Happy Easter 2016

We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter at my sister's home with her family. The kids did a great job with the long car ride and had lots of fun doing an egg hunt and spending time with their cousins. We only managed to get mostly pictures of the youngest 7 kids. Irina and Maddie's dresses were once worn by their older sisters (now 18 & 20). So glad I kept them.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Maddie is 10! She was so excited for her birthday and loved her special day!

Afternoon Fun

A brand new Hobby Lobby opened up locally. I had never been to one before, and didn't have much time, so barely got through half of the store. I did get some fun stuff for the kids, including beads and pipe cleaners, which turned out to be a fun afternoon activity making bracelets and necklaces (while working on fine motor skills and patterns, but don't tell the kids!).

Success

Irina had a day off from school, and her older sister Zoe wanted to take her to see a movie. Of course I love that she wanted to spend time with her little sister, but I was honestly nervous. As I shared before, Irina has Autism and can be significantly challenging. On a recent outing to Target, we had to make a quick exit where an epic meltdown occurred on the drive home (Irina had the meltdown. I cried.)

So I dropped them off at the theater, and went to a store in the same shopping center. Just in case. It went well! Irina was a little loud, and very excited, but she made it through the movie! Unfortunately, I didn't plan well. The movie ended at lunchtime, and despite eating plenty of popcorn, Irina wanted lunch. Now. She was not happy upon the refusal to go to McDonald's. She protested loudly the entire ride home. However, she did NOT have a meltdown!  She had lunch at home, and was able to reset and have a good afternoon. This is really significant progress! It's truly the "normal" everyday things that Autism parents don't take for granted.