Happy Halloween!!

Here are our trick or treaters!! They had such good time..Garrison was Luigi, Kimbo was a vicious vampire, Rachel was a black cat, and Natalie was the Alabama mascot. I made home made chicken noodle soup and rolls for dinner, then as soon as our tummys were full, we were off. Naddie was the biggest hit..Her little "trick or treat" was just precious! I will say we got some interesting responses living here in Texas with our Alabama mascot in tow...All in good fun though! I put bows on her ears to make sure that people knew she was a girl. :)

Kimbo said trick or treat in her best vampire voice at every door, Garrison was jumping up and down at every door because he was so over stimulated, and rachel couldn't see out of her mask very well so her main focus was not falling..boy were we quite the sight.

No thanks needed

I got the best email ever today. Turns out, you can send other people emails from your Wii. Let's rewind a little bit...Instead of a birthday party, Rachel asked to go to the American Girl Doll store in Dallas. It was just her and I. We had lunch at their little cafe and bought some cute things for her doll. When we were there, I could not believe how many people were there with their daughters buying what I am sure amounted to be hundreds of dollars of dolls and clothes. One doll alone is about $114. As a mom, you want nothing more than to be able to do the same for your child. I was so worried that Rachel was looking around at these girls and thinking the same thoughts that I would have been at her age.. "I wish we could by all of those things." I honestly was feeling kind of bad looking at these moms and daughters with their shopping bags full with items. I tried to make it a fun day for her but some times you never feel you can do enough. Rachel never once said anything of the sort and in fact told me multiple times how much fun she was having and how glad she was that we did this. Then today I get this....

Dear mom thank you so so so much
for the Amaracin girl doll store! I
would say thank you a milan times if
I ccould but of cors it would bug you.
Love always Rachel!

My eyes immediatly filled with tears. I hope she knows that it was a day that I will never forget! It is a day with her that I will treasure forever. I guess the fact that we don't have hundreds of dollars to spend at these fancy stores doesn't matter to her. It was just being together that made our day special! As a mom, it is our job to be there for our daughters and to create these special memories with them. Money does not need to be a factor, just lots of smiles, giggles and of course, love!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

Today is Rachel's 9th birthday! What a beautiful 9 year old she is..both inside and out! Our family is so blessed to have such a wonderful young lady in our home. Rachel is so caring and kind and is always willing to help out anyone who is in need. She is loved by all who meet her! Rachel we love you much and hope you have an amazing birthday today!!!

Our New Family Member

Some friends of ours gave us their sweet little Maltipoo! His name is Jay (I am in no way a fan of that name but it is what he came with and Garrison wont let us change it.) and because he is a Maltipoo, he is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed so Garrison is not sneezing and rubbing his eyes like crazy! Garrison was scared to death at first, but by the time an hour had gone by, they were sleeping next to each other. All of the kids love him! It is so fun to have a dog. He is such a great dog. He is 3 years old, housebroken and never barks! We are so excited to welcome Jay to our family!

Autism Walk

This is Garrison and his "girlfriend" Skylar. According to Skylar, who is also autistic, they WILL be married one day.

It is that time of year again!!! We are so excited to participate in the Autism walk here in Dallas! Once again, our entire family will be participating! We love doing this not only to help raise money and awareness for Autism but it also gives us an opportunity to tell others about our amazing son and to be surrounded by those who are living the same life we are, facing the same struggles we are and getting through each day in the same ways we are.

If you are interested in donating you cann go to http://www.walknowforautism.org. Scroll down to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas walk. Click on the donate tab and type in my first and last name. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you cannot donate, that is no problem..just do us a favor and be patient with those children and adults who have Autism and any other disability. They are incredibly special spirits that if you allow them into your lives, will change you forever!!

Thanks for all of your support!!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

You can barely see because just then, a teacher and a parent stood in my shot, but this is her getting her little necklace.

Here she is wearing both awards

At Sendera Ranch Elementary, every Friday, they have an assembly and each week, one grade hands out awards for certain characteristics. Today was 1st grade awards and the award was for respect! Each 1st grade teacher picks 3 or 4 students and they get to come up in front of the entire school and get an army tag type necklace. Then, the P.E. teacher picks 5 students out of the entire 1st grade to get a fairness award as well. I got an email from Kimbo's teacher earlier this week telling me that she had chosen kimbo to recieve the respect award from her. This is kept secret from the kids so they are surprised that morning. So I went to the assembly and saw her get this award...then the P.E. teacher got up to announce the 5 first graders who would recieve her fairness award and Kimbo won that too!!!!!!!! At that point, I got emotional!!! I was bursting with pride. She was the only one who got 2 awards!! As a mother, I am so proud of my kids anytime they do anything well, win any awards, or achieve great things however, when your child recieves an award for showing great respect to their teachers and other students and being fair when participating in sports or playing games at school, well, that is the ultimate for me!!! An award recieved for the character is the best award of all.

Kimbo , we couldn't be more proud of you and the wonderful daughter you are! Your kindness to all around you and the respect you show to everyone shows what an incredible child you are! We love you so very much!!!