On my day off

Every day for the past month, I've either been in class, or at the tutors, or driving to one or the other! Today was my first day off in quite some time. So what did I do with my time off? Lets see....

My friend Lynda came over for coffee! She brought her little guy Ricky to play with Angela, and we talked adoptions, and kids, and school related stuff!

Then I had a nice couple of ladies come over who are interested in a puppy. I'm always willing to discuss dogs, and Bella and Roman are always willing to be the center of attention, so that was fun!

But no matter what I was doing all morning, I noticed that about every 5-10 minutes, the humming birds were at the feeder. We have two pairs of them nesting somewhere in the yard.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to catch them. The feeder is about 20 feet from the kitchen window, so I took the screen off the window and waited. I didn't have to wait long though! Over the course of the day I had the opportunity to catch them several times, and learn about shutter speed and how it relates to exposure! Yeah, thats a lot like math and we know how good I am at THAT! ...NOT! Anyway, here are the pictures I was able to catch today. I'm hoping to try again tomorrow, now that the humming birds are on to me and are just teasing me at the feeder!

I know this one is hard to see, but this is a hard shot to get, especially from my kitchen window BY ACCIDENT!!!!! He's not super clear, and he's at least 50 feet away, but here's the 3 inch humming bird, perched in a tree!

Special Olympics Update

Well, the pool has been narrowed just a tiny bit, no pun intended, of course! All the athletes work really hard for this, so it's sad when anyone gets eliminated.

An email went out today saying that 45 athletes submitted applications, but there are only eight openings, so if you have been chosen to attend the World Games before, you will not be able to this time around.

This gives everyone a chance at what is often a once in a life-time opportunity.

So Angela is still in the running! She will meet with a representative from our state Special Olympics office sometime between now at September 1st for an interview.

The 2011 Special Olympics in Athens Greece is a HUGE opportunity, and we're very excited that Angela for Angela! Needless to say, we have already ramped up her training!

Beautiful Bella

Smile Bella!

Ok, let's try it again! This time try to open your eyes, k?

Yes, Bella, I saw the squirrel. Now, this time can you look at ME?

 What's that Bella? You want to show me your "good side?" Ok, I'm game, lets see it!

You're right Bella, that's much better! I wish I looked so good 17 days before my due date!

Shhhh Don't wake Dudley!

Kind of pitiful, isn't it? Dudley couldn't find any of his stuffies! Not his Barney, not his monkey, not even the Elvis cat. (That's because his mean dog mom threw all those stinky things in the washer!) So he settled for a nap with Dean's old shoe.

Now, for you large-breed dog lovers out there, take a closer look at what Dudley is laying on. It it's a therapeutic dog mattress, which costs hundreds of dollars in pet supply catalogs. But I am NOT about to spend hundreds of dollars for those things! Not when all they are is crib mattresses!!!! HA! 

Instead, I go to the thrift store and buy them used for anywhere from $5-$10. They're vinyl covered, so they wipe clean and are easily sanitized, and they can stand up to all kinds of abuse. Most thrift stores, like Savers, have lots of them so you can pick through and find one that is like new! 

Now, there are different support levels to crib mattresses. I find my dogs like the squishier ones, and will totally ignore the "firm" ones. 

When I have a litter of puppies? THEY don't care one bit, and will climb all over anything! Now, I really don't NEED to give my puppies a mattress, but they really do like to climb on stuff, which is good for them, and they do end up sleeping on it. Also, I have found that for the puppies, the softer mattresses are more likely to be chewed up, but the firm mattresses are apparently not quite as tempting until they're a little older. So I buy the softer ones for the big dogs, and the the firm ones for the puppies. Even so, no matter what I get them, a litter of puppies will destroy a mattress by the time they go home at 8-9 weeks, but for $5 who cares, right? 

Here's another hint. When you buy your used crib mattress (aka high priced therapeutic dog bed) buy a used crib sheet to use for dog bedding too! Your dog will thank you for it, and your friends will think you've gone crazy and spent hundreds of dollars on your dogs and are now spoiling them. ;-) 

Pictures by PZ Photography 

Application? Check! NEXT?

Angela's application for the World games is now on the desk of the Minnesota Special Olympics committee member who is responsible for doing whatever it is she does with them to get the submissions on to the next step in the selection process. I have NO idea how long that process takes.

Now I have three days left to study with the tutors, two days to study on my own, then it's algebra finals time. I need a 60% to pass the test, and a "C" in the class for the grade to count. I've never done so poorly in a class, and it's stressing me out!

Thanks to my good friend Nell for volunteering to take Angela for me tomorrow and Friday while I go work with the tutors. I'm not yet sure what I'm doing for Monday. The tutors aren't available, but a couple of my classmates and I were going to get together to study. I might just take Angela along with her Ipod, if they don't mind. Then Tuesday is the test and I have that time covered!

I think Wedsnesday I am deserving of Margaritas! Yes? But come Thursday my focus is on getting this house whipped into shape! I am behind on laundry and cleaning and we have a homestudy visit looming over us! Where's the Calgon? There is MUCH paper shredding to be done around here, much of which needs to be done by Dean because it's all his stuff, otherwise I'd just stick Angela in front of the shredder and let her have at it! There are school supplies to be purchased (thankfully, not a lot!) and well it's just time to get caught up, that's all.

Dean's new job is going really well, and he seems to be enjoying it. He has a lot of his old customers, so he's coming home smiling, which is always a good thing.

There are puppies due September 1st, which is always an exciting time! If you want to read about the fun times of puppyhood, you can read about that here. Yes...I dog blog too! I know, call me crazy.

For Sarah

Happy Birthday to an awesome young lady!

The Athlete

About a week ago we found out that Angela qualified for the 2011 WORLD Special Olympics Games in Athens Greece! For swimming. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Dean and I had to chuckle a little, because she qualified for her back stroke, which is her worst stroke, and I think she qualified by default, but hey...she qualified!!!

There were others who qualified as well, but not all are actually eligible, and the state of Minnesota can only take so many athletes so there is an application process which includes a fourteen (14) page application which I have spent the past week filling out. You know, in the midst of studying for finals, preparing for our homstudy and adoption, and etc. And it's not just filling out the forms for the application, it's also gathering forms from her coaches (thank you Coach R. and M. for jumping on those right away!!!!) saying they support Angela attending the World Games too!

So what does this mean for Angela?

Well, the biggest thing, of course, is that she'd be representing the United States, and all athletes with disabilities, showing the world that THEY CAN DO IT TOO!!!!!! That with strength and determination you can do anything! Remember, just three years ago Angela couldn't swim!

But here's the other part, the hidden part. The athletes have to be ok separated from Mom and Dad for up to three weeks at a time. Just like the regular Olympics, they're sequestered away from the rest of the world a lot of the time. Dean and I (and her dad if he wants to) will still be able to go to Athens, but we won't be able to be "with" her. She'll be with her coaches, and training hard.

And there is the fact I don't know these coaches. I am sending my kid away with US coaches who I don't know. Her coaches have applied to go, but they, too, have to go through a selection process. Just as there is no guarantee Angela will be selected, there is no guarantee that a coach who knows her will be going.

In March there is a two week training camp in California that she would be required to attend, and then the World Games in Athens.

My child, my baby girl. The one they told me wouldn't get very far. Look at her go!

Upstairs or Down?

We have a problem in this house, and it is called pretend people. On occasion the pretend people have been known to overtake the house, and the conversations become more and more involved until, finally, there's just so much imaginary noise going on that it's really hard to listen to a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g Mom and Dad are saying.

Please tell me you have this problem too? Tell me your house has imaginary people you are bumping into all the time, accidentally sitting on, and (gasp) interrupting their conversations!

Last week, Angela was heavily involved in some game with what seemed to be a whole party of people in my living room. (hard to know when you can't see them!) That's when I asked her to let the dogs outside. Only she couldn't hear me even a tiny bit. Too many people talking at once, I suppose. I called again from the kitchen, "Angela, I'm busy with something and the dogs need to go out. Go open the door for them please." to which I received ZERO response.

It's never good to ignore your mother. I ignored my mother....once......

I went to the living room and invaded their space, "Angela. I'm talking to you. I need you to let the dogs out." She sort-of-glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, then continued talked to "Joe". "When do you want to go to Applebees? (pause for Joe to speak) Oh Tuesday is great! I love chicken strips too!"

I walked to the basement and let the dogs out, and formulated my plan.

Now if this were any other child, I would have addressed this very differently, more like IN HER FACE, and you can bet she WOULD have done what she was asked. But Angela isn't any other kid, she is Angela, and I know how her mind works. You have to have a strategy, a game plan. Getting in her face would have turned in to an all out battle of wills that neither of us would have won, and in the end the purpose of forcing her to listen to me would have been lost in the mayhem.

That night at dinner, I announced a family meeting. "Angela, starting tomorrow there is a new rule in the house. The pretend people are a problem in this house, but they are a lot of fun for you (never mind it is strange, just say'in...) so here's the new rule. Starting tomorrow morning, the only people allowed upstairs are those DEAN AND I can see and touch. ( because I'm not 100% convinced that Angela doesn't actually see these people. I think they are very much real to her.) Lets look around, who is here that we can see and touch."

Angela looked at me, "I see you. I can touch you. I see Dean, I can touch Dean. I can see me, I can touch me."

We talked about making a sign to put at the top of the stairs to serve as a reminder of who is allowed to come upstairs and who isn't.

The next morning, she came upstairs to watch t.v. About 10 minutes later I heard, "Not you Cody! You're invisible! You go downstairs now!" and a few minutes later she followed him.

Guess what? That was a couple days ago, and she was busy with stuff. Today? I haven't seen her ALL DAY because she's been downstairs, and it sounds like Mardi Gras down there!

Keep'in up to Angela

Angela was at her dad's for the weekend, Dean and Tyler were frantically trying to finish painting the house, and I was trying to study for upcoming finals. (though I will admit, I didn't get much studying done.)

Angela's dad dropped her off last night saying she was really worn out from their weekend of carnivals, parades and heat. For our girl who doesn't sweat, the heat can do her in pretty quickly.

Apparently all she needed was to be home, and 15 minutes in the air conditioning. Because it wasn't long before she was on the move!

You'll notice there is a walkee talkee in her hand, and she has already stashed a beach bucket full of stolen "loot" in the playhouse. She's off to catch the perp now, and there's no time to stop for a picture!

She stopped to radio for back-up.

"Hey Angela, look at Mom a second." I wanted to get a picture, cuz she looked cute with her badge and stuff. All I got was this....

She was moving fast! It's times like this I wish we had a smaller yard, with fewer holes for me to trip in. I went down right after snapping this shot.

You can't see it in this shot (well, neither can I, for that matter!) but *someone* who shall remain invisible was getting handcuffed here!

OH NO!!! Something happened here and the bad guy has turned things around! Angela is now tied to the tree! Here she is saying (no kidding, for real she is saying...) "What da heck?" Because even the invisible people pull one over on HER sometimes too! Now I don't feel so bad.

Somehow she went from "good cop" to being the bad guy in jail. She wouldn't smile for me because bad guys don't smile in jail I guess.

This is one baby-faced criminal, I tell ya! Who would have ever thought she'd cause so much trouble in such a short period of time. And she hasn't even made it to 15 yet!

Roman Says

I'm to sexy for my shirt...

Embarrassing moment of the week

Here's my embarrassing moment of the week, courtesy of Angela. I'm sure someday she won't appreciate the fact that I posted this, but I can't NOT. Really...it must be posted.

So Tuesday was a record hot day here. 100 degrees and 90 something percent humidity. That was HOT, and for my girl with anhidrosis, it was SUPER hot. It was take-your-bra-off hot!

Anyway, Angela and I had to bring some paperwork over to the homestudy agency so we can work on getting this new sister home. We parked in the scorching parking lot and went into the building. It's a large building, but the office itself is small. Angela, the Agency representative and I were sitting at a small, round conference table; the rep on my left, and Angela on my right.

Angela was still recovering from being overheated, and she was tired from her morning of summer school, so she was draped over the back of her chair, but I wasn't really paying attention to her (big mistake) because the Rep and I were going over the papers I'd just pulled out of the big envelope. And besides, she's 14, for goodness sakes.

Suddenly the rep gets and odd look on her face and kind of points in a "you better check our your kid" kind of way.

It is at that moment I wanted to crawl under the table and D.I.E.

There was Angela, leaned way back in her chair, with her bottom of her tshirt OVER HER FACE, with her bra-less chest exposed for all the world to see.

"Ummm EXCUSE ME!" I said.

"Oh...sorry...I was reyaxin. And I'm HOT." she said casually, as she pulled her shirt down, then yawned and stretched like I'd just interrupted a good nap.

"Yeah, well, that's how you relax...at home...in your bedroom...A.L.O.N.E."

The rep laughed, and said something about it being a good thing we're all ladies, or something to try to make me feel better.

Man, I love being a mom!

Grandbabies

I'm not technically old enough to have grandbabies. Well, I AM...But...we don't need to be doing all this math, now, do we? Anyway, if you MUST know, I raised my stepsons from the time they were 3 & 5 years old. My oldest, Robbie, has 3 little girls, and they were in town this week. Man, do I love having little girls around! Especially since Angela, who grew up with four big brothers, is NOT girlie girl!

The newest baby is Kyleigh. She is a buddah baby! She looks just like her daddy, AND her mommy (who share similar features) Yeah, well she was NOT happy with this gramma holding her. I think there was about 15 minutes that I got to hold her that she wasn't VERY upset! (there are no pictures of that grand event!) But, she is still a beauty!

It's pictures like these that make me wish Dean and I had been able to have babies together.

This is Mahryah, and she's turning 5 in August. Mahryah is a blonde version of her daddy at the same age! And is she a spitfire. She's kind of a combination of her uncle Bryon, and there must be some of her mom in there somewhere. She had the biggest hug for Angela when the got here!

This is Teighlor (with an unhappy baby Kyleigh) and she just turned 4. Teighlor wants to stay with me forever, you know. ;-)

Then I remembered that I have my 25h high school reunion next week, and I should be bringing pictures to share, so I made everyone act happy and sit for pictures. I forgot to get Dean and I in them though, so there are no pictures of Dean and I with the family. That means I'm going to my reunion with a picture of some family which could belong to anyone, and nobody will believe they are mine. It also means if anyone else shows up without family pictures to pass around, I can share with them. Cuz I'm nice like that.

Only two of my 5 kids are missing! Noah and Bryon are nowhere to be found for pictures. But, there is room to photoshop them into this picture, I think! Since they didn't show up, I think I'll just put some naked baby pictures of them in here. That would serve them right, don't you think? Don't ask me what is up with Angela's hands. Her right hand is signing "I love you", her left? I think that's a DS gang sign she learned at camp.

No babies were hurt in the taking of these pictures.

Camp

So last Friday Dean and I drove out to the Wisconsin Dells area to pick Angela up from Camp. (yes, she went to another Camp. It is my summer salvation!)

This particular camp is put on by the Easter Seals of Wisconsin, and it is her second year attending. If you are in the Twin Cities area of MN, (ok, if you are within driving distance....we drive 4 hours, and met another family that drives 8 from Kansas City!) and you have a child with ANY disability, you are missing out if you don't access this camp! They have lots of scholarships available, you only have to ask! They are FANTASTIC!!!! The camp is staffed 1:2 and campers are paired to other campers of similar ability levels and interests. Then those pairs spend the week with other groups. So you might have the "green group" that is made up of 12 pairs of campers.

Anyway, they do all the typical camp things at this camp. They also have a "bring a buddy" or "bring a sibling" program, and the buddy or sibling can be disabled or non-disabled. You might want to go read this post about Angela's plans for camp next year! (but bring a tissue with you!)

So the coolest thing happened at the end of Angela's camp session this year. The last night of camp, while the campers were enjoying their camp dance or something, the camp board of directors were having a board meeting which included some of their biggest financial supporters. You know, like the Lions, Elks Club, local businesses, etc. They chose one of the campers to come speak at the board meeting about their camp experience. Guess which darling camper they chose? Guess which darling camper told EVERY DETAIL about camp, and talked about driving "all the way from "Missisota" to come to "the best camp EVER" (don't worry Down syndrome camp people, she thinks yours is the best camp ever too!) Guess which camper got those checkbooks to come out!!!

Yes, that's my little camper!