From the category archives:

World

Hugs for Heroes

by Stacy on August 28, 2010

On Saturday August 14th, children around the world gave smiles, hugs and heart-shaped cards. They gathered in groups to clean up streets, parks and beaches and to tend community gardens. They made and sold cookies, brownies and lemonade to raise money for various causes, from local animal shelters to global nonprofits. They delivered treats and thank you messages to public servants, from firefighters to librarians to elected officials. They did kind deeds for seniors, military families (here’s where we come in), the homeless, the hospitalized, for family members, friends and strangers.

Handing out Balloons to kids & cold water to the soldiers on this HOT, HOT day

{Conquering the shyness factor & doling out hugs & High Fives for Heroes}

Held on the second Saturday in August for the last three years, The Great Kindness Challenge is one day where kids around the world do acts of kindness. This year the challenge managed to reach all 50 states and many places around the world! Super proud we got to be a part of it this year & we can’t wait to do it again next year!

What we’ll remember about today: I asked Happy what he learned during our Great Kindness Challenge & he told me, “It’s easy to make friends when you have balloons!” On a brighter note, when we went grocery shopping this week he still high-fived all the men & women in uniform and thanked the retirees. I’d say the Challenge was a smashing success in Texas!

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Gratitude Study – Week 2

by Stacy on July 28, 2010

So we’re in to week 2 of the Gratitude Study and I can already say it is making a huge difference in my perspective on every day things. Not that I was some sort of Negative Nelly beforehand (I pride myself on being fairly positive anyways) but every now and then, even the happiest of the bunch has a hard time seeing life’s small gifts when they present themselves. Cataloging them has been a therapeutic way for me to reflect on the blessings I have all around me.

It was a bit of a harried week at our house. I can honestly say there were two or three really bad moments for every good thing I have written on the list. What satisfies me about doing this the most is now instead of remembering all the sibling quarrels, messes & spills, witching hours (you know those hours between 4 & 7 when your children turn in to someone else), or mindless back talk. I’ll now think of all these sweet moments highlighting the love we share for one another. Moments that may have only lasted for a few seconds or maybe lasted longer but had been weighed down with stress and angst and may never have seen the light of day again. Until now, you glorious gratitude list you I hope these are the things my children remember about our lives as well, …. but just in case they don’t … they’ll always have these 100o gifts written down to remind them. That is why my 1st gift of the week is:

6. This list – When I reread my words from last week I realized the only thing stopping me from being the type of mother I want to be was ME. I took stock in my own words and paid attention to what I was saying. I wanted to bake for my kids. Healthy delicious things, the kind of things kids at school talk about and parents ask you to bring to bake sales or family get togethers. Fast forward 7 days and I have baked 3 dozen muffins, one whole wheat applesauce cake and a batch of zucchini brownies! Yay Me! If you know me, you know I’m not a baker. I love to cook but never really figured out the whole baking part. So Yay to this list for being just the thing I needed to get where I want to be. I’m not there yet but I am clearly on my way. (Psst, I’ll be sharing my recipes soon I promise. Just spending my last few days w/ the Hubs before he takes off again)

8. Goodbye Running Kisses – There really is no easy way to describe these. Click here, Goodbye Running Kisses , so you can see one for yourself and then imagine getting about 15 of these in a 6 minute time span. Pure Bliss! I laugh every time I watch this and see him in those big ole socks.

9. Time w/ the Mr. – It seems as if my husband has spent about 75% of his summer away from home. Fortunately for all of us, we’ve had him all to ourselves these last few weeks. Not because he wasn’t scheduled to be some place else, but because small gifts kept him here. A stubborn workaholic who chose to have his wife drive him to Arizona since he wasn’t able to fly, a last minute change of plans, a meeting rescheduled. All things I am eternally grateful for. To make the most of our time, we’ve planned as many 10. Date Nights as we could squeeze in. (Also, the reason I haven’t been updating as much – he’s been taking up all of my blogging time) Classics on cable, movies on Demand, frozen pizza, chatting till midnight, all the things parents with super little ones and no babysitters do to be together. It’s been awesome Even after his hectic schedule slows down we plan to keep Tuesday night dates a part of our regular schedule. It’s Tuesday right now! and I’m looking forward to a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon with my Mr. tonight.

11. Late Plumbers – We had the plumber stop by this week to flush our A/C and check on our water softener. Folks always seem to underestimate how long it takes to get to our house and as a result, they always show up about 15-20 minutes late. The plumber was no exception. And instead of being fussy or upset I am grateful. In those quiet moments when the house was clean and the kids were amicable, we laid down on the floor and the kids asked me to tell them the story of dinosaurs. They listened so intently, rubbing each others backs as I talked and REALLY listened to what I was saying. It was one of my favorite moments of the week and set the theme for the rest of our days. We checked out 6 dinosaur books from the library and have been learning a little bit every day since.

12. Lunch Dates -

13. Meeting New Friends
14. Opportunity Knocking
15. Happy Accidents
16. Story Time at the Local Library

More on those things later, I feel myself going on and on and fear I might be losing your interest. All in all, it was a GREAT week. Still so much more to tell you & so little time to type … what was your biggest (or smallest) gift this week?

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A Study in Gratitude

by Stacy on July 19, 2010

Glowin Girl from Sugar Tails introduced me to the Gratitude Community and I knew instantly it was something I wanted to be a part of. The Gratitude Community is a HUGE group of bloggers cataloging 1000 gifts they have received in their daily lives and sharing as the process changes them along the way.

Sounds lovely doesn’t it? I’m anxious to get started … call it a study in gratitude if you will. The more gifts I open my mind to, the more I will continue to receive. My Daddy has a saying, You say it. You create it. Meaning if you talk negatively and focus on negative things you will only compound the negativity in your life. But, if you speak positively and think positively then positive things are bound to happen to you. It’s a great mantra but I usually only think about it … when I’m being overly negative. Time to turn those tables. My Dad will be so proud.

Here’s a couple more facts to feed my argument:

Did you know Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships? Grateful people also have more control over their environments, a better understanding of their purpose in life, and deeper level of self acceptance. <- Sounds good to me.

Learning to be grateful gives you positive ways of coping with difficult situations, makes you more likely to seek support from other people, and a better chance of growing from life experiences. (Wikipedia)

More good stuff, maybe we should all try it. What do you say?

Things I’m hoping to gain from this exercise – being more in the moment, enjoying the small things that make my life wonderful, becoming more positive and getting more in touch with my spiritual side.

Well, let’s get started. Here are a few things I am Thankful for today:

1. So Many I Love You’s – Sweet must have told me she loved me 100 times today. Not her typical MO (mode of operating) but one I’m hoping sticks around for at least a few days. I love being told my children love me, it warms my heart and even after the 85th time she told me this afternoon I was still responding in kind to each declaration. It went a little something like this -> Mom, I Luuuuv you soooo much! And I would say, Oh Sweet, I Love you sooooo much too. Then she would go on to tell me how cute I was or how nice my hair looked or how she wanted to kiss me (kisses don’t come easy with this one). Yes, it was an all around perfect sort of day.

Note: Hmm, I’ve only catalogued 1 of life’s small gifts and I’m already feeling all warm & fuzzy on the inside.

2. A couple of Sweetie Pie’s – Happy was also doling out the love today. His in the form of Sweetie Pie’s. As in, “Brother … can I have you Mr. the King car?” (his most beloved possession in the entire world) Happy: “Sure you can Sweetie Pie“. Which of course invoked lots of screaming and whining because who on Earth would want to play with their brothers favorite toy AND be referred to as a Sweetie Pie? She says she doesn’t like Sweetie Pie, and doesn’t want to be one. This of course made Happy pretty “happy” with himself causing this whole shenanigan to be repeated frequently throughout the day.

3. Open Mouth Kisses – From a certain irresistible chunky monkey I like to call Little. Little will hand out kisses like candy to EVERYONE in the house … except me. He takes great pleasure in making sure I see him give kisses to every other member of the family and will even toddle my way, mouth wide open for a little smooch action and then just before he gets to me, he’ll peel away making the most incredibly cheesy sideways grin you have ever seen – knowing he has denied me something of great value and then rushes off to start the whole charade again. Other family members will get 4 or 5 kisses and I will get a big fat ZILCH. Everyone laughs prolonging the inevitable and making the game that much more HILARIOUS to him. But today … “gratefully” I was the proud recipient of 4 ginormous open mouth kisses from that special Little someone. (Thanks sweetie pie, I loooooove you sooooo much)

4. Race Car Bodies – We have a new favorite past time in the house and it has officially been dubbed, Race Car Bodies. Race Cars are all the rage in our house for the time being and nothing could be more fun than drawing race cars. It goes a little something like this – a favorite car is chosen, Mom is asked to draw the outline of said car, the kids color the car, next they go over the outline with glue and then we pour glitter all over the image. We’ve got a pretty nice collection of sparkle cars going on and the kids could do this for hours, beaming with pride when they finish each one. I have a feeling there will be some very happy family members soon when they receive their very own Race Car Bodies. They may have to wait a few weeks though … until our art gallery fills up with something new.

5. Muffins in the Morning – I wish I was the type of Mom who woke up early, took some time for myself and baked something wholesome and delicious for my family each morning. Most days the story doesn’t quite play out like that but on the days that it does. I am thankful. And happy. Who knows maybe my talking to you about how much I love to wake up and bake stuff will help me to actually … wake up and bake more stuff. Maybe something yummy & delicious like this Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake.

Yep, that made me feel better about my life already 5 down, 995 to go …

What are you thankful for today?

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6 Ways To Help Endangered Species

by Stacy on May 21, 2010

Today is Endangered Species Day.

A day that I would like each of you to take a moment of your time and think on things that are happening in not just the world around us, but right in our own backyards.

1,324 – The # of species listed as endangered in the United States alone! [750 plants, 574 animals]
Source: (www.nwf.org/esday)

Did you know all species of sea turtles are either endangered or threatened? Yeah, me neither
Source: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_turtle)

How about this scary tidbit of information: Within the next 30 years, almost 1/4 of the World’s Mammals will be at risk for extinction … Wow! That’s something I just can’t stand for.

I don’t even want to think about the chance that my grandchildren or great grandchildren might never have the opportunity to see a panda, tiger, dolphin or whale. I just won’t do it.

Luckily, since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, there have been hundreds of success stories.

Bald Eagle – Recovered and delisted
Peregrine Falcon – Recovered and Delisted
Grizzly Bear – Proposed for delisting.
Gray Wolf – Populations are rebounding under ESA protections

And even more species are recovering as we speak. Whew, at least that’s good news.

OK, now that I have scared us all into action, let’s talk about some of the things we can do to make a difference.

1. Raise Awareness – Spread the word in your communities about local threatened species. Educate your children about endangered species, children are the future and well, sadly, EXTINCT is forever.

Tell everyone you know, Farmers can get tax deductions for endangered species on their property.
Source: (http://bit.ly/bruC9G)

2. Clean up a Wildlife Refuge – Volunteer your time to help clean debris and weeds from a nearby designated wildlife habitat.

3. Support Zoos, Aquariums & even Sea World – I know there are a lot of folks out there who don’t agree with zoos or animals being kept in captivity for the enjoyment of humans. I urge you to reconsider your view point in these circumstances. It is because of zoos, aquariums and even places like Sea World that we have been able to learn about many species, boost populations and physically connect children (and adults too) to all types of wildlife that would have otherwise been impossible. (Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power and seeing is believing – folks are more likely to get involved when they’ve experienced something firsthand) Without these places, many of the accomplishments we have made would not have been possible. Your contributions and patronage to these locations helps ensure future endeavors and possibilities for generations to come.

4. Take a stroll through a Garden – You might not think of plants when you think of endangered species but plants are declining at a rate as rapidly as animals without as many advocates coming to their defense. Your nearest Botanical Garden is a treasure trove of information and a huge player in keeping endangered plants on the map.

5. Be Respectful to Mother Earth – Pesticides, landfills, off shore drilling. These are all reasons species are becoming endangered to begin with. Find alternative methods, reduce your carbon footprint and recycle as much of your waste as possible. By doing your part, you are lightening a heavy load our nation is resting on the shoulders of our great planet.

6. Spread the Word – Click on over to the Conservation Action Network and speak out for wildlife everywhere.

Thank you for your time.

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Earth Day for Kids 2010

by Stacy on April 21, 2010

Hard to believe it’s Earth Day already, it feels like just yesterday when I wrote last year’s Earth Day for Kids post. It was such a big hit, I’m bringing it back again this year. Fast forward one year later and I find myself a more seasoned mother, with older, wiser children (they’re 1, 3 & 4) and our opportunities for interacting with nature and taking care of our planet have grown two fold. There are so many fantastic things parents can do with their kids it was hard for me to narrow it down to just 10. Since this is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, I think I might do a follow-up 40 things to do for Earth Month post as well … but for now, here’s my Top 10 Recommendations on how to spend Earth Day with your kids in 2010.

1. Take them on a Treasure Hunt they’ll never forget! – If you haven’t tried geocaching, then you have no idea of what your missing. This global phenomenon (did you know there are over 1 Million charted geocache courses!!) is the PERFECT family fun activity perfect for all ages and fitness levels. It’s like high-tech hiking (you’ll need a GPS or a really smart phone) and treasure hunting all at the same time. Kids will love the thrill of the hunt and the surprise at the end; parents can revel in the mix of nature, fitness and intrigue that comes wrapped up in this outdoor adventure. For more information on how to get started on your first Geocaching adventure, check out http://www.geocaching.com.

2. Pick Something – Visit http://www.pickyourown.org to find a nearby farm where you can pick something (strawberries are in their prime right now) with your little ones. Spend an afternoon collecting your bounty, give them a taste test over an old-fashioned picnic on the farm, then rustle on home and let them choose a few from scratch recipes to make with all their pickings. (Or just dip them in melted chocolate and whip cream, yum!!) Then rush on over and let me know how it went! Planning to do this with my kids next week (Yay!)

{Image from MVI}

3. Leave your Mark (in a good way) – You don’t have to travel far to see the damage humans are doing to our planet. Just take a drive down your street or a trip to a nearby park. Litter is everywhere and just like forest fires , only you can prevent it. So grab some gloves, a few bags and head out with a mission to leave your patch of Earth cleaner than you found it. Children will see first hand why they shouldn’t litter and hopefully start a lifelong habit of cleaning up after themselves and others. What better way to tell Mother Earth how much we care than to spruce her up a bit.

4. Try Planting – Speaking of sprucing, why not beautify your yard by planting something new with your kids. Try something fun that has lots of color, or a bold foliage or better yet something edible you can share together later.

5. Get Crafty – Raid your recycle bin and create something fun together. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Check out the Eco Art Camera we made (tutorial coming soon). I’ll post a link with some other great crafts I found on the web. Drop back by and leave a pic of an Eco Toy you made with your kids.

6. See A Movie – I know, I know spending a day indoors is not my typical recommendation for what to do with your kids on Earth Day or how to spend your days period, but Disney’s Ocean movie opening on Earth Day is worth a little quiet time with your loved ones relishing in the majesty of the seas. Unless you have access to a major body of water and a brilliant tour guide, you probably won’t be able to teach your children as much in as little amount of time. It could be life changing for you as well. (Personally, I can’t wait to see it – but hey, I cry when I see whales at Sea World so what do I know) If you have older children, you can download an 8 page guide to be used to make the learning experience more concrete. (use the link above and go to the Educational tab)
EXTRA BONUS: If you see the movie this week, Disney will make a donation in your honor to save the coral reefs

7. Go on a Bird Watch – Teach your children to appreciate the small things in life and marvel at the wonders of our flighted species. Their songs, their resourcefulness (just take a look at those nests) and their amazing ability to soar above the heavens. Valid proof that someone is watching from above and is an almighty being. After you’ve identified as many types of birds as you can, make a lasting friendship by hanging some homemade birdie treats for your fine feathered friends.

8. Go Vegetarian – For a day, for a week, for as long as you’d like. Use this meatless period as a chance to teach your children about all the healthful benefits of eating a plant based diet, not to mention showing compassion for animals and the value of sustainable resources. We’ve been going meatless for 2 days a week all year, but this week we’re strictly no meat eaters. We’re really enjoying the Vegetarian Family Cookbook that we borrowed from our local library. (Here’s a pic of my almost perfect Honey Whole Wheat Pizza – as soon as I perfect the dough recipe I am totally sharing!)

9. Go to a Garden – Botanical Gardens may be the hidden gems of the city, honestly I had never been to a Botanical Garden until last year and I am a total convert. They are a treasure trove for parents and children alike. The perfect place to get a little exercise, revel in the beauty of nature and share a picnic with someone you love. Plus, if you’re a mother to young children or multiples you MUST check them out. Nature at its finest pretty much toddler proofed just for you. It’s the only place I can go and let the kids roam free without worry. And they’re hardly ever crowded. EXTRA BONUS: Our Garden hosts all sorts of amazing outdoor concerts, festivals and get togethers year round. Our favorite so far was the Bootanical Halloween festival but Chocolate Day wasn’t too bad either. (I bought my entire family (6) an annual pass for around $60 – the best $60 I’ve ever spent)

10. Go Camping – Even if its too chilly to stay out all night, pitch a tent and spend at least the evening outside finding fireflys, roasting marshmallows and listening to all the evening music nature has to offer. Heads Up: Sat. June 26 is National Great American Backyard Camp Out night, consider this time a practice run.

Hope you enjoyed this list, choose your favorite 2 or 3 and plan an Earth Day your kids will never forget. Be sure to drop back by and let me know how it went. Happy Earth Day!!!
better late to the party than never –> I’m part of the Earth Day Blog Hop

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