The Magnificent, Magical, Never Ending Adventures of Moo and Me

Written for a young man and his amazing family at Camp Jack (and Kate).

The Magnificent,  Magical, 
Never Ending Adventures of Moo and Me

I love where I am and all that I’ve met

But sometimes I yearn for more

There are many places that I've never been

I just want to go explore

I think tonight I'll give it a try

And take along co-pilot Moo

We'll fly together while in my dreams

'Cuz that's what best friends do

Flying into the night with Moo at my side

Our first stop is Mr. Moon

I say he's cheese but Moo says he's not

We'll both find out real soon

A few minutes more and we're over  the moon

Seeing a crater, we  land in its dust

Moo was right the moon is not cheese

  But it's flour on a pizza crust

We nibble a bit and then have to leave

It's time to go on our way

"Moo it's your turn to choose where we go

And it looks like you want to play"

So off we go passing twinkling stars

Waving at them as we fly

I see ahead where Moo wants to go

"Not the milky way", I say with a sigh

Moo smiles at me and waves his tail

As if he's got a plan up his sleeve

We fly really close and I'm amazed to see

White, chocolate, strawberry... I can't  Believe!

We swoop down close but he doesn't stop

It's up and onward we go

I quick lean over  and slurp a taste

Hmm, Milky way's milk, how could I know

He winks at me and moos a laugh

Snorting milk out of his nose

I giggle and laugh as he's on a roll

Curling his tail he makes a pig pose

"Where are we going?" , I ask to my friend
"  You'll see, just hang on to my back"

Traveling far we finally reach a place

Moo calls this Nebula Jack

"Wow!", I say, ""  is it named after me?"

Moo laughs and says ""  but of course"

"  Can we stay awhile and play a bit?"

"  Hey,... what?... Wait?... is that a horse?"

Riding up close comes a magnificent foal

Her mother is close behind

They stop and stare right into our eyes

Asking, if we're horses, what kind?

I laugh so hard I start falling off Moo

The foal comes up by my side

She looks at me and smiles a bit, saying

"  Hey do you want to ride?"

I slide off Moo and onto her back

And off exploring we go

It's over gas clouds and nebula bands

"  Watch out a comet! Duck low!"

We play for a while this foal and me

Until Moo and Mommy say  "" it's time"

So off I slide and give a great hug

And back onto Moo I climb

With tears in our eyes we say our goodbyes

asking "   Will I see you again?"

 ""We live so far beyond many stars

I'll call you, do you have a pen"

Exchanging numbers and telling stories

We find we share many views

I look and take notice of something peculiar

Foal changes colors and hues

Moo and Mommy keep trying to move us along

And I ask foal "What is your name?"

"Oh", she smiled, "how could I forget.

It's Kate. And I'm glad you came"

"I have surprise, it's a secret you know

I'm never that far away

I'll be in your heart and in your dreams

It's Love's magic some might say"

Mommy smiles at me and Moo winks too
And I whisper right back in Kate's ear
""If you miss me too just look around and see
in colors and rainbows; I'm near"

We wave good bye saying "see you again"

Each flying in our own way

We smile with Hope as we know the Truth

We'll see each other again some day

Written for all those with and at Camp Jack (and Kate)

(http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/campjack)

with Hope, Love and Light

by Nina Pauline Ploetz 4-13-2011

The Learning Station/ The Book About Tony Chestnut Review

If you are one of the few who have not heard about the cute as a button, fun loving red-head, Tony Chestnut, please allow me to introduce you..

$19.95

Not only is Tony adorable as can be, he has won numerous Awards for his hit song and this amazing, colorful book about himself and his little sister, Eileen.

His song invites active participation with it's clever lyrics, creating lots of movement and energy throughout. It starts off slow and then rapidly gets faster, making it more of a challenge to keep up. For some reason my kids do way better at it than me.

Lyrics to the song Tony Chestnut:

To (toe)

ny (knee)

Chest (chest)

nut (head)

Knows (nose)

I (eye)

Love (heart)

You (point to friend)

Tony knows. (Tony knows)

Tony Chestnut knows I love you.

Thats what Tony knows.

Tony, Tony and his sister Eileen (touch your eye and lean to one side)

And Eileen loves Neil (kneel on the floor) and Neil loves Pat (pat your head)

but Pat still loves Bob (Bob your head).

And there's Russel (shake your knees) and Skip (skip in place).

This song is silly, but it's hip (shake your hips).

How it ends, just one man knows.

And guess what, it's Tony Chestnut.

It's the chatchiest song, let me tell ya. I guarentee that you will be singing it for days once you hear it. My kids and I (and even my husband) have been singing it non-stop for days. Any songs with actions are great for kids. It ecourages them to get up and move around and actually think about the words they are singing. It's fun for children of all ages. My girls, ages 2 and 5 absolutley adore little Tony Chestnut. I love that it's not only a fun song, but it also teaches my littlest one the parts of the body in a fun musical way. It also encourages my Kindergartener to read along with Tony and get excited about reading.

This wonderful song that my family has grown to love comes to life in The Book About Tony Chestnut (shown above). It's a brightly colored 48 page picture book with a CD included.

The story is about Tony and his little sister Eileen moving to a new town and beginning school for the first time at their new school. They find themselves on the playground together watching all the other children laughing, playing and enjoying themselves. Feeling alone and much like the new kid, Eileen starts to cry. You'll have to read the book to find out how Tony Chestnut, overcomes his shyness and helps his little sister make some new friends.

Being school just recently started, lots of children will be able to relate to some of the feelings Tony and Eileen had on their first day.

The CD features the song Tony Chestnut, reading by the talented British storyteller, Jeanne Bowyer as well as an added bonus that includes thought provoking questions to help engage your children in discussion of the story as well as their own life experiences. Going through the questions with my Kindergartener, it opened her up to telling me more about her first day of school. It also helped me ask questions to her in different ways. It made her think about her feelings, why she was feeling them as well as thinking about how some of her classmates might be feeling and why some of them cried, misbehaved or were shy on their first few days. It helped me teach her lessons on how to treat her friends (and her little sister).

As I've mentioned before, one of the ways I find easiest to keep my kids from driving my husband and I crazy with questions like "are we there yet" in the car is to bring along CD's or cassettes that they can listen to and follow along in the book in the back seat. Granted, it's kind of difficult to do some of the actions while strapped in a carseat, my girls still love singing along to their favorite song, Tony Chestnut, listening to his story and following along with the bright and colorful illistrations in the book.

Along with The Book About Tony Chestnut, my girls were able to pick a CD to review.

They chose Tony Chestnut and Fun Time Action Songs.

$15.00

This CD includes many of their favorites from Five Little Monkeys to the Swimming Song.

Each song encourages them to get up and dance, use their imaginations and shake their tail feathers. Naturally children love performing and moving around and this CD filled with fun action songs allows them to do so (and release some of their built up energy).

My girls love dancing around their dance stage and singing along to these fun silly songs.

Tony Chestnut is brought to us by The Learning Station, a multi-award winning children's recording and performing company. Don and Laurie Monopoli and Jan Krkach have combined backgrounds and degrees in early childhood education, child development and music. Through their music they have dedicated their lives to making this world a better place for children and they have achieved international stature as leaders in the educational music industry.

Laurie is the sweetest woman, who I have enjoyed working with so much (via email). I can feel her passion for music and educating our children through her bright and cheery words.

This amazing woman is also the genius author of The Book About Tony Chestnut. Her cleverness, creativity and choice of words are so inspiring.

It's so nice to be able to be in contact with her direct when contacting The Learning Station.

The Learning Station has a wide variety of Children's CD's to choose from, musical videos and get this.....they even do LIVE Concerts. Laurie, Don and Jan are the incredibley talented voices behind all the music and singing.

The Learning Station also offers a wonderful educational curriculum based on KINDNESS.

I have passed this along to my child's Montessori school and other Mom's who take the initiative to be active in their child's education. It's offered for free on their website. I cannot wait to incorporate this into my girls' daily activities at home. It's such a fantastic, fun learning tool that is nice for Mom's and Dad's, Sunday School, Homeschool, or Preschool settings.

HEALTHY MUSIC FOR A

CHILD'S HEART, BODY AND MIND.

Visit The Learning Station online at http://www.learningstationmusic.com/

http://www.tonychestnut.com/

download instant digital CD's

FREE printable activities

preview ALL Learning Station songs

easy, safe and secure online ordering

To be honest, there are so many aspects to The Learning Station, you will have the stop by their website to learn more!!

A huge THANKS to Laurie and the gang at The Learning Station for giving me this amazing oppertunity to review these amazing products.

Wordless Wednesday

It's picture day for Alexa today!!

Fun times at the park!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This is the same poem, but I took people's advice and printed up copies to give away at our gift shop at work. There is a young man I work with that is an amazing artist. I gave him the poem just a day ago and asked if he would be willing to do an original drawing for the poem. Despite, his having to work and go to school, he still made time to come up with this amazing piece of artwork!! 

As always, I thank you all for your kind and inspiring comments.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

A Little Halloween Fun

It's Halloween come out and play

Ghosts and goblins have your way

Gathering in the full moon light,

As owls hoot and bats take flight.

Witches come with cape and hat,

Eye of newt and cat of black.

Let's boil a brew and cast a spell

So all will be happy and all is well

We'll sit around and cackle a bit,

Sharing our secrets and some wit

Then Fly around on brooms of old

Scare some people if we are bold

Spend some time and reminisce

Of caldrons past as dragons hissed

A night to be that witch we are

Fly the skies both near and far

Flap your wings or howl at the moon

Teeth grow sharp not all too soon

So phantom friend come fly with me

We've tales to tell and sights to see.

This is the night that's ours to run

Just having a little Halloween fun

Written  With Love and Light,

by Nina Pauline Ploetz

Original Artwork by Kyle Jackson (KyJackson89@aol.com)

Thank you Kyle!!

Bubbles

Bubbles

A child plays and bubbles fly
up into the air
They hesitate and dance a bit
as if they have no care

They swirl around with rainbows hue

giggles on the ground

Children run and try to catch

these playful little rounds

Playing with the wind

they dance a little dance

Arms reach up with screams of glee

little feet begin to prance

Gliding down, fingers touch

then gone within a flash

Smiling faces little feet run

and soon more bubbles dash

The grass is green, the sky so blue

rainbow bubbles high

They sail along as if with wings

no limits only sky

Try to touch on tippy toes

bubbles just out of reach

Jump on up and stretch so far

"come back" little voices screech 

Running fast and looking up

someone points and stares

A look of wonder in their eye

as bubbles touch their hair

Fun and laughter fill the air

children and bubbles play

seems no end to the fun

till evening ends their day

Little feet come running in

Bubbles on their hands

Water cleans Bubbles goodbye

Slumber now commands

Children fed ,sleepy heads

Sweet dreams fill their mind

Angles play with rainbow bubbles

imagination, what a find

written with Love and Light

by Nina P.  (finished 9/6/09)

all photo's from Google.com search under images: Bubbles

Random thoughts while in a Waiting Room

Random thoughts while in a

WAITING ROOM

Music Playing
Fish Dancing
Sunshine right outside

Voices heard
Papers rustle
Sounds seem so absurd

Lights flicker
TV's on
Someone's cell phone rings

Faces smile
Stomachs growl
Computer tapping keys

Tense moments
Nerves high
People wait in line

Pages flip
Quiet talk
Waiting for my turn

Toes tapping
Beverage sipped
People sigh out loud

Hearts race
Feet move
As they call my name

Waiting's over
Fears ease
Glad I am all done

Pay bill
Almost faint
I'll wait again someday

written patiently

and with Love and Light,
by Nina P.
9/3/09

all photos from Google.com/images search:waiting rooms

Moonlight Glow

The Moon is high
Lighting the sky
With mystical mist surround

Full moon’s bright
And gives off light
Illuminating all around

Moonlight glow
Falling snow
A nighttime wonderland

Rabbits play
Tree branches sway
A deer stands oh so grand

Snow, it glistens
Animals listen
A fairyland of play

Owls hoot
As chipmunks scoot
Without the light of day

Another world
Is unfurled
In this nighttime splendor

Passing time
Life’s sublime
As daylight starts to render

Peaceful night
Turns to light
While moonbeams meet the sun

Moonlight snow
Starts to glow
Good day to nighttime fun

Bye moonbeams
To owl dreams
The birds begin their song

We’ll meet again
At daylights end
‘Til then…it won’t be long

By Nina P. Ploetz 1/12/09

Life and Rainbows (inspired by an e-mail)

The rainbow pictures are the only ones I took. The others were in the e-mail that was sent around a few years ago.... I hope you enjoy!

I had to write this poem below; a Hand touched mine, so here it goes:

Life and Rainbows:

When you look at life with hateful eyes
all you see is fear and lies
If you look at life with eyes of fear
bleak and hopeless are always near
So look at life with Faithful Love
the Son shines on you from above
Your fear will fade and so will hate
look around and you'll see your fate
For on the bleakest of your days
you'll find something to be amazed

With one special moment or maybe event
like a family of ducks is what He meant

To look at life with Forgiving Grace
the wave you missed, the dolphins raced

When angered over catastrophic things
you survived because of Angels wings

So turn your stresses inside out
helping others is what it's all about

Look around when you're lost and alone
many new friends are near your home

Luck comes from love and those you touch
your life will change I know that much

When some look on and laugh and point
stand strong in Faith for He anoints

With Power and Grace you'll carry on
His strength you can always rely upon
His Rainbow is there we just have to look
after each hardship as He wrote in His book
So when life's been hard and you’re feeling down
that "Rainbow's" for you just look around

It may be a smile, some food, or His great art
a feeling of warmth that fills your heart.
Look at life with open eyes
a rainbow's there, it's His surprise
So let your breath be taken away
look for His Blessings in every day.
Written by Nina P. Ploetz 12/9/2006