The Bachowski Family

That doesn't necessarily account for my absence of nearly a month, but it does at least excuse the past couple of days. 

A few months ago, Mom-Mom brought us a leaflet advertising Christmas on the Potomac at Gaylord National Resort.  We looked it up and toyed with going for a few weeks before finally making our reservations.  We left Friday after I got home from work, made a quick stop at a Cracker Barrel in Maryland and then finally got to the hotel a little before 8:00.  We checked in and hustled across the street to the ICE tent.  Each year, a group of ice carvers from China comes to the US to create an exhibit made out of humongous blocks of ice.  This year was based on the Merry Madagascar movie by Dreamworks.  After we were all bunded up in our big blue parkas, we stepped through the doors and into the 0 degree exhibit.  The kids danced to the music and posed with the giant ice sculptures.  It was all quite amazing.  We grabbed some hot chocolate after leaving the exhibit and let the kids ride the Potomac Express train.  We waited a short while to meet the Penguins of Madagascar before walking back over the hotel to hit the hay for the night. 

We had a little while to wait on Saturday morning before we could go into the restaurant for our special breakfast, so we started on the Puss and Boots scavenger hunt around the hotel atrium and lobby.  When one of the clues took us near the restaurant, we decided to try and get in a few minutes early.  We had to wait a bit, but we were able to do it inside the restaurant and meet someone who turned us all into official Ogres!  Puss and Boots, Fiona and Shrek were wandering around the restaurant while we ate.  The kids were very excited to meet them all.  Paige offered Puss what was left in her milk carton and he instantly fell in love with her!  After breakfast, we decided to venture out into the cold and walk around the National Harbor area.  We stopped in the Peeps store (the duo's favorite!), made a couple of new friends at Build-a-Bear and bought a new mug and saucer set to use on Christmas Eve.  We stopped along the way to take a couple of scenic pictures and then ended up back in the atrium of the hotel for the Meet and Greet.  The kids got to meet and take pictures with Alex the Lion and King Julian from Madagascar, Shrek, Puss in Boots and Gingy from the Shrek movies, and Po from Kung Fu Panda.  We even took a short walk over and got a souvenir photo with Santa!  Paige was a little concerned that he was in his underwear...I told her that he was actually wearing his work clothes.  I don't think she noticed that his red jacket was hanging on the hook in the corner!  We left the hotel again to get an early dinner at a place called Ketchup.  The food was pretty good (Paul really liked their root beer ketchup), but the service left a lot to be desired.  We left with two very cranky kiddos since they hadn't taken a nap.  We made it back to the hotel in time to get a semi-good spot to see the tree lighting ceremony.  Unfortunately, there were several people who decided to push their way in front of us, so Paul and I ended up holding the kids (Paige in his arms and Connor on my shoulders) for the show.  I did manage to get some video, though.  We took the kids back up the room afterwards and put them to bed at their normal time.  Connor went right to sleep, but Paige fought it for quite sometime. 

This morning, the kids were up around 6:45.  We got ourselves ready, packed up the room and checked out of the hotel before stopping for breakfast at the "tiny town" restaurant in the atrium.  We hit the road around 9:30 and got to my parents house by 12:00 to pick up the dog (she couldn't go to the kennel this time because she had surgery to remove one of her toes due to a growth...part of the reason for my absence).  We hung out there for awhile and then came home.  I went right out to pick up some groceries while Paul straightened up the house.  The kids and I made some gingerbread crayons for their classmates when I got home.  We had a nice dinner and then the kids helped me make some peppermint chocolate chunk cookies...yum!

Next week, Paul has work training so he's going to be late getting home every night.  The dog will have to go back to the vet at least twice.  The kids and I are going to try our best to bake a different kind of cookie every night.  Should be lots of fun!

Check back later for a link to photos from this weekend and the month of November.

I feel like I keep coming here, blabbing on about the same things each week.  Paul and I go to work, the kids go to school and the world keeps chuggimg along.  This weekend was much of the same...Paige and I did our typical go-to-dance-class-then-the-grocery-store routine on Saturday morning.  We went out to dinner with Bobci (to Cracker Barrel...it was the kids' first time and they loved it!) before heading over to celebrate Jason and Dillon's 8th birthday with the family.  It never ceases to amaze me how much fun the kids have when they are all together.  I don't think we saw them for more than 5 minutes at a time, and that was only when the cake and ice cream were being served!  They were so exhausted that they were out cold before we even pulled out of Angie and Mark's development.  Connor had a soccer game on Sunday afternoon.  Paul did a little yard cleanup in the morning and then we all fell asleep once we were home from the game. 

I am gearing up for the end of the first quarter at school, so I will be getting a whole new bunch of high schoolers on top of teaching a new class (instead of proctoring a study hall).  I've got a couple of weeks of lesson plans already done, so I think I'm pretty set to go after our four day weekend.  The kids don't have school for the remainder of the week.  They are going to spend Tuesday with Nona, Wednesday with Bobci (and Mom-Mom and Papa Dave) and Thursday and Friday with me.  Paul and I are making plans to out for an adult dinner at my cousin's new restaurant...we can't wait! 

We've been so busy the past two weeks that I've barely had time to sit down and update the blog, so here's my quick review!

The kids had their first school photo session the day before their birthday.  They wore some of their new clothes from their birthday...I can't wait to see the final shots!  Paul and I were able to go to the twins' classroom on their actual birthday to celebrate with them and their friends.  They were so excited to see us and share their cake with their classmates and teachers.  We stayed for a little while then we left; me back to work and Paul to the airport to start his three day business trip to Texas.  The kids and I went out to dinner that night with Nona and Poppy.  The duo was so excited to have the staff at Friendly's sing Happy Birthday to them!  The rest of that week went by pretty fast.  Paul came home late on Thursday night and brought tons of goodies for the kids from Texas.  I took the kids to the pediatrician for their 4 year check up on Friday...they both gained 4 lbs and grew 3 inches.  Connor is 40 in and 36.5 lbs.  Paige is 39 in and 34.5 lbs.  We were supposed to have a yard sale that Saturday, but decided to opt out of it since we had to do soccer pictures, dance class and a suprise birthday party for Paul's aunt.  It was all just too much to do in such a little time.  On Sunday, we went to Connor's soccer game and then celebrated cousin Chloe's 4th birthday. 

This past week wasn't necessarily too busy, but it did go by super fast.  We couldn't even get it together long enough to carve pumpkins during the week.  On Saturday, we were supposed to go to Connor's fright night at the soccer field, but that was cancelled due to the freak October snow storm we had.  So, we did our pumpkins and made candy for the kids' preschool teachers instead.  We took Bobci, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Ashley, Chloe and Emma with us to Boo at the Zoo on Sunday.  We were all bundled up nice and warm.  It was a great time...many of the animals were more active than we had expected.  If you ask Connor, his favorite part was when the orangutan covered himself up in shredded paper in the corner of his enclosure, pulled a big sheet of paper over his head and then flipped his food bucket on top of himself so he could hide from everyone on the other side of the windows!  Paige enjoyed seeing the flamingos (as always) and laughing at the gorilla who was pounding on the window of his enclosure (I think it was because he wasn't fond of the little girl in the clown wig on the other side!). 

Today, the kids are headed off to school in their Halloween costumes for their party.  Because they go to school in the morning, they will not participate in the school-wide grand march.  Instead, they will be visiting other classrooms and doing some crafts in their own room.  I can't wait to get home to them and hear all about it!

I had a great big long post that I wrote out yesterday and I thought had posted, but I have no idea what happened to it!  Maybe I was just way to sleepy after this weekend to realize what was going on!  Anywho...here's our weekend in a nutshell...

Friday - We all did our normal routine as usual, but kicked it into high-gear when we got home.  We cleaned, threw two big pork loins into the oven to roast for the party, and decorated a bit, too.  The kids were very excited that their party was in one more sleep!

Saturday - We woke up around normal time and started cleaning again.  It was a little hard for Connor and Paige to understand that their party wasn't until the afternoon, but Paige finally got it once I told her that it was after dance class.  Bobci came over and took them both to Paige's dance class so that Paul and I could keep working around the house.  The inside was done, so Paul went out to mow the lawn while I picked up the cake and balloons.  By the time everyone arrived, we had the food all cooked...we served roast pork and meatballs for sandwiches, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, tossed salad and some other picky foods.  As always, I made too much, but that just means I won't have to cook for a week!  I thought it was going to be hard to keep the kids away from their presents (after Paige and Connor opened up their gifts from Nona and Poppy before they should have), but they were otherwise occupied by all their cousins running around.  It was such a beautiful day that the kids were able to spend much of it outside.  When they weren't in the backyard, they were up in the new playroom.  As a matter of fact, Connor made almost everyone go upstairs and "sign in" on his new chalkboard!  We did cake and presents, then Paige made sure no one left so that we could all go out on the back deck and roast marshmallows over the fire pit.  It was a little hard to pull the kids away from their toys after everyone was gone and the house was cleaned, but they were asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows!

Sunday - We surprised the kids with a trip to Toys R Us to spend some of their birthday money and use the scanner guns to let Santa know what to have his elves make for Christmas.  We stopped over at the mall for lunch and made it home just in time to get Connor changed and head back out for his soccer game.  He had a bit of a hard time sharing the goal-scoring with his teammates, but in the end he scored two goals.  We all had a mandatory crash time on the couch after the game and had a yummy dinner of party leftovers.  The kids had some time to play with their new toys before snuggling into bed.  Whew...what a weekend!

Here are some photos of their special day. 

And here are some photos from the last 5 Octobers.

Two years ago on Columbus Day, Paul and I left the kids with my parents and went on a mini-vacation to the Skyline Drive.  We spent a couple of days just driving around and looking at the beautiful fall scenery.  Last year on Columbus Day, Paul and I left the kids at my parents' house and made the big transition from a single bedroom for the twins to two.  It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it in the end.  This year on Columbus Day, we took the kids to spend the weekend with Nona and Poppy while we took their one-time shared bedroom and flipped it into an upstairs playroom.  This was the hardest challenge since there was a ton of junk up there.  Luckily, our community yard sale is coming up soon, so we were able to just take most of the stuff and stick it in the garage for the sale.  Paul worked on painting practically every night during the week , so we were able to just clean up and organize during the weekend.  I took most of their toys from the downstairs toyroom and put them upstairs in the bins we bought from Ikea last weekend.  We really happy with the way things turned out...and so are the kids!

Another Columbus Day tradition we started was going to the farm to pick apples and pumpkins.  Unfortantely, we were too late this year to do anything with apples and the farm that I prefer to visit wasn't picking pumpkins until the afternoon.  We went to a more popular farm and had to pay a lot more money, but the kids had fun and picked a lot of pumpkins.  We went to lunch at the diner with Nona and then hit up a local garden center for outdoor decorations on the way home.

After dinner, Connor helped Paul put together the final pieces in the playroom: the table and chair set.  Then, Paul stayed behind while the kids and I went up to Lowes for the fire prevention night.  We saw many of their friends from school (Kevin, "the other Connor," Sophia, Cara, and Paige's "one true love" Brett).  The kids got to go on a ladder truck, sit in a firetruck and take a tour of an ambulance.  Paige was also all about petting one of the forest fire service dogs.  They had a ton of fun!  It was definitely an exhausting weekend!

This week (and weekend) zoomed by!  I can't believe it's already October.  When Paige found out that the month had changed this morning, she was super excited because their birthday is coming up!  She can't wait for their Smurfday party!

This week was Spirit Week at the kids' school.  They were so excited every morning to wear funny clothes or have their hair done up in a crazy style.  I took pictures of them on each day (which are all in our monthly photos) to commemorate the occasion.  They had a very fun week hanging out with Nona and Bobci, too!  We did have a bit of an allergy scare with Connor this week.  The kids were outside on Monday when I got home and I needed some acorns for one of my high schoolers to use in his lesson plan, so I sent them out to the backyard to find some.  They played out there for about an hour and a half before coming in for dinner.  By Tuesday morning, Connor's legs were covered in bumps and Nona thought the worst.  She mentioned it to the teacher when she dropped them off and barely made it home before having to go back to pick him up from the nurse.  She gave him some Benadryl and waited at home with him for Paul to get home.  Then, when Nona went to pick up Paige, she noticed that Paige had the bumps, too.  By that time, I was on my way home early from work so that we could take the kids to the doctor.  They ruled out chicken pox and any allergic reaction (since they both had them) and told us that it was just a delayed reaction to bug bites.  I've never seen them pop up so long after exposure, but I guess it's possible.  The bumps didn't last that long either...it was quite puzzling.

Paul and I made the decision to convert the "junk room" upstairs to a playroom for the duo.  We've spent much of the weekend getting started on the work.  On Saturday, Paige and I did our normal dance class and grocery shopping routine.  Paul took Connor out to Lowes and got a head start on the painting.  We took a break, met up with our friend Tanya at the park for the kids' birthday and holiday card photos, went out to eat and then drove over to Ikea to pick up some stuff to outfit the room.  Today, we started putting a lot of the stuff up in the attic before going to Connor's soccer game.  When we got back, I decorated the inside of the house for the fall while Paul painted the chalkboard upstairs.  We had a great Sunday dinner of roast chicken, pan gravy, stuffing, mixed veggies and biscuits...it was an excellent end to a great (and very busy) weekend!  Hopefully, the kids will have a sleepover at Nona and Poppy's next weekend so that we can finish up the room in time for Smurfday!

This whole weekly posting thing is a heck of a lot easier that trying to remember to hop on over here every night to drone on about our day.  As long as you all are okay with it, I'll continue with the once-a-week bit. 

This week went by super fast.  My preschoolers started on Monday, so we were super busy at school.  I'm pleased to announce that we reallly didn't have too many problems with separation anxiety, but we do have a few little guys who still aren't sure of their high school helpers.  I'm really proud of the high schoolers and all they've done to make themselves ready to meet their partners.  I still have some that are a little nervous, especially when it's their time to teach the whole group, but we're working through that!  I made the mistake of assigning to writing assessments due back to back.  Each week, the high schoolers have to write a journal entry about a positive guidance technique (this week was praising and affirming; next week is active listening).  That is always due on Thursday.  I also gave them a 5 paragraph writing assignment due Friday.  I spent much of my lunch and 5th block study hall reading and I'm still not done grading them yet! 

The twins had another fantastic week at school.  Connor continued to come home with awards for his manners and friendship skills.  Paige earned her fair share this week too...she even came home with 3 of them on Friday!  They finished up their two week until on the letter S and are now going to be moving into the letter A (apples, alphabet, etc.).  I am so excited because next week is Spirit Week at their school...I've been busily planning out their mismatched outfits and crazy hairdos!  I'll be sure to take a photo each day and share them at next week's wrap up.

As for us at home, we've been having some problems with our dishwasher.  It came with the house, so there's really no telling how old it actually was.  It stopped working, so we fiddled around with the filter and found two plastic disks from a brand of bottles that we never used (the seller's daughter was at least 7, so they were in there for a long time).  It worked for a little while after that and then quit on us again.  It was only working sporadically, so we decided to run out and get a new one.  They had one in stock, so we brought it home with us and Paul put it in himself.  Luckily, he only had to run out once to pick up a part...and the thing works as it's supposed to!  While he put that in yesterday, I sat at the kitchen table and made a new yarn wreath for the front door.  We were all kinds of productive!!!!  Now, I'm planning out all sorts of gifts for teachers, the dance studio and relatives.  Fun times!

I knew having boy girl twins would get rather hectic as they got older and their interests started to differ, but I didn't think it would happen before they turned four!  Connor decided to stick with soccer, but Paige wanted to start back up with dancing.  I tried to get Paige's class on a weeknight so we wouldn't have so much rushing around to do on the weekends, but I didn't sign up early enough.  Our Saturday morning was spent doing a little cleaning and then heading out to the dance studio.  Thankfully, this is not a mommy and me class, so I got to sit outside and watch the teacher deal with Miss Thing and the other kiddos.  After the class was over, Paige and I did our weekly grocery shopping.  We had a barbecue for dinner and then sat outside around the fire to roast some marshmallows. 

Today, was Connor's first soccer game.  Unfortunately, I was so spacey that I forgot to let everyone know!  It's a long season, so there's plenty of time for everyone to come cheer him on.  He played a lot and was very into it for the first half.  He scored one of the team's goal and had the ball a lot of the time.  We did another barbecue for dinner (this time chicken and steak) and then invited Bobci and Pop-Pop over to sit around the fire.  I love fall weather!

Last night, I had to go back to school after dinner for Back to School night.  We did a quick rotation through the daily schedule; I think it came down to 12 minutes per block.  Fortunately, my schedule is so easy this quarter that I only had parents in my room during 2nd and 3rd block.  No one showed up for my 5th block study hall, so I was able to skip out early.  I felt really good about the presentation I put on for the parents and received a few compliments on the program and what we do in our room.  I really used to hate things like this, but I think it helps that I really believe heavily in the importance of what I'm doing and can say that I truly love my job.

Tonight, I left after dinner again so that I could attend the first Back to School night for the duo.  I was extremely emotional after walking into the school, but I managed to hold it together.  No this isn't the duo's first run-in with preschool, but this is the first time that they are away from me (or any other member of our family) for an extended period of time.  The evening started with a presentation by the principal and assitant principal in the cafeteria.  A lot of the information doesn't pertain to us at this time, but it was nice to be able to hear about some of the policies and procedures.  After we were dismissed, I walked down to the kids' classroom and met their teacher, Miss Kristie.  She is a very energetic woman and it was very easy to see why the kids love her...it's clear to see that she loves them!  She talked about their daily schedule and went over for us what it means to be a typically developing child in an autistic classroom.  She said that she uses a lot of sign language for the non-communicative students and that Paige always tries to imitate what she is doing.  She explained the "link" system of behavior rewards (whenever any of the children are caught using their manners or being nice to their friends, they will get a link and a little certificate to bring home) and said that they will have a party once the links reach the floor.  She talked about how darling Connor is with his friends and how Paige is always trying to get the teachers to notice her being nice!  I met the mothers of two of the children that the twins play wiith most and we all had a good laugh at some of the antics that Miss Kristie shared with us.  I am even more comfortable having my children in this program.  The will be with Kristie and all their firends in the 4-year program.  She mentioned that moving on to the kindergarten autistic program is not a guarantee...she only chooses the most social children to take part in that program.  From the sounds of things (especially with the diva), we may not have anything to worry about!

I survived my first week at the Castle!  I think I overwhelmed my students a lot with all the developmental stuff, but that's what taking a class called "Child Development" is all about!  In a couple of weeks, our preschool partners will be coming in, so I wanted to make sure the high schoolers get a good dose of what they can expect when dealing with and creating lesson plans for a bunch of 3 to 5 year olds.  I can't say that I had any bad experiences this week.  The staff at my new school is supremely helpful and the students are pretty respectful.  I have a dream schedule...I'm off first block, teach 2nd and 3rd, have a 25 minute lunch then a 25 minute "access" period followed by a 5th block study hall.  My classes are quarter classes, so I will have a whole different group of students in another 8 weeks and a Living Skills class in place of my study hall.  Still not too bad in the grand scheme of things.  I still find myself wandering the halls from time to time because the place is just so darn big, but I'll manage.

The kids also survived their first week of preschool.  Paul and Bobci went with them for orientation on their first day.  Nona was here to drop them off on Wednesday and said that they looked a little shell shocked when she had to leave them at the door.  They were very excited to tell me all about their day when I got home...Connor even got a Caught Being Good award for saying "Miss Kristie can you open my juice, please?"  They've been telling me all about their buddies and the games that they play while at school.  They showed me how to make an S with their bodies and smile from ear-to-ear when I pull their drawings out of their bookbags.  Today, I came home to two very excited little people, standing on the porch and waving two more Caught Being Good awards.  Paige shared the puppets with her friend Sophia and Connor said thank you to his friend Kevin for sharing some crayons.  Bobci already took them to McDonalds to celebrate a great first week, but we're going to keep the party going with dinner at Friendly's. 

Next week starts the kids' extracurricular activities.  Connor decided to play soccer again.  We're actually going to meet his coach (Daddy decided not to do it this time around) tonight and get his jersey.  Paige insisted on "playing dancing," so I signed her up again at the studio they went to before Paige broke her collar bone in 2009.  Our weekends will be jam packed with games and dance classes, but I guess that's part of the thrill of parenting!