Forget Fracking – It's Time for Pre-School Power!

Happy April Fool's Day.  In celebration, I am participating in the Pittsburgh Guest Blogger Event! Today’s post comes from Valentine Brkich of Small-Town Dad, and is part of a special day of shenanigans from other Pittsburgh Bloggers. You can see my post over on West of Mars, where I am talking about how my parents helped me love books, and how my birthday wish is to pass that love of books on to the children in my community.

It’s all over the news. Marcellus shale. “Fracking.” The booming natural gas and oil industries. Western PA is on the verge of an energy revolution, one that could bring in billions of dollars to the local economy. The thing is, not everyone’s convinced it’s safe for our environment. I have another solution to our energy problems. And it’s one that doesn’t involve digging or fracking or any of that stuff: my 4-year-old son.

The boy is a walking, talking, limitless source of clean, renewable energy. I know this because from the moment he opens his eyes in the morning until he falls asleep at night he’s hopping, skipping, jumping, rolling, running, bouncing, bounding, climbing, crawling, stomping, sliding, and shuffling all over God’s creation. And best of all, other than the occasional toot or burp, there’s little or no harmful emissions.

Even when he’s sitting, like at the dinner table, my son is incapable of stillness. He constantly shuffles around in his seat, switching from his bum to his knees to his feet and back again. One second he's in his chair, the next he’s on my lap, or on top of the table, or underneath it. Ironically, the only thing he’s not doing is eating.

Bedtime is the only time we can get the kid to stop moving, and we usually have to put him down with a tranquilizer gun. Just kidding! We don’t even own a tranquilizer gun.

NyQuil works just fine.

What’s funny is I used to have energy like that myself. No matter how much I ran or how far I rode my BMX, I always wanted to keep moving and playing. I’d never tired. Now, by the end of the day I’m completely drained, even though all I did was sit on my tuckus all day, first in my car, then at work, then in my car again, then at dinner, and afterwards in front of the tube.

I guess Newton was right: An object in motion tends to stay in motion, while an object at rest tends to fall asleep on the couch around 8:30.

If there was some way to harness my son’s youthful exuberance, we could forget about all this fracking nonsense and instead tap into his seemingly endless supply of preschool power. Of course we’d want to make sure to only use his excess energy for good. Otherwise the results could be disastrous. Those of you who’ve seen my living room know what I mean.

A simple solution would be to construct some sort of kid-sized hamster wheel that produced electricity. But then, of course, we’d have to find a place to put it, and I’m a little foggy on the laws as far as child-powered electric generators go.

If only I could invent some type of synthetic fabric that captures kinetic energy and stores it for later use! I could come out with a whole line of kiddie clothing for over-active kids like my son. Think about it: At the end of the day you’d just take off your kid’s pants, plug them into some device that would extract all the stored up energy, and then use that energy to power all the lights in your home.

Or, in our case, every household in our zip code.

But alas, I’m just a lowly writer. I’ll have leave it to some electrical engineer to devise a way to capture my son’s excess energy before he burns it all up and grows into another lazy, unmotivated, energy-deficient adult.

Not that I know anyone like that. ~

Written by Valentine J. Brkich. You can read more nonsense like this over at this blog, smalltowndad.com.

35 Day Project: Spring Fun

We live on a really nice street in town.  The people are all really nice, there is minimal traffic, and everyone really gets along.  I am pretty lucky.  We live next to a family that has two little boys, and the boys are so sweet.  They love seeing our dogs outside, and we love hearing the laughter as the boys play.  I especially love going out to see their sidewalk chalk masterpieces.

So, today, I decided to make up a small basket to give to the boys.  It contained just a few small things that they could use to play outside (chalk, bubbles, small toys, etc.).  I slipped a note in it and the left the basket on the neighbor's porch.  I am so glad we have such great neighbors!

35 Day Project: Make Room For Kids

Image courtesy of That's Church.

There is an amazing organization championed by one of my most favorite Pittsburgh folks ever, Virginia Montanez, of the awesome blog That's Church.  The organization is called "Make Room for Kids", and it is an extension of the Austin's Playroom Project at the Mario Lemiux Foundation.  Their mission is to bring video games, and dvd/entertainment equipment to the kids staying at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.  These are kids who are bravely battling some serious illnesses, often confined to their hospital rooms for very long stays.  Make Room For Kids provides the hospital with gaming equipment that these kids can use during their stay, helping them pass the time, and for a little while, just feel like kids.  There is so much more to their backstory, which Virginia has outlined here, and I really encourage you to read it.

The program continues to expand and grow, and with it, so do the needs for additional equipment and movies.  Remember, these are for sick kid.  How does one say no to that?  They answer is, you don't.  Today, in her blog post, Virginia made an appeal.  An Amazon Wish List has been created, with some of the items they were hoping to add to the collection for Make Room For Kids.  So, for the second day of the 35 Day Project, I decided to purchase and item off of the wish list.  It was something small, a movie.  And I was able to use some Amazon points we had accumulated.  It was a simple act; to me, it was just a movie, but to a sick kid, it is a few minutes of happiness.

Yet another example of why Pittsburgh is so great, and why I am proud to be a part of it.

35 Day Project: Richard G. Snyder YMCA Triathlon Volunteer

Hopefully by now, most of you have read about how I am celebrating my upcoming 35th birthday with 35 days of kindness, and that many of my friends are also performing acts of kindness during that time to help me celebrate.  Well, the kickoff for the 35 Day Project was today.  I decided to kick this project off with style (and a little early) by spending both mornings this weekend volunteering.  

I live very close to the Richard G. Snyder YMCA campus, and this beautiful new facility is such an asset to our community.  I am also a board member for the United Way of Armstrong County, and the YMCA is one of our recipient agencies, so I was excited to be able to support them on a personal level.  The YMCA held its very first triathlon this weekend, and I was pretty excited to be helping out.  The event was being broken into two days.  Saturday, March 16th, was the adult triathlon.  It consisted of a 5k run, 300 yard swim,  and 10k bike ride.  I woke up Saturday morning and it was cold and wet, and I was wondering how these athletes did it.  I had no idea what was in store.  When I got to the event, I helped with the registration process.  Once all participants were registered, and the run portion had begun, I then moved out to help make sure all runners crossed the finish mat, to ensure their times were correctly recorded, and direct them to the pool area. Once they finished swimming, I helped direct them to the start line for the bike ride.  Then I got to stand at the finish line and watch all the participants finish.  What. A. Rush.  I was totally in awe of every single participant.  The weather was certainly not pleasant, as rain/snow/ice fell intermittently, and parts of the bike train were muddy and mushy.  But they pushed on.  I have so much respect for the tenacity of these participants.  After everyone was finished, times were tallied, and awards granted.  All in all, it was a great morning.

Today, the second half of the event was held, a kids' triathlon for children 14 and under.  Their event consisted of a 1 mile run, 100 yard swim, and 5k bike ride.  These kids were hard core!  Our youngest participant was a 6 year old girl!  I helped for registration again this morning, then I moved out to the running and bike trail to help as safety patrol.  There are spots where the trail intersects with a street, so I was positioned at one of those points to stop any car traffic and allow the kids to safely continue along the trail.  This meant that I got to see each participant twice during their run and twice during their bike ride.  I was so tickled to see these kids pushing themselves, and they seemed like they were having a total blast in the process.  To see the looks of accomplishment on their faces made standing in the cold totally worthwhile.  One of the perks of being stationed on the trail was the fact that I got to cheer for each and every participant as they competed.  And the thing that impressed me was, as I cheered, nearly every single child thanked me for the encouragement.  (This whole kindness thing is totally working.)  I even got a hug from one girl after it was all over.

What a great resource the YMCA is to our community, offering a wonderful facility and fantastic events such as this to help support a healthy lifestyle.  It was such an honor to help out with the triathlon, and I can think of no better way to have kicked off the 35 Day Project.

To see more photos from the triathlon, view my flickr set here (sorry they are grainy, all I had was my iphone and it was so cold out!)

Thankful for... birthdays

Courtesy of Will Clayton

I have been pretty fortunate in terms of birthdays.  I have had an opportunity to celebrate 34 birthdays of my own, as well as countless birthdays for those I love.  Whether the celebrations were large or small, whether they included cake, cupcakes, presents, balloons, or games, each and every birthday has always been about celebrating.  Birthdays are meant to be celebrated.  You celebrate the life of the person being honored, and all the wonderful contributions that he or she has made to the world.  Because we all contribute, and we all are worth celebrating.

Unfortunately, there are tons of kids out there who do not get to celebrate birthdays.  These are kids living in poverty, or shelters.  Can you imagine, for one moment, being a child who never had a birthday cake, or never got a birthday present?  For some families, these things are luxuries.  When you have no home, or no idea what you will be eating that week, baking a birthday cake is simply not on your radar.  So, for one moment, think back to your least happy birthday.  The year that you wanted a big party and had a sleep over instead.  The year you got an iPod nano instead of an iPhone.  The year you were on a diet and had to skip your own birthday cake.  Now consider how much joy your least happy birthday would have brought to a homeless or at risk child.

There is a wonderful organization in the Pittsburgh area called Beverly's Birthdays, which partners with local emergency shelters to provide monthly birthday parties for the children residing in the shelters.  What an incredible act of love this is.  Imagine the smile on a child's face when he or she tastes their very own birthday cake, or opens a birthday present, perhaps for the first time ever.

For my local readers, you have wonderful opportunities to get involved with this organization.  They are always in need of volunteers and donations, and their website has information on both.  Founder Megan Yunn also has lots of great fundraisers throughout the year at the Beverly's Birthdays Blog.

For my non-local readers, if this is something that touches your heart, see if there is a similar organization in your area.  If there is not, why not start one?

Today, I am thankful for the birthday celebrations I have had, and have attended for the people I love.  And I am thankful that I have a chance to bring that joy to a child in need.

For the Love of Books and Children

Most people who know me know that I am a voracious reader, and always have been.  Reading was something I learned to value as a child.  When school was out for the summer, the first thing I did was head to the public library with my parents.  And when school was in session, I often relied on the school library and bookmobile to provide free books.  Any extra money or allowance I got as a kid was often spent on books, but it was never enough, so libraries have always been near and dear to my heart.  I am still a big fan of local libraries, and this summer alone, I read 7 library books.  Last year, in my quest to read and review 200 books, I relied on quite a few library books and librarian recommendations.  I attend library books sales to help support the libraries.  And, when I have books I no longer need or want, I often donate them to our local library.

In short:

libraries = books = awesome.

Which is why it totally broke my heart to hear that Manchester School in Pittsburgh had less than 40 fiction books for the entire school to use.  40 total for grades pre-K to grade 8.  40.  I have easily read that many library books in a year, even as an elementary student.  This really needs to change; this is an urban school, serving urban kids, most of whom are minorities, many of whom are in need.  While other schools have state of the art technology labs, this school is struggling to even have a library at all.  This needs to change.  These kids deserve for it to change.  These kids deserve to know that they are worth the very best, that they can become the very best.  It is not just about books, it is about empowering these children with knowledge and self worth.

Since the story first got out, several people have written about it, the details have been shared by an award winning author (I love you Neil Gaiman), and  the response has been overwhelming.  But we cannot let interest wane.

Today, millions of people payed mega dollars for the newest iPhone, some skipping work to obtain it.  For millions, money is not an issue.  But for these kids it is, which is why I am asking for your help.  For 2% of the cost of the new iPhone, you could buy a book for this school, maybe even two.  And it could help make the difference in the lives of countless children.  Can you please help?

If you are interested in helping Pittsburgh Manchester school, there are a couple of ways you can help.  You can send donations directly to the school at the following address:

Pittsburgh Manchester PreK-8 (label packages for the Library)
1612 Manhattan Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15233

or, you can actually order directly from the school's Amazon wish list, and have it sent to the school.

I just had a book sent to the school.  Will you?

Thankful for.... being waylaid

We have been at the beach this past week, and today was our last full day here.  I was determined to make the most of it.  Hubby is not much for swimming in the ocean, so he happily sat on a blanket in the sand and read, as I swam.  Periodically, I would leave the water to sit and chat with him, drink some water, and make sure I was not getting too much sun (I failed at that last one, ouch!).

After one of my breaks, I was heading out to the waves, when I heard a tiny little voice cry out "follow me".  I turned around to see a little girl playing in the surf.  I though maybe she was just talking to the water, so I started to walk out into the waves.  Suddenly, she ran up to me, quite insistent, and cried "I SAID, follow me!".  She then ran off to a pile of sand she created, and kept making sure I was following her.  When I got over to her, she told me the pile of sand was from her digging her own pool.  She then told me that she would let anyone come to her pool, all they had to do was ask.  It was so simple, so sweet, so accepting.  She said "You can come into my pool if you want".  So, of course, I sat in the wet sand, and chatted with her.  She rattled on and on, about how she was at the beach with her mommy and daddy, and it was a "honeymoon", which I think was her word for vacation.  She asked if I lived at the beach, and when I told her no, but I wished I could, her breathless reply was "wouldn't that be lovely?".  She told me her name was Kate, and pointed her mom out to me.  Her mom smiled and waved, which leads me to believe she is used to Kate making friends with strangers like this.  

Kate began drawing in the sand and squealing when the surf would wash away her drawings.  Then she noticed that when the surf receded, tons of tiny little clams could be seen.  She then picked a handful of them and gave them to me, and told me to take them home with me.  I thanked her, and told her I was going to put them in my beach bag.  

I walked over to Hubby, told him I never made it to the water, and explained why.  I finally did go into the waves, and during my next break, I watched Kate frolic with more of her new found friends.  She approached people of all ages, races, body types, you name it.  She was spreading joy with equal opportunity.  

As I watched Kate walking along the beach with her dad, I could not help but think of all the people she must have made smile today.

Pink or Blue? Flowers or Animals?

Lately I have been looking at cute baby hats.  My friends are expecting, and while we do not know yet whether it is a boy or a girl, I do find myself drawn to boys newborn hats; perhaps that means something.

I am not sure what the best baby hat is.  I suppose it depends on why you are getting the hat.  Baby hats are a hot accessory for newborn baby pictures right now.  It seems like everywhere I look, there are pictures posted of a sleepy baby wearing a hat, their chin propped up on their hands.  Totally adorable.  So, if the hat is to be used for that, I want to make sure it is unique.  My personal favorites are the hats that look like animals.  I also just love love pink puffy heart love the baby girl hats with the huge flowers on them.  It is never too late for a girl to learn to accessorize!

But honestly, I think I would want a hat that can be used for more than just pictures.  I would want a hat that the baby can both look adorable in, and will get lots of use from.  Something warm, but not too hot, perfect for a snowy day or a day when there is just a slight chill in the air.  The mommy to be loves personalized things, so maybe something with the baby's name on it.  And I saw one hat the daddy to be would just love- it is a knitted turkey, as in a roast turkey!

There are just so many options.  Soon we will know if our friends are having a boy or a girl, and that should help narrow now the search.  Sqee!

She totally "gets" it

For Christmas, my niece Abbie got a cell phone.  She and I have been carrying on text conversations every day since she got the phone.  She is really good about asking if I am busy or if it is a bad time to talk, so I always try to take time to talk to her.  Last night she was a little disappointed that a project she was working on did not turn out, and I was trying to cheer her up.  Here was what she said in reply:

This is the part where I tell you she is 11 years old.  At 11, she "gets" it better than a lot of adults I know.  I am so proud of this girl!  

Over Christmas, my brother and Hubby and I all remarked how much she is maturing, and you can see glimpses of the young lady she is becoming.  It makes me so proud to see what a beautiful girl she is, inside and out.  My sister and brother in law have done such a great job raising their kids.  

We always joke that Abbie is so much like me, and I tell everyone I have taught her well.  But this just goes to show, there are things that Abbie can teach us all.

Do you remember .... class rings?

Photo Credit

Now that school is back in session, I find myself reminiscing about my high school days, particularly when talking to my mom and sister about my nephew.  He is a junior in high school, and I remember my junior year being my favorite year, it was the one that was the most fun, and the least stress.

My nephew starting dating a really nice girl, from a good family, recently.  After the kids meeting each other's families, they decided to make it official that they were "going steady".  I love that they are using this term, I find it sweet and old fashioned.  He even gave her his class ring.  But she gave it back because she was scared to wear it, since it was too big for her petite little fingers.  My sister helped her come up with a solution the next time the girl came to the house to visit my nephew.  She showed her how we used to deal with this issue- yarn.

When I was in high school, both the boys I dated (one my freshman year, one my junior year) gave me their class rings, and of course both of them were too big.  My mom and sister taught me how to wrap the ring with lengths of yarn until it made it a more secure fit.  I remember how I would get so excited to buy yarn in our school colors to wrap it for football season.  My mom said that she did the same thing in high school, and you made sure to wrap it in new yarn if you were going somewhere special like a party or a dance.  This is what ALL the girls my age did.  You look through our yearbooks and you see girls with these huge boys' rings on, with yarn all around the band.  It was the thing to do.

I wonder, do girls still do this?  Do they wear boys' high school rings still?  Or is this something that has fallen by the wayside?  Same with lettermen jackets, or football jerseys.  Do boys still let their girlfriends wear these?  I remember being so proud wearing my high school boyfriend's football jersey and class ring, letting everyone know I was his girl.  Do kids even rely on these social cues anymore?  Or is changing their facebook relationship status the new class ring?

Did you ever wear your boyfriend's ring in high school?  Or, if there are any male readers who want to share, did you wear your girl's ring on a chain around your neck?  Or was my high school more old fashioned than most?

Bowl for the Kids 2011

Recently, I was asked to join the board of the Community Action Mentoring Program in Armstrong County. This is a wonderful program that provides several different types of mentoring for kids. I joined just in time to help with the annual fundraiser which took place this past Sunday.

The event was Bowl for the Kids, and it was a fundraiser where people get groups of bowlers together, and each bowler gets sponsored with donations. The teams then attend the event, and prizes are awarded to the top fundraisers. There were really amazing prizes, including a bike, Steelers preseason tickets, a zoo membership, and lots of fun themes baskets.

We got an awesome donation of pizzas from Vocelli,

and other people donated lots of cookies,

as well as the use of a popcorn machine (and the time of the man to run it!)

A lovely folk duo came and played.

And everyone had a wonderful time!

I had such a blast watching all the people bowl, socialize, enjoy their prizes, and be so joyful about helping support such a wonderful cause.

I am really proud to be a part of such a great organization.  Thanks to everyone who volunteered time, donated money, supplies, and prizes, and helped make the event such a success! 

You can see my full photo set here.

Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Casey Heynes

  By now, most everyone has heard of Casey Heynes, the Australian teenager who was videotaped standing up to a bully.  If you have not watched the video yet, I strongly recommend you do so here before reading on. Casey is the larger child being punched before fighting back. Many people the world over are calling him a hero, a champion of the bullied and downtrodden kids everywhere.  But something about this whole situation just does not sit well with me.  So let's examine it, Sweet and Sour Tiffany style, and talk about what is right, wrong, and questionable.

The Sweet

Who among us has never been teased, left out, tripped, called names, bullied, or abused by others at some point in our lives?  I would venture to say none of us.  And children are the most susceptible.  I would imagine every bullied child fantasizes about standing up to his or her attackers, fighting back, fighting for respect.  Casey did just that, and it would seem that this would give hope to many other bullied children.

While schools have a "zero tolerance" policy on many things, often including bullying, it is very difficult to actually squash bullying.  If a kid reports to a teacher that he or she is being bullied, there is often an investigation.  Since bullying is hard to prove, many times the bully gets off scott free, only to torture the child in question for going to a teacher or adult in the first place.  So, often the situation seems helpless.  Casey's reaction validates that bullying needs to be addressed in a new way from school administrators.  His actions are reportedly the culmination of several years' worth of anger from being bullied. The school failed to address the situation, and failed to provide a safe environment.

Bullying happens to all kids, and this situation helped raise a little more awareness.  Recently, Dan Savage began the It Gets Better Project, which I think is awesome, to help encourage gay, lesbian, and transgendered youth that life gets better, and is worth living for, in response to the huge upswing of suicides among gay teens.  I love the project, but what about all the other kids?  The fat kids, the poor kids, the freckled kids, the special needs kids.  ALL KIDS GET BULLIED.  Casey says he contemplated suicide.  This has to stop.

We are a culture of free speech at any expense.  I am exhibiting it now, actually.  And there is a huge rise in snarky humor websites that pretty much poke fun of, and in a sense bully, all kinds of people.  Based on the crafts you make, what you wear to Walmart, what you post on Facebook.  Everything.  And the vitriol on these sites is overwhelming. If bullies are merely insecure, then there are a lot of insecure, miserable people out there.  And the internet allows you to bully in new, anonymous ways.  Clearly bullying is a problem that needs to be addressed. Casey did so in the only way that made sense to him.

The Sour

While Casey acted on impulse, something many of us would also probably do, there are real consequences to such behavior.  He got suspended from school, as did the bully.  While people are outraged at this, I think it pretty fair.  The child could have been really harmed, I am amazed his ankle was not broken. Kids have to learn there are consequences for all behaviors.  What if that child had hit his head and died? Would we still be hailing Casey? The action would have been precipitated in the same way, so would we still be cheering him on?

I find Casey's interviews quite disturbing.  He seems so removed, so disconnected, as does his father. I think that both boys need to get some counseling, because there is clearly a lot of pain, anger, and sadness in both of them.  Casey could be a great role model, if this is handled correctly.  Or, if handled incorrectly, he could end up an angry defiant man.

The internet has hailed this kid as an icon.  But what he is, really, is a vigilante. And people tend to love vigilantes. Just pick up a comic book to see how much vigilante justice is ingrained in our culture.  But when played out in real life, things get bloody awfully fast. Perhaps I am a starry eyed optimist, or simply just an eternal rule follower, but I see vigilante justice as a stop along the way to anarchy and chaos.  Rules are put in place for a reason.

***

In some ways, I admire Casey, for defending himself, and I really do "get it" why so many people support him.  The bottom line is bullying is awful, and needs to be addressed.  Schools and parents need to get more involved and find a better solution.  Otherwise, more kids are going to commit suicide, and more kids are going to try to be Casey, with fatal results.  How many children need to die before we address the real issue here?

So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.

Tiffany's Soapbox: Drama Queens

Note: This is the first installment of a new series where I sound off about things that bother me, annoy me, or are just plain ridiculous.  I try to keep this blog positive, but we all need to sound off at times.  Feel free to disagree with me, but please keep it respectful.

Normally, I try to keep the blog free of offensive words, and maintain a family friendly atmosphere, so I will warn you up front, this post will contain harsher language than normal, but it serves a purpose, so I hope you keep reading.  There is something that has been troubling me for a while now, and it is the increased level of drama that occurs with teens and tweens, particularly young girls.

When I was young, if you fought with your friend/parents/boyfriend, you handled it by either writing in a journal, or confiding in another friend, crying over pizza, and maybe making a few prank calls to the boy involved.  Only the really "bad" girls fought in public, and most girls kept things private, and dignified.  Your dignity was often all you had, particularly when suffering a bad break up.  Today, whenever anything happens, from a broken nail to cheating mate, it is splashed across social networking sites and texted at the speed of light.  Nothing is sacred, nothing is private, and young girls no longer have dignity.

What is it about our culture that is teaching young girls that it is ok to engage in this ridiculous drama, to post semi nude or scantily clad pictures of their teenage bodies online, to call each other bitches and whores, to hand out meaningless sex acts to random people as casually as they do their phone numbers, and to publicly broadcast "FML" everytime they do not get their way?  I cannot help but think that reality tv shows like Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, Bad Girls Club, and countless others contribute to this behavior.  These shows all feature young girls in ridiculous drama filled lives, and not only are they encouraged to behave this way, but behaving this way makes them famous, and sometimes wealthy.

The part I find even more disturbing is when parents not only encourage such behavior, and support their daughters decisions to act this way, but when they act this way themselves.  What in the world possesses grown adult women to say mean and hurtful things about CHILDREN on sites like facebook and twitter?  Yes, parents are entitled to form opinions, but I think those discussions should be held in your personal, offline life.  And yes, any parent wants to defend their children, but why not teach our girls to have the dignity to walk away from these situations, instead of perpetuating them?

I think that the encouragement of this culture of drama is going to end up hurting women in the long run.  As women, we have fought so hard to be seen as equals, to be allowed to serve in the military, to have the right to vote, to earn equal pay.  Now, people are going to stop taking us seriously, and will once again begin labeling us "hysterical females".

I am not sure what the answer is, other than for us as women to start promising ourselves to treat each other with more dignity and respect, and instill that same idea in our daughters.  Chose dignity over drama.  We all will be better for it.

Small Town Elements: Here We Come Awassailing

When I think of small town Christmas, one thing comes to my mind- Christmas Caroling.  It is sadly a dying art.  Once upon a time, church groups and townsfolk would go caroling around their towns.  My dad remembers doing this, and being rewarded with hot cocoa and cookies at every house.

When my friend E suggested we go caroling, I loved the idea, but feared it would be one of those things that we talk about doing, but never actually do.  Oh how I underestimated E's powers of persuasion.  While many people wanted to come but could not due to previous engagements, we did get a group of 15 people or so to go out.  It tickled me to no end that there were two small little ones, and 5 teenage or preteen girls among our group, what a great tradition to start with them!

We drove to a couple of special stops, one the grandmother of one of the carolers,

and another was a family celebration for one of her friends.   In the second case, one of the family members was going in for surgery, so the whole family gathered to celebrate Christmas early.  They were so touched that we visited them.

After that, we headed to town.  It was clear that people were not used to people singing and spreading cheer.  We had several instances where people closed blinds, shut off porch lights, and retreated deeper into their homes.  But many people were quite happy to come out and hear our singing.  And one house even gave us cookies.

We ended the night on our street, singing to Hubby, our friend M who was visiting him, and my neighbors.  The neighbor kids LOVED it!

We may have been off key, and some people may have thought us a nuisance, but I hope, no, I know, that we succeeded in spreading cheer to quite a few people.  And next will be even bigger and better.

Thank you for Stuffing my Car for Stuff a Bus!

As you all should know my now, I started a little campaign a few weeks ago called Stuff My Car.  It was a toy drive as part of the bigger Stuff a Bus for Toys for Tots in Pittsburgh, championed by the wonderful people at 96.1 KISS FM.  Well, thanks to some awesome people, today, I got to make magic happen.  And I have to say right up front, I did not do it alone.  I had a ton of toys donated by my family and friends, who are amazingly generous people.

The plan was I would put all my toy donations in my car, then meet my friend Kacy in Monroeville to get her donations to put in my car.  We would then present all the donations together to the Stuff a Bus team.  Well, I put my toys in my car, and as awesome as it was, I wanted to do more.  I know, I know, I am the person who will spend my last dime on someone else.  It is just how my mama raised me.  I did the same thing last year.

So, true to my word, on my way out of town, I stopped for some last minute toys.  A cartfull actually.  Well worth it too.  Because after that, my car was plumb full.

 I then drive to Monroeville to meet Kacy.

Once Kacy got there, we put all her donations in my car.  At this point, she would not fit in the car, nor could I see out the back window, so she walked over to the Stuff a Bus area, and I carefully drove the car over.  They had me pull right up to the buses, took one look at how many toys I had, and declared it enough to consider Bus #11 full.  When today started, they were on Bus #5 or 6.  Then, I backed my car up so the Marines and other volunteers could unload the car and put the toys into the giant 18 wheeler trucks they use for storage.  How awesome is this!

Everyone thanked us for coming out and for the donations, but really the thanks does not go to just me.  The thanks goes to all the following people as well:

Kacy and Mama Cottage and Chris Jursa for being my partners in crime

Darla and Tony Niekro

Kim and Rob Vitale and family

Dennis Niekro and Paul Richmond

Erin Trithart and Jason Burkett

Jennifer and Mike Baker and family

Melissa and Randy Cloak and family

Jess and Kirk Atwood

Rhonda Kibuk

Justin Bendl and Lora Merrit

and of course my loving and supportive husband Steve who agreed to the whole idea in the first place!

So, THANK YOU everyone who contributed!  And as I say in one of the videos, if you wanted to help but did not have a chance, please, donate to your local Toys for Tots, or some other toy drive.  Or another charity in need this holiday season.  Or just do something kind for someone you know.

I can not wait to see what we are able to do next year!  Stuff 2 cars perhaps?

Oh yeah, and by the time I got done typing this blog and posting the pics and videos?  They were stuffing Bus #16.  I love you Pittsburgh.

Small Town Elements: Trick or Treat

Tonight was Trick or Treat night for all the communities in our area.  All the towns have it at the same time, to try to prevent kids from going out of their neighborhood to get treats.  Not only does this help houses from running out of candy too early into the night, but also, it is much safer for the kids, since staying in your neighborhood means you know the people giving out the goodies.

Much like last year, I was really impressed with the number of parents who went with kids, and the polite behavior of all the children who came to our house.  We had our dog out with us to hand out treats, and many of the kids more more excited to pet him than to get a treat.  One little girl even offered me a treat, giving me a grape tootsie pop, which just so happens to be my favorite.  I thought it was really sweet of her.  Best costumes of the night included Rachel Barry, Lady Gaga, Snooki, and Lil Jon.

In the spirit of promoting good health and wise food choices, I wanted to hand out something a little healthier this year.  So, I decided to hand out Fruit Roll Ups.

When I announced this on facebook and twitter last week, a couple of people razzed me a little, joking that I was taking the fun out of Halloween, and suggesting our house would get egged.  First off, they are Fruit Roll Ups, which are delicious and taste like candy.  They do not taste low fat or gluten free, even though they are.  As a kid, I regularly jonesed for these things, but we rarely got them, so these were a big treat.  I envied the kids that got these in their lunches.  I mean, come on, it is not like I was handing out apples, or raisins, or pennies.  These were clearly intended for trick or treating.

Secondly, having Halloween candy in the house would be sabotage for my weight loss goals.  Even snack size candy bars are pretty bad for you, and I am not certain I would be able to resist them, even if they were the kinds I did not like.  I figured, why tempt myself.  With these, I was not at all tempted, but even if I had been, at 40 calories very low fat, it would not even really be a stumble.

Finally, I thought this was a very cost effective choice.  Last year we bought several bags of candy, and they were not inexpensive.  So when I saw boxes of 40 Fruit Roll Ups for 5 dollars each, I thought this was a great deal.  I got 4 boxes, thinking that would be enough.  Turns out we had way less trick or treaters this year, so looks like Hubby will be eating strawberry fruit roll ups in his lunch until Christmas.

I stand by my healthy alternative treat, and will end this with the following story:

One little guy, upon seeing our bowl of treats said "Oh wow Butterfingers, OH WAIT, even BETTER, FRUIT ROLL UPS!"

Little dude, you are my favorite trick or treater ever.

Celebrating Children project

*Note, you may want to click on the pictures in this post to get larger views, so as to have a better idea what this project was all about*

Many of my friends have kids, and a couple just recently had babies. While presents like clothes, toys, and diapers are nice, I prefer to make something more personal, a keepsake that the parents can show the little ones when they are older.

It all started with Miss Alex. Her first birthday was approaching, and the invitations to her party were the most beautiful pictures of her. I thought, I really should do something with this, for Alex and her mommy to enjoy as her birthday gift. So I took this.....

and turned it into this....


Materials included a wooden plaque, scrapbook paper, pink felt letter stickers, felt cupcake stickers, pink paint, Mid Podge, the invitation, adhesive photo squares, and a wooden display. I cut the white, pink, green, and purple paper to fit the plaque. Then I painted the whole plaque two coats of pink paint, so that the pink would show on the edges. While it dried, I laid out the design on the paper. I put the photo squares on the edge of the photo invitation, and pressed them to the paper, so the picture is not stuck to the paper, just the squares. This means the photo can be updated later if mommy wants too. Then I added the letters, cupcakes, and hearts. After the plaque's paint was dry, I brushed a coat of Mod Podge on the front of the plaque, and laid the paper on top. I smoothed out all bubbles, added extra Mod Podge to the corners to insure adhesion, and set it up to dry.

I was so totally thrilled with the outcome, I decided to make some more.

Next came Jack's.

Jack loves his green boots, so I knew this was one of the photos I wanted to use, and I found another photo where he had on a green shirt. I used the online photo editing software Picnik to do the black and white photo with the green spot color, and used a green and white motif for his plaque. The plaque is painted green, the paper is green and white, with green sparkly letter and green sparkly frog stickers.

Next, I moved on to gifts for newborn baby girls. Allison is the newest daughter of friends of ours in town, so I did hers next.

Once again, I painted the plaque pink. The paper was light pink and dark pink. I used the same pink felt letter and heart stickers, as well as some foam stickers in an "it's a girl' motif, and a picture of Alli and Mommy from the hospital. Once again, using Picnik, I made the photo black and white, and used spot color pink on the baby's hat.

The final plaque was for an out of town baby. Molly is the first child of a friend of mine who lives in a Chicago suburb, and I miss very much, so I wanted to surprise her with one as well. I decided to change the color palate to pink and yellow, and only later found out that Molly's nursery is yellow, so it worked well!
I painted the plaque yellow, then used the pink paper again. Once more I used the pink felt letters and hearts stickers, plus some adorable pink and yellow hand and footprint stickers. Then I used a photo of Molly in a sleeper with yellow duckies, and put a pink matte effect around it, using Picnik. In case you can not tell, I love that photo editing software, it is so awesome and easy to use. Make my pics look super professional!

So, this is what I was working on over the weekend. They were so fun to make! I hope all four mommies liked them, and know how much I love them, and appreciate the hard work they do as mommies. Your children are beautiful, just like you!

Hubby says I should custom make these and sell them on Etsy, marketing to daddies and hubbies who would pay well for such a special item. I am not sure if I will do that, but if anyone is ever interested, let me know, and we will talk!

It Made My Day- Peace Posse

This is yet another example of why I love living in a small town. I went to take the dog outside, and I saw a group of little girls, I think the same 3 from the other night, using a brightly colored box as some sort of vehicle further down our street.

They spotted me and the dog, and started to grin, so they moseyed over by my house. I asked them what that contraption was, a bus? They politely corrected me that it was their convertible. I asked them if it was ok if I took their picture, and they said sure. I ran inside to get my camera, and when I came back, I noticed their "car" had things written on it, so I asked what it said.


They informed me that it said Peace Posse. It also had the three little girls' names: Eva, Emily, and Amelia. One little girl asked if they would be getting paid for appearing in these pictures (how enterprising!) and the other girls gently chastised her.


Then they asked about the dog, and told me about their pets, and then, it was time for the Peace Posse to ride on. They tottered away, taking turns "driving", singing, na na na na na na Peace Posse.



I loved seeing these little girls being so creative. Once again, this is what childhood is all about.

Ride on Peace Posse, you made my day.

It Made My Day: Chasing Boys

I think I have told you about my neighbor who likes to have parties. Well a lot of the neighborhood people who attend have kids, so usually the kids congregate at someone else's house while the grown ups go drink around the bon fire. It sometimes irks me, because it appears there is no adult supervision over these kids while these parties go on, but as long as nothing happens to or on my property, I guess it is none of my business.

Anyway, last night, at 11 pm Hubby and I went to bed. He went to sleep right away, I was reading a little before lights out. Suddenly, we heard such a commotion outside out window, obviously male voices, that I literally thought someone was being hurt. I said to Hubby, who was now awake, "Gosh and gee willikers, what in tarnation was that" or something along those lines. We both scrambled to find our robes, and flew downstairs. I tore out the front door, and found three little girls playing in the street.

Immediately, one little girl turned and her hand flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh no, did we wake you up?" she said. I explained that yes, we had been woken up. She was so apologetic, and I explained that we did not know what was going on. She said, with an impish grin, "Oh, I will tell you what was going on. We were chasing boys."


The honesty with which she told me this, as if making me a co-conspirator, immediately melted all anger and frustration from my heart. I giggled, as did she and the other two girls, and I said "well just try to keep it down a little". They all apologized, and I told them goodnight, and they returned the sentiment.

I guess it is better that these kids were outside playing, chasing boys, even unsupervised, then sitting in front of a t.v. or gaming system. Moments like this are what childhood is all about.

So go ahead girls, chase those boys. It made my day.

Meet my friend, Bradin

Today is the last day of April. And April is Autism Awareness Month. So, for my final blog of this month, with his mommy's permission, I am going to introduce you all to my very good friend Bradin.

I first met Bradin shortly after he was born. You see, I worked with his mommy and his aunt, at a social service agency, which coincidentally is the same place I started getting involved with Autism Awareness. This agency served many individuals with Autism in many different capacities, and it was my supreme honor to work as a case manager to many many fantastic families who worked very hard for their loved ones who had been given diagnoses on the Autism spectrum. So, at this agency, I met Lindsay. She quickly became one of my closest friends at the agency, and when I left there to work somewhere else, we stayed in touch, and I have had the privileged of getting to watch her beautiful family grow over the years.

This is a picture of Bradin. Isn't he handsome? Over the years, I have watched Bradin grown from a cute little baby, to an inquisitive toddler, and now an adorable little boy. And, he is a wonderful big brother to Alex, Lindsay's other son. Lindsay and her husband Al are wonderful parents, who love their little boys, and consider them gifts from God.

Recently, Lindsay and Al were informed that Bradin has been given a diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum. Rather than sit back and be sad, they have become warriors, champions for their child. They have already started fighting, tirelessly, to get the services and supports that Bradin will need to help him continue to be successful, and the bright, happy, loving child we all know him to be.

In addition, the family is getting involved with Autism Speaks, and has signed Bradin up for the 2010 Walk Now for Autism Speaks. This is where you have an opportunity to help, not just for Bradin, but for the thousands of kids diagnosed with Autism. You have an opportunity to make a tax deductible charitable contribution to the walk. If you go to this page you can donate to Bradin's team for the walk. Once you make your donation, you will be given a tax number to make it tax deductible.

If you can donate, please consider it. It can help make a huge difference in the lives of these children, I have seen it first hand. And not just these children, but the children to come that will be diagnosed.

If you can not donate, please consider doing something else to raise awareness for Autism. These are not just a collection of diagnoses, these are children, who want to run, and jump, and go to the movies, and play sports, and attend summer camp, and have sleep overs with their friends. How awesome is it that you have the opportunity to help make these things happen for them?

Thank you Lindsay, for being my friend, and letting me be a part of your family's life. And thank you for allowing me to tell the world about my friend, Bradin. I love you guys.