Given the economy, it is bit harder to get into the holidays this year - but even more important to do so. We all need to have family traditions and make memories for ourselves and our kids no matter what is going on in the world. In order to feel the spirit, we bought our [...]

As I write this, there are just over 4 hours until the deadline to enter the Smart Poodle “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians” writing contest. So now is your last chance! You can win one of 3 cash prizes - $500, $100 or $50. Hurry! Start writing!

After many weeks of work, we have finished our first literacy video to encourage kids to read. Please check it out at Youtube, and please take a minute to rate it and comment. Send it to your friends! Thanks for your support!

For the 2nd time this year, we returned to Everglades National Park at the Shark Valley entrance to bike the 15-mile loop and view the incredible wildlife unique to South Florida. At the half way mark is a tower where you can see the wildlife from above. We got some fantastic photos. The highlights of [...]

My feet are throbbing from standing in the kitchen all day. Who takes photos of their pies? I do . . . Chocolate Pecan Pie Pumpkin Pie French Crumb Apple Pie Lemon Cranberry Loves

We make a REALLY big deal out of Thanksgiving here. And it is a REALLY big production. I am already daydreaming about getting rolled away on a stretcher and taken to a hospital to recover from exhaustion on Friday morning. This is how it works: 6 weeks before Thanksgiving, we call to invite friends/family over for the [...]

The December 1st (5pm EST) deadline to enter our contest is approaching. Librarians, take some time this long holiday weekend to write your story about “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians.” If you win, you’ll get that extra cash you may need just in time for holiday shopping!

My 16-year-old daughter asks me to wake her up at 9 am every Sunday morning so was can watch CBS News Sunday Morning together. This is by far the best and most fascinating (and usually lighthearted) news program I have ever seen, and no one paid me to say this. It is informative, creative, educational [...]

Smart Poodle Publishing obviously LOVES dogs. After all, we named the business after our own pooch. And today I visited my friend, Millie, who is a foster parent to needy puppies. Check out these tiny poodle-yorkie-mix puppies. They are 11 weeks old!

My Mom asked me to write an entry for her tonight . . . Looking through some old journals from 4th grade, I came across a number of nonsense poems I wrote during “Reflection” time. I’m not sure whether to be embarrased or afraid- nonetheless, they were pretty entertaining. I was actually good at maintaining rhyme [...]