I hate to admit that typing has become frustrating for me, but it has. My fingers get in the way of one another anymore. That's my excuse for not keeping up this blog, and I'm sticking to it. ;-}

In the meantime ...

LilBird CAN read! A few weeks ago, the girls spent the night with their little cousins. The best report I got was, "Boogie wanted me to read her a story, Mom. So, I did. I read the words I knew." I'm sure that was a very interesting story given that she has put a 4-letter limit on what she *thinks* she can read. She's not confident enough to complete "Put Me In The Zoo," but she likes little printable books, so that's what we've been doing lately. Jay told her last week he wanted her to read "Go, Dog, Go" for him, so I'm hoping to see that happen this week. She will not hesitate to say, "Books are lame," but I see through it. She likes books. She likes reading. She's just stubborn, and that's okay. Now, give the child a three-digit addition or subtraction problem that requires carrying or borrowing, and she'll knock your socks off with that! She has been loving her musical theater class and is preparing for next month's recital where she will be performing songs from "The Sound of Music," and she's excited to be enrolled to take some fun dance classes over the summer to see if that really is something she'd like to commit to next year. She recently participated at a fashion show for JDRF at JCPenney, and she did such a good job! She definitely has performance in her blood. 

Ace has had 5 allergy elimination treatments in the past two months.Yes, you read that right - ELIMINATION. After talking with a new friend (whom I met through a not-so-new friend ;), I researched Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET) and contacted a local acupuncturist who administers this treatment. When we decided to do this, Ace was taking two oral allergy medications and one nasal allergy medication EVERY SINGLE DAY YEAR AROUND; she was still getting ear infections (requiring antibiotics) every 3-5 weeks. We've never used acupuncture around here, but we have had good success with other "alternative" remedies through the years, so I figured trying it certainly couldn't hurt. That's putting it mildly! Ace is my alabaster-skinned blondie who, for about 4 years or so, has always looked like she had two black eyes. I thought she just didn't sleep well, which is partly true, but - lo and behold, those were classic Allergy Eyes. Guess what? NO MORE! No more allergy medications, no more ear infections, no more black eyes! She still has a half-dozen more allergies to be treated (from the initial evaluation), but we're taking a brief break since this is such a busy time of year for us. Meanwhile, I've become "That Mom" who cannot tell enough people about this amazing discovery we've experienced! I really think our acupuncturist can help just about everybody with something! Ace has even been recommending it to her friends. She is much more focused and energetic. She practices gymnastics 3 hours/night x 4 nights a week, and usually adds 3 two-hour practices each week during the mornings. Before she started doing these allergy elimination treatments, she would be dead-tired by Thursday evening. Not now. :) Academic-wise, she's still working on the same math curricula she's been working with all year, and she's almost finished with her anatomy notebook, and she's started reading the Little House series in preparation for a field trip next month. Oh, and she's competing at USAG State this Friday ... woohoo!

Where to begin with Rockstar ... She auditioned with flute for Quartz Mountain (Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute) for the first time this year. Over 1200 applicants for about 250 spots, and she fell in the majority of those applicants ... bummed out. However, the next day, her shiny new Gemeinhardt open-hole flute arrived by UPS and there was much rejoicing! She bought this fine $600 instrument with hard-earned babysitting money, and we couldn't be more proud of that decision! She will be auditioning for Tulsa Youth Symphony in the coming weeks, and she is planning to try again (whew!) for Quartz Mountain. We have decided to try something new for this next "school year" and have enrolled her in Epic One on One Charter School. This is something I've been considering for over a year, but they had some state issues last year and were not able to begin the school year "on time." Rockstar is VERY excited about this (whew, again!) and I'm hoping she might take an interest in one of the local tech schools for her elective choices. Driver's Ed also will likely begin in the fall, so be warned!

We've welcomed spring in our "new" tradition - making use of the awesome raised beds Jay made last year. This year, he built one just for LilBird that is filled with dwarf Asiatic lilies (and a few tiger lilies). The girls have all been riding their bikes - even LilBird! Rockstar and Ace have both spent hours pushing her around and cheering her on sans training wheels!! I think our trek to the Kids Triathlon this year just might include TWO competitors. Stay tuned. :)