Memorial Day Thanks

As we prepare to celebrate Memorial Day in honor of America's warriors (and their families) who have sacrificed so much to keep the rest of us safe, please remember...each member of the U.S. military, active or retired, living or dead, deserves our thanks and honor every single day, but particularly on Memorial Day.

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:


by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.

by visiting memorials.

by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.

by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).

by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.

by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Enjoy these Fun Mom Facts


Surprising Numbers:
82.5 million of moms in the U.S. - 2 Billion moms throughout the world.

4.3 Babies born each second!

82% of women aged 40-44 years old who are mothers. In 1976, 90% of women in that age group were mothers.

25 is the average age of new moms. In 1970 it was 21.

40% of all births are the mother's first.

4.0 Million is the number of women who have babies each year. Of this number, about 425,000 are teens aged 15-19, and more than 100,000 are age 40 or over.

35,000 births are attended by physicians, midwives or others that do not occur in hospitals.

2 is the average number of children that women today can expect to have in their lifetime.

3 is the average number of children that women in Utah and Alaska can expect to have in their lifetime.

Only about 10% of women have four or more children today. In 1976, 36% of women had four or more children.

1 in 5 preschoolers are cared for in a day-care center while their mother works.

August is the most popular Birth Month.

Tuesday is the most popular day of the week in which to have a baby.

The odds of a woman delivering twins is 1-in-32.

10 Million is the number of single mothers living with children under 18 years old. This number is up from 3 million in 1970.

105 Boys are born for every 100 Girls.


Mommy Chore Facts:

Women average 2.2 hrs / day on chores, vs. 1.3 hrs / day for men.

88% of Laundry is done by moms, totaling 330 loads of laundry and 5,300 articles of clothing each year.

The least favorite chore for moms is vacuuming the stairs.

A baby has 7,300 diaper changes by it's 2nd birthday.

Moms take 2 minutes, 5 seconds to change a diaper vs. 1 minute, 36 seconds for dads. For moms, this adds up to 3, 40-hour work weeks each year - just changing diapers!

Preschoolers require mom's attention once every 4 minutes or 210 times a day.

A preschooler's mom spends 2.7 hrs / day on primary childcare, vs 1.2 hours for dad.


Mommy Records:
Mrs. Vassilyev of Russia gave birth to 69 children between 1725 and 1766.

Rosanna Dalla Corte gave birth to a baby boy when she was 63 years old in Italy in 1994.

Signora Carmelina Fedele gave birth to a 22 lb 8 ox boy in Italy in 1955.



Mother's Day Facts:
Mother's Day is the third largest card sending occasion.

Moher's Day was made a National Holiday in 1914 by President Wilson. It was started in 1908.


68% of people plan to call Mom on Mother's Day, totaling 122.5 million phone calls making it the busiest phone day of the year.


50% of households give Mother's Day cards which equals 152 million cards.


Mother's Day will generate $5 Billion dollars in revenue from greeting-card publishers.

Waxing Philosophical

Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence. Each day is a special gift from God, and while life may not always be fair, you must never allow the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future. You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity, and the sour sound of whining will certainly frighten away any opportunity for success.

Live this day as if it will be your last.
Remember that you will only find tomorrow on the calendars of fools.
Forget yesterday's defeats and ignore the problems of tomorrow. This is it. Doomsday. All you have. Make it the best day of your year.
The saddest words you can ever utter are, If I had my life to live over again.
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet, friend or foe, loved one or stranger, as if they were going to be dead at midnight.
Extend to each person, no matter how trivial the contact, all the care and kindness and understanding and love that you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward.
Your life will never be the same again.

A Spring Show

Yesterday I traveled to my parent's house in Cazenovia, NY for a Spring show & sale. It was a gorgeous day and everything looked so pretty I wanted to share my photos with you.