Mixed Nuts: Row Row Row Your Boat

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Row Row Row Your Boat

Today has been very interesting. It has been raining - hard - for 2 days straight. We have gotten several inches of rain and it is reaking havoc around our area. We have several lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans around us and they are all flooding over. I have to drive past several little lakes on my way to work through some country roads, and they were all spilling into the street. I required several detours on the way home to pick up Arlington from school. The one and only intersection in our small town was completely flooded. I wish I would have had my camera in the car - it was pretty interesting! The streams were flowing like rapids.

(yes Finley has mac N cheese on her face. Sue me. Thanks to the weather my kids had to eat food out of a box)

It is Tuesday night, and it has finally stopped raining. The weather man says we are not done yet with the rain, but let's hope the worst is over. Several of our friends had to bail out their basements. Several schools were closed due to flooding - many of my co-workers had to leave to go and pick up children at neighboring schools. Work places were without power. It was nuts.

(uh yes, she dos have stickers on her face. I didn't do that. She did that to herself at preschool. She called them her "most special" stickers.)

But for us - the worst was where the VTs go to school. At lunch time I get an email from Mat - he thinks he needs to go for them - that the kids needed to be picked up. But he couldn't get through to the school to find out. So I have direct numbers to their classrooms, so I called. The teacher said it was just the opposite. They were sending out an email to say NOT to pick up your children - that you couldn't get there. The roads around their preschool were completely flooded. The kids were safe - the building sound, and the lights on. But - they were not sure how they were going to get anyone out.

Finally - around 4pm - Mat is able to take a bus from Pfizer to the preschool. The bus was able to get the parents there - but cars still could not pass through. Mat said they had to go the most round about way - the bus ride was about 1 hour for a 2 mile ride. The VTs were excited to be on the bus. Finley was sure Arlington was going to be on there with her!

I had a really hard time getting to Arlington's school. That intersection I mentioned above was completely flooded and blocked off by police, and I had to take quite a round about way to her school. It was crazy. I had to call a friend to give me some options because even the detours were eventually flooded.

But all is well. We are home. We live on a hill and water is running down our yard at an amazing speed. Part of our hill has slid and let go due to all the water. But it is an easy fix. We have definitely been lucky.

Tonight we saw our family of 5 deer walking through our yard. I had mixed feelings about that. I was happy to see that they survived the winter. I was not happy that they remembered where our yard is. They weren't even phased that we were watching them from the window. The youngest prancing around and doing little circles. I gave them the stink eye. I don't think they cared.

Today was Arlington's first gymnastics class. She is taking an after school class at her school. I was excited to see the programs they offered for the kids. There were quite a few kids involved! She had a blast and has already learned a cartwheel. She has taken a gymnastics class before, but didn't learn a thing and it was expensive. This class is 4 weeks for $24. Can't beat that! I am hoping she can take a second class after this one ends. She will go right after school from 3:40-4:40 each Tuesday. She really had a great time and a lot of her friends were there too.

Today I also had my second conference with Arlington's teacher. She got her report card yesterday and did fantastic!! It was her best report card yet. She did amazing and we are really proud of her. Her teacher sung her praises as well. She talked about how much she has grown this year and that she was so happy to have her in class. And Arlington has grown. It has been an amazing year, and I just can't sing her teacher's praises enough. She is outstanding and has motivated Arlington to challenge herself this year. Her teacher said she already has a teacher in mind for her next year, and I hope she and I are on the same page. As long as Arlington continues to be challenged, then she will do well.

Our Easter Bunny toy is apparently having some problems.

Finley put cups on his head to "protect his ears" and then put him in American Girl's wheelchair and pushed him around the house. She is a total weirdo.