Did I just say that??

As a mom, there are certain things that come out of your mouth when you are speaking to or disciplining your children that you never thought you would say. I'm not even talking about explatives &*#@, and I"m not even talking about yelling. They fall right out of your mouth, and then you ask yourself, "Did I really just say that?"

So today, I hear some screaming coming from the basement and I make the trek downstairs to figure out who the offender is. Two kids are crying, so I ask what happened. After a tearful explanation from both sides I give my words of wisdom to the girls, "It is NOT okay to bite your sister's bum. How would you feel if someone bit your bum?" What??

The other day I say to Saige, "Go smell Wyatt's bum for me and tell me if he needs a new diaper." What??? I wonder how many times a day we say "bum" in our house. Probably don't really want to know. Enough random thoughts for today....

The dance party after the fashion show

...and yes, I did marry him for his awesome dance moves!

Fashion Forward

As many of you know, we are all about fashion in our house. Here's a preview of the latest fashion for fall, I do believe these ensembles are straight from the runways of Paris!

I do wish I had cleared off my countertops before the fashion show commenced...pretend you don't see the clutter...

First Day of School 2009!

Yes, we survived the summer....barely. And today was the first day of school! I'm not laying on the couch eating BonBons yet though, Mariah and Wyatt don't start school until tomorrow! (jk about the bonbons, what are they anyway??)

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability-to try to help people who have not shared in this unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michealangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?!" You say. "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I am supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy all new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. but after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around...and you even begin to notice that Holland has windmills...and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wondeful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

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Thanks for sharing this with me Val.

Thinking of you this day....

Two years later, not a day goes by that I don't still think of him. Not a day passes that I don't remember what it felt like to hold such a special little one who had only recently been in the presence of our Father in Heaven, and who would soon join him again. What a sweet little boy! He blessed so many in the short time he was here. Until we meet again someday...
I am a child of God
And he has sent me here
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me
Help me find the way
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.