Tate's Best Friend

Daddy is Tate's favorite person...he is really missing his pal! Hurry home Daddy.


And for your "TATE" viewing pleasure :)

SPEAK OUT

I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

What about you? Speak out!

Farm Life

I LOVE living in a beach town, but my dream is to live on a farm.



Doesn't it look like we fit?

Dinner with Daddy

Mike left early this morning for a business trip in New York. In order to give me a quick break, he took the kids out to dinner last night.

Grocery store fried chicken and a bag of cut-up apples.


At least it wasn't McDonald's...I'll be using that incentive this week!

Recipes

The new recipes I tried for this week were:

~ Beef tips in Butter Sauce

~ Onion Strings

~ Chile Con Queso

UH-OH

Baby M has a problem. I'm not sure what is worse... that he is addicted to coffee or that he has been caught stealing coffee. Either way it's bad...but in a REALLY cute way!

Don't even think about sneaking a drink of Grandma's coffee


Oh no you didn't...


BABY M!

American Girl

Thank you, Grandma, for taking me to the American Girl store. Thank you for being patient with me. I know it took over 4 hours for me to finally decide which doll I wanted. I am glad I chose the Bitty Twins. I like to carry them around- one on each hip. I decided to name my babies Bella and Brooklyn because one looks like me and the other looks like my friend, Bella. I was so excited when you decided to get me the double stroller too. I schlep it up and down the stairs at least 10 times a day!

I Love you,

Brooklyn

BROTHERS

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.
Albert Camus

WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY

On March 21st, 2009, World Down Syndrome Day will mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Professor Jerome Lejeune's discovery of the extra copy of chromosome 21 which causes Down Syndrome.

"Professor Lejeune provided inspiration to parents and professionals who met him, and drew strength and hope from his optimism and his simple and profound dedication to humanity. The Lejeune Institute in Paris continues to sponsor research in this area” said Mrs. Penny Robertson, President of Down Syndrome International. “But while there is much to be proud of in western countries in the services provided for people and families with Down syndrome, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done in many countries".

Recipes

The new recipes I tried for this week were:

~Amy's Mushroom Pork Tenderloin

~Herbes de Provence Red Potato Oven Fries

~Olive Cheese Bread

~Mystery Rolls

Sneaky Leprechauns

I don't know what happened at your house, but we had some sneaky leprechauns around here yesterday. We woke up to footprints all over the house. Did you know a Leprechauns is only the size of your thumb?


The next clue that we had a visitor was in the bathroom. Someone green used the toilets and forgot to flush-YIKES!


In the kitchen we found that they had gone through our sugar stash and pulled out all of the green candies.


And that wasn't all. Our cream cheese was green and so was our milk.


The kids were determined to catch them in the act. They set up traps with Lucky Charms and light sticks and hunted most of the morning.


The most exciting time came when we trapped them in the cupboard. Bailey put a few Lucky Charms on one of the shelves and a few minutes later they were missing!



We HAD to empty each shelf to find out where they were hiding (Yes, parents out there- every activity has a purpose). Once the shelves were clean and tidy we locked up the cupboard. We never did catch the sneaky Leprechauns (or as Buddy says 'neaky yeprechauns') but they left behind a pot of gold and more footprints on their way out the door. Maybe next year!

BOYS and GIRLS

Boys will be Boys...


And Girls will be Girls...


But when it comes to BUGS, everyone wants to play.

FAVORITES

My friend, Carlie, was visiting this past week from Colorado. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was for her to arrive or just how much fun I had while she was here. She moved away a little less than a year ago, but it feels like forever and at the same time like it was yesterday.
I have wanted to throw a "FAVORITES" party for a few years, so Carlie's visit seemed like the perfect opportunity. Each attendee put together a list of their most favorite items- food, beauty products, music, recipes or whatever. Then, during the party we did a gift exchange of our favorites. There was also a lot of food sampling going on. ..have you ever had Carmelized Onion Cheese? We had some seriously YUMMY things!
One favorite that I forgot to mention at the party is my Citrus Salad tree. Not only is it beautiful, but it is really fun to see what is going to grow next. The tree has lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines and kumquats. What are some of your favorites?

Sweet Success

I can't believe I am about to write this, but I think it's official. Brooklyn has kicked her thumb sucking to the curb. In just three weeks she has gone from sucking all night and part of the day to not sucking at all. Today was the big test. While playing a game of slide around the kitchen with your socks on, she fell and hit her cheek on the cabinet. Her first response is always to grab her blanket and suck her thumb while she nurses the pain. Today she cried- just cried. No blanket and no thumb.

Brooklyn gave up her thumb for Lent, but that is not all. We have been bribing her. My friend, Paula, likes to use the word reinforcement. I think it's a bribe. My parents bribed me. First with a bubblegum machine and then with money. I received one dollar a day until I had enough to buy a new baby doll. Rose was her name, and she was perfect. So perfect that I stopped sucking my thumb for her (although I was in Second grade at this point). Brooklyn is following in my footsteps. She wants a doll too; an American Girl doll. So, here is what I am thinking. Since Grandma didn't have a girl, and I know Mike wasn't bribed with doll, maybe she will want to do the honor. Brooklyn has it all worked into her head...it was whispered by her sister I believe. She would like to go shopping at the American Girl shop followed by lunch. Bailey claims that your doll gets her own seat at the table; Brooklyn can't hardly stand it. A store just for doll!!! So, Grandma, what do you think???

And just so Grandma can be let off the hook so to speak. She sent Brooklyn money last week to treat everyone to ice cream. Brooklyn immediately asked if we could take Miller too. She thought he might like a lick, and then she decided a bottle might be better for him. Always thinking about the babies- that's my girl!

Little Cooks

Tuesdays and Thursdays are always spent close to home. They are my favorite days of the week. On these days we can usually be found in the kitchen or in the garden. Last Tuesday the kids helped me put together a delicious dinner for some of our friends. My new resolutions is to make one new recipe with the kids each week. I am pretty tired of our old faithfuls. If you have any suggestions, please pass them our way.

Buddy and Brooklyn were in charge of the spuds for the Twice Baked Potatoes.


Bailey was making a Roquefort Bleu Cheese dressing for the Iceberg Wedge Salad.


The kitchen staff excitedly waiting for the bread to rise.


Brooklyn and I were making a yummy Sour Cream Spice Cake. A few ingredients in I asked her for 2 tablespoons of GROUND CINNAMON. She started to hop off of the stool and said, "I'll go get my boots." She assumed that if it was ground she would probably find it in the garden!

FINALLY FINISHED!

Today marks the end of our EXTREMELY LONG study on the Fruits of the Spirit. If I had given it more thought I would have packed it all into 2 weeks or so. Instead I spread it out covering one fruit each week. I have a had time distinguishing between Kindness and Goodness or Patience and Self-Control. So, I can only imagine that my kids thought it was rather repetitive, but we were committed (btw- we also studied Sea Creatures during February to keep everyone somewhat engaged).

The most memorable part of our study happened during our study on Kindness. The girls are part of a group called KEEPERS of the FAITH. It is similar to Girl Scouts, but it is faith based and for girls who are home schooled. Anyway, our group took a trip to visit the residence at a Convalescent home. We have done this in the past, but this trip was extra special for the girls. We spent time sitting with the grandmas and grandpas. They loved hugging the girls or just touching their arms. Physical touch is so important. The girls took sugar-free candies to pass out. The trip was beneficial on both ends.




Our favorite part of the trip was visiting the memory care facility (Alzheimer's patients). The director explained to the girls that the residents had a memory box on the outside of their room. Each box was filled with special moments from their past- pictures, awards, clothes, books or toys. We found it interesting that they had a baby nursery for the patients to visit if they were extremely confused. She mentioned that they find comfort in the crib, rocker, changing table and baby toys.

We had the privilege of meeting Mr. Warren in the memory care facility. This is a picture of him standing with some of the girls in front of his room. You can see his memory box in the background. He was a REALLY handsome man...and still is!



The director shared a really tender story. Mr. Warren is visited by his wife 4-5 days a week. Sometimes he knows who she is and sometimes he doesn't. They are very sweet together nonetheless and spend most of their time holding hands. Mr. Warren also happens to be a very good dancer we were told. While dancing with the director at their Valentine's party, Mr. Warren started to cry. He whispered in her ear, "Oh, honey, I have missed dancing like this with you. I have missed you so much." He assumed he was dancing with his wife. Yes, all of the KEEPER moms were nearly brought to tears. It was very tender.



No ending would be complete without a party. Today we did just that, we had a fruit party to celebrate that we are done!

TWO WORDS

Baby M put two words together this week for the first time!!!

A little background- Mike calls Baby M's poop, LOAFS. He will say, "Do you have loaf Baby M."
If the answer back is LOAF(YES), then Mike will say or rather sing, "Loaf maker, rump shaker." Pretty cute, in my opinion.

So, I was changing Baby M and asked if he had LOAF. The answer from M was LOAF. I wish I could type how cute it sounds when he says it! Anyway, when I opened up his diaper he exclaimed, "HELLO LOAF."

There you have it, we couldn't be more proud of our son!