Down syndrome Awareness month is October~~check out this awesome Seattle newsclip!

Baby's in the hospital again, playing and doing fine, but making sure chemo isn't hurting anything but the leukemia!!! Of course, everyone loves and talks to the baby here too!!

This side of famous

Today was fun. We met Scott L. Schwartz, bad guy extraordinairre (Ocean's 11, 12, 13, Spiderman, etc.).
He visits children's hospitals and meets with the patients.
We enjoyed meeting him, taking pictures with him, and having him sign pictures and autograph pages.
And looking up to him...literally.
What a great guy, with such a not-bad-guy smile. Shh, don't tell anyone!

Maggie's night

The Delight Song of Midnight
by Maggie

I am the poet who stays up past midnight to write myself

I am the mother star that gives everyone their wish

I am the Komodo dragon but I don't breathe fire

I am a cake that has feet

I am a rose the little girl sang

You see, I am alive, I am alive.
I stand in good relation to the earth.
I stand in good relation to all
that is beautiful.
You see, I am alive, I am alive.



Maggie's poem was chosen to be included in a collection of prose by students in the Seattle Schools.
She got to read it tonight at the Seattle Art Museum!
Maggie really fought me on wearing a dress. She can't stand wearing dresses, except for church.
She gets that from me.
Anyway, I made sure she understood what an honor it is to get to read your work at such a prestigious place and you have to dress the part!

tie dye fun

We made like hermits and stayed in our room this past week.
Lilly caught a cold and we didn't want to share that loveliness that can be life-threatening here.
So, one day we finally made our tie-dye shirts.
We'd had the supplies for well over 2 or 3 weeks, and I finally got up the courage.
Funny thing is, is that I LOVED doing it, and wanted to tie dye a whole lot more stuff now!
Maybe next summer.

Happy birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO KELLY!
MY BABY GIRL IS 14!
Being on this side of the mountains, I am reminded of how I went into labor with Kelly.
I knew I'd need a c-section, but doctors can't schedule them early.
But, if I went into labor, they'd have to deliver.
So, I went to the world-famous Puyallup Fair, and walked everywhere, around and around, pushing Daniel in the stroller.
It worked! The next morning, I was in labor and sounded like a movie star on the 40-minute drive to Tacoma. :)
Below are some copies of last-year's scans of her young pictures, so the quality isn't good.
But, she was and still is a little princess.

I wish we could be at home today for Kelly's big day, but at least she gets Daniel and her dad to make a special day for her! We love you, Kelly!

The long-awaited post~

No, the adoption is not final. It should be before Halloween? Hopefully.
But, we're still alive!
This is a big post because I haven't updated in a while.

My back was really messed up last week, which threw me into even more exhaustion.
Plus, I didn't feel like dealing with the slow Internet connection at the House.
So, since someone was admitted with a fever today, I decided to take advantage of the hospital's much faster connection!

Early last week, Daniel and Andy came to visit.
We went to a local park, trying to get the kids to actually do something other than electronics.
It didn't work too well.
But, they did find and eat a lot of blackberries.

Don't the boys look like I'm torturing them?!

We saw the zeppelin again.

Each time we walk the trail, we eat a LOT of blackberries.

All summer, we had an awesome teenage volunteer at the House.

When her service time ended, Marlena decided she wanted to put on a dinner for the residents of the House for her 16th birthday party.

Sure enough, her friends and family helped out and we had a great birthday dinner!

On Sundays, we don't watch tv or do electronics.

Out of boredom, Josh came up with an epic game.

He was on one side of the girls bed, while they were on the other side.

They would decide when to throw the balls at each other, then fire!

Depending on how many times and what kind of ball they hit the others with, they counted points. (broken ones combined earned more points)

Kelly started school two weeks ago. Maggie, Lilly, and Josh started last week. Daniel will start college next week.

Here are the 3 youngest, ready on the first day for the shuttle to come pick them up.

Yesterday, Maggie kept hurting herself. The first time was when she stabbed her hand with a pencil. She was so sad, but I knew that if I offered to take a picture for the blog, she'd forget about the pain. Sure enough, it worked!

The week our remote control was missing, we went outside more. Imagine that.

The children played tag a lot, in the play area.

It's pretty sad when we all notice that the hospital has a new rug at one of the entrances.

We finally got to go to the Science Center again, and actually be able to use the acrobatic attraction.

They all did great doing flips and such in the air.

Josh's abdomen was sore for a few days afterwards, from all the air-crunches he did.

Lilly at the bubble wall.

Maggie had fun with the zipper.

Sunday night excitement

Tonight, dinner was provided by Husky Food Service and Annie's Fun (I think).
From the menu board below, you can see how much food they made.
The kids loved the grilled cheese sandwiches.
I loved the turkey, lasagna, and the freshly-made breads.

Kids food counter

Dessert table

After dinner, we went out to visit with the firemen from Station #38.