Blah, blah, blah - I can't think of a title right now

I don't know why I haven't updated our blog in a few weeks. It seems like the time has flown by. I've been busy typing, Ryan's been busy with school and we have something going on every day of the week. I definitely haven't been getting enough sleep, hence the lack of title. Even though I know that I need to get more sleep, I can't seem to give up staying up late because I like having the time to myself or spending it with Ryan.

We've had some fun activities lately:

GRIT Winter Festival - it was a day-long drop-in activity at the GRIT offices with so many fun things to do. The girls loved it and we met a lot of new people. It was good to see other kids in wheelchairs there because I had felt like Claire was the only one!

Here is our little Picasso. She's getting very good at painting.

Claire loved being in the open jumping pit. She stayed in it for awhile.

It doesn't show up very well in this picture but Madeline's hair was
sticking straight up the whole time she was in the jumping pits (click on the picture to enlarge it). There was another, bigger jumping castle that she enjoyed - she got tossed around like a rag-doll because of all the other kids jumping, but I guess that is the fun part!
They had a fun fishing pond where the kids got stickers.

Our Primary had a PJ Party which was okay. I always feel like Claire is on the outskirts of things at church and I have a hard time expressing my feelings without becoming either angry/rude or too emotional. I need more practice to be a better advocate for her. Thanks to my friend Cindy who stepped in a made sure they included Claire and thanks to Shauna for making sure she had a nice prize for Claire at the end. Madeline was allowed to tag along and I couldn't even get one picture of her because she was running around and having so much fun.

The GRIT fundraiser Hope & Harmony is coming up this Saturday and I think it will be great. I hope I don't screw up - that's my huge fear when I accompany people. I always say a prayer that I won't detract from the good singing!

We set up an RDSP for Claire this week to make sure we made the cut-off date so we could take advantage of the government grants offered in 2008. It will be so nice to have these savings for her so that we know she'll always be taken care of.

I'm feeling renewed and encouraged by my friend Shauna's successful purchase of a home. Everything fell into place for them and they found exactly what they needed so I have to have faith that it will happen for us as well when the time is right.

FYI - Here is what was on my "to-do" list today:

Rhymes & Songs group
Deposit cheques
Mail letters
Call Sears re: yearly appliance checks
Finish Maddie's Heritage Maker card deck for her birthday
Find fun songs for piano on Thursday
Fill out Little Bits medical/liability release forms (Claire starts riding in APRIL!!!!)
Organize Claire's GRIT binder/file cabinet/seizure list for Dr. Sinclair's appointment
Write Elder Patterson a letter
Sewing - mending/velcro for Claire's walker/chest strap for Claire's new chair
Groceries
Laundry/dishes/clean-up/meals/bathtime/etc.

Here are some fun pictures:

Madeline is such a delight in our family. She makes things so much fun. The other day she found Ryan's toque and gloves and put them on and danced around the house.

Here is a cute picture of Ryan and Claire. They love to cuddle together.
I must have been really boring this day. I need to think of more fun activities!