Sharon's Mother's Day

 

 

It was a long time ago when my parents moved to Maine (1983). When we journeyed north from our home in Connecticut, we left behind some of my mom's favorite things: her best friend, Paula Sposili, our next door neighbor Mrs. Barris' garden and dogwood trees.

 

My mom LOVES flowers and I do, too. My favorite is the tulip. With my busy schedule it's hard to find time to grow anything....except kid appetites!

 

This Mother's Day, I wanted to do something....not for me but for my family. Fedco, up the road, has their annual Tree Sale right before Mother's Day. I had always wanted to go.

 

So I did!

 

And I did what my parents did a long time ago.

 

You see, when my brother and sisters started having children, my parents found a way to incorporate them in their everyday life.

 

They planted trees and named them after George, Katherine and Jennifer. The trees grew very tall and, unfortunately, aren't there at 33 Western Avenue in Fairfield anymore. When my parents moved, the new owners eventually cut them down. That was truly a sad day when my parents drove by and saw they weren't there anymore.

 

At their new house, they decided to do it again. A new George, Katherine and Jennifer grow tall in their backyard once again.

 

There are many trees surrounding our property that were planted before we moved here so finding a spot for new trees was kind of difficult. I decided to take a slightly different route.

 

For Jayden, I bought a butterfly bush and planted it, as it said, next to the house so it would have full sunlight. For when it blooms, it will still never be as beautiful as she has grown to be.

 

For Bradley and Anderson, I picked Silver Maples. On windy days, their leaves will shimmer in the sunlight. For them, I hope they will remember there is always a silver lining to every situation.

 

And for myself and Chad...Dawn Redwoods. These trees grow tall and straight and are pillars of strength which I hope we are to our children. They have large roots that stick out of the ground to remind them that their family "roots" for them and they can count on them to always show up when they need them.

 

I don't have the greenest thumbs and I hope all of these plants survive. At least I tried....and that's all you can do with children: Love them, give them plenty of fresh air and nutrition and nurture them until they can stand on their own.

Anderson Helps the Community

The last thing Anderson needed to complete to become a full fledged Wolf in Cub Scouts was to clean up a part of his neighborhood. Thankfully, the sun came out today and it was our chance to shine! It just so happens to be Earth Day and everything fell into place.

 

Our road is a dead end. There are 14 houses on it and not much traffic. We thought it would take us an hour to do the entire .7 miles. It didn't look that dirty when we rode in the car.

 

We were so wrong!

 

We filled 6 kitchen size trash can bags FULL of trash! We called Chad to pick up the bags as we went along and bring us more. It took us 2 whole hours to finished and, boy, were we tired!

There were 60 Budweiser glass bottles, Dunkin Donuts cups, Cumberland Farms cups, McDonald's bags and cups, Panera Bread boxes and plastic bags from every big chain grocery store.

 

It was sad. Anderson asked "Mama, why is there so much trash? I thought we loved the Earth."

 

All I could do is tell him the truth.

 

"Some people don't care about the Earth. That's why I'm glad there are people like you who do."

 

On our way down the road a few neighbors came out of their houses to thank Anderson for his good deed. He said he wants to clean our road every year.

 

The Boy/Cub Scouts of America is a wonderful organization that teaches children the importance of our world and taking care of our natural resources.

 

I am so thankful for the opportunity to help Anderson learn about the Earth and what it means to us and how to help it stay clean. Hopefully, this is a lesson he will keep with him for the rest of his life.

Who Needs Video Games? Not This Family!

In this day and age it's hard to get past all the technology out there. It's everywhere you go and kids know how to work it better than adults do. Phones with downloadable games like Candy Crush, SnapChat, Facebook...you name it, they have it. You see them glued to their phones or their iPods or, I've even seen it in church, their iPads.

 

Can you say Holy Cow? Yeah, I was a little shocked, too.

 

Xbox 360s & Playstations with shooting things, colorful screens, puppies and kitties, cars and trucks, robots and zombies, candies and clans....all designed to attract children of all ages.

 

Yes, we have a Wii system. We don't play it very much at all. Although, we have been known to play a mean basketball 3 point contest. We have even rid ourselves of television.

 

What? We can't watch live television anymore?

 

It's true! We canceled our Time Warner Cable and now only have Netflix, Google Chromecast and Youtube. We miss our favorite shows on the Discovery Channel but are able to watch them online. Gold Rush, The Curse of Oak Island, Down East Dickering, North Woods Law and shows like that we enjoy as a family.
 

As for video games....well, thankfully, we don't have the need for them. Our kids are interested in other things. They all play basketball, Anderson is in Cub Scouts and they ALL like to build things!

 

We play games as a family. We play outside on the four-wheelers as a family. In the Summer, we all target practice with bows and arrows and guns. Chad and I remember what it was like when WE were kids. That's why GAME TIME means SPORTS and BOARD GAMES!

 

You've never really experienced Yahtzee until you've played with Chad.

 

This past Christmas, my brother, Ray and his wife Nadine, gave Anderson and Brad Erector sets. My sister, Wendy, gave them activity kits that included making their own robots, machines and art. You know...old fashioned toys that make kids think. Their Aunt Audrey gave them a game called Ghost Castle which was hilarious to play (but a nightmare to put together!! LOL).We gave them kick balls and skateboards....toys for outside.

 

Not one toy received from us was a video game.

 

And they play and create everyday. Now they ASK for family game night and bring games downstairs to play!

 

The snow storm today they're calling Juno is the perfect time to play WITH your kids!

 

Get out the coloring books and crayons!

 

Get out the Lincoln Logs or Legos!

 

When was the last time you played Life or Sorry or Clue? And you have a house full of kids to play them with.

 

Don't let these games MEANT for families die! Remember how much fun they were when YOU were a kid? Spend time with YOUR KIDS and feel it all over again.