday and I wonder how to teach the kids how to be grateful.  We went to the library and got Thanksgiving books, they learned about it at school...but how do I teach them to be grateful in their everyday lives?

I think the true meaning of gratitude arrives on its own. You can't try too hard to create it; you can't stress too much about conveying it. Oh, we'll read the library books. We'll talk about Plymouth and Spanish explorers and throw out fancy phrases like "bountiful harvest" that will leave their little eyes crossed, clueless and confused. We'll take turns sharing what we're thankful for this year which will range from less original but still valid answers like houses and jobs to the more emotional blessings of little Rhyser and the tiny soul that changed us. I'll most likely cry and then pull it together. But still, that's not the heart of it. That's not the meaty core of Thanksgiving...the kind I want my kids to grasp and feel.

It will come somewhere in between...when no one's watching. Right when the kitchen's crazy and the gravy's boiling and the football game is roaring and hands are being washed and kids are being prepped and hotpadded dishes are being carefully carried to the table. And someone will holler for everyone to come, and I'll watch as conversations are wrapped up and bibs are fastened and heads are tipped in laughter. And right about then, I'll want to grab my kids and kiss them, whisper into their ears...."This is Thanksgiving. This, right here, is being thankful. Take it in, kiddos. Take it in."

And then I just hope they get it. That over time, they know that they are blessed and that there are so many places in this world, in this country, in this town, where there is pain and need and hunger. And knowing just how good it feels to have it, you hope they give it back.  I know that this year has changed my priorities, my gratitude, my perspective on life...

So, yeah. I'm thankful tonight. 

P.S.  Bodie is very thankful for peanut butter.  It could be worse, at least it's a protein!

Day 188...The view from inside

It's warm inside.  Rhys and I are having fun watching the goofiness going on outside.  Bodie and McCall couldn't wait to get their little fingers in the snow...

now they can't wait to get back in.

Slippery, cold, gloved hands make it hard to turn door-knobs.  I could help, but this is so much more fun.  However, Bodie just said "Hey BORON  let us in, we're freezin.' "   (I may have called someone a moron ONE time...and he picked this up.  Whoops!) 

Day 187...The BIG three-one

I'm thirty-one...I said it.  It just so happens the mark of the end of my first year into a new decade comes at a climactic stretch of life for us.

It's taken me awhile to grasp it all, but I have finally arrived at the grown-up place of life is what you make it and there are lots of things in life we go through that aren't comfortable or ideal, but they could be so incredibly worse, and a simple life of comfort does nothing to change us, mold us, make us into better, stronger more beautiful versions of ourselves.

"humans are designed to seek comfort and order, and so if they have comfort and order, they tend to plant themselves, even if their comfort isn't all that comfortable. and even if they secretly want for something better."
~donald miller

So maybe I have been planted for too long and this little bit of discomfort will challenge me, in my thirty-first year, to push myself more toward new chapters in the story of our life.

Busy, chaotic, un-edited, non-spell checked chapters.  But they will be good chapters.

Yep, thirty-one and lucky.  Thanks to all for the birthday wishes.  I couldn't ask for a better group of family and friends. 

On a completely un-related birthday note...Rhys is just as naughty as his brother...well, maybe not that naughty, but...

he crawled up on to the dishwasher as I was un-loading it!  He's fast, and I'll let you in on a little secret...am so proud of his naughty streak :) Just don't tell Bodie!

Day 186...my little monster

Rhys got to ditch the helmet for a bit and sport his cute monster hat.  The helmet has got him used to something on his head at least...so hats are staying on his head longer.

Oh, I love my little man.  He is doing so well with physical therapy...he's standing up so much now.  He pops up quick and then cruises along the furniture.  We couldn't be more proud.  I love that he is proving medial professionals wrong already.  He's one strong dude and he will do whatever he sets his mind out to do. 
Rhys makes me laugh...smile and I swear he wants to say to me..."Don't worry, Be Happy".  (Can you hear the whistling to go along with the song?  You know which one...Bobby McFerrin in the Cocktail movie :) )

Day 183...Field Trip fun!

Bodie's preschool class took a field trip to a fire station today.  The kids had so much fun...and I think the firefighters did too!  You should have heard some of the questions those kids had for the firemen!




Bodie's teacher, Miss Heather, even climbed to the top of the 110 foot ladder.  I got dizzy watching it sway in the wind...and it was a little too bright for Bodie to look up!

Day 177...blackmail

We were having fun getting ready for bed last night.  Bodie was making Rhys wear a "hat", aka his PJ pants.

It made me laugh because it reminded me of...

I cannot wait to blackmail Bodie with that in high school!

That's all for today folks!

Day 176...Happy Birthday Rob!

My  Our camera is broken.  We need to get it fixed. So I don't have a picture of the celebrating we did today...but this is usually the reaction I get from Rob when I pull the camera out anyway. 

Rob is 31 years young, and I do mean that.  I love that he acts like a kid, plays like a kid and laughs like a kid.  He keeps me cracking up, and I need that.  I love that his glass is always half full, even when there are times it should just be empty.  I hope that in another 31 years he is exactly the same!  I know that he probably won't have time to read this, because he is now glued to the xBox with his 3 new video games, but...Happy Birthday babe...I love you!

Day 168...Happy Halloween!

Whew.  This is the most exhausting holiday from a parents prospective.  It started for us on Friday when McCall wore her costume to school for the kindergarten parade.  Of course, Bodie, I mean Buzz Lightyear needed to sport his costume to pick her up.  All was well and good until I tried to remove said costume and, well...all hell broke loose.  Terrible twos my butt...it's terrible three's in the Vian house and its in full swing. 

I removed the costume, after punches were thrown, (no not by me!) and Bodie then make him self physically sick.  He threw up because I made him take off his costume!  McCall isn't even that dramatic.

Saturday we went to sport the costumes for Grandpa Don.  The kids LOVE going to his house, because he has the best binoculars to look through!


Then the big day finally was here!  Pumpkins carved...
Costumes on...
Let's hit the streets! 

Thanks to Auntie Amber for the transportation (she was the wagon puller) we made good time.  They got too much candy for their own good, but they had a great time. 
I'm exhausted.