Foto Friday vol. 31 - School Picture

Gracie - 1st Grade
...and her very first school picture!

This picture is many years (and the efforts of many) in the making!
This is the first year Gracie has been able to attend school full-time outside our home. She started out part-time last year (with me as her "aid"), but was in the hospital on picture day, was out sick on the make-up day and then we moved! So, when the picture day information was sent home last month, I was, to say the least, excited. I just wanted her to have a school picture... and though I wanted it to turn out cute, cute was not the point. The picture itself, regardless of her expression, pose, etc., was totally the point.

I was not there to witness (or supervise!) the "photo shoot," but knew that she was in good hands between her aid, her teacher and everyone else who was there. That afternoon, I was told that two shots were taken and had they tried their best to get a good one. Carol (an aid from the upper grade class - - the same one who kindly took Preston on the parade route last week) actually laid on the floor to prop Gracie up on the seat they use (why these companies don't provide supported seating is beyond me!), while her aid, teacher and several others tried to get her attention focused on smiling in the direction of the camera.

When we received both photo packages and were told we had to choose just one (or pay for both), John and I were elated to be choosing between two adorable, yet very different photos. However, making the decision proved to be more difficult than we anticipated! It took us days! In the end, this is the one we chose (we are still hoping the company will allow us to keep both since they're already printed). We love it because she looks so grown up and carefully posed, as though she had practiced in her mirror the exact amount of grin she wanted in her picture.

First day of Preschool

Today our little man started preschool!

(Yes, I know... not a very "toddler friendly" backpack! The Caillou one I ordered online was way too small for all his stuff! We are working on getting something much cooler!)

This day has been several months in the making with lots of tours at various programs, lots of disappointment (apparently my standards are high) and then, finally, with the help of another local mom, I was introduced to Preston's new school. When it was described to me, I was hopeful. When I toured with him last month, I knew it was exactly what we'd been looking for.

He was so excited this morning!

And, we were so excited for him! But when we drove away, I felt like a part of me was missing. I was nervous for him and was almost sick to my stomach with anxiety for the better part of an hour. When I called later to check on him, I was told that he cried for us for over 30 minutes about 20 minutes after we left. (Dagger, meet my mamaheart. Ouch.) I know it's normal, but it hurt and made me sad.

He had a few more emotional moments throughout the day, but for the most part, had a lot of fun. When we picked him up, I could see he had been crying recently. His eyes lit up and he squealed with excitement when he saw me, then John and then "Neener." He was really happy to see us. His teacher was wonderful and she told me how they comforted him and reassured him that we were, indeed, coming back for him. Thankfully, he said he had fun and that he was excited to go back on Friday. He chatted all the way home about his school day, his new friend "Timmy," and said he played and prayed. Soooo cute. Fingers crossed for fewer tears and more smiles on Friday!

He will attend an "odd" schedule of Tuesdays and Fridays... it is so kind of the school director to be flexible and work around therapy appointments for Gracie (thus, eliminating Preston having to attend and/or ride in the car for over three hours on those days). The other (huge!) bonus is that John is off most Tuesdays. When we got in the car after dropping Preston off this morning, it was the first time that we'd been together (with the exception of his graduation party last year, which doesn't count because he was too stressed out to be recognized!) without at least one of our children in eighteen and a half months. It was wonderful and strange all at the same time. We are looking forward to our few hours on Tuesdays so much. On Fridays, I will have some time to myself and time to get chores done around the house... with my music blasting and no guilt for having Preston watch a video while I get it all done!

My little man is in preschool... such a big boy now... sigh.

Gracie's School Projects - October

Since they can't hang on the fridge or wall forever... and since I can't store every single thing in a box in the attic...

Once again, Gracie had no trouble with stuffing the tissue paper into the small water bottle... this time to make the cute Jack-o-lantern! Apparently, putting things into a container must be centered around an adorable craft for her to comply!

I had to include the ghost Gracie made (with help, of course!) last year just before we moved. This year, it sat on our mantle in a place of great honor during the Halloween season.

Trick-or-Treat... and other Halloween Happenings

I cannot remember ever doing so much celebrating at Halloween - - even as a kid!

Costume Party
Last weekend (the 24th) we attended a costume party for our neighbor who turned three. The birthday boy, Adam, is dressed as Spiderman (he lives just a couple of doors down) and Snow White, Addison, lives directly across the street. These kids all love each other!
(Snow White and our Fire Fighter have been known to scream for each other hysterically through closed windows and doors... as though they have a sixth sense about the other's presence! Preston cries for her when her family's cars leave and always wants to know where they are going!)

We weren't sure if Gracie would love being in her "fire truck" or just the opposite. I took a ton of pictures just in case she never got in it again! She loved it though, and thought she was "all that" sitting in her special truck.


Just hangin' out


The fire fighter from every angle!


The boys in the bounce house


The witch on stilts Gracie liked her; Preston, well, not so much!



Miscellaneous Halloween Shenanigans!

We brought out old costumes (the duck was supposed to be Gracie's last year, but she wasn't having any part of it - - then or now!) and the wig belonged to our old friend, Marena, who was the greatest clown every Halloween. (She was silent and only used a notepad and a horn to communicate! It was a riot!) The witch hat was at WalMart and Preston insisted we both try it on!



Pumpkin Carving

Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the finished products and with the heat we've been having, they all shriveled up before Halloween night!

School Harvest Parade

-Betty Lou, Gracie's trusted aid, starring as the pirate pushing the dalmatian in her fire truck.
-The "Ring Leader" is our school principal.
-The "Cal Trans Worker," one of the Instructional Aids in the upper grade classroom, volunteered to take Preston on the parade walk. He happily went with her and came back with a bag of loot!
-"Jack" cracked me up, so I had to take his picture!

Gracie's classmates... aren't they soooo cute?!
&
Betty Lou and Gracie... aren't they soooo cute, too?!

And, finally... Halloween!

Fortunately, John got off work a bit early and was able to join us for a little Trick-or-Treating. Unfortunately, Miss Gracie ended Friday night with a fever and cough (which explains her "rough" days lately). She spent the better part of Saturday laying around pretty miserable and getting regular breathing treatments along with Tylenol for her fever. (Thus, no spots on her face and no red "collar.") I tried to time her breathing treatments so she'd feel well enough to go to a few houses, but she tuckered out pretty quickly. We did manage a couple of pictures before John took her home, though.


The three musketeers... Adam as Spiderman, Addison as Snow White and Preston as the Fire Fighter

The "Tot Posse" had a blast trick-or-treating together!

*John constructed Gracie's fire truck with some of our moving boxes and (a lot) of tape. He and Preston put on the first coat of red paint. I put on a second coat, painted the "bumper," made the headlights, used the free paint sticks at Lowe's to make the ladder, printed an enlarged Orange County Fire Authority shield off the Internet and added finishing touches with puffy paints and glitter. To make her dalmatian shirt, I just used slick black fabric paint and made spots everywhere. Her trach ties were painted red to serve as her dalmatian "collar." For Preston's T-shirt, I used iron-on printer sheets and printed a small shield and the text. John and I had so much fun putting it all together for them! And, let's just be honest... you haven't truly experienced Halloween until you've had a cardboard-constructed costume! And, you're not a "Halloween Mom" until you've suffered a costume-related burn from a glue gun!

Here are two quick videos that crack me up!

In the first one, he's excited and eager (he was every time!) to race to the door first and say "Trick-or-Treat," but wasn't completely getting the concept of knocking and waiting for the door to be opened!



About 20 seconds into the second one, Preston is checking to make sure that his friends got equal loot! I love how he and Adam look down into their loot bags!

Foto Friday vol. 30 - Tanaka Farms

On Tuesday, after we dropped Miss Gracie at school, John and I took Preston to Tanaka Farms - - a working farm where pumpkins (and many other things) grow from the vine rather than stacked at the mall parking lot! (Those types are super fun for the kids, too, but we wanted to show Preston that not every other parking lot in So Cal "grows" pumpkins and bounce houses!) While we wanted to take Gracie to join us, the reality is, this type of outing is not something she'd enjoy all that much. Preston, on the otherhand, loved it!

We took a tractor-pulled wagon ride.




We went to the petting zoo and saw goats, sheep and llamas.

We were quite pensive on the wagon ride back through the farm...

We went through the corn maze, picked our own vegetables (and used the onions in our dinner that night!) and picked one more pumpkin (for Sophie)!

Foto Friday vol. 29 - Meeting my true sister

"A true sister is a friend who listens with her heart."

I'm not sure who said this - - it's a quote I've known for a long time. Knowing the source, though, is not required to comprehend the meaning. Last Friday, Gracie, Preston and I had the privilege of meeting (in person) my true sister, Hannah, and her sweet Vivian.

A year and a half ago (actually to the day, I just realized), Hannah and I met through our blogs because of our daughters' shared diagnosis. We connected through our words instantly and, since then, Hannah has been a steadfast supporter, a shoulder to cry on, someone to celebrate with, laugh with, vent to and dish about favorite shows with. I learn so much from her... about life, motherhood, optimisim, advocacy, love, friendship. Our relationship started because of our amazing daughters, but it goes so much deeper than that commonality. I cannot imagine my life, this journey with my family, without her (and her family).

Hannah listens to my heart with her own... she is my true sister.

There were so many joyful moments in those few hours we spent together. From the first time we hugged through tear-filled eyes, to seeing Miss Gracie scoot toward Hannah and snuggle up, to holding Vivian at her request (be still my heart!) and hearing her delicious chatter as she read books in Preston's room, to seeing Preston run to Hannah with open arms because he, too, felt like he already knew Hannah and Vivian, to watching our kids share a meal (or tastes, in Miss Gracie's case!), to the many started, yet all unfinished, conversations between Hannah and me, to the interactions between our two year-olds that left all four of us rolling in laughter. It's impossible to find the words to describe it all. My heart is so full and my soul well-fed with memories of that day.

Here are a few pictures that captured some of the unforgettable moments last Friday. Both of us were so caught up in the moment initially that we forgot to get out our cameras. Thankfully, Hannah was better about it than I! Unfortunately, though, Miss Gracie was fast asleep (sadly, she ended up having a pretty rough weekend) by the time we started taking pictures, so we will have to get some with all three kiddos next visit... and there will be many more!




Though I only took a few pictures the whole afternoon, I did manage to catch a few seconds of Vivian and Preston together. The lighting is terrible because of the glare outside, but the content is gloriously joyful!

Foto Friday vol. 28 - Pumpkin Patch

After school Thursday, we went to the pumpkin "patch." I use this loosely because it was actually one of our mall parking lots. The real pumpkin patch was not an option as a family because it's a real working farm and, thus, not accessible for Miss Gracie. The other issue, minor in comparison, but hard to believe given that it was nearly 80 degrees, was that it was very muddy everywhere from two days of rain.

Miss Gracie had no problem recognizing the ponies!

Preston alternated a joyful, "Yee Haw, Badger"
with an unsure, "Bubby get up!" throughout the ride.
Despite being incredibly light sensitive (thus, covering her left eye) and, as it turns out, allergic to the hay, Miss Gracie loved her ride on Buttons and proved that she is ready for hippotherapy!

As John chased Preston, I took the pic of Gracie and me to prove that I was actually at this outing!

Puddle Jumper

Following a tricycle ride around the neighborhoood Friday, Preston was delighted to find that the gardeners had left a small puddle in the driveway. Without hesitation, he proceeded to...

and

and was properly soaked through to his socks within minutes!
(from my cell phone)

Foto Friday vol. 27 - Dairy Assembly

Gracie's school had a Dairy Assembly on Thursday with a real dairy cow and calf as the stars. After all the other classes left, Gracie's class got up close and personal! At first, Miss Gracie was tentative, but eventually she was petting Jerry, the calf, on her own.

(With Gracie is her trusted aid, Betty Lou, and behind the camera is her teacher, Debbie. Thanks, Debbie, for the pictures!!!)


Jasmine the Cow smiling at Gracie!

Meeting Jerry the Calf

More with Jerry...

Guess what Gracie did today?

Today I picked Gracie up from school (she had a GI appointment this morning, so no bus ride) and I was greeted by her health aid (and Gracie, of course!) and her teacher, Debbie, who was excited to tell me this...

Gracie was about to work on the names of the kids in the class with her teacher. The printed names (without pictures) were on the table. When the school nurse walked into the classroom, Debbie talked with her for a moment, leaving Gracie to sit at the table with the names lying there in front of her. Little Miss thought no one was watching her - - which is, of course, when she does her best work!

As her teacher and the nurse watched in utter amazement, Gracie picked up Kaelyn's name and proceeded to sign her name sign. Debbie knew from all I've ever told her about Gracie that she shouldn't let on that she was watching and instead just let her continue. Next, she picked up Daniella's name and signed Daniella's name sign. She then picked up her own name and signed "Gracie." Finally, she picked up Alvero's name (he's the newest addition to the class) and signed an "A" near her face with some hesitancy, so Debbie reached over and corrected her positioning and then congratulated her on her very impressive work!

Can. You. Even. Believe. This?!
No pictures... just their printed names!
I am still amazed, proud and elated. And, I am not at all ashamed to admit that I squealed with glee in a decibel only the neighborhood dogs could hear as I jumped up and down at the news!
Truly Incredible!