The No Child Left Behind what????

This post is from my friend Danielle, who teaches in a city school. She risks her life everyday to try and reach, teach, and empower our nations youth. There has to be a better way to handle what is going on with schools today, and quite frankly, if it wasn't for Danielle, and my sisters stories about working in City Schools, I too would be far removed from the problem.

Well, the past 2 days have been very tough.. Yesterday, fights all day
and a
cop gets jumped in our school, then after school one of my students -
steven- gets murdered over a chain..
Today we had threats of retaliation, and went into lockdown, and were
dismissed at 1:45...

what has this world come to?

Tell me something positive that is going on, so I can get my mind off
of
things:)

-danielle

Garbage Land

I am on a reading frenzy again. I started the week reading "Baby Love" by Rebecca Walker. I wasn't terribly thrilled with it, but it was a nice even read. I finished it in 24 hours, and I still don't know how that happened. I'm just craving books again and it feels good. Now I'm starting on "Garbage Land....on the secret trail of trash" by Elizabeth Royte. The book is fascinating and takes the reader on a journey following all of the things that we dispose of. I'm intrigued and can't put it down. I wonder at least 3 times a day what happens to our trash. Where does it go? When I stumbled upon this book I purchased it right away. I have wondered about our trash and what happens to it everytime I eat something that I didn't prepare, buy a cup of coffee, or open something surrounded in plastic. I wonder how big of a footprint are we leaving on this poor planet when 90% of the stuff that I throw away won't biodegrade for 2000 years? What sort of world are we preparing for our kids to inherit? This book gives the reader the complete inside scoup the journey of our trash, starting from the minute that we throw it out. The book is the authors travelogue as she journeyed around the country in search of answers, and following our trash. Very cool.

Would love to hear what everyone else is reading? :)

Outer Banks Vacation

We survived a 14 hour roadtrip with an 18 month old! Yipppeee! We spent a beautiful, but chilly week in the Outer Banks. The ocean was just steps from the house that we rented, and we enjoyed it as much as we could despite the weather. We arrived in the OBX last Saturday to a severe tropical storm, and on Sunday it was thought that we might have to be evacuated, but thankfully we just stuck it out and things got better on Monday. Although things got better, the weather was definetly the bummer of the trip. However we made the best of it, and still enjoyed lots of family time. One of the most amazing things for me was seeing Dolphins right off our deck jumping and frolicking in the ocean! Livy loved watching them jump in the air, and she would yell "Dolpheeen!"Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Easter

Olivia turned 18 months on Saturday! Time is really going by, but we are trying to stay in the now, and enjoy Olivia's toddlerhood. I've been cherishing her second year so much, and trying to remember all of her "oliviaisms" to share with her some day. Here are a few translations, and ones that I want to remember

Geep=Grape
Geempop=Grandpa
Mina Mina Mina=Mine! :)
Koy=Squirrell
Pengi=pigeon or penguin, depends on which one shes looking at
Dog a Doggie=Dog
Sack=snack
Geema!=Grandma

Those are just a few. Her verbal explosion is happening, and when Dave and I are talking during dinner she will tell me who I"m talking about. So today I said "I have to call my sister." And Olivia replied "Naa Naaa" for Aunt Niki! Needless to say we are starting to watch what we say! ha! Thats going to be a tough one for me

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning our neighborhood held the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Before leaving for the hunt Olivia watched me fill the eggs, and then ran around the house announcing "Hunt....Hunt....Hunt." She seemed to be enjoy exploring through the various backyards with all of the kids, and did score about 3 eggs for herself. She tried helping herself to the baskets of a few other kids, but she was quickly turned down. :) One thing that I enjoyed about the hunt was the "no candy" rule. The eggs were filled with chapstick, rings, money, stickers, etc but no candy! I love this idea! This teaches kids that you don't always need food involved to have fun! The kids had a blast opening all of their eggs and it was a great start to the Easter weekend!

First haircut

It wasn't Olivia's favorite day, but we got her hair trimmed by our dear friend Candie, or as Olivia says, "CANGIE." Olivia sat so still and didn't move a muscle, becuase, quite frankly I don't think she even knew what to do, or what think about the whole process. After getting her haircut she got to watch Daddy have his done, and she was starting to catch on about the whole idea. Here are a few pics...

Puppylove

This is Coco. This is Olivia hugging Coco. Olivia lives for this dog, and talks about this dog everywhere we go, to anyone who will listen. No matter who visits our home she asks if Coco is with them. I have never seen anything like it. The pediatrician, church, wegmans, my in-laws house, friends houses, neighbors houses, and anywhere to anyone who will listen, Olivia will ask for Coco. Coco is 17 years old, so needless to say every minute with her is a blessing. We all love Coco, and I hand picked her from Lollypop farm at age 12. I refused to leave Lollypop without Coco and hung onto the cage until my mother agreed that we could take her home. I should have been grounded, but instead we were too busy loving Coco that my mom soon forgot about my antics. But in my defense she was shaking from fear and communicating with me in her own way, just begging to live with us. And we've never been sorry, she has been one trully amazing dog! I've even written a goodbye blog post when we thought that Coco was about to enter her heavenly realm...but she pulled through. Shes amazing and we love her, and so does her newest fan Olivia! Most people would think that a 17 year old dog would want nothing to do with a 17 month old baby, and they're right. Olivia tries anything to get Coco's attention, and Coco just keeps walking away from her, but truth be told when Olivia goes to take a nap Coco is restless and wants to lay next to the crib. Its ironic becuase Coco spends most of her visits trying to escape from Olivia, but there must be some bond there. Anyway, we finally grabbed this photo and I had to share!

51 Birch Street

www.51birchstreet.com

Last night Dave and I had the fortune of having a fun filled evening with Jenn and Keith. I can't quite remember the last time that we were all out together, sans the kiddo's, but it was great to just sit and chat uninterrupted. We ate some yummy food at Veneto, sipped Avery Lane Reisling, and then headed off to the Little to see 51 Birch Street. This was a great documentary that shows the human condition, and a rare look into a 50 plus year marriage, and what happens when people aren't true to themselves. It was a powerful movie that left me feeling peaceful and sad at the same time. I would love to talk more about the movie, but don't want to give anything away. I reccommend that everyone and your parents, grandparents, and loved ones see this documentary.

Grandma Visits

I wish that I had a pic to upload, but blogger isn't cooperating with uploads tonite, so pics to follow. My mom is visiting us for a few days, and tonite Dave and I stepped out for a bit to meet with a friend. So Olivia and my mom got to have a "Grandma nite" together and when we returned home the house just felt alittle different. Grandma's are so special, and I can tell that when my mom is here Olivia knows that things are different. The nite before she arrived we told Olivia that Grandma would be visiting, and she ran to the guest room, pounded on the bed and yelled "GEEMA GEEMA GEEMA." She knows that the guest room is where "Geema" sleeps, and that Geema = Fun!

Tonite when we returned home I asked my mom how the bedtime routine went, and my mom says that Olivia and her ran around the house and laughed for over an hour. My mom would ask Olivia if she wanted to go up and have her bottle and Olivia answered "Nope." She never does this to Dave or I, and usually happily obliges to begin the bedtime routine. But not when Grandma's here, becuase Grandma means fun!:) Grandma reported that Olivia replied "Nope" each and everytime my mom asked her if she was ready for bed! hahah.

I too had a very special relationship with my Grandma. My brain and heart are chock full of beautiful childhood memories with Grandma Z, and I hope that Olivia has that with both of her grandparents. Watching her "Get the sillies" with my mom reminded me of days when Grandma Z would stay with us for a few days. Niki and I were off the hook silly when she was around, and the possibilities were endless. She played with us, and made us feel like we were the most special people in the world to her. She was always right on our level in any game that we were playing, and would participate in anything that we were doing. One time I was playing teacher and decided that I would take my class on a field trip to outer space. Grandma Z helped me write a letter home to the parents, and then we planned the whole trip. She made me feel as though it was really possible to take a large class of my pretend students to Outer Space. Most grown ups wouldn't play along, but she always played along and encouraged our dreams. Her voice is always inside my head, and encouraging me to go forth.

My mom always worries that Olivia won't know her as well as my in-laws. . I think that she is starting to see how special she is to Olivia. I believe when someone has pure Love for a child that it is always felt by the child, no matter how far away they live from each other. But I understand how hard it must be to live in a different city as a grandchild. I'm dreading the goodbye tomorrow afternoon as my mom usually cries at least halfway down the thruway. Olivia and her have a bond and I'm thankful for the bond. Its a beautiful thing to witness.

Dean and Candie save the day!

We had a fun Saturday nite get together with Dean and Candie, who have 2 children under the age of 3. The kids had a blast playing together, and my daughter was occupied for 3 hours straight by 2.5 yr old Zachary. She was copying his every move, and thanks to Mr. Zach, Olivia learned how to climb on the sofa, and jump like a mexican jumping bean. She screams "Boing Boing Boing" in delight of her latest accomplishment. This new accomplishment looks like an accident waiting to happen, but for today I'm letting her jump to her hearts content. I hate to be a spoiler.

Anyway, i have been pretty concerned about Olivia's diaper rash from this antibiotic. Its bright red and painful. I showed the veteran parents her rash and they practically laughed at me., "Thats hardly a rash" laughed Candie. I felt better to hear that becuase to me this rash looks horrible. Candie then introduced me to Triple Paste
www.triplepaste.com

This stuff is amazing. In 3 hours her little toosh was returned to normal. Its a medicated diaper creme only for diaper rashes. I was so grateful to learn about this wonder paste that I wanted to pass it along to all my mama friends, and thank my blog reading friend Candie for giving me her huge tube of it! :) She later admitted that the rash was pretty bad, but she did what any awesome friend would do, she downplayed it to calm a nervous first time mom down. Thanks Candie!

We also did some vacation planning, as in a few short weeks we'll be leaving with Dean, Candie, and 4 other families on a week long Outer Banks vacation. We rented our very own beach house, complete with 2 heated pools and a kiddie pool. Mind you, there will be alot of people staying at this beach house, 12 adults and 7 kids. Yikes. I'm nervous but very excited about getting away for a week. We are dividing the trip up and leaving one day early to stay with my aunt and uncle in Maryland. Dean and Candie are doing the same as her brother lives in Maryland. It's a 7 hour drive to Maryland, so we're hoping for some really patient kids on Friday April 13th! Ack..Friday the 13th...the odds already seem against us! haha

All dressed and ready for "Cheech"

Livy can't quite say church yet, so instead she improvises and calls it "Cheech." Here are some recent pics from this passed Sunday, taken before "Cheech."
During "Cheech" Olivia proceeded to shout "Amen" at very quiet times during the mass, and she also pointed at each stain glass window and shouted "ANGEL" with glee. Yes bringing Miss Olivia places gets interesting. A few Sunday's ago she was telling everyone around us to "SHHHHHH" like Dave and I were telling her to do. She had her finger on her nose and she was looking directly at people telling them to "Shhhhhh." I need to remember all of the funny things because they will make good stories later on. She also looks for "Coco" at church, and most anywhere that we go. Coco is always on her mind. For some reason she seems to think that Coco is everywhere.

On a sad note, Olivia has another ear infection so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. The doctors think that its the same ear infection from January...this is her 3rd infection since that time. However we were at the Dr.'s last Wednesday and her ears were clean. On friday I felt her gums and noticed that some teeth had just started to break the surface, and Friday is when I believe that her ear infection started again. I sense that its related to teething. So we're on an even stronger course of antibiotics. Ack. We are also doing Craniosacral therapy (chiropractic) which Dr. Khaneja feels will help over the long haul. There are a few other natural things that we'll be discussing during a visit on Wednesday. She has also reccommended an ENT. The ENT can take awhile to get into, so in the meantime we're probably going with homeopathy and chiropractic. I guess that the biggest thing we'll be doing is cutting out all dairy. Olivia will be on goats milk and soy cheese for awhile until her ears are under control. She had her 1st goats milk bottle tonite and did fine with it. I know that many children get ear infections and I've been trying to gather some information on how to properly treat this. I have to say that Dr. Greene's website is hands down the most comprehensive and informative website that I've found so far. I love his approach to healing, and he really gives parents in depth information. Sometimes we don't need in depth information, but when things become Chronic then parents need more information.

Dr. Greene's website suggested a possible dust mite allergy so we're going to get her a special mattress pad. Olivia has both Eczema and ear infections, so an allergy to dust may be likely. The info about the link between eczema and ear infections wasn't on Dr. Sears website, and neither was the link to pacifier use and ear infections. Dr. Greene's site gave me some great things to think about, and as soon as we heal from this infection, then "Froganzo" the paci is going bye-bye. I hope. :) Wish me luck.

Running a red light, or two.... and officer friendly

I thought that my recent adventure was blogworthy, and it contains tips that might be helpful to you in the future, should you ever get pulled over after running two red lights, and you've left home without your liscense.

On friday evening I attended a nice spiritual talk with my mom at The Natural Oasis market on Monroe Ave. We left Natural Oasis and started driving home when my mom remembers that she needs a tooth brush. So I keep driving down Monroe instead of turning into my neighborhood. Next thing I know I proceed to look up and I'm running a red light, and a few feet in front of me is another red light that I'm also running. This was all by accident, as these two lights are very close together on Monroe. Now enter Mr. Policeman who is flashing police lights in my rear view mirror. Oh boy. My mom and I had just come from this fun "Evening with God" and now I've commited a crime by accidentally running two redlights. The second after I saw the flashing lights in my rear view mirror I calmly told myself that I would not be receiving a ticket this evening. I have a goal in my life of never receiving a ticket for a traffic violation, and I had no intention of accepting one from this officer, but I had the intention of apologizing for what I did because I was trully sorry for it. Of course I would have had to accept it the ticket should he decide to give me one, but I was hoping that the power of positive thinking would help me out here. ;)

I learned from my hubby, who used to work for the Sheriffs dept that when getting pulled over you must do the following things, and it will greatly decrease your chances of getting a ticket.

1. Turn off your car and put your keys on your dashboard.
2. Roll down your window and keep your hands at 10 and 2 on your steering wheel.
3. Ask the officers permission before obtaining anything that they ask from you, such as "May I open my glovebox to provide you with my registration.
4. Always admit what you've done and apologize.

I felt like I might be in some hot water because I had left my licsense at home, but I was hopeful that my friendly personality might make this whole thing all better, and the nice officer would allow me to go on with my evening. The conversation went like this

officer "Good evening maam, may I see your licsense and registration."

Me "Gulp. Hello. I'm sorry sir but I live around the corner and I left home without my liscense, but I can provide you with my registration."

Officer, who now looks annoyed "You mean you don't have a liscense or you forgot it."

Me "Yes sir I have a liscense, and I apologize for leaving home without it this evening. Would you like me to get my registration for you, its in my glovebox."

Officer" Do you know why I pulled you over."

Me " Yes I believe that it had something to do with the lights."

So, to keep a short story short, Officer Friendly listened to my confession and apology about running red lights, and he said that he thought I made it through the first one, but definetly not the second one, and he would just give me a warning this time. He took my registration and went back to his car for five minutes, and while it was a bit nerve racking, I just kept calmly telling myself that I wouldn't be receiving a ticket this evening. I had some doubts becuase he stayed in his car for so long punching numbers or whatever into his computer, but when he came back he was all smiles, and told me to have a very nice evening, stay safe, and "Good nite." Wait...where was my warning?? What a nice Mr. Police officer. I think that he was being nice because I was nice to him, and I followed all of Daves instructions about what to do when getting pulled over! So take note folks, and don't run red lights!!

Snow day

At first Olivia was very timid in the snow, but now she is really getting to like it. Here are some pics from yesterday, and what a great day it was to play in the snow. It wasn't too cold, and it felt great to be out in the fresh air. We made a snow slide in one of our snowbanks, and Olivia squeeled as I hoisted her up, over and over again, to slide down the snowbank. Hopefully next year we can start making tunnells and snowmen just like when we were kids. Fun times. :)

Birth Matters

We are so blessed to have such a resource in Rochester! See below!


BIRTH MATTERS? IT CERTAINLY DOES!

East Rochester, New York. Birth Matters!, a new studio and boutique that nurtures expectant women through the prenatal and postpartum period, is holding an Open House at its location at 234-236 West Commercial Street in East Rochester. The Open House will be a weekend-long event: Friday, March 2^nd, 12pm-5pm; Saturday, March 3^rd, 10am-5pm and Sunday, March 4, 12pm-4pm.

“Birth Matters! is an entirely unique space, designed to provide pregnant women support and education, offering everything from childbirth education classes to doula services to lactation counseling,” says owner Patricia Predmore. “There is no place like it in Rochester.”

Birth Matters! opened this new location in January, but the company has been providing services to pregnant women in the Rochester area for years. In addition to offering Lamaze childbirth education classes, Birth Matters! also offers breastfeeding, childbirth refresher, and KinderSign classes (baby sign language). Many specialty classes are also offered, including Infant massage, Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga, Infant & Child CPR (Red Cross), Life With Baby – Finding Your New Normal, and Bringing Your Baby Home to Your Pet. Support groups for new mothers round out this extensive program.

Special events are also planned for the upcoming months, including an evening on Waterbirth, another on Belly Casting, a Birth Faire and a Birth Movie Matinee.

Birth Matters! is not limited to classes. The boutique offers books, birth balls, massagers, breastpumps and breastfeeding accessories, inspirational and specialty birth items for purchase. Clever gift bags and baskets with everything needed for labor, new parents, grandparents and breastfeeding are also available for purchase.

Please join the staff of Birth Matters! for its Open House March 2^nd through March 4^th, for refreshments, conversation and fun. For more information about Birth Matters! or to RSVP to the Open House (by February 28^th), please contact Patricia Predmore at 330-0600 or birthmatters1@ aol.com.

Ear infections

About 4 weeks ago Olivia came down with an ear infection. We took her to Dr. Khaneja, and all of us agreed that we should take a "Wait and see" approach before going the antibiotic route. Olivia didn't appear to be in physical pain, and The Journal of American Medicine (Jama) just published the results of a huge study stating that 80% of ear infections heal on their own without antibiotics. JAMA strongly reccommends waiting 48 hours before starting an antibiotic because most ear infections will begin to heal on their own during this time.So we left Dr. Khaneja's office with the reccommendation of using Oregon Trail ear drops....which are basically garlic and olive oil. Unfortunately Olivia's ear infection didn't heal, and we were then forced to use antibiotics. 1 week ago she was picking at her ear again, and the pediatrician found the same ear inflamed and infected. The ped said that Olivia didn't respond to the 1st round of antibiotics, and would need a second round. I was devestated. The ped said "Now we're going to have to call in the big guns" meaning we had to use a stronger antibiotic. Ack. I understand that western medicine has its place, but I see healing as a circle, and western medicine sees it as a small line, not connected to anything else. I see healing as considering the whole person, and felt that these ear infections were the clue that something bigger is going on inside of Olivia.

This led me to look into ear infections more, and ask some questions. Why didn't her ears heal? What would make an infection come back? The answer is simply fluid accumiliation, and the fluid from the first infection never draining. Any time that water sits stagnet it can become infected. Olivia's ear never drained the fuild. Why didn't it drain? Becuase there was an area of tension in her body that was keeping that fluid in place. How do you release tension? Not through antibiotics, but through healing touch to open up the lymphnodes.

While we chose to go through with another round of anti-biotics, we also had to treat Olivia as a whole person, and realized that there must be some areas of tension in her body that wasn't allowing this ear to drain. Dr. Sears reccommends chiropractic care for ear infections, and I recently heard Dr. Melissa O'Loughlin speak at the October Holistic Moms meeting. She was full of passion, love, and information about pediatric chiropractic care, so I decided to take Olivia in for a consultation. Dr. Melissa is warm and very caring about treating her patients. She treats the whole person, and did most of Olivia's assesment and adjustment while she played. Her touch is very gentle, and Olivia kept right on playing through most of the session. Dr. Melissa found 3 areas of tension, and one area was directly behind the infected ear. Olivia has to go twice per week for 3 weeks. Dr. Melissa takes time to educate her patients which helped me learn alot about the body. Dr. Melissa is chock full of wonderful healing tips, and showed me things that I can do at home to help Olivia's ears remain open and draining.

We are one week into the chiropractic care and so far the results are hard to measure because we need to have someone look inside of her ears. We are going back to the pediatrician next week, and I'm very interested to see if there has been an improvement. What has been encouraging for me is the concept that there is something different that I as a parent can do for Olivia, despite having to put her on antibiotics. I feel hopeful that we have another option, and its a wellness option. The western model has never made sense to me, and it seems to leave out such a big piece of the puzzle. Medicine was created over 2000 years ago, and its roots are in Ayurveda. Ayruveda has an indepth approach to healing, and the Western model chooses to look at only one very itty bitty piece of that pie. I encourage anyone to consider chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathy along with their Western Doctor.

People ask if I've noticed any huge changes. When we arrived at Dr. Melissa's office, Olivia had lots and lots of mucus, greenish in color coming out of her nose. The next day she had an 80% decrease in mucus, and all the mucus was clear. She continues to have her cough, but things are very loose and she is expelling clear mucus.

I'll post Dr. Melissa's website on here in case anyone is interested. Thanks to Deborah for all of the info! She took Aden for his chronic ear infections and can't say enough about Dr. Melissa. He has been ear infection free for months now. :)

http://www.naturespathchiro.com/

GET OUT!!

I just watched a story on Generation X'ers being deprived of nature, thus making us all more unhappy than our parents were. It said that Gen Xer's spend more time indoors than any other generation, and it offered a plethora of scary statistics about what thats doing to us and our offspring. Apparently as kids we played outside an average of 57 minutes a day, while our children are averaging a mere 8 minutes a day! The study found that the 8 minutes is often accounting for the time that we shuffle them in and out of the car, and that our kids are getting little or no outdoor playtime. Ack. Dr. Greene and Dr. Sears reccommend 30 minutes of playtime outside per day. Nature calms children and adults. We need it to for our internal rthyms. When I was a child I played in the snow for 3 plus hours, and had to be dragged inside. As I drove through my neighborhood today, on this warm winter day, I couldn't find a child outside. Why are we inside so much? It isn't even that fun to be inside. I know that I'm victim to avoiding the outdoors in the winter because its cold, the sun isn't out, and hibernation feels good, but I could be better about getting myself and Olivia out.

Dave took Olivia for a sled ride today after lunch, and they both arrived back home glowing and happy. Olivia told me about the birdies and trees that she saw on her ride. Sometimes its a pain to get Olivia dressed in all of her snow gear, but even after a brief time outside, she is a happier kid. I guess we gotta get out more!

Happy Birthday Hommey!!!!

This is a blog birthday shout out for my dear friend in Albany!Happy Birthday!! I hope that you had a wonderful day today! We miss you and hope to see you soon!

The ultimate Nausea Cure

We've had the stomach bug going on at our house, and for the passed day or two I've been plagued with horrible nausea. It reminded me of my morning sickness days. I was telling a friend about my nausea and she told me to get some crystallized, or candied ginger, from the health food store. I have never tried candied ginger before, but I was feeling so awful, almost a car sickness nausea that I just had to give it a try. So after work I headed off to the Abundance Coop and purchased some in their bulk section. WOW!! I had relief withing 1-2 minutes, with at least a 99% decrease in symptoms. I was in shock. Where was this stuff when I was pregnant? I'm taking note for next time, and wanted everyone to know about Candied Ginger in the event that you ever need it.

When I arrived home my in-laws were feeling nauseas, and so was Dave so I handed out the pieces of ginger candy, and within 1-2 minutes all of them had relief. This stuff rocks!! I'm on my holistic journey to find better ways to have relief, and everything that I have tried has worked almost instantly. They don't even sell a cure for nausea in a prescription as good as the candied ginger worked. I put it right under my tongue since I heard that it works quicker. You'll thank me for the tip if you ever give it a try! :)

The ultimate Nausea Cure

We've had the stomach bug going on at our house, and for the passed day or two I've been plagued with horrible nausea. It reminded me of my morning sickness days. I was telling a friend about my nausea and she told me to get some crystallized, or candied ginger, from the health food store. I have never tried candied ginger before, but I was feeling so awful, almost a car sickness nausea that I just had to give it a try. So after work I headed off to the Abundance Coop and purchased some in their bulk section. WOW!! I had relief withing 1-2 minutes, with at least a 99% decrease in symptoms. I was in shock. Where was this stuff when I was pregnant? I'm taking note for next time, and wanted everyone to know about Candied Ginger in the event that you ever need it.

When I arrived home my in-laws were feeling nauseas, and so was Dave so I handed out the pieces of ginger candy, and within 1-2 minutes all of them had relief. This stuff rocks!! I'm on my holistic journey to find better ways to have relief, and everything that I have tried has worked almost instantly. They don't even sell a cure for nausea in a prescription as good as the candied ginger worked. I put it right under my tongue since I heard that it works quicker. You'll thank me for the tip if you ever give it a try! :)

Olivia's New Sleigh

My step-dad is so talented in carpentry, and he finally finished the sleigh that he started for Olivia. We got to take it for a test run today when we picked it up. We let Gary have the honors of taking Olivia on the inaugural ride! I commissioned him on this project awhile back, and he willingly obliged. Gary is very sweet, and does all of Olivia's projects with love. Heirlooms are so important to me, and Gary knows how much anything that he creates means to me, and will be cherished for years to come. I'm so proud of this sleigh, and as you can see from the pics, Olivia is really enjoying it.