Hero

Two sweet boys… two years apart

/ Jodi / 39 Comments

scan20160925_21071045

Once upon a time…   (isn’t that how all fairy tales begin?)
there was a young woman

whose dreams came true
when she was blessed with the gift

of two sweet boys
two years apart.

The young mom lived next
to another young mom

who had a boy and two girls
a few years older.

The one little girl
came to visit quite often.

She loved the other mom’s babies,
and the mom loved the little girl.

Her name was Stefanie,
but the boys could not say that,

so she became “Bunny”
forever and always.

Time and distance
have a way of dividing

people and lives
even those that are special.

But time and distance
can also be overcome

like it was this past weekend
for that mom and sweet “Bunny”

when the news of another
baby brought them together.

Some special relationships
are simply meant to be

like the mom who will now
soon be a grandmother

and the little girl who now
is the best momma to her own

two sweet boys
two years apart.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

This post is dedicated and written in love to a very special young lady and mom, Stefanie (“Bunny”).  Thank you for reaching out.  Thank you for sharing your time and your heart and your little loves.  You are my hero, sweet Momma.   Keep doing it right! ❤

 

 

 

 

Pay it Forward Christmas Gift & Challenge

/ Jodi / 20 Comments

If you are looking for the ABSOLUTE MOST AMAZING Holiday Gift, look no further.  I am SO excited to share this idea!  This is a gift that is suitable for ANY and EVERYone on your Holiday / Christmas List!

My BFF, Jill, nailed it this year!  She is the most creative, generous, kind, caring, loving person ever, and I am so lucky to have her in my life.

So here is what arrived on our doorstep Friday afternoon…

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 1

a box filled with a variety of Pay it Forward Random Acts of Christmas Kindness activities – – complete with an “instruction booklet,” story about why Jill and Todd wanted to do this, and even every little gift card and item needed to fulfill each act of kindness!

Let me walk you through it page by page.  It started out with an introduction…

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 2and short story (which included us! 🙂  YAY!  Our families have been BFFs since our first babies, and our kids have grown up together like one big batch of brothers and sisters.  We LOVE it!  And we love all of them.

“Happy Holidays,  In the spirit of the holidays, Todd and I decided to try to engage you in a “Pay it Forward Challenge” this year.  Years ago, our best friends, the McKinney’s, asked their elf Sammy to send us our own elf for the holidays.  Sammy sent Jingle so we could share in the tradition.  Jingle spent years making sure Jackie, Jayme, Julie and Jake were behaving.  But now Jingle has a new plan…”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 3

“We are hoping that you will join Jingle in the movement and take the opportunity to participate in a few of the Pay it Forward challenges.  If possible, we would like you to document the activities with pictures, posts and hashtags.  Send pictures to [Jill’s email], upload on Instagram or post to your Facebook page and tag me.”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 4

“Every Act of Kindness Grows the Spirit and Strengthens the Soul”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 5

For the first challenge, Jill included a $2 bill, chalk, glitter, and even an itty bitty dispenser of tape!  Directions:  Tape the $2 bill to the sidewalk, sprinkle some glitter, and add a note for the unsuspecting recipient.

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 6

Next was a bright yellow tennis ball with the word “Fetch” written on it.  Directions:  Locate a dog that appears to be missing the element of fun in their life.  Throw them the fetch ball and capture the sheer joy.”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 7

Next was a bottle of Coke with a tag saying, “You are So-Da Bomb!”  Directions:  Let someone in your life know they are “DA BOMB” and important part of your life.  Cheers!”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 8

Next was a box of M&M’s with a note on it for our mail carrier saying, “Thanks for driving Miles & Miles to bring us our mail.”  Directions:  Place this package in your mailbox to let your mail carrier know that you appreciate their dedication in the rain, snow, sleet and hail!”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 9

This was followed by one that I was extremely touched by.  Jill hand addressed an envelope to her “adopted soldier,” put a stamp on it, and included a blank note card.  Directions:  Take a few moments to write Christian Granada a personal note.  He is the soldier I have adopted as my Home Front Hugs Hero.  Christian is part of Operation Enduring Freedom and involved in some dangerous work clearing roads of bombs, so support is critical.  Just mention me in your note.  This is one I’d like to ask all of my readers to participate in with us if you could.  Would you send a note or card to Christian Granada, Homefront Hugs Hero, 43d CEC / 3 CR, 00 Fenty, APO AE  09354?  Just let him know you are sending it from Jill’s Pay it Forward Challenge.”  We’d be so grateful!

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 10

The next one included a sparkly bottle of bright red nail polish.  Directions:  Find a friend or relative to pamper and pain your ‘mistle toes’ together.

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 11

Next came a bag of Mistletoe labeled, “Christmas Kiss.”  Directions:  Can you get anyone to partake in the traditional kiss under the mistletoe?”

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 12

And how sweet is this idea?  A quarter tapes to a star saying, “Have a Great Day!”  Directions:  Tape a quarter to a bubblegum machine to brighten a child’s day!

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 13

This was followed by a bag of microwave popcorn with a note saying, “Movies shouldn’t be watched without popcorn.  Enjoy this treat with your movie.”  Directions:  Find a Red Box in your neighborhood to place the popcorn on and see if anyone is brave enough to take it. 

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 14

Another great activity included a $5 Little Caesar’s gift certificate.  Directions:  Think about providing a homeless person with a pizza or take a few moments to share a pizza with a friend.

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 15

The next one included a $5 McDonald’s gift card.  Directions:  Visit a McDonald’s drive thru and tape the Arch Card to the ordering speaker to provide a surprise to one of the next cars in line.RACK Pay it Forward 2014 16

The last one contained a box of candy canes, streamers, and a sign that says, “You’ve been RACKed!”  Directions:  Pick a random location and let the candy cane bomb explode and bring minty happiness.

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 18

Now is this not the BEST gift idea ever?!!

RACK Pay it Forward 2014 17

I have Jill’s permission and blessing to share this idea with you.

She actually made and shipped 25 of these to her family and friends.  Did I not tell you she is quite amazing?!!!

Our hope and desire is that you may want to try this or create one yourself.  Let’s #PayItForward and spread some #RACK – Random Acts of Christmas Kindness!  Please feel free to reblog, tweet, post on your Facebook page, and spread the love!  🙂

Cheers & Kind Hugs,

Jodi

P.S.   Be watching for some future posts where I will be sharing some of our experiences with this Pay it Forward Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Challenge.  I hope you will share yours also!

Stella Star – remembering grandma

/ Jodi / 41 Comments
Grandma & Grandpap, Johnny & Jodi - 1968

Grandma & Grandpap, Johnny & Jodi – 1968

Grandma was my F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E person in the whole wide world growing up.

I have so many happy memories about Grandma I could probably write an entire book.

I took a walk on my lunch break yesterday afternoon in between raindrops and thunderstorms, and for some reason, I thought about Grandma an extra lot on that walk.

I think everything about early summer – the sights, the sounds, the smells – remind me of Grandma.

Maybe it is because I spent almost EVERY SINGLE DAY of EVERY SINGLE SUMMER growing up at Grandma’s house.

Oh – it was the BEST camp ever!

I learned so much from a lady that had to quit school in 4th grade to stay home and take care of her three younger brothers after their young mother passed away. At the ripe ole’ age of about 9 or 10, Grandma became mother, housewife, laundress, seamstress, cook, repair person, gardener and lawn tenderer. Can you even imagine? And this is long before automatic washing machines and dryers and sewing machines, disposable diapers, microwaves, cell phones, Google and Youtube, even indoor bathrooms! This was hard work – all day long – every day.

So though grandma was not formally educated, she was one of the smartest people I knew, and I learned so much from her – more than I realized at the time and even more the older I get looking back. She taught me important STUFF about real life – about cooking – about nature – about relationships – about acceptance and being the best of yourself. It was often disguised in humor or tough love or late night talks or swings on the porch or while picking blackberries. She wasn’t really trying to teach me by telling me how to be or what to say or how to act (or was she?). She lived her life in a way that demonstrated it and allowed me to experience it.

Oh she did some pretty UN-smart things too……. Like cutting off half of her middle finger on the lawn mower blade while trying to remove stuck grass without shutting off the mower…. Or cleaning some tough grime off the kitchen floor with gasoline and getting too close to the oven and catching the house on fire….

She never got her driver’s license after driving THROUGH the garage door, but she somehow managed to get around.

G3

Grandma, Jodi & Jake 1987

She couldn’t balance a checkbook, but she was the best penny pincher and gift giver ever.

She did, however, make the absolute best blackberry pie, coffee soup (half coffee/half milk and lots of crumbled up saltines or chunks of toast), homemade sauerkraut and pierogies and halupkis and liver ball soup and apricot bread and nut rolls and salmon patties and dandelion salad and dumplings – oh my!

She also taught me things like how to make beautiful, colorful bouquets of Queen Ann’s Lace (many consider a weed) by putting food coloring in a mason jar vase of water so that when the flowers “drank the water,” their white petals turned pink or green or blue.

She taught me how to build a tent and a fort and how to camp out in the woods (about 500 feet from the house – but oh so far and vast when I was young). Thought I must admit I’m still not very good at that woodsy stuff…. Trying!

She could also splice electrical wires and do plumbing repairs.

She even allowed me to learn through crazy experiments like the time my friend, Janet and I decided we were going to boil worms (in her kitchen) for a science fair experiment! Or clean myself up in her bathroom with her yellow towels after experimenting with a mud mask facial – with REAL mud from the gravel road! (Oh the breakout after that escapade…)

What a sport she was – what a mentor – what a hero!

When grandma got older and became sick, it was my time to repay her. I hope I made her feel as loved as she did me.

G4

Grandma, Jodi, & Nick 1990

I’ll never forget the time when she was recovering from a surgery and stayed with Marty and me in our small home in the spare room so we could look after her closely. I was pregnant with my first son, Jake at the time, and still working full time. Grandma was having trouble sleeping at night and would get chilled and shake and couldn’t get warm. She called out in the middle of the night and Marty got her an electric blanket, but nothing worked. She kept trembling and shaking until I climbed on top of her – pregnant belly and all – wrapped my arms around her and calmed her until the shivering stopped – warmed from my body heat – and love. And we slept through the rest of the night. I know she would have done the same for me. That is the kind of love she taught me.

Her name was Stella, and I thought that was the silliest name when I was young. She loved her name, however. She would proudly tell me that Stella meant “star,” and as I look back, I realized she was – and still is – my shining star.

Do you have a Stella Star in your life?

G1

Stella Star & Her #1 Fan – 1985

I sure hope so. There’s nothing better.

Love you Grandma – then, now, and at all the stages of Life In Between…

Cheers and Hugs,
Jodi