Jonah's Guns

As hard as we fought to keep Jonah from playing with guns, this is what we ended up with... He eats his grilled cheese sandwich into the shape of a gun...

My high heeled shoe is a gun...

The classic lego gun...

And finally, Chris conceded and "built" Jonah a gun out of scrap pieces of wood.

Bible cover

I decided to make a cover for my Bible. It was super easy, so I am posting the directions that I found online here:

From SEW NEWS December '82/January '83 IssueBook covers to make for everyone Carol Nanninga

If you don't have a prayer of completing Uncle Avery's half-finished sweater before the holidays, a sew-fast book cover may be the answer to your Christmas traumas. This quick gift can be made in about a half hour, using fabric scraps and trims leftover from other sewing projects. The instructions below specify lace for the trim and ribbon as the tie closure, but use your imagination to customize your gift to the recipient. A birdwatcher would enjoy a cover of coated pack cloth for a well-worn manual. Instead of a ribbon tie, use nylon webbing that slips through two small metal loops or a buckle. A suedecloth cover with -an embroidered monogram in the corner makes a dignified-looking cover for a Bible or prayerbook. For a cook, use lightweight, plastic coated fabric--without interfacing--and slip it over an exotic cookbook. Dress up your mother's worn address book with a cover of synthetic leather or suede. A little girl would love her favorite book of fairytales covered in a Strawbeny Shortcake print, edged with lots of pink trim. Cover a school notebook with a sturdy denim cover piped with orange trim. Or make it from an old pair of jeans, with a back pocket centered on the front to hold pencils or notes. Use the piece of waistband with the snap closure in place of the ribbon closure. Half-hour gifts for the whole family Most paperback books are 7" in height (top to bottom) but vary in thickness. If planning to cover a specific paperback or hardback book, you'll need the height and wrap-around length--the measurement from the edge of the front cover, around the spine to the edge of the back cover.

Instructions

Materials 1 cover, the height of the book plus 1 1/2 ", by the wrap-around length of the book plus 1 1/2"

1 piece of lining the same size as above, in the same or contrasting fabric 2 inside flaps,

4" wide by the height of the book plus 11/2"

1 piece fusible interfacing cut to match the main cover

2 pieces of fusible interfacing cut to fit the inside flaps

2 pieces of ribbon, about 10" each, for tie closures

1 piece of ribbon the height of the book, for a bookmark Ruffles, piping, lace or other trim, as desired

1. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the cover and the wrong side of the inside flaps.

2. Press under 1/2" on one long edge of each of the inside flaps, and machine stitch along the pressed edge.

3. Pin and baste the ruffle or piping along the edges of the cover, easing extra trim into corners, and matching the edge of the trim to the cut edge of the fabric (Figure 1).

4. Baste ribbons to the edge of the center front and back, so the loose ends trail to the middle of the cover. Baste the book marker slightly to the right of center on the upper edge of the cover (Figure 1).

5. Pin the right sides of the flaps, sewn edge toward center, to the right side of the main cover. Pin the lining over all. (Figure 2) Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew only the upper and lower edge seams, keeping trim free. (Figure 3)

6. Turn inside out so the cover is on one side, lining and flaps on the other. Press. 7. Flip only the inside flap so its right side faces the right side of the main cover. Pin edge, keeping trim free. Stitch the end, using 1/2 seam allowance (Figure 4). Repeat on other side.

8. Trim corners, turn and press.

9. Trim ribbons to desired lengths. Use Fray-Check on ribbon ends to prevent raveling.

Soccer pics

Although he wants so badly to play football (and he has tackled a couple of players), Jonah is playing soccer this fall. The real clencher is that Chris is his coach. I think that they are having a good time. :)

Here are some of my favorite photos from the first game...

Starbucks fall Line Up

I have recently (this morning) realized that I am more excited about the fall line up at Starbucks than I am of the holiday line up. Ask me again in three months, and my answer might change. J The pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin cream cheese muffins arrived at our Starbucks today. Woo Hoo!!!!!! I thought that you might want to know. I was also inspired to try to find a great recipe for a starbucks-like muffin.

Here is one that sounds good, although I am going to mix some sweetener into the cream cheese.

Almost-Like-Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese MuffinsRecipe

by Sheila at musings of a mommy.blogspot.com

**BIG PUMPKIN CAN (29 oz) VERSION***

4 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 ½ tsp nutmeg

1 ½ tsp ground cloves

5-6 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Generous pinch of cardamom (optional)

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp soda

6 eggs

3 cups sugar

3 cups cooked or canned pumpkin (29 oz can)

2 cups vegetable oil

8 oz package cream cheese

Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans) (optional) * or toast some pumpkin seeds- called pepinos when toasted- just like Starbucks!

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together except cream cheese and nuts. Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full. Put 1-2 tsp cream cheese in the middle, pressing down. Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25* minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (do not touch the cream cheese!). Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Do not touch the cream cheese until it cools, as it is very very hot. Makes 24 regular size muffins with cream cheese and 24 mini muffins* without cream cheese.*The mini muffins are usually done in 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven and if you bake everything all at once. Check with a toothpick and remove as soon as they are done in the middle.

I saw another online recipe that instructs you to roll the cream cheese into a log in wax paper and freeze it so that you can cut perfect slices to place in the middle of your muffin. Mmmmmmm...........

Napping in the Closet

Daniel obviously had fun ransacking the closet before he passed out for his nap. Zzzzzzzzzz....

Lunch with Raliegh and Camden

Raliegh and Camden Queen (and their mama, Rea) came to play with us and eat lunch today. They played dress up. Jonah was a pirate (and Buzz Lightyear, and Superman, and Mr. Incredible- he changed a lot), and Raliegh and Camden were princesses. They had to wear slips out of my closet because I did not have any little girl dress up clothing. :) Here is a picture of Jonah with the girls.

Speech Aerobics

Ms. Mindy and Mr. Scott
Jonah with a couple of the other kiddos (and Daniel sneaking into the picture).
Jonah just completed a six week speech aerobics class at Greater Atlanta Speech and Language Clinics. He loved it. He was in a group of 8 kiddos with a Speech Language Pathologist and a Physical Therapist. The class combined movement with speech and social skills. It was awesome for Jonah, and I really feel like he learned a lot. We had to trek all the way to Duluth (and only got stuck in one major traffic jam on I-85). Not too bad for good ole ATL. We also had to eat supper at Sonic on the way home each week. Yummy!!!

Brodie's haircut

Brodie pre- haircut
After haircut (she looks a little ashamed, doesn't she?)
Since Brodie does not like to be brushed, we decided to have her shaved for the summer. She looks like a chemo patient. Actually if you just look at her body, she looks like a yellow lab, but then you look at her head and tail, and it gives her away.

Speech therapy with Ms. Deborah

Here is a photo of Daniel having speech with Ms. Deborah. She comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week until Daniel's third birthday...

More Hippotherapy

Daniel got to ride a big daddy (or mama) horse last week named Pebbles. He was the first child to have therapy on Pebbles, and she did a favulous job handling him very gently. Spunky was temporarily lame, and we are not sure who we will ride next week, but Daniel sure did look like a big boy up on Pebbles.

Premier Designs Rally

Four "generations" of Premier...
"My Girls..." Tuesday, Tammy, and Marsha.

I had a blast at rally in Fort Worth, TX again this year. The new jewelry line is fabulous, and I was reminded once again of what an awesome company I have the opportunity to be involved with.
I am often asked if I am going to a "rah rah- sell-some-jewelry" convention. In my seven years with Premier, I have never heard Andy Horner, our president, encourage us to sell jewelry. His focus is always on serving. One jeweler described rally so much more eloquently than I ever could... She said, "Premier rally is like a Billy Graham crusade meets The Price is Right."
Here is an article that ran in the Fort Worth newspaper while we were there:
http://www.star-telegram.com/226/story/168857.html

Mowing the Lawn

Jonah helping Daddy mow the lawn in his "ear plugs like Daddy."

With his new haircut and growing maturity, he is a constant reminder as to what a big boy he is. What amazes me is how he can continue to get older, and yet I stay the same. Funny how that works, huh?

Marsha's Luau Surprise

My mom, Marsha's 60th birthday was on June 6, and we successfully pulled off a surprise party for her before she left for Phoenix for two weeks. She was truly surprised, and she had a blast. We had a lot of fun with our backyard surfing (check out the photo of Doc Sue and Heath) and more food that even Daniel could eat. Happy Birthday Marmie!!!

The Snorkle Mask

Jonah saw a kid with a mask at the pool a couple of weeks ago, and had to have his own. We found a cheap one at Kroger of all places, and this is Jonah's day with the mask- notice that there are no photos of hime wearing it at the pool...

Memorial Day Parade

We went to the parade in Dacula for Memorial Day, and the boys had a blast eating candy. Daniel pretty much just took up residence in the middle of a mound of candy and rotted his teeth out in a matter of minutes. :) He also really enjoyed trotting like the horses that he saw.

Here are a couple of photos.

Fishing Day

We went fishing at a small pond for the first time today. The boys had a blast. Jonah was a natural- he just praciticed continually casting his line, and Daniel enjoyed exploring the area among other things- like eating. Surprise, surprise!

Bill caught and released several fish and Jonah even "caught" a couple himself which was really funny because he didn't even have a hook. We just wanted him to be able to practice casting, so he would cast it and reel it in repeatedly. He actually got a couple of bites on his bobber, and one fish even swam with it a couple of feet before releasing it.

I have included some photos including one of Daniel eating cereal out of the tailgate of Bill's truck. Check it out!

G-Day

We took Jonah and Daniel for their first trip to the sacred ground of Sanford Stadium in Athens this past weekend. UGA had a scrimage game, and we thought it would be a good time to let the boys experience a little college football. They both had a blast.

Jonah alternated between wanting to "throw the football to the boys" and "playing his party horn" otherwise known as a tuba. He wanted to go ask the Redcoat Marching Band players if he could hold their party horn. :) Maybe next year, Jonah.

Jonah turns 4!

Wow! What a birthday!
We celebrated Jonah's fourth birthday in the backyard with two moonwalks (otherwise known as "Bouncys" in our house), a moon rock hunt (plastic eggs wrapped in tin foil hidden in the backyard), alien juice (green kool aid), moon cupcakes, flying saucers, astonaut floats (tang and vanilla ice cream), and lots of friends, family, food, and fun!!!!!!!
We had a blast.
Thank you to all of you who were able to celebrate with us. It was a special day!

Check out my Slide Show!

Tough Cookie

Things are going well in the Stadler household. I realize that it has been a full month since my last post, but at least it has only been a month. :) Here are the highlights...

Jonah's school is going awesome. We had a parent teacher conference on the 14th, and his teacher had to set up another meeting to revise all of the goals on his IEP (individualized education plan) because he has mastered all of the goals that we set for him back in November. I knew that he was capable of a lot of the things that we had set as goals, but he just was not preforming up to his capabilities during the evaluation. But honestly, he has even mastered some of the goals that I didn't know that he could do. AWESOME!!!!! His teachers and the other tudents love him, and he is a leader in the classroom.

We also started a Lil' Allstars clas son thursday mornings. It is a six week class where they spend the first two weeks on basketball skills, the second two weeks on t-ball skills, and the last two weeks on soccor skills. Jonah loved it, and they were all so cute running around on the court.

Daniel is still currently going to MMO in Grayson only one day a week, but I am moving him closer to home beginning in March. He will return to his Monday/ Wednesday schedule and attend at Hamilton Mill First United Methodist. I am looking forward to not having to make that drive. :)

On February 8th, Jonah, Chris and I spent twelve hours in two emergency rooms. We started off the morning with Jonah's face split open in several places. We went to Gwinnett Medical first, and after three hours, they sent us to Scottish Right. They realy wanted a pediatric specialist to suture him, and they knew that we would need to sedate him. Fifty-five minutes of anesthesia and thirty- six stitches (on the outside, we hav not idea how many are on the inside) later, we finally made it home around ten o'clock at night. The doctor that stictched him did a phenomenal job, and the stitches that Jonah did not pull out on his own have now dissolved. He will have a nice little scar above his eye and on his cheek, but fortunately he is young enough that over time, they will probably be minimal.

We are not sure exactly what happened, and we may never know. We know that dog food and dogs were involved, but Jonah sticks to his story that Brodie knocked him down. We could not find any site of initial blood, but it could be that he didn't really start bleeding until he got up and moved. We did take both dogs and Jonah to the vet to get her professional opinion as to whether it was a dog bite and if so, which dog. She said that it did not really look like a dog bite, and it looked more like a scratch to her. Without conclusive evidence, we are giving both dogs the benefit of the doubt, and just monitering their behavior around the boys. Jonah is not fearful of either dog, which is another reason that we feel comfortable that it was not a bite.

The photo that I am including is of Jonah the day after the stitches in his Tough Cookie shirt that our friend Andrea made for him- who by the way was a lifesaver on the day that we spent in the ER!!!

A New Year

I know that is is almost February, and I am just now talking about a New Year. I'm a little behind this year. Maybe I will start next year on time. Doesn't look promising though. :)

Things are humming along in the Stadler household. Jonah love Duncan Creek, and is there three days a week. He gets to ride the bus, and he loves his bus drivers Miss Phyllis and Miss Becky (different morning and afternoon drivers). He is doing a great job at school and is making tremendous progress. I talked to his teacher the other day, and she said that she definitely sees him in a more lenient placement next school year.

Daniel is still trucking with all of his therapy although Kidsplay has cancelled mother's morning out on Mondays, so he only goes to "school" one day a week now. That just brings more therapy home and means that I don't have to trek over to Grayson twice a week anymore. It also means that I only have one very short morning to run all of my errands sans kiddos. So, when you are trying to reach me on a Wednesday morning, I am running around somewhere in Snellville like a chicken with her head cut off. Daniel is progressing well too, and we are still waiting for the day when he breaks into full sentences, but it is coming one word at a time. It is amazing how every utterance is such a blessing.

We give God the glory for all of their progress and pray asking for more each day!!!

Love you all!!!

Christmas Card photo Mishaps and other traditions

What traditions do you and your family have at this time of year?

Chris and I started the tradition a few years back of having a heck of a time getting a Christmas card photo. This was obviously not intentional, and we attempt to break the tradition each year. We were successful last year. We went for a family photo at a photo studio, and got a decent photo. Although it is not my favorite picture, at least we were all looking in the general direction of the camera, and both boys were smiling. Should I even ask for more than that? Who really cares that our clothes are wrinkled, right? The year before that we ended up sending out Christmas cards late and without a picture because every picture that we took (obviously at the last minute) was horrible. This year we are trying to be on top of things, and every time I think we have a winner, something happens like the printer cuts the top of Chris' head off in every print. I am including a couple of shots today that did not make the Christmas photo list this year. I will leave it up to your imagination to figure out why.

Maybe next year we can break that tradition. When the boys are a little older... which is quickly becoming my mantra. Things do get easier, right? I'm just trying to figure out when that magic age is...

Here are a handful of other traditions that we have. Some are from our childhood, and some are ones that Chris and I started when we got married or either when the kiddos came along:

• We decorate the tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It has to be taken down before the new year- old wives tale. And we are clear lights folks. We generally enjoy a glass of wine or our first egg nog of the season while we decorate Saturday evening.


• We open our gifts to/from one another on Christmas eve after the boys are in bed- this one may have to change in the coming years as we are having to wait up for Santa now. We'll see.


• Santa brings each boy three gifts a piece, signifying the three gifts of the Wise Men. Those gifts are unwrapped, and everything else is wrapped from mama and daddy.


• The boys and I have a Birthday party for baby Jesus for our neighbors.

Our pastor taught this week about traditions. Why do we have traditions? They keep us tender to what really matters. They help us to slow down and pay attention and remind us that it is not about us.

This Christmas season, don't let the traditions become just rituals. Reclaim the meaning of the traditions and use them as a reminder to slow down and remember the season of our Lord's birth.

You saw the schedule, right?

For those of you who are upset with me for not blogging in a very long time, I just want you to refer to the most recent schedule. (insert throat clearing noises)

Here is a quick update...

Jonah started a new school right around the corner from us- Duncan Creek Elementary School- after Thanksgiving. He goes to school three full days a week now, and he loves it. In his new class, he gets much more one-on-one attention and more speech therapy. My only concern is that he is the hightest functioning kiddo in the classroom. I am giving it a short transition period- at least through the holidays- before I address it with his new teacher. We get a full page written report from the teacher daily, and he is doing great. He does all of his work independently, and his only difficult time is rest time after lunch. Some of the other children actually nap, and Jonah is reportedly restless- imagine that. :) Other than that, he is happy and doing very well.

Daniel's therapy is very much the same. We are trying to work out some scheduling kinks during his Mother's Morning Out time, but other than that he is doing awesome. He adds a new word to his vocabulary almost daily. Yesterday he said "yellow," "nose," and "eye." I am thrilled with his progress. We are still struggling with implementation of ABA. Right now I am receiving Incidental Therapy training for myself. This is basically ABA applied to the "real world." I would still love to find some ABA therapists to come into the house to add to his program. Anyone who can recommend someone who is trustworthy, reliable, wants to commit to Daniel for the next eight months, loves kids, and will work for the dirt that I will be able to pay them will move straight to the top of my list of favorite people. :) Any takers?

love you all!!!