Well, we left 3 hours after my goal time, but we have finally arrived in St. George. C wasn't too happy about leaving his siblings at their sitter's house. He wanted to stay with his uncle. But we bribed him with a Nintendo DS.
He played for 3 hours. The last hour and half was spent watching a Loony Toons movie on Dad's mp3 player. I had buried the headphones in the back of the suburban so C was only able to watch the movie; but, do you really need to hear Bugs Bunny?
DH and I (and S, our nanny) listened to the "The Westing Game." We had downloaded some audio ebooks from the library last night. We have "The Rescuers", "Swiss Family Robinson", and "Robin Hood."
S also got to play Mario Kart with C.:)
Tonight, we are visiting with a college roommate of mine. I haven't seen her in years. I won't say how many years ago, that we were roommates.:)
Tomorrow, we are leaving, bright and early for OCEANSIDE, CA.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
A Word on Privacy...
My sister, who has been a puppy raiser for CCI, was asking me if she could share this website with her CCI friends.
I don't mind at all if anyone wants to share this blog. Since, I did not make the blog private, I knew that people I didn't know might visit the blog. In fact, I hope that people will share the blog. I would just ask that if you know my family personally, please use the initials of our names. Also, please refrain from posting any personal information, i.e. birthdates, address, etc.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.:)
I don't mind at all if anyone wants to share this blog. Since, I did not make the blog private, I knew that people I didn't know might visit the blog. In fact, I hope that people will share the blog. I would just ask that if you know my family personally, please use the initials of our names. Also, please refrain from posting any personal information, i.e. birthdates, address, etc.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.:)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
C's Dog
In April 2009, I started the process of applying for a skilled companion service dog for C from Canine Companions for Independence.
We had to go through several steps but we are finally on the home stretch. For the first two weeks of August, dh, C, and I are going to Oceanside, CA to be trained for C’s dog. And hopefully, at the end of the two weeks, C will graduate with a companion dog.
There were seven steps for us in applying for a dog. First, I had to fill out an online form. Second, they sent me a 14 page application. It took me 3 months to fill this out. DH and I wanted to make sure that we felt comfortable in getting a dog for C. Part of this form had pictures of C and our house and yard. The next step was a telephone interview with someone from CCI and dh and I. That interview lasted about 1 hour.
The 4th step was the medical/professional form. We had C’s pediatrician fill out this form. This happened in Sept or Oct of last year.
Fifth was the personal interview. We had to fly to CA for this part of the process. C hates flying. We almost missed our flight home because he kept saying he needed to go potty. J CCI only does the interviews 4 times a year. We could have done this in December, but K had a ice skating show the same day, so we had to wait until April. We found a babysitter for the other 4 kids and just dh, C and I flew to CA.
The personal interview lasted about 6 hours. They did a mini-class the first few hours. We also had a chance to practice with “carpet dog” and a real dog in giving commands. There were about six trainers in the room watching us work with the dog.
After lunch, we had a tour of the facilities and our personal interviews with a couple of trainers. The interview lasted about an hour.
The 6th step was being put on the waiting list for a service dog. I thought we’d be waiting close to a year (although, I never asked how long the list was)—but we got a phone call the beginning of June for team training in August.
I’m so excited and nervous for training next week. Both dh and I will be trained and certified as facilitators of the dog. But the dog will be C’s. And, even though we go to team training, that is not a guarantee that C will for sure get a dog. Although, I am not too worried about us not making it. I’m more concerned about not passing the public certification.
C doesn’t really understand that he is getting a dog. He did have a lot of fun at CCI playing with all the dogs there in April.
We had to go through several steps but we are finally on the home stretch. For the first two weeks of August, dh, C, and I are going to Oceanside, CA to be trained for C’s dog. And hopefully, at the end of the two weeks, C will graduate with a companion dog.
There were seven steps for us in applying for a dog. First, I had to fill out an online form. Second, they sent me a 14 page application. It took me 3 months to fill this out. DH and I wanted to make sure that we felt comfortable in getting a dog for C. Part of this form had pictures of C and our house and yard. The next step was a telephone interview with someone from CCI and dh and I. That interview lasted about 1 hour.
The 4th step was the medical/professional form. We had C’s pediatrician fill out this form. This happened in Sept or Oct of last year.
Fifth was the personal interview. We had to fly to CA for this part of the process. C hates flying. We almost missed our flight home because he kept saying he needed to go potty. J CCI only does the interviews 4 times a year. We could have done this in December, but K had a ice skating show the same day, so we had to wait until April. We found a babysitter for the other 4 kids and just dh, C and I flew to CA.
The personal interview lasted about 6 hours. They did a mini-class the first few hours. We also had a chance to practice with “carpet dog” and a real dog in giving commands. There were about six trainers in the room watching us work with the dog.
After lunch, we had a tour of the facilities and our personal interviews with a couple of trainers. The interview lasted about an hour.
The 6th step was being put on the waiting list for a service dog. I thought we’d be waiting close to a year (although, I never asked how long the list was)—but we got a phone call the beginning of June for team training in August.
I’m so excited and nervous for training next week. Both dh and I will be trained and certified as facilitators of the dog. But the dog will be C’s. And, even though we go to team training, that is not a guarantee that C will for sure get a dog. Although, I am not too worried about us not making it. I’m more concerned about not passing the public certification.
C doesn’t really understand that he is getting a dog. He did have a lot of fun at CCI playing with all the dogs there in April.
Our Family
Here’s a short introduction to our kiddies. Have fun getting to know us!
K is our oldest daughter. She is 12 years old. She likes to ice skate (some days more than others J ). This summer she is also learning to play tennis.
K is very creative. She likes to sew—she’s made doll clothes by hand, and is learning to sew on a machine. She also likes to crochet. She loves to draw and sing.
She is a great oldest daughter—is willing to help me around the house and with her siblings.
K is very compassionate—she cares deeply for others.
C is 10 years old. He is our oldest boy. He loves animals of all kinds. He will give people hugs when he knows they need some loving. He loves to play video games—especially Lego Star Wars, which is also one of his favorite movies. But then he loves many different movies, Looney Toons, Disney cartoons, and many others.
C is doing very well in swimming—he has come a long way from the time that he became afraid of the water when he was about 2. We couldn’t even do baths/showers when he was little. Now he is up to his chest and letting his teacher float him on his back, etc. In 2 ft of water, he can swim on his own. But he doesn’t trust himself to swim on his own in deeper water.
C also loves gymnastics.
C loves his siblings—especially his little sister M. He watches out for her and gets mad at his other sibs when they are teasing her.
C has special needs. He has Down syndrome. He is also hard of hearing, has profound verbal apraxia, auditory processing disorder, and a mild traumatic brain injury. Because of his disabilities, C is non-verbal. But, he usually gets his point across quite well. J
N is 8 years old. He likes to go to cub scouts. He loves to play spies and with his Legos. N’s favorite food is enchiladas.
N is the one that looks the most like dh. He is doing great in swimming this summer. He loves to do gymnastics and can climb the rope which is probably 30 ft high (I think that’s how high it is)!!!!
J is 6 yr old. J loves to help whenever he can, even if the person doesn’t NEED help, J loves to help. The boy in the movie “UP” could be J’s twin brother. He is a go-getter. He works really hard at learning new things. He loves school and wants to learn Latin this year along with K and N.
J is so excited to start Tiger cubs in the fall. He loves swimming, gymnastics, and playing goalie in soccer.
M is 3 ½ yrs old. She is very petite. She has the genes from both of her grandmothers. But she is a dare-devil. She tries to do everything her big brothers are doing, including trying to climb trees and monkey bars.
M also loves gymnastics. She practices on the bars in her closet. She loves to do “school” with the rest of the kids. Every day she asks to do her “preschool boxes” and “when do I go to gymnastics?” She started swimming this summer and loves it.
M’s favorite word is “favorite.” Everything is “my favorite…”
Well, that's the kids in a nutshell.:)
K is our oldest daughter. She is 12 years old. She likes to ice skate (some days more than others J ). This summer she is also learning to play tennis.
K is very creative. She likes to sew—she’s made doll clothes by hand, and is learning to sew on a machine. She also likes to crochet. She loves to draw and sing.
She is a great oldest daughter—is willing to help me around the house and with her siblings.
K is very compassionate—she cares deeply for others.
C is 10 years old. He is our oldest boy. He loves animals of all kinds. He will give people hugs when he knows they need some loving. He loves to play video games—especially Lego Star Wars, which is also one of his favorite movies. But then he loves many different movies, Looney Toons, Disney cartoons, and many others.
C is doing very well in swimming—he has come a long way from the time that he became afraid of the water when he was about 2. We couldn’t even do baths/showers when he was little. Now he is up to his chest and letting his teacher float him on his back, etc. In 2 ft of water, he can swim on his own. But he doesn’t trust himself to swim on his own in deeper water.
C also loves gymnastics.
C loves his siblings—especially his little sister M. He watches out for her and gets mad at his other sibs when they are teasing her.
C has special needs. He has Down syndrome. He is also hard of hearing, has profound verbal apraxia, auditory processing disorder, and a mild traumatic brain injury. Because of his disabilities, C is non-verbal. But, he usually gets his point across quite well. J
N is 8 years old. He likes to go to cub scouts. He loves to play spies and with his Legos. N’s favorite food is enchiladas.
N is the one that looks the most like dh. He is doing great in swimming this summer. He loves to do gymnastics and can climb the rope which is probably 30 ft high (I think that’s how high it is)!!!!
J is 6 yr old. J loves to help whenever he can, even if the person doesn’t NEED help, J loves to help. The boy in the movie “UP” could be J’s twin brother. He is a go-getter. He works really hard at learning new things. He loves school and wants to learn Latin this year along with K and N.
J is so excited to start Tiger cubs in the fall. He loves swimming, gymnastics, and playing goalie in soccer.
M is 3 ½ yrs old. She is very petite. She has the genes from both of her grandmothers. But she is a dare-devil. She tries to do everything her big brothers are doing, including trying to climb trees and monkey bars.
M also loves gymnastics. She practices on the bars in her closet. She loves to do “school” with the rest of the kids. Every day she asks to do her “preschool boxes” and “when do I go to gymnastics?” She started swimming this summer and loves it.
M’s favorite word is “favorite.” Everything is “my favorite…”
Well, that's the kids in a nutshell.:)
Monday, July 19, 2010
Introduction
I have never written a blog before. When I read other people's blogs, I'm in awe with how eloquently written they are. I have had this blog site for over a year and never posted because I didn't know what to write. I guess I'll just jump in and get my feet wet.
My dh M and I live in Utah. We have 5 children, K who is 12, C who is 10, N who is 8, J who is 6, and M who is 3. My two girls are my bookends: the oldest and youngest.:)
I think, instead of writing about everyone all at once. I do a little bit each day.
So, goodbye for now.
My dh M and I live in Utah. We have 5 children, K who is 12, C who is 10, N who is 8, J who is 6, and M who is 3. My two girls are my bookends: the oldest and youngest.:)
I think, instead of writing about everyone all at once. I do a little bit each day.
So, goodbye for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)