With the best intentions

Sometimes, when you're a parent, you're forced to make decisions you don't want to make. They're decisions nobody warned you about when you decided to become a parent. As many parents of children who have disabilities will tell you, we're thrown into this position far more, and with more serious implications, than the average parent.

Let's see...what decisions have I had to make? How about when your child needs a life saving surgery, but its considered "elective", which means you have to CHOOSE if it's the best choice for your child, but the POTENTIAL side effects of the procedure could be worse than the reason for the surgery in the first place. Yet not having it would be risking your child's life. Yeah...been there a couple of times.

Making decisions about your child's education is another area. This may seem very simple to some. Most people just send their child to school every day, attend a conference or two each year, read their child's report card. They might even talk to the teacher a couple of times on the phone. I know parents who don't even know the name of their child's teacher! Most never have reason to talk to the building principal, much less anyone higher up in the ranks. Yeah...there are many days when I think "Ingnorance is bliss" is the place I'd rather be.

No, when you have a child who has significant learning issues (and in our case, significant behavioral issues) you don't get to sail through the school years. In the upcoming weeks I have Angela's 3rd or 4th IEP meeting of the year (most parents of kids in special ed. only need to attend 2...we'll have another before school gets out.) I know just about every specialist in her building because I HAVE to, and because they attend all these meetings as well. I speak with Angela's teacher several times per week, and if I go a few days without talking to her we wonder what's wrong! As a parent you have to decide where is the best place for your child. Your neighborhood school is very possibly not the place. You might not even be able to send your child to school within their district, but to send them elsewhere. You put your child who cannot defend themselves, or speak up for themselves, on a bus with strangers and hope that they'll be ok. You entrust them to people who are supposed to be the "experts" but keep having to remind yourself when it comes to your own child, YOU are the real expert. Every day will bring a challenge you hadn't anticipated, and sometimes you'll go to bed at night wondering how you'll get through tomorrow.

Even our trip was by no means easy. There are a lot of times we had to make a hasty retreat from some activity because Angela was starting to get too aggressive. Or the time at at Sea World, while watching the baby dolphin tank, when Angela grabbed the hair of a little girl who was unfortunate enough to be within arms reach.

But with all the decisions I've had to make on Angela's behalf, some of the worst have been related to her medical issues. Right now it's in the form of choosing what/how much/when/why we would want to use medication to get a handle on the behavioral issues. Angela has been on behavioral meds in one combination or another since she was about 5 years old. Some with great success, and others...not so much. But for some reason, for kids with Down Syndrome, even the successes with meds don't last very long before you're scrambling for a new combination.

Our longest success started in July of '06. That little magic pill(s) had Angela go from being a child I could take in public, to her happy, energetic, funny self again. She was truly a joy to be around and take everywhere. I had the pleasure of talking with one of the Guru's in the field of neuro-behavioral disorders in people with DS who confirmed what I already knew....that this success would be short-lived.

It lasted a long time for Angela, well over a year, before things started to go downhill. I started discussing a medication change with her doctors back in October, but then things kind of settled down so I decided to hold off. Well, we can't hold off any longer, so have started the slow process of adding a new drug, then eliminating the old. This isn't something you can do overnight. Instead it takes weeks to allow blood levels to slowly increase or decrease, depending upon the change that you're trying to make. Increase too fast, and you can cause serious liver or kidney damage. Decrease too fast and you can cause serious withdrawals.

What I hate most though, is the fact that I'm pumping my kid full of drugs. One morning last week I cried as I got Angela's morning meds ready. There were EIGHT pills! Some of her meds are not behavior related, like the prevacid she takes for reflux disease, colace to keep her "going", and a vitamin supplement. As I placed her pile of pills in front of her I had to wonder, "Do I even KNOW the REAL Angela anymore?" I know she was without meds for several weeks in the spring of '06 and....well...to say it was "difficult" is an understatement, which is partly why our "miracle drug" seemed to have such a dramatic effect.

Yesterday I cried on the phone to the pediatrician. I hate this. I really really HATE it! How can I keep doing this to my kid? She reminded me that the drug on it's way out is a low dose, and it won't take long to get her off it, and we have a long way to go on the new drug before it's at maintenance level, but I don't feel any better about it.

I just want a happy kid. Right now, Angela is NOT happy! She's spending more and more time in isolation at school because having her with out kids is just not safe much of the time. She's also spending more and more time in her own world doing self-stimming behavior, which I know is drug induced, and makes me want to take her off EVERYTHING. An interesting observation though...I find myself in this same med-change situation at the same time every year. It's definitely cyclical, which makes me wonder about all kinds of other things.

I've heard from lots of parents who's kids with DS are now adults, and they tell me this was the worst age BY FAR! That by high school things settled down quite a bit. I'm hanging onto those thoughts with every ounce of my being.

What Big Brother Doesn't Know

I have one of the biggest smiles I've ever had on my face at this very moment. Why? Because finally someone is going to feel the consequences of using the "R" word on national television. Remember this post?

From the New York Post

February 27, 2008 -- THE "Big Brother" contestant who stirred up a controversy when he called autistic children "retards," has been fired from his job.

But Adam Jasinski, who worked for the United Autism Foundation, doesn't know he's been canned.

He is sequestered in the "Big Brother" house in LA, cut off from contact with the outside world, in keeping with the show's rules.

The foundation announced his firing on its Web site yesterday.

At least one advertiser pulled out of the show following the public outcry over the crude remark and several autism groups even called for CBS to cancel the reality series because producers chose to air the remark in an edited version of the program.

Jasinski was heard on the program saying that he could call children with autism whatever he liked because he worked with them.

"Mr. Jasinski will no longer work for or represent the United Autism Foundation since he caused tremendous damage to UNIAF," the announcement read.

There is also a comment on the United Autism Foundation website

Angela's Wish

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Fledgling Called

Tonight Tyler called to give me an update on his new life in California (or "Cali" as he prefers to call it.) He's applied for jobs at a couple of places, including Taco Bell, where he was working here. Hey, it's a job!

The grandmother of one if his friends gave them some tents, so they're going to be striking camp...hopefully somewhere it's legal to do so!

He's having fun and enjoying the adventure, and I guess that's the most important part, right? I've said all kinds of prayers for him, and try to remember that God loves him even more than I do. I pray that he listens to that still, small voice and makes good decisions. That he stays out of harms way. That he's able to keep enough money in his pocket to eat, stay warm and dry, and to pay his cell phone bill so he can keep calling home!

So Where Is It?

So where is the photo montage everyone is asking me about? It's COMING!!! I finally got my photos yesterday (Friday) and am working on getting everything uploaded.

The most difficult part isn't doing the pictures, it's finding THE perfect music to go with them. Not only does the song have to PERFECTLY fit the mood I'm trying to convey, but it has to be the right length as well! (otherwise you're stuck adjusting how long each photo displays, how it transitions, etc. which becomes even more time consuming than the project started out to be.)

Several people have said, "Can't you just use some Disney music? Anything Disney will work!" But this isn't quite so. I have downloaded every Disney song there is that has to do with wishes, hopes and dreams (and often several versions of each one) and they're not quite right for what my heart wants to say. And so, I keep looking.

I also have this issue about timing certain pictures to what's happening in the song, (watch my "An Amazing 11 Years" video and you'll see what I'm talking about.) I know...I know!!! Throughout most of my life I'm a pretty random and scattered person, but somehow, when it comes to these montages the perfectionist side of me comes out! Believe me, it drives me crazy too.

Spreading His Wings

For about 3 or 4 weeks my 19 year old son Tyler has been talking about going to California. Well...not "going" really, more like "moving". Cuz, you know, he has a minimum wage paying job, the clothes on his back, and that's about it.

I thought it was all talk, except that while we were on the Make A Wish trip there were lots of phone conversations with his friends about buying bus tickets, who's paying for what, etc. I began to get a little worried, some of it for him, and some of it for Angela. She already has one brother who she sees only once every year or so, and she misses him terribly. She's very attached to all her brothers, and I worry how this will affect her that yet another one has moved away. But I digress.

Tyler and his friends really didn't have much of a plan aside from buying tickets. No jobs waiting for them when they get there, and no place to stay. You know, a well-thought out adventure that I had to sit back and watch unfold!

We arrived home on Sunday evening, and he left almost as soon as we got in the door to "get things done" before getting on a bus Monday night. Things like one of the boys didn't have an I.D., and driving around to say goodbye to everyone. And, since none of them have a car, they rented a U-haul to drive around in. Cuz...you know..they have all kinds of money to spare! LOL

Monday afternoon he came back, just for a few minutes, to say goodbye. He gave me a hug, and then hugged Angela. She asked him, "You're coming right back Ty? Tomorrow you come back?"

I answered, maybe incorrectly but I wanted her to understand, "No Angela. Tyler won't be back tomorrow. He's going to be gone for a long time, like Robbie."

She got big tears in her eyes and gave Tyler another hug, then watched at the kitchen window as he walked out the door. His friends were waiting in the cab of their rented truck, but when Tyler left he walked around the side of the garage, staying out of sight for several minutes. I know he went there to cry, that he realized just how big this really was, and that it wasn't just about him, it was about all of us.

The bus was supposed to arrive in the bus station around 9:30 pm that night, but he called me at 10:30 asking if I knew a way to check the bus schedule because it hadn't arrived yet. When the bus did finally show up there weren't enough seats on it (how does this happen when one buys a ticket? And, I didn't realize there were still that many people who traveled by bus.) After spending the night who knows where, they finally got a seat the following morning.

He called me several times throughout the ride, to tell me where they were and about the various people on the bus. They finally arrived in Poway, CA yesterday morning. A friend of a friend picked them up, and the first thing they did was visit a beach. (I think this is hilarious, considering while we were in Florida we couldn't get Tyler to go in the ocean past his ankles...because...you know...there's sharks and stuff.) They climbed some big hill, and swam in someone's pool. Today they plan to look for jobs and a place to live, because between the three of them they have about $800 left, and that ought to get them an apartment on the beach, huh? Never mind food!

So why am I telling you about this? I'm writing to tell you about some of the requirements of motherhood that nobody told me about. Like the part about letting go. Letting them fall on their own butt, but being ready to help them back up if need be. The part about sitting back and watching them, knowing exactly the mistakes they're making but really not being unable to say anything about it. Don't think I didn't try talking him out of this big adventure. Don't think I didn't try to help him come up with some plan of action, like saving money first! I did all those things, but in the end it comes down to one young man wanting to strike out on his own (and get out of the sub-zero temperatures of Minnesota) and find his own way.

I'm still going to put some money aside for an airline ticket for him...just in case.

Home and crying!

We are HOME, and I'm crying. You might think it's because we left the 85* sunshine to come home to snow, but no...it's not that. Instead I'm crying because I have a disk of 400+ pictures I took that the tech guy at the Give Kids the World Village took from my memory card and put onto a disk...AND I CAN'T OPEN THEM! Oh no!!!! I emailed him but don't expect to hear from him until Tuesday or so. I'm just sick and trying not to cry!!

Not breathing easy

12:45 a.m.
In just 3 hours and 15 minutes I have to wake up everyone in the house, so we can climb in limo for a ride to the airport. Seems way too easy, doesn't it? Angela thought so to, so she decided to spice things up a bit.

Tonight we brought the dogs to the boarding kennel, and on the way Angela sounded h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e!!! I could hear the peds voice echoing in my ear "If she gets worse, bring her in for a chest x-ray before getting on that plane!"

So I brought her into the ER around 7:00 tonight( or would that be last night?) because she was wheezing too bad, and she sounded kind of pneumonia like. Three neb treatments and a chest x-ray later, she does NOT have pneumonia, but was having a very bad asthma attack. Her oxygen sats were only so-so, but once we finished the last neb they were back up where they were supposed to be. The Dr. said he had no problems with us getting on the plane, and said the Florida air will be great for her. I sure hope he's right! Oh, and I don't remember who I was talking to today when I said something about how flushed she was. (she actually looked flu-ish which REALLY had me worried!) I found out that was from the Decadron. Nobody told me that might happen. Oh well...live and learn. We also came home with Zithromax as a preventative so she DOESN'T develop pneumonia (which she is so prone to do.)

Ok, I'm off to catch a nap before it's time to load up. Thank you everyone for the well-wishes. It all seems kind of surreal, this whole Make A Wish thing. I've been walking around numb for the past couple of days, just trying to take everything in. I didn't even cry at the salon yesterday, so I KNOW my brain is on disconnect mode.

I'll have lots of pictures to post in a week or so. Man..now THAT montage will take forever to put together!

Angela's day at the Spa

Angela's day at the spa, courtesy of "Make A Wish" of Minnesota

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Mother at the Swings

This was shared with me on the Down Syndrome Listserve. Beautifully written.

The Mother at the Swings
by Vicki Forman

It's a Sunday afternoon. My nine-year-old daughter Josie is at home
drawing cartoons with my husband and I'm swinging my six-year-old son
Evan at the park. Evan laughs and giggles and with each wide arc of
the swing, his smile grows ever larger. The mother next to me smiles
herself and says, "Boy, he really loves that, doesn't he? I mean,
kids just love to swing, don't they?"

Yes, I think, kids do love to swing. But the reason my son loves to
swing isn't the same reason her daughter, in the swing next to us,
loves to swing. My son loves to swing because he is blind and non-
verbal, because he has what is termed "sensory integration
dysfunction" and requires enhanced "vestibular input." Swinging gives
my son the kind of stimulation other kids, those who can see and talk
and run and ride a bike, get by simply being and doing.

And, yes, he also loves to swing because all children love to swing.

I smile back at this mother and I swing Evan higher and he laughs
louder, his squeals of delight growing bigger with every push.

"He really loves to go high," the mother at the swings says. "He's
not afraid at all."

"He's not afraid because he can't see," I say. "He has no idea how
high he's swinging."

"Well, he must have other ways of knowing," she says. "Because he
definitely loves it."

My son was born at twenty-three weeks gestation, weighing only a
pound. His twin sister died four days after birth when we removed her
from life support. Evan was hospitalized for six months and came home
blind, with feeding difficulties, chronic lung disease and global
developmental delays. Soon after that, he developed a serious seizure
disorder and was on medication until his fourth birthday. He did not
walk until he was five, still does not eat anything other than pureed
baby food and formula from a cup, and has only a word or two --
variations on "muh muh" -- which he uses indiscriminately for "more"
or "mama" or "open." I have watched my friends' newborns become
toddlers and school-age children who can walk and laugh and talk and
read, all while my son continues to function at the level of a two-
year-old.

And yes, he has a beautiful laugh and a beautiful smile which grow
only louder and wider on the swings.

When Evan was still in the hospital, a social worker gave us a
handout, a road map for the potential reactions of friends and family
members to our new status as parents of a super preemie. Potential
support people came divided, according to the handouts, into the
following categories: the rocks, the wanna-be-theres, and the
gingerbread men. It warned us that people we might think were "rocks"
could unexpectedly turn out to be "gingerbread men." Just like the
story, they run, run as fast as they can from you when they hear of
your baby's birth.

I quickly found that the guide was right, that I was supported by
only one or two rocks, and that the rest of my friends and family
members had become gingerbread men. As Evan's disabilities became
more obvious, after he left the hospital and in the time that
followed, I found new rocks and said goodbye to the gingerbread men.
And I found a new category for the characters in the social worker's
handout: the mother at the swings.

The mother at the swings wants to know. It's why she makes her
observations, and why she pretends there is nothing different,
nothing dissimilar about her child and mine. All kids love to swing.
The mother at the swings would like for me to tell her what it's
like, how my son is different, and how he is the same. She wants to
know about the cane he uses, and the challenges of having a non-
verbal child, and how I manage to understand my son and communicate.
She'd like to ask, What does his future look like? And How are you
with all this?

She wants to know but she doesn't know how to ask. And so she tells
me that all kids love to swing.

~

It has taken me years to know what to say to the mother at the
swings, and how to say it. To reveal the truth, graciously. To let
her in and help her understand. To tell her that yes, all children
love to swing, and my son loves to swing and the reasons are both the
same and different. That it's hard to watch her daughter, with her
indelible eye contact and winning smile, and not mourn for what my
son can't do. That some days my grief over my son is stronger than my
love.

It has taken me even longer to appreciate the mother at the swings,
to know that she and I have more in common than I once thought. To
know that her curiosity is a mother's curiosity, one borne out of
love and tenderness and a desire to understand a child, my son, one
who happens to be different. That she will listen and sympathize when
I offer my observations. That her compassion and thoughtfulness mean
she will take the knowledge I share and use it to understand other
mothers like myself, some of whom could be her neighbor, her cousin,
her sister, her friend. And, finally, that she wants to know so that
she can teach her own child, who also loves to swing, how to embrace
and treasure what makes us all different. And the same

4:30 a.m...

Please pray that Angela gets better FAST! Airport security isn't fond of nebulizers as carry-ons. Decadron helps, but I just gave her the last dose of it and I think that's all she's allowed. The poor kid is on EIGHT different drugs right now!

Response from the Department of Education

2 1/2 months.

Because of the holidays, it took nearly 2 weeks to complete the investigation, and two full months for me to get the report from the Minnesota Department of Education, Division of Maltreatment. Things take time.....I know...it's hard to be patient. Please not that any highlighted text is mine, and was not included in the report.

So the report starts out with lots of explanatory stuff, including the definition of maltreatment.

Minn. Stat. 626.556, Subd. 2(g),physical abuse

• Physical abuse means any physical injury, mental injury or threatened injury inflicted by a person responsible for the child's care on a child other than by accidental means, or any physical or mental injury that cannot reasonably be explained by the child's history of injuries or any aversive or deprivation procedures, or regulated interventions, that have not been authorized under section 121A.67.
• Corporal punishment means conduct involving hitting or spanking a person with our without an object or unreasonable physical force that causes bodily harm or substantial emotional harm and is not allowed to reform or penalize student conduct.
  

Summary of Findings

1. The eleven year old student has Down Syndrome. She participates in mainstream education with support from paraprofessionals.
2. The Student's parent reported that the student is hearing impaired has conduct disorder, and difficulty with her attention span.
3. There were no reports of injury to the student as a result of the incident.
4. The Student was not interviewed because of her developmental delays and because she had been asked about the incident on several occasions.
5. School officials became aware of the incident when the Student's classmates were overheard talking about it.
6. The Student and several other students told school officials that the paraprofessional had slapped the student's face after the student had slapped the paraprofessional.
7. The paraprofessional was interviewed by school officials and denied that she had slapped the student.
8. The MDE investigator and the police interviewed five students. Two of the five students who were interviewed did not see the incident.
9. Witness 1 reported that the student's classroom of students were lined up to go to the art room.
   
10. Witness 1 heard a slap and then saw the paraprofessional slap the student. Witness 1 described the contact as "really hard" and reported that the paraprofessional used the palm of her hand to slap the student's cheek.
11. Witness 1 reported that after the student was slapped she cried.
12. Witness 1 is "absolutely sure" she saw the paraprofessional slap the student in the face.
13. Witness 2 reported that the student was mad and hit the paraprofessional. Witness 2 reported that she saw the paraprofessional slap the student's face.
14. Witness 2 reported that she heard the slap which sounded like hands clapping and then heard the student saw, "Owe."
15. Witness 3 reported that the student was angry. Witness 3 reported that the paraprofessional slapped the student with an open hand. Witness 3 reported that he could also hear the sound of the slap.
16. Witness 4, a school employee, did not see the incident but heard several students talking about how the paraprofessional had slapped the student.
17. Witness 4 reported that the student told her that the paraprofessional had hit her.
18. Witness 4 reported to her supervisor that the student told told her the paraprofessional had slapped her in the face.
19. The paraprofessional was interviewed by the school's officials after the incident.
20. The paraprofessional reported that the student had slapped her. The paraprofessional did not report to school officials that she had slapped the student.
21. The paraprofessional was interviewed by the police and the MDE investigator on December 4, 2007.
22. The paraprofessional reported that on the day of the incident the student was presenting some challenging behaviors which was not unusual for the student.
23. The paraprofessional reported that the student had slapped her face twice. The paraprofessional responded by informing the student that her behavior was inappropriate.
24. The paraprofessional did not immediately report to the police and MDE investigator that she had slapped the student.
25. When the paraprofessional was informed that several witnesses saw her slap the student, she reported that she had touched the student's cheek but not hard enough to be regarded as a slap.
    
26. The paraprofessional later admitted that she had probably slapped the student reflexively but not intentionally.
27. The paraprofessional reported that she was not angry or irritated with the student.
28. The paraprofessional reported that she had not admitted this to school officials because she was overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment, shock, and guilt.
29. The paraprofessional reported that she knew that hitting students was prohibited.

Determination

1. It is the determination of the Minnesota Department of Education that there was no maltreatment on the part of the facility ......................................pursuant to Minn. stat. 626.556
2. It is the determination of the Minnesota Department of Education there is a preponderance of evidence to show that maltreatment occurred on the part of the paraprofessional for the following reasons.

a. Corporal punishment means conduct involving hitting or spanking a person with or without an object or unreasonable physical force that causes bodily harm or substantial emotional harm and is not allowed to reform or penalize student conduct.
b. There are eyewitnesses accounts from the student and three witnesses that the paraprofessional slapped the student.
c. The paraprofessional did not admit to school officials that she slapped the student. However, when she was interviewed by the police and the MDE investigator she reported that she had slapped the student reflexively.
d. Therefore, there is a preponderance of evidence that physical abuse in the form of corporal punishment occurred on the part of the paraprofessional as defined in Minn. Stat. 626.556 Subd. 2(g)


So, I have lots of questions for the county attorney. You know, the one who told me, "maybe it's about time someone tells her (Angela) it's not ok to act this way." and that "The paraprofessional acted in self defense." which is one of the reasons they're not going to pursue prosecution.

Well, in this report the para never says anything about "self defense", she says she acted "reflexively". There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between the two!!!! In a situation of self defense a para could have a) blocked the blow from Angela b) pushed her away or c) moved away from her. This person didn't do any of those things. Instead she reacted, striking back.

There are those reading who feel that I don't put enough blame on Angela, including the county attorney. I have countless assessments and reports from various professionals (psychologists, behavioral specialists, and medical staff) that all state that not only is Angela not capable of impulse control, but that she also does not think in terms of "If I do X, I'm going to get into trouble." She is also not able to connect a consequence to what she's done after about 30 seconds. In other words, doing things like suspending her for misbehavior would serve no purpose, because she is not able to connect that this punishment is for something that happened yesterday or many days prior. She's not even able to connect these things on more immediate basis, such as time outs. Clearly, she is a difficult child to deal with at times. I know...I live with her...I spend hours out of every day trying to think ahead at the next transition or request I'm going to be making of her, and how I'm going to handle the fall-out...all BEFORE it actually happens.

People in a caregiver position have no business being there if they're not able to display some self control. It is not easy working with a student who presents the behavioral challenges that Angela does. Every staff person who works with her knows how difficult she is, including this particular substitute who had worked with her many times over the past 3 years that Angela has been in this school. Every staff person has the right to say, "I'm sorry, but working with this student is beyond my skills and training." and SHOULD say so, to avoid this very type of situation.

As things stand now, there is nothing preventing this person from working in another district. Never mind that she lied to investigators. Never mind that she admitted to acting reflexively. Never mind that she works with vulnerable students who cannot defend themselves. This WILL happen AGAIN...it's only a matter of time. Next time it might be YOUR child. What will you do about it? Will you go to every news station in the city as I have? Not a single one has returned my calls. Will you file a civil suit? Good luck...in Minnesota you won't be able to. You won't even be able to get copy of the police report about the incident. No...because you might use the information in a malicious manner. Apparently I'm not allowed to defend my child, so yours may be the one to suffer next.

From the Archives

I've been tagged by Renee over at My Special K's to do the Archive Meme. Thanks Renee!

Here are the rules -
Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. But there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be anything you choose.

Link 1) Many Hats: On raising a child with Schizophrenia. This was very difficult for me to write, but more difficult to live through. I know there are others struggling with this...the secret life of a parent who's child suffers from Mental Illness.

Link 2) Overlapping Guests Ok, so this is a funny post about Angela's friends. I have a few friends, but only rarely do I actually SEE them. I'm not exactly sure why except that I know it has to do with everyone having busy schedules, myself included! LOL

Link 3) Who...me??? Honest, someone said this to me!

Link 4) The Gift of Riding Alone As it was pubished in Biker Alley Magazine in August '07

Link 5) It Sneaks Up On You My first ever blog post, written June 30, 2005. If you haven't taught kids to drive yet, you might want to read this one! LOL

Getting excited!

I know it's supposed to be "wordless Wednesday" but those who know me know that's a whole 24 hours of keeping my mouth shut. Yeah right!

Anyway, I just got a call from the Give Kids The World Village in Orlando...confirming our upcoming stay. It's getting so close we can taste it! I heard that yesterday was 85 and sunny there, a little cooler today, in the 60's. SO??? That's better than SNOW!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

TWO new children have a home!

You may remember my posts about the Cornish Family, and their adoption of Sasha that fell through at the end of January. While we're sad for Sasha, and hope that things will change for her and she'll find her forever family, we're thrilled to announce the Cornish's pending adoptions of TWO beautiful children from the Ukraine! Please pray for Emma (in yellow) and Daniel (in blue) You can read more about their first meeting with these two beautiful kids on their blog.

The First of a Series

Today was the first of a series of very special days. Watch the video, you'll see why! Check back next week for "Day 2"!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Blast from the Past

Tomorrow I'll have exciting things to write about, which is really all I can think about right now, so instead of writing and spoiling it, here's a blast from the past:

Angela 5 days old


Almost 5 months old


5 years old