Erm. Umm. Yes.

Wouldn't you think that with only one child at home I ought to be able to at least be able to write a blog post every few days? Maybe? I think so. But, I am wrong. And I can't blame the remnants of Ida, though she has made everything cold, blustery and wet (6+ inches of rain so far).

The real reason is that I have been procrastinating. I am headed to Northern Virginia tomorrow. Saturday I am giving a 2 hour presentation on Literacy in the Down Syndrome Population. Of course, I've known about this presentation for many many months. But I waited until this week to polish up my rough draft. And then I had to completely revamp my hand-outs.

But I got it done, finally! After many stops and starts (the stops were mainly Facebooking and playing Zuma, and of course, Hannah-ing). I leave tomorrow for the whole weekend! I'm hoping to catch up with a few bloggers and homeschoolers up that direction, and then spend time with college friends who live in the area. Whoohoo! I am looking forward to all of it!

James and Hannah have big plans too. Tomorrow afternoon they are going to Lunar Golf. I didn't know such a place existed, but Hannah saw it while shopping with Kate one time. It's a black-light miniature golf course in the mall. She also has convinced James to take her to the food court and get some pizza. I think she's going to try to convince him that she needs another Webkin (NOT!!!). Saturday evening they are going to the Lipizzaner Stallion Show. And of course, Sunday is Football. They like to watch together. Well. Not really. James like to watch a game or two (Cowboys), and Hannah likes to draw nearby and eat snacks.

Speaking of drawing, Hannah picked up this book at the library:

(Ooh! You just witnessed me cleverly segueing into the deleted portions of my last post!)

I think she did a really good job following the directions in the book.

Here are a couple more. These are actually pretty small drawings--about 3 inches tall.

Hannah's theater class finished up today. They primarily work on acting skills, but at the end of the 8 week session they put on a short skit. Hannah had the role of the Queen in a very short and humorous production of Sleeping Beauty. Here she is practicing her lines with me. Two things of note in this video:

1. She makes a classic Down syndrome move with her hands and giggle when she got excited about nailing her first line "yeahhhhhh!". It's something, to me, that is really a bit endearing, yet goofy.

2. At the end, she tries to get me to come next to her so we could say her last lines together, since the entire cast says the last lines simultaneously.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She did a really great job at the performance this afternoon. Her friend Clare was the Princess, and they were quite silly together. Here's one for the Royal Family Album.

I am really thankful for Hannah's friends. They are so accepting and they genuinely enjoy being with her. I know that's normally how friends are, but I remain amazed at how kind and generous they are.

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Breaking News!!! 10:50p.m.

I just got a phone call from one of the first moms who responded to my Worst Down Syndrome post. We've been corresponding for months as she's journeyed through her prenatal diagnosis. She has had a very difficult pregnancy, and tonight she will deliver her sweet baby boy via C-section. He will be nearly a month early, and hopefully his Daddy will make it to the hospital in time!

Right now she is alone at the hospital in Southern California. Please pray for her, the baby, and the doctors. I will update when I hear something.

UPDATE: William Leonidas was born November 12 at 10:07 p.m. Pacific Time. He weighs 5lbs 15 oz. and 18" long! He's doing well, but is needing a little O2 to keep his oxygen saturation up. Mom is doing well--she sounds good!