Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 11.

When keys start falling off, it may be a sign you blog too much.

Goodbye "A" key on my computer - I miss you.
Goodbye singing in the shower from a boy who was asked to join the school's new Glee Club.
Goodbye Parents' Night and meeting teachers dedicated to our children's success.
Goodbye Caribou Coffee and hanging out with a great couple of gals that are so funny my cheeks still hurt.
Goodbye last summer "to-do" item - rock climbing.

Hello lounging around the house for a change.
Hello heading out to the farm for some apple cider, apple fritters, apple-anything.
Hello Quiditch team at school; sorting hat ceremony coming soon.

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Hello Friday Night Lights and catching marching band sounds trailing through the air and into our home.
Hello Autumn fever beginning to flow through my soul and excite my spirit.

This Labor Day week of posts allowed me to reflect on the various types of citizens that contribute to our nation's prosperity. The lesson I learned this week is that we all labor to live, but it is in the being, not the doing, that makes a life matter most.


Do you define yourself by who you are or what you do?

Steve Jobs: The Father of "Do Better"

Lilana Slater from google.com via Pinterest

If you have not had the privilege of owning an Apple product, then you have not had the honor to touch greatness. You have not had the experience to glimpse into a heart driven by finding a better way. And when you embark on the Apple journey, you too are infected by this longing for excellence, and adopt a new religion where mediocrity is a sin. Steve Jobs planted the seed of curiosity into the mind of all his followers that questioned why all the world's products, services, and lifestyles didn't fit the Apple way: a demand for excellence, for inventiveness, for beauty in its simplest form. If you don't know Apple, you don't know a better way. You don't know a smarter way. You don't know the pleasure of technology.
You don't know...


The feel and operation of any Apple product is instinctive. What other technology product operates as easily in the hands of a 3-year old as in the hands of a 99-year old? How is it possible? Because Steve Jobs squished the generational gap of technology, not by pushing his company to provide a product that just gets the function complete, but instead creating a product where form and function are orchestrated and intermingled into one and where the form is so overlying the function, the miracle behind it becomes as unseen as the Spirit; but it's there.


Steve Jobs changed the world. He gave us ease and beauty in productiveness. He infected us through the brilliance of his products, and at the same time, gave us a new standard of expectation. When enough people demand excellence, excellence will result. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for giving us excellence without us initially asking for it or even knowing we could get it. Thank you for giving us a better way because, for me, it is the only way.


Remain peaceful and find joy in every day ahead, Steve. Family, friends, and fans are sending good thoughts your way.


From a grateful Apple user that used to bleed 6 colors, and now just glows in excellence. Thanks.


The intention of this post was certainly not to offend PC-users. Apple fan or not, you have to give Steve Jobs credit for his impact on our world.

In honor of full disclosure, my husband's own business exists because Apple exists. And because of Apple, we have food on our table (and you know how much of a foodie I am) and a roof over our heads, along with other luxuries. I, however, was an Apple fan far before ever meeting my husband.

What I Made Wednesday {The Chores Game}

Fight the chore doldrums with this easy-to-make game that will get your children begging to play it over and over again (I went too far on that last part, sorry). Chores aren't my idea of a great time but the task is necessary. To make it fun, veil the task as a game. And, when you can get your kids involved in helping, there are life lessons being learned (a nice way of justifying child labor - kidding). Let's face it, nothing's cuter than a 5-year old holding a dust rag!

What You'll Need
- lots of ping pong balls depending on your list of chores
- a Sharpie pen
- a kitchen timer
- a nice storage bin to contain the balls and timer

What You'll Do
1. Gather the cheap labor children and come up with simple chores that are age-appropriate for all involved.

2. Write each chore on a ping pong ball with permanent marker. One chore per ball.

3. I like to have one ping pong ball be a FREEBIE and another be YOUR CHOICE.

4. Dump all the ping pong balls into your container.

5. Equip the busy bees appropriately by having all the supplies readily available in one central location.


How to Play
Now the fun part: getting the house back into shape while teaching teamwork. Have everyone agree to a specified time say 10 minutes. (As tempting as it is, don't start your teeny tiny cleaning crew with a time more than 15 minutes - they'll catch on too quick!) Set the timer and yell GO! Each child will close their eyes (no peeking) and choose a ping pong ball and make a mad dash to complete the written task at hand. 

When complete, the unsuspecting, but very willing participants will come back for another mission from the ping pong task master. When time runs out, the person with the most ping pong balls wins. If you don't like the competitiveness of it then set family records and try to beat your previous scores as a group.

 

This game is an equal opportunity employer - are the kids too young to read? No problem, just draw the task onto the ping pong ball. This craft is fun and easy! Your kids will learn responsibility, you'll get a tidier home, and you won't have to answer to the U.S. Department of Labor (or even the health department depending on how dire your circumstances).

* On a serious note, DO NOT expose your younglings to any kind of chemicals, etc. It is up to you to determine what your children can handle in way of cleaning supplies. The Swiffer Dusters are a great non-toxic dust rag that really gets the job done. (No I did not get paid by Swiffer to say that but if they'd like to have a sit-down, I'm all ears.)



Linky Party for W.I.M. Wednesday coming soon, but feel free to share your crafts and recipes in comments now, if you'd like.
 

God Bless the Laboring Man

Lilana Slater from dandelionseeds.com via Pinterest

My father has been a factory worker all his adult life. Factory work was an opportunity for people who came to America from another country to earn decent pay for their hard work in a, albeit,  tough, and dirty environment. You didn't have to speak English well to run a machine. And if you were smart and good with tools, you told the machine what to run and how to run it. That is my father. Now retired, my father is the smartest machinist I know. The foreman always used to give the most difficult jobs to my father to run. Why? Because it required more than just pushing a button. My father designed entire set-ups to some of the most difficult pieces/parts used in manufacturing today. Even retired, my father is called back to his former company as a consultant on some of the most difficult machine set-up jobs.

The work was long and hard, it was always hot and exhausting, and the environment was dark, dingy, and always dirty. But my father worked everyday in that muck to provide for his family. And provide he did. We lived in a small all-brick ranch house by the lake that my mother beautifully made into our home. He sent me to one of the best engineering schools in the country. And we never had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. My mother was able to stay home and raise me right (I needed that). My father did all this because he was given the opportunity to work and to save.

You are first-class all the way, Daddy. Now that I'm older and know better, I am so proud to be my father's daughter. Thank you, my Tata. Thank you for all the bittersweet sacrifices you've made along the way. And, thank you America for giving my father, new to this land so long ago, an opportunity to earn a better life, pursue happiness, and help strengthen the backbone of America.
(The following video requires Flash Player - sorry!)



Do you think American manufacturing will be able to offer to today's working men and women the same opportunities my dad had to make a living and a life?

Gratitude Journal Monday

Lilana Slater from Google via Pinterest

Happy Labor Day, America! It's Gratitude Journal Monday and today's declarations are dedicated to those people contributing to the social and economic worth of our country - 
the backbone of America!

41. I am grateful for all the shift work people that keep our factory machines humming day and night, 7-3, 3-11, 11-7.

42. I am grateful for all the office workers that keep a place operating smoothly while putting out daily fires.

43. I am grateful for all the transportation workers that distribute what we need across county lines or across state lines.

44. I am grateful for all our services providers that protect us and keep us out of harms way, teach our children, and clean up our trash, and the labor force that supports those efforts.

45. I am grateful for all the innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders whose visions and dreams, when brought forth, keep America working and earning.

Rest up, tomorrow is coming so we can do it all over again! 

What are your plans for Labor Day?

Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 10.

Go see the Gnome and Garden exhibit.

Goodbye long, sweet summer days of August.
Goodbye South Beach diet I really tried to follow.
Goodbye traffic-free week of driving to school - finally figured out the right time to leave.
Goodbye quiet in the house since trumpet practice is expected daily.
Goodbye most precious lunch with my Babi (grandmother); we'll have to do it again soon.

Hello cool days of September.
Hello amateur golf tournament.
Hello pasta party (now you see why South Beach diet didn't work for me).
Hello breaking bread with new friends (do I have to mention South Beach?).

Lilana Slater via  Danielle Mogstad

on Pinterest

Hello 3-day weekend; Happy Labor Day, everybody.

This week I learned happiness is contagious. Affect somebody today with your positive attitude. Don't infect them with negativity. Go about your day smiling and people will react positively to you. Try it!

What are you saying hello to this long, holiday weekend?

Going Local: Holden Arboretum

Gnome Improvement

Are you looking for a way to squeeze one more drop out of summer before hibernating under bed covers wrapped in a wool sweater sipping cocoa so warm you can feel the smooth chocolate flowing down your throat? Not ready for that yet, huh? Then gather up a picnic basket, pile the family into the people transporter, and head towards the lake (that's North). Holden Arboretum is a sanctuary of peace and tranquility to me. It is my ultimate most favorite place in the world. When you go, you'll know what I mean (the Rhododendron Garden is my favorite area). While there, plan to tour their current exhibit: Gnome and Garden. Gnomes as high as five feet tall were given to regional artists who used these statues as blank canvases of whimsy to create their own unique take on these magical protectors of our gardens. Holden Arboretum has great activities for the kids relating to the featured gnomes if you're interested, as well.

Gerome, the Recycled Gnome

Candy Gnome - son attempting to lick

Krazy Kubist Knome

Down the Rabbit Hole - a favorite

Favorite Spot in All of Holden

We grabbed some cream sodas, slapped together some turkey sandwiches, made a yummy Roasted Tomato and Olive Salad and hightailed it to search out the gnomes, all 20 of them scattered along the one-mile trail. I want to show you photos of all the gnomes but I don't want to ruin it for you. It's so much fun to be walking along the path, then suddenly, in the distance, you see this huge gnome. My heart went a-flutter after each glimpse of a new gnome discovery!

We practically had the park all to ourselves because we we're allowed to be there after-hours since we're members (I highly recommend this investment).

The Gnome and Garden exhibit runs only through September 25th. I hope you capture some of the whimsy and magic these gnomes have to offer and carry it with you through winter and into spring, when you can enjoy the gardens once again.

There is a fee to enter the park unless you are a member. At only $50 per year we are Maple members of Holden Arboretum so we get free admission and admittance to the park after-hours. The place is open year-round with seasonal activities to enjoy (love the snow-shoeing program). Imagine, the beauty of this preserved land for you to enjoy practically all to yourself! For more information about entrance fees, hours, directions, or membership, click here.


Do you have a gnome in your garden?