It is better to give than to receive

The best things in life are free….. Trying to tell a child that it is better to give than to receive is an extremely difficult thing to explain. I think that it was a job well done when these cub scouts got to go and sing Xmas carols to old folks at a nursing home. The kids were so happy to find someone to hand out their special ornament that they made and to hand out a decorated candy cane. That was special and they were happy to see that their kind gesture even though small brough a smile to a sad face. Xmas lights : $10 Xmas tree :$25 Toys : $100 Joy to someone else : PRICELESS That is exactly what all these adorable cub scouts did today. They spent their Sunday afternoon visiting a senior nursing home. There were so many sad lonely faces and once they saw the troops march in you could see their faces light up. Each and everyone of them has a story behind their wrinkled skin that marks their age. There seemed to be more woman than men but they are somebody’s daughter or son. They were somebody’s mother, father, sister or brother. They were somebody’s husband or wife. Somebody’s mother, father. Grandmother, grandfather and even maybe a great grandmother or great grand father. Whatever their story is and wherever their days have taken them they all seem to seek the comfort in each other that were strangers no too long ago. Pravan never knew what a nursing home was but now he knows. This was an amazing experience to us both. I find living in America and raising my kids such a joy and an eye opener through a child's eyes as I have never experienced so many things like this and I am blessed to experience it all with my wonderful kids mostly through their eyes for the first time right along with them and that is truly magical. The cubs sang their carols and then handed out ornaments they made and also candy canes to the seniors. Some of them were so happy to see us. They seemed hopeful and yet so lonely. When we talked with them they said they wished they would have family visit with them on Xmas. It brought tears to my eyes to see such loneliness in their eyes. I am glad the cubs got to do a good deed and their little sweet voices brought so much joy to these folks. I am so glad Pravan takes the cub scouts seriously and really enjoys it as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Free Spirit !

Naked mail

Whhooooooohooo !!!! Did that get your attention !

I have been busy making these for a swap on splitcoaststampers. There was a dollar limit and we have to mail these on Dec 15 to a name that we received. It is sort of a secret sister swap. We have a lot of ladies playing and this was totally my idea. I am sure the post office workers are going to go crazy. The idea was to mail all kinds of scrap booking goodies in any sort of a container and it cannot be placed in a box or wrapped. I chose a one gallon water bottle. I made three of these so I have had to drink a lot of water. Three gallons in three days. Yes I spent a lot of time tinkling at the white house.

If you are from the swap on SCS then this is what you may or may not receive. Only two of you will get this. Leave me a comment if yo uthink it is you and if you guess right I will send you a little something extra seperately for being so naught as to peek. LOL !!!!

This was so cute and Pravan suggested we make one for his cousin Addison who is so adorable and only 18 months old. He and Priyasha bought her some stuffed animals and we packed them in the bottle as well. Hope you like them and you should give it a try. All you do is empty out a bottle, cut a rectangular opening in it and stuff. Seal shut with clear tape and conceal opening with address label. Then mail to a friend and see if they can figure out how to get into it. Have any questions, post me a comment and I will try to help you out.

Thanks for looking.

For my neice. Filled with stuffed animals.

Partly wrapped with gift wrap. Sort of looks like a coke wrapper.

Thanks for looking.

Free Spirit !

Xmas shoot with kids

This year we decided not to do a family picture for our Xmas card. I did use a family picture we took in August for Pravan's birthday shoot. I however just had to take the kids in to JC Penny and got these pictures taken. They did a great job and all of these pictures were forwarded via e-mail. I just had to share. Thanks for looking ! Warning !!!! There is a lot of pictures.

Free Spirit !

Tragic acceident

The news in San Diego now is that four people died from the crash. This makes me so sad as this family a stay at home mom, 2 month old, 15 month old and the grandmother all died. Their is an on going investigation as to what really happened. I am so saddened by this. Read more on it here :http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28156838/ Free Spirit !

F-18 crashes

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28115760/from/ET/ Now this is why I was freaking out when that F-18 was pulling stunts right above our house a while ago. Things like this is no longer unusual. You know when I was a kid I always heard people say " If you are in your house , you won't die from a plane crash or a car running you over " Gone are those days as these days it is becoming more and more common. Not sure what happened with this plane but it crashed and now someone has lost their home. It is not yet determined if there are any injuries. I just needed to share in case you read my previous post and thought I was a nut job for freaking out. Those jets are not toys and even when you fly them with experience and care something unfortunate can happen and that is why when the pilot that flew the plane above my house decided to take if a joy ride I complained to everyone in authority that would listen. After talking with the Mayor's office, Reno Aviation, the Fallon Naval base I received several follow up calls and assurance that the pilot at fault was going to be facing some severe consequences. I am glad that the pilot of the F-18 crashing in California was able to bail out and is safe. These freak accidents do happen but the less reckless we are the better than chance that we can be safe. Better safe than sorry I say. If you have not read the post I am referring to , here is the link. http://twoworldsunite.blogspot.com/2008_11_13_archive.html Free Spirit !

Ho ! Ho ! Ho!

I have been away from the cyber world for a while now. I have been very busy since I returned from the Magical Kingdom. I still have to go through all those pics and edit and post. I more than likely will break it up into a series type of post and post a little and tell the story and the memories we made. Well this week has been one wild ride and Santa has been a busy chap himself. Our last day at Disney and I had a date with Priyasha and stayed behind later than the guys. On our walk back to Paradise Pier ( our resort hotel ) I took a short cut through a another hotel and Priyasha spotted Santa. We had to stop and visit with him. She was so happy sit see him. She could hardly contain herself when it was her turn. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her and crashed right into Santa's arms. It was so cute.

She hugged him a for good while and then asked to sit on his lap. It was real magical to watch her face light up. This trip was truly amazing. Not just seeing Santa but seeing the princesses and all the other characters. I was deliriously happy the whole time and I was the biggest kid. It was my first time too. I just love Disneyland now.

Priyasha was busy asking Santa for what is on her wish list.

I love this intense look they both have.

Pravan was not with me but when we went back to our room I alked hom into walking across the street with me. He had no idea what he wanted so I asked him to think about it as we walked together hand in hand in the dark. When we got there he told me that he knew what he was going to ask but it was a secret.

Santa says " What do you want for x-mas young man ? "

Pravan responds " I think ..... "

He thought about it for a minute as I stood there clicking away trying to get a good shot of them together.

Finally Pravan says in a loud voice " I want five thousand bucks !!!!! "

I almost fell over laughing so hard.I am not sure where he heard the word bucks from and then to ask Santa for that in an economic crisis no less. The look Santa gave me was priceless. I laughed so hard and I was not alone laughing either. We had quiet the audience and he was not quiet about asking.

Santa said :" hhhmmhh what will you do with all that money ? "

He then whispered something in his ear and looked at me and told me

" I told you it is a secret mom "

Santa said " I have that kind of money but I need it to buy parts for all the toys that my elves are making for all the little boys and girls, what else would you like ? "

Pravan said " That's all I want for x-mas and it will make me happy "

At this moment it was still a secret to me and I was not sure what they were talking about.

Pravan then got off Santa's lap and I asked to have my picture taken with Santa as an excuse to hear what the secret was.

Santa said " You have raised a very thoughtful young man, he wants too use the money to buy you the camera and all the accessories for it for

x-mas " That was a huge compliment coming from Santa.

That so precious and completely melted my heart. I really reduced me to tears. I could not believe he asked Santa for something for me. What makes it even more sweet is that he wanted it to be a secret and did not ask for anything else for himself.

I then asked one of Santa's elves to tell Pravan that he will get a bonus gift at an unexpected time as he is so sweet and thinks of other people. As we walked outside Pravan asked to see the pictures on the camera so we sat on a bench. He immediately found a light saber which is what he has been secretly wanting. He was so thrilled. He grabbed it and yelled out. " The elf told me I will get a surprise gift from Santa and this is it ! " i just hugged him and told him that all good deeds are rewarded and his was not going unnoticed by Santa. He believes. Do you ???? Thank you for stopping by and reading my blurbs. I have so many more magical moments to share and will do so in the next few days. Come back to see more good stuff.

Photo Challenge # 27 motion shots

Booyah Cramer !!!! This is for Jim Cramer from the Mad Money show. " "Booyah Cramer" is what Priyasha screamed out as she threw a ton of $100 bills. It will be a long time before she can toss around money like this again. I could not have planned for a more perfect placement of the bills and her expression as well.

Boys and mud. He had a blast and I hosed him off when he was done.

Flying kids.

Bouncing bouncing Tiggerific tigger ....

Loves to jump ! Can you tell ???

Soccer contortionist

I just got home after a 10 hour drive and it is very late. As soon as I walked through the door I turned on the computer. The kids were asleep in the car and nothing else was unloaded. I then took care of the mommy duties but needed the pc to boot up as I did my motherly duty. I have so many more pics like this but cannot locate them all. I have so many pics from Disney but need to upload and sort, delete, edit etc etc. I have chosen these from my archives. Thank you for letting me play.

Check out more action shots at

http://www.photochallengebog.blogspot.com/

Let me know which is your favorite.

Free Spirit !