Daylight Prom

Yesterday was Lebanon's Daylight Prom. It is a prom that is held during the day for kids in Warren County with Special needs. They get to have their own prom in a safe fun enviroment. They get the excitement of dressing up and experiencing a rite of passage all teenagers should.

Tatum is hoping to major in Special Education and this is her 2nd year helping do this event. She was excited as the kids. Decorating and doing hair and make up! There was food and games and dancing and music!!!
This guy, is in his wheelchair most of the time, and got special permission to dance dance with Tatum. They had a blast!



They all looked beautiful and had such a great time! Parents got to come and see their kids shine!

Made All The Difference

Life is Messy. Life is Hard.

It is also the most beautiful and breath taking thing.

It can tear you apart. It can lift you up.

I said to Mike the other night as we lay in bed..."we are so different now. We are different people. On different paths..."

He looked at me and said simply..."but we love each. And we have a family."

'Nough said.

Never Made It to the Butterfly Show

I ventured out today with just Matt and Summer. Our goal was the butterfly exhibit at the Conservatory in Downtown Cincinnati. What occurred was anything but a butterfly exhibit. But it was so much more. :)

As we drove we relied on our navigator to lead us out of our small country town and in to another world it seemed. Passed highways, and busy roads, as Summer fell asleep, Matt and I talked like we rarely do and saw what we rarely saw. Graffiti, and rundown buildings. Parts of the city that are known for danger. Sadness and fear. We locked our doors and drove past.

When we got close to Eden Park our destination, a very beautiful part of Cincinnati, we saw lines of cars and longs lines of people. We could hardly believe they were there for the butterfly show too? We couldn't even park there so we drove on and parked about a 1/2 mile away. This was the best gift. And this is where our adventure continued...
Eden Park is filled with beautiful things. Wonderful stone bridges, and fountains, and ponds. As we climbed out the car the kids ran right to this huge 2 story wall of stone. They climbed and could see the city! They could see the Ohio river and the bridge to KY. They could see the skyline. They were explorers and loved it.

Matthew in his "thinker" pose.

We continued on to the exhibit, but as we did we would find pockets of neat.

bridges
paths
abandoned buildings

fountains tucked away in the trees

When we got to the Conservatory, they told us the Butterfly exhibit LINE would take over and HOUR. But the flower Conservatory itself is FREE to go through. So that is what we did. I can remember my parents taking us here when I was little... The foggy pictures are due the extreme humidity and my lens fogging up.
This was a little cave that the kids would run through that I told Summer a monster lived in. (the same thing I was told by my brother as a kid) She felt so brave running through!


A little bit of Independence goes a long way...



So when we came out Summer wanted to touch the steel butterfly across the street on the hill. Matthew was like' Heck no!" But I said, for goodness sake....we came her to touch a butterfly...I'm as heck going to let her at least touch this one...So me and her crossed traffic and did just that!




We stopped at the actual Park of Eden park and saw the swollen Ohio River...

and a duck dive for fish!

and got some culture under our belts while we were there too!




Who knows where the day will lead you...but if you let it...it can really take you somewhere wonderful!

Happy Birthday Baby

Mike turned 47 yesterday. We had the afternoon alone (mom held down the fort) and went out to eat and to the movies...and after a cookout and cake, I got to go see him play! It was a great day.

Happy Birthday Babe <3

Track Meet / New Camera Lens

Today Jake had a home meet, and it was the perfect opportunity for me to try out my new lens that I have had FOREVER, but been afraid to try. It lets you take pictures from farther away, and makes the pictures look much closer and clearer. I am learning and working on it still! This is him in the relay race. He started their team out. He did so good! He gave them a great head start and they finished 2nd!
There he is passing the baton.

So while we waited for his races, I had time to practice some with my lens. LOL, can you guess what I practiced on? Say, someone with catsup and mustard on their face, mud on their knees, hair in disarray, Dora Underwear exposed, and hot pink Crocs, pretending to be a lion in a field.


You can't tell from the pictures, but I was quite far away from her, so she didn't know I was taking her picture :) I'm still working on the focus. Too cute that one is!