Upcoming Fundraiser planning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: