eSpecially Ben

For the past several weeks in Sunday School, we have been reviewing the book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years , by Donald Miller . The book's basic premise is: When you have a chance to talk with God about the story of your life, will you be proud to do so? Will it be an interesting one? How would you change your life so it would be a good conversation with God? While on his journey to "rewrite" his life story, the author meets many colorful characters along the way - people who have good stories to tell. Most have overcome conflict to achieve their goals. Many have found ways to help others along the way. Today's class was about helping others. As a way to demonstrate the book's theme, we made Love Letters for children at a local hospital. Love Letters  is a program where anyone can make cards and give them to the hospital staff for distribution. The Love Letters website outlines a few simple guidelines to be followed. I made contact with the ChildLife

Looks like another company is jumping on the Pepsi Challenge bandwagon and giving away money to charities. Yes, it is all good, just don't be deceived that these companies are being unselfish. It gives the company publicity in the social networks while appearing like a company with heart, but many charities do benefit. So in the end everyone wins. And this time, they are using the word, "Endorse" instead of "Vote"  - guess it sounds more exciting. But vote is what you are being asked to do. AMBUCS is in the running this time. They give adaptive tricycles to children with special needs. I have written a lot about  AMBUCS because Ben is a two time recipient of one of these devices. We love it, he loves it and the more kids that can have one, the better. Take a minute to check these sites out and endorse/ vote if you choose: http://www.ambucs.org/ http://www.vivint.com/givesbackproject/charity/1389

Ryan is now 13. I have a teenager in my house – a teenager who is more like a 6 year old. Ok, so are most teenagers, but not all the time. I think this is the hardest part of having a special needs child - for our family right now. But, Ryan makes up for this in so many other ways. Ryan has Down syndrome. He is very friendly, happy and likes to show off. He is a go with the flow kind of kid 95% of the time. He likes trains (and the subway in DC), Disney movies, red boots, taking walks and annoying his younger sister. He loves going to visit his grandparents who live on a chicken farm! To mention his “granmmmmmommy and grandddaddy" always makes him smile and the fastest way to make him mad is to tell him it is time to leave the farm. Ryan is a busy young man. He is proficient at the Wii swordplay game and “practices” every morning before school. After school, he attends a church after school program where he plays with peers and does his homework. He is always happy to see me an

Sean and I were having an exceptionally difficult afternoon together. Whether it was lack of sleep on his part or bad time of the month for me, we were at each other's throats. It was time to get Logan from school which requires a 1/2 mile walk. Sean refused to get his shoes on. After several attempts, a lot of yelling from both of us, a slap on the hand (his not mine), I told him I was leaving. He ended up putting his own shoes on and following me out of the house. And for those of you wondering, no, I did not have a Plan B if he decided not to follow. We did not speak the entire walk. As we got closer to Logan's school, I, of course, felt guilty about yelling and slapping Sean's hand. I decided to break the ice, be the bigger person, as they say. Yeah, I know, I am the mom. So I said, "Sean, I feel badly about fighting with you." Sean turned to me and ever so sweetly said, "Mommy, it wasn't your fault. It was my fault." Never underestimate

All from one evening with Ben. Now couldn't you see this as an exciting reality TV show? 

For the past three years, Ben has been on the bus with the same brother and sister. Since they get on before Ben and after he gets off, I see them twice a day and have become friendly with them. About two years ago, we had them over for a playdate. Their Dad came too. Ryan and I learned about their tough circumstances. In the short time we spent with this family, it became obvious that the Dad worked hard to make their situation work. Although I tried many times to get the kids together again, it never worked out. Over a year later, on Halloween, the Dad stopped by our house. To ask for a relatively small amount of money. I gave it to him and asked that instead of repaying us, he bring the kids over for a playdate. He agreed and they came the next week. Then six months later, the Dad stopped by to borrow a tool for a job. We gave it to him. Today he came by and left us a note explaining that he was going out of town. I guess he was letting us know he still had the tool and

Our neighborhood recently won an energy grant . While some of the money went to weatherproof homes, our neighborhood association, in keeping with our art theme, had 7 bicycle racks made for the the most frequented locations in the 'hood. Each were designed by artists and then painted at a special public event called, Pimp My Rack. Everyone was asked to help paint this dog, a bicycle rack doing to, what elese, but our local dog bar. This artist used stippling , basically using special brushes to paint dots all over the sculpture. Many kids added their mark. Our local coffeeshop, Smelly Cat, will boast this very cool cat.