Middle School, A Whole New Chapter for Kids and Parents

School is about to begin...and in my house there is excitement and nervousness. This year my oldest daughter will go into sixth grade. I can't believe how my little girl has grown up...especially this past year.  It seems like just the other day she was starting kindergarten. She was learning how to read, write and tie her shoes.

It's a whole new chapter for not only my daughter, but for my husband and me. Sixth grade for most kids is middle school, which means a new school, new teachers and new students. It also means I have a lot more real life issues I have to talk to my daughter about. Middle school is not elementary school. Today's middle school students deal with sex, drugs, alcohol, bullying, suicide, rape and more.

So how much do our kids need to know about these life issues to be ready for middle school? As a parent I want to prepare my daughter, but I also don't want her innocence gone. I want my ten-year-old to be a ten-year-old.

Still, I think it is important to talk to her about all these issues. I don't have to go into details, but I do need to talk to her so she knows what's right and wrong. If I don't do it someone will and I want her to have my same values and morals. Like most kids today, my daughter knows a lot more about these issues than I did when I was her age. I think kids know more because of television and the internet. What years ago was once taboo to show or talk about on television is now common practice.

And the Internet is a whole new media. It is great in some ways, but in other ways it scares me especially with young kids. There is so much out there and if you aren't careful misspelling a word can lead to a pornographic site.

As parents we have to really pay attention to our children especially when our kids are in middle school. This is a time in their life when they can be influenced by others. We need to pay attention to what they are learning in school, on social media and from friends.  I think it's important to have open lines of communication with your kids, so they can talk to you about anything. It is hard being a parent, let me re-phrase that, it's hard being a good parent. You have to invest time into your kids. The problem is if you don't do it when they are first experiencing these real life situations, you may never get to do it. They grow up so fast and before you know it they are 18 and off to college.

Free pass to Busch Gardens for Preschool Kids

If you live in Florida, this is a fantastic deal you don't want to miss!  Children five and younger can get passes for free for Busch Gardens and Sea World as part of the Preschool Pass. This pass offers unlimited admission to both of the amusement parks in Tampa and Orlando for all of 2017.

I did this a few years ago with my girls and it is simple to do to get your pass. You can only get it online, so you have to register online. You will print out a pass and need your child's birth certificate when you go to the park.

Click here to sign up. 

Students look grown up, practice life skills at Enterprise Village

This school year has just flown by. I can't believe summer is here already. My oldest daughter is graduating from fifth grade this year. A milestone in school, as next year she will be in middle school. It seems like just the other day she was in kindergarten. I bet some of you are thinking the same thing as your child is graduating from pre-k, elementary, middle, high school or college.

As part of the fifth grade curriculum, the kids get to go on an all day field trip to Enterprise Village. It is located in the Stavros Institute in Largo. Enterprise Village has been around since the 1980's and is a self-contained economic education program providing a hands-on learning experience for students. The kids spend 6 weeks in their classroom learning economics including how to write checks, use a debit card, keep a checkbook register, apply for a job and work with a group. When students go to Enterprise Village they put what they learned into action.

I was a parent volunteer. As a volunteer, we had to go for about an hour of training before the students arrived so we could help them throughout the day. What was interesting is some of the parent volunteers had gone through the program in school when they were in fifth grade.

I was amazed at the whole operation and impressed by the students at how serious they took their jobs. The layout of Enterprise Village is like a shopping mall. There are about twenty plus businesses in the village. Some of the businesses included: Home Shopping Network, Tampa Bay Times, McDonalds, Bright House networks, UPS, City Hall, Bank of America, Salvador Dali Art Center, Waste Management, Pinellas County Utilities and United Giving.

The students had to apply for their jobs in school before coming to Enterprise Village, so they knew where they would be working. My daughter was so excited because she was one of the disc jockeys for Mix 100.7. As a disc jockey she played the music throughout the day for everyone at Enterprise Village and announced commercials for all the businesses. The commercials were written ahead of time at school by the students who worked at each business. She also took song requests from students and played their songs. The students took 3 breaks throughout the day, received paychecks and had the opportunity to be consumers and make purchases at the other businesses.

Students were able to see that it took several people working together to run a company. The students were given Enterprise Village money for working and could spend it at the stores. They had to deposit their pay checks at the bank. I think that was the moment I knew my little girl was all grown up. When I looked across the room and saw her with her purse in hand standing in line to deposit her check. My heart sank, as I thought to myself how mature she had become.

After the kids deposited their checks they could purchase items at stores that sold merchandise. The kids each had a lunch break where they received lunch at McDonalds. Each student had a job, some were gathering stories as reporters for the Tampa Bay Times, others were reading meters for the power company, others delivering packages for UPS, there were television anchors on the Bright House station, some students were live on television selling items for the Home Shopping Network. One of the students was even Mayor of the city. The day was a great learning experience for the kids to understand what it is like to be a part of society. They even had to give money to charity.

At the end of the day, students working at the Tampa Bay Times put out a newspapers full of stories from the students and from the interviews the reporters did that day. This was truly amazing to me to see a six page paper full of stories completed in one school day. They did a wonderful job! The newspapers were sold for $.25 and most students saved money to purchase the paper.

Overall the kids learned a lot and most said it was their best day ever. Teachers also said it is one of their favorite field trips for the kids because of all the skills the students learned and they were able to put them to use.

The Stavros Institute also offers a program similar to this for high school students called Finance Park. I look forward to my daughter going on that field trip. If you want to learn more about Enterprise Village or Finance Park or maybe you want to volunteer,  log onto their website by clicking here. 

Mom & Me Cook-0ff May 16, 2015

Here's a wonderful event to sign up for! Registration is open but you need to sign up by May 11th.
The registration is done by clicking here.  Don't delay sign up today.

They are looking for creative and nutritious recipes in the categories of: Breakfast Matters, Snack Attack, Lunch Bunch, Family Favorites and Very Veggie. Prices will be awarded including a grand prize of $100 from Publix. All young chefs will receive a Kohl's Cooks for Kids goodie bag for participating. 

If you don't want to participate in the cook-off, you can still come out and cheer on fellow young chefs and have fun with other great activities including a bounce house, free good, crafts and an interactive animal experience with Great Explorations Children's Museum, fire truck demo and more!

Block Party and Mom & Me Cook-Off

May 16, 2015

10 A.M. to 1 P.M.

Lealman Fire Station4360 55th Avenue N, St. Petersburg

Juicing as a family

The past few months our family started juicing. We thought this would help us get in our fruits and vegetables more and we would become healthier. Our girls ages 9 and 10, started out not really liking the juice, but my husband made them drink a little each day. The funny thing is now they aren’t complaining any more or holding their nose as they drink it. I guess after awhile their taste buds are use to it and it doesn’t bother them as much. Sometimes I will hear them say it had a little too much celery or it was too chunky, but they drink it.

I won’t say that it is easy to juice, because it does cost a little more money, especially if you buy organic produce. It also takes more time than just buying a readymade juice from the store. I think the benefits of juicing yourself fresh produce outweighs everything else.

My husband and I have a system we do almost every other day. I buy the produce. He washes, cuts and juices it. I clean the juicer and any dirty dishes. It’s not that bad when we do it that way. What’s nice is the girls like to help, especially grinding the fruits and vegetables up in the juicer.  

We aren’t experts at juicing. We are starting out slow. We usually only drink it in the morning. We drink a small amount about 4 oz to 6 oz. We try and make enough juice for two mornings. I read you should try and drink the juice right away, but we try and save time by making it for two days. I think we are still getting most of the nutrients. We even found a friend  who likes to take tons of leftover pulp for her animals.

I did some research and found buying organic fruits and vegetables are better for you. If you don’t want to buy organic produce, there is a list from the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide called the Dirty Dozen. The following are 12 fruits and vegetables known for large amounts of pesticide residue: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, nectarines, peaches, potatoes, snap peas, spinach and strawberries.  You want to try and buy organic versions of the Dirty Dozen.

Since I am telling you the produce with the most pesticides, here’s EWG’s list of the 15 fruits and vegetables with the least amounts. The following are the Clean Fifteen: asparagus, avocados, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, corn, eggplant, grapefruit, kiwifruit, mangoes, onions, papayas, peas (frozen), pineapple and sweet potatoes.  (Click here for the list of dirty dozen and clean 15)

At first, I was a little apprehensive about buying organic because of the cost. I have been buying for the past few years organic milk and eggs, but wasn’t buying the fruits and vegetables. After reading several articles and books on juicing, I saw that in the long run it is better for my family.

You are probably wondering if we have seen any positive results. I will tell you that our energy levels are better. Usually in the afternoon we would be tired and ready for a nap and now we don’t feel as sluggish. I know in the past my numbers and my oldest daughter’s numbers were down significantly for cholesterol when we juiced. I plan on getting that checked again soon.

In today’s world of fast food and processed foods, at least I know my family is getting something healthy into our bodies. I am hoping we continue juicing and make this a lifestyle change.

Summer Fun on a Budget for Kids

What’s on your list of things to do this summer with the kids? I know a lot of kids go to camps during the summer, but what about the days the kids aren’t at camp?

I found some fun things for you to do with your kids that are either free or priced pretty reasonable.

If your kids like to bowl, you can register them for two free games of bowling a day all summer long. Yes, a day. This is part of the Kids Bowl Free Program. Bowling centers around the country participate in this.   Several new local bowling alleys are participating this year. Locally Liberty Lanes, Ten Pin Lanes, Countryside Lanes, Dunedin Lanes, Seminole Lanes and Sunrise Lanes participate.  You register online and print out tickets each week. I have registered my girls the past several years for this and they love it. The only thing you have to pay for are the bowling shoes, but if you have them than it is totally free. The website to register  click here  

I know my kids love the movies and recently the movie theatre we go to put in all new recliner seats. They are pretty awesome! Regal Cinema’s Largo Mall 8 and Park Place Stadium 16 offer movies for kids during the summer for $1. You can’t beat the price. There are some really good movies this summer. This summer starting June 9 you can see on the big screen, Annie, Dolphin Tale 2, Madagascar 3, Paddington, The Lego Movie, Alexander and the Very Bad Day just to name a few. The movies are G and PG rated and are offered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am. To find out the movie dates and times at the theater nearest you click here. 

If you want to go to the movies on Friday and Saturday nights for free, Pier 60 in Clearwater offers fun family movies all year long. The movies begin at dusk. For a list of the movies click here  and click on Sunset Cinema.

Your kids can also go to a Tampa Bay Rays game for free over the summer if you have them read. The Rays Sponsor a reading program called Reading with the Rays. It starts on June 8. You need to go to your local library to get a score card to write down all the books your child reads during the summer. If they complete 24 hours of reading, they can get a free ticket to a Rays game. Both of my girls enjoy reading and love going to the Rays games, so this is extra incentive to read over the summer.  You can find out more by logging on here.  

If your kids like the water, the beach is a great place to take them. We are so fortunate that we live so close to the beautiful water. Take advantage of the beach over the summer. Check out your city’s recreation department too this summer. Most of the cities in Pinellas have aquatic centers with water parks and pools. The price to go for a few hours is usually a few dollars per child. One of my kids favorite places is Largo's Highland Family Aquatic Center, 400 Highland Avenue, Largo. They kick off their season on May 9 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. They have a 214 foot corkscrew water slide, 3-story speed slide and water area for little kids. It's a lot of fun and reasonably priced. If you have a Largo recreation card it is $12 for a family of five and without a recreation card it's $23 for a family of five.

I enjoy having my kids home during the summer, but I have to have some activities for them to do outside of  the house or they get bored. I also don't want to spend a fortune keeping them entertained. I hope some of these ideas help you kick off your summer.

A program to help stop young kids from going hungry on the weekend

It’s hard to imagine little kids in elementary school going hungry on the weekends in Pinellas County, but it is true. One statistic I read says about 10-15% of the kids in the Tampa Bay area on the free or reduced lunch program don’t have food at home on the weekends. Until my eyes were opened to a community outreach program of United Methodist Cooperative Ministries/Suncoast called Pack-A-Sack 4 Kids, I would have never thought that kids in our community didn’t have food on their table at home.

During the school year, these kids are able to get breakfast and lunch at school, but when school isn’t in session some don’t have food to eat.

I am involved in a mom bible study and one of our members had a passion to help a school in her neighborhood that she had heard needed help feeding kids on the weekends. Our group decided we would make this our mission project. We adopted the elementary school at the end of school last year.

We started out slow only able to feed eight kids a week on the weekends. Our bible study isn’t huge, so this was the number we could do. This year, the principal asked us if we could feed 40 kids. Of course, we couldn’t say no, so we are doing everything we can to find the money and resources to help feed 40 hungry kids.

What is amazing is so far we have been able to pack the sacks for the kids. One of the moms in our group is a phenomenal coupon clipper and knows how to get the best deals for our money. We save our coupons or flyers we get in the mail and give them to her. She organizes the coupons and shops for some of the food.

The other part of the food is now being paid for by a grant someone so graciously gave us. We are able to buy the food in bulk and it is delivered right to where our bible study meets. We are able to divide the food and put it in the sacks and our project coordinator delivers it to the school. The food we purchase is about $3 per kid and is food that has a long shelf life like cereals, peanut butter, crackers, condensed milk, canned fruit etc.

The idea of the program is to buy nutritional food for the kids and keep them from going hungry on the days they aren’t in school. This Pack A Sack 4 Kids program works with the school boards in not only Pinellas, but also Manatee and Pasco Counties.

If you want to help donate to Pack-A-Sack 4 kids call Lewis Hill at 727.644.4795 or email me and you can partner with our bible study.

A woman's ministry is giving hope to people around the world with crosses

Elizabeth Bunbury hosting the
Christian Chamber of Commerce Tampa Bay Business Feature Friday
 at the Answered Prayers Project
Photo by Valerie Bogle from Valere Bogle Photography

Elizabeth Bunbury, 56 is the owner of a nonprofit outreach ministry called the Answered Prayers Project, at 400 23rd St. S. “I finally know who I am and what I do,” she said.

But that wasn't always the case. On her 50 birthday in 2008, Bunbury's life changed. She was at her lowest of lows, she said. She had recently gone through a divorce from her husband who suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction. Because of his addiction Bunbury and her family including four kids lost everything. She had gone from being a millionaire to a person with no job, no income and a person who was lost in life. She was depressed. Her friends helped her get back on her fee. She worked 6 jobs that trying to get her life back in order.

Finished crosses at the Answered Prayers Project

One day a friend from the gym took her to a pottery studio and told her to make anything she wanted on a slab of clay. She ended up making a cross, actually 110 crosses. While at the gallery, she felt her worries lift away. “When working with my hands it was so healing,” she said.

She gave those crosses she made at the studio to friends who had helped her during her time of despair as a thank you. It was for their small acts of kindness like a phone call, picking her kids up from school or making a meal for her.

She felt that the Lord told her she needed continue doing this and her ministry of making clay crosses started and she hasn’t stopped. She decided to open a studio where others could come decorate and paint the crosses and give them to others. Since starting the Answered Prayers Project, she will tell you she’s the happiest she’s ever been. “I’m at a great time in my life and it’s getting better.” She says it’s humbling to be where she is now. What she tells women who come to her studio is that they are not alone. Each cross is unique in it’s own way and is designed by several different people before being given awary. Some decorate the crosses and others paint them.

Bunbury says the mission of the Answered Prayers Project is to give back to the community. “The money raised goes back into our community helping women.”

How they raise money is through events at the studio. The first Tuesday of the month is a Women’s Potluck at 6:30 p.m. where you can make and take a cross. The third Wednesday of the month the studio is open at 6:30 p.m. to men, women and teens and on the fourth Friday is a lunch from 11 am. to 1 p.m. All events are $10 a person. You can also schedule time in the studio by appointment for other groups or organizations. This is $20 a person.

In the past few years more than $30,000 has been give to other local organizations to help others. Some of these organizations are Women with Purpose, which helps cancer patients with non medical bills, Faces of Courage, a nonprofit that offers free camps to women and children with cancer, the Mr. Strong Foundation helping kids with special needs, and the American Cancer’s Society’s Relay for Life along with some other organizations or individuals that may be in need.

Bunbury has been traveling around the country sharing her story with churches and other organizations bringing the Answered Prayers Project with her. Whatever community she is in, she likes to give back to community in some type of way.
“God shows us who we are to support to help.” When she was in Nebraska speaking to a group, there had been dual tornadoes and the ministry helped raise money for the families who lost their homes.

“If you asked me 6 years ago if I would be making crosses and talking about God, I would have told you that was what creepy people do. Today, I am doing just that and I am ok with it.”

Since starting the Answered Prayers Project more than 20,000 crosses have been given out. The idea behind each cross is that every person has a story and these stories are shared with hope and the healing gift of the cross. Each cross has a number on the back of it and every person who receives a cross is encouraged to share their story by registering its individual number on the web sitewww.answeredprayerscross.org

The crosses all have a mustard seed glued on the back of them. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

The crosses have been registered online from all 50 states and 18 countries around the world. The last state to register a cross was Alaska and the person who registered the cross was former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. All of the crosses are handmade in St. Pete. They may have been painted and glazed in other states as Bunbury travels around.

Bunbury wants to bring back the art of connection. She believes people have lost the human interaction of communication because of all the technology. She wants to rebuild local communities one woman at a time.

Her gallery is located in St. Petersburg in the warehouse arts district. When you go there you will find it is full of all different kinds crosses. People who go there can create their own cross, but they don’t leave with the one they design. They leave with one someone else made and painted.

Right now, her gallery has been mostly word of mouth. It is a non-profit.

She will travel anywhere she is called to go. Bunbury has even written several books containing some of the stories shared when people receive these crosses. Her latest book is called On the Road , which is her prayer journal and has stories from people who have received a cross. “The book is a testimony to the power of the cross and the lives it has touched through this ministry.”

One story not in the book that happened recently and made an impact is a about a pizza delivery driver. “It was powerful, said Bunbury. It was lunch potluck and one of the women was ordering pizza. She couldn’t get anyone to deliver to the studio. Finally she got a restaurant to deliver. When the driver finally got there, she asked what we do? We told her and she told us she was in an abusive relationship and couldn’t live another day. We told her she’s not alone and there are resources available. We prayed over her and gave her a cross and one of my books. She left knowing she was suppose to be here.”

A women's Bible study having a Mom's Night Out at the Answered Prayers Project

The studio is located at 400 23 Street South in St. Petersburg. You can go online to see some of the incredible stories at www.answeredprayerscross.org. If you would like to book your organization to make crosses call 727.410.8107.

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Community helps mom after hip replacement

This week will be five years since I had a pretty extensive hip replacement. As a mom with two small kids, ages 3 and 5 at the time, it was hard to handle all the things a mom needs to do and be out of commission for awhile. I am so thankful for my family and friends who were there with me during the surgery and the year of recovery. Yes, it was a year recovery. I actually couldn’t put any pressure on my right leg for more than 30 days. I was still using a cane on my 40^th birthday. I remember I was trying to get rid of the cane before my birthday, but the doctor said I still needed to use it a little longer.

I tell you all of this because having the surgery was such a blessing. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I realize it now. I am able to do all the things I use to do before the pain in my knee and hip got so bad, I didn’t even want to go shopping and if you know me I love to shop. I knew it was time for the surgery when I didn’t want to shop anymore. It hurt to walk and I didn’t want to take pain killers, even though I was taking about four Motrin three to four times a day.

You are probably wondering why I had a hip replacement at such a young age. Most people are 60 or older when they have a hip replacement. I was 39. The reason was because I was born with a dislocated hip.

Here I am in traction at 2 months old for 30 days. Luckily, I don't remember this.

 The doctors did what they could at the time to correct it. When I was two months old I was put in the hospital and in traction for 30 days. I had surgeries when I was a few months old, including a steel pin in my hip. After the surgery I was put in a body cast for a year. You don’t see too many kids these days in a body cast.  Again at age three I had surgery again and another body cast. I also had knee surgery when I was 9. My parents went through a lot with me. Years ago, being born with a dislocated hip wasn’t like today. They didn’t the technology they do today. My doctor told my parents by the time I was 40, I would need a hip replacement. He was right.

I was fortunate enough to be able to have one of the best doctors perform my hip replacement. He actually wrote articles and performed hip replacement surgeries on people who were born with dislocated hips. The reason my hip replacement was so extensive and I had such a long recovery time is because they had to cut the femur bone. The bone had to be cut to correct the leg length so that both of my legs would be even. By doing that my recovery time was a lot longer than your normal every day hip replacement.

I didn’t know until after the surgery that my recovery was going to be long because the doctor couldn’t tell for sure if he would need to cut the femur until her performed the surgery.

I am so thankful I had a great support team helping me with my kids at the time. I had both my mom and mother-in-law taking care of my two girls along with my husband. I also had a wonderful friend who helped me with picking up my girls from preschool and kindergarten. The women in my Bible study and church came to the rescue with meals for a full month. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a big help to have meals prepared every other night.

I can’t tell you how much a meal means when you aren’t able to cook. If someone is sick and needs a meal, I try my best to help out because, I know how thankful I was when I was sick and received a meal.

I learned so much from going through this surgery. If you asked me right after the surgery if I was glad I had it, I probably wasn’t because it was very painful and such a slow recovery. Today, though I am so glad I did it. I can’t imagine being in the pain I was in and living life in agony.

What really made an impact on me is the community of family and friends including neighbors who just did what they could to help me. Everything from my daughter’s preschool class sending a huge get well card with their handprints to other cards, flowers, to even cleaning my house for me. It was incredible. I couldn’t have done it having small children without the help of others. It’s those relationships that can help us in our time of need.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me and took the time to care.

Dealing with death at a young age

I remember when my kids were two and three years old and one of their first fish they had named “Brownie” died. The girls were so sad, especially my older daughter, Randi. She was actually sobbing. It was the first time something died. As parents of kids that age, we really couldn’t explain the concept of death.  We buried the fish and decided we would let them go to the pet store and pick out a new fish. I remembered some of my friends telling me they didn’t want to go through that experience and they would replace the fish if they saw it floating on top of the water.  Fish are easy to replace. Over the years, we have had other fish die and really it hasn’t been the tragedy it once was to them. The last fish that died there wasn’t a toilet bowl funeral or anything.

Over the past year several friends of our family have died, mostly older people. It is very sad, but their deaths have been expected because of illness. My girls, who are now 8 and 9, have gone with my husband and myself visiting them in the hospital or nursing home.  After the third person died this year, my youngest daughter said, “Mom I don’t want to visit anymore people because after I see them they die.”

I told her it wasn’t her and people sometimes get sick and sometimes it’s better so they don’t suffer and they go to a Heaven, which is a much better place.

My girls recently had to deal with the death of a younger person, a woman we became friends with over the summer who owned the local ceramics gallery and died suddenly. She was only 49 years old. It was something I wasn’t expecting let alone the girls. We found out about it and I knew I had to tell the girls because we had been going to the gallery and I felt it was important for them to know what happened. When I told them they began to cry and started asking questions. Questions that are hard for a parent to answer like, “Why does God allow good people to die. There are so many bad people out there and she was a good person.” “Do babies go to heaven if they die?”  I tried my best to answer and give them hope that when someone dies something good will come out of it and be for God’s glory. It’s just hard for anyone to think that especially when you are grieving for a loved one. Our friend had two children she left behind. I know they are missing their mom. It doesn’t matter how old you are when you lose someone close it still hurts.

I know as time goes by we will have many more deaths to deal with. I think about so many people including members in my own family who have lost their parents, grandparents, children and close friends. It’s never an easy thing to deal with. I know that we have to make sure we keep an open line of communication so our children can ask us questions and express their grief. It helps to heal the hurt. Knowing how much your child can handle when talking about death is important  too.

As a parent, I want to do everything I can to make that hurt go away, sometimes we just can’t do that. Even though death isn’t a subject that many of us want to talk about it is inevitable.

The Greek Life

Iota Kappa Chi Omega Sorority Reunion 2014

Kids grow up fast, and before you know it they are going to college. I have several friends my age who have kids going to college this year. How can this be? I remember going to college like it was yesterday, even though it was 25 years ago.

I have to tell you a funny story about my first experience the summer before heading off to college. I got a call from a girl named Darlene, who was a senior at the college I was planning on attending. She called me out of the blue because she had seen my name in the paper, and read that I was going to Troy University in Alabama.

While on the phone, she told me Troy had a lot of Greeks on campus. Being naïve and not having parents involved in the college Greek life, I thought she was talking about Tarpon Springs, which has the highest percentage of Greek Americans in any city in the US. I didn’t know that she was talking about sorority and fraternity life until I got off the phone and told my dad there were a lot of Greeks in Troy.

Anyway, her phone call sparked my interest in what the Greek life was all about. I decided to go through rush, which is what students do the week before classes start to find out about the different sororities on campus.

I ended up pledging the Chi Omega sorority. It was a wonderful experience and one I would never trade. The sorority was my home away from home. You see Troy was about an eight-hour car ride, and I didn’t have a car at college, so I would usually stay at school on the weekends. It was also a smaller school. It didn’t have a huge student population. Being in a sorority gave me instant friends and helped make being away from family a little easier. The sorority also was like a family unit. The older girls watched out for us, made sure we studied and had good grades and helped us be women of good character.

Me and Darlene at the Chi O Reunion
 wearing our jersey's 

These girls in the sorority became sisters and to this day are still a part of my life. Darlene, who called me, is one of my close friends and a sorority sister.

Recently, some of my sorority sisters planned a reunion in Atlanta. I was overjoyed to see 65 of my sisters from Troy for the weekend. It was like being back at college. Some of these women I haven’t seen since college. Still, we were able to reconnect so easily. There is a special bond that is there no matter how many years go by.

I am hoping my girls are Chi O’s too one day, but I know sorority life may not be for everyone. I think that there are a lot of factors that go into pledging a sorority. Some sororities may be good at one campus and not so much at another. When my girls go to college, I hope they are open minded and if they do decide to join a sorority, I want them to choose the one that fits them best as a person. If they decide not to pledge a sorority, that’s ok too.

One thing I do know is that my girls won’t think going Greek is changing your nationality. 

Summer Fun on A Budget

The kids are out of school and if you are like me, you are looking for fun things to do that won’t cost you ton. Every year I browse the paper, internet and flyers sent home from school to find some of the best and cheapest things to do. Here are some of the activities I’ve done with my two girls, ages 8 and 9, over the years and a few new ones I’ve found.

My kids love going to the movies, but they can be so expensive. During the summer you can go to the movies for $1. This is part of the Regal Theaters Summer Movie Express. It runs for 9 weeks starting June 10^th in our area.  The movies are Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute. Click here for the movies. The movie theaters locally are Park Place Stadium 16 and Regal Largo Mall 8. The movies are G or PG and start at 10 a.m. Some of the movies include: Smurfs 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Arthur Christmas and more.

My girls love to bowl. Kids can go bowling for free all summer long. It is part of the Kids Bowl Free program. Bowling alleys all around the United States participate. Locally kids can go in Largo to Liberty Lanes, in St. Petersburg to Ten Pin Lanes, in Dunedin to Dunedin Lanes and in Port Richey to Lane-Glo Lanes North. Kids get to bowl 2 games free a day. You must register at here at www.kidsbowlfree.com. Remember to bring bowling shoes or you can rent them.

We are so fortunate to have baseball all around us. Not only do we have the Tampa Bay Rays, but we also have 4 minor-league baseball teams in the area. If your kids like baseball, the minor league team tickets very affordable. The Clearwater Threshers have dollar Tuesdays, where the tickets and food sell for $1. The Tampa Bay Yankees have a great kids club where you pay $10 and all Wednesday and Sunday games are free. The Dunedin Blue Jays have a Junior Jays Kids Club and have some free admission days for kids with a paying adult. TheLakeland Flying Tigers offer Sunday games free for kids and on Monday’s tickets are one dollar along with food. Go to the team’s web sites for more information.

One place my two girls love going to is the beach and it’s free. Did you know that on Friday nights there’s a place on North Redington Beach that offers hula dance lessons to kids and adults? It is at Mango’s Restaurant and Tiki Bar which is located right behind DoubleTree Beach Resort. You can listen to tropical music on the beach and right before sunset on Friday nights the Sunset Island Dances come out and put on a fabulous hula show. They even do the limbo. It is a lot of fun.

If your kids like to read, they can read their way around the bases with the Reading with the Rays program. If kids read a certain number of hours during the summer, they can get a free ticket to a Ray’s game. You can find out more at your local library. Kids can earn a free book at Barnes and Noble with the Barnes and Nobel Summer reading program. If your child reads 8 of their own books and journals the books, they can get a free book at the store. You can find out more at Barnes and Noble. Click on words for information.

I know the summer can be long, if you don’t have things to do with your kids.  Hopefully this gives you a few ideas for the summer and you won’t have to spend too much money.

A family trip celebrates national history

One of my cousins got married earlier this month and our family took a trip to Washington D.C. for the wedding.  It was the first time our two girls had ever been to there, so while we were at our nation’s capital we wanted to take a tour of the city. We were fortunate to get a grand tour by my uncle who has lived in D.C. for more than 40 years and is a retired engineer who was the project manager helping design some of the buildings we were looking at. The tour was by car, but we did have a chance to walk and see up close some of the well known tourist spots.

Our youngest daughter, Graci, was learning about ancient Greek civilization in school, so she was fascinated by all the columns in the buildings. She was taking photos left and right of all the columns in the buildings.

It was exciting to see the Washington Monument had just re-opened, it had been under construction for cracks and repairs for the past three year. We were able to drive by it. It also was the backdrop to my cousin’s outdoor wedding. It was just spectacular.

Our drive also included the National Mall, which is a national park in downtown Washington D.C. We did get out at the capital to take some pictures and look at the beautifully designed building. We also saw one of the newer monuments, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Our girls knew about Martin Luther King Jr. and his “I Have a Dream” speech. We told them that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered that speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial which we also visited.

We went inside the Lincoln Memorial and looked at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. We took a photo on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial overlooking the reflecting pool. This must be a famous place to take a photo.

When I got home my sister gave me a photo of my family taking a photo there 35 years ago in the same spot.

The history in this city is incredible. 

We also took the girls to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and it was breathtaking. 

Since family members of ours had fought in this war, it was a great opportunity to share some of their experiences with our girls. My husband’s father was in this war and we told them how some of his friends were killed and didn’t make it home. This memorial is for those who lost their lives fighting for our country. It had a huge impact on all of us.

We also toured the Korean War Veterans Memorial. While we were leaving a tour bus came of men who had served in World War II. Most were being pushed in wheel chairs. We stopped to thank them for their service.

It was truly a memorable day and weekend for our family as we celebrated a marriage and the history of our country.

A special thank you to my uncle Rick for his wonderful tour around Washington D.C.

Ways to keep your kids learning during the summer

School will be out soon and it’s important to keep our kids minds active during the summer. Here are some ways that I have been able to keep my two girls ages 8 and 9 learning while schools out. I try and make summer learning fun.

One of the places we like to start our summer off is at our public library. We go there to find out what programs are offered during the summer. The library is a great place to keep your children engaged in reading because of some of the incentives they offer to the kids for reading.  It is free to get a library card and your child can have their very own card. I know my girls love having their own card to check out books. If you haven’t been to a public library lately, most have a special section of the library for younger children with computers and crafts.

Each library has unique programs for students over the summer.  Most public libraries in Pinellas County run their programs from June 15^th - August 9^th.  A weekly program during the summer at Seminole Community Library is the reading with the dogs program. “This is where students are one on one with therapy dogs. Last summer it was very successful,” said Jill Storm, Youth Services Supervisor at Seminole Community Library.

One of my girl’s favorite programs in the past at the Seminole Library has been the Wonderful Wednesdays. This is where each week special guests come entertain the kids. In the past there have been magicians, balloon artists, musicians and more.

 Elementary school students who enjoy science can try e-magination which is where students get to do hands-on science experiments and have fun doing crafts. For the younger kids ages 3-6, on Monday nights at 7 p.m. there’s Slumber Stories, where children can come in their pajamas and read stories and do a craft.

Another great way to keep kids reading over the summer is with the Reading with the Rays program. Kid can pick up their Reading with the Rays game card at the library. Your kids will need to read a certain number of hours each week and as they read they move around the bases. After the get around all of the bases, they can turn their playing card in for a free ticket to a Rays game. My girls have done this the past few years and knowing they get to go to a Rays game if they read is fun for them.

If you are looking for camps to send your kids to, there are several that are fun and geared toward learning. St. Petersburg College, College for Kids Summer Camp offers unique summer programs starting June 9^th  and running through August 1^st.  College for kids has been around for 36 years. I remember going when I was a kid. They offer affordable camps for kids in elementary, middle and high school. What’s nice about this is you have credentialed teachers and there are nine different locations throughout Pinellas County where the camps are held.

 They also have before and after care. For incoming 10-11^th graders there is a weeklong camp offered for free called Career Pathways Academy. This helps students think about career choices. www.spcollege.edu/c4k or call 727-341-3000.

Another fun camp in Seminole is Bauder Elementary School’s 13^th annual Summer Science Camp. This is a weeklong camp from July 14^th-17^th . It is hands-on science activities, computer technology and arts and crafts. This is for K-5^th grade and runs from 8:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. Bauder teachers are the camp counselors.  If you are interested call Bauder’s office at 727-547-7829.

University of South Florida’s Continuing Education offers beginning reading programs throughout the county. Students meet once a week for five weeks for two hours. The cost for these classes is around $350 including materials.  You can find out more at usf.readingprograms.org or call 1-800-978-9596.

If you want to have your kids do some learning at home on the computer, the Pinellas County School Board’s web site www.pcsb.org offers quite a few learning programs on their web site. It is called Beyond the Classroom. “Our expectation is that students will spend a minimum of 30 minutes each week during the summer for grades K-2 and 60 minutes grades 3-5 in each application on the Beyond the Classroom web site. The purpose is to extend their learning from the school year,” said Pat Lusher, Director of Digital Learning for Pinellas County Schools.

 Lusher says students will need to have their Pinellas County School student username and password to log in. “Some of the most common sites are Ticket to Read, ST Math, FCAT Explorer and BrainPop.com,” said Lusher. This summer they will be adding a program for students to check out eBooks on their mobile devices or computers at home from several of their digital libraries. It’s called My Digital Backpack. There will be incentives for student participation to encourage students to become fluent readers.

Even though students are on summer vacation, make sure they don’t take a break from learning. Kids can have fun and learn at the same time.

Making a difference in your community

Recently, my husband made a comment to me about how I seem to be able to get things done at our daughter’s school and in the community that most people wouldn’t know they could do. I thought about what he said and decided that maybe I could give some of you a little inspiration to make a difference in your child’s school and in the community.

City of Seminole Citizens Academy

It’s all too often we see things and complain, but don’t take action to try and do something about it.

Like most of you, I am your every day citizen. I try to be active in my kid’s school and in the community. I volunteer at the school and am on the PTA.  I am also  involved in the chamber of commerce for my work and recently have taken part in the city’s citizen academy.  I want our schools and community to be a great place to live, work and play for me and my family.

My instinct is when I see something that I think can be improved or needs to be fixed, I call whoever is in charge and try to get something done. Maybe it’s the reporter in me or that I worked for city government and know basically how things work. I know usually, I can at least get a response.

I’ll give you a few examples. When I moved to my house several years ago, there weren’t sidewalks on one of the main roads that I would take my kids for a wagon ride. It was very dangerous because part of the road had sidewalks and part of it didn’t. I decided to take some pictures and write our city officials about why I thought there needed to be sidewalks. The city looked at what I showed them and said they had money in their sidewalk improvement fund and put in the sidewalks. I was delighted.

Recently there was a lot of rain the fields where my daughter’s play their softball games and they were covered with mosquitoes. After playing two games and having the kids eaten by mosquitoes, I looked up mosquito control and emailed them about the problem. The officials emailed me back and had the fields sprayed within a day. Thank you mosquito control!

Another example is the school my girls go to. Like most schools in Pinellas County there are lots of portables that are used as classrooms. Last year, my daughter who was in third grade at the time lost almost a month of learning because of being in a portable. When it rains, the kids are doubled up with classes in the regular buildings. When this happens, teachers can’t teach and the children aren’t learning. A big problem especially when your school goes down a letter grade because of lower test scores. I was able to bring this to the attention of our school superintendent at an education forum and now school officials are looking into this.

I think sometimes we just need to take action and find out who we need to ask, so we can get things done. A lot of times people don’t know there’s a problem, unless we bring it to their attention.

Don’t be afraid to call your city, county and school officials to help you. I am not saying that every time I try and do something, it gets done. There are times when things don’t get done. To me it’s important to at least try, so you can feel at least you’ve done your part.