A LITHUANIAN CHRISTMAS!

On Sunday, 12-23, we celebrated a Lithuanian Christmas in honor of our Ben.  It was fun time!

 A LITHUANIAN CHRISTMAS

Traditions

Family Gathering: Emigration is quite a social problem in Lithuania, as many people have left the country to look for a better life abroad, especially since joining the European Union. But on Christmas, many come back to spend the holiday with their families, as everyone gathers together from all over the world to celebrate and appreciate each other’s company.

 Straw under the Tablecloth: everyone draws a piece of straw.  If you draw a long one, you will have rich life. 

Another interpretation of the straws is this: Single people find out when they will meet their other half by pulling straws from beneath the table (there is no data about the efficiency of this spell, though). 

Straw ornaments on Christmas Tree

 Animals will talk on Christmas Eve.  Pay close attention to Tucker tonight…

 Open gifts on Christmas Eve: we will get our stocking gifts tonight.

 Watch Home Alone [1990].  This movie has been the traditional Christmas movie in Lithuania for years. Many things change in Lithuania, but you can bet you’ll see Home Alone on TV during the holidays. More recently, the Harry Potter movies have also become a staple of Lithuanian Christmas.

 Go to Midnight Mass: will we try this on Christmas Eve?  Lithuania is mainly a Catholic country. 

 Lithuanians always prefer to have snow during the Christmas holiday. However, for the last couple of years, nature was not so kind, and kids had to learn how to build snowmen from sand and grass.

 12 Dish Meal: Lithuanians serve 12 dishes on Christmas because Jesus had 12 disciples.  In accordance with Catholic traditions, many Lithuanians abstain from meat on Christmas, so the main dish is usually fish.

1.         Apple slices

2.         Mulled Cranberry Juice

3.         Mushrooms

4.         Hot Cabbage Dish:

            substituted this for sauerkraut

5.         Cod- ironically our own little Lithuanian doesn't like this so there will be meat available too

6.         Baked Potatoes

7.         Carrots&Cucumbers and veggie dip: substituted this for beets as the veggie

8.         Wheat Porridge

9.         Dried Fruit

10.       Kūčiukai are bite-sized biscuits served with freshly made poppy milk that are only eaten            during the Christmas season. 

11.       Marble Rye Bread

12.       Apple Cake for Jesus' Birthday

linksmų Kalėdų

Merry Christmas in Lithuanian

Thank you Lord for our Lithuanian treasure!

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

I love Christmas!  I love the decorations, I love the special church services and Christmas programs, I love the family get togethers, I love having all our kids under one roof for a few weeks!  I love that we get to celebrate and rejoice the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It's just a great time of year.  This Christmas season was filled with lots of joy!  

 The boys had their school Christmas program.  An improvement I saw from last year's program is that the boys both tried to sing this year instead of stand there.  The funny thing is Ben worked very hard to tempt his brother to get into trouble on stage, but Jonah stayed strong and just stood there as he was suppose to!

The boys also got to be in our church's Christmas program.  They were in the children's choir, but somehow they also got themselves in the last scene of the play which is what you see in this photo.  Pretty good for two boys only attended the practice  on the day of the program!

Fun celebrations at school for the boys.

Our church had a manger scene set up that you could use for photos.  Something of interest, the last time our church did this manger scene 

for photos was way back when:

Weren't they super cute?  

This is Abigail and Stephen.

On Christmas Eve, we had the privilege of attending our own church's Candlelight Service at 6 p.m.  

Then at 10 p.m. we attended a Christmas Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Port Washington.  As you can see, it's a beautiful church, and the service had beautiful music.  This was a very special way to celebrate the night of Jesus' birth. 

 

Christmas Morning!  

Boys discover Santa ate the cookies they left him!

  

Santa leaves a thank you note for the cookies!

We wake up to a white Christmas!  

We haven't had much snow so far this winter so this was very exciting for all of us.

 

Abigail and Stephen take Ben to the Grinch movie.  Jonah refused to go along.  I think he was scared of the theater being too loud, or he just wanted a break from a certain brother who shall remain nameless...

Each year Andrew and I give the 

girls tickets to a play.  

This Christmas season was unique because we were in the middle of Bathroom Boot Camp.  Since early December we have been intensely working on bathroom training both at school and home:  pants check every 15 minutes and bathroom break every hour.  Our house has been filled with the sound of timers going off to remind us of these things every 15 minutes.  It's sort of driving us all nuts, but the good news is we have had the most success we have ever had with Jonah.  Hoping the next few weeks we can really wrap this up and call it a success....finally!

OUR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LETTER

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018 and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ABIGAIL is in her 3rd year at U of M.  Early 2018, she was accepted into the Bio-medical Engineering program.  Abigail enjoyed working an internship in her field of study this past summer and hopes to go back to the same company this coming summer.

STEPHEN is in his 1st year at Carleton College in Northfield, MN.  He is thinking of majoring in biology or math with the hope of going on to medical school.  He enjoyed running college cross country, and is excited for the upcoming track season.

TUCKER (our dog) has really missed his best friend Stephen this fall. 

LYDIA is a sophomore in high school.  She is busy practicing for the school play in December.  She is a very talented artist and is thinking of pursuing a degree in art education.

JONAH and BEN are busy 2nd graders.  They enjoyed their Miracle League Baseball again this past summer.  They also enjoy taking horse therapy lessons.  Jonah is working hard on his speech.  Ben is still working hard on learning what it means to be part of a family and not an orphanage.

ANDREW is still working at Larson Eye Care.  He loves visiting the 2 oldest at their colleges, watching Stephen run, teaching Lydia how to drive ,and keeping up with our active little boys!

MARY is busy taking care of the kids, especially the little boys.  She subs occasionally as an special ed aide at the school which she enjoys.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2018: Spring trip to FL for the 3 Lavey gals, Stephen finishing 3rd at state track in 3200m, Stephen's high school graduation, family trip to Winona, MN, and celebrating Mary's parents 65th wedding anniversary.

We hope the story of Jesus' birth reminds you how much God loves and cares for you! 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

TIME FOR THE SHOW!

In early December, Lydia was in the high school play.  It was comedy murder mystery.  She played the roll of rich widow, cowboy, and pirate.  She did an amazing job, and even ad libbed a line which turned out to be one of funniest ones of the play!  

So proud of our Lydia!

THERE ARE SOME LIFE LESSONS IN THIS VIDEO...

This video is one of my biggest 

joys this Christmas season.

So many life lessons you could learn from it:

1. Don't take what isn't yours.
2. We should be willing to endure anything for the sake of Jesus.
3. The love of a mother is fierce.
4. Don't underestimate the power of a sheep.
5. Hopefully we all have someone in our lives like the good Sunday School teacher to keep us on track.

Or you can forget trying to be deep about it, and just have a good Christmas laugh!

INCLUSION CAN EQUAL FRIENDSHIP

"The term inclusion captures, in one word, an all-embracing societal ideology. Regarding individuals with disabilities and special education, inclusion secures opportunities for students with disabilities to learn alongside their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms. Honestly establishing a successful inclusive classroom varies in complexity, based upon the challenges created by the disability at hand. However a knowledgeable approach and positive attitudes on the parts of parents and teachers proves vital to triumphing over any obstacles which may emerge."

www.specialeducationguide.com

Inclusion means a lot of different things to a lot of people.  Some people believe in 100% inclusion for kiddos with special needs, and some people like to handle it on a case by case basis.  

I would say that our family is in the camp of doing it on a case by case basis.  This means including our boys when it works best for them, but always with the goal of making sure they are in the optimal learning environment for them.  If that means pulling them out of the classroom for more one-on-one with less distractions, then we are fine with them not being including in the regular classroom for everything.

This video reminded though that probably the most important goal of inclusion is the friendships that can develop between the typically devoloping kids and the ones with special needs.  And I believe those friendships benefit both groups!  Our boys get the chance to have support and encouragement from fellow peers.  And the typical kids get a chance to learn about how to love and care for someone unconditionally.  How to look past the differences and see the similarities.  That's a win-win for all! 

Have kleenex nearby- this video will bring tears to your eyes.  It is such a beautiful statement of what real friendship looks like!

Beautiful Friendship!  

SOMETIMES ITS THE LITTLE THINGS

The thyroid is probably one of those things that when its working as it should, no one really notices it or thinks about it much.  But when it is not working as it should, it can cause some issues.

A child’s thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of the neck, just below the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple). Hormones produced by the thyroid affect all aspects of your child’s health including heart rate, energy metabolism (how effectively the body uses calories), growth and development. 

Last fall, Jonah was diagnosed with Grave's disease which means he has a hyPER thyroid or overactive thyroid.  Jonah's problem was just caught on a routine thyroid screening since kiddos with Down syndrome tend to have thyroid issues.

Thyroid problems are more common in children and adults with Down’s syndrome than in the general population. People with Down’s syndrome usually tend to develop hypothyroidism but sometimes they can have hyperthyroidism although this is much less common.

The reason HIGH thyroid is such a concern is it can cause heart issues as well as slow down growth and development.

Now this fall, Ben has been diagnosed with hyPO thyroid or underactive thyroid.  This too was caught on a routine screening.

Concerns for LOW thyroid are fatigue, weight gain, constipation, and decreased growtth.

Today the boys had appointments with the endocrinologist at Children's Hospital.

Ben's LOW thyroid condition is pretty straightforward.  It's a lifetime condition that will require a pill everyday for the rest of his life, but the pill has very little side effects so there are no real concerns unless we can't get him at the right dosage.  Good news except for the regular labwork that will be needed to check thyroid levels.

Jonah's HIGH thyroid condition is trickier.  The med he is on (PTU) has possibilities for serious side effects so he can only probably be on it 2-3 years before they would look to do a more permanent solution of radiation treatments to kill the thyroid or surgery to remove (very tricky surgery).  However, there is a chance that if we take Jonah off the med, his hyperthyroid will go into remission and stay normal on its own.  DS kiddos have a high success rate of remission, more than typical kids.  So at this point we are going to start reducing his med level with the hope of eventually going off completely and then see how his thyroid responds on its own.  So mostly good news for Jonah except the regular labwork that will need to happen every few months.

BECOMING BROTHERS...BECOMING FRIENDS

As I watched the boys wrestle and play the other day, I was struck by how awesome their relationship is for both of them.  They will always have each other.  Even if other friends come and go in their lives, they will always be there for each other.  I think that is pretty special.  

DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS GOES ROYAL!

Prince Harry has an Adorable Fan

I'm not a big fan or follower of the royal family, but this video really touched my heart.

As I have always thought with our boys, they live their lives without inhibition.  If they feel an emotion, they show it.  This means if they feel affection for someone, they let that person know.  

Perhaps this is a wise way to do life.  Think of it, we may miss out on some incredible moments in our lives because we are to scared to share what we is really in our hearts...

JUST AS I AM!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, a chance to spread awareness. During the month of October, we celebrate people with Down syndrome and make people aware of our abilities and accomplishments. It's not about celebrating disabilities, it's about celebrating abilities.

I think our family has lots to celebrate!

SENSORY DIET

First a little dose of cuteness!

The boys at Bookwork Gardens.

A light bulb went on for me this morning as I was dealing with a difficult Ben getting him ready for school. One thing we have used in the past when Ben gets a defiant phase or difficult phase is upping his sensory diet.  Perhaps I need to introduce some of these activities again in our daily routine.  Sensory issues has kind of went off my radar in the past months...

Kiddos who don't get to have normal bonding and attachment during infancy, sometimes benefit from increased sensory input.  I really don't completely understand the why of it, but we have found that when we give Ben some extra "doses" of sensory input, we have sometimes seen a softening of his mood.  

Here is what we use for Ben's sensory diet during difficult phases:

1. Weighted lap pillow while he sits at the table

2. Textured seat cushion for the table also

3. Sit and spin

4. Lots of swinging on the swing outside- my dream would be to have a therapy swing in the house, but  Andrew isn't on board for this yet  

5. Sensory bin that is an extra special treat to get to play with

6. Calming sensory videos

Again part of me thinks this sounds kind of goofy because why would this work, but we have found that upping his sensory intake has helped him improve his mood when he gets defiant, growly, etc.

Ben is such a sweet little boy in there, and when he can let his guard down and relax, it is a joy to see that beautiful personality in action.  But when he gets on defense mode, he can be a handful  

sensory-processing-disorder-adhd-autism-dyslexia-trauma-exposure-anxiety

sensory-integration

sensory_diet_activities

OUR FABULOUS FIVE!

We got to go up to Minneapolis to see Stephen run in his 2nd college cross country meet!  This meant we could also visit with Abigail!  

It was nice to have the whole family together. 

The above photo is actually from Stephen's 1st college meet 2 weeks ago.