Month: February 2011

Win a Family 4-Pack to Disney On Ice Princess Classics & Discount Code!

Disney On Ice presents Princess Classics Denver Coliseum March 30 – April 3, 2011 This enchanting adventure is an amazing journey to the magical lands of Disney’s classic fairy tales.  Travel to a kingdom under the sea, an enchanted French castle, an Arabian palace and more!  With special guest Tinker Bell, enter the worlds of your favorite Disney Princesses – Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Mulan and Snow White – and see their dreams come true as this royal skating extravaganza brings magic to Denver! Opening Night Discount Code! Save up to 13.50 per ticket (on the $26.50 price level) with discount code: DEAL 13 Enter the code in the “Advance or Promotion Ticket” box at: www.Ticketmaster.com/DisneyOnIceDenver to get opening night tickets for only $13. Valid on Wed. Mar...

Hospitals, Heart Conditions and Tiny Miracles

One week ago today, my husband Jamie entered Good Samaritan Hospital. The three days that ensued were among the most frantic and stressful of our married lives. Jamie had originally set a doctor’s appointment to undergo some routine testing for the chest pain he had experienced during aerobic activity. Almost immediately he was admitted into the Clinical Decision Unit as the doctors forged forward for a diagnosis and treatment. No abnormalities showed up on his EKG nor on the other tests the doctors performed so they decided he should spend the night for monitoring and then put him on the treadmill at 7 a.m. the next morning. If you’re not familiar with sluggish Jamie in the morning, that alone might have killed him. Sure enough as his heart rate rose, the chest pain began. The...

Number of children abused or neglected in Colorado rises

The number of abused or neglected children in Colorado has risen over the past three years, even as the numbers in other states have declined — with 36 children killed by abuse in 2009, up from 27 in 2007. After a dip between 2006 and 2007, the rates of confirmed child abuse and neglect in the state have increased: from 8.3 per 1,000 in 2007, to 8.6 in 2008, to 9.1 per 1,000 in 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available. In 2009, 11,339 of Colorado’s 1.2 million children were maltreated, 641 more than the previous year, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Human Services child welfare division and provided by the Kempe Center, which treats abused children. During the past two years, 1,236 additional children were abused and neglected compared with 2...

Colorado Mom on a ‘kidproof’ Mission

It can be a scary world out there for kids and their parents, but thanks to a new company, Kidproof Colorado, strides are being made to ease the stress. Kidproof, a household name in Canada, is now America’s leading provider of child safety education classes according to Megan Galgano, owner of Kidproof Colorado. Galgano, a teacher and mother of three, and her husband, a business man, brought Kidproof to Denver and now have 12 classes on topics like bully proofing, cyber safety, babysitting and Stranger Smarts.  Kidproof is different from other safety companies in that they have a proactive and preventative focus, and the classes are filled with role-playing and games, so kids retain the information.  “We believe crime is preventable if people have the necessary knowledge to recognize pote...

School choice: Let go of the stress

If you’ve got kids – which presumably everyone reading this does – then at one point or another you’ve had to deal with the daunting task of picking the best school for your child.  When I was a kid in Michigan in the 1960s and ‘70s this wasn’t an issue. You either went to your neighborhood public school or ponied up for private school. Done. Parents and students had no choice in the matter. So much has changed. In Colorado, students can attend any public school in the state if there is room available (which in the best schools is a very big “if”). The argument in favor of school choice is that parents can pick out the type of school that will be the best match for their child and that a little competition between schools will boost performance and quality across the board. There is still ...

Win an Obermeyer Jacket, SolVista Ski Passes & Great Spring Break Deals!

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over. The ski season, that is. That’s why I’m thrilled about a fun giveaway promotion Mile High Mamas is offering. Ski wear industry leader Obermeyer wants to send your child to Spring Break in style and is offering up one of their cutting-edge I-Grow jackets as a giveaway. Let’s face it: outfitting our growing children is a non-stop process. That is why I LOVE the concept of Obermeyer’s innovative I-Grow system, which features a simple and unique way of increasing the life of a child’s garment longevity. By simply snipping the colored threads, the parent can lengthen the sleeves and cuffs up to two inches. Absolutely a brilliant idea. As a bonus, SolVista Basin is always throwing in a family four-pack of night skiing passes...

Your opinion: Was the teacher in the wrong writing her “lazy whiners” blog?

A high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges “disengaged, lazy whiners” is driving a debate by daring to ask: Why are today’s students unmotivated — and what’s wrong with calling them out? As she fights to keep her job at Central Bucks East High School, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe says she had no interest in becoming any sort of educational icon. The blog has been taken down, but its contents can still be found easily online. Her comments and her suspension by the middle-class school district have clearly touched a nerve, with scores of online commenters applauding her for taking a tough love approach or excoriating her for verbal abuse. Media attention has rained down, and b...

Denver Zoo’s Asian Tropics exhibit will bring visitors closer to animals

Four-year-old Aila Benavidez says her favorite thing about elephants are their trunks and big footprints. Aila and her mother, Kirsten Benavidez, who visit the Denver Zoo every few months, will see twice the number of the big animals when the zoo opens its Asian Tropics exhibit. “I applaud them,” Kirsten Benavidez said. “I’m happy they look out for the best interest of animals.” The zoo is at the halfway point in the completion of the $50 million exhibit, which covers 10 acres on the zoo’s southern edge. During a tour this morning, Craig Piper, president and CEO, described what the exhibit will look like when it opens in the spring of 2012, and how the exhibit will support conservation projects around the world. “Elephants and other animals in Asia...

Event Round-up: A BugaRythm party, Airplanes & More!

Saturday. Get into the groove at “BugaRhythm,” a funky party at the Butterfly Pavilion. The day of dance and music features live performances, including a piece by Westminster’s own Ballet Nouveau Colorado, and lots of sweet tunes provided by Radio Disney. In the exhibit areas, kids can learn about the music of invertebrates: hissing cockroaches, singing crickets and dancing butterflies. Make crafts and play games, too, and don’t forget to get up close with some of the Pavilion’s creepy-crawly residents. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 W. 104th Ave., Westminster; 303-469-5441. Admission is $8.50 for adults, $6.50 for seniors age 65 and older, $5.50 for kids ages 2 to 12. For more information, including a full schedule of events, visit butterflies.org. Saturday. Air...

What Songs Are in Your Breakup Album?

Hubby and I had lunch at The Yard House recently. (OK, more like *every* day, but who’s counting?) The Yard House, with 50 zillion beers on tap, none of which we can have over lunch, also blasts classic rock incessantly over their loud speakers. And while I have nothing intrinsically against classic rock, and there certainly are many AWESOME classic rock songs out there – let’s face it… there are also some REALLY cruddy classic rock songs that somehow co-exist in the same universe with Led Zeppelin and The Who. That day was no exception. One crappy song after the other played throughout our burger-and-salad meal, till finally we hit the motherload. Amie by Pure Prairie League. I nearly fainted. “Argh! I hate this song. The only ‘Amy’ song in the wh...

Denver-area birthing center offers adoption training and support

Parker Adventist Hospital has debuted The Family to Family program, which provides education for its staff members so they can support patients and other people involved in adoption births.

Denver Deal: McDonalds, Eldora, Free Days & Consignment sale!

One of my most favorite things to do when I have out of town guests visiting is to take them to the top of Vail Mountain (you can ride the gondola for free after 2 p.m. when you don’t have any ski equipment).  This time I took some awestruck guests to the top and while we were exploring the top of the mountain, we discovered a yurt called the Nature Discovery Center.  Each day at 3 p.m. there are FREE guided nature tours on snowshoes (snowshoes available there for free – and no reservations were necessary).  McDonalds Premium Coffee McDonald’s will be giving away FREE Small Premium Roast Coffee through Sunday, February 27.  No strings attached plus you don’t need to purchase anything to receive the free small coffee. McDonald’s Premium Roast Coffee is a freshly brewed, wh...

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