Talent Show at Little Gym

We have been taking Olivia to The Little Gym for the past year. At the end of each semester they do a talent show for the parents. We started this semester out in the parents/tots class, but as Olivia continued to become more independent, her teacher suggested that we put her in the Funny Bugs class where she goes into the gym by herself. We asked Olivia if she wanted to go by herself and she was all about it. She did great and loves being in there without mom and dad. Here are the pictures from the end of the semester show.

Where did January go?

I cannot believe that January is almost gone, where did the time go?
After not having much snow, January finally brought us the white stuff. We had a little on New Years...but it was such little that Olivia was able to take her new purple bike outside and take it for a test spin. She really liked that, but kept asking us when she could use her purple sled. We waited and waited, then the snow came. Olivia really liked going sledding with her dad and playing at the park. We then got a blast of cold air...temps below zero and I saw my first no school day. I was happy for this, as for those of you who don't know, I am expecting and mornings have been a little more difficult for me, so it was nice to stay at home. The weather finally warmed up a little, Olivia kept asking for us to "buy more snow" and she got her wish, because today we had our second no school day, and we saw close to a foot of snow. Olivia was again happy to be out playing in the snow. Dale had a lot of help snowblowing...betweeen Buddy following behind him, Olivia helping him push, and our next door neighbor also following him, he got the job done!

We hope everyone has been enjoying the new year so far and staying warm!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We were again this year very fortunate to spend time with both of our families and had a fantastic time! We started out Christmas at our house where Olivia was greeted with a purple bike...something she has been asking Santa for since August! She was very excited to see the bike under the tree...however was not so excited when we had to leave it at home to begin our travels!

We left our house Christmas afternoon and headed to Dale's brother's house. We were losers and forgot to take our camera in...so unfortunately no pics:( Olivia really enjoyed playing with her cousins and LOVED the keyboard from Uncle Dave and the dress-up clothes from Aunt Debbie...and we must not forget the bell for her bike that Uncle Dave also got her! It was great seeing all of the Slivinski Family and we hope to do it again very soon!!! We stayed with grandma and grandpa for 2 days and then continued our journeys!

Our next journey took us up to the farm to see GiGi and Bumpa. We knew that Aunt Kath and her family were there (in from China), but when we arrived we got a surprise that Uncle Steve and his family would be joining us for the Dufon Christmas after all. So all the Dufon's were home and together...it was really great! All of the Dufon kids were able to stay at the farm one night, while all of the in-laws stayed at Aunt Suzanne's house. That was really nice!!! We were also quite surprised to see the snow piles, as they had been getting quite a bit of snow. Because it had rained, much of the snow melted, but there was still enough for some snowmobiling. The kids all loved their rides around the yard...and Buddy enjoyed chasing the snowmobile!!! He slept good at night! We were able to go bowling, play Wii games, and Olivia attempted ice skating for the very first time (our sources told us she thought the ice was too slippery so she didn't stay on for long), we didn't go because we were packing to come home. Again, Olivia loved playing with her cousins and we were all (especially me) very sad to go home!

Happy Holidays

Today, Olivia got to go see Santa! We were a little apprehensive on how it would go, since on Thursday she saw Santa at her Christmas program and she got scared. Well, she didn't do too bad, a little scared, but at least she sat with him. She was able to tell him that she wanted a purple bike and managed to tell Santa that Daddy has been "naughty"! She finally changed her mind and told him that Daddy has been a good boy.

Halloween

Olivia FINALLY understands Halloween. Trick or treating was the day before Halloween for us, because there was concern that on Halloween Day, we would be having a home playoff football game. So, we hurried home from work, got Olivia and decided to practice what to do. So I held the candy basket and had O say trick or treat and I would then place a piece of candy in her pumpkin...well apparently I did not give her enough candy...or she picked up on the concept really well because when I turned my back, both hands were in the basket and her pumpkin was half full! She was not happy when she had to return the candy, but was excited to go out and get some of her own. She was even more excited when her "boyfriend" Julian's parents invited us to their house for Halloween and she got to go trick or treating with him on Halloween Day! As you can see...O really likes Julian...especially when he is singing to her. We will really have to keep an eye on the two of them as they get older!!!

Fall Fun

I cannot believe that it is already the end of October! Where has this year gone to! Here are a few pics of a trip we made to East Lansing with Olivia...she LOVES Sparty! We also went to Boo at the Zoo this past week. Olivia liked seeing the animals...but LOVED the treat bag she got from the zoo. Will post more pics after Halloween!

Walk Now For Autism

Hi all!

As many of you may know, I work for Positive Education Program, a non-profit organization that serves individuals with Autism. Day in and day out, I work to teach not only the students with Autism in my classroom, but educate their families and the community in which we live.

This Sunday, September 28th, I will be participating in Walk Now For Autism to help raise awareness of Autism, as well as raise funds to further research on Autism. Autism is becoming more readily diagnosed and at some point in our lives, we will all be blessed to experience an interaction with someone with Autism.

I encourage you to visit: www.walknowforautism.org to increase your awareness. If you are able to donate, that too would be greatly appreciated, I will be walking for Positive Education Program in the Cleveland, OH event. I will be most greatful if you just take a moment of your time to educate yourself on Autism, as there are many people in society that are unaware of this and do not give individuals with Autism the respect they too deserve.

Love Nicole