It Really Was a Good Friday

It is finally beginning to look like spring around here!  And boy are we ready for it! Since Brian and I both had Good Friday off, we decided to go out for breakfast as a family.
We went to The Ballard Street cafe in Wylie.  The girls were very excited to eat some eggs!

Usually, the only way to get Imma's picture is to surprise her.  She's a little spaced out here!

Lucy, however, is happy to pose!

Next, we went to Say it With Sugar and everyone picked out a cupcake.
Then, we went to play in a local park.  The girls had a great time swinging and going down the slides. We hit a little bit of a rough patch when Imma didn't want to leave but the rest of the morning was wonderful.  Well-behaved children, getting along, eating at least a bit of their food, not causing a scene! I had to take a moment to look around and just feel blessed to have such a beautiful family.
Imma and I went shopping while Lucy took her nap. Imma will only drink water--literally nothing else. So, when I stopped at Sonic to get a drink (something I do way too often) I decided to go ahead and get her a water as well. She's gotten Sonic drinks before with her Wacky Pack but she doesn't ever drink them.  This time, she did. She really liked drinking out of the bigger sized cup.

Silly Imma!

Serious Imma

This was the first time I've had Good Friday off in a really long time.  It was so nice to spend it with my family!
How did you spend your Good Friday?

Run, Imma, Run!

Today was Imma's Boosterthon FunRun.  She actually completed 30 laps, which is awesome. I didn't think she would run that many.  She actually snuck through the line of volunteers keeping count a few times so it may have been higher than that but we'll take 30! She did a really great job collecting pledges.  Overall, the Boosterthon was very successful and we were able to raise a lot of money for technology at our school.  You can still pledge tonight if you'd like to help out. Just click on the link here.

Imma completing lap 2

Imma was a little tired when she was all done.

I was really proud that she kept going, didn't give up, worked hard, and was not the little girl crying on my shoulder at the end of the race because she was exhausted (that was someone else!) Thanks to everyone who sponsored her!  We appreciate your love and support!

Let Each Birthday Count

Today is my birthday.  I would like to say that I don't feel any older, but I think, perhaps, I do.  A little.  But my children keep me young.  They were so excited. We celebrated yesterday because it was just more convenient--which isn't to say that my husband should expect me to do ANY work this evening, 'cause I'm not gonna, but we had the cake, dinner, and presents yesterday.  I got a beautiful handmade necklace from an Etsy shop. It's Annabel Lee themed and I love it. I also got a beautiful Alice in Wonderland bracelet, also from an Etsy shop.  My husband did well.  He let me sleep in, we had red velvet cake, my favorite, and pizza, also my favorite. The girls sang "Happy Birthday" and helped me blow out the candles.  Lucy kept saying, "Happy Birthday, Monnie!" which was also very cute. Overall, it was a good day. Today, I've had lots and lots of facebook messages from dear friends and it's always nice to be thought of and remembered, which I also appreciate.

My cake looked something like this. Now, it is almost gone! Photo from berries dot com

But, of course, something is missing.  This is my first birthday without my dad and it hasn't been easy.  Every year on my birthday, my dad would call and sing Happy Birthday to me in an extremely unique way.  I don't even think I can describe it.  Basically, he would sing it like he was an old, out of tune banjo--without any words.  So, it was something like, "Bear-na-near-near, near near.  Bear-na-near-near, near near. Bear-na-near-near, bear-na-near-near.  Bear-na-near-near, near near."  Can you sort of hear that? I don't think he did this for anyone else in our family, maybe he did, but I know it started with me.  And I missed it. My sister was kind enough to text it to me, Brian has sang it to me, I'm sure other people have thought of it today, too, but it just wasn't the same.  Maybe next year, it will be easier.  I hope so, any way.
It just serves as a reminder--we can all complain about getting older, not looking the same, not feeling the same.  Getting tired easier, more creaks and cracks when we walk, etc.  But a birthday is something to be cherished, something to be thankful for.  And you never know when you are celebrating your last one.  When my dad turned my age, he only had 19 birthdays left. If he had known that, he might have done some things differently.  If I only have 19 birthdays left, or maybe this is my last one, I want to make sure there is nothing I didnt' take the time to do now while I have the chance. I want to hug my girls a little more, spend more time with my friends, kiss my husband more often, enjoy the sunset and be more thankful each morning that I was allowed another opportunity to make a difference.  There are no guarantees in life and so I shouldn't just assume that I will get the opportunity to celebrate my birthday next year.  So, this one has to count.
Thanks to all of you who have sent me birthday wishes. Here's to lots and lots more birthdays!

Happiness is Caring About Others

Last week, we visited the Dallas World Aquarium.  You can read about our trip here. Afterwards, we went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for lunch.  As we were eating, a young lady walked over and said, "Excuse me, I just wanted to let you know that your daughters are both very beautiful." Of course, we were a little surprised because that sort of thing doesn't happen every day, but we thanked her and she went on her way. I could tell by the way she spoke and by the way the others in her part spoke to her that she had was differently-abled. And I will say she was "special" but not in the way some people might choose to interpret that word.  She was special because it is not normal for one to approach strangers in a restaurant to give their children a compliment. She was special because she chose to go out of her way to do something kind for someone else.  While it brightened my day and touched my heart, it kind of makes me sad, too, that it is the unusual act of kindness that catches my attention. We should be acting this way all of the time.
Something similar happened yesterday at a fast food restaurant.  A women went out of her way to tell me I looked pretty.  I wasn't feeling particulary pretty at the time, hustling my kids through with dinner, in a rush to get home.  But the fact that she took a moment to give a compliment put a smile on my face and made me pause to look around. What "pretty" things am I missing because I'm in a hurry? Again, I think this woman had faced some challenges along her journey but she was making a difference in the lives of others in a way not many of us do.
The last example of kindness I would like to share involves my own sweet child.  During Imma's scrimmage Tuesday, Lucy began playing with another child, a little girl who happens to have special needs.  Lucy doesn't even notice these things.  She was playing peek-a-boo and both girls were putting grass in their hair and spinning around.  Lucy lights up my life because she is naturally giving and caring and kind.  Imma has taught her so many lessons already, even at the age of two, about accepting other people's difference and that it's okay to be different. My new life slogan is, "special is extraordinary!"  Every child is special and unique.  Lucy may be developing like a typical child but she certainly has a gift for making others feel loved and important.

My sweet girl!

These three examples serve as a reminder to me that I need to make time everyday to help someone else feel valued, loved, and to let them know they are important.  I am truly blessed to have two beautiful, caring little girl and dozens of opportunities each day to let other people know they are loved. I hope you will join me in my goal of paying it forward every day and taking the little opportunities to make unusual compliments normal.

Which One of These Things is Not Like the Others?

Monday, Imma joined a small group of students that I've been pulling out of her teacher's class for support in reading.  I've been working with these three boys for several months and Imma has made our little group more interesting.  She's the only girl, she's loud, she's silly, oh, and she's my kid.  So that makes it a little different.  She's doing well and the boys all love her.  The group is getting along quiet nicely.
Today, we played a game where I showed them high frequency words on the iPad and they had to read the word. Whoever read the word first got a colored tile.  If it was a tie, everyone got one.  If you yelled, you didn't get one.  (This prevented Imma from getting a few that she would have otherwise gotten.)  Everyone did really well.  They are definitely picking up their high frequency words, which, ultimately, will make them better readers.  I noticed something, however, as our little game progressed.  While I can't say that it truly surprised me, I still found it quite interesting.  In the picture below, you will see the tiles accumulated by each student.  Can you tell where Imma was sitting?

Hmmm, which tiles are Imma's?

There were a few times when I had to say her name to get her attention because she was concentrating so hard on sorting and stacking those tiles.  Just another aspect of the enigma that is Imma. :)

"I don't want to go to FOOTBALL!"

If you've been following my blog recently, you know that Imma has just started playing t-ball. I say t-ball, it's actually called softball here because she gets three chances to hit the ball thrown by a coach and if she doesn't hit it, she gets to hit it off of the "t".   Last night, the girls team scrimmaged the boys team. Let's just say, it went about as well as I thought it would, which wasn't very well at all.
She spent at least 30 minutes begging me not to make her go to "football."  (I don't know why she thinks it's football, maybe because the field is near the high school football stadium.) I finally got her changed and in the car.  She was fine when she got there and saw her friends.  She was actually doing alright warming up and listened to her coaches, sort of.  When the scrimmage started, the girls were batting first. Imma was last in the line-up.  She had her helmet on, ready to go.  Except, there are way too many girls on her team for her to actually get to bat in the first inning.  The rule is, one team can only score 5 runs per inning.  That happened pretty quickly and then it was time to take the field.  Unfortunately, Imma did not read the rule book in advance and she completely flipped out when she didn't get to bat. She ended up having to be carried to the outfield by her coach. Eventually, Brian went out on the field and held her by the fence so she could talk to me. She cried for about 15 minutes, sobbing, "I wanna bat!" She finally calmed down enough that she could go stand by her coach and kick dirt and spin around.
The second time around, she did get to bat.  And she hit the ball!  She had to hit it off of the "t" but we were really excited that she hit it.  She didn't have any idea what to do when she did hit it so her coach took her hand and ran her to first base.  Luckily, she drove in run number 4 so there was only one more batter after her so she didn't have to try to navigate all of the bases.  For the second inning, she took the field and spent the whole time kicking dirt and spinning.  But she wasn't crying.  I do need to remember not to put pants with pockets on her for practice.  She kept putting her hands in her pockets!
I talked to one of Imma's teammate/classmate/good friend's mom today and she said she thought it was fine. She wasn't worried at all that Imma was confused, crying, kicking dirt.  She said, "This is her first scrimmage.  She didn't know what to expect.  She wanted to bat. It happens."  I was relieved to hear that because I have no idea what "normal" kids do.  I saw other kids crying, spinning, kicking dirt, falling down, getting completely lost, running the wrong way, etc. but it looked to me like Imma was much more lost than the rest of them. But I'm her mom.  I wanted to know how it looked to the other parents and this mama gave me new hope that maybe the other parents aren't talking about "that girl" and embarrassed and outraged that Imma is ruining sports for their children.  This is, of course, my biggest fear--that she will be chastised for her behavior and that the other kids will be angry at her for messing things up.  So far that has not been the case and hopefully it will stay that way.
She is doing better each time.  She still says she doesn't want to go but I heard other parents say they had to drag their kids in, too.  I am hoping that she at least enjoys it enough that I don't have to bribe her or threaten her.  And that she keeps her hands out of her pockets!
What do y'all think? Shall we stick with it??
I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures last night. I was too busy bribing Imma and chasing Lucy.

FunRun--We Need Your Help!

I know, I know, no one likes it when parents start begging for money for their kids' fundraisers--but this may be a little different, if you know my Imma's story. . . .
Imma is participating in a FunRun at school. She will be running laps and we are supposed to ask for sponsors to pledge either a per lap rate or a flat fee. There are two reasons why this should be significant to those of you who are keepin' up with the Van Horn's:
1. You've read about how Imma is doing in softball and how she doesn't do so well on "walking Wednsdays" at school.  Here, she is being asked to do something that is difficult for her.  You can imagine how confusing it might be to walk or run around a track if you literally had no idea why anyone would be walking in a circle for 30 minutes.  And there are so many other things to distract her! Like sticks, and bugs, and the occassional lawn mower!  Yes, this will be a challenge for her--but she can do it!
2. The money is going towards raising funds for new technology in our school's classrooms.  Imma has benefited tremendously from having access to an iPad.  She learned the alphabet on an iPad, she learned her letter sounds on an iPad, colors, shapes, you name it, she probably learned it on the iPad. If more children could have access to this technology, that would be so beneficial for all of our students, especially those with special needs.
The good news is, you don't have to pledge a lot!  You can just follow the link below to a secure website and leave a flat donation of as little as $1.  We will gladly accept your donation of $1! If 50 people all give$1, that's $50 and that's a lot!  Every little bit adds up. I will personally thank you and Imma will thank you, too!
I'm asking for your support not just as the parent of a special needs child who can truly see the benefits this technology brings to every child who is able to use it, but also as a teacher.  I see the difference technology makes in the hands of my students every day and I know that, the more access our students have to technology, the better off each of them will be.
The FunRun is next Wednesday, March 27th. Please consider giving in any amount possible. Your gift is sincerely appreciated!
Feel free to message me should you have any questions and thank you for taking the time to read this and consider a pledge.
Click here to go to Imma's donation page
or
Type this address into your browser.
http://s.funrun.com/YDS4Ak

Imma using her iPad