The R Word

I was really excited to read in the paper today that our governor signed a bill into law to remove the "R" word from state and local boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MRDD). They will be now called the "Board of Developmental Disabilities."

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people use the word "retarded" to describe people or situations or anything else. It's offensive to people with developmental disabilities and to me, who taught and loves students with cognitive delays/developmental disabilities. It has become so common in the English vocabulary, but there are actually groups who are working hard to stop people from using it in every day conversation (www.r-word.org).

So, while its existence in MRDD was not in itself offensive (it's still used in some special education settings), to me this is a big step in raising awareness that it's an inappropriate word to use in all other contexts, especially to casually call someone retarded.

Thanks for letting me stand on my soapbox for a minute!

Looking Good

Don't you think Mr. Mister could be this swimsuit company's spokesperson?

Redneck Moments

Both of these moments occurred our drive home from vacation.

First, we pulled into a gas station and saw three horses tied up to the pumps! I wish I could say we were deep in the heart of the south, but we were actually only about 30 miles outside of our city! Mr. Mister loved seeing them up close and one even put on a show, neighing a few times while we stood there watching them.

The next hillbilly moment came when we were a mile from our house and saw this Mr. Mister- size-Jeep in someone's garbage pile at the end of their driveway. I couldn't believe someone was throwing it away! We knocked on the door but no one answered, so we just strapped it to the back of our little Civic and brought it home.


I was slightly embarrassed, but it was worth it - Mr. Mister loves it and we don't even have the batteries in yet. He's content just to sit in it and pretend to drive. He must have inherited his Daddy's Jeep love.

Beautiful

The sunset over the marsh behind the house.

The sunrise the morning we left

I'm not sure how anyone could witness such beauty and not ascribe it to a brilliant Creator.

Some Vacation Pics

Mr. Mister getting ready for the beach in his flotation bathing suit. He loves this bathing suit and always picked it over the normal one.

The people on the beach next to us rented this kayak. They let Mr. Mister sit in it, which he did for at least 20 minutes!

So happy in the boat!

Our 5 year anniversary date.

1 Week

That's how long my new paint stayed new. Today, Mr. Mister colored on the family room wall with a bright red crayon.

And that is why it's just not worth it to have nice things with toddlers. The more you care about your stuff, the worse it is when it gets ruined.

We did plan ahead for such a circumstance as this - we painted with Sherwin Williams' Duration paint, which is durable, scrubbable and is supposedly resistent to life's wears and tears. It may not be Mr. Mister proof, but I'm sure he'll test it out!

By the way, I got the crayon off by scrubbing it first with a dryer sheet and then with a wet cloth with baking soda on it. Gotta love the internet how-to sites.

still here...

I feel disconnected from my blog and my blog readers so even though I don't have pictures to post yet (they are downloading onto my computer as I type) I thought I'd write an update as to all that's been going on.

We definitely jumped right back into life after vacation. The day after we got home we started a summer kid's camp at the apartment complex where we started our church/ministry. If you don't know about that, that's a whole blog post in itself. The short story is that a year ago God put it on our hearts to make a difference in our community, so with some friends we started loving the people of a very marginalized part of town. We have a huge desire to see this particular place transformed and lives changed by Jesus. So we hang out there a lot and are getting to know people. We're a very non traditional church - because we believe the church is where the people are, even if it's not in a building on Sunday mornings.

So yeah, the kid's camp is Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for a few hours, which is super fun but it wears me out! I've ended up taking naps when Mr. Mister does. As a result, I have fallen behind on life's responsibilities.

We're also in the process of painting our whole house (the inside) and last week my mom took Mr. Mister for an entire day so I could paint. I ended up doing Mr. Mister's room and the family room and stairway. It was a LONG day of painting. I probably tried to do too much (like normal). But the house is looking fresh and new and feels great.

I also had to have a medical procedure done this week, but everything turned out to be okay and I'm glad to have it over.

In other good news, I officially finished my last real class for my master's degree! I still have a teaching practicum in the fall for 8 weeks, but the end is in sight! For now, I'm enjoying a break until the end of August - I finally get Mr. Mister's nap times to do other things besides school work. Yay!

One more thing - my wonderful husband gets to give the sermon at church this Sunday (the other church we go to). If you live around here and want to go, he'd love to see you there!

So that's the update of our busy lives - and all the reasons I've been MIA on my blog. But don't worry, I'm still committed to bringing you all of the highlights of Mr. Mister's life! He is super cute as always and is talking so much. His new favorite phrase is "What the heck!" More stories to come...