... a good day to fly your flag!

Today is the 235th birthday of the American Flag. In 1777 John Adams presented the first version of our shared symbol to the Continental Congress and the first Flag Act passed.

The flag now consists of thirteen stripes (7 red, 6 white) representing the original 13 colonies and 50 stars for each state of the Union. The colors of our flag also hold meaning:

1) Red = hardiness and valor
2) White = purity and innocence
3) Blue = vigilance, perseverance, and justice

Happy Flag Day USA ~

(this article was posted earlier today on Caron's Studio22 Blog)

Parent Involvement in Student Success - Just 3 More!

My daughter attends Peoria's Frontier Elementary School and while Frontier was recently a Highly Excelling school under the old system, Frontier earned a B rating through the new school evaluation program. To get an A, Frontier needed only 3 more points.

So, dedicated parents led by Cory Underhill are now working with the school administration, PTSO, teachers, and students on the Just 3 More campaign to help students improve performance and earn an A for their school. Engaging more people in campus initiatives and classrooms, encouraging students, supporting teachers, decorating the neighborhood with signs of support, providing incentives, increasing tutoring, and raising expectations are all part of the vision. What are your best ideas for improving education? Is there a student or a school you could assist in some way? Students and schools need caring adults willing to share time and talent.

While some are content talking about what is wrong with our schools, this is a great example of individuals getting involved, taking action, and making a positive difference. Here is a link to Channel 5's coverage of this GOOD NEWS story:

http://www.kpho.com/story/16997034/parents-organize-motivational-campaign-to-encourage-school

A quote to share:

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child." -- Kathy Davis

Free Coffee at McDonalds through Jan 22

Have you tried McDonald's coffee? Would you like to sit down for a few minutes while your children happily play a few feet away? This may be a good day to take your little ones to McDonald's so that they can run, climb, and play while you sit, sip, and relax.

Free small coffee
100% Arabaca beans
no purchase necessary
(and it's good coffee!)

Gosh, this weekend you could even take an Arizona road trip and enjoy free coffee around the state. Participating locations through January 22nd, include the following Arizona counties:
Maricopa, Pinal, Gila, Yuma, La Paz, Mohave, Coconino, Navajo, Apache and Graham.

Thank you, McDonald's!

2012 is here!

Is it really already 2012? Yes! Happy New Year ... more to come (soon) from Fun Moms!

10-10-10

Make today a ... 10 !

The current answers about well-being

The people of Gallup Press keep giving us what I consider the best of popular, strength-based non-fiction and they have done it again. If you wonder about "happiness", I still recommend reading Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman and if you want to learn about how you can increase your sense of "well-being", then the new book by Tom Rath and Jim Harter is a must read, too.

The title of the book is Well Being: The five essential elements. Those elements include: social, financial, career, physical and community well-being. I often make the comment that some authors turn what-should-be-a-brochure into a book, but this book makes the most of every page so all of the text is likely to be worth your time.

As with others in the StrengthsFinder series, each book comes with a code so that you can access the online Wellbeing Finder. After answering a series of questions, you will receive summaries of your current levels of wellbeing based on this model. You can continue to retake the Wellbeing Finder for six months and you are offered options for reminders that can help facilate your action plan for improved wellbeing. Is this of interest to you?

To contact Caron:

caron@studio22azwa.com

To return to Fun Moms:

http://www.funmoms.biz/

To return to Studio22:

http://www.studio22azwa.com/

Lunch with Lita

Today I enjoyed lunch with Lita ~ and because she is so inspiring to me, I want to make an initial introduction ...

Lita is vivacious (understatement!) and she has many talents that she generously offers in matters of faith and through a variety of humanitarian efforts. Lita works for the Arizona Ecumenical Council (AEC): a "collaborative coalition of Christian churches and religious organizations who pray, worship and study together in order in order to discover ways to express unity and not division" (http://www.aecunity.net/).

One story that Lita shared with me today comes from her son's childhood; I think it can be viewed as faith in action demonstrated through love in action. When he was about eight, his classroom had a tradition of sitting in a circle and telling stories about what happened over their weekends. The children passed around a stuffed animal to signify who was speaking ~ the other children were to stay in their places and listen.

On one Monday morning, the class was sitting in their circle when a little girl began to cry. She told the group that her step-mom had died; the family woke up in the morning and her step-mom remained motionless, lifeless. All in the circle sat stunned in collective silence ~

all except for one little boy who got up,

moved across the circle and

comforted the crying young girl by

putting his arm around her shoulder.

That is love.

Thank you, Lita, for your son's story and thank you for the work you do in our community and through the AEC ~

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set a good example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 1st Timothy 4:12

To return to Fun Moms:

http://www.funmoms.biz/

To return to Studio22:

http://www.studio22azwa.com/

To contact Caron:

caron@studio22azwa.com