Bilingual

I heard the funniest story about my great-nephew Josh, who is 8. He has cousins who are deaf, so he and his brothers and sisters have learned sign language. They Skype with their cousins sometimes, and the other day Josh came running to his mother, Bonnie, saying, "Mom! I was just talking deaf with my cousins!"

So cute, I love it. I'm totally going to call sign language "talking deaf" from now on. What languages do you speak? Spanish? German? Josh speaks English and Deaf.

I learned to do Braille when I was in elementary school. I guess I was writing blind!!

Ava's Fashions

Brown and pink, a combination that can't be beat. Especially cute in a family photo.

Go Right, Young Man

Another of Bonnie's cute kids becoming "famous on the internet", as Colson says. Here's one of my brother Eric's pictures of little Joshie, used in a photographic dictionary online.

Joshua in the spotlight.

The Unknown Soldier Loved S'mores Too

Mosley/Johnson Independence Hall field trip, circa 2009. The Pre-Maddy days. We need to repeat that trip, it was a great day. Bonnie and I wetting our pants over the idea of roasting marshmallows over the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, teaching the kids about poverty by taking photos of a homeless man sleeping on a park bench (Zach thought he was dead, and by "thought" I mean "hoped"),....ahhh, the memories. Good times, good times.

This Place Is Fishy

The Mosley/Johnson/Tabasso Camden Aquarium field trip. These were our attempts at getting group photos of the kids.

Free Zachary

Zachary has been practicing his swimming all summer in order to take and pass his "yellow wristband" swim test. The yellow wristband will allow him to go into different areas of our local YMCA pool. Well, this past Monday Melissa brought her kids to the pool with us, and she gave Zachary some tips. He spent an hour practicing her tips, and finally came to tell me he was ready to take his test.



Melissa taught him how to take a breath while swimming, but he chose not to during his test. I asked him later if he thought he was going to run out of breath during that swim, and he said, "Yes I did, but I didn't want to stop. I wanted to make it". I've never seen him so proud as he was after he passed that test. He even jumped back in and completed it a second time. After he got his wristband he had to call everyone he knew to tell them. He's been saying all week, randomly, "Mom, can you even BELIEVE that I passed my swim test??!?!??!"

Luke took his test too, right behind Zachary.

Thomas and Joshua had taken their test the day before: