Lump in my throat..

We walked into the hotel in Florida and waited for the front desk clerk to check us in, she wasn't the most pleasant person to be working customer service.  She went on and on and about how she was having a bad day and everything was going wrong.  I wasn't really interested so I turned around to look at the TV so I could avoid listening to this woman complain, and that's when I saw the devastation in Oklahoma.  I was looking at the pictures of the mangled masses that used to be the collection of things that were people's lives, and that is when the words "Elementary school suffered direct hit of tornado, children and teachers trapped inside" scrolled across the screen.  I had to push the lump in my throat back down...not children in a school, again.

I managed to avoid watching too much news about Monroe, OK.  My heart aches for them, and my prayers are for them.  I care about the events, and what is going on there, but I also knew that back in Texas they were expecting bad weather, to include a threat of tornados, and my heart was sick that Bryan and I were going to be there with them.

The kids are having a grand time with Mammy and Kip, of course they are on their best behavior and putting on a grand show for their grandparents.  The boys are too young to understand the threat of bad weather, Rory on the other hand gets it.  She has a major fear of thunderstorms and tornados.  I guess that would be normal is you went through a tornado warning with tornado sirens and everything at the age of 6.  So my mom guilt really jumped into overdrive with every check of the weather app that I made.  

I'm pretty sure that I have driven my mom crazy with the "checking in" phone calls, and she and Bryan have dealt with my mini crying melt down.  We all made it...

While I don't think that mommy guilt feeling will ever go away, I'm so thankful that my mom understood and said "call as many times as you need to".

Special Olympics

It has been an emotional week, and that was just Saturday - Tuesday!  Tuesday at school Brendan's class participated in the Young Athletes program through Special Olympics.  I thought it was just going to be a small activity session that the parents had been invited to be a part of.  Boy was I wrong!  Walking out to the PE area of the school and what do I see?  The entire student body sitting around the perimeter of the black top area ready to watch Brendan's class!  The tears started flowing right then and there.  For Brendan's class to be supported and cheered on by the ENTIRE school was an incredible sight to see.  I had a very hard time composing myself, but I was thankfully wearing sunglasses and I still had a pack of tissues in my purse from Rory's communion!  By watching the video, I think you'll be able to tell where I almost completely lost it!

I hope you noticed Brendan's 5th Grade buddy who was with him the entire event.  He took the time to get on Brendan's level and walk with him, talk to him and encourage and cheer him on!  I hope he knows what such a small gesture he made has forever made an impact on Brendan's life and left an impression on my heart.

Brendan's teacher Ms. Byse goes out of her way to make sure that her kids are just as involved in the school as every other kid, and that speaks volumes to everyone!  We are so blessed to have been a part of such an incredible school campus and to have such incredible teacher and therapists who have made a difference not only in Brendan's life, but the world!

First Communion

It's hard to believe that Rory is old enough to be receiving her First Holy Communion, but the day arrived, and ready she was!! The dress was picked, the perfect veil with little shamrocks was ready, her celtic cross was hung around her neck and a perfect sash with a white flower and shamrocks that had once been on her baptismal bonnet were now tied around her waist.  She was a little nervous, but ready for the big day!

I was ready to cry buckets, I always cry at First Communion.  It's such a big day in their young lives, but there were no tears on that day.  Perhaps it was because Bryan and I had a direct eyeliner to Rory sitting in her pew with the rest of her classmates, and we could see her chit chatting through the whole ceremony, or maybe it was because just as she was about to receive communion the lady in front of me stood up and I could see nothing.  Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day and it was the day that our little girl was not really that little anymore...