I've been busy!

One of the MANY things I love about being a mom

~cupcakes~

Mason at our Down syndrome Easter egg hunt...

Maybe if I ignore her she will go away???

Don't you give up mom?

Stop it with the pictures already!!

Here's a size comparison with Mason and Ashlyn.

She is supposed to be the "big" sister...

ha ha! He is 8 and she will be 10 in August

April fools!!

I got Mike good today, ha ha ha! We really don't ever do April fool Jokes on each other so he didn't see it coming. Last night Spenser's friend in the neighborhood knocked on our door and told us that Spenser had hurt his ankle at his house and his mom drove Spenser home. So we go outside to help Spenser out of the car and Mike kept swearing that Spenser was faking it, that he wasn't really hurt that bad. Spenser went to school today with a slight limp and made it through the whole day, and it is already feeling better.

Mike walked in the house from work and I asked him "did you go to work today?" Of course he looked at me like I was crazy and said "yes, I did... why?" I told him that "I had called him at work and they told me that he wasn't there. I also said that I had to pick Spenser up at school and take him to the doctor for an x-ray because his foot was worse today- We have to take Spenser to an orthopedic doctor tomorrow because his ankle is broke and he may need surgery". You should have seen the look on his face, bwahhhhh haaaaa, it was priceless. I'm honestly surprised that I kept a straight face through it all. He said "man I feel really bad that I told him that he was faking the pain and that he was okay". I let this go on for a few minutes before I yelled APril fools at him! It was so good!! About 10 minutes later I got Spenser too. He asked me what was for dinner and I told him that I had bought some big, fat, juicy steaks for dinner and that his dad would grill them for us! Mike caught on and said - yeah Spenser, April fools on you too!!!!!

We had grilled barbecue chicken...but hey it was pretty tasty!!

This is refreshing after reading the article below about Special Olympics~

Things that make you go hmmmmmm...

I wonder if Special Olympic athletes were considered as being invited to the White House BEFORE or AFTER the president made such a low blow On the Jay Leno show....hmmmmmmm

Nice Mr. Prez, nice. Too bad this statement that you made, doesn't apply to you.

"We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination.... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities."

-- Barack Obama, April 11, 2008

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WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has apologized to the chairman of the Special Olympics for his late-night talk show quip equating his bowling skills to those of athletes with disabilities.
Appearing on "The Tonight Show" Thursday, the president told host Jay Leno he'd been practicing at the White House's bowling alley but wasn't happy with his score of 129. Then he remarked: "It was like the Special Olympics or something."
The audience laughed, but the White House quickly recognized the blunder. The Special Olympics, founded in 1968, is a global nonprofit organization serving 200 million individuals with intellectual disabilities.
On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry - even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.
"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.
Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes."
Shriver is the son of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whose endorsement early in the Democratic primaries was critical to Obama winning his party's nomination.
Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama that the president's offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the commander in chief's bowling skills.
"He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world," Burton said.
Despite making fun of his score, the president appears to be getting better the more he visits the White House lanes, which President Truman installed in 1947. During a campaign photo op a year ago at a bowling alley in Altoona, Pa., he rolled only a 37 in seven frames. The clip of the disastrous game was replayed on late night television shows such as Leno's - one of Obama's few campaign gaffes.

I'm in love

with IKEA. Oh my gosh. The fam and I went to IKEA tonight for the first time and I am thinking it was a BIG, BIG mistake. I loved it, every bit of it. I saw cute beds for the kids (not that they need them), book cases, shelves, lamps, bedding and a zillion other things that I MUST have. We were there for about 2 hours and that was just not enough time for me... the kids and Mike hurried right along from room to room, sometimes leaving me behind as I took in as much as I could. Grrrrr, I do not like to be rushed when I am doing my best not to miss anything, although I did. I will definitely be going back during the week sometime when the kids are in school and Mike is at work. I imagine I will probably get lost in there for several more hours. We did find what we had set our for. A grooooovy cabinet to put in our living room under our flat screen. Bad thing is- it is yellow. Good thing is - I can paint it black. It is the cutest thing ever and is everything I have been looking for, except for the color. Picture will follow as soon as I get it painted and planted right under the tv.

Mother’s DO know best (most of the time). For months and months Mason asked, or should I say begged – for a dirt bike. Christmas rolled around and his wish was granted – despite his naughty behavior. The poor kid is grounded from all of the fun things around the house because he chooses to have a smart mouth, therefore he looses activities that he loves such as riding his dirt bike. About a month after Christmas Mason changed his mind… he decided that we could take his dirt bike back (yeah right) and buy him a BB gun. Ooooooohhh please little child of mine – what makes your little brain think that we are crazy enough to trust you with a BB gun??? My argument to him was 1)- you are only 7 years old and 7 year old boys do not need any type of gun 2) – you are not a very responsible 7 year old and you make hasty , impulsive decisions. 3) – you are not easily reasoned with when you do make impulsive decisions. So there – no you are not getting a BB gun.

Fast forward to February. The little boy Michael who comes to our house after school was given a BB gun for Christmas. Mason was mighty jealous let me tell ya! About 2 weeks ago Michael’s dad came bringing a small BB gun (looks like a hand gun) and a pack of neon yellow pellets for MASON!!??!! WHAT???!!! Little Michael felt so bad for dearest, sweetest (ha ha ha ha) little Mason and he talked his grandmother into buying a BB gun for Mason. Well Mr. Mason was already grounded when they came toting that BB to gun to our house and it was several days before he was able to take it outside with dad and play around with it. I think he was able to do this twice so far this month because he chose to be naughty way too many times lately. On Thursday I was on the phone with a credit card company (they screwed up our bill) and Mason comes by and whispers “can I take my BB gun outside?” uhhhmmmmm NO!! He wasn’t even supposed to be outside because he had disobeyed my order earlier that day. I had told him not to leave our yard. I went back inside for maybe 2 minutes and came back out to find Mason on his bike out in the street up above our house…..grrrrrr. So he marched right back in the house. Well, back to the BB gun. I was on the phone still talking to customer service and didn’t realize that my wild child had snuck outside. A few moments later he came SCREAMING in the house “I shot a car with my BB gun and the man is coming after me – I didn’t mean to, I promise I didn’t mean to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Oh my gosh – the child was about to hyperventilate and MY blood was boiling. Mike was upstairs and heard all of the commotion and ran outside to talk to the man who was riding by our house as Mason decided to shoot the gun at the road/car. The guy was cool about it and said that he understood because he has kids too… he was just stopping because of what could have happened if he had shot at the wrong person and we needed to know. Thanks Mister!! So needless to say I told Spenser to take the BB gun and get rid of it… I am thinking trash can and then decide against that and tell him to destroy it. Spenser’s eyes lit up! What about the baseball bat? Yes! Sounds perfect my dear. The BB gun was destroyed and has been laid to rest in the local landfill. Moral of the story?? Mom’s do know best!

It’s the little things in life that make your day. How sweet is it for my husband to call me at work and say “listen to this”? Then I hear music in the background and there is sweet little Ashlyn singing the LAST word of every line. Nine and a half years ago who would have ever thought that a phone call like this would make my day?

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY TO JAIDEN... OUR BEST BUDDY WITH DS!!


We love you so much Jaiden and we hope that you have had a marvelous birthday today!

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Hey this girl is too cool for school!

Practicing veterinarian

The life of the party!

Hanging with the band

enough is enough...no more autographs please!

My friend Nicki gave me a blog award! Nicki also has a daughter with Down syndrome and she shares the same lovely name as my Ashlyn!! Thanks Nicki!

Here is the description for this award:"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Remember as you read this--- we live in NC


Once upon a time there was a little boy named Mason.
Mason was taking a spelling test at school.
The teacher’s assistant called out the word “warter”.
So Mason wrote “warter” on his spelling test.
When Mason got his spelling test back the word warter was counted wrong.
Mason disputed the word being spelled wrong.
Teacher to Mason- “there isn’t an extra *r* in water.
Mason to teacher – “she didn’t say water, she said “warter”.

Bwaaaaahhh haaaaaaaaaaa

I haven’t heard the results of his incorrect spelling, but can’t wait to find out!