New Years Coming and Going

Happy 2009! I hope you all had a terrific and safe New Year. I spent the night celebrating with my patients at the hospital...most of whom had no idea that the New Year had even come upon them. Instead of the usual homeschool/life snippet today, I thought I would recap the year at our lovely home.

Last January, we hired a dog trainer for our new dog named Pete. Pete was a rescue from Boxer Angel Rescue and came to us with some issues. Jeff from Solid K9 training (http://www.solidk9training.com/) continues to work with us and helped us understand

Pete's behavior.

I was busy with the church visioning weekend where we determined our vision and mission statements for our church (http://www.westminsteruu.org/). It was a great experience in planning and the event took the whole weekend. Thankfully, I had my fellow church member and friend Maureen to help. Our Small Group Ministry program was in full swing and going well and my group of six women continued to support and uplift me.

Larry continued to act as treasurer for the RI Chapter of the Tourette Syndrome Association and Patrick attended many meetings with other kids who had Tourette's.

The kids all continued with their Sign Language classes at Exeter Library on Thursdays.

March brought more changes for us. Our dog Pete went to spend 3 weeks with the trainer, Larry decided that he needed a new hearing dog after all of these years without one and we traveled to Princeton, Mass to NEADS (http://www.neads.org/) to have his initial interview. Larry was also evaluated by Dr. Duff to see if he would qualify for a Cochlear Implant. Many hearing tests and physical exams followed this appointment before they would schedule the surgery. It had been difficult for Larry as his hearing continued to deteriorate at a rapid rate.

March is the time when Larry's bonus comes in and I ordered all of the kids curriculum for homeschool for the coming year. Whew-that was cumbersome. And for the first time, I involved the kids in what they wanted to study besides the normal subjects. It has been a huge turning point for me to let the kids take charge of their own learning.

May brought the return of our DRE Renee at church, she has been traveling and homeschooling for the year with her two girls. They shared their video slides with us from across the country and we marveled at the hospitality that other UU churches showed them.

Our new above ground pool was installed and it wasn't long before the kids were swimming in the chilly 58 degree water.

I also started my own homeschool group called The Meetinghouse. We started meeting once a week in our empty in law apartment. The group has now grown to over 30 and we've made some remarkable friends. I also ordered some baby chicks in our efforts to become more self sustaining. It would be several weeks before they arrived but in the meantime, Larry tilled me a new huge garden and put up a fence to protect it from the deer. We also purchased two rainbarrels to help water the garden and Larry was busy working with the kids on the chicken coop that was converted from part of our existing barn.

The kids finished up the school year at the end of May and I submitted report cards to the school and filed our letter of intent to homeschool next year. The new superintendent was apparently not aware of homeschooling laws and denied almost every homeschooler their "permission" to homeschool. Many months of negotiations took place until an understanding (in the homeschoolers favor) was reached. All of us were eventually approved.

June found us planting our garden and spending many hours out there with the kids. We planted bottle neck gourds, pumpkins, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, eggplant, broccoli, and tons of sunflowers.

Roger Williams Zoo also opened their Flutterby exhibit and the kids and I made several trips there. It was a calming, relaxing place with the most beautiful butterflys.

In July, our eight baby chicks arrived by mail. The kids were so excited and spent the next few weeks taking care of chicks.

Morgan also got two Guinea Pigs for her ninth birthday. It was a momma and a baby named Hazelnut and Oreo.

Larry went in for his Cochlear Implant surgery. He did well but it was a nerve wracking time for me. It would be six long weeks before the implant was activated and whether we would know if the surgery was a success. He was plagued by tinnitus for the entire six weeks while he waited.

The kids had a great time yucking it up with Larry and the phrase, "Can You Hear Me Now" was heard often.

The kids swim lessons continued in August and we made full use of our pool. I celebrated my 40th birthday by getting Lyme disease. The tick that bit me also gave me Erlichiosis and Babesiosis. It was a difficult summer but my church helped us out tremendously by supplying meals when I was unable to cook and visiting when I was feeling down. Larry took much time off from work to help care for the kids and for me.

Morgan started Soccer in September and had games every Saturday. The kids started back to their schoolwork around the second week of September but since the weather was still so warm we spent a few last dips in the pool.

Larry and I were busy finalizing fundraising efforts for his hearing dog named Stewie. We managed to raise the full amount needed for his hearing dog and decided to go ahead with the planned fundraiser and donate the money raised to the Canines For Combat Vets program thru NEADS. There was much to be done for the fundraiser and my long time friend and fellow adoptive mother Lori B., helped tremendously with planning.

Larry also had his Cochlear Implant activated and it was a huge success in bringing new sounds to him that he never experienced before. Things like dripping water faucets and squeaking sneakers on wet floors were all new to him.

Larry's mom also went in for knee replacement surgery and stayed at a rehab facility for a few weeks getting her strength back.

October was very busy. Our fundraiser went well and we raised several thousand dollars toward the Combat Vets program.

Larry's brother Kevin and his Jazz band provided the entertainment for the fundraiser. Larry's niece Sofia sang and Gabriella played the drums.

Kevin plays an awesome sax.

Lori helped me with the auction table and did an outstanding job of promoting the items.
I was also able to attend the UUA conference in Worcester, Mass with several other church members. It was a wonderful day of faith and fellowship.

Our chickens finally started laying some eggs. They were delicious. The eggs-not the chickens.

Sadly, on October 12th, Larry's mom passed away. It was a difficult time but the family, as always, pulled together.

The last week of October Larry traveled to Princeton, Mass for a weeks training with his new Hearing dog named Stewie. He was gone for the whole week which was really difficult but came home on Halloween in enough time to see the kids in their costumes.

November brought with it some colder weather. I harvested the last of my gourds for drying over the winter. Morgan finished outdoor soccer and started competitive indoor soccer after making it through tryouts.

I gave my first sermon on Organ Donation at our church and did an info table after the service.

I completed my RN credentialing and CPR renewal for work and the kids took some time off from school for Thanksgiving.

I returned to my doctors office as my Lyme disease entered the chronic phase and I was plagued with new and also returning symptoms. Lots of repeat bloodwork didn't show much but my body was not happy.

December brought the joy of the season as I spent lots of time with the kids. Our homeschool group made lots of Christmas ornaments, had a great cookie swap and the mom's got a nice night out at Clayground where we painted ceramics and we celebrated a wonderful Christmas pageant and Christmas Eve Candlelight service with the kids at church.

Larry's Dad came to spend some time with us and we so enjoyed having him here.

I was finally able to see an Infectious Disease Doctor and restarted another course of antibiotics for the Lyme disease. We are contemplating IV therapy to hopefully eradicate this nastiness and get me healthy again.

Larry took some much needed vacation time away from work but managed to get a lot of house repairs done. Our bedroom is now painted (we only stripped the wallpaper off last February so completing this within a year-well not so bad for us).

New Year's Eve we were hit with another snow storm and the kids are happily playing outside in 12 degree weather.

Overall, it was a difficult year but also one that brought many blessings of family, friends, fresh chicken eggs and an abundant garden, healthy, happy, thriving kids, friends, hearing dogs and new hearing, outpouring of support for our fundraiser and a renewed hope with the election of President Obama. We are focusing on the positive aspects of our lives as much as possible and this year for us was all about developing the community of love and sustenance around us. It has all happened, perhaps not in the way we envisioned, but it did happen.

Financially, we continue to struggle as do many others in these hard times. But our home and family provide the haven and respite that is so needed in times of struggle. We continue to provide the best example we can for our children and for ourselves because ultimately, the rest will work itself out. We hope that all of you continue to look for the everyday gifts that are present in your lives despite the trials and turmoils that may come.

Blessings to all for a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year.

Bev

DuraSoft 3 Litetint

Give Till It Hurts

We've been working really hard at fundraising. It's something that I love doing. Some people hate fundraising and feel it's begging for money. I guess in a sense it is. I think I missed my calling.

I got started years ago after the adoption of my second child. I took over the parents adoption group with not a clue what I was doing. We had no budget, no resources and no way for adoptive families to come together.I spent 3 wonderful years running this group and we managed to raise funds to support our activities, started a mentor program for new parents and those that arrived home with babies, began an adoption subsidy to help those who financially could not affort the cost of adoption and brought all of our families together at pumpking picking events, picnics, International Festivals and general outtings. I love bringing families together or helping people make connections. I guess that's why I love my homeschool group. Today, we had 3 fairly new people attend who discovered they all lived just minutes from each other. One was a mom who was homeschooling her 4 children for the first time and was really feeling like she needed to connect with others.

People don't fundraise because it's fun. Usually what happens is something in your life draws you to a particular cause. For us, it's been many different things throughout the years. This past year we got slapped in the face again when my husband started to lose more hearing. He has been profoundly deaf since age 2 but once again his hearing started to deteriorate. In August he went to have a Cochlear Implant placed. Activation of the implant is next week on the 10th. We have high hopes for him. But the other thing that will help him is his new Hearing dog. This will be his third hearing dog. We have no idea when the dog will arrive. NEADS, the program we are working with and have always worked with will let us know when they've found a perfect match. We are so excited, Larry's two other hearing dogs did so well and were truly a part of our family. They were an extension of Larry.

When we decided that another hearing dog was a good choice, we contacted NEADS. What we found out was that the price to train a dog was about $20,000. NEADS wants you to take a proactive approach in raising at least $10,000. The rest of the fee comes from donations and sponsorship through their many donors. $10,000 is a lot of money to us but I had no doubt we would be ok. I started with a website to fundraise, put out a call to my church, and everyone I know. In a few short months we had our 10 grand. But then something incredible happened. People still wanted to help. We received another $5000 donation and began our fundraising for Canines for Combat Vets-another of NEADS programs that matches service dogs with our injured vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the midst of this we decided to do a full fundraiser for them. Hall, band, silent auction-the whole bit. People started donating things for our silent auction. Good things like a weekend in New Hampshire, and artwork and tutoring and dog training and quilts and hand woven baskets and so many incredible things. And they bought tickets to come and support us and our cause. Friends volunteered to help at the event and help organize.

It has been a great testament to Larry and I. So many that are willing to help and "pay it forward" as we've always tried to do. Growing up on a farm, it's how I was brought up. Someone got sick and couldn't milk the cows-no problem- a neighbor came to help. They were canning vegetables from the garden and needed a hand-our whole family went to help and then we shared a meal that everyone contributed to.

I miss those times when people did things because there was a need not because they expected something in return. But this whole process has made my heart full and renews my hope that there still are really good people out there.

The dog above is our beautiful Boxer named Pete. Pete was a rescue and had some issues when we got him. We found Jeff from Solid K9 Training thru the referral of a friend. He helped us with Pete and still stops by occasionally to check on him. Jeff loves what he does and it shows by the number of hours he puts in everyday. It shows by the poop bags he donates. It shows by the number of dogs he rescues and trains from shelters for free, it shows when he returns phone calls immediately and how he'll barter for payment and it shows how he gets his whole family involved in training. Jeff did alot of work with us, and continues to do so. He's donating a basic training package to our fundraiser and will attend the event.

His wife Linda and their girls come to my homeschool group here everyweek. I helped her through her first tentative steps in homeschooling. I hope I did anyway.

It's all these things that we've missed so much of, that families seem to have lost. It's paying it forward and being kind and just lending a helping hand when people need it. For that, I am forever grateful. I hope we can continue in finding good causes. I don't ever think of the old fundraising addage, Give Till It hurts, I much prefer, "Give till it Helps."

For that I am forever grateful.

A day in the life

I'm finally here. Blogging has been on my to do list for many months. Something always came first. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and Ehrlichiosis (another tick illness) and it knocked me flat on my back for several weeks. I am finally on the mend but my garden has taken a toll. My wonderful husband did the best he could for several weeks in caring for both me and the kids.

My poor garden, it hasn't been watered and the tomatoes are just falling off the vine because they are so dry. We planted "lemon cucumbers" this year and I really wouldn't recommend planting them to anyone. Very seedy with only a mild cuke flavor. Even the guinea pigs didn't like them but the chickens went crazy. Guess who got all the cukes this year? On a brighter note, we have several pumpkins and bottle neck gourds that are thriving.

Chickens-that's our other new endevour this year. After viewing a video on http://www.chickenindustry.com/ we knew we had to do something. It's a graphic video and not one that kids should view so be warned. But it is important for anyone passionate about animal rights. On July 14th 8 baby chicks arrived. One has since died but the others are thriving. We have 2 Easter Eggers (blue and green eggs-can't wait!), 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 2 Buff Orpingtons and one White Silkie. We should have some eggs in the late fall-we hope. We haven't been able to come to terms with raising meat chickens yet (ok the killing of them for meat) so for now we will buy local free range chicken from a neighbor for meat. We built a huge coop for them which was a lot of fun.

The rest of my time today was spent organizing a fundraiser that will take place on October 4th. We are sponsoring a service dog for a local organization. We recently raised enough funding for my husband to obtain his 3 rd hearing dog and response was so overwhelming with extra $$ that we decided to do something for our injured combat vets. Jazz band, dinner, should be a fabulous night that I'm looking forward to.