November Update

It's been a busy month with the Knight's Adventures! Oh my! And I'm sure it will become even more hectic as Christmas nears!

November started off rather calmly with just a few things to do, here and there. Busy with work for both Josh and I and the girls had school on a regular basis. We took the girls to Jumpin' Jax to break the motonany of that cycle and that always proves to be a fun trip! If you don't know what Jumpin' Jax is and you have kids...you've got to get in the loop! It's a huge arena of inflatables where the kids can jump, slide, bounce, do mazes, and spend energy like there's no tomorrow! And guess what, parents are encouraged to do these activites with their kiddos! (UGH!) But Leah and Logan both love the place and it's a great time for us all!

We then took a trip to Indy to see my college roommate and to attend her sister's baby shower! It was great to see everyone and we stayed at a great hotel with a huge HEATED pool! Once again, a hit for the girls! Leah was so in love with swimming that she cried buckets when she had to get out and say 'adios' to the pool! :(

We then returned home to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family! It was a great day! Full of fun, family and for Kristin...my first ever Tofurkey! Yes, you can all eww, ick or spew...whatever...I actually had food to eat on Thanksgiving and it was awesome! So there...let it be known carnivores...vegetarians can enjoy Thanksgiving too!!! :) We also celebrated Kenny's (our nephew) 5th birthday with a Batman themed birthday! Happy Birthday, Batman!!!!

And yesterday we prepared the house for Santa! 7 hours of decorating the house for Christmas with toddlers under foot and 'helping'! Uh-huh! Nevertheless, the Knight home is fully prepped for Santa! And boy-oh-boy, do we have two anxious little girls with high-hopes and dreams for Santa to come soon!

We're looking forward to an exciting December! Check in often...I'm in a blogging mood!

Back to School...A Lesson

Class...I'm going to teach you all some very important words today.


-Equality

-Fairness

-Status Quo

-Ignorance

-Disrespect

-Restrictive

-Independence

-Follower

-Advocacy


Good, can you all say these important words with me now? ***repeat*** Excellent! Let's review what they all mean:


Equality - The idea of equal treatment

Fairness - The absence of bias

Status Quo - The existing state of affairs

Ignorance - Lacking knowledge

Disrespect - Lack of acknowledgement of value

Restrictive - Enforcement of segregation

Independence - Not requiring outside aid or support

Follower - Person who completes actions suggested by the leader(s)

Advocacy - Pursuit of influencing outcomes that directly affect people's lives


Excellent job of listing the vocabulary of today's lesson. Now, let's talk about today's lesson. It's a challenge for all of you to see if you can pick out all of today's vocabulary words!!!


Today's lesson is all about equality and fairness for all individuals, particularly those that cannot voice for themselves what they need. Today's lesson is about asking the individuals who work with the above mentioned individuals to challenge the status quo...one that needs to be challenged as it is a necessity in the state of the world today (and is in the mission/vision statement). Today's lesson is to not accept ignorance on the part of the individuals who administer programs for individuals who cannot voice for themselves and to not accept ignorance from any of the individuals who provide services to individuals who cannot voice for themselves. Today's lesson is about using scientifically based instructional and inclusionary practices (and the practices that have been proven *proof of growth* profoundly effective for the individual whom I am writing this) for those with specific needs. Today's lesson is to teach that it is ignorant and disrespectful to not look at all aspects of a situation in relation to the needs of an individual who cannot voice for themselves. Today's lesson is to teach that restriction is a form of ignorance and disrespect as well as being illegal. And finally, today's lesson is about being a follower. Being a follower means that you have been taught to listen and respect authority. Nicely done. But, being a follower in a situation regarding the needs of an individual without a voice is doing nothing beneficial for that individual. In fact it's detrimental. 'Following' is paving the way for complacency, perpetual ignorance, and guilt. One thing that will remedy 'following' is advocacy for the individual with needs. Advocate for needs! Advocate for independence! Advocate for respect! Advocate for FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY!


This ends our lesson today! If you didn't understand our lesson, look at the picture below and know that I am an advocate for this little girl and her educational needs. But also know that there are others in her life that refuse to advocate for fairness and equality for her needs!

The Knight Family Is Famous...Somewhat

Somewhat famous...

Last Sunday, we took the girls and Mema to the MSU Global Fest...celebrating diversity and culture! And what do you know, we were interviewed for a college internet news story! That's right...we're famous!

Check us out!!! You can send cash or check...no credit PLEASE! :)

http://palestra.net/schools/1379
(if not playing, click on MSU Global Fest and press play arrow)

On Another Note...

It's been a long time again. You can't imagine the whirlwind of events in our lives. Coming, going, playing, playing, playing!!! Sorry for the lack of updates!

The Knight's are doing fine! The girls are growing tall and loving life! Logan is quickly becoming quite the 'class clown' and Leah is becoming quite the verbal little girl! (Thanks to all of the intensive therapy from Miss Kate!!!)

I'm blogging a short little snippet today as there's something that's been bothering me for some time and it came to heads today! As you all know...there is a politically correct way to state everything...from the way you address strangers, to the way you order your food! But also the way you address my daughter! I can't tell you how many people address Leah as "the Autistic Child" or the "Autistic Girl". Sorry folks, this is Leah, she's a child with Autism. You see it's "people first" language. It makes a big difference in a mother's eyes. Autism doesn't define Leah...Leah defines Leah...Autism is just part of her life.

Flitter, Flutter, Butterfly

We had two of the most beautiful butterflies in all of the land...naturally! Halloween 2008 was a success from beginning to end!!!

It all started for the Knight Family with the Pontius Family Oktoberfest last weekend! It was a big family dinner followed by a pre-Trick-or-Treating event! The girls and their cousins got dressed and went from family member to family member indoors to get a treat, card or something special...all while fluttering as butterflies!!!! That was a great day as we got to be with four generations of family!!!!

Halloween continued for the Knight family at Prime Time Preschool with a Halloween Party! What an event! The butterflies flitted into school with wings a-flapping and antennas a-bouncing! They all sang mommies and daddies songs, made us "witch's brew" and showed us all around their school and introduced us to many of their new friends! They were all so proud!!!! Leah and Logan showed us all of the hand motions of each of the songs and sang along with each of the spooky-ookey melodies!!!

Finally Halloween wrapped up as the butterflies dressed for a third and final evening out on October 31st!!!! What beautiful weather we had for our first ever door-to-door trick-or-treating experiences! We had Mema, Papa, Great Grandma and Grandpa over to pass out treats at our door while some of our best friends from the Mason area came over with their boys for the festivities and the candy haul!!! We were thrilled with the girls' response to going door-to-door...especially Leah! Shy...timid...scared...HRUMPH!!!! Not our girls! When the mighty Tootsie Pop or M & M lies at the end of that driveway or near that porch light...watch out! There's no stopping Leah or Logan! MOVE OUT!

Nevertheless, you can tell that Halloween 2008 was not only a success in our eyes and hearts but also in Leah and Logan's! So for Halloween 2008, that's all. In Leah's words, "Bye Bye Pumpkin, See You Later!"