Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wish Trip Dates came today!!

We got the dates for the trip today! We're going from November 2 thru November 8. We will be staying at Give Kids the World resort. You've really gotta see that place...it's a theme park in itself. :)
I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back. There are so many things for me to plan (and pack). Make-A-Wish and Give Kids The World take care of almost everything but there are lots of things I'm learning about that will make this trip extra special.
If you're even thinking about Disney World or Disneyland then you need to go to the DISBoards and sign up. Be prepared to read, read, read! There is soooo much information but boy is it helpful and the people are so wonderful & friendly. Off to read some more...oh, and here is a link to our thread...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2263732
Have a great evening!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Make-A-Wish came to our house!

Guess what!?! We're going to Disney World!!!!! Nikolas got a wish granted from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and that is what we decided to do. It's going to be Boo, Gracie, Me and my dad and mom. DH is staying home this round. We just had our volunteer visit and gave them all our information including when we would prefer to go. We had to give them preferred times and they will see what they can do. I picked the first 2 weeks of November, then late October, and last in January. I'll take whatever they have with no complaints though. :)
It will be nice to go and have Boo be able to do what everyone else is doing. That just doesn't happen very often any more. The volunteers that came were so very sweet, Boo got a "Cars" book and Gracie got a gift card to buy a new book (which she did and already finished-that girl loves to read!). Boo colored in his star while he was sleeping. Unfortunately they came while his chicken pox vaccine was doing it's thing so he was tired and a bit grumpy but all in all it went well. The star they decorate is for the volunteers to return along with a picture of the child so everyone can see who they are helping. This is a wonderful organization. If you ever decide you want to donate to a charity-donate to them. They go all out to make things wonderful for the Wish Child and the rest of the family. It's really nice that they do so much for the siblings too. I think that they tend to get lost in the chaos most of the time.
I don't know when we are going yet but I've been looking around on DisBoard and found out a bit about how some of this works. Mom needs lots of info (that I don't have) since we have to pay for her to go too. MAW pays for 2 adults and all kids in the household so my dad is filling in for DH and mom's stuff we pay for.
This is the general stuff you get to do. They give you 3 Disney World, 2 Universal and 1 Sea World pass. These are donated by the parks. You wear buttons that say Make A Wish and they treat you like royalty. I guess a limo picks you up and takes you to the airport and there are volunteers who meet you at the gates when you land to welcome you. We are hopefully staying at Give Kids The World. You've gotta check out their website...that place looks AWESOME! It's like a hotel and theme park all in one. There are so many other things they do for the kids...just go to DisBoards.com, register and read some of the trip reports from the wish families. This board is a great way to plan your trip whether it's just a family vacation or a wish trip. There are so many great ideas and people who can tell you how to find all these cool things that lots of people don't know to look for. Plus there are cast members (cm's-employees) that work at the parks who are on the board too. They also talk about all the other theme parks in Orlando so there is info to really plan a cool vacation. My user name is 2specialkids so when you sign up look for me! Oh and read Boo's pre-trip report...come help us plan a wonderful time for the kids!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Chicken Spots

We have a new song around our house. It goes something like this....."You can't go to school with chick-en spots, chick-en spots, chick-en spots. You can't go to school with chicken spots all over you!" Yep, the stupid school system required me to get the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine before he could go to kindergarden and guess what...he actually got the chicken pox. I wanted to wait until the summer between 5th and 6th grade if he didn't get them before then but not per the school. So Mr. Boo had to stay home all week to wait for them to go away.
He went back today. He loves his class and his favorite times are....LUNCH & RECESS! Just like mommy! Actually they are the favorites because there are tons of kids around and his class is pretty small since he's in the lifeskill class all day except for specials, lunch and recess. He seems to do alright for all day but we're still in the trial phase of "all day kindergarden". It's kinda nice to have a few hours to myself. I'm even going to join Curves so I can get out and get healthy.
Have a great weekend!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Feeling better...

Our (Boo's) surgery was a success! Boo's feeling better. He's still not 100% but definitely better. He's actually going to therapy tomorrow-PT, OT and speech. We're working on getting him a new stander and a therapy ball. His PT and I decided to give him the winter off from them and start back after spring break. Hopefully since he's had this shunt replaced and will be seeing the ENT, he will start making progress again.
School starts on the 12th and I will be sending Boo for a few hours before we have to go to the doctor. We enrolled him in all day kindergarten but that's really a trial. If he gets too tired then he'll switch to 1/2 day. Either way he'll stay in Angie's class for the next 6 years and that makes me much more at ease. She's a wonderful teacher and perfect for the lifeskills kids (and she's fine with cloth diapers-used 'em on her kids!).
Gracie's nerves are getting to her...a new school year will do that. She got a small new wardrobe to get started and is excited. Oh, and her grade school counselor has moved to the middle school so now she's got someone she trusts (who knows about her family history) that she can talk to if she's having issues during the school day. She also has a new schedule...they put her in Biology last week. Hmmmmm....Mr. D "didn't think she was smart enough" then Ms. M & the counselors changed the schedule and decided "yes she is". Ummm an IQ of 137+ and a college reading & comprehension level should be ok for biology & algebra. :P
Time to get back to sewing Boo's school wardrobe...nothing from the stores fits well any more.