Saturday, December 10, 2011

Jacey's Fundraising is.... complete!!!







Well we have officially started...and stopped fundraising! We began in August with our big family/friend garage sale and it took off from there. I never expected it to get as big as it did, or do as well as it did. I thought the bottle drive would be a lasting event until May when we left, but I think I did 5 trips of bottles...and poor Graham, Mikey and Jon did a really yucky, huge trip! (Thanks guys!)

The big family garage sale was huge, I thought we'd have a little pile and that would be it. I guessed wrong! People from church, family members, random friends and strangers all donated items and poor Jenny, Gramma and I were pricing and organizing for hours at a time. It was CRAZY!! I had contacted the newspaper thinking they would maybe do a little write up and that would create more foot traffic, little did I know, she would be on the main community page. A huge write up and pictures explaining what we were doing! It was so cool and that really made it happen. 2 nights before the sale I was organizing at Jenny's when a woman showed up with her daughter and she explained why she was interested and that they wanted to be involved. She donated $5000 on the spot to Jacey. There were many tears and hugs (poor lady didn't know I was part Hudkins and I hugged her like 5 times). That is when I knew camp would happen for Jacey and she really got the ball moving. The garage sale was a HUGE success, people stopped just to donate, they bought bread for $100 (Gramma's bread rocks but sorry Gramma, not $100 worth!! hehe), they donated their own garage sale earnings to Jacey. There was another newspaper picture with info about the garage sale. It was great. We raised alot that weekend and it was so great to see all the family support.

We were then contacted by Walmart who had seen the newspaper article and asked if they could host 2 BBQ's for us. They wanted to help Jacey, who lives in the comminuty. We did 2 BBQ's on 2 separate Fridays...even Gramma and Grampa drove out for the best hot dog they have ever tasted....I'm sure of it! We raised $1000 and then Fort Sask Walmart doubled that. Unknown to us, the store manager had contacted Walmart Canada and they decided to match the amount...again tears and hugs to the employees occured. (Excpet the manager, he did NOT look like a hugger) So a total of $4000 was made to Jacey that afternoon. The same newspaper write had come to do pictures and a large write up again...I asked if he as sick of seeing us yet!

Next was a large garage sale in Fort McMurray. A bunch of Emily (my mother in law's) old staff had asked if they could "throw something together". I thought it would be a tiny little thing. Not so. It took place in my old elementary school gym and there were over 25 tables of things. There 3 tables just for all the baking that friends and strangers did for Jacey. Over 10 companies from Fort McMurray donated items for a raffle as well as some beautiful quilts from Mom and Aunty Sylvia. M&M meat shop donated their grill and food for a BBQ to run at the same time. It was HUGE!!! There was another write up in the Fort McMurray paper about it and there was huge interest. There were even a group of construction workers outside who came and had lunch at the BBQ and at the end of their day showed up with a $200 cheque that they had done up for Jacey. It was AMAZING and hugely successful!!!

At the end of the sale while we were cleaning up, a man and woman showed up looking for us. They had read the article and run a foundation called KIDS FOREVER. They had decided to adopt Jacey for the year. They have a large dinner, dance and auction where they raise most of their money and then choose 10-12 children to adopt every year and Jacey was one of them. They gave us a $3000 cheque and again can you guess.....tears and hugs and tears. They offered to pay for her wheelchair. Although her chair will be 100% covered, they offered then to help pay for the van and adaptations we would need to make. 3 weeks later we were invited back up for the KIDS FOREVER fundraising event. My parents, Jon's parents, Jacey and all the couples who helped in the Fort Mac garage sale came. There was a delicious meal (the chef brought out an early little plate just for Jacey, she was starving) and then a silent auction, a live auction and company presentations of funds and then the family recognition. They had picures and write ups of all the kids they were adopting. (Don't worry guys I picked the cutest pic of Jacey I could find) It was an amazing night to be a part of. They presented us with our cheque and I almost passed out. They had given each family somewhere between $12,000 to $20,000. Jacey received $17,000. It was such a surreal experience.There were again many tears and hugs and we all had to speak...you know Jon, strong and silent type. So while I was bawling I had to get through some type of thank you and speech.

There are still things happening for Jacey. Retrospect Photography in Fort McMurray is donating a portion of each of her sessions to Jacey until March. Fort Sask Towing is donating a portion of every service call to Jacey until May and a friend of mine in the Fort does photography and is auctioning off a few sessions that she will donate the money to Jacey.

As I sit here typing it all down, tears stream down my face. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that this would happen for our family. It is a tough, tough business raising kids...and it is a tough, tough business raising special kids. I know that Jacey was meant to come to our family, and this success just shows how much she is loved and supported by not just our family, but friends and communities. It is still surreal to me, I look at the fundriasing bank account and pinch myself. We are so excited for camp and for her changes that will occur. Thank you everyone for all that you have done to help get us there. Couldn't have done it without all your love and support. Thanks!!

Love The Bird Family (Jon, Alyson and Jacey)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ability Camp for Jacey

Well it has begun....we have officially started fundraising to send Miss Jacey Bird to Ability Camp. We are so excited to start this journey together with you all! Here is a brief intro to Jacey and our family for those who don't know and also our quest to send her to camp.

Jon and I met in high school and have been together for about 9 years now. We've been married for 5 years and welcomed our little Jacey Bird almost 3 years ago. Jon works as an Accounts Payable Clerk and is going to school to finish his Accounting Degree. I interestingly enough went to school for my Special Needs Teaching Assistant Certificate, and am now staying at home to be with Jacey. She joined our family in August of 2008 and has been such a joy ever since.

A few months after she was born, Jacey was diagnosed with a rare type of Cerebral Palsy. She was born with very little white matter in her brain. Now it has been explained to me that our brain is like a computer and the white matter is like the chords directing the info to our body parts. Because Jacey has such little white matter, her body does not move as it should. She has had surgery to help her rigid and spastic muscles in her hips, strabismus surgery on her eyes to help straighten them, and 2 injections of Botox in her legs to help relax the muscles. She is such a trooper! She has the funnest little brown-red curls and the best smile ever! (Not that I am biased...okay maybe a little bit)She is also such a happy, goofy kid. Her spirit is so sweet and she is just a special little lady.

My husband and I heard about this fantastic camp in Ontario that works with individuals with Cerebral Palsy, and decided that it was something we wanted to do for Jacey. It is called Ability Camp (abilitycamp.com) and it offers very intense physical and occupational therapy. It also works on eating skills, toilet training and communication. It is amazing the work that they do. The camp is 5 weeks long and between 5-6 hours a day of therapy including the hyperbaric oxygen. The camp is awesome but is also costly. The estimated cost is $6000 for the Camp, $4000 for the Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy and close to $5000 for extra costs. (Flights for 3 people, food, and vehicle rental for 5 weeks)

We have begun fundraising and will continue with: a large extended family garage sale, a bake sale, a continual bottle drive, a Bird Girl raffle and petitioning other social clubs. We hope to raise all the costs and enjoy and learn from this great experience. Although it is costly, we think Jacey is worth it!!

Any donations, support, ideas for fundraising or anything at all are appreciated. My email is ahinko@hotmail.com

This scripture is from Matthew Chapter 6, the Sermon on the Mount
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Thank you so much! Love The Bird Family (Jon, Alyson and Jacey)

Monday, May 2, 2011

These are my days....


A day in the life of the Bird Girls

So the Bird girl and I have enjoyed being at home these last few years. (Not like there have really been a ton of years in our professional relationship but...) I thought I would break up our day so that you can see how we roll. My morning begins with some breakfast and a butt change, I will spare you the details.We almost always watch Harry and His Bucket of Dinosaurs and then Miss Bird turns into a dinosaur herself, which is hilarious. Then Jacey and I hang out on the big red carpet, I like to think of it as the Big Comfy Couch, but not so stupid. This is where we work out, let's not get silly here, Jacey works out not me. I enjoy a glass of chocolate milk! We do our phyios stretches and we work on our little fine motor skills and wear our special hand equipment. This goes on for a good hour or so, or until Jacey rips the hand stuff off via her pirahna mouth. We also spend time in her Pony Walker, affectionately called "Walker, Texas Ranger" or her new standing frame, which she loves. These are all fun and interesting unless Mommy is unloading the dishwasher, playing the piano, dusting, washing the floor, wiping down things or even taking a moment to pee by herself. Then all heck breaks loose and the bird girl yells and yells for me to come running and play with her still. Sheesh! So after we are done playing and working out we snuggle together on the recliner with a bottle for a mid morning snack and then hit the sack. This is one of mommy's favorite 20 minutes of the day...yup I said it 20 minutes...jealous?!? That is what a nap consists of around here. My lady drops like a sack of potatoes into her bed, squeaks once usually and is out like a light for 20 whole minutes. You can imagine my happiness as I either rush through a shower and put clothes on, or do the tidying jobs that Miss Scream a thon wouldn't let me do earlier or third option..is more embarassing. I sit on my butt and relish in the "I don't have to hold my kid 24/7 for the next 20 MINUTES" plan. Hehe The little lady makes some fun talking to herself noises and squirms for a good 5-10 minutes and I dilly dally around cause I want her to know I don't run at her beck and call (she clearly runs the show around here!). We are up and off to the races again! She loves to have fresh air hit her smack in the face, so often times we go sit on the front porch if it is nice out. We don't go on the grass much as we gag, yeah we gag alot and that leads to barf and that leads to mommy barf and so we don't go on the grass much. BUT she does love the air. Then we play, sometimes we go downstairs and see the bunny and chinchilla, sometimes we fiddle around with toys, sometimes we go bounce on mommy's bed. Jacey loves books, music and anything she can get her digits on to chew. So one of those things occurs in this time period. Lunch is next, something delicious, like leftovers or baby food or a sandwich. We are all out gourmet around here! Then you guessed it some more playing, we practice walking in our walkers again with our little leg braces on which is adorable to watch and sweaty to participate in. We also like to re-organize the DVD's, oh wait WE don't like to do that JACEY likes to do that. Sometimes we catch a Backyardigans or Toot and Puddle (mostly cause I love the potty reference name) and or Toopy and Binoo. These are our favs. Then we sit and wait for daddy to come home for supper and a tubby. Then it is off to sleep so that Mommy can tell Daddy all these details. Fun hey?!? If this is not our day, we are running like crazy women to appointments in the city which is fun too! Glad you enjoyed a day in the life....bet you wish your day was as fun. Peace out! - A

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Yes, barely made the month cut off!!



Soooo since I have decided to try really really really hard to blog like every 2 weeks or once a month (let's not get crazy here)...here I am, March 31st at 10:00pm....nailed it!!!

Our family has been busy since our big trip. Jacey is working out at the Glenrose every two weeks and is busy getting into another Rhymes and Storytimes with her cousin Mia. Fun to watch the ladies play together, Jacey loves her cousin and Mia loves Jasus!! hehe Her way of saying Jacey, pretty cute. Jacey also is having another surgery in June. It will be on her eyes to help straighten and strengthen the muscle as well as some Botox injections. Just to clarify the botox is for JACEY not ALYSON...although ALYSON wishes she could have some botox as well. Her stress is creating wrinkles which makes her look 100x meaner than she really is (which is only like some meaness). I digress, she is having surgery and we are ok with it. She is also loving popping up onto her knees and sitting back on them, ALL THE TIME! It is pretty radical to watch. She is pretty proud of herself.

Jon is still working, and being nice to me. (Which is a good thing) He is excited for some one on one daddy time this weekend while I am away. He will swim with the girl and cook for her...or reheat some leftovers...whatevs! I am heading out of town with my mom, sistas and some other family members to SCRAPBOOK. I am uber excited to relax, and work hard on my tiny lady's baby book. Should be fun!

Anyways, don't want to get all carried away and think because this post is semi long that I am a wicked, awesome blogger or something. I mean c'mon! =) Love ya's - A

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Did y'all die of a "she finally posted" heart attack?!?...I did!











These last few months have been pretty busy around here. My last post of an unmentionable date was about Jacey's birthday and surgery. Since then she has been doing really good! Update(jot note form):
- Jacey did a 16 week program weekly at the Glenrose called 1,2,3, Go! and it was an intensive physio/occupational therapy/speech and other professionals class
- She wore her little casts on her legs for 6 weeks and then they were cut to be removed only during physio and bath time and then another 3 weeks
- She has "conditionally" been accepted for GRIT school program this fall which works 5 days a week for 3 1/2 hours a day out of our home 1:1 with an assistant. WAHOO!!
- We have some new equipment to help her little hips continue to heal and hold off her next surgery
- We have had more genetic testing done and it has been back and forth, but for the time being looks non-genetic (we are totally not making more little people till we know)
- Jacey had her first haircut, it was a bit sad but really made the curls pop back up again
- Christmas was great with both families and the Bird Girl was spoiled as per usual
- Jon's dad recovered well from his open heart surgery and has had no more problems and his mom has gotten a full time job (exciting but sad to not get to see her on our weekly visits in the day)
- My dad has had some medical stuff go on, but is healing like a trooper and my mom has been working away at her doula certification
- My sibs are same old same old...except Jenny got pregnant again..what a fertile myrtle the turtle. hehe We are beyond excited about it!!
- February our family along with my sister Jenny and her hubby Graham and their little woman Mia all went down to Florida for a vacay. It rocked!! The girls were rock stars with the 8 hour days and we hit up some great Disney parks and spent some $$ outlet shopping and really relaxed for some time off! It was greatly needed after the year we had.
- Jon got a new job working in the city for a Property Managers company which he is loving and he gets to have lunch with his dad every day which is special.

So that about sums it up, we are continually in the city for appointments but feel crazy blessed that we get to be so close to all the resources we need for out little lady. We have had some yucky go on this year but the positive is outweighing it ten fold. Now lets cross our fingers and hope that I will post weekly...monthly from now on! =) Love- The Birds