Written by Judith Blakley

Never try to attempt cleaning a house when there is a toddler around. You might end up having a nervous breakdown. It's just dangerous for your sanity. I know from personal experience. Yesterday, I tried to clean my daughter's house so we can leave to go back to my house today. And my 23 month old granddaughter caused me to have a panic attack by the end of the day. I honestly had to take a xanax last night. Here's the true story...

My goal yesterday was to do the laundry, dishes, clean my granddaughter's messy room, straighten up the living room and kitchen, organize the laundry room and clean the bathroom. I also had to pack my belongings and my oldest granddaughter's belongings. I expected to be able to leisurely clean while catching up on my shows that I'd DVRed. My daughter hates my favorite shows, so I was taking advantage of having her rest all day in her bedroom with the newborn baby to get everything done.

Written by Judith Blakley
(can also be read on www.lovelaceway.blogspot.com)

There are days in life where you truly know it's one for the record books. One of the hardest days in your entire life. Even though all of us have tough days, there are but few real hard days in each of our lives.

I've had a few - real true hard days.

I measure these record days as times when I've had to go through one of the most difficult things I've ever endured. These days usually involve the pain of others. But once it was because of my own physical pain.

Thursday, September 27, 2007 was one of those days.

My previous days of record were the day my father died, the day I learned my father-in-law had cancer and the day I was in the hospital thinking I was dying.

By age 38, I had eight kids. As dearly as I loved them, I wanted a quiet place to go to. When my youngest was two years old, I decided to build a garden. I found a good spot with great sun exposure beside the long looping driveway. South of the space I had chosen cedars had grown tall but nothing stood in the way of the sun to the east or west.
This garden would be my quiet place, but my children would help me to build it. I employed my oldest sons to retrieve lumber from the lumberyard for raised beds. My oldest daughters accompanied me to pick up bags of rich soil, fertilizer and young vegetable and fruit plants from the garden store. We also bought five pairs of flowered gardening gloves for my four daughters and myself. We wore these as we situated the plants. Within three days, I realized my dream of a garden.

Written by Judith Blakley

Teach a dog to sit and you have become the master of your domain. Dogs are pack animals and they need to know who is in charge. If no one asserts themselves as the leader, they will take over your home and your life.

Puppies are adorable and make their way into our hearts, thus into our homes. We want to play with them and love them and make them a part of our families. What many people do not understand is that animals need boundaries just as children do.

It is human nature to teach our children what is right and wrong. We make sure toddlers know what they are not allowed to do in order to protect them from dangers they cannot comprehend yet. Animals need the same thing. They need to know what they are allowed and not allowed to do in your home. They need "House Rules."

It’s Not “What”, But “How” That Counts

I’m tired of adults shaking their heads about athletes and other celebrities who are in trouble, bigtime, with the law, drugs, and violence. These folks are grownups (ostensibly); let them take the consequences of their craziness. What really worries me are kids who are allowed and encouraged by these same moralizing adults to look up to these infamous fools, without being encouraged at the same time to 1) think about what attributes make for a good person leading a decent life, and 2) look close to home and identify adults they already know and can at least see, talk to and touch on a daily basis, and who deserve the title “role model”.

Written by Judith Blakley

My thing is ducks. I have several hundred around my house. I had to box many of them up because I am still working on a way to display them. I began my collection seven years ago when ducks became my theme to life. It’s a long story, but it involves me finding my identity in the midst of personal trials. A friend helped me discover the key to myself again, and it involved ducks. Because of that, ducks remind me to be true to myself. Another friend, who had firsthand knowledge of the duck event, gave me my first duck. It was a bright yellow TY Beanie Baby duck with a straw hat.

My family and friends know about my obsession with ducks and this makes gift giving easy for them. When I had my gallbladder removed last winter, my mother brought over a large yellow stuffed duck. I named him “Ouch.”

I go nuts at Easter, when lots of new duck toys can be found everywhere. I only buy one or two, but I wish I could buy all of them!

Written by Judith Blakley

It all started at an antique fair while on vacation. My youngest daughter found a booth selling tiny animal figurines and she begged for them. The young man selling these items happily informed me that they were Wade figurines. I had never heard of Wade, so he educated me.

The Wade family owned potteries in several towns and their famous pottery became known by their last name. George Wade opened the family’s first pottery in 1810, and it was not until 1950 that the various Wade family potteries consolidated into one large company, Wade Potteries Limited. The Wade family eventually sold their company in 1989 and it is now known as Wade Ceramics Limited.

The various Wade potteries created interesting ceramic products for companies to use in promotions, such as piggy banks for the National Bank to distribute to customers. The Wade family also teamed up with Disney to create a line of Disney figurines.

Written by Judith Blakley

When my children were younger, I told nursery rhymes with them as the characters. I gave the characters my children’s names and personalities and switched up the story lines to fit the way they might handle the same situations. I could never go on a road trip without having to tell these stories repeatedly. Luckily for me, I could change it up with each telling. I had forgotten how much fun my children had with these twisted nursery rhymes, but was reminded after reading Elisa Nova’s adorable telling of how a mouse found its way to her apartment in New York City. Her story, Genesis Revisited (www.associatedcontent.com/article/84908/genesis_revisited) , used the story of Abraham and Lot to dramatize the journey of this little creature.

Written by Judith Blakley

My fourteen-year-old daughter began collecting snow globes when she bought her first souvenir snow globe in Jamestown, Virginia. She was six at the time. Most of her collection consists of those little plastic souvenir snow globes, but she also has several large quality snow globes.

Whenever my husband and I travel, we pick up a snow globe to add to her collection. Most adult collectors talk about their regret over discarding those little souvenirs, which has encouraged us to continue buying them for her.

Walmart and The Disney Store always have adorable snow globes for sale around the holidays, and we try to purchase one large themed snow globe each year. The Disney store usually has a sale before Christmas with their snow globes discounted at least twenty percent.

Written by: Judith Blakley

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall on over 400,000 TV stands manufactured by Sauders Woodworking Co. of Archbold, Ohio, and sold in Walmart stores nationwide.

This product was sold at Walmart stores nationwide and online through January 2005 until May 2007. They were sold for an average of ninety dollars.

Consumers are asked to stop using this product immediately due to the possibility of collapse. The TV stand may collapse if the fasteners that connect the legs to the shelving unit are not tightened completely.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission states: "The TV stand can collapse if the fasteners used to connect the metal legs to the lower shelf are not completely tightened during assembly, posing a risk that the TV set can fall onto children or adults."