Christmas Par-tay!

We had our Christmas party at the daycare today, complete with Santa.  Landon could not have been more ecstatic to see the big guy in red in person.  He kept pointing and saying "HO HO HO!" with that big dimpley grin of his, and I've never seen him sit so patiently and wait for his turn on Santa's lap.  I think he was kind of starstruck :-D

Here comes Santa Claus!

Woah, it's SANTA!

Look, Mom...SANTA!

I've been a good boy....I swear....

I'll just pretend I'm shy

Hmmm, what do I want for Christmas??

Is it just me, or does he look like he's got something mischievous brewing in that little mind??

Waiting patiently to open my present

Look, Mom, what I got!

See my book?

Just when you think it can't get any better than SANTA, you get Christmas treats!

Chocolate covered marshmallow on a stick?  YES PLEASE!

That's chocolatey heaven, right there

$50 Avon Giveaway!

My fundraising efforts for Holly have kind of come to a standstill.  I know it's the holidays and money is tight, but I had high hopes that if I could get a lot of people to donate just a little, we'd reach $1000 in no time.  So, to boost my efforts, I've decided to host a giveaway!

Here's the scoop:  From now until December 30, every $5 donation made via Holly's chip-in box (see right) will get you one entry into a giveaway for $50 in Avon products.  The more you donate, the more entries you get!   Easy peasy.  :)

The fine print:  You MUST donate via the CHIP-IN box, NOT the donation box.  The chip-in is the only way I can keep track of who enters and how many entries they get.  I will choose a winner via random.org on January 1 and contact you via email with details on placing your order.  You don't have to be local to win, I will ship anywhere in the U.S.!  I won't make you pay for shipping, either.  My goal is just to get more donations in for sweet Holly before Angel Tree ends!  And please leave a comment when you donate.  I won't always remember to check in every day and see how many donations we have, so the comment reminders will be a nice way to brighten my day!

That's it!  Now GO!  Donate away!  Every dollar counts!

Sarah Palin Gives Moving Thanksgiving Tribute to Her Son Trig | LifeNews.com

Sarah Palin Gives Moving Thanksgiving Tribute to Her Son Trig | LifeNews.com

No matter what people say about her, I have always admired Sarah Palin for her family values. She was running for vice president while I was pregnant with Landon, so the news of the birth of her son Trig was something I could really relate to. I've loved reading about her ever since!

"The Orphan Game"

The girls were playing nicely together for quite a long time yesterday.  (I know *GASP*)  It isn't very often that happens.  It seems they are always ALWAYS finding something to argue about.  So at dinner we were discussing the game they had been playing for most of the afternoon.  They called it "The orphan game," and Grace was the orphan.  With Down syndrome.  Be still my beating heart.  :-)  Ava, always the motherly one, was the "teacher" who stayed at the orphanage and took care of the kids, particularly Grace, who didn't like staying in her room alone, apparently.  They talked about how Ava would listen to music with the orphans and spend time with them and dance with them.  My heart was beaming as they described this game of theirs.  We have talked about Holly a few times, and looked over all the pictures of the waiting orphans on this year's Angel Tree.  I'm glad that some of that info actually sunk in, and they have a basic understanding of what we are doing participating in the Angel Tree this year.  If only those real orphans had it so good, if only they had a "teacher" to love them and rock them and play music for them.  But the reality for most of these waiting children is much more grim, and I'm glad that my own kids are still sheltered from that reality.  I hope that one day my girls can change the world, that they will grow up learning to love and serve others as they love and serve God.  I hope that our participation in the Angel Tree will be a stepping stone for bigger things to come for the two of them.  And I know that if we didn't have Landon, we never would have known the joy of helping and praying for these orphans with Down syndrome across the world.  Landon is our key to changing the world for Holly, and Hopefully for others throughout the years.  For my three wonderful blessings, Grace, Ava, and Landon, I am most thankful.

If you haven't already, please consider a small donation to Holly's adoption fund, in honor of my wonderful and loving kids.

Angel Tree is OPEN!!

The 2011 Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree is officially OPEN!!  Click on Holly's picture at the top of this blog to go to the Angel Tree page, and then click the link at the bottom of that page to view this year's waiting angels.  You can then find Holly 25C on the angel page and donate to her fund, or any of the other kiddos waiting for a family!!  Please help me reach my goal of $1000 for Holly and donate today!

LOST

I lost a child today.  And by "lost," I don't mean hide-and-seek lost.  We're talking panic mode, out the front door, down the street, across traffic lost.  Scary, heart leaping from your chest lost.  The kinda lost that is every mother's worst nightmare.  Especially a mother whose child cannot communicate to strangers where he/she should be.  I should have known this was coming eventually.  But I'd never be ready for it.  Landon made it out the front door and far down and across the street before anyone even realized he was gone.  I'd like to say he's just that fast, but the reality is, I feel like a completely incompetent parent.  I should have had my eyes on him, I should have known he was strong enough to open that door, I should have been more aware.  I thank God that he was picked up by a woman who has experience with children with special needs and knew he needed help.  I thank God that I put him in his bright yellow "can't miss it" (or doesn't blend in with the road and get run over) Buddy Walk tshirt today, so he was completely visible as he was crossing the street.  I thank God he wasn't picked up by some East Helena weirdo.  (Sorry, E.H., but you know it's true, there's plenty of 'em)  I thank God I had enough people to spread out and help me look for him.  I thank God he's ok, because I had every worst-case scenario playing out in my head.  The woman who found him had, of course, called the police department, and we had to stay & talk to the deputy they sent out.  He was very friendly, very understanding....apparently they see this sort of thing all the time.....I'm not the first person to lose track of my child.  But that doesn't make it any less scary.  And it doesn't make me feel any better about losing him.  He was probably gone 5 or 10 minutes, total, but it felt like hours.  I'm emotionally exhausted and still feeling like the complete opposite of Mother-of-the-Year.  And now, I have to try and teach him WHY it is so dangerous to take off on his own, because now he thinks it's a game.  He's a big boy, and he CAN open that door and take off, without understanding the consequences.  Having a toddler is scary enough, but raising a toddler with special needs is extra challenging, and I can't ever take that for granted.  I'm thankful for the way things happened; it could have been far, far worse.  But Lord help me to raise this child so that both of us make it out alive!

Holly: My Christmas Angel

This is Holly.  Isn't she beautiful?  This year I was chosen to be her Christmas Warrior through Reece's Rainbow.  The mission of Reece's Rainbow is to rescue orphans with Down syndrome through the gift of adoption, to raise awareness for all of the children who are waiting in 25 countries around the world, and to raise funds as adoption grants that help adoptive families afford the high cost of adopting these beautiful children.  


The tragedy in all this is not that these children are orphans with Down syndrome, but that they are orphans BECAUSE they have Down syndrome.  They don't have anyone who can give them the love and care they deserve, and so they are placed in orphanages, most of which provide only minimal living conditions.  And if these children are not adopted by the age of 5, they are transferred to institutions and left to waste away.  The sad truth is that, once transferred, most of these beautiful kids will die within just a few years.  Can you imagine a child, any child, never having a mother or a father to hug and kiss all over them?  It brings me to tears.....


My mission between November 1 and December 31 is to raise $1000 for Holly's adoption fund.  You can read more about the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree program here: http://reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2011


The impact of this program really didn't hit me until recently.  Can I really raise $1000 for this sweet angel by myself?  Is it possible?  Well, not really, not alone....but with friends and family, maybe we really can do it.  I cannot change the world, not by myself, but I can be a crucial part of this little girl's life by helping her to find her forever family.  And if I can better the life of one child who desperately needs a family to love her, then I will do my very best!  BECAUSE EVERY FAMILY DESERVES THE BLESSING OF A CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME!  


I will have more information and a donation box posted soon, so stay tuned!!

To blog or not to blog?

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

The Walrus and the Carpenter, Lewis Carroll

I am not a writer, by any stretch of the word. And to be honest, I never really understood the appeal of blogging. But people love blogs, and it seems like most everyone has one these days, or at the very least, reads them. And when it comes to expressing myself, I have always had an easier time putting my thoughts down on paper rather than saying what I feel. So what the heck? Here goes nothin :)

My first challenge was to think of a name, something semi-creative and not too dorky. Have I succeeded? Not really. But I came across this poem while searching for quotes that contained the word "Kings" (for obvious reasons), and The Walrus and the Carpenter seemed perfect. I have seen a lot of blogs dedicated to a specific topic, but that's not something I feel I can stick to. And we are not a terribly exciting family. We have the usual work, school, minimal extra-curricular activities schedule, and it isn't often that we venture out and do anything remotely exciting. We have a family member who, in many ways, makes us extraordinary, simply because he has one extra chromosome. But do I want a blog dedicated entirely to Down syndrome? Certainly not. While Down syndrome has certainly blessed our family, it does not define us any more than it defines Landon himself. It's just another one of those things that makes him a bit more awesome, and us a big luckier to have him!

But I digress. The time has come, I feel, to talk of many things. Cabbage probably won't be one of those things. I know, heartbreaking, right? So here we are, and if I can stick to this blogging thing, my vision of this blog is to be a mish-mashed hodge-podge of all sorts of things. The good, the bad, and maybe even the ugly. Because family is awesome, and messy, and ultimately the most important thing we have. So, if you're intrigued (as I'm sure you are), feel free to join me. And if I've already bored you to tears and you run screaming as far from your computer as you can, no worries....I won't be offended if you never come back!

I'm starting to maybe be just a little bit excited about this. I'm not really a chatty person, but I know I can find plenty to talk about!