JAK CHAT

Parade, Picnic, Play, Pyrotechnics   I love the 4th of July.  It's the only day of the year you'll catch me (and my entire family of 6) in a red, white, and blue clothing and accessory ensemble.  But it's tradition. As I write the commentary, the first of the family influx into town begins. I get to meet our family's next generation, my neice's toddlers.  They live in Texas and it's their first trip up to experience the 4th of July the Racine-way! After what I anticipate to be a fun-filled day on Sunday, I'll drag my butt (though my husband and kid's will be raring to go) up out of bed, and maybe we'll make the pre-parade.  You know it'll be my fault if we don't.  I'll park in the same illegal spot as I do year after year.  I cannot believe I am confessing that.  Tell you where that is?  I think not!  Read more... We'll meet up on our same 'ole corner on Main Street, with the same 'ole gang (give or take whatever relatives mad

  4 Dinner & Wishes  Today I sent my teenage girls over to the Dollar Tree to pick up some poster board.  (2 for buck, you can't beat that!)  They came back and told me about a man's request to help him buy some chicken so that he could feed his kids.  My girls then walked over to the Piggly Wiggly , and bought it for him.  Five bucks.  That's what they donated to this man's family's dinner table.  It broke my heart and made it smile, all at the same time. So many people have so many different needs. And to think what a difference $5 could make in some strangers' lives... Please read more as JAK sprints to the finish of promoting this weekend's Minute to Wish It event benefiting Make-A-Wish Foundation ® of Wisconsin .  We'll also introduce you to local "Wish Kid" Scott! I know the dynamics of a busy family schedule first hand.  I know the desire of wanting to do and participate in many things, and yet, sometimes you just can't.  Yo

Awesome Dads in Abundance        Have you checked out the "Color Dad Awesome" Portrait Gallery yet?  Even if you are not a JAK Facebook friend, you can check out the fantastic artist's renditions of dads from all over our area by clicking here . And while you're there, why not "friend" JAK ?! Don't know what I am talking about? Well, check it out quickly if you'd like your child to enter for a chance to win $100 and their daddy to win a 6 pack of haircuts!  Read more... For the second year in a row, Just Add Kids has partnered with Educators Credit Union and Sport Clips of Racine to bring you, your kids and their daddy a fun contest in celebration of Father's Day. Kids color a portrait of their dad, grandaddy, or other fatherly figure (portrait frame and entry form available on the Just Add Kids website, or via link below) for a chance to win a gift package including $100 Visa gift card for themselves and a product gift basket along with a

[caption id="attachment_185" align="alignleft" width="115" caption="Join JAK dads"] [/caption] What’s Your Daddy?  Welcome To My World. Just Add Kids welcomes Toby Mueller, a Raymond dad, as JAK’s guest blogger It seems like I say "Welcome to my world" at least once a day to my wife when she returns from the world previously known to me as outside employment. I am sure I heard my mom say it to my dad during my formative years. Now, ironic as it seems, I am saying it like I mean it. And I do mean it. If you would have asked me ten years ago if I ever thought of being a stay at home dad (SAHD), I would have looked at you and said "a what?" I didn't know any SAHD's when I became one in 2006 and I still know very few in the area. And this is for a good reason. There are not many in the US. According to the 2009 US Census, there were 5.1 million women who identified themselves as a stay at home parent. While there were 158,

Putting Thoughts Into (60 Second) Action                Just Add Kids welcomes Mollie Bartelt, a Caledonia mom, as JAK's guest blogger Do you want to make a difference in your life this summer? Or make a difference for a child who has a life threatening illness? Or win $1000 in a fun challenge? Game on! My story began six months ago, when my happy, healthy nine year old daughter came in from outside playing in the snow feeling dizzy. We became alarmed when she couldn’t stand up after resting a bit...her legs were wobbly and criss-crossing and she appeared to have no balance. A few short hours later in the emergency room, the situation looked worse as she was starting to slur her speech and not even be able to get words out correctly... and she couldn’t get her hands to work to put a snack in her mouth. Read more... The hospital ER staff then sent us up to Children’s Hospital where Hannah stayed for nearly a week, undergoing tests and having therapy. While all the tests were negativ