Saturday, May 2, 2015

Hitting LIFE Full Throttle!

I try.

I try really hard.

I try really hard to do things.

I try really hard to do things for my kids.

I try really hard to do things for my kids that will help them.

I try really hard to do things for my kids that will help them develop their talents and strengths.

Sometimes I think I'm doing the things I should be doing and in the way I should be doing them.

Sometimes I think I'm doing the things I should be doing.

Sometimes I think I'm doing the things I should.

Sometimes I think I'm doing.

Sometimes I think.

Sometimes...

Today was one of those days I feared I would feel completely defeated.

Because I did feel defeated for about an hour.

A whole hour of defeatedness out in the hot sun, in an open field in front of, at least. 15 people.

Sister LOVES soccer.

She is actually really good at it too! She has played a lot with neighborhood kids and she has watched intensely when our friends, Lexi and Nee, practice their awesome soccer moves.

I have been wanting to put her in a soccer team somehow and there just hasn't been the opportunity that I hoped there would be.

Then, I finally thought to get in touch with Utah Special Olympics and found out they were starting soccer this week!

I was so excited to tell Sister about her soccer practice.

Well, as with any change or new occurrence, she was NOT happy. She made sure to let me know that on Thursday and Friday when I was trying to prep her. Then, even with Lindsey's help, we had to drag and prod her out to the van and again when we got to the soccer field.

She was yelling at me, hitting me, running away from me, hiding from me, and making a huge scene.

Brother, was a little nervous, but still excited to give soccer a try. He's never even played soccer, and he was nervously excited.

I was thankful that at least one of the two kids who could participate were happy about the situation.

I did everything I could think of that I have known in the past would work for Sister as we watched Brother learn to play soccer. Nothing was working. Her constant fits of knocking me on my back or elbowing me in the chest were wearing on me and it was showing. Even having Ranger there was giving her comfort to settle for a few moments at a time as she buried her face in his fur, but not enough to get her up and playing.

Marc had joined us after a work call-out and he was able to get pictures of Brother playing Soccer.

I was so thankful for that.





There are always angels around, though.

There was one young special needs kid there who noticed that Sister was quite distraught.

He approached her several times saying things like, "It will be OK. Come play with me. I want to be your friend."



Sister didn't want to have anything to do with him and she wasn't nice about it.

That embarrassed me. I felt bad for the kid because he was so sweet and was trying so hard and she was being so rude.

Then the kid's sister and mom, who were there to watch and support him also tried comforting Sister and offering me help with her and what they could do.

At one point Sister was crying crocodile tears and this sweet boy walked up to her and said, "Let me wipe your tears," as he took his tender little hands to wipe her face.

That was a tender UP moment.

This is when he wiped her tears...


She seemed to be warming up to him at that point, but she still wouldn't play.

Then Marc and I switched places and he was magically able to get her out of her yucky rut and she actually started playing a little bit!

She had a smile on her face and was excited to be kicking the soccer ball around.

I was so happy.

UP.




She didn't last longer than 20 minutes but I'm glad she gave it a try.

I had taken enough of the stress, wrestling and heat so Lindsey and I took the girls home while Marc stayed with Brother to finish soccer practice.

Baby was having fun running around the field like a free spirit!

I chuckled when we got in the van and pulled out of the parking lot and Sister said how much fun she had. I told her she gets to do it again next week and she was so excited!

I knew that would be the result.

That's why I worked so hard to keep her there and have her participate.

But knowing the end result doesn't always make the fight easier.

I've learned that over the years with my Fragile X kids.

Most things that are a benefit to them are an incredible challenge to get them through.

So fast forward through the other work and such during the day to my next UP of the day and that was watching the kids break the LIFE cereal "piñata" Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Gary had made for our Cinco de Mayo dinner party.

I took a few clips from the video Marc took so I had some cute shots to show.


Baby wanted the blind fold like her sister, but she was frustrated when we couldn't see... so we compromised.


I couldn't help, but chuckle at all the funny little "lessons" there were in this piñata.

"Take a whack out of LIFE!"

When the piñata was ready to fall it was "Hanging on for LIFE!"

"We had the time of our LIFE!"

Oh, it was just too much fun!

OH, and yesterday, I didn't blog, because well, I'm a bum...

But I did have an UP.

A lunch date with Marc at a great whole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurant.




Day 122 and 123 of 365 Days of UP

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