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).

Saturday Mornings with The Love Magnet

The Love Magnet: Good morning, Mom!

Me: Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep?

TLM: I wake up now . Thank you for dinner last night. Thank you for movie last night. Thank you for bek-fust.
Me: um, sweetie, I'm sorry. I can't make pancakes this morning. I am trying to do my homework. I have a lot. Can you eat cereal or toast this morning?

TLM: Oh, okay. Thank you for toast, mom. Thank you for Pi'cess Fwee-o-nee-ah costume for Hall'ween.

TLM: It Hall'ween today, mom?

Me: No, Halloween is in 29 more days.

TLM: Oh. (looks at fingers and toes) Thank you for nail polish, Mom. Thank you for pajamas. (gives me a big hug and kisses my cheek). I go eat bek-fust now, Mom. Thank you for bek-fust. (she heads downstairs)

This is a typical Saturday morning. The Love Magnet is always in a good mood when she gets to wake up on her own. She then comes in my room, cuddles in my bed, and thanks me for everything that pops into her head.

It's a gratitude fest.

Are you a grateful Love Magnet?

Are you a Love Magnet?

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October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. I am committing to blogging every single day this month just to make my life even more chaotic.........no.........to raise awareness of Nondisjunction Trisomy 21. You know it as Down syndrome.

FACT:

Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. 1 in ever 800 babies has Down syndrome. That equates to about 500 births per year in the United States.

There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States.

People with Down syndrome are not always happy. My daughter knows when she is being treated cruelly, snubbed, made fun of, and teased. She is also the most forgiving person I know. The Love Magnet also understands friendship, kindness, generosity, and compassion. Hence her nickname.

Be a Love Magnet this month. (We'll explain more in future posts.)

Exciting things afoot......um....in the air, actually.

We are finally building the roof to cover our patio. We extended the patio last summer. It's the perfect size now for table and chairs and hanging out.

We've been planning this for three years. I can't wait to hang some uber cool candle lanterns and pick out patio furniture. I also have plans for a giant urn water feature .
Secondborn and his best friend have been a great help.

Mr. Wonderful even got me on the ladder a few times. I kept my eyes shut.

I told Mr. Wonderful that he looks sexy wearing a tool belt. Very Handy Manny. He rolled his eyes at me.

I think Secondborn just likes hanging out above my head. As long as he looks busy outside, I can't put him to work inside.

Self doctoring

The Love Magnet asked if she could ride in the back of the car on the way home from school. Since we just live one street over in a residential area, I didn't think it was a problem.

Oops. (Mom-guilt! Mom-guilt!)

She didn't put her seat belt on and bumped her lip when we made a right turn. She started bleeding and crying, but told me she was strong as we drove the last 60 seconds to our home.

I asked The Love Magnet to go in the bathroom and wash her lip so I could check it. She was gone a long time (for her) and finally came down the stairs.

The Love Magnet: "Mommmmm, mmm-mf mmmmm-mf."

Me: "What did you say, Sweetie?"

The Love Magnet: "Mommmm, mmm-mf mmm-mf!"

I still didn't understand so I turned around.

Oh.

She fixed her fat lip.

Way to go, Love Magnet. Good problem solving and self doctoring.

It kept her quiet for a good hour. She read books and played with her dolls until dinnertime.

Nine Years Ago -

Mr. Wonderful called me downstairs to see what was happening on the television. We sat in shock on the couch, hip-to-hip, holding hands. I was pregnant with Thirdborn, who was due to come in 2 1/2 months.

Our two older kids were at school and preschool. We debated on whether we should get them from school. We finally decided to let them finish out the school day since school was just one street over.

I mentally calculated our food storage, 72 hour kits, and stored water. We would be fine if supplies became scarce.

I worried about Mr. Wonderful. Being an elevator man, if there was an emergency he would have to head to hospitals or nursing homes to make sure the elevators ran as long as they could. he would not be able to stay home. We didn't think it would get to that point, but it was constantly in our minds.

Then I noticed on the television screen that one building looked as if it were leaning. I told Mr. Wonderful I feared it would fall...right before it did fall. My pregnant body couldn't take it any more. We turned the TV off and knelt down to pray. We prayed for the comfort of those families who lost or would lose loved ones that day. We prayed for the fire and police crews who were helping. We prayed for the leaders of our country that they would have wisdom. We prayed for ourselves and our loved ones that we would also have wisdom.

When it came time to pick up the kids, I held them extra tight. We spent the evening with the television off. We asked all questions from our kids as best as we could. We put together a puzzle after dinner and homework.

Now we look for a way to give service this day. The rest of the day remains low-key with a family oriented quiet activity and comfort food.

Do you have traditions that stem from 9/11?

It's slowly coming together....

My school has been back in session for two weeks. I am starting to see that the knowledge of the past year has starting sticking. I understand more. That is incredibly exciting to me.

I've narrowed down all of my interests in order to focus on two: Language development in Down syndrome, and Voice Disorders. I am still interested in geriatric issues but that can wait until after grad school and PRAXIS, when I am required to do CEU's. I still would like to do a grad research project on DS, music, and language development.

I still have not figured out how to balance laundry and house chores when everyone else is running every which way. I have the cooking down (love my slow cooker thankyouverymuch!) and I can juggle chauffeuring when there is time left during kids tutoring sessions and sports for me to open a textbook. I need to come up with some kind of chore chart and teach these kids how to clean up messes as they make them (apparently the past 17 years of doing this doesn't count because it hasn't stuck in their heads.....)

Date night is still sacred in this house. It's not always on our usual date night and it is not always "out" but I still get my datenight with my honey.

This is the semester of applying for grad school. I'll take the GRE in October. I have two groups lined up to write rec letters for me. I am still trying to figure out tuition costs, housing costs and all requirements needed to apply to the out-of-state schools. When I ask Mr. Wonderful how on earth we'll pay out-of-state tuition he tells me to not worry about it.

I had the lovely experience of doing hearing screenings on some elementary kids this past week. The SLP and I sat side-by-side with two screening machines and between the two of us finished the kids in half the time. It was a great learning experience for me.

I have an exam for genetics this week. I have a project to interview a 90 year old woman about hearing and balance issues that I am really looking forward to. Tons of reading.

I wonder if the laundry will ever be completely done this school year. Probably not.

Perfect Day

We went back to the state park today where Mr. Wonderful and the boys dropped off the turtle.
Labor Day weekend, the nicest day the weatherman predicted all weekend, and yet the park was not crowded. Oh perfect day.

Secondborn and The Love Magnet went swimming in the cold, cold water.

I scoped out the area for our family reunion to be held next summer. This place looks perfect.

Doggie girl had a great time swimming and catching balls.

I laid under the oak tree.

Secondborn took good care of The Love Magnet.

Thirdborn was determined to catch a few of the tiny fish swimming near the shore.

I wondered at the monolith with no name. What on earth is it for?

The Love Magnet decided she was cold and bundled up in swim towels.

We ended the day with a few runs on the water slide before heading home.

Perfect, quiet, sunny, summer day.

Turtle Rescue

Mr. Wonderful rescued a turtle trying to cross one of the busiest streets in our town. He brought it home for Thirdborn to see (Thirdborn loves animals).
Doggie Girl didn't know what to think of it. She sniffed it, tried to bat it with her paw (and didn't like being told "no") and then tried to chase the poor turtle. We held her tight.

Mr. Wonderful said it was called a painted turtle

After admiring it for a while we decided it needed to be released back into the wild. A safe part of the wild. Where to go?

Thirdborn named the turtle Surfboard. Mr. Wonderful drove the kids to a local state park. The park rangers thought it was cool that they rescued a turtle so the family was let in for free. (Thanks ranger dudes!) Secondborn swam with the turtle to an island in the middle of the lake and let the turtle loose in the reeds. He reported that the turtle was quite happy to be there.

Good deeds were done today.

First day of school

Up before the alarm rings. Brushed teeth without being asked. Healthy breakfast "because it's important to do well in school, Mom"

.

$267 dollars worth of school supplies. A backpack found after an entire summer of being lost. Outfits chosen days before. New haircuts. Endless queries of "Mom do I have school today?" every single day of summer vacation.

Lots of practice to say new teacher names. Excitement over having your best friend in your class this year. Determination that "this is going to be the best year ever, Mom."

All I can see are two kids growing up so fast.

High School......Attitude?

I was shopping at the mall with The Love Magnet today. She has definitely developed her own sense of style and did not want her mom dictating her fashion choices. Neither did she want to hold her mom's hand:

The Love Magnet: "I can do whatever I want because I 8 years old now. I am high school teenager now and you can't tell me what to do. If you tell me what to do I have worst. day. ever.! Don't talk to me! (Shows me the 'hand' in my face.) I a TEENAGER!"

Me: (completely flabbergasted and I'm sure my face showed it. I regained some composure and gave my kid that one-eyebrow-up head-cocked mom look that usually - usually! - works on my sons.)

The Love Magnet: "I just kidding mom! I just like the girls on Disney!"


(When did Disney start showing rude, disrespectful girls on their channels?)


The Love Magnet, (a few minutes later) in her sweetest, 8 year old voice: "Mom, I a good girl? I a good 8 year old girl?"

(Great. I have a daughter with two personalities. Little Miss Independent Streak, and Little Miss I-Want-To-Go-Swimming-So-I-Need-To-Remind-Mom-I'm-A-Good-Girl.)

What is 'high school stuff'?

Refer back to this post about High School Stuff.

Birthday Beach Party....as beachy as it gets in Idaho

Pinks, greens, and yellows. Flower leis from the party store. Bonne Bell Lip Smackers (remember those?) Cool bracelets metallic bracelets and funky rings. All the important high school stuff in a convenient party favor bag. We are ready for guests.

Banana Cupcakes with coconut cream cheese frosting. Kahlua pork over rice. Grapes and strawberries and bananas dipped in Danish dessert sauce. We are ready for guests.

One little girl just dying to have her friends sing Happy Birthday. Oh are we ready for guests!

We made rag-tied flip flops (thanks to Auntie Kimberly for explaining the how-to's).

We had fun in the pool.

We started the latest uber-cool birthday party trend - hiring our very own lifeguard! (Firstborn was either very serious.....or very bored.)

9 guests invited. 3 guests came (everyone else was going out of town - that happens at summertime birthdays). 3 guests were all we needed for a fabulous birthday party.

Check it out. Girls hanging out and talking girl stuff. Typical girl stuff.

(I had to zoom in on this one because The Love Magnet didn't want her mom to cramp her style.) This picture made all that planning and worry worth it. Soooooo worth it.

Ego boost

this morning as The Love Magnet and I are brushing our teeth, she rinses and spits and then turns to me with a toothpaste grin and says:

"Mom, you are one red-hot supermodel mama!"

Where does this come from? Does she even knows what it means? I don't care. I needed that ego boost today.

Birthday invites going out....

Half of the bday invites went out today. The rest weren't home so we'll try to catch them either tonight or tomorrow. The Love Magnet had a great time going up to each door ("By myself, Mom. You stay in da car.") and hand delivering each invitation.

Firstborn has been hired as lifeguard for our beach party. He might be persuaded to MC some fun water games. Maybe.

Food will be kahlua pork over rice (not authentic, but I don't think 8 yr olds will care), fruit kabobs with dip, pineapple juice, and cupcakes. The Love Magnet loves rice. She loves fruit. She loves cupcakes when they have birthday candles in them.

I'll stop at the party store for leis and beach party favors. Perhaps I'll pick up balloons to tie on everyone's towell with a gator clip. We'll throw in some flavored Chapstick. The Love Magnet thinks that all beauty routines must start and end with flavored, tinted Chapstick. She keeps two in her high school stuff everywhere she goes.