Flowers at the Swings ~ for Evan

As a tribute to Evan, a little boy who loved the swings and who was taken from us too soon, I give you my photos of "Flowers at the Swings." You can read more about this special tribute here and here.

Vicki, I am so sorry I can't be there for you at the service today. My heart and my prayers are with you right now, and I will be here to listen in the days that come. Much peace and love to you all.

To view all of the photos involved in this lovely memorial, please visit the Flickr Group Website here.

New Hair Cut!

I finally got brave and decided to cut Jenelle's lop-sided hair. I held her in my lap, put my feet over her arms to hold them down (criss cross applesauce style) and started chopping. This is the left over hair.

And the new look! It looks much nicer at this length, even if it still is a bit shorter on the right. At least we can use her clips again.

She's such a pretty model, isn't she? ;) Nana thinks she has "Angelina Jolie" lips.

God's Garden

God looked around His garden,

And he found an empty place.

He then looked upon this earth,

and saw your tired face.

He put His arms around you,

and lifted you to rest.

God's garden must be beautiful,

He always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering,

He knew you were in pain.

He knew that you would never

get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough,

and the hills are hard to climb.

So He closed your weary eyelids,

and whispered "peace be thine."

It broke our heart to lose you,

but you didn't go alone.

For part of us went with you

the day God called you home.

~Author unknown

~~~

Sharing this poem in loving memory of our friends,

Mollie Jean Casey
April 16, 1996 - July 20, 2008

and

Evan Kamida
July 30, 2000 - July 24, 2008

Problem... solved!

Well why didn't I think of that? Today, Jenelle came home from school wearing her crash helmet. She never wears it at home as it always stays at school. Immediately, when I saw her I said, "Of course!"

You can't pull out hair you can't touch!

Some thing is missing...

Or as I like to say, Jenelle is "rocking the Napoleon Dynamite pony tail!" Thought I'd share some photos of Jenelle taken last night to show her bald spot.

Here is a front view of the side pony tail.

Here is a view of her bald spot (where she has literally pulled out all of her hair!)

And here it is from the back - looks like someone just pulled off the pony on the other side of her head!

She was very interested in the camera, but then decided to walk out the door to watch big brother brush his teeth. He uses an electric tooth brush and the sound just fascinates her!

Losing Hair and a Heavy Heart

Just a quick update. Jenelle was sick a week ago with a fever and small cough. Luckily, even with a high fever, her seizures remained very stable. Recently however, Jenelle has been losing a lot of hair on her right side. It started a few weeks ago coming out in clumps, and then we discovered it was because she is pulling at it when her fingers get tangled in her hair. Poor thing has a very small bald spot on her right side and you can definitely see the difference when I put pony tails in her hair (the right side pony is definitely smaller!) I have never attempted to cut her hair, but it is so lopsided it is in desperate need of a trim. Brett thinks its cute and I think it looks more like "flock of seagulls" (for those of you that survived the 80s, you'll know what that means!) Always one thing or another. At least it is only hair, and it will grow back.

Also, I have a very heavy heart this morning. Please keep our friends, the Casey Family, in your thoughts and prayers as they mourn the loss of their daughter and niece Molly. Molly had Hydrocephalus and special needs and endured so much in her short life. She was an inspiration to us all with her courage. We are so very sad to hear of her passing and ask that you send special prayers up for her amazing family.

Three moments in Little League ...

While watching one of the Little League All Star Championship games this weekend, I ran into a Majors Coach from our League who, along with his team of 12 year olds, participated as Buddies at one of Jenelle's Challenger Games earlier this year. When he saw me, he thanked me again for the wonderful opportunity his son had to interact with the special needs kids. I told him that I was thankful to him for the help, but he said, "No, let me tell you how that buddy experience impacted my son's life."

His son is 12 and thus in his last official year of Little League (before going onto juniors, etc.) A friend of theirs is an amature photographer and took photos at each and every one of his son's games this year. A few weeks ago, that friend brought over her photos, and told his son to pick the three he wanted to keep to memorialize his Little League career. His first choice of course was his first home run. His second photo choice, a photo of him pitching. Of course, the two classic things you think of in baseball - home runs and pitching. His last choice? The photo of him pushing Jenelle in her wheelchair around the bases.

The Dad says his son talks about that Challenger game all the time, and how inspired he was by the kids and how they played. Of all the moments in a lifetime of playing baseball, that was one of three he wanted to cherish forever.