Walking for a Cause

See this cute kid? That's my nephew, Brady.

We're walking with Brady's Bunch in October for Cincinnati Walks for Kids. The money we're raising will benefit the Center for Infants and Children with Special Needs at Cincinnati Children's. It's a pretty amazing center, led by Dr. Levin.

If you're local, join us for the walk. It is one of those things I wouldn't miss, having been a part of so many departments of CCHMC with Will. If you feel inclined to donate, please let me know. I'll email you privately. Brady's Bunch was one of the top teams last year in fundraising, and this team is striving to top those numbers.

Chinese Fortune Cookie

Yeah, it's kind of like that.

Sorry for my absence lately. School is starting soon.

I'm a Hopeful Parent. Are you?

Have you heard of Hopeful Parents?

It's a website dedicated to supporting parents of children with special needs. A group of candid and thought-provoking writers blog daily about their individual experiences as Hopeful Parents.

I will be serving as a co-moderator of the future forum. We're looking for beta testers for its new community site -- forum, groups, chat, etc. If you're interested, let me know by dropping a comment below with your email address. If you don't want to include your email address here, just give me a heads up and we'll make other arrangements.Hope you consider becoming involved this safe, hopeful, constructive community.

Random Thoughts on the past few days...

My first grader got her hair cut to get ready for the start of school. She looks so grown up. (=sad mom, but in a happy sort of way)

I went to Trader Joe's with all three kids and no one acted up or fought! (=happy mom)

The minute we got home, Will beat N over the head with a plastic bowling pin. (=sad mom)

The kids and I ate an extremely healthy lunch. (=happy mom)

After they went down for a nap, I ate two cookies. (=totally guilty feeling mom)

We bought all of the school supplies needed for first grade. (=happy mom)
Just what does one first grader do with 12 jumbo glue sticks anyway?

I got home and found mail from the school with another supply list for art class. (=sad mom)

I left for the night and went out with a group of moms who also happen to have kids with special needs. In a limo, no less! (=happy mom)

My friend's purse got stolen by some jerk. (=sad mom)

At the moment, my kids are all snuggled together watching a movie. (=totally blessed mom)

How about some pictures?

My kids' sleep cycles are still a bit off, hence the lack of posts lately. :) Here are some highlights from our trip.

We had a wonderful time and hope to see our California friends again soon!

More from vacation land....

I promise, tonight I'll try and figure out the camera.

I didn't think I'd be blogging, but since we're staying with friends, it makes it pretty easy, actually. Right now, as I speak, the kiddos are splashing around in our friends' heated pool and spa. I hope they don't get too used to this! LOL

We've visited two beaches in the past couple of days. Yesterday, we visited Zuma, which is a beach close to Malibu. Today was Ventura Beach...it was really cold! So cold that we left the guys with the kids and Jen and I went shopping on the boardwalk. ;) It was beautiful though...all of the boats in the harbor....had it not been so cold, it was definitely the prettier of the two in my opinion. Tomorrow we'll try another beach in the afternoon and evening.

It is hard to believe vacation is going by so fast, but we're having a great time. We keep remarking how much fun we're having, how much Will is enjoying it, how well C and her friend Patrick get along together, and how much of a daredevil N is! (We just had to stop her from jumping in the pool like the big kids...she was awfully close to the steps, but she had no fear!) Smiled the whole time, and when she got out, she announced...."TA DA!" with a big smile on her face. She is something else. She rounds out our family for sure. Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of how very lucky we are.

Meeting the Mouse

We had a great time with our friends in the land of Disney yesterday! I have to track down a camera cord, so for now, there are no pictures.

My husband and I reflected on past vacations, which honestly, were mostly stressful. Will's metabolic issues were discovered last May, and even during our last vacation in June last year, he was a mess. He was super low on carnitine, and it showed. Two years ago, we went to Disney, and Will was hard to deal with and really didn't enjoy the vacation much.

Yesterday, he loved it. He rode rides, met Mater and Lightning McQueen, and watched the parade and fireworks. In general, the only tantrums we saw were when we had to pull him off of rides because he was enjoying himself so much. The girls loved every minute of it as well. It was hard not to be on a high the entire day watching ALL three of my children sincerely enjoying vacation. For my husband and I, it was an experience to remember and the first vacation in a long time that we got to breathe....just totally relax.

I was reminded of how far Will has come in one year, and how very blessed we are with all of our kids as well as what good friends we have.