Catching my breath

Well, I survived the little girls, and they survived me! We did have a good time together. They apparently have forgiven their parents. We dropped off the girls at their house--their older sister was there, along with a couple of her teen-aged friends. When we drove away Hannah murmured, "I just love that girl." Thinking that she was speaking of one of the teenagers, I asked "Which girl?". She sighed, "Carley."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today Hannah had art class and ballet at our local Homeschool Enrichment Center. It's a cool little place that offers all kinds of classes very inexpensively. In the past she has taken American Girl History, The Human Body, and Map Skills. This art class is all about making things from nature. Today they made snakes from sticks (painted them, and added pipe cleaner tongues and googly eyes). It's a nice class of children ages 6-10. I assist the teacher (stop laughing Roxanne--not everyone knows that I am NOT creative--I have zero artistic ability). This mostly means that I make sure there are enough paper towels and paint dishes, and write the kids' names on the their projects. Hannah definitely doesn't need me in there, so I steer clear of her for the most part.

The Ballet class is just a beginner class, supposedly for ages 6-9. This is a great age group for Hannah, because even though she's ten, she really fits in well developmentally with kids in this age range. However, all the other ballerinas are tiny 6 year olds. Hannah is quite tall for her age, especially compared to her agemates who have Down syndrome. She seems like a giant in the Ballet class. Last week she somehow got her feelings hurt--she felt that the girls were laughing at her. It took me until yesterday to find out that they were laughing at Hannah's invisible dog that she "brought" into class. I suggested that maybe her "dog" didn't belong in ballet--that he was disruptive and should not be allowed in class. I think things went better today, without the dog there. I was busy helping in the hand sewing class (again, stop the laughing! I'll sic my invisible dog on you!) during ballet, so I don't really know.

Oh I almost forgot! Running errands today at Home Depot, the male cashier complemented me on my glasses, saying they looked like Sarah Palin's. I said, "Thanks (I think he meant it as a compliment), I've had them for a while. And I've had my kid with Down syndrome longer than she's had hers too. I think she's trying to copy me."

Sorry no visuals to go with today's adventures, so I'll put in some more of Hannah's photography. I kinda like the laundry room still-life series. I think the trees are pretty cool too--that one was from a trip to Flat Rock, NC this summer (Hi Chuck and Janet!).