Preston starts 5th Grade.

My son Preston starts another chapter in his life today, The 5th grade! He also was chosen to be one of the Ambassadors and tour guide at the 1st ever Welcome "New Families" Ice Cream social! He thought that was pretty cool! Wishing you the best in the 5th grade year! You go little man! xoxox

Front cover of my 1st book!

I am very excited to say that my 1st Children's book Patchland Adventures "Fishing with Grandpa" Is out in print now! You can go to my website to order your book, If you would like a signed copy I will do that for you. www.patchlandadventures.com
You also can go to amazon.com and barnes&noble.com. But I can only sign your book, If you go directly to my site. Also my book now is @ all 3 locations of the Tattered Cover book store. Also in Maria's book shop in Durango, and in Douglas County libraries, & Arapahoe Library (Smokeyhill Locattion. Bookies also carries my book too! I am so grateful and humbled!

Back to School Eye Exams

Back to School Eye Exams


It's been awhile since I have posted anything on my blog, and I miss it! I am going to try and make sure to post at least once a week.
There has been a lot that has happened in our lives since the last time I posted on my blog and will share with you all soon! These are some of the things that I would like to share with you on my next posts, is Preston’s last eye exams to his sports and vacations and just life. I need to sit down and write and play catch up.
I also have been working diligently on getting all the information I need to make my book successful when it comes out in print. My Illustrator Joey is working really hard to get the sketches done. They are so cute! I can’t wait to share!
I wanted to make sure to let you know its back-to-school time again. This means it's time to make sure children have healthy vision for success in the classroom and in activities, so please let others know to go get the children eye exams!
Have a great day!
Carmen
Patch land Adventures

October 27th Snow Storm

October 27th Snow Storm

We had a huge snow storm on the 27th of Oct. so the kids didn’t have to go to school that day.
I asked Preston to wear his eye patch as he helped me shovel the snow for a little while until he gets bored and that usually doesn’t take that long, with that said within 10 minutes he asked me if he could take the sled up the street and slide down the little hill it is just up from our house and I could still keep an eye on him while shoveling the drive way and sidewalk.
Preston’s little friend Evan wanted to go sledding with him they went for a little while and the temperature started dropping more and I noticed their red little cheeks so I had them come in take off their wet clothes and drink some hot coco made with milk and marshmallows! They loved that of course! Now they were nice and toasty!
Preston has transitional lenses they will darken up outside in the sun, in the house they go back to normal. I noticed when he was coming in the house the one lens looked a little weird I thought that maybe it looked like that because it was cold, and could have gotten wet from the snow, but as I looked at again I noticed he was missing a lens. I said Preston your missing a lens! He started to laugh for moment and said oh mom how long will it take to get a new lens? He has another pair of glasses just in case of reasons like this, but he said they didn’t feel right! I told him fine he didn’t have to wear the other pair but he would have to go to school like that with a missing lens until we are able to get him a new one. It was a good thing that the lens that was missing was of his stronger eye!
Preston was worried that he would get made fun of at school I told him that kids might not even notice inside the class so don’t mention it and see what happens if they do just tell them what happened, but we know how kids can be! I told him it wouldn’t be that long before getting the new lens.
Preston’s friend Evan, his father and his sister came over and they all went outside and built an igloo in our front yard it was a great one! Took his mind off of losing his lens.
The next day at school only a couple of kids noticed his lens and didn’t tease him, I was able to get him a new one the next day!

Vision Walk 2009 at City Park

Vision Walk 2009 at City Park

It was a great day for the vision walk around City Park! It was cool day prefect for our 3 mile walk around City Park. I put together a team and we called it Patch Land Adventures, of course.
Preston and I were captains of our walk team. We were able to raise some money for our 1st Vision walk. We had friends and neighbors that joined us for the walk.
We meet up with our team mates and registered, said hi to others and started our walk. We did our 3 mile walk around the park and it was so nice to see the water it was very peaceful, and to see all the teams and guide dogs as well.
When I got back from the walk I had to help Garcia’s set up tables, they were such a great support to us as they were for my event the “Blind Taste of the Rockies”.
Preston and his friend Chase were enjoying the clown, games, cotton candy and popcorn and there was a live band on the stage.
Preston was very proud of how much money we were able to raise for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. I think it’s great to have Preston involved the way I do with this non-profit and seeing me volunteer giving back to the community.
I understand this non-profit doesn’t directly deal with Preston’s eye disease but I just had to be a part of it! I feel that it is all about low vision and some day everyone will be able to see the way most of us do we have to do our part to make a change hopefully in the near future.

Tour at Hammonds Candy Factory

Tour at Hammonds Candy Factory

Preston had a friend stay the night and we decided that we would go in the morning to the Hammonds candy factory and go on a tour. We went to another one of his friend’s house and picked him his brother and mother up and went to the Factory. It was a nice day we took a couple of pictures and went inside to get our name in for the tour.
We had to watch a short film about the factory when it started ECT. This is the second time that Preston and I have been to the factory. It was in a new location and the tour was a lot shorter. It was really neat seeing how hard it is to make the ribbon candy what a process it has to go through, and it takes 5 years to become a master candy maker, amazing! After the tour we got to pick out a free candy cane. Of course you can’t walk out without buying candy. We picked up our little baskets and started to fill our baskets. Ouch it adds up fast! We paid and got out of there. What a great time it was the boys really enjoyed it.
We decide to go get lunch than the boys could play for awhile before going home. It was a great day but I told Preston that he had to wear his patch for the rest of the day. We make compromises sometimes.

Day Trip to Millers Farm

Day Trip to Millers Farm

Preston and I went to Millers farm it was about an hour drive north, during his off track time. We always try to plan some fun outings with other class mate friends and their moms. We all arrived there about the same time, we made sure to have our sunscreen on and water bottles and snacks. We were planning to have lunch there as well. We went and paid than the boys wanted to get in the go-carts and race before going on our little adventure. We jumped into a back of a trailer to drive a bunch of us around to different parts of the farm. It was really a neat experience to go around and pick our own produce. It is hard work! Preston and the boys had a new appreciation to produce. It was really a hot day and we drank lots of water and had some snacks while going out in the different fields.
One of the moms that we were there with had a friend of hers that came along and her three children. I noticed that one of her sons had glasses on and I inquired about his vision. She had told me that he also has Amblyopia and a little bit of their journey with it. I told her about Preston and my books. What a small world! I like to hear other peoples journey with Amblyopia and the different steps that they are taking to get there Childs vision as strong as possible.
I was sitting next to this lady and her husband and their two children wonderful family. She had over heard my conversation about the kids and Amblyopia. Her son also has low vision issues so we were able to talk about it. She really has gone through so much with her son. I hope to be able to share their story with you in the near future. We exchanged contact information and looking forward to connecting with her and family. I really feel that sometimes people are brought together for a reason.