Special Needs Egg Hunt

Every year we have to make a hard choice, allow Emma to go to regular egg hunts where she could easily get very hurt or not take her to egg hunts besides at family or friends houses?  Emma loves to hunt eggs and when she was little we were allowed to go inside most hunts, and then she turned five and that changed.  So for the last few years we host our own and help her out.  Emma if you are not aware struggles to bend down and reach items off the ground, it is a real struggle to do this movement, she is easily knocked over or ran over by bigger kids, and she is honestly just not able to keep up with kids her own age.

This year, thanks to a Facebook post on a local parenting page I follow, I found a special needs hunt.  It was a bit of a drive from our house, but totally worth it!!  We even had good friends bring there four kids, which was fun to have friends to play with as well.  The hunt was at a park, a huge park, a really cool park about forty five minutes away.  A church near there hosted it and had lots of helpers and things to do for the kids.  They had Easter Egg hunts for all the ages, and for visual and physically challenged kids.  Then, there was a petting zoo, games, bouncy houses and slides, the Easter bunny was there for photos and high fives, they had snacks and bubbles too.  Then there was all the playground area to play on at the park part.  My kids played almost on hour on the playground. It was so cool!!

It was fun and relaxing to be surrounding by loving volunteers and other families who understand the daily struggles of raising a child with special needs.  It was just a fun afternoon!!

Great memories!  Thankful for those who think of the children who need a little extra help to be a part of certain holiday traditions.  This mommy's heart is still full and smiling from the time spent having fun and playing in a safe place for my precious children.  

Spring Break

For the last week, Emma has been on Spring break.  It has been a fun filled week and lots of memories were made.  I am actually kind of sad to see it end.  It has been a lot of fun to have her around all day long.  Taylor however, maybe happy to see her go back to school since she was a little bossy with him:)

We were blessed with three beautiful days last week weather wise and spent a lot of Monday and Tuesday outside. On Monday we met my sister in law and her one year old at our zoo.  We spent five hours having fun with all the animals.

 Still cant believe we are never in the kangaroo area when they are the walkway and you can touch them.  But it is cool to walk around and be so close to them.  

 The boys loved the petting zoo area!

 Emma loved the playground area, we stayed there for a little while, till I got to nervous with all the bigger kids running crazy.  It was a really fun day with all of my family and Auntie Jenn and Kendrick with us.

Tuesday we went to art at Cheekwood and saw some of the blooming flowers.  There was a whole field of buttercups where I took a ton of photos.  My mom, or Meme as she is known now, also came with us for a fun field day at the gardens.

Love this photo of my mom and Emma!!

 Boy on the run!

 Yes I was there too!

 After lunch out and a nap, we headed to my parents house and found their cousin Hudson for some more outside fun.  The kids love playing together and my parents have a great yard to run around in and have fun!!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the kids went to Nana's for some fun with them.  While mommy and daddy painted the kitchen and cleaned out somethings.  It was a nice break for us as parents and the kids had a blast.  They got to go to the Rainforest cafe, Emma got her nails done with her Aunt and got to eat Mexican with her, they went to McDonald's and had lunch and got to play in the indoor playground, did art and played playdoh, and got to play with Tristan and Kendrick while there.  (two cousins)  Mommy and daddy had two date nights and got a lot done as well.  Plus, we got sleep!!!  

Saturday Emma had soccer, Sunday we had church, and then we went to a cool Easter Egg Hunt I will write about tomorrow.  Today we played with friends most of the morning.  Now the kids are asleep and I am bracing myself for a few rough mornings of having to get up and going early!  Summer is only nine weeks away I keep saying to myself!!!

Taylor Turns Four

Four years ago, I was snuggled up in a hospital recovery room with my sweet newborn baby boy Taylor.  Today I spent the whole day with my sweet boy having so much fun!  Wow where did four years go?  How did I go from diapers and late night feedings, to boxer briefs and Chinese buffets for lunch?????  

We had a few spring plans change so we opted to not have a huge party this year, but we celebrated in a few fun ways.  Follow along on Taylor's special celebrations! 

First came family Saturday seeing Farmer Jason perform at a local venue!  My kids love this punk rock skunk singing farmer.  He has been a staple in our CD player since Emma was little.  I think we have seen him in concert around seven or eight times total!  He is a fun show and we had a blast!

 Sunday we had family only over after church for a small party.  Of course it was a pizza party since it was all about the Turtles!! 

 Toss the pizza!!

 Pizza!!!

 After all the snow we have had in the last three weeks, we all went outside to enjoy the spring like weather!!!  The kids had a blast!!

TMNT cupcakes were yummy!

Presents!!!

Today on his actual birthday, I was able to spend some one on one time with just my boy! We went shopping with some birthday money he was given, gymnastics, and lunch at a Chinese buffet.  This kid loves some sweet and sour chicken and crab Rangoon!!!

 We also sneaked in some scooter riding

 While we waited for daddy and sissy to get home for pancakes and cookies, he played with his new sea animals and kinetic sand toys.  

 Finally the rest of the family came home, so we got to open some presents from us.  

Lastly we sang happy birthday and ate some yummy cookies!  Tonight I have an eight year old and a four year old.  Time flies, I will soak up every snuggle, late night crawl into my bed, and kiss he gives me.  I took to heart every time he thanked me for a great day and will tuck them in for later years.  He is the sweetest boy and I am proud to be his mom!

I did ask him a few questions about his favorite things:
Favorite color: all boy colors
favorite show:  Jake and Neverland Pirates and Curious George
favorite foods:  peanut butter sandwiches and chips
favorite singer: Farmer Jason
favorite people:  his family
He also loves to ride his scooter, play in the sandbox, and do art. He will be trying to play soccer this spring which is new to him and he is finishing up his first year of gymnastics.