We left a bowl of candy on our doorstep and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the evening.
Trick or Treating to Grandpa!
Baby Buzz stayed behind and we took Woody and Jessie out trick or treating. We stopped at the same houses that Daddy trick or treated to as a kid.
They picked up the skill quickly and had so much fun. Claire said that trick or treating was her favorite part of Halloween. She was incredibly polite at each door.
Sean unwrapped a purple sucker and worked on it the whole evening. He also got tired around the third house(of eight) and Mark had to carry him.
Pictures at the Hamblins
My brother and his wife throw a Halloween costume party every year in Eagle Mountain. We have been talking about going to the party ever since we moved to Lehi. We left the kids with a great baby sitter to put them to bed that night and went out and partied Luke style. We picked these characters because we spent the summer watching all the Harry Potter movies building up to seeing the final film in the movie theatre. Mark's wig and glasses changed everything about his usual look. Baby Luke would not go near him.
Claire has been talking about being Jessie for a whole year. She played the part well and was thrilled to get to wear her costume several times. One day we let the kids dress up and sat and watched Toy Story 2 together as a family. Sean loved being woody. He even wore his costume to church one Sunday!(He took it off within ten minutes of arriving and I tucked it away). The baby buzz costume was perfect. Luke wore it well and Sean walked up to him and pushed the (buttons) on his buzz' costume. It was a pretty great Halloween for the Hamblins.
Our sweet Sean went to his first day of preschool today. He is enrolled in the Bridges program-Kids on the Move's new autistic preschool program. Sean will attend school two days a week for two hours at a time. There are 8 students in his class. 6 of the students are from all areas of the autism spectrum. Two of the students are typical children that help model typical behaviors for the other kids. My favorite part is that there are 4 teachers. Sean will be receiving lots of one on one time. Sean is diagnosed with mild autism. This means that although he has significant struggles he also has some really good behaviors and abilities that will help him through his hard times. Sean's teachers will be working with him on his specific areas of concern. They will be focusing on speech, receptive communication(how he processes what he hears), eye contact and social interactions. This is not a two hour play group! Sean will be required to work really hard and to learn lots to help prepare him for kindergarten.
Claire is Sean's greatest cheerleader! She is so excited that Sean is going to preschool just like she is. These two kids are best friends. Claire is forever patient with Sean's challenges. Sean follows her around and imitates her which makes Claire his greatest teacher.
I am excited for Sean. Bridges is the program that I wanted him in and I was thrilled that they had an opening. I recognize that Sean needs more help that what I can give him at home and am anxious to see his progress. Sean's class begins at 9:00am in Orem which means that my three kids and I are in for some crazy days(we will be staying in the area while he is in class-let me know if and when we can come play!). Mark and I are hanging in there. Sending my not quite 3 year autistic son off to preschool with extra diapers and wipes in his little Lightening McQueen back pack is not exactly what I had anticipated for myself or my son. I wish I understood why Sean was sent with extra challenges. I am so grateful for the resources that we have available to us and that we can be apart of a great program.
