and Jessica found hers…the Atomic Fart app

Mother Nature is providential.  She gives us twelve years to develop a love for our children before turning them into teenagers.

~William Galvin

Jessica became an official teenager on Thursday –though she’s had the drama queen attitude and door slamming technique perfected for quite a while now.

My parents were vacationing in Williamsburg, so the girls and I took a road trip to visit them last weekend and celebrate Jessica’s birthday.  We had a great time and Jess really enjoyed her party.

Just thought I’d share a video…please excuse the singing

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

~Pablo Picasso

Happy Saturday!

School will be back in session soon…so maybe I’ll be able to start blogging regularly again!

Thought I’d share this video of Jessica “entertaining” her grandparents and uncle.  She sings “It’s a Small World”, the end of “The Star Spangled Banner” and says the Pledge of Allegience…all in Jessica language of course!  Notice how she initiates the applause at the end of each tune.

Enjoy!

If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water

~ Loren Eisley

Happy Saturday!

Wow, the past month has been busy and I’ve seriously neglected this blog!

I thought I’d post a few photos of what the girls have been up to

Amanda went to her Senior Prom

And behind her you can see my new car. I wasn’t planning to get a new car this year. My old car was 15 years old, but still had a few years left in it…but sadly Amanda had her first accident. She, thank goodness, was okay. My poor, old car was not.

We’re enjoying it, but I HATE having a car payment!

Jessica’s school had their 2nd annual dance. Jessica had been asking about going to the dance since the 1st annual. Yes, from May 2008 to May 2009 I heard “Go dance? Dance P.E. Room?” approximately 3.2 million times.

Needless to say, she was quite excited when the day of the dance finally arrived! Look, she’s even wearing a skirt (well, okay a skort…but it’s close enough).

She looks like she’s already “busting a move”

I had to take one last photo before we got in the car to go. Look at that lovely smile/grimace on her face. Doesn’t it just scream “take the #!**@! picture already so we can go!” Hehe, I just love annoying my kids with photo ops.

And last, but not least…Amanda graduated!!!!

I’m so proud of her. And I feel soooo old!

Finally!!  A warm day!  So what better to do than get out the hose?

Happy Wednesday!

A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature.

It is earth’s eye;

looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.

~Henry David Thoreau

Saturday, May 9th is CdLS Awareness Day

Today is a special day for us.  Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) Awareness Day!  Since it coincides with SOOC Saturday, I decided to combine the two in my post this week.

My youngest daughter, Jessica, was born with this rare, genetic syndrome.  The photo above (which was taken long before digital cameras…so definitely SOOC!) is Jessica at about 2 weeks old -yes, she really had that much hair when she was born!- with her older sister.  It is one of my favorites.

Jessica came into the world weighing 4 lbs. 3 oz. and 17″ long.  She was diagnosed with CdLS at 2 months old.  It was the begining of our journey into a strange, new world.   The road’s been rough at times, but it’s been well worth the trip!

To learn more about this syndrome, please visit the CdLS Foundation Website.   The Foundation is a wonderful organization dedicated to “reaching out, providing help, giving hope.”

I’d like to thank Heidi at GGIP for encouraging us to post about Awareness Day on our blogs.  If you have a chance, hop on over to Heidi’s blog to read about her adorable son “Little Boy Blue” who has CdLS.

Happy Saturday!

Heidi from God’s Grace in Practice kindofsortof tagged me for this meme after she was kindofsort of tagged by Beck from Frog and Toad are Still Friends

Eight Things I’m Looking Forward To:

1. My parents coming to visit.

2. Sitting on my back porch drinking iced tea.

3. Getting some new flowers to plant in the garden.

4. Trying my hand at tomato plants.

5. The sun! (We’ve had nuthin’ but rain the last few days)

6. The 2010 CdLS National Conference.

7. My upcoming Friday off.

8. Getting Jess to bed so I can crash on the couch and watch House.

Eight Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Woke up way too early, courtesy of Jessica.

2. Explained to her multiple times that we could not go outside because it was pouring rain.

3. Listened to much tantruming after above explanation and boredom/frustration that followed.

4. Listened to very LOUD music with Jess, which was slightly less annoying than the tantruming.

5. Cleaned the following off the floor from various spots in the house:  pee (oops! accident), puke (reflux!), a river of Thousand Island Dressing (don’t ask)

6. Got a few loads of laundry done.

7. Managed to put together a halfway decent dinner.

8. Was so thankful when it was bedtime!

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Have an entire day to myself.

2. Clean the house really well and have it stay that way for longer than 5 minutes.

3. Visit my friend in Ohio.

4. See my parents more often.

5. Go back to school and get a degree.

6. Have time to paint and draw again.

7. Sleep-in every once in awhile!

8. Visit Alaska.

Eight Shows I Watch:

1. House

2. The Office

3. Criminal Minds

4. American Idol (don’t roll your eyes, you know you watch it too, lol!)

5. Dexter

6. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

7. House Hunters

8. Pretty much anything on Discovery Health channel.

Tag you’re it!!  If you decide to play along, leave a comment at Heidi’s blog GGIP.