Memorial Day

Sam and I made a visit to Robert Collins's grave yesterday for Memorial Day. I certainly have a better sense of what Memorial Day is all about.

We honor Robert & all the other soldiers, past & present, who have fought for our freedoms.

I totally forgot...

Back in February I had been reading the monthly Atlanta Parent Magazine. Toward the end there's a little spot that says if you want to enter your child in the cover contest for the yearly publication of Just Kids which is for parents of kids with special needs. I thought, what the heck.

This is the letter I wrote:

And I included these photos:

Fast forward to Thursday, May 12th. I was meeting friends for lunch and got a phone call from Marie who works for Atlanta Parent Magazine telling me that Sam is one of four finalists.

Say what? I had totally forgotten that I had submitted that letter.

After coordinating with the four families, we met at a park in Atlanta on Wednesday, May 18th. A photographer came and took photos of all the kids and the creative director will choose photos. I also had a phone interview with an intern to share a little bit more about Sam. All the kids will be profiled in the magazine but there's only one coveted cover model spot.

The competition may be tough...a little girl with Down's, a little girl who was very premature and a little boy with Autism. Here's hoping Sam's dashing ways will help tip the scale in his favor.

The photos aren't that great, honestly, but we'll see what happens! The publication is due out this summer.

Here's a link and password to the photos:

You can view Sam's pictures here:

The password is "apmweinreb".

He's a Deacon!!

Sam was ordained a Deacon today. What?! I am not old enough to have a 12 year old. It was really special. Bishop Moore had him stand in Sacrament and announced he'd be ordained a Deacon. We all met in the Bishop's office and Bishop William Turbyfield ordained him and we had Joe Phillips, Don Meadows, Jared Aylworth, Ryan Cortez, Bishop Sherman Moore & Matt Sorensen in the circle. Also in the room were all the young men so it was really neat. We are sure proud of Sam. I know he's nervous about passing the Sacrament on Sunday but he'll do great and he has lots of boys who are willing to help him.

The family on Sam's special day



I hosted a "Special Dessert Night" because Sam wanted to have a celebration. We invited several families from our ward and I made some yummy Texas sheet cake and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Cindy, Marilyn, Jennifer

Kids playing in the yard

Bishop T., Matt, Ed

"He's our Bishop."

Ryan, Jacki & Brooks

Todd, Cameron & Ty

Jennifer & Emily

For some reason, this event has been very emotional for me. I don't know exactly why. Maybe this is the first milestone he's met, on time, in his life. I guess I'm also a bit nervous that Sam will not be with me during church and will be with the "big" boys. They all know and love Sam but he may be chronologically 12 but he's definitely not emotionally or mentally 12. I guess I don't want him to get teased or hurt.

I know this is just a new phase but man, transitions are tough. I am often reminded of a line from the movie "Steel Magnolias" where the character played by Daryl Hannah says, "She will always be young..." That is Sam. He will always be young and may never fully understand things and that's hard for a mom. You have such high hopes and expectations for your kids and knowing full well Sam will never do things that "normal" kids do is heart breaking. There will be no driving, no dating, no girlfriend, no college, no wedding, no children.

No growing up.

I guess he's a little like Peter Pan.

"All children, except one, grow up."
J.M. Barrie

Last Few Days of School

It's hard to believe it's the end of another school year!

Sam's school put on a lemonade stand to earn money for "Alex's Lemonade Stand." I helped out and the kids earned $255 in two hours!

Awesome!

Abby dressed up for her end-of-year concert. It had a Jazz theme and she says to me, "Mom, will you help me with my hair? I want to put it in a side ponytail. It will make me look Jazzier."

Abby's last day of school...
Mrs. Lawler (2nd grade teacher)

Mrs. Brooks (parapro)

Sam's school goes all out for the last day of school. Water slide, pizza and "cream the principal" with shaving cream pies. Mrs. Collins is brave! She also sported a Do Rag. Sweet.

We made it! Bring on summer vacation!!

Service Sunday & a First

For May's Service Sunday we participated in the Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism along with the staff & students from Sam's school, Clearwater Academy.

It was hot and crazy crowded but we had a great time. Sam raised over $200. Thanks to our family members who donated and also Sam raised $30 selling lemonade.




Enjoying the activities

Mr. & Mrs. Huber & Ms. Schriver

After the walk, Abby had a birthday party close by at the rec center on the Georgia Tech campus. It was an awesome pool and it has this awesome waterslide. Sam was dying to go down but since neither of us brought suits, we weren't sure he could manage it since the staircase was huge and he's not a strong swimmer. After he begged and begged, we talked to the life guard to make sure he was on alert and Sam climbed the steps and came down. He loved it! And proceeded to spend the next 3 hours on the slide. A big step for a kid who didn't want to swim at all.

Sam's birthday party

I decided to have Sam's birthday party a week early since his actual birthday falls over Memorial Day weekend. We started the festivities with Sam's final baseball game and his teacher, Mrs. Huber and her family (minus Nolan) came to see Sam play. It was very sweet of them to drive 40 minutes to come see the game. We love Mrs. Huber.




We rented an 18ft. waterslide and the kids had a great time!

I served snacks...fruit, crackers & cheese, pretzels, etc.

Cake & ice cream too!

Considering we had 8 autistic kids at the party and no one got hurt or melted down, I'd say it was a very successful party.

Happy 12th birthday Sam!

Surprise!

I had set up a Visiting Teaching brunch for the ladies Diana & I visit so we could say good-bye to Diana since she is moving back to Las Vegas. One of my friends suggested we open it up to others so they too can say good-bye. I decided to make it a surprise for her and we had a fun little brunch!




All the girls!

The food!

A quick little video of mostly my rear end. Nice.

We are sad to see the Barker family go but happy knowing they are back "home" close to their families. Diana was a fantastic VT companion and I will miss her!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day and Todd's b-day landed on the same day this year. Needless to say, it's not much fun to share your holiday/b-day with someone else. We both tried to make it special, and it was, but it's more fun to have it all to yourself.

We went to sacrament meeting since the kids were singing then met up with Todd's family at the Capital City Club for brunch. It was really special to have everyone there (except for Syd & Josh, perhaps next year). It's a lovely spread of all-you-can-eat goodness without the moms having to cook & clean up after everyone. A treat indeed!

David & Judy (mostly Judy with David's support) bought all us moms this special little magical gift...

It's a nano watch! It plays the radio, songs, holds photos, it has a pedometer and it has a "thing that tells time." It is AWESOME! So awesome in fact, that I do believe I run faster when I wear it.

Here's a photo of most of the grandkids. Some were absent and some chose not to be in the photo (that would be Sam).



We managed to get Jonathan and Gma in this one

All the moms!

I am truly blessed to be a mom, to have a great mom, step-mom, mother-in-law, sisters and sisters-in-law. I am surrounded by wonderful women in my life who are kind, loving, smart, funny and terrific mothers.

Abby's Dance Recital

Abby had her yearly dance recital on May 1, 2011 and it was so fun. She did a great job and had a great time.