Special Olympics Spring Sports May 7/8...

Two new sports were added to our schedule this week--Golf and Softball. Jake has taken on the role of Charlotte's unified golf partner and they head off on Tuesday nights to Hawk Meadows in Howell. They usually get home at 9:30-crazy late for Charlotte, but she is so happy! I think spending time with Jake is really special to her. Molly has decided to take a year off from golf, and it is kind of nice for Charlotte to have a solo sport. Wednesday night brings softball, conveniently located at Maltby, from 6-8. Both girls are playing and Jake and Jerry are helping out when they can. Livingston County is fielding two teams this year and the girls are thrilled to be on Amy Border's team. She showed Charlotte a new batting stance and POW! Charlotte hit a big shot...boy was she happy. Special Olympics is the rhythm in our day, the joy, the smiles, the chance to meet up with friends, the time for us parents to smile and support each other.

Making my Mom feel as special as she is!

Surprise! My Mom came up to my sisters house to spend the weekend. We had a family communion on Saturday and plans for a play and dinner on Sunday. What she didn't know was that I was going to be there. I arranged to fly home on Tuesday and headed to Parsippany after the panel wound down on Friday afternoon.I spent a wonderful couple of hours sitting out on Susan's driveway in the sunshine visiting with she and Allie while we waited for Mom to arrive. Boy was she surprised to see me! In fact she was so thrilled I felt a bit bad, because Sooz is the one who arranged the play and dinner plans. I don't want to be a glory hog! We had a beautiful weekend together, full of sunshine and fun. We spent Saturday morning at Christopher's soccer game and the afternoon at Mickey's house celebrating Taylor's first communion. We plopped Mom on the deck under the umbrella with Uncle Joe and they held court there as the elder statesmen of the family. The food was great and Mickey had finished his kitchen remodel at 1:30 am the morning of the communion! On Sunday we went to mass, then over to the Paper Mill Playhouse to see Thoroughly Modern Millie. I remember going to the papermill with my girl scout troop and on school field trips and it is still a neat little spot. Susan had gotten us great seats and the show was fantastic! There is so much good dancing, and it is funny and happy, the perfect Mother's Day type play. Then we went over to a new restaurant that recently opened at South Mountain Reservation. It overlooks the lake and you can see the little Zoo train going by across the water. It was quite pricey but the food was gourmet and good. We had a lovely time, with loits of good conversation. Monday morning Mom headed back to Toms River and Susan and I spent the day shopping, drinking coffee and talking nonstop! In other words, a perfect day! Tuesday my car arrived early and I got to the airport so quickly I was able to get on an earlier flight--don't worry, I still kept my first class seat! What a wonderful time with my Mom and my sister and brother-a gift of time and love.

Cousin Mickey

Amy and Taylor

Taylor loved Mom's gift

Susan, Mom and me

our show

Susan, Catherine and Donnie

Mom and Catherine at The Boathouse

yummy dessert

family group!

our whole group

A Parenting Panel? Moi?! 5/3/13

Okay, the coolest thing! I get an email from my friend Ted in NYC asking if I would like to come out there and be a part of a panel discussion. With no further info my response was "YES!" I didn't know anything other than I could go to New York, but that was enough for me! The panel was being held to discuss the results of a survey dealing with parents today, social media and technology issues, and if its harder to parent in the world today.  A beautiful short film tribute to Eunice Kennedy  The panelist were myself, Andrew Shue of Melrose Place fame, who is now an owner and writer on the site Cafemoms, MaryLou Retton, yup, that MaryLou Retton! A Mom who has the biggest web presence for Latina Moms and a gal that is a head of school at the Ideal School in NYC, a private school with a 30% Special Needs population. What an interesting and diverse group. The panel discussion was moderated by Dana Points, the Editor in Chief of Parents magazine. We all gathered on the rooftop of a building on 48th and 11th with stunning views of midtown and the river. The weather was perfect, blue skies and sun sparkling off the buildings, and the swanky rooftop room was filled with white flowers and posters of our Mom Wisdoms, which we had sent in prior to the event. It was hard to choose, since I am so smart, but the one I went with for this was,
"Give your best to the world and the world will give its best back to you!"
Various media outlets were invited to hear us talk, mostly lots of bloggers and magazines. The discussion went faster than I thought it would and I did not feel that it was my best day. I had trouble finishing my thoughts before they moved on to the next person(note to self-don't be so long winded!)
but the PR firm and Ted said we did a great job. It was cool to stand around and chat with MaryLou Retton, who of course I watched on TV and worshipped. First American woman to win a gold medal in all-around,first woman on a Wheaties box, maybe the tiniest adult I have ever met. She has four daughters, the first of whom is a senior in high school, so even though she is famous, it was regular Mom chat. A couple of my pals from P&G were there and it was great to see them. In fact, on Thursday night we all went out to a cool restaurant called Quality Meats for dinner and a lot of laughing!
All in all it was a fantastic experience and I am so happy that Thank You Moms gave me the chance to participate.

Special Olympics Leadership Conference 4/27/13

Miss Molly, at it again! She is the one of the athlete representatives to the state management team,and as such she will attend to meetings a year in Mount Pleasent and report on issues that the athletes feel are important. Go Molly! I am very proud of her and how she keeps trying new things and rising to challenges. MaryJane Welton and I drove her up to CMU and dropped her off on Friday night. We enjoyed a chatty dinner at Panera while Molly attended her meeting, which concluded at 10pm. MJ and I drove to the lake house to see the new windows (gorgeous!) and kill some time. We returned to the hotel where we met up with Molly and went to sleep. Next morning we all took part in an all day conference where they discussed Project Unify, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day and more. One of the more interesting talks was on the new federal law stating that all students(all-not just some!) must have access to phy.ed and sports teams and how Special Olympics programs  can help school systems be in compliance. Danny is planning to try to get Project Unify going in his 7/8 school next year.
Molly introduced one of the attendees which really tickled her. The food was yummy and the company great, so all in all, a great two days.

Spring is coming to Michigan

Slowly but surely spring is coming! By slowly I mean that it snowed today, big fat flakes on April 24, coating the deck and making a mess on everyones shoes. But the air has a different feeling to it, a bit of warmth, and a different sound to it, croaking frogs and bellowing cranes and chirping birds. It is coming! I can't wait to fill the sandbox for Cassie and tell Molly she doesn't need a wool cap and gloves to take her run!
Molly, Danny and Jerry participated in their first rite of spring in " the D" -a Tiger game! We purchased three seats in a small game package and we are excited to be "season ticket holders" Jerry even got an email from our own valet, who said if we had any issues we should call him personally! Jerry almost called during the game to see if he could deliver blankets to the seats, as the temp dipped into the 30's, but they just rode it out!
Let the coats get put away, ditch the boots, hats and gloves and bring on the Spring!

Baby's Story time

reading in the sunshine

Cassie says, "when I grow up I want to be like Chuchu!