4Paws 4Curtis

1 week

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 04:45:00 +0000

So it has been a week since Roger came to live with us and everything is going great... He has adapted very well and is having a great time with the boys... Today we went swimming and he had a great time getting braver and braver in the pool. He is such a good kid!

The boys are really enjoying having him here as well but I am exspecting any day that will start wearing off. Roger is sharing a room with Aaron but he and Junior are getting along so well that Roger is camping out in Jr's room. Aaron has been staying with a friend so it all works out.

Cadbury loves having Roger here as well, but he was starting to get a little overwhelmed and a little confused. Roger wanted to hang on him but yet Cadbury knew he needed to be with Jr so we got Roger to leave Cadbury along and then when he would like to see Cadbury he tells us and we will get him. Things are starting to work out great with that now...

Again we are really enjoying have Roger here and Next week we will start the process of getting him registered for his last year of middle school... He is very excited!

Everyone have a great weekend I know we will..:)

Flying a plane

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:50:00 +0000

Challenge Air for Junior

Yesterday was Juniors annual fly a plane ride. Every year Challenge Air comes to Aurora Oregon airport and give child and adult with disablities to build self-esteem and confidence through the experience of flight.

Junior and many other will get to go up in a plane with one of the many of pilots who donated their time, plane, fuel or whatever is needed to take these special kids up in the air. They will spend about 1/2 hour up with the child in the passenger seat and a guest and parent will send in the back during that time the pilot will let the child fly the plane, but of coase with close eyes watching them.

Junior is getting his wings for flying the plane.

Here is a link for a flyer if you want more information, I hightly suggest checking it out.

http://www.sevenandassoc.com/CABrochure.pdf

We tried to get Roger to go up with Junior and Aaron was willing to stay grounded but Roger has never flew before so he didn't want to go up. Of coarse we were not going to make him so he stayed down with me, we had a good time talking and getting know each other again.

Video of Junior flying the plane to be coming soon...

Curtis, Aaron, Roger, Junior and Cadbury.

Cadbury did so awesome during Challenge Air... Every year Service Dogs of America has a booth there and has many many puppies walking around with the trainers well it didn't bother Cadbury at all. Cadbury means business when he is dressed for work!!!

Wow

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0000

A lot has happened since the last time I have blogged.

Cadbury and Junior are doing great together, they make an awesome team... Cadbury is always there for Junior. Sometimes Junior does not want Cadbury around him when he gets upset but will eventually go to him when he knows he will not get his way. Junior will get really REALLY mad a Cadbury when he will get one of his toys and chew it, which we all get upset about. Cadbury seems to go for all the good toys that are Juniors favorite. We are all working on that issue...

So today we were blessed with a family member to come and live with us... My nephew Roger is now living with us and will continue too for some timee, we have not seen him for 3 years. It was great to see him this morning, he was all hugs and was so happy to see us as we were him... He has not changed a bit besides growing a little. He is the same hyper and funny kid he always was and he, Junior and Aaron will definatly keep us on our toes, thats okay we love them all...

I will be updated every 1-2 weeks over the next month or two with updates and Junior and Cadbury and with how the boys are doing with Roger in the house...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! For those who are effected by the heat wave PLEASE try to stay cool and check on the elders.. And for those who live in the PNW lets hope for the good weather to continue and stay good...

Enjoy the last few weeks with your kids before school starts..

Birthday

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:51:00 +0000

Junior has turned 9!

Well another birthday has come and gone for Junior, he turned 9 today:) He had a great time we had some good friends of mine come over with her 3 beautiful boys and a friend. After a really good Hamburger Junior opened presents then we had cake. Of coarse Jr wasn't interested in eating or cake he just wanted his gifts. He did really well today having the attention on him he is not really into having the attention so no meltdowns just a hissssss and dirty looks. Of coarse I will take those over a meltdown anyday.

Junior received what he wanted today and his face was priceless when he opened his big gift. We bought him a Microscope, something he has wanted for a long time, he really wants to be a scientist so I guess this is a start for him...

The other thing he received was an insect book and a dinosaur a really cool T-Rex. The dinosaur is really cute it has real soft thin skin that you can remove from the skeleton and the skeleton looks just like a T-rex skeleton, very cute!

Today was a VERY successful day and we all enjoyed it:).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JUNIOR,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!! :lol: We love you,

Long time

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Friends and family,

WOW, It has been a long time since posting on here. Hope everyone is doing good:) We have been great, the boys have been boys and Curtis and I have been enjoying them.

Aaron is going into 10th grade this year and it looks like he could graduate earlier then 2014, he is ahead in credits so we will see if he keeps it up or slows down. Either way we are so proud of him, he has accomplished so much this last couple of years. It is amazing what negative family members and troubled friends can do to someone and how one can change for the better when they are no longer around. "GREAT JOB AARON" We are so PROUD of you! Keep up the good work!

Junior is doing GREAT with Cadbury, those two are BEST FRIENDS:) We could not have asked for a better Service dog and best friend for Junior. There are times when Junior is so upset that we have Cadbury stay back or Junior wants nothing to do with him when he is angry, but for the most part Cadbury is by Juniors side. Junior will call Cadbury to lay with him Cadbury will go to him especially if it is on the sofa, Cadbury loves the sofa. Curtis will use Cadbury for a pillow and Cadbury will just lay there and let him but will give Junior loving too. He will lay there either licking Juniors hand, arm or head just being Juniors support and making him feel safe.

Cadbury has not just been a buddy to Junior but has been a buddy to Aaron as well. Like most teenagers Aaron has his bad days so Cadbury will either scent that or Aaron will want to be by Cadbury, and Cadbury is more then willing to help and get all the attention he can.

I will be adding pictures in the photo page over the next couple of days, please take a look at them and you will see for yourself the love Cadbury and the boys have for each other. Cadbury is a god send and we "THANK YOU" 4 Paws for Ability for training and providing Cadbury and we THANK YOU everyone who helped raise and donated to our cause. I especially want to say "THANK YOU" to two very special people who we just met during fundraising for Cadbury and now have become Good friends, THANK YOU Tammie and Sarah, you two are the BEST!

I am adding new items for sale, I have recently added ribbons for Heart Disease and for Epilepsy. For every ribbon sold for Heart Disease a percentage will be donated to American Heart Association. A % of the sales from the Epilepsy ribbons will be donated to the Epilepsy Foundation and then a set amount from the sales of Autism ribbons/ dog collars will be donated to 4 Paws For Ability.

Pictures coming soon,

Feel free to email or comment, would love to hear from you:)

Sensory Saturday Movie

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:21:00 +0000

Another successful week/weekend has passed. I don't know about you all but for me time seems to be going so fast, to fast. It seems as if February and March were skipped, I know I was sick most of the time but still to me they were skipped.

On Saturday Curtis (Sr) and I took the boys to the new Sensory Saturday Movie here in Canby. It was a very good success part of it was because of the Canby Rotary was so kind to sponsor it this month for Autism awareness month, so for every adult paid at full price 2 children got in free. That was awesome and families definatly took advantage of that. This weekend there will be an article in the Oregonian about sensory Saturday and I am looking forward to seeing it. The reporter interviewed Linda the director of events for Canby Cinama 8 and myself because I am the co-creator, I took the idea of Sensory movie to the theater and continue to help with it as much as I can. Pictures were taken of Cadbury and Curtis as well as other families and I believe a few other families were interviewed, so I am really looking forward seeing the article. It is always nice seeing something possitive in the paper rather then negative. Anyway We watched the movie "RIO", what a cute movie we all loved it. The boys or Jr really loved it he did acceptionally well watching it he sat still and didn't talk or anything during the movie, I don't think he even moved he was really into the movie. I think I found my new favorite movie!!! If you haven't seen it go see it, you will enjoy it and your children will love it!

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week and a GREAT weekend!

Heart attack

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:54:00 +0000

Wow, it has been almost 4 months since my last blog that is a long time. How is everyone doing? It has been a pretty rough road here. As you all know Cadbury was going to school with Curtis and they were doing awesome up till January 25th. On the 25th I became ill with a cold or some kind of illness so I thought.

On 1-26 I was planning on taking Cadbury to school but still did not feel the best so I decided to stay home again so I wouldn't pass anything to the kids or teachers. Boy it was a good thing I did because halfway through the day I ended up having a massive heart attack. Never new I had heart problems or heart disease but now I do. I ended up having an emergency stent placed and stayed a few days in the hosptial. After a month of still not feeling well and many test done they decided to do an angiogram to fix the stent if needed or place new ones.

Well during that test I ended up having another heart attack and they found that there was not just 1 blockage but 3 and the stent that was put in a month earlier was collapsing and not doing its job as it should. Without knowing or just can't remember they wheeled me off to surgery where a day in a half later I found out I had triple by-pass surgery.

I am doing better now it has been 4 weeks since the surgery and I seem to be getting back to into things. It is a slow process but I willing to do what I have to to make sure this does not happen again.

For those of you that new about my health issue, thank you for your prayers, they were very much appreciated and felt.

I am very happy to be hear and will continue to do my best as a person, mom and wife as well as spread Autism awareness and service dogs from 4 Paws for Ability.

Thanks you and I hope to be blogging more often now.

Going to school

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:53:00 +0000

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving... I want to worn you that I am really tired so forgive me if I have many type O's in this post.

Okay for those of you that don't know by now Cadbury is going to school with Curtis... Cadbury started 4 weeks ago and has been doing great everyday. It has been challenging or him because of where he is and who is around. He loves kids so when 10 kids come running up to him not asking him if he can be petted he gets all excited which is to be expected. I have been letting kids outside off Curtis's class pet him but am thinking I am going to change that, I think I will let 1 pet him at a time but only out at recess and or somewhere else in the school when he is not needing to work. Cadbury loves to work but he also loves kids and at this time he works and loves for Curtis.

The kids in Curtis's class loves Cadbury they look forward to seeing him, there are only 7 kids in Curtis's class which by the way all of them are boys. Cadbury has helped them all so far with the exception of Curtis. Curtis had a bad meltdown a couple of weeks ago and when Cadbury was trying to calm Curtis Curtis kicked him in the head. Curtis didn't mean to nor did he realize he did it and if I didn't make Cadbury move he may have been able to succeed at calming Curtis but I didn't want to take a chance off Cadbury getting hurt. The kick wasn't hard didn't hurt him so Cadbury is okay. When Curtis finally calmed down after about 1/2 hr then he loved up to Cadbury which Cadbury got him out off the meltdown the rest of the way. I say the rest of the way because even when I said the meltdown finally over meaning he is now talking and has calmed down but very touchy and can get back into the meltdown again very quickly. Anyway Cadbury was laying on the floor in the classroom and Curtis went over there and laid with him then in a minute Cadbury got up and stood over Curtis and was licking him on the face and neck and wouldn't you know it Curtis was laughing and talking with Cadbury. It was so good to see that because I knew that Cadbury wasn't going to hold the kick against Curtis and that they were still buddies. I asked Curtis later that night why he kicked Cadbury and he said he didn't. He did not remember kicking him which is not surprising because in a meltdown they don't remember what they did or said. He felt so bad he loved on Cadbury the rest of the night.

Here a couple of weeks ago Cadbury and Curtis were in the the Paper The Oregonian which is state wide. It was about Cadbury attending school with Curtis and how he has been a joy in the classroom. We are hoping that Curtis and Cadbury's story will help another local family by putting the pressure on the child's school district to allow his dog attend school. They have been fighting the district (different district then ours) or 2 yrs and have the ADA and Department off Justice working on it which by the way the DOJ is taking their own sweet time. So I hope something or someone (the school district) will give soon and let the boys dog attend school with him.

So not only was Curtis in the paper he was on the Front page of the paper. I have attached a link to the story.

javascript:mox(); <- this is the link to Curtis and Cadbury's story

javascript:mox(); <- this is the link to the other families story

I am sure Cadbury is going to keep up the good job I have no doubt.

Have a wonderful week.

How time flies...

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:09:00 +0000

WOW, I can't believe it has been 2 months now since we first met Cadbury... Cadbury is such a great dog and has done a wonderful job doing his job with Curtis. There has been such a big difference in Curtis already with less meltdowns and with the meltdowns he has they are not as intense.

Curtis and Cadbury are bonding really good, they have their up and down days where neither one want to be bother by the other but as that pasts then there is no separating them.

Cadbury started school with Curtis 2 weeks ago. He isn't going full days yet, but are goal for that is when school resumes after Christmas break. Right now I take Cadbury to school the first week was for 1 1/2 hrs a day from 2- 3:15 and last week was from 1-3:15 and net week it will be from 12-3:15. We are working him in so it is not overwhelming for Cadbury and not too distracting for the class. So far so good and the kids love him...:) Curtis has a small class with only 7 kids and they are a great group of boys (yep all boys).

The rest of the school has not been introduced to Cadbury yet, but I know it is coming and I know not only is Cadbury going to love it but all the kids are going to love it. There has been many of the kids that have seen him in the hallway and they look like what is he doing here, they want to stop and ask but they don't. I am looking forward to letting the other kids say hi and let them pet him during introduction.

Wednesday during reading the kids went into another class so they could teach our class how to play UNO. It was great! This was Cadbury's first adventure in the school going into another classroom with other kids. I took Cadbury over by Curtis and had him in a down and he was in a down till I freed him an hour later, HE DID AWESOME. When we first went into the class Curtis was so proud of his dog and he agreed to tell the kids of the other class his name, age, and what breed he is. He told them he was his service dog and Cadbury helped him stay calm and relaxed. Some of the kids asked some questions and Curtis tried to answer them the best he could and then I helped him the rest of the way. He was uncomfortable talking and answering questions but he did it. Cadbury isn't only helping with behavior disruption in school but he is helping with communications and socialization... WOOHOO Curtis you go boy...

We have gone out a little with the boys and Cadbury and when we go out Curtis is tethered to Cadbury and it works great. Curtis does not run off and when he tries Cadbury will stand his ground and stay put. I will put Cadbury in a down just because it seems a little easier for him (as long as he is laying on carpet). Cadbury doesn't mind being tethered to Curtis, actually I think he likes it every time we get the tether out he comes running and his tail is just going... Sometimes Curtis does not like to be tethered but most of the time he is good and he is getting used to it more every time. I think it is starting to feel like a comfort zone for him which is a really good think. Now it is so nice to go shopping or for a walk and not have to worry if Curtis is going to go darting out in the road because anyone that has a child or knows a child with autism knows how quick they can be...

We have been doing practice tracks with Cadbury and everytime we do one it gets better and better... Cadbury defiantly has Curtis's scent down and now when we do a track there is no distractions or stopping that boy from finding my boy... Thank goodness we have not had to do a real track and I am hoping that we wont need to but we want to know that Cadbury will be able to do it if it ever came up.

My family is so thankful to 4 PAWS FOR ABILITY for making our family feel as if our boy can have some Independence and giving us some security.. Without them Curtis would not be doing as well as he is doing and he wouldn't be gaining any of the Independence that he now has... THANK YOU!!!

So I will be posing more in the nect couple of days. Curtis and Cadbury are going to be in The Oregonian tomorrow and I will be posting the article or the link on her.

Thank you so much to all of those who have supported us and made all of this possible... GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Day 9 and Graduation..

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Day 9

Today was training in the classroom, we practiced with our obedience and went over everything we have learned over the last 9 days. We practiced commanding the dogs in sit, down, heal, lap, over, touch and some of the fun stuff or the kids shake, high 5's and roll over. We did some distraction with treats, food and toys and Cadbury did awesome. It was a long day in the classroom but it was worth it because it is paying off now...

Graduation Day

Even though training has been so intense and tiring we still couldn't believe that training was over. On this Morning we met Jeremy (lead trainer) at the mall for our test, our test for being able to control the dog in public by walking the mall. He checked to see if the dog would behave and how we would control the dog and then we sat at a table for 20 min in the food court with Cadbury in an under (under the table). All together the test lasted close to an hour.. I wasn't happy with the test, when we were walking around in a store Cadbury wasn't too sure about some headless manikins and then right after that 4 of the other trainers walked in (with not knowing) I walked right by them and Cadbury was scenting them. I had control of him but he wanted his trainers the ones that have been working with him for months, he is so stubborn but he also realized that I was more stubborn and he gave in. Other then the trainers and the manikins Cadbury did awesome and I thought we made a good team. While were sitting in the food court with Cadbury in a under/down a couple of people stopped and asked about him and he did awesome, he stayed in his down and I didn't have to correct him. When Jeremy came and told us that part was over he met us outside because he needed to see us get Cadbury in the Car and at the time he told us we passed.

After passing our test we went back to 4 Paws so we could get all Cadbury's papers our handler cards and of coarse sign our life away so it would all be official, but we were good with signing our life away Cadbury is so worth it. All the signing took a while, because there was 1 person doing the paper work so we were the 3rd family to get in and it took us a while to get in but that was okay because we had some time to chat with a couple of the other families. We were kind of anxious to talk with all the ffamilies because not only was that going to be the last day together but I wanted to see how everyone did on their test. YAY, EVERYONE PASSED! :D

This day was a VERY LONG day but it was all worth it. After everyone signed their life away we (the class) had each family get their picture taken with the Child's Service dog. We couldn't believe it we are all SD owners and already the dogs have been helping our children. We were loving it...