Vacation Days

I'm home the rest of the week taking a couple of vacation days since Allie's off this week from school. We got out of the house early this morning for recreation and father/daughter time.

Here are some shots of our morning. We walked a little more than a mile, we played on the swings, and then we came home to play in the stander.

You'll notice Allie is sporting some new braces. This is her third pair. We're amazed every time she gets a new pair of these. This is her fourth set. Each set is bigger than the last.

Sunday Morning Swing

Allie has had a snot nose the past couple of days so we decided to stay home this morning from church. She wasn't too sick to not play, do we walked a quarter mile to the park to play on the swing.

On the way to the park, we chatted up Beezy the retired mounted policeman. Beezy became our friend the day he spotted Allie and I walking in front of his house and rushed out to give Allie a giant teddy bear. This is the perfect way to gain us as friends.

When we got home, we jumped online to catch the church service we were missing. Allie loves to listen to the music from church. After that, we took a nap. Allie's sleeping now.

My girls

This is part of the new routine around our house; Allie standing in this contraption. Daily she stands in a piece of equipment like this to help strengthen her legs and hip joints.
Here’s some school progress news: She knows the letter “A” and identifies it through speech. She also recognizes her name and can pick her picture out of a line up. We are so grateful for her teachers and the staff at Bright Horizons School in Pompano Beach. They see clues and cues and potential we’ve never picked up on. I thank God for their experience and passion for identifying and bringing out the best in Allie.

Charity is living back at home. This is so huge for us. She has been an incredible help around the house and with Allie. You don’t even know. In the picture above, Charity is putting on a show at SPoT Coffee in Delray Beach. She brought in a crowd that filled the store and the sidewalk outside. The crowd was energized by her original songs, folk-punk vibe, and beauty.
She hit the ground running. In a month she’s gotten herself a job, a car, and several invitations to play in venues around Palm Beach County. Her talent and work ethic are not a passing fad; they’re character traits that run deep.
My kids bless me. Can you tell?

Allie's First Report Card

We didn't know that when Allie would be getting one of these when she started at Bright Horizons.

While riding with Allie

Here are some photos I snapped of Allie over the weekend.

She's the happiest kid in the world.

Aaron's latest work of art

New School

Allie started kindergarten this week. KINDERGARTEN! She loves it.

Last week, the Charming and Beautiful Susan and I went for a visit at Allie's new school, Bright Horizons, to meet Allie's new teacher and check things out. The first thing Allie's teacher told us was that a new chair and a new walker arrived for Allie. We were floored. We have been trying to get Allie a walker for TWO YEARS! We show up one day at school and not only is there a walker, but also a new specially made chair for Allie to sit in while she learns new things.

Allie will be able to go to this school until she's an adult. It's weird to think about a thing like that with your five year old. Especially one with Allie's unique challenges. But knowing that kind of stability exists in our situation is good.

A whole new world has opened up to us. The kids at this school melt my heart.