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.