Easter Sunday

Here are my two darlings on Easter Sunday just before lunch. Aren't they precious? Thanks to Grandma and Papa for buying their new outfits to wear. They have pranced about in them all week. A loves her shoes too because they make a "clicking" sound when she walks. She wore them to church again today. K is very proud of her pretty pink dress.

Easter pictures

This is a family photo of the four of us. We never get our picture taken together which makes this one extra special.

Easter bunny

The kids with the Easter bunny. Can you tell K is infatuated? A is actually hugging the bunny which is a huge change from last year when she was still very shy.

Last Disney Picture

A posing for the camera with J in front of the Rainforest Cafe at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World!

Visit with Uncle S

When we were on our way back from Disney, we had the pleasure to stop and see Uncle Stephen briefly which was very nice. This is a picture of Stephen, my father, myself and Alison.

Too cool for school

At the starting line

This is some of the kids at the starting line, waiting for the word "go" so they could start hunting for eggs. K loved the young lady next to her and her neat power chair!

Easter Egg

This is the Easter egg party again. K is coloring a yellow egg here. It was beautiful when she finished.

Hunting Eggs

I thought this was an absolutely fantastic idea. The egg hunt was held on a basketball court because it's a much better surface for wheelchairs than grass. The bales of hay were there in order to lift the eggs up to a level where K could reach them independently. You can also see a cup there where they hid some eggs also. It was so nice for K to be able to get some eggs by herself.

Proud girl

Her work is done. She has a basketful of eggs. Isn't she cute? (:

Bunny Ky

Thanks to a local 13 year old girl, there was a special needs Easter egg hunt held nearby. This young girl has a little sister with Down's Syndrome which inspired her to hold the Easter egg hunt. All ages and disability level were invited. K took part in the festivities and thoroughly enjoyed herself. The picture above is the result of having her face painted. She also helped to make the bunny ears that we attched to her chair.

Another picture of Disney

A beautiful nighttime picture of A, myself and the friend we took with us in front of Cinderella's castle on Main Street.

Yet more Disney pictures

This is Alison sniffing a flower at the Animal Kingdom park in Disney.

Spring Break

The picture is of A with a giraffe at Disney. You'll notice that she's wearing her mouse ears. It's a headband with a pretty multi-colored veil attached to it. She loves it. (:

Well, we just got back from Disney World. What fun! Thanks to my mother and father, we were able to enjoy the excitement that Disney has to offer. They promised A that when she was old enough they would take her for her birthday and they did. We saw Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, MGM and the Magic Kingdom. A loved it all, but her favorite rides were the faster ones. She loved the Rock & Roller coaster. My favorite was taking part in "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" I could play that everyday and have a blast! I almost got picked for the hot seat...my name was in the top ten, but not number 1.

My parents promised to take K too...when she's old enough. The good news for me is that I'll get to go again then!

I came home to a clean house (thanks to my husband) and a daughter who was thrilled to see me. I missed them terribly. It's hard to be away for so long, but it was worth it for A.

Again...I had pictures, but the memory card was ruined. I should be able to get some from my mom to add to this post, however. Keep an eye out.

Suit Therapy

Now for an update on K. The great news for her is that she will be starting suit therapy this summer. We took her about a month ago to be evaluated for suit therapy and they said that her muscle tone was too much to work against. So, we went to the neurologist, put her back on her medication (Xanaflex) and took her back to be reevaluated last week. Much to our surprise, they noticed a big difference. They saw more "functional and purposeful" movement and they said that they would be willing to take her this summer. This is a 5 hour a day program for five days a week. She will attend for a month's time and wear a special suit called the "Therasuit". This is based on the original model called the "Adeli". If this program is successful for K this summer, then we will likely take her to do the Adeli suit therapy which we have heard is even more successful.

The therapist who worked with her anticipated that they could teach her to commando crawl and to sit with minimal assistance. That would be absolutely amazing! We would love for her to have some independent mobility and so would she. We'll keep you posted.

Fine Arts Night

I had pictures to go with this also, but again...the memory card fouled up. These pictures were irreplacable so you'll just have to imagine.

On fine arts night, A sang with her grade level at a program. She also was assigned to play an instrument...some sort of xylophone type thing. The class sang three songs which were very cute. They did some movements to the music and I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Even more special, however, was the display of the students art throughout the school. They had set up a true art gallery with red ropes, security guards and everything. Each grade level had imitated a masterpiece such as the Mona Lisa, Picasso art, etc. A's class painted an imitation of a whole bunch of cakes. Hers was lovely and she was very proud. She painted a pink/brown one.

All in all it was a fantastic evening and something we have looked forward to since Fine Arts night last year.

More Karate News

I had a picture to accompany this post, but something happened to the memory card on my camera so I'll have to take some new ones.

Anyhow, A has earned all four stripes on her white belt. The black stripe was earned because she memorized the Songham Spirit of Taekwondo which is what they say at the beginning of every class. The yellow stripe is for self-defense. She has learned two self-defense moves which she loves to try out on her dad. The green stripe is for the basics. She had to learn a number of words and their subsequent movements such as "back-fist strike" and "twin low block". The last stripe, the red one, she earned for her one-steps. When my brother was taking karate we called these "forms", but basically it's a memorized sequence of punches, kicks, blocks, etc. She had to learn two of these to get her stripe. She will test for her next belt on April 27th and she's very excited. I'll keep you posted.