Ghost Toast and Creepy Eggs were on the menu at our house this morning! The kids enjoyed getting to pick their different shaped eggs and toast :)
Alex was very excited to take his hat and flag to school with him. Dadam went to an NFL game while in London and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the home team. The flags were placed on all the seats and Dadam brought a few home for the kids!!
Alex had his Fall party today and enjoyed getting to wear his Pirate Costume at school. Another little boy in the class next door was dressed as a Pirate too. Alex thought that was the best, I am not sure the other little boy was as excited about matching as Alex was :)
Amelia was excited to join Alex at school. She was a puppy dog until she got to hot :)
Alex and Amelia enjoyed a lot of fun activities. I love the pictures of them decorating the cookies. Amelia ate the frosting right off the wooden stick and Alex just licked the frosting off the cookie and threw the cookie away :)
Tonight we enjoyed Halloween with the Ashton and Simpson Families. We had a great time chatting, eating yummy food and trick or treating. Harry Potter was well represented tonight with two Harry's, two Hermione's, one Ron, one Hedwig, one Professor Dumbledore (Dadam), one Professor McGonagall (Mom) and one Bellatrix Lestrange :)
Adam (Harry Potter), Addison (Hermione), Alex (Ron), & Amelia (Hedwig)
We enjoyed Taco Soup, Mummies, Apples with Caramel, Root Beer with dry ice &; Butter Beer for dinner. Since we had so many Hogwarts alumni this evening the Butter Beer was a must, even the adults liked it!!
Another Halloween has come and gone...such wonderful memories. Our family truly is blessed :) I feel like the luckiest Mom in the world to have four amazingly happy children that make my heart smile!
Our morning started bright and early this morning and full of purpose. The kids and I attended the Phoenix Autism Speaks Walk at Tempe Town Lake. The event started at 8:00 am and can I just tell you it was PACKED!! We arrived at 8:10 and the lines were already crazy. We did the 1 mile walk and enjoyed the booths and activities that were made available to all of the participants.
The cotton candy was being passed out by a dentists office! You had to take a tooth brush in order to get the cotton candy. Amelia had a fun time eating and coating her face and hands with sugar!!
Face Painting was a big hit with all of the kids today :) I was really surprised that they all not only wanted it done, but sat for the process. As you can see Alex and Amelia's aren't as detailed as the older two, but they were very excited with the results!!
The whole event was truly amazing. This was our first time attending the Autism Walk. We have participated in the Crohn's Disease walk for a few years now and I must say this was so much more. The kids and I has a wonderful time and truly felt loved and supported. Alex and Addison saw therapists and Doctors that have worked with them through the years. Seeing them there was a real treat.
We headed out early so that we could make it to the last two hours of church. I truly think we could have been there at least another good hour. Thank you to everyone that not only supported us for this walk today, but supports our family everyday with such love and understanding. We are truly blessed :)
Harry (Adam), Hermione (Addison), Ron (Alex) & Hedwig (Amelia) were dressed to impress tonight. After enjoying dinner at the park across the street from the church we dressed in the parking lot. I asked a man at the park for a birthday party to help tie the kids ties because I don't know how and Dadam is still in London! We made our way to the party and let the Trick or Treating begin!!
The kids had a great time visiting with their friends and of course scoring big on the candy!! Some of the cars had games for them to play which they really enjoyed. Amelia didn't really understand what was going on. She enjoyed sitting in the wagon and having people give her candy once in a while :)
The kids entered the Costume Contest and I am happy to share that they WON for Best Superhero category :) How much fun is that!!!
Amelia decided to get out of the wagon and once she did the fun really began! She really enjoyed the homemade root beer and music. The kids danced, enjoyed a few pieces of candy (mean Mom), and the homemade root beer. What a fun night :)
Thursday after the older kids arrived home from school the preparation for their school's Pumpkin Walk began. Grandma was a big help in carving pumpkins. I complemented her on her abilities and she reminded me that she had 5 kids!! Practice truly makes perfect. She was able to carve 2 awesome pumpkins in the time it took me to carve 1. Adam was able to reproduce his amazing drawing that had put on his pumpkin earlier this month. Our pumpkins were out on our straw in the front yard and slowly cooked in our hot Phoenix weather! As you can see Adam carved his own pumpkin, he truly is an amazing artist.
Addison wanted a scary face this year. She drew the eyes and nose all by herself. I helped with the mouth, but she gave her approval. We even stabbed holes on the back so that her pumpkin would look like it had hair :)
Grandma helped Alex with his pumpkin. She used a cookie cutter and a rubber mallet for his eyes. X marks the spot right. His mouth is in the shape if a sword, a true Pirate Pumpkin!!
We lite all of the pumpkins and made sure they were as awesome as we thought they would be!!
After we dropped Grandma at he airport and I was taking Alex to school we dropped our pumpkins off at school so that they could be displayed in the Pumpkin Patch for the Fall Festival later that night. Alex took his to show his class, he was very proud of his Pirate Pumpkin!
With our blanket in tow we headed off to this years Fall Festival which was a movie night. We enjoyed pizza and Charlie Brown's Halloween Special. Adam dressed up as Harry Potter, Alex was a Pirate of course and the girls wore their PJ's.
The Pumpkin Walk was great. They had some amazing pumpkins as always. I was grateful for the wagon when it came time to loading them back up in the van to take home!! Besides Alex running off (he ran into an aid from his classroom and she returned him as I was searching the school yard) and giving me a good scare the kids were great and the night was very fun.
Monday Grandma was able to see first hand what Alex and Ms. Lacey work on four days a week in our home while I was with Adam at a doctors appointment. We decided to set up a few more field trips for him to work on public environments and not running off.
Tuesday we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Butterfly Exhibit. They were hosting a free day and we thought it would be a good experience that we had not had before. You would think that at the end of October a day outside would be nice, but not in Phoenix. We were all pretty hot and sweaty by the time we loaded back into the van.
Alex and Amelia enjoyed the butterflies though and the misters in the enclosed area were nice!! I was hoping that the butterflies would land on one of the kids. Amelia sat extremely still but she was never visited by a special friend.
Tuesday night after the older kids came home from school Grandma took them on a special date as well. Adam, Addison and Grandma went and saw Dolphin Tale. Adam and Addison enjoyed getting their special time with Grandma.
Wednesday was our normal running from appointment to appointment. The kids were so excited about this that they thought getting up at 3:30 am would be a great idea. Me...not so much. However I am happy to say that Grandma was able to attend Addison's Fall Party at school. I don't get to go to a lot of those because younger siblings usually aren't invited.
Mommy is How Many...
Thursday started on a wonderful note! Adam got up at 5:00 am (a big difference from the day before) and made me breakfast. Cereal and bread cut with a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter. Grandma then helped him make me a smoothly and cook my Mickey Bread as french toast.
After we got all of the kids off to school Grandma, Amelia and I drove to Krispy Kreme for my Birthday doughnut. I don't know if we need to make that drive again, but the company was fun. We stopped by Deseret Book and Seagull Book and picked up a few things for a project I am putting together.
Grandma picked up Alex from school and then we were off to visit the Science Center.
We ate at Pizzeria Bianco with Grandma and then enjoyed the Real Pirate exhibit once again. Our visit today truly topped the previous one. Alex was greeted by two Pirates (actors) within the exhibit. They gave Alex the Pirate Test (tying a rope, saying Arrrg and raising the flag). I am happy to say that Alex passed with flying colors :) He truly is an amazing kid and is growing so much each day!
Mom and the kids created an amazing dinner, my favorite of course. We enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and coleslaw. After dinner we enjoyed an amazing apple strudel that Grandma made. The kids had fun blowing out the candle and would have continued again and again if allowed. Grandma helped the kids create homemade cards for me to go along with their gifts. Adam gave me very pretty flowers in a vase, Addison gave me chocolate, Alex gave me a frame talking about love and Amelia got me wooden spoons :) I don't know who had more fun them or me. I truly enjoyed their excitement as I opened my cards and gifts from everyone that thought of me on my special day. I am so blessed to be loved and thought of by so many. Thank you for the phone calls, cards and gifts. What a lucky girl I am :)
"Parting is such sweet sorrow."
No one truly enjoys getting up at 4:00 am, but on Friday I was truly saddened to get up. My Mom's plane was leaving early and that was just sad for me. I truly loved her visit and wish she didn't have to return so quickly. I really felt like I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her while she was here. What a help she was for me, she took the kids on walks, made meals, watched the kids while others were at appointments. I bet she was excited to get home to rest :) Thank you Mom for being such an amazing example to me. I am truly grateful for you.
We arrived at the airport at 5:30 am and said our good-byes. The kids and I headed to IHOP for their free Scary Pancakes promotion. Adam ate his masterpiece, but the other kids were happy eating my breakfast! Addison ate my eggs, Alex ate my sausage links and Amelia enjoyed my hash-browns and bacon!! Lucky for me I had pancakes to eat!!
They all had a fun time decorating their pancakes as you can see! I am glade they were free!!
Our Saturday started with a fun surprise for the kids and a real treat for me. Grandma Lund flew in to spend a few days with the kids and I while Dadam is in London for school. We picked her up at the airport and headed straight for the Fire Museum. They were having a free open house and we were told it was worth the visit.
We had a great time seeing all of the different models of firetrucks. If you make the above picture larger the bottom right photo looks like Cinderella's carriage. I don't know how effective it was, but it was sure pretty to look at :)
We were able to not only go into a few trucks, but the kids and I took a ride in a 1959 Firetruck. I enjoyed the old siren. Smokey the Bear was there are so of course a photo needed to be taken :) Adam was able to put out a fire using a fire extinguisher filled with water, he really enjoyed that!!
All of the kids had fun sitting in the helicopter. Seeing Alex in a yellow helicopter brought back memories of his ride when he was a day old. I am happy to say that he wasn't a passenger this time, just a kid having a great time!!
After nap time Grandma took the kids to Cars 2 at the dollar show. Amelia wasn't up for the movie so we hung out in the foyer. She enjoyed looking at the movie memorabilia. Once the movie let out the older kids took a few photos in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean display.
Intel has a team building activity that they opened up for families. Dadam is in London, but our friends the Ashton's were a big part of the planning and let us crash without bringing Dadam!! We enjoyed pretzels, strudel, bratwurst/hotdogs and German potato salad.
As you can see for the pictures above they also had a man making balloon animals for the kids. After they bounced their night away in the bounce house we had lots of fun balloons made. Adam got a red airplane, Addison got Rapunzel, Alex got a sword and Amelia got a flower. As you can see Hayden got a Firebolt, I hope it lasts until Halloween for him. He is going to be Harry Potter :)
The evening was great. The adult conversation was a much needed treat :)
Teacher by trade, Mother by choice! Being a Mom is nothing that I expected and everything I expected and more. I have four wonderful children and they are each special in their own ways. My job each day is to love them care for their needs and make sure that no one takes advantage or gives them the shaft. The industry calls me an advocate, but Mom works just fine for me :)
