Snow Day

It's been 2 years since our school has had a snow day.  We still had to endure the cold, frigid weather of the past few winters.  Just not the snow.  Which, technically, I'm okay with because I hate driving on icy roads.  It seems only fair, though, that if we have to put up with all the elements of winter, we deserve a snow day now and then.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to be snowed in with my (sweet, adorable and wonderful) kids for a long period of time or anything.  But a day of not having to get Casey out the door by 8:10 then Emily off to school at 9:00 with backpacks and lunch packed, shoes tied, and hair brushed is a treat.  It's what a snow day is supposed to be all about.  So when school was called off Wednesday because of a late winter snowfall, it was a long time coming.

There's not a lot to write about because the day was pretty uneventful here.  It started with me sitting down in the toy room to play with the girls, but I got the cleaning bug pretty quickly and soon the girls got it, too.  We purged and organized so many toys that don't get played with anymore and I still can't believe how much the girls got into it.  Dare I say it was kind of fun even? 

After lunch we were ready to play in the snow!  Casey is old enough to get her self all geared up and was out the door in a flash.  Emily still needs help getting most things on, but, dear Lord, gloves are the worst.  Next Fall I'm going to schedule like 5 occupational therapy appointments dedicated to just putting on gloves if she doesn't have it by then.  I was getting my coat and gloves on when I looked outside and saw Emily standing in the snow crying with a face full of snow.  It turns out Casey threw a snowball and it landed right smack in the middle of Emily's face.  Maybe my first reaction should have been to get upset at Casey for poor judgement (or aim), but, instead, I just laughed.  We all (including Casey) are very protective of Emily.  It has been second nature for the three of us to make sure she is safe on stairs and any where she can fall or get hurt.  But sometimes it's nice to see Casey just forget that and treat her like another sibling and make her take a snowball in the face.  I also think it's good for Emily so that she can learn to stand up for herself when she gets it dished to her, so I didn't stop her later when I saw her coming up behind Casey with a shovel of snow to dump on her head.  It's good for Casey, too.  Basically, rubbing snow in each other's faces is good for everyone.  Except me.  I don't like it and I get to put someone in timeout if they do. 

This snowfall was the good snow.  Fluffy, sticking to tree limbs to make everything outside look like a winter wonderland (in March).  And it's the good-for-packing snow!  We decided to make snow forts and have a little snowball fight.  My fort was way better than Casey's.  And, yes, I just bragged about my fort being better than an 8 year old's. :)  Emily was a little clueless to the competition going on but Casey and I wore ourselves out throwing snowballs at each other.

The next day after school there was enough snow on the ground yet for them to play in it again. I decided to watch from inside this time because they were in the front yard and I could watch them safely. I think it's important for the girls to be able to play outside sometimes without me hovering over Emily. There was no more snow being shoved up any one's nose. It was just two sisters playing outside in the snow after school. And it was a view I soaked up from inside. Camera in hand, of course.

Is it Spring yet?

Is it Spring yet?  Aside from the weather still being very much winter, it's starting to feel like Spring things are happening here.

I just bought a laminated calendar to help introduce days, weeks, months to Emily.  What a better month to start than her birthday month?!?

Emily is now registered for kindergarten.  Yikes!  How did this happen?  She's the baby.  She can't possibly be old enough for this.  In reality, kindergarten is the exact same start and end time as pre-school.  The difference is she'll go one extra day.  So it's not like we're becoming empty nesters or anything here, but this Spring will bring the pre-school phase of our lives to an end. -There that sounds more appropriately dramatic for what I'm feeling.  That and the fact that Emily being not only our baby, but our special baby, brings a whole other level to the drama of it all.  I've got 5 whole months to dwell on this subject before she actually goes to kindergarten, so I just settle down here a bit.  I mean all I did was sign a few pieces of papers and fill out some forms.  Actually, that's all I had to do to register Casey for kindergarten.  When you have a special kid, you get to fill out those pages as well as an additional 40 to 50 pages of assessment forms and attend several transitioning, evaluation and IEP meetings and then sign some more forms.  Apparently going to kindergarten is a little more involved than just telling them she got short-changed on some of the learning chromosomes and got a surplus of the chromosomes for happiness. :)  I'll keep you posted on how the upcoming IEP meetings go.  I feel like getting ready for them might be like preparing for an international summit... 

It is March now and little sister knows her birthday is right around the corner.  Each morning she wakes up and at some point she says 'My birthday is coming up!'  We've been practicing saying her birthday and how old she will be as well as her address.  Saying them in a sing-song way definitely has helped her remember them.  In the kindergarten registration packet, there was a list of 5 or 6 different things your kid should be able to do before he/she starts school next year.  They are:
1) State first an last name and age.
2) Write his/her first name.
3) Use scissors and crayons with appropriate grip.
4) Count to 20.
5) Recognize colors and basic shapes.
6) Say their address and phone number. 

Casey knew all of these, how to read and more when she started kindergarten.  But I recognize this might be the only year of school that Emily will begin and be able to have met all the educational goals outlined for students.  I know these are the most basic skills and many kids will be counting to 100 like Casey did on day one, but we are making sure these things are nailed and checked off this list before next school year.  Come hell or high water, she's going in like a boss for at least one year.  She's got most of them down, but we'll continue to sing our address on the way to Kroger or count 20 jelly beans at Easter :)
 

The other night the girls put on a cooking show for us :)

As you can tell by this post, there are a lot of things Emily-related going on in March, right on the heels of Emily's dance competition performance.  And while Casey, who is Emily's biggest cheerleader, (it was Casey who came up with our little address melody with Emily, and Casey who teared up watching Emily dance) is supportive, the more it's all about Emily the less it's all about Casey.  And Princess Casey's not a big fan of being de-throned :)

When Emily was born, one of my biggest worries was that Casey would one day resent the fact that her only sibling was disabled.  Slow.  Challenged.  Different.  Never once did I worry that she would be jealous of her for being....Cute.  Lovable.  Adorable.  Casey has mentioned more than a time or two lately that people seem to like Emily more than her.  In fact, she seems to be very aware that some people find a special endearing quality in Emily.  A trait that is indeed different, but not the kind of different that I worried about.  Oh, I once cried buckets of tears about Casey feeling like she got short changed in the sisterly relationship department.  And, to be honest, I still fear for the day Casey might confess she wishes she had a 'normal' sister.  (Okay, if I'm really honest I know she will feel like this one day and I need to be prepared for it.)  But resenting her for being cute?  Didn't see that one coming. 

We've been out and about recently and some old acquaintances of mine or people who know the same people we do, have stopped to say hi or introduce themselves because they recognize Emily.  And Emily, with her blond curls, usually is smiling and blissfully unaware of the world around her.  Take  that in for a second.  Can you imagine being chronically happy (except when getting out of bed - she's a real grump then) and not really giving a hoot about what other people are saying/doing/thinking?  I imagine it would be liberating.  That is Emily.  And I think people are drawn to that.  (Disclaimer:  I am completely biased and realize I might be making this all up in my head as some self-preservation mechanism.)  Either way, when I'm out and about with the girls, it's usually Emily who will get the attention first lately.  And Casey's jealously radar hones in on that with lightening speed.  I think it's kind of adorable, really.  Like I said, I've been prepared for Casey to resent Emily for other things.  So, especially as Emily's birthday approaches we will have to make sure Casey is getting her love bucket filled a little extra from us :)

My parents were in town this past weekend and mom went with me and the girls to shop for a First Communion dress for Casey.  (Here I go again...)  I can't believe my big girl is old enough to make her First Communion already!!  I did some reconnaissance work online before we went out (what a smart idea this was!!).  I knew I had a limit to what I wanted to spend and I also knew Casey would have a strong opinion on what her dress would look like, so we browsed through many stores' websites to find some we liked.  I have no patience for dragging the girls to 8 different stores on some white dress wild goose chase.  Fortunately, she found exactly one she loved online and a quick trip to Macy's is all it took to seal the deal.  It was the maximum I was willing to spend and she loved it, so we are both happy.  This is worth documenting because I'm sure this perfect storm of happiness on both our parts when it comes to fashion will be rare :)

Emily's birthday, Casey's First Communion, the end of pre-school.  They all have me thinking Spring!  Except I don't think mother nature is done with winter yet.  Seriously??  I'm starting to think it will be 30 degrees with clouds and flurries forever.  I try to never wish time away, especially when I've just spent a fair share of this post whining about my girls growing up too fast, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it was Spring already!

The final product from the cooking show

I just learned this trick at my last photography class - blow out the background of a shot!  for the subject of my last assignment I chose peanut butter and jelly :)