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September flew by!  I swear the last time I sat down and wrote we had the air conditioning on and were all sporting shorts and flip flops.  And now we are full on into one of my favorite times of year.  One that is defined by jeans, sleeves, cool evenings and college football.

A little recap of the last week or two.  Okay.  Maybe three.  It's really like 4.  I'll catch up in tidbits of what's been going on here. 

Emily has always been my little mommy.  Entertained by pushing baby dolls in strollers and seeking out the child who is upset to comfort them.  And lately she has furthered her roll playing and has designated me as the baby.  The instruction goes something like this: "Mommy, you baby.  Okay?  You cry.  I mommy."  On command I am supposed to cry, then she covers me with a blanket and she gets her purse, cell phone and grocery cart and declares "Go to sleep, baby. Do not get out of bed.  I go to work."   It's a fun little game and I usually try to grab my camera to capture some of these little moments, but I just end up getting scolded for not going to sleep like I was told.  :)  I love to see pretending emerge.  She carries a little cell phone and has conversations with Tiana (Disney princess) and walks her little toy dog.  She even pretends to be Bubby the cat's mommy and push him in the grocery cart.  For the first time ever, she has selected what she wants to dress up as for Halloween - Cinderella.  So a lot of cool things are happening inside her and she is expressing them to our delight.  Keep on, keepin' on, sister!

I'm about to be covered up

Uh-Oh!  I've been caught not sleeping

 

Close those eyes and go to sleep

 

Emily is playing teacher - She's telling me to be quiet

 

She's reading me a book

Soccer season is already nearly over for Casey.  They had their last game yesterday and tournaments will start next weekend.  She done pretty well this season - 3 goals, some time as goalie (which makes me a basket of nerves for 15 minutes), a little pouting and making some new friends.  Tom and I didn't know what to expect this season, but I wasn't expecting it to be this much fun!  Games are exciting to watch and all the parents of our team are really rooting for each kid to do well.  So far no awful sideline soccer parent nightmare stuff to report.

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

 A couple of weekends ago, Casey's Brownie troop had a mom and daughter sleepover at a local camp.  It was fun kind of packing up like we were going camping but we really all stayed overnight in a lodge.  So aside from packing a flashlight and a sleeping bag and toasting smores over a campfire, it was really nothing like camping.  My kind of camping :)

Casey's Brownie troop at Camp Butterworth

 

Can you pick out my kid ;)

 

September 30 was our anniversary and the day was as picture perfect as our actual wedding day 12 years ago - a perfectly warm, sunny day amidst several cold, rainy days.  As I sat outside on the patio love seat watching the Ryder Cup with Tom, our daughters ran around our cozy home in the sunshine and I felt so blessed at what the past 12 years has brought to us.  Never mind that we said we would get more diamonds for my wedding band at 5 years and go to Hawaii at 10 years.  Those anniversaries came and went without even much thought of those things.  We are happy and blessed and that is enough.  Don't get me wrong, Tom knows I like to celebrate with a nice gift and if you remember he surprised me with a weekend away back in August as our anniversary gift. 

I made sure to tell Tom how much I loved him and I love him just like he is:

:)  Love you, Tom!

Casey's teacher recently read a story about a little volcano that was erupting and being a distraction to everyone else.  Then she had a one-on-one chat with Casey about that.  For those of you who know Casey, you are chuckling to yourselves and you totally get it.  Casey told me the other day that her teacher told her she wasn't an erupting volcano in class anymore.  She was so proud of herself.  I just laughed when she told me this.  We've had many (many, many) talks with Casey about self control and realizing she can't talk out whenever she feels like it, so we're happy she's making progress and her teacher is so sweet and patient with her and interested in helping her learn self control and not just punish chattiness.  I may only find this all more hilarious than Tom because when I was in second grade my teacher, Sister Rita, actually taped my mouth shut in class one day.  (Can you imagine the penalty for doing that now??)  So I try to recognize that maybe the little cute, chatty apple didn't fall too far from the tree.  I hope she improves before I did, because I also remember Mr. Purton throwing me out of Chemistry (or was is Physics) class in high school one day for talking.  :) 

Emily started dance class last week at a local dance studio that has implemented a special needs dance team for the first time.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  Emily has always followed along in school really well, but has never participated in a sport or even danced before outside of our little family dance parties in the kitchen.  The dancers in the class range in age from 4 to about 20 and some 'typical' dancers from the studio are volunteering their time to assist in the class.  After some stretches, it was time to learn the routine.  Oh, by the way, this team will perform in 2 competitions and a recital, so it was down to business right away.  The music for the number was introduced, and of all the songs that the instructor could choose, she chose the one song that Emily has connected with on the radio and tries to sing along to - it's this summer's radio anthem of 'Call Me Maybe.'  Emily was overjoyed to hear it and sister was busting at the seams to get her groove on.  She paid attention to the instructor when she was demonstrating the moves, but when it was time to do it herself and the music started, she would start jumping around with excitement and forget to do the choreography.  We'll talk a little more about settling down and not jumping so much before the next class, but it makes me happy to see her so happy and excited.  Know that song 'If You're Happy and You Know It'?  It was written about my girls.  They aren't wired to be quiet, controlled and timid.  If you're happy, clap your hands, stomp your feet, shout Hooray and jump around like you own that. 

Emily before dance class - she didn't want to go

 

It's a blurry picture, but you can still see how happy she is

 

Following along!

 

This is one of the things I love best about both my girls - they are so full of life and want everyone to know it.  Casey has taken a couple of dance classes.  Her first was at age 4 and was a ballet/jazz combo and, thankfully, the recital was a snappy little jazz routine.  If you know Casey, you know she'd love the idea of being a ballerina, but she has too many circuits firing in her body to be that controlled and graceful.  She was the little loose canon at ballet class and I kind of loved it. 

Casey at age 4 going to ballet class (This is post-spine surgery and Emily is wearing her brace)

Casey at age 4 at her dance recital

 

And when I see Emily in a class with other kids, all with special needs, I see her with peers who are facing some of the same challenges in life she is, but I also see her sister in her.  My other little loose canon who has sunshine and electricity bursting out of her body.  Casey is typical and Emily has special needs.  For all their differences, they are the similar - They are both uniquely abled with an ability to express themselves and their excitement and try to engage others to do the same.  We may have to sit down and have more conversations about self control than other parents, but we know we've been blessed with 2 little firecrackers and wouldn't wish it to be any other way :)

Casey being Casey age 7 (almost 8!)

Last week, Emily also started the Special Olympics' Young Athletes Program one evening a week.  It's mostly just one hour of singing, clapping, dancing and moving through an obstacle course for 2 to 4 year olds with special needs.  This program has taken off in Cleveland and they are trying to get it going here, so I'll give a shout out for the program for awareness and the fact that it's just plain fun.  (There is also a 5 to 7 year old class.)  Casey had soccer practice, so my friend Mandy's daughter, Lucy, stood in as her peer partner.  There were even a couple of St. X high school guys there volunteering, who seemed a little embarrassed doing a freeze dance and playing with balloons with 2, 3 and 4 year olds but I applaud their efforts.

Emily and Lucy at Young Athletes Program

 

Freeze dance like you mean it!!

 

I felt all mom-of-the-year-ish this past week because I got out the crock pot and I made a cake for school fundraiser. 

My PTO cake (this is so unlike me, so I was kind of proud)

 

We've been busy and we'll continue to be busy, but I am going to try to get back to blogging more.  When I am trying to blog, I become more aware of the little day-to-day things and I appreciate our life a little more and I'm able to capture these memories that can easily get lost in the shuffle of business.  

Like chewing gum for the first time: