CADSA Dance under the Stars!

Saturday afternoon riding

Getting ready for Halloween

This year Emma will be dressed as the Mad Hatter. Joe (pictures will be posted later) will be a dinosaur.

special olympics: bowling

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More work with the ipad

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Joe's class gets an ipad (montage by Joe's teacher)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

MSU Homecoming 2010

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Hobbit

After dinner reading at our house

Calvin and Gracie

Soccer

Apple orchard

Here is a photo of Joe with his apple bag during his field trip to the orchard yesterday.

Music

Family visit

Paul and Lucille visited us this weekend on their way to Toronto. They showed up in a convertible which made the visit tons of fun! We did our regular weekend stuff including listening to the band practice, horseback riding, a trip to the farmer's market, dinner at Pablo's and a few round of bananagrams and cards.

Buddy Walk 2010

WOW! What a great day! Team Joe numbered over 60 people!!!! We had beautiful weather and lots of great friends to walk with us through the zoo. All in all, the 2010 Buddy Walk was a big success. Thanks to everyone!

apple picking

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hero of the Year: Vote for Reece's Rainbow founder

Please remember to vote for the founder of Reece's Rainbow's founder for People Magazine's Hero of the Year. This woman has worked tirelessly to find home for kids born with Down syndrome who face institutionalization in countries outside the US. You may vote HERE as many times as you like.

First day of school

Emma is in fifth grade and Joe is in first grade. Let the school year begin!

Lost another one!

And Joe still has all of his baby teeth!

Ice Cream Social

Joe and Leah

Emma and Elisabeth

Last night we went to the Red Cedar ice cream social. We found out that Joe will be in Mrs. Willliams' first grade class with his friends Tri and Leah. They three will spend much of the day in Mrs. Olance's class but will go to the first grade class for part of each day. Joe's friend Tim will also begin school at Red Cedar this year. Emma had fun playing with Tim's sister Elisabeth on the playground.

Taking after Aunt Joy

Emma had her appointment with the music teacher this morning to choose an instrument for fifth grade. She knew that she wanted to be in the orchestra but wasn't sure which instrument she wanted to play. After trying every single instrument (including viola and trombone) she chose the cello! Just like Aunt Joy she will have to carry her cello to school. Lucky for Emma there are now new light weight backpack cases.

Joe

Joe at Camp Pa-Wa-Pi for Emma's award ceremony.

Last day of camp

Emma's last day of Camp Pa-Wa-Pi was Friday. The final week was called "Be Your Own Boss" and the 10-13 year-olds worked with a 4-H group to learn how to do a business project for part of each day. On Friday business owners from the area came and heard their pitches and voted on the best business presentation and idea. Emma's team won "worked best together" and they were each given a $10 gift certificate to Office Max.

New Pal at School

Joe's friend Leah has gotten in to Joe's school through the school of choice program. We are so excited that she will be in class with Joe. This morning Joe brought Leah to Red Cedar school and showed her around. They had a great time playing together on the playground. It looks like it is going to be a great school year for Joe!

Visit from Heather and Peter

Joe and Calvin

pals

palsI peaked in Joe's room and saw them playing this game.

Joe is becoming good friends with a girl named Leah. He has known her for a couple of years. They have taken swimming together at MSU and they have played on the same T-ball team for two years. This summer we have made an effort to get the kids together. On Friday morning Leah was dropped off at our house and the two played together--ALONE--for a couple of hours. I peaked in on them every 20 minutes and they were having a great time playing games, listening to music, playing with cars and at the end of the morning putting on a puppet show. This was the first time (in over 7 years) that I have been able to leave Joe for extended periods with another child and not intervene or interpret for him. And how did Joe sum up his time with Leah? "I just love Leah. She's fun."

Musical Theatre Camp

Emma went to the CMS musical theatre camp last week. At the end of the week the 60 campers (age 6-17 yrs) put on a review. Emma sang and danced to songs from Oklahoma, Hair Spray, and other musicals. I have photos from Oklahoma, "The Farmer and the Cowmen should be Friends" (she is wearing a short denim dress) and Hair Spray, "You Can't Stop the Beat" (blue T-shirt, jeans and orange bandana).