Official thank you from the food bank

Today I am very pleased to share with the world a formal thank you to my kids from the food bank. I hope that we will be able to top this number next year. We still have a few months to add to the total for this year. I will keep you posted on that effort. For now here is the nice letter that was sent to my kids.

April 8, 2009 Pravan and Priyasha Landry xxxx Willow Ranch Trail Reno, NV 89523 Dear Pravan and Priyasha, On behalf of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, thank you for organizing and coordinating the food drive during the Easter Egg Hunt at Summit Ridge Park. The food drive generated 339 pounds of food valued at $1.49 per pound for a total value of $505.11 With the help of your generous contribution, we have been able to feed over 65,000 people in Northern Nevada – almost 1 out of 10 people in the area. We primarily feed seniors on fixed incomes and families with children. These groups make up 87% of the people we are able to supply with food. I also want to take this time to thank you for your effort in 2008 when your Easter Egg Food Drive collected 246 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. In addition to the over 100 partner agencies, we also provide food through several outreach programs. These programs include but are not limited to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and Kids Cafe. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program staff and volunteers deliver boxes as far away as Eureka, Battle Mountain, Gerlach and Hawthorne. These boxes are for income eligible seniors. Approximately 30 boxes are also delivered each month to home bound seniors here in the Truckee Meadows. One gentleman in poor health eagerly awaits his box as this food is not just a supplement for him; it is the food he will live on for the next month as his meager veteran’s pension covers little more than his rent. The Kids Cafe programs serve an evening meal to children between 12 months and 18 years of age during the school year and a lunch meal during the summer. This summer at a food site, a record number of 182 children lined up in the extreme heat to receive a meal. Thank you again for your support and we look forward to our partnership in the future. Sincerely, Bill Kolton Bill Kolton Volunteer and Events Coordinator

Thank you for stopping by and sharing in the pride and joy Todd and I have for our kids.

Free Spirit !!!!

Updates, real numbers and still very busy !!!!!

Okay I heard back from the food bank and we are very pleased with the results. Here is the e-mail I got from them : Dear Easperee, Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. We weighed the food and a total of 339 pounds was collected. Using Feeding America's guidelines if $1.49 per pound for donated food, the total value of your donation is $505.11. Thank you again, Bill KoltonVolunteer and Events Coordinator I have finally taken some time to care for myself. I went to the dentist yesterday and got my teeth cleaned and then had a nice lunch date with hubby. Today I went to the doctor and I have a double sinus infection, double ear infections and an enlarged thyroid gland. I have blood work scheduled and an ultrasound of the thyroid gland scheduled this week. This is not going to be a mellow week for me. I am just glad that I will have some meds and can feel better soon. I am off to the channel 4 news room this afternoon to get a tour with the cub scout group and we get to watch the 5 o' clock news live. That will be so exciting. I am also baby sitting a little girl this afternoon so I will have one more kid for the night. Oh I also got good news that I am an aunt once again. Hubby's sister had a little baby girl named Westerly. She is a healthy little girl and all is well. Hope you are all doing great and I will fill you in on my week soon. Thanks for stopping by. Free Spirit !!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Hop one ! Hop all. Hop on over to
Pravan's sixth and Priyasha's third annual Easter egg hunt.
Sunday April 5, 2009 3pm-5pm
Meet at Summit Ridge Playground Close to K-mart and Home Depot
Bring your favorite basket, A dish to share
Pass the news to all moms you know.
Just one rule, no candy in the eggs please.
Entry fee is 3 cans of food for the food bank or more. This is Pravan and Priyasha’s second year helping the food bank. Please join the kids on their mission to feed the hungry.Please forward this to everyone you know as it is an open invitation. I would like to fill more than one barrel of food for the food bank.
See you there for an eggciting time!
Easperee, Pravan and Priyasha
830-6377 http://www.twoworldsunite.blogspot.com/

This was the info that was floating around on the e-mails and via word of mouth. This was the sixth year that I hosted it and it was Priyasha's third year as she is only three. Collecting food for the food bank started out as a threat at the dinner table with the kids. I told them that lots kids were starving and go to bed with no food.Next thing I know the harshness of the truth right around us and far away was too much for either one of my kids as they were both in tears. They wanted to share their dinner with the hungry kids and so the food bank collection for my kids and I was born. This year is year two we are supporting the food bank.
It was a bigger success than last year and we are so happy that we can help. The food bank is 35 % up in their demand for food yet with the down economy they need your help more then ever. Todd and I are very proud of the kids and I will do all I can to help support their dreams. The little people are making a difference with our help and I hope you will take the time to donate some food to the food bank in your area or do something similar and bless someone in need.
The big day has finally arrived. We have been promoting this while over a month now. I had passed out 250 fliers in my son's school amongst the first graders and kindergartners. There also was a large group of my friends that helped me pass out the invite. I really was expecting a large group of people today. I was actually nervous about it. It was extremely successful. Lots of people close to 100 showed up. We filled up a huge barrel of food. Each barrel can hold up to 250 pounds. The guy who picked it up estimated that we had 362 pounds of food. I will get the exact figure in the morning and update you.

As you many of you know the kids and I have a goal to get 10 barrels of food by the end of the school year. We have one down and nine more to go. After spring break we will have the schools on the area involved and a few local business's that will help out as well. I am now drained and really sick. I hope to have a some what quiet week and rest up. I have scheduled rest in this week and a doctor's appointment and a dentist appointment.It is about time this body got a tune up. I sure do like being in 10Th gear but the wheels need some grease and I earned my rest. Thank you for helping me help my kids help all the other kids that need some food. Here is a poster and the invite so you can see what we have been up to.

A big thank you to David Spillers from Digi Print Reno for sponsoring the posters. http://www.digiprintcorporation.com/ David was very generous to sponsor some fantastic posters that will be used in the schools to promote this mission. Thank you to Kirk Bailey who helped make today's event a success and help me get the posters sponsored.

Part two

I want to say a big thank to all the people that have assisted me in making today a huge success. We could not have done it without you. Thank you for reading the great achievements of my kids. I will keep you updated on how we are doing with our goal of 10 barrels. Thanks for stopping by and reading our story.
Free Spirit !!!

What a blast or a blur !!!!!!!

The turn out last night was fantastic. It was incredible to see how many woman came to celebrate with me. I had a wonderful time. If I really drank all the drinks that were offered to me I would have had alcohol poisoning. Every time I turned around someone offered to buy me wine.

I am a martini gal and stuck to my martini's. It was a great night. Thank you to all the ladies that came out and celebrated with me. I appreciated the gal's night out. It was so awesome to have such a diverse group of woman be my friends. This really was the first birthday celebration I ever had and it was a blast. My very good friend Brandy baked me the cake and everybody sang to me. First they sang in English, then in French, then in Russian and also Spanish. By the end of the night we had about 22 woman that drank with me and had a great time. Still I had several regrets from lots more woman that could not make it for various reasons. My Filipino,Korean or Vietnamese friends were not there. I wish I had recorded them singing. It was great. So since I am from South Africa I am going to find out how to sing it in Afrikaans and also in an Indian language. I should know how but sadly I don't. We were all in the wine shop a mile away from home. Some people got food from the Bistro where I work on the weekends and ate it at the wine shop. It seemed like through out the night we arranged the entire wine store. We kept adding tables and we made a train of tables and it was great. When they sang to me we took over the over place. It really felt like it was just us but it was busy last night. The bar usually close at 9pm but stayed open for us until 10pm. Then we got kicked out. My friend Suzanne smuggled champagne in but we had to get some to go cups and took the champagne and another bottle of wine and took the party outside. We sat on the chairs next to the fire place. The group trickled down to a few of us but we had a blast until we all needed to pee. I had a ride home with Jennifer, a friend and neighbor. Instead of going home she and I decided to go to another bar and get food. before we sat down we found the bathroom. I was in a desperate rush to pee. I ran into the ladies room and pushed the first door and next thing I know there was a loud scream. I slammed the door into another woman that was peeing. The power of a lock is priceless in the public restroom. I ran to the next stall and then later found out it was the woman in the wine place that I had take our group picture. It was so funny and we had a good laugh. We ordered food and drinks but never finished it. We headed home about 1:30 am and that last part feels like a blur. Today I am drained and exhausted. No hang over though which is a good thing. I am very happy that I had my first party after planning all those wonderful parties for my kids. It was a blast and feels good to be loved. Thanks for reading. I will post pics soon from Priyasha's birthday party.

Free Spirit !!!!

April Fools Day !!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me. These are the cards I received in the mail so far from family. Hubby surprised me with this lovely bouquet of flowers. They were delivered to the house and it was not what I was expecting at all. Today I plan on getting my hair cut and styled and to wax my eye brows and lips. It should be a good day as I plan on pampering myself. I am very excited and looking forward to ladies night out. I planned on meeting over 20 woman tonight at the wine shop about a mile away from my house. I just read a few e-mails asking if it was an April fools joke. No it is not. I am really born on April 1. I hope the joke is not on me and people do show up. It is going to be a blast. I hope you all pull put a fabulous trick to play on your loved ones. Last year I melted marshmallow in a pan and dropped them by the spoonful around a dried apricot. It looked like a sunny side up egg. I took it to Pravan's class and played a trick on all his classmates. I also made a cake out of ground beef and used cocoa in the meat so it looked like chocolate. For the frosting I used mashed potatoes and colored it red with beet juice. Yeah it sounds nasty and I did not dare try it. I gave it to a friend as a joke and never heard about it. Must have been awful. Oh those were a few things I did last year. Today I am going to cut out all the extras and have this day be for me. Wish me a happy happy birthday. This will be the first real semi- sort of party for me. I have never had a party before so I am thrilled that so many woman I know will share this day with me. Hope nobody made you too much of a fool. Free Spirit !!!!

Class Act Honoree

A week ago I received a phone call from the school Principal letting me know that Pravan was invited to the school district board meeting with the board of trustees and the superintendent. Pravan was thrilled and so was I. All of this took place yesterday after school.

As soon as Bill Chronister the school principal at Westergard Elementary school sat with Pravan , his little sister yelled out from the back of the room " HI " You can see the principal laugh and wave to her.

You can see her taking his spot and pushing him out of the way.

Priyasha is usually shy and will just cling to me and that was what I was expecting. However she stole the lime light away from her brother. It was a little comedy show and Pravan did not get a chance to talk very much. "Do you want to introduce your mom and sister ? " the board members asked. " NO " was Pravan's response. The crowd laughed.

Priyasha grabbed the microphone and told everybody her name and then told them my name. She loved the attention and amused everybody. At the end of the recognition they asked Pravan to step aside to take a picture and she said " I can't believe it " She is already loud so with the microphone you could hear her a block away. I laughed too, it was so funny and now I feel embarrassed and mortified. Not once did I remember to thank the board or remind Pravan to do so. I did loose some sleep over this as I want to teach the kids the right things. I was flustered and distracted by the class act of a three year old. To fix this I call the superintendent this morning and we will have a chance to stand in front of the board at the next meeting and thank them publicly for honoring Pravan.

Just an update on "Pravan and Priyasha's mission to feed the hungry".

I have 3000 sheets of paper sponsored by a local paper company in Reno " JC Paper " Keystone printing has offered to print me 10 000 fliers with a message that will go home with the kids so they can bring canned food to the school.I have another company that will be printing us 11 x 14 posters to attach to the food barrels. This is what the poster will look like.

The goal has now been changed to 10 barrels of food. Each will hold 250 pounds of food. We hope to collect almost 1000 pounds of food.I have selected six elementary schools in the area that will host a barrel each.

I am talking with some local business's to help out and we have the egg hunt planned for April 5Th which will bring in one barrel or two.

I have been busy running this campaign for a six and three year old. This is nuts, what will they do next ? Run for president. I am thrilled that I have taken words of out my kids mouths and escalated it to the next level. We all need to believe that the kids even though they are little , they can make a huge difference. Todd and I are very proud of the kids and hope this will encourage others out there in this tough economy to step up and help out no matter how small the gesture is. I am hoping the video will be on the school website soon so you too can laugh at the kids the way I did and all those people that cared enough to attend a meeting like this out of pure concern for the future of the kids. Note this is a public meeting and all is welcome.The people you see in the background are strangers to me.

This is Barbara Clark. She is the president of the Board of Trustees.

Below is a picture of the resolution Pravan received from the district. This is a huge honor for a six year old and we are proud. I will keep you posted on how the food drive is going. Wish the kids luck.

Thanks for stopping by.

Free Spirit !!!

St Patty's Day part two

We went to cub scouts tonight and it was a lot of fun. We sat in a circle and the first person whispered a sentence in the next person's ear.We kept doing it and the last person has to say it out loud. Almost every time the sentence was different. This was a lesson for them to understand that when a story is repeated it changes from person to person. All was well until we were leaving. Pravan was at the door and his friend was running toward him. Pravan decided to run toward his friend but his friend tried to turn around and run away.The timing was bad and the other kid's nose smashed into Pravan's head. He cried so loud and I was scared. There was a lot of blood and his mom came running. I felt so awful and helped to stop the bleeding. Pravan immediately apologised to me and ran away to hide in fear of being in trouble. Priyasha stood there and cried as well as the other kid was crying. The mom was nice and told me that boys will be boys. Pravan apologised to his friend and when we got home he called him and made sure he was okay. We sat down to a nice corn beef and cabbage dinner. My night is almost winding down and I am enjoying a glass of wine. Happy St Patty's Day !!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Free Spirit !!!

Happy St Patty's Day

Wow it is finally here.Happy green day. Everybody was so green day. We went to story time and all the kids and moms wore green. At Pravan's school this morning almost everyone wore green and there was so much excitement as the kids came into the classroom to discover what the leprechaun brought and if anyone caught him. Pravan was very excited as he lifted up his trap but there was no leprechaun. He did get a gold coin though. Here are pictures I took this morning. I am planning on taking a few more of the kids together when Pravan gets home soon. Then it is dinner time and off to a cub scout meeting. Thankfully Priyasha is taking a nap. She had a friend come over and play all morning and is tired and so am I. Well Happy St Patty's day to you all. Enjoy corn beef and cabbage and hope for lots of green to come your way. I know I will.

Updates and coming attractions !!!!

Life has been a whirlwind and I am running on pure adrenalin. Wow !!!! Where do I begin. Okay I keep adding more to my schedule and I am not willing to knock anything off. Blogging has taken a back seat but that has not stopped me from visiting other blogs. Okay there is a lot of good things going on. Priyasha turned three and her b-day spa party with about 14 girls was a blast. Pics and details to follow soon. Pravan recently received an invitation by the board of trustees and the school district to attend their board meeting this month. This is so he is recognized for his good deeds and getting the award. Before we found out about that he set a goal of collecting 25 barrels of food. Ia m told that each will hold about 250 pounds will be total over one ton with just ten. More details to follow on this mission we are calling "Pravan and Priyasha's mission to feed the hungry." The postcard mission is still on and has been successful. It is ongoing and we have reached six continents. We still need some from South America. If you want to send the kids some please refer to the link above for details. Also see the links at SCS. The ladies there have been wonderful and have helped a lot. I appreciate their time and generosity in sending the kids cards as well as spreading the word via e-mail and by posting on their blogs as well. Your help is welcomed. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13417354#post13417354 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13417354#post13417354 My B-day night out with the ladies on April 1 is in the works. Yes I am a April fools baby. NO JOKE !! The Easter egg hunt and food bank cause is scheduled for April 5Th. Pravan is very busy with cub scouts and that keeps me busy too. He will cross over from a tiger to wolf in May. Details to follow We were successful in building a tricky leprechaun trap and it was a delight to see Pravan so excited and creative. Pic's and details tomorrow. I am babysitting for three families now and I got a job on Fr, Sat and Sun at a restaurant a mile away from home. I work 10 hours a day and kissed my weekends goodbye. Just what I need to do for now but it has been a hard transition. I love being outside the home and this has been a wonderful thing for me and a much needed break from all the kids. Met a wonderful new neighbor and he gave me wonderful backgrounds to take pics with and I am so thrilled. I am exchanging baby sitting for these and I cannot wait to get my dream camera the D300 and get more serious about photography. I should be getting lights from this neighbor as well. I am more than thrilled. Pics will be up soon. Okay there is so much more to tell you about but you will have to check back. Got to run. Have a sponsor for 10 000 fliers to send to the kids at the schools so we can get more barrels filled. SSHHHHHHH!!!!! I am exhausted and need to schedule time to chill out. I feel like a real secretary as I have been talking to the media, the paper and the schools etc to get as much guidance and help to make this food drive successful for the kids. Check back soon and I look forward to any suggestions and feedback for the food drive. Free Spirit !!!

Proud, Protective and passed out

Hello friends. I have been absent for a while but I have been following a lot of your blogs. There is a lot going on in my life right now. All good things but a few minor adjustments. I have taken on more tasks and as a result my blogging has taken a back seat. I have so much to share with you. So stay posted as I have lots of good things to show you. Priyasha will be three years old or as she used to say " I am two going on twenty " Now she has changed that to " I am three going on twenty three " OH so cute. I am planning her party and it is going to be a blast. I cannot wait to show you all she and I have been working on. For now I uploaded loads of pics and wanted to share these that go back to Pravan's fame. That day it aired on TV I had several unexpected guests but it was a pleasant surprise. A few of Pravan's friends showed up and were able to watch him on TV. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Thanks for stopping by and as always I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

When Pravan saw himself on TV he was so embarrassed and shy. He is in blue, can you tell ?

We had his friend Dylan and his sister Raya who is Priyasha's BFF. They are holding each other. They we have Joshua and Bethany who are siblings and both are Pravan and Priyasha's friends.

When his friends left he wanted to watch it again and since I had it recorded Pravan and his sister watched it one more time.

After dinner Pravan got to dig into his cookie basket and gobble up cookies.These cookies were from a gourmet cookie shop and were presented to him with the award.They were yummy !!!!!

Pravan is very protective of his award. He asks me to shine the glass with glass cleaner almost everyday and this is a pic of him the night he was on TV and he took the award to bed with him.

Passed Out, Protective and Proud !!!!

Thanks for reading our proud parent story.

Free Spirit !!!