Merry Christmas 2009

Hello to all,

Another busy year has passed for us all. I thought I would take a moment to overview the year.


Kyle and I definitely feel another year older. We're starting to notice the lines on our faces and dark circles under our eyes that never go away. Kyle's head hair keeps transplanting itself on his chest and back. We struggle to hold our fingers straight, I even notice them become more and more stiff making it even more difficult to become speedy and accurate at fingerspelling. But all that aside, we still continue to try and try to change the rest of ourselves a new.

Kyle competed in his first triathlon in July. He started after me and passed me on the last leg about 1 mile into the run. He loved the experience. Regardless of how tired he is, he is very good a consistently running about 3 miles 4 to 5 times a week. He continues to amaze us all with all the new construction skills he acquires. In January he tackled our bathroom renovation which included swapping locations for our AC handler and the toilet. Kyle did an awesome job.

I have learned a ton again this year about parenting and teaching. We began homeschooling Isaac this year. I have learned more than I ever imagined about World History through teaching a 4 year old. I have also learned a lot more about the Bible and training kids to live Godly lives. In July I competed in my second triathlon. It was a struggle for me, as I felt very exhausted but still very enjoyable.

Prema has had quite a few new things this year. She began the fall with 2 new teachers after 2 years with the same teacher. She became a permanent rider in Horses For the Handicap. She rides horses every Saturday for 45 minutes. The horse she rides, Dominic, is the largest horse on the grounds and beautiful. Prema is slowly learning to lead the horse herself through an obstacle course and trotting. She loves it. She also is starting to learn to clean the horse stalls and groom the horses. If you haven't seen Prema;s performance yet at her Holiday Deaf Extravaganza, you'll want to check out her performance. We had lots of laughs.

Isaac started pre-school at home this year. We are a part of local Classical Conversationscommunity. Every Wednesday we meet at a church with the rest of the CC community. During that time Isaac and I are in a classroom with 7 other students and their parents learning the new material for the week. The rest of the week we review all of the material at home. He is studying World History, Latin, English Grammar, Math, Science, music, and art. Each family is responsible for teaching their own child how to read and write and daily math with their own curriculum. Isaac has amazed us with his ability to memorize. Isaac and I both love our CC community and all that we are learning. Isaac has shown us this year his love for teaching and organizing people. He has also become very good a ASL which is a huge help to me when the kids play together. I no longer need to be the interpreter, just the referee.

Eli's character has shown itself a lot more this year. At first you would think Eli is a very shy child, but that is only in new situations and upon meeting new people. After Eli is feeling comfortable any place becomes his stage. He is a performer. He loves music and dancing. He has the moves and the tunes. He is even a performer whenever he is hurt, needs something, doesn't get what he wants or is corrected. Eli still loves to talk in a low rough growl most of the time. His will is almost as strong as Kyle's and mine. However, he still loves to snuggle close and cuddle.

Merry Christmas to you all,
love Kyle, Michelle, Prema, Isaac and Eli

Family Pics at Boca Ciega Park Tower

She is Serious

WATCH THESE VIDEOS

Prema is performing her 2 holiday songs with other kids from her school. This is not a joke...she is so serious when she is performing. She LOVES to perform. She knew where we were sitting so during the performance she stops at times to say "My mom", waves to us, and signs "Hi Isaac" Prema can't hear the music. Her teacher is in the front row showing her what to sign for the songs.

I had just had a night of prayer last night with other mothers and we specifically prayed for Prema in knowing her limitations that we could love her, accept all of her, and know her purpose. At the start of watching her I cried in thanksgiving for the joy this one moment was giving her, myself and so many other people in the audience. Then those tears of joy and humility turned to tears of laughter as we watched her funny "Prema-isms" take center stage. What a wonderful gift this day was to all of us. Enjoy!

y

All Saint's Day

Sr Alphonsa


Eli the High Priest


Fr. Isaac Jogues

The Start of Something New

Our Chocolate Factory

Isaac and Eli love listening to books on tape. They listened to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at least 15 times. Last week they decided to pretend they had their own chocolate factory. They dug up some dirt and added some water to make the chocolate river. At first there was a stick that was Augustus Gloop stuck in the pipe, Isaac was Willy Wonka and Eli was an oompa-loompa. Then it became more fun to have Eli be Augustus. Watch the video of all the fun the ensued.

Please don't mind the nudity. Eli is potty training. My camera work is bad too, trying to follow the running boys.

Lizards

Long time again since my last post. LIfe is busy and doesn't seem thrilling enough to post about.

One thing that has been happening at our house a lot recently is lizard catching. If you have never visited Florida, then you might not know that lizards are everywhere. Small ones that fit in your palm. Sometimes they get in your house if you leave the door open too long and your choice is to let them die or catch them and free them the outside world again. You could pretty much coin the phrase "you're a true Floridian child if you catch lizards as a pas time."

Prema has discovered the thrill of catching lizards. This month she finally caught her first lizard unassisted. A neighbor boy came and caught 10 + lizards one day for her and Isaac. Since that day Prema spends at least an hour our more a day trying to catch lizards herself. The trouble is that Prema's coordination is not nearly as refined as the other boy and thus many lizards have either lost their tails or died due to traumatic amputation of a limb. The good thing is that lizards' tails grow back, so we don't worry about that. The death of the amputated lizards causes problems because Eli is determined to sit vigil with each one watching it take each last breath until it's death. He will say, "Mom it's still breafing. He not dead yet."

Isaac is also enjoying the challenge and excitement of catching lizards but he can only catch the ones who are in shock after Eli has let them loose. Prema and Isaac will want to keep them in their jar for a few more minutes and so Isaac will then be able to gather them all again back into the jar since they don't move as fast.

Eli likes to take the lizards for rides in his dump trucks.