After 26 years PBS is closing the book on Reading Rainbow.  From the article on PBS.org, it seems that the television should teach phonics and fundamentals of reading.  Reading Rainbow’s focus was more on why children should read.  Personally, I this will be a big loss for PBS and children who enjoyed the show.  I am not a big PBS fan but they usually do understand how to help foster a love of learning.  Television really should not teach our children, this is the job of parents and teachers.  Television should deliver information, entertainment, and give a taste of what is available in books or the world.

Every morning before school the boys, Isabella and I would watch Reading Rainbow while eating breakfast.  We were all sucked into the stories and lessons learned.  Sometimes one of my children would realize we have a book and later demand we read it.  I even remember and still have recorded the episode that played the day Cole left us.  I cannot watch it but it is there.

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I found a very interesting plug-in for WordPress today called WordPress Mobile Pack by assembla.  It automatically adjusts your WordPress site to look great on any web enabled smart phone.  I have an iPhone and even though the normal site looks great, this is far more efficient, quicker, and streamlined when viewing.  You can see from the screenshot I took how nice it really is.  The sidebar to the right is moved to the bottom and some widget are eliminated for space and speed (allowed up to 5 widget – I suggest keeping it basic).  I noticed that when viewing a post with many NextGen Gallery by Alex Rabe, photos it sorts them vertically.  I need to modify my posts to not have so many photos.  Other than that small adjustment (which I wanted to do anyway) I see no issues.

You can also login to the admin area and make a new post, edit posts, comments, and adjust setting of your blog.  By far one of the most useful plug-ins I am using.

<edit> I found one major issue.  When using Yet Another PhotoBlog plugin the layout is rearranged where the photo goes after all of the text.  I have not yet dug into the code so I am not sure where the issue lies.  So for now I deactivated YAPB and inserted the photos the old way.

<edit again> Funny thing is; my other blogs with the same plugins do not have this issue.  Maybe I should try a fresh install of WordPress and start over, some other funny things are happening.

<final edit> It was something with the install of WordPress.  I created a new folder on the server, uploaded all the files.  Connected / replaced the new wp-conf.php with the old one and everything worked.  I then uploaded all the plug-ins again and activated them (checking the site after each activation).  I then activated the mobile pack, tested perfectly on both iPhone and computer.

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Sunday, September 6th we will be having Noah’s, Vincenza’s, and Isabella’s birthday party.  You can see that we ordered the Atlantis Bounce / Slide combo for the event from Bounce Nation.  It is usually a good time I just hope it doesn’t rain like it did for Riley’s party.

Poor Riley will still be recovering from his Surgery but I will write about that later.

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Last Friday while eating dinner Riley came to me and said; “The light-truck is in my belly”.  WHAT!?  I had no idea what he was trying to say (repressing what I really did know).  I asked him to get the truck he was talking about.  He rummages through the mass of toys and bring over a large Matchbox type truck with one headlight missing.  I asked him; “Where is the light Riley?”, “In my belly papa, I’m sorry”, he replies. This happened at 7:05pm.  He said he did it during nap which was between 2pm and 5pm.

After calling his doctor’s after hours line three times I finally get a callback (one and a half hours later!).  They suggested to take him in for X-Rays.  I was too late to take him to the immediate care place so downtown we went to Children’s hospital, again!

When we arrived the place was packed!  Three hours later there was us and another … family left in the waiting room.  Getting to talk to the doctor she told us that there was no way the light would show up on an X-Ray (I ripped off the other light from the truck to show them the size and shape).  Told me to look for blood or pain and sent us away.  I thought that was what triage was for!?

He is fine and and no signs of blood or pain.  His doctor saw him this Monday too and was not worried at all.

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I now know the feeling a parent suffers when the hand of God strikes down their child, the anger and pain stirred up by losing the most dear thing to their existence.  I cannot forgive that, not now, not yet, not here.  I give everything and get this in return; a hole in my life that will only be filled by seeing my son again on my dying day or the cold earth dumped over my head like I did for my son.  Life is not fair, nobody said it was.  My other children suffer too at His hand.  Lucky they will move on, I hope they manage to avoid the pains I now endure everyday.  Maybe I should not be writing this here; I guess I don’t really care.

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Features:

• Ebony Frame 6-inch color LCD screen
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 / 4:3
• Resolution: 520 x 288 pixels
• Brightness: 250 cd/m2
• Contrast Ratio: 300:1
• Alarm Clock Built-in AM/FM Radio Listen to MP3 files Audio input lets you play music from devices through digital photo frame Slide Show Mode Multiple Transitional Styles for Slide Show Built-in speakers Mini USB port
• Supported Memory Cards: Secure Digital MultiMedia Card Memory Stick Memory Stick Duo
• Top Panel Controls: Power Setup Exit Snooze Previous Play/Pause Forward Volume Up Volume Down
• Dimensions: 5.25 x 9.75 x 2.75-inches (H x W x D, approximate) Regulatory Approvals: cULus RoHS

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I archived off the entire site and started from scratch.  While there was a ton of good stuff there there was also even more junk.  Once I get moving I will even delete this post as it is only serving as a test and an introtuction to the new look and features.

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