Labors of Love

As you can see from previous posts, our kids have always been very enthusiastic helpers. From the time they began walking and talking, they have wanted to help. Usually this is a good thing, but there have been times when one of the kids (Nathan) get's it in his head that the way to fix the VCR or stereo is to take it appart and if that doesn't work it should probably just be thrown out all together!  

Helping with the dishes

Nikki and Amy fold the towels.

All the kids pitching in to rake the leaves in the Fall. 

Because they enjoy helping so much, and because we'd rather they not "help" by disassembling our electronics, we began assigning them with certain chores to do around the house. Some are a weekly thing, some just when the need arises. 

Helping out at the grocery store!

Amy enjoys bagging groceries.

We love hot chocolate!!

Broccoli, not so much. 

They always run out to help bring the groceries in. 

And Callie is always trying to carry the most at once. 

Angela and Lindsey help put away groceries. 

From the grocery store, to the table and every step in between, our kids love pitching in any way they can. 

Helping mom get dinner started!

Dinner is over, it's cleanup time!

At the end of the week they are given an allowance based on the chores they have completed. Amy is our "Chore Supervisor", she is in charge of making sure the group tasks get done like taking out the trash and recycling, and giving out the vitamins every day. 

Trash and recycling day is quite a busy day!

Whew! Last one!

  I'd like to shout out a huge thank you to International Nutrition and Friends of Trisomy who supply us with Nutrivene D, a special blend of nutrients scientifically formulated to suit the needs of children and adults with Down Syndrome. Every day, at exactly five o'clock, Amy gives out the vitamins with her helpers. She takes this task very seriously, it happens at five sharp and we better have enough apple sauce or else!

Even Josiah and Jeremy, who are low-functioning and cannot participate in many tasks, are able to complete simple chores, such as making their beds every morning. 

Noah is our official family mailman! He retrieves the mail every day from our wonderful mail carrier, Linda!

In addition to our big family, we also have seven dogs (I know, we're crazy). Angel's chore is to give all the pups a quick brushing every evening. The females love it and crowd around her for their turn, the males have to be tracked down!

Angel brushes Muffy, while Cassie and Bella eagerly await their turn.

Our kids love saving up their chore money for things they want to buy and I am so proud of their patience and determination to save for the things they really want. At the store I help them figure out how much money they need and how to interact with the cashier. It's always so wonderful to see them learning new skills, gaining confidence and priding themselves on a job well done.

Amy points out the game she wants.

Cody paying for his purchase.

Emily buying her princess movie!

Greatest Show on Earth

I am consistently amazed at the opportunities God provides for our family on a regular basis. It is not always practical or financially feasible to take everyone to a live show, a concert or amusement park, but somehow, time after time, we are provided for. The City of Stockbridge invited our family to the Circus for the third year in a row! Gas South, the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association, the Georgia Municipal Association and Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey’s Circus producer, Feld Entertainment, partnered up to host this wonderful event for special needs children all over the state. We were a bit reluctant to accept at first, as we'd already been twice and wanted to give other children the opportunity who may not have gone yet. However, they assured us that nobody would be excluded if we accepted the offer, so we finally agreed. And boy am I'm glad we did, as this show was by far the most incredible of the three!

We were given the schedule and told to meet up at City Hall, where they would bus us all to Atlanta for the event. When we arrived (a little late as usual) there were two enormous busses waiting. They had Chick-fil-a meals for everyone, complete with bottled water and cookies, even the Chick-fil-A cow was there to see us off! When it was time to go, our family was loaded onto one bus, and the rest of the families onto another. I was surprised to see police cars all over the parking lot and when we asked about them we were told that we would have a police escort to the arena! And what an escort it was! We started out with a few police cars, then motorcycle cops from Henry County, and when we passed into Atlanta even more motorcycles joined in! By the time we got to the circus we were being escorted by more cars and motorcycles than I could count! 

The trip took no time at all because, as one officer said, we "got the presidential escort"! You can only imagine what the kids were thinking, they were completely enthralled. I don't think the DVD they put on got nearly as much attention as the police procession outside!

 

Once we arrived at Philips Arena we were escorted to the pre-show event, put on exclusively for special needs children and their families. We were able to sit right close to the floor and watch as the animals showed off their tricks and the trainer explained to us how they had been trained! 

Crossing the sticks is a signal to this female lion to behave aggressively! Makes for a better show!







Afterwards, everyone was brought down to the floor where they could get fairly close to the animals, interact with the performers, and try on costumes!

Kristina, just clownin' around. 

Slam trunk dunk!

They even had a big dance party at the end which, as you know, is always a big hit with our kids! 

Dance party begins!

It's boogie time!

After this amazing experience we found our assigned seats and settled down to watch the big show! Lions and tigers jumping through hoops, elephants playing basketball, dogs doing backflips, cats actually following commands, silly clowns and skits, daring motorcycle tricks and scary horseback balancing acts are just a few of the incredible things we got to witness. By the end of the night we were all exhausted and I was so grateful for the police escort back that prevented us from getting caught in the usual post-show traffic. 

Jimmy enjoying the show

The city of Stockbridge did a stupendous job of giving them a night they will never forget and we'd like to send out a huge thank you to them, to all the wonderful officers who escorted us and to everyone else involved in putting this event together! It was a delightful trip for our children and they each now have a stuffed circus elephant to keep as a memory of this magical adventure. 

Saying thank you to some of Georgia's finest!