Breakfast with Santa

When Zander was first diagnosed with Autism, we were lost. Even though I had been doing research for a couple of years, I didn't know where to start in our community. I was able to find an organization called The Family Support Network. They have been a lifesaver for us. They have a lending library and once a month we go to a support group to talk with other parents of children with special needs. They sponsor this group and always bring in a speaker for education and to answer questions. They provide supper and playtime for the children. Zander always looks forward to it. They also help with preparation for IEP meetings etc. Today the FSN sponsored Breakfast With Santa. It is open to any family in our county that has a child with any kind of special need.
We weren't sure quite what to expect, but we were very pleasantly surprised. When we arrived we were given name tags and an appointment with Santa. Then we got in line for the delicious buffet breakfast. Our friends Ms. Jane and her family were there also so that was comforting to Zander. After we ate we went to see Santa. He sat on his lap and "Placed his order". That is funny but that is really what he thinks he is doing.
After that they had many stations set up for the children to make ornaments, play games for prizes and a jump house. They even had a big stocking with goodies for each child. There were a lot of volunteers and I was very happy to see that most of them were teenagers. When we were leaving he said that was the best festival ever. So, I think it was a success.
Oh yeah, one of the stations was for writing a letter to Santa. I found that funny since he was sitting right beside of the table but the children didn't seem to question it. Zander wrote a letter because he forgot something on his order. Here is his letter.

Sorry, it won't let me turn the picture but it says, "Santa, I forgot to tell you, I want....."

"An electric guitar, Zander"

Christmas lights

Last Saturday was time to put up all of the Christmas decorations. Zander was Daddy's helper. He was able to get on the ladder with Daddy's help and put the lights on the hooks. He thought he was something! That's my big boy!

Cooking night

Last month we were able to attend cooking night at Zander's school. His school has been chosen as the only one in this area to participate in Michelle Obama's MOVE program to prevent childhood obesity. They already have their own garden that the children plant and take care of and they are composting school waste this year.
We had the pleasure of getting hands on cooking lessons with Chef Don McMillan. He was one of the chefs that went to consult with Mrs. Obama. He is quite famous in this area and opened The Stocked Pot. His son owns it now, but you can still go there and have cooking classes with him. Many of his recipes are on YouTube.
In the pictures above you can see Summers and Zander making vegetable flowers. We used carrots, radishes and zucchini. Then we made fruit and yogurt Popsicles.
In the next picture you can see Zander talking with Chef Don. I can only imagine what he was telling him.
The next picture was the most fun. He gave us these curvy sticks that had been soaked in cinnamon. They are called fruit sticklers. Next we had all sorts of fresh fruit. We cut it up and placed it on our sticks to eat. It is amazing how he will try new things in a situation like this . Our overall favorite dish was a bean dip and baked pita chips. It was delicious as well as healthy. I was very proud of him. He even tried Jicama although neither of us cared for it.
Our friends, Ms. Jane, Adam and JJ were also there and we able to cook with us. It was alot of fun and we hope to be able to participate next time.

Art

Zander's first grade class has been studying our city. They went downtown and got to go up to the top of one of the buildings and look out of the windows. He thought that was really cool. This is the picture that he drew of the skyline in art class.