I’ve been searching for a pretend play kitchen for Emily who will be 3 1/2 when Kaitlin turns 8 on July 30 (don’t know where the time’s gone). Kaitlin is becoming more independent in her play. She’s moving further away from wanting to spend time with Emily and toddler play. Emily loves to cook. Her favorite is to make purple pancakes…and pretend she’s Mommy or Daddy (he likes to cook, too.) A new, updated pretend play kitchen will provide an opportunity to develop Emily’s creativity and imagination. Who knows? Maybe …

As a high school teacher, mother, and grandmother, I’ve watched our young people grow with a need to get everything ASAP. They want to learn, be entertained, lose weight, build muscles, and enhance body parts with very little effort. I blame the media for building the impression that their life will be more exciting and rewarding after purchasing (which can also be done with very little effort) and using the products.
With daughters and granddaughters, it is important to teach breast cancer awareness and prevention, yet now advertisements online and in …

Fun with Alliteration!
Updated with additional Alliteration Examples: Famous cliches and sayings, 5/27/10
Spending time with the grandchildren sometimes gives grandparents cause to think quickly for ways to entertain them, especially in the car while stuck in traffic on the way to the beach on a summer weekend day. One way we grandparents pass the time and keep our two older grandchildren distracted is to teach them tongue twisters using alliteration. Longer tongue twisters are also known as alliteration poems or verses.
Examples of Alliteration
Alliteration is the use of the same consonant sounds …

My Dream Vacation
My fellow teachers and I were talking at lunch recently about what our dream vacation would be. What would be my dream vacation? I think taking our entire family to Disney World, staying at a rental property with all the amenities like home but better, more upscale with an inground pool, tennis, golf, and good restaurants nearby. We don’t mind cooking to save money, but it would be nice to have a cook come in once in a while. It would also be great not to have to stand in line for …

My granddaughter, Kaitlin, and I put our heads together and wrote a special Father’s Day poem for her grandfather, my husband, whom she calls Poppy. This poem is for Grandpa because she wanted a lot of grandchildren to be able to use this poem for their Grandpa. She said to tell you that you can replace the word Grandpa with Poppy, Grandfather, Grand Dad, Granddad, PopPop, or whatever loving term Grandfather is affectionately called.
//

A Poem for My Grandpa
My Grandpa, you are so special to me,
You teach me to be …

The following poem may be read at a funeral service or shared as a sympathy or inspirational poem offering words of condolence to those grieving for the loss of a loved one.
Life is a Journey
Birth is a beginning
and death a destination
And life is a journey:
From childhood to maturity
and youth to age;
From innocence to awareness
and ignorance to knowing;
From foolishness to desecration
and then perhaps to wisdom.
From weakness to strength or
from strength to weakness
and often back again;
From health to sickness
and we pray to health again.
From offense to forgiveness
from loneliness to love
from joy to gratitude
from …

When I read this poem, Grandfathers Are Fathers Who Are Grand, I immediately thought of my grandfather who passed away when I was eight years old. 

I remember sitting on his knee, swimming in the ocean and playing on the beach, combing his blond wavy hair, and accidentally seeing him in his long underwear…The feeling I still experience when I look at his picture is a warm and fuzzy one. He was my Pop Pop. 
Also, as I read this poem, Grandfathers Are Fathers Who Are Grand, I see my husband…father and …