Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Respect

Most of the time I am perfectly happy behind the lens of my camera.  This past weekend was no exception.  As tears were streaming down my face, I stood with the rest of the crowd...applauding, cheering and clapping.  I stood there clutching my camera close to my face but I was still.  I remember shouting out a few "wooohooos" and "yays" but apparently as hot tears were sliding down my cheeks, I was forgetting to actually push the button that makes the camera take pictures...you know...minor details.  I was just completely overwhelmed.

Kayla joined a cheerleading squad this year.
The spirit, joy and enthusiasm on the team is beyond contagious.  When they smile, you smile.  When they cheer, you cheer.  It is a team of kids with special needs...accompanied by "typical" middle and high school cheerleaders that work with the team because they want to.  Giving up an hour or two every week to practice.  Sending a message of acceptance to all of those around them...it's a beautiful thing.  I am so grateful for the coach who opens the gym to our team and the kids that work with Kayla and her friends.

This past weekend was their first competition.  They were the first to take the floor...and the only team of athletes with special needs.
Go Wings!

When they took the floor I was beyond nervous.  Kayla had the cheer down...word for word...
Topflight Allstars, one of a kind.  National Champions one more time!

She had the stunts, the forward roll, the jump...but the dance...not so much.

Before she went out I just told her to have fun, smile and shake her hips...and my girl did just that.  Nothing else mattered.  She was happy.  So much for the high V in the stunt...she was more concerned with waiving to her adoring fans!
When their routine was over and the crowd was moved to their feet {the one and only time that day}, I couldn't control the tears.  They were tears of happiness, of course.  Tears of pride.  Tears because my girl and her friends got the one thing that I want for her in life...RESPECT.  The crowd respected them.  The judges respected them.  The other cheerleaders respected them.

Sunday we delivered a message.  In a world of "typical" cheerleading squads...people with disabilities can compete, too.  People with disabilities can cheer, have fun, laugh...and just be "typical" kids.

They can be exactly who they were meant to be...perfect just the way they are.  I mean seriously...at the end of the day does it really matter if you land a jump perfectly or dance right to the beat or remember every step of the routine?  Are those the things in life we remember from childhood?  No.  It's the memories.  The memories of having fun.   Life should be one big hot fudge sundae filled with scoops of happiness, drizzled with love, dollops of laughter and sprinkled with friendship.   But to me, the cherry on the top...the one thing that will make the sundae perfect...will always be respect.


Wishing you love, laughter, happiness and more than anything, respect....by giving respect, you will get so much more in return.

Friday, January 6, 2012

A Merry Superstar Holiday

I have to admit.  I live for this stuff.  The lights, the greens, the wreaths, the carols, all of it.  I love it all.  I have always loved it.  I love trees, the ornaments, all things sparkly, baking cookies and Santa.  Always have.  The joy that all of this brings to Kayla has only renewed my love for it...

The joy of it all quickly ends when your five year old requests just one thing from Santa.  One totally impossible-to-get thing...Justin Bieber.  That's it.  That's all she wanted for Christmas.  Justin Bieber.  Not a Justin Bieber doll, toy, CD, DVD, pajamas or shirt...just Justin Bieber.  The real Justin Bieber.  And well, she just knew Santa would deliver.  She knew Santa would never disappoint her.  When I tried to explain to her that Santa can't deliver real people because they have to spend Christmas with their families, she simply replied "but Mommy, Santa can do anything.  Santa is magical".  How could I argue with that?  He is magical...but this was going to be a tall order.  Santa's solution to this problem, while very creative could have gone terribly wrong...She kinda loves Justin Bieber...a lot.  She knows every word to just about every song on his Christmas CD and can name that tune in about 6 seconds.  Only the funniest thing is that she doesn't necessarily know the title of all of the songs...she just calls them what they sound like.  For example...Mistletoe for the first week was Miss Hotel.  That is a great lyric "under the Miss Hotel with you...".  Sad to say but she gets her skill of interpreting lyrics from me.   She, nonetheless, was convinced she would be singing Mistletoe with Justin Bieber at approximately 7:02 AM Christmas morning...
.....
Onto our Christmas festivities...
Kayla was feeling under the weather on Christmas Eve so we opted to stay home.  We NEVER stay home.  EVER.  What a treat.  We actually got to veg-out.  Lounging in our jammies all day.  We even made our own {gluten free} donuts.  They tasted, well...gluten free.  What does that taste like, you ask?  Cardboard.  Oh...sorry...cardboard with chocolate icing and sprinkles on top.
They look far prettier than they taste, I promise.  Who knew wheat tasted so good?

I pictured how our night home would unfold.  We would all be cozied on the couch sipping hot cocoa, eating popcorn and watching a classic Christmas movie.  It would be the perfect time for her to rest up and relax before the exciting day that was about the unfold in just hours.  As I have come to learn in my 34 years, things don't always go according to plan.  We couldn't decide on a movie.  Every movie or Christmas show we turned on, Kayla lost complete interest in about 7.2 minutes...at the most.  But there was no stopping at least part of my vision...

We made homemade hot cocoa.  Hot cocoa makes me happy!
*Note to self...more powdered sugar next time.

Kayla wrote her note to Santa.  This was the first year she wrote the letter all by herself!  I helped her sound out and spell some of the words...the rest was all her.  I love how she spells "you" and "are" with a very simple "u" and "r".  Works for me.  Oh...and how she sucks up to Santa telling him he is sweet and kind.  That's my girl!  I am amazed how far she has come...so proud...this was Christmas to me...this was the best gift.


In case you can't read kindergarten writing...
Dear Santa,
I would like Justin Bieber, please.  You are so kind.  You are sweet.  And toys please.
Love, Kayla
{that's my girl...a little last minute sucking up to Santa}

Oh...and Santa must love being flattered because he delivered...big time...
Kayla was the first to stir Christmas morning.  Rick slipped out of bed, trying to let me sleep...seriously...it was Christmas morning...there's no sleeping.  Why would he choose Christmas morning to try to slip out of the room quietly when the other 364 days a year he makes more noise than a bull in a china shop?  Love you, honey...but you do.  It was Christmas morning...I was just as excited as when I was five years old and just knew Santa brought me a Barbie Dream House {a 1970's orange and yellow Barbie Dream House...they have come a long way in the cute factor}!  Seriously.  As I approached Kayla's bedroom door, I witnessed Rick and Kayla on the floor of her room...having a tea party.  Apparently when Rick went to her room she told her Daddy she wanted to have a tea party before going to see what Santa brought her.  Is that not the cutest thing?  {I just wish I was awake enough to take a picture}  I don't remember ever giving a flip about my old toys on the day that Santa came...I just wanted to rip into the packages...moving onto new, more exciting things.  Just a little Christmas lesson from a five-year-old...time spent together is greater than any present under the tree.

I, of course, had to do a little something with her hair before we made our way downstairs.  While this isn't the greatest quality picture, it captures her emotion beautifully.  She was so completely happy and overwhelmed with Santa's display...including a Justin Bieber cutout and personal note to Kayla.


"Oh my heavens, Santa give me presents under this tree, too"...
Is there anything more hilarious in this world...
This Christmas was filled with everything she loves...Bieber, Princesses and even Mary Poppins!  Santa's elves certainly are magical to be able to make this beautiful doll and a Mary Poppins, Bert and Jane and Michael Banks Barbies...she's kinda obsessed...
She watches Mary Poppins a lot.  It seems daily.  So I guess it is no surprise she bought me a #1 mom tape measure...just like Mary Poppins has in her carpet bag.  Kayla loves when Mary Poppins measures Jane and Michael she states they are "stubborn and suspicious" and "inclined to giggle and leave messes" and when Jane and Michael request to measure Mary, the tape measure reads "practically perfect in every way".  She is a thinker, my kid.  A very smart and amazing thinker.  It is no wonder she would walk over to Justin Bieber, measure him up, stare at the tape measure and declare "you are a superstar".  Rick and I about fell over.  She says the cutest things.  I just hope she knows if that tape measure were to measure her, it would be filled with an unending list of adjectives describing how incredible she is...instead, she turns the tape measure to me and says with the sparkliest smile "you are the best Mommy in the whole wide world"...I had to fight back tears.  Happy tears...
This is how we rock Christmas...joy...pure joy.
She looked at every page of her Justin Bieber book before putting it down...every page.
Can't you just hear her now "Under the mistletoe...with you-uuuu...shorty with you...."
My Mom is the reason I love Christmas today.  Every year she made sure we were building memories and that each Christmas was more spectacular than the one before...thanks to my Mom they just keep getting better!
Thank you, Mom, for teaching me that giving is far better than receiving.  That making traditions, regardless how small...that's the stuff that life is made of.  I treasure you and all of the memories of Christmas' past.

The last present from Santa was in the toe of her stocking.  Jewelry.  Santa always placed a nice piece of jewelry in the toe of my stocking and he is continuing the tradition with Kayla...a Pandora ring...make that 2 Pandora rings!  She thinks she is pretty big time!


I just love this picture of her...
In the midst of shredded wrapping paper and half open gifts she walked to the window to look for Santa's sleigh in the sky.  She wanted to thank Santa for her Christmas presents and wish him a Merry Christmas.  Seriously...this girl melts my heart.  She cares more about others than she does herself...just one more lesson...from a five year old.  She is "typical" in so many ways...and different extraordinary in a million more...
This Christmas was beyond perfect.  My favorite so far.  The magic, the wonder, the joy...it just keeps getting better...
This is my grandmother, Melva.  It has become a tradition for her {she'll be 92 next week} to attend Polish Christmas...dinner with Rick's family.  She loves it.  Coming from a smaller family, she enjoys the craziness that unfolds...and seriously...just look at her...have you ever seen a more stylish 92-year-old?  She still rocks high heels.  And her favorite quote..."You go girl"...  

And these two...love...Rick's grandparents...Mom Mom is 90 and Pop Pop is 93.  Kayla is a very lucky little girl to have so many great grandparents...


I am so thankful for this man...for his love and for him loving Kayla as much as he does.  
These moments...these are the moments I live for.  Seeing complete bliss in her eyes and the love between these two...could anything be sweeter?
This girl...she just rocks my world...
oh how I hope she can meet Justin Bieber one day....
She would LOSE.  HER.  MIND.
I mean seriously...who else but my Kayla could look this excited about singing with a cardboard cutout?  It's the little things {or maybe the six foot things}...
Oh...and have you seen this interactive Belle?  Kayla was thrilled to open this gift sent by my Dad and his wife...this doll is one of the only things Kayla has ever seen on TV and declared "I want that"...
Kayla's surprise gift of the year...

Kayla has touched many people in her short life.  I have always known she is special...that she is making an impression on those around her.  What I didn't know was the generosity of those around us is just amazing.  To Kayla's fairy godmother...you know who you are...thank you just doesn't seem to be enough for such a wonderful, generous gift...but we sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
.....
Have you heard the new band that was formed over the holidays?
For your sake, I hope not!
.....
New Year's Eve

There is no better way to start a new year than with old friends...together...hanging out.  Nothing fancy or exciting...but amazing nonetheless.

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful Michelle is...as a diabetic, she gets it.  She understands dietary needs.  So...she bought all gluten free items for dinner...gluten free noodles for mac-n-cheese, corn chips for nachos and then this...Pizza!  The kids loved making it!  You guys are sports for eating it, too!  It was pretty terrible.  Not because Michelle cooked it.  She is one of the best cooks I know.  It was terrible because it was lacking that magical ingredient...gluten!
This is how we roll...green solo cups and champagne!  Can't you just hear the song...
Red Green solo cup...I lift you up...proceed to party, proceed to party...Oh yes, good times...
Gone are the days of staying up late enough to just go straight into a greasy breakfast to cure your ailments...these days are all about this girl...
And getting her to the Mummers Parade...we could have driven but opted to catch a train into the city...a little extra excitement for our princess.
No...we weren't going to New Jersey...it was just windy...but she could rock Jersey hair...she could rock just about any look...just sayin'


We spent the first day of this year in the hallowed halls of the Union League thanks to Rick's Aunt Sharon and Uncle George.  He is a member of this gorgeous place.  And while the other parade watchers up and down Broad Street were dressed in jeans, we were donning attire fitting for such a beautiful and prestigious location.


Oh the Mummers Parade...where else can you see grown men dressing in makeup, sequins, bright colors and feathers...yes...ok...maybe at a Drag show...but add in playing instruments while drinking Miller Lite from a can...where, I ask you but in the wonderful city of Philadelphia.  This site is spectacular.  A local tradition for decades and it is quite simply...fantastic.
Ok...this picture makes me laugh out loud.  Yes, she does slightly resemble a homeless girl rockin' Uggs...my little subway diva...
Swoon...
So many lessons from this holiday season to absorb.  Believe in the magic.  Soak in every little bit...even if it is gluten free or something you wouldn't normally define as perfect.  Make time for tea parties.  Sing...outloud...even if you don't know the lyrics...make them up.  Be thankful and kind to others.  Don't be afraid to rock feathers and bright colors {even if you are a man}.  Be merry.  But most of all, enjoy every precious second of this one wild and crazy life.  

Going to snuggle with my little superstar for a bit.  There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping child.
I resolve to create more happiness in 2012 than ever before.
Be merry, friends...be merry!