Indian????

I decided to tackle my first indian recipe at home. Gobi Manchurian...yum!!! Bailee said "I smell something..." and I told her, yeah, that's me cooking. They she said "It smells like dog poop." Nice Bailee...way to give me support for cooking! I will give her that, it was cauliflower cooking, so it does smell a little, but its not that bad. Turned out yummy too!

Happy Birthday!

My brother and I thought we would get together and retake an old photo of the 2 of us for our mom's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Mom!

Bond of Mothers...

A friend recently posted this and I thought all would enjoy. Disclaimer- have tissues ready!

"Many of you I have never even met face to face, but I've searched you out every day. I've looked for you on the Internet, on playgrounds and in grocery stores. I've become an expert at identifying you. You are well-worn. You are stronger than you ever wanted to be. Your words ring experience, experience you culled with your very heart and soul. You are compassionate beyond the expectations of this
world.
You're my "sisters." Yes, you and I, my friend, are sisters in a sorority. A very elite sorority. We are special. Just like any other sorority, we were chosen to be members. Some of us were invited to join immediately, some not for months or even years. Some of us even tried to refuse membership, but to no avail. We were initiated in neurologist's offices and NICU units, in obstetrician's offices, in emergency rooms.. We were initiated with somber telephone calls, consultations and evaluations.

All of us have one thing in common. Yes, one minute everything was fine. Then, whether it happened in an instant, as it often does, or over the course of a few weeks or months, our entire lives changes. Something wasn't quite right. Then we found ourselves mothers of children with special needs. 

We are united, we sisters, regardless of the diversity of our children's special needs. Some are unable to talk, some are unable to walk. Some live in a different world. We do not discriminate against those mothers whose children's needs are not as "special" as our child's. We have mutual respect and empathy for all the women who walk in our shoes.

We are knowledgeable. 
We have educated ourselves with whatever materials we could find. We know "the" specialists in the field. We know "the" neurologists, "the" hospitals, "the" wonder drugs, "the" treatments. We know "the" tests that need to be done, we know "the" degenerative and progressive diseases and we hold our breath while our children are tested for them. Without formal education, we could become board certified in neurology, endocrinology and psychiatry.

We have learned to deal with the rest of the world, even if it means walking away from it. We have tolerated scorn in supermarkets during "tantrums" and gritted our teeth while discipline was advocated by the person behind us in line. We have tolerated inane suggestions and home remedies from well-meaning strangers.

We have tolerated mothers of children without special needs complaining about chicken pox and ear infections. We have learned that many of our closest friends can't understand what it's like to be in our sorority, and don't even want to try.

We have coped with holidays. We have found ways to get our physically handicapped children to the neighbors' front door on Halloween, and we have found ways to help our children form words, "trick or treat". We have accepted that our children with sensory dysfunction will never wear velvet or lace on Christmas. We have painted a canvas of lights and a blazing Yule log with our words for our children. We have pureed turkey on Thanksgiving. We have bought white chocolate bunnies for Easter. And all the while, we have tried to create a festive atmosphere for the rest of our family.

We've gotten up every morning since our journey began wondering how we'd make it through another day, and gone to bed every evening not sure how we did it.

But we, sisters, we keep the faith always. We never stop believing. Our love for our special children and our belief in all that they will achieve in like knows no bounds. We dream of them scoring touchdowns and extra points and home runs. We visualize them running sprints and marathons. We dream of them planting vegetable seeds, riding horses and chopping down trees. We hear their angelic voices singing Christmas carols. We see their palettes smeared with watercolors, and their fingers flying over ivory keys in a concert hall. We are amazed at the grace of their pirouettes. We never, never stop believing in all they will accomplish as they pass through this world. 

But in the meantime, my sisters, the most important thing we do, is hold tight to their little hands and together, we special mothers and our special children, reach for the stars. ♥"

~Unknown

Whoa horsey....or move.

Parental Olympics Event 2

Event 2: The Mountain Climb


We call this second event the Mountain Climb, or also know as Tour de Oh My God...

Object: Find the biggest, steepest road to push your stroller up.

Extra Points: If there is a highly desirable destination at the top, like a the zoo entrance...or the polar bear exhibit. Bonus points also given for trail blazing, and stair carrying. Who knew the Museum of Natural History in DC didn't have a ramp off the back to the mall area??? That's a lot of steps to carrying a stroller up and down.

Double Points for gravel or mulch surface.

Deductions: Running over your feet, only a 45' angle is permitted leaning into the stroller to push it uphill.

The Parental Olympics

In light of the 2012 Summer Olympics...we will be discussing our own Olympic games...the Parental Olympics.

Event 1: The Grocery Carry
You don't need to be a parent for this one. For some reason the more lazy we are, the more we feel we should try to attempt to gather in one trip.

Object: To carry as many grocery bags at one time....(I'd rather carry 100lbs at once than make two trips)

Deductions will be given for the following: Bags breaking/tearing, dropping items, having to put down anything to shut the car door/hatch or open the house door, walking crooked, walking in an unusually fast, chopping pace, purple fingertips, using a foot to prop the door (butt propping permitted), or dropping all the bags in the middle of the kitchen floor in a state of distress.

Extra Points for: Carrying a pack of bottled water while consecutively carrying other bags, carrying dog food bags with groceries (those little mini 5 lb bags don't count), and hoisting all the bags onto the counter top in one swoop.