Rainbow Station Graduation

Last week Rainbow had a graduation ceremony for Kaitlyn's class.  Next year she will be moving to the Village building next door.  Eric and I went but were a little surprised at some of the fanfare.  Parents brought balloons, flowers and gifts for their kids (oops).  Good thing Shelley was sweet enough to bring something for Kaitlyn. 

When they got their diploma, they asked each child what they enjoyed about this year, what they were looking forward to in Kindergarten and what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Kaitlyn was first (darn the letter A last name) and her teacher just read what she had already asked Kaitlyn.  She was the only one who was "undecided" on what she wanted to be when she grew up.  Although she was not the only one who didn't speak.  There was even one kid who cried (poor kid). 

They also sang a few songs.  Kaitlyn didn't sing along but in the first one she provided background vocals! It was pretty cute

Kindergarten Roundup

They held Kindergarten Roundup during the day in April.  I was really impressed with all they did for the kids.  Cheerleaders were there from Regan High School and stood along a red carpet to welcome the kids.  Other students were there too.  I got misty just walking in!  We met in the cafeteria and the current kindergarteners sang 2 songs.  Kaitlyn sang along with their counting song!  It was so cute.  But then they asked the parents to go to the library.  Kaitlyn was not to sure about this - I had just gotten her out of her PPCD class and I think she didn't want mommy to leave.  In the library, they went over some administrative things and then it was time to leave.  Look at our future Kindergarten Star!

M

Fiesta Carnival at Rainbow

Each year during Fiesta week, Rainbow holds a carnival for the kids.  This year we had a lot of fun doing all of the activities.  They had a cute photo op, but the lighting was bad.  

And Hailey holding up the balloons: 

And then this happened:

WHAT?!?! First face painting!  She asked for Hello Kitty and they said they could make her a kitty instead.  I was a little unsure how she would like it, but man that girl loved it!! (Hailey was timid and didn't want to try)

Here she is checking herself out.  

And then THIS happened:

I guess I remember her doing snow cones last year but she kinda just pretended and licked them.  This time she ate it all.  And of course, Hailey loved hers too:

While we were sitting eating the snowcones we took the opportunity to take some selfies.  Sweet Hailey!

And more pics with the Kitty herself and her snowcone.

This was cute.  Her class made a board and I can't remember the theme...

Hailey has gotten really good at blowing bubbles.  And how cool is this idea - a baby pool full of bubbles!

And check out Kaitlyn in her pink jacket.  No, it wasn't cold.  She was kinda stuck on this jacket.  But we finally broke that habit.  Good thing, the poor girl was sweating all the time!

Another photo op!  And look, she was enjoying her popcorn.

Still working on that snowcone!

Frozen on Ice

Awhile back I had seen that Disney on Ice was coming to town.  I looked up the tickets but decided against it since it was actually Frozen and at the time Hailey was super into Mickey Mouse and neither was into Frozen.  

The week of the show, Hailey's teacher told me that Hailey was singing "Let it Go" in class! And at home she randomly started to play with the Elsa doll that Grandma gave the girls for Christmas.  I brought up going to the show but we weren't sure how Kaitlyn would react at such a large event.  Not to mention the fact that she wouldn't go potty in public.  So I was afraid we would get all the way down there and then she would insist that we had to leave so she could go potty.  In the end, I just went with Hailey.

[Side bar - fast forward and all of a sudden these girls are obsessed!  They love the movie and sing-a-long. Hailey in particular wants to wear the clothes and loves the various merchandise (Hello Kitty is still #1 in Kaitlyn's book).  We listen to the music in "momma's car" and every night these girls want to watch the movie over and over and over...]  

So anyway, the show was actually on Easter Sunday in the afternoon.  Hailey was so excited.  On the way down we listened to the Soundtrack for the first time and got to our seats just when the show was about to begin. Here was the view from our seats:

I tired to take some selfies, but H was pretty solemn faced at the beginning.  She sat on my lap most of the time but was pointing and super excited when Mickey and Minnie came out to introduce the show.  "Let it Go" came on right before intermission and Hailey announced that she wanted to go home.  I decided that we should consider it a victory and head back.  At that point I realized I didn't have any pictures so tried to snap a few. 

Look at this big girl leaving - so independent!

All in all a really good experience and I hope that next time we can do it all together as a family!

April pics

Quiet time one night after bath time.  These girls love to cuddle in our bed.

April 2 is World Autism Day so we wore blue to support the cause.  Kaitlyn and I took this picture before the bus came.

And here is Hailey and I in the Rainbow parking lot.

I had off on Good Friday and Rainbow and the school was closed too.  So I got to hang with the girls. We met Eric for lunch, along with Karen, Brentton, Aria and Kinzie.  After that we went to Kaitlyn's group social therapy.  This was the first time Hailey came along and she enjoyed playing in the waiting room.

Easter baskets! Fail on the pics but Hailey was super excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought her.

And the girls together right after they got their baskets.

Here is Hailey playing with what Grandma brought her.  Needless to say, these girls can sure make a mess with all their toys, blankets and stuffed animals!

Reading their new books from Grandma.  So sweet.  Oh and check out Kaitlyn's jacket.  That was a jacket that came from the Rainbow lost and found.  One day I forgot her jacket and it was a bit cold so they found her that one. It is a Hello Kitty knock-off and has little outlines of cats on it.  She LOVES it and would hardly take it off.  

Hailey opening a card that Grandma mailed.  She gets a kick out of opening things.

Cheese! The card had stickers - you can see it on the counter.

And Kaitlyn playing with her card stickers too! Hello Kitty!

This was a dress-up outfit that Kaitlyn never really got into but this girl is all about it.  The day this picture was taken she wore that dress all day long.  Unfortunately it is a little big for her... but that means she can wear it for many months to come.

Kaitlyn and Hailey helped me in the yard one day.  I was cutting up and pulling out some of the dead things.  Here we were breaking up the dead branches from some bushes to put in a bag.  She was really good at this and loved helping mommy.

Didn't you hear that you're not supposed to watch TV that close!

The latest obsession... FROZEN. These girls cannot get enough of Frozen (and mommy is also enjoying the tunes). They are so cute watching and singing along.  We are even listening to the soundtrack in the car... which is a nice change from the Christmas music that we listened to from December-March!

This was the Any Baby Can Autism Walk.  Brandon, Sandra, Callie, Jake and Deedra came out for the 5k run.  I have the best team and will miss them when they move the accounting function at my company to Dallas. I knew Callie and Jake from Deloitte.  I knew Brandon and Sandra from Clear Channel.  So I am hopeful that I will cross paths with these guys in the future.

Hailey enjoying running at Bigz. When did she grow up?!?!

I don't post pictures of us very often but thought this was a pretty good one. We went to the Fiesta event - Taste of the Northside.  This is our 3rd year going and we always have a blast.  This year Karen and Brentton came with us.

Easter Egg Hunt

This year the Heights held an Easter Egg Hunt.  We went up and checked it out and ended up having a ton of fun.  Kaitlyn really enjoyed the bouncy house.  It was a huge bouncy house and she got right in and had a great time jumping.

And then this happened... we walked up to see if Kaitlyn wanted to try and before we got the words out she was off!  She had to climb this "ladder" carrying a little mat to ride down the slide.

That's her at the top!

And then "WEEEEEE!" I was amazed that she did it and had no fear.  Wow! And then she went again and again!

Hailey wasn't quite as brave so I went in the bounce house with her. Man, just being in there was a workout.

Selfie! I put some sunscreen on the girls and it wasn't for faces or sweatproof.  Poor little Hailey rubbed her eyes so they were bothering her.  Mommy fail!

Then it was time for the hunt.  Hailey grabbed a few eggs really quickly.

And grabbed a few more...

Then, "is there chocolate in here?"  Man, this girl loves her some chocolate!

Kaitlyn's turn.  She was only interested in the yellow eggs!

What a fun afternoon!