Kinder {LOP}.

I almost forgot,  a couple weeks earlier Baby R got her very first LOP!! (Leopard of the Week)

She was beyond thrilled because it's a week all about her at school.  She got to bring in an "All About Me" poster that hung in the classroom.  She got to be line leader (her absolute favorite) and she got to be first in line to check her books out at the library.  She felt very special that week:)

And to top it off the entire Kindergarten grade won the Silver Spoon Award!!!  The Silver Spoon Award means that Kindergarten will get to.......

Super {baby}.

 The day after Halloween my SIL and I hopped in the car for a quick road trip a few hours away for our niece and nephews baby shower.

These two got off to a great start with the gifts all their loved ones gave them:) 

Miss B and her family:)

Want to know why this baby shower was so fun?  We got to dress up as Super Heroes!!  I had actually surprised Miss B with Aunty D.  I had RSVP'd as a party of 2 but I think they assumed I would just be bringing Mr. D with me, but nope, Aunty D was my +1;)  These two don't get to see much of my hubby's side of the family since they live so far away so I think my surprise was a welcomed one:)

Congrats to Miss B and new Daddy A on your bouncing baby boy!!  Aunty D and I were so glad we came down, the baby shower was a lot of fun!

Happy {Halloween}.

So you know the hokey, lame "trunk-or-treat" the church tries to do?  Yep, we gave that pathetic party the finger and found our own amazing Halloween party for our kids to attend this year and it was AWESOME!

This year we learned about a Methodist church in the next city over that invites all families of special needs kids to come out and celebrate Halloween with no candy and no loud music. 

They had everything you could think of from a small petting zoo. 

Balloon twisters! 

ALL costumes including masks were encouraged so G was MUCH more comfortable having people come up to him (something our church doesn't get). 

Fun games that had NON-FOOD prizes, so perfect!!  My kids had a blast filling up their pumpkins with trinkets and such that when they got home they got to actually KEEP all their loot!  Plus, it didn't matter your age, no one was turned away because they were too old.  It truly was a great way to have a Halloween party.

And the best part of all was my girls got to take photos with Anna, Elsa and Olaf!

A few nights later was Halloween night, my kids did a few "Trick or Treats" and decided they were done.  Obviously this year we had Steve, Rapunzel and a Rainbow Fairy....and me, Batgirl;)

I also made sure our home was recognized by doing the "Blue Pumpkin Project" justice by bedazzling my blue pumpkin.  If you don't know what the blue pumpkin represents, it's a sign to those with food allergies that you have safe non-food items for them.  It's a simple way to include everyone in Trick or Treating.

Autism Education {Summit}.

This year for my birthday I asked Mr. D if I could attend the Autism Education Summit (AES) since it was happening a mere 45 minutes from our house!

I got to tell you, this was a great conference to attend!  So many physicians who are passionate about helping those with Autism spoke on every topic under the moon from environmental toxins to mito disorders, nutrition, hBOT treatments, studies....the list went on!  I wish I could have attended every single last lecture but I learned you have to use your time wisely at these things to get the most out of them.

The above photo is the famed (or should I say "de-famed") Dr. Andrew Wakefield.  It's a shame all the wrongful stories brought on regarding his findings but THANK THE LORD his findings are coming to light and other physicians have actually apologized to him for dragging his name through the mud and are finally listening!!  I also got a chance to talk to him personally about a couple of things he had brought up and he was so nice to just listen and chat with me. 

G's physician was also a presenter at the conference so one evening all her TX families that attended the conference snuck in a quick "meet n' greet" with her and had a group photo done.  TX really does have an amazing support group, it's by far the largest support group outside of Orange County CA:) 

People need to learn about this woman and the GOOD she does for the Autism community.  She could care less about what bad things people have to say about her because she has a mission and she is sticking with it.  She is also so SMART and LOVELY and FUNNY and REAL and GENUINE!  She isn't who people assume she is by media standards at all.  Her Autism journey is just as real as my own. 

Ok, her hubby is the man for marrying her and knowing that ALL of us crazy Autism Warriors come with her;)  I wanted to bust out singing "Step by Step..." but I'm sure he gets plenty of that and I didn't want to annoy him, I'm sure I'll see him in the future again, don't want to ruin my own rep.:) 

Miss Jenny personally talked with me about her favorite physicians, I felt special;) 

At the end of the conference they had a star-studded event with an auction.  Clearly the "stars" were doing the bidding, some of this stuff was way over my budget!  I did take a photo of this Michael Jackson package and sent it to my niece (she is a diehard MJ fan). 

Me with a couple of my Warrior Peeps:) 

Some of the entertainment included Cirque du Soleil performers doing crazy things throughout the night. 

And a couple of tired looking people that aren't usually out past 11pm.  We ended up leaving early only because we suck at staying out late anymore these days.  I hear the party went till 2am and  you could tell the next morning who stayed the whole night through!  LOTS of coffee was being chugged the next morning, many ponytails and no makeup, lol!

All in all, it was an amazing weekend, it was a perfect birthday present for me and I'm so glad Mr. D came with me so he got a feel for all the stuff I'm always learning about to make sure G has the BEST outcome possible as he gets older:)

PS: I hear the conference location was a total hit and the AES conference is seriously thinking about bringing it back to my area again next year!!!  Keep your fingers crossed!!

Family Fun {night}.

Every year our elementary school does a couple of Family Fun Nights that my kids love going to!

Although G has moved out of Elementary, Family Fun Night is for the ENTIRE family no matter your age.  So, of course, as soon as we get there G takes a B-Line to the rock climbing wall where he got about half way up before tuckering out:)  Good job G!! 

Baby R decided she was going to be one of the boys and put herself at the end of the Tug-O-War rope and pulled with all her might.

Seeing as Mr. D was gone, I took all 3 kids by myself.  As soon as we got there Little R found her friends and took off to the bounce houses, didn't see her for at least an hour but thankfully other parents would report on her whereabouts;) 

G stuck with his buddies at the rock wall and Baby R was all over the place from playing "Freeze Dance" to the bounce houses to the swings.....She did it all;)

It was fun as always but would have been nice to have Mr. D there to help keep track of everyone but I do have a Wonder Woman cape I slap on when needs be and I got er' done.

Back to {school}!

 Not everyone look all excited at once!

It's the end of August 2014 and look who is going back to school!  We have a freshly new Kindergartner, 3rd grader and a perfect 5th grader (who by the way, it attending the new Intermediate School so he won't be with his sisters again till he reaches his Junior year!  CRAZY!!).

11, {really}?

My baby boy is officially 11!!!  Those exclamation points make it look like I'm excited about it, but I'm not, I wish I could go backwards in time not forward.  However, we've made it 11 years with him and the fact that he's awesome makes me feel better about celebrating another birthday with him:) 

G was attending Minecraft camp at a university campus the week of his birthday (which was the most perfect summer camp I've ever paid for, he definitely wants to go again next year) so we did a small "just us" family get together the night of his birthday. 

Clearly he's happy about the perfect gifts loved ones have chosen for him:) 

Nothing more amazing than seeing this kid smile so big:) 

I made a vegan cheesecake, he thoroughly enjoyed his cake:) 

That Saturday he had chosen to have friends come over and swim in our backyard.  We also rented a blow up slide that was a huge hit (duh, what kid wouldn't want to slide down a giant slip n'slide?). 

My fave cake lady as usual, blew us all away with her talents of making an allergy friendly cake for G.  G was very specific about what he wanted his cake to look like this year and she pulled it off, not surprised with her:) 

Happy Birthday buddy!!  We all hope you enjoyed your 11th birthday tremendously!  We couldn't be more proud of you if we tried, every stride you make no matter how small is HUGE in this house and you deserve to be recognized for all that you CAN and WILL do in life:)  Wishing you another year of  happiness, recovery, knowledge, health and good friends!

XOXO, Mom, Dad, Little R & Baby R