Overnight 4th grade trip…{are not so scary after all ~ #Galactosemia}

How are you today?  I am so behind on my posts…lately it seems that they only take place in my head and never make it onto the screen….this one is long overdue.  This is about something I have wondered abut for a very long time.  What will it be like if our girls go on overnight camp trips.  Will the food be "safe" for them?  Will they be singled out, or will they be included?  Will it be an issue?  Well, the answer to my question came earlier this month as Alena went on her first trip to outdoor school.  Her class actually went for two nights, and as chaperones were needed I asked to join.

Let's just say that both of us were very excited; I was probably more nervous than Alena.   I went being all nervous and came back excited. Oh, we had SO much fun…it was simply amazing; Alena's teacher had called ahead to make sure the kitchen knew about her dietary restrictions.  Every meal a person came out to her and explained which foods were not safe.  There was pudding for Alena, soy milk, treats, and they even made special breakfast sausage for her.  I was just blown away as were my worries.  Alena herself - yes, she decided to sit at a different table from mine a couple of times - always asked and other chaperones told me how impressed they were that she always made sure that the food was safe for her.  Yes, I will say it here and now I am so proud of our big girl :)

The camp itself was beyond amazing; the setting was on 550 acres in nature away from the city right at the foot of Mt. Hood.  We slept on bunks in cabins, and enjoyed a large camp fire every night.  During the day there was outdoor school and we hiked through the woods exploring nature around us.  The most amazing thing to me was that the "Solo hike"; it is what it sounds like.  Everyone goes on a hike all by themselves.  The teacher went ahead and put little notes down and signs where to turn; then one kids and/or chaperone followed alone every 5 minutes.  To say that I was nervous about my girl hiking alone is clearly an understatement; yes I was beyond nervous and so was Alena as well as all the other kids.  Take a look there she is before the hike…

…however the Solo hike was the most amazing event.  Each kid got to experience nature by themselves, each kid was challenged and then realized what they can do. It was the single most empowering moment.  Simply amazing…and you know what? It was the favorite event of almost every single kid...

I have learned so much on this trip.  Our children are so strong, they stand up for themselves, and yes they do understand their dietary restrictions.  It makes me so happy…..

First day of 4th & 2nd Grade and Taco's for Dinner

The first day of the 2013/14 school year arrived on Wednesday;  both girls were a little jittery with anticipation.  Alena was actually a little nervous as this year she is in a 4/5 combined class; she woke up around 10 pm the night before and wanted to leave for school.  Alena told me "I just want to get the first day of school over with.  Let's just go now" Here they are just before school started...

I am glad to report that all went well :)  Alena told me "I am coming back tomorrow it was great", Mia Rose told me "I had fun" plus everyone received a popsicle {yay - all Galactosemia safe and dairy free}.  Take a look at Mia Rose devouring her popsicle...

Oh, and yes interviews are still coming - no need to worry ;)

As a special treat - okay I have to admit to make it easy on me as well - our first school night dinner for the 2013/14 school year was...tadahhhh oh yes, I know you know...taco's.  Mia Rose was my assistant cook :)

P.S.:  Today there are no pictures of us eating tacos...I promise there will be more in the future...

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, lemon dressing & school lunch helpers

Time has just been flying by.  I guess that is what happens when you are having too much fun :)  We have been enjoying amazing weather - truly just wonderful hopefully I will not jinx it.  I have been busy at work, while the girls are kept busy at school. Weekly dinner updates have been posted to the Facebook page of The Not So Cheesy Kitchen.

Beautiful weather calls for easy dinners, so last night it was Spaghetti Aglio e Olio and a side of red leaf lettuce mixed with fennel in a lemony dressing.

At the dinner table everyone shared their day, and Alena talked about how she was the lunch helper at school.  The lunch helper works in the school kitchen and passes out food to the other students.  On Wednesday she was in charge of milk, and yesterday she was in charge of pizza.  Alena and Mia Rose are well aware that they cannot have either, but to them it is no big deal at all.  Neither girl is sad that the other kids get to eat pizza at school and I must tell you that I am so proud of them.  And honestly, this is something that as little as four years ago would have scared me beyond belief.  It does sound silly now - but having them handle milk, and cheese pizza without me was unimaginable. That thought process sounds so crazy to me today because what could happen?!  In any case,  we came to find out that both of our girls love, love, love to be lunch helpers and giving out milk is both of their favorite job.

Now on to the dinner...

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

• 1 lb. thin Spaghetti {I like Barilla}
• 1/3 C Olive Oil
• 6 cloves of garlic peeled, and cut into fine slices
• 3 tsp Italian Herbs {I like Herb Hunter}
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes {optional - you can use more or leave it out}
• zest of one untreated lemon {use the lemon for the dressing}
• 3/4 C reserved spaghetti water 
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 C grated Parmesiano Regiano {optional}

1. Cook pasta according to directions - while pasta is cooking
2. heat olive oil in a deep pan and when hot 
3. add garlic, watch garlic carefully you do not want it to burn then 
4. add herbs and - if using - red pepper flakes
5. add the water from the spaghetti and when it is is reduced
6. add lemon zest, salt and pepper
7. add cooked pasta to the pan and toss it with the olive oil/garlic/herb mixture

Serve immediately!

Lemon Dressing

• Juice of one lemon
• 4 Tb of Olive Oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• pinch of sugar
• 3 green onions cut into small rings

1. Mix lemon juice with olive oil,
2. add a pinch of sugar as well as salt and pepper to taste. Mix it well into the dressing then,
3. add green onions

Catered school lunch - What would you do?

This year the entire school in the Pennies for Patients  fund raiser from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for schools.  Each child had a little box to collect change, and over the course of a week each classroom counted their total collected funds.  Alena's class raised the most money and as a result - this was a surprise to all - won a catered lunch from Olive Garden. The entire class was so excited; catered lunch for the entire class for lunch in the classroom.  Yay, right?!  So here was the question the teacher asked me.  Will Alena be able to eat, or will she bring her own lunch as every day? That was the big question....What would you do?  There are two options, right?  One, have her be the only kid in class eating from her regular lunchbox and in ways single her completely out, or two, figure out a way to have Alena join the lunch.  So what do you think I did?

Yes, you are right.  I figured it out - our fantastic teacher was able to give me the contact information at the Olive Garden catering the lunch.  I called and found out that the kids were going to be served pasta with marinara sauce, salad, and breadsticks.  Now, did you know that the marinara sauce of the Olive Garden contains dairy, and that none of their dressings are "safe".  Yes, that is right! I was quite surprised to find out - well, I have not been to an Olive Garden since leaving the Mid West - and expected that they would not be able to accommodate for Alena.  Was I wrong!  The manager swiftly asked if she could eat pasta with olive oil, and whether salad with olive oil together with balsamico would work for her.  Next she asked how to spell her name and promised to have two extra containers just for Alena.  One with her pasta, and the other with her salad.  And you know what, that is exactly what happened.  The kids had lunch catered this last Thursday;  a huge dish of pasta with marinara sauce, a huge dish with salad along with "unsafe" dressings, and two dishes with Alena's name on it one containing pasta with olive oil and the other her salad along with olive oil and balsamico.  Let me just tell you that my child was just so thrilled to also eat the catered lunch.

Tell me, if you have children with dietary issues what would you have done?  I would love to hear from you...

Happy Valentine's Day and a very Happy Mama

Did you have a nice day, or are you still having a wonderful day?   We sure did.  The girls were so excited this morning as Alena said "Finally it is Valentine's Day".  The girlies do get in the spirit of things. We had a card, a foot long pencil {yes, I know absolutely silly}, and a dairy free chocolate bar for each girl.  It set the day off right for the entire family...

At school there was a party in each classroom. So we did, what probably most of you with school aged children did as well...make Valentine's earlier in the week.  For the parties I volunteered to bring the treats - juice boxes, fruit roll-ups, and Skittles.  Each classroom had made mailboxes to hold the Valentine's for each kid.  They each came home with packed full mailboxes and more treats...We looked together at the treats at home and I am so proud of our girls.  Alena sorted out all of the candy that contain milk; she just said "they must not know that I cannot have milk" and passed it off to me {yes, I certainly do NOT need any additional candy}.  Alena then helped Mia Rose sort through her Valentine's...

Oh, and I do need to tell you what one of Mia Rosies'  best friends told her at school "I am so sorry I brought chocolate and forgot that you cannot have it" they hugged and Mia Rosies' response was "that is okay". It was no big deal - they just know that Mia Rose cannot have products containing milk...

Honestly, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that both girls are able to manage school parties with confidence and ease.  They are not singled out, and it makes me so, so very happy.  Thank you for reading!

Mia Rosie and her Valentine's 

Alena and her Valentine's

Pizza Party in Kindergarten

I cannot believe that Mia Rose is almost graduating Kindergarten. Such a bitter-sweet moment..ah, this is the sentimental Mama talking in me. I am so happy for my big baby girl :). Today Rose's class celebrated with a pizza party. The Kindergarten teacher's ordered pizza in. How fun! The teacher announced the plans for the party last week, so we had plenty of time to plan for it. We had the option to bing regular lunch, or participate. How could I expect my child to eat her "standard" lunch while all her friends are eating pizza?! No way!

The original pan was for me to bring the pizza - pepperoni from Pizicato to e exact - at lunch time; at the time I did not realize that I had appointments at that time. So we adjusted our plan, ordered and picked-up the pizza last night. This way, also Alena had lunch for pizza in her lunch box, and Ma Rose proudly brought her pizza box to her teacher. Yay!!! Mia Rose was SO excited!!!

They had a great time with Mia Rose eating her Galactosemia safe, milk free pizza and her friends eating their "regular" cheese pizza. Oh, and just in case you are wondering: no, I am not worried that they would share food, or Mia Rose trying "unsafe" pizza. Mia Rose, her teacher, and friends all know that she cannot have "regular" pizza as it is not safe for her. I am so happy!!!

Happy Valentine's Day...

Did everyone have a nice day? We sure did. The girls were so excited to pass out their Valentine's and could not wait to get home to look at their Valentine's. Here they are looking through them, and Alena reading to Mia Rose.

They got plenty of tattoo's, stickers, but also candy including "unsafe" chocolate. Alena and Mia Rose looked at all of them, and sorted out all food items. Together they determined which foods are safe, and which are not - but brought it to me for final review :))) And you know what? They were 100% right...yay!!! No tears, just matter of fact - we cannot eat it, ok...

A long Saturday...

started out with me baking brownies before taking our weekly trip out to the Sophie Scholl Schule, our fantastic German Saturday School.  It was a double day, which means school from 10 - 3 with a lunch break.  The school director planned the day with a luncheon in mind for all the kids, parents, and teachers.   In planning the event she asked me what our girls could eat and to make things easier, I offered to organize the food for the luncheon.  It certainly made the buffet a breeze for our kids :)

We got cold cuts and also cheese from the German butcher, bread from New Seasons, veggies, and dessert.  I made galactosemia friendly brownies - using Earth Balance instead of butter - while another Mom brought another cake which was not galactosemia friendly.  It was not a problem - I am so proud of both of our girlies.  They always ask - and because it was at the German School asking "ist da Kuhmilch mit drin" it was even better...and here are a few pictures :)

Mia Rose at the Buffett

Eating lunch with friends

Alena enjoying lunch...

Lunches...

I seem to get a little more creative as the year goes on; I have to break the habit of  packing the same foods.  Most likely there are some foods the girls could eat in the school cafeteria. I have however not yet taken up the effort in setting up meetings, to determine which foods are safe.  And quite frankly,  school lunches are not so much to be missed.  So it is up to me - and the girls :)

Our girls have such different taste buds.  Mia Rosie loves sandwiches, and she is also happy to eat a PBJ sandwich once in a while.  Alena on the other hand, will only eat turkey, ham roll-ups. Never on a sandwich and once in a great while rolled on a tortilla.  She needs variety and get quickly bored.  Staples are Z-Bars.  Alena loves anything chocolate - which Mia Rose on the other hand does not like, she likes the new crunchy Peanutbutter ZBars. Fruit roll-ups, crackers, tortilla chips, pretzels, carrots, soy yoghurt, and soy pudding - chocolate of course.

I just added Star Vegetable Soup to the repertoire, left over soup from dinner, and fruit salad.  Last year I thought, that it would be more stressful to pack to lunches everyday.  That however has proven - luckily - not to be true...yay...OK enough for now...happy day!

Friday Night Dinner - Yes, it is true..

...all I made was this salad, a Vinaigrette, and I admit to cooking/serving plain pasta at a later Time. Why only a salad you may ask? Well, because we were at a big Potluck Party for Mia Rosies' graduation from preschool. Yes, it is true we now have a Kindergartener :)

In any case, the big event was held right here in SE Portland at a wonderful park and playground. So our kids were way too busy playing and had no interest in food. Because there are so many dietary issues - no gluten, no nuts, no milk, etc. everybody had labeled the allergens, or ingredients on the bowl, tray, etc. I just love how everybody is so aware of dietary issues :) There was plenty of foods, the girls could have eaten but they were just too busy playing on a hot summer day! Alena however did eat some guacamole and chips and both drank plenty of lemonade :)

Friday Night Dinner...

...no,no, no not syrup or snow cones :) There was an end of the year party at Mia Rosie's school today and both girls were invited to the big party. Pizza, cake, popcorn and movies...whoo-hoo. How fun! And - this is just how amazing Mia Rosie's school is - there was cheeseless, vegan pizza just for our girls and one of the directors who is vegan :) Plus, the chef also made a vegan cake for our girls. And yes, the other kids were eating cheese pizza and cake with cream cheese frosting.

Have a great weekend!

The end of first grade - Where did the school year go?

> Wow - School is out for the summer. Where did the year go - it just flew by. It was a fast ride. Quite stormy at the start, some bumps along the way, but it was the most amazing, fantastic ride. Yes, I absolutely mean that - our neighborhood School is amazing. I have turned 180 degrees. From being the mother that did not want her child to go to the large school to safe at just that school. I was so worried when coming out of our "safe" small private school, where there were only treats allowed when everyone could enjoy them, that Alena would feel left out, not be protected, etc. Silly me! Where did I come from :)
>
> I endend up packing lunch every day. I could have worked with the district on determining which foods are safe, but truth be said packing your own is so much healthier :) Alena was OK - there was an Aide close by to help in anyone needed anything. Alena knows not to eat foods from other classmates, and the Aide also made sure that there was no sharing. For treats, we kept popsickles in a freezer, and her teacher made sure to get her one. At Halloween we brought in the treats for everyone and it turned out fantastic. Not once did we have to worry that she would be left out, felt left out, or anything else.
>
> School in itself was not easy and in retrospect, I think we would have done things differently and started her in the neighborhood school in Kindergarten. Therefore things were harder for her, it took the teachers a while to get to know Alena and her learning style. And yes, Alena does have an Individualized Education Plan; she does receive speech therapy, and reading help. All of that is great, and no, I am not that saying that this is because of Galactosemia. A bunch of kids receive services, and my wonderful husband also received services in elementary school. - So she works hard and does not stick her head in the sand - She is so eager to learn t is amazing. The sky is the limit - She can do anything she wants to do. There are no limitations!!!
>
> Now it is time to say thank you to Alena's first grade teacher extraordinare Mrs. Parr. Thank you so much for caring, and being amazing. Alena loves you :)
>
> Have a great summer everyone and remember the glass is always half full!!!
>

It's Kids Night Out - we made pizza for the girls to take along. Peperoni, sausage, kalamata olives, and sauce (from Trader Joe's)

Kids Night Out - the first one this school year. Yes, I am not kidding :))) Both girls were so excited and we did make pizza again, just like we did last school year. Well, but I do have to admit that this time I bought the dough at New Seasons - I ran out of Olive Oil!!! - it still was fun. A jar of Trader Joe's Olive Oil, pepperoni, kalamata olives, and sausage. Sometimes we top the pizza with Parmeseano Regiano, Alena however told me "I do not like cheese on pizza". So it was a cheese less delicious pizza, and it was baked to perfection at school :)))

Alena's school play & the ice cream celebration party - Thank you, Childswork!!!

Everyone has school plays at the end of the year and I am sure that they are an exciting time for everyone.  Alena also had at her school just like in the previous two years.  The school play at Childswork however is a little different because the students write the play, they create the stage decoration, and also make all of their costumes.  It is just amazing to see what these young children are capable off. The teachers are guiding the children, but the outcome is truly amazing.  Just look at Alena's costume

isn't it wonderful?! A pillow case cut, and painted, wings, and a head-piece.  What do you think?  Here is a picture of the entire class

aren't they just adorable? - Needless to say that both of us were two very proud parents.

Now about the after party.  Last year the after party took place at Ben & Jerry's which is one of our favorite ice cream places. They always have at least four different options which are CG safe.  This year a parent suggested to go out to a restaurant for ice cream for the after party.  I honestly was not thrilled about this idea.  I called the restaurant just to find out that there are zero no dairy dessert options, "...but you can bring your own..." I was told.  My first inclination was no way!!! But then again, Alena would feel terrible if we would not join the rest of her class.  But still I just did not feel that fantastic about it. Almost everybody else would be served their ice cream in a dish while our girlies would bring their own carton...so I had a thought.  What about if we buy the buy our ice cream, drop it off at the restaurant, go to the play, return to the restaurant and they serve it...sounds kind of crazy, doesn't it?  I called, asked and you know what that is exactly what happened.  I took the girlies to the store, Alena picked out the "ice cream", we dropped it off, and that is what the girls got served.  Their ice cream along with all the other kids...

Now is the time to give kudos.  Kudos to the wonderful teachers and staff at Childswork.  I would like to  particularly recognize Alena's teacher Marlie for calling me a couple of nights before the event to make sure that I was OK with it.  How thoughtful is that?  You know this is Alena's third year at Childswork the only school she has so far gone to.  Before she started school I was so worried, worried what would happen if she ate non-safe foods, worried that she would feel left out and be left out...and now is the time for me to say "Thank you, Childswork!" Thank you for the confidence you have given my child and me.  Alena has learned to always ask if a food is safe for her.  Alena has never felt left out or been left out from any event that has taken place at school.  Thank you for making such a tremendous difference in our lives.  All of teachers that we have met have had such a tremendous impact on us as a family, and also on how we deal with CG. Thank you Marlie, Megan, Sally, Susi, Elianne, Emily, Connie, Megan, Sarah, Jenn, Sarah, Chris, Sundance, Laurie, Michelle and everyone else at this wonderful school.  Sorry if forgot to mention a person, it is not on purpose let me know :)

Empowerment works :)

Mia Rose attends school two full days each week. Her school is a little different than Alena's as there is cook who makes daily meals from scratch. I previously talked about how impressed we are with the foods she eats. Fruits, veggies, seeds, beans...she loves Swiss Chard really amazing. In any case, when we picked her up yesterday the cook shared with me that they had scrambled eggs for lunch. And let me tell you Mia Rosie loves scrambled eggs ;) Anyway, but before she put one morsel of food in her mouth she asked the cook "...is there any cows milk in this...". Remember she just turned 4 - I am so proud, excited and just feel validated that our approach works. Both children are aware of the fact that they cannot eat anything containing milk. We keep "non-safe" items in the house, trust them and even our little one now makes sure foods are safe before she eats it.

I said it many times before, that there was a time where only "safe" foods could be found in our home. I am so thankful to our friends in Italy for showing us just how important the empowerment of our kids is. Otherwise, I am not sure if they would ask if the food is OK as they probably would just assume that everything they get is "safe"....my thoughts for the day :)

Kids Night Out

Once a month something fantastic happens at Alena's school....it's called "Kids Night Out". Enrolled students and siblings can spend a Friday night at school. Isn't that fantastic? It starts at 5:30 and the latest the kids can be picked-up is 9:30 pm. They bake pizza for the kids, play games, go out to the playground, or to the gym. It's great - Mia Rose loves it and both are so excited for the night out without parents :) BTW - I would like to add that Ron and I are equally excited for a night on the town...

The girls obviously can't eat the pizza that is served and in the past I have picked up a pie for them at Pizzicato. A couple of month however we started to make our own pizza, and the girls bring it unbaked to school. It's great - we have an activity for Friday afternoon by rolling the pizza dough, piling on the sauce, topping the pizza and they can eat it together with the other kids. Our girls get to eat their pizza and nobody even questions it. It's easy and understood by all. It's no big deal...wow who would have ever thought that the diet becomes so manageable!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day

Ok - I know it's only the second month of the New Year and I am already not keeping up with my New Year's resolution of blogging at the very least once a week. However, because some weeks I blog more than once a week I am technically still on par :) What do you think?! - It has been a little hectic here. Ron was out-of-town for a whole week so it sometimes was even hard to hear myself think...alright, alright I stop it's the world's smallest violin. I am not writing to complain! Why on earth would I do that?! No, Valentine's Day is the topic...Yay - hearts, pink and purple a girl's dream come true :) The three girls at our house (that includes me) love it...we cut out hearts and decorated the windows. One word l-o-v-e-l-y...and yes, there was chocolate for everyone. Dark chocolate bars with cherry and almond. Yummy!!! In any case, it was great but I really wanted to write about Mia Rose and what happened at her school.

Mia Rose goes to school two full-days a week. Her school has a cook and the foods are always safe for her to eat. In preparation for Valentine's Day Tea on Friday the kids made cookies in school last Thursday. The cookies however contained butter. So what were we to do? a) not let her touch the dough, or b) let her touch the dough but make sure that she would not eat anything and clean her hands immediately. What do you think we did? Well, she made the cookies and the teacher was close by the entire time. She had such a fantastic time. Truth be said, it made me just a wee bit anxietal but she had so much fun. How could we have excluded her from that fun activity? Mia Rose knew exactly that she could not eat the cookies. That to me is amazing.

Valentine's Day Tea was on Friday and the teacher's asked me to bring along cookies that Mia Rose could eat. So early in the day, her and I baked heart-shaped sugar cookies and brought them along to the Tea. One of the activities scheduled was for each child to frost a cookie. Immediately I thought, well Mia Rosie won't be able to frost her cookie but you know what the director of the school went out to search for milk free pink frosting. I was so excited...well, OK the ingredient list certainly did not contain items we usually eat but it was so much fun.

In retrospect I am very proud of ourselves for allowing Mia Rose to work with the "evil" cookie dough and also just so proud of our little girl for resisting the temptation to try. I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day!!!

Update on the Pizza Party at Mia's School...

...you may remember my post from last week about the party at Mia Rose's school. In the end it worked out fine. We started the day with our German playgroup at Sellwood Park, and at 11 drove to Pizzicato to order the pizza for the girls. But you know what? They do not open until 11:30, but a delivery person just walked into the restaurant to drop something off, so I decided to just try and see whether they would make a pizza for the girls. The three of us went in, and I plead my case by telling the nice gentleman that the girls were going to a pizza party, that they love pizza, but that they cannot have pizza with cheese. And you know what?! - I am sure you are already guessing this one right, he said "yes" and I ordered one kids pizza with peperoni without cheese for take-out. It just shows that you just have to ask and plead your case. The Sellwood store really went above and beyond. They could have easily said no, but now I have them dear to my heart (a little too "cheesy"?! no pun intended...) Anyway, if you feel like pizza and you are in Sellwood (or just in PDX) go and give Pizzicato a try. Really yummy pizza, and CG safe too ;))) http://www.pizzicatogourmetpizza.com/

Now back to the party. We arrived with our pizza in hand and everybody had a ton of fun. Everybody was eating together. The girls ate their pizza, and the other kids had the cheese pizza. It was so nice to see everybody at the table eating together. The only thing I did not think about was that there might be cookies. Well, there were and of course had milk products in them. The girls were not the least bit bothered...but I am sure you are guessing that it bothered me. And yes, it did...

Childswork has preschool spots available for the 2009/2010 school year

We love Childswork. It's the most amazing school, and everybody has been so wonderful about learning about Galactosemia, making sure that Alena is included and never feels left out. So if you are in Portland and are still looking for a great Preschool check out Childswork. This is a great school for any young child. Just wonderful. Alena has grown so much in this school...There are still spots available for the up-coming school year. http://www.childswork.org

Today I cried...the most wonderful teacher & preschool

I could not help myself this morning but cry. Tears of joy, which I could not stop...What happened?! OK - let me tell you. When I brought Alena to camp this morning one of the teachers asked if I had a moment. Of course, I had a moment to talk. The teacher told me that it today is the B-day of another teacher and that she had gotten a treat for the afternoon class. She bought Tofutti Cuties, and wanted to make sure that Alena can eat them. Of course...when I asked why she got Cuties her response was "...I wanted to make sure to get a treat Alena can have as well and I thought she (Alena) told me before that she likes them..." Is that not the most thoughtful, sweetest thing ever...I cried. Later I talked to the Director of Education to share this great story. The philosophy of the school is to make sure everybody is included...

There is something else I want to say. When we first got the diagnosis I would never thought that any of this is possible. Never, did I think it would be possible for my child to have the same treats in school and just be a regular kid. I am just so, so overwhelmingly happy :) Thank you for reading ;)

Check out the school http://www.childswork.org...