Super Mini Vacation

Chuck had today off (Wednesday) so we decided to go over to Poulsbo, a Nordic style town not from us. There's a 30 minute ferry ride then just a 15 minute drive. 

 

The weather was sunny when we left our side of Puget Sound and still cool and cloudy when we got to the other side, but it cleared up quickly and turned out to be a beautiful day! On the ferry you're able to get out of your car and go up one flight to the Sun Deck. It's a beautiful view and gets windy pretty fast.

 

 We wandered around, ate lunch at the Green Light Cafe, did some shopping, and bought some chocolate for when we got home. 

 

 

I just realized I never got any pictures of me and Chuck! Sigh. We sat at a beautiful park and watched the boats come and go from the marina.

 

 

We were there for a few hours, then got in line to catch the next ferry

 

 

You can see Mount Baker to the right of the ferry

 

Pulling back into the Edmonds Ferry Dock

As we pulled onto our street, it was like we had been gone for a week! We hadn't driven onto the ferry in quite a while, the different scenery, new shops, a fun restaurant... It was exactly what we needed!

Tea, Chocolate and A Good Night's Sleep

 Reasons to be thankful:

A fun Christmas party at work

Christmas bonuses

Going to Tea with Allie

Getting the day after Christmas off from work

Diana arrives on Saturday!!

Shopping at the mall and it wasn't very crowded

Finding a great parking spot

Sleeping for 11 hours!

The Polar Express

Taking a day to just sit on the couch and watch TV

It's almost Winter Solstice!

Chocolate Truffles

I'm linking up with Rebecca Jo at Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday

What are you thankful for today?

A Movie, A Photo Booth, and Chocolate

Beth was 20 years old when World Down Syndrome Day was established so we haven't really participated in anything. We went on one Buddy Walk, but we haven't worn the socks or T shirts or done anything really to bring awareness to Down Syndrome. But this year I decided to do a little something. It's not much but it's a start.

I've really liked the whole Random Acts of Kindness thing. I think that's good any day of the year! But to celebrate WDSD in a way that shows love and consideration to others just seems right to me. So I went on-line and copied a little note I'd seen, made a card - blue and yellow of course! - and filled some small baggies with chocolate. Then as we went about our day, I had Beth hand them out to people. I explained what they were for and why we were handing them out. The clerk at the drug store, the waiter at Red Robin, the cashier at the grocery store... everyone was overwhelmed and kept thanking Beth.

They looked at her. They thanked her. That's what surprised me the most, people genuinely engaged her, some for the very first time even though we're in these stores many times a week. I plan to do this again next year, but more of them and maybe something other than chocolate.

After we handed out all of our baggies, we went and saw Beauty and the Beast and we loved it! Before we went in we told Beth that she couldn't sing out loud because she knows every word to every song and we knew she would sing them! But she did very good and didn't sing at all, at least not loud enough that we could hear.

The music was wonderful, the sets were magnificent, the story... old as time. (Didja see what I did there?) 😊

 

  

We got there early so Beth and I decided to get inside the photo booth! I don't think I'd ever done it before but I think they turned out pretty cute!

 On Sunday we're meeting Nick at a different theater and she gets to see it again with him. She told me she hopes there's a photo booth there! We might have to keep at eye on those two!

She Hugged A Pastor!

Chuck, Diana and I had a Children's Ministry meeting last night. While that was going on, Beth had a Hospitality party. Everyone in the church who is an usher, greeter, parking lot attendant, etc. got together and hung out. They're so busy on Sunday mornings that they don't really get to spend time with one another so the Pastor who heads up the Hospitality team - Pastor K - had a party.

I was a little nervous about Beth going because I knew she would only go for the food. She's too shy to talk to anyone and all she would do is eat. I talked to her about it a few days ahead of time and explained who would be there and what would happen.  I encouraged her to talk to people, to ask them how they're week was, ask them what they'll be doing this weekend. I really tried to do as much prep work as I could.

Our meeting started before hers so Chuck was willing to leave our meeting early, he went home and got her (we live about 4 minutes from church) and came back to our meeting. I admit I was a little nervous about how she would do.

Well, when we went to pick her up she jumped up from her seat to show us her 'gift'. Everyone got to choose between a candle and some chocolate. She chose a cute glass container with a few pieces of chocolate in it. Then she said, "They have a chocolate fountain!"

As we got ready to leave, she turned around to everyone, waved and said (loudly for everyone to hear!) "Goodbye!"

I was shocked.

I suggested she go over to the host and thank her personally and M said she loved having Beth come. Beth smiled, looked at her and said thanks. Then they talked about the chocolate fountain, M said Beth had asked her for help... again, I was shocked.

As we turn to go, she giggled, waved and said, "Bye Pastor K!"

Wha...??  Beth?? Talking to a pastor without any prompting?!?

He was talking to someone else and didn't hear her so I told her she might want to say it again. When she did, he came over and gave her a big hug. "Thanks for coming, Beth!" She hugged him and smiled so big!

As we left she was smiling, her head was up; she was a different girl walking out of that church. It was awesome!

She's Coming Out of Her Shell

Beth's alarm went off at 8 this morning. Her second alarm went off at 8:30. (She has a new alarm clock, but we're trying it out to see if she can work it. It doesn't look like it's gonna work for her.) I went down at 9:00 and she was still alseep. I woke her up, turned on the light, took off her covers. At 9:15 she was STILL asleep. Sure enough, her bus came right at 9:29. She scrambled, well... she moved around while grumbling, but she made it out on time. Whew.

And now, the house is quiet. I'm alone and will be for the next oh, 5-6 hours. That doesn't happen very often. Chuck's at work. Wednesday is Beth's long day. She goes to karaoke and art with All Aboard and it's about 20 minutes north of us. Beth is usually the first to be picked up and then they pick up others along the way. Karaoke doesn't start until 11, but Beth is picked up at 9:30. Then art class ends at 4:00 and by the time Beth gets home, it's sometimes close to 6:00. She loves it though! Diana and Sharaya have gone to Canada for the day. Just to do some shopping and hang out together. The border is a 2 hour drive from here so they'll be gone a while.

Beth had her first choir rehearsal on Sunday. She was so nervous. She wanted me to stay with her, but I'm too shy! There was no way I was going to be the only parent sitting in a room of high schoolers! But I went in with her. She took her choir application (she filled out the whole thing by herself!) to Miss Terri and she found a seat in the Alto section. I stayed until rehearsal started then went upstairs to wait. She came out with the music to Step In Time from Mary Poppins! She was so excited! I asked if Miss Terri had given it just to her and she said, "They passed 'em down to everybody." I asked her if they were singing it on Sunday (highly unlikely) but she said, "I dunno." I asked what Miss Terri said when they passed them out. "I dunno." (Beth doesn't have good recall skills. She can answer the phone, talk with the person, but even as soon as she hangs up, you'll ask her what they said, "I dunno." Then we play 20 questions trying to figure out who it was and what they wanted.) I haven't told Beth this but I think they're singing that song in their big fundraiser coming up in a few weeks. They've been working on it for months and Beth won't be doing it since she just joined. So we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I've been trying to get Beth to open up more and talk to people. Which is really hard for me because I'm more shy than she is! I told her to say hi to the person who sits next to her. "All you have to say is, 'Hi I'm Beth.' But she said no one sat next to her. Sniff. :(

BUT, on Tuesday we were on our way to the grocery store and she says, "I told Tammi about choir." After a little investigation, "Who's Tammi?" She told one of her teammates at bowling, that she has joined the youth choir!! She said Tammi said "Cool" and gave her a high 5!! I understand her not talking to anyone at choir cause she doesn't know them yet, but she took the initiative to talk to someone she is comfortable with. I'm so glad! She was too! You could tell. She had the look of, 'I talked to someone and it worked!'

And this Saturday starts Athletics with Special Olympics. It's Track and Field but for some reason they call it Athletics. I'm a little concerned because we need to bring a copy of her sports physical but she didn't get one this year. I know, I know. Bad parenting. I called to make an appointment for one but their next opening isn't until April. So I scheduled it, but I hope they still let her participate.

But for today, I'm all alone. In the quiet. Can you see me smiling right now? :) Sigh. No deadlines. No meetings. No requests. Just.... quiet. (I even bought some chocolate at the grocery store last night! Didn't tell anyone!) So now I'm going to go put in a movie, grab a big fuzzy blanket, hop into Chuck's recliner (best seat in the house!) and open that chocolate!!

Wanna join me?