It's week 5 of the football season and that means it is Homecoming. Last year the team started the first "Blackout for Easter Seals" with fans buying black tshirts with the Easter Seals logo to get into the game for free. The event raised $5000 and the team went on to raise a total of $15,000 for Easter Seals. This year it looks like we'll raise another $5000 with the event. Better yet, I asked the football coaches in the area to get involved and 23 schools signed up. So, central Illinois has been "Blacked Out" for much of the season with various games and we hope to raise $100,000 for Easter Seals!
Noah and Caleb are coming to the pep rally with me tonight and then to the bonfire. It's Noah's birthday (he's six), so it's a nice treat for him.
School is going well for everyone. Meg and Alina ended up with an aide in their class. They are the only 3 year-olds in there (mostly 4's), so there's quite a gap, as you would expect. Things are going well, though. I peaked in the other day and saw the whole pre-school class doing sign language. It was inclusion at it's finest. The girls got the instruction they needed and it was integrated with the rest of the class and now the other kids don't see the girls' signs as weird, just as another way to talk. Awesome!!!
I hope everyone is doing well.
Pakka,
Todd
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
It's been a while...
Sorry it has been so long. A quick post now and I will try to become more consistent with postings and pictures.
A great summer wrapped up with the start of football practice the second week of August. We had a chance to vacation in Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Toledo in late July. Alina met all of Anne's family on that trip. It was great.
Noah started kindergarten last week. Caleb, Meg, and Alina start pre-school next week. Caleb will be in his second year and is looking forward to showing the girls the ropes.
Noah and Caleb started piano lessons a couple of weeks ago and love it. They start soccer tonight and will play about four or five games this fall.
Anne is working hard at Easter Seals. School is in full swing for me.
Pakka!
A great summer wrapped up with the start of football practice the second week of August. We had a chance to vacation in Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Toledo in late July. Alina met all of Anne's family on that trip. It was great.
Noah started kindergarten last week. Caleb, Meg, and Alina start pre-school next week. Caleb will be in his second year and is looking forward to showing the girls the ropes.
Noah and Caleb started piano lessons a couple of weeks ago and love it. They start soccer tonight and will play about four or five games this fall.
Anne is working hard at Easter Seals. School is in full swing for me.
Pakka!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Big storms hit Elmwood.
I'm not sure which order these pictures will appear. The storm a few weeks ago had very high winds and blew down many, many trees in town. There was very little property damage, amazingly enough. Still, we were without power from Thursday to Saturday. Everything is cleaned up now. What a great little town we live in. Everyone pitched in and helped their neighbors!
Personally, we lost two big tree limbs. One is no big deal. The other will eventually cause us to lose on tree in front of the house.
Personally, we lost two big tree limbs. One is no big deal. The other will eventually cause us to lose on tree in front of the house.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Hollis family goes to the zoo...returns with four monkeys!
We have an identical picture of Noah on this same seal statue from when he was a really little guy. If I can find it I will post it along side this one.
Our friend John, who I golfed with a few years ago in the Heart of Illinois Down Syndrome Association Golf Outing. He golfs in the Special Olympics, although he's taking this year off to just "enjoy the game." Great guy. Meg loved him.
About ten seconds later the two tigers in this enclosure got in a bit of a arguement. They were standing toe-to-toe on their hind legs, lots of growling, teeth showing. Impressive and a bit scary. The boys thought it was cool, but also realized that the tigers weren't something they wanted to mess with.
Our friend John, who I golfed with a few years ago in the Heart of Illinois Down Syndrome Association Golf Outing. He golfs in the Special Olympics, although he's taking this year off to just "enjoy the game." Great guy. Meg loved him.
About ten seconds later the two tigers in this enclosure got in a bit of a arguement. They were standing toe-to-toe on their hind legs, lots of growling, teeth showing. Impressive and a bit scary. The boys thought it was cool, but also realized that the tigers weren't something they wanted to mess with.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Heading into summer break...
Noah and Caleb finished pre-school today. Noah is excited to be a kindergartener next year. Caleb is excited to be one of the "big kids" in pre-school next year and he is looking forward to showing his sisters the ropes.
That brings us to the most recent hurdle in our lives. Alina and Meg have officially entered the school system. Much to our delight, they have entered the ELMWOOD school system, not that of the neighboring district. Most special education kids from our district go to the Farmington district to participate in the early childhood program. Anne and I are firm, very very firm, believers in inclusion. We believe inclusion benefits children academically and socially more than a segregated classroom could (especially the socialization part). We had the girls' IEP (individualized education plan) meeting last week and after some discussion it was decided that our district would provide the services the girls need here. Yeah for us and yeah for the district for educating "their own." Hopefully other families will follow suit.
Summer officially starts for me next Thursday. It will be Daddy Day Care. I'm looking forward to it. First point of business: paint the driveway. Concrete is such a boring color. We need to spice it up a bit. Maybe a whale, Lightning McQueen, hopscotch, whatever. After that will be the Slip and Slide Anne's parents sent. Then we'll play in the dirt and plant flowers. Should be fun. I'm exhausted already.
Trips for the summer include Columbus to see my grandmother and family and to see Anne's brother and sister and their families. We're pretty fired up about that. We'll also get to Pittsburgh (go Penguins!) to see Anne's parents and hopefully Mark's family. Oh yeah, we'll also be seeing Uncle Bob in Chicago and my parents as well.
Things are going very well. Life is busy.
Love,
Todd, Anne, Noah, Caleb, Alina, and Meg
That brings us to the most recent hurdle in our lives. Alina and Meg have officially entered the school system. Much to our delight, they have entered the ELMWOOD school system, not that of the neighboring district. Most special education kids from our district go to the Farmington district to participate in the early childhood program. Anne and I are firm, very very firm, believers in inclusion. We believe inclusion benefits children academically and socially more than a segregated classroom could (especially the socialization part). We had the girls' IEP (individualized education plan) meeting last week and after some discussion it was decided that our district would provide the services the girls need here. Yeah for us and yeah for the district for educating "their own." Hopefully other families will follow suit.
Summer officially starts for me next Thursday. It will be Daddy Day Care. I'm looking forward to it. First point of business: paint the driveway. Concrete is such a boring color. We need to spice it up a bit. Maybe a whale, Lightning McQueen, hopscotch, whatever. After that will be the Slip and Slide Anne's parents sent. Then we'll play in the dirt and plant flowers. Should be fun. I'm exhausted already.
Trips for the summer include Columbus to see my grandmother and family and to see Anne's brother and sister and their families. We're pretty fired up about that. We'll also get to Pittsburgh (go Penguins!) to see Anne's parents and hopefully Mark's family. Oh yeah, we'll also be seeing Uncle Bob in Chicago and my parents as well.
Things are going very well. Life is busy.
Love,
Todd, Anne, Noah, Caleb, Alina, and Meg
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Sorry it has been so long.
Well, it's been almost a month since we blogged. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Life with four is quite a bit busier than life with three. The fact that Alina is a mobile little girl who explores everything makes all the difference in the world. I think the politically correct way to describe our family is "active."
Alina is doing very well. She's adapted to many foods, although some still do nothing for her. No different than for Noah, Caleb, and Meg, though. Sometimes mood determines palate. Anyway, if you can eat it with a spoon (mac and cheese, oatmeal, cream of wheat, soup, etc.), Alina will eat more than you would think possible. If it requires eating with her hands, she doesn't do quite as well. I think it is a texture issue.
Alina is picking up language pretty quickly. She's trying to say some words and is getting better all the time. I would say she can say mama, papa, book, dog, and drink. She signs more, thank you, please, drink and eat. She understands lots.
Noah, Caleb and Meg have grown to love Alina. It took Meg a little bit longer, but at time they are best friends and really clown around together. Anne says they are like the two Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp. Remember the song "We are Siamese, if you please..."?
The family (kids) have been sick the last week. Something called herpengina (sp?). Nasty viral infection that causes blistering in the throat and high fevers. 4+ days per kids. Noah got it first and missed multiple days last week (he was a perfect attendance kid). Caleb missed last Friday and this Tuesday and Wednesday. Today (Wednesday) I have Meg, Alina, and Caleb home with me. They're getting better. Still, it's been a bit taxing.
Alina and Meg have their evaluations tomorrow (Thursday) to help set up the services they will receive in pre-school next year. It looks like everything is in line for them to attend pre-school at Elmwood Elementary rather than having to go to a neighboring district. Our principal has done a nice job lining up various agencies to make this happen. Kudos to Mr. Frost. We're glad we don't have to fight for this right.
So, here are bunches of pictures. I'll try to leave captions, but haven't ever had much luck with that.
Pakka!
These pictures are in reverse chronological order. Sorry.
We went to Wildlife Prairie Park last weekend. It was a beautiful day and all of the animals were out. The mountain lion was very cool.
Yes, that is the mama bear behind Noah and Caleb.
The girls giving each other a kiss.
Noah.
Caleb being Caleb.
The girls playing.
Bath time is an adventure. They sure love each other.
More girls playing.
Easter Sunday - Alina in her princess outfit.
The Easter bunny left tracks on Noah and Caleb. He jumped right on them!
Our family Easter picture before church Saturday night.
Caleb decided to wear his basket to the Easter egg hunt.
The Saturday before Easter we took the kids to Canton to feed the fish and ducks. One of our favorite family activities.
Anne and Meg enjoying a beautiful spring day.
Meg riding "shotgun" with Caleb in the Jeep.
Alina loves her Cozy Coupe. Unfortunately, so does Meg. There have been some battles.
Playing bubbles outside with mommy and Caleb.
Alina's first family wrestling match against daddy. The kids won.
Micki's welcome home cookie. It was very good.
Anne meeting Alina at O'Hare Airport.
Anne and I hadn't seen each other for two weeks. Glad to be home.
Alina's reaction to eating her first Dunkin Donuts "munchkin."
Look at the concentration on her face as she tastes a muchkin for the first time
Alina's first chicken nugget. She's sitting on Stephanie's lab (Meg's physical therapist).
Life with four is quite a bit busier than life with three. The fact that Alina is a mobile little girl who explores everything makes all the difference in the world. I think the politically correct way to describe our family is "active."
Alina is doing very well. She's adapted to many foods, although some still do nothing for her. No different than for Noah, Caleb, and Meg, though. Sometimes mood determines palate. Anyway, if you can eat it with a spoon (mac and cheese, oatmeal, cream of wheat, soup, etc.), Alina will eat more than you would think possible. If it requires eating with her hands, she doesn't do quite as well. I think it is a texture issue.
Alina is picking up language pretty quickly. She's trying to say some words and is getting better all the time. I would say she can say mama, papa, book, dog, and drink. She signs more, thank you, please, drink and eat. She understands lots.
Noah, Caleb and Meg have grown to love Alina. It took Meg a little bit longer, but at time they are best friends and really clown around together. Anne says they are like the two Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp. Remember the song "We are Siamese, if you please..."?
The family (kids) have been sick the last week. Something called herpengina (sp?). Nasty viral infection that causes blistering in the throat and high fevers. 4+ days per kids. Noah got it first and missed multiple days last week (he was a perfect attendance kid). Caleb missed last Friday and this Tuesday and Wednesday. Today (Wednesday) I have Meg, Alina, and Caleb home with me. They're getting better. Still, it's been a bit taxing.
Alina and Meg have their evaluations tomorrow (Thursday) to help set up the services they will receive in pre-school next year. It looks like everything is in line for them to attend pre-school at Elmwood Elementary rather than having to go to a neighboring district. Our principal has done a nice job lining up various agencies to make this happen. Kudos to Mr. Frost. We're glad we don't have to fight for this right.
So, here are bunches of pictures. I'll try to leave captions, but haven't ever had much luck with that.
Pakka!
These pictures are in reverse chronological order. Sorry.
We went to Wildlife Prairie Park last weekend. It was a beautiful day and all of the animals were out. The mountain lion was very cool.
Yes, that is the mama bear behind Noah and Caleb.
The girls giving each other a kiss.
Noah.
Caleb being Caleb.
The girls playing.
Bath time is an adventure. They sure love each other.
More girls playing.
Easter Sunday - Alina in her princess outfit.
The Easter bunny left tracks on Noah and Caleb. He jumped right on them!
Our family Easter picture before church Saturday night.
Caleb decided to wear his basket to the Easter egg hunt.
The Saturday before Easter we took the kids to Canton to feed the fish and ducks. One of our favorite family activities.
Anne and Meg enjoying a beautiful spring day.
Meg riding "shotgun" with Caleb in the Jeep.
Alina loves her Cozy Coupe. Unfortunately, so does Meg. There have been some battles.
Playing bubbles outside with mommy and Caleb.
Alina's first family wrestling match against daddy. The kids won.
Micki's welcome home cookie. It was very good.
Anne meeting Alina at O'Hare Airport.
Anne and I hadn't seen each other for two weeks. Glad to be home.
Alina's reaction to eating her first Dunkin Donuts "munchkin."
Look at the concentration on her face as she tastes a muchkin for the first time
Alina's first chicken nugget. She's sitting on Stephanie's lab (Meg's physical therapist).
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