Well, it is now January and the school year is in full swing. This is a good time to contact the teacher and find out how your child is doing.

Things to Ask About:

1.) Attendance and Tardy Records. 2.) Missing and Incompleted Assignments. 3.) Behavior and Class Room Participation. 4.) Overall Grade. 5.) What can be done to improve on any of the above issues.

If you find out now, while there is still time to help bring grades and absents up, you can keep your child on track to complete the school year in a positive light.

Keep an open line of communication with your child. Let them know they can ask for help anytime... more

The last minutes of the passing year. It has been a long year for some of us. One of growth and inner peace. For others it has brought hardship and devastation. No matter what the year has held for you, there is always hope for the New Year ahead of us.

In our reflections we will see things that we could have done differently. Choices we should have made without emotion. These are just areas to which we have learned from.

As adoptive parents this may have been one of the most wonderful years of our lives. When we have become parents or added... more

Well here I go again. As I sit here recovering from a bone infection in my foot. With a Pik Line IV in my upper left arm. I have been sulking and catching up on some of the books I have purchased and have never gotten around to reading.

One is the Thomas Kincade series about "Cape Light". I have found it to be such a refreshing group of intertwined lives of small town characters.

I must admit I began the series backwards since I thought that it is December and the book "A Christmas to Remember" would be the appropriate place for me to begin. I read that... more

Walking into our attic is like walking into the "Land of lost toys."

Over the years toys that the kids wanted to hand on to or pass down got placed in the attic. Last summer we made a huge dent in it by having a big yard sale. We ended up giving everything away in free bends after the third day.

We still have techno dogs, race tracks, train sets,fancy dolls and an allotment of other toys that are still up there.

We are going to have our kids over on one weekend in Spring and have them sort through what they want and let them... more

Wake up little baby. It is now Christmas Time. Open up your gifts. Help me open mine.

Let's share the excitement. The happiness and love. As we read the Christmas Story. God sent from above.

Little baby Jesus. In a manger was born. In the presence of Angels. On a cold Christmas morn.

Mary and Joseph. Worshiped their son. The first real adoption. Had just magically begun.

As we open our presents. We hug and we kiss. The true meaning of Christmas.... more

One of the most enjoyable thing about Christmas is getting in the kitchen and making Christmas cookies with our kids.

For busy moms, there are always the pre-packaged cookies that are almost as much fun for everyone, especially if you get colored frostings and let the kids decorate them into Santas or Christmas trees.

For those of us who dare to try and follow recipes, there are some really cool places on the web to look at and I have included one of the Snowman Recipes for us to all try.

This looks like one the kids will enjoy from Betty Crocker®:

Jolly Snowman Cookies (Cookie Mix) Shoestring licorice turns into a magical snowman’s top hat on these... more

As the holidays approach and the phone calls come in to the local churches, we tend to get a peek into the world of those less fortunate than we are.

We hear stories of poverty and see children with out gloves, hats, coats or clothing. Mothers ask for just enough food to get them through until their next food stamps arrive or the next check comes in.

Fathers are often to proud to ask for help, if they are out there trying to do it all on their own. The results can be no heat or running water in their homes. Or God forbid another family in a shelter or on... more

Ok Mom or Dad. There are a few things that kids just seem to always need more of. Such as:

1.) Mittens or gloves 2.) Hats 3.) Socks 4.) Under Shirts 5.) Dry Pants

One of the best ways to solve this delima is to keep several pairs of gloves on hand. By a big package of socks and put it up for when the need for socks is being yelled at you at six in the morning...right before school.

Keep a pair of dry jeans or sweat pants tucked down inside your kids back pack. So when the school calls up and says " Your child got wet at recess can you bring them new socks or pants." You can say. No problem look in his or her back pack. Problem solved.

It... more

As I pull myself out of the Thanksgiving Weekend fog. I realize that it is time to take out the Christmas decorations around me. On Sunday Angela was all excited and she and her daddy decorated the front of the house with all the festive characters we have collected over the years.

They really did a wonderful job. Now my front room is booming with boxes and big red storage tubs with animated Christmas figurines and all sorts of stuff inside them.

I just wish at the moment I had some of that Christmas Joy inside me so that I could... more

Recently I decided to reach out to other Foster and Adoptive Parents in the area. So we set a night aside at the local middle school and had a dinner buffet.

We went out invitations to all Parents for an open forum Meet and Greet. I contacted some of the local Foster Parents that I know through my contacts in our area and extended a personal invite to them in person.

We decided it would be nice to talk about the school system and the special education programs that are offered to help our children. Along with other things that we can do to make our community a safer place for all our kids to play.

We passed around pens and paper and had everyone write down their... more