When Abby stopped using a pacifier when she turned 2, she unfortunately started thumb-sucking - a habit she picked up by observing other kids in her class. When we found her pediatric dentist, we mentioned to him our concerns about her thumb-sucking and talked to him about all the methods we have tried to get her to quit.

Right there, he turned to Abby and gave her a very serious talk about why she doesn't need to suck her thumb any more. Whispering to us, "that's usually all it takes, so we'll see..."

Then, he offered a challenge to Abby. If she could stop sucking her thumb by the next check-up, he would give her a special award.

The pep talk worked like a charm. Abby immediately stopped thumb-sucking with just a few occasional reminders.

Well before her next dental check-up, we felt she had earned her award. So, at the following checkup, the hygienist used dental plaster to make a mold of Abby's sucking thumb and created a really cool trophy, complete with Abby's name and decorations!

Abby is so proud of her trophy that she took it for show-and-tell that week. It now sits on a shelf in her bedroom, a display of her achievement.

A few months ago, we started to play a simple game with Abby to help her learn sight words. I tied 5 tiny binder clips to a ribbon and hung the ribbon on her bedroom wall. Each binder clip contains a sight word card. Every night, we review the sight words and during her bedtime story (and throughout the day), we try to spot as many of those words as possible. Once she has mastered a word, the card is swapped out for another.

Abby is pretty good at sounding out words, but we are encouraging her to recognize a lot of common words on sight.

In the process, we are also trying to teach her simple English rules. For example, vowels followed by an 'e' NORMALLY makes it a long vowel, i.e., it says its name. Unfortunately, the English language makes no sense! Rules don't seem to apply.

Lucky for us, Abby's willing to be flexible and we are making great progress.

I laughed, though, when I saw the fun poem below. It might be smart to take the advice!

Snagged from https://spelling.g/2007/09/05/english-pronunciation/

=====

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité

Cats are liquids.

We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving with family and friends.

This is Abby wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving....really, that's what she meant to say at the end.

A couple of weeks ago my neck locked up and I was completely unable to turn my head or move it up or down. This happened in the middle of the day, triggered by an intense 3 hours of software debugging, hunched over my keyboard in anticipation of getting a major integration piece in place. (The code was working perfectly by lunchtime.)

Driving home that evening, with no neck mobility was scary and excruciating. My mom came over to examine me and help me with massage, but she immediately noticed a significant amount of swelling on my right side, so she encouraged me to either talk to my doctor or see my chiropractor friend. I was unable to lift my head to look at my parents and couldn't lay down because my neck couldn't support the weight of my head in the process of lying down!

I called the doctor the next day and he pushed me to see the chiropractor instead, saying he would not be able to do much for sprains or alignment issues.

It was Friday. I got my first treatment that afternoon and got two more over the weekend. After just the Friday treatment I was in significantly less pain and was gaining more left and right range of motion. By Monday, I could move my neck again with minimal pain. Over the last two weeks I've continued to recover and with 2 more treatments, I am now feeling BETTER than ever before.

Since I struggle with tightness in my neck and shoulders - due to carrying a toddler and my posture as I do my job - I need to work on taking more breaks throughout the day. I have also decided to see the chiropractor more regularly as a means to prevent something like this from happening again.


This is a chiropractic activator. It is what my chiropractor primarily uses. Rarely will she use the manual method of adjustment because this provides more precise stimulant to the areas that need it. Three years ago, the activator method cured my back problem that prevented me from carrying Abby, who was then a toddler. Back then we were still living in DC and I saw doctor after doctor for the problem. For three months was on pain-killers and muscle-relaxers which did absolutely nothing to help my condition. Coming to Colorado for Christmas, my mom took me to see her friend, the chiropractor, and she was able to fix me up in 2 completely painless treatments. I sound like some sort of advertisement for chiropractic therapy, but I've been converted a to true believer in its ability to help the body perform (and heal) more optimally.

Abby was so funny about my recent neck issue. She tried to make me feel better, saying, "It's ok you can't turn your neck. At least we're not owls and need to turn our necks ALL the way around!"

Function and comfort are typically all I notice when clothes shopping. Fashion is not exactly high on the list. I am a bit ashamed to think that I have two lovely girls who might be afflicted with my lack of fashion sense because they will never grow up being surrounded by a sense of appreciation for fashion.

But a few months ago, an email arrived in my inbox inviting me to a Matilda Jane Trunk Show. Anyone who has girls need to be aware of the MJ clothing line, it indicated. Well, I was game.

I attended the show.

I bought a few pieces.

And now I'm hooked!

I adore the fun ruffles, the lace, the buttons, the knots, and even the floral prints. I love the layer upon layer of colors and different patterns that look both vintage and modern when put together. I love the swishiness of the dresses and skirts.

Every time Abby goes out wearing Matilda Jane she receives a ton of compliments. People's face brighten and they grin as they say, "That is so much FUN!" So, yes, buying MJ is my contribution to a healthier and happier society. Ha!

But, as for some degree of fashion awareness, maybe it's not completely hopeless for my girls.

I have always been a big fan of bento boxed lunches. People get very creative in designing and crafting these lunch boxes that are such personalized pieces of art. Check out Another Lunch or Bento Mama to see some inspiring food creations.

Maybe someday, many, many years from now I will have the time and develop the skill to create a few of these, but for now, time is something we struggle with. So much so that we find ourselves eating breakfast in the car most weekday mornings. The whole family, each with a handful of little sandwich baggies filled with fruit or cereal and the like. Such a bad idea to eat on the go, but we really don't have much of a choice right now given our extremely long commutes.

Another problem with this routine is that the girls pick at the food in the bags, sometimes taking the entire drive to daycare to finish a couple of grapes, so they never get to the other items that make their breakfast more well-rounded and nutritious.

So, one day, I whipped out some plastic lock-top containers (they need to be light enough that Kayleigh won't have trouble holding them in her lap, easy enough to open, non-breakable, and easy to wash) plus some silicone baking cups. I put small servings of various cut-up fruit, sandwiches, and sprinking of craisins into each box. They were a hit! The girls ate everything. Plus, no waste!

I can't do cutesy right now. (Although, I have been known to use a cookie cutter on a sandwich before to create bite-sized flower-shaped snacks for Abby and Kayleigh.) However, the concept of having all of your food laid out in front of you, giving your kid control to choose how and when they eat each item, works.

The time it takes to pack my super-simple, not too pretty, breakfast boxes is actually quicker than trying to struggle with the little Ziploc sandwich bags and making sure we grab each one. It also gives me a great visual to all the food I pack and allows me to determine if I've put in enough nutritious items.

So, I think we will continue to do Breakfast Boxes, but I am in search for better boxes to use. They must be dishwasher safe, easy open, lightweight, and preferrably something that will allow different configurations with dividers/containers. If anyone (particularly my overseas family/friends) can recommend some good boxes, give me a holler!

After three weeks in Harrogate, England, working obscenely long hours, Paul has come home.

The work in England was completed successfully and the team sent was highly praised.

The girls and I are so happy to have Paul back. We picked Paul up from the airport late Saturday afternoon. Kayleigh was a little shy around Paul from the walk between DIA's terminal train arrival to baggage claim - a five-minute walk. After which neither girl would let go of daddy.

We had a low-key Sunday, spending time together and catching up on horsing around.

Paul has been in Harrogate, England for the past week and a half, supporting work. He left on 10/29 and will be returning next Saturday, 11/19.

Oh boy! Another app I must download.

Did you know there were so many songs out there that teaches kids about the days of the week?

Well, here are the three that have been sung over and over and over again in our house the past week. Quite frankly, I find them pretty catchy and not in the annoying oh-my-god-my-ears-are-bleeding sort of way.

Days of the Week
(to the tune of "The Addams Family")

Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week,
Days of the week,
Days of the week. (snap snap)

There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
And then there's Saturday.

Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week,
Days of the week,
Days of the week. (snap snap)

There are Seven Days
(to the tune of "Oh My Darling Clementine")

There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in a week.
There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in a week.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Today is... Song
(To the tune of "Frere Jacques")

Today is _______.
Today is _______.
All day long, all day long.
Yesterday was ______.
Tomorrow will be _______.
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!

Little Miss Kayleigh is as healthy as can be. She is finally talking and as suspected, she's jumping right into sentences. The "mamas" and "babas" are still rare, but we get a lot of "D'ere a go" ("There you go") and "I oh no" ("I don't know").

Like Abby, her first words are a mix of Chinese and English, whichever is easier to say:
Go-Go (dog), Yu (fish), Mao (cat), Diu (throw), more, thank you, ball, plane, moon, bird, baby, play, no, go, snow, cracker, sticker, bowl, juice, yogurt, apple....

She is growing up so fast. In a blink of an eye, she has transformed from a tiny, helpless baby to an individual with a very, very strong will and mind of her own.

Kayleigh always gets her way or will at least do everything in her power to try. From bounding up to you and giving you a snuggle and dimpled grin to smacking you and giving the evil eye, she is an unstoppable force. She has a bag of tricks and she knows how to strike.

Abby and Kayleigh get along great most of the time. Abby is an amazing older sister, kind, caring, willing to share. Kayleigh adores and admires Abby. We are currently going through the "whatever Abby has I want as well" phase and it's endlessly exhausting to keep coming up with new ways to redirect Kayleigh's attention.

Separation anxiety hasn't been an issue with Kayleigh. She goes down to bed without a fight at night (just need to say "night-night" and give her her teddy bears to snuggle with) and drop-off at daycare in the mornings isn't an issue (she lunges for her teacher and immediately turns to you with a grin, waving bye-bye).

She's strong, she's smart, and she's sweet.

Perfect.

(I felt so silly forgetting that Kayleigh needed a 15 month well-baby checkup. I showed up a month late and her doctor comforted me by saying it's the one checkup most parents forget about and if it's not for the first child it's almost always forgotten.)

I found this picture while sorting through our photos on the computer. It was taken for one of Abby's math homework assignments when she was in preschool about 6 months ago.

Math homework? For 3 year olds?!

Yep, Abby has had some great teachers and these simple home assignments were meant to involve the parents and provide an extra spark to interest the kids in whatever topic is being taught.

This particular assignment was to use a ruler to measure a group of things from home and then identify the longest and shortest items.

Abby chose to examine our family's shoe sizes and she proved to know how rulers worked quite well. I thought she had a really cute idea. To prove accuracy in her homework responses, I helped Abby take a picture and attach it to her submission.

She received a special recognition from the teachers for an assignment well done. :)

Kayleigh has really hit a turning point in communication. She still stubbornly refuses to speak when she doesn't need to - preferring to physically drag you to where she wants you to be rather than saying something like, "Mama here!"

However, lately, she has been trying so hard to respond appropriately with a nod or a shake of her head while saying, "No! No! Noooo!"

Last night, she really wanted Abby's share of kiwi fruit after finishing her own, so she stomped, cried, and started hitting Abby to get what she wanted. We kept offering her the remainder of her dinner to which she kept shaking her head. Finally, not putting up with the hitting anymore, we threatened, "Kayleigh, do you want a timeout?!"

Obviously thinking we were offering her food (but certainly not the dinner remains we had been insisting on), she nodded emphatically.

Boy, was she ANGRY when I led her to a step stool and asked her to sit there until she calmed down. Full-blown Kayleigh temper tantrum followed with her on her knees, forehead on the ground, screaming.

It's funny how quickly toddlers get distracted, though. While face-down on the floor, she spotted Abby's dress-up slippers next to her, so within 1 minute of her tantrum she was happy again, laying on her back trying to get her foot into a shoe.

And that was the end of the episode.

We've been told by A LOT of people that Kayleigh looks JUST LIKE her older sister at this age.

I don't know.

Do you see any sibling resemblance?



Left: Abby 15 months old (10/2008); Right: Kayleigh 17 months old (9/2011)

I love the moment captured in the following picture. We were playing putt-putt with some friends and Abby and this adorable friend of hers attacked the course very seriously, finishing far ahead of the adults.

When we finally reached the green they were playing at, I watched them grab the golf flag pole and heard Abby say, "Hey, let's pretend we just landed on the moon!"

It surprised and delighted me that a 3.5 and 4 year old wanted to reenact history in their pretend play and that they even knew about landing on the moon!!

It's depressing that the days are so much shorter now, but the up side to having to drive through darkness at the end of the day is that instead of listening to my girls fight over who gets to read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" in the car, I get to hear Abby playing teacher and giving us very important lessons.

Tonight, Kayleigh and I got two lessons - one on sharing and one on policemen/safety.

Abby: Kayleigh, are you playing with the Barbie doll? If you're not, you should share. If you're not playing with something you need to share it with someone else because it's not nice to always hold onto something that you're not going to play with and not share.

[pause]

Kayleigh, will you please share? Kayleigh! Listen to me! No, look at me! Is this a face that's a smiley face? I'm not very happy with you because you're not sharing.

[Of course, Kayleigh doesn't utter a sound in response, sucking contently on her pacifier. At that moment, a car merges in front of me and Abby gasps.]

Mama! That car just cut in line. That's not very nice at all and it can be dangerous! That person can get a police man's ticket for cutting in front of the line. You can also get a police man's ticket for driving really, really fast, right? Or if you cut in front of other people. It's not safe. If you don't follow the rules, the police will give you a police man's ticket and we don't want that, do we? Kayleigh, do you want me to teach you about safety? Pretend it's safety week and I'm teaching you about how the police keep people safe. If you are a bad, bad person, they put you in a locker. They also put lockers on your hands like this if you're bad. So, if I were bad, the police man can put a locker around my hands and lock me up forever! A police man also gives out police man tickets if you drive bad. If the car in front of you stops, you have to stop. If the car in front of you goes, you need to go. You also have to watch the lights. Red means stop, green means go, and yellow means go slow. Mama, I want to drive when I turn....ummm....7!

Me [first time Abby paused long enough for me to get a word in]: No driving until you're 15 or 16.

Abby: Oh, ok! 16 then. After I turn 16 I'll turn 17, then 18, then 19....And 19 is when you turn OLD!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kayleigh is lounging on Paul's arm, making it difficult for Paul to eat his dinner. Abby explains to Kayleigh: Kayleigh, daddy is not furniture. People are not furniture; we talk.

I stressed over finding daycare for Abby.

Had to stress over finding daycare TWICE because of the move from Maryland to Colorado when she was 16 months old.

Now, the search for elementary school has been in full swing. It's fortunate that Colorado has Open Enrollment, allowing kids to attend any school they desire, not forced to accept their neighborhood school, but it's also unfortunate because it expands my research boundary a lot. As we dig into the Kindergarten/First grade curriculum at schools I'm getting really, really frustrated.

I have an embarrassing reaction to anger. I cry. Normally, not prone to being overly emotional, but when I get angry enough, I lose control and the tears are inevitable.

This morning, I came across this song in a Kindergarten parents' handbook of one of the top-rated elementary schools in THE top-rated school district in Colorado.....and I lost it.

Beginnings

I'm learning how to spell today;
I'm doing very well!
I know that exit starts with "X",
and elephant with "L".

(You can't seriously think that this is a GOOD song to teach kids about spelling! Can no one see that this could maybe do more harm than good?! Or has the texting generation changed the world of spelling so that "xit" and "lphant" are just as acceptable now?)

There's "K" for cape, came and cake,
and "Q" for cucumber,
Forest starts with "4", I think,
Oops, "4" is a number!

(On the bright side, this song can help kids develop a skill for going into business as vanity plate designers - "4est", "QcumbR"....I can see them slapped on to the front and back of my car.)

Birthday ends with letter "A",
and easy ends with "Z",
"O" comes last in scarecrow,
and baby ends with "B".

(I thought this was a song about Beginnings. I'm a bit confused about what this song is trying to accomplish.)

It gets harder, I suppose,
As you go along.
But spelling seems quite simple now,
Perhaps....I could be rong!

(No, I did not mistype the last word. Copied exactly from the handbook.)

[Sniff.]

Abby wanted two pigtails for school today.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, I brushed her hair. As I started to part her hair, I saw a ton of black specks near her scalp and I froze.

"Aaagh, she's got head lice! Oh my gosh, she can't go to school today. I need to get Paul back in here to look at this. I wonder how much of this is all over her bed. All over her room. All over the HOUSE! Need to check Kayleigh. That's it! My girls are living in a bubble from now on!"

I stared to see if anything was moving. Thank goodness, no. So, my next, more rational thought was, "Shouldn't nits be white?"

At that moment, Abby moved her head and one of the specks caught the light and shined blue. Imagine my RELIEF when that clued me in to the fact that her head was actually covered in blue GLITTER......not nits.

The calmer me said to Abby, "Abby, were you playing with glitter in art yesterday?" Meanwhile, I was thinking why, oh why, didn't I give her a bath yesterday. Would've saved me from a near heart-attack this morning.

"Noooo...."

"Then how did you get all this blue glitter in your hair?"

"Quinncy put the sprinkles in my hair and then I put some in Quinncy's hair and then I put some in Olivia's hair. It was just the three of us and the teachers didn't know about it. We were like Tinker Bell and her friends."

Ah, glitter = pixie dust.

Just an overreaction.

Abby has been really hesitant to ride tricycles and bikes. Even with training wheels, she refused to try. So, when Paul had a day off on Monday, 8/8, he decided to give Abby instructions on riding a bike with training wheels.

Amazingly, it took only an hour and Abby was able to do it and loves it! She was so proud of herself and she called me at work to tell me about her success.

Here she is, proudly riding her pink Princesses bike around the tennis courts.

Ever since I saw the Disney movie, Ratatouille, I've been wanting to make this peasant dish. However, the recipes were all quite a bit time-consuming and intimidating, so I never attempted it.

Until now.

A few weeks ago, we started to get a vegetable share from our local community supported agriculture (CSA). Every week, we would get a box of freshly picked (from the day before), organic vegetables. Each week the vegetables were different, depending on what was in season.


So, last week, the huge stash of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and variety of squashes screamed ratatouille. I found this recipe online by Julia Child and modified it to make my version of a quick ratatouille.

This recipe is not baked and I skip the last step to simmer all the ingredients together. In order to let the flavors mingle, this recipe should be made a day in advance.

Slice:
1 large zucchini squash, 2 medium yellow squashes into thin disks
1 medium eggplant (peeled, if desired) into 3/4" thick slices and cut into 2" x 1" pieces.
4-6 medium tomatoes (will be fairly pureed, so don't have to be pretty)
1 small yellow onion into thin slices

1. Toss the squashes and eggplant with 1 Tbsp salt and let sit for 30 minutes to extract the water, then towel dry.

2. In a large searing skillet, heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil on high-heat and toss in eggplants. Do not stir frequently to allow pieces to sear. Cook approximately 6-10 minutes, or until desired tenderness, then remove from skillet and place in large bowl.

3. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil on high-heat and toss in the squashes. Again, do not stir frequently. Cook approximately 5 minutes, or until desired tenderness, toss with salt and pepper to taste, then remove from skillet and place in same bowl as eggplants.

4. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Toss in sliced onions and cook until soft and brown. Add 4-6 cloves of minced garlic and the tomotoes. Cook about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to render their juices, then turn heat to high and allow most of the juices to boil off. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5. In a casserole dish, layer 1/3 tomatoes mixture, 1/3 eggplant, 1/3 squashes, sprinkle with dried parsley and a dash of parmesan cheese (extra pepper also, if desired). Repeat for 3 layers.

6. Cover and let sit, unrefrigerated, overnight. This allows the flavors and juices to mingle and get yummy. Next morning, place in fridge. Heat and serve as a side dish or veggie main dish.

Note: Cooking time is approximate and for high altitude. Just test the done-ness and taste as you go.

Pre-kindergarten officially started this week for Abby. She was so thrilled to be wearing uniforms. I think the girls' jumpers are absolutely adorable!

When Abby recently turned 4 years old, I happened to be chatting with my neighbor, Andrea, about the lack of musical education offered to kids these days. I was ranting because I was so frustrated when looking at elementary schools recently and finding that few had music programs and even the ones that did were nothing compared to what I had been expecting. Bands and orchestras don't happen until middle or high school now. Kids are introduced to minimal music theory and hands-on learning with instruments are rare at the elementary school level. What happened to school choirs or band and orchestra recitals by 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders? City-wide children's orchestras? I was a bit shocked at how much had changed from when I went to grade school.

Saw this on my friend's blog - The Daily Burrow - and had to repost. This is an absolutely amazing science video. Share it with the kids.

Last month, on July 25th, Kayleigh underwent a small surgery to get ear tubes put in. She had been experiencing ear infections off and on since birth, about every 2-3 months. The last ear infection took 3 rounds of antibiotics to clear up and she still had fluids in both ears, unable to drain out.

I researched and talked to families with kids who have had the ear tubes surgery. I talked to my chiropractor friend because consistent adjustments have shown to be effective for chronic ear infections. Everyone encouraged the surgery, so we went through with it.

On the day of surgery, she was not allowed to eat anything after she got up. She was allowed clear liquids only. I was so nervous about starving her and the fuss she would put up because her surgery wasn't until noon! After getting to the Parker Adventist hospital and nearly two hours of waiting for the surgery, it was time to take her into the Operating Room.

I had put on a gown so that I could go into the OR with her while they administered the anesthesia. Watching the effects of the gas knocking her out was the hardest part of this experience. No one prepared me for the chest convulsions and how vulnerable she looked, so tiny on that giant operating table, surrounded by so much equipment and bright lights. Luckily, the very large OR staff reassured me that everything was looking good and that they were all there to make sure Kayleigh was safe. She was in good hands.

A nurse escorted me back to the Surgery prep area where I took off the gown and gathered Kayleigh's clothes and my purse. My dad was waiting for me in the waiting room. I dropped my stuff off with him and went to use the restroom. By the time I came back to the waiting room, Kayleigh's doctor was there and telling us the surgery was over, everything went perfectly, and Kayleigh was waking up, so someone will be coming out to get us very shortly!

Kayleigh was only unconscious for maybe 10 minutes tops, but the recovery was an adventure. We could hear her screams of anger when we were taken back to recovery. We had been prepared to find a sleepy baby in a crib, slowly waking up from anesthesia. Instead, we found Kayleigh in the arms of a tiny nurse who had a huge grin on her face, about to lose a wrestling match with a toddler in the middle of a full-blown temper tantrum - back-arching, red-faced, screaming, crying, kicking, smacking, shoving anyone who approached her. The nurse chuckled as she handed Kayleigh to me, saying, "She is EXTREMELY strong!"

Recovery was maybe 20-30 minutes. They wanted to see Kayleigh take in liquids before leaving, yet every time she saw a cup, a sippie, or a straw, she would burst into tears. Finally, we gave her a popsicle and she sucked on it enough to satisfy the nurse that she could keep down liquids. We got all of our discharge instructions, and was finally allowed to leave. As soon as we were in the car, Kayleigh was a happy kid again and fell asleep on the way home. By the time we got home, she was rested and she had returned to her happy, cheery self. We never saw a sign that she had had an operation earlier that day and she was back at school the following day.

In the days following surgery, we saw no drainage and the tubes had no ill-effects on Kayleigh, but she did start to babble a ton more and she is LOUD!

Earlier this week, Kayleigh went back for a surgery follow-up with the Children's Hospital ENT department. A hearing test was performed and she is hearing perfectly now! Prior to the surgery, she was suffering mild hearing loss in the low vocal and volume ranges.

Kayleigh had been poking in her left ear over the last couple of weeks and we were somewhat concerned that there might be something wrong - tube coming out, an ear infection, perhaps. Turns out the left ear was fine, but her right tube was blocked. She was probably playing with the ear because sound was so much louder on that side. We have ear drops to use with her over the next week. Kayleigh is surprisingly cooperative about the twice daily routine. When we tell her it's time for her drops, she lies right down and lets us roll her on her side to place the drops.


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Just 5 days before Kayleigh's surgery, I had to go through my own medical operation.


When I got home, though, the pain hit hard. It felt like someone had taken a swizzle stick to my brains, up through the nose. We called the ENT office and they had me alternate Tylenol and Vicodin every hour until we got ahead of the pain. Once that happened, I no longer needed the Vicodin and pain was no longer an issue.

However, for 3 days after the surgery, the fatigue was unbelievable. I slept pretty much all the time and when I could get up for a brief lunch or a shower, the smallest of activities knocked all the energy out of me and exhaustion slammed me. Paul was so understanding and took the girls to visit grandparents or run errands to give me peace and quiet to rest. Thankfully, bouncing back was immediate rather than gradual, so I was able to handle Kayleigh at her surgery the Monday following.

Sinus surgery requires 4 follow-up debridements - 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks after surgery. To say they were uncomfortable is a complete understatement. At my 2nd week debridement I actually sat there and cried. Not just tears in my eyes, but full-out boo-hoo crying. I like to think I have a pretty decent pain tolerance, too! Not pleasant at all, but only one more left to go.

Thank goodness we've met our medical deductible for the year and both of these surgeries have been 100% covered by insurance.

Having a iPad would be so great, but I've never been able to find a compelling reason for needing one.

THIS app, however, might have me convinced it's worth investing in an iPad.

Abby: "Sometimes when I stay at home, I go to school when I sleep because I think it."
Me: "You mean you're dreaming?"
Abby: "Yes."

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Speaking of sleeping and dreams. This past weekend we found a very effective way to get through to Abby during a full blown almost hour-long temper tantrum.

All weekend she had issues listening and following directions. She actually had the nerve to give us an excuse that she "left her listening ears at school!" At dinner time, she continued to goof around at the dinner table and when we repeatedly asked her to focus and finish her dinner, she started throwing things on the floor and shouting back at us, so we sent her to the corner.

Five minutes in the corner had no effect. We talked to her and she was still in a foul mood. When getting ready for bed, she tossed her pajamas on the ground and refused to put on her pants, so Paul started to take away her stuff....

First, her Shamu was removed, then her unicorn Pillow Pet, then all her bei-bei. When I walked upstairs, Paul was marching out of her room with an armful of blankets and stuffed animals. Moments later, he came out with her mattress! Apparently, Abby was going to sleep on the floor that night.

We let her mull that over for a few minutes and then I went into her room to chat with her. She was distraught and mumbling, "Daddy took away my Sh-sh-am-m-mu...I want my Sha-a-a-mu and my be-e-e-ed," to her giant hippo. I told her we didn't intend for her to sleep on the floor and that she can get her bed back if she calmed down, got ready for bed without giving us any more attitude, and sincerely apologized for her behavior tonight.

That snapped her into gear and she was our sweet little Abby the rest of the night.

The next day, she told her teachers and her whole class about how her daddy took away her bed because she threw a temper tantrum. Her teachers LOVED it!

Last Saturday, friends of ours from Maryland came to Colorado and we took our families to ride the Royal Gorge Railroad. This 2-hour train ride took us through 1000-foot granite cliffs, along the Arkansas river, and underneath the Royal Gorge bridge.

It was a beautiful, scenic trip and adults and kids of all ages enjoyed the experience.

We had purchased tickets in coach class, fully expecting to spend most of our time in the open air car to get the most scenic views.





The unobstructed views from the open air car were breath-taking. However, the younger kids quickly got tired of standing and of the heat.



While wandering through the rest of the train, Abby charmed the employees into giving our party access to an empty Vista Dome car. These cars typically required a $25/person upgrade fee to ride!





But after the kids ran up and down the Vista Dome car for awhile, we decided that the best views were still from the open air car, so we all headed back outside for the remainder of the ride.

Rafters on the Arkansas river raised their paddles to greet train riders and we waved and yelled, "hi!" back.




This was definitely a worth-while trip for Colorado visitors and I think everyone enjoyed it immensely.

Some history of the Royal Gorge Railroad:

It dates back to the 1870s when two competing railroads, the Denver & Rio Grande and the Santa Fe, both worked to build tracks through the Royal Gorge to reach the mining riches further west in Leadville. The only problem was that the Royal Gorge was a chasm, so deep,
over 1,250 feet in places, and tight, only 30 feet at its narrowest point, that there was room for only one set of tracks. An all-out war broke out between the two, along with a legal battle that raged in the courts for almost two years. An attorney’s dream come true!

Both the D&RG and Santa Fe built stone forts in the Gorge, rolled rocks down on the men working on the right of way, and threw their tools in the river as they leapfrogged each other. The Santa Fe hired the legendary “Bat” Masterson to assemble a group of men to defend their interests, and soon picks and shovels were replaced by rifles and pistols.

On March 27, 1880, litigation was finally settled when both railroads signed the Treaty of Boston which gave the D&RG access through the Royal Gorge.