What street do you live on?

At my Tuesday/Friday site for SOGO, I go to Holland East to work with low functioning special needs kids. Most of them are in kindergarden, but one of them is in second grade. There are six kids in all, but I am just going to focus on one today - Jacob.

Jacob can not walk much, or at all really and he also has trouble eating. This means that he has a very special diet of many liquidy foods. He has a cup full of a special drink that he must drink each day, and so we are always reminding him to take a sip. It takes him all day to finish it... Jacob is such a cute little boy, I still can't get how adorable he is.
Jacob also struggles with speaking up. He likes to talk in a very soft and quiet voice, which I find quite cute, but it is not acceptable. These kids are all in this class so that they can get integrated into society better, and learn what it is to be a real kid. So we have to always make sure that Jake is using his 'big boy voice.' He is getting better and better by the day.

This past week I was helping out when Jacob called me over, by my name. Out of the six kids, only Jake and Gavin really know my name. Gavin always try's to say Rachael, but it is really just a jumble of words. Jake said my name perfectly, and I was quite shocked. Firstly I was shocked at the clarity of him saying it, and secondly he remembered my name and it was only my third day there. I had been more with Gavin and him in those three days as well.
The two of us started talking and he asked me about my school. I told him I went to another school just like him and that I was in class too. He then asked what street I lived on. I was quite confused for a second, it was such a random question. I told him I lived on Norwood, and he asked what street was connected to Norwood. I told him the closet 'big' street near my house. He had to mull that over for a bit. We then headed off to lunch, Jacob talking to me the entire time. The workers could not believe he was being so 'smart', to put it in a simple way. Throughout lunch Jacob kept talking to me, asking me questions and telling me about himself. Finally we had to say he had to finish each part of his food before he could talk to me. He sure ate fast. :)

SOGO

This is a new 'series' (its not really a series, but I am not sure what else to call it), that I want to blog about. Normally I write about the farm, but I have something else that has been very inspiring to me lately - SOGO. SOGO is a class that I am taking at my school, where I go out and volunteer in the community everyday for an hour or so. I go to two different places; Holland East, and elementary school to work with low functioning special needs kids on Tuesdays and Fridays; and Evergreen Commons to work with the elderly, many with alzheimer's and other diseases of old age. I've been having such a great time that I have to share what has been going on. Hopefully I can post about each day, or at least a few times a week about what is going on at each site.

Summer | Craftswomen

Whats wrong with this picture? 

Look at how the boards are connected at the top.

Yup. Their not connected. This was Greg and Nate's doing. Mary was not too happy. So one day when the boys where gone, Mary sent Katie and I around the farm to fix all of the mistakes that the boys had made while building things. We fixed this sign, along with some water containers and a crocked pen. They still don't know that ever happened xD Now we know the true craftsmen *ahem* craftswomen of the farm. 

Summer | Scare Crow

What goes on when Greg leaves his sweat shirt lying around. 

Looks like an exact resemblance to me :D

Lesson to learn: Be careful where you leave stuff. 

Summer | FOG

FOG stands for Farm on the Go. This is where we pack up a bunch of animals from around the Critter Barn and bring them to a site, like a church or a school or a park, and set up so that people can come see the animals without having to come to the farm. We do parties, and picnics, and special events. There was one almost everyday this summer, and sometimes multiple ones in a day.

One day we even had three FOG, and I did all three. It was quite the day, let me tell you. We started off in the morning going to a VBS at a church. Mary and I started packing at around 6 in the morning, and set up at the site by 8:30. We then packed that all up and switched to a slightly smaller trailer, leaving a few animals behind and just took a few of them to the Kent District Library, which is quite far from the farm. We were there all afternoon and then we packed that all up and went back to the farm to pick up as many animals as we could get into two trailers and brought it over to another VBS. By the end I was so parched, and sick of setting up then packing it all back up. In the end I did get some ice tea and pizza, so all's good that ends well :) But it was still quite the day, and I pray we never have to do that again... Mary agrees.

Besides that one though, we went on so many other FOG's this summer. I went on most of them too. I really hope that we blessed some people as we went out and about. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it is rewarding. Some of the people we go to are not able to come down to the farm. One day we set up at a cancer center down in Grand Rapids. The joy on those kids faces, and even the nurses. There were only about 5 kids that came for the entire two hours - but we sure did have a blast. We brought two baby pygmy goats that just pranced around the entire time and the kids Loved it!

Summer | Interns

We had four interns this summer. Let me introduce you to them all :)

Jennie
She has actually been volunteering on the farm since this past January, but she took the position of Intern this summer on the farm. Jennie was our garden lady, and let me just say - she did wonders. There are gardens now in every nook and cranny of the place, and they are all up kept and well loved. I have never tried so many strange veggies before. From hot and spicy leaves, to purple carrots, mint, giant sunflowers, and so many other things that I had never heard of, let alone tried. She is actually staying with us throughout the fall and into the winter, and maybe even longer :) I don't have any pictures of her, but that doesn't make her any less awesome.

Emily
Emily just graduated from MSU this past year as an animal science major. She helped with a lot of meds around the farm this summer, and other various things. She was not around as much everyone else (she was still there a lot, don't get me wrong) so I don't have any pictures of her either... My pictures from this summer are actually quite limited. Emily was a great asset to the farm this summer, and she is also going to be helping a bit this fall around the farm.

Audrey

Audrey was actually an intern last summer as well, so this was her second time around. I have probably talked about her in this blog before. Audrey was actually a volunteer before she ever interned, and I knew her from school - so lets just say that we are pretty good friends. So many good times with this gal, I love her to bits. :)

Katie

























Where do I even start with Katie.... Firstly she is studying at MSU, hoping to get into vet school this coming year. She sure knows her stuff. She taught classes, helped with volunteers and guests, and made everyone laugh. Katie is quite a character, and you would have to meet her to understand her fully. She is so full of energy and spunk every single day, and I am so glad she took the internship this summer. Things were never dull, thats for sure. Plus I now know the owner of the struggle bus :)

Summer

As many of you know, I was lacking of a laptop this past summer. This meant no blogging... :'( But now as the school year starts up again, I'm going to get this thing rolling. To start off the year, I want to reflect back on this summer. I sure have a lot of stories to tell :D I was pretty much at the farm everyday, all day. So heres to my summer series!