Today is World Down Syndrome Day. We gather all over the globe and celebrate diversity and acceptance of people with Down syndrome.




We had a very nice day today...slept in late, snuggled for a while, played, danced, dyed Easter eggs, and took a walk. The following is a tribute to my Ashlyn that I wrote several years ago for Down syndrome awareness month in October. She is now 8 1/2 years old and is so full of love and life...nothing Down about my girl!! I hope that everyone had a lovely day today and to all of our friends and family with Down syndrome~~~~
We love you with all of our hearts!

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On August 31 1999 Ashlyn W was born. She was such a
beautiful baby with her almond shaped eyes and her long funny hair. She
was a very good, quiet baby and we loved her to pieces. I finally had the
baby girl that I had longed for.

Immediately after her birth Mike and I noticed there was something
different about Ashlyn. Our daughter was born with a condition known as
Down syndrome. We were both very shocked. How could this have happened to
us? We did shed a few tears, but thankfully that didn't last long.

Most people tried to be positive for us; others either didn't know what to
say or said nothing at all. One person did tell me that she would never be
able to go to school. I am so thankful that Ashlyn was born in this day
and time. When she was just a baby, I met a young lady who was 21 years
old who also had Down syndrome. Her name was Cathy and she was attending a
community college and working at Ashlyn's daycare part-time. She may never know what an inspiration she was to me.

Ashlyn is now six years old and attends public school. She is making
HUGE achievements and makes us very proud to be her parents. She has been
learning sign language for several years now and simply amazes us how fast she
catches on. Ashlyn has been such a blessing to our family and shows
unconditional love to all the people around her. Her laugh is contagious
while her hugs and kisses brightens the day in our sometimes darkened
world. When I have a bad day at work, I know Ashlyn is at home waiting to
put her little arms around my neck and give me the best kisses. She yells
mama, mama and chases me as I come in the door. Life really couldn't be
better.

As Ashlyn's mother, it is my hope that Ashlyn will be loved and accepted
for who she is, not who she "should" have been. I pray for acceptance, friendships and unending happiness.

I look back now and see how silly I was to cry over the little girl that
was supposed to come to me. I feel sad to think back at her birth and know
that I cried over her and who she was. If I could, I would take back that time of
sadness in a heartbeat. If only I had known then that God searched all over heaven for the exact, perfect little girl that he intended for me to have. That was Ashlyn. Her perfect love and innocence is such a gift from God. She has taught me more in her lifetime, than I'll ever learn in mine. Thank you Ashlyn for all
of your love and kisses and for being the special person that you are and
always will be. I feel so blessed that you are in my life.
I love you!
Love Mommy

































World Down Syndrome Day 3-21-08

Wordless Wednesday- Friendship

WOW!!! Mason got the "Good character" award this month!! I am so proud of him!!!

Homework is driving me crazy

First grade homework is getting more ridiculous every day. They are doing fractions and word problems in math. Today Mason came home with a work sheet that he has to answer after reading a story from the book.

1) How are words "high and low" and "here and there" alike?
a. They are antonyms
b. They are contractions
c. They are synonyms
d. They are compounds words.

Me: Mason did you talk about Antonyms or synonyms or contractions in class? Do you even know what they mean?
Mason: no mom.

We keep getting homework like this where he doesn't even know the definition of the words that they are using for the answers AND they don't even give them the definition anywhere in the story they are reading. He has to read books and take tests on the computer and he has to pass it before he moves on to another book. Homework was NOT like this when Spenser was in 1st grade. No WONDER so many kids are being "left behind" in our counties "No child left behind" approach to teaching. I get more and more frustrated and I am thinking if this is 1st grade homework, I HATE to see what 3rd and 4th grade will be like. Kindergartners are given a state writing test where they are given a subject and they have to write 2-3 sentences about the topic and draw a detailed picture to go with the story. He did awesome but it made me nauseous for the kindergartners who couldn't even read last year...how in the heck are they supposed to write detailed sentences?????

Mason's dance moves

Happy birthday to my last born child....Mason....who turned 7 years old on March 9. This child is definitely what you would call a "strong willed child". 7 words that describe Mason :

turkey head

wild man

super hero

lovey (when he wants to be)

jokester

fart man

lover of "hot chicks"

Last summer we went to a restaurant and 2 older teenage girls came in and sat down a couple of tables away from us. Now you must know that my boy doesn't just fall over for any girls...he likes what he calls "hot chicks". He watches the girls come in and sit down and then tells his dad " hey dad, why don't you go over there and ask those girls for their phone numbers and tell them that your son might want to call them sometime. He is quite the crack up I tell ya!

I finally found the perfect diet for me.......

Who would have ever thunk it?

I have a voice

Hopefully this trick will help someone else!

Giving a child medicine should not be torture….. to the child or to the parent. Poor Ashlyn has a nasty cold and she needed some Tylenol and Dimetapp last night. It is so stinking hard to get meds into her – you need somebody to get her in the headlock, somebody to hold her nose so that she can’t taste the nastiness of the med very well and somebody to squirt the meds into her. Last night she was just so miserable so I sat and thought about it for a bit trying to come with another way to get the liquids in her. We have tried mixing it with juice, soft drinks etc and she never ever finishes her drinks because the med is yucky. So last night I found a WONDERFUL way to give her the meds and it actually worked! I thought that the med might be too bitter to mix with ice cream but I tried it and you could barely even tell there was something else in there! I made her a small scoop of cookies and cream ice cream, added the Tylenol and a little milk…. She ate it all up! So then I got her another small scoop and added the Dimetapp… I thought surely you would be able to taste this bitter mess….but NOPE…. She ate it all up too! I sure wish I had figured this out YEARS ago!!!