Arlington

Today's blog is about my eldest, Arlington.

A few weeks ago, we were notified that she won the month of September's "Responsibility" award at her school.  We were really proud of her.  She got a certificate and a pin, and they announced her award at their monthly school wide meeting last week.

(Arlington getting her certificate and pin from her principal)

Arlington is responsible.  She is a typical first born.  She follows the rules, she doesn't feel comfortable if someone breaks the rules, and she is a pleaser. 

Of course, she is still a kid.  She throws her clothes on the floor, forgets to pick up her towel after her shower, and sometimes needs to be reminded to brush her teeth.  But overall, she is a very responsible kid.

We have never really had to worry about Arlington.  We usually only have to tell her something once, and she takes it to heart.  She takes her role in our family very seriously, and I know I can count on her to help me out when needed.

Arlington also came home a few weeks ago with the news that she received a 100% on her state exam in reading and math.  We were blown away by this.  She definitely takes after her father.

(I would have put her in a cuter outfit for the ceremony, but alas, it was gym day.  Check the pockets sticking out of her pants.  Sigh)

We are very proud of our girl.  With everything that goes on with Finley, and even with Cainan, she takes it in stride.  She cannot always be the center of our attention, and she is okay with that.  She never shows jealously about the attention Finley gets, and truly cares about her well being.

We are lucky to have Arlington.

Blog hiatus for a few days

My parents are in visiting for a few days, so I am going to take a break from blogging for a few days.  Mostly because the mother figure talks my ear off, so I can't concentrate long enough to type a long blog post.  I am just kidding.  Sort of.

See you Sunday!

White Cane Safety Day

Yesterday, October 15, 2012 was White Cane Safety Day.

 It is also the day, last year, that the President proclaimed Oct. 15, as Blind Americans Equality Day, and also signed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act.

 Just one of the reasons I love President Obama.  (Yes I am a democrat.  Shocking)

 Finley named her cane Rainbow.  But she told me yesterday she thinks she might want to rename it.

 She uses it for minimal travel right now.  Thankfully she can get around still pretty good without it.  But if she is going somewhere alone in the school (which right now is just to the bathroom and back) she takes her cane.  And she is doing pretty well with it.

 (Finley has two keychains on her cane right now that she earned!)

At home we take it when we go to Target or out to the mall.  We are still working on getting her to use it and not want to give up and hold our hand instead.  It is a work in progress, and we don't push.  A friend of mine (who has a vision impaired son) just gave me some ideas for some fun games we can play while we are out that might encourage her to use it a bit more.

(The end of Finley's cane is pink instead of the typical red.  We had to have SOME fun)

The idea is for it to become an extension of her.  That she will feel odd without it.  That when we are out and she wants her independence she will say "give me my cane I want to walk by myself".  We are getting there.

(Finley has a folding cane, which is so nice for putting in her backpack or my purse)

We want her to be safe.  I don't want her to learn the hard way someday.  The cane will warn her when a hazard is coming, and I think once she realizes that, she won't want to be without it.

Making Meals Monday

This week, we are having company (my parents) so I am making some breakfast and desserts as well.  I am going to put them all here.  I am still only making 3 meals this week (hey, we have to eat out sometime.  And hotdog night is a favorite for the kids)

So here is what we are eating this week.  Thank you Pinterest:

Chicken Roll Ups

• 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 pkg crescent rolls (6 ct) (note, you can also use TWO packages of regular sized crescents)
• 2 shredded, cooked chicken breasts
• 1.5 C grated chedder cheese
• 1 C grated Monterey Jack
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• bread crumbs
• 1/4 stick melted butter

Combine chicken, cheeses, salt and pepper. Spoon onto crescents. Roll them up making sure they are sealed around the chicken mixture. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. To reheat, just place in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.

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Easy & Healthy Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

4 tsp olive oil
1 1/4 pounds med shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup + 1 T minced parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 lemon wedges

Preparation

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the shrimp until just pink, about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon transfer the shrimp to a platter and keep them warm.
In the skillet, combine the broth, wine, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the parsley, the salt and pepper; and bring it to a boil. Boil uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by half.
Spoon the sauce over the shrimp. Serve garnished with the lemon wedges and sprinkled with the remaining tablespoon of parsley.
Makes 4 servings

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 Pork Loins, Apples, Honey and Cinnamon in the Crockpot

Ingredients:
Pork Loin, 2.5-3 lbs.
Red Delicious Apples, 3 sliced
Honey, approx 4 T
Cinnamon, 2 T
Process:
Lay the apple slices (from two of the apples) in the bottom of the crockpot.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Cut slits in the pork loin (approx 1/2″-3/4″).
Drizzle some honey into the slits.
Then place apple slices into the slits.

Place the pork loin into the crockpot.
Drizzle the top with the remainder of the honey.
Place the rest of the apples on top.

Then sprinkle the whole thing with cinnamon.

Cook on low for 7 hours.
Note: For more flavor, you may poke holes in the pork. Then place the pork loin in a bag with honey and cinnamon and marinate it overnight.

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Mini Apple Pies

I got this recipe from Pinterest, but it was linked to a blog names "Little Bit Funky", so I copied it here so you could see how it should look!

This recipe makes 24 mini pies but you could easily halve it to make 12.

 Start by cutting up eight cups of apples into small 1/2in bits.

Mix the apples with:
12 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2c of sugar
4 heaping teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (depending on how much you like nutmeg...you could also leave it out)

You will also need:
4 tablespoons of chilled butter cut into 24 equal portions. 
two boxes of pilsbury pie crusts (four chilled NOT frozen crusts)

 Make sure you stir everything around getting the apples nice and coated.

Unroll your first pie crust and cut several circles out.   Continue this until you have enough crusts.

I found that a wide mouth mason jar ring worked perfectly.

Line each cup of your muffin tin with a tiny pie crust.
I found that pinching the edge of the dough around the top edge of the tin and making a hammock of sorts worked really well.  You can then gently fill the crusts with your apple mixture and push the crusts down the rest of the way.

 You should be able to fill until slightly mounded.

 Then take your equally divided butter...

 and put a dab on each pie.

 Cover as desired with left over dough.  Brush with melted butter and bake at 400 for 18 to 22 minutes.  I started checking in on mine at 10 minutes and checked every two until they were perfect.

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Smores Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

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Baked Gingerbread Mini Donuts

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour (I used white whole wheat)
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• pinch of allspice
• pinch of cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup brown sugar, divided
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons milk, divided
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients, using ¼ cup brown sugar and setting the rest aside.
2. Whisk in moist ingredients, using 1 tablespoon milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter.
3. Pour batter into a gallon-sized plastic bag and cut the corner off. Pipe the batter into a greased mini-donut pan, filling each donut space about ½ full (for me, this was about 22 mini donuts). Bake for about 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and take each donut out of the pan.
4. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with ¼ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and bring back to a boil. Add powdered sugar, using the last tablespoon of milk to help thin out the frosting if needed. Keep over low heat (otherwise it will start to crystallize) and dunk each mini donut into the frosting. Frosting should set almost immediately.

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Overnight French Toast
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
10 slices of thick-cut french bread
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, measured then chopped
maple syrup and/or powdered sugar for topping (optional)
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish, overlapping if necessary.
Combine eggs, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.
Sprinkle chopped pecans over bread slices.
Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
In the morning, take the baking dish out of the refrigerator and let sit on the counter for at least 10 minutes – while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. If the top starts browning too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the pan for the last 10 minutes or so.
You want it to cook long enough to make sure the bottom part is cooked, but don’t dry it out completely.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Serve with maple syrup and/or powdered sugar, if desired.

Finley reading braille

Tonight I will share some of Finley's homework. She didn't want me to video tape her.  She hates being on camera, being in the spotlight.  But I told her she could take some videos of her own when we were done, and that won her over.

Finley has nightly braille homework on top of her other work.  Granted (and thank goodness) 1st grade homework is very light.  But her braille homework is not.  As her TVI has said, "this is the year of braille" and she is determined to get Finley proficient.  And I have to say that she is doing a really great job.

So, with that kind of intense learning comes homework.  We did her weekend homework this afternoon when she was fresh.  She did a great job, but she got a little goofy on the first video.  She has a song stuck in her head, so you will see her be bopping around.  I think it is kind of amazing that she can sing like that and still do what she needs to do.

The first video, she has a page of braille.  There are tons of words on the page, but she only has to find the words that end in the letter "d".  "D" has been her nemesis.  It is very similar to another braille letter, and just like you can have reversal issues in print (such as b and d), you can have the same problem in braille (in this case d and h).  Her braille teacher has halted basically everything else in the last few weeks to work out this problem so that they can move on with trickier stuff, and it has paid off.  Finley hasn't made a mistake in over a week, and you can see how proud she is.

Oh, and the paper I am using to block her in the video?  It is called her "Finley's No Peaking"  because she still has quite a bit of sight, she could easily cheat, so we have to cover what she is working on.

Video one:  Find the "D"s:

Okay - do you see what she is doing with her hands?  So - she reads the braille with her right hand, and her left hand is the guide.  Kind of helps her stay in line.  When she gets to the end of the line, she slides both hands back across the SAME line, and then lowers to the next line.  That way she doesn't loose her place.  As she gets older and proficient in braille, this last part will change and only the left hand will go to the next line.

This next one is of Finley reading her spelling words.  Each week Finley is assigned spelling words in print and in braille.  Their homework is Wednesday through Tuesday, so that is why we have spelling words to work on over the weekend.  As we get closer to the end of the list, those are the words she just put her hands on today, so she has a bit more trouble.  She knows all the letters, but it is harder when they are close together and have to form words.

Here is the spelling:

I hope you enjoyed the videos!

World Sight Day

Today is World Sight Day

Please take just 1 minute & close your eyes. Experience darkness during the daytime when you are wide awake going about your business. Be blind for 1 minute. Recognize that some people can only see lights or shadows or have limited fields of vision. There are many types of sight; but none compares to healthy vision & having full sight. Today, celebrate your sight. It is a wonderful amazing thing.

Blindness awareness month and Finley

Today's topics - What Finley's retinas look like and why does she wear glasses

When Finley was diagnosed, the way we first found out something was wrong was a picture the eye doctor had taken of her retinas.  The retina is the back part of the eye that receives all the information to tell your brain to see.  Light bounces off the retina, and that gives you sight.  Wala. 

It is obviously more complicated, but this is what you are getting from me.

So - here is a picture for reference.  When the doctor's look at Finley's retina, they see the picture on the right.

 

The retinal should be pink and happy.  Finley's is gray, black in spots, and complicated.

What the doctor's look for each appointment is if the black areas are getting larger - the black spots that is.  If they are increasing in size which means more of her retina has died off.

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Finley does wear glasses.  You will see them in (most) of the pictures we take of her.  What some people don't know is that the glasses don't actually correct her vision.  There is just plain old glass where prescription lenses would be.  We have had several doctors try prescription lenses on her, and they don't do anything for her, or actually make her vision worse.  But the doctors wanted her to have her eyes protected and also her remaining vision protected, so we ended up with the glasses she wears today.

Part of the LCA diagnosis is eye pressing.  The kids will press on their eyes, or rub their eyes.  Some doctors think it is the kids trying to clear their vision, but really, there isn't much research on it.  We know of kids who press almost constantly, and they have no vision, so who knows.  When Finley was a baby, she rubbed her eyes quite often.  We thought she had allergies - it was pretty noticeable.  Now we know why she did it.  She will still do it from time to time - especially if she has her glasses off.

So the doctor said that glasses would help stop the eye pressing -she would reach for her eyes, glasses would be there, and down goes her hand.  And it does work! 

The other thing is - her type of LCA causes cell death from light.  All kinds of light - natural and unnatural light.  So there is a tint on her glasses for that reason.  She wears the glasses at all times while she is indoors, or low light situations outdoors.  During day time, she wears dark sunglasses outdoors - even in the winter.  We even have a special pair she wears when she plays in the snow for snow glare.

We hope with these protections, we are slowing down the death of the cells in her retinas and preserving her vision for gene therapy.  The more live cells she has when treatment time comes, the more of her vision she will retain.  

We can't express enough how important it is to protect your eyes.  EVERYONE's eyes.  When you are gardening, or doing any kind of yard work, when you are outside, driving, etc.  These are the windows to the world.  Protect them.