Now that it is spring, we are fully into tee-ball and softball season at my house.

Just yesterday I was playing catch with my eight-year-old daughter, Sara. Now that she is in softball with bigger girls, she is going to be expected to throw better than she does now. So we did some straight throwing and I threw up pop-ups for her.

Picture by K.C. Blanchett

Slowly, she is getting it and able to throw the ball hard to the person she wants it to go. Slowly, she is learning to close the glove as soon as she catches that ball. Slowly, she is learning to take a step with that next throw. Sooner or later it will all be second nature to her and that is wonderful to watch.

Our youngest son, Sam, is now in tee-ball. This is his first year which is exciting for him, almost sad for us because this is the last child to start tee-ball. He is learning to throw and does it well enough. He is learning to hit the ball with a bat and stated he had a homerun during his turn.

The games will start in the middle of May so practice time is hot and heavy right now. Which means on Thursday when I have two practices plus a karate class for another child, I am pulling out the crock pot. Supper is going to be crazy and I am not going to have time to make it right. But I can put together something great in the crock pot in the morning, make a pasta in the evening to go with it and have a great meal.

If you are trying to reduce the number of fast food dinners you have on these nights, how do you do it?  Share your comments below and teach the rest of us something new…

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

Impatiens by an old barrel. Picture by Paula Flat

Lately, I am taking a different attitude towards the many fundraisers that come my way.

It seems as if every organization my kids belong to have two or three different fundraisers each year. Cookies, candles and popcorn. There are the carwashes and dinners/auction.

What I have decided to do is use these fundraisers for good instead of a necessary evil. I am going to look down those lists to find gifts for various loved one. If there is a shopping day and I need groceries, I am going to the store that will give a percentage to my favorite group.

Our church youth group is doing just that at the Country Fruit Market at 1695 S. Schuyler in south Kankakee. On April 20-22, ten percent of the proceeds from your plant purchase from items in the greenhouse will be directed to our youth group. This will be very helpful as they are planning to go to the Christian work camp for teens called Mountain Top in Tennessee this summer. 

Because I am in the firm belief you can never have enough flowers, I am planning to go and get some impatiens along with snap dragons and dianthus. I might even be brave and get some petunias. If you decide to help out, make sure to mention that you would like your purchase to be credited to the Aroma Park United Methodist Church’s youth group.

Another group that holds many fundraisers over the year is Relay For Life. Each team has a monetary goal to raise for the cause. But to go farther, teams can hold a variety of events including pizza parties, bowling nights, garage sales and shopping days. Again, it is using the power of what you need or want to do to help others. To find when these events are going on, copy and past the following address to see how you can help cancer research.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10IL?sid=81409&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=22183.

Finally, I found out about another charity doing something a little different. This group, Dining for Life, has asked restaurants to give a percentage of profits from diners on Thursday, April 29th to help people living with AIDS. While this illness does not get the press it once did, getting this chronic disease makes for a number of changes in a person’s life.

The Chicagoland area has 60 restaurants participating, some are downtown, some are located around the city and others are in the suburbs. I like that a nice night out for a couple can lead to helping someone who is dealing with an illness that is life long.

For more information visit the website at www.diningoutforlife.com.

How do you make helping others an everyday action?

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

Quilting is an activity I enjoy for the creative outlet it provides. What people who do not take part in quilting may not realize it that it is an addiction. You NEVER have enough fabric or quilting stuff.

I have bought fabric all over the country for my stash. I have bins and shelves of fabric plus books and patterns. Chances are if I see a quilt book at a garage sale, I am going to buy it.

Posted here is my latest creation, a nine patch of houses and stars. This is only the starting point as I have to start adding various borders to make it into a king size quilt to fit my queen size bed. You would do the same thing if your husband was forever stealing all of the blankets. If it is a king size then there is a chance I will get to have some.

“Wait a minute,” you are saying to yourself. “I know for a fact you have four kids and a dog. When do you have time to sew quilt tops?”

To be honest, I do not get much time. I try to hand piece patches and sashing. I can make small cutting projects. But to do the big stuff, to make that big center piece, I have to go somewhere that is having a sewing day. Someplace that allows me to work on a project without being called away to deal with fights, desires for food or the toilet overflowing.

So I go to B&J Sewing in Bourbonnais when they have a sewing day every month. The second Saturday of the month sees women with sewing machines and project bags coming in to get to work. There is a project of the day or you can work on your own project. One month, everyone was working on a big bag (very cute and oh, so handy). Other times it is a seasonal quilt or table runner.

I am always working on some project in an effort to cut down my stash and make it more manageable at the house. What I like is seeing other people’s projects, their color choices and fabrics choices. It is an amazing way to learn how to do it right by seeing what other quilters choose to put together. I have seen combinations I would have never picked out but work together well.

Another great thing about this is talking to other people. You learn about different activities, places and recipes. You hear about people’s vacations, best quilting retreats, and health issues. There is not much that is not shared until the room is quiet, except for the whirling of sewing machine motors. The time has hit 3 pm and projects need to get done.

I have also come to trust the opinion of store owner, Barb Marcukaitis. When I am doing a layout of patches or looking for another color to add to the current project, it is Barb’s opinion I look to. Case in point, she helped me find that lovely brown that I used as the current final border.  It had the right amount of caramel shading to keep the brown from being too dark and overpowering.

Over the years I have seen her help customers and do impromptu lessons that made people better quilters. That alone is worth the cost of the class for the day. And I am not alone because this past Saturday the room was packed with women working on their latest projects.

Next month, I am planning to be at Quilter Saturday so I can finish this project and get to work on the next one BECAUSE the one with the most completed quilts wins!

For more information about B&J Sewing, visit the website at  http://www.bjsewing.com or visit the shop at 616 S. Main in Bourbonnais.

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

Watching Dancing With The Stars  is one  of life’s joys for me. The kids will sit there and watch it with me and we can have a good time commenting about the various dancers.

 Last night I was so aggravated because Buzz Aldrin, the famous astronaut, was eliminated from the show. What does it take to get that poser of a celebrity Kate Gosselin off of the show?

 My husband likes Kate because she has a certain ripeness to her despite her total inability to get into the dance or know where her feet are supposed to go. She watches her feet, she watches her partner for clues in the most obvious manner. It is painful to watch her dance because I am not even sure she is trying.

 On the other hand, I was really rooting for Buzz because he was trying. As a man of 80+ years he cannot do the slides or high kicks. But he tried and worked with his partner, Ashly. He missed a few steps but he always looks like he wants to be there. Sure, pulling out the salute and medals might have been a bit hokey. But this guy walked on the moon. I think he is allowed. How many of us have done what he has done?

 We all know who needs to go next and yet she gets to stay week after week after week. I hope Kate has learned her lesson about talking back to her dance partner and I hope that Tony Dovolani makes her eat crow when she does not listen. I enjoy the bits when Tony does not have to dance with her. It makes me appreciate his skill even more.

 Dancing like that is hard. It is hard work for the celebrities who have a background in dance and performance arts. Kate had better buck up and work harder if she expects to stay on the show.

 By the way Kate, do you know why Kelly Osborne was so beloved last season? She worked hard and showed us, despite her nervousness, that she wanted to win. And that girl had as much dance experience as you do.

 Now is your time to amp it up or make an exit.

 Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

With the nice weather finally here, I wanted to vacuum hard the inside of our family minivan. After dropping the oldest off at school, I went over to the bright yellow car wash on Kennedy Drive in Bradley.

I love my blue Belle; have loved it ever since we got it so many years ago. And we are trying to keep the old girl going until the bitter end.  Some days, if I forget to turn off the lights and the radio and the fan, the old girl refuses to start. A look at the battery suggest some corrosion that needs to be cleaned out.

Today, I forgot to turn off the lights as I vacuumed all of the winter dirt, grime, and gravel out of the carpet. And then the old girl refused to start. So I waited and waited and waited. This tactic can work some days. It wasn’t working today. 

Luckily another customer at the car wash was willing to give me a jump. My Belle started right up thanks to the man in the red GMC Jimmy. I am grateful he helped me out of a jam.

Tonight, the hubby will use a wire brush and work magic on the battery. With any luck, we will be able to keep her running another year.

Have you received the kindness of strangers at just the right time?

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or

Isn't Belle a beauty? Love my voyager even though she has over 300K miles on her.

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

Murder of a Wedding Belle by Denise Swanson, picture from Barnes and Noble.com.

About eight or nine years ago I discovered Denise Swanson and her Scumble River series featuring Skye Dennison, school psychologist and sleuth on the side.

Swanson will be at Barnes and Noble in Bradley on Thursday, April 8 at 6:00 p.m. on her latest book tour. Having met Swanson in the past, I can honestly say it will be an enjoyable outing.  The reason has everything to do with Swanson’s sense of fun and I love the Skye Dennison character.

Skye seems like a real person, someone I would know and with whom I could laugh. As the high school valedictorian, she left town after a scathing speech about small towns and small minds.

But then 12 years later, she comes back home with her tail between her legs and a load of debt to pay off. Luckily, the girl had scads of experience and a master’s degree in order to become the school psychologist for the district. The problem is people tend to die in strange mysterious ways and Skye is there to find their bodies. Ok, that is one reason not to hang out with Skye.

What keeps me coming back is her good sense and wicked sense of humor. Skye can be a bit of a smart mouth who has champagne taste and a beer budget.  Another aspect to love about the series is that Skye has a number of love interests. There is the undertaker, Simon, who matches her intellectually and in the same interests. The police chief, Wally, is her teenage crush and equal when it comes to solving crimes. When she is not with Simon, Wally captures her attention. Who am I rooting for? Well, let’s just say he is out of the running for now.

What Swanson does best is run a tight ship in regards to the mystery. I know because as an avid mystery reader I do not always figure out the culprit right away. Her characters feel like people we know and her sense of small town politics is excellent. It is one of the best series to read while curled up in a favorite chair.

If I am lucky, I will be able to get out and see Denise when she comes to town with the other Deadly Divas. Are you going?

 For more info about the Dealy Divas visit their website at http://www.thedeadlydivas.com

 Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

und ruhig fliesst der Rhine

 I was driving into work one day and saw the above phrase on the back of a white mini-van. I took the time to google this German phrase and found it means:

 And calmly flows the Rhine

 It is a very pretty phrase and one that could lend itself to the Kankakee River. Lord knows I get lost in simply watching it move along whenever I take kids to the parks along the river.

 I have noticed a lot of cool decals on the back of vehicles. The ones that have a decal for every member of the family are fun. One decal I could live without is the little boy who ‘marks’ his rivals. I am always seeing others that are very cool or reminders to click in your seat belt.

 So I am wondering what do other people see out there? Have you seen a notable auto decal or bumper sticker? Tell me what you have seen in the comment section!

 Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

Anyone can tell you that an Irish accent in America can be heaven blessed. Maybe our ears get tired of hearing the American accents but get someone from the UK talking and suddenly English become lyrical.

I want to take a few minutes to talk about my favorite Irish actors. When it comes to the movie business it is not enough to talk pretty, you have to do the hard work of creating a real character with whom people can relate.

Let’s start with Maureen O’Hara who was BIG during the 40s and 50s. You remember her from Miracle on 34th Street and The Quiet Man. She was also in a string of bad pirate movies. But this actress always gave 100%. One of her later roles that I just love is the mother in Only The Lonely with John Candy. Great movie, great lady.

 Then there is Brendan Gleeson. His work is always interesting and fully realized. Most people might remember him as Alastor “Mad eye” Moody in the Harry Potter series. But he was also great in 28 Days Later, Gangs of New York, Cold Mountain and In Bruges.

That leads me to Colin Farrell. Beside more sex appeal than any one person should have, this guy really knows how to get into his character. Forget that mess call Alexander. Instead watch In Bruges, A Home at the End of the World, Daredevil and any clips you can get from his appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Another actor who made an memorable appearance on SNL is Liam Neeson. Ever since High Spirits - a terrible movie made watchable by his performance – I have been a big fan of this man. He can do action, he can do vulnerable. Let me just list a few movies while I day dream for a moment. Rob Roy, Love Actually, Nell, K-19:The Widowmaker, Batman Begins, Taken, The Chronicles of Narnia and the updated A-Team as Hannibal this summer.

I have to give props to Pierce Brosnan. This former James Bond could have sulked off in a corner after being dumped by the super-spy company. Instead he made an effort to take chances with his art in Mamma Mia!, The Matador, The Lightning Thief and The Ghost Writer. I say “Bravo!”

The last actress I would like to hi-light is a relative newcomer – Saoirise Ronan who is only 16 years old. She was incredible in Atonement and put in a good performance in City of Ember. The Lovely Bones is her latest outing and she will star with Colin Farrell in The Way Back later this year.

I know there are a few I have missed but my brain cannot pull up those other names right now. Share your favorite Irish actors and actresses here and we can keep a great list going

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

When my friend Barb asked me to be on her Relay For Life team, I said yes because she had just bought 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from my daughter.

I think I would have done it even if Barb had not bought the cookies.

How many of you have been like me, very lucky to be relatively healthy and happy. My marriage is going well despite the days I want to scream or make my husband scream. I have been in one or two car accidents that could have caused much more damage to myself and my passengers.  My kids are healthy, even with my 13-year-old’s bought with pneumonia last summer.

I have been very lucky. But I have also known people who have battled a variety of cancers. One of the other soccer moms when we were in Dynamo Soccer died from breast cancer. Another was a long time farm neighbor who died of brain cancer. I have quilted with a woman whose husband died from pancreatic cancer – just like that.

If I started counting people I have known who beat cancer or succumbed, including my own grandmother and Aunt Barbara, I would run out of digits. The sad truth is this disease is all over the place. It is sneaky and nasty. The person you are changes as the illness progresses.

But that is why there is Relay for Life which takes place at Bishop McNamara High School on June 12 this year. The teams and the walkers collect money to help research, to help people suffering and to bring information to the public about prevention.

Of all of the researchers who have been funded by the American Cancer Society, 44 have received the Nobel Prize which is the highest prize a scientist can receive. We have learned about the link between smoking and lung cancer, the need for colonoscopy and the importance of getting your weight down in regards to prevention.

The other night I was at the Relay For Life team meeting. I saw many people who were committed to raising money to fight, including Marti who raised over $1100 over the internet and her Facebook page. Marti was diagnosed with breast cancer last September. This is her personal battle. But it could hit any of us at any time. Her battle is our battle.

How can you help, you say? You are pretty sure you cannot walk on the day of the relay but you want to do something. Visit the website at http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10IL?sid=81409&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=22183.

Here you can find all sorts of events that are fundraisers for Relay For Life teams. Use a special coupon on certain days to buy pizzas from Monical’s, take part in bowling parties or Bunco parties. There is going to be a breakfast fundraiser at the Knights of Columbus and Paul’s Place. Go to a garage sale or buy some baked goods. Maybe you do not want to do the walk but do not let that stop you from making a difference.

To paraphrase Gandhi, be the change you want to see in the world. This is just one way to do it.

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

When you have one guinea pig, changing the bedding needs to happen once a week. There have been times that we have stretched it to every two weeks for a variety of reasons. I prefer to keep it clean as much as possible.

The problem in the Bowman household is we don’t have just one guinea pig, we have three of these cute rodents. Hannah likes to talk to me whenever I go into her room. Usually it is about complaints of no food and water that is almost empty. Those conversations always end up with me calling the owner to come upstairs and make Hannah happy. The other two live together and are quite happy. Snicker and Doodle enjoy cuddling with us but squeak like crazy when we try to catch them to do so.

Unfortunately, their cage has to be cleaned more often. It has to be done weekly or it just stinks. One of the larger packages of bedding will last two weeks at our house. But I remembered buying a huge package of pine bedding (most recommended for guinea pigs) at Pic-A-Pet at 530 South Schuyler in Kankakee. It had been a few years since I had last been to the shop and remembered again why I like going there, especially with kids in tow.

There is a lot to see. Like what, you ask? Well, there are parrots and big birds who want to talk to you. One rubbed my shoulder as I went past. There were guinea pigs, a hedgehog and fish galore. Plus my five-year-old son was fascinated by the large turtle that was crawling on the floor.

Because the owners have been in business for 23 years, they know a lot. You can ask questions and will get an answer. When I talked about the size of bedding I was looking for, they helped me with an industrial package of pine bedding. Actually, it is a great size for a horse stall. But I am storing this in a garbage can in Hannah’s room to prevent spillage.

During the time we were in the store, my kids looked at everything. We left happy, having seen cool animals, cute animals and enough bedding to last us at least two months. Oh, and I am planning to go back when I need more. It will make for a great quickie outing. The bag of bedding might have cost $14 but to run errands and have happy kids – Priceless!

Pic-A-Pet is located at 530 South Schuyler, across the street from Burger King. For more information you can call then at 815-939-3474.

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.