We're a team!

It's that time of year again "Happy Thanksgiving" However this year we aren't cooking a turkey. I'm not spending the majority of my day in the kitchen. It's all about enjoying the day doing something else. We haven't figured out what that something else is.....so stay tuned - it should be something good! 

I decided to share a few pictures. This picture below is a picture of our littlest daughter. She's the sweet little girl we're making "Emily's Angels" for. I'm anticipating that her surgery will be in January so lately we've been filling her life with what she loves. We're in the process of creating a "Happy Book" that consists of everything that makes her smile. Emily's favorite characters are Elmo and Peppa the Pig. I have an Instagram account called 16children. Within there I met a lady named April who knits amazing hats. Her business is called, "Knitting with Arrows" and she's also located on Facebook. I asked her if she could make our daughter her own special toques for the winter season and here they are! "Thank you" April for these amazing hats! 

 Last weekend during the beautiful weather many of us went shell collecting as a family for "Emily's Angels" Emily's Angels isn't just a angel made out of shells. It's not just Cerebral Palsy Awareness. It's not just a project asking for donations. It's bringing so many of us together during a difficult time. Since we launched "Emily's Angels" approximately a month ago, we have collected and cleaned thousands of shells. We have made approximately a hundred or more angels. We have received support from everywhere! Including Michael Bortolotto. A well known Cerebral Palsy motivational speaker, "Thank you" to Judy Karlson! We will meet him October 11th! We have support from our family and friends. We have incorporated Emily's Angels into our homeschooling program. We have several events booked, we'll be set up at a farmers market in November and our local public school just had one of our sons speak in each class about "Emily's Angels"  Judy has written it best, "Build the field and it will happen" We also started making shell Christmas trees as the field is now growing.

 Back in June our new local wheelchair swing was taken down due to liability reasons. Our daughter was only able to swing twice before it disappeared. The wheelchair swing was taken down because other able bodied children were piling and swinging on it. The swing is heavy and dangerous if it's not used for it's intended purpose, therefore it was taken away until the city could figure out safer solutions. Just the other day it was re -installed! There is bigger signs stating it's for "Wheelchair use only" and it's locked. Only wheelchair users can access the code by calling the city. So today we brought our daughter down to the park to swing! She loved it! It's perfect timing because we really wanted to take some pictures, and get some video footage of her swinging before her surgery. As you can see in the below picture, our daughter is sitting sideways. Her right hip continues to shift, leaving her constantly moving where it's comfortable. As much as I know she needs the hip surgeries (both sides) and she will benefit after her recovery period, I dread the day we head to the hospital. We really needed this swing, and it's finally returned! 

 During our park visit our daughter wanted to try working out. Funny.....lately this momma has been hitting the gym in the evening and now I have started boot camp at 7 am three days a week before school starts! I understand how hard it is to strength train. I can only imagine what our daughter goes through. I'm strength training so I can be my daughter's anchor. I need physical strength to help her gain hers. We're a team and if she can do this, so can I. "We don't know how strong we are until being strong is the only choice we have" 

 At the park I noticed an outdoor library. I thought that was really cool. You can give a book, then take a book. I didn't take a book however I plan on going through all my boxes of books and donating towards this little library that resembles a bird house. 

 For different events and our farmers market weekends we made poster boards (seen below) Pictures of the collecting, the cleaning, the sorting, and the matching. The whole process has been documented by pictures. 

 The next board is about the finished product. 

 Then we turned "Emily's Angels" into a science project explaining what the shells are and where they came from. 

To conclude, we're a team. All of us. I couldn't accomplish everything on my own. I am so grateful for the people in our life. For my children. Our family and friends. For our group of professionals that come in and out of our home five days a week. We're not only a team, we've all grown into a family. I can't write and or state enough on how much appreciation and love I feel towards everyone in our life. As sappy as that sounds, it's true. Our universe must be aligned to bring so many individuals together. "Unity is strength...when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. - Matte Stepanek. 

"Sending angel wishes and hugs to all" - Judy Karlson.