Sunday, October 30, 2011

Working on Writing


Joe has been working on writing. It has been a long process. He has a few obstacles to overcome including low muscle tone in his hands, small fingers, and very short thumbs. All of this makes it difficult for Joe to grasp a writing implement and control it when he writes. He has been doing a great job with reading and early spelling but writing continues to be a challenge. I was proud when Joe insisted on writing the names of his classmates on the Halloween that bags that he made this weekend. We used the list of names sent home by his teacher and he wrote the names by himself.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Pumpkin Carving





Emma made the sketch and Chris carved the pumpkin.

On the mend


Calvin saw the Vet this morning and is now officially on the mend. He will stay inside until he has finished his antibiotics (1 more week) but so far, so good! Joe is very happy to see Calvin without the blue collar.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Annual Pumpkin Walk




We went to the annual East Lansing Pumpkin Walk on Thursday evening. It wasn't as much fun as it usually is because our friends--The Conlin 5--are in Australia this year. The kids hit most of the stores on Grand River and then Five Guys Burgers for dinner.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Halloween has begun!


Emma the surfer and her friend before they trick-or-treated at the MSU dorms on Wednesday evening. Let the festivities begin!

Fighting Calvin

John Calvin after his fight with Michael Servetus (1553)

Our Calvin after his fight with the neighborhood orange tabby.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Hello Hospital Field Trip


Joe's class went to Sparrow Hospital for a "Hello Hospital" field trip. The kids learned a lot about the hospital and were able to see a number of things including an x-ray. I like this photo of Joe because he has spent many, many hours at Sparrow Hospital not all of them as fun as this trip. He looks pretty skeptical to me.

Don't Allow the Cat to Sit on the Furniture



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Special Olympics Bowling!



Receiving his ribbon from Mrs. Olance

Apple Picking



Joe's class went apple picking last week. It was a perfect day and he came home with a big bag of apples. These photos were taken off of Joe's teacher's blog. There are lots more if you want to see them. Click on Mrs. Olance's Classroom (on the right-hand column of this blog).

Saturday, October 15, 2011

All-Abilities Mardis Gras Dance


Joe and the DJ



Joe and Tim

Last night we had the 2nd annual dance in recognition of Down syndrome awareness month. This year I helped to organize the event. It was lots of fun and I think everyone had a great time dancing. Chris was able to get a few good shots of Emma and Joe.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Dolphin Tale


Joe's class is studying dolphins by learning about Winter the dolphin featured in the movie Dolphin Tale. Later in the semester they are going to have a virtual tour with a dolphin handler. Right now they are using web tools to learn about dolphins. Here is a link the one of the sites that they use: CLICK

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Fun Run



Here are some photos posted on Joe's teacher's blog from the Fun Run at school yesterday. Joe came home with a pedometer to track how many steps he takes each day. When I asked him about the run he said, "the fun run was....fun!"