From Our Family To Yours

Wishing you joy, peace, and hope today and always.

Love,

The Martinis

Let Them Eat Cinnamon Rolls

Every family has Christmas traditions that are passed down from our parents, grandparents or generations even further back, but most of us also have something new that we started on our own.

Since the early years of our marriage, Craig and I have always enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls on a Sunday in December.  I only make them once a year and they are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  Last year with Emilia home just a few weeks, I did not have the time or energy to bake our holiday cinnamon rolls, so today was the first time we shared this tradition with our children.

I started the baking process around 9:00 am and we enjoyed a sweet brunch of warm cinnamon rolls around 11:30.  I made 32 rolls (16 regular and 16 cinnamon raisin), so I could give half of them to my friend Mary as a thank you for helping me out on Friday.

Yeast dough from two pounds of flour, risen and ready to go

Slathered with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon

Fresh out of the oven
The loaf on the right is dairy free for Emilia

Mary's batch

Iced and  almost all devoured in no time flat

I enjoyed baking for my family today and based on their finger-licking, lip-smacking, and ooh-aahing, I have no doubt that they relished in the fruits of my labor.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Therapists Holiday Gifts

Since Rex is now in preschool, this is my first holiday season as a mom having to consider presents for teachers.  Due to the size of Rex's program (13 families and 13 therapists at the moment), parents decided to pool our money for collective gifts.  We were definitely on a budget having only $13.46 available per therapist.  Our theme was "Spa in a Bag."  Since I love shopping for a good bargain, I volunteered to look for deals that would stretch our dollars as far as possible.  I shopped clearance, sales and promotions; I used free shipping and other coupon codes; and I searched ebay with these results:

12 Female Therapists:

Godiva Chocolate Biscuit Gift Pack: $5.30 each (regularly $8.50)

Bath & Body Works 8 oz Lotion: $4.57 each (regularly $11.00)

Loreal Nail Polish: 95 cents each (regularly ~ $4.00)

Avalon Organics Lip Balm: 88 cents each (regularly ~ $3.00)

Pair of Fuzzy Socks: $1.33 each (regularly ~$2.50)

Total : $13.00 ( value ~ $29.00)

1 Male Therapist

Godiva Chocolate Biscuit Gift Pack: $5.30

Panera Gift Card: $5.00

Total: $10.30 (sorry, Mr. Cameron, you got a little short-changed)

The remainder of the funds ($8.56) was spent on wrapping supplies.

Another mom did the wrapping, so here's a photo of what the therapists received today:

I think the gifts were a success as the board at school had a big thank you on it followed by a grateful email this evening.  I hope these ladies and gent know how much we appreciate what they do for our kids every day.

IAC 236 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 236 which was held on November 13, 2012:

1) French dossier from August 2009 referred a male child aged 5 years and 2 months

2) Italian dossier from August 2009 referred a male child aged 4 years and 4 months

3) German dossier from October 2009 referred a male child aged 3 years and 3 months

4) German dossier from October 2009 referred a female child aged 3 years and 7 months

5) Spanish dossier from February 2010 referred a male child aged 8 years and 3 months

6) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred a male child aged 5 years and 6 months with features in health status

7) Spanish dossier from July 2010 referred a male child aged 8 years and 9 months

8) French dossier from July 2010 referred a female child aged 7 years

9) French dossier from August 2010 referred a male child aged 12 years and 10 months

10) French dossier from August 2010 referred a male child aged 7 years and 9 months

11) Spanish dossier from May 2012 referred a female child aged 12 years and 3 months

Emilia's 15 Minutes

Since Emilia is now more compliant with structured/guided work and activities and has been home a full year, this month I have begun an educational regimen with her on the days that we stay at home and have nothing or not much else on the agenda.  Under this plan, Emilia has up to four 15-minute sessions throughout the day where the focus is on skills and academics.  I have discovered that her attention span is roughly that amount of time, depending on how demanding the activity is, so it’s a good base line for how much I can expect from her at the moment.  I try to keep these sessions very flexible and offer a wide variety of activities.  For example, watching a Baby Einstein video counts if she sticks with it for at least 15 minutes.  I am keeping notes for myself, so here’s what I recorded from our first two weeks:

December 6, 2012

1) Dotted with bingo daubers, independent scribble with pen and sharpie, hand over hand lines and circles as well as write name.  Discovered she knows the verbal command “knock” – practiced knocking on table top.  Looked at animal magnet book – she chose which animals to take out and I told her about the animal.  Compliant and interested.

2) Baby Einstein World Animals on TV.  Periodically focused throughout 30 minutes.

3) Read two Christmas books, practiced sign for book, counted things in the books, sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Unfocused. 10 mins only as it was right before nap.

4) Transferred ten stickers onto paper all hand over hand, played with play dough all hand over hand – she was resistant to everything and cried almost the entire 15 minutes.

December 7, 2012

1) Water play: practiced washing hands and pouring from various vessels (with assistance).  Explored colored shaving cream.  Interested and compliant.

2) Read Does A Kangeroo Have a Mother Too – practiced pointing to things on the pages, practiced counting, signed book hand over hand, practiced turning pages – medium level of interest and participation.

3) Sensory play with popped popcorn.  Transferred uncooked penne pasta from table into a cup to practice pincer grasp (needed some assistance).  Large inset puzzle (pieces out independent, pieces in with assistance).  Largely compliant.

4) The Nutcracker on youtube (BBC production) – watched with intense interest beyond 15 minutes.  Climbed up onto TV stand and touched the screen as the performance unfolded.  Smiled, babbled, and laughed at the TV.

December 8, 2012

1) Drew with pens, practiced vertical lines, she attempted.  Looked at human face picture and pointed to parts.  Looked at family pictures and pointed to people.  Magnetic animal book – took out pieces and made animal sounds.  Moderate interest throughout.

December 12, 2012

1) Baby Einstein Let’s Look Book – talked about each page and had her point. She now extends her index finger at the command “point.”  Practiced sign for book.  Turned pages with hands and feet.  Played music on the toy xylophone/piano, using fingers and toes.  Signed music.  I named the colors of the keys for her. – Good interest.

2)  Music Time: Sang Hickory Dickory Dock – she signed music independently between every verse.  Sang Five Little Monkeys – she signed music.  Introduced sign for please.  She was babbling quite a bit throughout.

3) Super Simple Songs on Youtube – total focus and attention for upward of 40 minutes

December 13, 2012

1) Transferred ten stickers to paper hand over hand, but she was able to pull them off the paper unassisted.  Colored with crayons, minimal assistance with vertical lines.  Looked at Let’s Discover Colors book.  Compliant and interested throughout.

2) Shape sorter – hand over hand except for 2-3 independent.  She can lift the lid off the shape sorter and put it back on without help.  She can put pieces into shape sorter without the lid on with ease.  She held the shape sorter and jumped to make the pieces clank around.  Giant legos – built hand over hand.  Compliant and curious.

3)  Baby Einstein Numbers Nursery on Youtube – stood in front of TV watching mesmerized and giggling for the entire 28 minutes.  Does she love numbers like her daddy?

December 14, 2012

1) Played with vehicles (firetruck, school bus, dump truck).  Stacked legos on top of bus, sang The Wheels on the Bus, practiced rolling vehicles back and forth.  Practiced ripping paper – I know I will regret this.  Somewhat disinterested and reluctant.

2) Played with Mr. Potato Head – pointed to and named parts of his face and my face.  Then let Emilia study her own face in a mirror and point to parts.  She made facial movements and various sounds and watched herself.  She was extremely interested, animated and happy and lasted with this activity for 20 minutes.

Emilia's last day of preschool was yesterday.  We gave it four solid months to see if this environment would have a positive impact on Emilia's development.  We did not notice any worthwhile improvements and, instead, grew increasingly frustrated with the staff over basic issues like feeding, clothing, napping, and diapering, so we decided to remove Emilia from the school.  Starting in January, Emilia will attend individual weekly toddler programs in the community, but more about that in another post.

IAC 235 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 235 which was held on November 9, 2012:

1) Spanish dossier from October 2009 referred a female child aged 5 years and 8 months

2) French dossier from November 2009 referred a male child aged 6 years and 3 months

3) French dossier from August 2010 referred a waiting child (#1792) with a profile on the MOJ site

4) Spanish dossier from October 2010 referred a female child aged 10 years and 5 months

5) French dossier from May 2012 referred a waiting child (#1873) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) Italian dossier from September 2012 referred a female child aged 11 years and 3 months

7) Italian dossier from September 2012 referred three waiting children (# 1779 & #1780 & #1781) with profiles on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from October 2012 referred a sister and brother aged 10 years and 4 months & 8 years and 3 months

9) US dossier from October 2012 referred a waiting child (#1228) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from October 2012 referred a waiting child (#593) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from October 2012 referred two waiting children (#1648 & #1649) with profiles on the MOJ site

12) Italian dossier from November 2012 referred a waiting child (#1833) with a profile on the MOJ site

13) US dossier from November 2012 referred a waiting child (#1548) with a profile on the MOJ site

14) US dossier from November 2012 referred a waiting child (#1754) with a profile on the MOJ site

15) US dossier from November 2012 referred two waiting children (#1644 & #1645) with profiles on the MOJ site

* It appears that the IAC did not meet to issue referrals for about one month between October 11 and November 8, 2012.

More Christmassing

In light of the nation's mourning an unimaginable tragedy, it seems frivolous to write about the holiday joy we have been experiencing as a family.  On the other hand, these blessings are the means by which we make every day count as best as we can because, as we were so violently reminded, life is precious.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this holiday season.  I didn't know how much the kids would be able to handle and what they would enjoy.  It has come as a tremendous surprise how we have been able to celebrate throughout this month thus far and how much our children have liked making these memories.

On Friday night we went to the Festival of Lights at our local zoo.  It was just beautiful in unusually mild December weather.  Rex and Emilia lasted about an hour and a half and had such a great time.  Rex loved the carousel ride and the lights and music everywhere mesmerized both of our kiddos.  They were so good for the entire outing, we think this event might become a family Christmas tradition.  While we were walking through the festival, we told the kids that many years ago Mama and Daddy had had their first date there and that, therefore, the place was quite intertwined with our little family's history.

The four of us at Gingerbread Village

Emilia at the helm of our new wagon,
a Black Friday bargain

Rex lying back to enjoy the lights above him

My loves

We also had the pleasure of spending part of this weekend with our cousins and their boys.  We met up at our place and then headed to the local library for some gingerbread house decorating.  Rex and Emilia did a nice job with some parental assistance.

Putting on Fruit Loops shingles all by himself

Adding to the roof design

Afterward, we all returned to our home and enjoyed a Chinese carry-out feast followed by hot chocolate, pie, and cookies as well as presents.  Rex has been practicing opening presents at school and signing "thank you" and he did well with both.  It's amazing how he can learn and later apply skills if we introduce him to concepts first in a more controlled, non-traditional setting.

There's one more week until Christmas Eve and I, for one, know that I will be hugging my kids a little tighter as we wait for Santa after what happened in Newtown on Friday.  Parenting these little ones can sometimes be such a challenge, but they are alive and healthy and full of joy and for that I am grateful.