Whoops! I'll never make that mistake again!

In February James and I were supposed to head to Montreal for our 3rd session of ABR training. I had the trip planned, plane tickets purchased, hotel and rental car booked, days off of work, babysitters lined up for Elliot....We were ready. The Thursday-Sunday before we left I spent with some awesome ladies at a scrapbooking retreat that we go to each year. It was a great weekend of relaxing and doing whatever I felt like doing without having to worry about kids etc. I got quite a bit of scrapbooking done and I'm finally feeling like I can work on our family album and not just the kids' albums.
So Sunday came along and Andy and the boys picked me up on Chippewa Falls, WI. They had spent the weekend at Andy's parents and visiting friends and family there. We got the Minneapolis and Andy dropped James and I off. We headed to the kiosk to get checked in and guess what I realized at that precise moment-the passport we have for James is just the card=only good for land and sea travel :( I was so mad at myself! Of course the people with the airline were very helpful and tried to get us as close to the border as possible, but there were too many unknowns for me. We didn't know for sure if we'd get a rental car-let alone one big enough for James' wheelchair, we didn't know if that border station was open 24 hours and it was going to be several hours of driving late at night in super unknown territory with an early start the next morning. So we decided to re-book our tickets and re-schedule ABR. Both Andy and I were pretty mad about it. Most expensive mistake I think I've ever made. But now we are set to go to ABR in Philadelphia at the end of April. The people at ABR have been really helpful and this week we'll be connecting via phone to answer questions we have and we'll keep trucking on until we get to go in April.

Hopefully I'll get a post up soon about our new house!!!

In the meantime we are selling Butterbraids and Puffins to help raise $$ to pay for the session fees for ABR. We are amazed at the results we've seen and can't wait to do more! Price for both Butterbraids and Puffins are 1 for $11 or 3 for $30. Butterbraid flavors are Apple, Blueberry Cream Cheese, Strawberry Cream Cheese, Bavarian Cream, Raspberry, Cinnamon, Caramel Rolls (9 count). Puffin flavors are Apple, Blueberry Cream Cheese, Strawberry Cream Cheese, Cinnamon, Caramel, Mozzarella, Nacho. Orders can be placed to emailing me at ajbuettner@hotmail.com, message me on Facebook, or call me at 701-318-9938. We'll be taking orders until March 28 and delivery will be April 4th.

Also, if you're around the Fargo area on Easter we'll be celebrating James' 5th birthday!! Not too much is planned right now but I'm sure we'll have cake and ice cream and some lunch.

Here's a few pictures to hold you over! James and Elliot went to the dentist this week and neither of them had cavaties! James wasn't so sure about other people in his mouth-he even fights mom and dad when we brush his teeth and he does lots of biting during that too. Elliot cried at first, which got James upset-he hates when Elliot cries because he's scared. But we got Elliot settled and he did awesome!

Dentist checking everything out!

a little hesitatnt, James crying for Elliot



Daddy's boys for sure!





watching curling with Uncle Uncle





No cavaties!





Moving!!



Spread the Word to Stop the Word

I'm a day late, but I figured late is better than never for this post.

Most people have used the "R" word out of context and not meaning harm to those who are mentally handicapped or disabled. I"ve done it myself. But that doesn't mean it isn't hurtful anyway. Most people are making fun of friends of family in fun by calling them retarded or by slamming their arm/wrist against their body. Guess what-those actions are my son. I have a son who can't control his movements and when I see someone imitating these motions that my beautiful boy makes in frustration-it hurts. Especially if its a friend or acquaintance. No matter who you are, it hurts but I guess I expect more of the people who are closer to me and my family.

So I guess I'm asking anyone who reads this to think twice before using the "R" word and to help their friends and family to quite using the word inappropriately!