Funny Things She Says April Edition

The Love Magnet: Mom, thanks for dinner. It was (finger snaps over her head) pitch perfect!

Me: Pitch perfect?

TLM: Yeah! That is my new trademark!

January Funnies from The Love Magnet

This morning, as I chauffeured Thirdborn to middle school, I slid through a right turn and hit a curb. the Love Magnet piped up from the back seat "Oh, good grief, Mom, next time I'll drive!" We got home, and she had breakfast. when I said it was time to go to school, she not-so-patiently held out her hand and wiggled her fingers for the keys.

*********************

Saying goodbye to the Love Magnet as she goes to the sitter's house to wait for the school bus has been interesting. I have had the "I love you, Mom" farewell, the hairflip and "call me" hand sign, the "Rock On!" fingers and the princess wave. Today was something new. The overly dramatic patriotic salute with a blown kiss at the end. Where did she learn that?

*********************

"Mom look at this. This is so funky."  "Dude, you are so funky."  "Don't be so funky."  I think it is safe to say that The Love Magnet's favorite new word has not entered her lexicon with full definition but she gets points for attempting to find a proper context for it.

Behold - the next batch of missionaries to Romania

Firstborn has been in the MTC for three weeks.  He is loving the people and is working hard to learn Romanian.  His letters home have been fun to read.  Best of all, we now have pictures!  This was taken in front of the Provo, Utah LDS Temple.  It has been awesome to see (and read) how he has changed in the past three weeks.  Poor Love Magnet, she asks every single day if he is coming home.  I always reply "Remember what I said?  How old will you be when he comes home?"  "I know, Mom, I'll be 12."  She also knows it will be right before Thanksgiving.  So last Thanksgiving, she declared that we were going to celebrate her 12th birthday and that Firstborn needed to come home.  It has been hard on her.  But we know Firstborn is where he needs to be.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Funny Things She Says

Love Magnet (as she hugs her mom):  Mmmmm, you smell good!

Me: I do?  I'm not wearing perfume.

Love Magnet:  Not perfume.  You smell like DINNER!

The Baptism

 Twin sis (whom the Love Magnet is named after) came to support us.  We also had many of both sides of the family present.  This was a huge weekend.  Not only was it a baptism, but is was a farewell for Firstborn who was leaving to go on a mission to Romania.

 The Love Magnet was so excited.  Her big brother was going to baptize her and her daddy would confirm her a member of the Church and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost.  She was so thrilled that the room was full of people she loved.

 I worried a little about how she would feel about the baptismal clothing.  But it turned out to be soft (and not scratchy as I remembered from my own baptism when I was 8.  Mr. Wonderful had reminded me to bring a white tshirt and white bike shorts for her to wear underneath.  Good thing - with those on, she did not freak out over wearing unfamiliar clothing or over the feeling of the elastic waistband.  As soon as she changed (which was 15 minutes before the ordination), she tried to immediately step (dive) into the font.  I had to stop her more than once and remind her that other things (talks, singing, and prayers) had to happen first.

 This was Firstborn's first baptism.  I love that his first baptism was for his sister.  It is not appropriate to take pictures during the ordination.  The Love Magnet led the music.  Seconborn and Thirdborn gave the opening and closing prayers.  The Grandmothers each gave a talk on baptism and on The Holy Ghost.  The Grandpas served as witnesses.  Firstborn did a great job with the actual baptism.  When the Love Magnet came out of the water, she announced to everyone watching that she forgot to plug her nose.  It didn't bother her.  She just shook her head and kept smiling.  In the dressing room, after the baptism and before the confirmation she kept saying to me "Mom, I feel so AMAZING!"



The Baptism Portraits

A friend of ours who took Firstborn's Senior pictures offered to take The Love Magnet's baptism portraits.  My daughter was enamored by the photographer.  She thought the photog was very pretty. 

The Love Magnet was also thrilled to pose with scriptures.  She loves scriptures.

 The photog directed TLM to open the scriptures and start reading.  So TLM did just that (and pretty much ignored everything else - she was busy reading). 

 This is my favorite shot.  I'm not sure what The Love Magnet was thinking.  This wasn't a directed pose - I think TLM was looking at the cute baby hat display while the photog and I were talking.

 And one more of the same shot.

The dress is soft and flowing.  Not the white baptism dress I dreamed of, but she looks beautiful.  Huge thanks to the photog for taking these.  Her work is stunning.

The Baptism Dress and what is really important to my salvation.

I had in my mind a dream that most mothers do - shopping for the perfect dress with their daughter.  When you daughter is going to be baptized, you want to find the perfect white dress for her to wear before and after. 

Problem:  the Love Magnet has sensory issues when it comes to clothing.  No shiny, slippery, satin, lacy, itchy, sequins, or large seams or tags can touch her skin.  It causes her to go crazy.  She wears knits, some denim.  And as soon as she gets home from school, she changes into pajamas.

I thought that taking her to the mall to let her watch the teen girls trying on prom dresses would work.  She loved looking at the "princesses" and wanted to stay there a long time. While she watched, I pulled white dresses her size off the rack and then took her into a dressing room.

She looked at the dresses and started to shake, sweat, and cry.  I felt awful.  I tried to explain that she had an undershirt on and tights so it wouldn't touch her skin.  I couldn't even get the dress over her head.  She was inconsolable.

I gave up and took her to lunch.  During lunch she apologized profusely over not trying on the dresses and asked if we could try again.  So, after lunch I took her to another store. The same thing happened in the dressing room.  We gave up and went home.  Where I cried - I know it was selfish.  I just wanted to have that moment with my daughter.  If she ever goes to prom, I will have to pay someone to design a prom dress out of jersey knit or something equally soft.

My Twin Sis started sending suggestions and wracking her brain to figure out how to make something work.  She also reminded me that baptism dresses did not need to be white.  File the white baptism dress idea under "If it is not important to my salvation, I'm not going to worry about it."

Two days before the baptism, I found a dress.  It wasn't white.  It was gold and cream.  It was organdy on the outside, and fully lined in soft cotton on the inside.  The Love Magnet felt it before we went into the dressing room.  She made sure she had on her undershirt and sweater tights so the dress wouldn't come in contact with anything but her shoulders.  She started to panic before I slipped the dress over her head, telling me that it was going to hurt.  I reminded her that she felt that it was soft.  She then begged me to hold the dressmaker tag in my hand so it wouldn't touch her and the price tag in my other hand for the same reason.  Then we were finally able to get it over her head (with much panicking) until she realized it was going to be okay.  With her arms held out so she wouldn't touch it, she looked in the mirror.  "Mom, I look like a princess!"

She still panicked every time I put it over her head, but she acted fine after it was on.  A photog friend offered to take her picture.  A ward member with a brand new hair business made her a hair pretty and did her hair for the pictures and baptism. (picture to come as soon as photog friend sends it.)

Now the non-salvation stuff was taken care off.  On to the baptism.

"Mom, I want to be baptized."

When the Love Magnet turned 8 years old, people asked if she was going to get baptized.  We knew she wasn't ready.  She never talked about it.  She loved to watch others get baptized but she did not think to want it for herself.  So we let her be.

Fast forward to last summer.  Out of the blue, the Love Magnet announced "I want to be baptized." I told her that was awesome and let the subject alone, thinking that it was fleeting.  But she kept talking about "When I get baptized...." and asking when that would be.  Wanting to make sure she understood the ordinance and the promises involved, we started to focus Family Home Evenings around the subject.  It is a bit difficult to put together lessons that she will understand and yet still be interesting to her older brothers.  With a 4 year spread between each of our sons, they each have a different level of understanding.  It helped when they each were in charge of lessons.

The Love Magnet was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost for the Primary program in September.  She was thrilled to participate.  She told me what to type:



The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost can help me to not be scared when there is a fire drill at school because I don't like loud noises.
The Holy Ghost can help me be polite and kind.
The Holy Ghost can help me remember to be honest and tell the truth.
I can't see him.  He doesn't have a body.  But I can feel him.
I'm glad I know how to choose the right.

We spent the Saturday before at the church, practicing sitting on the bench where her class would sit, practicing walking up to the microphone and putting her paper on the stand.  We practiced how to speak in the microphone.  This went on over and over for an hour until she told me she was ready.

During the Primary program, she sat with her class.  When it came time for her turn, she walked up to the podium, put her paper on the stand, took a deep breath and said under her breath (but loud enough for the microphone to pick it up) "Okay....here we go.", and gave a Primary talk by herself.  It proved to me that she does understand, in her own way, about the Holy Ghost, about Jesus, and the promises she would make in baptism.

She was ready.

Ten Years Old



Watching Madeline



Must read all the cards before opening the presents.  There is an order to birthday things.



Note the pink cupcakes.  This was part of her dream birthday celebration.



Manicures in every color and with bling!



The manicure station



Waiting (anxiously) for guests to arrive.  She wanted to stand outside in front of the door to make sure her guests didn't go to the wrong house.



PInk cupcakes, black and pink wrapped table.



Each guest was presented with the Crepe Cafe menu (Thanks to the Seal Bark for doing them up for me).



Decorations included balloons supplied by her brothers



The brothers also willingly helped decorate everything else.



The Love Magnet on her 10th birthday.

Ten most incredible things about The Love Magnet

1.  This girl LOVES to dance.  Hip hop, ballet, modern, hula........she has moves.

2.  Everyone is her best friend.  If she just met you, you are her new best friend.  She doesn't discriminate.  Feel the love.

3.  She will thank you.  Gratitude abounds with this one.  Often she will also throw in a "my darling" along with the thank you.

4.  The Love Magnet has finally discovered the joys of fashion, nail polish, accessories, and bling.  Just like any typical preteen.

5.  She loves to read.  Chapter books, cooking magazines, scriptures, or over my shoulder looking at blogs. 

6.  This girl loves to be in the kitchen, especially to make breakfast.  She is a foodie.

7.  The Love Magnet believes that everyone deserves to be happy.  If you are down, she is the one who can cheer you up.

8.  Her heroes are her brothers.

9.  She loves school and wishes it were year round.

10.  No grudges.  She forgives completely.  How many of us can say we have that ability?

Love Magnet speaks up. Watch out.

Pensacola Beach, Florida, January 2012

The Love Magnet has been harder to understand this year.  Her speech is somewhat garbled.  I think there must be a disconnect somewhere - is her brain running faster than she is able to express?  Or is it that she hears her peers speaking faster and tries to match their speed at the expense of being understood.  Whatever the reason, I've tried to work more with her on articulation.  It has been an interesting journey.  Mainly due to the reason that I can't be caught at being the teacher - rebellion would ensue.

The boys have picked up on the articulation models I have been using and started using them as well.  when The Love Magnet attempts to articulated /s/, they will point out that they can see her tongue.  "Hide your tongue!  I see your tongue, put it back in your mouth".  Alternately, when she attempts a /th/ sound, she ends up substituting with a /d/.  The boys will model where her tongue goes and then tell her it is her turn.  She complies with much more enthusiasm for them than she shows for me. When her entire sentence is unintelligible, they will let her know.  "Whoa, I didn't understand that.  Say it again, but this time slow down."  She is very willing to clarify to them, particularly if she is requesting something.

I love that the boys have picked up on this without me requesting it of them.  They are also learning to be more careful of what words they say and how they say them.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  Heavenly Father sent The Love Magnet to our house to show us how we sound to each other.  She can mimic tone and inflection in speech with absolute clarity.  It is very obvious who she is mimicking and the offensive party ducks their head in shame when they recognize that they are the ones being imitated.  Worse, she picks up new words with lightning speed, particularly words we don't want her to repeat.  We've discovered that it is more than twice as hard to train her out of a bad word than it was to get my boys to stop saying a new word they learned on the school playground.  Read this post.  It was the most mild of words we didn't want her to say.  It took all the next year to train her out of it.

Here I raise my glass (of water) to old words said with more clarity and new words that aren't offensive.  And most of all to the power of the examples of sibling and friends.

My daughter is watching and listening to you.  Please be kind to each other.

Swimming my way back to the surface

Overwhelming. That pretty much sums up the first half of my first grad school semester.I'm still not caught up with all the reading, but then all of my classmates have admitted to the same thing. I love clinic - absolutely love it. The paperwork threw me for a loop. I believe I have the worlds best clinic supervisor because she has been beyond patient with me. My grades aren't stellar. I still have a chance to pull them up.

Finding my balance of school and home has been hard, too. The kids have been patient. The older help the younger with homework. Mr. Wonderful has also gone above and beyond to help this home run. Sometimes we see each other coming and going. At least we still make sure we have date night. We don't even sit by each other in church anymore. I'm at the organ. Since there is always a rest hymn and no special musical number, I stay up by the organ so the transitions are smooth.

We did celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month at the Buddy Walk. This year was more special than others. The Love Magnet danced a hip-hop number with a local dance group. She loved it. The best news (and still makes me teary whenever I think of it) is that this particular dance company has asked if she would join them. She'll be put in dance classes with typical kids. We're signing up in November. We had to wait a few weeks because -

The Love Magnet had a tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy. Her tonsils were huge and stinky and starting to cause bad breath. If was a rough first week. I called for help and angels came in the form of my parents and Grandmother. These three angels made it possible for me to make it to clinic while they stayed home with The Love Magnet. They did my laundry, reorganized my pantry, vacuumed, cleaned my kitchen, and spent time with my children. I felt loved and cared for.

I think I will make it through grad school after all. I had my doubts.

Nine Great Things About The Love Magnet

1. She refers to her parents as Mother and Father. Not sure how she decided on this moniker as the boys refer to me as Madre or Mom and Mr. Wonderful is called Dad. She is constantly asking "When will my father be home?", or telling me "Mother, I love you so much!" I love it.

2. She refers to everyone by first and last name as one name. Its Janebrown, Johnsmith, Jackjones....you get the picture. We think this stemmed from several kids in her school classes sharing the same name. What she used to separate them, she now uses for everyone.

3. The Love Magnet loves to help with the dishes or laundry. I hope this continues.

4. She prays like she means it. Every prayer is a regular conversation with her Heavenly Father. She blesses everyone she can think of and usually for specific blessings such as they will get better from being sick, or they will be able to sleep, or not be scared.

5. She shows appreciation for every meal multiple times. I get thanked for making a particular dinner the day of, the next day, and possibly several weeks later.

6. Whoever you are, you rank as her best friend.

7. The Love Magnet loves to write letters. I get one nearly every single day.

8. She loves to read to anyone who will listen. Today she read Snuggle Puppy to a van full of sleepy people on the way home from our camp out. Captive audience.

9. Unconditional love. She has it. She is willing to share it. Hopefully she is teaching the rest of us about it.

Friend Birthday Party

Four girls came to The Love Magnet's birthday party. TLM was beside herself with joy.

Four girls included her in all of their games. She was treated just like everyone else.

After swimming came lunch completely planned by The Love Magnet: hot dogs, pasta salad, watermelon, and lemonade. Then.......PRESENTS!

Miss M, who was Lauren's aide a year ago and now still works with one of The Love Magnet's best friends, also came to the party. We were thrilled to have her!

The grand finale of the party was also planned completely by TLM: she insisted on 'Pinkalicious' cupcakes. Not knowing what 'Pinkalicious' cupcakes are, I just made vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting. Completely satisfactory, especially when topped with sparkler candles. It literally took all the girls to blow them out.

The best part of the party was the next day at the neighborhood pool. Some of the girls from the party were all there and greeted TLM as soon as they saw her. Again they included her in all of their games. Inclusion at its best.

Advocacy never ending

Mr. Wonderful gave me a certificate for a spa day last Christmas. Today was the day (I finally have time now that finals are over) and I was really looking forward to some pampering. The spa I went to was voted the best spa in the Boise area. It was beautiful. Incredibly busy (not very quiet) but I expected that since I booked a day the weekend of Mother's Day. That was okay. It was going to be divine.

The manicurist was great. She helped me pick a color (OPI 'I'm not Really A Waitress') and assured me that I could carry off that color on my short nails. Made me think of Dandelion Mama's post about her short nails. We talked about her kids, my kids, cupcakes (she is tweaking recipes to start a side business in gourmet cupcakes) and how to take better care of my dry hands. She told me how great the massage therapist was that I was scheduled to see next (and she was oh-so-right). The conversation was pleasant at my table. Then, during a pause, my ear started tuning into the conversation at the next table.

"She really started making bad choices", the nail tech at the next table was talking about her sister to her client. "I swear she smoked herself retarded." Both started laughing.

I froze.

Normally, I would speak right up to the person who uttered the 'R' word. But I didn't say anything this time. I did not think it was appropriate in this setting. Instead I made a note to email the spa tonight and let them know that while I appreciated their excellent services, there was one thing in which they could improve. That choice of vocabulary is unacceptable.

I know I've said it before (and that I am preaching to the choir). The word "Retarded" is not interchangeable with 'stupid'. Using that word in that context is hurtful and demeaning.

As much as I enjoyed the spa, the memory that will probably last the longest is the choice of words of the nail tech. I wonder if my email will make any difference.

Speech, reading, and Down syndrome -or- funny things The Love Magnet says:

"Mom, I read Poobs magazine. Can we get Poobs magazine?" The Love Magnet looked at me expectantly through the rear view mirror as we drove home from swim lessons. It wasn't her look charming and irresistible so I can get what I want look. It was a genuine I read something that was really cool and I want to share it with you look. But, Poobs? Wait.......MY DAUGHTER READS MAGAZINES?!

"Honey, I have never read Poobs magazine. What is it?" I had no idea. Have you ever heard of it?

"Mom, it Poobs magazine. It really cool!"

"Honey", I answered, "I don't know anything about Poobs magazine. Where did you read it? What was in it?"

"I read it at J's", she said definitively, as if it solved everything. Okay, the family who takes her to school twice a week. The Js are helping me so I can attend my early class.

"Do you want me to call Js and ask them about it? Or you can tell me what you read in it."

The Love Magnet grinned from ear to ear. She tilted her head to one side and put her pointer finger against her cheek. She thinks this is what people do when they are thinking. The kid is literal. "It about Clifford-the-big-red-dog an' Martha speak and dinosaurs!"

Hmmm. My mind tried to find the combination between these odd subjects. Brain cells coalesced ideas until the fog dissipated.

"Love Magnet, do you mean PBS magazine?"

My daughter threw her hands in the air. "That it, Mom! Poobs magazine."

"Honey, its pronounced P-B-S. PBS magazine."

"PBS! That spells Poobs, Mom!"

PBS, you might consider changing your pronunciation. I doubt The Love Magnet is the only child who thinks this way.

Real, honest-to-goodness, not-family-but-friends LATEOVER

Last night was another first for The Love Magnet. Her first lateover. Her first real not-family-but-friends lateover. She has never been that long away from me without other family members keeping track of her. And she loved it.

"Mom. I go in all by myself. You not invited. It's my lateover."

She was determined that I understood completely that I was not welcome.

The one thing I regret from having The Love Magnet repeat first grade was that she didn't continue on with her friends. Those kids really looked out for her. They invited her to birthday parties. They came over to play or to swim. The kids in her current grade haven't done the same. The closeness just isn't there. But one girl in particular who has gone ahead a year still invites her to birthday parties. God bless that family for remembering my daughter.

We went to Wallgreens to get a present. The Love Magnet knew exactly what she wanted to get: 4 uber-bright colors of nail polish (yellow, aqua, fuchsia, and sparkly purple), nail stickers, hair pretties and a matching necklace that changed colors when exposed to sunlight. Girl stuff.

She asked nonstop every waking hour for three days "When we go to party, Mom? Don't forget it at 5:00." I was quizzed to make sure I knew when to go. She made sure I knew where to go. Finally, when it was time, she reminded me for the entire 15 minute ride that I was not to go in the house. I promised that I would stay at the door.

She hugged me goodbye and tried to push me out.

I worried a little bit. I have no problem admitting it up front. The Love Magnet was gone for 4 hours. I trusted the family. I just wondered if my daughter would remember her manners. I worried if she would stay with the girls and not go off on her own to play with toys. I was afraid that she would forget to use the bathroom in all the excitement and have an accident.

When I picked her up, she was disappointed to see me. She must have been tired, because other than the initial expression of not wanting to be the first girl picked up by her parents, she put her shoes on and hugged everyone goodbye. She thanked the mom who hosted the event (and looked her in the eyes while speaking to her! - HUGE VICTORY! My DS moms will understand that.)

On the way home, The Love Magnet announced to her brother and his friends (whom I just picked up at the Y) that she was tired. She hugged her daddy and me and went straight to bed when we got home.

I'm cheering the independence. I'm thrilled about the remembered friendships. I'm at peace with her growing up.

I'm thinking we need to host more playdates and a lateover. Encourage more friendships.

Trials, frustrations, and tender mercies

This past week was a short school week for the kids. Parent Teacher Conferences.

I dread them.

It's hard to go in with a good attitude, even though I know that all the adults present are there in the best interest of my children. But it seems that every session is more negative and rarely positive.

This year it was a lot about The Love Magnet's potty accidents that started this school year and seem to be getting worse. There were also behavior issues. Then there was the 'less-able-than-we thought'. I managed to make it through the entire session without crying (a record for me) but still had to mentally steel myself and try to inhale the tears back through my tear ducts.

In Thirdborn's session, it was to see his test scores and the grade equivalent of his reading level. I do not hold much to the grade equivalent. At one point I realized that my body posture was showing my attitude and quickly uncrossed my arms and sat up straighter.

Trials and frustrations.


Thankfully, Mrs. A, the resource teacher, took me into her room and showed me Thirdborn's successes and that told me that she didn't think his grade equivalent was accurate, either.

Tender mercies.

Firstborn's and Secondborn's teachers all had interesting things to say. Some positives, some negatives, and some surprises.

Frustrations.

I spent yesterday working on an assessment project that I desperately need to score well to improve my grade. The teacher said not to stress to much about it. But it is hard writing a diagnostic when I've never done it before, especially when I have to make up some of the testing data.

Frustrations.

Today I stuffed my freezer full of chicken from a fabulous sale. It feels good to know that we have food and food storage. It's my sense of accomplishment this week, where my family is concerned.

Tender mercies.

Today, The Love Magnet helped me plant 60 bulbs in our front yard. We pulled weeds and roots. We found worms. I had accidentally cut one in half. The Love Magnet just thought it was a mama worm with her baby worm and declared "Oh, that is so sweeeet!" We watched them squirm back into the dirt. We counted bulbs. My daughter made sure that each one she placed in the ground had the pointed side up. As we were digging in the dirt, I had a prompting: "Savor this moment". It was the first time I had slowed down all week and did something not involving a textbook. The air was warm and the sun shined on our backs - the last gorgeous day of fall.

Tender mercies.

Midterms week

I can hardly believe that the semester is half over. This has been the hardest semester ever, not just due to the material, but getting ready for the GRE and applying to different schools. I have not written my Letter of Intent yet and need to get busy. I have 3 letters or rec and need two more. Papers to write. Projects to start/finish. Observation hours to accrue.

The Love Magnet woke up this morning acting ornery. Sign #1 that something is afoot. She has had a runny/stuffy nose all week. Sure enough, she now has a fever on the day I am supposed to take a midterm in my Assessment and Intervention class. It seems like every single virus that comes around the neighborhood hits her harder than anyone else. I emailed my prof, who graciously will allow me to take the exam tomorrow or Friday morning. As long as I don't talk to my classmates about the exam. Not a problem.

I'll have to use this day to work on GRE, catch up on laundry and dishes, and perhaps even put a dent in the office that never stays clean for more than 24 hours.

I can do 'hard' for 2 1/2 more years. My question is: Can my family stand for me to do 'hard' for the next 2 1/2 years?

BUDDY WALK 2010

Today was the 2010 Boise Buddy Walk. The Love Magnet was so excited to her friends there. Cutie Boy here is in our ward. We love his family to pieces.

And Cutie Boy's sister M. She is another favorite of our family.
We met on the steps of Boise State Capitol to listen to the governor's wife start us off. The First Lady brought the new First Dog along. He was just as popular as she was.

Just a small part of the crowd at the Capitol. It was a great turnout!

The Love Magnet had her sign as was ready to go.

We walked from the Capitol to Julia Davis park. It was so much fun to walk in the middle of the street. See that cute girl next to Mr. Wonderful. Jess is my friend from school. She is learning to be an SLP, too. She brought her boyfriend along. I definitely approve of him, Miss Jess.

We also had Erin from my school with her husband Ian, and Daisy with her friends. I love these girls who will be graduating with me in May. It was so sweet of them to support us.

There were also news people lined up along the side of the street taking pictures.

Thirdborn and Doggie girl took care of TLM and made sure she didn't run to the other side of the street. It was tempting because there were lots of people waving and cheering at us.

Secondborn held his sign up. Firstborn did not. Apparently, waving a sign that says "Spread the Love" is too embarrassing for that teen.

Cutie Boy and his mom offered The Love Magnet a chance to ride. She was thrilled to accept.

(Do you see what I mean? Cutie Boy is CUTE!)

Second and Thirdborn did the best they could to make sure traffic on the cross streets could see the signs. Many cars were honking their support and drivers and passengers waving at the Buddy Walk crowd. For every honk, we cheered and waved back. There were so many smiling people. No one seemed to mind that they had to wait while we passed.

The Love Magnet ended up riding the rest of the way.

We ended at Julia Davis Park with bounce houses, games, entertainment, pizza from The Idaho Pizza Company, and prizes. Many, many thanks to the Treasure Valley Down Syndrome Association for a great Buddy Walk!

Day 3: The Love Magnet teaches gospel doctrine

(the latest pic of my family)

Yesterday and today we watched General Conference. My fave talks were by Elder Gong and Elder Holland yesterday, and Elder Arnold today (I knew Elder Arnold when I was a child and my daddy called him Merv. I can't tell you how I remember that. Now, Daddy, if you didn't call him that, please let me know.)



We have a tradition in our house: after each talk we pause the DVR and ask the kids "What is your take-away?", meaning 'what can you take away from this talk and use in your life?' After they answer, we throw a couple of pieces of candy at them. (Jolly Ranchers were the popular choice this year.) Each of the boys usually gives us one or two sentences (aka bare minimum) about the general topic or something that resonated with them.



Not The Love Magnet (who is leaning on my shoulder, whisper-reading this as fast as I type, that smart little cookie).



She would insist on getting her turn at "Take-Away". Then she would stand up (the boys never stood up), clear her throat (a-HEM!) and talk as if she were marathoning a gospel-doctrine class.



TLM: "We should choose the right and make good choices because we love Jesus and I am a child of God and we need to help him by having prayers and sing Pi'mary songs at Conf'ence and be nice at school and pay attention and ...."



This would go on for a few more sentences, after which she would in "in the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN!" Then we could hand her some Smarties (her favorite) and start up on conference again.



She also sang along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, discreetly directed with the conductor (she also does that to me in Primary), and alternated between snuggling up next to Firstborn (because he had the softest fleece blanket), or Thirdborn (because Doggie-Girl stayed close to him for both sessions.



I tried to get her interested in some Primary and Conference games for kids online to help her be reverent while the rest of us watched Conference. It lasted for one talk, but afterwards she preferred to listen to the talks, too. I could tell she was listening: in the midst of her sharing-of-testimony during Take-Aways, she always listed something to do with the speaker's topic.



Never underestimate what a child (who happens to have Down syndrome) understands.



And go check out the talks by Elder Gong, Elder Holland, and Elder Arnold. Better yet, just watch all three sessions (4 if you include Priesthood session).