Christmas 2009 and Connor's new room.....

It's been a busy couple of days. Today, we moved Connor into his new bedroom. We still have a few things to finish (like the inside of the closet and all the baseboard trim), but those are things we can do while he's in there. He's excited and worried about being in the new room all at the same time. Tonight might be interesting.....

CHRISTMAS 2009

Connor got a turn-table train set. It's all he's been talking about for 3 months. He was so excited when he saw it that he didn't care about the other stuff under the tree for about 2 hours. :) The elves --- the ones who stayed awake until 2 a.m. assembling that thing --- were very happy he liked it.

Mom and dad opening one of their gifts.....

Connor giving me the tea and creamer that goes with my new cappucino maker that Isaak bought me! Yum!

Connor and daddy trying on some new gloves and hat Grandma and Grandpa Berg sent......

Connor testing out the new beanbag chair gram and pap Kitzmiller got him.....

We all had a great Christmas this year. We're especially thankful Isaak made it out of Minnesota before all the snow hit. His plane was delayed nearly 2 hours, and we were so worried it'd be canceled. But thank goodness, he made it! And thanks to Beth for sitting with Connor while I was at the airport at 1 a.m. You're a great friend, Beth!

Rest in peace, Rain Man.....

I'm sure most of you have heard of --- if not seen --- the movie Rain Man, with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The movie was loosely based on the man pictured to the right, Kim Peek. To learn more about Kim, go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek

Mr. Peek died yesterday at age 58 from a heart ailment.

Having a son with autism, I am very saddened at the loss. Mr. Peek was an incredible man. I actually had the pleasure of meeting him when I first worked for the Butler Eagle. He visited Butler Senior High School. I was amazed by the sheer intelligence of this man. His memory was incredible. You could read him a story, and he would repeat it word for word after only hearing it a few times. His math skills scared me. And despite the social issues with which he struggled because of his autism, he still managed to get out there and show the world that autistic people are not to be pitied, but to be admired.

The world has lost more than just another autistic person this week. It has lost a great mind. Rest in peace Kim.

More snow fun......

Connor couldn't wait to get out in the snow again this afternoon and play. He likes pulling his sled up and down the hill all by himself. I was OK with that today, as my poor back hurt from shoveling yesterday and pulling him up the huge hill in our yard several times on his sled.

But after we sledded, Connor decided to help shovel the driveway with mommy. He managed to clear one square foot, but every little bit helps. :)

Windows and bruises......

I should never be left unsupervised. Yesterday, I fell. The pic of my elbow isn't exactly how black and blue it is now. The lighting makes it look lighter. My mom saw it today and couldn't believe it wasn't broken. My right leg from my hip to my knee is sold black and blue, too. Connor was hollering about needing the bathroom NOW, and I ran out of the kitchen and tripped right over one of his toys. Fell flat on my......well, you know. I couldn't get up for a good 5 minutes. Was glad I didn't need to go to the ER. But after my finger incident earlier, I'm not so sure I should ever be left unsupervised. :)

On a happier note, this is one of the new window frames/sills that I had installed today. A nice guy named Jim Scheid did the work. He built the sills himself and they are some seriously nice craftsmanship. This guy does great work at great rates, so if anyone needs a good handyman or woodwork done, I highly recommend him.

Why I should never be left unsupervised.....

So, at 6:30 this morning, as I was trying to change the blade in my razor, I cut a huge hole in my thumb. Still not quite sure how it happened, and was astonished at the damage I managed to do. It's hard to tell from this photo, but the cut is about half an inch across and really, really deep. It's one of those things where you can peel the skin back it's so deep. I was panicking, because I would have had to call my neighbor at that hour to come stay with Connor while I went to the ER for stitches. Thankfully (and by the grace of God), it quit bleeding. It's pretty sore, but I think we can get by without stitches.


But this is just one more reason why I should never be left unsupervised........

Merry Christmas friends!

Connor has been asking me to have a Christmas party with his little friends for a few weeks now. So Saturday, we did just that. It wasn't anything too formal, just the kids and some games and fun. Above, they were playing a cute game using The Gingerbread Man story. You wrap up inexpensive books and have the kids sit with them. Someone reads the story. Every time the word "ran" is said, the kids pass their present to the person on the right. It was a lot of fun.

Ice, ice baby....

This is what the street in front of my house looked like at 10 a.m. this morning. And no, that's not water. It's ice. Solid ice. We didn't even know there was this kind of ice until we decided to leave for church. Then we turned on the TV and saw all the accidents and the weather issues going on around us. Needless to say, we didn't go anywhere. And I was very happy it cleared up in time to take Isaak to the airport this evening. It would have created quite a problem if it had not. I say bring on the snow. I'd much rather deal with snow than this kind of mess!

Making himself at home

As you can tell from the photo, Zorro (aka--feral kitty) is making himself quite at home in my house. He's not supposed to be on the couch.....but then again, he's not supposed to do a lot of things he does and gets away with because I'm a sucker for a cute, furry face.


His new thing is to be wherever I am. It was cute the first couple of days, but now it has become hazardous to my health. I have tripped over him repeatedly, which could end badly for him if I were to actually fall on him. He weighs 10 pounds. I weight 118.


He also has been rather excited to realize he's allowed in bed with me. My other cat knows if the old quilt is on the bed, he is allowed up on it, too. Zorro just knows that my other cat is on the bed, so he figures he'll come up, too. It would be OK if he didn't think my feet were shifty and needed to die. The first time it happened, it was 4 a.m. and I was awakened from a sound sleep by something pummeling my feet. That something turned out to be Zorro. He pretty much does it every night now and doesn't stop until he feels my feet have been sufficiently killed. :)


All in all, it's been fun having him inside. I'm glad I was able to finally rescue him from the outside world. Heaven knows on days like today, when it's windy and cold outside, he'd have been miserable out there.

Bambi and Thumper really do exist!

These photos were sent to me from my mother-in-law. I think they speak for themselves!

Winter in Minnesota.....

Isaak took a 4-hour hike around the St. Paul area the other day, and sent me this photo from his cell phone. Daytime highs there have been about 15, with the nighttime lows dipping below zero for the last week. This weekend, the high is to be in the negative digits. He got to experience his first blizzard there last night, and said it wasn't fun driving home from work in it. Keep him in your prayers, as I have a feeling it's going to be a rough winter there.

Deck the halls, the walls and the yard.....

Today, Connor and I (along with my mom and dad) put up the Christmas tree. We also put up some decorations outside, including lighted reindeer and a smaller lit tree-like wreath on the bannister. I couldn't get a nice shot of all that lit up, so I didn't bother trying.

It was a lot of work and now I'm tired. I'm hoping my formerly-feral kitty Zorro doesn't decide to climb the tree. I know my other cat, Gabe, won't, as we've had him 6 years and he just lays under it and sleeps. Zorro is the one I'm worried about. But I've already warned him that if he crashes it, he has to fix it again. He looked worried. :)

Thanks mom and dad for all your help!

My dad's buck!

My dad got a really nice 10-point buck yesterday during the first day of deer season. He was so proud, too, because last year, he had a harder time getting a deer and ended up with a doe. He got it on my uncle's farm. We're looking forward to eating some deer meat the way only my mom can cook it! Yum!

If you're hunting, be safe out there! And good luck!