What to give the child who wants magic for Christmas...

It becomes almost second nature to start inquiring what presents to get for your young ones during the holidays. We play little games of "oh isn't that nice!" and see what road it takes us on. I have played that gave for 9 years now and 2 kids later. This year however I was stumped when my 6 year old writes his letter and asks me

"Mom, how do you spell the word, magic?"

Magic? For real magic? Like super powers and all? Yep, that kind of magic he assured me.
Boy was I screwed.

Magic, magic, I wracked my brains for the past month. How do I get him magic? Duh, obviously I can't unless I get named one of the Wizards in the world of Harry Potter. Then to top it all, he also asks for $2000. I laugh, dying to hear the reason for this one. I was expecting a long list of toys to come pouring out of his mouth but all he said was :

"Well, $1000 will be for charity and the rest for you and Dad for the house and other people." What charity I asked?

"All of them, " he replied.

All of them. I guess if everyone was that generous with their magic wishes there would be less charities in need that $1000 would solve all the problems.

So , now here it is , a mere few days before Christmas. What to do? He is expecting magic. Santa IS magic is all I hear. Santa can't share magic, I think .

Maybe he can't because my son already has it inside himself.

you know you're old when....

You know you're old when:

you hear a song you grew up listening to now on an oldies station ( I did today:(

you try to figure out how to make an iphone app and all the "teachers" are thirteen year olds

Schools change the names of such things as rounding up to estimating and it confuses the heck out of you.

Classrooms focus on computer learning and you hope to God you can keep up with your kid.

The once cool dance you remember ( and now willing to teach to your younglings) would cause your child such embarrassment that they would would rather pay you off to stop doing it than put it towards the latest gadget they were saving for. ( Hasn't happened yet, but sure it will one day when I feel like causing total humiliation.)

you can't remember making plans to go out with your father for dinner one hour after making them. You even go as far as to have planned the dinner and discuss it with the kids while you are in the food store about to purchase it. ( Happened the other day.)

You can't remember anything else that makes you feel old because...well....you just can't remember anything anymore.

The Kushnirs Go To Washington!

Over the summer, the fam and I went to Washington DC. our goals were to see as much of the Smithsonian ( 19 museums in all) as possible. Of course not for lack of trying we got to see 2 museums and the monuments. The first museum was the Air and Space. My boys were estatic to be there.




The rooms were filled with facts from the various world wars and military gear to spaceships and astronauts. Airplanes and rocketships! A little boy's dream!




While that in itself was thrilling ( yes even for me the odd girl out), I was excited to see the American History museum. Apparently that wasn't exciting enough for my boys ( even my 6 year old history buff who simply enjoyed the Lincoln section and was done).





While these museums were interesting and after nearly 5 hours of almost straight walking, my youngest 9 who almost ALWAYS complains about walking anywhere) still wanted to take the hike to the Lincoln Memorial and the "Point" ( Washington Monument). He has an intense desire to learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and Lincoln. He has read books on King Jr. and the March on Washington and can tell you more facts than I ever knew ( such as what they had for lunch that day. I am not kidding!)While my feet were killing me, we walked the next 45 minutes and saw where history was made.



On our way home we past the Korean War Memorial Wall and the eyes of the soldiers forever caught in the jungles. I wished in my heart that they were real so I could tell them they made it home to be with their loved ones. It was a touching scene and made me realize how blessed we all are even though it doesn't always feel like it. God Bless America!

Free Shipping on skins at etsy shop!

I have free shipping ( USA only) on skins for cell phones, Nook, Kindle, ipod, iphone, and much more! Check it out. This deal ends September 6! O

only a few of the designs for sale are shown above-much more at the store!

Change the world ...one cookie at a Time

THis Saturday my boys and I had our community service project that they picked to do this summer. When discussing this months ago, I told them I wanted to do a project that they choose where all the money made could go to help a charity of their choice. They both agreed that they wanted to sell ice tea and cookies both homemade. My eldest, Michael, wanted the money he made to go to help the animals caught up in the Gulf oil spill while my youngest, Jake , wanted to buy food for a homeless family.

Once we got the details sorted out after careful deliberation, we made the cookies and ice tea and made our way over to my mother in law's house to sell them . She has a lot more traffic than we do.

It was a hot one, in the nineties ( or at least it felt like it). The boys were troopers taking very few breaks and trudging through the heat for 3 hours. The boys were greeted with their first customer not even 10 minutes into setting up. Then came another and more to follow. both boys tried to come up with clever ways to capture drivers attention. They had made a colorful sigh which they held up at passing cars. While that was garnering attention it wasn't always bringing in the customers. Next, they tried holding a sign while the other held up a cookie waving it eagerly in the air. That helped a bit more, but the last ideas I think were the best.

Michael would hold a plate of cookies and screamed "Cookies for Charity!" while Jake held the sign. I lost track of the customers, but not of their generosity. The boys sold nearly all their cookies and ice tea and made $90 plus dollars for the charities! That was enough to help 3 families and 5 gulf animals. They were so proud and happy and are planning to do it again soon. My mother in law mentioned that seeing this redeemed her faith in humanity. I must admit it redeeemed mine too.

For more ways you can help these and other great charities check out this link.

8 New Designs for your Iphone, Nano and more!

Please note: all images are copyrighted. Please do not redistribute. Thank you.









I have added 8 new designs to my etsy shop. These focus on a bit of steampunk ( Illusions) to Goth ( Skull and Flowers and Goth Tree) to ones geared toward kids ( Vision- first in the series -this one has my son Jake on it:) Right now I only have them available to iphones, nanos, itouch and ipads, but ereaders will be added soon as well as other cell phone types. Check them out at my etsy shop! Thanks for looking!

Fresh Artist- A Great idea for Kids!

I was so proud when just a few weeks ago, my son , Michael, was chosen to be a Fresh Artist. What is that you say? Fresh Artists is an idea that promotes philanthropy and creativity in children. When a child is chosen as a Fresh artist, they are given a chance to have their art work created and sold to corporations as a print. When the corporations purchase the art, the money received goes to buy art supplies for children in schools who can't normally afford it. Not only does it help the children but the community . It also allows the Fresh Artists to experience doing good for another. This summer , the Fresh Artist want to inspire a grassroots project to help kids sell their works and raise money to help charities on their own. I think it's a great idea! Kids will be keeping busy and doing good for the community. What do you think?

new skins at etsy shop!

Hi all! Here are some new skins for your iphone and blackberry at my etsy shop. Thanks for looking! Kindles and ipads will be added shortly.

Decal for Haiti Relief!

Hi everyone. I have decided to donate $1.00 for each sale of this particular skin to Haiti Relief via the Red Cross. It is called Make a Difference. I know it sounds cliche and trite but I do beleive each one of us no matter how small a contribution can change the course of the world. The skin is availble for the following types of electronics:

Blackberry Storm
Blackberry Curve 8500
Blackberry Curve 8300
Blackberry Bold 9000
Apple ipod nano 3g
Apple ipod nano 4g
Apple itouch
Apple iphone 3g
Apple iphone 2g


It can be purchased through my etsy site as well as www.decalskin.com ( please note* the $1.00 will only be donated through the etsy site.)



If you have any comments or questions just ask. Thanks for reading as always!

My Designs have arrived at Decalskin.com!

So excited! My new skin designs have made their way to a wonderful company called www.decalskin.com There are 8 designs for purchase. The names are

1. Make a Difference
2. the Natural Woman
3. Explore the City
4. Modern Super Woman
5. Childhood Dreams ( off to right)
6. Eye on the World
7. Hiding
8. Manmade

( Note all items are copyrighted and CANNOT be copied or reproduced in anyway.)









Check them out! Thanks! Love to hear your thoughts!

USA Network's White Collar webcast Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay!

Live video by Ustream

Just wanted to post this amazing webcast from Ustream in case anyone missed it. Or maybe you just wanted to rewatch it in time for the season finale tomorrow! Enjoy and comment !!!

Beautiful Jewelry from LuShae Jewelry! Read about it!

I was priviledged enough to have received an email from Sarah, the designer from LuShae Jewelry with an offer to try their product and give a review on my blog. It was quite an offer to! I choose a beautiful Heart Dropper Pendant. I couldn't wait topreceive it. The order was shipped quickly and packaged well. When I opened it it took my breath away. The workmanship on this piece is exquisite . Its elgance and beauty will be something a loved one or even yoruself would cherish for many years to come. Check out the website and see for yourself. There are many different items to choose from : earrings to promise rings and everythign in between. THanks for reading and have a great day!

LuShae Jewelry

White Collar Widget