At the beginning of the week last week, the kids were all doing great.

I had a nasty bug of some kind, but was working hard not to give it to Quinn.

 We did dance like regular.

The girls went to dance class in their costumes.

I could tell Quinn was not feeling super great, but was hoping it was allergies.

 Then we stayed home for a few days.  Also had a few trips to the doctors office.

I finally got my first weighted blanket done.

It was only 10 months late.

Isaiah gave me grace and was very excited to come home from school

and got to get it.

Isaiah got to his dance classes and got to wear his costumes.

Then Saturday morning, Quinn was not doing great, so we went back to the doctors, and

her doctor decided it was best we go to Children's for a few days.

 Denali had to come along, and those girls both needed each other!  I love how they love each other.

They had a slumber party.

 

 We did get out for a couple walks.

 Denali had to help Quinn with her therapy sessions.

 I'm not sure if the kids will all be together for Halloween or not, so I had to put them all together in a picture.

 This morning, things are looking good.  Numbers are good.

Quinn is smiling and we are thinking we will be going home tomorrow or Wednesday.

 I say it again and again, Children's Hospital is a wonderful  place.

We don't want to stay long, but it is a good place to be when we need to be here.

Fall Break came and went so fast!

We got lots done!

No fun trips but lots done and time

to get it done.

 Chrissy worked and worked to get the manual chair back up and going.  

With getting a new power chair, the seating goes back and forth between chairs, and 

it takes a lot of work to make that happen.  Thank you Chrissy!

 Quinn and Buttercup watched!  Buttercup needed some petting too, so she helps Quinn pet her!

 We also got to the dentist.  Always something good to get done!

 Did some cooking and cleaning!

 Got bike tires aired back up.

 Eye doctor appointments are done for the year.

I would show pictures of flu shots too, but I was busy holding Denali down.  When I say she does not do well with shots, that is an understatement!  It was embarrassing!

Talking about embarrassing,  we still have our foster kiddo!  We have done sleep studies with him, we have taken him to doctor appointments, and had family meetings.  We have loved him up and educated folks about him.  I will say being a foster parent keeps you humble.  You are judged for everything.  At the same time, I think that is fair.  You are raising another person.  This person has feelings and thoughts and dreams.  So do his birth parents.  Case workers  and lawyers, teachers, and family members all give us their thoughts and suggestions.  We appreciate all of them, but wow.  We are reminded what humility is.  Having folks judge you and your parenting is hard.  We work so hard to do a good job, and it is exhausting, so having folks enter into our homes and lives keep us vulnerable and although it is hard, I really feel we are doing our part to help out our friends, our community, and our world.  I feel we are showing our kids how to be better humans.  How to be humble, and how to take criticism.  I feel it is hard, the appointments wear on us.  The upcoming events are keeping us on our toes and wearing us out already, but we will be able to look back on this experience knowing we put everything into it, and helped a family and a wonderful child who needed some love and support!  So you can't beat that!

Blessings!  Be kind, we all have lots of stuff going on in our lives!  All of us!

John has been part of a mentor program where he goes to a public school and hangs out with a student who might need a little support.  He has been doing this for a few years and it is a wonderful program.

Our kids have always wanted to have a mentor, but they do not qualify, so they have not had one.

Well thanks to some friends sharing how their foster kids have been in the amazing camp for foster kids or foster kids who have been adopted, our kids went and loved it.  Well to go a step farther, the kids that went to camp have the option of having a mentor through this program for the year.  Just like camp it is amazing!

Once a month there is an activity that the mentors do with the kids all together, then another time during the month the mentors take the kids out for some one on one time.

So it started this month, and it has been amazing.  The mentors come and get Isaiah and Denali and take them to the event and bring them home.  They made crafts and played games and got to know their mentors and other kids.

Then Tim came and got Isaiah a couple nights ago, they went for hot chocolate, and then to the book store where Isaiah got to get a book.  Oh this is such an amazing program and we are so lucky to have such great mentors.

Denali is going out with her mentor this weekend, and she can't wait.

Here are Tim and Isaiah.

Here are Kayleigh and Denali.

Oh how lucky we are to have this opportunity for the kids!

Thank you to our mentors and all the mentors who help with this program.

This is such a big deal for our family!

We worked on fall decorations!

We made things a week ago, so

now we painted.

 We had fun and created some fun things.

At first I did not really see how pac man fit into the theme, but

I was reminded by a friend, Mason, that Pac Man gets rid of the ghosts!

Isaiah loved that answer!

Happy Fall!

Dancing has taken up most of our evenings during the week.

We love it and it is so good for us.

Then this weekend, Denali was in charge of a reading and helped with a song at St. Paul.

 She did great.

 We were fortunate enough to have grandparents come and listen to her read.

It was a wonderful weekend.

This week has been good!

Quinn's allergies are still a mess!

She was up most of Monday night and in turn,

slept through most of school Tuesday morning.

She even slept through Band.

One of her favorite parts of the week.

So at therapy she was very excited to work with the piano.

Another favorite part of the week is therapy.

Listening to her burst out laughing when she figures out she is on the way to therapy, is such a delight to hear.

Watching her work so hard is also wonderful to see. 

The rest of our fun day at the pumpkin patch!

 It rained a couple times for a few minutes and so there were  hardly any people there and that was wonderful!

 We played games.

 went on rides, with no lines

 played on pillows!

 A hay rack ride is a must!

 rode around

 So much fun with friends!