What a weekend

Yesterday was the first annual Sioux Falls Walk for Autism sponsored by the organization Autism Speaks. I decided to put a team together and walk on behalf of Matthew and Carolyn. The event was held at the Sioux Falls Stadium which is where the baseball team usually plays but it actually turned out to be a pretty great place to do a walk. There were bouncy houses set up outside for the kids to use--my three loved that and on the other side in the more protected area usually reserved for the concessions there were lots of informational booths set up. Walking was more secondary since participants were not required to actually walk and even those showing up did not have to do any physical activity if they did not want to. We walked around the infield for about 20 min or so and then went to let the kids play on the bouncy houses and go through the booths and get the free stuff. I was also excited since the brochures from Children's Care Hospital and School were done and ready to be handed out. As part of being in the pilot program for the In-home Behavioral Therapy (IBT) program Matthew was photographed this summer with one of the therapists working on various activities. He was also videotaped and that is used in staff training sessions. CCHS also asked me to write a brief summery of my experience with the program and they included it in this brochure. I will admit that some of what I wrote was "embellished" a bit but overall it was pretty truthful. I got several and plan on giving them to family members. The information booths that were there were pretty diverse and I was surprised at how many food distribution booths there were. It is common knowledge that many parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and those with other special needs children follow special diets or use nutritional supplements but it was still interesting to see different products. I will say that the organic sugar-free coffee flavored chocolate sample was a bit different and I doubt that I would eat it on a regular basis but the pumpkin cake that was gluten free and casein free was really terrific. After spending the morning walking we went and did food and haircuts. Matthew and Carolyn got a trim along with the loving husband so they all look very nice. Note to self...schedule fall pictures soon. Later that evening Jim and I went out for supper. We met up with the adult members of our team who also happen to be in Tae Kwan Do with us. Actually two of the members are our instructors. It was a fun evening. We ate at Olive Garden. I haven't eaten there for years. The food was great but compared to the dinner I had the Saturday before it was not even close. Today I went shopping for winter gear for the kids. I noticed last night in Wal-Mart that snow pants were out. I prefer the Target brand and was not about to drive all the way back to the south end of Sioux Falls at 9 pm so I waited until today. Hubby was not quite sure why I had to buy snow clothes but I patiently explained to him the first rule of seasonal wear---buy as early as possible. If you wait until the snow flies then everything will be picked over and the needed size will be sold out. We stopped by and I got the snow pants for Matt. Carolyn will wear the ones Matt outgrew and I bought Andrew a pair at a rummage sale this summer. I did not like the boot selection there plus Carolyn and Matthew were not being very well behaved so I left with the one needed item. Jim took the older two to see Wall-E at the discount theater so Andrew and I went off to Wal-Mart for boots but of course I got there a few days too late as most of the selection was sold out and I could only find Andrew's size. Yes, I probably should have looked the night before but Jim and I were stopping by to get snacks for Matthew to take to school and did not want to spend half the night shopping. I went to Shop-Ko next and found boots in the right size and since they have a Payless Shoes there I got one of the pairs at half price. It is getting more expensive to find shoes and boots as the kids get older. I'm starting to save now for teenage clothes. Tonight the loving husband is driving back out to Brookings for his Judo class. He will be missing the next few classes this month due to him being out of town next weekend and my parents coming out for a visit the following weekend.