Having Fun With Kids and Family

Having Fun With Kids and Family: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Kids Fun for You to Grow Up In Smiles

Kids Fun for You to Grow Up In Smiles: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Funny Cartoons - right here for your fun!

Funny Cartoons - right here for your fun!: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Real Life Vampires, Werewolves and Bloodsucking Monsters

Real Life Vampires, Werewolves and Bloodsucking Monsters: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

The Blunt Truth About Kids Opinions

The Blunt Truth About Kids Opinions: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Coloring Pages with a Feel-Good Creative Factor

Coloring Pages with a Feel-Good Creative Factor: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Why Funny Dogs Make the Funniest Pets

Why Funny Dogs Make the Funniest Pets: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Love Coloring Pages Spread The Color of Your Heart

Love Coloring Pages Spread The Color of Your Heart: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Hey, Kids! Coloring Pictures Can Show Your True Creative Colors

Hey, Kids! Coloring Pictures Can Show Your True Creative Colors: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Picasso Coloring Pages

Picasso Coloring Pages: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Best Perks in the World: Having Fun With Your Kids

Best Perks in the World: Having Fun With Your Kids: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Transforming Activities for Children Into a Fun and Learning Experience

Transforming Activities for Children Into a Fun and Learning Experience: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

The Hype and Fuff Swamp

Being the webmaster of Family Fun Cartoons with a PR of 3, I get inundated with internet marketers to purchase their products, usually software to improve my rankings, maximize SEO or get on Google's first page with my keywords.

I now have "white hat" filters on my email which helps reduce the amount of spam—but spamming is so prolific on FB and Twitter that I wonder if it is the beginning of the end for a high percentage of twitterers. The spin now falls on deaf ears as people become quite blind to any form of advert or spin or spam.

What I really need are honest SEO marketers who have a good product, who can back up their statements with facts, not 1,500 words of hype with bonuses worth millions and a worthless "Money back guarantee if not completely satisfied"  Now I would not need a guarantee if it was a good product and got results for me, would I? I would not require all those bonuses worth millions, right?

Honestly? There is only one company to date I know really worth dealing with, that would be SBI  I am not trying to sell SBI to you but this site has simple, easy-to-understand talk about the internet and especially building you own website around your passion.

Also the SBI Forum is one place on the internet where you can get help in building your site from scratch—it is a help and be helped forum—and there is no other place like it on Planet Earth for friendly, honest people. But I do not want you to take my word for it without you checking it out thoroughly.

Thank you for reading,
Jon Mumford



Bar none, these are the best small business forums in the world. And the friendliest! Come "help and be helped" at...THE Place For Friendly, Success-Focused Discussion...See if you can answer these questions, no hype, no fluff, just simple honest stuff.

Ways To Resolve Family Issues

You can't have much family fun if there is dissension among family members, especially if you have in-laws who love to have a say in almost everything that goes on under the roof. Mothers-in-law can be a real pain in the butt but they can be very helpful sometimes.

A successful marriage is the cornerstone of a stable society and where you find soaring divorce rates, it goes without saying that that society is on its way out—as went Rome and now western civilization. Don't take my word for it, have a look around and observe what is happening around you in families and society.  I have written up recently about the global and US divorce stats which is no pretty picture. These stats spell disaster in the long term future for your kids.

The answers are simple enough. In any dispute between you and your spouse, your mother or father-in-law, your kids, fights over money or suspicions of infidelity can be resolved without a lot of sweat providing you are willing to talk about it. If there is no willingness on either side then there is little hope of recovery. ANY situation can be resolved providing there is willingness.

Of course it is of little use pointing fingers at your spouse which worsens the situation. Taking responsibility is the first step in resolving any issue. Instead of "You did blah, blah..." reverse it to "I did this and it was my mistake" is a great start. It takes a big person to admit responsibility for these family issues without pointing fingers or "Look what you did to me!"

You love your kids, so take responsibility for their future and resolve any family issues in a sane, sensible way by the willingness to communicate.

Transforming Activities for Children Into a Fun and Learning Experience

Transforming Activities for Children Into a Fun and Learning Experience: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Kids Show Bad Habits While Watching TV

 No kid looks good without their mischievous and naughty nature, but being parents we should stay conscious about differentiating their kid's behaviors and bad habits. You know, in a recent study a group of American behavioral psychologist has revealed that 80% of the children possess some bad habits and 45% among them grow up with these which eventually hamper their adult life.


After ice-cream and video games, I think TV is the 3rd most favorite entertainment for kid’s. And recently I have noticed some very common bad habits they show while watching TV. Here, in this blogpost, I will share some of these with you.
 

Watching TV for too long: You just tune the channel to Cartoon Network or VH1 and see them; they will not leave the couch for at least an hour or more. Sitting at a stretch for a long time in front of TV can make the nervous system and body tired and it does hinder a kid’s study and other activities. So you should limit the period to 30-40minutes max.


Crank up the sound: Yes, this is another bad habit most of the kids show while watching TV, especially watching an action movie or cartoon. But you know, being too loud can weaken the auditory perception, even a permanent basis. So don’t let your kids operate the TV remote and play with the volume level.


Sitting close to TV set: They simply don’t care about the eye discomfort or headache. When their favorite cartoon or an action series is running they will choose the closest seat near the TV. The result – children will lose their vision gradually and, at an early age, spectacles will be their support to see the world. So you need to make the sitting arrangement at least 2.5 – 4 yards away from the television set.


Bad sitting posture: Children prefer watching TV while being a couch potato, while leaning or sitting leisurely. Such postures may lead to muscle aches and pains.


So you are advised to keep your eyes on your kids while they gape at the TV.  Your negligence can lead your kids to serious physical or psychological problems in their future life.

Some Staggering Stats

Fifty to sixty percent of marriages in the USA end up in divorce. This is quite staggering and far worse among Africa Americans and Christians - and every year these stats get worse.

Divorce has a major impact on family life, for the kids, parents, relatives. So what is the real problem here besides the so-called "feminine freedom" where women can call the tune and prefer (sometimes) bucks, a bigger house, car, more material things than her kids.You don't believe it eh? Just take a peek around suburbia or be aware of where the bulk of the family income is spent. Better things, more of them.

The kids suffer most in this family upset and are often bewildered how it ever came about and the parents are more concerned about their own emotional upset than their kids. Suffer little children.

Please take time to make some comments on how you think family life can be improved to give a future to the next generation. They deserve it.

Perhaps the institution of marriage has no place in the future?

Three Foods That Can Make Your Kids Happy As Well As Healthy

I think for all of us parents one of the most challenging tasks of growing up our kids is feeding them up with proper nutritional foods. Ahh....I can remember those mornings of my kids' nursery days when I had to run behind them to feed them their breakfast. Even now when my kids are in school, for  me getting my finicky kids to eat is no less tough than trying to push a bolder up a mountain of molasses. But, you know, recently I got the way to give my kids complete nutrition, how? Simply, by giving them their favorite foods in a way that contains complete nutrition value they need. Ok, let me share some of them with you.

In the list of my kids' favorite foods, based on their nutritious value, I would give first preferences to macaroni and cheese. You know if I give my kids these two foods four times a day then also not even for a single time they would show their apathy for those, and I think in the current time my kids are not the exceptions with such love for macaroni. I prefer bringing Craft Mac and cheese for my kids, as these are really yammi. And of-course, no matter how good cooked the macaroni is, without pouring ketchup all over I think your kids would not love to eat it. Let your kids take the ketchup by their own and enjoy their favourite dish in their own way.

You know my kids never forget to give me a reminder that in dinner I have to prepare fried chicken for them. I prefer making two of my kids' voted dishes Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken and white meat at my home with some spicy yet healthy ingredients. And yes, I don't forget to bring the biscuit that comes with them, as I have seen my kids get the real zeal of eating chicken with that biscuit only, because the double crispiness of chicken and biscuit gets a real thumbs up.

The next most popular menu in the preference list of my kids' favorite foods is Hamburger. What I found recently that onion is the one that is strictly no-no for them; so no onion near anywhere of their Hamburger. All they need in their burger is lots of ketchup. And remember, the bun should be hamburger buns and you need to keep the regular hard rolls, whole wheat buns or rolls and certainly seeds away from their Hamburger to give them that yammi test they are affectionate of.

So, if you're scratching your head to find out the way to give your kids complete nutrition with their favorite foods then try these ones.

For Kids favorite recipes go here!

Having abundant family fun on less than ten bucks

A large volume of people of this modern age think happiness is an element of life which can be easily bought by spending lots of money; more money you spend the more happiness you get. But you know, I have always opposed this thought and possessed a belief that money is just a rudiment of happiness, not the ultimate necessity to have fun with your family. Ok, let me share my own life style to have family fun moments with my kids and the entire family without spending even a dollar.

Your local family park can be a fun destination for your family if you have the real passion to have enjoyment in natural ways. Pack the entire family's lunch, take some coloring pencils, cartoon books and in charming weather, go with your entire family for a great outing.     

You see, walking with nature will be much more refreshing than all that indoor fun stuff you bring for your kids. In the lap of Mother Nature your family will get an opportunity to have a walk and you will get a wonderful bonding moments with your kids with the family.

If you become a bit bored after having a number of visits to the same old local parks then you can choose another way to have low-cost fun, i.e. painting on cardboard with color pencils with your kids. Let your kids’ imaginations flow free with whatever activity they want to engage with their color pencils, funny cats etc. Motivate them to be more creative and enjoy whatever crazy activities they do passionately.

Playing kite with your kids is another enthralling activity that would make you, your kids, and your spouse happy. Oh yes... competing with other kites in the sky, running to catch a kite, becoming upset for losing a kite competition and rising again with a colorful kite to be the ruler of the sky - these can be quite crazy and funny.

Now just think, no family fun activity discussed above would cost you over ten bucks and you need not spend a lot of time and effort to see your kids and family happy. So have some fun in some down-to-earth ways and give me your feedback about your experience or write up a comment here on how you have lots of family fun!

When to quit and when to stick it out...

A small book by Seth Godin and well worth reading as it teaches you when to quit and when to hang in there with a little persistancy, here is an excerpt from Amazon:

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point -- really hard, and not much fun at all.

And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you're in a Dip -- a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

According to bestselling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.
Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt -- until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you'll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip -- they get to the moment of truth and then give up -- or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

Whether you're a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you're in a Dip that's worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit -- so you can be number one at something else.

No, I do not get a commission from Amazon - it is just a very good read!

Enjoy the charm of this rainy season with your kids

No doubt, kids always look forward for their upcoming holiday
opportunity, and to get a shy of relief from our daily hectic life we
also wait for the favorable circumstances to have some great family fun moments with our kids along with the entire family. In a few
early posts of this blog I have discussed about some enjoyable ways
to experience a summer vacation; now how about talking of having fun
in the rainy days?

Just think about the time when it's raining outside and the nature is
rejuvenating in its own way; Oh...yeah, in such a wonderful season
spending some great time with family has no other alternative. If you
think that enjoying the rainy season is just about going out in the
rain and making some crazy activities with you kids then, I would
say, think again! Ok, let me share some of my styles to enjoy rainy
days with my kids and family.

First of all I would say that as parents we need to think of how we
can motivate our kids to entertain themselves out of television and
video games, the most favorite entertaining elements of a kid's life.
In a charming season like monsoon, we can suggest our kids lots of
activities where they can engage themselves to have more fun than
their favorite computer games and television show.

You can look for some fun activity centers like zoos, bowling alleys
and museums in your locality. Here's one thing I would like to say,
while selecting a fun center for a family outing with kids, keep in
mind that the center is full of fun amenities and classic games like
bowling, interactive games, game tables, and much more. If possible,
look for a fun center that is equipped with loads of interactive
games.

You know what, in such an environment your kids will get involved in
some mental as well as physical activities with their fellow friends,
and will be purely entertained. I hope playing such interesting games
will be no less entertaining than their Wii and Xbox. Also, in this
charming rainy reason, let your kid’s imagination flow with
activities like coloring pages, creation of funny stuff and so forth.

Kids Online Games – Cool Ways to Have Great Family Fun

Kids' attitudes towards gaming activities keep changing with their
age, but one thing I have noticed in kids of all ages that if you
give them the option to choose one among soccer, table tennis, some
board games and a computer with loads of games installed or attached
with an Internet connection, then majority of them would like to go
for the last one. And why not, if they get a pure entertainment and
enthrallment of gaming while being actively participated with fellow
friends and the dear ones?


You know, I felt the actual fascination of the kids online games when
for the first time I played them with my little champions. Oh...yeah,
it was really full of fun and entertaining. Wow, how can I describe
you how enjoying it was to compete with my kids to find out a hidden
treasure from the jungle, fighting with giants, and racing with our
favorite car models!


You know, among all types of kids online games me and my kids have
played until now, we found the racing games as the most exciting
ones. Being multi-player games as you can easily engage in hastening
to be the 1st by overtaking your kids, the excitation would be much
higher than other types of games.


When we get bored by competing with each other then we start
struggling with some fighting games. I usually become the villain of
the story and my kids turn the superheroes, and then they engage in
shooting and bombing on me. Wow… you won’t believe how exciting we
stay while playing the games.


Finally I would to all of you that for having great family fun at
home, kids online games would be the cool options. To get the
ultimate enjoyment of online games engage your entire family into the
gameplay. Play together with your kids and all the other members of
your family and have fun!

Rapport with your kids

Rapport with your kids: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
So what is the best way of building rapport with your kids?

Well, you sit down with only one of them at a time in a quiet place where you are not going to be disturbed, no phones, no animals around, no distractions.

You ask questions, general questions and then get more specific. The most important thing is to LISTEN to your child; this is almost never done between parents and their kids. That's right, you never listen to what your child has to say and assume you know all the answers.

The first question should be something like this - but the question is obviously determined by the child's age;  "What have you been doing lately?" It is a broad question so the child has to think a little. You keep silent until you get a response. Once the child answers you acknowledge him/her. She may respond with "Playing with Sarah" So you ask her "Tell me about Sarah" even if you know all about Sarah. And the response might be "We played in the garden." So you follow up with "Which garden was that?"


After each answer an acknowledgment is given and there must be no interruptions while your child is thinking about the answer.Be a good listener to get a great rapport going with your children and do not interrupt their train of thought. Another important thing is this: do not evaluate for the child i.e. "well, you should have..."  rather ask a question "What would be the right thing to do?"

Teaching Kids Sports Skills They Can Effectively Use

Teaching Kids Sports Skills They Can Effectively Use: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Kids Opinions Do Matter, Listen to Them!

Kids Opinions Do Matter, Listen to Them!: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Kids Chat - Teen Talk - A Look At How Kids really chat!

Kids Chat - Teen Talk - A Look At How Kids really chat!: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Funny People say the funniest things!

Funny People say the funniest things!: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Special Flower Coloring Pages For People Who Love Flowers

Special Flower Coloring Pages For People Who Love Flowers: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Cool Clothes For Teens Can Be Worn With Style

Cool Clothes For Teens Can Be Worn With Style: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Check out this website for really cool stuff: www.bluefly.com where you will get a nice discount off Labor Day Sales. Also have a peek at Swanky Tees and some fancy T-shirts! And don't forget the Flyspotting Leggings. (40% off).

Benalmadena, Spain - Find an Enthralling Way to Have Family Fun

In the last summer vacation we visited to Benalmadena for great family fun. While I was engaged in the information gathering process and planning for the tour, I was thinking whether my kids will enjoy the place and the tour or not; but all my confusions went wrong right from the moment we reached there.

Yeppiiii!! We were about to reach the marina of Benalmadena, walking slowly towards to sea world, certainly my 14-years old elder son charged up with a wild excitement and started shouting and acting like a happy orangutan. Well, he was not alone, my other kids and my husband also joined him and you won’t believe, I really hadn’t seen them happier than that day before.

After we had done with our sea bathing, we moved to Selwo Marina, where we did play, swim and interact a lot with the dolphins and sea lions. Wow, I really can’t describe how excited my kids were by getting the opportunity to touch, play and have fun with dolphins.

On the next day, we visited the Costa del Sol, which again proved as an amusement center for my kids. The large variety of rides, shows, funny stuff and amusements programs made my family completely lost into.

Our final destination was Benalmadena Cableca. Here, I must say to all the readers that, if you don’t like height then you must try with this one; I am sure you will find what actually the excitement is with a mountain ride without facing anything to fear about.

From Benalmadena we hired a cable car and started our breathtaking ride to the top of the place that is 750 meter above sea level, Calamorro Mountain. Now what should I describe about the trip; the cable car riding was itself worth the expense.

As we reached the Calamorro Mountain a new session of fun began. I saw my kids wanting to fly with the eagles, falcons, and lots of colorful birds. We took a walk along a hiking route to reach the middle point of the Benalmadena’s nature, and our Benalmadena tour’s family fun ended with the wide view of Mother Nature in a safe cage in our minds.

Three Natural Ways to Spend Quality Time with Your Kids

I personally feel that in these modern times happiness is something that people prefer to gain in exchange for money - as this is the easiest way to stay happy. The mechanical lives of modern people don't allow them to get that naturally. I really feel sad when I see people trying to make their kids happy with expensive gaming consoles, television, ice creams and a lot of electronic gadgets. Yes, I agree those are also OK, but parents should spend quality time with their kids as much as possible for their kids' future well-being.

I often hear people say  "In my happy schedule, how would I spend quality time with my kids? What would make them happy?" Well, for all those parents who pose the same question, I would like to share some of my thoughts on how you can spend quality time with your kids to make them happier than they get from mechanical things you give. 

• Gardening: I have often seen kids enjoy a lot in green environments, with colorful flowers, beautiful insects, and all those funny activities involved with seeding, watering, and cultivating the plants. Have fun with your kids in different activities of gardening and get them involved in anything they wish. Maybe they can get engaged in playing with butterflies, enjoy making their hands dirty with mud or eating up some veggies; for Pete's sake, let them do whatever they enjoy!

• Biking and Hiking: Pack some sandwiches, bottles of water and go for a Saturday afternoon bike ride with your kids. Your local park would be the perfect destination for both the biking and hiking activities. I'm sure this would be a place where you and your kids can fulfill curiosity of lifting rocks and peeking underneath to discover a myriad of bugs and creepy things. Let your children's imagination get exposed through anything they like without any input from parents so they begin to make their own choices in life. 

• Plan a Camping trip: I have always seen that the planning process of some trip is exciting, especially when you engage your entire family in this activity. So plan a lot and go for a camping trip on a weekend with your family. Do zany things in the trip; do something that not only make your kids happy but also make some wonderful memories they'd love to recall later in life.

So what do you think makes kids really happy? Are these not some great ways to have family fun? Give a try with any of them and see the result; believe me you will find your kids much happier than those you spend money on.

Photo Puzzle Games - Entertaining with Puzzles Equals Smarter Kids

Some funny kids activities not only make them happy, but help them to be smart as well. Puzzle is considered as one such game that acts both as an entertainer and a brain exerciser. Now how about breaking the boredom of your kids with some funny educational activities? I am sure kids online games like puzzle would be the one that your kids would definitely like to spend time with.

Ok, if you kids don’t find a puzzle game interesting then you can take some creative actions to excite the curiosity of the game among your kids. Instead of bringing some serious looking jigsaw puzzles, get some funky looking and bright colored puzzle games for your kids. I think the scenery ones and those which look like 3D will be the most amusing puzzle for your kids. A puzzle can be more than funny for your kids when it can be made with funny pictures or a picture of your family or friends.

Believe me, this kind of photo puzzles are simply great. This would surely bring together the fun of playing puzzles with the collaboration of your family in enjoying your family photo, marriage photo, vacation snapshot and so on.

Make the photo puzzling game more and more exciting for your kids by not being limited to a single photo. You can take a copy of all your favorite photos and use them to make puzzles for your kids. If you have a digital photo-frame and a digital camera then I think creating such jigsaw puzzles would not be a matter of concern for you.

If you are thinking about the right time to celebrate with a photo collage puzzle then choose the upcoming family reunion day. Call for a reunion party with all your old friends, relatives and their kids and have fun with all of them with a photo puzzle.

A Wonderful Way to have Family Fun - With Your Boat

Early morning wake up for school, same boring classes, home-task, playing with the same friends everyday "Mom I am fed up, I need a break, my kids' sad faces for their monotonous life were making me sad as well." You can understand in such a condition you can't do anything with ice-cream, video-games and Tom and Jerry.  So, I decided to do some family fun programs in different ways by which my family gets big spaces to breathe some rejuvenating air and lots of opportunities to have fun.

After a week, I thought I'd choose an inflatable boat to go gaga with my family. You won't believe the weekend we spent together with our boat, it was one of the never-forget experiences of our lives to date. The boating was completely full of fun with fishing and rafting. To make the fun memory-making, I adopted some ideas which eventually proved brilliant, and I hope if you do the same your family will get unlimited fun as did mine.

Go with a boat and explore around the shoreline in every nook and cranny. On a weekend go for a family adventure to a lake or river, pack along some bug spray, a lunch, and set out for a boating expedition. Let your kids investigate the small inlets and lily pads of a river or lake bed. You can take your kids to dock on the opposite side of the water and go for a hike. I am sure, the colorful fishes, turtles, frogs, birds and bugs will make your kids happier than they get from their favorite ice-cream parlor, cartoon show and computer game.

You can make your outing more enthralling with funny stuff that will add more fun for your children. Play some funny games with some funny toys with kids, do some funny activities, which will make them more cheerful and bright.

Kid's Fun Weekend

The best family fun weekend is one that the children and parents plan together. The parent should compile a list of various activities and present them to the family as possible fun activities to do together. It should contain a variety of interests and activities for different budgets. Have the family discuss the activities together and plan a fun-filled weekend, based on everyone's input. Such ideas include bowling, mini-golf, story time at the library, a community theater production, the playground, board games, a scavenger hunt, swimming at the pool or beach, fishing, the zoo or aquarium, circus, sports event and any others available for your local area.

You may want to plan one day that is dedicated to activities you have to pay for and another that is free. Saturday can be the day to go out and do activities that require a cost. You can begin the day playing a couple rounds of mini-golf, and then proceed to have lunch at a local pizza place that has games to play. You can relax after this by attending a sports event or watching a community production such as a funny play. Be sure to go out for ice cream afterward at your child's favorite ice cream shop.

The next day can be done at home and can cost you little to no money at all. Make breakfast as a family, having the kids partake in mixing the pancake batter, buttering the toast or pouring the orange juice. After breakfast, your family should be energized and fueled to play sports games in the backyard, such as football, kickball or volleyball. Have lunch on the patio with easy to make meals such as sandwiches, salad and lemonade. Spend the rest of the day indoors, doing activities you like such as playing Monopoly or watching movies as a family.

Family Fun at Bar-K-Ranch

Family Fun at our small community gathering here in the Colorado Rockies. There is a community here of about 100 families or so, sort of a tight knit community of close friends so everyone knows everyone else - almost. Yep, not a lot of privacy but who cares? We all get along well with each other and more importantly we help each other out a lot. So there is a lot of fun with friends in this type of community.

On August 22 we'll be having the annual BBQ which is always a hoot. Plenty of food and drink all paid for by Bar-K Association.

Camping is Great Family Fun

Camping has always been a family favorite for fun and get together especially the younger members of the family. Times have changed with tweens and  teens who do not like camping much. Why? Probably because  there are no iPods, cell phone signals and internet signals in the bush and sometimes they even lose their text messaging. That's really horrible when you can't MSM your buddies!  Many camps are not like this, you need to roughen up a bit to enjoy Mother Nature.

Summer camping gives the family a great opportunity to bond with the kids and have great fun. My buddies tell me teenagers will go for it if you choose the right camp carefully and make sure they have internet and cell connections. Then why go camping? Sure it does not mean that the kids will spend the day hooked up to their iPods or laptops the whole day. Teenage kids should take a break from the internet, messaging and the like over a family weekend. There's so much to talk about amongst families and have fun playing around...it can be a real blast with the darn internet!

It is important that your kids know the communication rules so you do not have any upset later. "But Mom, I must try and get a message through to Billy!" The idea of the trip is to share with each other outdoor activities and not to off somewhere else to phone or use the computer. Times for this must be set and respected If they are not the trip will end up in failure with no smiles or fun and "I don't want to go camping again."  Family activities should be agreed by all family member including the three year old.

The children will not have fun if they are forced to do something they don't want so get democratic about it with everyone involved in the planning and preparing of meals, everyone should also have chores to do, collect wood or wash the dishes. Get the family together for at least one hour at night around the campfire and talk to your children, listen to them talk about their friends or what they do or want to do. It may seem silly to you or worthless as an adult, but their worries and problems are very real to them and need solutions to ease their minds.

Forget about school and all the problems you have at home during those few days of camping. Concentrate on sharing as much time as possible with your wife or husband and children. Make it a point to have individual activities with each one alone too. This will help you get closer and learn more about each other in a one-to-one conversation away from home pressures.

Talking and having family fun with teenagers is not easy. Teens can be moody, not willing to talk and even disruptive of family life. So you have to have patience and you must have a canny instinct to know and feel when it is time to approach them and when not.

Taking them out of their environment for a couple of days is good because they will be relieved of their school pressures and stress--much the same way you will be relieved of these. It will be easier for both of you to talk about irrelevant things which may not be irrelevant to them. Be patient and follow your instincts, be a good listener--this can be a great bonding experience that will stay with them forever.

A family camping trip is always a way to bring the family closer and to enjoy Mother Nature together with all the fun stuff that comes with it. Take advantage of time spent together and get to know your children better.

Beautiful Kirstenbosch in Cape Town

We visited one of the most famous botanic gardens in Cape Town, Kirstenbosch which is situated on the slopes of Table Mountain. These gardens occupy over 500 hectares of slopes and mountainside.  Kirstenbosch was the world's first national garden devoted to indigenous plants. These gardens are magnificent with cycads and clivias due to the temperate climate and are sheltered from the strong summer winds by the mountains.

Way back in the early 17th century when the first settlers arrived, these lower slopes were cultivated to produce food for Cape Town and the locals. Large areas of land were used for forestation and farming and then along came Cecil Rhodes who bought large areas of land on these western slopes. He wanted to preserve it as a national heritage. This was somewhere around late 19th century. After Rhodes died the land was taken over by the Government and given to the peoples of South Africa.

The name Kirstenbosch appears on maps first drawn up in the 18th century as many Kirstens lived there.

Nowhere on the continent of Africa do you find the Cape Flora--or anywhere else in the world. This is what makes Kirstenbosch so unique in the diversity of plants. I noted on the brochures there are over 9,000 species of Flora and 70 percent are endemic.

About 40 hectares are devoted to "The Garden" which is a sort of organic in shape as it has evolved over time and no "design" was developed as a landscape plan.

Kirstenbosch has a rich diversity of indigenous plants and well worth visiting but only after you have been atop Table Mountain. If you require any information on Proteas, Erica, or Cape Flora, or more about South Africa, the Cape or whatever, please drop me a line here. I'd love to chat about it as it really is a lovely place.

South Africa - A follow up from yesterday's blog; The Magic of Cape Town

If you visit South Africa, Cape Town should be number one on your list. In the surrounding areas you will see the beautiful Cape Dutch architecture which is characterized by shapely gables in brilliant white with thatched roofs and elegant shuttered windows. Cape Town is one of South Africa's most civilized cities which lies against a backdrop of Table Mountain. From the top of the mountain you get a view of the sweeping Table Bay area. At the top you will probably spend more time gazing at the magnificent views. I probably took about 500 shots of CT and you will see some of these below.

The city of CT lies at the northern end of Cape Peninsula which is about a 50 mile range of mountains that drops down to the sea. The lower parts of the city is known as City Bowl. In the heart of the city you can visit the famous Parliament along Government Avenue, a pedestrian mall and many museums. You can't really get lost using Table Mountain as a guide.

The top pic is a view of Cape Town city from the top of Table Mountain. The second pic is where the two oceans meet (Indian Ocean and Atlantic). Way in the distance about 2,000 miles south you might be able to spot Antarctica.

The third pic is a view across the mountain range looking west. The last pic is a climber about to drop down the mountain.

More pics to follow of beautiful Cape Town.

Beautiful South Africa, a Place Kids Would Love

Recently we were on a six week sojourn in South Africa and we can say it was a truly remarkable trip. The primary objective was to visit our three grandchildren who were also on vacation in Waterfall, Hillcrest, a small village about half an hour drive inland from Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal. The village is nestled among the Midland Hills, is very green and enjoys a temperate climate--not like the humidity of Durban.

In this region there are stud farms, dairy farms and chicken farms as the pastures are a lush green and not unlike the hills you find in Ireland. Nearby Hillcrest you'll be enchanted by the Valley of the Thousand Hills and thus named because of the countless steep hills--a place well worth visiting. This is not only home to the Zulus but also many craftsmen and artists who now live there as it is becoming a great tourist attraction.

A few miles rising up inland towards Pietermarizburg, you will discover a delightful place called Botha's Hill and this is where the Zulu's perform their traditional dances. See pictures here of these wonderful dancers we captured.

Zulu Dancers, Natal

Zulu Chief Dancing

Behind these dancers notice the Valley of the Thousand Hills; this is approximately 20 odd miles from Durban. These hills are alive with traditional Zulu homesteads, this area is called Botha's Hill where you get spectacular views of these hills. Nearby are artists studios, craft shops, restaurants, coffee shop, quaint pubs and B&B's. The grandkids love to watch the Zulus dancing.

We then toured on to Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal, to a safari park about three hours drive north of Durban following the coast line to a safari park called Bayete Zulu. This is situated almost on the Swaziland border. It is "small" by the average safari lodge in the area at approximately 22,000 ha. This is what the kids really loved because of the abundance of wild animals. Lots of pictures below of these lovely creatures even though we only saw the big four, the big cats are missing in this specific area.

Rambo at Bayete Zulu Safari

On their way home

A unique feature of these giants are the tusks, Rambo, this one on the left was very tame and lifted tourists up with his trunk. He did not complain about the overweight tourists.

A ride on the tusk and a dentist

He thinks we're being nosy

Bayete Lodge is privately owned and consider the reserve to the most densely stocked and ecologically balanced in northern Natal. The reserve consists of a varied landscape of mountains, open plains and dense woodlands. The diversity of flora and high carrying capacity make this an animal paradise. We enjoyed at stay here so much we will be back again next year.

KIds Beds of Yesteryear and Today

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. Anne Frank.


In those early years of childhood, we were as poor as a church mouse shortly after WW2 and scrounged not only for food but anything that would make our lives more comfortable.  We were a large family of seven, always hungry, nearly always naughty, we used to scream and fight, bicker and yell; it seemed we all belonged in Bedlam.


The winter months as I recall were bitterly cold and the little heating we had came from a kerosene burner and that used to stink the place out. We had no money for coal or coke and the only fuel was wood from the nearby woods, the fire was lit about once a week and twice if we were lucky. A fire meant we could also have a hot bath—what a luxury.


We spent a lot of time wrapped in blankets during mid winter supplied by the government. The beds and mattresses were also army handouts. These were no special save-your-back beds but those made from reinforced steel—or so it seemed. The springs used to stick through in several places and often one of us would wake up in the night and scream as the spring found its way into flesh. Worse, my siblings had to sleep two in a single bed for warmth and any movement would create a loud squeaks and wake us up.


You could never get a good night’s sleep because the comfort level was about zero. I used to think there were bugs harvesting in the mattress as most of us got those tiny red weal marks on our bodies. As kids we were pretty disciplined but not one of us used to like making the beds so a yelling match broke out as to whose turn it was.


Moving on to present time, I see these modern beds for kids, one in particular is called the Trundle. This comes with draws, pull-out tables, small shelves for books, a flat screen TV, a sound system and a host of other goodies that kids love. These beds cost around three grand. I’d even make the bed if I had one of those!

Family Fun Cartoons Blog: Those Funny Family Gifts

Family Fun Cartoons Blog: Those Funny Family Gifts

Those Funny Family Gifts

Have you ever laughed at a funny gift from someone in your family? There are really ridiculous gifts available for your wife, husband, kids—especially the kids who are spoilt and have everything!

You have this wonderful husband and he is earning around $380,000 per annum, the house is paid off and the luxury cars are new, paid for in cash. The wife has a Lexus and he has a new Jaguar.

The kids have everything they need from their own iPads, laptops, computer games—and there is even a couple of arcade games for the kids in the room next to the billiard hall. Yep, it's big, and this family have bucks, plenty.

Yes, this family is very happy, they have everything they need. They go on vacation about twice a year mainly to the Caribbean. They love Anguilla as they always have so much fun and there's so much to do as a family.

She has a birthday coming up next week and he considers he should get her something special, something she'll fall in love with. But hey, what? She has everything she needs, diamonds, okay it is not the Dudley Diamond at around 47 carats but they are not el-cheapo either, she has the finest clothes even though he doesn't notice much what she is wearing—so he muses, what on earth can he get her for her 47th birthday coming up all too soon?

She buys all she needs for herself and the four kids, she has her own credit card and money to buy things is never on her mind, and of course she would never consult the price tag of anything, she doesn't need to.

He considers getting her something she'll love to be a great challenge; he consults the kids and asks them “What do you think Mom would love for her birthday next week?” They come up with several ideas so inane like a coffee mug with her name on it, a brooch with her picture inside it, a pair of slippers that look similar to ostrich feet; a T-shirt with “I Love Mom”.

“No kids,” say father, “It has to be something original, not crap!  This world is saturated with coffee mugs and T-shirt and besides, it is not the kind of thing Mom would really appreciate.”

Then Josh, the eldest comes up with his brilliant idea; “What about giving her a ball of nothing?”

“And how do we do that?” the kid's chorus. “Well, we give her an empty box with nothing inside.”

“No,” says father, that would be an insult, it has to be something tangible, something you can touch.” 

“How about a jar of sunshine?” Josh asks, “It's a jar with no switch and there is a light sensor inside making the light come on after dark, I saw it at the store."

“Great idea,” says Pa, “We'll get one tomorrow and all of you can create a few personal birthday cards, she'll love that!”

So what do you give to someone who has everything? Give something that will make them laugh! Go here for a few laughs but there are no special gifts for moms.

Fashionable Denims

We visited family in California recently and were dutifully met by three grandchildren. All of them were wearing fashionable faded jeans with the eldest having shredded knees. It looked to me as if they had been rescued from the rocks along a California beach. I was informed they were the latest in jeans and "You should get a pair Grandpa with your knobbly knees."

My daughter-in-law informed me they cost a few hundred bucks at Kippy's which apparently included the jacket, also denim, frayed cuffs and faded. The sneakers were a bright pink with flashing lights like a neon sign along the soles.

The styles are obviously a throwback from the eighties where faded denims became the rage with bell bottoms and those ugly belts similar to Madonna's.  Would you believe some of those belts were over 3 inches wide and had studs embedded that would make any Harley Davidson rider proud?

The girls love their sneakers but the young boys could not give a hoot, they don't care if they have soda stains, ice cream marks or plain mud. The girls are quite the opposite. They care about the style, the fit, does it go with their "over-washed" faded and torn-fashion gear? You can get girls shoes in any color but men's styles are quite boring, all with similar designs.

As the grand-kids get older their tastes will change rapidly from faded washed-ashore jeans to something more stylish especially in their early teens when their awareness of the opposite sex becomes apparent. I guess it is making a personal statement of yourself and how you think others might think of you?

Even young kids opinions matter very much to themselves, so listen up to them here.

Kids Toys Sixty Years Ago

Kids Toys were unheard of in the 1950's, we had to make our own from any scraps we could find; whether that be cardboard, scrap metal from the dumps, old discarded prams, bricks found in the yard, sandbags from WW2, corrugated sheeting thrown aside by the army (we lived near an army base) or empty shells found on the target range.

These scraps of rubbish came in handy for making almost anything. Kids in the 5 - 10 age bracket are very creative and used this found junk to make some incredible toys.

One of the wonderful toys that came out of this was a trolly, a four-wheeled transporter made from several prams—and seats two kids. There were large wheels on the back to give it a "rakish" look and we thought it would also give us more top speed, which it did. This trolly had an extended piece of wood at the front for the steering mechanism. Brakes? Nah! Who needs brakes when speed is exhilarating?

Our major problem came on going downhill so fast the steering used to lose control and we used to veer left or right because the sterring mechanism was over-sensitive. It took us a few days to figure this out with the use of two small pulleys where the steering rope was threaded through to reduce sensitivity. This worked well and we (the four of us) were very proud. Our ages were 5, 7, 8 and 10. The Trolly Team.

Other creative toys we made were; small "homes" made from curved galvanized sheeting from the army base, the two girls (sisters) were so enthralled they used to play in these minature homes for days—and would stay there playing inside until dusk.

My younger brother Phil made a two-wheeled scooter also from a disused pram, pieces of scap metal with a wooden base which was much wider than today's modern scooters. Scooter designs have not changed much in 50 years  except they now have two-stroke motor power, they are much lighter and perhaps a lot safer. Some may even have a GPS.

Do you remember those special toys you had as a kid and still get a little nostalgic about it? Maybe those toys were also from the 1950's?

Fast forward to today in the year 2010; in about 60 years toys have come a long way with quite ingenious designs and techno advances. These keep kids minds open to new innovations especially the educational toys. Here is a list of kids toys and their description...go check.

Great Activities For Kids

My website presents activities for kids mainly, and their parents. Most pages are entertaining including those that are educational in nature, specific topics on crafts, kids games, kids book and movie reviews, educational projects, basics of art for kids, and interactive pages for kids to contribute their ideas.


One of the most viewed areas are coloring pages, from animals, fairies, Disney characters, well-known cartoons, comic strips, dinosaurs to dogs, from dogs to vampire drawings.


Most of the really fun stuff for kids and parents are listed under "fun stuff" and they include funny babies, funny bloopers, funny cats and their crazy antics, funny facts as well as hilarious jokes.

The next section is on how to draw for kids and beginners...these lessons are the very basics which have to be understood if any ability is to be gained. Kids usually love these because they can master these in a very short time. Some of these lessons are; how to draw dogs, cats, people, cartoons and a favorite—how to draw flowers.

Kids skills is well visited page showing how UK kids handle various sports and how they get really good at it. These videos on Kids Skills are well worth watching.

Then comes the teen stuff on TXT messaging, teen poems, Valentine quotes, love poems, and teen friendship. All fun stuff but nothing on resolving family problems. That will probably come later.

Some interesting keywords have appeared; kids chat and the chat rooms, kids cartoons, kids animation, kids opinions (and moms they DO matter) Kids website reviews, kids humor, and kids recipes.

And finally comes the games page. These are not your usual board games like Scabble and Monopoly—they are sometimes violent and not suitable for kids under 6 or 7. There are thousands of games with humor instead of violence. So look for those.

Text Messaging and Literacy

On Easter Sunday, we were chatting with friends about child education, how the language is rapidly changing amongst kids who spend hours every day, text messaging.

The TXT language is alien, here are some examples; L2G (like to go?) LD (later dude), 14AA41 (one for all, all for one), OMDB (over my dead body). It looks like it might well be OMDB as these messages are from kids who cannot put a sentence together, mainly illiterate tweens and teens.

Illiteracy in the western world is going straight up exponentially; I wonder what it is going to be like in the next decade? ITND (in the next decade).

Text messaging is also known as SMS or Textese, textspeak or chatspeak. I guess there may be hundreds more related to this language. Grammar and punctuation is unheard of in TXT messaging, this does not auger well for kids who will eventually be applying for a job. Kids, it is going to be tough out there if you are illiterate.

Literacy, as defined by the NAAL is "Using printed and written info to function in society; to achieve one's goals and to develop one's knowledge and potential."

There are of course various levels of literacy; proficient, intermediate and basic. In the 2009 stats, 22 percent were below basic—they could not read or write! A chronic situation. Worse, about 60 percent of kids and adults who were illiterate (especially after grade 4) ended up behind bars! Therefore illiteracy and crime are closely related.

As one child in every four grows up not knowing how to read or write, we are going to be in for a tough time. So scrap all the textese, get out the books and start reading and writing—then we can all win.

See this page on teaching kids.

Family Fun and Bonding

If the Doe's are having family fun, it would be a good indication that the entire family is bonding together.

Dad and mom of course love their kids and are in hourly communication with them. If there is a squabble among the siblings, mom or dad intervene to find the basic cause of the upset. As you know, kids do not always share the same viewpoint and why should they? And so disagreements come up regularly.

A great system in the Doe family is to have all the kids together and only permitting one child to speak while the others remain silent. Each child has a turn at speaking their opinion while mom and dad record an outline of the conversation.

Before they start, each is asked to speak honestly and not to blame their siblings or point a finger in any way. Handling it this way gets to the basic upset quickly and who was responsible. "Okay Joe, you started this by not wanting to share your game with Else, right?" Joe knows he will not be punished and mom will validate him for his openness. Mom then asks "Why didn't you want to share, what is your reason?"

Joe replies "I guess I felt a bit selfish which was wrong of me, sis can use this game any time she likes!" Mom says thank you and asks the whole family to thank Joe. Joe beams and know his family is behind him and he has learnt a lesson in sharing things with his family.

Mom then changes the subject and then asks "Okay kids, lets have some fun, what would you all like to do together?"

In a chorus they all yell "Go to the beach!"


For more family bonding go to this kid-friendly site for fun things to do, funny things to watch with light entertainment.

Students and Teachers

Today I was chatting with a lovely French lady who was having problems with her web page design school teacher. Apparently he talks for 90 minutes non-stop giving the students a confusion of ideas. This young lady told me she sends him detailed emails asking to clear up the confusion but of course there is no reply.

He might well be a nice guy but he certainly is not a teacher. A teacher should have two-way communication with students especially if they are asking questions. A question means "I don't know, help."

If the curriculum is about computers, then a computer should be there, in the class. This gives the student a solid mass to go with the text (or you could call it 'significance') or a label for the item being studied. It is difficult to imagine a medical lesson in a class where the lecturer is talking about doing a by-pass on a patients' heart without a heart or patient being there. It wouldn't make sense. You can't only read text and expect to know how to do something.

This type of teaching seems to be prevalent in schools and colleges probably because the teacher is lazy or is not really in tune with his or her students.

Have you ever asked yourself why students fail and why they fail more than in the previous fifty years?

The learning curse is too steep a gradient, it almost goes vertically up. There is usually a chunk of information missing which belongs on the bottom rung of the subject matter. It is a little like trying to get to the top of the ladder from half-way up. This is basically a total lack of awareness on the teachers part of what really goes on in the students head--or doesn't care.

A question for teachers; "Do your students go around in a daze or do they have a hungry look in their eyes?"

If they are in a daze they have by-passed nomenclature they do not grasp or understand. Just about every student goes past unfamiliar text with knowing about it. The hungry look means they want to find out about it and these students probably use a dictionary. The basics have to be in, in, in before the first rung.

Then you have a happy student who knows the data and can apply it.

Go to this page Teaching Kids

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Family is the backbone of a healthy society

An individual with a sound family life of fun can provide more output in his workplace. His mind is free of tension and hence he can give hundred percent effort to the job that he has taken up.

A happy family life is a result of numerous elements. The most coveted of all is humor. A member of the family with a good sense of humor can lighten up the minds of the other members. The minds of people are drained after the long hectic hours at their workplaces.

When they return home, a funny joke could freshen them up effectively. Jokes and cartoons are a mainstay for many family people during vacations and holidays. The kids in a family essentially dwell on jokes and cartoon. For them a cartoon show of any kind is the best source of entertainment. The elderly in the family also seek entertainment in cartoons and jokes. They also dwell on songs which soothe their minds and hearts and souls.

Laughter is the best medicine to numerous diseases. The elderly and the members of the family who work at corporate firms are the ones who undergo tremendous pressure and are most prone to heart diseases like hypertension etc. Myocardial infarction or which is commonly known as heart attack is very common. People of all ages from 20 to 80 mostly suffer from heart attacks. The reason for heart attacks is tension which causes uneven fluctuations in blood flow resulting in pressure on the arterial walls which causes rupture and hence heart attack.

Laughter has been scientifically proven to soothe the blood flow rate to normal levels. There are laughter clubs where family people are encouraged to laugh at jokes cracked by people. The elderly laugh and enjoy the various notorious activities of the kids. The kids generally love their grandparents and make them laugh. The kids play various games.

Games keep the brains of people active and receptive to the environment. Family people dwell on games as their main leisure time activity during vacations and holidays. There is a lot of competition in every walk of life. When you are a kid you run towards coming first in the class, then you enter the phase where you work and earn a living, here you put up with immense pressure for a single promotion.

Amongst all this pressure and competition games could release the pressure and make the environment light. After jokes and games people can cope up with pressure more effectively.In this era of rat race what people do not realize is that even after winning the race they are still remain rats.

Keeping this face in focus people should not give away to pressure. They should not loose heart due to a single failure. They should consider the fact that failure is the stepping stone to success.

Funny Family, Funny Tough Ways

During our young family life, our family must have been the oddest this side of the Maginot Line. Family life ranged from the unusual to being a little bizarre! Some of the latter cannot be published.

Most of these humorous family situations came up shortly after WW2. We lived in London on the wrong side of the tracks because money was tight and food was in short supply. In those days it was rationed so none of us got fat—who could on a diet of potatoes? (or spuds as we used to call them).

In those ancient terraced houses built around 1870 or so...plumbing hadn't been invented as hot water was unheard of. Only freezing water which we had to bath in. The bath was galvanized tin and held about 15 gallons but we used to jump in long before the water got near the top as it was far too cold. I learned later one could get hypothermia when the water temperature didn't exceed 35 degrees and the air temperature was around 36 degrees. We never sat down in the bath, it was much, much too cold.

The actual bath time took 30 seconds as one's limbs ached with freezing water. About once a month we had the luxury of a tepid bath where buckets of water were heated on a fire stove. This tepid water felt like luxury and amazingly you could get a lather going with a bar of Lifebuoy soap! Ma used to say “Have you had a good scrub kids?” Not really Ma, as the water is so filthy how can we possibly get clean?

There were five of us kids which made it a bit tight in the tub—standing room only. The water, being 'hard' left a scum line around the top of the tub and it also formed a ring around our tummies almost as if we were wearing belts!

Then the great day came and Pa discovered a municipal public baths and we hiked off to this wonderful place. I think he “discovered” it after he found some small change in one of his pockets! Surprisingly the boys had their own shower rooms and the girls theirs. I remember it was absolute Heaven showering under really hot water, my first hot shower ever and the day I will never forget!

And our family stayed together still enjoying family life even though we live on different continents!

Those Painting Days Gone By

It was with great pleasure to receive your blogging missive on soul-searching together with your expo-nenshall rise in creationism. Yes, I know the painting well of Monet’s of his yachts in lovely watercolour. Really spiffing and a pity such a good copy be hidden behind the armoire.

Yep, I like Felix and his gargantuan painting which was all of 600 feet long and took 15 years to paint! I think this was something to do with a recording (well his anyway) of the 20th century and some of his global meanderings. He was not related to Felix Adamant of the Cruel Sea! "Hey, I thort U was kon-fuwsed!"

The portrait is just fine—and who really cares for a true likeness unless the sitter is paying for it – or to impress one’s fellow artist-dabbers? Yeah, I got down to the bottom rung without showing too much humidity.

I got a question: Did you know on Dec. 8, 1903 or whenever, Samuel Langley's flying machine plopped unpleasantly into the river. Nine days later Wilbur Wright got their "Flyer" off the ground so why did these bike mechanics succeed when a well-known dude failed?

Langley's plans were mostly theoretical and his machine was produced from blueprint and built by others. If you look at the Wright brothers' working notes, you see their outsight and their execution are woven together. By tale and error and over a period of time, they solved problems like wing shape and wing warping—hey, they did not worry about air con then. Along the way they found it necessary to build a wind tunnel and other devices to test the lift and controllability of their ever-changing designs. They were not so dum after all! And you know what? The famous Sopworth came soon after.

Applying the Wright metaphor to our artistic creative process, we can see that success might come with a succession of adjustments in a series of daubs, large or small as you say. If you’ve read "Explaining Creativity by Tom Sawyer or The Science of Human Innovation," he explains that these adjustments need not be world-shaking. One does not necessarily have a sense of revelation. Sawyer, a sigh-kologist at Washington University, uses the Wright brothers' "tinkering" as an example. Indeed, it's the minor nature of changes that leads to creative daubing by artists or otherwise.

To bring this line of thought closer to our easel experience—a progressive process of working from one quasi-experimental work to the next might lead to artistic character but this is doubtful. On this path, errors are inevitable, even vital. Failures become the stepping stones to artistic success. By carefully watching and managing a personal progression, a dibby-dabber (a struggling painter) stealthily finds his muse—or self-amusement.

We‘ve often talked about duab-production as an aid to creativity. With small works in series there is greater freedom to experiment and err. Combinations and variations abound within each small work and within the greater series. A feeling of letting go, of "winging it," brings out our innate inventiveness. Instead of a theoretical blueprint-based slavery, one feels the magic of automatic flow. You sense that huh?

The interest and attention of the creator is held by this process and the results often have a sort of celestial inevitability—the look of natural beauty and persistent magic now that would be worth something to put in front of the armoire.

Those Painting Days, what creativity! I will stick to painting-by-numbers or coloring-in!

Sponsor a Child in Africa

While we know whole towns have been destroyed in Chile - and there is help on the way from many nations, which is great!

However, consider the long term benefits of sponsoring one child's education in Africa through WorldVision and similar organizations.

Your sponsorship of one child with education can affect no less than twenty children and people in the neighborhood. Just a few dollars a month for textbooks, clean water, food, health care and a basic education. Just one child.

If there were 100 people donating a few dollars a month for these basics—it will affect the lives of more than 2,000 people! Imagine what that can do in a small community!

If you become a child sponsor, you become connected to the child; he or she writes to you regularly telling you about progress. You can also sponsor a "HopeChild" who lives in a community affected by AIDS.

The countries of Africa are the most impoverished in the world and we must wake up to assist these children so they can have a future where none exist now for the majority of the African people.

You can contact WorldVision here.

A Writing Job

Where can I find a professional writer to write for my article base and web pages? The theme will be about family life, parenting, kids, education, activities and so forth.

The writer has to be creative and well informed about families and how kids behave and interact with their parents, have a firm grasp of the English language and edit their own work and be passionate about writing.

Articles can be about “How To's” for kids, education, toddler activities, best way to handle kids problems, parenting the best way, effective family communication, dangers of kids chat rooms, why kids hate school, education problems and a host of other diverse subjects.

Article and page length about 300+ words with payment $0.02 word. You can communicate to me through the email address below. This will be an on-going writing job.

Humor Vs Comedy

Plenty of people tend to draw conclusions between comedy and humor. According to my dictionary these two words do not belong in the "circular" definitions usually found in "dinky" dictionaries (those pocket sized ones which are useless).

Example: Cat = animal; Animal = cat or Comedy = humor = comedy. Obviously these words haven't been well defined by the editors and they are misunderstood or lazy. They do not mean the same at all, check in your bumper dictionary.

You could say good writers create humor while slick comedians do comedy. It is funny in today's world how comedians (the ones who employ good humor writers) rip off celebs, politicians (don't they deserve it) dignitaries, religious figures—or anyone in the limelight.

Check out some of the stars in "American Idol" who have made silly or outrageous comments usually about their competitors (Adam Lambert comes to mind.) They are asking for a broadside from Jay Leno to David Letterman.

There is nothing really new in comedy, it has all been written before. Take for example when Al Franken said "I am not a member of any organized religion, I am a Jew." He heard that joke from a Catholic and substituted Jew for Catholic. And so it goes. How many times have you heard WC Field's "Anyone who hates babies and dogs can't be all bad!" -or variations of this?

So where did this Funny Joke come from?

Let's All Win With Kids Games

When you are a kid and you have all this time in the world, what do you think you'd like to do? Simple! Being one of the few who were privileged enough to be given the role to do as you please, you have all this time to play and learn about the things around you. Kids are arguably the happiest creatures in the world. This is because they are given the license to make and play games out of anything. When it comes to rules, there are no rules. The only rule to follow is say no to boredom and hello to fun-fun-fun!

You do not have to have a high-tech gadget to play kids’ games. You do not have to make elaborate props for a game to work. When it comes to kids’ stuff, simpler is better. This is because children are normally imaginative. They can make space ships and air planes out of empty cartons or boxes. They can see castles in your stocks of blocks. They can see princesses and princes beyond the toy swords and tiaras that their playmates wear. Hence, when it comes to games, children enjoy limitless possibilities.

When adult games are mediated by coaches and referees, kids’ games observe one rule only. Kids usually go for games that they can play with their imagination. They like games that can keep them running around the grounds, chasing their playmates. They like games that give them a feeling of adventure, a chance to get lost into a world that is entirely their own; the bright ones like games where all the kids win!

Sunny days are a treat to a playful and active child. It is during these days that sky clears up for them to play tug-of-war, hide-and-seek, wheelbarrow races and more of outdoor games. On the other hand, gloomy and rainy days are no exception. Indoors, children can do living room bowling, board games, tea parties and camping tents by setting up blankets. In their make-believe world, they get forget what boredom is like and dwell on the overwhelming feeling of fun and excitement, which define the very essence of being a kid.

Playing kids’ games is not only limited to indoor and outdoor activities. It can be done while riding the bus, or during long vacation trips. It can be done while waiting for the food you ordered in the restaurant or even while lining up to the grocery cashier lane. Every chance is perfect to play games.

Kids’ games are not all fun. It conceals some valuable learning experiences, which will guide the children in learning, adapting and understanding the things in his environment. Through games, parents are given the chance to explain how people acts and reacts with make-believe stories and dress-up activities. With game activities, families can spend quality time with their kids.

It is natural for kids to be curious and active. They can be overly imaginative and relentlessly playful. With that, they need to play some fun kids’ games to feed their urge to explore the world they live in. Through games, they can be anything they want or pretend to be anyone who they wanted to be— they learn valuable skills and lessons. No game is corny in a kid’s eye. Playing the game is better than leaving your child to bear boredom.

Is it Possible to be Happy?

You've probably heard it often enough but it is worth reading in this context; “every human has a desire for happiness”. You can be happy most of the time, some of the time or it always seems elusive to you.

What were you doing in those wonderful moments of being happy?

It could be that split moment when a buddy told a hilarious knee-slapping joke and you forgot all the stress you were under. Then the stress kicks in and you are now no longer happy.

If you wax a smile even if you are not feeling up to it, you will almost certainly find something to smile about. And of course, if you can laugh, something will come up for you to laugh about. Try it, it works well.

You are really responsible for your own happiness, no one else. It comes from within and consequently it depends on what you have done or doing, right? If you have been complaining to your boss about another employee you don't particularly like, do you think during that time and afterwards you will be feeling happy?
It is highly unlikely you'd be feel happy unless you have a similar personality to Mr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or what is sometimes known as “bi-polar” (or what had been called “manic-depressive psychosis” by psychiatrists).

If you have a positive intention to achieve a specific goal and you have a passion for what you do, the nearer you get to achieving that goal the happier you will be. The climax will be when the goal is achieved and you'll be really happy. What then? You set up another goal and head for it.

Happiness really is having a positive attitude towards life, a bit like wearing a coat; you can either put on the coat of a happy attitude or even a nasty one. So wear the right coat and do good things for others.

Some Funny Facts of Life

There are weird facts of life, funny odd facts as well as trivia facts and a bit of truth about each. Part of being alive and having a great life is to be happy. See my earlier blogs on this subject.

One of the basic facts of life is that life itself is related to happiness. This world does not appear to be a happy place today, even yesteryear seems pretty much like today—full of hate, starvation, jobless, illiteracy, divorce—name your own "awfulness" here!

You will notice people who have an unlimited chunk of money and can buy anything are far from being happy.

Sometimes we look at our surroundings and think "How could anyone be happy in this hellhole where everything seems to go wrong?" There's a leak in the roof, the gutters are falling off, the garden is overrun with weeds and trash, the sofa needs replacing. "OMG, what can we do about it?"

Kids get their knowledge on the facts of life from the charm they put into it. Remember when you were a kid and everything looked beautiful and life was truly great? What changed? I guess you changed.

On a lighter note, a kids viewpoint on the funny facts of life can throw a little happiness here and there!

The Pursuit of Happiness

There's an article today on Yahoo's News about 5 things that will make you happier. There's also a picture there of a group of people at The Laughing Club giving off an early morning guffaw. Trouble is, they don't look happy at all.

Would it be true to say if you are pursuing happiness you don't have it? Otherwise why the pursuit?

Happiness is not having loads of bucks in the bank - look at some of the really wealthy people, especially celebrities, they look downright unhappy. So that isn't the answer is it? Being hopelessly in love can bring happiness but that doesn't last too long when it goes into stage 2 and 3. Do you have a good definition of happiness?

The five things listed (as research has shown) that can improve happiness is:

1) Being Grateful. Writing letters of gratitude or a thank-you letter.
2) Be Optimistic. Think optimistic thoughts by visualizing an ideal future.
3) Count your blessings; write some good things about yourself.
4) Use your strengths - do you have any?
5) Acts of Kindness; Help others, assist others in need. Well, we all do that.

Do you do any of these things? It certainly does have an effect on you when you "Pay it Forward"

A good definition would be overcoming the obstacles in life towards an achievable goal.

See these kids, they are very happy. Do you know why? Take a look!

What is funny depends on your viewpoint

Maybe this is how you see things and we all have our very own viewpoint of what can be funny. We often laugh at things we find strange and unusual and sometimes downright illogical. There is no really good definition of what “funny” is probably because there are many factors that come into play. Age – 6 or 60, culture – English or Chinese and time frames. Some humorous pieces do survive the ages as in Shakespeare, Mark Twain or Moliere and more. Notice that Shakespeare's romantic comedies have survived the ages and they are always funny – but not to get you rolling on the floor!

What you find funny other people may find downright ugly or bizarre.

You can oftentimes find yourself in a serious situation which gradually becomes absurd and then ridiculously funny. I was once acting in a play “The House By The Lake” by Hugh Mills and I played the main character and Stella was my sister. We plotted to murder our very unloved brother Colin – so this was a serious thriller, full of counter-plots and intrigue. After brother Colin was “murdered” we dumped him upright in a closet (during a curtain fall after act II.) Soon after the opening of the 3rd act, the door fell off (it wasn't constructed too well) and “dead” Colin came with it. The audience screamed as though it was part of the act, it wasn't. And so Colin began to laugh, then it got to a raucous laugh to almost a hysterical laugh, the audience still thought it was part of the act and also began to laugh which ended in so much noise we all began to laugh! In the end, tears began to run down Colin's face – then came the curtain call and Act III ended abruptly.

Shakespeare knew the ups and downs of life were sometimes funny as well as tragic. You do not see too often the comedians in a tragic play or movie come on scene to lighten it up! Check some of Shakespeare's final lines that are all to often taken seriously when in fact they are humorous, “Oh, now I am slain!”

If you truly want to have some fun and laughter, go to this
Kid-Friendly Website A top line resource on clean humor for young families.