Got this from Meghan's teacher

A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson.

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."
"One wolf is evil and ugly: He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."
"The other wolf is beautiful and good: He is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, gratitude, and deep VISION."
"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."
The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Oh Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The elder Cherokee replied, "The wolf that you feed."

Which wolf do you feed?

Need email addresses to invite blog readers

I cannot send an invite with your email addresses. Please add them to your comments. I will not post that comment, but I need your email addresses, except you Dawn, I have yours. :o)

Adoption blogs closed for a while

If you want an invite, please leave a comment. Too much going on and I am just too weary of the BS in the adoption world.

Just really tired and sad.

Just sharing--3 year old Meghan

Meghan in 2004, she was 3 years 3 months old. She is about the same age in these pictures that Amanda is now. Such a huge difference! Look at her chubby little belly.

She often has a dirty face, we actually let her play and get messy. :o)

Meghan began walking at 20 months.

Such tiny feet too, she wore size 4 toddler here.

All pictures property of Levario family, please do not copy without permission.

Sponsor the girls for the Buddy Walk-fundraising Goal $500

What is the Buddy Walk?


The Buddy Walk was developed by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to promote awareness and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. The Buddy Walk has grown from 17 walks in 1995 to more than 260 walks were held in 2005. The goal of the Buddy Walk is to promote understanding and acceptance of people with Down syndrome.
Whether you have Down syndrome, know someone who does or just want to show support, come and join the Buddy Walk. Every step we take will be a celebration of the accomplishments, acceptance, and awareness of hundreds of thousands of people with Down syndrome.

Another lazy weekend

Ya ever look to the weekend thinking of all the things you will get done? I do it all the time, sadly nothing did get done this weekend because all of us were feeling under the weather. We thought it was a cold, but turns out our cooler pads were full of fungus and mold and made us all feel sick. Evaporative cooling has many downsides. We put an anti fungal in the cooler, hopefully the fishy smell will leave soon.

The cooler has had so many issues the past 3 weeks, we needed a new motor, the squirrel cage is squeaking and the bearings need to be replaced, and it the electrical cord keeps coming undone. Now the pump stopped working and everything got moldy in there. I realty truly wish we could get air conditioning, maybe in the winter when the prices go down? We also have needed a new heater for a few years, thankfully we only really need it at night December through February. We just put up with the house being in the 60's. We don't roast and we don't freeze, but we sure are not comfortable...

Things that need to be done?

Laundry, every day, all the time, but I wait to do most of it on the weekend when Tom can help watch the girls. Our laundry room is outside and it is HOT out there right now. Amanda thinks sitting on hot pavement is fun, her skin doesn't, I am wishing for 80 degree days right now.

Mowing the lawn and trimming the trees. Well, last weekend the lawn mower died, Tom could not get it to start, it is a horrid old thing that spews smoke, so perhaps we need another, greener mower anyway. We need trimmer line for the weed eater, we both forgot until we went to use it. The yard is overgrown and looks awful.

Going through junk mail, I don't know about you, but I am so weary of mail I did not ask for, offers for CC, and insurance and catalogs for things I would either never buy, and don not need or want. It all goes into the recycling bin, most before I even walk in the house. I cannot abide junk mail. What a waste of resources too.

Watering the garden, I always wanted a sprinkler system, but gosh, who has time to dig up the yard and install it? And no, we could not afford to have someone else do it. So I use soaker hoses and a sprayer. Helps me get the sun I need daily. watering is something that has to be done all the time, my family killed a lot of my plants when I was in Estonia because they thought they watered enough. (sigh) I need new plants for this winter.

Cleaning out closets Something I think should be done when it is cooler. They are a mess, Meghan likes to play in them. She takes numerous things and places them in bags, she has numerous bags which she stashes in weird places. Not to be indelicate; but she had my favorite bra in one, I could not find it for months, it was under a crib, in a bag. I emptied all her bags and found many missing items, including cups, spoons, hairbrushes, and undergarments? Wonder why she collects those things?

Cleaning off the carport We had 5 cats at one time, they liked to sleep where we stored some things we needed to take to storage, all of those things are on the ground behind a table. The carport is a mess, it is too hot to clean it right now, so we wait for cooler weather. (less spiders and other bugs around) It HAS to be done soon, the neighbors will complain!

Getting size 3 girls clothing out of storage These are for Kara, goodness, but she has grown so much, these are all fall-winter things, so she will be well-dressed. Meghan grows slowly and does not need a lot of things, I got her 4 outfits last week, they should mix with her existing clothes for the fall, if she grows over the winter, she may finally fit into size 6 clothing at age 8! Amanda has plenty of things to wear for winter too.

That was just a few of the things we need to do, all we did do was laundry. Pounding heads, sniffles, and malaise made anything else possible, though I did water the poor plants outside.

A whole new meaning to "Welcome to Holland"

I would wager that most parents who has a child born with Down syndrome, and I imagine other disabilities receives this poem. Yesterday I received a link to a horrific article about a new way to dispose of children born with Down syndrome and other life changing or life threatening issues: http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=4300

I warn you, I believe it is one of the most upsetting things I have read in a very long time, disgusting, inhuman, and heart-breaking. I know that at times we wish we did not know anything about what happens elsewhere, but I believe as humans we HAVE to care about the whole world and her people, God's people, and not just those in our little circle of friends, workplace, congregation...

Read it first, and then read welcome to Holland below, and wonder if perhaps we need to write a new poem for parents, I for one will never read it again in the same light.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.

The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandt's.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.