Moving on up.....

The last few days have just been full of emotion. I've shed many tears already, and I know more are coming. I've never been good with change, or the obvious passing of time. And well, this week.. it's all over the place! I'm feeling so proud, and happy and my heart is bursting for these two precious souls I brought into this world. So here are my Anna and Aiden updates...

AIDEN
Last year at this time we were sad. We had to make the tough decision to hold Aiden back in first grade. It reminded us that even as far as he'd come, he was still recovering from a dramatic loss of speech due to an unknown episode. We were confident in our decision, but sad to realize Aiden would need to remain at UCP school, and have to watch his friends move on while he stayed back in 1st grade.


Well... today, the day before the last day of school, Aiden's class held a young authors tea at school. Each child wrote and illustrated a book, and read it to the other children, teachers and parents in the room. Aiden PROUDLY read his story, and you could see the happiness on his face at the opportunity to share his creation with us. His reading aloud was beautiful. We spoke with his teachers as well, and it's not a question that Aiden is promoted to 2nd grade. We couldn't be happier, or feel more blessed by this news. We received Aiden's IEP update, and he has reached so many of his goals, that they essentially had to re-write to raise the bar for him.


As we left his classroom today, I realized it was the last time I would be leaving that particular classroom. The room he's been in for 2 years. The room I've left numerous times feeling scared, worried, uncertain. The room I left today with tears filling my eyes at the wonderful fact he'll be headed upstairs to the big time -- 2nd grade. Next year, he'll remain at UCP Bailes special needs charter school where he'll continue to receive the help he needs through speech therapy, and individualized education, and maybe, who knows... but maybe one day, Aiden will move to East Lake Elementary. And if he doesn't, UCP is a blessing and we couldn't feel luckier for the gift we receive by having such a wonderful special needs charter school just down the street from us. Aiden is beating the odds, and overcoming his delays. SO congratulations to my amazing Aiden Jack - 2nd grader.

ANNA
It just feels like yesterday Anna made me a mommy. That was one of the happiest days of my life. From the moment Anna arrived we could see she had a passion for life and all the wonder around her. She has a strong personality (like me perhaps), and is a hard worker. Every moment since then, she has made us so incredibly proud. Tomorrow, Anna graduates 5th grade, and officially becomes a middle school-er. I have to admit, I'm feeling sad about this. I just can't believe it's time. It's times like this in life that I feel hyper-aware of how time is passing by...We just picked her up in the last ever car line at East Lake Elementary, and yep, I lost it again when I heard her name called. 6 years of that... well that's a lot of "Anna Lesnick, go to number 1".

So, the big news. Anna is graduating elementary school with nothing but straight A's from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Yes, 6 years of Perfect A's. Tomorrow is the awards assembly/graduation where I know Anna will be recognized for her many achievements. She has SO much to be proud of, SO much ahead of her, and we have so many things coming that we'll be kvelling over in the years to come. If you are wondering what Kvell means, it's yiddish, look it up. ;) Anna's school had a very fancy 5th grade graduation dance party last week. They started at the school and paraded around waving goodbye to all their old teachers, and were then bussed to a hall down the street for an elaborate party in their honor. She had a great day. Tomorrow, awards in the morning, and that's it. We get to take her home. So congratulations to my amazing Anna Elizabeth, perfect A's and now..6th grader.
(the first picture was taken on the first day of Kindergarten, the 2nd picture was taken before her 5th grade dance)


What's coming this summer...
Well, first, apparently the band director at Anna's new middle school has resigned due to moving out of town, so they are looking for a new band teacher. Will and I have been asked to be on the committee to help choose this new band teacher. YAY! We are excited to already be involved at Corner Lake Middle School, and hopefully Anna will LOVE her band experience.

Both kids are excited to attend our Kindermusik camp a couple weeks this summer. Aiden will continue private speech therapy and crossfit kids classes. They will also attend a drama camp, and their regular day camp as well. Swim lessons are in store, along with piano lessons, and if we're lucky, some R&R as well.

Will and I are running Grow and Sing Studios together now. It's our family biz. We work ALL the time, but we are having fun while doing so, and we do love it.

So.. with a box of tissues almost gone, and with a bursting heart of pride, I happily watch the passage of time as my two beautiful children move to their next chapters.

Thanks for reading,
Love, Holly
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Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup

I'm sick and miserable with a terrible cold, so on today's menu....
HOMEMADE MATZOH BALL CHICKEN SOUP

I posted that this was my plan today on facebook, and was asked for the recipe. I've find myself continually looking to see where the last post was with my recipe so don't have to reinvent the wheel and this time, I'm posting HERE so it's always in the same place!



MATZOH BALL CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE

1 whole cup up chicken
1 large onion
1 large parsnip
1 large turnip
4 or 5 large carrots
4 or 5 large celery
fresh dill
fresh parsley
salt and pepper
1 or 2 packages of matzoh ball AND soup mix (found in ethnic/jewish food section of supermarket

Step 1 - wash chicken and place in the largest pot you have, and fill the pot with water almost to top (leaving a touch of room for boiling). Place on stove, high heat and bring to a boil.

Step 2 - You'll notice as the water starts to boil, and the chicken gets hot, that the fat will lift to the top. Skim the fat off the top and remove as it floats to the top. This can be a process as it continues to rise up. Once the water is boiling and no more stuff is floating to the top, lower heat to a slow boil (med/low).

Step 3 - Peel onion, and cut an X on both flat sides. Leave onion whole (just an X on both sides), cut ends of parsnip and peel like you would a carrot. Leave whole. Cut ends of turnip and leave whole. Peel carrots and cut in small circle slices. Wash and cut ends of celery and cut in small pieces. Chop Dill (about 2 TBSP). Tie parsley with cooking string and keep whole (bunch).

Step 4 - put ALL ingredients in the pot. If you need to, use ladle to take out a bit of water/broth and place in separate bowl. As water evaporates during cooking, you can add the extra back in! Also add some salt (I only add about a tsp, because you can always add more later), and add some pepper.

Step 5 - cook for about 1 hour at which time you will use a slotted spoon to remove all the chicken pieces only into a bowl. Let everything else still simmer. Let chicken cool a bit, and then with your hands, remove ALL bones and put all chicken meat back into the pot. IMPORTANT -- you need to do this before the chicken starts falling off the bone naturally in the pot as it will be hard to debone the soup. 1 hour into cooking is perfect.

Step 6 - The longer the soup simmers, the better it will taste. (and it even tastes better the 2nd day!).

Step 7 - follow the directions on the box for making the matzoh balls. Cook and make them in a SEPARATE pot from the soup. When they are done, you can ladle some of the broth from the matzoh balls into the other soup to add a bit more "saltiness". When the matzoh balls are ready, your soup is ready. Serve by putting some soup in bowl, and then some matzoh balls in too! Before you serve. remove what's left of the parsley and string. The onion will fall apart all by itself as will the parnsip and turnip!

Storage -- I like to store the soup separate from the matzoh balls because the matzoh balls will absorb a TON of liquid, and get too heavy.

ENJOY!

The gift of time... Celebrating Aiden. Age 8.

Today I woke up to the arms of an 8 year old giving me the biggest hug ever. Arms wrapped SOOO tight, as we exchanged our traditional morning words, "I love you mommy", and "I love you SO much Aiden", then.... "You are the best mommy".
Then I added, "I'm hugging my 8 year old now, Happy Birthday my love".

You see, Aiden and I have a morning tradition. Ever since he got his speech back, he comes to me while I'm sleeping in bed, and until I hear him speak, I'm scared. This has been the case since his "incident" as we call it, which was now 4 years ago. The tradition began 4 years ago, and has changed over the years, because it started with me running to HIM to check on him as a worried mommy, but now, Aiden is very adamant that he be the one who speaks first, and is the one who initiates the hug. So I am instructed to stay in bed until he comes to me. Thank goodness for time.

8 years ago today, I gave birth to Aiden Jack Lesnick, the most adorable baby boy I had ever seen. He has been nothing but smiles since he entered this earth, and my heart is bursting for this kid. He developed well, and was moving along nicely until his incident about 4 years ago. 4 years ago, due to unknown reasons (at age 4), Aiden was unable to speak to us. He was unable to give eye contact. In fact he had a very rapid eye blinking tick. His arm involuntarily jerked. We couldn't take him to places that had flashing lights. He was incredibly sensitive to sound. He was unable to initiate conversations with peers. It was one of the most terrifying things to go through as a parent when you don't know what's wrong (and neither did doctors and specialists) with your baby.

Okay, so here we are. February 4th, 2013. I couldn't feel more blessed or grateful for how far we have come. The last time I posted here, I was upset yet at peace that we made the decision to hold him back in first grade this year. Well, all I can say about that is it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Here's a photo of Aiden as I sent him off to school today.

In the last four years, Aiden has been through countless tests, both physical and developmental/educational. It has been a slow process to get him back to developmental age level and grade level. He has worked with speech therapists at his school UCP Bailes, along with his private speech therapist Jane who has been his constant the whole way through. His teachers at school are amazing and completely in tune with Aiden. We are SO thankful for his school which is an all inclusive special needs school with small ratios and the help and support Aiden has needed (and Will and I too!). We have supported and encouraged Aiden to participate in activities that are confidence building without any pressure to "perform" to a certain level in order to be accepted.

This year Aiden has progressed more than any other year. This year, in additional to his therapy, and school, Aiden LOVES attending Crossfit Kids classes where he gets to work to his own ability each day (and is doing amazing!). He also loves to attend Kindermusik, and in fact just began his last semester in Kindermusik for the Young Child. In May, Aiden will graduate out of my program at Grow and Sing Studios. This baffles me! At the beginning of this year, Aiden also wanted to try going to Hebrew School like his big sis, and is doing quite well and enjoying himself. Will and I were worried this would be too much for him, but he is loving every minute.

Our reports from school are completely different than what we have become accustomed to. They have been WONDERFUL! Aiden was tested on the F.A.I.R. test at the beginning of this school year in September 2012, and again when he just got back from Winter Break, and moved up an ENTIRE GRADE LEVEL in that time. His teacher was SO excited that she couldn't wait until the end of the day to tell us, she had to call us right then in the middle of the day. Aiden is now reading. When we go in for conferences, his teachers have nothing but amazing things to say, and those that knew him from past years, can't believe how far he's come. This past Friday, Aiden was tested by his speech therapist Jane, here at the house. I chose to sit in on the testing as I have done each and every year since this all started. Aiden was able to answer every single solitary question with ease. It was no sweat! As the test went on, I had tears (of happiness) streaming down my face, as his speech therapist looked at me and just said "I know".

One last achievement I would like to share before I end. Each and every year, as Aiden's birthday approaches we asked him what he wants to do for his party. In past years, we have had to show him pictures of different options, and he picks that way. In addition, if someone asked him how old he was, or other questions like that, he struggled to answer. WELL, this year, for his 8th birthday we once again asked the question, "Aiden what would you like to do for your birthday?". His response (more or less): "I would like a wonderful mickey mouse party at home with lots of friends, a bounce house, pinata, decorating party hats, and a yummy cake, and decorations." The moment he told us that, we knew, that just by giving Aiden the gift of time, we have come SO FAR. Aiden still has some work to do, but he's just amazed us all.

His party was this weekend, and he said it was the best day ever.

Happy Birthday Aiden Jack Lesnick, we love you!!!!

Love, Holly (his more than proud mommy)













P.S. If you haven't read about Aiden previously, here's our post from last May, and if you want to do reading from the very beginning, you can click here.