Be A Fan

Special Olympics is my passion. Special Olympics is my vocation. (How lucky am I!) I believe will all that I am that people with intellectual disabilities have value. I believe they have value to their famly, their school, their place of employment, their neighborhood and their community. I was blessed many years ago to have been told that I had to attend a Special Olympics practice as part of a college club that I belonged to. It forever changed my path. Today, I work for Special Olympics. I volunteer for Special Olympics. I call many people with intellectual disabilities my friends. I am lucky to be guardain of Max, a wonderful man with Down Syndrome. Elizabeth LOVES her Uncle Max without any regard to his differences. To her, he laughs, he can carve a great pumpkin and can make some really good dinner!! We will continue to make Special Olympics athletes a normal and regular part of her life. I hope she will be part of a new generation who will understand that words hurt. They hurt of they are said on a playground or on the Jay Leno show. Join me today to help eliminate the R-Word. Click www.r-word.org to make sign a pledge to stop using the R-word. Encourage your kids and the community around you to do the same. It is important to some very special people!!!



Special Olympics is changing attitudes where lessons of ability, acceptance and inclusion are taught on the fields of competition by our greatest teachers – the athletes

Just Beautiful

Last summer Elizabeth and her friend Fin (and mommy's friend, Leslie - Fin's mommy) were enjoying a little treat at Sonic after a fun day of play at the Botanical Gardens. They had a sweet hug goodbye and this is the result....

A wonderful painter by the name of Julia Stein saw this photo on Fin's Blog and she asked if she could paint the girls picture. Oh, I just love it!!!! It will have a special place in our home!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Poppy!!! We love you like crazy cakes. Thanks for being the best dad and the best Poppy that a girl could ask for. We wish we could be there for your special day. Hopefully the postman delievered a little love your way today!

Hmmm

What kind of trouble can I get into next?

A First!

I have been looking at other blogs and admiring the digital scrapbooking of others. Since Elizabeth has arrived, my time at my scrapbooking table as been slim. Other than our trip to China, I have done nothing. So... I thought I would give this a try. I don't like it as much as paper scrapbooking but hopefully it will help me catch up. So today, I bought my first digital scrapbooking kit and tried a tutorial. I have sooooooo much to learn but I managed to make these pages all on my own. No template, no plopper, just me!
If anyone is a digital scrapper and has suggestions, I am open. I am using Paint Shop Pro, if that makes a difference.

Overall not a great day...

For Victor, the cat!

17th Annual Polar Plunge

My dear husband is the best! He is once again supporting my passion (which also happens to be my job- how lucky am I!) which is Special Olympics. While I am busy organizing the 17th Annual Polar Plunge, my dear hubby will be joining the other 3500 crazy souls who will be jumping into the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. He does it because he loves me but he does it because he has learned the value of giving a person with a disability an opportunity to prove what he or she is capable. Last summer we had the great honor to "adopt" (really become guardians) for our friend Max, commonly referred to by Elizabeth as Uncle Max. He has Down Syndrome. Special Olympics has given him so many opportunities not only to train and compete but to travel and have experiences that he would not have had otherwise. We know times are tight but if you have a buck or two to spare, my dear husband would be grateful. Most especially though, Uncle Max and his buddies and his buddies would be grateful. A special thanks to my dad and my Uncle Bob and Aunt Margaret who have already helped Max show the world his competencies.
If you can help, just click on Sam's fundraising page. Again, thank you! Every little bit helps!

Uncle Max, Elizabeth and Sam