Halloween!!

Here are a few pictures of our pumpkins and the ghoulish costumes :) Happy Halloween!

We need someone to help us figure out the right setting for our camera when in the dark!! UGH LOL

Eek!

The Windy City

We just got back from a very busy, totally fun, mini vacation in Chicago! The children and I really loved this city! The buildings were awesome, the people were so fantastic and we didn't lack for a bit of activity! Such a great place :)

We started off with an 8 hour car ride, not fun! LOL But the kiddos slept "most" of the way.

Here is the trip:

Ready to get going!

View from our room

Room service the first morning there! We were a little tired LOL

Entering Navy Pier...a really fantastic family spot!

On the pier

Huge Ferris Wheel

Children's Museum! I think their favourite place to go the entire trip!

He really enjoyed the building area!! Crossbow :)

LOL

The Field Museum...HUGE building I got just the middle section, it has big sections on either side of it.

Inside

We did a ton in here, but most talked about was Sue the T-rex

Outside the Shedd Aquarium, we did this after the Field Museum as it was just next store

The elevator to go to the admissions area, the biggest goldest elevator ever!

Completely toasted after a HUGE day!

Some buildings...they had some lovely ones there!

Last stop of the trip...Lincoln Park Zoo...awesome spot and totally FREE!!

I see a slight resemblance LOL

They picked out little Lemurs at the end of the day as a keepsake!

Chicago Bound!

My husband is participating in a seminar in Chicago. We are going to go with him to take in some of the sites there :)

We're all pretty excited, a change of scenery will be fun!

So I'll be blogging about it when we get back...stay tuned LOL

Fixing the Xbox with Dad...

Our Xbox got the Red Ring of Death not too long ago so this is dad and his little helper getting things back in order. I am happy to report it is working wonderfully again! The Internet is a fantastical place LOL

Turkey Day!

A great Thanksgiving Dinner with family!

Autumn Hike

As a kid we called these snap dragons, not sure if that's their name, the children had a great time popping these open :)

Trying to block the water, they spend a bunch of time here when we come

Climbing of course

She must do everything her big brother does :)

Leaf rubbing

The thing about Tourette Syndrome...

is that most people don't realize how challenging it can be...

We've had a long period of being somewhat tic free but now find ourselves in the midst of another round. Whether it was just 'time' or he's feeling some kind of stress (most likely), it's hard to say but it's difficult for Mr. Monkey.

The tics, depending on their nature, impact the ability to get to sleep, they are relentless. Many times the repetitive nature of the tic hurts the part of the body it focuses on and exhausts the child due to its constant appearance. The tic he has now impacts his stomach and breathing as the diaphragm is pushed in and out with the motion of the tic.

His frustrations are high when he is quiet with himself as that is when he notices them the most. Most people miss them, when he's busy they disappear for a time, always to return.

I won't say I feel sad for him as there's nothing to be sad about. I would say I feel helpless... Not being able to calm the tics when he needs sleep or settle them down when he's feeling the normal stresses we all face from time to time.

We talk to him a lot about where he places his focus and the futility of negative feelings about it. I hope that for all our talk he still loves himself at the end of the day, tics and all.

Party Time & Hockey Season Starts!

We've had one crazy weekend and are taking today off to recover! It was filled with birthday parties and hockey for mostly all! I'm now the only person in our house who doesn't play hockey LOL So below are pictures of our crazy weekend, enjoy!

Our little Spark :) I threw this in as it was cute, she started Sparks this year!

Yeah for candy!!

Princess Cake....yummy!

The Bounce House!

My Boy in his new uniform for the year! Dad is coaching Mr. Monkey again this year and they won their first game! They all played so well together :)

Our newest hockey member :) She's a part of the all girls hockey team for our city!

Daddy gets all the fun, he's here with Little Miss practising getting up from a fall :)

Worn out and ready to take her gear off :) She really got going well near the end and seemed quite pleased to be doing hockey like the boys in her family.