Jan 2nd

Snowy VT

WOW..it summer 2011

I have been so bad about updating this blog. Lets see, it is 2011 already!
MY MONKEY DOODLES, Cole, Jack and Sam are all doing well.
Cole is gearing up for 8th grade and is currently at New England Prep Cross Country Camp this week for X-C training. Jack is going into 4th grade and has done Cooking camp and the KIDS COOKERY and swim camp at Bubbles to Butterfly this summer.
Sam is doing one more year at preschool and is 5yrs old already!
We are spending a week at CAMP HARKNESS this summer! Can't wait! I promise to post pics soon!
Oh...need I say, I have been training with my oldest son to run a 1/2 marathon in NOVEMBER. Yes, call me CRAZY!

Here is a picture of Jack using his KIDS COOKERY skills at Grandma's house!

The Kiddie Pool

Hello Everyone! Happy Holidays to you:) We decided to put together a page for Sam at Adaptivemall.com for some things he is in need of. Sam is too tall for his current stroller and we are in need of a new one for him that will grow with him a bit more. Sam needs transportation via stroller when we are on long outings as he tires easily and just wants to sit down or be held. We thought this would be perfect for our friends and family who want to give to Sam for his birthday, holiday or any event.

Here is the link to Sam's Page:
www.adaptivemall.com/sams.html

We hope everyone has a very merry holiday season!
xo Peter, Holly, Cole, Jack and Sam

Happy Holidays from www.mymonkeydoodles.blogspot.com

Hello Everyone!

Yes, I know. I have been really bad about posting on my blog since we attended the annual conference.

Well..lets see, what is new? Mr.Sam is a pretty happy 4 1/2 yr old little boy. Lately he has had a bout of coughing and croup but is on the mend.
Sam just had his first Augmentive Communication Evaluation at the school. It is looking like the IPAD is the way to go for him. We will have the formal evaluation on paper in the beginning of the year.

Sam has really made some milestones. WE ARE POTTY TRAINING! Sam is doing great on the potty. We are still in our cloth nappies at night but do great throughout the day. He singed "potty" to me for the very first time...well...initiating it for the first time the other day! SO exciting:)

Sam is coming out with more and more words too! Just amazing! We are super excited about this. I will try to post a video here but you can always go on my facebook page to see it too.

We are thinking one more year of pre-school is the way to go for him. We are hoping to keep him at CT College for another good year of a foundation year for him. He is really making milestones and this is a really important time. EVERYTHING is in place there.

As for Sammy's brothers, Cole and Jack. Cole is very busy with his running. He is doing fun runs on Sundays to stay in shape for the track season in the spring. He is looking forward to Ski Club early next year. 7th grade has been good for Cole. Big changes.

Jack is JACK! Oh..my little 8yr old. I think he is realizing it is VERY important to brush your teeth for more than a second when he found out he has to have FILLINGS!
Why doesn't that kids like to wear a winter coat?? LOL OH..my:)

I had to close my natural maternity and baby store for economic reasons. The economy is not very nice to small brick and mortor stores:(
I have however, opened up my NEW SALON! WAAHOOOO PINK cut & color studio! Come check it out. Would love to see you if you are local.

I promise 2011 will be a better year for posting:)

NDSC Conference was awesome!

Hello Everyone,

We had a fantastic time in Florida for the NDSC Conference. It was just AMAZING to see all parents networking and making a stronger community for all of us with kids with Ds. Cole attended the sibling conference. On the first day he learned more about people first language and the 2nd day they went on an outing. He made some great friends and connections. I spent all day on Friday at the affiliate conference representing Connecticut. We networked on how to make our local non-profit stronger and how to gain more volunteers,etc. So great to see other organizations in the same boat...don't feel alone!

Saturday and Sunday our Jena came from N.Carolina to watch Sam and Jack while Peter, Cole and I went to the conference. Peter really enjoyed the D.A.D.S session. We learned SOO much and will be bringing many of the ideas and thoughts to our own local convention this November. It will be a great!!

You will see here a picture of Cole who made a great friend Tim. Tim is a college graduate and is opening his own restaurant "Tim's Place"! Oh....he also has Down syndrome!

Of course, with the convention in Florida, we had to see MICKEY! What a great way to tie in a learning experience and a little family fun.

Thank you to all of you who made this possible for us. xoxo

Holly

We are going to the National Down Syndrome Conference

Well...it's only been a months since I posted. Bad mommy. I have to get better at this. With Facebook and everything else this blog gets left behind. Good thing is I have a way to post from my phone super easy now! Love the iphone!

So we did some amazing fundraisers to help us get to Florida next month (July) to get us to Convention. Cans for Sam is still bringing in the change which is great seeing this convention is located at Disney. Spaghetti for Sam was a success. WOW...I just don't know how to thank everyone for all they have done to pull that event together for us. The leclair family and his boy scouts rocked and of course my sister Tammy and her family are always at hand. We had many donations for our raffle drawing including a bike (pics of raffle item on this post)! THANK YOU TO ALL!

Overall, we were able to raise enough funds to pay for everything and even to get a sitter for a few days so Peter and I can enjoy the conference and Jack and Sam can stay back at the resort to splash in the pool. Cole will be at the sibling convention. So excited for him!

I PROMISE to post lots of pictures when we are away.

On another note. I am lucky to have won a scholarship to the National Apraxia Conference in Pittsburg the beginning of July. Yes, I am a busy mama but somehow seem to fit it all in!

xo for now!

My Monkey Doodle Sam is 4 today!

Here we are, May 4, 2010. I can not believe my baby is already 4. Time does certainly fly by. We are so lucky that Sam is in our family. Today Sam will celebrate with his classmates by sharing his wheat and Gluten free corn bread muffins we made. Tonight we will celebrate with family after brother Jacks LAX practice. We will have Sammy's favorite...ICE CREAM CAKE of course!

Sam will have a few friends over to celebrate his turning 4. We are going to have a "Sock Monkey" theme! I can't wait to post those pictures. It will be super fun! I got the idea to get back into the theme party from one of my dear customers Suzanne! Thank you Suzanne! No reason to not do it up right?

This year Sam is getting a balance bike from us and his brothers got him some "hooked on phonics" books. Sam LOVES to read and is already reading! I will post more on that soon. I have some great video footage of that! More pics to come!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SAM SAM!