Partying with a Parrot

 We were excited to go to Stepping Stone's second annual Christmas party that was thrown in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Pirates Charity Care-A-Van.  Last year Bobby was all smiles and even danced during the party.  It's always easier to go to an event the second time in autism land, when you know what to expect.

 This year I decided that we would go fashionably late, after the players and coaches were introduced and the media portion of the night was over.  Last year it was hard to keep Bobby quiet and in his seat during the speeches.  However, he didn't seem as excited this year when he walked in and the gym was completely crowded.

 He sat down for a while and then walked around and look at some decorations, but wanted out of the room.  He asked to go to the bathroom a few times and hung out in the arts and crafts room for a few minutes by himself.

He was ready to go into the gym, but he desperately wanted a balloon.  So, I did what I had to do.....I found a pair of scissors and cut a balloon out of one of the balloon bouquets that were in the far back corner!!  He was happy, he had a balloon to play with!!!

 A little boy then came up to me, "where did he get that balloon?"  Me..."Do you want me to get you one?"  Boy..."YES."  Ooops, I started something!!  I ended up cutting out 4 more!!!  Later on I looked out at the dance floor and some adults where tossing balloons in the air......yes, I really started something!!  LOL!!!  Balloons were being freed all over the place!!

 They had to open the doors in the gym.  It was in the high 50's outide and there were a couple of hundred people in there......H.O.T!!  Bobby was in heaven right outside this door.  Finally, some air!!

 He didn't want to come back in, but I wanted a picture of him with the Pirate Parrot and The WV Blackbear.  He finally came back in, played balloon and semi-complied with a Pirate Parrot picture, however the Black Bear was in the table area, way too congested to drag Bobby through to try and get a picture.

 I picked up Bobby's gifts and he got a Pirates winter hat from the Parrot and we headed out the back door to leave.  Funny thing.....he didn't want to leave, he wanted to stand outside and watch the party through the open door.  We were SHOCKED that he didn't want to go, which we were convinced that he wanted to do because he kept leaving.  He just wanted the air and watch from afar!!  This wasn't the night that he wanted to get in there and dance with his peeps.  But, he had a great time!!!

This picture below had nothing to do with the party, but she is just so cute!!!

Christmas is in full swing around here!!!

Thanksgiving Break 2015

Somehow, by the grace of God, we managed to escape November with NO SNOW!!!!  Can we dare to dream for a snowless December as well!!??!!  However, there was no escaping a 9 day Thanksgiving break from school. Ugh, how to keep Bobby entertained for 9 long days.

Our newest tradition over the past couple of years, put our Christmas tree up on the first day of break so that Bobby can have a whole week off from school to enjoy his favorite part of Christmas....the beautiful lights.

Yes, that is happiness on his face!!!!  He can hardly wait to get this party started!!!  He goes ahead without me!!

In all honesty, Bobby's contribution to this party ended right after this picture!! Mommy, you are much better at this, I'll let you handle the rest!!  

Bobby then assumed his usual position while I got to work.  He supervised from the ideal location!!

 I always put on one row of branches, starting from the bottom, then put lights on that row before moving onto the next row.  Bobby lays down there while all of this happens.  No, it is not incovenient to climb over him to get this done.  Zoi likes to "help out" too and gets in the back corner and make it an even more fun game for Mommy!!!  Ahhh, so helpful!!

Bobby was super excited to have the tree out and fully decorated.  He spent most of Saturday laying under the tree happy as a little lamb.  

Where was Daddy while we were decorating??  Thanks for asking!!  He and our nephew Sam, were out in the garage being manly men and fixing cars.

 ........"What the hell are you talking about??"

Good news for me, the car that they were working on is all back together and out of the garage. Yay, I can park in the garage for all of the rain that we've had for the past few days.  

I made an executive Thanksgiving decision!!!!  Since no one was coming in from out of state for Thanksgiving dinner, I moved it to the Sunday before to accommodate more schedules and for me to get the grocery shopping complete before Bobby was off for break.  We decided to have dinner at Grandma's house after church.  I brought the turkey!!  We only have a couple of pictures of the whole day and neither are too great or exciting, but I won't remember any of this if I don't post them!!

We told Grandma that we would come down and help her put up her Christmas tree to give Bobby another fun activity.

Funny thing about these pictures, they make it look like Bobby absolutely helped put up the tree, when nothing could be further from the truth.  These are staged pictures, here is the truth shot......

He hung out in the recliner while I kept changing shows for him.  He watched Wheel of Fortune episodes that Grandma DVR'd for him and also hung out upstairs with Elmo dvds and his ipad!!

ALL DONE!!

I did make a special dinner on actual Thanksgiving day, a spiral ham and most importantly, home made fresh cut french fries for Bobby.....his absolute favorite food ever!!! Grandma and Aunt Dianna come over and we had a lovely, small family dinner.

Yes, that is Zoi hiding out beside Daddy hoping that some ham makes it her way!!!

After dinner, we gave Grandma her first gift.  I wanted her to have the nativity set we got her to display this year.  Bobby got right under the tree to give her the gift.  He also assisted in the gift opening!!

It was super warm on Thursday and Friday, so I absolutely had to get the outdoor decorating completed.  In fact, it was a little too warm!!

In past years, Bobby has hung out with me while I put up lights, this year he was totally uninterested until they were all complete.

 He loves colored lights!!

Because I love to see other's Christmas decorations, I'll share our's too!

Honestly, we didn't do much more than this over Thanksgiving break.  We did venture out to Target and had some family fun at the playground, where it was so windy that my pictures wouldn't go into focus!!

Zoi is excited that Bobby is back to school....first, because she gets a car ride to the bus stop every day, and second, she gets all of the decorations to herself!!!

Let the Christmas season festivities begin!!!!