Too funny!

Bella was making popsicles in a mini muffin tray and she was filling it too high and it was going all over.  So GiGi says "Bella, you gonna spill it."  Then she got really excited and said "OHHH Look!... Father (pronounced Fahder), son, Holy spill it!!!"  She was so proud of herself!  

Then yesterday she said to her babysitter Joanna (pronounced Jo-ah-na)  "Knock, Knock" then of course came "who's there?" GiGi said "Jo-ah-na" then of course "Joahna who" and she says "joahna glass of water?"

So psyched for the Gigi's Playhouse 5k this weekend!  My team was #1 but we got knocked down to third this week!!  Which makes me so happy because that means we have these incredible teams out there fighting for our kids!!  Love it!!  I would love to tell you their stories but I have to get the kids off to there last day of school!!  But then somehow a small baseball game at my house has turned into the class party for my 5th grader!!!

T-ball moves to coaches pitch!

First and foremost... Look! I finally got the pink helmet to match her mitt and bat!!  

This month we were able to start having the coaches pitch to our t-ballers if we wanted to.  Well, we never did this with our team (I am one of the coaches) but the team we were playing was doing all coach pitch so we thought we would try it too.   Some of the kids did OK, others not so good.  When GiGi came up I told the pitching coach not to worry about her just let her hit it off the tee.  (This was not a Down syndrome thing it was a coach thing.  I knew she never had tried it and I would have said the same for my other kids (mostly to save time!!) Anyway, he wanted to pitch to her so he did and what does she do???  She hits it!!!!!  Loser Mommy!!!

marshmallows

What is a memorial weekend without a bonfire???   Here she is roasting a marshmallow for her smores (and eating the extras)  I think she enjoyed it a little too much.  In the bathtub tonight she asked for a bon fire with marshmallow again (and then showed me how she would get 2 crackers and smoosh it all together)  When I told her we couldn't do it tonight I of course got the "Please mom, please, please, please"??  Where do they learn how to beg like that?

boating and tubing

"Look Mom, no hands"!!!  What a weekend!!  I couldn't believe that GiGi was on the first tube ride of the year!  She couldn't get to the back of the boat fast enough to get on that tube!  It was so cool!  We wiped out last year so I wasn't sure how she was going to react.   Obviously, it didn't bother her!!

The water was cold but that didn't stop her from going on the wave runner either!  We must have sang every song we knew when we were wave runnin'!  It was awesome.  Then she hung out in the hot tub for a little while and did some four wheeling with the kids.  It still is so funny to me that I thought all this was over for us when she was born.  She is the one that makes it the most fun!  If I only knew....

  

New pink bike

Yeah, yeah, yeah, she should have shoes on but.....  My Mom doesn't go on-line so it's all good! 

Because GiGi loves our tag along bike (with me) so much she hasn't been riding hers as much as she should.  In fact, I caught her a few times looking down watching her feet instead of the road!!  So that is something we will be working on this summer.  Her endurance is really building up.  Yesterday she had to do 2 home-run runs (all bases) at t-ball and did great!!  Actually, when she finished she said "I'm dizzy!"  That is so her!   

St. Annes last day of school performance!

Wow!!  They started with the Pledge of Allegiance and went on to sing at least 12 songs!!  Talk about cool!  She was amazing!  This was the same class that had some parents questioning if GiGi "belonged" in their school.  So it was great to see her do so much better than some of the other kids!  When that happened I was hurt beyond words.  In fact, the very next day is when I committed myself to the national "i have a voice" traveling gallery project.  Though I knew I couldn't (shouldn't) take on such a huge project these parents left me no choice.  I can only hope and pray for their "perfect" children.

Some of GiGi's facial expressions and dancing had me cracking up!  My favorite part was during the Pledge of Allegiance when she said "and to the repubic, for which I stand, one-ation, under dog, individible, wit liberty and just for all."  "under dog"???  Is that show still on???  

It was a proud and weird day.  Knowing people teach their kids to judge others just freaks me out!  OK, I am over it.  (I am sooooo not!)   

  

I can read!!

I am so behind!!!  Between school, baseball, the 5k run/walk, the after party prep, finalizing the new 2009 "Inspire" calendar (which is amazing!!), tutoring, board meetings, birthday parties and my own partying I am buried!!  I usually don't complain but what the?????   OK better now!

GiGi started back in the free literacy program at the Playhouse and she is learning to read a book  a week!!  She is even getting the phonics component!!   Here are a couple of pictures of her and her tutorer Beth.  She is amazing and a VOLUNTEER!!!!!   The Playhouses are so blessed to have people like this teach our kids.  A book a week!!  Sorry, did I say that again??  We were reading earlier today and I am just so blown away by her progress.