Ballerinas have Down Syndrome too!

Father-Daughter Dance 2012

Our Father-Daughter homeschool dance is always a lot of fun.  We went from 6 daughters attending last year to only four this year!  Moira is off at school, of course, and the age limit was raised to age 5 this year, so Erin could not attend. 

Here are the girls, all dolled-up!

Molly Grace

Bridget

Teresa

Eileen

Mike and some of his girls...

Our January babies....

.....are not babies anymore!  Eileen and Bridget turned 17 and 15 in January.  I'm late getting some pictures on the blog because those January birthdays always sneak up on us!

Here's beautiful Eileen, who had to wait another month, to the day, to get her braces off.   I'll have to get a picture with her new grin, full of shiny straight teeth!  Happy birthday, Eileen!

 

Here's beautiful Bridget, our 15 year old.  She was finally able to have a little party with a few friends over to celebrate her birthday, just this past weekend.  Happy birthday, Bridget!

Party Often?

Did anyone notice that my blog title could also be read as "party often"?  I didn't realize it until the image was already in Photoshop....and I have no idea how to edit it.  LOL.  Oh well, I guess it's okay if the Party of Ten parties often.

Erin's New Glasses

A few months ago Erin got glasses. We tried our best to make a big deal about how lucky she was to have glasses, just like Daddy.  Ha!  Let's just say we wasn't buying it....at all.  Goal number one was to get her to wear them for five minutes.  Then 15 minutes.  Then an hour.  Then, an hour, without her little brother pointing out, over and over again, that she did in fact have her glasses on.  Sigh. Finally, after a good long while, she now wear them most of the day.  Now, most of the time, she doesn't even seem to notice she has them on, which of course was our long-term goal!

I think she's pretty adorable in them, if I do say so myself.

Now, here's my plug for Specs 4 Us.
 
Specs 4 Us was started by a mom who had a little four year old girl with Down syndrome.  Often, because kids with Ds have very shallow nasal bridges, and small noses in general, glasses slip down.  We purchased another pair of glasses from a different manufacturer and they were always slipping down.  Specs 4 Us makes a huge difference!  So, my girl with designer genes now has glasses designed just for her.  Amazing, isn't it?  I love how this mom saw a need and did something about it to make life easier for kids with Down syndrome.  It's the small things that can become the big things, and this mom is grateful.

Okay...I Get the Hint

It seems I cannot keep enough food in the house.  I make a couple large trips to the grocery store per week, but still, with as busy as life is, it seems we are always running low.  You know how it is....you get down to the eggs, pancakes and soup.  Hmmm. what can I make with noodles and Italian dressing? Ha ha.  Oh, and there are usually frozen pizzas in the downstairs freezer, so you've got that goin' for you....

Recently, I received this letter from my loving children...

The citizens of the Delaney household hereby have cast lots and are willing to drop to their undernourished knees and beg for the smallest morsels of store bought food.  Your choices are:  Put Eileen in driver's ed so she can learn to drive, drop us off at the cousins, so we can eat, or the last choice, which is most approved by the lot casters, is to go to the grocery store and buy the smallest bit of nourishment.  Know that you have full support over choosing any of these choices, but know, also, that it must be done today!

Signed, Aidan, Bridget, Eileen, Seamus, Teresa, Erin and Molly Grace

Oh, they crack me up!  Yes, I did feed my children that day, I promise!