Decorating for Halloween

Monday, October 6th:

Today is our last day of "summer!" Tomorrow the temperatures are going way down and I'm going to get out the Halloween decorations.

Unfortunately, I had a migraine, so Josh helped Theo and nurse Stephanie get ready for school before he headed off to work.

At school they had a fire drill and Theo played in the ball pit. He loves to throw the small balls at everyone!

Alyx was able to get the big cabinet from the garage installed in the kitchen. It's all coming together!

We are going to have so much storage!

After school, Theo had PT and OT with Ms. Becca and Ms. Laura. 

Tuesday, October 7th:

It was a nice crispy morning, so after Theo left for school I added the Halloween decor to the Fall stuff.

[Fall decor]

[Fall decor]

[Fall decor]

[Fall decor - don't you just love him?!]

[Fall decor]

I don't like scary stuff, so Halloween around here is cute! Think Harry Potter and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

[Halloween decor - aren't they so cute?!]

[Halloween decor]

[Halloween decor - Little girl ghost! Look at her bow and eyelashes!]

[Halloween decor]

[Halloween decor]

Theo had another great day at school. They learned about the scientific method and Theo said he wanted to be a Marine Biologist! 

After school we took Theo to see Sherman at The Legacy Ranch in the rental van. Theo was a little tired during his ride, but he pushed through.

Wednesday, October 8th:

Josh and I went to return the rental van since insurance will only cover $30/day and our van will be ready tomorrow. 

[Mums continue to be fluffy!]

At school they made pumpkin fluff. Theo seemed interested in it, so I decided to buy some dairy free cool whip and canned pumpkin. We'll see if he likes it!

[Playing with pumpkins, baking soda, and vinegar]

Changing Spaces Campaign was able to set up a meeting with the Senior Vice President of Business Development for SOVA (The public washroom division of Foundations) today. We voiced our concern that they were really pushing this wall mounted child sized changing table instead of a powered, height adjustable, adult size changing table.

VS.

The meeting went well and they said they would change and push the Ascent Universal Changing Table that they make. YAY!

After school Theo had feeding therapy with Ms. Jen. 

That night I beat Kingdom Hearts I! Such a fun game!

Thursday, October 9th:

After Theo and nurse Stephanie headed off to school on the bus, Josh and I went to Shorewood to pick up the van. She looks good as new!

I was selected for a random DOT drug screen so I went to do that and then I went to get my allergy shots. The harvest is almost over, so I should be able to spread out my shots soon.

At school Theo played connect four! They said he did great with his buttons and he won!

Friday, October 10th:

I was craving fudge, so I went to Dollinger's Farm to find some. They had a ton of delicious options and I had to restrain myself and only get three!

[Yes, I'm obsessed with my flowers!]

At school Theo had a dance party, played on the mat, and went for a walk with Ms. Vicki!

[So strong!]

Weekend:

Josh decided that it was time to take up golfing. He bought some old clubs from a local guy and he's going to take lessons. 

In sports news: BYU remains undefeated (6-0), The Dodgers and Brewers are going to the National League Championship (sorry Cubs), and the Chargers and Packers both won on Sunday.

We are a house divided! Go Dodgers!

Rental Van and Kitchen Progress

Monday, September 29th:

We didn't have a very exciting week, so I hardly took any pictures. 

Theo has been doing great at school! He gets so excited when I tell him that Nurse Stephanie is coming over or that he gets to go on the bus with Ms. Donna! 

After school Ms. Becca and Ms. Laura came over for PT and OT. Even though he'll fight them sometimes, he still loves them both!

That evening I listened to a work shop from Mo News about freedom of speech. It was great! If you want a great new source I highly recommend Mo News on Instagram! Or if you want a great recap of the day before, Mo and Jill put out a morning podcast every week day. 

Tuesday, September 30th:

Theo had another great day at school and Josh and I are working on wrapping up a long project. I'm bummed my office manager job will be over soon, but hopefully I can pick it back up in the spring. Josh is moving on to a smaller job, so he won't be needing an office manager anymore.

After school I took Theo to The Legacy Ranch for his lesson with Sherman and Ms. Kaylin. It was such a nice day that they had lessons outside. It's been a warm Fall, but I can't complain since the humidity has been so low.

Wednesday, October 1st:

After sending Theo off to school, Josh and I took the van to the repair shop. They said it could take two weeks to repair! Ugh! Did you know it cost $185 a day to rent a wheelchair accessible van?! And our insurance will only reimburse us for $30 a day. Luckily, I don't have anywhere to be this week, so we'll hold off on renting something for a few days.

Alyx stopped by to take out the cabinets. She is going to work on building the new cabinets and she should be ready to install them next week!

[All our appliances hanging out in the guest room]

I saw a wasp while I was waiting for Theo's bus. I don't like that they are snooping around.

Thursday, October 2nd:

Theo had another great day at school. We did hear that a couple sicknesses are going around, so hopefully Theo will stay healthy and the flu shot and COVID shot will protect him.

[Theo's an artist!]

Friday, October 3rd:

Nurse Stephanie said that Theo had another great day at school. He's been in his stander for 30 minutes a day and is doing really well being super strong! 

And he worked hard when Ms. Becca came over for PT that afternoon. 

[Apples stamps]

Weekend:

We had a pretty chill weekend. On Saturday, Theo was very tired and a little stuffy. We did extra shake-shake vest and nebulizer treatments which helped a bunch. On Sunday he was fine, so we are guessing he was having allergies with the harvest going on (aren't we all?!).

On Sunday, we picked up a rental van for me. I need a car so I can take Theo to Sherman on Tuesday and run some errands. We will return it on Wednesday. It is not wheelchair accessible, so Theo will have to sit in a car seat and we'll have to take his Convaid Cruiser with us instead of his Zippy (which is WAY too heavy to put in the trunk).

[My sweet boy]

[Probably Hogwarts, but if I got to be a wizard I'd totally go to Middle Earth!]

Fall is Here! Kinda!

Monday, September 22nd:

HAPPY FALL!

Today is officially the first day of Fall, but it doesn't feel like it and it won't for a while.

After Theo and Nurse Stephanie headed off to school, I went to the local college to donate blood. I usually drink a protein shake in the morning, but today I decided to drink one that had some coffee in it. I was SOOOO jittery! I don't drink a lot of caffeine, so when I do it really affects me. I got to the donation place but they wouldn't let me donate because my heart rate was too high! I've never had that happen before! It's fine. I'll try again in a few weeks.

Josh and I were gifted these beautiful (and sharp) Japanese Yaxell knives. They are awesome!

They aren't as cool as the ones I bought Josh when I was in Japan, but they are pretty close!

Alyx from Making Home came over today to do some laser measurements for our kitchen renovation. I'm excited for her to get started!

Tuesday, September 23rd:

For my birthday Josh bought us tickets to see the Super Carlin Brothers in Chicago. They have a YouTube channel that covers Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, but mostly Harry Potter. I actually ran into them at Star Wars Celebration in Japan and I asked them if they were ever going to come to Chicago. They told me that they haven't announced it yet, BUT they had plans to go there in September! 

[Ben, Me, and J]

When I told Josh they were going on tour he bought us tickets. Luckily, Ms. Jess was able to watch Theo (she's been so busy with nursing school). The show was at the City Winery Chicago, so Josh and I started with dinner there and then we headed into the show. 

[Josh had to take an important call from work during dinner]

The show was a lot of fun! First they did a trivia challenge, J vs Ben, and then they did a deep dive into one of the chapters from Order of the Phoenix. The crowed was super excited and it was fun to see my fellow HP nerds 😁

Wednesday, September 24th:

Theo had an early out at school and I spend most of the morning (almost 3 hours) getting new tires put on the van. And then next week we get to take it to a repair shop so they can fix the damage from when the big rig hit us.

That night I went to an Open House at the the Village Hall about a Data Center that is going to be built just north of town. I don't know that much about these data centers besides hearing that they are quite a few of them being built in Illinois due to tax incentives.

There were a few representatives from Equinix, a representative from ComEd, members of the Village Board, and a few others who were there to answer our questions. There was a big turnout so they had to bring in more chairs. The meeting went pretty well. After a short presentation, the residents were allowed to ask questions. Mostly people were concerned about water (they don't use water to cool, they use fans), noise (it will be less than the sound of a car driving by), our electrical bills (they are not going to go up because of the Data Center), environmental impacts (minimal), property taxes and worth, traffic, construction, and AI. There were a few angry people, but most people were respectful. 

Construction starts in November.

Thursday, September 25th:

Since it's Fall I've been going weekly to get my allergy shots. After the harvest is over I should be able to go every three weeks! 

Friday, September 26th:

A guy from Access Elevator came over to give us a quote for another ceiling lift for Theo. We talked about a few different options, he took some measurements, and he should be sending me the quotes next week.

After he left I went to Bronkberry Farms so check out their mums. Oh my goodness! They had so many and they are GORGEOUS!

Even though it's still in the 80s during the day, my petunias decided to go to sleep for the winter. I think it's the 50's at night that they aren't fans of. I sent Josh this photo and asked him to swing by and pick up some fall plants for us.

Look how fluffy they are! I love them!

Weekend:

We went to the Naperville Farmers Market Fall Fest and bought way too much delicious food!

[Best toast I've ever had!]

I made appointments for Josh to get his flu shot and Theo to get his COVID and flu shot (I got my flu shot a couple of weeks ago). When we got to Walgreens, they told us that Josh and I could both get our COVID shots too since the Governor signed an executive order stating that anyone over 18 can get it if they want it. YAY! So, I and I got our COVID shots too! 

Theo was very brave and even though he was upset he wasn't mad for long.

Since Neuromodulation changed the settings on Theo's VNS, he's been having shorter seizures. He's still having about 5-8 a day, but they aren't as intense or as long as before. So that's good news!