Thursday, August 30, 2012

1st Day of School

Last week the girls started school!  And I can not say enough about how excited I am for Madi to be going where she is going!!




The girls are going to the Rise School of Denver.  It is a preschool that has 50% typical and 50% kids with special needs.  They have the schools located in a few places around the country and I feel so fortunate that we have one located in Denver!

Madi is in the Toddler class and Taylor is in the Pre-K class.

I know a few people are thinking......really, school for Madi?  It's just daycare, right?

Nooooooo........this school is amazing!!  The wonderful thing about the school is that they do the Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Music Therapy right at the school.  Each day has a different focus, but they have a team of therapists that come in and work with the kids in a class setting and also individually.

I am so excited about the teacher that Madi has.  Every week they are going to focus on a different Oral Motor therapy exercise.  Whether it be putting peanut butter on the top lip and stretching the tongue to get it off or strengthening the mouth by blowing horns and straws.....they will practice the exercise every day for a week before moving onto something else.

The ratio is 3:1 so Madi gets alot of one-on-one help with everything!




For those of you that know how much I am struggling with the balance of being back at work......this school is my life-saver!!  I have been so worried about how Madi is going to get any therapy done now that I am out of town 3-4 days a week.  I KNOW that she is in the RIGHT place, with the RIGHT teachers/therapists and that she is learning a ton each and every single day.

I am still struggling with the balance of everything but hopefully now when I come home from being gone for several days, I can just focus on being Madi's mom and having fun.......not stressing about when I am going to fit in the therapy exercises.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Sweet Shoppe Party - The Fun!




The Sweet Shoppe party fun began......with getting hair all done up in curlers!






When Taylor came over to Gigi's house in the morning, she was soooo excited to see the 78 balloons that were hanging out in her room overnight!



Had to test out the birthday cake bouncy house before all the guests arrived.......






Why is it I can never get any good pictures of the two girls together?!?!  Well, it was not going to happen that day, either.  Madi WAS. NOT. HAVING. IT!







Once the party guests started arriving.......a good time was had by all!!!

As from "The Decorations" post, the kiddos had plenty to do!!  Birthday cake bouncy house, bean bag toss, coloring station, sandbox with "colored candy rocks" hidden in it and what 4 year old birthday party is complete without a little "Chicken Dance", "Musical Squares" and "Hokey-Pokey" action!!












Remember that fabulous cake.....





Notice the shiner starting to form on her left eye!!!
I will say it again.........Cakeheads Bakery is the only way to go people!!!  If you live even remotely close to the Denver area, you HAVE to get a cake from them!  Not only do their cakes look amazing....but they taste amazing, too!












And when most of the party guests had left..........what else do you do when you are exhausted by all the fun......lay down under the table to take a nap!!



Taylor was a casuality of her own bouncy castle, though......she got her 1st black eye!  And, of course, it happened in the first 5 minutes of the party!  Those bouncy castles are dangerous!!!


To finish off the amazing 4th birthday fun......Taylor, Gigi and I spent the night "camping" out in the backyard!



Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party ~ Decorations

Last weekend we celebrated Taylor's 4th Birthday party!  It was about 4 weeks early but with a wedding we are traveling to, school starting and Labor Day weekend.......it needed to be done early.

I am going to do a couple of posts with a TON of pictures from the party......so, be ready for a smorgasbord of pictures!!!!

We decided to do a Sweet Shoppe birthday party  ~  and by Sweet Shoppe, I mean LOTS of candy!!!  What 4 year old doesn't love candy!

My mom and I spent LOTS of time making all the decorations for the party, but it sure was worth it!  It turned out much cuter than I expected it to be!

The party began by following the lollipops to the entrance.......

Yes, that is a ginormous birthday cake bouncy castle!





Gumdrop topiaries lined the tables.......





Games awaited the kiddos........

........bean bag toss





..........birthday cake bouncy house


..........Sweet Shoppe coloring station



 











The best part of the party was the candy and cake table!!!!!



The cake was too stinkin' cute!!!!




Tootsie roll candy garland dangling from the candy table.




The party favors were a goody bag with colored popcorn, lighted bracelet, all the candy you could fill in your bag...............and a toothbrush!











A good time was had by all!!!  Stay tuned for another post with the party fun and action!!!