Michael's Speech at Oxford

This is long but well worth the read Michael's Oxford Speech-Must-Read! The Kids - Oxford Speech Oxford University, March 2001 by Michael Jackson Thank you, thank you dear friends, from the bottom of my heart, for such a loving and spirited welcome, and thank you, Mr President, for your kind invitation to me which I am so honoured to accept. I also want to express a special thanks to you Shmuley, who for 11 years served as Rabbi here at Oxford. You and I have been working so hard to form Heal the Kids, as well as writing our book about childlike qualities, and in all of our efforts you have been such a supportive and loving friend. And I would also like to thank Toba Friedman, our director of operations at Heal the Kids, who is returning tonight to the alma mater where she served as a Marshall scholar, as well as Marilyn Piels, another central member of our Heal the Kids team.I am humbled to be lecturing in a place that has previously been filled by such notable figures as Mother T...

Read more »

Dolls and Books

A lot of people don't know that I am an avid vintage doll and book collector. I especially love to collect vintage barbies and fashion dolls from my childhood (late 70's early 80's.) The books I like to collect are children's books and vintage Bibles and Bible Story books. I am getting quite good at identifying valuable dolls and books and usually scour antique shops in search of these treasures. During our recent trip to East Texas, Jefferson specifically, we wandered into an antiques' shop and as I was meandering around I came across a basket full of old Barbies. I knelt down to look through the basket which was marked $3 each. At the bottom of the basket I saw two fashion dolls, not Barbie, but fashion dolls that looked like they were from my era. I picked them up and saw that they had no marks on the bodies and they each looked to have the original outfits on. I couldn't recognize the dolls but I pulled up the clothing and read on the back of one "Kenne...

Read more »

Our Dog Wendy

Over the past couple of days our dog Wendy has been quite ill. I first noticed her on Saturday night. I was in the backyard watering, when I saw her chest go into spasms, like she was having trouble breathing. I immediately sent Aaron upstairs to get Ellison. Ellison inspected her and she brought her back in so she could be in the cool air. We were very worried and I told her that first thing on Sunday Sergio and her could take Wendy into the Vet for an exam while the boys and I were at church. Well on Sunday they couldn't see her. They were booked solid, so an appt. was made for Monday. First, let me give you a little background on Wendy and why she is so special to us, esp. my daughter, Ellison. For as long as I can remember, Ellison has wanted a dog. She has always been an animal lover and as a child she was always begging me for a pet. We started off with bunnies, then a gerbil. She worked really hard in 2004 when she was 12 to "earn" the right to own a dog. She did e...

Read more »

Weekend Getaway

Weekend getaway!! Secluded spot for fishing ^ Sergio getting ready to cast....^ Ellison relaxin' Picture time Aaron! After a month and a half of being out of school, the kids and I were getting antsy. All cooped up in the house makes for a very unhappy mom. Lake O' The Pines to the rescue! We packed up our stuff and the kids and headed east on Saturday morning. We enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour ride out there and stayed at this quaint, no frills motel called Lake O' The Pines Lodge. After checking in Sergio immediately announced we were going fishin'. I had never been, so I was excited to say the least. I shared a fishing rod with Ellison and we found a nice spot on the lake. It was hot but the cool breeze from the lake helped out. After a couple of hours, Aaron was tired of fishing (mostly getting his hook caught on the dock, losing his bait, tangling up his line, you get the picture), so I took him over to the sandy beach area for a swim. He had a good time and we headed b...

Read more »

Desk Renovation

The hubster has really been getting into furniture restoration. He really enjoys it and is quite good. This particular desk was left in our garage by the past homeowners (YAY Free to us!!) He took my desk and refinished it for me. Not only that but he took off the old top.. and added a new one he found... We believe this desk is from the early 80's I have always liked it b/c it's just the right size for the room and me and it's pretty cute. But I did want to have it darker to fit in with the rest of the decor that I am working on. Here are the after pics... Notice the beautiful wood top he replaced it with...(an old table leaf someone tossed out fit perfectly on top) Also the staining he did on the drawers. Just beautiful. He is a true artist. From cooking to furniture to anything he tries..it always turns out great. What can I say my husband has the magic touch :) AAAANNND he did this all in one day while I was at work to surprise me! Tips: He did the ...

Read more »

Swimming and Flag Dessert

Early this morning I told the kids I was taking them to our neighborhood beach club. It's a really cool pool that has real sand around it. It also has a nifty splash pad. Aaron especially enjoyed it. He loved building his river with sand. After we got back from the pool we decided to make our favorite Flag dessert. It is a really easy and scrumptious dessert. You start off with a package of crescent rolls and roll it out and make it into a rectangle. Then you mix one box of cream cheese with sugar to taste. Spread this, softened, on the cooked crescent rolls. Then add blue berries, strawberries and banana slices to simulate the stars and stripes. Add whipped topping and put some chocolate chips. Voila! Instant cool and yummy dessert! Add some fresh fruit... to freshly baked crescent rolls.. Add some chocolate chips to the "stripes".. Add two hungry boys And Voila!! Recipe for success in the summer. What a fun day.

Read more »