Fall Pics

Things have been very busy around here. We had these pics taken 2 weeks ago and I am just now getting around to posting them. I have a lot more activities to post......hopefully soon.

You will see the pic of Addy in her "cowboy" outfit. This is her Halloween costume. She is very much into Halloween this year. She's been talking about it for weeks. She understands the concept that she will say "trick-or-treat" and get candy and is very much into dressing up in a costume. I thought that I would be able to pick out her costume one more year and pick something very cute like a bumblebee, monkey or some other cute animal. Well I forgot that very quickly. As soon as I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, she told me a cowboy and hasn't changed her mind. I'm not really sure where the cowboy idea came from, but she's sticking to it. If you try and convince her that she's a cowgirl rather then a cowboy, she insists that she's a cowboy. I guess I don't always get my way.

A Trip to the Apple Orchard

We headed out to Blake's Cider Mill and Apple Orchard today. Us along with the millions of other people who decided to go today. It was an absolute zoo, but Addy had a blast. She was very excited about taking a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick her own pumpkin. We ate cider and donuts and then drove our car out to the orchards to pick apples. Fun day!

The Lemonade Award

I recently received this award from a parent of one of my students at school. Not only do I get an opportunity to work with this amazing little boy everyday, but I also follow the blog she writes. She was also the one who made Addy that great Dora crown for her birthday. Check her out at better than normal. Thanks Melanie for nominating me!

The lemonade award is to honor those people who show great attitude or gratitude, hence "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This award comes with rules and here they are:

1. Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Drumrolllllllllll..............here are the nominees:

1. Tyler & Ethan
2. Kendall's Hope
3. Gwendolyn Strong
4. Reagan Leigh
5. My Journey with Jackson

Okay, so I'm going to cheat a little and only nominate 5 people, but if you get this award, feel free to nominate 10 people.

Take a minute and check out these awesome kiddos!

Kings Island

Last weekend to headed to Cincinnati. Aaron's brother, Graham, lives there and we were off to see his new house. Grandma and Grandpa Mills came along as well. The weekend we chose to go, happened to be P & G days at Kings Island. Uncle Graham works for Proctor and Gamble and they "rent out" Kings Island for the day and it's open only to friends and family of P & G personnel. Pretty cool!

Addy was very excited about the rides. We immediately got in line for the Merry Go Round and after 20-25 minutes of standing in line holding her, I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to stand with her in lines all day. Because she can't stand on her own, weighs almost 40 pounds and strollers are not allowed to be taken into the lines, this was going to be very difficult. So, I put my thinking cap on and headed to guest services. I explained the situation about having a child with a disability and not being able to stand in line with her and they were awesome about it. They gave us a handicap pass for the day so we got to go through the exit of every ride with the stroller and get right on the rides with no waiting. It was a lifesaver and allowed Addy to ride as many rides as she wanted. Thank you Kings Island!

We started out with the slow rides, as there are not many rides that Addy has been on before. The kiddie area is Nickelodeon themed (right up Addy's alley). Most of the rides were named after characters she knew, especially Dora and Diego. As you can see by the pics, Addy had a blast. One ride in particular called Swiper's Sweepers was her favorite. You sit with another child in a small cart and the carts whip you around the corners of the ride. I wasn't sure how Addy would react and as you can see by the pics, she loved it. The first time she rode she got put on with a girl much older than her who was scared to death. The girl was screaming, crying and trying to climb out of the ride while Addy sat and laughed and happily screamed her way through the entire ride.

Thanks to Uncle Graham and Sarah for their hospitality!

Labor Day Fun

This post is a little late, but with the start of school this week, things have been crazy. We had lots of fun on our last camping trip of summer (probably). We headed north and camped with the Coffindaffers (Tara, Kyle, Tyler & Ethan), the Courtneys (Kimberly, Greg & Macy) and the Coffindaffers (Corine, Keith & June). Addy had another Addyventure on this trip. Kayaking for the first time. She certainly enjoiyed it. Enjoy the pics!

Catching up on some pics

Addy has started to love shopping. Can you tell by the pic?



Addy has started walking with canes at therapy. They are two very basic canes that she holds and uses as walking sticks. Her PT has been very impressed that she hasn't needed much help with patterning or physical help. When school begins again next week, her PT through early intervention is planning on working with her using forearm crutches. We are excited about that.



Addy has loved helping around the house lately. She will help me wash dishes, start the dishwasher and do the laundry. Hopefully that will transfer over to chores in the near future.



We visited another splash park with Cousin Reese and Aunt Colleen. During the previous splash park adventure, Addy was a little timid of the water. When she would get into the middle with lots of spray, she would start crying and I would have to rescue her. Well, by this splash park she has gotten over the timidness of the sprayers. She was all over the place and seemed to migrate toward the areas with more water.

Camping again

We headed out for camping again this weekend. This time with the Benders. Steph and Marty have a little girl, Kaya, who is just a few months older than Addy. The girls were like two peas in a pod. It was monkey see, monkey do all weekend with each of them taking turns on being the leader. Both girls had similar interests and enjoyed playing with each other. By the end of the weekend they wanted to take each other home to be their "sister". The weather was not great, so we couldn't do our plan of swimming and hanging out at the beach, but we still had fun just hanging out and playing in our long pants and long shirts. Thanks Benders for a fun weekend!