I really deserve the mother of the year award. Ask me why….

Ashlyn’s birthday was August 31. And I have yet to blog about it. My girly turned 11 years old. ELEVEN years old…wow, how did that happen? It only seems like yesterday she started kindergarten and I was scared out of my mind. This fall she started middle school and again, I was scared out of my mind. Still am some days if you wanna know the truth. Although she is still very delayed in a lot of areas she is growing up in several other areas.

Mike took the kids to the fair with a couple of his family members the other night. I would have loved to go but I had to work that night. Being the good daddy that he is, he sent me a couple of photos on my cell to show me what a good time she was having. He said that she wanted to ride all of the big rides and squealed with laughter and laughed so hard she could barely breathe! Oh how I wish I could have been there too! But wait, I was there just the day before and she acted nothing like that with me. You see we have a little Mama drama going on and have so for several years. On Thursday I went with her class to the fair to participate with the local FFA students from a local high school. They had a special day set up where FFA students would work with the exceptional children’s class and teach them how to “show” a sheep. Each of the FFA students have experience showing sheep at the fair and one of the seniors from the high school used this as her “senior project”. It was really fun for most of the kids, but of course Ashlyn had to break out the drama on us. She got mad at us because she wanted to ride the sheep. Forget showing this sheep, I wanna ride it! She ran around whining and fussing so I ended up bringing her over to the bleachers to watch all of her classmates and then she FINALLY calmed down. After the sheep showing was over we walked around the fair for a bit to let the kids ride a few rides. Do you think Ashlyn rode any rides?? NO!! She was too busy displaying her Mama drama. Whiney, crying, sitting down on the ground, being totally uncooperative! I tried to take her to the bathroom and all I could find was porta potties…..ewwwwww. I thought well, it’s worth trying. But obviously Ashlyn was not thinking like me. She took off running and screaming Nooooooooooo! Which by the looks of it, I wouldn’t have wanted to use it either. She is totally FREAKED out by small spaces and there was no way she was going to climb in that potty. So then we finally sat down to eat lunch and this made her very happy, surprised? Ha! Needless to say this was a very stressful day as I still had to run to a doctors appointment after the fair and was not looking forward to the procedure I would be having that day.

So fast forward to Friday, Ashlyn is having the time of her life at the fair with her daddy and cousins. It was at night and I am sure it was a lot cooler than it was when we went during the day. She had so much fun that she cried her little heart out when it was time to leave. The longer they were there the more impatient she became in waiting in the lines to get on a ride. Ashlyn does not understand about waiting her turn…when she wants something she wants it NOW!!! So out of the fair they go, kicking and screaming. It’s great that she is finally growing up some and actually riding the rides at the fair. It wasn’t so long ago that she would have torn her fingernails off to keep from getting on a ride.

Okay here’s where I should get the mother of the year award. Ashlyn’s teacher called me from school this week to tell me that Ashlyn had a blowout in her pants that went up her back……YIKES. I found out later it happened 3 times that day! Poor teacher! Ashlyn hasn’t been pooping her pants so I was confused as to why this was happening. I told her teacher that it could possibly be a side effect of her seizure medicine. Later that afternoon Rhonda was at our house (she works with Ashlyn after school on her goals.) I was telling her about what happened at school and I told her that it could be the meds or possibly she might have a milk allergy. Rhonda then tells me, Traci, look at what you are feeding her. I look down and it’s yogurt, yeah so what? You are giving her the Activa yogurt that is for people who need bowel movement stimulation!!! OH-MY-GOSH!!! Trust me when I say, Ashlyn needs no help whatsoever in the bowel movement department! The poor girl had 2 cups of it the night before her blow out and had just downed about ¾ of another cup!!! Oooooppppps!!! I don’t typically buy that brand of yogurt but I had a coupon for it and it was free with the coupon so I thought I would grab it because Ashlyn LOVES yogurt! I think we will be sticking with Trix yogurt from now on!!!

Ask me about taking poor poopsie to the doctor today :( That's another post but let me tell you, I have beat myself up all day over it :(

It's been a reeeeaaaaaly busy summer!  I am a slacker and I know it.  It seems like I am running 90mph on my days off and boy am I tired!  Here are a few pictures to show what we have been doing!

Sweet girl, being sweet

The wild ones running through the sprinkler, or rather Ashlyn

trying to be the "control personnel" of the sprinkler!

Spenser has been playing a whole LOT of this!

Mason is such a trip!  He loves playing pranks, especially on Spenser.

Here he is putting dog treats on Spenser and then luring

Howard up onto Spenser while he is trying to sleep.

ahhhh it is so stinking funny...Howard licking all over Spenser's ears and neck, he he he!

And last but not least, fundraising for our Princess Anastasia!!!

SWAGGER WAGON

OH my gosh....this is hilarious!!

See little Anastasia below?  Our family is planning to adopt her!  God is so good!  She just turned 5 years old and we are praying that we can rescue her before she is transferred to an institution in Eastern Europe.  You can follow our new adoption blog at  Saving Anastasia .  Come by and visit!

Happy Birthday Anastasia

This sweet, sweet girl turns 5 years old today.

There will be no party for her or anyone celebrating her birth.

Anastasia lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe

where children with disabilities are hidden away

from society at birth or shortly after.

It is my hopes and dreams that you never

spend another birthday alone after your

fifth birthday Anastasia.  I pray that by this time

next year you are loved by a family who

accepts you for who you are no matter your disability.

Hold tight Anastasia, God will not leave you as an orphan.

Your forever family will hopefully scoop you up soon and

you will never know your days as an orphan anymore.

May God bless you today and always Anastasia!

Happy Birthday beautiful Princess!!

Oh Happy Day!!!

If this song doesn't make you want to get up and dance, well...... do it anyway!!! Oh how I love it!!

World Down syndrome day 2010

World DS day has come and gone, but I came across this video last night and I just had to share!! It is beautiful and made me cry... so beware!! Hope you love it too!

Easter

I've been MIA....so much to do, lot's on my mind.  Big, big decisions going on around at the Williams house!!  I will just go ahead and flog you with some Easter pics, and Mason's birthday.  Yes, Mason turned 9 years old on March 9.  Where has the time gone???

hmmmmm, wonder what that egg dye tastes like??

The kid on the left has never dyed Easter eggs!!!!

See sometimes having Down syndrome has it's perks ya know!!

(they give you a ticket for a stuffed rabbit, even though

you didn't even get one bean bag in the hole)

Do I know you???  I think we have met!

POOR rabbit...never saw it coming!!!!!

See all of the candy eggs on the floor?  Between Reeces's pieces and jelly beans,

Howard (our dog) had a grand ol' Easter!!  Ashlyn thought it was comical to dump all of the candy

out of the plastic eggs onto the floor.  Howard looked like he was a Hippo in the game

"Hungry, Hungry Hippos".

LOL.... he was eating that candy up as fast as he could!!

This is my Chocolate face....

Yummy, coconut Easter cake

Crazy cousins at it again!! Don't they look thrilled??

Our neice Molly celebrated her 2nd birthday last week.  Molly loves Elmo so I put my newly cake decorating skills to use!!  Here is the outcome!  Yes it is a little lop sided (is that a word?) but I just need to keep on practicing.  I really enjoyed making it.  I found a Sesame Street coloring book and they had just the right size of a Elmo head shot.  I cut it out, layed it on the cake and trace around it with a toothpick.  It was fairly easy being that there wasn't a lot of detail to the picture. It turned out fairly decent I guess.  All that matters is that Molly loved it!!

Howards big adventure

It was snowing like crazy here today.  On a typical snowy day we cannot get Mr. Goody Two Shoes to go outside and take a leak care of his business.  The last snow we had, Spenser had to go and clear a place in the yard just so Mr. PIcky would have a spot to go to.  Well today Howard became adventerous in the snow and decided, "hey  I like this stuff".  We usually take him out on a leash because he is a "runner".  Yep he likes to chase cars and go next door and visit his sugar mama "Jasmine".  I thought I would give ol' Howard a chance to explore today and see if he would hopefully begin to like this white "stuff" that we have been having waaay too much of. 

Here he is checking things out.....

Then the little turkey takes off into the woods...

can you spot him??

So Mason goes after him....

Ashlyn is giving instructions from kitchen window...

He's over there in the woods...don't you see him Mason?

If you look really hard you can see Mason and Howard running back home...

Here comes the little turkey!!

YIKES it's cold out here!!! We won't be letting Howard run free too much-

he is hard to track down!!

Thank you dear Heavenly Father!

I am writing this to hopefully educate others and prevent a house fire that could be waiting to happen.



Tuesday night as I was lying in bed and saying my prayers I started asking the Lord to protect our home and protect my family while in our home. Huh? The following day after I had prayed that prayer I was getting ready to go and eat lunch with Mike. On this morning I used the curling iron only when fixing my hair, unplugged it and went downstairs. I took Howard (our dog) outside for a quick tinkle and came back inside. As I walked in the dining room to grab my jacket I heard a noise from upstairs like something was running. I was the only one at home (besides Mike who was downstairs who had just come in and was waiting on me) so I ran upstairs to check it out. I walked into the bathroom to find the hairdryer running!! I hadn’t even used the hairdryer, yet it was running and had a smoky/burning smell to it. I tried to cut it off but the button wouldn’t budge!!! I ended up pulling it out of the socket in order to get the crazy thing to cut off!! So I am thinking that if we had left a minute or two earlier I am positive we would have had a house fire in no time at all.

So, my message to you is ALWAYS unplug your hairdryer when you are finished using it!! I am so guilty of leaving the hair dryer plugged up and only unplugging the curling iron. In fact, I never unplugged the hair dryer before now. I told my sister-in-law who is a hair dresser about what happened. She said that they learned in cosmetology school to ALWAYS unplug the hairdryer because there are two elements in a hair dryer that can heat up if left plugged in, even though it is not on. She said that they were taught that a hairdryer could heat up and catch fire, NOT that they would start running (like ours did) and catch fire. So this was a pretty scary ordeal for me, to say the least. Every time I thought about it I would get sick to my stomach for a couple of days afterwards, thinking “WHAT IF?” Needless to say I have been thanking my sweet Lord every day that the outcome of the situation was positive. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have had a house fire that day if I had not heard the hair dryer running or even left a minute or two earlier. Thank you Lord!

For my dear friend.....

I have a dear friend of mine who is going through a very hard time in her life.  She may as well have a dagger in her heart.  I feel so helpless and feel that the only thing I can do is to pray for her and support her.  I heard this song this morning and it made me think of her.  I can't say that I know what she's going through (that is a line in the song) but the rest of the lyrics are true!  Love you girlfriend and just know that you ARE going to be okay!!

My first cake

Here she is:

My first cake creation. My leaning tower of sweetness.

There are several things that I want to do

in life before passing on-
 and making and decorating cakes

is one of them.

My friend and I signed up for a cake decorating class

at Michaels craft store.

Let me start by saying~

it was a whole lot more involved than I imagined.

I felt like I took everything but the

kitchen sink

to class. 

She is leaning somewhat

BUT

she tasted oohhhhhhh soooo goood.

Even Spenser (who isn't a cake fanatic like me)

thought it was terrific!!  If he liked it,

well then it must have tasted

pretty darned good!!

Our instructor asked us on the first night of class

"why are you here?"

My answer~

"I LOVE CAKE!"

And that's the honest truth! I am a cake freak-

well I am more into the icing but

 ya gotta have at least a little cake to go with your icing....right?

We completed part 1 of Wilson's cake decorating course.

We go for part 2 in March to continue

to learn to create yummy goodness!

Next month I will be making my first birthday cake

for family members and I am excited/nervous

about how it will turn out!

Wish me luck!!

Help for Haiti

I have to admit that I am soooo bothered by some of the comments coming up on Facebook and other places, by bitter people who think America should have no part in assisting the people and country of Haiti.  Where does this bitterness come from?  I was telling my friend a few weeks before the earthquake in Haiti, that Americans are a bunch of pigs.  We are..there I said it.  The average american lives like Kings and Queens compared to other countries, yet some are so selfish in lending a helping hand.  I have heard some say -

"we have enough problems in our country and we just need to take care of ourselves.  Let volunteers go over there, not our military.  We have orphans here in America too, we need to take care of our own."

Forgive me if I am wrong but I simply cannot understand this mentality.  If an earthquake would hit their home tomorrow, who do you think would be crying out for help then?

And then there are the orphans and the disabled. Who is helping them? I think about the kiddos over there that have Down syndrome.... who is watching over them? If a tragedy would happen here and we all passed, poor Ashlyn wouldn't last long. She has no self help skills and would be an accident waiting to happen. She doesn't have a clue as to being safe and can't be out of our sight for long. What is happening to people like her in Haiti?

All I can think of is what Jesus would have to say about this bitter attitude:

And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (NAS, Mark 12:28-31)

Okay so honestly, I know Jesus did not just mean your next door neighbor when he said "love your neighbor as yourself". He meant love other humans, even your enemies. He wants us to reach out to fellow man in time of need. We all need to be Jesus to the people!! I just pray that hardened hearts can be made whole by our Lord through all of the tragedies that we face. Reach out to others in time of need...you never know...it might you who needs help from fellow man one day!

Watch this video and listen to the man who lost his wife and children in the earthquake... what a heart of God he has..... wow!

U.S. hit Haiti with Earthquake weapon

Dear Mr. Chavez, please put the crack pipe down before making anymore statements to the public.
Thank you


Hugo Chavez Mouthpiece Says U.S. Hit Haiti With 'Earthquake Weapon'


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hugo Chavez blames the U.S. for the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

The United States apparently possesses an "earthquake weapon" that set off the catastrophic quake in Haiti and killed 200,000 innocents. Don't believe it's true? Just ask Hugo Chavez.

Citing an alleged report from Russia's Northern Fleet, the Venezuelan strongman's state mouthpiece ViVe TV shot out a press release saying the 7.0 magnitude Haiti quake was caused by a U.S. test of an experimental shockwave system that can also create "weather anomalies to cause floods, droughts and hurricanes."

The station's Web site added that the U.S. government's HAARP program, an atmospheric research facility in Alaska (and frequent subject of conspiracy theories), was also to blame for a Jan. 9 quake in Eureka, Calif., and may have been behind the 7.8-magnitude quake in China that killed nearly 90,000 people in 2008.

What's more, the site says, the cataclysmic ruin in Haiti was only a test run for much bigger game: the coming showdown with Iran.

The ultimate goal of the test attack in Haiti, the report reads, is the United States' "planned destruction of Iran through a series of earthquakes designed to topple the current Islamic regime."

The story has since been taken down from the Venezuelan Web site, but a Google cache of the charges remains intact.

The publication of the story came just days after Chavez himself accused the U.S. of using the earthquake as an excuse to "invade and militarily occupy Haiti," a nation so poor that its entire economy is based on foreign aid - particularly from the U.S.

"The empire (the U.S.) is taking Haiti over the bodies and tears of its people," he said at a press conference.

"I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving, Marines armed as if they were going to war. They are occupying Haiti undercover."

By week's end, some 16,000 U.S. troops are expected to be providing humanitarian assistance in Haiti, where they have taken control of the only working airport and are coordinating relief efforts on the ground.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583588,00.html

We Know Gods Truth through Gods Commandments - Daily Hope

by Rick Warren


All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)
If I discover truth from the Bible, how do I know the Bible is true? There's a world of objective evidence, both external and internal, that says the Bible is true.

External evidence proves the Bible is a historical book that you can rely on. There are 5,366 copies of the Bible dating from the time it was written to just 70 years afterwards. That fact dispels the urban legend that the Bible was changed as it passed through generations and languages.

External evidence also includes many archeological discoveries. For example, historians used to say that Solomon couldn't have had the horses the Bible says he had because no one had horses at that time. But then thousands of horse stables were found in an archeological dig.

There's also the internal evidence of the Bible itself. In a court of law, a prosecutor with two or three eyewitness accounts has a good chance of making his case. The Bible is filled with eyewitness accounts. Moses was there when the Red Sea split; Joshua was there to watch Jericho fall; the disciples saw the resurrected Jesus.

The internal evidence of the Bible also includes the fact that it tells one story with consistency - though it was written over 1,500 years on three different continents by 40 different authors from every walk of life. No human being could account for that. It's an amazing example of God's abilities.

The Bible says, "There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." (2 Timothy 3:15-17, MSG)