I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated you all on Jaeli and her family. Brandy and Jaeli went to Boston for a second opinion and that went SO WELL. Their nutritional specialist and GI doctors took Jaeli off all supplements and prescribed the breastmilk high-calorie formula. In fact, one of the short snippets of updates Brandy was able to give at the time, included a huge thank you for all of your generous donations and prayers.

Your prayers made it possible for the doctors to narrow down the source of Jaeli’s allergies to a corn allergy – which explains why all the supplements, even “hypo-allergenic” supplements, were still causing intestinal problems. Your donations have made it possible to know that Jaeli will be provided for with the high-calorie, nutritious breastmilk that she so clearly needs. Our efforts on Jaeli’s behalf meant that Brandy could rest in peace when the doctors tracked down the problem – and the solution. Now it’s all documented and set in her medical files to avoid any other future problems. Yeah!

Jaeli recently celebrated her 6-month birthday, and has passed the 10-pound mark – both great milestones for her! She’s a trooper, that’s for sure. Keep her in your prayers. As always, you can continue to follow the updates on Jaeli via her Twitter account @RareChromoBaby. Please do pray for Brandy as her laptop is no longer working to internet time is more limited.

Blessings,

Angela <><

YES!!

The last of the most recent Paypal Transactions have cleared. Are you guys ready for this? Today, after much time on the phone with the Mother’s Milk Bank of OH (Thank you, Georgia for your patience), I made a paypal transfer directly to their bank account.

Here’s the screen shot.

Did you catch that total? Yeah- let me show you guys again.

The total amount of donations for Jaeli in the past week is $16,012.60!

No you did not blink. You did not misread that comma. In addition to the over three-thousand dollars we sent in last week, we have together sent in another SIXTEEN THOUSAND to the milk bank this week as well. You guys are amazing.

Here’s the final CYA screen shot of the email confirmation from Paypal of the transfer and then I have something else to talk about – Nestle. But first…Georgia (the milk bank director) said she would be posting to the Facebook Cause Group when the transfers were complete and would try to pop in and post updates as additional, directly-sent donations come in as well so keep an eye on that in the next day or two.

Confirmation email from Paypal - Notice the messages from Nestle too.

Now then – Nestle. You’ll notice several of the subject lines of the other emails received. From Nestle. A full dozen of you forwarded their *lovely* response to me in addition to the canned replies I got from them myself. Someone IM’d me and said, “WHAT!? Did they even keep track of the updates with this situation?”

My reply is – not according to my Google Analytics. Their three visits to my website from Nestle Corp came within the first week that we started this campaign with no new recorded activity from them in the past two+ weeks. So I’m not sure they WERE keeping up with it.

It doesn’t matter. The official Nestle response, for anyone who didn’t get a copy, is “I have been following the information about Jaeli and her sensitive condition. We hear from many parents about special situations and we treat each request with great concern and attention. I understand your request for our support in providing what Jaeli’s parent(s) believe to be best for their baby. We empathize with the situation but need to respect the professional recommendation of Jaeli’s doctors who are closest to the situation and must have her best interest at heart. Our thoughts are with Jaeli and her family.”

There’s a lot I could say – but won’t. Not here. Not in this post of victory. Just this – I’ve had a lot of people asking about boycotts. Now, I can’t tell you want to do with your money. But I can certainly tell you this much – As one of the 590+ citizens of the world who contributed to Jaeli’s need I find their response insulting. And as a mother I find it degrading. They won’t be getting another dime from me. I’d rather send that money to Jaeli anyway.

So here’s my final thoughts on the subject. YOU GUYS ROCK! Here’s what I’ve been seeing from some of YOU – please note the stark contrasts:

• “Please let me know how else I can help. I don’t have much to give right now, but my heart goes out to this family. I wish I could do more.”
• “Donation for Jaeli I wish I could send more. Thank you for helping Brandy and this precious baby.”
• “Found this via Twitter.  We’ll skip the lattes this week!”
• “Brandy & Jaeli are always in my thoughts and prayers!”
• “GOOD LUCK JAELI, I HOPE YOU GET BETTER SOON …..AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WITH ALL GOOD THINGS.”
• “Good luck…I read your story this morning and I know how frustrated you must be with your insurance co.  I will include you in all my prayers……”
• “God bless you all, and this precious baby. I pray for God to bring her good health, and for peace and rest for her parents. God bless you for raising money for them, and I am sure I will be able to donate more soon. I will have you all in my prayers”
• “I hope my donation will help. Please keep me posted as to how Jaeli improves. As a mother of grown children and a nurse I would love to contribute again to your precious one. Many prayers are with you all.”
• “My son is allergic to cow’s milk, so I have some idea of feeding costs.  We’d do more but are unemployed.  Blessings to Jaeli!”
• “Good luck and god bless”
• “I hope she does  good. I know how hard it is with an infant illness. God bless you all.”
• “God Bless little Jaeli and her family”

My personal favorite, and one of the first donations to come in, read “I can only afford to give one ounce of milk for Jaeli. But I will pray and in faith believe that God will take this widow’s mite and multiply greatly“. And He has.

The truth is, by the time Nestle crafted their semi-insulting and seemingly-misinformed reply WE DIDN’T NEED THEM. The truth is, more than 600 people around the world banded together to accomplish a miracle for this baby faster than this large corporation could even formulate their reply. Thanks to you – Nestle’s automated response is nothing more than something to be shrugged away. Their message, inconsequential compared to the numerous messages from hundreds of you of which the previous was only a small sample. And I think the messages speak for themselves.

Blessings,

Angela <><

An interesting development in Jaeli’s story has to do with one of the most unique fundraising ideas I’ve seen yet! A mobile music campaign started by SERUM Music – a record label representing Kristina Halloway, a Christian gospel/pop artist. Her music is really beautiful and I loved “Only You” – more rythm than a standard “gospel” song. As a college-trained musician, I loved her voice.

So here’s the scoop! They found out about Jaeli and want to help! The same way we’ve all been doing for the past month – with each one doing what they can. And what Tina can do is SING.

Download her ringtones for $.99 each by texting JAELItone1 for “It’s Only You” OR JAELItone2 for “Say O” to 47201 and a portion of the proceeds will go directly to Jaeli’s fund!

You can hear the songs for yourself at the SERUM Music Website by clicking the “Launch Serum Audio Player” link at the right, top-hand corner.

Purchase either of these songs, “It’s Only You” or “Say O” through the iTunes website or iTunes link on the Serum site as well to benefit Jaeli.

Add a gorgeous song to your ringtone collection or MP3 player and help Jaeli!

Angela <><

The story broke on AOL news while I was gone to the ranch for two days so I am STILL, two hours later, sorting through the emails, questions and comments. I did want to give some updates as much as I can, even before I finish sorting through as I realize there are several new subscribers to my site waiting for them.

Jaeli’s Condition

Per conversation with Brandy this evening: Jaeli continues to experience difficulty with her Neocate formula feeds and is not gaining on it as well as anticipated. Breast milk continues to be better tolerated per mom’s experience, but Jaeli continues on her hospital-assigned regimen under close pediatric advisory.

A Medela Donation!

Medela, one of the most well-known names in breastfeeding equipment, as graciously provided Brandy with a hospital grade pump to help her keep up her milk supply for when she nurses Jaeli directly! This wonderful offer comes just as Brandy had to return the loaner pump from the hospital as their insurance only covered it three months and then while Jaeli was in the hospital. Medela is also arranging for a specialized lactation consultant to come to Brandy’s home and help give her any additional tips and advice for keep her personal supply up – and hopefully expressing as much of her own milk as possible.

The Milk Questions

Which leads me to the milk questions. Brandy was nursing Jaeli directly whenever possible and doing much to keep her personal supply up. However, Jaeli was been increasingly fussy and refusing to nurse since her hospitalization. Additionally, she requires the prescribed and EXTRA supplemental feedings via the Gtube (I believe it’s 30 ounces per day but not sure about that figure) to help increase her weight gain. Or rather – to keep her gaining any weight at all – which is of course vital for an infant. That is why there is such a need for donated milk – Brandy wasn’t able to nurse directly AND keep up with the supplemental, prescribed feeds via Gtube.

The Donation Questions

Yes – every cent is going to the milk bank for Jaeli. I mailed a $3200 check last week and will be calling Paypal in the morning to find out if they can arrange the check/money to be sent directly to the Mother’s Milk Bank of OH from the Paypal account since it’s rather a large amount now. A few transactions are still waiting to clear so I’ll update the amount as soon as I have it finalized but right now we can safely say Jaeli is set through the end of ’09 at least. You guys are AMAZING. I love that no major corporations have helped with this. I love that is was literally HUNDREDS of private citizens – families from around the world – who made this happen. I am impressed with what God can do with a lot of littles when everyone is just going WHAT THEY CAN – whether that’s inviting friends to the Facebook Cause, or forwarding an email to your church group, or sending in $4.25 for an ounce of milk, or sending in $500….whatever each can do, when each DOES, becomes a huge and powerful thing….so much more than any ONE can do.

Donations can be sent directly to the Mother’s Milk Bank of OH – just mark “Jaeli” on the memo line! The address is rather buried on the Jaeli Page so I’m reposting it here:

Or you can click the “Donate” button in the sidebar of my website – just to right – to send the donation via Paypal. Alternatively, there is a Jaeli’s Syndrome Facebook Cause page if you want to donate through the Cause page and raise awareness amongst your friends and family there.

If you are interested in donating MILK – there is a HUGE NEED. Please contact the nearest HMBANA milk bank to you – they cover the costs of testing and shipping the milk and explain how to get set up. There are SO MANY babies like Jaeli who need what these milk banks provide. I know that Brandy would be honored to hear that you are making donations to the milk banks in Jaeli’s honor.

The Media Questions

Jaeli’s story has been published at the following sites and news outlets. If you have another media outlet you’d like to see feature Jaeli’s story please email them or call them about it!

• Huliq News – Jaeli’s Syndrome: Social Media Miracle Baby
• Momlogic.com – Twitter Saves Baby
• Well Mom – Mom’s Please for Help Races Across the Web
• Radio Interview w/@AngEngland on Why Mom’s Matter at Blog Talk Radio – “Moms Harness the Power of Social Media“
• AOL News – Social Networking Saviors

Blessings to all – I’m in awe of your response – Angela <><

Sound extreme? It really isn’t that extreme when you consider that within 24 hours of the first tweet going out, nearly 75 mothers, fathers and concerned citizens had donated enough coffee and pizza money to buy the milk Jaeli needed. The milk she wouldn’t have otherwise been able to have.

Baby Jaeli - one of only four known to have Jaeli's Syndrome.

Jaeli is a sweet, 4-month old baby girl I know personally, born with a rare chromosomal disorder that doesn’t even have a name—I call it Jaeli’s Syndrome. Only three other people in the entire US are known to have Jaeli’s Syndrome, but her’s is the story I worried about. Here’s the time-line breakdown of what has happened so far:

Tuesday morning (October 6th) I received an e-mail from Brandy, Jaeli’s mother. The donor breastmilk was running out and she just found out the other private donor she thought would be sending milk didn’t have any to send. The hospital refused to order any milk from the milk bank (which keeps a supply of donor milk on hand) since it wasn’t covered by the Vermont State Medicaid. Brandy’s options were 1-pay for the milk with cash she did not have after 4 months of intensive care for a sick baby or 2-be forced to feed Jaeli formula supplements she has shown SEVERE reactions to in the past. Or, as Brandy’s despondent e-mail said in a moment of hopelessness, watch her baby starve. Unacceptable to me!

By 2:30 pm that day I put up a Jaeli Page on my website describing what I knew of the situation, and the first tweet went out. Within one hour there were over 30 retweets reaching an audience of over 70,000.

20 hours later with nearly 3,000 hits to the page and over 60 individual donations, we’d raised enough money that I surprised Brandy with a phone call directly to the hospital where Jaeli is admitted and I told her, “Call the milk bank and order a week’s supply for Jaeli. Tell the hospital a bunch of mothers gave their coffee money to do, in 24 hours, what they couldn’t do for you in FOUR MONTHS.”

Since then we’ve doubled the amount of donations from private citizens, as well as been given a generous donation of one box of high-calorie milk from the Ohio milk bank — a donation which has been matched by two other milk banks from around the country. More than 75 individual donations came in from at least 8 different countries including India, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, England and more.

Over six thousand people have come to the site, commented, e-mailed me directly, or are talking about this situation in a variety of chat boards, forums and, of course, on Twitter. Via our initial twitter efforts, which led to postings from others on many mothering websites, we’ve also been able to send donor agreement forms to over two dozen potential donors!

By the 48-hour mark, every milk bank in the HMBANA network was aware of Jaeli’s unique condition and working on her behalf. This is about the time someone (on Twitter of course) had the idea of a corporate sponsor to cover the cost of her feedings. Friends, family, twitterers and total strangers began emailing Nestle at nestlefamilyinfo@casupport.com and asking them to act on their stated support of babies by sponsoring Baby Jaeli’s feedings. This, again, is a contact made directly with Nestle via Twitter. We are still waiting to hear from Nestle, Gerber and other companies contacted about Jaeli’s situation.

By the 72-hour mark an online friend’s idea to call Senators and Representatives had various government agencies working on Jaeli’s behalf. Not only that — Baby Jaeli’s story has been read by a half-dozen news outlets. Over two dozen hospitals around the nation and several government agencies have become directly involved including the Vermont Health Advocate’s Office and Senator Leahy’s Office, to name two helpful agencies off hand. Both were contacted directly as a result of social media outreach…while potential donors and questions and e-mails continued to flood in.

We’ve all seen the blog-o-spere discussed in negative ways — people turning on each other and attacking one another. But here is a situation where the online community centered around a perfect little 8-pound baby and rallied on her behalf. My initial reaction of “Oh, no. You will NOT starve to death” was echoed by a thousand voices around the world. My initial reaction of raising enough to cover a week or two became an entire movement as idea after idea came pouring in. Let’s call Senators. Let’s e-mail Nestle. Let’s find a company to sponsor her. Let’s e-mail news outlets.

Apparently “Jaeli’s Syndrome” makes it easy to stick in people’s hearts as well. An entire community of online “advocates” have embraced a baby they’ve never met. Social media rules again — and this time the benefits are obvious and tangible. Especially for Baby Jaeli.

Where do we go from here? The doctors are completing their trials of what Jaeli will tolerate and grow on and should finish up this week. The current plan is to send Jaeli home on the milk bank milk in the high calorie formulation, because what this baby needs most is to GROW. We’ve secured and paid for enough of this milk to last through October, and thanks to donations trickling in yesterday, into November as well. After that – who knows? Either more donations will come in, medicaid will come through or large donors will step up. One thing IS for sure – this baby will have what she needs, one way or another.

Update Email From Brandy (Posted With Permission): Subject Line “Jaeli’s NeoCate Trial and Milk Bank Milk Secured”

I wish I could have emailed before now. I wasn’t able to use my computer much for the past three days, especially now that my three-year old daughter is staying in the hospital with me. Thanks to Angela England’s help, and those who have responded to her petitions on our behalf, we have a buffer for getting Jaeli milk long-term and finding a caloric intake plan that will work so the hospital will release her.

We’ve secured some 24 calorie milk from the milk bank that is due in tomorrow morning and will be transported from my home an hour and a half away to us here in the hospital. We would have shipped it directly here, but the hospital’s receiving department has no protocol for handling breast milk and the risk of it sitting there too long and going bad is great. In the meantime, we’ve been forced to start a trial run of NeoCate hypoallergenic formula, started this afternoon, with the purpose of presenting a case to Vermont Medicaid in an attempt to get them to pay for this uncovered benefit. This is a formula she did not tolerate, but it was never documented in a hospital setting.

She’s beginning to struggle more on NeoCate than on breast milk to keep feeds down. She requires more maintenance and had a choking episode this last (fourth) feed that passed fairly quickly, but she’s not critical.* I’m not sure how the doctors will evaluate this info, but I’m reporting every change to nurses who are recording it. I’m hoping doctors will see this plainly as not beneficial for optimum growth and well-being and move on.

I’m unsure if we’ll be testing the soy formula after NeoCate, but we will definitely be testing the milk bank milk. Standard breast milk is 20 or lower calorie, so the milk bank milk at 24 calorie, which requires special permission to get, should help Jaeli grow more than standard milk. This is a huge reason we need to go with banked milk first (the other reason is that it takes away donor milk safety issues). But it costs a lot of money.

A couple of milk banks are donating each a box of milk that should take Jaeli twenty days total, and the money raised thus far will give us a few more weeks. After that, if a long-term sponsor isn’t found** and Vermont Medicaid won’t pay for the banked milk, then we’ll need donors to meet her supply. (I have milk but am unable to express most of it and doctors want Jaeli to get 30 ounces scheduled G-tube feeds a day atop any nursing she does, so they know what caloric intake she gets.) This is why we’re looking for and screening donors.

Ang, thank you for being our advocate and doing what I cannot. I love you!

To everyone who has spoken prayer on Jaeli’s behalf, sent an encouraging word or thought, called out the humor hounds, or donated time or money or phone calls, THANK YOU!

* Angela’s Note - As per a phone conversation with Brandy one hour ago, Jaeli is more pale with mottled-looking skin and the amount of fussiness is increasing as her intestinal discomfort grows in reaction to the NeoCate. She’s also been spitting up more frequently. Pray the doctors will note the changes and feel comfortable discontinuing the trial before Jaeli takes an even bigger turn for the worse.

** Note regarding Nestle – After a conversation via Twitter, Nestle gave me an email address to submit a sponsor proposal to them via email, for Jaeli’s feedings. They also said anyone could email and encourage them to sponsor Jaeli’s feedings whch would insure her access to the higher calorie, screened milk that would be better for her, even if Medicaid fails to come through. Email Nestle at nestlefamilyinfo@casupport.com and ask them to sponsor Baby Jaeli. We’d love to see this formula company prove their assertion that “breast is best” with their checkbook on Jaeli’s behalf. The address of the milk bank is posted on Baby Jaeli’s Donation Page - they can send money directly to the Mother’s Milk Bank of Ohio.

We need you to make phone calls! The best news is, this doesn’t cost a thing only 45 seconds of your time. Here’s the list of talking points and the numbers of the Vermont Senators and Representatives.  Read through the bullet points briefly and then call in with the “Request” part.

-Calling on behalf of the Brow family in South Vermont, in a Lebanon, NH, hospital

-Baby Jaeli (JAY-lee) was born four months ago with a chromosome disorder so rare that only four other people are known to have it

-Because of this disorder, among other health problems, she has had violent reactions to any supplement other than breastmilk.  Although she is four months old, she is only 8 lbs and desperately needs healthy milk.

-The family works in construction and is struggling under the weight of her medical bills.

-Although breastmilk is available through local milk banks, their Vermont Medicaid will not cover breastmilk at all.  The hospital feels forced to exhaust formula attempts and document the baby’s reactions to ALL formula before applying for exemptions – taking precious time this baby doesn’t have.

-The last attempt with formula was a small amount (less than 20%) mixed with breastmilk, and it resulted in violent reaction cycles, including her first loss in body weight within just a couple days, and bleeding from mouth and nose within 24 hours. Yet, the hospital insists that more formula must be tried in order to petition Medicaid to cover the breast milk costs.

-In order to get breastmilk independently, the family must pay upfront with cash. It costs about $5,000 for one month of milk ($4.25 per ounce).

THE REQUEST

-The state of VT should make an immediate exception for Baby Jaeli to insure the milk that she so desperately needs. The state is spending more money controlling her reactions than they would by simply giving her healthy breastmilk. The cost of her hospital admissions alone, instead of sending her home with healthy donor milk, is a waste of tax payer money and an unnecessary strain on a family already under stress.

Contact Sen. Patrick Leahy
Washington, D.C. Office:
Phone: (202) 224-4242
Fax: (202) 224-3479
Burlington Office: (more district offices)
199 Main Street, 4th Floor
Burlington, Vermont 05401
Phone: (802) 863-2525
Burlington Office:
Phone: (802) 863-2525

Montpelier Office:
Phone: (802) 229-0569
Fax: (802) 229-1915

Contact Sen. Bernard Sanders
Washington, D.C. Office:
Phone: (202) 224-5141
Fax: (202) 228-0776
Burlington Office: (more district offices)
1 Church Street, 2nd Floor
Burlington, Vermont 05401
Phone: (802) 862-0697
Fax: (802) 860-6370
Burlington Office:
Phone: (802) 862-0697
Fax: (802) 860-6370

Brattleboro Office:
Phone: (802) 254-8732
Fax: (802) 254-9207

St. Johnsbury Office:
Phone: (802) 748-9269
Fax: (802) 748-0302

Contact Rep. Peter Welch
Washington, D.C. Office:
Phone: (202) 225-4115
Fax: (202) 225-6790

Burlington Office: (more district offices)
30 Main Street, Suite 350
Burlington, Vermont 05401
Phone: (802) 652-2450
Burlington Office:
Phone: (802) 652-2450

To see the main information page about Jaeli.

New Question! Can I Mail a Check Directly to the Milk Bank?

YES! New development. If you want to mail a donation straight to the milk bank in Jaeli’s name – just mark any check in the memo line or with a sticky note “Baby Jaeli” and they will keep it in a seperate account for her.

New Question – What is Jaeli’s medical condition exactly?

I do not know the name of her chromosomal disorder exactly – it’s not like Down’s Syndrome where it’s fairly common and doctors know a lot about it. It’s so rare they didn’t even diagnose her right away. Her conditions are numerous but most pressing is: the intestinal fistula (the opening of her intestines is not her rectum) which makes her prone to infection and decreases her ability to absorb and tolerate food and  her heart condition including two holes in her heart.

The main concerns for the doctors right now are getting Jaeli’s weight and size up to a place where she can tolerate corrective surgeries. There are good signs that the holes in her heart may close on their own as she grows, and she’ll be able to avoid open-heart surgery. They want her much bigger before doing the intestinal surgeries. Hence the need for quality milk she can tolerate.

Isn’t the mom able to nurse her own baby?

Brandy is nursing Jaeli on a regular basis, and trying to pump in between for any extra she can get and to keep her supply as high as possible. Jaeli’s suck reflex is weak and sleepy, in part because of her heart condition and in part because of the medications she is on. Brandy often has to wake her to feed her. She is on supplements/herbs to increase supply.

Can’t the baby have goat’s milk?

According to Jaeli’s doctors goats milk is unsuitable for her condition and cannot be given to her at this time.

Why do I have to take a blood test to donate milk?

The donor agreement form for private donation is the same form you would use if you were giving milk to a milk bank. The only difference is that instead of giving your milk to a milk bank where it must then be purchased by the ounce, you would be shipping your milk directly to Jaeli. The hospital will still only approved screened milk though, regardless of the source. The blood tests check for serious diseases that can be passed through breastmilk.

Have other questions?

If you have any other questions let me know or leave a comment and I’ll try to answer as best I can. Brandy is online rarely as Jaeli is still in the hospital right now so answers may be delayed. Meanwhile, please consider donating to her milk fund or passing the word along to mothers you know who may be able to help with milk donations. You can email me directly at ang.england [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Angela <><

So, what DO you feed a family with young children when in the car for many hours, anyway? If you’re like me, you feed a lot of the same items you would if you were home! We packed an ice chest, and this morning when we stopped for breakfast we picked up a few extra items to last the kids through the conference. Fresh fruits, milk for their cereal, one-day-left-rack banana nut muffins, etc.

We let them run wild around the park and play and slide and swing and get dew covered and get lots of the wigglies out and then we ate. By the time we finished our leisurely breakfast the morning traffic through Memphis had cleared out and we made excellent time. We had snacks provided by Plum Organics which came in handy when we didn’t want to spend money at the gas station on JUNK.

The Plum Organics has a mix called Mish Mash of fresh, organic fruits, that Micah can squeeze out for himself. He REALLY like the Banana flavored one. The bag reminded me of a space bag of food like what you can buy at a museum except it isn’t freeze-dried (thank goodness). Once you twist off the cap it just squeezes through the plastic end and Micah was able to do it on his own, for the most part. VERY cool.

Mish Mash - Check it out - I'm a big boy!

For the preschoolers we had a box of Fiddlesticks – the cookie like treats from Plum Organics which are a great finger food. Again, all natural and organic so you feel good giving it to your kids, but easy for them to handle and non-messy for the car. Here you can see that Evan is devouring his Fiddlesticks. I asked him what they tasted like and he said, “They are like apple cookies on my tongue”. A poetic four year old, what can I say.

The blurry Fiddlesticks just proves we are really on the road.

For a late lunch after nap time we stopped at – ahem – McDonald’s. It’s those blasted play places, I’m telling you – they suck in road weary parents with the promise of decreasing energy levels in the vehicles and you just buy into it. We were though, the only patrons in McDonald’s who carried in their own water bottles and sippy cups to fill with water. Lol! I’m not sure they knew exactly what to do about it, but oh well. We ended up just all sharing a snack-type-lunch of 5 chicken nugget packss for $10 bucks. Cheap.

Yep - Wear yourself out. Way to go!

We finished it off in the car with apples that I had packed for the to eat along the way and a few strips of beef jerky for me to help keep my blood sugar issues under control (I am rather hypoglycemic and tend to graze and eat lots of small meals throughout the day).

Now it’s 4:22 and we are only 60 miles from Asheville. I’m excited to arrive and even more pleased that we’ll be there before the kids get too hungry for dinner. I have meat, organic cheese and whole wheat bread for sandwiches when we get up to the room so that’s totally covered. Whew!

Since the children were awake and full from breakfast they were feeling a bit restless. I thought this might be time to go ahead and pull out one of our traveling games. Out came the Magna-Doodle and the “What Did You See Today?” game.

The Magna-Doodle is something I picked up from Wal-Mart for only $5 and it is proving to be more popular with than the Etch-A-Sketch. I think it might be because of the dexterity needed for maneuvering the two knobs on an Etch-A-Sketch vs the easy, pencil-like use of a Magna-Doodle.

The “What Did You See Today?” game is one of the mom-made products of the company Excited 2 Learn, run by two, twin sisters Amanda and Sarah. I love the home-made feel of the water colored art work of the game but the pieces are durable and sturdy. How do you play the game? There are about 3 dozen pieces of common sights that children can look for on the drive; a horse, a bulldozer, a flag, a yellow car, etc. Parents choose six of the pieces and velcro them on the six spaces on the back. Then as your child finds each one they can move it forward to the front space and when they’ve filled each of the six spaces they “win”.

Searching for the items on her game pieces....hmmm....

My kids enjoyed it although Brianna got impatient looking for her last item – a police car. Goodness knows we had seen enough of them earlier in the trip I thought it would be an easy gimme but….no. *laughing* Oh well. You can see in the picture how content she was for a good 30 minutes so that’s pretty good indeed. When it was Evan’s turn to play it was easy to just select a DIFFERENT six pieces for his round and make it a whole new game.

This got us through the mid-morning wigglies until we were ready to stop for another tank of gasoline. Having a variety of games came in handy. Grammie’s Dollar-Tree binoculars were a big hit too and came in handy for playing the I-Spy game.

Brianna using her binoculars to search for the ellusive policeman.