Autsim Walk-

Halloween- a little late...

This is Tyler's favorite holiday. He gets to walk up to people's doors, knock, and then talk to him. He asked this one older lady if she lived in a library because she had a lot of books. She asked him if he could read and he said that he did and that he would come back later if she wanted him to. It was very cute.

Mia is 3!

We decided for Mia's birthday to make princess hats and wands. This is the only picture I took! I was planning on getting pictures of us all with our hats on, but we just got so carried away with all the decorating fun, we didn't get around to it.
I feel like Mia skipped the terrible 2's and so now the horrible 3's are a bit amplified! She may only be 3 technically, but try telling her that!

Hard to believe my baby is no longer a baby!

Andrew and the Halloween Party

I really feel sorry for everyone who isn't here to utilize Andrew's talents. I asked Andrew to make the pumpkin for the bean bag toss and a fishing rod. This isn't a super great photo of the rod that Andrew made. I was picturing a wooden dowel with a string on the end. That's not Andrew's style. This one was incredible. He stained the wood, used these hook things to make it look more real up the pole, and the fake spool is awesome! He made 2 of them, ya know so we have a spare. I can't thank him enough for that. Andrew was able to come to the party which was a load off me. Just to know that he was there with Tyler's group of kids so I wasn't trying to do my game and look after Tyler at the same time.
And while I am saying my Thank You's, Danielle helped design these labels for the bubbles that we handed out at the Jog-A Thon, printed them out and came over and helped stick them on. Then she designed the Halloween party flyer too! She's amazingly talented at this sort of thing. She also designed the Autism Walk shirts for this year. Thanks so much!

Mia Dancing

Please notice that NO ONE around is dancing. I stopped filming after a minute because it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

Dinner with Dad

Last night we went to dinner with Dad. While we were there, a family came in and sat behind us. They had 3 boys and one little girl. Tyler kept turning around and staring. I would redirect him and he would ask when they can come to our house. I told him we didn't know them. This seemed a simple fix to Tyler. It went on and on. Finally as we left I got up my own courage and talked to the Mom. I said- My son is autistic and he really wants to meet your boys. I know how I would act in this situation and I'd like to think that most people I know would respond the same way. This stranger was wonderful. She spoke right to Tyler and told him her name and asked his and told him she was so excited to meet him. She shook his hand and then introduced her boys and they all shook Tyler's hand. He was in heaven. I am grateful to that stranger who made Tyler feel welcome. He now would like them to come play and keeps asking when his new friends are coming over.
It's amazing how things can be so black and white to Tyler. Seeing talking and making friends with total strangers as if it were simple.

My teenage girl

Tyler's teacher Mr. Robbie changed schools this year. He made an agreement with the school district that he would move if he could take Tyler with him. So Tyler is at a new school this year. It's a wonderful school. This is us at the family picnic lunch day. Mia and I went and really surprised Tyler. He was so surprised to see us there and had such a fun time.

So Mia has a pretend phone that she talks on. Her conversations sound a lot like, "Oh I like that too..." "Oh that's funny..." "You can come over to my house and play" Sometimes she sings songs with her friend on the phone. When she first started this it was super cute and I stopped what I was doing and watched. Now it's something she does so much, it's like dancing. She's a constant dancer. If there is the slightest beat that only dogs can hear, she's moving too it.


Too grown up!

Vegas

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390685032584161858" />
We invited Andrew & Danielle to come to Vegas with us this past weekend. I knew they had never been and we were going because my kids love love love to go on small trips and stay in hotels. I also wanted to show them that there is more to Vegas then just the gambling and the drinking. They do have family things to do too.

They have dolphins and tigers at one of the hotels.


My all time favorite part is the water show at the Bellagio. It's so beautiful and cool. I was surprised to see that Mia and Tyler really didn't like it. They were scared! Tyler gets that way around new things and if there are loud noises. When the water crashes down, it's a bit loud. Mia takes her cues from Tyler.
We really did have a great time. Andrew and Danielle were very very helpful with the kids. Just having someone else to hold someone's hand or having an extra set of eyes. We hope that they come more places with us!