Spring sports

Our days, and especially our weekends, have been jam packed with sports!
Here's a recap...

Ice Hockey for two

(Aidan and Maura)

 #1 hockey fans
Usually Aidan and Maura have games on the same day...early in the morning.
Maura hangs out after her game to learn a few things from her big brother.
And Audra, by default, gets to hang out (and freeze) at the hockey rink all morning!

So early, that sometimes these #1 fans catch up on a little missed sleep while we're there.

Soccer for two

(Riley and Audra)

Our community has a wonderful special needs soccer program.

Riley has participated for many years now,

and this was Audra's second year.

It is 100% funded by the community soccer club

and completely free of charge to the families.

The kids get a jersey with their name of the back every year,

and are given a soccer ball and shin guards their first year.

Their are enough volunteers to pair the little one's (like Audra)

with a buddy who helps to keep them engaged.

And they do actually learn some soccer skills too!

Track & Field
(Riley)

 

I love the Special Olympics
I love Track and Field
and I really love the 4x100 relay event!
Riley had the first leg this year and he took his turn with the baton very seriously (as you can see below) and his team got 1st!

Baseball

(Aidan)
Somehow I manged to not get any pictures of Aidan playing baseball so far this season.
He finished up intramural baseball,
was selected to participate in the All-Star game,
and is now in full-swing (yes, pun intended!)
with a travel tournament team.

Dance

(Maura)

"Ballerina aspirations"

Maybe (hopefully!!) she will find her way back to ballet next year.

This year she has been doing jazz,

and has been suggesting she wants to try Hip-Hop next year.

Cat napping...

yes, for Audra this IS a recreational activity!

Audra practices sleeping (during daytime hours) like it's an Olympic sport.  

Nighttime sleeping, now that's a different story...she could use some more practice in that department!

Mother's Day treasures

My two beautiful little girls!

Somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of my handsome boys.

Or a picture of myself with all four of my treasures!

I loved seeing their proud little faces as they presented me with the Mother's Day gifts they created for me at school.

Here are the treasures I received from my treasures...

From Audra:

From Maura:

From Aidan:

From Riley:

I am blessed beyond belief to have four beautiful, amazing children who call me Mom.  There is no greater challenge in the world than being a mother...but the benefits are far greater!

Band, Orchestra and Art

This was a week of fine arts for us, 

and that's pretty unusual in this household of 

sports, sports and more sports!

Aidan had both Band and Orchestra concerts for school.  

He plays French Horn and Viola so gets to participate in both concerts.  

Here he is at the Band Concert with his french horn.

I forgot to get a picture of him at the Orchestra Concert...

but he looked just like this,

same curly locks and bow tie,

except he was holding a viola case!

This week was also full of Art Shows.

Audra's pre-school

Aidan and Maura's elementary school

and Riley's middle school   

Riley's artwork:

 Riley with his first initial...Dr. Who themed.

Aidan's artwork:

The elementary art show was the same night as the Band Concet...

all the kids were proudly showing off their masterpieces in their formal attire.

Maura's artwork:

"Stargazing Snowman" above her head

and

"Heart so full" 

(of painted round clay balls) around her neck,

which was much too heavy for a necklace!

This one reminds me of Angry Birds!

Audra's artwork:

 "Rubber duckie in a nest"

"Noodle Rainbow"

This one was probably a challenge for Audra,

she LOVES to hold and rip pieces of paper!

So for her to have to glue down her beloved 

little pieces of paper must have been a torture.

The minute this piece of artwork came home

she started to pull off all the little pieces of colorful paper!

April wrap-up

Well, April got off to a good start with 3 posts during the first week...

but, I didn't get another post done the whole rest of the month!

So, I'll just finish off the month of April in this one (mostly picture filled) post...

Earth Day

The girls wore their new Earth Day shirts:

Sesame Place

For many years Sesame Place, the Variety Club and Autism Speaks have joined together to provide a fun-filled day for the families of children with Autism at Sesame Place...all for FREE!

We have attended a few times but this was the first time Audra has gone, and probably the first time Maura has gone that she "remembers".

 

Charlotte and Uncle Tim joined us.

We spotted Abby Cadabby right away!

And of course Audra was just as terrified as ever!

 But she loved the giant slide :)

And she also loved the carousel...

...but not the rides so much.  

The big girls did though! 

Aidan's 11th birthday

Somewhere in this kid's busy, busy scheduled he turned ELEVEN!

After a long day at school, then an even longer baseball game,

it was finally time for cake and presents!