Things you should know before attending 5th grade graduation...

This morning was Carson's 5th grade graduation.  We were instructed to have him dress nicely which meant Sunday clothes...on a Friday.  OH THE HORROR!!!!  As you may have guessed, that did not go over well with a certain boy who only likes to wear basketball shorts.  The only way I got him to wear his suit was the promise of a fun class party after his graduation where he would be able to change into his beloved shorts.

 

Here are a few things you might want to know before going to your child's graduation:

*In order to get a good seat, you need to set up a tent in the lunch room the night before and spend the night...kind of like Black Friday shopping only it's Black Friday Graduation.  It's just as crazy!!

*Never punch people!!!  Even if they think that it is more important for them to see their child graduate and get a picture of the big event than it is for you to see your child graduate.  Even if they come and stand right in front of you as all of the class names are read.  Even if you can't get a good picture because they aren't invisible.  Oh, and don't worry, they'll go back to their seat...it won't be until after your child has already finished but no biggy!!

*Music teachers are amazing and are so fun to watch as they do whatever silly thing they can think of to get their students to sing loud.

*Never punch people!!!  Even if they think that they should not have to stand in line like everyone else to get a visitor's pass.  Even if they just walk up to the front while you wait ever-so-patiently for your turn.

*Don't even think of asking for a picture of your graduate with his best friend unless you have brought his comfy clothes to change into because he has been sitting in his church clothes for long enough and picture taking is the last thing on earth he wants to do!!

*Never punch people!!!  Even if you are starting to get anxious from the enormous crowds that are pushing and shoving to get a glimpse of their child.  Remember to just breathe deeply!!

*Expect a complete and total meltdown if you even dare think to take a shortcut through the school instead of traveling the path that your child has taken for the last 6 years to get to his classes.

*Purple cupcakes and white shirts...don't expect a happy ending!!

*You might cry when you think of how your children are growing up so quickly and how just yesterday you were heading off to the "tissues and tea party" after dropping him off at preschool!

*When the American flag comes into the room and you start to say the pledge of allegiance you might just tear up as you think of the men and women who have died fighting for us to have our freedom and if you are anything like me, you will be grateful for your parents who taught you to stand at attention, put your hand over your heart and be grateful that you were blessed to be one of the lucky ones born here.  Oh...they also might do a "sucker-punch" and play the national anthem too and you'll just be a mess.  Bring a tissue!!

*One day, you won't have any more children going to elementary school...you can either pat yourself on the back for a job well done or you can be sad that you're getting old.  I haven't decided which one I'm going to do yet.

*When you finally get your visitor's badge, for a split second you might think that it says "Mom of the year" but it really says "End of the year party" and you can pat yourself on the back for being such an optimist.  I mean really...how often does that happen...Shanon being an optimist?!  Practically never!!

*There is never enough parking.

*You will run into lots of old friends which is so fun but after a few minutes you may start to think that small talk might just be the death of you (if you are an introvert like me).

*If you take your 15 year old, all of her elementary school teachers will comment on HOW MUCH SHE HAS GROWN!!!

*Did I mention to bring a tissue or two?

*Finally...be grateful for all of the wonderful people that have influenced your child's life in some way whether large or small.  It really does take a village and we have been blessed to live in some of the best villages around!!

Mother's Day

I woke up early Sunday morning and the first thing Gary said to me was "Happy Mother's Day, Hon!" and the first thing I said was "Uggg.....I hate Mother's Day!"

You are sorry that you don't get to wake up to my ray of sunshine-y personality, aren't you?!

Yes...I admit it...I hate Mother's day.

I don't hate being a mom.  I love my children.  They are some of the smartest, funniest, most creative, most annoying, most exasperating, kindest, most loving children I have ever met.  They accept everyone just the way they are and draw them in to their circle of friends.  They hate doing the dishes or any other household chores.  They love all things related to technology.  They are good, responsible students who mostly get "A's" and always have me going to the award ceremonies at the end of the year where they are in the 4.0 or higher GPA group.  They always wait until the very last minute to do their homework.  They love to hear their siblings scream "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" and have gotten very proficient at finding a way to make them say it often.  They are always where they say they are going to be.  They have the best friends on the planet that are fun to hang around.  Their rooms are NEVER clean.  They are just GOOD!!

Yet, I still hate Mother's day.  It's a low self-esteem thing.  I hear all of the inspiring stories of all the most wonderful of mothers and I kind of sit and do an evaluation with my "Most Wonderful Mother" checklist and most of the boxes are not checked off.  I won't even go into all of the ways I fail as a mother.

Our day started off with me getting grumpy because we were running late for church and Emily needed to be there early to sing.  She ran in just in the nick of time and I was desperately trying to get in to hear her but Carson is the friendliest, most social boy on the planet and had to say "hello" to all of his friends before he could go inside.  Luckily, I got in just in time to hear her sing but I had an invisible storm cloud over my head.  Then I cried during the opening hymn, one of my children refused to go sing with the group singing the special musical number, and Carson decided that he needed to throw-up during the song so I took him out to get a drink (he didn't throw up, he's just learned the way to get out of church for a few minutes).

Then something happened.  I don't even know what it was exactly.  Kinsey insisted that we take family pictures after church which is usually the best way to get us mad at each other but we managed to have a semi-good time and then I came home and took a nap.  When I woke up, I saw all of the pictures that Kinsey spent the day editing and I marveled at this beautiful family that God has given me.  We aren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  We are all a tad (times a million) bit awkward.  We aren't sporty.  We're all a little artsy.  Some of us are musical.  Some of us are not.  We all try to be kind to others but sometimes we fail.  We are all doing the best that we can.

Plus, my husband still loves me.

I guess I will just have to admit, that while I may not be the perfect mother, I have some pretty incredible children so I haven't failed completely!

What more could a girl ask for?!

Happy Mother's Day from this very imperfect mother!!

Quick Gary...Call My Therapist!!!

I have been out of high school for 28 years and I thought that (after years of therapy) I had finally gotten over the trauma of being a teenager but then I chaperoned for our church's prom...on purpose.  I volunteered to subject myself to a high school dance.   I admit, I thought I could deal with it.  I have a husband now.  He loves me (he even likes me!)  I don't have to try to flirt or look prettier than all of the other pretty girls in the room.  So really!  How bad could it be?!

First off, let me tell you...we have some extremely talented people in our church that turned a gymnasium into an Old Hollywood ballroom complete with a red carpet entrance, lit marquee, flash-lighting paparazzi, cheering fans, a gold chandelier, sparkling lights, the "Hollywood" letters, and lots of glitz and glamour.  I wish I had taken pictures but you'll just have to use your imagination.

Oh...I do have pictures of Gary and I before prom.  You want to see those...right?!  These three pictures help me to understand why my chiropractor blurts out (every time I see him) "YOU HAVE THE WORST POSTURE!!!"  Really, Shanon...stand up straight!!!

Also, I had the hardest time picking out something to wear.  Last time I went to prom, taffeta was the fabric of choice, puffy was the sleeve of choice, and peach was the color of choice.  Oh...you want to see a picture?  Okay...but I'll warn you, it could be more taffeta than a person ever wants to see.  Remember...the puffier and peachier, the better!!

Oh, and I had a lot less wrinkles, was 20+ pounds lighter, and I hadn't had 5 babies yet.  Babies are cute and fun but they don't do good things to a girl's figure.

Gary's mom called in the middle of our photo session so I checked to see how we looked so far.

Gary kept on talking, so I had to get a little annoyed.

Okay...back to the photo shoot.  Maybe if you just take us from the waist up, it will look okay.

Try standing up straighter.

Try smiling bigger.

"Sorry Mom, that's the best I can do...I'm not a miracle worker!" (she didn't really say that, but I could tell that's what she was thinking.)

So, why do I need Gary to call my therapist?  Well, we got to prom and were assigned the gym for the first hour.  There was this girl standing all by herself.  She was off to the side, kind of hidden away by the room divider, dancing a bit to the music and people would walk by but no one was talking to her.  As I stood there feeling awkward for her, I told Gary that this was bringing back memories of being a teenager {shudder} and I might need extra therapy.

Well, God must really love me because guess what?!  My therapist (You aren't surprised I have a therapist, are you?  I didn't think so.) walked by!  What are the odds?!  So, Gary told her that I was having high school flashbacks and she told me that I was having perfectly normal PTSD feelings and just breathe deeply.  Haha....not really (the breathe deeply or PTSD part...my therapist really did stop and talk to us for several minutes.  She was feeling the same sad feelings for the girl standing all alone and was having her own flashbacks of an awkward prom with a blind date that was an exchange student who spoke no English.  She won the prize for the most traumatic prom story.)

The girl eventually found her friends and danced with them all night, we accepted the fact that we are old and don't have the energy to dance to a whole fast song (did you know that they STILL play "Footloose" at dances but now they have a line dance that they do and it involves a lot of jumping.  It made me tired just watching it!) and boys STILL don't ask girls to dance!

At the end of the night, we found a couple of chairs to sit in to rest our weary feet.  We watched this girl walk by, kind of swaying and twirling to the slow song and this boy walked right behind her and I thought for sure he was going to ask her to dance but he just made small talk for a split second and then sat down at the table TO PLAY CARDS!!  It took all that I had to not stand up and shake him and say "YOU ARE AT PROM...ASK HER TO DANCE!!!"

*Breathe deeply, Shanon....you are just having a flashback...go eat some chocolate!!*

We actually had a very nice evening.  It was fun to hang out with the young whippersnappers for a night but I would not go back to being a teenager even if someone offered me all the money in the world.  How did we survive that?!

Thank goodness for therapists!!

Mirror, Mirror by Noah

Hi, I'm Noah and my mom and dad are up to something. 

 

They shipped me off to a stranger's house so that I could entertain this guy.  He kept looking at me and every time I smiled back, he would say "He loves me, Mom!" which is fine, but I just wanted to play with my pinwheel!!

 

As you well know, it is exhausting to entertain...so many responsibilities...so I finally had to resort to drastic measures or else I would not get a moment's peace!!  I pulled out my mirror.  The experts say that kids with Down Syndrome like looking at themselves.

 

 

I guess the experts are right.  I sure am glad my mom packed my mirror in my diaper bag!

 

Speaking of packing...while I was entertaining, they packed all my stuff in boxes!!

 

Something's up...I just know it!



How to gross out your family (and possibly a few friends) with very little effort...

Carson went in to go potty first thing this morning and I could just tell by the sound of things that there would be a bit of a mess to clean up on the floor.  Sometimes, little boys just have a hard time controlling where the stream goes and little boys with Down Syndrome have an even harder time of it.  TMI?!

I was sitting on the stairs by the bathroom and looked up just as Carson closed the bathroom door because you know, he likes to have his privacy.  He does this every morning.  I was a little curious why he needed his privacy since he was already finished so I opened the door and peeked in to see what he was up to.  There he was, my responsible little boy, doing his best to wipe up his mess off the floor with the clean hand towel and at that moment it just kind of hit me what he has been doing most mornings.  He has been cleaning up his mess with the hand towel and then hanging it back up so that the next person that uses the bathroom will have a nice, freshly hung hand towel to dry their clean hands on.

When everyone got back from church, I told my family...all of whom use that bathroom and wash their hands quite frequently...what I had discovered that morning.  They all had the same response (in unison, I might add)...."EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!  I've dried my hands on those towels!!"  For some reason they have all been going in the kitchen to dry their hands today. 

Maybe I should put some Cheerios in the toilet and have Carson do some target practice.

A Typical Thursday Morning



"You want a piece of me?!"

Thursdays are the day that Carson typically wakes up a teeny bit grumpy.  I think it's because he has scouts the night before and goes to bed later than usual.  This is how a typical Thursday goes on the weeks that Gary is driving the teenagers to church and I am home getting Carson ready:

I make Carson a breakfast drink and then play the "Where did Carson end up in the middle of the night" game.  I give him his drink and this is our conversation (every single time!):

Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  At church.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  At church.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  He ran away with the circus.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  He's at the zoo.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  He's at the toy store.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  He's floating down the river.
Carson:  Where's Daddy?
Me:  Hush up and let's get you ready for school.
Carson:  No....I tired.
Me:  Hurry...the bus will be here soon.
Carson:  No...I tired!

Then I drag him out of wherever he is sleeping.  Usually at that point, he sees what I picked out for him to wear and is quiet if he approves and screams if he doesn't approve.  This morning, he did not approve because I picked out jeans for him to wear because it was rainy.  He complained all the way to the bathroom.  I turned on the light and told him to go potty while he screamed that the light was too bright.  I turned off the light and went to find an alcohol swab to wipe off the stamps from his arm (they stamp him on his arm each time he runs a lap in PE and alcohol is the only thing that will take the ink off).  I came back and he was still standing there in the dark not going potty.  I turned on the light to wipe his arm, he screamed that it was too bright, I wiped his arm, turned out the light and left him to go potty while I went to the kitchen to get another wipe (he ran a lot of laps!).  I came back to him still standing in the dark, not going potty!  I turned on the light, he screamed that it was too bright, I wiped his arm, turned out the light and told him to GO POTTY!!  Finally, he decided to go potty.  When he finished, I told him to wash his hands.  "No wash hands!!"  I told him he had to wash his hands and he said "No wash hands!!" while I forced soap on him and told him he HAD TO WASH HIS HANDS!  We were both getting kind of grumpy at this point.

He is really old enough and capable enough to get dressed on his own but we would have to get him up at 4am to do that because he likes to take his sweet time getting dressed so I help him.  I have never seen a kid take so stinking long to pick up a foot to put it in a pair of underwear!!  I start putting his jeans on while he says "NO JEANS!" and I say "Yes, jeans!" and put them on him.  His jeans are too long so I start to roll them up and he says "NO TICKLE MY FEET!!" and I say (louder than usual) "I'm not tickling your feet, I'm rolling up your pants!"  He's finally all dressed except for shoes so I sit down beside him and he puts his feet in my lap like I am his servant charged with sock/shoe duty.  I start to put his shoes on and he yells "NO TICKLE MY FEET!!" and I yell back "I'm not tickling your feet, I'm putting your shoes on!!"

All of that took about 20 minutes and the bus should be here soon so I tell him that we need to brush his teeth.  "NO BRUSH MY TEETH!!" and I obviously comply by walking him into the bathroom to brush his teeth.  He demands a certain toothbrush, toothpaste and that he be allowed to "DO IT MYSELF!" 

I put on his jacket, pray with him and he runs to the bus just in time.  Now, all of this time he has been extremely grumpy but as soon as he sees the bus driver he starts giggling.  He giggles so much that he can't manage to get his seatbelt on.  The bus driver said "Well, he is sure happy today, isn't he?!" 

I smile sweetly at the bus driver and say "yes he is!!"  Then, I wave to my cute boy, blow him a kiss and thank my Heavenly Father that there is such a thing as school because I don't know if both of us would survive a whole day of that grumpy attitude. 

After climbing back into bed and eating half a big bag of M&Ms, I told Gary this story.  When I told him about agreeing with the bus driver that he was happy he gave me a high five and said "Good job for not throwing Carson under the bus!!" 

Believe me....I was tempted....literally!!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Getting up with an alarm for the past three weeks has turned me into a waking-up-at-5:40 person now and I am really annoyed!  It seems such a waste to wake up so early on a day that you can sleep in until 8!  Carson also woke up around the same time but he seemed pretty cheerful about it.  I guess I should learn to be more cheerful like him.

We took Jared to receive his Partriarchal Blessing this morning.  We have been blessed to be able to go with four of our children as they received them and it has been amazing to me to see how the needs and concerns of each of our children and even the concerns of their parents have been addressed in their blessing.  They are each unique and wonderful.  Heavenly Father has big plans for each of them and I am honored to be their mom!

Gary worked a little on his honey-do list.  Part of our closet shelves were falling down and taking the drywall with them so he decided to fix that.  He's pretty proud of himself and has pulled a muscle patting himself on the back.  I am pleased that I don't have to worry about being crushed by closet shelves.  I helped out by taking a nap except for lending my hands to push one of the board against the wall while he lifted it.  It was a very important job!!

While I was napping one of our children decided to head off to college.  Carson is college bound and he has the badge to prove it.  Here are Carson's tips for getting ready for college:

Step 1:  Get yourself a college bound pin to wear:

Step 2:  Pack your suitcase:

























Step 3:  Assure your mom that you have your backpack and jacket:

Step 4:  Make sure you have your shoes on:

Step 5:  Pose for a million pictures (or three):

 

Step 6:  Don't forget your suit coat (and make sure your belly is showing a bit):

Step 7:  Don't forget your soccer ball:

Step 8:  Text your sister a picture of yourself so she knows who to look for at the airport:

Step 8:  Wait forever for your parents to take you to the airport.  Get really mad at them and say "I NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE!!"  Give up because they won't take you to the airport, change into your CTR Superman shirt, and play some sad sounding melody on the keyboard.

 



Carson thinks it is really hard to get good help these days!!