You’ll need a trifle bowl for this.

• 2 packages Berry Blue Jello
• 2 packages Cherry Jello
• 3 packages Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 2 large containers of Cool Whip
• Pint and 1/2 Strawberries
• Pint Blueberries
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 cups ice cubes
• 3 cups skim milk

Use 2 separate mixing bowls and put the blue jello powder in one and the red in the other. Put one cup boiling water in each bowl. Mix the jello until dissolved. Then add 1 cup of ice to each bowl and mix. Let sit while you make pudding. Mix the 3 packages of pudding powder with the 3 cups of milk until blended. Put in the fridge for a few minutes to set. Remove any ice leftover in the red and blue jello bowl. Mix 1/2 of the pudding into each of the jello mixes and whisk well. Let set in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile wash fruit and slice strawberries.

Assemble the dish. Spoon 1/2 red jello in trifle bowl, cover with 1/2 strawberry layer, add some Cool Whip. Next add blue jello layer, top with blueberries and then more Cool Whip. Repeat the layers and top with Cool Whip and berries. Refrigerate for several hours to set.

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On this Father’s Day, I am thankful for all the Dads I’ve had in my life:

1. My Own Father, who passed away when he was 40 and I was 14. He travelled a lot for work, and I regret that we did not have more time together. What I remember most is him encouraging my creativity. He once brought me to an advertising office when I was about 5 to show me what the artists did to create ads. I was able to sit at an easel they had and draw a picture. Everyone treated me like I was an employee, and I thought I was the bomb!
2. My Grandfather Joe, was the most adorable person on earth. He showed me what unconditional love was and had a soft heart. He told great stories and held nothing back. I laughed and laughed when we were together. He was obsessed with watching Bob Ross, the artist on Public Television. After watching the show, Gramps and I painted together. He gave me his paint brushes, which I still use after 30 years! And some of his paintings still hang on my wall. My granny drove him nuts, and I found it so entertaining. He died in 1986, and not a day goes by when I do not think of him and smile.
3. My Stepfather, Jack, passed away in 1999 from a brain tumor. He was a very short, smiley man with a strange Spanish/Yiddish combination accent and a big heart. He treated me like I was his own biological daughter and stood by me through some very, very tough times. He experienced a lot of tragedies in his life, but somehow remained positive. “It’s all good,” he’d often say.

Who are you thankful for on Father’s Day?

1. A Quiet, relaxing weekend with no chaos
2. No obligations
3. No chores
4. A great BBQ
5. His favorite foods, drinks, desserts
6. To attend a sporting event
7. Family activity like a game or sport
8. To be appreciated

Happy Mother’s Day!

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What makes a Mom a great Mom?

1. She puts her kids first (without the guilt).
2. She also takes care of herself.
3. She is self-confident.
4. She is giving to others as well.
5. She laughs a lot.
6. She can laugh at herself.
7. She is patient.
8. She is forgiving and accepting.
9. She is reliable.
10. She has a good work ethic.
11. She keeps her home as organized and clean as possible.
12. She sets out to avoid the mistakes her parents made.
13. She encourages the love of reading from day one of her child’s life.
14. She encourages her children to be curious.
15. She encourages creativity.
16. She supports their interests.
17. She provides a calm, n0n-chaotic home life for her children.
18. She makes sure her children feel safe.
19. She constantly shows them affection with hugs and words.
20. She makes her children feel special.
21. She praises her children when she should.
22. She sets a good example for her children. (Practices what she preaches.)
23. She provides healthy food and a healthy active lifestyle for her children.
24. She teaches her children to choose their friends wisely.
25. She is helpful to her children (without the guilt).
26. She spends quality time with her children in all stages of their lives.
27. She disciplines her children consistently with love.
28. She lets her children know there are consequences for their actions, both good and bad.
29. She does not spoil her children (in the sense that they become monsters.)
30. She does not teach her children to be materialistic.
31. She does not lie to them to protect them from life.
32. She does not criticize or belittle her children.
33. She encourages her children to talk to her about what is on their minds.
34. She knows when her children have something bothering them.
35. She knows when her children are not being honest.
36. She teaches her children to stand up for themselves.
37. She does not compete with her children.
38. She does not compare her children to others or expect them to be like others.
39. She fully respects her children.
40. She is understanding and fair.
41. She has realistic expectations.
42. She teaches her children to be independent.
43. She does not try to control her children.
44. She lets her children think for themselves.
45. She does not teach her children to be miserably competitive.
46. She does not expect her children to be perfect.
47. She accepts that she will make some parenting mistakes.
48. She worries about her children.
49. She wants her children to be happy and healthy.
50. She loves them unconditionally and equally.

Happy Earth Day!!!

What is Earth Day anyway? It is a special day set aside to encourage people to appreciate the earth’s natural resources and help preserve the environment. It is celebrated on April 22nd each year.

So what can you do with your kids to celebrate this important day?

1. Go to Earthday.org and search for special events in your community. There are so many activities going on through the country today, and this website let’s you search events by zip code.
2. Do some gardening. Plant a tree, buy some seeds for an organic vegetable garden or just plan out your ideas with your kids for a summer garden.
3. Clean up. Volunteer to pick up garbage on your street on the beach, at a park or somewhere else near your home.
4. Learn something new together. Check out a book from the library, or go online to learn about global warming, pollution, consumer use of natural resources or the truth about our world’s diminishing rain forests. Learn about using renewable resources to build homes and products we use every day.
5. Do a craft. Make a wreath for your front door using natural things you find outside. Paint a rock. Recycle some materials into a beautiful craft, like the ones here on Kaboose.com.
6. Visit a museum or a zoo. Find a museum in your city that has an environmental or plant exhibit, or go to your local zoo to learn about how animals other than humans rely on natural resources to survive.
7. Write a story together. Your kids will love writing a story about the rain forest, plants and animals or saving the earth. You can illustrate it too.
8. Send a letter. Have your child write a letter to a congress person or local official about the importance of preserving the earth. You may just get a reply.
9. Eat outside. Celebrate the earth with a healthy, all natural picnic dinner at a park or right in your own back yard.
10. Be thankful. Make a list of all the beneficial aspects of a clean world as well as all the things you could no longer do without some of our natural resources.

Every day should be Earth Day! Now go out there and enjoy it!

1. Here is the Meyer Lemon Layer Cake I made today for Easter Brunch tomorrow. Just take your favorite yellow cake recipe, add the zested rind of a meyer lemon and substitute some of the milk for the juice of one meyer lemon. Make your favorite white icing and add lemon juice and rind there aas well.

2. My dog, Darwin (aka “Dardie”) decided to eat a softball today. Wonder how his little tummy will feel in the middle of the night?

3. Affordble grocery store roses can be gorgeous on an Easter table!

Look what we did all day? Acrylic paint and a bit of glitter is all it took to paint the blown out eggs. They last for years!

Be Mine Valentine

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Public Domain Photo of MLK, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Born January 15, 1929
• Graduated high school at age 15
• Received a BA from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1948
• Received a BD in Theology from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951
• Received a PhD from Boston University in 1955
• Married Coretta Scott and had 2 sons and 2 daughters
• Awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at age 35 – youngest man to ever receive the award
• Assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN

My favorite Martin Luther King Quotes:

“Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.”

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

“Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another’s flesh.”

“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Watching the Twilight Zone Marathon – as usual!

Looking at the Blue Moon!

Singing Blue Moon!
Blue Moon you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, “Please adore me”
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold

Blue Moon, now I’m no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Happy New Year to You All!