Day 6: A Random Picture That Makes Me Happy

About a month ago Claire participated in a photo shoot through Tiny Hope Project.  Tiny Hope was started by a local photographer and is sort of a spin off of The Littlest Heroes Project.  Tiny Hope isn't just about the pictures, though, it's about advocating and celebrating too.

And while these photos aren't exactly random, and while there will be more than 'a' photo posted here...I don't know how you can look at these and not be happy!

Day 5: A Song That Means A Lot To Me

There are a few songs that mean an awful lot to me.  There is the song I danced to at my wedding (Making Memories of Us by Keith Urban), and the song that ran through my head constantly in the days leading up to and following Claire's heart surgery (What Faith Can Do by Kutless), but I decided to go with the song that came to mind as soon as I saw this day's topic.



This song will ALWAYS remind me of Brian.  For months, even years, I couldn't hear it without crying, but these days I can smile knowing that Brian is in a good place.

Day 4: (Not So) Weird Hobby or Collection

Well, I don't think any of my collections are all that weird, but I do have a couple of them.  (Sorry for the poor pictures.  It's getting late and I'm tired, but I'm not going to fail on this challenge on day 4!)

First is my BearFoot collection.  I think I got my first one about 10 years ago and have slowly added to the numbers over the years. Right now I have about 40 of them all together, but here are a few of my favorites.

My second, and largest by far, is my book collection.  I have 4 book shelves in my house FILLED with unread books.  3 of the 4 shelves are double stacked and I have no idea how many books are on the shelves.  I don't have much time to read these days, and it might honestly take me the rest of the life to read the books that are in my house right now! 

Both of the these collections are going to be down sized.  Our annual library sale is coming up soon, and I am purging my shelves of those books I know I will never get around to reading.  My bear collection needs to shrink too, as you call tell by the dust in the pictures!

Day 3: Photo From My Wedding

If I'd started this challenge just a few days earlier I could have posted this on our anniversary, which was March 31.

I'd originally planned on posting more than one photo, but I can't find the candid photos from our wedding.  They are safely on a flash drive somewhere, I just don't know where....It bums me out because there is a great one of Darren dancing with his grandma.

I scanned this photo while I was at work the other day, so it's the only one I have ready for this post.

This is one of my favorites from the wedding.  It was taken at the end of the night, when everything was winding down.  It was a perfect day, and this was the perfect ending.

Day 2: Random Photo of My Day

We spent the weekend with my mom and dad, and today we came home a little earlier than planned.  A lot of our day was taken up with driving home, and a nap for me (Claire didn't sleep well last night, so neither did I), but we were still able to get some play time in.

Claire's OT brought some new toys over for her.  My favorite thing about new toys is to see which parts she really enjoys and picks up right away.  This is a toy where you hit the ball from the top, it rolls through the toy and comes out the bottom. 

Right away Claire has figured out that the pink ball is the easiest to drop down and she goes for it right away.  Her other favorite part of the toy is the first ball.  It's clear ball, with smaller ball inside and makes quite a racket when she shakes it.  She takes all of the balls off the top of the toy, shakes them, and throws them aside until she finds the one she wants.  It's a small thing, but I love seeing how her mind works.  She is one smart cookie!

Day 1: Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

I created this blog before Claire.  I pictured it as a place to keep family and friends updated about what we were up to.  Just like the moose crossing sign marks paths traveled, this Moos Crossing was going to be a place to journal our travels.  I never expected to have much to talk about, or to actually have anyone really reading this, but that extra chromosome changed all that.  I thought about changing the name, to more reflect Claire and Down syndrome, but never did.  Now I'm glad I didn't change the name.  This blog is still about US and our path through life, which just happens to include a little extra!