Company Christmas Party, exciting news!!!!

Every year Josh's company has a nice Christmas dinner, normally this is an opportunity for Josh and I to get dressed up real nice me in a cocktail dress and him in a nice suit and leave the kids behind to enjoy a date like atmosphere with a work themed setting. Not this year, this year due to all of the lay offs the company had to endure and due to the loss of one of it's biggest contracts, the company decided this was a time to gather together as families and enjoy some time together. I think this is an awesome way to celebrate with his company. While I enjoyed the fancy dinners this was awesome this year because the kids could be included. Normally they would have the party at a nice golf course in Seattle but this year they did it at Point Defiance Zoo so everyone could enjoy the zoo lights along with a nice dinner and it was only fitting especially since it was a family event.

As usual it took us an hour to get everyone dressed and loaded in the car and another 15 minutes once we got there to get everyone and everything unloaded to go inside. Once in there our next hard decision was where to sit. Having several young kids with special needs always makes this part of any sit down venture a very vital part of us getting settled in. Once we found were to sit we had to rearrange ourselves a little bit so the Zoo staff could get the animals in the door without putting our kiddos at risk, not to mention where they were sitting was blocking the door where the animals would be coming out. So after that rearrangment we were finally settled in and ready for whatever the company had to offer. ( It's a bit different every year so you never know how or what order they will do things in) Everyone sat and chit chatted, saw some animals, got photos taken and had drinks. Then it was time for the meal. Normally Josh's company has impressive meals for us to eat at any event. This year not so much. They did offer our kiddos there own food bar, which to be truthful looked better then ours, but ah with all the cuts and loss of the deal I guess they had to downsize. Though the salmon they had tasted good.

After the regular meal was the speech, letting us know how the company was doing over all and to reward prizes. They reward different prizes every year. This year everyone grabbed a raffle ticket and gave it to one of the secretaries. We didn't get a raffle ticket and before the raffling started we got a chance to get one, thanks to my big loud voice. After getting our raffle ticket then the raffle started. As the raffle was going I prayed that the Lord give us something that would be beneficial to our family and be beneficial to the boys. Something we really needed. When I prayed this the thing I had in mind was the Ipad to help the boys with there communication problems. The Ipad has an app that has photos on it that the kids could touch and bring to us when they needed something. We had one but due to some finicial errors we had to sell it a while back to correct those errors.

So as I prayed this is what I had in mind. But as we all know what we often have in mind for ourselfs is not what the Lord has in mind for us. He of course knows exactly what our needs are, hints why I prayed. Right after I finished praying the last Ipad had been taken. My heart sank as I thought we wouldn't get anything this year, but in the back of my mind felt lucky because Josh had gotten a bonus this year that allowed us to get presents for our kids for Christmas. So I was okay with it. Well as the raffle went on the next item after the Ipad was an all expenses paid trip to Disney land. As I stood there with Josh they rambled off the numbers. It took me a minute but I realized the number they rambled off was ours. I automatically was in shock and disbelief at the fact we had won this trip and stood in the back with most of Josh's fellow employee's starring at me to see my reaction. Which as everyone guessed was hands over my mouth in shock and almost in tears as the Lord answered my prayer in a way I couldn't imagine. Josh proudly went up with our daughter in his arms to claim our prize. The whole time little Elijah seemed totally confused by why Mommy was acting so funny. When he asked what was going on all I could do was tell Elijah was to give Mommy a minute. Josh came back and announced to Elijah our wonderful prize. Though I'm not sure he understood what was going on I know in time he will and it will be a memory he will have for the rest of our lifes.

I'm very thankful for this as I belive Josh truely deserved this and earned this, though both Josh and I know this was given to us by the Lord so he knows he can't take the glory for this when the glory goes to the Lord. I believe the Lords choice in the answer to our prayer is truly what our family needs and though I have a few anxieties I do know the Lord wouldn't give us something we didn't need and with all we've been through in the last few years and just recently I think we do need this. I feel we are being rewarded for our hard work and trying to stay faithful despite all the stress. We really do need to get away from all the therapies, doctors appointments, bills and responsibilities and just enjoy our kids and enjoy our family and this trip will allow this.

After all that was said and done we got to enjoy a dessert of cheesecake bar, where Josh's big boss shook my hand and his wife hugged me and said that the trip couldn't of gone to a more deserving family. After a wonderful dessert and chat with Josh's boss and his wife our family was off to look at the Zoo lights. We walked around and saw almost all of them. Due to the rain that started towards the end of the walk, we walked back to the van with sore feet, we were soak and wet but with happy hearts in the way we were blessed. This has definitely been a December to remember.

Our Christmas tree December 2010

This year instead of going to our normal farm in Bonny Lake we decided to go to a cute little road side stand in Milton. It wasn't exactly the same as our beloved Tree Farm Adventure in Bonney Lake, but in a pinch this was the closest thing we could get to the " Real Tree Farm" experience so it worked. We vow to only use this during rough times or horrible weather. In this case horrible weather was the issue. It had been a horrible down pour all day. Before we went to get our tree though we had to pick up a few extras and of course decided to stop and let the kids try on some Christmas hats, in there colors of course. Red, Green and Blue.

After goofing off in Wal - Mart for a bit we decided to get down to business and go get our tree. Elijah and Josh went to the small field where they had trees propped up on PVC pipe and picked 2 trees, then they proceeded to come get me so I could make the finial decision. The above strapped to the top of our van was the one we picked out. It was full gorgeous and smelled wonderful.

After picking the tree out of course you pay for it then the people there at the stand load it on your vehicle ( Unlike the tree farm). Allowing Dad and Elijah to stand in the rain for the perfect photo op. Poor Elijah was freezing and ready to get in the van.

At home we brough the tree in and battled with it to get it in the tree stand just right and began the process of decorating the Hodges Christmas tree. First with the lights, then with the garland, after that ornaments.

Of course last but not least at the very top the Angel. Daddy lifted Elijah up on his shoulders and he put the Angel at the top of the tree.

At last you have the finished product, a gorgeous unique view, better than any Christmas tree out of Better Homes and Garden magazine. Why is our tree alot better then a tree from a magazine. Because each ornament means something special. We buy each of our kids an ornament every year for them to have when they get older. Hand made ones included ( Though those will never leave Mom's house)

Of course the head decorator had to stand in front of his master piece, what a cute artist.

The tree is trimmed and all the stockings are hung by the Chimney with care. Now time for hot coco and sitting on the couch together enjoying all our hard work. This has to be my favorite part of Christmas.

Elijah's 5th Family Birthday celebration. December 2010

Every year we go to McDonalds to celebrate Elijah's Birthday. This year we kept that tradition just went to a different McDonalds. A first and a last of course, but we went because Elijah wanted to go to this specific one. So we went there. The twins couldn't really play on the play structure and spent most of our time there eating.

We did try to give Mathias a chance to play a bit but I as a Mommy was a bit nervous about letting him run around in the play structure much and due to the amount of little ones we have to keep up with just choose to let him play for a short time then back down to eat. Though the time he was in there he enjoyed. A bit cautions at first but soon did get the hang of it.

We didn't give Adriel a chance to go in, but he didn't seem to care. He just wanted food. Adriel has always loved food, so he was happy either way.

Elijah had a blast, and ended up playing with a cute little girl there who followed him around like a little puppy dog. At some point he even had two little girls fighting for his attention. My boy is a ladies man already and the poor little guy doesn't even realize it. But did enjoy himself. We tried to get photos but between the netting on the play unit and him not stopping long enough for a photo opt we didn't mange to get any good ones. Oh well I have the memories in my head and alot of cute ones of the twins.


I'm happy he had a nice Birthday and even though it's not a McDonalds we liked, it was worth it to see him have a good time.

The New Additon!!! Wise choice or rash descion?

Our New Addition Cupid.

Despite our friends and family warning us about adding more to our plate and adding another mouth to feed into our brude, we choose to do it again. No I don't mean have another kid are you crazy!!?? We decided to adopt a puppy, though she might as well be another kid. It's just like adding another kid to the mix. Anyways we've been searching for a family pet for a while that would fit in with us and our situation. Since the passing of our last dog Rusty a family pet has been well missed, but financially we weren't in a place where we could afford a dog. It wasn't til just recently with the Twins diagnosis of Autism that we started looking again. I had read in so many articles that a dog was often therapeutic for Autistic kids and that there were even places that had Therapy dogs for kids with Autism. One already trained to handle there special needs. After doing some research and contacting some organizations we found that there was no possibility that we could get a already trained therapy dog. So we started searching for a breed that could possibly be easily trained. We also were looking for a free or low cost dog. After a long search on craigslist we stumbled across a lady who had a Golden Retriever/ Cocker spaniel mix that was free. she had been breed, but not fixed. We would have to have her fixed and then she would be ours. Well to make a long story short we went all the way to Gig Harbor to look at her and by the time we reached there someone had already came and got her. Open to ideals and not wanting to adopt the other dog they had we looked at the puppies. Me having no clue that one of those puppies would end up being ours we looked. Lets just say never look at a puppy because you will always end up with one. Again long story short we are now proud foster parents to a 70% Golden Retriever/ 40% Poodle/ 12 % Cocker Spanial mix puppy. The program we are part of is a foster home for a breeder ( professional, not to be mistaken for a puppy mill, they do genetic testing to insure the health of the puppies and also have owners sign a contract that states they will fix them with in 6 months of purchase or pay a fine of 1 thousand dollars.) We will care for and train cupid just like she would be ours ( also provide gear) but we are not responsible for vet bills or the first shots and later on down the road if the puppies are genetically healthy can receive compensation for the last 3 litters. We recieved the puppy December 7th and have been raising/ training/ fighting with her ever since. It's hard work but in the long run I'm certain it will be worth it.

Birthday Playdate with Friends December 2010

A Good friend of mine and I had a bit of a play date. She and all of her kiddos came over to play with my kiddos. We hung out here for a little while and then went to Round Table Pizza for lunch. I kind of consider it like a Birthday play date. Her twins Birthday and our Elijah's Birthday are on the same day and since it was close to there Birthdays that only seemed like a fitting title.

This is my little Ellie hanging out on the floor playing with her little purse, while Mommy ate.

Later Ellie made an attempt at pulling up, though she didn't manage to do it she did manage to get in a semi knelling position behind a chair in there party room. I think she felt a bit intimidated by Heathers daughter Naomi who ironically enough shares the same Birthday with Ellie. Either way this was one of Ellie's first attempts. Ellie seems to be inspired by little Naomi every time we have a play date.

Darling little Naomi scoped the place out occasionally coming back to hang out with Ellie. Most of the time just briefly in passing.

After food of course was play time and though the boys weren't really racing, they were convinced they were and having a blast pretending to be race car drivers.

All and all a pretty good play date, though it seems anytime Heather and I get together with all our kids ( we have the exact same amount of kids at the exact same ages, including twins) we never really seem to get to really talk. More of see each other in passing as we are running after the kiddos. Oh well maybe soon we will need to schedule a Mommy play date to Applebee's. Two for 20..... But non the less the kids had fun and we did get some taking done in passing... Praise God for awesome friends and the unique way I've meet them.

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we went over to our old neighbors house/ our new extended family and had a meal. While we were waiting for the food to be done the kids all played/ destroyed Ma Chris's house. Elijah and Devyn had a blast putting on one of Ma Chris's oldest sons shoes.

The twins did there normal, tearing all the toys out and spreading them across the house. Also as you can see they even stole Ma Chris's chair every time she got up to work on something in the kitchen.. They even got up in it together a few times and didn't pick on each other.

After a wonderful meal and dessert at Ma Chris's house we came back home to prepare the kids for bed. We were at there house pretty much most of the afternoon. We happened to snap this photo of Ellie playing in the stuffed animals as we were cleaning up her brothers. Actually we kind of put her in the middle of it for a cute photo op but eh same difference. Either way it was cute.

Brother had to get in on the action and be in the photo too.

The very next day Josh and I had Thanksgiving here at home for us and the kids. More or less we made a meal primarily so we could have yummy food here at our house and plenty of leftovers. We didn't really take any photos. It was just all the kids and us eating yummy food. Not much to take photos yet since we didn't really have any family or friends over. We will take more photos when the kids are older and can help in the kitchen or when we actually have Grandkids.But for now thats a long ways off. We had fun and all had bellies full of turkey, stuffing and other yummy foods for days.

Snow Day Play November 2010

So not wanting to waste a perfectly good snow day, Elijah was out long before I could even get his brothers dressed and up. I happened to peak outside at him to catch him playing with a neighbor kid who also looked like he was trying to enjoy the snow.

They were trying to start the base for a snowman, which eventually ended up being a failed attempt. The first snow we didn't have enough snow to really make a big snowman the second time the snow seemed dry and powdery so the ball you see there is about as far as there snowman came. They get an A in my book for the effort that was made.

I finally got the twins up and dressed to enjoy the snow, the last time we had a good snow the twins weren't really old enough to enjoy it. Thankfully this year they were old enough to enjoy it though I'm not sure how much they understood or if they will have any memory of it at all. Either way they seemed to enjoy it and it gave me an awesome memory of there very first snow, not to mention an excuse not to do housework. So it all worked.

This is the start of the twins adventure in the snow, love in this photo how it almost looks like they are talking to each other about something. At this point when they do this I'm not sure exactly what they are saying to each other, but they obviously know as they seem to respond to each other and I may never really know what they are saying to each other.. But thats okay. It's a twin thing. I'm just happy they include me a little bit . Plus I'm blessed to get to experience having twins.

Adriel seemed a bit confused by the snow at first not sure what to think of it, but after he got the hang of it he seemed to love hearing it crunch under his feet. He wasn't impressed with touching it as he is alot like his Daddy and is not a fan of the cold. But loved walking in it.

Mathias also at first wasn't sure what to think about all the snow, but after a bit he soon warmed up to the ideal of snow and really started enjoying it. Moments like this with the boys seem to make all the stress of there prior diagnosis earlier in the month seem to melt away, no pun intended. Mathias soon began knocking the snow off of everything. Out of all the kids Mathias seems the most "boyish". Often getting into trouble and being a typical destructive boy.

Adriel began walking around no longer satisfied by the snow in our yard or drive and I had Elijah follow him because I couldn't be with both boys at the same time. Mathias is the most michevious so I had to stick with the one that would get in the most trouble. Though Adriel was never out of my sight. Giving him a bit of safe freedom was nice and it allowed me to catch this classic but cute photo of Elijah and Adriel walking up the sidewalk. Talking about snow I'm sure. A brief moment of piece between two brothers that often fight.

Elijah bored of walking with Adriel and wanting to join in the fun of Mommy shoveling the drive and gently throwing it at Mathias decided he would give Mom a break and try to help. I didn't mind I mean you have to start them out early on this type of stuff. =-)

Mathias tired after a good 15 minutes of having a snowball/ shovel fight with Mommy. ( Mainly just me gently tossing snow from the shovel at him) Returned to his prior activities trying to clean the snow off the bushes as I was trying to clean so off the drive. Mathias was very entertained with this and would laugh esoterically as he knocked the snow off the bushes.

Mathias at the end of our snow time play looking at the beauty of it all one last time before we had to go in for lunch. We had a fun day and it was totally worth all the work it took to get the boys bundled up just to go outside. 1 and a half hours of work for only an hour of fun. But that hour was one of the funniest hours of my life in the month of November. I loved having this experience with my boys.Thanks to my husband for letting me be a stay at home Mom.

First Winter's snow November 2010

The glimps of the snow from our front porch.

Our house covered in a thin layer of snow. Love it!!

The view looking down at the end of our road, it was snowing a bit.

Snow fall is a rare things around here, because we are right under the shadow of the mountains. So it often misses us. But when we do get snow it's beautiful and our family here at the Hodges house love it. This year when we got the first winters snow I think I was just excited and delighted by the falling white as the kids were. Funny how snow can make a person fill like a kid again and since we've only got it twice in 3 years, it's no wonder. Something about a rare snowfall makes you feel so peaceful. Even if the rest of Washington doesn't agree. Me and the kids do. Anyways our home and all that surrounded us had a 3 inch layer of white when it was all said and done. Ironic how when it does snow, because we are closer to the mountain we get more lol. Anyways above are the beautiful photos of the snowfall. The pictures don't do it justice.

Twins Assessment with Dr. Hood. November 15th 2010

After about 2 months of waiting we went for our appointment in Tacoma at Mary Bridge's Pediatric clinic with Dr. Hood to get an assessment on the twins to see if we could figure out why the twins were so delayed. We were pretty certain we knew why but needed a medical diagnosis. After several questions, looking at the twins and observing them for a few minutes, Dr. Hood came to his conclusion. The words that no parent wants to hear. " Autism" and "Autism Spectrum", Adriel He said there was no dought in his mind is Autistic. Adriel didn't want to make eye contact and seemed to be " In his own world". Mathias though he said displayed some of the symptoms but not all of what you normally see in an Autistic child, note the " Autism Spectrum" diagnosis.

After he gave us the diagnosis then we discussed the best " course of action " to take to help the twins. Genetic testing was recommended and started and referrals for therapy was given. He suggested speech therapy and Occupation therapy. So thus begins our journey with them. I'm sure with time it will get easier. But for now it's a complicated diagnosis and we are still becoming adjusted to it and what it means for our lives as a family and theres as idvidituals. I have to hold on to the faith that the Lord has a plan for these little guys.