Me & my boy...

Here are a few more pics...just for fun!

The guilt of a parent

You win dad...I'll start blogging again! Not that I don't love it...I just don't have as much time & subject to talk about. But because you "can't check Face Book or e mail at work...but can check Blog spot..." I'll try and get on it!! ;)

So what has happened since my last post in late MARCH? Hmm, well... a lot! So here is the quick & dirty & I'll fill in the blanks in the next few days!

Our niece Delana came back to spend some more time with us right before we left on vacation. We love all the "sisterly" time we get to have with her, but it's now time for her to start her new life with her dad & "fake mom" (that is a term she lovingly came up with for her new step mom...we all like it...even Fake mom). She is a sweet little girl with lots of love & energy to share, but emotionally needs to be in one place that she can call home & feel secure. So she, daddy, & fake mom get to start a whole new life together next week! I am so excited for all of them...what an experience it will be!

Moving on...

For the past 13 months I have been working with DSAMC (Down Syndrome Association of the Mid Columbia) on our 1st annual benefit called Glitz & Glam. I'm sure you have read about it, once or twice. Well, I am pleased to announce that it was a HUGE success! I will know the exact numbers in a few days (holes that I will fill in, in future posts), but the preliminary numbers are that we had less than 10 NOT show up out of 128! So how much did we raise...this number is rough, but around $15,000.00!! That's right friends...$15,000! I just wanted to break even so I didn't cost the group any money! I never in a million years thought we would double what we spent!! And the ladies LOVED it! Do I have pictures? No, not yet, but I will...and I'll post more about that later too! But here is one picture I DO have!! Thank you Mrs. Krista Schei for this beautiful picture! Krista & I are childhood friends...I love her like a sister! You take beautiful pictures!

That's all I have for now. I'm off to work on Gracie's 6th birthday party...Rock Star Pirate Princess. Ya, this should be interesting! They don't make a Cricut cartridge for that!! Momma is gonna have to put on her thinking cap for this one! But what my girl wants...my girl gets!

Keep checking...I'll "fill in the holes" a little more often!!

Life is good...

I just sat down to take a few minutes to look at the pictures on my phone & my camera & I couldn't help but notice how great our life is. How special it is. And how much our wants now out weigh our needs. That is a good feeling. This morning I had mixed feelings about "Down syndrome day". Today is World Down syndrome day. A day to recognize Down syndrome. It's today because of the date 3-21 (people with Down syndrome have a 3rd chromosome on the 21st set of chromosomes). Get it...3-21! Anyway, back to my mixed feelings about today. See, we (for the most part) celebrate Down syndrome (besides on a daily basis) with our family and friends at the Buddy Walk. I think it's fun to connect the dots between today's date & Down syndrome, but to what extent. I still struggle with making sure out life isn't consumed with Down syndrome. I still struggle in making sure our life stays as "normal" as possible. Down syndrome is part of our life, not our whole life. But sometimes it feels like it out weighs the normal parts. I can't ignore it and pretend it doesn't exists...nor would I ever want to. But it can't take over. So on days like today, I struggle on how much attention to give it. At one point in my head, I had a big family picnic on the beach planned, with a big family photo, & a lots of talk of Down syndrome & all the joy it has brought to us. How it ended up...we walked to the beach, balloons clipped to the wagon, got to the beach, the girls ran off one way, Jake ran off the other way...the balloons...one swift breeze took them up, up & away. Zach & I gazed in amazement of how high up and far they went, gave each other a smile and that was it! That was as much acknowledgement that Down syndrome got today! As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect amount. Zach & I stopped for 10 seconds to watch those balloons go...and on with our day we went! It made me realize that Down syndrome can only take over our lives as much as we let it. We've got this! And it feels good!

Glitz & Glam

I am in full swing DSAMC (Down Syndrome Association of the Mid-Columbia) benefit mode right now. I'm living it, well...in between play dates, pre school, therapy, work, doctors appointments, and daily life! But all those little blank spots in the day...THOSE are filled with benefit planning! And I'm loving every second of it. So, now that a majority of the planning is done & we are now in the "execution" phase of the benefit...I thought I would share with you exactly what it is I have been working on! Here it is...

Glitz & Glam...Stepping Up for Down Syndrome!

Glitz & Glam (or G&G) is going to be a fabulous "ladies night out" type of event! It will be on May 14th, 2011 at the Anthony's event center at 6:00 pm. We will start off with hors d'oeuvers & cocktails, silent auction, & fun with girlfriends in a photo booth! We will then move into the main dining room for a delicious dinner & 3 amazing guest speakers. Our first guest speaker will be one of the members of the DSAMC board. She will talk about how & why DSAMC was started & where DSAMC is headed. Our second guest speaker is a member of DSAMC. She will be sharing with us a little bit about her families life since being given an amazing little angel of a little boy with Down syndrome. And our third guest speaker is a mother of a 51 year old son with Down Syndrome. She is going to share with us how she & her son started their own business & his success in business! I am so excited to have these three fabulous women playing such a huge role in our benefit & sharing their stories with the rest of us! We wanted to do something special for our 2nd guest speaker (the mother of the little boy), so we are treating her to a mini make over the day of the event, and we have a few other special gifts for her as well...just in case she's a reader...I don't want to spoil the surprise! In between the guest speakers we will have a few door prizes & a dessert auction! And at the end...one lucky lady will drawn at random to win a very special prize!! And to end the evening...more cocktails & dancing with our wonderful girlfriends!

So now that you know what the event is about...let me tell you who we are and why we are doing the event! This is coming right from our sponsorship form....

The Glitz & Glam benefit is organized by a group of fabulous women who care to promote awareness and inclusion for people with Down syndrome and raise money for a Resource Center. The Resource Center will provide education to families, people touched by Down syndrome, and community members.

I am once again truly amazed by the generosity of local business owners & individuals donating to this fabulous event! If this even sounds like something that you feel you would like to be part of...here are a few ways!

1. Provide monetary donation to fund the Resource Center

2. Offer an in-kind donation of your products or services for the Benefit

3. Contact me about sponsoring a table of yourself and 9 of your girlfriends! (Tables are moving quickly, so if it's something you are interested in...get in touch with me soon)

If you have any questions about the event or ideas to make this event even more fabulous, you can contact me by leaving a comment on my blog, or e mail at juliekgould@msn.com or on Face Book (Julie Moyer Gould)!

If you are new to my blog & would like to learn more about our life with Down Syndrome, feel free to check out our pages on the right hand side under the Down syndrome awareness ribbon!

A must watch...

This was too good to not repost...Thanks Jen!

Looking for a few good...

Ideas! I am desperately trying to think of some fun, cool, exciting, different items for our Glitz & Glam silent auction! Any ideas? Help a girlfriend out...

26 hours in a day please...

We could all use a few more...right? I'll cut right to the chase...we have been crazy busy for the last few weeks. Ya know how life has those little ups and downs of being busy & being CRAZY busy...well I am at the peak of CRAZY busy right now. But I'm good with that. It's self inflicted busy that I am happy & excited to do! These days, my mind is not only going 100 miles an hour keeping up with the kids, but it's in full swing benefit mode. On May 14th DSAMC (Down Syndrome Association of the Mid Columbia) is having our 1st annual (if all goes right) Glitz & Glam benefit. It will be a incredible evening! It will be held at the Anthony's event center, so you know dinner is going to be amazing! We are starting off with appetizers and cocktails. Silent auction with AMAZING items to bid on! Dinner while listening to 3, not only amazing, but inspiring woman talk about their life with Down Syndrome. I'll tell you more about those 3 women a little later. Their stories deserve their own post! We will also do door prizes thru out the evening & will liven things up with a dessert auction! And at the very end of the presentation...a grand prize drawing...with a little extra surprise for the winner...who knows...a few hunky fire fighters might be there to walk her up to the stage! I do have connections in that department! And to end the evening...dancing with our girlfriends!! All ticket sales & donations raised from the silent auction & dessert auction will go to the new DSAMC Resource Center! How do you not get excited about that?! With all that said...I'm off to make some phone calls! I have begging to do! Wish me luck!!