Happy Halloween!

Do you have any kids in your life who have Autism or sensory issues?
Check out the video above for some tips to make trick-or-treating lesson TRICKY
and more of a treat!

Happy Halloween!

But more importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!
I wish I were spending it with her, but she's on a fabulous trip . . .
guess where?

I hope your birthday is full of fun and that you make some wonderful memories.

I love you!

xoxoxoxo

Here's the most recent photo of just us together (at Macy's!).

Church With My Family!

I can't remember the last time I got to attend church with 

my parents or Mark & Jillian!

I was very excited to do so.

It was chilly, and I got to bundle up a bit.

You can always tell when I'm tired because my lazy eye

gets lazier.

But it eventually catches up!

LOOK AT MY ADORABLE PARENTS!

We decided to have a friend of my parents take a family photo

(minus GREGGIE!)

This was taken while we were adjusting and I thought it was hilarious!

Here's a nicer one.

After church, we went home for a short rest (church was early)

and then went out for a nice lunch at Panera.

With some adjustments, their Fuji Apple Salad (minus chicken, minus

cheese, pile on the veggies and walnuts!)

Look at Esme's cute little face.

Here's what I was wearing.

sweater: Maison Jules (eBay)
camisole: JKY by Jockey (Target)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)

I made dinner.

I decided it was a good night for veggie burgers.

My favorite ones are a mix of brown rice, toasted walnuts, and black beans

(plus spices!)

I also made "fries" (without any frying - they're just baked!)

Look at that delicious meal!!!

After that, I went over to Mark & Jillian's to hang out with them and help
put the girlies to bed.  What a wonderful day!

Dad's Birthday!

On the Saturday I was in Minnesota, I had the wonderful opportunity to

spent my Dad's birthday with him and the rest of the family

(sadly, minus Greg).

It was chilly - yay!

I wore this:

blouse: Target
sweater: Ross
pants: DKNY (Macy's)
coat: Kenneth Cole Reaction (Poshmark)
socks & shoes: Target

My Dad decided he wanted to go to P.F. Chang's for his birthday lunch.

There isn't anything non-spicy, vegan, and gluten-free that I can eat,

so I took a picnic.  Everyone else very much enjoyed their meals and I was HAPPY

to be there!!!

Mark & Cora worked hard on this maze.

I liked the karate cat.

Dad got a little birthday treat!

After a bit of a rest and a nap, I ventured out in the spitting rain

to visit Woodland Hills Church!!!

It's where my favorite theologian, Greg Boyd, is teaching pastor.

He's the guy in the black t-shirt!

I very much enjoyed the time with Woodland Hills - everyone was welcoming

and the music and teaching were inspiring.

The trees around the facility were changing color in a gorgeous way.

I walked over a bit to see the Plaza Theater, where I spent a lot of time during 

my high school years.  Movies were usually $1, and it was

very close to my house.  Usually there weren't many other people in the theater, either,

so it was pretty much perfect!

I like how low-key and functional Woodland Hills' facility is.

They don't fancy things up.  They're using their finances to

help hurting people rather than to buy decorations for their building.

I RESPECT that.  I wish more churches (eg my church) were like that.

The building used to be a KMart!

Next post: Sunday, and church again, this time with family!

Precious Family Time

GIRLIES DAY!!!

I was looking forward to spending some fun time with my beautiful nieces,

Cora & Esme.

I started out the day by choosing an outfit.

sweatshirt: Macy's
pants: INC (Macy's)
socks: Target

raincoat: Kenneth Cole Reaction (Poshmark)
scarf: Target

It was a cloudy, chilly day with spitting rain.

We picked up Cora first, and then went to get Esme!

Then we went to the library.

Look how cool it is!

I love this picture because it shows Cora in motion

(which she usually is), pulling up her pants (which is frequently necessary).

She's adorable and I love her to pieces.

I love this picture, too, because Esme looks to intent and interested.

She's gorgeous and I adore her.

We looked at how far away Minnesota is from Arizona.

Then we played with these plastic cylinders.

They go in this board and then the light shines through!

I made an E for Esme,

a C for Cora and Christie

a D for Dory (my Mom)

and a T for Tom (my Dad)!

Cora worked hard to fill in this heart.

Look at that FACE!!!

Then we played with these magnetic blocks.

I had fun making the blocks push each other along and hang off each other

at odd angles.

My parents checked out lots and lots of books (34, I think!)

We went to the Dollar Store!

One of the things I bought at the Dollar Store was a small bag full of

googly eyes.

The girls and I spent a few fun minutes adorning things around my parents'

house with EYES!!!

This one looks like an elephant!

There were lots of giggles.

I also bought some sticker mosaic art projects,

which kept Cora focused and interested for over 30 minutes.

She's very good at managing tiny little stickers!

Look at those big blue eyes!

Grandma and Grandpa bought Esme this cute little write & erase board.

She wanted us to write everyone's names on it.

It was very small, so it was tough to get the names to be legible.

I had the book "Creepy Pair Of Underwear!" shipped to my parents' house

as a gift for the girls.  It turned out to be a BIG HIT.

It's funny, the illustrations are adorable, and the plot is cute.

And don't all kids like reading books about underwear?! 

My Mom and Dad read lots of books to Esme and Cora.

Cora likes to listen to books in interesting positions

that demonstrate her flexibility.

Mark and Jillian stopped for pizza on their way over from work,

so I cooked this pizza and fully enjoyed it (to my surprise!)

Esme worked hard to label everyone's plates with names.

Tom

Mark

Mark

Cora

Christie

Esme

Jillian

(she believed that Jillian should have an M at the end,

for some reason, and that W was her attempt!)

Dory

Here we all are!  The only one missing was Greg.

The Daiya pizza was much better than I expected.

And what a beautiful day!!!