"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, April 20, 2010
Stay a Child While You Can Be a Child
Some of you may know that I love musicals. I grew up going to NYC with my family taking in show after show. My cousin Kirsten lives in NYC and has done her fair share of Broadway shows. It is a big part of our life.
That being said - my title! It is from another show. Kudos to my beautiful sister in law, Tricia and my cousin Kirsten for getting the title "What Makes Us Special, Makes Us Strong" right. It was from Shrek. Kirsten - your points are null and void because you were in the show. That is probably, somehow, cheating. :) So - what show is my title from this time? And it honestly has a point. Too many times I am wishing for my kids to be at the next stage in their lives. Out of diapers. Then out of preschool. Then old enough to be independent. Old enough to get their own milk out of the fridge so I don't have to get up one.more.flippin.time.
I don't give them enough time to just be kids. Too soon they are going to want to be more grown up and want to be away from us, and I am going to be begging them to stay children while they can still be children. They have plenty of time to be grown ups.
Thursday and Friday this week, we let them be strictly kids. No responsibilities, no places we had to be. We went to the zoo and to the children's science center. We had a blast!
Thursday we went to the zoo. It was the first time we have gone to this zoo, and it was really nice. It is a little less than 1 hour away, so not terrible. And it is in Rhode Island. We still find it funny that we can be in three different states in 2 hours or less.
Thursday was really warm. We took our coats, but quickly were able to shed them and enjoy some outdoor weather coat free.
The kids enjoyed going around and seeing the different animals. Cainan mostly just observed, but the girls were really into hunting out the animals that were trying to hide.
We were there for about 4-5 hours. It was a nice day. Finley's favorite animal was the elephants, of course. It was the first thing she wanted to see.
We ended up seeing the elephants several times during the day, much to her delight.
Arlington's favorite animal was the seals. Mostly because she thought they were funny because they would scoot along the rocks and then roll into the water.
After we finished at the zoo, we rode the carousel that was in the park near by. I didn't take pictures because I had to ride the carousel with the little ones.
Finley does not like to go up and down. She has a hard time with spinning and the world going in many different directions because of her vision. The up and down AND round and round is a little overload for her. So - she always settles for a stationary animal.
Cainan - well he likes it.....sort of. He is frozen solid on the horse, but he doesn't cry. He wants to ride it, but he is nervous about the whole idea.
Friday we went to the science center in Hartford. That isn't a very far drive for us, either, so I am glad we decided to go there. The weather on Friday was cold and rainy, so a good day for an indoor activity. This science center is huge! I would like to thank my neighbor, Michelle, for recommending it. We spent the whole day there.
The kids had a great time going around to all the exhibits and trying them out.
Arlington and Finley weighed themselves to see how much the weighed in comparison to a bear.
Even all 3 of them together didn't weigh as much as a baby bear.
I would have to say that the water zone was by far a favorite.
We got to see a 3D movie about Dinosaurs, which all three kids enjoyed.
We left around dinner time and headed over the the Cheesecake Factory to finish off our fun day.
We didn't get to go to six flags on Saturday because it ended up being rainy and cold. Bummer. So we spent the day doing things around the house.
Mat and my dad took Arlington bowling in the afternoon.
Then we went to dinner and then Mat and I got to take in a movie. We saw Date Night. It was really good! I recommend it.
Cainan said something funny at school the other day that I wanted to share. His teachers were feeding the kids lunch (it was hamburger day). Cainan raised his hand and asked if he could have "another hamburger, without the ham". It took the teachers a little while to figure out what he meant, but in the end, he didn't want the bread! Too funny.
Today was a completely crazy day. It started with me having to be at an 8am meeting at school. Then after school Arlington had gymnastics until 4:30.
Then she had to swallow dinner and be at the softball field at 5pm for her first official softball game. Their color is navy blue and they have the cutest hats!! Go coach!
Then I had to drop the babies off at the game at 6:30 because I had to go to a PTO meeting. Actually - Mat had the hardest day because he was in charge of children all day long. Poor guy.
I am glad today is over. It is 10pm and I just got in from PTO.
Don't forget to sign up for the BBQ or for T-shirts for Finley's Fighters! And if you want to join my team, go to the right hand side of the blog and click on the words "Finley's Fighters" in white and it will take you to our team page. If you want to sign up for the BBQ and shirts, go to the LEFT side of my blog, and click on the link to the website!! Can't wait to see you all there!
Enjoy your week. Remember to let those kids be little for just awhile longer. I am trying to be better at it.
Personal victory for you if you guess what musical my title is from.
And, you are right. As I watch Ethan grow more and more independent, it just breaks my heart. I wish he could stay in this phase (minus the fits, of course) forever. At least he's still excited to see me when he comes home :-)
We are a family of 5 living in Massachusetts. Mat and I have been married for 16 years, and we have three children. Arlington is 11 years old, and Finley and Cainan are 8 years old. We adopted Cainan from China when he was 14 months old. He was born with cleft lip and palate level three. This blog started out as our journey to bring him into our family and has turned into our family blog. He and Finley are only 30 days apart!! We love being a blended family, and enjoy sharing about our trials and tribulations through becoming one! Also, our daughter Finley was diagnosed in 2009 with Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) a rare genetic eye condition that has made her legally blind. Come and read about our proud family! If you want to read Cainan's story, click here: The Pletcher Five Journey Blessings Times Three: Cainan's Story
2 comments:
Too easy. Into the Woods. One of our favs.
And, you are right. As I watch Ethan grow more and more independent, it just breaks my heart. I wish he could stay in this phase (minus the fits, of course) forever. At least he's still excited to see me when he comes home :-)
Oops. Forgot to tell you to bring a change of clothes to the museum just in case the water area attacked. We've had the problem before....
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