Saturday, October 26, 2013

A GREAT Friday!

This week Hailey only went to school twice. We had a day off for parent teacher conferences, a day off for teacher in service and a day off for Nevada day! We still had therapies and a full schedule adding in a night of Trunk or Treating on Thursday!! So here is a look into what our Friday was like:

Hoping Hailey would sleep in on our day off I was thinking when I woke up it had to be about 8 am, but I looked at the clock and it was 5:45am. She doesn't even wake up that early for school! Why do kids do that? Josh went off to go to the gym and Hailey and I got ready for our busy day.

First up on our schedule was Physical Therapy. This was our 3 time this week at PT and Hailey was a bit of a cranky pants when we went last. So cranky, she didn't want to listen to her therapist and lost privileges to get to ride the big pink bike. We talked about listening and if she was good she'd get to ride the bike today. Hailey said she would listen. I was skeptical but very please to see she DID listen and earned riding the Pink Bike!



After PT we had another appointment. We headed over to the ValPak offices and we were presented with our check for $10,000 from the Reasons to Save contest we won!!! Hailey and I also got some pretty flowers and we had our pictures taken. I'm sure I'll post again when those photos go live! I've always wanted to get a GIANT check with my name on it and I DID! We had a lot of fun meeting the people behind the contest and sharing Hailey's story with them! Thank you again to everyone who voted and helped us win this!



LOVE Flowers!!


Then Hailey's grandma who works at the Mars Chocolate Factory here, invited us to attend their family Boo Bash Party. Let me tell you, there is no Halloween Party better then one thrown at a Chocolate Factory!! Chocolate. Every. Where.


There were also games where the prizes were full size M&M's, Starbursts, Skittles, Snickers, or 3 Musketeers bars! There was face painting, a hunted house, pumpkin walk, arts and crafts, and then everyone leaves with a Halloween bag STUFFED with MORE Mars Chocolate!! The bag was so heavy it made Hailey lean to the right so Josh had to help so she didn't timber over. LOL!



There was a booth for cotton candy, popcorn, bounce houses (Which we had to hide from Hailey so good thing they were in the back). There was a haunted house, and guess how many M&M's in a jar game. The answer was 1296. I guessed 1224...So close!

Take the picture below and times it by 10!! So much candy! A chocolate lovers paradise!

So that was our Friday. Hailey getting to ride the pink bike in PT, getting a GIANT check, then a Party at a Chocolate factory! It was a Great Friday! 

Friday, October 18, 2013

ValPak Blog Post

Part of the 10,000 reasons to save contest required the winner to write a blog entry that would post on the social media channels for ValPak. I turned in my entry and it went live! If you would like to read it (it's different then my original essay entry) you can do that here: 

http://www.valpak.com/blog/10000-ways-make-memories/

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Spirit Therapies Event- Therapy on Horseback.

This past Saturday we attended a fundraiser for Sprit Therapies. I loved being able to get Hailey all gussied up for the event. She even allowed me to curl her hair! <3 
After I dressed her for the event in her plaid cowgirl shirt she posed for some pictures! 



I'm not crafty enough to make cute hair bows, I leave that to the professionals, but I needed just the right hair accessory for the night so I ventured out of my comfort zone and put this together for the night! I loved it! 


Once at the event Hailey mingled. I think that was her favorite part. Either that or the dancing. She can go up and talk to anyone. I had to learn to talk to people. Hailey was born with this ability. She loves meeting new friends. She used her walker the whole night until it was time to go home. It was passed her bedtime and she was tired! 

Hailey was all about the smiles that night. We got so many great pictures that night. The one below is my absolute favorite!



I was even able to get a picture taken with my favorite little girl. That NEVER gets to happen. I'm always behind the cameras. Sometimes I think people forget that I exist.

There was a great fancy dinner, raffles, silent and live auctions all to benefit Spirit Therapies!
We love being apart of the Spirit Family. When we first started going to Spirit for Hailey, things were very different. Josh had to push Hailey to the ramp because she was not able to walk to or up the ramp. She used to hunch over and she needed support holding her torso up. She used to cry and scream. The weeks went on and slowly things changed. Hailey soon held herself up nice and tall. She was able to hold on with one hand and extend her other arm out. Pretty soon Hailey could ride with both her hands up. Just recently Hailey has been able to walk up the ramp to her horse Pablo with Josh or Ms. Laurie. Hailey was just given the reigns and uses commands like, "Go!" and "Whoa Pablo." She practices her colors, reaching for flags, and laughs and smiles the whole time. We're so glad Hailey gets this great opportunity to participate at Spirit Therapies. Thank you Ms. Laurie for all you do along with the volunteers and people who donate. Without the donations this couldn't be possible.

 If you would like to make a donation you can learn how far your donation can go. It's very easy to also use PayPal to donate! Check this out:

For $50.00 : Saddle Pads & Blankets, Reigns, Muck and Water Buckets, grooming supplies, 1 lesson.
For $100.00 : Fly Masks, Hay wagon, Feed Tub with Grid, 2 lessons
For $250.00 : Sponsor a Horse, Grain for 1 month, bridles, 6 weeks of lessons
For $500.00 : Ferrier Services, Saddle, 12 Weeks of Lessons

You can Sponsor a Horse like Pablo HERE or HERE.
You can Sponsor a Rider like Hailey HERE.
You can be a Hay Angel starting as low as JUST $10 for the Horses HERE.

If you have any questions you can contact Sprit Therapies HERE.  Consider donating to a great place with great people and great horses! You can also LIKE Spirit on Facebook HERE. Tell them Hailey sent you!