JAK CHAT

And how YOU can help! Read more... Dear Just Add Kids friends, I would like to tell you about a special opportunity that Beatrice, a 4 year old from Racine, has along with 599 other children with special needs. An organization called Friendship Circle is running a campaign called the Great Bike Giveaway  where they hope to give away 600 adaptive bikes to children with special needs from around the United States. I am sure you remember the day you received your first bike. The joy you experienced and the freedom you felt when riding a bike for the first time. For a child with special needs bike riding offers far more than a recreational experience. Bike riding provides a source of much needed exercise, gives therapeutic value and contributes to an inclusive environment where a child with special needs can ride a bike like everyone else. Due to balance and mobility challenges many children and teens with special needs require the use of an adaptive bikes. Sadly, many cannot afford the hi...

With Miracle Whip: The Sandwich Generation by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann That's the life I'm being served up, at this time. That of the "sandwich generation".  I've recently stepped into the role of caring for my aging parents while supporting my own children. Wowza, did that happen fast! Thank God I have siblings that are pitching in. To recap... (Read more....) 2 weeks ago ..."Then finally, on the path to back surgery, my dad's health has significantly diminished. Not sure what exactly has happened here. But he surely isn't the same man he was only a short month ago. So with this intro, I've gotta run. It's back to my parents place to help my mom navigate through this strange, unwanted new world as we work with professionals to figure out....what the heck is going on?"    Last week ..."Above was the introduction to last week's JAK Happenings weekly e-newsletter. That next day, Friday, May 1st, my dad was taken to the...

 Empowering Parents to Equip Their Children for Success Written by guest mom blogger from Racine, Lindsay Knapp "The Parent Empowerment Initiative (PEI) is a community supported effort to give parents and caretakers the tools they need to raise children who are equipped for the future." Aside from being a mouthful to say, ... what is the Parent Empowerment Initiative really? Read more... In real terms - this initiative consists of 12 electives, taught by our own community members, on topics ranging from "finance management" to "leadership development in your children". We currently meet twice a month at Living Light Community Center for an hour on Tuesday nights to gain understanding and education on various subjects - both pragmatic and soft-skill parental. Our hope is to raise awareness regarding the needs within our community, and to address some of those challenges head-on through education and relational support for families. Currently, the city of Ra...

#3 at age 8 A "Little" Girl Named "Pink Stink" Written by Just Add Kids, Founder Paula Herrmann   Daughter #3 brushed past me this morning in the kitchen. Yah, so? We were able to look at each other eye to eye, meaning our eyes were level with each other. Rrrgh...another one growing up.   I don't like it one bit. Another daughter on the cusp of teenhood. Please stop now!   Am I being selfish, or do you feel like this as you watch your kids grow right in front of your eyes? Read more... It's funny, it seemed as though she stayed a little girl for so long and I kinda expected her to stay that way like FOREVER . There is a 5 year gap in between her and her next older sister (#2) and 7 years in between her and #1, my oldest.  As 1 & 2 transitioned into teens and now into young adults, Pink Stink, which is one of the names we dubbed #3 at birth, seemed to get stuck. She's always been on the petite side. When the older two would cause me distress, there wo...

Oh Where, Oh Where Do the Children Play?                by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann                                                                                                             I was able to take a short trip south for a few days this week. Ah, it was so nice to feel what summer should be feeling like, especially being that it is the end of June, right? Eighty degrees, mild humidity...perfect, in my opinion!                                                                                                            It was the tri-state area of the Ohio River Valley, an area that I've never really experienced, rather have driven through a number of times. This trip brought me through hilly, lush, neighborhoods of the surrounding communities of Cincinnati. Beautiful countryside!  Many things the same as our hometowns here in SE Wisconsin...downtowns rich in history, schools, parks, waterfront destinations, your national chain restaurants and retail stores, ...

Oh, Yes, I Did! by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann   So you know I am on this May Mother(over)load kick.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Too darn many balls to juggle, at least for this momma to claim sanity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         On that note, I've decided to take a little break today, ya know, in honor of Mother's Day, of which I am one....a mom of four humans, and a puppy and a fish, to be exact.                                                                                                                                                                                                              ...

May Day! May Day! May Day! by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann                                                                                        Welcome to the juggle.                                                                                        Today is May 1st and already the schedule juggle has ramped up a notch. If you've been with me for a couple of years, you know how I feel about this month. Oh, it can be wonderful if our dear mother nature is kind and blows in some warm sunny weather. Then again, this IS Wisconsin. Don't hold your breath!                                                                                                                                Mommas (dads, somehow I think you're exempt) once your kiddos reach school age...bring on the juggle struggle in May. Especially for those of you that have multiple children. Hang on we're in for a ride... Read more...                                                                   ...

Deserving of a Blue Ribbon, Part 2 by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann Well, April is just about wrapped up, and a couple of campaigns I'm involved with will dwindle down with the promotions. Not that the issues go away...sadly not. Last week, in JAK Chat, I described my work with the Turn the Town Blue Campaign, a Kenosha county-wide initiative to share the light on Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in "Deserving of a Blue Ribbon". Click the green link, in case you missed it!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Part of the focus of this campaign is not only to lace the community with blue ribbons, yet to celebrate strong families by appreciating all the...

Deserving of a Blue Ribbon by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann I'm always looking for a good party to crash! A few years back, I ran across this group of Kenosha County peeps that rallied (and continues to do so)behind a blue ribbon campaign in recognition and support of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month. That being the month of April, obviously. Being a resident of Racine, though a stakeholder in the health and well-being of families in the county, I thought this would be a good fit for me personally and for my business, Just Add Kids. Thankfully, our family is strong. Mine and my husband's relationship is intact. We are resourceful and have a strong network of family, friends, and community. Becoming an active member in the Turn the Town Blue Campaign community collaborative introduced me to the front line people that work day in and day out with families that are struggling to keep it together. Read more... I could rewrite what was well written by the Kenosha New...

The EXPO! Afterglow [caption id="attachment_2469" align="alignright" width="300"] Just Add Kids EXPO! 2014[/caption] by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann I stayed up late last night, taking waaay too long to formulate a letter of appreciation to the folks at Racine Unified School District. I sent it on to 7 recipients. I'm going to share it here with you. Please read more...     Greetings!                                                                                                                                                                                                                      On behalf of myself, the Just Add Kids team, and our community at large, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your support and partnership with this past Saturday's Just Add Kids EXPO!. For the third year in a row, we've proven that when private and public entities work together with a common goal, great things can happen.  And bo...

Just Add Kids Expo 2010 The Unsung Heros of EXPO! by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann Not wanting to bore you with the history of the birth and growth of Just Add Kids , but wanting to give you a little background and how we got to where we are today, the eve of the eve (at least that's what my calendar reads as I type) of the 5th annual, of what is poised to be the biggest Just Add Kids EXPO! yet on Saturday, April 5th. I say I can "sense" it. We shall see! Our first humble expo took place when Just Add Kids was only 3 months old. We were kindly offered half of the showroom at Burlington RV and Superstore, you know, that BIG camper store right off of I-94 and Highway 20 in Sturtevant. Myself, my then 14 year old daughter, 15 year old niece, my niece's then boyfriend, an almost 20 year old son of my cousin-in-law, my husband, neighbor Bob, and 2 of my girlfriends. I was honored to have 25 exhibitors and about 300 guests. All went pretty well, until some kid pul...

For Those "In" Service...  It's We Care Packs               My name is Katie Pollock, I am a ninth grade student at Tremper High School in Kenosha, WI. I am working on a community service project. It began when I was in the seventh grade looking for a community service project for National Junior Honor Society and it has continued on since then. My mom's coworker has a son who was critically wounded while serving our country. We discussed the need to support our troops, so I decided to work on collecting items to send to the soldiers that they can use for daily life. These items are put into care packages to be sent to them in Afghanistan. They include things like: tea, books, lotion, cookies, candy, soap, dental care items, socks, etc. In order to receive these products for the packages, I reach out to companies and ask for donations. We also have had donation drives.    Read more... Once we get enough products we have a “packing party”.  At these packing parties th...

Spring Break! Staycation-Style (Updated 6/10/2014)              Written by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann   Not on your way to Phoenix or Florida or somewhere else south where your face won't freeze? Nah, me neither. It's spring break for a great number of us, and I'm sure like some of you, traveling far far away just wasn't in the cards for me and my family. C'mon and give a big "boo hoo" with me. Well, dang it, we've got 40's in our future, and just because I'm stuck here in good 'ole Southeastern Wisconsin, doesn't mean I can't get escape the cold. Come with me as I share some options... Read more.... I'm not going to overwhelm you, or myself. I've got to work most of the next coming week, yet I am going to break away.  So, here are 3 unique ideas, I think! The first thing that pops into my mind is warmth and water....Timber Ridge Lodge & Waterpark! Located in Lake Geneva, our destination is probably an hour or...

Communication Breach By Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann Good grief, is all I can say.  I've seen the fallout of communication gone bad when the choice mode has gone from talking face-to-face or on the phone, versus communication via your fingertips (texting, emailing, messaging).  I made, perhaps, a bad decision. Last week, I spent a great deal of time addressing the real challenges we parents face with keeping our kids safe from online predators. I went to an informative presentation on the subject, I dialoged about it on Facebook with other concerned parents, I found out that my son (seemingly from everything he told me) was a target...I even wrote a blog about it:   Read more... Creeper Alert: Proceed with Caution . I have not, and probably will never move on from that subject. Peeps, it's here. It's our reality. I'm living it. My kids are living it. If you are not there, your kids are either too young, or you've decided not to open that can of worms. If y...

A Memory Crisis . . .  Avert Yours in Advance!             Sponsored by Pixologie, Inc.  It happened on December 1, last year . . . nearly two months ago. I lost my iPhone and, even today, I have the sinking feeling of sadness and dread over this. It is not because of the money I paid for the phone, or the frustration of having to figure out how to get a replacement, or the time invested into apps that I may or not even get again. I miss my family photos on it. We had a very unique and special Thanksgiving weekend (just five days before I lost the darn thing.) I was heartsick that I hadn’t uploaded the photos anywhere - including the memories of our family celebrating Thanksgiving in a new place with very special family, spending time together at a Christmas tree farm where my 12 year old daughter was able to take the reins of a four horse wagon ride, the special times working on crafts with family friends and so much more. Read more... I just knew I was going to remember some other...