I'm SO glad...

I'm so glad when daddy comes home,
Glad as I can be;
Clap my hands and shout for joy,
Then climb upon his knee,
Put my arms around his neck,
Hug him tight like this,
Pat his cheeks, then give him what?
A great big kiss.

.... or something like that!
We are all singing this song by the end of the day!
It might not look like "a great big kiss," but there sure is a whole lot of lovin' going on! I absolutely love watching their little faces light up when Daddy walks in the door!

Wear them out...

As you all can tell, I haven't had much to blog about lately. I still don't. You'll see that once you've read this post while thinking, "she must have NOTHING to blog about!" But hey, it's a post, right?!
We spend some of our free time at this Dinosaur Park in the mall while the girls are in school. Why? Because it's FREE! Free is good! I don't even shop while I'm there. Not much of a mall shopper.

Justin is loving the fact that he can actually go wild at places like this! Brynn is just as happy now that she has someone to follow her around!

Because he is so busy and constantly crawling (army crawl) and climbing... we've found some wear marks in his jeans. They aren't in the typical knee area... they are up a tad higher! Not a cool place to patch 'em up either!
I am so glad Spring is on it's way! We can throw these jeans out soon! Oh... and get this! I tried on his shorts from last summer. Yep, they still fit! Money in my pocket!

We're more alike than different!

The National Down syndrome Congress is running a campaign to show that "We're More Alike Than Different!" They will produce the three posters which receive the greatest number of votes between now and April 1, 2010 and will make them part of the More Alike campaign by mid-summer, just in time for the NDSC national Convention. Please cast your votes! First you view the gallery, then go back to cast your votes! Justin is #190! I have so many beautiful blogger friends on there too! Good luck to everyone! Each and every poster is unique and special!

Dear Spring,

I am in a blogging funk.
Period.
I want to take a walk and not freeze.
I want to take my kids to the park.
I need you more than ever!

Loads of love,
E

Another Fabulous Friday!

J-man is cruising!
(please excuse the music. Hubby was working on his ipod!)

Mommy/Daughter ice skating activity with my big girl...
I do cherish the one on one time with my kiddos!

Visiting sister for lunch....
Brynn is so excited to go to the "big girl" school here soon!

Wouldn't you agree that this week has been fabulous?!

A room full of...

Angels!

Fabulous Friday!

Playgroup Time!

Mark your calendar!

I tried to go with the best day and time for most people. I sure hope this works! I'm going to go with this Wednesday, the 24th. How about 11:30 - 1:30? Come anytime or the whole time! I know it's right smack in the middle of lunch time, so feel free to bring munchies. I'll try to have a variety of snacks myself!
If I left anyone out... I surely didn't mean to! I did do a group e-mail on facebook. This is for ALL of my Down syndrome peeps!
e-mail me if you need directions.... tequick (at) comcast (dot) net
Hope to see everyone there!

Down syndrome playgroup...

Let's play!

I should know a date and time... but I don't. I want some input so that we can have as many come as possible! I'm hoping to have one sometime next week if it works out that way! Of course, all of your kids are welcome! What do you prefer? A mid-week day around 11 or a Friday afternoon when kids are out of school? Let me know and we'll get another playgroup started!

Fun times in California!

What do we do when we visit Grandma and Papa in California? We'll show you!

(BTW - the blondie is my niece who joined us this trip!)

Find a fun park and enjoy the sand and sunshine...

Knott's Berry Farm! This was a first for the kids and they LOVED it! So did I! It sure has changed since I was a wee one!

The kids played a lot of computer games and plenty of Wii...

Kitchen and restaurant play, a MUST...

Justin always enjoys Molly's doggie door! He would throw the balls out and magically they would pop back in! (Thanks Papa!)

An all time favorite.... making homemade ice cream!

Oh, and we can't leave out Grandma's birthday party!
(yes, she was laughing at our homemade ice cream cake!)

Last but not least, the daily hot tub hour! They wanted so badly to swim in the pool, but this is as close as it was gonna get!

Thanks for the fun memories!

Happy Heart Day

Little boy!

One year ago today, your tiny heart was fixed! I am so thankful for you, sweet boy and your BIG heart! You continue to teach us so much about love and happiness. We LOVE you!

Photographer in training...

What do you find when you download your pictures after your 4 year old has been (secretly) playing with your camera?

All of these precious memories... (or something like that!)

Little stinker!

This-n-That

I was going through my photos and realized there were some cute things that I didn't blog about. So, I'm gonna! After all, this is my journal of memories!

Taylee was student of the week! One of the exciting things about being student of the week is taking home Miss A's teddy bear for one night! She made her a cute little bed next to her so she was right by her at night!

School Spirit week - Crazy hair day! I was so proud of them. They are both so shy and have never done this in the past! They LOVED it!

The love from siblings - My room has become the movie watching room for some reason. I love peeking in and seeing all the coziness!

Don't we all lose our pants when we climb up the stairs?

Everyone needs a little Uncle Kyle in their lives! There were about 7 nieces/nephews missing. Imagine if they were all involved!

Summer... are you out there?!

So there is no school today (yahoo!), my oldest is in bed with a ruptured eardrum (poor thing), and it's a little dreary outside (ok.. a lot. Ugh). I am so ready for summer, and this is why...

i can get a pedicure and actually enjoy looking at it

i can walk the kids to school

i can take walks... period!

i can leave the house faster than I can in the winter

my wood floor stays clean

my carpet stays dry

i can buy a bunch of flip flops and only spend $20

my flowers bloom (well, sometimes)

we can go boating

my laundry load seems lighter

i actually see my neighbors after the winter hibernation

slurpee pit stops (we do that in winter too)

taking the kids to the park

opening my blinds and feeling the sun

watching the kids play outside

summer clothes are much cheaper than winter clothes

i can put the winter clothes away!

i can take a vacation anywhere and be happy (which I am doing soon!)

Anyone else ready for summer?!

Just because...

I love you!

I am so proud to be your mommy...

Yikes!

Do you know what this means?!

Yep... I drove one more mile and now my car is officially considered old. Worthless. Depreciated. A money pit. I'm begging you car... PLEASE, please don't become a money pit. I don't plan on turning you in, so I don't care that you've depreciated in value. I need you. I want you!

For all of our 13 years of marriage we have always had two cars, but only one car payment. Mine. I have been naughty and always trade my cars in after every few years. I want my car paid off! I will have this car paid off! I would love to have NO car payment! Hang in there for another 100000 miles! Won't it be cool when I can blog about the 200000 mile mark! (look, I can dream... can't I?! I'm driving this sucker into the ground.)

2009 memories...

First off... Happy 2010 to you all!

I did our year end review last year in a poem... I'm not feeling that creative this morning! So here is our 2009 year in review month by month!

(picture taken 01/09)

January

Well... a typical January I'd say. Cold, cold, cold. The start of 2009. Lots of playing with Christmas toys!
February
Justin finally had his PDA closure! We were very relieved to get it done! It was a great success!
March
No more oxygen for Justin! Took a family trip to To Bakersfield CA to visit Grandma and Papa. Also went to Monterey Bay!
April
Tyler and April turned one year older!
May
Justin turned the big ONE. Summer was in full force! Took another trip to California to see Kyle after serving a 2 year mission!
June
Taylee and Brynn turned one year older! I met some blog buddies for the first time! Justin began his army crawl, and 13 years of marriage!
July
The girls finished 1st and 4th grade! Yep... you know it! Another trip to California! I met two wonderful blog buddies there too!
August
The girls started 2nd and 5th grade! Yippee for super teachers! Summer was quickly coming to an end... Justin had his follow-up cardiology appointment - all is well!
September
Brynn started pre-school! She was nervous... but she LOVES it! We went to our first BUDDY WALK! It was fabulous! Justins picture was part of a slide show in Times Square on the MTV plasma for the New York City Buddy walk!
October
The one year mark of finding out that Justin had Down syndrome. We look forward to all the years ahead of us! I hosted my first Down syndrome get together at my house and can't wait for many more of those! Of course... Halloween fun with my cuties!
November
Hmmm.... lots of food and thankfuls! April started school choir!
December
I turned one year younger, Justin finished up OT, PT, and ST with a lot of success! Christmas with family was wonderful!

All in all... 2009 was a good year! I look forward to 2010 and hope everyone finds peace and happiness in this new year!