Mixed Nuts

Cupcake Walk

2012-01-28T21:01:00.001-05:00

What is a cupcake walk? I am glad you asked.

Last night we went to a Winterfest festival here in our new town. It is run by our local school and all profits go to the PTA to fund school activities. It is apparently a very big deal because it was really crowded. We had dinner there, and put our names in about 20 baskets (there were 110 in all) and then left.

But there was a "Cake Walk" and Finley wanted to do it. Just like Junie B Jones in her books. Except minus the fruitcake win. But it was $1 a try, and we felt that was a bit ridiculous for a Cake Walk, so we didn't do it. That was what Finley CAME for (as she told us) and she wanted to do the cake walk SO BADLY.

But we still felt like it wasn't worth it, so I told her that we had cake mix at home and we could do our own cake walk. You know....to get her out the door.

It worked. But it also backfired. Hence the title of this post.

This afternoon, Finley and I baked cupcakes out of said cake mix, because she thought we could have a cupcake walk. Why not. It was a mini version of the cake walk at school and it made her happy, so I went with it.

I let her decorate the cupcakes any color and any way she wanted. We filled some paper cups with a little bit of icing each, and added the food coloring. Then after I iced them, I let her add the toppings.

Here is what we came up with in the end.

Arlington and Cainan got into it as well, and our neighbor "C" was visiting so she participated as well. We set up our living room with numbers on the floor.

Finley drew the numbers - she still gets them a little backwards sometimes.

Finley and Cainan could hardly stand waiting for the game to start - they really wanted those darn cupcakes.

We wrote numbers 1-10 on pieces of paper and put them in a bowl.

We played music and when the music stopped, the kids stopped on a number and then I pulled a number from the bowl. If they were on that number - they won a cupcake.

They had a good time. Each kiddo won 4 cupcakes in the end, and that made them very happy.

No - I didn't not let them eat all 4.

Okay - so the mad idea turned out to be pretty fun. The kids told me we should do this EVERY weekend.

Ha ha ha.

Finley DID end up winning a basket yesterday at the basket raffle. I was shocked considering the people that were there. And these are not your ordinary baskets - some of these baskets were worth $100s. (One was an American Girl doll and clothes!!) Finley won the "Sleepover basket". She thought this meant camping. Whatever. We get to pick it up Monday, but it has games, activities, popcord, gift cards, breakfast supplies, sleeping bag, pillow, etc. She was so excited. The other two.....not so much.

Dining in the Dark

2012-01-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Our next Fundraiser for Finley and our RDH12 Fund for Sight is coming up soon. If you live in or around the Connellsville, Pennsylvania area, we hope that you will join us for this unique experience. Details are below. You can email us, or call us, or print out this page and mail it to us.

I have removed my parents address and phone number. You can email us at rdh12@rdh12.org. But if you know my parents, give them a call. This is an event that REQUIRES reservations, so please reserve soon! For those of you who read who received this in email form or mail form already, please respond as soon as you can to reserve your spot of choice.

Thank you so much for your support.

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Benefits: Finley's Fighters and the RDH12 Fund for Sight

Place: Ted and Phyllis Kovall's home

Join us for a dinner where all of your senses are expanded and focus on the food, the taste, the sound, the company and more… because you are dining without seeing. With the complete loss of vision — and the resulting heightening of the other four senses — an evening of Dining in the Dark is an extraordinary culinary adventure. You will get a chance to see what it is like for people who are blind to eat a meal and the challenges they face.

At the beginning of the dinner, you will be brought to the dining area, and you will be served your appetizer and drinks will be poured. Mat and Jennifer will talk about their foundation and the reason they do these fundraisers, and give you a chance to settle in and relax. After that time, the lights will be turned out and you will be submersed in darkness for your main course and dessert. But don't worry – if you need to leave for any reason, we will be there to escort you out and escort you back in.

The dinner itself will probably last no more than 30-45 minutes in the dark. Just enough time for you to relax and enjoy your meal. Then the lights will be turned back on, and you will have time to readjust to the light. The evening will end with a little “thank you” gift to all of our guest, and a basket raffle drawing.

Cost is $20/person, $30/couple. Please make checks payable to the RDH12 Fund for Sight. THIS DINNER IS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AGE 15 AND OLDER ONLY due to the nature of the experience.

Dinner will consist of: Salad, HOMEMADE pasta and sauce, bread, water and choice of one glass of red or white wine. Dessert will be ice cream.

Breakfast will consist of: Fruit salad, Waffles with syrup and butter, sweet roll, mimosas, juice and water.

Each dining experience will have no more than 16 people in attendance. We have posted the available times/dates below. Please list your choices in order of 1,2,3,4 in case your first choice is taken. Reservations will be filled on a first come/first served basis, so get your reservation in as soon as possible. RSVP by February 19^th.

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February 24^th – 6pm Dinner in the Dark__________________ how many people?__________

February 25^th – 9am Breakfast in the Dark________________ how many people?__________

February 25^th – 6pm Dinner in the Dark_________________ how many people?__________

Febraury 26^th – 9am – Breakfast in the Dark_______________ how many people?__________

No title tonight

2012-01-26T21:24:00.002-05:00

Tonight while I was blogging, Scooby came up to join me on the couch. He put his paw on the keys and starting pouncing on them writing all kinds of things. He is very advanced.

Eventually he put his head down on the computer. I tried to take his picture, but every time I lifted the camera, he moved. Ah well. You will have to take my word for it.

Today was a busy day. I helped in the health office with screenings this morning. Then Finley's teacher of the vision impaired (TVI) came by for her monthly check in with us. Then an excavator came by to talk to us about our summer project. Then Arlington had tennis (tomorrow's session was canceled, so she went today instead).

The meeting with Finley's TVI was the most significant. She told me that Finley is doing great. She is moving right along in braille, clearing one hurdle after another. She showed me all the words and letters she has learned to recognize both sighted and with her fingers. She had learned to load the paper in the brailler (which may not sound like a big deal, but it is complicated - especially when you are 5). She is doing great.

Of course we talked about what we should do next year. As January turns into February, I feel like May will be here before we know it and we will have to decide what we are doing for Finley next year. Finley's TVI is now leaning more toward Finley going to transitional next year. Basically she worries about Finley's stress level. First grade is a huge jump in learning. There is a lot more demand and on top of the regular classroom demands that Finley has, she has the braille demands on top of them.

We see it as this - it is like you take a child in regular education and tell them now they have to spend each day ALSO learning Russian (at age 6) and needs to be proficient at it before the end of the year. GO. Finley has to learn all the regular education stuff PLUS another language. Is this a huge deal? Not really. But it is hard for her. Kids who are blind from the beginning only learn braille. Finley is learning both print and braille. And that print is getting harder and harder for her to read.

I talked with my mother - in -law for a long time today. Not only is she a great listener and someone I trust very much, she also taught elementary for a very long time. She taught 1st grade for a long time. She listened to my concerns and gave me some amazing suggestions. She suggested we visit the transitional classroom to see where they are at this time of the year, and what they are learning. Then she also suggested visiting the first grade classroom and see what THEY are expected to do at this time of the year. Excellent suggestion. It may give me some good insight to see where Finley will be expected to be in regular education at this time next year to see how much of a reality it is for her.

On a lighter note, our foundation is doing some amazing things. I will be making some announcements soon about what will be happening in the near future, and it is all fantastic. I want to wait until everything is official, and then I will share. But in the meantime, we are planning a Dining in the Dark event coming up on February 24th, 25th, and 26th. Tomorrow I will post all the details! The event will be in Connellsville, PA, so if you live around or near the area, we hope you will consider coming.

When I get down about what Finley is facing, I am rejuvenated by the work of our foundation and all the wonderful people that made the possibility for a cure possible. I see a future for her that is very different than what it would be if we didn't fight back. I get excited that all of this may be put behind us in the very near future, and I can go back to being a boring blogger with a normal family life.

The poofy get poofier

2012-01-25T20:37:00.001-05:00

Today, Scooby went to the groomer. I take him to Pet Smart right now because I can get a fabulous "puppy package" for just $14 until he is 6 months old.

They give him a bath, and make it so he can see around his hair, and generally freak him out for 4 hours at the salon, and he comes home looking very fluffy.

And smelling very good. Today he got a bandana and spent most of the afternoon trying to chew it off. He just doesn't understand doggie fashion.

By tomorrow he will have rolled around in our front yard (which is part moat, part ice rink due to the weather) and he will look like he did before - which is a homeless dog. Ahhh...puppy hood.

Tonight my children decided to put on weird outfits and dance around to CDs. It was cute - slightly annoying - entertainment.

Arlington came down in one of her best dresses (aka her Christmas dress) as a costume because the one she had on earlier was making it "hard to breathe". Yeah....that might be because it was Finley's.

Moving on.

She brought the CD player down and turned on a song and proceeded to dance around the living room. She was dancing alone and I asked her if her brother and sister were going to get a chance.

She said - "well, this is just song one - we still have 11 more to go. They come in around song 6".

Okay. Stop right there. 12 songs? Has she lost her mind?

I tell her "you get one more song. Go".

They had a good time jumping around, and Scooby thought it was a lot of fun. He wanted to get in on the action and dance too. It was a bit of a circus for about 20 minutes, and then everyone got tired and found other things to do.

What a shame. (hint: I am being sarcastic).

Now the poofy golden-doodle puppy is resting from his traumatic day.

If you are new

2012-01-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

I have some new readers, so I would like to say welcome! If you are new to our blog, please take a look around. I have three children - one who is severly vision impaired and who is losing her vision. We have a foundation that raises money for research for her eye disorder - the RDH12 Fund for Sight. You can click on the link on the left to go and visit our site and learn more about Lebers Congenital Amaurosis. Her name is Finley and she is 5 years old. She is sweet, crazy, and what most of this blog is about. We found out about her diagnosis when she was 3.

We have a little boy who we adopted when he was 14 months old from China. He had cleft lip and palate and has had 9 surgeries since he came home from China. He is a sweet, easy going boy, and we are so lucky to have him as part of our family. His name is Cainan and he is only 33 days older than our youngest child, Finley. Having virtual twins that we weren't expecting has made life interesting, but we wouldn't trade it for anything.

Our eldest, and the queen bee is Arlington. She is about to turn 9 years old and is in 3rd grade. I can honestly say I wouldn't know what I would do without such a wonderful first born. She is sweet, outgoing, and loves with all of her heart. She is an amazing kid.

Mat, my hubby is a geneticist with Pfizer. He is the Director of Orphan Diseases there. This works out great professionally, and personally because Lebers Congenital Amaurosis is classified as an "orphan disease". He has met so many people through his contacts through work to get the word out about Lebers and Finley's particular type. He is an amazing dad and husband, and we are a team.

I am staying at home. This is new for me this year. I am a registered nurse, but this year afforded me to stay home and focus more on Finley's needs and get the kids settled in our new house, new state, and new schools. I love being a nurse, but I am enjoying staying at home as well. I am having a chance to volunteer in the kid's schools and classes which I have not been able to do before. I am going to be subbing as a school nurse but other than that - I am taking care of the family.

So - that is us in a very small nutshell. Feel free to say hello and come back! I take a lot of pictures, and love sharing about our foundation, and Lebers so that more can be known about it. And thanks for stopping by!

The days happenings

2012-01-24T20:45:00.001-05:00

Ready??? Go.

Waking up at 6:30 to take a shower and pack lunches.

Arlington up by 6:50. Grudgingly out of bed. Says she can't feel her legs. Irrelevant - get out of bed.
7:15 - littles wake up - sometimes they want to, sometimes they don't. Also irrelevant. Still up.

7:30 - Arlington and I to bus stop.

7:45-8:10 - Finley works on Kumon and if we are lucky - we practice her piano lesson. She is much better in the mornings getting this stuff done.

8:20 - down to bus stop with two littles. Argue who is going to get on bus first. Irrelevant - both are going to school at the same time. Who flippin cares. Get.on.the.bus.

8:30-8:50 - Dog and I romp around the yard. Mostly me chasing him because he thinks this is awesome fun. He is cute, but has endless energy, and I am old.

9:00 - today I go to Garden Club meeting. My morning activities vary. Some days it is home stuff, some days it is volunteer work. Garden Club meeting today, though, last until I have to get Cainan off the bus. It is fun. Food is awesome.

12:15 - Cainan off bus. Gets fed. Eats same thing every day. So.boring.

I spend afternoon doing housework and entertaining Cainan. Sometimes we run errands. Most times we stay home and entertain the dog. And Cainan yells at him "no jump!" about 50 times because the dog loves to jump on Cainan. 'cause he can.

2:30 today - watch neighbor girl because today is Daisies. Our neighbor is our Daisies leader, and so we watch her sweet younger daughter so she doesn't have to manage her during the meetings. She is the sweetest little thing - love having her here.

3:00 - Arlington off bus. Boundless energy and endless talking for 1 hour. While also trying to do her homework. And she must have a snack "or she will die".

3:30 - on NON-Daisy days - get Finley off the bus. She is a little less spunky getting off the bus than Arlington, but a little chatty about her day. If we didn't get piano practice in during the morning, we do it now.

5:00 TODAY - our little neighbor gets picked up and Finley gets dropped off from Daisies. Finley LOVES Daisies. She is always full of excitement. I am so glad she likes it.

5:30 - Mat comes home. Dinner.

7:00 - Arlington gets a shower and we bathe the littles. Bed time is STRICTLY 7:30. That is for Mat and I. We need peace and quiet while we can still keep our eyes open. Plus - they really are asleep after they look at books for a bit. Arlington reads for about 1/2 hour or so - she is the last to sleep.

10:00 - BED. Always. I am old and a loser and cannot stay up later if I tried. Well, I can, but I get insanely chatty and annoying and no one wants that.

Our eldest

2012-01-23T20:44:00.001-05:00

Arlington has redeemed herself, so today is her day.

Arlington brought home her mid-term progress report today. I like that we get this. We are half way through this semester and the teachers send home a report on how they are doing so far. It is good so if your kid is struggling, there aren't any surprises and still time to turn things around.

Her progress report was awesome. She is exceeding expectations in everything except handwriting (of course), but even there she is meeting expectations. That is an improvement from first semester. Arlington could care less about handwriting. She doesn't have the girly handwriting at all. Her goal is to do it as fast as possible and move on to something else. She loves to write stories, but does not care what her handwriting (or spelling for that matter) look like.

We were really proud of how well she is doing. She loves school and wants nothing more than to please us and to please her teacher. Typical first born type A personality.

Arlington is still playing tennis. She really loves it. Will she play in Wimbledon? No way. But she is enjoying learning a new skill and I love that about her. She isn't afraid to try new things. She may play one more round of tennis before taking a break because lacrosse and softball will be starting. She will have enough going on, and I am afraid three sports isn't doable.

Arlington is going to also start skiing. Our neighbor has skiis and skii boots she can borrow to give it a try, so Mat is going to take her. Or she is going to take a class - I am not sure which. This one I am leary about only because she DOES go full speed ahead and safety isn't her first priority. She will be wearing a helmet at least. I know she will love it.

So she is a busy girl. Third grade has been a huge increase in homework and projects from 2nd grade. She has brownies and tennis. And soon she will have lacrosse and softball. She helps with the dog and her siblings. She is someone we can rely on to help us around the house. She is no longer a little kid.

In a few weeks, our eldest will turn 9. I can't believe she has been with us almost a decade. 10 years ago this coming June is when we found out we were going to be parents for the first time. My big girl made me a mother, and made me a better person. Someone who is less selfish.

I watch Arlington and watch how she loves unconditionally. She loves everyone she comes in contact with. Everyone is a good person to her. She finds good in everyone. She can be silly, and serious. Grown up or a little kid. She is happy, bright, and warm hearted. We are very lucky to have her.

A story

2012-01-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Mat had written a little story - with Finley's help - and they have been working on it. It is something he would like to have to hand out to people at our events. He has been having Finley draw pictures to go along with the story. They have been working on it for awhile.

My mom sent us a link last week for the Rare Children's Story Book Project that the R.A.R.E. foundation is doing. We only had a few days to submit a story, but Mat decided to submit what he had. The story was complete, and we had enough of Finley's drawing to add to the book.

So if you want to read the little story, you can go HERE: (click on the word "here" and it will take you there).

Or here is the link: http://myrarestory.com/resources/When%20The%20Lights%20Go%20Out.pdf

We are going to be sent a camera to make a video to submit that goes a long with the story and then R.A.R.E. will make a decision on the best story and then we will be awarded a monetary prize, and also the book will be published. Pretty cool, right?

So - go and read! Check it out. I know it says it is by Finley and Jennifer Pletcher, but it is by Mat and Finley. Enjoy.

Chinese New Year Dinner

2012-01-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today it snowed.

Wait. This post is about Chinese New Year! Not about the crappy white stuff that fell from the sky for 6 hours. Stay on track....

Snow. 5 inches on top of the 3 we just got two days ago. That is enough winter. We were spoiled and I was enjoying it. The kids do enjoy it. They played outside for quite awhile in the snow. Even though it was very cold.

What? Chinese New Year.....right!

Tonight we had our wonderful new neighbors over for dinner. I was so glad to have them over. We ordered Chinese food, the kids played and we chatted. It was a great time. I am hoping we have a chance to do it again soon.

I forgot to take pictures, of course. I did take the set up - you should be happy I at least did that.

Mat

2012-01-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to blog about Arlington tonight because I had spoken about Finley and Cainan, and felt my big girl needed a turn.

But she was annoying and whiny and a drama queen all day today, so she lost her turn. We will try again tomorrow.

I saw this on Pinterest (I do not understand this site yet, but it has some cute stuff on it) and it made me think of Mat. Who is a geneticist.

Source: alligator-sunglasses.com via Brooks on Pinterest

So true.

He has a shirt that says "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research". Probably my all time favorite.

All kidding aside, Mat is a great scientist. He will never say so, and he blushes and gives me a nudge when I say so outloud to people. But we are very proud of him. He worked hard for his doctorate degree. He works very hard at his job and he is well respected in the science community.

And on top of everything, his knowledge has been invaluable to us with Finley's diagnosis. His connections, his ability to "talk science" to the researcher who works on her gene (and anyone else we come across) has moved our foundation along at an amazing pace. Having someone who can "talk the talk" has come in very handy.

Where he is now was so worth all the late nights in the lab (with me helping him label endless tubes of goodness knows what), working weekends, making nothing but pennies for the hours he worked for years. He is not the director of orphan diseases at Pfizer.

And he still gives 100% to his family.

What's next

2012-01-19T20:28:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, we are sort of at a crossroads with Finley at school. We have been told by her teacher that she thinks Finley is "young" and would benefit going to transitional next year instead of 1st grade. While Mat and I have never really gotten over the shock of this idea, we have become proactive to help us in our decision making.

So far, the new year has been going well.. Finley is off on a running start. She has been doing great with Kumon and has already made some great progress in her writing. While I still see her getting frustrated when she writes backwards - or more that she isn't SURE it is backwards - I see it being less. Honestly, we have no idea how she sees it normally. I think sometimes the "correct" way of writing to HER looks backward, and that is why she gets confused. Such a mystery.

Her 1:1 aide has been tasked in making sure group time becomes a little less taxing for Finley. Finley now has her own calendar right in front of her that she can work with and that has helped a lot. Circle time has become less of a stresser for her, and we are seeing better attention. Her writing is improving, as is her kid writing. The school is really trying to get things straight.

Coming up soon, Finley will be having an occupational and physical therapy evaluation. You see, LCA isn't just about vision for a lot of kids. While in Finley's case - and most kids with RDH12 LCA - vision is the only MAJOR thing wrong, there are some other things that come along with the diagnosis that affect other parts of the body. For one - she cannot process vitamin A well. She has very thin, stringy hair, very brittle nails, and is skinny as a rail. She also has low muscle tone. It is not terrible, but we have always called her "jello girl" because she is just floppier than Arlington.

As her teacher talked to us in December, the low tone came up because Finley doesn't have good trunk control. She has a hard time holding herself upright in a seat for a long periods of time at school. She is often seen holding her head up with her hand, or sliding down and laying her head on the table to work. It takes a lot of back and muscle strength because she has to lean in, or lean over to see and she wears out quick.

I talked to the therapist, and they want to put some things in place at school, but also do a full evaluation to make sure they aren't missing anything. They also made some suggestions for some things we can use at home as well. Since we don't have hoseback riding lessons right now (which were a major plus when we were living in Connecticut) we wanted something we could use to also work at home.

Today, the products that were suggested to us arrived. Finley was so excited. Funny that she got excited about equipment, but whatever. I think most of the excitement came from me blowing them up with the pump.

Here is what we got:

The yellow ball is for sitting on while she is watching TV. It has "feet" on the bottom, but she has to balance it to keep from falling off. That is probably going to be the most challenging - and most fun - one for her.

The red is for sitting or standing. It is not flat - it has air, so when she sits on it, it does require some effort to get it to be still. Again - this will help with her trunk. She can also stand on this one to help with balance.

The blue one is to help get her to sit up straight. It actually forces her to, which is going to be great. This is the main one they will be using at school.

The little squiggly here:

This is for fidgets. She will be using this only at home. Finley is a very "handsy" kid. She will put her hands all over your face. It is a sensory outlet for her, but it isn't really socially appropriate anymore now that she is getting older. This keeps her hands busy. She wears it on her wrist and it gives her hands something to do.

So - that is where we are. Tomorrow we have an appointment with her pediatrician to review her IEP and talk about what is going on in school. I am hoping her pediatrician might also help guide us down this path as we decide what to do for next year.

Because I feel that no matter what - in the end - the decision we make will feel like the wrong one.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-18T21:00:00.002-05:00

Each year, our family celebrates Chinese New Year with Cainan. It is very low key - we have dinner, get out our few decorations, and buy a book or two about Chinese new year to add to our growing collection.

This year is the year of the dragon. The kids are excited about that. This year we are going to have our wonderful new neighbors over to celebrate with us. It will be so fun. They have two kids around the age of Finley and Cainan, and our kids all get along great. It will be nice to sit and chat and relax.

We are going to order Chinese food, Lisa is going to bring some amazing dessert (because she makes amazing food), and we will enjoy having company. It will be fun.

Cainan is starting to understand about being Chinese. He has always said it. He will tell anyone who will listen "I am Chinese!" "I am from China!" But I don't really think he got it. I still don't think he completely understands, but little by little, the light is turning on in his head. We talked the other day about how he had a mother before me. This brought one quite a few questions. He knows he was adopted, but again - what did that mean to him? Not sure. He did tell me his missed his first mother. But again - it wasn't with any kind of real "knowing". He tells me he misses his toys. It was kind of the same tone.

But there will be a day where he will express that he misses her. Or wonders about her. And that will be okay. He should wonder. He should miss her. My worry lies in when he asks me why she gave him up? When he is mad at us and asks why he can't go live with her. What do I tell him? I don't even know the answer to those questions. We have our guesses - based on what we know about the Chinese culture. But we don't know the truth. And that might be the most frustrating part for him.

He will never know who she is. The records are burned after a child is adopted. There is no way to find the children and no way to find the biological family. How will he take that? I know many kids won't care. But what if he does? What if he wishes more than anything he can find his birth family? We can't make that happen for him.

We are his family and we are his parents. We will help him through any difficulties related to adoption that he may go through. Hopefully he will believe that he was adopted because his birth mother wanted a better life for him that she couldn't give him. That she gave birth to him, but I am his mom. I will always be his mom.

Tuesday nights are my favorite

2012-01-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

I am a TV junkie. I am not going to lie. I look forward to the evenings after the kids are in bed, and Mat and I are relaxing on the couch and the shows are on. This year, more than the last several, we have found several shows we like to watch.

Tuesdays are the best. Glee, New Girl, Raising Hope. My friend Jess and I are nerds and text each other during Glee. Don't knock it. We used to work together in Connecticut and at work on Wednesdays we would talk Glee. Now I am a whole state away, so we have to work through our loss. Somehow.

Today was a pretty good day overall. Finley had a super day at school. Tuesdays are Finley's least favorite day of the week -because it is gym. But last night it snowed, and so today she AGREED to wear pants (totally why it snowed). Then she came home and reported that she got to a little treat at school because she was the only one who was quiet during gym. That was a bonus. She was really excited about it. She also got a treat for not eating snow on the playground. Another big bonus. Her 1:1 aide confirmed she had a great day, so she got to pick something special to do at home, and she chose to read a little extra at bedtime. And eat McDonalds for dinner.

Finley is also excited that she is a little Daisy. For those who don't know - Daisies is a form of Girl Scouts for Kindergarten and 1st graders. She wishes every day after school was a Daisies meeting. Tonight I finished putting on her latest patches on her Daisy uniform, so she put it on and told me to take her picture.

She of course had to put up her "Girl Scout promise" fingers to look official. She is cool like that.

The patches on the back are when we went to the Ballet, but the other is a Finley patch. Her uniform would not be complete without a Skeleton patch.

Finley also decided this week that she wanted to know about Old Black Magic. Uh, what now? In the car yesterday, she started to sing "Old McDonald had Black magic". Then she said "what are the words to the black magic song?" I looked at Arlington for help, but she just shrugged. Where does this girl come up with this stuff?

We went out tonight and got Scooby a new crate. Little maniac is growing straight up, so his head was hitting the top of his puppy crate. We looked at the cage sizes, and measured Scooby. Scooby is now 24 inches tall. The "large" crate was for dogs up to 25 inches tall. Hmmm. But it said that Standard poodles can fit in there (which is a tall dog, and about the height Scooby will be). So we went with that.

We brought it home, and oh.my.goodness. Let's just say that he looks like a little ant in the crate.

I MAY or may not have put the kids in the crate. I may or may not have closed the door. Then went out to dinner.

Just kidding. They got in there themselves. Because they are my kids. They think dog crates make awesome playhouses.

Scooby on the other hand did NOT want to go in there. He watched Mat take apart his puppy crate and tried to get into it. Poor man.

On top of all of that, Scooby is hurt. Maniac dog was in the yard yesterday - which has become an ice skating rink due to the rain, then freezing temps - and slipped and bit it hard on the ice. Today he is limping all over the place. He won't put a lot of weight on his front right leg. I called the vet, but the vet said because he wasn't yelping whenI pushed on it, he should be fine in a few days. I will keep an eye on him.

Today he was so quiet, I actually didn't mind. He didn't feel like moving around a whole bunch, so we just hung out together in the family room. He did get a bath as well, so he smells pretty. I figured he was already miserable, what would be the difference.

Scooby did NOT have a good Tuesday. Tuesdays are not his favorite. Especially since puppy school is over for a few weeks and he didn't get to fill his belly with an enormous amount of treats.

He did climb into the wood pile next to our fire place to chew on some wood. That might have made him feel a little bit better.

2012-01-16T20:17:00.000-05:00

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Kelley on Pinterest

So many answers to this question, aren't there?
You only go around once. My daily motto. I plan to smile, and laugh, and enjoy every second.

So when the end comes, I can smile and say "what a ride"

Down time

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Today was another down day. At least in the fact that we didn't do much today outside the house. Mat did take Arlington snow tubing and they had a great time. Since it has been a cold week, and we actually had a little bit of snow, the slopes were in much better shape this weekend.

The neighborhood kids then came over for the afternoon to play. It is fun having a house full and my kids love having the company. They played all afternoon. It is great to have neighborhood kids that get a long so well.

This evening we played CandyLand with Finley because it is her favorite game. And now all the kids are snuggled in there beds and we are relaxing and watching TV for the evening.

No school or work tomorrow, and I am grateful for the extra day with everyone.

Polka Dot Diva

2012-01-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

It is Saturday. We are not going anywhere, but this is what Finley wants to wear. She is high maintenance.

She even put on her polka dot sunglasses. I told her I was going to take her picture and she started posing.

She is a riot. Hopefully some day she will become a rich doctor (she mentioned being a paleontologist the other day) so she can afford her wardrobe.

Sick as a Dog

2012-01-13T21:57:00.001-05:00

I have often wondered about this statement. Why do people say this? According to the internet it is because dogs eat everything and anything and are often sick because of it.

Now that I have a dog - this makes total sense.

Scooby is sick. Big surprise - it is because of something he ate in the great outdoors. Probably the night of his romp with his girlfriend. Probably he deserves it.

But who doesn't deserve it is me -his owner. For the last week this dog has been like having a newborn baby at night. He has had to go out to go to the bathroom (I will not elaborate because he is a dog, so just know it is gross) every 1-2 hours. Someone in this house - who will remain nameless - claims not to hear him crying to get out, so I have been on night duty.

Tuesday I took him to the vet - all test negative. IT would have to run its course. Did the vet NOT see the bags under my eyes? No he did not. He just took my $60 and sent me home telling me to continue making him the elaborate boiled chicken and rice dinners he had been feasting on for almost a week.

Sure.thing.

Last night was the last straw. I was tired, and over it. I feel bad for Scooby, but for goodness sake. He brings this on himself by licking everything in the great outdoors. I called the vet, and his vet had decided to send a sample to the outside lab for further testing and it came back positive for some parasite.

Of course. But I was glad because that meant medicine! Getting better! I would get to sleep all night again like a normal person!

I picked up his medication and it is a powder I need to mix in a special wet dog food for the next three days. So the spoiled dog is going to be a bit more spoiled for the next few days.

Whatever stops the madness.

So - he is sick as a dog. Which means he eats his weight in food, continues to eat whatever he meets outside, is in our faces with toys to "play with me, play with me!" 24 hours a day, and is chasing the kids around like mad.

In other words - not that sick.

Helping a sweet girl, and some snow pictures

2012-01-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

Do you remember my friend Julie from Connellsville and her sweet girl Sydney? Sydney has 100's of seizures a day due to Dravet Syndrome. For all my local friends who read my blog, there is a fundraiser coming up for her on January 21st. It will help raise funds toward her getting a service dog. For kids with seizures, a service dog can be a life saving helper, and also gives parents a peace of mind. Especially overnight while Sydney is sleeping. I have seen countless children's lives saved due to service animals.

The fundraiser is from 2pm-4pm on January 21st at Calvary Assembly of God along Pittsburgh Street in South Connellsville. It is a combination of Pampered Chef, Celebrating Home and a bake sale. The two ladies from Pampered Chef and Celebrating Home are donating their profits to Sydney's Foundation as well. It is an open house, so you can show up at any time between 2-4.

I appreciate all of my Finley's Fighters and readers of our blog and what they do for our family. Sydney has a life threatening condition and needs our help. Thanks for supporting this wonderful family.

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Today it snowed. It was supposed to rain, and because weather men are never wrong.....it snowed. We got about 4 inches. Mat is in San Diego, but we did pretty good. I shoveled and put down salt. As much as I hate snow, I was glad to cover the ugly brown grass for a little while.

Of course, then it got warm, and started to rain (see, the weatherman WAS right) and made a slushy mess. And then it started to snow again, but just light.

Now we are sure it will all freeze and make it really fun.

Scooby had a great time in the snow. He romped all around sticking his nose in the snow. HE would chase after the snow I was throwing from the shovel. Little weirdo.

His neighborhood girlfriend, Daisy, came over this afternoon to play.

Arlington was outside with Scooby at the time and they all romped around and got soaking wet for about a half an hour. Arlington loves the snow. I asked Cainan if he wanted to go outside and he said "no thank you - it is cold out there". Yes it is.

This evening we are just relaxing and staying warm. I am glad that tomorrow is Friday.

Books

2012-01-11T20:44:00.001-05:00

There is no denying that we are a book loving family. Arlington could devour a book a day. Even Cainan - who was a little slow on getting into being read to has really come into loving books.

So - since not much is going on today (kids had a half day at school and have been ~~torturing me~~ keeping me company all day), so I thought I would tell you what myself and the kids are reading.

Mat just finished the Michael Crichton book, Micro. These days, most of his "reading" is in the form of books on CD during his work commute, so he listens to quite a few books a month. If you click on the name of the book, it will take you to a discription of the book, if you are interested.

Arlington is reading 39 Clues.

She is on the 2nd book in the series. I think there are about 12 books at this point. She seems to really like it. Arlington is a Mystery junky. I figured she would like these. She got one for Christmas, and tore through it, so she took the next book out of the library.

We still read to Arlington at night. She loves being read to as much as she likes reading on her own. So, Mat and I take turn picking series to read to her. Since she and I spent a whole year together on Harry Potter, it was his turn. At the book fair, he picked up a book (for 25 cents) called "Heck where the Bad kids go".

Arlington thought the title was hilarious. And it has turned out to be a fun book for them to read together. Also turns out it is a series, there are 6 books. She was so excited to find that out. They are getting ready to start the 2nd book in the series together.

I think we should read these stories to Finley......yet, in a series tone so she behaves herself.

Since Mat and Arlington are bonding, I am reading to the littles. Cainan and I just finished the first book in the Lemony Snicket series.

He really liked it. Each night he was curious to continue reading to see where the story was going. And he was really paying attention. We only had the first book in the series in the house, so we are going to the library for the next one.

In the mean time, we started the book series "Stink". It is the nickname of the little boy in the story. He is the little brother of Judy Moody (which is a series of books as well). Cainan thinks he is hilarious. Uncle Zac and Allison got him the 5 books in the series for Christmas, so we will be reading those for awhile.

Finley and I are reading the Rainbow Fairies series.

There are about 1000 books in this series. The have "Rainbow Fairies", "Ocean Fairies", "Pet Fairies", etc. Each fairies series has 7 books where the main characters stay the same, (two little girls) and they have to find 7 different fairies that Jack Frost has done something to. Right now we are finishing up the Pet Fairies.

Finley loves these books. I will tell you - I could have written them better, so they are not high quality. But for a 5 year old little girl who loves magic, fairies, and all things girly - they are perfect. She just can't get enough of them. She will sneak ahead and look at the pictures to see what is coming next.

As for me, I am working on a trilogy series right now. The first book was called "Matched"

You have to check this book out - I really loved it. I was looking forward to the second book coming out.

Last month, it did! It is called "Crossed". Loving it just as much. It is an easy read, but fun.

So there you have it. Feel free to share your favorite books for you and your kids. We are always looking for good series to try!

Mishmash

2012-01-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

We finally moved the "entertainment bookcase" into our family room.

I took a picture of it in its new spot. We have since filed it with our electronics and other goodies. I love it. We had a different entertainment center when we lived in our Connecticut house, but it doesn't fit our new TV. So - Mat is building me a new one - one piece at a time.

Finley was having a bit of a rough morning this morning due to the fact that it is gym day. She still hates gym day. Because she has to wear pants. So - we compromised with a skirt with leggings, and that got her going. Then I did her hair in a tiny ponytail, and that made her really excited. So - she had a great day at school.

I took her picture with her hair do. Pardon her lack of glasses in the picture - I had to take them off to do her hair. She was so excited when she got to school. I talked to her aide later in the day and she said that Finley was so careful taking off her winter hat so she wouldn't mess up her hair. What a girly girl.

Unlike Arlington - here is how Arlington differs from Finley. This morning she put on a dress for me - the one day a week I can get her to wear one. (it is library day and the librarian commented to her that she looked nice in a dress, so...) She puts on a dress and tights that are too long for her. They are bagging at the ankles. She won't put on boots to hide the bulges - she wants to wear her black flats so she can run at recess. She says "no one will notice and no one cares what my tights look like - only how fast I can play tag". right. Her hair - lucky I can brush it. She throws her winter hat on and it doesn't matter if I brushed it after that. She just doesn't care. If she doesn't have a toothpaste ring around her mouth, it is a good day.

Biological sisters. So strange how different they are.

Tonight was Scooby's last night of puppy school. He did great. He had a little test at the end of the class to make him a STAR puppy. He passed, which was surprising the way he has been behaving this week. I have a teenager on my hands, and if this is how the kids are going to act, they are going to boarding school.

But I have the certificate to prove he passed.

He will be continuing puppy school. Next class is called "graduate pup". That's him alright. We start that class on January 31st. So for the next two weeks I need to make sure he doesn't forget what he learned. Yepper.

Today was Finley's Daisy meeting where they celebrated Chinese New Year. It was fun. I took all of our stuff we had from China, and gave the girls a talk about China and Chinese New Year. The leaders made good food, and had all kinds of crafts for them to do. She had a great time.

I finished all paperwork to sub for the school district as a nurse. I am not going to be going in very often - just every once in awhile. But they needed some help and offered to let Cainan stay all day at Kindergarten on the days I worked. And our awesome neighbors offered to watch Scooby dog, so I said okay. Like a crazy person.

Short

2012-01-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

Short post

Short amount of time

Waited too long to post so now I am short on brain cells to write a good post.

My shortest child had piano lessons today - she did really great. Best lesson in awhile - very proud.

Scooby is on the short leash right now outside because he can't behave himself. Today he dug deeper in a hole he was creating himself and located a toy he buried. Didn't know dogs still did that.

Short time for dinner tonight because we had to eat between a Brownies meeting and a piano lesson. Monday evenings can be tricky.

Shortly we will be going to bed.

Upcoming Fundraiser planning

2012-01-08T19:42:00.001-05:00

Today I spent some time working on our upcoming fundraiser for Finley and our RDH12 Fund for Sight. We will be hosting a Dining in the Dark event in Connellsville. We are excited to do this unique dining experience as a fundraiser.

Have you ever heard of Dining in the Dark? This is a popular fundraiser for organizations who support eye blinding diseases/disorders. You have a meal in the complete dark to represent what it would be like to eat if you couldn't see. It is a very humbling and unique experience, and a lot of fun.

Our plan is to have the dining in the dark at my parents house. We will be having 2 dinners and 2 breakfast to make it interesting, and people can decide which one they want to come to. We will be seating 16 people at a time (at most). The breakfast will be pancakes, fruit, mimosa's, juice, water and maybe a sweet treat. Dinners will be HOMEMADE pasta and sauce (made by us), homemade bread, salad, water, and wine and ice cream for dessert..

We will seat you, you will get your fruit/salad (depending on which meal you chose) and we will talk to you about why we do these fundraisers. Then the lights will go out and you will be submersed into complete darkness while you eat your main meal and dessert. But don't worry - if for some reason you need to leave, someone (who will be wearing night vision goggles) will escort you out. The meal will last between 30-45 minutes in the dark to give you time to relax and eat. Then the lights will come on and you will have time to adjust.

Along with the dinner experience, everyone will take home a small "thank you" gift. You will also be able to buy tickets to win a basket. Each meal will have its own basket raffle.

Good food. Unique experience. Money for sight saving research for Finley. We will be doing dinners on Feb. 24th and 25th and breakfast on Feb. 25th and 26th. So mark your calendars! Invites will be coming out soon!

FYI - reservations WILL have to be made. NO children under the age of 15 will be allowed due to the nature of the experience. I promise we will be having a kid friendly dinner in the future!!

A better day

2012-01-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

Today was much better than yesterday. At least I had Mat home today to help handle the craziness. This morning I helped chaperone a Daisy troop outing as their nurse. Finley was under the weather, and couldn't go, but I still wanted to chaperone since I promised. We had a good time, and it got me out of the house for a few hours.

Finley did get dressed up for sitting on the couch though - had on tights and everything. Weirdo. She and Cainan cuddled and played a game for a good part of the morning. Those two love each other like biological twins. It is really sweet.

This afternoon, Mat took Arlington snow tubing, but they quickly returned. Being that it is 50 degrees today, the girl at the ski resort warned them that the mountain was not great today. And she was right. So - they will save snow tubing for another day - if it ever gets colder. I am NOT complaining, but it is weird.

This evening we played a few board games with the kids and ordered pizza. We played Apples to Apples (kids edition), and Finley wanted to be on her own. She was picking some pretty interesting cards for her choices and when we questioned her motives she said "don't you know....I can't read!" Very true.

I forgot to share the other day that Finley was cracking us up after we put her to bed. My parents were here and we took all the Christmas stuff out of her room. She was pretty upset to see her tree go most of all. She has a little pink tree at Christmas time and it is one of her favorite things. After we put her to bed and came downstairs, we could hear her singing. After awhile, my mom and I went up to listen at the door, and she was singing "I'm so sad!! They took my tree away. Christmas is over.....I am so sad!" She is so silly.

Scooby is back in our good graces today. He has a stomach bug, so we feel bad for him. Poor baby. He is also lucky he is really, really cute and fluffy.

The day when it would have been better to stay in bed

2012-01-06T21:01:00.001-05:00

Ever have one of those days?

Of course - it was all minor problems, but at the end of the day - after so many in a row - you wish you could just start over.

Today - Cainan stayed home from school because he has a fever. He seemed fine this morning, but by lunch time, the fever had returned. He didn't eat much today, but motrin did bring out some smiles.

I took the dog outside to use the bathroom late this morning and our neighbor's dog came for a visit. Usually Scooby will stay in the yard (he is not tied since I am out there with him) and just romp around with the other dog. But today - our teenage dog decided that when our neighbors dog left our yard to wonder elsewhere, he would follow her. I can always call him back - especially if a promise of a treat is in that call - but today, he decided that following her girlfriend was more important.

I ran after him a bit, but dogs are fast. Did you know that? Especially when you are out of shape. I came back to the house to tell Cainan I was going to get Scooby, and headed out in the car. I decided to head toward our neighbor's house (which is a good distance) to see if their dog went home and Scooby followed. No luck. Their daughter came out to help me hunt for both dogs. We tried another neighbor's house (who also has a dog). No luck their either. As we were continuing on our search, a van drove down the road and stopped and let out two very muddy dogs. She had been driving along the main road outside our development and saw the dogs on the main road. The MAIN ROAD! Our little puppy - I was so upset. We thanked her over and over for bringing the dogs into the development.

I took home our very muddy, very out of breath puppy and threw him into the tub. Of course - because I am glutton for punishment, I put him in the tub, turned around to grab the shampoo, and he jumped out and made a run for it. It looked like a murder scene - just with mud. Walls, floor, carpet. Dead.man.walking.

He spent 30 minutes in the tub for me to get all the mud off of him. I told him he has tasted his last bit of freedom.

After he and I were soaking wet, I got a call from Finley's school. She wasn't feeling well and the nurse wondered if I could come and pick her up. Are you serious? Sure - let me just change out of my wet muddy clothes, bundle up the kiddo with a 101 fever, and come right over.

Yeah - I went and got her. Don't get your panties in a bunch. What was the difference at this point - the chance of me getting anything done was shot.

The piano tuner came in the afternoon and gave me the bad news that our beautiful, FREE piano needed about $500 worth of repairs (after the tuning). I told him I would discuss it with my husband (who later would say - uh....it is a free piano - we will play it until it dies and then get another free piano) and get back to him. I guess some of the hammers inside the piano are loose from years of no use, and to fix them is very expensive because they have to take them all out and then put them all back. I think I will get another opinion.

I went to get Arlington off the bus and found that the neighbor's dog had returned. Scared the crap out of me because she was in our garage when I opened the door. I accidentally left the garage door up and there she was when I went out. I tried to take her back home, but she wasn't having it, so she came to the bus stop with us. As we were walking home, her owner came by and took her back home. That dog is a party animal.

Arlington had tennis at 5pm and Mat got stuck in traffic and didn't make it in time to stay with the littles. So we all had to go. Finley was in a costume and refused to get out of it, even though it is about 20 degrees. Whatever. Get in the car.

The icing on the cake was tonight when the dog followed Arlington upstairs. We don't let him upstairs too often because that is where our carpets are. I tried to get him back down and he went into Cainan's room. When I rounded the corner into his room - he peed on the floor. That was the last straw.

Although, I had to laugh because Cainan said "mommy, this has been a crazy day".

Worse thing, kid - it isn't even a full moon.

To busy to blog

2012-01-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

This week has been crazy. I thought once the holidays were over it would be slower. Arlington was sick - then she got better. Now Cainan is sick. Each day I have a kid home with me. My parents are visiting and trying to help me undecorate and get everything put away.

Today is their final day here. We ran a few errands and tended to Cainan. We worked on some beaded bracelet orders. I made a braille shirt. We did laundry, and went out to dinner. Now it is 9:45pm and I am just finishing up for the day.

So no pictures today I am afraid to say. Tomorrow we take my parents to the train station for their ride to NYC. It is the weekend again, already, hard to believe.

New year, same goal

2012-01-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

As the new year begins, I look back on 2011 with pride. Mostly because of what we accomplished for our RDH12 Fund for Sight. And when I say "we" I mean the RDH12 families as a whole. Together we raised over $200,000 in 2011 for our little fund. Our little fund is getting big notice now, and we are moving mountains for RDH12 and LCA research. I don't regret for a minute that we took this plunge for our daughter - not knowing what would happen what we did and now amazed at how far we have come.

This year, for RDH12 and our kiddos brings a safety study. We are eager to get to our goal of $250,000 so that we can move the study forward. We get a little baby step closer to a cure for our kids.

For 2012, my resolutions remain the same. Happy healthy kids, happy home, happy life. And of course - continue on the road to a cure for Finley. And hopefully, by the time 2014-2015 rolls around, we can say we are at the end of our road for a cure and at our destination.

Christmas #3

2012-01-03T21:48:00.003-05:00

Side bar: Arlington is sick. Last night she was feeling tired and chilled but she has stayed up late about every night this vacation. We thought she was just exhausted. This morning she woke with a headache and chills and her temperature was 102. So - no school for her. It was on and off all day - when the medication wore off, the fever were return. She never left the couch the whole day. She was so disappointed to miss school today - her first day back from vacation, and unfortunately she will be home again tomorrow. Let's hope it is just a virus and she will be back to school on Thursday.

Christmas #3 was at my parent's house. We were there from the 30th-Jan 1st before returning home. It was great to see the family and catch up. We got to spend a lot of time with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids, so that was awesome. I wish we could spend so much more time with all of our 8 nieces and nephews. So when we do get to see them, they get a lot of kisses and hugs.

Here are our pictures from our last Christmas before returning home. By Sunday, the kids were exhausted but happy. It was a great Christmas break.

Opening presents from Grammy and Papa:

GiGi and Pap-pap Appolonia:

Cousin Alissa feeding baby Jack:

The big kids got to sit at their own table: My kids and my nephew, Ethan:

The great-grandkids with GiGi:

It got a bit out of control:

Ethan:

We went to see some crazy holiday lights near my parents house. These lights have been out at long as I can remember, and the kids love going to see them:

Christmas #2

2012-01-02T21:55:00.000-05:00

We are back from our vacation, so blogging will resume. I know how happy you must be.

The first stop was Mat's parents house. We were there from Tuesday night the 27th to Friday morning the 30th. Our trip normally takes about 9 hours, but we hit major traffic and it took 11. We were all crazy when we got out and were so happy to be there. This was Scooby's first big trip and he did great. The car was tight since we had luggage and presents, but he did fine. I am lucky I also have kids who are great travelers because this trip was a killer.

We had a great few days with Mat's family. We haven't seen his twin sisters and their families (who live in Florida) since our lake trip in June, so we were glad to see them and catch up. It wasn't enough time and we look forward to the day they move to the north so we can see them more often.

Today, I will post the pictures from our days at the Pletcher abode. Enjoy!

Arlington and Marcail at breakfast at Seven Springs:

Aunt Betty, Eli, and Finley at Seven Springs breakfast:

Gabe and Cainan at breakfast:

Silas at breakfast waiting for some grub:

Sweet little Reese:

Our newest nephew (aka nephew number 6), Jet:

Arlington opening presents from Gramma and Pappy:

Cainan and his stash of presents from Gramma and Pappy:

Yay!

Family opening presents: L to R - Marcail, Jonathan, Carrie, Eli, Gabe, Gigi, Aunt Betty:

Mat and a newly groomed Scooby:

Eli and Gigi:

Uncle Jonathan is so funny:

Uncle Zac and Aunt Allison watching the kids open their presents:

The madness:

Aunt Betty and Finley:

Aunt Jess, Target (the dog), Reese and Marcail:

Reese is so silly:

Aunt Jess and Marcail testing their dance moves:

Reese and Arlington having a cuddle:

Cainan found this chair a perfect spot to hang for a few hours at Aunt Jess' house:

Arlington and Finley give Aunt Jess a makeover:

Reese girl:

More makeover:

Blog hiatus

2011-12-28T13:08:00.001-05:00

I will return on Jan. 2nd!! Have a great holiday week!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

Another Christmas day has come and gone. Our day started ridiculously early at 6:30 am. These kids are trying to kill me. Arlington was the first one up. She said she was up at 6:11, but held it together in her room until 6:30 before coming to see us. How nice of her. Cainan was also up, but Finley was not. It only took her about 10 minutes to be "accidentally woken up" by her brother and sister.

It was hard to contain them upstairs long enough for Mat and I to grab the camera and take their picture coming down the stairs. The opening of the presents lasted 1 hour. After the months of planning, wrapping, careful detail - 60 minutes went by and it was all over.

They were excited about everything. Finley was jumping around about the orange that was in her stocking. It is so fun to watch their faces on Christmas morning.

After the chaos was over, and all the presents unwrapped - the kids spent the rest of the day playing with their new toys and watching their new movies.

Arlington and I built her Night Bus from Harry Potter lego set. We started putting together one of her Harry Potter puzzles. Mat and Cainan added his new geotrax to his set. Finley did a ton of art. They all ate their weight in candy and sweets. Now it is evening and everyone is winding down. Hopefully we can get them to bed at a decent time tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to do some post Christmas shopping and hopefully find some discounted Christmas decorations to add to our collection. Then we will spend the rest of the day packing for our trip. We are looking forward to seeing family this week. Our kids still have two more Christmas celebrations to attend.

Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope you had a wonderful day with your family and friends and loved ones. Enjoy the pictures of our day.

Coming down the stairs:

Reading the note from Santa:

Finley got a soft Monster High doll she wanted:

Arlington eating an apple out of her stocking and holding a stuffed Goldendoodle dog:

Cainan getting things out of his stocking:

Finley got a Rapunzel doll:

Arlington got Creme Brulee nuts and bubble gum. She takes after her Grammy and Papa:

Scooby got a stocking too. I found a Goldendoodle stocking on Pottery Barn, would you believe:

Cainan got some Batman books:

Cainan playing with his toy story toy:

Opening presents from their sister:

Finley got a Skelipig to add to her Skelanimal collection:

Transformers for Cainan:

Arlington got a Harry Potter puzzle:

Arlington got a Disney fairy:

The mess!

End of Christmas - this is what the room looked like:

My new chairs. This breakfast table didn't have them, so Mat got them for me. We just have to stain them:

Scooby playing outside. He was overwhelmed today:

My new cabinet for my entertainment center. Mat built it for me:

Finley made a snow globe picture

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T21:22:00.001-05:00

It is 8:45 at night, and Mat and I are barely awake. We are begging God that the children fall asleep in the next 15 minutes otherwise Santa's helpers might fall asleep before the presents reach the tree.

Before I tell you about our day, I want to show you our Christmas cards! Thank you to everyone who sent our family a card this year and a little note. We feel your prayers over us all the time.

We had a great Christmas eve. The kids were spazzing out every second of the day, and would spontaneously burst into tears due to adrenalin overload, but for the most part, we had a good day. We started the day with a cinnamon roll breakfast. Nothing can ever be that bad after you have cinnamon rolls.

Unless you accidentally take Arlington's puzzle apart without waiting for you to help her. That.....was a bad idea.

She did get over it - eventually - and wrote her letter to Santa. SO GLAD she decided that Christmas eve would be a good time to ask for something she has NEVER MENTIONED BEFORE. She told Mat and I she has been whispering it to Santa in her bedroom. I kindly reminded her that Santa is not GOD and cannot hear her whispering all the way from the north pole. And even if he could, it would take so long for the message to get to him that it was certainly too late. The girl asked for a Reindeer costume. Where in the world am I going to find that since Halloween was 2 months ago? Crazy pants is just going to have to be disappointed tomorrow. Ain't gonna happen.

Moving on.

After breakfast, we cleaned the house. And when I say we - I mean me. Mat went to get Dunkin donuts for us to have tomorrow for breakfast. Yeah, yeah.

Then we took the kids roller skating. Arlington had brought home a coupon from school that the kids could rollerskate for a $1 today, so we were game. The kids do love it. I forgot to take my camera, and I should have taken a video. They were hysterical. My kids have no coordination. At.all. Arlington likes to flail her arms all around and wonders why she fell 15 million times and is covered in bruises. Finley "ran" in her skates so fast that I had a hard time keeping up with her. Thank goodness for those little things that hold the kids up - she was crazy on those skates. At one point she got brave and decided she would just ditch the little "skater helper" and take off on her own. And she decided this WHILE she was skating on the rink - right in the middle. Weirdo.

After 3 hours of skating, we headed home. We spent the rest of the afternoon making cookies for Santa and homemade pasta sauce for our dinner. The kids had a great time making the cookies. They ate a fair amount of cookie dough and chocolate chips. Mat let them decorate them however they wanted and Finley used a whole bottle of sprinkles on one cookie when he wasn't watching. Tasty.

After dinner - which was actually quite painless - Mat took them to look at some local holiday lights and deliver some cookies to our neighbors. During this time is when I moved the presents from my secret hiding place in the locked attic to the basement so that Mat and I can get everything ready at a reasonable hour. The attic is on the same level as Arlington's room, so I knew I had to get them out of there before she went to sleep. Or pretended to go to sleep.

I found that hauling presents up and down three flights of stairs is for people who exercise. I should have traded places with Mat. I thought I was having a coronary at one point. Whose crazy idea was this? Oh yeah....

Once the kids returned, we played a game. Each year for Christmas eve, we get a new game to play with the kids. This is a tradition that Mat's family had, and I always thought it was a great one. This year's game was Quirkle cubes. Quirkle is one of the kid's favorite games, so when I saw this, I thought it would be perfect. It was fun, but it was hard to keep the kids focused. We were also watching a Christmas special at the same time. They cannot do more than one thing at a time.

By 8pm - well past their normal bedtime - we headed up for baths and bed. So far, I haven't seen a child appear out in the hall. I am hoping our very full, very busy day tired them out and they will be asleep soon.

Although, the lights just went out in our living room because we are running the space heater, the lights, the TV and the outside Christmas lights all at once. Power overload. Mat.not.happy. It is a little National Lampoon's Christmas vacation right here in the Pletcher house.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas. We are looking forward to seeing the kid's faces tomorrow when they appear at the bottom of the stairs and see what Santa brought them.

Let's just hope the lack of reindeer costume goes unnoticed.

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

This one is actually a book!

It is actually a really cute one. We read it tonight.

Today was the kid's last day before break. The all bounded off the bus at the end of their day so excited. Each one had brought a little present for Mat and I home that they made in school. They wouldn't let us look at them though - they went right under the tree. Arlington - being Arlington, and always a bit clumsy - said she fell carrying hers out to the bus and landed on it..... She wasn't too upset - she said she is pretty sure she only broke a piece. Glad she is so carefree about it. Weirdo.

Arlington had her last tennis lesson before the holiday today. She is still really enjoying it. She will be resuming it after the holidays. I will let her play until we get to softball/lacrosse season and then we may have to give it up until the summer.

We went out to dinner tonight. We ended up just at Chili's because it is still a Friday night. After our morning at the grocery store - with every other living soul in our town - we knew trying to be adventurous for dinner would be out of the question. Thank goodness for call ahead seating. We haven't been out to dinner in awhile, since we have had such a busy month, so it was nice.

We came home from dinner and our penguin holiday display had fallen over. If you have a weak stomach, you should probably not look at the carnage. Our little penguin family - very tragic.

Baby penguin is the worst. He lost his head in the fall. I have been telling him that if he didn't carry those presents on his head, he would be better off.

He didn't listen. Now look at him.

This display is a PAIN. It falls all the time and is very touchy. This is what the penguins get for being such a pain.

A friend of mine took a picture of Arlington in her class today during her Christmas party. She looks so cute. The hat she is wearing is from her teacher. Her teacher made these winter hats for all the kids - they are really nice. Arlington told me she wore it all day at school and then she wore it here all evening. She loves her teacher.

Finley and Cainan's school is doing something called "Artsonia" where you can view some of the kids art the teacher submits online. The art teacher submitted 4 pictures Finley made. I thought two were cute, so I will post them here. That girl loves to draw above everything else. She wants to become an art teacher when she grows up. It is all she talks about. Please, Lord, let her keep her sight.

Finley's teacher had sent a note out to the families in her class stating that instead of giving her presents this year, she would like the families to donate to our RDH12 Fund for Sight instead. Wasn't that nice? Today - we were given over $300 in donations from the families in her class, and a few people told me they are mailing theirs. We were very humbled by their generosity. It made our Christmas. I was at the school today volunteering and a cute little boy in Finley's class came up to me and said "I brought in money to help fix Finley's eyes". So sweet.

Tomorrow is Christmas eve! We have a full day planned which starts with having cinnamon rolls. We are going to take the kids roller skating. We are going to make cookies. WE are having homemade pasta and sauce for dinner. And at some point, we hope the kids fall asleep.

Only two more sleeps 'til Christmas.

Twas the night before the night before the night before Christmas

2011-12-22T21:28:00.000-05:00

And all through the Pletcher house were sounds for plastic cutting into our fingers and more twisty ties than you can imagine being undone around toys.

Yeah. Tonight - we assemble for Santa. National security would have trouble breaking into these toys. They make sure that you are NEVER going to steal these toys.

Mat and I started our day with breakfast out. Without children. It was a beautiful thing. Don't get me wrong -my kids are pretty well behaved when we go out. But we are always on alert. It isn't really relaxing to eat out with them - it is more like work. So this was nice. We talked. We sat. We didn't hurry.

This evening we went to look at a piano. Now that Finley is taking lessons, we felt that we needed to move beyond the electric keyboard and upgrade to a piano. But, because she is 5, and not a concert pianist, we were looking for a FREE piano, or a low cost piano. We had found several online, but we found out that moving a piano with professional movers is quite expensive. So, we were really hopeful for the free one.

And we got lucky. Tonight, we went and saw a free piano. We had low expectations since it was free. But we got there and were pleasantly surprised. It is only 15 years old, and is a good name. We played it and it sounded wonderful. We are going to go and get it after the holidays and we are so happy. I am so glad we were able to get this piano for Finley. She was excited that it was going to be hers. She doesn't get to do everything everyone else does. She doesn't get to play sports. So - this will be for her. It is going to be great. What a find!

Tomorrow the kids have their last day of school before break. They are having their holiday parties and they are excited. So we will only have one whole day to contain their excitement at home before Christmas.

Advent Day Twenty Five - the LAST day of ornaments

2011-12-21T20:37:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament - the manger

This is the last day. We have had a lot of fun putting the tree together. And I have enjoyed reading the stories and versus to the kids each day. Arlington is sad that we won't have any more advent days this year. It was a great little project. We will look forward to doing it every year.

I took pictures of the tree from different angles for this post - enjoy.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Today was Mat's first day of vacation. We had a nice, relaxing day. It was a rainy day, so he hooked up the train around the tree for the kids to play with after school. They played with it for hours. We have the G scale train - so it is big. This was the first year we have had the space to put it out for the kids to enjoy. Scooby found it interesting and tried to chase it.

Tomorrow Mat and I are starting out day with breakfast out - just the two of us. It will be fun. We are going to try and start to help Santa get ready for Christmas by removing some of the twisty ties from the toys. We are nice like that. Santa is very welcome. The more we get done over the next few days, the earlier we can go to bed on Christmas eve.

Just a few more days. The kids can hardly stand it.

Advent Day Twenty Four

2011-12-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament: an angel

This ornament was made by me. 14 years ago in fact. They were attached to the place cards when Mat and I had our wedding reception. I made 100's of them. Our wedding was close to Christmas, so I made these ornaments. They were fun to make at the time. We have a few that still hang on our tree each year, so it seemed fitting to put one on our advent tree.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14

Today was a run around with errands day for me. Nothing exciting. This afternoon we babysat a neighbor girl. Finley went to Daisies. Arlington stayed after school to work on a project with her class. Busy, busy this last week. Finley loves daisies. Our wonderful neighbor is the leader and she does amazing projects with the girls. Each time she comes home with something great. I am glad to see her enjoying it so much.

This evening was puppy school. Scooby did great. He is the best behaved dog - he really is. Does he have crazy puppy tendencies? You bet. But he listens. And he is a fast learner. And he is great with the kids. He was funny this morning - he likes to come with me when I get Arlington up for school. Those two have a special bond. He is always so excited to see her in the morning. After she left for school, I went to her room to clean up, and Scooby followed me. He searched everywhere in that room for her. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't find her. It was pretty cute.

Tomorrow starts Mat's vacation for Christmas. It is great having him home. He is off until January 2nd, so it is a nice long break. He deserves it. He is one hardest working person I know. Never complains. But he needs a break.

Advent Day Twenty Three

2011-12-19T22:03:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament: a candle

This was another Etsy find. That is a great place to shop, especially for handmade gifts. Love it.

"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

I also love this verse - especially when it comes to Finley.

Today Mat and I went to a meeting at the school to talk about Cainan. No worries - it was a scheduled meeting. When school started, we knew Cainan would need speech therapy, but the school also did many other tests as well just to get a well rounded picture. They did some psychological testing, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and general education. I was grateful because - of course - Mat and I have always worried about him. But after the conference we had with the teacher a few weeks ago, we are very pleased at his progress.

Today's meeting went very well. There are a few things with working memory they are going to keep an eye on, which made sense (he shows some of the same issues at home), but at this time, they are not interferring with his schooling. So - he will receive speech therapy once a week just to kind of deal with some expressive language issues he has, and we will keep and eye on him. They will want to look at him again next year in first grade when the work gets harder, to make sure he is still in a good place. In the mean time, we will continue to work with him at home and make sure he stays on track.

His teacher is a great fit for him this year, and I hope we get just as lucky next year. She has a highly structured classroom and that fits him perfectly. He needs to know what is going on, and then he does great.

Last year at this time, we were getting ready for the Haddam/Killingworth Holiday Telethon to benefit our RDH12 foundation and Finley. Do you remember that awesome telethon that raised nearly $45,000 for our foundation? This year they are doing another local family which makes me so happy. In the past they did larger charities, but I am glad they are doing another local little girl who needs the help. It was great to see how the kids reacted to Finley and getting to know her - how it changed them.

We got a call from them the other day that we needed to make a little video and talk about how our year has been, how Finley is doing, and how the telethon changed things for our family. We made a video of me talking about the year we had, but I also did a little filming of Finley that they wanted. I put them below. She played Twinkle Twinkle on the piano without any help (which is a new skill!) and she read a few words in her braille book by using her fingers. So I wanted to share.

Arlington had her last student council meeting today. She has really enjoyed it. She is hoping that next semester she can join the drama club. We shall see........

Advent Day Twenty Two

2011-12-18T19:46:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament - a star.

This was an Etsy find. It is hand carved and then antiqued.

Today was a down day for us. No where to run to. We just stayed at home. Arlington and I finished the puzzle we have been working on for a few weeks. She is getting really good at these puzzles. This one was a hard one - it had a ton of pieces and also a lot of detail. But she stuck with it and today she put the final piece in. She doesn't want to take it apart yet - she wants Santa to see her accomplishment. She has asked for two Harry Potter puzzles for Christmas, so that is probably part of the reason!

We made gingerbread cookies, watched Polar Express, and just had a fun day. The kids were tired tonight. They have so much excitement about the upcoming holidays that they run around all day and crash at night. They have a full week of school this week, and then they are off until January 2nd. We are looking forward to the holiday and having a chance to spend it with family.

Advent Day Twenty One

2011-12-17T21:29:00.001-05:00

Today's ornament: A brick wall

This one was homemade by us. We took red and black legos to make this one. I let Arlington make it how ever she wanted to.

This one is to represent the wall that was built around Jerusalem.

"Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20

Today was another beautiful day. Really - we have been very lucky with the weather this December. I am sure that just jinxed us. We have had mostly days with sun and mild weather, and have been able to get outside - especially with Scooby - daily. It has been great.

Today Arlington and I worked on a fun project for her class. This year, her teacher is doing "Secret Snowflakes". They were all assigned another classmate, and they have to make a card for them. It can be any size, and be completely creative, so it was right up Arlington's ally. We went out this morning and got the supplies to make the card. She decided to make it poster board size (folded in half to make a card). It came out very cute. She worked all afternoon on it. Then we had to wrap it like a present and she will take it to school. She got one of her friends as her Secret Snowflake, so she was very excited.

Tonight we went to a Christmas party and had a great time. It was adults only, so that made it even better. The food was fabulous, and it was great to have adult conversation without wondering who was touching the breakable stuff.

Tomorrow is a very rare down day. Not much going on, and I love it. A week before Christmas. Next week at this time, Mat and I will be getting everything ready for Santa's arrival - my favorite night of the year.

Advent Day Twenty

2011-12-16T21:41:00.001-05:00

We are almost done with our tour of ornaments. We will be finishing up before Christmas because apparently the Jessee Advent Tree only goes for 25 days, which means you TECHNICALLY shouldn't start on the first day of advent (as we did), but the first day of December. We will know better next year.

Moving on.

Today's ornament: A fiery furnace

This is as close as I could get. A fireplace. I like this ornament. It is from Hallmark.

This story was about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

"Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee." Jeremiah 1:8

Today, I learned a valuable lesson. Never go shopping after 5pm on the weekend before Christmas. You may not survive to tell the tale. Or deliver presents to your loved ones. Which ever you find more important.

The mall was crazy. Target was crazy. Why was I out, do you say? Santa needed to shop for Mat. Plus - Target was offering a $10 gift card for every $75 you spent. I was in. Plus.....we needed groceries so we wouldn't starve.

But holy cow - the whole world was there. I had to park further away today then I did on Black Friday. And the store clerks are really over the holiday season at this point. Especially when the lady in front of me made the girl pull out the weekly flier and search for the 50 cents she was supposed to be saving on her item. Yepper. I switched lines.

The mall wasn't much better. I won't complain because I can be rather patient when I shop. I know the sales people are doing the best they can, and people don't mean to bump into you 50 million times while they walk by you with their packages. But did you know that Friday night at the mall is also teenager night? It has been awhile since I was a teenager. They were everywhere. It made me shop faster.

For the love of all that is Christmas, why did I just not stick with Amazon.

Advent Day Nineteen

2011-12-15T22:14:00.003-05:00

Today's ornament is the Town of Bethlehem

This ornament is hand carved. I didn't get it from Etsy, though. It was from a shop online, but I can't recall it's name. I thought it was really pretty - I loved the wood carved ornaments.

Doesn't Arlington look thrilled in this picture? She had just dropped the ornament on the floor and was not happy. It didn't break - it was fine. But she has butter fingers.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Today was another busy day. Let's just say that all of December is busy and leave it at that. I volunteered in the health office today, which was a lot of fun. I do miss the kids - to an extent. I don't miss the fakers. But I miss the cuties.

Scooby had a vet appointment and got two shots and a very unpleasant procedure I will not talk about on the blog. Let's just say he might have been violated. He spent the rest of the day being mad at me.

Cainan had T-ball practice today. He did pretty well. I watched him throw the ball using a great technique and hitting the ball off the tee. He seems to enjoy it, and - of course - has made a little friend in the class. Cainan has to be the friendliest kid on the planet. Next to Arlington. Neither of those kids are choosy about their friends.

After T-ball we had 20 minutes to swallow dinner before leaving for Finley's piano lesson. This isn't her usual night - this was a make-up lesson. We won't be back to piano until after the holiday, so I am glad we got the lesson in. Finley had a very busy day - she has a lot going on now with her Kumon learning classes and her piano practice every day, and school. But she is holding up like a champ and counted to 50 in the car on the way home for entertainment.

If your family is as messed up in the head as ours, and you have started the "Elf on the Shelf" tradition, you need to read this blog: http://peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.blogspot.com/2011/12/over-achieving-elf-on-shelf-mommies.html It is hilarious. And apparently, we are not being creative enough with our elf. I think our elf will throw out half of our kids toys and most of Mat's t-shirt collection for starters if mischief is up his ally. We will start with that.

Just kidding.

Our elf forgot to move one morning because they elf has problems remembering to move before he goes to bed at night, so Arlington was quite tearful. I needed to have a chat with the elf to make sure that doesn't happen again. AND......I needed to put it on my calendar to remind said elf to find a new spot to sit before I got to bed each night to avoid further crying fits first thing in the morning from the small people in this house. TOO. MUCH. PRESSURE.

This elf will mess your kids up for life. Especially since Arlington tells it lately that it can't go anywhere other than the first floor of this house and no where near her room. And of course, Mat's response to this is to take a picture of her sleeping and the elf on her head. You know - to make sure she needs therapy.

Advent Day Eighteen

2011-12-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament: a heart

This heart is made of leather and was weaved together. It is another treasure from Etsy. I love it, but it is delicate.

"I will put my law within them, and write it in their hearts." Jeremiah 31:33a

Today we took the kids to see Santa. It was a half day for the kids, so after they got home, we went to the mall for a Santa visit. Mat took the day off as well, so that we could all go together. Even our neighbors and their cute little girls came with us. It was a fun trip.

The kids all asked Santa for something they didn't mention before which was pretty awesome. Not. Gotta love that. Arlington told me what she was asking for was a secret. Even better news. Ah well. Our rule in our house is you make a list and Santa picks what to get you. So - there you go. I will post a picture of them with Santa tomorrow. It is in the car, and it is cold out there......

After the Santa visit, we went to the movies. We went to see Arthur Christmas. The kids loved it, and so did I. I thought it was really cute. That is definitely one I want for our Christmas movie collection. We were home by 6:30 and just had a quick dinner, and now the kids are now tucked in bed.

It was a good day. Love days like this one.

Advent Day Seventeen and a Finley catchup

2011-12-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament - a cross

This one we got from Etsy. It is hand carved. I love it. It is made of red oak.

"I lay down my life for the sheep" John 10:15

I have decided to get everyone caught up on what is going on with Finley. Don't worry - she is healthy and happy. Her vision is doing okay. She is still stubborn and cute.

Last week we had parent/teacher conferences for our school. Arlington's and Cainan's conferences were amazing. Finley's was a disaster. At least that is what it seemed like to Mat and I. You see, her teacher told us that she doesn't think she should go on to first grade next year. Here, in our town, they do something called "transitional" - a year between Kindergarten and first grade that some kids need. It is instead of repeating Kindergarten, and THEN they go on to first grade.

We were floored. The teacher's main point is that she thinks Finley is young. And she is young. She turned 5 in July. The cut off for Kindergarten around here is the end of August. Academcially - she is on track. The teacher showed us her tests and she was average to above average in all areas except writing her numbers 11-20. She can do it, but she struggles with it. So academically, she is sound.

She is not a trouble maker. The teacher says she has a good attitude, and is independent in most areas. She is cooperative. She blends in well in the class.

But, the teacher feels that she does seem inattentive at times and doesn't always stay focused. She has some trouble with kid writing - it can be inconsistent. Some days are worse than others - like dark days, she has a harder time.

But to me - I am thinking that most of this is related to her vision. Because Finley compensates so well, it is easy to forget, or let slide things sometimes because she doesn't complain she can't see it. She needs a lot of vision breaks, and she takes them. It may look like she isn't paying attention, but most of the time she is. Writing in general is very hard for her. She has 20/200 vision and no central vision. You try writing with a big black spot in the middle of your eye and tell me how that goes. She can do it, but she gets tired easily.

It takes a tremendous amount of mental energy to see. But imagine trying to see something from across a football field with a black spot in the middle of your eyes for 6 hours a day. Your eyes would be very tired after awhile and you would quit looking. That is what it is like for Finley.

Mat and I spent the weekend hashing and re-hashing all of what the teacher said. Some of it is true. Finley is young. She is the baby of our family. She has a sister who is almost 4 years older than her who treats her like a glass doll and her own baby. She has friends in school who do the same because they think Finley needs their help. She is surrounded by mothers all day long and she LIKES IT. She doesn't ask for it, but she doesn't stop it either.

But she doesn't act out. She doesn't say she isn't going to do something. She isn't a behavior problem. And she can do the work (for the most part). So......why the talk of holding her back?

Today, I met with her teacher and her vision teacher. Mat went to her conference last week, but I needed to talk to the teacher and lay it on the line. Over the weekend I got a lot of great advice from my friends, family and special education teacher friends I know. Amazing advice. All basically telling me the same thing. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DECIDE THIS.

Today I went in armed with questions. And for the most part, I felt like after our very long meeting, we were more on the same page. The teacher repeated 50 times that things she sees in Finley are signs of her being "young" and I said that most of those things are signs she is vision impaired as well. It could be either. It could be both. But I wanted some things in place to help her. We are going to do our part at home, and I expect the school to do the same.

We came up with some new ideas. It seems like large group settings are her downfall. She has the hardest time then. The vision teacher explained it as she is probably trying to take in a ton of sensory information while also trying to take in the information from the teacher. This is hard for kids with vision issues and sometimes will come off as a behavior like inattention. You and I can look around and take in a ton of information about our surroundings in a few seconds. This is not true for kids who have vision issues. So a kiddo who loses attention for a few seconds to see their friend picking at their shoe, may take Finley a whole minute or so to figure out. In that time - she looks like the teacher has lost her, and she may have. But she doesn't mean it - it just takes her longer to get the same information.

So - in large groups, her aide is going to sit right behind her and try to catch the cues of Finley needing a vision break, or just giving her a little tap to bring her back to the teacher's attention quicker. She is also going to have her own materials (calendar, etc) that are used in circle time so that they are right in front of her. Then she won't have to strain as much to see. Her aide and teacher are going to collect some data about how many times she turns away from the teacher to see how many times she is "taking a break" visually. Then breaks will be set in.

We came up with her being able to do an activity for a few minutes, get up and go and get a drink, and then coming back and refocusing. That way she can take her eyes away for a few minutes and then maybe she will come back and be able to focus on the task without so much effort.

We will have a communication log between home and school. That way we are all on the same page. This came about because there was an incident a school a few weeks ago, and we were not made aware of it. Finley does not like gym. Mostly because the weirdo has to wear pants and she hates to wear pants. But one day, they were playing a game and she couldn't see what was happening. The game was fast paced and she just got lost. The gym teacher was aware of her vision issues, but did not pick up on the fact that Finley was struggling. So - the next week when they went to gym, Finley burst into tears. She didn't want to participate and just melted. They got her to settle down and tell them what the problem was. But - I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED. And by the time Finley gets home, she doesn't remember that kind of stuff (or doesn't want to share it). It came up in conferences and I said again today that I was upset we weren't told. I want Finley to know we are aware of what is going on at school and we are here to help her get through it. And that all the adults on her team are on the same page.

Recess was discussed as well. Her aide was taking Finley back to the classroom after lunch to get her sunglasses and then going out to recess. I saw this as a problem because the kids have all been out there - even if it just for a few minutes - and have formed groups for games. Finley is shy, and - now that is is winter - has a hard time identifying her friends on the playground. She is perfectly comfortable playing by herself - doesn't mind it - but I would like her to use this down time to play with her friends. So - they are going to either have her got back to her class and get her glasses with a friend, or the aide will take her sunglasses to lunch and they can leave right from there.

Anyway - that is the cliff notes of the whole ordeal. In the end, I wanted to make sure that Finley is given the chance for success and go on to the first grade next year and that this transitional thing is not set in stone. The teacher assured me that this will be our decision in the end. So - we will just see how it goes.

Thanks for listening.

Advent Day Sixteen

2011-12-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament: Lamb

Since we already had a Lamb day, I had to get a different ornament for this day. I decided to go with this cute one from a Christian store. It says "I am Jesus' Little Lamb" and has our name on it. Pretty cute.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" - John 10:27

Today was crazy. I took Mat's car to the shop, and our wonderful neighbor brought me back home so I wouldn't have to stay there. There are 50 million things wrong with it. So - they needed it for the day. I was hoping it would be done late afternoon, but a 1/2 hour before they were to close, they called and said they needed to keep it for another day. Uh, what now? Arlington needed to be at a Brownies Christmas party, Mat wasn't home - it was fun times.

Luckily - my awesome neighbor came through again so we could take Arlington to her party. We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do tomorrow since I have a Garden Club meeting, and a meeting at Finley's school at 1:30. We are working on it.

This evening, I couldn't go to Finley's piano lesson because I left my GPS in my neighbor's van (from earlier needing it for the Brownie party) and she wasn't home. By the time I figured that out, came home, tried to look up directions, it was too late to make the lesson. It takes me about 25 minutes on a good day - we would have never made it. The piano teacher was very nice and understanding. We rescheduled for later this week. Sigh.

The only plus is that the house is clean and the kids are happy. Otherwise, this day was the pits.

Advent Day Fifteen

2011-12-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is two different ones. A Crown and a Dove

Both were bought - neither were handmade. The dove is porcelain and quickly has become one of Arlington's favorites.

"Peace I leave with you, peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14;27

Today we went to the mall with the intentions of seeing Santa. We ran some other errands at the mall first, and got our family ornament:

I love it. There were a lot of choices this year - we try to get a different "animal" each year. We decided this year on the snowmen with the three little snowmen - so cute! We were looking one with a dog on it as well, but no luck.

We ended up getting an ornament for Scobby at Hallmark.

Arlington picked it out. We came home and took a picture of Scooby and stuck it in the frame and hung it on the tree. So now Scooby has his own ornament.

Anyway, we didn't get to see Santa. By the time we got to the end of the huge mall and found him, they were cutting off the line because Santa was going to take a break. He was going to be gone for 1 1/2 hours, and we were all hungry. And the line was REALLY long waiting for him to return. So, we decided we will go on Wednesday. The kids have a half day, so we will go when they get home - hopefully it will be less crowded.

So we went to lunch at Margaritas - which was one of our favorite restaurants in Connecticut - and came home.

I can't believe that today is two weeks until Christmas day. I am so excited. I love watching the kids Christmas morning. I know, when they are teenagers, I will miss the excitement in their eyes. The magic they believe in. And we are excited to be going to Connellsville to visit with all of our families over the holiday. We haven't seen Mat's sisters from Florida since June, so we are happy we will get to spend time with them and their kids. We will be meeting our nephew, Jet, for the first time.

Tonight, while Finley was having a snack, she was being her goofy self, so I will end this post with a picture of our girl:

Advent Day Fourteen

2011-12-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is the Lion and the Lamb

"His rest shall be glorious" Isaiah 11:10b

Today was a busy day, especially for Finley and I. This morning we signed Finley up for Kumon classes - mainly to help her with her handwriting. Writing in general is very hard for her with her vision, and she needs more practice. After that, we went to a playdate with one of her BFFs from Kindergarten. She has a really great time. Her little friend's mom is really great, and we had a fun time catching up. After the playdate, the girls and I went to see the Nutcracker. A traveling dance troop was doing the Nutcracker at a theater right here in our home town, so the girl scouts were going. The girls seemed to enjoy it. It will be nice to take them, maybe next year, to see the Boston Ballet perform the Nutcracker.

Now we are sitting and watching a Christmas movie and relaxing. Finley and I were gone from 9:30 to 5pm without a stop, so we are tired. Tomorrow we are hoping to see Santa and get our family Christmas ornament. Only two weeks to Christmas and this family is getting VERY excited!

Advent Day Thirteen

2011-12-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is a stump with a shoot/leaf on it

Prophecy of Shoot from the Stump of Jesse. It is from this symbol that we get the name of our tree - the Advent Jesse Tree.

I got this ornament from a pet store - it is for a fish tank. Thought it worked pretty well! Not a lot of "stump" ornaments out there......

This one I found at a pet store - It is for a fish tank, but it worked!

"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory" - John 1:14a

Sorry this blog post is short. Tomorrow we have a full day, so hopefully we will have lots to share!

Advent Day Twelve

2011-12-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

Today's ornament is a Bible

We found this one at a Christian bookstore.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" Psalm 119:105

Today - I want to talk about how proud of Cainan I am. Cainan - our kid that we worry about academically because he had a hard start, and struggled so much to catch up - had an AMAZING parent conference yesterday.

I have been in the mind set, for a long time, that Cainan may need to repeat Kindergarten (or do what they do in our district, which is put them in a transitional class between Kindergarten and 1st grade) and that would be just fine. I felt like he would need the extra time to catch up, feel confident, and just grow into himself.

So - when I sat down with his teacher last night, I was ready to hear that information. But you know what I heard instead? Cainan is doing end of Kindergarten year work. He is confident, making connections, drawing conclusions. He is talking in front of the class. He is a good friend and very easy going. He is happy all the time (this we know - he IS). He is friends with everyone, and very out going. He knows beginning, middle, and end sounds of words. He is writing SENTENCES. He knows all his Kindergarten sight words and recognizes them in different context. He can write his numbers up to 30 and count even higher. He can write his upper and lower case letters.

His teacher was just so pleased. He isn't shutting down. He is participating and doing so well. So I asked "you think he is on track to go to first grade" and her answer? "Absolutely".

Whoa.

I could have done a little happy dance. I might have done a little cheer in front of the teacher. Which she didn't mind. I was having a hard time not crying. Cainan - doing well. Doing really, really well.

The light bulb is coming on in that little head of his. He is putting it together. And we couldn't be prouder of him.

Advent Day Eleven

2011-12-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is a sling shot

They don't make sling shot ornaments, so Arlington made this one. She went out into our woods, and found this Y shaped twig, and then put a rubber band on it.

Then she tested it to make sure it actually worked. Brilliant.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" Psalm 23:1

Nothing else to report today. I have things to say, but not today - maybe someday soon. Today Mat and I did some shopping and the kids played with the neighborhood kids this afternoon. I made more bracelets to fill more orders. We watched Christmas movies and played a new game.

So for now - that is where we stand. And tomorrow I have Arlington's teacher conference and am helping in the health office. Only 18 more days until Christmas!

Advent Day Ten

2011-12-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is Wheat.

This little wheat is so pretty. It was handmade - we got it from a little shop on Etsy. I love how it is braided.

"Thy people shall be my peole, and they God my God." - Ruth 1:16b

Not much to report from today. I volunteered in Finley and Cainan's classrooms today. It was fun on both accounts. This afternoon I filled two more ordered for bracelets and made 20 more. It is keeping me busy, but I love it.

I am still selling bracelets and braille shirts and braille prints, and you still have time if you want some for Christmas. The bracelets make great stocking stuffers! I have enjoyed all the different styles you have come up with.

Tonight is puppy school with Scooby. Hopefully it will go as well as last week. Today it has been raining, so he hasn't had much exercise. Hopefully puppy school will at least tire him out. He is growing by leaps and bounds. He is still mostly fur, but he is getting tall. And he is getting ornery.

Tomorrow Mat is home from work (yay!) and we are going to do a little shopping. We are basically done, but just want to add a little thing or two for stockings. We also have two of the three kid's fall conferences with their teachers tomorrow. I think Mat is going to attend the conferences since I talk with the teachers pretty often Arlington already got her report card and did great. The only place she needs to improve is handwriting. And that is nothing new. She likes speed over neatness any day.

Only 19 more days until Christmas. Hard to believe. This fall has just sped by us.

Advent Day Nine and Finley's First recital

2011-12-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is grapes.

These were handmade that I got on Etsy. Thought they were cute.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Psalm 103:2

Tonight the whole family went to watch Finley play in her first piano recital.

What? She has only taken 4 lessons! A recital? Is she some kind of piano genius?

Uh.......no. She played two notes - C and G - over and over again, while the kiddo beside her played silent night.

But she did it! She didn't freak out and say "no". So it was great. We took some pictures and a short video. It is mostly for the grandparents, but if you want to watch the video - it is below.

Enjoy!

Advent Day Eight

2011-12-04T21:20:00.001-05:00

Today's ornament is the Ten Commandments

This was harder to find that I thought it would be. This was a find at Cafe Press. I may hunt for a different one for future Christmas times.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." - Psalm 119:11

Today we went and got the Christmas tree. Each year, we hunt for a Christmas tree farm to cut down our own tree. It is a family tradition we have had for many years, and we love it.

This year, we are in a new town. But we were able to find a place just a few miles from our house - in our same town. It is a big tree farm, and we had so many to chose from.

Our famiilies motto with Christmas trees - "go big or go home". We like them poofy. But this year - this year's tree takes the cake. It is huge. We have nicknamed it "Fatso". I think it is about as big around as it is tall. The tree is almost 8 feet tall. It takes up a large part of our living room. We were able to put every single ornament on the tree and still have room. (which was a first).

Enjoy the pictures!

Advent Day Seven

2011-12-03T20:38:00.001-05:00

Today's ornament is: Jospeh's Technicolor Dreamcoat

Okay - so this was as close as I could find. A colorful sweater that was handmade by someone on Etsy. I thought it was pretty cute though.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."

Today we had took place in our local town's holiday bazaar. We did really well and made $500 for our RDH12 Fund for Sight. We were very pleased. We had a good time and got the word out to a lot of locals, and handed out a lot of information on our foundation and about Finley's disorder. So a very successful day. It was a great day.

I took a picture of my friend, Maria, at her booth as well. It was great having her near by. They did well, and her daughter brought over many of her friends for braille bookmarks and bracelets, so it was great.

This evening I am basking in the glory of not having to make anything. Arlington and I have started a new puzzle. We watched a Christmas movie. Scooby played with the neighborhood dog. Relaxation all around.

A little step closer for our Foundation. Step by step we are getting closer to our goal. We also know that we have gained a lot more prayer warriors today as well.

Advent Day Six

2011-12-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

Today was about Jacob's ladder. So, of course, the ornament....was a ladder.

Believe it or not - ladder ornaments are not easy to come by. This was another Etsy find.

"Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou goest."

Today we set up for the Holiday Bazaar. If you live near by us - please come to the Bazaar tomorrow. There looks like there will be a lot of great tables there. And stop by and see us! We are selling Braille prints, the bead bracelets, our home made french vanilla hot chocolate. And we will be brailling bookmarks for free and giving our information on the RDH12 Fund for Sight and Finley. We are looking forward to seeing how it goes. We also have a table near my friend, Maria, so if nothing else - we are going to have a good time.

Tomorrow is also the Connellsville cookie sale in town. Finley's Fighters is at West Side Jewelers, so please stop by. Also, stop by Jaylynn's Collectibles and see my friend Julie - she is there to support her daughter who has Dravet Syndrome. We are going to have a lot of great baked goods, so stop by for some yummy treats.

I can't believe it is the first weekend of December. We hope to get our tree this weekend or next and then we will be completely ready for Christmas. It is going to be here before we know it.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a lot of pictures to share between the Cookie sale and the Holiday Bazaar, so stay tuned.

Advent Day Five

2011-12-01T18:56:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is a lamb.

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29b

My little lamb friend here is made from real wool. Isn't he cute? He was hand made - another Etsy find. Isn't he cute?

Today was another busy day. I was supposed to help in the health office with vision and hearing screenings, but the nurse was sick today. I got a call from the garden club that we needed new lights and an extension cord for the enormous tree we are decorating for the town, so I offered to go and get them. (The tree is my "designated assignment") I ran some errands and this afternoon I started to organize for the holiday bazaar. I think we are about as ready as we are going to be. I wish we had more stuff to sell, but we chose to go light this time around to see how it goes.

This evening we are wrapping up the final touches on the few things we are going to sell. Our annual Christmas cards came and so those will have to be addressed soon. I love how they came out. I will share it in a few weeks after we send them out and our family and friends get their cards.

Cainan had t-ball practice today. He did pretty well. He kind of gets the idea. At least he is trying to follow the directions. Most of the kids are his age or a year younger, so they are all crazy. It is kind of a circus.

I will be glad when the holiday bazaar is over so that I can get back to real life. We are looking forward to doing it this weekend and getting the word out about our foundation and our Finley. If you are in the area - please come out and see us!

Advent Day Four

2011-11-30T20:12:00.002-05:00

Day Four of Advent's ornament is the 3 Wise Men.

"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:3b

I got this ornament earlier this year - it is hand carved. I thought it was really pretty.

Today was really busy. I spent part of the morning helping the Garden club get ready for the holiday bazaar. It was really fun. It is a great group of ladies. They always have me laughing - especially the older ladies. They all have a great sense of humor and I love how they tease each other. And the arrangements they make are beautiful. I was in charge of bows. That is what I could handle. They felt otherwise, which was sweet, but I declined and stuck to bows.

I volunteers, as always on Wednesday, in Finley's class and taught braille after leaving the lovely Garden Club ladies. Then this afternoon I picked the kids up early and took them to get their flu shots. 2 out of 3 were really good. I will give you one guess who was freaked out. Yes - that would be Finley. But in the end, she sat still, and all the kids now have their flu shots.

We ran errands, took the kids to McDonalds as a treat for getting a shot today, and now we are home wrapping some Christmas presents.

Tonight I pulled a tick off Cainan at bath time tonight. He was surprisingly brave. I think we caught it early, so we will just have to watch him. The ticks are so bad here in the North East. I still pull them off Scooby - even though he is treated.

This weekend is our Holiday Bazaar in our town here in Massachusetts. We are ready, I think. We haven't ever had a table there before, so it is hard to know what to expect. But we are hoping to make some money for our Foundation and continue to get the word out about Finley and our RDH12 Fund for Sight.

Also this weekend in Connellsville is the annual Holiday Cookie Sale in town. West Side Jewelry is hosting the Finley's Fighters/RDH12 Fund for Sight table, so please stop by if you are in town. All profit from the sale goes to our RDH12 Fund for Sight. All cookies are homemade by our family and friends, so they are going to be fantastic and delicious. We appreciate your support!

And last, but not least, Arlington took a picture of Mat and I so I thought I would post it.

Advent Day Three

2011-11-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

Today's ornament is Noah's Ark.

This was probably the easiest ornament to find. Hallmark does a Noah's Ark ornament every year, and I thought this years was really cute.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ" Romans 6:23

Our Apple ornament for day two showed up today to replaced chewed up red plastic apple. so we took it's picture.

It is a find from Etsy - it is a Cedar Apple and it smelled really good.

Today was puppy school. Scooby did really well. I thought he was the best behaved, but I may be a little partial. But he did great. He didn't eat any other dogs. He didn't bark (not that he really barks anyway), he played nice with others, and he did all the commands he was supposed to do. It was great. I had given him a bath before he went, so he was extra soft and poofy for bonus cute points. It worked.

Finley's teacher of the vision impaired emailed me today to ask me something, but she started her email like this:

"Hi Jennifer! I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Finley told me she didn't have turkey but she killed a pig for her dinner"

Uh.....great. Here is what really went down on Thanksgiving. We don't eat Turkey because....it's gross. We eat ham. Finley asked where ham comes from and we told her pigs. Somehow that turned into us slaughtering a pig in our backyard and roasting it in our kitchen for good measure.

She's special.

Advent Day Two

2011-11-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

Today's Advent Jesse Tree ornament is an apple.

This is a temporary apple - I have actually ordered a nicer one, but it didn't arrive in time. Plus - Scooby found this apple and the side you don't see is in shreds. Ah puppyhood.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way". Isaiah 53:6

In other news:

Finley had a much better piano lesson today. She has turned a corner in her daily practice as well - has figured out the notes on the piano, and is getting the idea a little quicker that what she is playing is a song. Victory. She was pretty proud of herself tonight. I was proud of her too. Next Monday is her first Christmas concert where she will sit next to a kid playing "Silent Night" and play a C and a G on the piano :) Cute.

We have finished decorating the house inside and out. All that is left is the tree. We get a live tree each year, so we like to wait another week or two so that it doesn't dry out before Christmas. The kids are excited about finding a new tree farm to cut our tree down this year.

Scooby has discovered ice cubes. It is pretty cute to watch. One fell on the floor today and for about 10 minutes he wasn't sure what to make of it and pawed at it before finally eating it. He has also discovered he can climb the stairs and will follow us every once in awhile into the upstairs. We aren't allowing him upstairs for now because he is still being trained, but it is cute to watch him go up the steps. He is not so great at getting back down.

Tomorrow is puppy school......with the puppy. I am looking forward to see him interact with the other dogs.

The Advent Jesse Tree

2011-11-27T20:35:00.002-05:00

Last year, I read a few blogs where the people were doing Jesse Advent Trees. I thought it would be a great tradition to start with our family. The Advent Jesse Tree seeks to tell the story of God's redemptive plan for the world thought 25 symbols from the Old and New Testament. The symbols trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from the beginning of creation.

So, throughout the year, we have been collecting ornaments that go along with the book.

The book tells you what ornament to buy/make, and then we went on a hunt. I was able to find most of them online (mostly on Etsy - they make some beautiful home made ornaments) and a few we made.

So today is the first day of Advent. We hung our first ornament today. The first ornament is a globe.

This first symbol takes us back to Christ's pre-existence before all of creation. The first chapter in the book is called "The Light in Creation". The have a children's devotion in the book that we read and talked about and then we hung the first ornament on the tree.

You will notice our tree has red and silver bulbs on it. I got this 6 foot Christmas tree last year after Christmas for like $5. It is perfect for our advent tree, but it is a bit big for 25 ornaments, only. So - we added a little color. :)

Each day I will share the bulb we are putting on the tree and the name of the Devotion. I think it is a great way to mix the excitement with Christmas with the true meaning we celebrate as Christians. And Arlington, especially, loves the stories and the idea. So it has been fun.

"In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

The Muppet Movie - by Arlington part one

2011-11-26T18:32:00.002-05:00

The movie started with a Toy Story commercial of "Small Fry". The Small Fry was a little buzz toy at a take out restaurant for display. He wanted to get played with. He saw a big Buzz. When the big Buzz was in the ball pit, Small Fry pulled him under the balls and traded himself with the big buzz. When they went home, Small Fry climbed out of the bag and began singing and roller skating. While the big Buzz was sitting in a toy meeting for lost toys that were never played with. Big Buzz talked with those toys and did a small skit of a toy getting played with and then lost. While he was doing that, he escaped. At home Woody and the gang were wondering what happened to the real buzz and asked Small Fry what had happened. They wanted to know what they should do with Small Fry. The big Buzz turned up and said "I don't know". Everyone yelled "Buzz!". Buzz knew exactly where to put Small Fry. Small Fry was happy with the lost toys who were never played with. the end.

The Muppets Movie:

It started with a Muppet named Walter and his brother. Walter and his brother, Gary, loved to play together. Gary always grew a couple of inches each year, but Walter stayed the same. Gary and Walter were watching TV one day when they saw the movie called Muppets. They watched it every night until Gary was much older. The next morning, Gary was getting ready to go on a date with his girlfriend. They were going to Hollywood. Walter asked Gary to bring him back stuff from the Muppets. Gary said he couldn't do it though. Walter sighed. Then Gary said that "I don't have to because we are all going". He meant he, his girlfriend, and Walter. Walter almost fainted. Later that day, Walter and Gary went out all dressed in suits and were singing. Then they made it to a school. Gary's girlfriend was a teacher at that school. Gary said to his girlfriend that he was ready to go and Walter was waiting outside. So when Gary went to check on Walter, Mary (Gary's girlfriend) sang a song about how sad she was because Gary never paid any attention to her, really. It looked like it was raining. At the end of the song, you saw that it was just a garden guy spraying the window with his hose.

When Gary, Walter, and Mary were all waiting for the bus, the people that they got to sing with them were still singing when they got on the bus. The bus drove away and one of the people said "they're gone" and they all dropped to the ground. (ha ha ha)

When they were at Hollywood, they took a taxi to where the Muppets played their show. They took a tour of their studio. The tour guide went to Kermit's office first and said "this is Kermit's office, it is really nice inside". Walter smiled really big. Then the tour guide said "you better visit it some time" and then moved on. And Walter fainted. Gary woke him up soon, though. Gary moved on, but Walter went into Kermit's office and looked around. Then the door knob slowly creaked and then 4 muppets entered the door with a man. The man told a lie to the older muppets. He said we are going to turn this place into a museum of the muppets. Walter was hearing this from under the table. When the two old muppets left, the man said that they were just going to tear the place down and get all the oil under it. He said he could smell the oil in the ground. Then he said to his worker muppers, "maniacal laugh", "maniacal laugh", and they other two laughed maniacally.

When they all left, Walter ran as fast as he could, screaming. He wouldn't stop screaming. When they rode in the taxi, he still screamed. When they were on the bus, everyone was looking at them because Walter was screaming. Finally they got him to settle down and he told them the whole story.

When they got off the bus, they ran to the car and drove around to see where Kermit could be. When Gary was starting to give up, Walter said no, and Mary cut in and said "I think I found the place". The gates had Kermit and Miss Piggy on it. And Walter said, "throw me over" and Mary said "I think that is an electric fence". But then Walter said "throw me over" and Gary said "oh, okay". So Gary threw Walter and it was an electric fence. From behind, just as Walter was about to say throw me over again, Kermit showed up. And Kermit said to them, "can I do anything for you?" and Walter fainted. (thud). Kermit asked if he was okay and Gary said yes. They brought him inside.

When he woke up, he was on a comfy couch in Kermit's living room and Kermit said "what's the problem". Walter told him about the man but didn't tell the story yet. And Kermit said "he said he was going to make that place into a museum". Walter told him that it was a lie and that they were going to tear it down for the oil. Kermit believed Walter. All the sudden 80's the Robot burst in and asked if they wanted soda. Kermit said "not now". And then 80's the Robot started beeping and asked if they wanted soda. Kermit yelled at him, and the robot turned around and bumped into the wall three times before he got out. Then bumped into the trash can.

The next day, Kermit, 80's the Robot, and Gary, Mary, Walter went on a trip to find the other muppets. When they were at the first stop where Fozzie the Bear worked. Walter fainted again because Fozzie had started another band called the Moopets. When they were done singing their song, no one clapped. Except for Kermit, Walter, Gary, and Mary. On Fozzie's break, Kermit went to him and said "Fozzie!". Fozzie wasn't looked and said "Kermit!" They started talking and the rest of Fozzie's band came to talk to them, so Fozzie let's talk more privately. When they went to his dressing room, it was outside, and it started to rain. Fozzie said "get the cushions!" The got Fozzie back and then they went to Gonzo. Gonzo owned Gonzo's Plumbing. Gonzo gave them 30 seconds to talk to him and Fozzie kept interrupting Kermit and saying to Kermit "don't forget about the man who is doing the oil". And when the 30 seconds were up Kermit said "we are trying to get the band back together to save the studio. Would you like to be part of it?" Gonzo said "no - that is my final answer". Walter says "I was one of your biggest fans, I loved how you shot yourself out of the cannon".

To be continued..........(she has to go to bed - it took her too long)

Black Friday

2011-11-25T20:46:00.000-05:00

This year, I did not go shopping early in the morning like I usually do. Mat and I were able to find just about everything we needed on line, and the little odds and ends can be gotten any time.

Instead, this morning we got up and hit Amazon's lightening deals and online specials. We had muffins and pumpkin bread for breakfast. Finley has found a new love for Curious George games on the computer and is learning to use the mouse.

She can work the computer quite well - she is slow and careful, but she is getting the hang of it.

We did do a little shopping today, but not until late morning. Our wonderful neighbors Ron and Mary babysat Scooby for us so that we could do a few shopping errands and go to a movie with the kids. We saw the Muppet Movie. We all enjoyed it. The theater was packed, of course, which makes it more fun. Lots of laughter. The movie was quite long for a kids movie, so we headed home after that to pick up Scooby.

A full day. Tomorrow we hope to put out the outside Christmas decorations. Hard to believe the Thanksgiving holiday is half way over already.

Thankful

2011-11-24T22:19:00.000-05:00

Today, like everyday, we remember how thankful we are for everything we have. We have healthy, happiness, a roof over our heads, very little worries, lots of love. Finley still has her sight - a daily thanks we give to God. Our kids want for nothing. Most days are filled with nothing but laughter and fun.

Today we remember those who are not so lucky. We talk to our kids about how lucky we are and how we can (and will) help those who are less fortunate. It is nice for our children to remember that there are children who are not so lucky - a concept they find hard to believe.

Another great year. Another long list of reasons to be thankful. We hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Enjoy the pictures from our last few days.

Arlington is asking for a few puzzles for Christmas, so we broke out a 1000 piece puzzle for her to work on and she had a great time

Mat was able to pull our crab apple tree back into standing position. We hope it survives the winter. Stupid storm knocked it over.

Arlington is babysitting her class pet - Furball - this week. We have to take her picture with him in different places. Here, he is hiding:

Turkey Trot this morning! It was 30 degrees for the race, but we had so many layers on, and walked pretty fast - we were definitely warm enough. We walked for Alternative House - a house for abused women and children. And for our donation we got a race shirt and an apple pie. It was great. There were over 1000 (yes I mean 1000) walkers/runners there this morning.

After the Turkey Trot and watching the parade, Arlington got back to work on her puzzle.

Our Thanksgiving table. We had ham, potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, corn, stuffing, and - of course - Apple pie.

Scooby even got a chance to have some ham for Thanksgiving. He was really excited. Although - it made him really thirsty and he had to go out to be about 55 times after dinner.

Arlington was showing Finley how to play Curious George on the computer. Arlington was really patient with her - showing her how to move the mouse and stayed with Finley for as long as she wanted to play. She is a great big sister.

THE PUZZLE Is FINISHED! She did it. She was so proud.

Pictures tomorrow

2011-11-23T20:42:00.000-05:00

Today was full of errands and nothing fun to take pictures of. I apologize. Tomorrow we are walking a Turkey Trot 5K and I will take pictures there.

Today Mat was off from work so we took an advantage of doing some shopping together without the kids. It was nice. We actually did a little Christmas shopping. We don't usually do much before Thanksgiving, but we have many nieces and nephews, so we did get started.

The kids had a half day of school, so this afternoon we played games and played with the dog. It was raining this afternoon, so we couldn't be outside, but we stayed will entertained.

We went out to eat this evening (along with the rest of the world) and finished our Thanksgiving day grocery shopping (along with the rest of the world). Tonight we are watching "Bad Teacher" (just Mat and I) and it is....okay. Not great.

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We will be at the Turkey trot early in the morning and then back to watch the parade. In the afternoon we will probably start to pull out the Christmas decorations. Looking forward to a fun day.

Puppy School without the puppy

2011-11-22T21:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the first class of puppy school. I signed Scooby (and myself) up for Puppy Kindergarten because I know he needs it. And I need it because I already have three children. And a husband. I don't need a crazy animal to add to our circus.

Yesterday we got a call remind us about puppy school but to please not bring the puppy. Say what? No - the first class was only for owners. I thought it was weird, but once I was there, it made sense. The class last an hour and tonight we talked about all the things we were going to work on and we need to make a list of habits we want to se go bye-bye. (I could name about 100. All involving chewing).

So next Tuesday - Scooby and I will go to class with 3 other dogs - a baby lab, a baby poodle, a baby boxer. Should be interesting. We are the only mutt. Goody.

Speaking of Scooby - he is getting big. He is 3 months old now. We are still working on some basic commands. He has sit, really well. And when we are inside, he comes when we call him. Outside - he comes to us......eventually. But he doesn't wander far. He can sit on the porch, unleashed, for hours and just watch the world go by. He likes to be near us. He has decreased the demand barking for attention he thought was a good idea. A couple times of ignoring him, he got the idea. He is learning to stay. He needs a hair cut already - I can barely see his eyes. His favorite game is rolling in the leaves. He is a great dog. But he is still a puppy and he likes to chew on everything. This class will be just what we need. And the best part? You can keep going with class after class until you get the end result you are looking for. I am all for that.

Oh Finley

2011-11-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

First of all - let's talk about what she is wearing in this picture.

I was out running errands, and I come home to find that Mat had let Finley dress herself. Doesn't she look pretty? She is wearing all of her favorites. A purple skirt. Her orange sparkly shirt. Skeleton socks. And her white shoes that are a 1/2 size too small but she refuses to let me give them away.

These pictures just tell it all about Finley's personality. She stands up for what she wants every.single.time. Just because her favorites don't match each other in the slightest, she is still going to wear them all at once because SHE WANTS TO.

This personality is going to serve her well some day. She isn't going to let people push her around. But for now? At 5 years old and this head strong? She has Mat and I realing. We have a lot of trouble finding things to "threaten" her with to make her behave. Nothing seems to phase her - at least that is the show she puts on.

Tonight at Piano lessons she decided she wasn't really in the mood. The piano teacher was sweet and told me we are going to "have lessons like this", but I just sighed heavy because again - this is Finley. I talked to her the whole way to the lesson about how she was going to try her best and she would get two chapters read to her in her book tonight instead of one. "yes yes" she said. But we get there, and she is a mess. Because she decided before she got in the door that tonight was not going to be the night she wanted to do her piano lesson.

Big.sigh.

Arlington was so easy. She still is in a lot of ways. At least when it comes to discipline. Arlington wants to please. She gets pleasure out of following the rules. And Cainan - well, we all know our little old man at heart is a rule follower. So to have this "free spirit" (especially when Mat and I are both first borns and not like her at.all.) is a challenge beyond anything I have ever experienced.

Thank goodness she is cute.

Disclaimer - yes - a few pictures above are pictures of Finley on the treadmill. She is going about .00000001 miles an hour - she wanted to try it out. She was on there about 10 seconds. No we do not make our children walk the treadmill. Although........ just kidding.

Christmas Photoshoot 2011

2011-11-20T20:31:00.001-05:00

We are a little early on Christmas pictures this year, but today's weather was so beautiful, we had to take advantage for our outdoor shots. For the last 3 years, we have found a wooded spot and taken the kid's pictures for Christmas. While I missed the covered bridge from the forest near Salem, we have a great trail right around the corner from our house that worked just as well.

As always, we took about 300 photos and the ones I am posting here are still not up to my standards. It is not the kid's fault. Okay - it is not Arlington and Cainan's fault (Finley never cooperates). My camera is at least 6 years old and has taken over 50,000 photos. It is begging for retirement. The setting and the flash just don't work as well as they used to, and there for, the photos don't come out as well.

Anyway - here are the final products. I should have posted all the "bloopers" so you could see my pain (Finley) and suffering (Finley) to get even these. We aren't sure which we will use in the final round, and they will still have to messed with a bit to fix the lighting, but here you go. Enjoy!

Date night

2011-11-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Mat and I had a babysitter, and we went out for a belated anniversary. We went to see the Twilight movie Breaking Dawn (I know - don't make fun. I drug him there) and then to eat at PF Changs. It is nice to get out once and awhile without the kids. We had a great time and now are relaxing for the evening.

I am keeping this post short tonight because I am tired. We got up early due to the dog wanting out, and me not being able to fall back asleep. This morning was fall clean up in our neighborhood, and then we went out.

I did receive word from my mom that yesterdays' Finley's Fighters Casino trip made over $2100 for our RDH12 Fund for Sight. Thank you to Nancy Shultz for organizing this trip and helping move our fund a little closer to our goal. And thank you to everyone who went. We hope you had a great time. If you enjoyed the trip, or you didn't have a chance to go, we will be having another trip in the spring, so stay tuned!

RDH12 Newsletter

2011-11-18T20:26:00.001-05:00

Without further ado - here is our first foundation newsletter! We had a good time putting it together. We are doing a mail version and email version as well - but for all of my blog readers, we wanted you to have a look as well. We were able to include 10 of our 12 families in this newsletter. Yes - since we first made the newsletter, two more RDH12 families have joined our ranks. We look forward to introducing them to you soon. I can tell you this - both are over the age of 15, and BOTH STILL HAVE THEIR SIGHT!! Very exciting.

I hope you enjoy the newsletter and learn more about our families. And Mat says if you click on each page, you might be able to make them larger, depending on your computer. You can also download it as well. Please share with all of your family and friends. Help us spread the word, to get the cure, to end blindness.

No.......I don't sleep much

2011-11-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned before, we are participating in our local town Holiday Bazaar. We are selling our home made hot chocolate, the beaded bracelets you have seen on here, and these you see below.

These are just a sampling of the words, and background styles, but Mat is still working on how I can post the newsletter on the blog, so tonight - you get to see my projects.

They were fun to make. Something different, and interesting (at least in my opinion). Braille awareness has always been a driving force for us, and it is fun to find ways to get braille out there.

So - here they are! We will be adding the sayings "live, laugh, love" and "friends" as well. If you think there are any other words we should use - leave me a comment, or email me! We love to hear your thoughts.

Blah

2011-11-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

Well - it was bound to happen sometime. With all the kids being sick and me running myself into the ground, if finally caught up with me. Let's hope this cold goes away quickly.

Due to the fact that I am not feeling 100%, I am going to use this blog post to post some more bracelets I have made. Many are things that other people have chosen - so you could take a look at some more choices. Thank you for all who have ordered! We have sold so many - it has been great.

Tomorrow I am hoping to post the newsletter on here if I can figure out how. I am also having hard copies printed and will be sending out email copies as well, so stay tuned!

Perspective

2011-11-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

Today, I don't have much to say. Many things are happening around here, and none really worth blogging about. I have been working hard on the bracelets (thanks to all of you who have ordered so far!) and the braille pictures in frames for the holiday bazaar. I have had a Garden Club meeting this morning which was a ton of fun as always. Yesterday I had my monthly breakfast as my friend's house, and we had a great time catching up.

But in between that, things are going on (not personally, but around us) that makes me want to just remind everyone to put things into perspective. There will always been opinions we don't agree with, things that don't go our way, and people that we don't get along with all the time.

But in those times where you are SURE you are in the right, and your way is the only way, I ask you to think of our Finley. I ask you to put yourself in her shoes. The shoes of being 5 years old and going blind and not knowing what is happening to her. To listen to her say she is afraid of the dark. To watch her trip over things that are so obvious to you and I. To walk in a dark room, feeling your way to the door, knowing that for a child who is blind, opening the door will not bring the relief of light.

This is what I do when I start to lose perspective. Where I let petty people and petty things get under my skin and keep me awake at night. I think about what is really important and what I need to focus my energy on. And it is nothing but my family, our foundation, and our strive to stop blindness in our daughter.

That is the bottom line.

Then, I can let the rest go. I can remember that whatever it was that got me "excited" wasn't worth it in the first place. That I think of Finley's sweet face looking at mine and giving me a giggle, and know that is all that matters. That she always sees me when she looks at me.

And the rest just falls away.

Bowling

2011-11-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Finley had a playdate with a new little friend, so she and I were gone in the afternoon. During that time, Mat took Arlington and Cainan bowling to give them something to do in the afternoon. They decided to go duck pin bowling. They had a good time and Mat took some pictures with his phone. Enjoy the pictures!

A hike in the woods

2011-11-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

This morning, Mat and I took the kids for a hike in the woods near our house. We have a trail just down a bit from our housing development and I have been wanting to check it out as a possible place to take Scooby some days.

We had fun, so here are the pictures - enjoy!

Scooby

2011-11-12T19:25:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update on how Scooby is doing. He is 10 weeks old and growing by the day. He is definitely bigger since we brought him home 3 weeks ago. And he is settling in nicely.

We have taught him how to sit. He has very few accidents in the house - they are mostly our fault. Or the rain - doesn't love going out in the rain.

He chews on everything - our hands, our clothes, our shoes, but does seem to recognize the word no and will back away. He seems very smart.

I have had to remove 6 ticks off of him. Stupid woods. He loves to roll around in the leaves and the dirt so it is not surprising.

He is getting fuzzier, but his fur remains wavy. It does seem to be getting in front of his eyes, so we may need to trim it there soon. I will be anxious to see how long it actually does get.

He has discovered Finley's chair and can be found sitting in it. Finley just kind of scoops him out when she is ready to sit down. Today, though, he decided that he would try to win the chair from her and jumped up there while she was sitting in it.

Finley thought it was pretty humorous. Silly doggy.

He follows us around outside, and we do not have to tie him to get him to stay in the yard. I am sure as he gets older and discovers squirrels, and the neighborhood dogs, that will no longer be the case. But for now - he is very eager to stay right next to us outside.

He is proving to be a great family pet. He is a puppy, and comes with all the aggrevations of a puppy, but we find him very easily trainable, and know that as he grows, and the puppy habits disappear, bad habits will not stay around long.

The best thing about him? He.Does.Not.Shed. Not one hair. Not on our clothes, our floors, our furniture.

And he is so soft - like a big teddy bear.

That is our update!

No School today

2011-11-11T18:48:00.000-05:00

Today is Verterans day, as you all know. So that meant no school. The kids played outside today for awhile and played with friends. Finley practices piano and Arlington had tennis lessons. We did some more yard clean up, and I made some more bracelets to complete a few orders.

It was a very productive day.

Arlington and I have just finished the Harry Potter book series. 7 books in all, and it took us just a little over a year to read them all (we had a lot of interruptions and only able to read about 20 pages a night). She really enjoyed the series and we are both sad to see it end. This weekend we are having a movie marathon of all the movies because the 7th movie comes out on video this weekend. It is fun.

This weekend will be full of yard work and playdates, and fun with friends. We will also be doing more work for our RDH12 Fund and getting ready for the upcoming Holiday Bazaar on December 3rd. We will be updating the website as well - hopefully with more pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I wanted to share a picture of two beautiful girls in their braille shirts. Their mom is a dear friend of mine from childhood, and she ordered some shirts for her girls and so I wanted to share it with you.

They look great. Thank you, Beth, for sharing your beautiful girls and their braille shirts!

Basket raffle for the upcoming Finley Fundraiser

2011-11-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

Next Friday, November 18th, is the Casino trip for Finley's Fighters. If you live in the Connellsville/Pittsburgh area, please consider going on this amazing trip. Details are in the flier below. If you can't meet the bus in Connellsville, you would just pay us the $25 each and meet our buses at the entrance to the casino at 6:00. I have already got it OK'd by the casino about people joining us but not arriving on the bus and they said it would be fine. They would walk in with the rest of us where each of us will be given a players card that they load the $15 of slot money and the $5 food coupon on.

And it is light up night in Pittsburgh, which is a special bonus. Please consider coming on this trip.

I wanted you to see the wonderful basket of Colebrook Chocolates that we are going to raffle off. John and Susan Coleman were gracious enough to donate this basket to us for the trip. We are also going to do 50/50 tickets and break apart tickets on the bus ride going down to help wet your gambling appetites. We will have bottled water and chips for you to enjoy on the ride down and Nancy will be making her famous jello shots for everyone to enjoy. It is going to such a fun evening and we hope to make lots, and lots of money for the RDH12 fund. If you are still considering going along with us we do have a few seats left on both buses. We leave at 4:30 from Martins and 4:45 from County Market so let us know.

Here is the basket!

And here is the flier

Hope to see you there!