Mitochondrial Disease and Exercise

Great video by one of the leading experts on Mitochondrial Disease-- Dr. Cohen recently moved to Akron Children's from Cleveland Clinic

Mito Awareness Project

This is our Mito Awareness project from yesterday.  making a green Mito ribnon isn't as easy as one would think!  

Mito Awareness Video

Packers vs Panthers in Charlotte

God's blessings abound.  Chris' company gave him two tickets to see the Packers play the Panthers in Charlotte.  His boss thought of him because Matthew is such a huge Packers fan!  The best part was that we have Homeschool Football League friends who are huge Panther fans with season tickets. Everything went off smoothly.... we went to the 8 am Mass in Salisbury (priorities! God before football!) so that the boys would get to Charlotte in time for the game.  They met up with our friends, did a bit of tailgating and then headed in to watch the Packers pack the Panthers!  It was a great game. (Sean and I watched at home...ran to a piano event, then finished watching the game) Cam Newton did a great job for the Panthers, but in the end, the Pack won. Go Pack go!

After Mass... heading to the game!

Matthew with and HFL mom and Panthers fan!

Walking to the stadium

In the suite

View from the box

? hang ten ?

Dad and son in the box

Matthew, the luckiest kid ever

In the suite.... just to nice!

Mito Awareness Week

Today starts Mitochondrial Disease Awareness week. I'll be making calls for the UMDF to let people know about the EFL walk next month. 

I love this picture:

I Love two someones with Mito.... and more. We've met so many wonderful Mito families! Please help spread Mito awareness and pray for all Mito families!

Football Mania

Yesterday was a great day for Sean! We were so very excited to watch him play in his first football game in years. He made some great plays (Great kick off return!!) He has some weird issues, that we assume are Mito related. He played an entire JV game, then played two plays in Varsity. I watched him on the sidelines and could tell that his hip was hurting. This is common and he has this with baseball, riding a bike or just any physical exercise. The strange thing is that he was unable to lift his leg completely for a while after the game, he had to use his arms to help. It seemed better after the Mito Cocktail and some rest. Today we are only dealing with his post-exercise headache and hip pain. It is what it is.... life with Mito. Thankful that Matthew doesn't ever experience pain after the games, though!

I'm hoping the pain clinic and Mito doctors have ideas on how to help both boys. Mitochondrial disease has no cure... we can only manage the symptoms. I am proud of what Sean accomplished today. Proud mom moment made prouder because I know what he has to overcome to be on that football field. This week is Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week, so tell someone about Mito and help us find a cure! 

Matthew did a greet job on the field, too. His team had several injuries before the first game-- broken leg, broken thumb requiring surgery. Today, the QB was taken to the ER in the first half of the game (broke his shoulder). Matthew played offense and defense and was in most of the entire game. He played Wide receiver, cornerback and a bit of tight end. He had some great plays, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. I have some of it caught on film. It was a cold, rainy day! Pictures follow. Go Panthers!

Brothers. Forced Picture, Can you tell?

JV Praying before the game

Sean's awesome Kickoff Return!

Sean's kickoff Return

Sean at the bottom of the pile after the kickoff return

Sean #61 Starting Left tackle

Sean

I like how the teammate has his elbow on Sean's back

Teams together after the game... only in a Christ-centered league

Varsity praying before the game

Matthew

Matthew

Matthew Blocking

In the huddle (Matthew #29)

Matthew about to force a fumble..then get the ball for his team

Mathew's hand is pushing the ball out......

Mathew keeps his eye on the ball.....

Still heading to get the ball

Matthew gets the ball for his team!

Mathew holds on tight!

Great job, Matthew!

Again..... last shot... great job! 

I'd hate to see #29 heading my way!

Matthew wants to tackle.... if you've got the ball, #29 is coming after you!

Mathew going after the green guy

Good coverage, Matthew, they won't pass to this guy because you are ON him!

Mathew makes another tackle

Ready!

Eye on the ball.....


If  you'd like to see the over 400 pictures I took of the Youth, JV and Varsity Panthers, click this link:  Pictures

iPieta App

WOW! What a cool Catholic App for the iPad. The iPieta app contains the Catholic Bible,  A Calendar including feast days and readings, loads of Catholic prayers, readings/writings of the Saints and Ecumenical Councils and all 3 Baltimore Catechisms!  You can choose English, Latin or English with the Latin on the side for many prayers.

If you are looking for a great Catholic App, check our iPieta. Of course, the Josemaria App is still one of my favorites.

Football Season

The first official HFL football game is this Saturday in Greensboro.  First we pray for the safety of all the boys and ask for God's protection as they engage in the wonderful sport of tackle football.  We are blessed to be part of a Christ-centered league.  It is absolutely amazing. This year, we welcome Sean, who came over from the dark side of playing fall baseball!  Below is Sean's first official picture as a Greensboro Panther.  He told me last night that he will be starting Left Tackle and will be back up defensive ends (both sides, but not at once!).  We're just excited to watch him play in his first game.   Matthew promises me that tomorrow he will allow me to get one picture of him with his brother in uniform.  THAT will make for a great scrapbook page.

We've had a great experience in the last 3 years with HFL.  We are the only Catholics out there and when people ask questions about our Catholic faith, I am glad that Matthew knows his faith, knows the Bible and can defend our faith.  These families are wonderful, Christ-centered families and I know they understand that our lives are centered on Jesus Christ, too, even though we have different faiths.  Matthew spoke at our church recently and he mentioned that he was the only Catholic on his football team.  He said going to the DYC made him realize he really isn't alone....... 

Every practice, the players and coaches pray before and after. They also have a devotion.  No where else would you find coaches and players dedicated to Jesus Christ like here in the HFL. It is a blessing in our lives and we are blessed to have these families as part of our lives.

Our Newest Panther Family Member

PSAT and Moving Toward College

Where did the years go?  I can't believe Matthew is scheduled to take the PSAT on October 14!  As he moves closer to graduating, it seems that college could be a reality.  Hopefully, it will be a reality, but you never know what path he will chose to take.  Though, I do know that path will be directed by God. 

He is such a great kid! On the 24th of September he will be working a pro-life booth at the Eucharistic Congress.  He is working for Room at the Inn of the Carolinas, a maternity home for homeless women. He's been on their board for a year now and works to help raise money for this wonderful cause.  He is still very active in the Triad Students for Life group he started several years ago.  I know that whatever path he chooses, God will be at the center.

Now back to getting him through 11th grade!

Constitution Day- September 17, 2011

Here are some great links to help you celebrate and learn more about the Constitution of the United States of America.

5 Question Quiz- How well do you know the Constitution?

Need lesson plans for Constitution Day?  Here's the link: Constitution day lesson plans

Prayer and Journal Apps

Prayer is essential to life.... and I find that I forget my prayer request notebook and my prayer journal when we go on trips to the hospital or just the local hospital adventures.  I tried a few free prayer apps, but then ended up getting the one that cost $1.99.  It is AWESOME -- it is an app called Prayers for the iPad (not available on the iTouch).  You create lists of people or groups, then when you click on the person, you can add as many prayer requests as you would like for that person/group. When you pray, you can click on "I prayed for this" or "Answered" -- it keeps track of the number of times you prayed for each request. Once the prayer is answered, it gets moved to the answered prayer file.  You can then click on "answered prayers" to see how many prayers have been answered. Can't wait to see how many prayers have been answered in a year!

iJournal is perfect-- it is the first journal with blank pages.... you create it from scratch.  I think this one is also only available for iPad. I'm trying to add notes from my latest prayer journal to the new iJournal.  The colest part is that I can search iJournal.... unlike my regular prayer journal! If I want to look up what I have written about forgiveness, I can do that.... or I can search my pastor's homilies, etc.  It really is super cool to be able to search the journal.

Neither App is "Catholic", but they are a great addition to my life.  I can reflect on Scripture or my favorite Saint's quotes.... then later find them easily. 

Spanish Helps

We're making our way through Spanish I with two of our boys.  Seton's Spanish Counselor will be my new best friend these next few years!  He gave us a few Spanish resources, as did our priest. We also found a few on our own. Chris has been using eLanguage Spanish Essentials for the computer to help him (he flies to Mexico and Central America quite a bit) We found High School Advantage from www.southwestern.com had a helpful Spanish language tool, too.

Apps:  Matthew likes the iTranslate App he purchased and I found a free app called LL Spanish that is VERY helpful!  I think LL Spanish is only available for the iPad, where the one Matthew purchased is available for both his iTouch and my iPad.  Another free Spanish App called Essentials seems to be okay, too.  It is worth a shot, since it is free.

Websites:

Manuel at Seton gave us these: 

A Catholic TV station with lots of great things and this foreign language vocabulary site  (this site will pronounce the words for you)

Our priest uses this:  Ambiguo (this site pronounces the words for you)

Chemistry-- Just Sayin'

I don't think my son took notes, not at least while I was looking, So I took pictures of the boards.... maybe he can check out my blog later to recap and take notes? Well.... it's be hard to read without zooming in.   I love that we used Friendly Chemistry prior to high school to prepare them, but some of this stuff is easily forgotten, if you know what I mean.(Update on Sept 15: No, he did not take notes...... I was going back over this again before the first chapter test....ouch!)

9/11

A few months ago, I attended a conference that was in 7 World Trade. 7 World Trade was rebuilt after 9/11. It was surreal going up into 7 World Trade, knowing that it had collapsed on 9/11. From the 40th floor, seeing the huge hole in the ground, it was surreal..... thinking about those who perished that day made me tremble.

We should never forget. We pray for all the families, victims and survivors of 9/11. The US was criticized today for remembering and holding public memorial services with the family members of 9/11 victims. One lady told me that we should only remember the humanitarian triumph on that day. How does one forget the reason Fr. Judge was anointing victims when the towers collapsed and killed him? He wasn't anointing people because they spontaneously became ill or dropped dead. He was doing his job as a priest because terrorists flew airplanes into our twin towers. Saying what she said today.... using that logic, one would then have to forget the holocaust when remembering the sacrifice St. Kolbe made when he died for a Jewish man who had a wife and kids. Are we supposed to forget why he was in the concentration camp to begin with? Absolutely crazy.

I also read that we were adding hype to the sadness of 9/11 and that this is what has created the economic turmoil. Right. President Obama, his administration and our Congress passing the recent bill to increase the debt ceiling without really controlling spending had nothing to do with it. It was all that hype over 9/11. No one can add hype to the events of 9/11. 3 WTC towers fell-- the twin towers were hit by airplanes and 7 World Trade fell after catching fire and falling debris damaged it. Our Pentagon was hit by an airplane and there is was a hole in the ground where flight 93 hit. No one can add hype to the sadness.... tell that to the widows, widowers, children who lost parents, or those who never met their fathers because they died in 9/11 before they were born.

To dare and criticize how we AMERICANS memorialize 9/11 and have public memorial services is in poor taste on any given day, but completely unconscionable on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. I am glad that our country has chosen to NEVER FORGET and have public memorials. The families of the victims need to know that we still support them, love them and pray for them.

Here are a few pictures from my visit to NYC this past summer.... NEVER FORGET.

Reflecting pools from 7 World Trade

Cross at Ground Zero

inscription on cross

view of ground zero from 7 World trade

new Freedom tower-- it will be 1776 ft tall when complete