Where Does It All Go ?

Today after doing the books I realized we are already super low on funds for Banyan's training, uggg. It seems like we have the fundraisers & all the generous donations, then it just evaporates so fast. Where does it all go you ask? We spent $192.33 just on dog food alone in February. No he didn't eat that much in one month-lol He'd be one fat pup! But our Blue Buffalo coupons where expiring so we had to use them. Then the puppy treats, they do add up. Just this week the last trip to Pet Smart we left $48 lighter. Banyan still get's treats a lot for his rewards. Every new task he learns requires affirmations & treats. Plus you add in training sessions & gas to get to those sessions, yep folks it all adds up fast!
With that being said as much as I hate to do it we have to start fundraising again now before something comes up we can't afford. I set up an easy link for friends & family to be able to donate even $5 helps. I can now understand how the average service dog costs $10,000 dollars if they come fully trained. We are blessed with amazing trainers from All American Dogs  as well as the Chelsea Hutchison Foundation who are currently raising funds for several special children to get seizure alert dogs. But like anyone else they all rely on donations & if the money isn't there then we must help raise funds ourselves. So all I am asking is if your called to help then by all means please go to the link above to donate any amount you feel placed on your heart. But if you aren't able please help spread Jeremy's link & story so that if anyone out there is looking for a great way to help or donate they have options. They can choose to donate directly to the Chelsea Hutchinson Foundation or to All American Dogs , or to Team Jeremy & Banyan . Any of these great choices all lead down the path to helping our family & many others who are working tirelessly to provide a safety net for their child. Banyan is not only Jeremy's constant companion but he one day could save his life. To me that is priceless & I will find the way to make it happen. Thanks for checking in & please help spread the word.

We won't Give Up.....

SPLASH!!

We decided to go on a walk today and enjoy our rare 70 degree afternoon. By we I  mean Jeremy, Banyan, & I. Everyone else was too busy playing silly video games or at a friends home. Off we go & the first special moment came when Jeremy asked to walk Banyan by himself. We have never done this before but Banyan was being pretty cooperative. I handed over the leash & off they went!

Banyan never hesitated just went right off when Jeremy said "Let's go". I was so excited! A car soon came and they stopped to wait on me & then Banyan was content to walk in between us for awhile.

Now the story  takes a funny turn. As we get to the lake I let Banyan loose with his leash dangling. He decides to help Jeremy dig in the sand for a bit. Then when Jeremy would go fill up a bucket with water Banyan would wonder over to watch very curious.

This is where it got a little funny for mom at least. Jeremy dropped his bucket in the water. As he leans over I watch it happen in slow motion, SPLASH! In fell Jeremy! I didn't jump up because I was maybe 3 feet away & the water was only about 3 feet deep. But Banyan jumped whined then ran over to me. it was hilarious, poor Banyan wanted Jeremy out NOW! At this point Jeremy is giggling & I am laughing so Banyan settled down. But I am sure our handsome boy thinks we are both a little nuts! 

We decided to pack it up and head home at this point in our story. Jeremy was a real trooper walking about 1/2 mile soaking wet. At one point we must go up a very steep hill to reach our road. Jeremy grabbed on to Banyan's vest & you could see Banyan help him walk up the hill. Jeremy mentioned during this time how it was hard to walk with the extra weight of the water. You must remember that even though Jeremy is 11 years old he only weighs 57 pounds. He is pretty thin & thank goodness Banyan knew his job was to help. He did it & did it well for an 11 month old pup. All in all it was a fun afternoon adventure we won't soon forget.

Saturday Sunshine

We woke up to SUNSHINE!! We have been so deprived here in the Pacific NorthWest we almost forgot what that bright globe in the sky really was.....YAY!! It made for a perfect day for me to get out and get my walk in with Banyan. Then we all got ready to head to the lake for the neighborhood Easter Celebration. We had fun getting a balloon sword for Jeremy and coloring pictures with Miss. Valerie. Banyan was happy to be there even though there was a ton of distractions from little dogs to food lying on the ground. He did really well considering the chaos of so many people in one small place. Jeremy was disappointed that he didn't find any eggs as he was out run by the older faster kids  :0/ But some super sweet children he knew from school stopped by to say HI. When they realized he did not get any eggs they gladly gave him three each of their own! Let me tell you Jeremy didn't ask them for eggs nor did their parents suggest this- they just gave them freely. Sure made this mom's heart happy because it made Jeremy's whole afternoon better. The egg hunt was the only thing he was super excited about and to not get any eggs was very sad. Thank you to those lovely children who gave away their eggs with candy today for my little guy. I hope everyone else enjoyed a great Saturday & has a very blessed Easter Sunday.

I Won't Give Up

It's funny because I keep hearing this new song everywhere this week. I really love the words. I feel like God has me listening to it over & over this week so I know I can do all the things that are set before me on my overflowing plate at the moment. I have the four boys going in all different directions in their lives. I always feel like I'm missing something where they ae concerned because there is only one grown-up in the house at the moment. I get so exhausted at times and hate when I hear myself saying "later I'll do such & such later with you". But yesterday at their parent teacher conferences all I heard was compliments on everything from their behaviors to their school work. I heard that my youngest is beyond smart & social. He is making huge strides in his behaviors this year. I learned that Jeremy for the first time EVER had conquered all his Occupational therapy goals!!-WHOO-HOO!! His OT thinks he could even not need her next year if his progress continues! This is HUGE as he has been going since he was 5 years old.

Then when I went to my oldest son's conference he presented an amazing Powerpoint presentation full of animation. He already has his future mapped out through to his graduation of Law school to passing the BAR. WOW! I look back and remember I was the same way only I just wanted to graduate from four years of college with a teaching degree. His schedule for his sophomore year is hard & he picked his classes all himself. He is so excited & enthusiastic still about school that I prayed last night God let's him succeed so his enthusiasm remains. His grades where good & his teachers love him-YAY Next came son number two who has always been the one to know which of my buttons to push. He has struggled the last two deployments only at home with me & his behavior. At times I want to scream at the top of my lungs "why why do I get all the sarcastic rude comments but you behave for everyone else?". I know this is just part of his anger about his dad being gone alot as well as his personality. He came out screaming & has never looked back. But his teachers where giving him high marks and praise. His English teacher who gave him an A actually told him " You could do better if you paid closer attention". That made my day to know she thought he could get an A+ as he has to work his tail off for his good grades unlike son #1 & #4 who are just naturally good at school. I left all the conferences thinking maybe I wasn't doing such a horrific job with the boys these past ten months on my own after all- thank you Jesus!

Then came time for the puppy- the wonderful ball of soft squishy golden fur who demands almost all my time. It was time to head to puppy class where I honestly never know how Banyan will  behave. It's gotten to the point where I was dreading Wednesday  night class every week. Last night Banyan showed up with his best service dog brain WORKING!! He did everything I asked the first time & even shocked his teacher. I train him everyday all the time. He is rarely not learning something. Even when he was swimming this week at the lake. At one point I had him come sit & wait by me while he had to watch Panzer swim. He was shaking with excitement it was very hard for him. He did so good last night it gave me hope that I am not messing up the dog either.

It's hard as a single parent even for just one year every other year lately to not get overwhelmed. I have about eight different balls I'm juggling & if one falls they all seem to crash. As I heard this song played every time I turned on the radio this week , I sang along. I realized if I just breathe and keep plugging along never give up on the kids, the dogs, the friends, or myself we will be just fine. That I have to try and be more positive when I hear other wives complain or whine (because that's what it sounds like to me ) when they only have one or two children who are ALL Healthy about how hard their life is at the moment. That this moment to them is hard!  I have to stop thinking "lady try living in my world for a day- you would not be complaining". I have to stop thinking like that so I can keep going and realize even though I have a whole big bundle of things on my plate- God knows I can handle it if I just trust him. That he has sent people into my life this year to help  me along my path if I just let them. Which I admit is hard for me to do, I hate asking for help. Another thing I think multiple deployments has made me, very overly independent. It's not a bad thing just something I need to work on for myself to not feel so overwhelmed. 
Anyway back to the song, I love the words and the sound. It makes me teary every-time because it reminds me so much of all the struggles as a wife & mom I go through while Paul is away. That I know I won't give up- I can't because I love my family to much.

I live for my family & they ask for a lot in return my love- oh wait that isn't hard to give. The boys love me no matter what kind of day I'm having. Even the dogs love me when I'm exhausted and the tears flow. They know mom's good she won't give up on us, even though the skies have gotten rough. She never has before & she never will.

Learning to Swim

Banyan got his first chance today to hit the lake with Panzer our three year old Weimaraner. He had no service vest or leash on & was full of excitement! It took him a while to figure out it was ok to go in the water but when he did I thought I would never get him out! We uploaded some video to YouTube- not sure why they cut the sound. But he had fun & we look forward to more fun lake days.

Wet puppy after he learned to swim!

Dog-Gone Cold Easter Egg Hunt

All American Dogs that helps with Banyan's training attended the annual Dog-Gone Easter Egg hunt in Lacey, WA. They asked if we could join them to show off our handsome boy & explain how they have helped our family. Here are a few fun pictures. We really froze to death with the wind it felt like it was 20 degrees instead of the 43 my van reading showed. We stayed about four hours before we had to call it a day so we could all warm up- our fingers where numb! But we had fun & Banyan did a great job hunting for eggs!

 

This was as we where leaving- the only sun all day.

 

Me with Banyan - Liberty & Jean. Jean is one of our  AWESOME Trainers.

Our great poster about Banyan & Jeremy that we made.

Jeremy fell in love with this Handsome guy who came to see our booth.

Jeremy's other friend.

The kennel the boys stayed in while we talked with people .

Setting everything up for our booth.

We did have fun hunting eggs & seeing all the beautiful dogs. But the cold finally won out & we left very cold. Banyan is worn out & has slept the whole time we've been home. We hope to be able to attend future events for All American Dogs 

Jeremy & Banyan "Our Journey" 

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