Last weekend, Sarah Kate and I went to our church’s annual Christmas Bazaar. She’s nuts about nutcrackers (pun intended) and she spotted some simple handmade ones in one of the booths. As it turned out, the booth was run by the Exceptional Foundation and the nutcrackers were made by some of the exceptional people that they serve.
As I was paying for her found treasure, chatting with the lady working, I mentioned that we have an exceptional person in our family and suggested to Sarah Kate that she tell the lady what made her brother exceptional.
She didn’t know. And I cried tears of joy that she didn’t.
If you have fifteen minutes, watch this video from ESPN about a father of a little girl with Down syndrome. His story of transformation and acceptance is powerful and poignant. Many stories about parents of children with special needs focus on the mother; this one is all about the dad, and I was glad to see it.
We visited Santa last night at Bass Pro Shop (our annual Santa photo op outing). When Sarah Kate was almost three, she freaked at the mere suggestion of approaching the jolly man in the red suit. Nathan, by contrast, nearly mowed down the family in front of us in his zeal to visit with The Big Guy. It. Was. Awesome.
After wading through all the cast offs from Sunday’s not-so-successful photo shoot, I managed to find a couple of individual head shots of the kids that I liked. They aren’t together and they aren’t wearing the goofy hats, but I think they’ll do.
I’m considering switching out the photo in my blog header with the “kiss” photo. I think it’s cute, and it’s the right shape, and they’re wearing the goofy hats that match the color scheme, but…it doesn’t show their faces. What do you think?
My January marathon is fast approaching, so I’m asking for your support. I’m running to raise both funds and awareness of Down syndrome as a team runner for Research Down Syndrome (RDS). RDS supports scientific studies directed towards understanding the sources of cognitive difficulties in persons with Down syndrome. AND…just wearing the shirt in the race will force thousands of people to think about T21, if only for a few seconds.
I’d love your support! Please consider donating a few dollars. Find my fundraising page here.
Many of us in the virtual special needs community were stunned to hear about the death of little Henry Dobrovits last week. Please take a few minutes to read the amazing story of the Dobrovitz family, and consider leaving them a message of support and encouragement on their blog.
Unfortunately, more bad news followed with the sudden illness and subsequent passing of Aziza this week. You can find their blog here.
Hug your babies – the world can change in an instant.
Have a great weekend!
Link up your own Seven Snippets below! Be sure to link to your post, not the main page of your blog.
Looking for a Seven Snippets template or graphic? Go here for some quick tools to create your own Seven Snippets post.
This post was inspired by and is linked to Conversion Diary‘s 7 Quick Takes.
I love the kissing picture!! I say use it!!