Sarah & I

Oh how I love this girl!! We have been best friends for over 18 years I think when I tried to count…We have been through A LOT…We have been through boyfriends, middle school, high school, weddings, babies, moves, heart aches, heartbreaks, life bumps, family mishaps.You get the point. BUT through it all she has always been there! and for that I am blessed! Blessed beyond words! I love her like a sister I never had. Its really not about how many friends you have its all about how many good ones you have..and I only have a few friends but man are they really good ones!!! and I wouldn’t trade that for anything! The only stinky thing is all my really good friends are all in South Dakota…So I really miss them and I am always anxious to get home and spend some time with them…

We are so alike in so many ways but in many other ways we are very different too..that’s a good thing. it is. In Middle school and high school she was always the more popular one and she had her crowd she hung out with and I had mine too..but no matter what she didn’t forget about me or ever think she was too cool to hang out with me. and for that I am thankful! Our friendship has been proven that no matter how much time passes we can just pick up right where we left off..She was station over in Turkey for a long time..and there would be many, many months that went by where we couldn’t talk but once when we did…you wouldn’t of ever known we went that long with out talking to each other…it seemed like it was just yesterday that we had talked. or many years too for that matter that went by without seeing each other too but once when we seen each other we just picked up where we left off last time. It was nothing…like no time had passed at all!!
I look forward to our stay in Sioux Falls whenever I go back home..for those of you that don’t know..Sioux Falls is about 100 miles away from my home…and its always before my hometown of Watertown so I always stay there first..and just spend some time with her....were we just get to hang out and do ummm nothing sometimes…and we are both ok with that..this last time we had a slumber party..we wanted to feel young again..bc we stayed up way to the wee hours of the morning talking..catching up on life..we laughed..we had heart-to heart moments..it was awesome. Boy did I feel it the next day though…I.dragged.all.day. I am obviously not 16 anymore. After I was done getting ready I came walking upstairs and she says “ You look really nice..(or maybe it was beautiful)”..see one of the many reasons why I love her bc she is always so positive and always makes me feel good…bc remember we had just spent all night pretty much talking and going on no sleep..so I'm pretty sure I didn’t look too nice…;)

Is this not the cutest picture of her with her little girl??? Jude definitely looks like you Sarah
and a picture of our kids..but we are missing Noah..and Jude didn’t want to be in the picture..I love that our kids are friends with each other too..and always have a great time playing with each other..

But you see this week has been really hard on me..bc I know that I can not be there with her this weekend. Saturday is going to be a day that is sooo very important to her. A day that is going to be absolutely beautiful.This I know. This weekend she is marrying her prince charming..I want to see her on her most special day looking all beautiful.glowing, beaming with happiness I want to see my best friend the most happiest she has been in I cant even say how long..its been too long!! and she deserves this...I should be there.I need to be there..but I can’t. It’s just not possible with Avery having surgery in one week that requires me to prepare mentally, physically and requires all of our money. and so that leaves my heart hurting! Really bad! So Sarah… I will be there every way I can be without physically being there..and you know I would be there in a second if I could. I hope you have a very blessed, beautiful day and may God bless you both!

Back to School Haircuts..Avery’s surgery date

Yes along with going back to school you always gets haircuts..right????   Well it should have been done before school started but it wasn’t so this past weekend I took the older girls to go get there haircut…
Before:…and after picture…

AS you can see in the picture…Destiny only wanted a few inches off..she’s growing her hair out..she likes it long..Brielle wanted it short again…I think she looks better with short hair too..her hair gets soo scraggly when its long..she says she don’t care my hair grows fast anyways..and Avery went short too…she went really short..I was tired of her hair always in her food…and last time when she had her surgery it got all tangled from constantly being on her back..it was an absolute disaster every.single.day! So I am hoping to avoid that headache by cutting it short. 

Destiny didn’t want a picture bc she said u cant even tell…its not a big deal mom…so I guess its just Brielle and Avery..:)


ps..for those of you that aren't on FB or family…so u haven't heard yet..but Avery is scheduled for September 11, for surgery in Boston for her other side on her hip. YIKES..that is only two weeks away!!!!  I am not really ready but I am ready to get it over with…I'm tired of it just hanging over my head..Please be praying for me as I am going to have to do this alone this time. We couldn’t get into the family housing program like we did last time bc they were all booked up…and are only other option is a motel and the motel is $150 a night..that is medical rate…so if we both went we would spend OVER $2000 just in motel..so we aren't going that route for obvious reasons…so we have decided that I am just going to go up there..bc I can stay in the room with her in the hospital…but I am really nervous bc there were many times when I really needed Jared there for many reasons but mainly bc he can just calm  Avery down so much easier..HE has WAY more patience then me too!!!   I don’t want to do this alone but we have no other choice so please say a few extra prayers for me!!! But we are gearing up for the surgery..we have upped the vitamin C…the extra hand washing…the extra hand sanitizer..I have asked her teachers if they would up the hand sanitizer on her for a couple of weeks…she CAN”T get sick!!!!!  If she gets even a cold they will not do the surgery..and that would be horrible…we have Jared’s parents coming down here from SD again to stay with the girls..of course Jared will be here with them at night now too..So hopefully that will help my girls some too…bc last time it was really hard on them too for us to be gone for so long..Typing this all out just makes my stomach quiver…YUCK!!!!! 

2012 Spartanburg Buddy Walk

Its that time of year again….its BUDDY WALK TIME…
We strive to raise awareness that being different isn’t bad, its actually pretty AWESOME!!!! We want to show our support to all of our buddies rockin' that extra chromosome!

Avery is such a blessing and she totally rocks the extra chromosome that God has blessed her with! We would love for you (anyone and everyone) to come out and join us on our team, “Avery's Army” and come walk along with Avery and our other buddies on October 6^th for the 2012 Spartanburg Buddy Walk! Registration and walking is free, but if you would like to donate you can do that through Avery’s first giving page that is up in the corner…Donating through the first giving website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support Avery’s fundraising efforts. OR once again if you are more comfortable just sending a check, you can do that also..checks made out to Family Connection of SC and mail them to me..
When: October 6th, 2012
Where: South Carolina School for the Deaf & Blind ~355 Cedar Springs Rd., Spartanburg, SC
Food and fun activities for the whole family.
You can check out my post from last year if you want to…where it is loaded with tons of pictures!!!
What is the Buddy Walk?
The Buddy Walk was established by the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) in 1995 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.
The Buddy Walk program has grown from 17 walks nationwide to nearly 300 walks expected in 2012. In 2011, 285,000 individuals participated in a Buddy Walk! More than $11.2 million was raised nationwide to benefit local programs and services, as well as the national advocacy and public awareness initiatives of NDSS that benefit all individuals with Down syndrome.
Today the Buddy Walk program is supported nationally by NDSS and organized at the local level by parent support groups, schools and other organizations and individuals.

School Update

Things have been going very well!!!! On Monday she was pretty tired when she came home..and at school too but most kindergartners are the first day of school…When I went to go drop her off on Wednesday the assistant teacher told me…”Avery is very smart. We were playing bingo yesterday and she knew every single picture. I was impressed. She is a very independent little girl.”  That’s my girl!!!  She is shining!  I feel like I truly made the right choice in where I put her. Yesterday the teacher called me and told me that she has enjoyed having Avery in her class and she has never taught anyone with special needs. So she asked If I would send her some links about Down syndrome. How awesome is that!!!  I believe that maybe in the beginning she was just really nervous and didn’t know what to expect and she is seeing too that she can “hang” just like the rest of the kids  Today was the last day I could drop her off..bc Monday is Independence Day…but Avery knew right where her classroom was..she eats breakfast with her sisters in the morning and then they usually take off before she is done and she sits there and finishes eating by herself and dumps her tray..no problem..and I followed right behind her and she knew right where to go..She goes into the classroom and knows to take her folder out where to put it and hangs her backpack up..and goes and sits down in her spot…and starts to work on her morning work. Just like everyone else! The teachers told me today that there are a few girls in her classroom that love helping her and playing with her…They showed me a sheet of paper that they did yesterday and there was a spot where u could put a friend and so the teacher told me that Avery wanted Alexis..and then another girl pipes up and says  I'm her friend too..  They have worked out her resource time so that she isn't missing anything important. She gets two 30 min sessions of resource a day. She is getting OT for 30 min once a week..along with PT too…and Speech therapy twice a week..one 30 min session by herself and one 30 min session with kids her age. I am going to work up a communication sheet today..something where the teacher can just quickly circle what went on in the day…so I can kind of know…bc she comes home and ill ask her but we don’t understand or if we ask her she answers yes…but she likes to answer yes to everything..but is quickly learning that she don’t want to answer yes to everything…For example..last night we had tacos..and I asked her if she wanted salsa on her taco..she said yes..so I went to pick up the bottle of salsa and said Avery u wanted this on your taco and she looks at it then looks at me and says “No..ewie..” So then I explained to her that she said yes though..so we have to say no then…They have started to show her and work with her using a communication board but apparently Avery don’t like it much..she pushes it away some of the time..
They read a book with the class about being the same and being different too..and paired up and let them see how they were the same and how they were different from others…and they never really zeroed in on Down syndrome and Avery..which I think is ok… bc the kids are young enough and totally accepting..but if they start to ask questions or want to know more the teacher will read “Hi My name is Ben…and I have a secret” (that’s the book that I gave them to read) so I'm ok with that for now. As far as the letter goes it got vetoed all together. The principal was going to come up with something and she said no parents or anything have even asked anything..So I’m thinking its not necessary but just because the parents aren't asking anything to her doesn’t mean the kids aren't coming home and asking them.  And I just would like the parents to have the right information about Avery and Down syndrome  to tell there kids about..what are your thoughts on the letter for the parents??? Should I just let it go or push for it more????

4th of July

(I guess this is where the series of post will start) I told you I was behind….

Jayla, Jianna

Jianna, Jayla

This year we decided to celebrate the 4th at/on the lake.



With Jared’s brother…Greg and his family…



We did lots of tubing….
Destiny w/ her cousin Brianna getting ready to go tubing…


Avery and Daddy

She LOVED it!!!!

Of course daddy had to have a turn by himself too!!!

I of course had to get in on the fun!!! and paid for it the next day!!!!

AND….we cant forget my SIL Sarah…She probably thought whew bc she hadn't seen her picture yet…she is going to love me for putting this picture on here..  I thought it was a good picture..Sarah!!!

Check out this homemade slip and slide…we were very tempted to go up there and ask if we could just go down it just once..bc it looked like so much fun…it went right down into the lake…and the kids were going down it FAST!!!


We decided to stay at night for the fireworks show too..we had asked the game warden if there was any spot on the lake to go to watch some good fireworks..so he told us where to be..

Apparently the other boats know about this spot too..bc everyone was all huddled around…it was packed out there…


and it was a good show….It was neat watching them from the boat…and to see the reflection off of the lake…will def do it again next year!!

The next night we did some fireworks at home…which of course included sparklers…its not the 4th of July without sparklers…at least that is what my kids think!

Brielle


Destiny

Avery who had so much fun doing them….


and the twins..who weren't sure at first but after awhile ..they really enjoyed them..