Insta the Past Couple of Weeks!

Pretty soon I will get back to blogging on a pretty regular basis. (At least I hope I will!) Anyhow... Here's what's been going on in our home over the past couple of weeks...

 

I made Addy this weighted blanket.

 

And Alex helped! (Well, he pretended to help.)

 

We went to the playground. The kids rode the whole way there. First time ever! (Usually they just walk or ride in the wagon, so this was a big moment for them!)

 

We played hide n seek on the playground. Hmmm... Can anyone help me find Addy?

 

Alex & I went to the library & voted. Well, I voted & he got a sticker.

 

While at the library, we saw they were having a pumpkin decorating contest. Decorate a pumpkin as a book character. So we decided to participate & we chose Splat the Cat.

 

Addy went with me to drop Splat off at the library.

 

Alex & I went shopping for Halloween costumes.

 

Addy & I had a girl scout meeting.

 

We went to the Southminister Fall Festival. The kids had fun playing on the moonwalks & the playground.

 

Addy got BOOed by one of her sister girl scouts.

 

We carved a pumpkin

 

And decorated our door for Halloween. (found this idea on Pinterest.)

 

 We also went to the pumpkin patch in Lumberton with both sets of grandparents & to the pumpkin patch in Sienna with our playgroup friends. A separate post on that will hopefully follow soon.

 

And there you have it. Life as we know it in the Strickland household.

Red Ribbon Week

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at SOE.

 

Monday was Crazy Sock Day

 

Tuesday was Inside Out Day

(Addy was distraught by the fact that her shorts were inside out. Not surprisingly, she came home with them turned back the normal way.)

 

Wednesday was Crazy Hair Day

 

Thursday was Dress to Impress Day

(She refused to look at the camera!)

 

And Friday was College Day

(She INSISTED that she wear the hat & scarf. I mean it was cold, but not that cold!)



Girl Scouts

As most of you know, I signed Addy up for girl scouts & I volunteered to be a co-troop leader! We are part of a new Daisy troop with 10 girls that are all in Kindergarten at Addy's school. One girl is even in the same class as Addy.

Here's our troop at our first meeting.

 

Last Sunday, the 14th, our troop participated in the Yellow Rose Service Unit Girl Scout Investiture ceremony. (Which is basically a welcome to girl scouts ceremony.) The girls stood together as a troop, repeated the girl scout pledge & then we 'vested' them.

Our troop waiting for the ceremony to start.

 

 

My beautiful girl scout

 

Saying the girl scout pledge

 

Troop 3124 after they got their vests & pins. Don't they look absolutley precious!

 

This was the first year that the service unit held this ceremony & I think it went great!

 

Last week, Addy BOOed one of her sister girl scouts! She took a Halloween treat (cookies & a stuffed animal) & secretly put it on the doorstep of one of the other girls in the troop. Then they should BOO someone else in the troop & so on & so forth.  And now we're just waiting for Addy to be BOOed. (She'll actually be the last one to be BOOed. I know, because I assigned who each girl should BOO so that it goes in a circle & everyone gets a turn. Addy started it out & so she'll end it too.)

 

 

The gift had a stuffed black cat in the bag that she had picked out. I thought for sure she would want to keep the cat, but when I told her she couldn't keep it because it was a gift, she said ok & let me put it in the bag. So I was so proud of her when she put the gift on the doorstep & left it there.

 

 

Wednesday we have our next troop meeting where we'll work on learning the girl scout promise & make promise bead bracelets. Should be lots of fun!

Walk Now for Autism Speaks

 

Last year, Nick, Addy, Alex & I participated in Walk Now for Autism Speaks together as a family. But this year, we were on Team Express, the team for Addy's elementary school. I set up the team, was the team captain & even coordinated a couple fundraising events.

 

Our first fundraiser was a breakfast/bake sale for the teachers at Addy's school. The parents brought all the food to the school & we set it up in the lounge.

 

The teachers came & ate whatever they wanted & made a donation to our team.

 

I also had a garage sale at my house on the day before the walk.

 

Between these 2 events, we were able to make a team donation of $275!

 

And that combined with all the donations made by our team's family & friends, we raised a total of $2860.00! Way to go Team Express!

 

This year the walk was on October 13th at Reliant Park. There were a lot of people there & I mean A LOT! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the crowd.

 

Here is our team, Team Express. (We had 35 members sign up, but this is everyone who showed up to walk.)

 

The beginning of the walk

 

Nick

 

Cousins

 

Hannah brought one of her besties to come walk with us.

 

Enjoying a ride on daddy's shoulders

 

I made a sign for each side of the wagon.

 

Brooke, Chloe, Kelci & me

 

Our little family after the walk

 

 The proud parents of an awesome little girl!

 

We were so happy to be a part of the walk again this year & show our support for Austim Speaks. A big thanks to everyone who walked with us & to everyone who made a donation to Autism Speaks. And to Erin & Johnny for donating our team shirts. We love you all & greatly appreciate the love & support you all give to Addy & to our family.

Catch Up

I know all you readers have anxiously been awaiting my next post, checking the blog every day to see if it's been posted yet! (Lol, don't worry, I'm only kidding, I'm not delusional.)

The reason I haven't posted in a while is because I've been busy. I mean really busy! Let me tell you how our week goes... We have T ball practice & a game each week, sports skills class, speech, OT, & dance class. Addy has girl scouts every other week. I've been volunteeering at Addy's school & had to go to a couple girl scout trainings too. Not to mention I am the team captain for Addy's elementary school Walk Now for Autism Speaks team so I have been putting fundraisers together. So yes, like I said, I've been busy!

So let me just catch you up with what's been going on at our house...

Nick & I had our 11 year anniversary on September 15th! We ate dinner at RA Sushi & then went to The Chocolate Bar for dessert. We split this piece of rocky road chocolate cake & boy was it delicious!

Addy performed a few magic tricks for us. Here she is doing that trick where you put a ball under a cup, slide the cups around & then ask which cup the ball is under. Yep, I was able to find the ball. (It might have been a little harder for me if she had cups that were all the same. But shh, don't tell her that, lol.) She also made a few things disappear & pulled a rabbit out of her hat!

 

Alex has been playing with his stuffed animals a lot lately. Here he is snuggled up with some of them watching TV.

I bought some new fall candles. This one smells great!

With the beautiful weather, we've been having playdates at the park. This day, we spent 2 hours at the playground & only left so that we could eat lunch.

 

This guy has also been enjoying the beautiful weather!

 

Addy pretended that she was a princess & said she needed a castle. So I made her one! I took 3 boxes & taped them together & used gray construction paper as blocks. It even had a real working drawbridge.

I've made several door hangers these past couple of weeks. I'm selling them now & have had lots of orders from teachers at Addy's school.

 

Alex had his first t ball game. (And his second & missed his third.) I'll try to do a separate post on his games soon.

Addy & Daddy came & watched Alex play his game.

Addy cracked the screen on the iPad. So mommy got an iPad 3 & Addy now has her own iPad. (She already thought it was her's anyway, lol!)

I love how she fixed her cracked screen! A bandage makes everything better!

 

Look at this mess Alex made. He just wanted a 'little' cinnamon on his marshmallows! (And on the floor & on the stepstool & on the wall!)

Alex didn't want to participate at Sports Skills class again. Until the last about 20 minutes. And then of course, he didn't want to leave afterwards. The plan next week is to just drop him off & leave. Oh... we'll see how that goes, lol!

Addy has been doing great in her dance class! Getting more & more comfortable on the balance beam.

I've been working a lot on not only our team for the walk, but I'm also helping to set up a support group for parents of special needs kids in Sienna.

 There's been a lot of loving on a certain kitty going on in this house!

 

We've been playing outside

 

And playing dress up. (We play dress up a lot!)

Alex was Jake from Jake & the Neverland Pirates

 

and a fireman. Addy would go put Bailey on her dresser & yell for Fireman Alex to come save her kitty. It was so funny!

 

Addy & I had our first girl scout troop meeting.

 

And Nick & I ended these past couple of hectic weeks with a nice relaxing trip to Georgia to go visit some of our best friends.

 

And that's about it. I think you're all caught up with what's been going on in the Strickland household. I'll try not to wait 3 weeks before my next post. (But no guarantees, lol.)