Lions, and Tigers.....and

This morning, Emma Sage, matter-of-factly says to me .....

"Look Mommy, a bear"

"Yeah right", I think to myself [thinking it is one of the neighbors black labs that like to come over to our property to 'visit' [ie. mark their teritory]

So, I look out the window....thinking I will see Rider from up the lane....

The black figure moves towards the swingset [and at this point our two dogs outside start barking like crazy] and I realize from it's movement that this is no dog...it was a black bear.

I quickly yell to Rick that there is a bear on the property......and luckily I am able to grab my camera which is right in the dining room/porch [where we are witnessing the bear from...because it was Otto's birthday yesterday and I had left the camera there from our birthday pictures]

and this is what I was able to capture. At this point, the bear is heading towards the top of our property [about 25 yards from the house] and she turns back [because Lucy is now outside and barking right at her a few feet away].....

Hummm.....did I tell you I live in Jersey [yes, New Jersey]

"Mom Come quick"......

Those were the words I heard last night as Greta and Emma Sage were watching 'So you think you can Dance?'.......of coarse as a Mother you first response to a scream like this with such urgency is to painic and pray nothing is terribly wrong as you go running towards the voice calling.

and here is what I saw:




I was hoping someone put it up on YouTube.....

and Emma Sage, my little dancer was dancing away, getting ready for the day when she auditions and Greta was sitting with the widest grin across her face and me, I cried.....tears of joy and happiness to see this young man on national TV.

How cool is this!?!

Child's Play

Pippa's Song

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!

~Robert Browning











We had a glorious day on Sunday visiting with Mamie, Aunt Jan, Uncle Jeff, my cousin Sam and his beautiful wife Lauren, their two little girls Hadley and Clara, my cousin Taylor and his beautiful wife Rachel and their three children, Henry, Luke and Maggie........and my Dad. These are the moments in life that I truly treasure, as family is by far the most important thing in my life to me.

The kids had so much fun, and Emma Sage loved having a little tag-along, as Hadley thought she was just such a fun cousin to follow and play with [it melted my heart to see her looking up to Emma Sage] and I was able to take advantage of the beautiful day and lighting and the kids playing in and around the gardens to capture some adore pictures [as you see above]

Mamie has been feeling so much better than she had a month ago, and we are so thankful for that. I was able to help my Aunt Jan [who I know I wandred around following as a little girl and looked up to....it is so wonderful to see the circle come around] garden and Mamie was able to sit on the deck and watch us........

Simple, quiet moments of life.......the ones you tuck into your heart and treasure.

Eugenics......

Patricia E. Bauer has a write-up on her blog 'Disability News' to an op-ed piece written in the U.K.

I highly recommend all to click this link and read on.........LINK as sadly, eugenics is alive and well and we are blind to not see the truth of the matter.

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside -

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses"

I'm Pale......

Yesterday, Katrina and Emma Sage were sitting chatting. Katrina puts her arm up next to Emma Sage's and compares them, and says

"I'm tanner than you"

to which Emma Sage replied....

"That's because I'm pale"

LOL!!! Yes, you are pale my dear girl, and Mommy loves the fact that you understand that your creamy white skin means you are pale!!!!

At Home with Down syndrome......

There is a wonderful article that appears in the Spring 2008 issue of The New Atlantis titled At Home with Down syndrome by:
Caitrin Nicol is assistant editor of The New Atlantis.

She can be reached at caitrin.nicol@thenewatlantis.com.


The article references Gifts and my friend, Jennifer Graf Groneberg’s Road Map to Holland, as well as reference to the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna painting, The Christ Child.....as well as Emily Pearl Kingsly's poem, the book Count Us In and Common Threads [plus others]

I highly recommend all to read this article.............and I thank each of you for being part of Emma Sage's life.

By celebrating her day to day life, here on her blog, it is my own little way of sharing with the world the Normalcy of Difference.

Civil Rights.......

Disabled Kids: The Next Civil Rights Movement?
Posted by: Anne Newman on May 18
BusinessWeek Working Parents

As parents of a 10-year-old boy with learning disabilities, at times it’s tempting to turn our backs on the social slights he sometimes faces at our public school and find solace where all the kids—not just some—have special needs. But for any parent—or taxpayer—who has ever questioned educating kids who have disabilities along with those who don’t, now comes a powerful film, Including Samuel, by documentary filmmaker Dan Habib and featured in media from The Boston Globe to National Public Radio.

Click here to continue...........

'Catch that Train".....

and no LauraQ, not the group 'Train'....but 'Catch that Train' to Nueva York! as in the Dan Zanes song........well, two songs, Catch that Train from his CD with friends and his newest release [scheduled for June] that is styled a "pro-immigration" album, called, Nueva York! is a collaboration celebrating the rich variety of Latino music in New York City and Emma Sage and Stella had a blast dancing to the new songs!

Emma Sage and I took the 1 train back to midtown, she actually had her FIRST ever Taxi cab ride on the way to the show.



We meet up with our friends Amy and Stella [I have to write more later on how blessed we were, by the generosity of Dan Zanes and his record label, to score tickets so that Amy and Stella could join Emma Sage at her birthday celebration....as the show was 'sold out' by the time Amy was able to go online and order tickets]


These two greeted each other like they were long lost friends...when in actuality, it was the first time they had ever met, but we [their Momma's] have known each other online for years..... ~have I ever mentioned how cool the paradigm of the Internet is?????


Emma Sage and I toasted with a drink [yes, that is a Margarita I am having] after we had gotten our table and ordered our lunch [this was just the greatest set up for the two of us to celebrate her 7th Birthday]


..........and they DANCED [and danced, and danced, and danced]


......and danced


and danced......


...........AND DANCED

We met this absolutely lovely couple at the tabled across from us who had the cutest pixie of a little girl named Luna......Doug and Camile were the parents and they were so wonderful with Emma Sage [and Stella] as their little girl had so much fun dancing with our girls.


Giving a hug of thanks for all the dancing at the end of the show.......Emma Sage has this ability to make friends where ever she goes, good friends, so when the time comes to leave, the good-byes are heartfelt.


Amy, Stella and Dan Zanes.......one really cool thing was that the Bass player is a woman that Amy is friends with from her connections/friends in the city. She was amazing. Her name is Saskia Lane and she also is a member of this awesome female group called the Lascivious Biddies [man, I love that name] ~I'm planning of heading to the city to see the Biddies perform sometime soon [Amy, you hear that? Girls night out?!?]

Emma Sage wanted Dan to sign her shirt [she saw other people having their concert T-shirts signed]....she also told Dan that her coat [notice a resemblance to his hair?] looked like his hair!!! This child just cracks me up [but she is right, her coat is a lot like his cool hair-do]

Afterwards, we walked towards the Hudson and strolled along this great park [so much has changed since I lived and worked in New York City]




Amy and Stella [I have to remember to ask to get pictures of me and Emma Sage together, I'm always behind the lens and forget! lol!]

I have to stop here, as Otto has to head out to Boy Scouts and I have a few things to get done....

I'll be back to share the rest of the adventure.....

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." Lao Tzu

Tomorrow is a big day.....

as Emma Sage and I are heading into New York City to see a show by one of her most favorite performers.....Dan Zanes [and friends] as her birthday party/celebration.

She is ready to dance and sing and celebrate her turning seven.

If you don't know Dan Zanes....I highly recommend you check him out. [it is the greatest family music and you can listen to it a thousand times over [something that I was not able to tolerate with Raffi and Katrina and Greta's obsession with music as young'ins] and thank goodness Otto was into Tom Chapin [cause I loved him also......still do!]

If your as old as me, you will remember Dan Zanes from the 80s band the 'Del Fuegos'

I'm bringing my camera and will update our fun day soon.....[so check back to hear all about it!]

Childhood is calling....

Blowing bubbles....what the greatest thing about bubbles is that you can do this activity both outside and in....and during a bath is the most fun, as they stay around for a long, long time

Flying a kite....the one great thing about an upcoming storm [and having rainy days to keep you inside] is the wind that comes along with the cold front.....so yesterday, Emma Sage was busy flying the kite that she got for her birthday from her cousins.....it is such a cool kite, as it is a parafoil [like my old parachute] and it rolls up into a little bag [so we can take it everywhere with us]....it is called a pocket kite!





and what could be more fun that checking up on your tadpoles.....Emma Sage has been so fascinated with our little friends.



and look at this one....his [or her] back legs are starting to emerge.....


Ah....to be a child!!!

Blowing Blueberries.......

This child of mine just cracks me up.

The other day we are driving in the car and Brooke [the little one that visits us during the day] was blowing 'raspberries...ie. bubbles] with her lips.

It was funny and she was laughing and that was making Emma Sage laugh.

Emma Sage exclaims to me in the middle of the delight "Brooke is blowing Blueberries"....

to which I reply "It is.....'Blowing raspberries'"

to which Emma Sage replies....."No, it sounds like Blueberries to me"....

LMAO.........

I laughed so hard, and it got me thinking. Why do we call it 'Blowing raspberries'....as I have never heard a raspberry blow, and I guess Emma Sage is right, as it could very well be the sound that a blueberry makes when it is blowing!

Wordless Wednesday......

Wordless Wednesday

While in Spring....you need to do Spring Things....

Like catch Polliwogs in the pond and watch them grow...into frogs.

Oh, the Polliwog is woggling
In his pleasant native bog
With his beady eyes a-goggling
Through the underwater fog
And his busy tail a-joggling
And his eager head agog-
Just a happy little frogling
Who is bound to be a frog.

Arthur Gutterman

Catching some tadpoles.....and yes, my poor child still has plumbers butt-----she just has no hips to keep up her jeans

She has no fear, only curiosity and has been loving watching and feeding her polliwogs

Emma Sage is fasinated by these little creatures....we went to the library and took out a bunch of books on frogs [she now knows that they are amphibians] and YES, the dog [Lucy] thinks they are fresh sushi!!! She ate a few before we could get them into the fish tank to watch the polliwog cycle up close. We were late this year and didn't find any egg sacks

Down syndrome Caucus

Seven Years Old......

My baby is Seven Years Old.......

Here are a few images that I took of her birthday celebrations [we had a small family party last night] and then today.....well, today was her special day so she celebrated all day and night long.

Here are a few images to share [and I'll update as soon as I can catch my breath]

The joy of friendship.....Devany, Emma Sage and Abbie



She takes after her Nana......her birthday cake request [and one that she helped bake and decorate] chocolate cake, chocolate filling, chocolate icing.......Yup, Nana would be happy to know that the chocolate gene found its way into Emma Sage [and Rori and Fiona too!]


Oh sweet, sweet, Seven year old....we LOVE you so.



All in all, she had three birthday cakes and celebrations....the night before, at lunch and then out to dinner....



and she wanted to go to her favorite place for dinner, Japanese Hibatchi......where they came with a surprise ice cream and candle......I was only able to quickly get my camera out at the end, but you can see by her expression, this celebration filled her with such joy.




Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

"Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people." ~ Albert Einstein