Don't anything for granted. Not for one second.

I just heard of a horrible car accident that happened in my town recently that killed a father and criticially injured his daughters and two of their friends while they were en route to McDonald's. It's horrible that gruesome, incredibly sad things can happen to good people for no apparent reason. It makes me want to hold my kids close to me and never let them out of the house. But this is not logical or really healthy for them, or me.

But the community, my community, is encircling these families. Giving them the emotional and financial support that they need in this troubling, sad time.

Tomorrow, Monday there is a car wash and bake sale at Kings Park High School from 11:00 to 5:00. All proceeds from that will go to help pay for one of the girl's hospital bills.

On Tuesday Patty Joe's Restaurant on Main Street in Kings Park will be hosting a fund raiser for them. Please try to go and support the restaurant and this fund raiser.At Patty Joe's we will be selling Hearts for $2.00 each. We are asking people to purchase a paper heart and write a get well message to the young girl on the heart. We will deliver the hearts to her at a later date when she is able to read them.

Upcoming fund raisers:

The Knights of Columbus is going to host a spaghetti dinner. The proceeds from that fund raiser will be donated to both families. At the dinner we will be having a Chinese Auction. We are in need of donations to put in the baskets. More information on the date of the dinner/auction will follow. Thank you for any support you can give. Anne Carlin is point of contact for these fund raisers. If you believe you can help please contact her at 265-6766.

The original email I received was from Kings Park Youth which is a community organization that reaches many different age groups. It is the intention of the Kings Park Youth Board to support our community in any way possible.

What can we teach our children through this?
To treasure each moment?
To not take things for granted?
To drive defensively?
Not eat McDonald's? (LOL. I don't think they knew it was this bad for our health?!)
To provide emotional support and financial, if you can, to your friends and family?
That friendship and comapnionship are vital to our survival as a species?
What else?

My Arts and Crafts

My oldest (in years since we met) friend, Donna, is a champion spinner and knitter. She has become my first reader on this lovely blog, and I checked out hers. Wow! She is very talented and has created some beautiful stuff. I love that shawl of hers with the scalloped edges. I have tried to learn to knit and crochet several times over the years and wasn't able to master either one. But I DO draw, paint, quilt(the quilts are made from my kids' baby clothes and receiving blankets..I've made them as gifts for quite a few people as well), arrange flowers, and bake.

Here are some examples of what I have done lately...

Bathroom Before and After

This was the big home improvement for the summer. The main bathroom in my house was an dire need of some TLC. The previous owner was old and hadn't decorated, or really cleaned or repaired the bathroom in decades. It was scary what I found. But the finished product was well worth the effort!

More and More Kid/ Mom Projects...

If your kids are like mine, they like to do arts and crafts and put their personal stamps on their rooms. This summer, my daughter turned the inside of her bedroom door into a Jackson Pollack-type painting of her own. I took her door down and placed it on a a tarp out back and let her at it with a wide variety of craft paint. The results are truly extraordinary.

We tie dyed some clothes. This was fun, but didn't turn out as vibrant as we had hoped.

Garden stones are always fun and art that can be enjoyed by everyone in the flower beds. My kids make these every summer, so they decorate all the flower beds.

Points to Ponder on Parenting

If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says "keep away from children." ~Susan Savannah

No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I'm not talking about the kids. ~Bill Cosby, Fatherhood, 1986

I love to play hide and seek with my kid, but some days my goal is to find a hiding place where he can't find me until after high school. ~Author Unknown

Kids spell love T-I-M-E. ~John Crudele

Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them. ~Oscar Wilde

Simply having children does not make mothers

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy. ~Robert A. Heinlein

Most of us become parents long before we have stopped being children. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders. ~Abigail Van Buren

To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~Josh Billings

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus

Children are a great comfort in your old age - and they help you reach it faster, too. ~Lionel Kauffman

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again. Fathers Day Quote by: Enid Bagnold

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help his child

To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today. Anonymous



I think this is a very cute list. My favorite is "Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy." I have done this with my son. My daughter and I joke that he's allergic to work. He has always had a low frustration tolerance and gives up on anything he finds more difficult than he thinks it should be. I think, that to some degree, it is my fault. He is my first born (age 11 now) and I catered to his every need for too long and hampered his own confidence, and interest, in doing things for himself. He's capable, smart, talented, inquisitive, but, I'm sorry to say, lazy.

How do I fix this? I need advice.

Cake Boss?

I love the show Cake Boss on TLC! What Buddy and his crew are able to create truly is awe inspiring.

My 8 year old daughter and two of her friends and I decided to make a 3-D Teddy Bear cake from scratch. With all the ingredients in hand, we started at 10:30 this morning. We finished at 5:30 pm. I totally underestimated the time and patience it took to create this cake. While I was cutting the center and "gluing" the two halves together with homemade butter cream and then rolling out and molding the fondant, I was channeling Buddy. It helped. I tried to use techniques I've observed while watching the show.

Considering we are novices, I think it came out pretty well. Delicious I know it will be.

Thanks to Buddy and the Cake Boss crew for the inspiration!

First Post August 11, 2009

I'm not sure where this journey is going to take me, but I'm willing to let it evolve organically and see. I'm home for the summer (the beauty of teaching and also beneficial, as it keeps us teachers sane, or mostly sane), recuperating from eye surgery, and trying to give my two children a great summer. Between baseball, boy scout and art camps, play dates, swimming, visiting family and friends, baking and cooking together, I think we are all enjoying. And may need to schedule in some rest time. We haven't read as much as I wanted, practiced the cello or times tables, but we still have some time left. Hmmmm.... What to plan next?