eSpecially Ben

Therapeutic Recreation’s Amazing Race What is Therapeutic Recreation’s Amazing Race and why should I register or donate? Therapeutic Recreation’s Amazing Race is a fun filled urban adventure where two person teams solve puzzles, figure out clues, find locations and complete challenges while discovering uptown Charlotte. Your registration fee ($100 for a two person team) will be deposited directly into the Therapeutic Recreation Summer Day Camp Scholarship fund that is administered through Partners for Parks, Inc. This dedicated scholarship fund supplies financial support for pre-schoolers, youth, teens and young adults who have disabilities to attend Therapeutic Recreation Summer Day Camps. During the summer of 2010, a total of $11,000 was utilized to provide financial support for participants to attend summer day camp. All scholarships awarded were based on the economic need of the participant. This is significantly less than the amount we were able to provide for the summer of 200

At a restaurant Logan drew the top portrait of Ben in one of the coloring books they give to kids to keep them entertained. Not to be outdone, Sean followed suit.

During the summer I wrote about applying to a special program called Grin Kids , an organization that raises money to send chronically disabled and terminally ill children and their families to Disney World . I have been waiting for a photo to go with this post, but seems like the photo is lost so here it is sans photo. On July 30, Ben's 7th Birthday, we were on our family vacation at Atlantic Beach, NC. Ryan had heard in Charlotte that Ace & TJ , the radio talk show hosts, who started Grin Kids, would be in Atlantic Beach sometime this summer. Ryan thought we had missed the weekend, but in listening to the local station I realized that we were exactly on time. Let me digress for a moment about my star struck husband. Ryan recently came home so excited about meeting Muggsy Bogues at the gas station. Muggsy was a well known NBA player for the Charlotte Hornets during their hay day in the late 1980's and early 1990's. He was most known for his height - 5'3"

This is from one of my dearest and oldest friends, Michele. She and I went to high school together many moons ago. We have managed to stay in touch over the years seeing each other when we can. Her son, Ethan, is a beautiful little boy with a very rare disease - only 100 people have it in the world. She and her family have had a lot to go through over the past few years. Recently, her friends got together to plan a fundraiser to help with some of the financial burden. She recently sent me these words and they affected me so much that I asked if I could reprint them and promote the fundraiser: Actually, we really have nothing to do with the fundraiser...I really have been very private about it but my friend from the gym is a bigwig at a bank so I went to him for advice about our mortgage...We haven't been able to pay it in a year! My friends from the gym all got together and came to me to tell me they were having it for us!! There has been so many kind and generous people

2008 2010

Logan's school has been saved! Our neighborhood and school community came together quickly and showed the Board of Education how they felt about the Montessori school. A sigh of relief! For one moment because Ben's school must be saved too. Here's my letter to Board of Education: Dear School Board Member: It has come to our attention that changes within the school system are being discussed.  The information shared through websites and the media is disconcerting. This letter is intended to express our considerable concern to the Board of Education and put forth our request to maintain O--- Elementary's current status. We are parents of three boys, two of whom are of school age. Ben is a second grader at O--- Elementary. When it came to choose a school for Ben when he was four years old, O--- came highly recommended. We have not been disappointed. Ben is in a Special Academic Curriculum (SAC) class. Ben does not talk and uses a walker to get around. For Ben an

Ever been asked the question:   Who would you save if you could save one person from a sinking ship?   Then the person gives you two impossible choices - your Mom or Dad, your brother or sister, your spouse or child (well that's not so impossible). Anyway you get the idea. In my September 30th post, Never A Dull Moment , I talked about how our school district is making proposals for changes in schools throughout our county. Both Ben and Logan's schools could be affected - moving Logan's school program to Ben's school; therefore, displacing Ben's program. Right now, all my energy and efforts are going toward saving Logan's school. My hope is that if it is saved, then the ripple down effect will save Ben's school. But there are no guarantees. Logan's PTA and our neighborhood is an organized community of parents, neighbors and businesses. The group will lead a coordinated fight with rallies, letters, emails and representation at community forums and p