To thine own Elf be true

Maybe it’s a good thing Elf on the Shelf didn’t become popular while my boys were young. The commercialized book and accompanying toy elf has sent perfectly sane Mothers across the country into crazed, creative overdrive, as they devise elaborate plans for the Elf to trick and surprise the children in their house with daily…

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Sundae at the Grand

In small towns, we tend to make our own fun. So one day, some people in Fairhope, Alabama said, “Hey, why don’t we try to make the World’s Longest Ice Cream Sundae?” We all came together – all 1,565 students and almost 300 adult volunteers – at the Marriott Grand Hotel Resort, Golf Club and…

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Happy Birthday Lois Lane!

Happy- Yappy Friday to you, and Happy Birthday to Lois Lane! Yesterday was actually Lois’ 9th birthday. It wasn’t until after the celebration she consented to share this story with you, so I’m a day behind. Lois Lane was born the day before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. A pure-bred beagle, she comes from…

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A Walk In The Park

Yesterday, I showed you several photos of our new park, but I saved the best story for today. Have you ever seen a congressman go down a corkscrew slide? Here’s the short report I did for Gulf Coast Newspapers . . . When asked the riveting question, “Which piece of playground equipment would you run…

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And now, he’s gone

They tossed their hats in the air. His Dad said, “I’ll bet you a dollar he doesn’t come home with his cap.” About twenty minutes later, we found him on the field with a big grin, diploma in hand, and no mortarboard or tassel. “It’s somewhere out there on the field.” “You owe me a…

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Graduates, respect yourself

  On St. Patrick’s Day, Page and Palette Bookstore presented a lunchtime lecture with Jan-Philipp Sendker, bestselling author of “The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.” As Sendker addressed the large crowd at the Fairhope Public Library, he told of his time spent in Burma. One story was related to a sign he saw hanging on the…

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Senior Awards and Rewards

The 2014 Senior class of Fairhope High School has been awarded $15 MILLION DOLLARS worth of scholarships! That is an all time new school record. And I must be a proud Mom for a moment and say that my son added a bit to that total. (Thank goodness!) As a reward for their Senior awards,…

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Focusing Game

We were having trouble with teenaged boys remembering things. What a surprise, right? I sent Big-‘un to the store for three things, and he got all three things wrong. Lil’ ‘un kept forgetting his homework.  I didn’t panic, because that’s just the way boys are. I taught school for several years and happen to believe…

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