Believing in uniqueness and difference

           I spent a lot of time as a child with my parents being comfortable and happy growing up in the picturesque parts of new England. I had tons of friends and loved school activities such as drama and chorus,school was hard for me as concentration levels and noise did not mix and my grades showed it..
.I felt secure as a child until my father passed away coming home to us after his father's funeral in 1978.
   My mom and I had never been close and being adopted at a young age we never really bonded. She never embraced my differences and sadly we spent a lot of times at odds.
  We always had my dad as the go between which I know now was not fair to him and may have caused many disagreements. I still miss his love and compassion and many times I find myself talking to him about things only he would understand.  

I now am a mother to four children two sons and an older daughter,three whom are grown and a nine year old precious daughter who has asbergers and ADHD.
When my other children were small they had some issues such as concentrating and forgetfulness, but I just thought it was over stimulation or tiredness.. Today many kids are diagnosed with disorders that may explain why and how they see things or respond differently then we do.
  I always stood by my kids and encouraged them to be their own persons and not to let society dictate who they would become.One is an artist, another is a musician and our oldest is working on a bachelors degree in sports marketing.
  I am not sure if the labels doctors are putting on children are fair or correct or if all the over stimulation of cell phones,computers and video games.are contributing to some issues.
 As for asbergers in my own situation, I believe taking a medication while I was pregnant to keep my pregnancy may have contributed to some issues or God just made my daughter uniquely different.I guide Maddy along in our daily lives so she is happy and enjoys her childhood. I don't put the pressures of society on her by home schooling for now,exposing her to christian friends and family who don't see the differences but embrace them. We have found a wonderful family of students and faculty at our local Artios Academy.Their motto is Art,Heart,and Smart.as well as outside activities that bring our daughter joy.

We are coming to the end of our first week of fourth grade

What a blessing to be able to freely home school this year, last year compared to doing virtual  education and boy was it like being in prep school. 
Third grade to me was fun and memorable but not to our daughter who was recently diagnosed with ADHD and asbergers. We have had quite a two year struggle with understanding her many wonderful qualities as well as quirks(being over stimulated and sensory sensitive) that can make a day quite interesting.
  Our first decision to home school was due to Maddy being made fun of in second grade and afraid to go to school because the adults as she put it were not helping at all.I don't remember children being so cruel and rough in judgement.
   I am thankful for the choice to home school,my husband was not a big fan when my older children were small,but because we are older and times have changed he has been very receptive.
  Getting back to our week,so far we are doing some multiplication reviews from last year as well as simple spelling and story writing. Our favorite thing so far is reading and reviewing the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder,clearly she was home schooled and look how wonderful and adventurous her life was. My daughter can relate to Laura as a young girl and we have tried some of the cooking recipes such as butter making and biscuit cutting which resulted in some yummy eating.

I hope to inspire other mothers and fathers to not be afraid of home school to know most of all your children could benefit from finding out who they are and who they will become through love,guidance and perseverance using the life skills you will be teaching them. 

Finding your child's passion through activities

    This year has totally opened my eyes to the great things that come with home schooling.Our daughter is in fourth grade and wow are we busy! but we remain focused on what is important,supporting her love for swimming and wanting to go to the Olympics one day.
    After spending many hours at our pool this summer Maddy has asked when she can swim with her coach and teammates  back at the local YMCA..
 Over the past few summers we noticed how much our daughter enjoyed swimming and how it seems to come easy to her. It also is one thing that helps her relax and cope with her ADHD.The water is also a good sensory calmer as the pressure helps her feel secure.. Being nine she has already found her passion and it's a skill she can treasure forever..

Cataracts in dogs

           Every year millions of animals are affected by a common disease known as cataracts,a clouding of the eye lens starting small in the pupil and progressively increasing in size causing blindness in one or both eyes.
Most cataracts are hereditary inherited by a parent or ancestor, some come from injury to the eye or diabetes. I have three clients with aging dogs who suffer with this condition,they seem to have high functioning qualities and only a few set backs. Mostly walking down stairs and being out at night affect how they might react. Often cataracts occurs in aging dogs and the surgery can be quite expensive and cost from $1,500-$3,000.00 depending on extent of cataract if both eyes are affected or type of surgery. The lens is removed and replaced by a new one the same surgery as a human would have. Commonly dogs live to a ripe old age just fine without surgery and it doesn't even seem to bother them or change their personality. Three years ago I had this surgery as a result of inherited cataracts, it changed the way I looked at things. I didn't realize what colors I had been missing or how clear something really looked. Dogs are amazing,they can function with cataracts and adapt much better than us humans. So much of our lives are through our sight, we need it to drive or to fly a plane unlike dogs who rely on their sense of smell to get around. 
 Many dogs are put down or brought to a shelter due to small medical conditions from owners who don't educate themselves about the cataracts.Knowledge is power and power can save an animals life.

Why you should move when you feel stuck

 I have many days where I want to stay in the darkness and bury my dreams.  

 I  only get up for my God who calls my name He says "Get up and try!move and I will be there to lift you up you are not alone."
 I know when I was trying to start my business there were many days I felt stuck and no doors seem to be  opening I didn't know where to turn. Maybe you feel this too and you just want to throw your hands up and say "forget this I give up!" But listen closely to your heart  and a word will come to you, a gentle touch or a whisper and you will be able to move on. Don't be so ready to run or to give up. Sometimes the things we want in our lives can be like climbing a mountain with no end in sight.
The days after Katrina I began to climb the biggest mountain I had ever climbed. My husband was in deep despair his beloved home of New Orleans was going through a major disaster a place where he played and lived with his brothers. He lost the place where he had worked for over 20 years as it had flooded out. I know as the head of our family he felt defeated and was afraid for our futures. We had a baby who was always ill because of the stress of having to be in our car as we drove back and forth to Louisiana and Atlanta. Our oldest son was a senior in high school and the thought of quitting school was there in his mind. Our beautiful daughter who was 15 at the time took it very hard, I watched the joy and light fade from her eyes as she left all her friends and family back home. Our youngest son was 12 and had just made 3rd chair in band he also was trying to get a deal with a skateboard company to sponsor him and his friends skateboard designs.All of us were going through our personal struggles and most of our family was in a state of anger and depression.
 We had many days where the darkness was so overpowering it threatened our families very core. As days passed and we began to feel the love of others surround us complete strangers began to reach out and we no longer struggled alone,each step was still difficult but had more purpose The mountain top was becoming more clear and we began to try to walk together as a family once again.
This did not happen overnight this climb has taken a better part of 6 years and we still are waiting to reach the peak. Even when the darkness seems to be the most present look up and you will find light. Walk on and you will find faith, get up and you will find passion in your purpose. My most sincere gift I can give you today is not to throw your hands up but place your hands out and touch another s life; who might be climbing the same mountain as you.

Sucess came out of my darkest hours

         I didn't ever see myself starting a pet sitting business when we lived in Louisiana; before my last child was born I was setting up to be an professional organizer. We lived in the small town of Slidell and there were virtually no businesses that compared, I felt at that time I had it made. We welcomed our daughter Madelyn Grace on February 10th 2005 we were so ecstatic as I had four miscarriages before she was born.  I stayed up nights to nurse and work towards my business goals. In August I had started going to networking meetings and began cleaning homes just to see what types of organization people really needed.
    I had set up my business page and just received my new business cards when hurricane Katrina reared her ugly head and changed everything,we were uprooted to Atlanta Ga a city my husband and I had never been to or knew anything about. We virtually lost everything my husband lost his job of 20 years,our kids were uprooted from the only place they ever knew friends,schools and family. We had 6 mouths to feed and life was really tough. I thought this is it nothing was ever going to be the same.
 Thank God after 6 months my husband found steady work and we began to recover some financially, I also went to job interviews but couldn't find anything that would be worth putting my baby in daycare and bring in money. I began to look at what were some of the best jobs to start from home and found that pet sitting was a fairly new industry. How could I ignore the fact that 4.3 million households had some sort of pet and they were willing to spend money on their welfare.I felt growing up as a child in New England and spending hours living and playing  in friends barns and homes  that had cats,kittens,dogs,birds,why not take my love and extend it to others?
 I went and bought business cards, began going door to door and handing out my fliers.I literally pounded the pavement with baby in tow for over a year before I really started seeing my hard work pay off. Some days I felt like giving up but I am the type of woman that doesn't hear no or I can't, it isn't in my make up.
 I began to see growth in 2007 and haven't stopped. I love being a part of such a growing trend and meeting so may interesting and caring pet people.I am able to spend quality time with our daughter who now is 7 and am here for our other grown children as well. We have overcome so much and I have to admit it is still a hard road but we are in a much better place. I am proud to call Creatures and Companions my business and to serve the many who have helped my family recover.
  

Pampering your Pets inexpensively

    Do you desperately want to get rid of that doggie smell but don't have the extra funds to go to the groomers? Now you don't have to. Everyday millions of pooches are primped and polished clipped and brushed to the tune of  $50.00 per pet per month.;not counted in is your time and gas for dropping off and picking up. By using everyday items in your pantry you can create your own personal pet pampering products. Items such as yogurt,honey and oatmeal as well as a berry fruit can give you the same affect as an expensive groomer.You can mix and match to your own personal taste. You  may also want to add an essential oil such as tea tree which is very soothing.
   Make certain your pet isn't allergic to any of these items by rubbing a bit on a back leg in a small dotted spot to see if there is a reaction,try not to let your dog lick it off before you can see the reaction if there is one. 
 Remember not to get facial scrubs in the eye area and anything with eucalyptus is not recommended as it can burn. I have personally used a mixture of mouthwash and water to get rid of fleas and makes my dog Mocha smell fresh and clean,be aware not to get the wash in your dogs eyes  as it contains alcohol. 
 Oatmeal and lavender can be very soothing and adding some shea butter can soothe flea and  allergy redness as well. Unlike humans dogs receive allergens through their skin instead of their nose.if he or she sleeps with you and has skin irritations you may wash your pet once a month to once a week depending on your pets skin and coat type. Many people speculate that over washing can take the natural oils out of your dogs coat and skin but by washing the irritants out of the skin before they can start a reaction you may save your pet from being irritated. 
 Whatever you choose saving money is one of the most important things next to having a clean and healthy pet.