Welcome holidays!!!!!.....

YEAH! The holiday season is finally upon us. The royals wasted NO time getting ready for the season, so the kingdom is lit to perfection inside and out, the halls are properly decked for company, and we've even added a new member to the royal family--Blue Fred (photos to come soon)   :)

 Each year, we purchase a special family ornament. The bears ornament is this year's addition to our annual collection--so chosen by the kidlets. :) Cute, hunh?

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...."

And the children specifically requested a BLUE tree. We have 5 trees in our home--a big one in the living room, another big one in the children's basement playroom, one each in their bedrooms and one in the foyer. That is a lot to decorate--and needless to say--this year's color of blue made it to 3 out of the 5 total trees. Wendy and Tony put their foot down and decorated the other two in reds, golds and green, since blue doesn't really show up as well on a very green tree. :( But, we succumb to the whims of our little ones as the holidays really ARE all for them. :)

 The kids decorating the living room tree with King Tony....

 Princess Abs really enjoyed doing her part this year....

 Everyone got in on the fun--as we had lots of trees to decorate--and it all needed to be done before the end of the Thanksgiving holiday! :)

 Alec took a break and had a snack, and interestingly, was wearing one of the newest creations from Auntie Wendy (www.chicboutiquecreations.com) who designed yet another fabulous holiday shirt for the kids to wear/show off. If you want something super creative that kids LOVE (personalized too), visit Chic Boutique. They are having a holiday sale now too!! Great Christmas gifts!!

 The kids and Tony head out to cut down our main Christmas tree. Tony asked, "Is this one big enough." Wendy said, 'um NO...it has to be TWICE your size. What are cathedral ceilings for anyway if not a gigantic Christmas tree?" :)  She got her wish....of course. :)

And, after a busy weekend of tree hunting, decorating, and Black Friday shopping, everyone was nestled snug in their beds....Let's see how long they stay that way! :)

All Hallows Even and more!

Halloween is a favorite holiday in our family. Sure, it takes a second seat behind Christmas, but Halloween comes at a time of year when we can all comfortably be outside, and do a ton of activities including Fall festivals, harvest events and farm visits.

We've been fortunate enough to become close friends with some absolutely amazing families in the area, and one in particular, the Lembos, host an awesome Pumpkin Carving Party each year. They fill their back yard with hay bales and super-scary cuisine, and the kids enjoy each other's company as they pull apart pumpkins and compete for a prize. It is one of the most enjoyable events we've ever attended, and we think our kids agree! Everyone got into the spirit of Halloween this year--carving pumpkins, playing dress up (in fact, our kids are still playing dress up with costumes and painting their faces daily), and just having a great time.

Sadly, Mother Nature 'stole' our Halloween this year. Well, she robbed us of it temporarily as the town moved it to the following weekend so that no one was disappointed. Our town suffered an early winter onslaught causing power loss for nearly a week to all residents, and tearing up the topography pretty severely. In the end however, the kids had their parties, their Halloween, and lots of fun with friends and family! :)

Alec makes candy apples with his BFF Bobby (and help from Miss Elin!)

YUMMY! Wait, where's Alec? Oh...he's behind the Super Why! face! :)

The royals on Halloween (our Halloween anyway)...Optimus Prime, Alabama Fan and 2 Firefighters. Speaking of firefighters, its probably a good idea to go VISIT the local fire station, right? Off we went....!

The North Andover Fire Department was SO gracious. They enjoyed chatting with the kids, gave them candy and even let them sit on the fire engine. Very cool!

Optimus got on, Abby was a little nervous, and our other firefighter, just bowed out. :)

No holiday is ever complete without visiting our FABULOUS neighbors and adopted grandparents, the Jacobsons. Dougie and Cami always put together super bags of goodies for the kids and love to have fun with them! We're so fortunate to have them in ours and the children's lives. They are unbelievable people...and SO photogenic!

The entire royal family dressed up this year for trick or treating and outdoor fun. The Cat in the Hat made an appearance too!

Look at this little man...he's definitely up for making the fireman's calendar. He's GORGEOUS!

CUTE!

By the end of the night, the kids had had so much fun and had spent all their energy. This is a photo captured by King Tony in the early evening hours after the children retired to their beds post-candy-infusion, of course.

AWWWWW...a memory/moment to treasure for a lifetime!

Twins...gotta love 'em!

Holy Cannolli....!!

Oh, Fall....how much we do love you so!

Pumpkin carving parties, apple picking, hay rides, hot apple cider, cinnamon donuts, jumping in leaves and sweaters! It's the most perfect time of year in New England...except...when unexpected HEAVY/WET snow comes our way.

Yes, what you see was the view from our front door a few short weeks ago, when snow appeared, mounded and destroyed the Northeast--even though just a measely 2-3 inches of the stuff actually fell! :(

The result?

Oh, nothing too major--just a power outage that lasted 5 days for us and 2 weeks for others in Connecticut. And, did we mention the sheer number of trees downed by this brief, small storm? We lost in the neighborhood of 15, and cleanup took two full weekends.

Pretty sad, actually.

However, thanks to good friends, the Schmiedels, (Paul 'THOR' and Jean 'Branchmaster Thigh' and Abby's BFF and Alec's new gal pal, Colleen), we cleaned up our yard, felled some majorly large tress and Tony 'Chainsaw' Agudelo made his serious debut! :)

As the men toiled, the kids enjoyed jumping in leaves and general kid lunacy....just the way we like it!

And after a hard day of working outside, we all settled in with our PJs, blankets and a good book, Charlotte's Web.

Pretty much turning a negative situation, into a positive one.

In the end, that's the Agudelo Family mantra! :)

October...a mad media month

In support of our children with special needs, those within the Kingdom often invest in philanthropy and causes--not only to honor our special royals--but to teach important lessons including empathy, support, awareness and inclusion.

One of the 'rules' in the Kingdom is "Labels do NOT define ability' and each day, we teach and learn from one another how this is a very true vision for our children. This month, we had the honor of building community awareness using media venues. Linked below are articles in which our children appear and incorporate powerful messages about inclusion and life successes.

A job well done by the Kingdom's 'trifecta,' right? :)

Bay State Parent - October 2011

http://http://www.baystateparent.com/features/stories/Travel-Dreams--for--Autistic-Children-Realized-130778768.html

Editor's Blog

http://www.baystateparent.com/blogs/editors-blog/Wings-for-Autism-Giving-Special-Needs-Children-a-Practice-Run-at-Air-Travel---130828518.html?blog=y

North Andover Citizen 10.14.2011

and..

Patch.com

http://northandover.patch.com/articles/walking-onward-abbys-unstopable-story

October Follies.....

Welcome to Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

In perfect Abby-form, Miss Abs (although under the weather), rallied and led Team Abby's Cadabbies at her 6th Annual MDSC Buddy Walk this past weekend. Abs earned an MDSC Buddy Walk All Star ranking for raising more than $500 (she earned well over that amount) for the MDSC, and her 25+ member team filled with wonderful family members and neighbors were incredibly supportive on her special day. Uncle Ed even carried our little Abby Pie for a mile or so so that she could ultimately finish the 3-mile walk on her feet--holding Daddy's hand.

So precious. :)

Abby on the Wall of Fame -- second year in a row! :)

Uncle Ed B. carries a sleeping Abby--who made it the first mile and a half--and due to her sickness, pretty much collapsed. :( Thank you Uncle Ed for doing some really heavy lifting while your wife pulled the wagon containing yet another team member or two. :) Queen Wendy showed her fitness ability by shoulder-carrying Alec! :) Those 5 a.m. workouts are paying off!! :)

Crossing the finish line.... YEAH!!! :)

Since the entire month of October is recognized as Down Syndrome Awareness Month, we encourage all who read to make a donation to the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress (www.mdsc.org). It is a FANTASTIC organization (of which the kingdom's royals are all members), but more importantly, it supports thousands of families not only in Massachusetts, but around the world through its relationship with Children's Hospital Boston.

THANK YOU!!

After a very busy weekend, the royal kidlets weren't feeling so hot. Both Princess Abs and Prince Aramis had fallen victim to a cycling Fall cold, so we kept the royals home for most of the week so they could recuperate and regain their strength.

With all the rain we've had, we found ourselves busy in the kitchen--again experimenting with Halloween cookies. The kids are now officially hooked on baking--a good sign and pleasant surprise for Queen Wendy--who LOVES to be in the kitchen!

Abs cuts out some ghosts...

Aramis grabs a pumpkin, but as you can tell, he's a little overzealous with the flour! :)

"What'd you say, Aramis? you want to push my face into the flour?? That is sooooo mean!" :)

Our little Alec is so pooped and likely catching whatever his brother and sister have, so he passed out cold on the couch, snuggling with his train and bear--hopefully dreaming about something lovely, warm and happy.

It is Buddy Walk season and National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (officially).

It is a wonderful month in the Kingdom and we're looking forward to 'representing' at this year's MDSC Buddy Walk. Team Abby's Cadabbies will have more than 30 team members and will raise more money than we have in previous years! It should be a great event!

Oh, and Princess Abby again makes news headlines. She seems to be a natural....

http://northandover.patch.com/articles/walking-onward-abbys-unstopable-story