The HERO Youth Ambassador Program is a great program that teaches young people unbelievably valuable life lessons that will stay with them forever and may possibly have a big impact on the direction their lives take! And the program is now looking for twenty students from the USA and Canada, ages 16-19, to be selected as 2008 HERO Youth Ambassadors. Young people have until March 1st to apply for the program.

The kids who are accepted will travel to Africa to provide support to children living in AIDS/HIV-affected areas. They will work in the schools, building kitchens, painting murals, and teaching the children. They will also do things like build fences and take over necessary things that might be difficult for the children to get over there - even such simple things as pencils.

You can read more about the program here: Rockin’ Teen Ambassadors! These kids are really awesome, and I am very impressed with all of them. And they are great for giving up their summers for the program, and for the African children. I also think, however, that one of the teens said it perfectly when she said that they would not only be giving, but, also receiving! So true, so true. These teens will come back changed, for sure!

And if you don’t know any teens that would interested in applying, there are many more ways to get involved and be a HERO at home!

The part that really got me excited about the program was watching the HERO Ambassador Webisodes on Youtube - it was really neat to get to know the kids and actually see the work they were involved in. And you get to see what the journey was like getting there. I found it very interesting, and I’m glad that they documented it - there’s no better way to get kids pumped about joining than letting them see what is involved.

A lot of these kids are about to start college. Can you imagine a better way to start your college years? So many kids go nutters once they leave high school/go to college - I’m pretty sure these kids come back and have their feet firmly planted on the ground - what do you think?

I recently watched this DVD, The Jewish Americans, and I absolutely loved every minute of it! And it was six hours long! It is a 3-part series, that is why it is so long. And I have to say, that I am rather embarassed, about how much I actually learned from the documentary. I’m thrilled to have learned so much about the history of Jewish people in America, but, I am quite disappointed that I knew so little about their experiences here in the ‘new country’.

I do not remember having learned about Jewish people inhabiting the early-American colonies, but, Sephardic Jews began coming to America in the mid 1600’s. The Jewish people coming over here wanted to assimilate themselves into the culture here, and yet, they also wanted to hang onto and still practice their Jewish faith and way of life. Many of them found this process very difficult - they felt as though they were being pulled in two directions, but, they adapted to their new lives here, even wearing American clothing.

They began to build synagogues, and that I found very cool. (I actually have a synagogue near me that is over 100 years old - it’s very beautiful.) One of the synagogues, though, I think in Rhode Island, was built to match the style of the buildings in the town. And then on the inside, Judaism was ‘loudly’ celebrated in the design and the layout. I was a little saddened by this, as they were working so hard to blend in, they felt they could only be themselves on the inside. I thought that was kind of a bummer.

Another interesting thing that I learned about was the participation by the Jews in every war that America has been through. During the civil war, the men who joined the military in the North, didn’t really know too much about slavery and they didn’t join to fight slavery. As they traveled farther north, during the war, though, they began to experience the horrors of slavery first hand. They realized how awful it was, and wanted desperately to free the slaves. And during the first world war, they didn’t know anything about the concentration camps. Someone told one soldier, along with his fellow soldiers, there is a ‘Jewish camp’ over there, the way they were directly headed. They wondered what the heck that person meant when he said, ‘Jewish camp’. When they came upon the first camp, they were absolutely horrified. I can’t imagine having found out like that. I had never thought about how Allied soldiers first found out about the concentration camps. Of course, finding out in any way had to be just terrible, but, I think being there, out in the field…oh, it’s just awful.

After the war, though, the most WONDERFUL thing happened. It was just four short months after the war, and a lovely young lady from New York, who just happened to be JEWISH - won the title of Miss America. I absolutely had chills watching this part of the films. This was, of course, the first time that a Jewish girl had won. What a wonderful affirmation of American Jews being fully integrated into our society - and welcomed, loved, and supported. Yes, it’s not of earth-shattering importance - the Miss America pageant, but, it was a symbol. And it meant a lot - to a lot of people.

That last paragraph reminded me of another thing I learned, too. A lot of Jews in America prefer to be called American Jews, and not Jewish Americans. One lady explained that, even though she loves the USA, she could picture herself living in England, or in Australia, for instance, but, she could never picture herself not being Jewish. They said - “It’s the noun!”

I really, really loved this documentary and I know that I will watch it again and again and learn something new every time. And I will have my children watch it with me, because, I’m sure that American history taught in schools just does not teach much of the Jewish American experience, if at all. I will let them watch it in separate sittings, though. I am sure they would protest six hours. I just loved it so much, though, that I did not want it to end. I was soaking it up like a sponge! And I could go on and on here and tell you about a hundred and fifty more things that I learned, but, you might get sleepy. So I’ll just let you just go watch it yourself. You will love it - there are many interesting people interviewed, and I think that is part of what kept it so interesting. There are regular people, and Hollywood stars, and all kinds of people. Just go watch it - you will see, you’ll love it!

I’m going to try something new around here. We’ll just see how it goes. We might just all have a blast with this! I am going to be reading books to your little sweeties on video! This first book I’m reading is for your itty bitty kids - your preschoolers. My kids used to love this book! You can tell in this picture how much they loved it from its wear and tear.

Snoopy’s Friends/Board Book
The quality of the video gets downgraded when you upload to YouTube, so I’m afraid the kids might not be able to see the pages as well as I would’ve liked. I’m going to definitely have to do some research on that and see if I can make that better.

And now, without further ado, Snoopy’s Friends/Board Book ….

And just for an extra special treat for our “Storytime Grand Opening”, we’ve got a goofy teenager reading the book, too! Who knows, your kids just might like his version better than mine!

I’m going to try and aim for a little bit older of a crowd with my next book! I’ve got a special six year old girl in mind! I’ll have to go digging in Sammie’s room and see what fun books I can find!

Phonetic spelling and adorable little pictures! Can’t I just shrinky dink my kids for a day or two? I’ve been really aching for that time when my kids were munchkins. It was hard, yes. And it was exhausting, yes. But it was a BLAST!!! And the four of us were a crew, you know? It was us against the world! So much fun!

Mark and I were organizing photos over the weekend and the ache just got stronger. They were so adorable! I really and truly haven’t a clue - not one clue - how they just ZAPPED into teens and a pre-teen. It was like some magic spell or something!

And this morning, I came across something that made the ache palpable - the most adorable and sweet schoolwork done by a darling Kindergartner, named Mike. He is the son of Erika, otherwise known as Plain Jane Mom. His creations are here: Fun with the alphabet and crayolas. Go look really quickly, and then come right back here! I’ll wait….

Is that kid great, or what? “Wios” - I LOVE IT!!!

I think Kindergarten and First Grade are two of my favorite school years - I just love those little munchkins. I love it when their little eyes light up, and you can almost see the light bulb over their head as they begin to read their first sentences. And I love how they work so hard and so carefully at forming the letters in their special handwriting notebooks. Love it, just love it.

It is a precious, eye-opening time in a person’s life - discovering the wonder, beauty, and excitement of the written word. Absolutely precious.

I better just hush up with this right now, or I’m gonna start boohooing - or I might have to walk up to the school to read to the kindergartners, and I’ve got work to do today here at home. The craving gets so strong sometimes, I can’t believe it. A little while ago, I noticed out my window that I could see the little toddler play equipment in the neighbor’s yard and it almost made me run over there, begging to play with her adorable daughter.

Work to do, I’ve got work to do. Must not think of munchkins. No munchkins.

wah! but I love them, I love munchkins!

GET BACK TO WORK, MRS. LISA!!!

I have so many books in my wishlist at Amazon - I am always sticking books in there. I will read a blog in which the blogger recommends a book - zap! Into my wishlist it goes! A friend will recommend a funny book they just read - zap! Into my wishlist it goes! And before I know it, that thing is pages and pages and pages long! I have to go through there every now and again, and delete some things out of there.

I just found a book in there, that I picked up while grocery shopping, because, it was on sale. So that one gets marked off my list. There are still so many in there, though. I could really use a cash advance for all of the books that I want to buy.

What if someone gave you $1,000 just for books? That is all you could spend it on and you did not have to pay it back! Would that just be the coolest thing, or what?!

Oh, I can dream….

I just love old muscle cars - the way they have those big, beastly engines in front of you, and the way they just roar. I used to pretend my ‘77 Delta 88 was a muscle car, because, she had one of those big engines. Ha! I’m a dork. I did love that car, though. I miss her - her name was ‘Bertha’. She was a lot of fun. And she had enough back seat for the kids to practically do acrobatics while we were going down the road! They, of course, were safely strapped in their car seats and boosters, though. Too bad, kids.

Real muscle cars are so awesome, though. I didn’t truly appreciate them when I was a youngster, now, though, I have a true appreciation for the fine machines that they are. It’s funny, I think my parents always thought that my love for trucks that I had as a kid would eventually fade. The exact opposite has actually happened - it has grown and blossomed to include awesome machines of all kinds. I even love construction trucks now! That would be thanks to my boys and their early childhood obsession with them. They have, of course, outgrown it. Mom still goes nuts when a backhoe goes rolling by! Ha! The boys respond to my excitement over said backhoe with a monotonous, “Yeah, great, Mom.” They created a monster and don’t even truly appreciate this newest branch of my love for machines! Little hoodlums!

I would love to own one of those older beefy cars, though. Oh my gosh, that would be so much fun! John Schneider recently sold ‘The General Lee’ - how much fun would that be to drive around town?

I imagine, though, that owning one of those old beauties would come with a lot of need for repairs. It was definitely a handful sometimes, taking care of ‘Bertha’, and she wasn’t exactly a ‘fine machine’, you know? In my heart, she was, but, if I owned a Charger or something, it might need even more specialized care. I did find a very helpful book, for any budding muscle car enthusiasts that may be out there. The book is called Project Charger by Larry Lyles, and the reviews that accompany it on Amazon are nothing short of glowing. So I imagine this book would be extremely helpful in caring for a car like that.

Another thing I’m sure I would wind up doing is buying one Dodge Charger accessory after another. Oh boy, they have some nice ones, though! I’m serious - just look and you’ll see what I mean! The thing that most intrigued me was the port holes, but, I am not sure if that is only on the newer models. They sure do look cool, though.

I’m glad that there is a book for everything under the sun, because, that is part of my whole argument that every child can learn to love to read. You just have to find a book on a topic that they love! And if I can find a super-helpful book on Dodge Chargers, you can find a book that your child will enjoy, too!

I have had thoughts stirring in my mind for several days now about revamping My Very Own Mail. I actually began pondering it several weeks ago, but, then I received my newest copy of Revenue Magazine in the mail. And that is when things went haywire (in a good way)! I began to completely rethink my business model. The new ideas brewing in my mind were very exciting!

It almost feels like this is the direction my sweet little, fledgling business should have gone in the first place! And now, this morning, reading Seth Godin’s blog post about Vestiges, I am more convinced than ever that I need to make these changes. I hope that I have the strength and the courage to blindly jump off that cliff, and rework my business. There are things I’ve been doing and ideas I’ve been holding strongly to for five years, since I began sending mail to kids.

I think I will have to truly shed some of those old ideas to make the new ones really flourish. It could be wonderfully exciting if I will just ‘Go for it!’

I truly agree, that we are ‘living in a YouTube world’ (an idea I pulled out of Seth’s post) and I think that is where he really got me! I’ve got to do this - I’ve got to let go of any My Very Own Mail vestiges that hinder my progress forward into the ‘YouTube future’!!

Ok, now I’m really getting excited! Thank you, Revenue Mag!! And thank you, Seth Godin!!

Click this darned cute bookworm to keep up with my progress:

This is something that I’ve been saying for years and so I was so excited to see the website of this exact name - ParentInvolvementMatters.org! How amazingly cool is that? I love the whole concept of this program! Parental involvement is so very important for our children! In my opinion, it can literally make or break a child - how involved their parents are in their lives. I’ve seen some very sad and uninspired and very needy children, during all my hours volunteering at the school, whose parents just did not involve themselves in their children’s lives. Once the parents get involved, though, the changes are awesome!

There are many ways to get involved in our kids’ lives. Parent involvement in schools is a good place to start, but, really being involved in your child’s life and education means so much more than just bake sales and PTA meetings. The people from the Parent Involvement Matters website run this great program called ParentNet®, which is a parent-led program in which groups of parents of same-age children get together and support each other and help each other out in their parenting techniques and efforts. This is so cool, because so often moms will get together who have very different age and grade children - so they’re not having the same experiences. It would be so awesome to get together with parents of children the same age/grade, from our own school. The experiences would be so similar, that we could really help each other out!

This program was started in 1996 by two moms of middle schoolers. They were working together to make their children’s school better, and the program just blossomed and has helped more than thirty schools nationwide! There are lots of free resources on their website to get you started, including a community newsletter. They also have a ParentNet® starter kit for sale in their store, which contains a three-ring binder full of helpful information, a DVD that will help educate parents and staff, and sample brochures and stickers that you can use to educate the community and market the program to them. The binder contains an introductory guide for parents and trainers and educators, a ParentNet volunteer handbook, and a ParentNet® training manual. The whole program is available for free on the site, though, and you can, of course, sign up for the newsletter to learn more. I’m telling you, if we had this here, I would go to the meetings for all three of my kids! I think it would be wonderfully helpful!

Parent Involvement Matters is definitely a program that has me excited! I would have definitely tried to implement it in our schools when I was PTA president! Parenting can be so hard, but, I think when we come together as a community and help each other out, everyone benefits! The thing that really helped me to understand the program better was the video they have on the site that showcases the reactions to ParentNet by parents, educators, and students.

I’m so excited about this book that I just picked up at the store. I wasn’t even intending to buy myself anything, but, a cup of coffee. I was taking my son and his friends to buy snacks and goodies for a party they are throwing tomorrow night. My daughter went along with us, and she and I went off wandering while we waited for the boys to pick out their stuff. We wound up at the books section, and that is when I saw it….

It’s called Speak and it’s by Laurie Halse Anderson. The librarian at my children’s last school (in Texas) had told me about this book at the end of our last year there. I’ve been meaning to pick it up ever since, and just haven’t done it.

There it was tonight, though, begging me to bring it home. It was calling to me… Really! Books do that, you know! I’ve got a bit of a tummy ache, so I think I’ll just go curl up in bed with my new book and relax.

The book covers a heavy topic, and it might be very depressing, but, I am very interested to read it after the glowing review from the librarian. I’ve been meaning to email her to say hello, anyway - now I definitely will have to, so that I can let her know I’ve finally read this book!

I’ll let you know my thoughts on it when I’ve finished reading it.

Santa made our house even more musical than it already was, and we are so excited about it! The boys already had a trumpet and a trombone, and Patrick plays the French horn at school. Santa added to that collection, an electric guitar, a drum set, a karaoke machine, and a keyboard! It’s totally awesome! And then next year, Sammie will pick out her band instrument!

With all of this music in the house, Mark and I are feeling left out and would love to join in on the fun! He thinks it would be totally rad to be able to play the guitar and the keyboard, and he’d like to get back into playing the drums, too. I think it would be awesome to play the drums, and the keyboard, and to work on my singing!

I may have come across just the thing that Mark and I need, as far as the keyboard goes, that is. It is an email newsletter about Piano lessons & piano chords, through which the gentleman also sells full out DVD lessons for adults! That is so cool - that might just get Mark and I a spot in the family band!

The newsletter is free and comes out about every five days and there are 101 issues of it. The gentleman who publishes the newsletter and teaches the lessons, Duane Shinn, has been teaching music since 1965. Wow! That’s a lot of experience! I’m so glad to learn about his site - it’s just perfect timing for us!