December 2025

December has been abnormally cold and snowy this year. It probably snowed at least 5 times, and so many days were below freezing, and everything is just icy. So we've been inside a lot. We did bundle up during the holiday break to do the short hike to the waterfall, and only one of us (Rob) slipped and fell along the way. Here's a link to the album with all our photos from this month.

Rob: This year we spent the Christmas holiday at home, which was relaxing and low stress for the most part. I had lots of vacation time that I used to take days off between Christmas and New Years, and Becky also took several days off. Aside from lounging around and eating more than usual, we did a few things to get into the Christmas spirit. We went to the ward Christmas dinner and I made my usual beverage of mixed egg nog, ginger ale, and ice cream. We also hosted a few friends at our place for an evening of homemade cinnamon rolls and games. We took a day trip down to the Bronx to visit the New York Botanical Garden, where each holiday season, they set up their indoor area with dozens of toy trains going around on tracks that weave around all the plants, along with miniature replicas of historic NYC landmarks. It's really impressive, and Alex seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. That day was warmer than usual so we looked at stuff outside too, along with visiting the library, kids' discovery center and garden, gift shop, and cafe. Glad we finally got to do that. On Christmas Eve, we participated in a local tradition: Eggbert. There's a local business in a nearby town that has all these tents set up with various games and activities for kids, and at the end of it, there is a long line to meet a large talking egg named Eggbert. Or so we are told, as we didn't wait in the long line to see it. But we did ride their little train and play a few games that Alex was interested in. On Christmas Day, we made a fancy breakfast and opened presents in the traditional way, mostly toys and things for Alex. Later in the day, we got out of the house and went to the arcade and bowling alley at the mall nearby, which happened to be open. Then we made a fancy beef wellington dinner. After that, the couple that lives next door came over and we chatted for a while and watched Stranger Things. On New Year's Eve, we watched the big Stranger Things finale too. On New Year's Day, we enjoyed this big feast of hors d'oeuvres and deserts at the home of our other neighbors across the way, who are like professional-level chefs. Our neighbors next door also came, and it was really nice to sit and chat with everyone, since we see each other so often in passing. All very friendly people that we are lucky to share this 3-acre plot of land with.

Rob: In health updates, last month I noted I was having sudden and intense abdominal pain. After seeing my primary care physician and doing some more tests this month, they did confirm that it was due to kidney stones, of the calcium oxalate variety. I had a little bit more of that pain early in December, but it seemed to have passed after that, and there wasn't any sign of them in a urine test from later this month. I'll try to follow the doctor's advice on some things, but hopefully I'm in the clear for now. Also, Becky has a tooth that has cracked and chipped away no thanks to Grape Nuts, and is working on getting some dental care to fix that.

Rob: This month was sadly the end of Alex's time at the school where he's been going since he was about 2. Lisa, who runs that school, and her daughter Julie who works primarily with Alex, have been wonderful in so many ways, and they shed some tears when we shared this decision with them. Due to some issues that came up with our health insurance company, the school can't accept that insurance anymore, which was covering most of the cost for Alex's program. We decided rather than trying to work out another way to continue there through Medicaid, we would try to get Alex into another school in the area that Becky has been wanting to try. She did some of her training there many years ago, and it has the reputation of being the best. We attended a parents meeting with them, hoping to speed the process, but aren't sure it helped. So far they haven't been very clear about how long their waiting list is, or where we stand. In the meantime, Becky is going to work on implementing more of a home-based program for Alex, which might not be a bad change since he does struggle with translating some of the things he learns to do at school in the home environment. So we'll see what 2026 brings on that front.

Other news:

Alex: Some of Alex's favorite things this month include the theme song to the PBS kids show 'Super Why,' which he watches over and over again on the iPad. It takes a lot of effort not to catch ourselves singing it too sometimes. It was something he used to watch a long time ago, and now he's rediscovered it along with some other PBS kids theme songs (Daniel Tiger, Sid the Science kid, etc.) And his favorite phrases lately have been "Yay! Good job!" and "qua-qua" (quack-quack), which he goes around the house saying at random times.

Rob: I've been really into making little mossy terrariums in glass containers lately. So I thought I'd try my hand at selling some this month, since they might make nice Christmas gifts for people. I ended up selling about a dozen of these terrariums on Facebook Marketplace, and so I decided to make more of them during my holiday break and also made a little website and logo and see if this could be a fun side-hustle business in 2026. You can see my website along with some of my terrariums currently for sale here: www.mossariahv.com

Becky:  I've really enjoyed the holiday chill time, but am a bit anxious and excited for the new year.  We have some changes coming up and really have no idea how things will go.  Like Rob said, we don't know when Alex will get into the All Points ABA clinic (formerly the Carbone Clinic- any of my past clients or colleagues in Arizona, California or elsewhere will know what a big deal getting into the Carbone Clinic in Stony Point, NY would be; it's arguably the best treatment center for kids with ASD on the planet- and the only place I would leave his previous school for as his previous BCBA's really were great).  Just trying not to get my hopes up too much.  

We'll probably have to settle for a home consulatation model-  getting him a spot in the clinic may be a long wait yet.  So I hired our babysitter to help me run a home program.  She'll be doing a lot more than babysitting now.  Also, while I was out today, Rob put together a kid's loft bed with a slide in Alex's room so that we can provide respite for foster kids in the near future.  That's going to be an interesting change as well.  Foster care respite means that a kid will be with us for just short periods of time and we're hoping to really be able to provide some relief to one or more families this year.  A few more adjustments to Alex's room and the house and we should be ready to go.