It's the End of 4-H as we know it, I feel crappy...

I am writing this through tears and probably will not be able to put down a cohesive post so please forgive me.
Times are tough all over the country, and unfortunately Cornell Cooperative Extension is not immune to budget cuts. The Suffolk County budget for 2009 was facing a defecit of $940,000 and cuts had to be made. As a taxpayer, I understand that and appreciate fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, the bulk of those cuts were made to youth development programs, including but not limited to Suffolk County 4-H. I would like to show you what that looks like.
First, there is the obvious loss of jobs. The 4-H program Director, the Administrative Assistant (a title which does not even begin to describe all she does) and the Life Skills Director have all lost thier jobs. No funding means no staff.
Have your kids taken the "Getting Ready to Babysit" program at a local library? Have you attended a class on the farm? Have you been kayaking or fishing or hiking or had a class at the Marine Center in Southold? Have you been to PumkinFest? Have your kids enjoyed Horseback riding at Dorothy P. Flint or camping at Peconic Dunes? Did you attend the Barn Dance at Martha Clara the past few summers? Have you taken the Chocolate Class at LISC? Are your kids taking part in the River Ecology research? These are all 4-H programs. No funding, no programs.
Every single youth development program run in by CCE in this county is a research based, tested and true 4-H curricula. Did you know that?
Second, no staff could mean the loss of Taste of 4-H, an annual gathering of all county clubs where we learn new projects to take back to our clubs and get information on the county wide community service project for that year. Did anyone recieve a brochure this summer on Emergency Preparedness? With a striking young Mastiff on the cover ? Did you learn what to do in the event of a natural disaster and where you and your pets can go? This was a 4-H project. Yaphank Farm is going to house an animal shelter, in conjunction with the Suffolk Sherrifs department, as a direct result of the efforts of our 4-H kids and leaders.
Other losses could include the presentation program, which is the cornerstone of 4-H. Capital days, where 2 teens travel to Albany to spend the day learning alongside a local legislative representative. Career Days, where teens can travel to Cornell and explore vocational opportunities in ag and science.
You will not see this budget cut on the front page of your morning paper. You will not hear about it on the evening news. See, 4-H'ers are not a showy bunch. We won't be knocking on your door trying to sell you cookies. Our pictures won't be in a newspaper achieving a badge or plaque for completing a project and you won't see us taking money outside a light show. We will be quietly learning, researching and serving our community. The real loss here is the feeling of hope and accomplishment that 4-H instills in our kids and our communities.

Suffolk County 4-H needs your help.
Now, more than ever "Volunteers are the Heart of 4-H".
We need community representation on the 4-H Program Advisory Committee (PAC) and we need dollars. Which is a catch 22. If we raise the dollars to keep the programs running we will lose the funding in the future. If we don't raise the dollars, we cease to exist. No win situation. However, I believe in this program and I believe in the hearts of our kids. If you have ever thought about joining 4-H, now is the time. Join an existing club or start your own. Ask me how. If you have been looking for a voice in youth development, here is your chance. Join the
4-H PAC, ask me how. Is your business in need of an end of year tax deduction? 4-H Youth Development needs your dollars, ask me how!!!!! Can you teach a class or set up tables and chairs? Can you push a broom for 20 minutes on 1 Saturday? Can you evaluate a presentation? Can you donate a case of water or a pizza or a case of snacks?
The 4-H PAC will not let the kids feel the squeeze of these cuts. We will get up and beg, borrow and plead with our friends for the programs our kids love. We will survive this, hopefully with a louder voice and wider community representation.
Your time is now, ask me how!!!!!!!!!

Migraines, CSE, hassle of all hassles...

My son (just 7) has been getting migraines since he was really little. Although it took a really long time for me to recognize then as such since he was not yet verbal enough to give me all the signs I needed to properly identify his headaches. Now that he is older, and can give me better information I realized he had all the classic symptoms, pain behind one eye, sensitivity to light and noise, then the vomiting (sorry!) followed by sleep and then a general ache for a day or two.
So finally, in July, I took him to our family physician who recommended that we see a neurologist. My husband had an aneurysm that ruptured (there's a whole other story) and I had migraines as a child. So to be safe, he suggested we go see a pediatric neurologist. We went to Stony Brook and saw Dr. Gail Schuman, she was absolutely fabulous and made great dietary and supplement suggestions, as his occurrences are not frequent enough to require medication. However, in the course of her exam, she noticed some weaknesses which prompted her to ask about some of his fine motor skills. He is not reading or writing with any great success and he cannot tie his shoes or accurately button a dress shirt. These are not things which worried me, as he is a boy, he has on October birthday, and he is just not motivated to write. He did learn how to ride without training wheels on his 3rd birthday, he fed himself early and has a crazy mastery of sports. But, his Dad and all of his uncles and his grandfather all went to college on full athletic scholarships, so again, I was not connecting any dots.
In any case, the neurologist wrote a prescription for a PT and OT evaluation as well as a neuropsychological battery. All Greek to me, but we have been getting an education. Firstly, dealing with the school district for services as a homeschooler is a nightmare. And we have a pretty compliant and, dare I say, helpful district. I sent them the letter requesting the PT/OT evaluation on 9/6/2008. It took numerous phone calls before I finally received the packet to fill out the official request just before Halloween. This is a lengthy form asking about social and educational skills, home setting, language and other minutia. As my son's primary teacher the task fell to me to complete the form. At the time I received the packet I also received a letter saying that I would be contacted by a District Psychologist to go over the form and if he/she approved it the process would begin. Well, it wasn't until this week that I got a call from the Elementary Psychologist, who was delightful. Thank goodness, because upon review it became painfully obvious that I had not filled out the form adequately. I was trying to be concise, which did not accurately convey the nature of K3's problems. So I was sent home for a do over! I felt like I was 10 :0 But I appreciate her time and am glad she was helpful and sympathetic to our concerns. I redid the form and will meet with her again on Monday to get her signature and have the CSE request forwarded to Pupil Personnel Services. Now, the monkey wrench in this stage is that we have completed a marking period and therefore have to send a quarterly report of our children's progress to PPS. Well, as a result of all the difficulties my son has been having he has not completed all of the work that we delineated in our Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP). Fortunately I have never been late with anything until this year, and even so have only been late with my son and not my daughter. So I called PPS and was told not to worry, that they will note the file. We shall see.
Now, the neuropsych is a whole other story and another nightmare. But that is a post for another time.

I NEED A NANNY!!!!!!

We have been without a nanny for nearly 6 weeks now and I am at the end of my rope. My husband and I both work, and although we have a great deal of flexibility, we do both need to be in the office. Preferably together for at least a few hours a week. This has not happend in well over a month and it is really taking it's toll.
We have enlisted the services of 2 agencies, TWO!!! Our requests were that the potential nanny be between 30 & 50 and not have any kids of thier own. Well, neither agency has been able to meet that request. One girl, who I felt very positively about, called while we were in Boston to tell me she just found out she is 10 weeks pregnant with twins. Great for her!!!! Horrible for me. I had another interview scheduled for yesterday afternoon and rushed home from an amazing day with our homeschool group in East Hampton. I got home to find her college aged children had been in a car accident and she was unable to keep her interview. Did I say no kids? I had an interview sheduled this morning with a girl who is working in a preschool, no kids, lives in Remsenberg and has 2 Rotweillwers. 10 minutes before her interview I get a call from the agency telling me she has decided that she and her fiance are moving so she is not intested in a long term position.
God help me, I am going to either end up on the unemployment line or divorce court.

Fall in New England

The kids and I just had one of the best trips in recent times. Last Thursday afternoon we took the ferry from Orient to New London. A very good friend moved to Connecticut and we made plans to spend a weekend with she and her family, and see their new house and barn for the first time.
The ferry ride was calm and on time, and the ride from the dock to their home was beautiful, albeit confusing. They are in a pretty remote area, in fact we had to drive a bit into Rhode Island and make a u-turn to get to their road! But the trees were ablaze with golds and reds and it was a breathtaking sight.

Friday morning, after a quick breakfast, we headed for Boston, about an hour's ride. We got there around 11 and our first stop was the New England Aquarium. This was the only disappointment of the whole trip. The kids had seen it all in 45 minutes, the only impressive part was the many, many different kinds of penguins.

We walked over to Quincy Market and sampled our way in one end and out the other as we made our way to The Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in America. http://www.unionoysterhouse.com/ This was a history lesson all by itself! The clam chowder was out of this world, but here is my tip: Once you have had crab cakes in Maryland, do not ever order them anywhere else :)

After lunch we took a water taxi over to the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides". http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/ Because our friend is an active naval chief, we were able to get a private tour. I didn't think the kids were even remotely paying attention to the Airman that gave us our tour, but once we got home it was all they talked to Daddy about! There is a lot of copper in the underbelly of the ship (not a correct term, I am sure) and the kids were fascinated to learn that it was all crafted by Paul Revere! It was also interesting to see that all of the cannons were named. All in all, it was a truly humbling and unforgettable experience.

After the ship we went back to Quincy Market to have dessert. I had an amazing pumpkin cheesecake, absolutely perfect. The kids had ice cream, pudding and a muffin.
We had intended to do the Science Museum also, but by this time the kids were really fried and there was still work to be done back at our host's house. So after a long nap on the ride home, the kids made short work of feeding 7 horses, 5 dogs and a rabbit.

Saturday was spent working, grooming and riding, 4 wheeling and other outdoor fun. The weather was again perfect and we were outside from breakfast to dinner.
Sunday we packed up and came home, exhausted, but happy.

There is no greater way to teach the kids history than to let them see it, feel it and live it. I am certain this is a trip they will not soon forget.

Where does the time go?

I have about 15 different blog posts in my head, and can't find the time to organize my thoughts and get them translated to cyberspace. We are nearly 10 weeks done with school, my babies are all another year older, holidays are right around the corner and I do not feel a single bit more organized and settled than I did a year ago.

There has to be a better way. We chose homeschooling so we could experience life as a family. See our children achieve important milestones in their lives and shape their morals and civic outlooks ourselves. And to a large degree I feel we are successfully doing those things. But some days I wonder how much of "the other stuff" we really need to do. The field trips, the play dates the classes.... what is the right balance? Obviously kids need to explore their interests and abilities. But in all of the running around are we losing their need to just be?

Each year we go from one extreme to another and I have yet to find the right balance. We try to limit the kids to one extra curricular activity at a time. But then you start adding in all the educational field trips and the next thing you know you have no time for schoolwork.

We have had some fantatic field trip opportunities this fall, and I feel blessed to live here. But someday, somehow, I hope to learn balance.