Hold on Mom.....a Gal's got to put her lip gloss on 

Three Peas in a Pod.......Actually, it is three cousins in a POD.....Ronan and Fiona are a year younger than Emma Sage, but right now they are all about the same exact size. Here they are having some 'cousin' fun at Easter. 

The feat is complete....each egg has been opened and emptied.  

Hey Mom....can you believe this....there is candy inside these eggs....Yummmy 

It looks like little Miss is giving Thanks above for the treats she has recieved. 

Oh look who was so excited to find candy inside the Easter Eggs..... 

Treasure her.........

Since Otto was a little boy, we would stop every morning after we dropped his big sisters off to school at our local coffee shop to visit with the 'Gentlemen' as Otto called the group of older men who meet every morning at the coffee shop at 9am to have coffee and share years of friendship ~of growing up, having families and living in our small community. Otto would sit with the men and they just adored him. During the time of my pregnancy with Emma Sage, this group of men and I would talk about the possibility of her having Down syndrome. This group of older men were very wise and we still enjoy our visits, but these days it is on Saturdays, since Otto is at school weekdays at 9am and his little baby sister now sits at the table with the 'Gentlemen' and chats. At one of our morning visits, Jon, one of the younger of the men and still gainfully employed and not retired [worked the night shift and would visit with the guys before heading home to bed] gave me a book. I shared books recommended by this group through the years and figured this was just the same. The beginning of the book, I assumed Jon recommended it because it was about the Catholic Church and a Pope, reflecting on my childhood religious upbringing, but when I came upon the following passage, I realized the main reason Jon gave me this book was about my precious baby-to-be growing deep within my womb.

The book is called *The Clowns of God* by Morris West.

In the book, a deposed pope has gone through many trials and tribulations and it is the time of the Second Coming. When he meets the Returned Christ, the former pope is afraid and unsure much like the apostles where when Christ first arose from death. This passage takes place in a mountain hideaway where children from a school for Down syndrome are among those present. The Returned Christ is speaking about one of these children as he holds her.

"I know what you are thinking. You need a sign. What better one could I give but to make this little one whole and new? I could do it; but I will not. I am the Lord and not a conjurer. I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you--eternal innocence. To you she looks imperfect--but to me she is flawless, like the bud that dies unopened or the fledgling that falls from the nest to be devoured by ants. She will never offend me, as all of you have done. She will never pervert or destroy the work of my Father's hands. She is necessary to you. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human. Her infirmity will prompt you to gratitude for your own good fortune..... More! She will remind you every day that I am who I am, that my ways are not yours, and that the smallest dust mite whirled in the darkest spaces does not fall out of my hand........ I have chosen you. You have not chosen me. This little one is my sign to you. Treasure her!"




I share this after spending the day yesterday with family and friends, celebrating the rebirth of the world....of the promise that was given to us on this day....

I treasure Emma Sage....just as a treasure all of my children and my life. They are a blessing......I did not choose them, God chose them for me,,,,,,,,and I am forever thankful.

I treasure you little girl....

tulpen

tulpen
Originally uploaded by joopbloem_suys.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this....

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.

Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland".
"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy"

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look aroun.......and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.......Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.

© 1987, by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of the author.

Colored Eggs

Colored Eggs
Originally uploaded by Photonut (Mr. Dave).

Happy Easter,,,this was created by Photonut [Mr. Dave] on Flickr.com and I wanted to share it with you all.....

A tisket, a tasket....a yellow egg carton filled with colorful and unique eggs.....each kid, Katrina, Greta, Otto, Isabel and Emma Sage had their own technique and ideas....and the eggs came out beautiful......and the best thought of all.....DEVILED EGGS at dinner tomorrow! 

Oh sweet concentration!!!! 

This child is so very funny,,,,here she is saying "A BLUE egg just like my eyes are blue....see!" Notice Emma Sages hands.....I just love looking at her hands, they are so precious. 

"Hey look,,,,its BLUE" 

Waiting for the eggs to be colored......and another fun activity we got to do today was color the Easter Eggs......Isabel was happy to join in the fun!  

Now that is what I call precious cargo!!!! 

Can you say "Lucky little girl and boy"!!!! This is our neighbors, Bonnie and Paul and their two new draft horses and brand new wagon. The horses and wagon are from the Amish in Bucks County, PA...they had just picked up the wagon [it was made for them] and the two horses they purchased late fall.....Otto, Emma Sage and Isabel all got to go for a ride down the lane today. What a special and delightful treat!!!! 

As we move into Easter Weekend,,,,I wanted to stop at this photograph and give thanks for all the Blessings in my Life. I am so grateful for my life, my children and our home....my family and friends and the ability to cherish every moment...to help those in need and to know that each and everyone of us is a Gift from God,,,,that we have a purpose on this journey and that everyday is a blessing.
"Everything that happens and everything that befalls us has a meaning,
But it is often difficult to recognize it.
Also in the book of life every page has two sides:
We human beings fill the upper side with our plans, hopes, and wishes,
But Providence writes on the other side,
And what it ordains is seldom our goal."
~Nisami

Emma Sage checking out one of the ponds in the greenhouse...with big, beautiful and quite amazing Koi in them......this greenhouse is truly a magical place,,,,and my real dream is to build one off our house just like this....to spend our days in [Emma Sage and I] and maybe make a little living off of sellling our plants.  

We then headed to 'Hearts Ease' greenhouses to buy a few plants for the garden beds...and of coarse the girls wanted to stop and see all the delights that are present in the greenhouses [which are filled with the most incredible Orchids you have ever seen]....Hearts Ease is owned by a delightful German woman named Hildagarten and we always visit to learn something new about gardening and to add to our gardens. My dream is to have a greenhouse like hers to garden all year round in.....Emma Sage and I will garden and sell our plants just like Hildagarten does. 

"Hey Mom,,,,I really want to get on this thing but it won't stop moving for me to jump on!" is what Little Miss is saying, once I got her on though, I couldn't get her off...she loved this swing, so now I must make one to hang in a tree on our property.