I can hardly believe it. In 11 days I will be hopping on a plane and going to Oregon to visit my best friend Renee and her family. I am verrrry scared of airplanes and am not looking forward to that part, but in the end it will be worth it. Renee has been my best friend since kindergarten and I haven’t seen her in almost 6 years. The last time she came home to NC was in 2000 and she was pregnant with her middle child. (whom I haven’t met) She doesn’t like flying any more than I do, so here lately I was thinking to myself, “gosh will I ever get to see her again?” Then out of the blue she called and BEGGED me to come. She begged and begged and I just couldn’t make myself tell her no, even though I wanted to (did I mention that I HATE flying?) But it must be meant to be because it seemed like all of the plans just fell in place (less than 3 weeks of planning the trip). I just HAPPEN to be out of school that week, my mom lost her job and can help with the kids while I am gone AND I was able to take off from work. Just thinking about seeing her again, makes me feel like a kid again and I can’t wait to see them all!!!

No more summer camp for a while....

Ashlyn went to day camp this summer, four days a week for about 8 weeks. I really didn't want her to go but one of our support persons talked me in to it, telling me that she would just love it and have so much fun. Maybe she is....I don't know. BUT I do know that she has been left out of 3-4 field trips...just left at the school where they have the camp, with a few other kids who didn't go and the counselors. I am beyond angry. This is a camp for kids with disabilities and the bus driver tells me that they didn't take her on a few of the field trips because she is in DIAPERS???? You have to be kidding me! I hate confrontation....really I do. So I called this "support" person and she is telling me EVERY TIME I call that there must be some mistake and that she will get to the bottom of it. Funny how I can never get a answer from these people....you might recognize the name...ARC. grrrrrr I am just so frustrated I could cry. I have already paid for the entire summer and will not be refunded any money if I pull her out. Luckily there are only two more weeks left and she will be out of there....never to return again!

Carrot soup....

This past weekend we took a family trip to Myrtle Beach. We stayed at the home of our friends and had a wonderful time with them. On Saturday we took the kids out to eat and Mason had a grand time eating pizza and spahgetti. Everyone was still eating and Mason had finished and had red sauce all over his face. Our friend Phil offered to take him to the bathroom and clean his face. (little did he know what was in store for him, ha!) They are gone for a while and finally come out. Mason decides that he had to go poop while he was on his bathroom visit. He locks the door and Phil waits for him. Mason announces to everyone in the bathroom that his poop looks like carrots!! :) He then informs Phil that he cannot wipe himself and needs some help, but the door is locked. So Mason gets up off of the "pot" and unlocks the door for poor Phil, who has to help clean him up! He proudly comes out of the bathroom to tell everyone he was making carrot soup!

Our friends brought along their sweet doggie Ben, a golden retriever. Poor Ashlyn was scared of the dog and tried very hard to stay out of its way. Anytime the dog came near her (it stayed in the house with us), she freaked out and started screaming. This dog was a sure way of keeping her out of trouble while we were at their house. She didn't wander around the house too much and destroy things because she was too busy staying backed up on the couch away from the dog!

Ashlyn didn't like the ocean this year. This did not go over too well with the boys. We spent most of our time at the pool (which was fine with me) because she was freaked out by the ocean water. Poor Spenser was upset with her because of this and took it out on me, because he didn't get to spend as much time playing in the ocean as he wanted to. Hopefully next year will be better!

Crazy thing called Life

Crazy thing called Life

"You put me here for a reason

You have a mission for me

You knew my name and you called it

long before I learned to breathe"

Mercy Me

Yes life can be crazy, but we must make the best of it because we all know we are living on borrowed time. This is what I tell myself when days start running together, running from here to there in my sometimes crazy life with 3 kids and a husband. I have to tell myself EVERY day, "slow down, breathe.....you only have one turn on this merry-go-round called life".

So this is my life, with 2 handsome boys and a beautiful daughter who is chromosomally enhanced (Down syndrome) and loving life! I will share our journey within this blog.