Birthday parties, birthday parties...oh my!  Now, who doesn't like being invited to one?

Birthdays are very special times for you as child.  You get to spend celebration times with your friends, maybe eat pizza, play games, watch movies, color together, eat birthday cake and ice cream...perhaps even get to bust open a  pinata!

But the best thing in the world, to me, about going to your best friend's (or other friends') birthday party is the memories you get to share together by building a nice kid relationship bond with one another.  

To this day, I still look back on older pictures and cherish those times.

So, if you have a birthday or you're invited to a party, I will suggest making your own memorable memories.  And, like me, years later, you'll be able to look at those photos and be very glad that you did.  I'll bet you'll be excited when viewing the everlasting moments that were captured.  Whenever I see my older pictures of such times, I marvel at them, and say: "WOW!  I'm glad I have memories like this in my life!"

When I was a baby boy, my parents were gifted (at a baby shower) with a very nice present from my godmother. 
My mother said:  "Here's Teddy for you, my dear son!"

As soon as a young boy lays his eyes on such a wonderful, cute, adorable, and well-crafted bear, for me it was 'game on'! Wow...my teddy, my teddy bear...I was very surprised with suddenly having such a beautiful bear to be with me!

In the days ahead, this teddy went everywhere with me, having the same adventures no matter where we were; places like the park, going to judo or martial arts at a young age, story-time, being displayed at school for 'show and tell', swimming, eating dinner with us at the table, even playing games with me.  Whenever it thundered outside, we would be scared but had each other's backs.

Poor Teddy!  He was dropped into the toilet on more than one occasion and then subsequently put into the washing machine.  He also had stuffing coming out of him occasionally and so my mother patiently gave Teddy necessary surgical operations to sew his arms or legs back up and on, or put his eyes back into place.

​Heck, later on, even my tabby cat played with Teddy too.

Teddy and I were the closest of friends, having a very special bond.  This teddy bear was so loved to bits and pieces, yet he survived through almost any kind of adversity you could think of.  (Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing him home to me - this one of a kind bear.)

Even though he's gone now, still to this day I love and cherish that special teddy bear.  I squeezed and loved him dearly.

I ask you...do you have a teddy bear?  If so, what kind of stories and adventures do you have with your Teddy?

Candy, candy, candy...
I love candy!

Candy is so yummy to my tummy
It makes me want to have more.
I love how sticky, soft, and sweet it is...
Especially the one-cent candies.
OMG, there is so much to explore
   in the everlasting candy land shops!

When I went into my favourite tuck shop as a kid,
I observed everything very closely.
These candies were all in little tiny brown paper bags
   priced at one cent, 5 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents, 75 cents and a dollar gave you much more because the dollar selection were not in brown paper bags at all.  They were in the dollar surprise bags called the candy loot bags; you never knew what you were going to get inside them!

The tuck shop clerk was a person that I used to call the candy shop dream.  He would laugh at my given name to him and said to me:  "If you would like some specialty candy that's behind my counter, that's cool too."  

My reply to him was:

 Thank you, kind sir...I will see you again soon! 

I've heard it said:  "Rain, rain, go away.  Come back again another day!" 

I don't know exactly who coined that phrase, but I believe it was a 19th Century nursery rhyme person named James Orchard Halliwell.

That phrase captures the way I feel when all I hear is the pitter patter, pitter patter of these rain drops.  It all starts off so slow and then it comes down fast.
And I say to myself, how long will this rain last when all I want to do is go and  play outside?
I ask my Mom and Dad this question:  Why does it have to rain?
They both answer with something like, "Hey, Son: some days it just rains...that's the way it is and the way that Mother Nature needs it to be.  You could say it's a free car wash!  Plus, the grasses grow and they get greener and greener; the flowers grow too."

Thanks Mom and Dad for telling me so, instead of me sitting by the window and being bored as can be while tapping the window with the curtain blinds, which really is annoying to my Mom and Dad. 

If I don't stop that, Mom will say to me:  "Stop that tapping please! I'm trying to concentrate on a stained-glass project.  Can you please find something else to do with your time?"
​
So my Dad says: "Say there, Sport...would you like to  play a board game with me?  How about Snakes and Ladders or Mousetrap or Escape from Fireball Island? I'll make us some popcorn and grab you some juice to go with it.  Let's just play and have some fun and rejoice because this is our rain day!"

Next time it rains, now you'll have some kind of a plan for enjoying YOUR very own rain day, too!   

Tie dye, tie dye, tie dye, what an artistic summer love!
An adventure of rainbow colors await with outcomes from above.
Swirls and explosions of funky designs on t-shirts, socks, hoodies and more -
Oh wow!  You just never know what the twists will have in store!
Taking your materials like elastics, cloth, and dyes
Shaping these with trapped ice cubes or even marbles too
They all help to have an inner child play
And create exciting cosmic effects in purples, pinks or blues.
Greens, yellows, and reds entwined sure make a lovely treasure
Oh, how I love amazing tie dye and the chest of adventurous pleasures!
If you want to have some family fun, just gather your tunes and cotton fluffs
Then belt out those songs as loud as you can and dive into the messy, but mystical stuff.
We all have an excited talented artist inside
So go all in with your tie dye,
Rinse, wait,wash, and dry...
​then stand back with worn home-made pride!

One duck...two ducks...three ducks...four -
All the little quackers have lined up by the door,
They have been fed their grains today.
But now they're back for more!??

These feathered friends have been paddling since before the sun has dawned,
They bob their heads and upturn ends while dipping in the pond.
But they see a little kid like me, who's visiting the farm
And right away, they make a play to turn on all their charm!

One duck...two ducks...three ducks...four -
All the little quackers are begging to eat more.
But they get told to "take a hike", " 'cuz I've got lots of chores to do, and
I wanna ride my 'Hot Wheels' bike!"

All four little quackers start to march away - BUT,
Just because they've been told, I already know they've very BOLD
And they'll be right back at the end of my day!


​               (Written by Lance, with Karen Bird-Meninger)

Are you a Tiny Tim, or maybe you're a Pink Panther?  Or perhaps you're a Crocks kid who simply enjoys the game of marbles played.  

Me? I like every game played and I love how I can create my own marbles pit.  But the best part about Marbles is that I love collecting all kinds of them, holding them, and making names for them! 

When you look at a marble, they're always different, never the same.  Alleys have that nice clear-glass, coloured ribbon effect sculptured inside them.  When you drop a metal Tiny Tim in your hand, it's so small but something that small can also have a heavy responsibility when it comes to winning.  What I mean by that is this:  is your game a 'keepsies', a 'tradesies' or a 'friendsies' game?  Whatever one of these three the game is, a Tiny Tim (or any other kind of marble) can be involved and you won't get it back if you lose the game.  I like it when you can just play for fun.  

You can have a really cool journey while playing marbles.  It's not about how many people  play or the number of marbles lost or gained, it's how you play the game.  Whether you and your marbles are in the sand, in long grass or tall bushes and mud, remember that there's always hope to get your little round friends into the marble pit.  And don't despair if you lose your marbles...pulling out your hair won't help! But buying another bag of marbles will.  :) :)