Thank you for Supporting Evan!

So we have good news and bad news...

The guy Evan voted for in the People Magazine Readers' Choice Hero of the Year was one of the winners! The guy you voted for (Evan) was not. He's still my hero and I don't feel any differently about him with or without the title.

I am thrilled for the people who did win and they have accomplished great things that have made the world a better place. We need more people like them in this world.

Oh, and in case you are wondering who Evan voted for, it was Dennis Tyler who rescues Greyhounds.

Please VOTE for Evan!

I want to thank everyone for being so supportive of Evan in his journey to receive a service dog. We are so proud of all the awareness one little boy has been able to bring to the topics of epilepsy, tuberous sclerosis and service animals.

Please vote for Evan as People Magazine's Readers' Choice Hero today!!! The contest ends in 6 days but you can vote as many times as you want!


It's as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Go to the website:
People Readers' Choice Hero Award

2. Click on Evan's photo

3. Click to vote for Evan!

Repeat often!

Most Interesting People in DC for 2011

The latest news to share is that Evan has been named one of the Top 10 Most Interesting People in DC by DC Spotlight! It appears he has taken the number 2 spot although he told the interviewer he was probably the number 1 most interesting person in DC!

Evan Moss: Top 10 Most Interesting People in DC

You can also still vote for him as a finalist in the People Magazine Readers' Choice Hero Awards:
Vote for Evan Evan as People Magazine Readers' Choice Hero!

You can vote as many times as you want until October 13.

Silliness

Here they are as we know them -- siblings, friends and serious goof balls! We can't wait until the day we look at the back seat and Evan's service dog hamming it up too!

CreateSpace: Member Spotlight

Read More About Evan

Evan has been featured this month on the CreateSpace Member Spotlight page. This is the company we selected to self-publish through and it has been a great experience.

Vote 4 Evan!

Evan is a finalist in People Magazine's Readers' Choice Hero Award!

Please vote for Evan as many times as you want and help us spread the word! Voting ends October 13th so there is lots of time to vote often and pass it on.

Vote for Evan for Readers' Choice Hero Award

Thanks for your help, our fingers are crossed!

Dog Swim!

We went to the Landsdowne 7th Annual Dog Swim on Saturday and we had a blast.



















It was a little chilly, but the kids had a great time watching the dogs jump in the pool. They both had the chance to throw balls to eager dogs who would swim out after the balls as many times as the kids would throw them!




Aria loved all the dogs and said she couldn't pick a favorite because they were all great. She divided her time between all the dogs, making her way around the perimeter of the pool so she could meet each one.

For Evan, the star was Nara, a beautiful German Shepard with a gentle nature and eyes that smiled. Nara swam after the ball countless times for Evan and I'm not sure who was happier.

We can't wait until next year when we will have a dog participating too!

Strangers or Neighbors

The last couple months have taught us a lot about what it means to be part of a community, even in someplace that seems as large and impersonal as the Metropolitan D.C. area. People here move at a fast pace and count themselves fortunate if they drive less that an hour to get to work. We leave as the sun rises and come home late, pulling our cars quietly into garages and driveways and are often strangers to our own neighbors.

My family has been in the unique position to see a different side of our D.C. friends and people across the country. The side that brings people together, unified in a cause with the goal of helping a child. It's been an amazing experience and we are honored to have met so many people who are supportive of Evan and other children working toward getting service dogs. As of right now we, as a community, have raised over $42,000 for 4 Paws for Ability and Evan has met his goal and helped 7 additional children complete their fundraising.

Tonight as I write this, I can't think of a better place to live or nicer people to be surrounded by -- even if I don't always know their names.

People Magazine

If you missed the People Magazine, you can read the story here:
Boy Writes Book to Save Money for Seizure-Sniffing Dog


I find myself really drawn to taking photos of what goes on behind the scenes. The photo shoot with Andrew Brusso was a great experience and he was super cool. We found out he was a fellow RIT grad and laughed about how in the first year at RIT they tell you the two hardest things to photograph are kids and animals.

I love this because it really gives a sense of how many people are involved -- there were actually more! Evan was great, a real trooper! The puppies were adorable and very well-trained but easily distracted. They loved giving Evan kisses too!

Andrew spent most of his day at ground level and at times his camera was just too interesting for the pups to resist!

Aria was in heaven hanging out with all the dogs. It was a hot day and these two enjoyed the chance to cool off in the shade. When we went back into the 4 Paws for Ability facility, Aria and Evan both went and said hi to as many dogs as they could and played with the Papillion puppies.

What an amazing experience!

The CBS Early Show: Evan's Premier

In case you weren't able to see Evan on the CBS Early Show, check out this link to the video of the footage that ran on CBS!

Watch out CBS, here comes Evan!

Check out the CBS Early Show tomorrow morning 7am - 9am! Evan is going to be featured on the show (with the rest of us on his coat tails!)

CBS came to our home in Virginia and followed us around for about 14 hours. They arrived at our house before Aria and Evan woke up and were still there after they were asleep. I thought I'd share some highlights of the day from behind the scenes...


Evan is followed by the camera crew to camp. They specifically wanted to film him swimming because water safety is extremely important for anyone who has seizures. Passing a swim test is not enough to keep a child with epilepsy safe in a pool. He is always watched very closely when he's in the water, even at camp.

Evan had a great time hanging out with CBS correspondent, Debbye Turner! She interviewed him in his room and he read his book to her and showed off his harmonica skills! It was interesting to listen to the interview from the next room as he told her about what it's like for him to live with epilepsy.

A quick game of marbles in pajamas, with a film crew in the living room, and then off to bed -- it was a long day and an experience we will always remember!

Give a Boy a Dog!

It was great for Evan to have the chance to meet Jayden at his book signing! Jayden is also getting a service dog through 4 Paws for Ability and he gave Evan this great shirt his family made as a fundraiser -- it's Evan's new favorite shirt!

Give a boy a dog!

Thanks Jayden!

He did it!

Evan has raised over his $13,000 fundraising goal! Because of this he will be getting his seizure dog in the Spring of 2012 and the additional funds will go toward other children who are working toward similar goals. We are so excited to know that he is also helping other families with their fundraising!

Here is the update article from the Washington Post:
Washington Post: Evan Moss raises more than $13,000, will get seizure dog

We are very excited to meet his dog and the waiting feels very much like waiting for a baby to be born! We are all thrilled to welcome this new addition to our family!!!!

Evan's book is #1 on Amazon

Evan's book is now listed at the #1 Best Seller in the category of Children's Health books! We never could have imagined he would have had this level of success!

The Book Signing was a Huge Success

We have so many people to say thank you to today...Candy & Will at Grounded Coffee Shop for hosting Evan's book signing; Bob for handling all the press; Aria, Liza and Torri for helping Evan by organizing the signing process; Sam, Miriam and James for manning the table selling copies of the book when we ran out; Mary for making sure everything ran smoothly while also talking to every person in the room; the family, friends, neighbors, teachers and therapists that came to support Evan; families and individuals living with epilepsy who shared their personal stories; individuals with service dogs and trainers who brought new awareness about service dogs; and the people we've never met before who came to buy books, make donations and offer their support. The event was a great success and we are all exhausted!

Evan was so impressive and signed every copy until we ran out! We sold 150 copies and then took orders for additional copies.

Evan loved having the opportunity to meet serveral service dogs today and he even got to give some of them treats!

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

Evan is very excited about his book signing tomorrow! If you are in the Alexandria area here is the info about the book signing:

Grounded Coffee Shop
6919 Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA

Sunday, 7/24 1:00 - 3:00

You can also buy a copy of the book online if you can't make it!
My Seizure Dog, by Evan Moss

Evan is also really looking forward to one of the giant chocolate chip cookies at the coffee shop!

Evan in the Washington Post Metro Section

This morning Evan's story appeared on the cover of the Washington Post Metro Section!

Washington Post: Evan Moss, 7-year-old with Epilepsy, has his First Book-Signing Sunday

He was interviewed yesterday by Tom Jackman who wrote this article and took the photo of Evan signing a book for his sons. Tom told me his sons were excited to see their names on the cover of the Metro section in the print version!

Fox 5: Evan's TV Debut

Evan was interviewed about his book tonight on Fox 5 News! It was a great experience for the whole family and the people at Fox 5 were amazing with Evan and Aria and gave them tours of the studio and made them feel special.

If you missed the live coverage, you can see the coverage here:

Fox 5: Alexandria Boy Writes Book To Raise Funds For Seizure Assistance Service Dog

More Press Coverage

Ever since the Huffington Post article, our lives have become a lot more crazy! There are two additional articles that have been written about Evan:

Kingstown Patch: Child Author Raises money for Seizure Assistance Dog

Yahoo! News Canada: Brave 7-Year-Old Battles Epilepsy with Words

We also got a phone call from Fox 5 and they have asked us to bring Evan to the studio for a live segment on the Friday 5:00 news! Things are starting to get crazy!

Evan Moss: Greatest Person of the Day

Wow! The Huffington Post just did a story about Evan as the Greatest Person of the Day...

Greatest Person of the Day: 7-Year-Old Evan Moss's Inspiring Fight Against Epilepsy

It's a huge honor and will undoubtedly help us with fundraising and book sales. Hopefully I won't end up with an egomaniac for a son -- so far so good. I read the article out loud and Evan listened politely and when I had finished said, "Can I watch YouTube on your phone?" Tom and Jerry has bigger play the Huffington Post for a 7-year-old!

The Books Are In!

We just received our shipment of books for Evan's book signing so now we're all set! Evan is really excited for the big day and so are we.

I hope his arm will hold out for the signing -- this is a lot of books!

Now the countdown begins for July 24th at Grounded Coffee Shop. Hope to see you there!

Evan is Officially a Published Author!

As of tonight, Evan is officially a published author and he doesn't even know it yet because he's asleep! We set up an event page on Facebook for his book signing and somebody (other than his mother) bought a copy of his book through the online sales area we set up!

My Seizure Dog by Evan Moss

At the beginning of the school year he said he wanted to be a famous author when he grows up. I guess at 7 years old he took the first step in that direction!

Thank you for buying his book and supporting Evan as he works toward the goal of getting a Seizure Dog! I know what the dog will be trained to do but I have a feeling it will help Evan in ways we aren't even aware of yet.

It All Starts With a Prescription

The last time we were at the hospital we came home with this golden ticket: a prescription for a Seizure Dog! Interestingly, service dogs are viewed as durable medical equipment and require a doctor to write a prescription. As I watched Dr. LaJoie write this and sign her name, I couldn't help think about how our lives were about to change.

We will be able to look back on the day Evan was handed this prescription as a defining day for him. It marks the beginning of a journey that will undoubtedly be a life changing experience for the whole family.

Have you heard of Seizure Dogs?

Seizure dogs are incredible animals: specially trained service dogs to help people with epilepsy. After years of talking about how a seizure dog could help Evan, we have made the decision to move forward. We have submitted an application and been approved to recieve a service dog trained as a seizure assistance dog from 4 Paws for Ability.

4 Paws for Ability is a non-profit organization who has a good reputation for training seizure dogs and we are excited to be working with them. As part of this relationship, we are committed, as volunteers, to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission.

We believe having a seizure dog will be life changing and life saving for Evan. He has been accepted for placement of a 4 paws for Ability Service Dog that will be trained especially for him as a Seizure Assistance Dog. Some of the tasks his dog will be trained to do include, but are not limited to:

• Seizure Response: respond to seizures so we can act quickly
• Seizure Detection: detect seizure and alert before seizure begins
• Behavior Disruption: distract Evan from self-injurious behavior
• Balance: provide extra support after seizures or from medication
• Tethering: in crowded areas a second lead can be used for safety

We are all looking forward to the day we meet this new member of our family!