November 25, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I'm glad to have a short week at school and am looking forward to a busy weekend. We will go to the Lakso's for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and then Barb, Kris, and I leave Friday a.m. to go shopping in Albertville (an outlet mall). We will shop all day, stay in a hotel, and then come home on Saturday. Kevin is hoping he can keep the kids entertained while I'm gone. On Sunday the kids will be baptized and they are excited to have friends and family come to our church.

Kevin just completed a five day steroid treatment due to numbness in his legs. He feels like he has more energy but the numbness is still there. We're hoping to see some change by next week. We are now fortunate to know about the various treatments available to help Kevin's ailments due to MS. He is able to call his dr. and get in for treatment quickly. Kevin is in good spirits and the kids are always curious about his various "owies." The other night Aidan was very interested in the bandage that was protecting Kevin's IV line (not quite sure of the exact term). Kevin and Aidan talked about it for quiet some time as Kevin was tucking in Aidan. Then when it was my turn to tuck Aidan in he said, "Daddy has an owie but don't worry about it Mommy. He's fine. He's going upstairs to rest and then he'll be fine." So sweet...

Alaina and Aidan are very excited about the holidays and Santa. We were visiting a mall last weekend and decided to see Santa. In the past the kids were kind of scared of him and weren't too fond of getting very close. This time they both hopped right on his lap and were chatting away. There weren't any other children in line so they got to stay with Santa a long time. Alaina told Santa that she wanted an American Girl doll and Aidan said he wanted a roller coaster. When we got home Aidan and I looked through many toy catalogs trying to figure out what he meant by roller coaster. Nothing I could find was the right one. I'm not quite sure how Santa will find this mysterious toy that Aidan calls a roller coaster!

Halloween

10/27/08

Well, I'm trying yet another way to get pictures of the kids out to friends and family. I've tried email but the pictures are too big to view for some people. I've tried a couple of websites but adding the pictures are such a pain. Things were so much easier when I had my Leo website many years ago! I've tried facebook but most of my family probably aren't interested in having their own facebook page which is necessary to view the pics. So, I'm giving this a shot.

Right now, Alaina and Aidan are really into Halloween and Christmas. Halloween because it's only 5 days away and Christmas because we have received at least 10 toy catalogs in the mail which the kids read faithfully in the car to and from school every day. Every time I tell Aidan were going to do something special (go to grandma's house, the Mall of America, etc.) he always says, "because its Halloween (or Christmas depending on the day)!"

We had a chance to try out our Halloween costumes at Zoo Boo at Como Zoo last weekend and learned that I don't know how to draw a moustache and that you can't move too much in a mermaid costume. Today Alaina and I snuck out of the house while Aidan took a nap (the first one in months) and bought a flower for her hair like Ariel, the mermaid, wears. You would think that this would be an easy trip to Michael's but the silk flower section is quite large and Alaina and I couldn't agree on a flower. She wanted every large flower she could find (hydrangea, full-size sunflower, some fall foliage mix, etc.) and I just wanted a flower that resembles something you'd find in the sea and that could fit in a clippie. We finally agreed on a white-ish flower and we are set for Friday night!

Alaina also took a creative dance class for the last 6 weeks through Minneapolis community education that we finished up Saturday. She really liked the class and the teacher. I don't know if she learned anything new but it was the first class that we've taken that she doesn't complain about it being too long. They also have a gumball machine with chewy Sprees that she occasionally got after class, so maybe that was the motivation. We are going to take a break from dance and focus on swimming lessons for both Alaina and Aidan until spring. We are starting Alaina's 3rd session and Aidan's second next week at the YMCA. Alaina loved the summer session but wasn't thrilled with our last session. She does not like to be in the big pool because it is cold (she was in a little pool that was much warmer in the beginners class) and was traumatized by a boat safety session. The teachers put all of the kids in a canoe with life jackets on and then started shaking the boat and splashing water on the kids. Then they tipped the boat over and the kids fell out. I'm not 4 and that sounds pretty terrifying to me. Maybe we'll skip boat safety week during this next session. Aidan loves his class but his teacher calls him the drifter. They are always playing games or teaching skills in a circle. Aidan never stops bobbing up and down so he drifts away and his teacher has to pull him back in!

Sara