Let's Be CRYSTAL Clear: It Snowed!!

Good Morning!!

We finally got some snow. Good News, right? Nope! Before the snow came the rain. We're remodeling, remember?

So here's what we woke up to.

Living Room's leaking.

Bobby's Room's leaking.

Sarah's Room's leaking.

Do I cry now or later? There's wasn't even enough snow to make it worth it!!!!

Anyhoo, I have pictures of Sarah's school days.

Notice by the calendar, it's 1992. Where has the time gone? This picture shows Sarah's aide, Dean Jenkins. What an Angel!!!! She was with Sarah all the way through Elementary School.
We wanted so bad for her to follow Sarah to Middle School, but they wouldn't let her. In the end, it was the right decision. Sarah learned to be a little more independent since she didn't have just one person taking care of her all the time, although Ms. Jenkins was great at making Sarah do whatever she could by herself.

In several of these pictures, you'll notice Sarah has something around her legs. She couldn't stand the way her legs would spread out to the side in her chair. She wanted a "lap", and didn't like the side abductors that came with the chair. They didn't work good enough for her. Sooo, her very talented Nanny figured out a way to make her happy. She took Terrycloth Towels, cut them to size and sewed Velcro on them. We would wrap those around her legs, and she loved them!! She had them in every color, to match every outfit of course! It's a girl thang!!! She could put them on and take them off by herself whenever she needed.

Waiting for the School Bus

In Preschool, they took the kids swimming once a week. Sarah hates the water to this day (lol). Honestly, it was really good for her. Nanny has a pool, and Sarah has learned to "walk" around the pool using her hands, and loves to loiter around the metal steps and lounge around the covered steps that go down into the pool!! Just don't splash her in the face, you'll get a tongue lashing the likes of which you've never heard, can I get an Amen from the family?

Sarah went on every field trip. Here they are riding the Amtrak train. The school (teachers) were always so good at making any adaptions needed for Sarah to participate!

If there's one thing I'd like to stress, it's let your kids try whatever they want. If there's any way for them to participate, let them. They will benefit so much from it. Sarah was in Daisy's, Brownies, School and Church Choir, Drama Club, Cheerleading, etc. If she wanted to do it, we found a way to make it work!! We've transported and chaperoned the youth at our Church during Lock-ins and Christmas Parties and trips to Youth Rallies in Pennsylvania and Tennessee so Sarah could be a part of it. We've gone on trips to College's with the School Choir during a snow storms and been shut up in our rooms, all so Sarah could participate! We even took her back and forth to Harrisonburg for weekend visits with her Boyfriend and family! Now that's love, you know Sarah?

We've had some hilarious experiences with these things, but they've made some great memories! Like the time I rolled Sarah to the Football field, tipped her chair over, and fell on top of her! Or all the times her sweet Uncle (yep, the same one who took her to all of her school dances) would run out onto the field during half-time, roll her across to the other side and hide behind her chair while they cheered for the opposing audience, then roll her back across!

I'll talk more later about going off to Spina Bifida Camp, going to Independant Living classes, and going away to school at Woodrow Wilson Rehab after graduation, all wonderful learning experiences for Sarah!