We have been reading and reading and reading.  Books about Walt Disney, did you know he painted on his white house when he was young, with Tar and it never came off, his parents were not happy with him.  

If I don't get the book out after dinner someone is quick to remind me to do our daily reading, and that is good with me!

We have also read Alice in Wonderland, Princess books, Brave books, Minnie Mouse of course, and Mickey, and I could go on and on.  

Now we are reading winnie the pooh, and we found some honey at the store, so had to have some hunny with toast.

Next up is Swiss family Robinson and after that is Peter Pan.

 Dancing is back full force.  The recital is a little over 3 weeks away!  We are getting ready!  Isaiah is too, but I missed getting a picture of him.

As Isaiah, Denali, and I did yard work, dad and Quinn slept!  I love watching her sleep!  Mickey and Minnie right there snuggled close.  She is feeling much better today!  I love watching my kids sleep!  

Sometimes you just need to play in the dirt!

 We worked hard planting and pulling up weeds and adding new dirt and mulch.  

 We watered and watered and watered!

and two of our crew took naps because they say their allergies are a 

mess so we are hoping dad and Quinn feel better soon!

We made our Harry Potter Inspired Wands.

They turned out better then I hoped for.

 We started with flower stems and pipe cleaners, as that was what I had on hand.

We added texture past and beads and gravel for texture.

 

We got messy!

We painted them metallic colors.

 We antiqued the wands and how amazing!  They turned out great!
You really should click on the picture to see it bigger!
They really do look amazing!

 And then then fun continued!

Updated

Quinn's Dance Class is once again in full swing!

This time Isaiah and Denali are helping as buddies!

I love it that they want to help out.

I believe that they are going to understand and accept everyone for who they are rather then what they might appear to be, because of all their experiences.

I'm so grateful for that!

Then Disney stuff has been continuing!  We have our schedule mapped out, but will follow it very loosely.

With the end of the year coming up, we get crazy busy as kids and as a teacher.  With hundreds of report card grades and getting everything done, we are trying to get things done now.

We made some special tags up to give to our teachers and support staff to remind them how grateful we are for them.  The kids did 90% of the work!  YEAH!

 As I keep trying to educate and share our story, I've been going through things in the past to figure out what works for Quinn.  So I'm going to share a few things I usually have to think about that I don't have to think about this time when it comes to our vacation.

Usually even simple things, like if we go out to dinner, I have to think about things, are there stairs?  How close are the tables together, can Quinn get through.  Quinn's chair is bigger then an average chair, so can we get her to fit and face the table?  We usually have to educate the waiter or waitress, yes she will have a menu, yes she will have water, yes she will usually eat something.  We love to educate for the most part and doing it in a loving caring way, might help broaden folks opinions of others in a good way.

For this trip with Make a Wish, I don't have to call ahead of time to check on if things fit, or what about this or that.  We have signed up for a few meals at Disney and there is a spot to check if we have a wheelchair, so I know it will be ready for us.   I've got apps that tell us what works with wheelchairs, or if we will need to get Quinn out for a certain ride or activity.  It tells us everything we need.  We will also have a meeting  at our villa that I will go to that will give us tips and suggestions for our exciting week.

As we pack, I will have to add pictures, we are going to be taking an extra big suitcase just for Quinn's extra stuff.  So I've been starting to get things out and ready and create lots of lists.  We can't run to the store to pick up extra track barrels, or suction tubes, or cords for feeding machines or suction machines.  So lists are what I live by.  Luckily I'm a list person to begin with, so it works out. Starting weeks before we leave gives me the peace of mind that I will get everything together without being a basket case when it gets closer.

I will continue to make lists, and work with extra supplies, and educate others.  I will continue to share out story and work with walkers and back up wheelchairs, braces, and briefs.  I will continue to advocate, and educate.  Why?  Because God blessed me with three amazing kids, and a stable family, a wonderful life.  He blessed us by having us live in a country where we are supported by a government and insurance systems that is not ideal, but so much better then most other countries.  We are blessed with kids that are willing to educate about our own family and share in each others adventures and most of all love each other unconditionally.

I also wanted to add, that Quinn in some ways is so much easier to take care of then my other two.  They will be the first to say she is grounded less then they are.  She has the best laugh ever, and she is the hardest  worker I know.  She is amazing and I'm so thankful to be around her.  She makes all of us better for knowing her.

Then there are times like our upcoming trip where we get to enjoy the love others have for families like ours.  We are staying at Give Kids the World, where we will be able to meet many other wish families, and volunteers who are there to care for us.  It's a place where we will be accepted and pampered.  We are very excited!

Here are a few pictures we have been looking at to see where we will be staying.

Give Kids the World Village looks pretty magical!  We are getting more and more excited!

 We took a bit of a time out from Disney to be super hero's!  

The Easter Bunny brought us some fun costumes!

and a little super hero in her own right, Quinn at driving practice!

Hope you are not totally tired of Disney, you will be reading about it for a few more months.

We did some mickey printing this weekend.

This week we read a Disney biography, and I learned a ton about him.  He is a guy that did not give up on his dreams, another great guy for the most part.

 It's been fun doing disney stuff with a few of our friends, their family is going to Disney in less then a week, so prayers for a safe and wonderful experience.  We still have quite awhile.  Being about to chat with them, and be excited with them has been fun for our family!

 These three got done early with the artwork, and had to watch some disney movie.

I love how my kids love my dog, and how my dog loves my kids!

 We have some Minnie inspired finger nails and toe nails.

 We have a few different count downs, a calendar and a few different paper chains here and there, we have one going right now, and there they are taking another link away!

 There are some of the other paper chains, waiting patiently to be counted down later!

 We went back to the zoo to hit some of the things we did not get to a month or so ago.  It was just as fun!  What a great day!

Last week Quinn got her student of the month papers, and we got the pictures today.

 She was concentrating to hold her paper and so we did not get the best smile, but she was so excited!

I'm so thankful for her school, the understand her for the most part, and

We also did some sewing!  Quinn opted for Minnie Mouse.

The kids learned it takes patients to stuff pillows, especially neck pillows.

Isaiah went with Mickey.

Denali went with Frozen, being sure to say that she is not in love with frozen like she use to be, but still likes the characters.