and Introducing... Emily Roach

So tonight Emily overcame her fear, & took the stage for the first time in her school's drama production.  She even had a "speaking" part!!   Not bad for her first year going out for it.   Her school put on, "The Comic Book Artist".  It was a super comedy comic adventure!!  Emily was in scene 1, she played a kid in a comic book store & scene 7 where she was in pretty much the entire scene as a member of the "crowd".   We were super proud, we've been trying to encourage Emily to get more "involved" in her school's social scene, so it was great seeing this giant step.... live on stage.  She hammed it up (a bit too much maybe) on stage BUT in her "awesome... can't help but love her for it way!"   She's unique & that's AWESOME!! But it's also at times,  hard for us to know that in "Middle school" especially, that doesn't always translate to "fitting in".  It's hard seeing that.  We want her to have loads of friends... because we know how truly awesome she is!  She doesn't judge, & likes everyone.  She's loads of fun & can teach her friends so much.... but middle school is that time when kids generally want to hang with the quote un quote... "popular" kids & it hurts our hearts sometimes to know she doesn't have a lot of friends.  As such,  it really made my night to see Emily up there, doing something together with kids who could potentially become friends.   I want more than anything in my heart for someone to take a real interest in being her friend.  & not just a "school" friend, cause Emily has some of them but a friend who wants to HANG out with her over everyone else.   To laugh harder than they've ever laughed together.   TO find a friend to just be silly with, to giggle at, to just have fun.... & to have each other's backs, that's one of my main  wishes for my daughter.  That she gets to experience that kinship with someone.  SO tonight I'm beyond happy that she took a step in that direction & of all the joyful moments of the play.   The one that warmed my heart the most was seeing the girl who came over to dance with Emily at the end when Emily was dancing by herself & the other girl who accepted a hug from Emily during the "celebration" at the end of the play. That was when this very proud Mama lost it a bit... the tears overcame me & I lost my composure for just a second.  As they say, A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...& I hope I witnessed  Emily's friendships journey start tonight!

March for Babies day 2015

So Sunday April 26th was our March for Babies walk this year.  Our team raised $3,311.00!!  Not our highest amount but still a lot of money.  I was really proud of our team!!! We had a few new team walkers as my brother & sister in law decided to walk with us this year. YAY!   Our family team consisted of 9 members but only 7 actually walked this year.  The other two weren't able to walk but did raise some money & were still part of the team! I'm hoping next year more will decide to walk with us.  The day of the walk we had such beautiful weather & it really dawned on me that I can't remember ever having bad weather the day of the walk.  Some years it's been pretty hot, but this year it was sunny & in the high 50's/low 60's which is perfect for walking in.  Brian again gave a speech at the beginning of the walk & Brian was again interviewed by the college station at the Rowan University, except this year Emily joined him.  She was super excited!! They ended up being about a 1/2 hr behind us, but somehow boogied their way to catching up to us.  I wasn't sure they would actually reach us, but they managed to catch up about 3/4 into the 5 mile walk. I was quite impressed with that, since Emily & exercise normally don't go hand in hand. lol. BTW....  I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my last post but Emily was actually featured on the "March for babies" collection envelopes this year!!! So she was a bit of a "celebrity"... lol, at this years walk. Here's a picture of our team from the walk.  :) Thank you to everyone who donated this year & helped us to raise money to help babies be born healthy!  We had a fun day!

March for Babies update!!!!!

               March for Babies Update!!!

Our family team, "Team Emily CR213" is at $2,621.00 raised for March of Dimes this year.  WooHoo!!!! Thank you to everyone who donated already, but we have less than a week to go & a long way to go to reach our $5,000.00 goal, so please consider making a donation to our team or my personal page if you haven't yet. The money I collect there will go towards the team total AND it goes directly to the March of Dimes to help them fight premature births and to give every baby a healthy start.  Please click on the link on the side of my blog to make a donation, & Thanks again.  xo

The "Emily" Bridge

I haven't written in a while because my computer has been out of commission.   It still is but I'm using my surface.  But it's difficult for me to use as my fat fingers don't work so well with this tiny keyboard.. lol.  Anyway.... lets see... Emily had a bridge project, in of all classes Algebra 1.  She had to make a bridge using only standard size popsicle sticks & white Elmer's glue.  That's all they were allowed to use for materials & the crazy thing was it had to hold 40 pounds!!!!  I was like, " no way!".... But Emily did the research & decided to do a "Truss" bridge.  Which uses geometric shapes. Emily used triangles,  cause, " They are the strongest shape".  They were only given a little over a week to complete it.  Emily did such a great job on it!  I was really impressed with the job she did.  Brian helped a little but really just a little & pretty much only for holding it when she needed him to ,while she was putting the clamps on.  I think the greatest thing she did was doing a little each night & using the clamps.  The clamps really helped keeping it sturdy while the glue dried.  Anyway,  it was nice cause I'm usually the one who helps Emily w her projects but this time it was a daddy/daughter thing.  I'm just grateful it was assigned while Brian was here, as he knew which clamps would work best & could take Emily out to get them.  I really didn't have alot of input on this project which was just fine w me.  lol  Anyway, It was due on April 1st!!!! Of course Emily took advantage of that date & pulled a really good Aprils fools trick on me. When she got home from school that day,  she said in the most believable & saddest way,.." Mom we ended up testing the bridges today & mine only held 35 pounds.". Now...The only flaw in Emily's plan was my reaction.  I got really excited because after re-reading the grading system that morning it said 30+ pounds was still good but 40 pounds + got you extra points!!!  We had all been thinking it was 40pounds so she thought 35 pounds wasn't so good. But I was like, " Em that's really good!!!!!" When she then said April's fools!!!!  I was like... oh, you got me!!!! She totally did too! I fell for it completely!!!!  The thing was though now I was like oh.... I hope it holds that much when they actually test it,  to tell the truth I was a bit relieved knowing the test was over, & it held up pretty well.   I really only cared cause I knew how hard Emily had worked on it & I really wanted her to get a good grade for that reason most of all.  We of course would have to wait awhile for the actually weight test on the bridge which wouldn't be completed until after spring break which was a good 5 days away... lol.  It was the next Thursday when she found out how well it did.   I found out at work when I get the following text from Emily, " Hi Mommy I'm at drama club, and they gave me permission to text u. Also we tested bridges 2day and my bridge held...... wait 4 it.....165POUNDS!! My teacher said it was a class record!!!"  Of course I was super proud & bragging to all my co workers. I even went back & shared it with the Pharmacy guys.  How awesome!!!!  #proudmama