Sunday, February 21, 2010

Update and Perfect Pitch

Did you think that I stopped blogging??? I did last week... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, Jonas just had a touch, WERE PUKING OR HAD THE BIG 'D', AND SOME OF US BOTH; FOR 4 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK!!!! Never in our almost 11 years of marriage and almost 9 years of raising kiddos, have we ALL been sick at one time! Lets just say I never want to see puke again. I will not go into details, but the worst puke was Micah last Sunday night: Top bunk, asleep in the corner, with Hannah sleeping peacefully below.... I will let you fill in the blanks. Not a pretty sight or smell... :-(

Then, we get a call Wednesday night that someone wants to see our house on Thursday afternoon. Seriously God, you have a great sense of humor. We have the best realtor on the planet and she came over Thursday morning to help me get ready for the showing. Result of the showing: Realtor loved it, but the couple thought it was a smidge small. Another showing on Saturday, and we will probably get feedback for that tomorrow. We just want to sell and move to a bigger house. Soon we are going to have 5 children under our roof and we feel that our 3 bedroom/1 bathroom house is getting small. :-)

----------------------------
On another note (no pun intended), we just discovered a couple of weeks ago that Hannah possesses perfect pitch, also called absolute pitch. I was floored! She has been in Piano lessons since 1st grade and her school is a music and fine arts magnet school, but I was still not expecting this. She also plays the flute and cello.

She knows all of the keys on the piano instantly and she can transpose other instruments to the piano. For example: Her band teacher played his trumpet that is written in 'C', but that same note on the piano is a B flat; and Hannah can transpose his trumpet notes to the correct notes on the piano. WOW.........Julliard, here we come!!!

Here is an interesting article about blind musicians and absolute pitch:

Perfect pitch common among the blind
Science News, Nov 25, 2000 by J.T.
12Next
Stevie Wonder. Ray Charles. Jose Feliciano. Because of such legends, there's a perception that blind people make great musicians. Scientists do have some evidence from blind people that brain areas normally devoted to vision become involved in hearing or in controlling the dexterity needed to play an instrument. A new study now finds that blind musicians are more likely to have perfect pitch than sighted people are. Perfect pitch is the ability to identify the pitch, or frequency, of a musical note without a reference note. This talent, perhaps as rare as 1 in 2,000 among the general population, seems to result from a blend of genetics and experience. People with early musical training are much more likely than others to have perfect pitch, but the skill also runs in families (SN: 11/16/96, p. 316).

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Roy H. Hamilton of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and his colleagues surveyed 30 people who have been blind since the age of 6 or earlier. Within that group, 21 reported having a musical background and 12 of them--57 percent of the musicians--said they have perfect pitch. People who claim to have perfect pitch are invariably correct, says Hamilton, and when the researchers tested 7 of the 12, they confirmed the skill in each.

The prevalence of perfect pitch among the blind musicians is about two to three times that usually reported for sighted musicians, says Hamilton. Now, in an effort to pinpoint brain regions responsible for perfect pitch, the investigators are conducting brain-imaging studies of blind musicians. A previous imaging study in sighted people revealed a brain region that's larger in those with perfect pitch than in others.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Science Service, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

Sunday, February 14, 2010

We Are The World: 2010--Haiti

I was compelled today to put 'real' faces with this song... I took these photos on my last 2 trips to GLA--Jonas's orphanage... I hope you enjoy...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

We Are The World: 2010--Haiti

I found this today, and I think it is amazing!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY DAY TOMORROW...

Here is the line-up for tomorrow...

9:30am Hannah has to be at Lutheran for her endoscopy.

Micah has to be to Dr. Stein's (ENT) at 10:15 for his post op check from his T&A surgery on the 20th.

Then at 1pm Micah has a kidney/bladder ultrasound and then an appointment with Dr. Cain (peds urologist) at 2pm.... "Calgon, take me away..."

Never a dull moment in the Hubley household! I am just thankful that all 3 appointments are at Lutheran Hospital! Thanks God!!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Selah's Website & Haiti...

I went over to Selah's website and found this blog entry. I let Amy know about RHFH and how much they love Selah's music and how much it ministered to them before and after the earthquake. I love Selah and the people that make up the group. They are the 'real deal'! I can't wait to see them February 20th here in Fort Wayne... Love you guys...
-------------------------------------------------


Haiti


January 26, 2010

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, two weeks ago, an earthquake shattered the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti. As a Christian, our first thought is usually to pray for the people, for the rescue efforts, for healing. But sometimes when something like this happens so far away, we can feel disconnected from it, like it isn’t really happening because it’s not happening to someone we know. Well, I have the privilege of knowing a sweet little boy from Haiti named Jonas, and was blessed to meet him and his adoptive mother, Rebekah, several months ago while on tour, and this is happening to them, to their friends and their family.

Rebekah adopted Jonas from God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti. Prior to his adoption, Jonas was cared for at the orphanage by a sweet woman named Anna Kagstrom, she took care of him for 9 months. Since Rebekah and her family met Anna she has become a part of their family. Originally from Sacramento, California, Anna has spent 15 years in Haiti and calls it her home. Currently, Anna home schools the children of Licia Betor, a woman who runs Real Hope For Haiti, a rescue center and clinic that treats hundreds of malnourished children daily.

In the last two weeks, we have received several emails containing a link to Licia’s blog and we wanted to share it with you. On January 15, 2010, Licia posted a blog entitled “I Am.” She spoke of the earthquake, of people in her life and what they were doing in Haiti right at that time, and she ended her post with this:

“This CD below has been playing everyday non-stop since the earthquake in the office. It gives me so much peace to listen to it. I have no idea how to contact this group to thank them for their music. But it has been a true blessing to me.”

blessthebrokenroad

We are so blessed and honored to know that our music has served as spiritual healing in this horrible time. God is so great, and he shows up wherever and whenever we need him. Please take the time to read Licia’s blog, it will inspire you.

If you would like to help the people of Haiti, here are two great places to donate:

CLICK HERE for God’s Little Angels Orphanage

CLICK HERE for Real Hope for Haiti

Sincerely, Amy

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Jonas in the News...



Family struggles to adopt Haitian boy

Adoption paperwork likely buried under rubble

Updated: Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 8:17 PM EST
Published : Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 5:05 PM EST

It's been almost two years since Ryan and Rebekah Hubley began the process of adopting a four-year-old boy from Haiti. The earthquake's made the long, and difficult process even harder since most of their adoption paperwork is now buried under rubble.

"We love him, he's our son now, so just like when you birth your own children, you don't know what's going to happen," Rebekah told NewsChannel 15.

Rebekah first began thinking about adoption in 2007. By August, she and her husband had started the process withBethany Christian Services . She found a little Haitian boy named Jonas on the organization's website and knew he was the one.

Jonas had been abandoned as an infant, and was visually impaired.

"I thought who else was going to want to adopt him, because that would be a scary thing," explained Rebekah.

It didn't scare Rebekah, who already has a biological daughter who is blind. One of her sons is also special needs.

Jonas was able to travel to Fort Wayne on a medical visa in August 2008, while the family continued the process of adopting him. Once here, they learned that he is also cognitively impaired as a result of his visual impairments. His condition has affected his speech, and mobility.

The family had yet to finalize Jonas's adoption when the earthquake hit last month. Rebekah tells NewsChannel 15 she's since learned all the adoption paperwork is gone.

"At this point, we don't know how the finalization of the process is going to work, cause the adoptions are not technically finalized yet," said Barb Hartsell, an adoption specialist with Bethany Christian Services.

It's frustrating for the Hubleys, but unlike some other couples adopting from Haiti, they are lucky enough to already have Jonas at home with them.

Adopting a child from Haiti can take up to three years, and cost about $20,000 thousand dollars.

As a result of the quake, the Hubleys believe that they will have to complete the adoption process domestically.

After meeting Jonas, Rebekah founded a non-profit called "Hands that Heal" , which helps other Haitians in need of medical resources.

She says her family isn't done adopting. They are also currently in the process of adopting a nine-year-old girl from China.