Monday, October 26, 2009

Guest Blogging

Last week I had the honor of being a guest blogger on one of my favorite blogs that belongs to my friend, Jen who has "Reed What Matters"
http://reedwhatmatters.com/

She will keep you engaged, she's warm hearted and funny. This is a must see blog. And you too can be a guest blogger. Just contact her via her blog page or on Twitter @ReedWhatMatters

This is what we posted on her site:



My Legacy to my Granddaughter, Hailey

Children …they are our future. But what are they learning? Where do they get there Wisdom from? Many, many moons ago children looked to the elders of the family or tribes for wisdom and advice. They revered their elders and honored them. Stories, antidotes and knowledge were passed down from generation to generation via our elders.

The world we live in now, is a different place. Children are taught by the state, parents are busy, story time doesn’t exist in most houses and children don’t always get to know their grandparents due to people moving for jobs or other reasons.

There are so many things we want to share with our grandchildren, but how do we do it? How do we share our thoughts, dreams and wisdom with them if we are not with them all the time? We journal!

I started a journal for Hailey the day she was born. I was blessed enough to watch her take her first breath in this world and got to hold her within the first 15 minutes of her life. I found a great journal, based on the song “I Hope you Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. (It’s a wonderful song, providing some great thoughts and wishes) I went home and shared my joy of her birth with her, in her journal. I write to her, not about her. This is something I will give her when she is older.



I tell her about things we did together and include pictures. I press flowers that she has given me. I share my thoughts on life and events that are going on in the world at the current time (nothing too heavy or depressing though…this is not a place to purge your pain. I keep personal journals for that, that someday she will also have when I’m gone) . I share quotes and poems. I pass on advice, wisdom and knowledge. This journal is for her story, through my eyes.

So, start a journal for your grandchildren. Pass on the joy you receive with them being in your life. Hailey is my sunshine. I’m lucky enough to see her everyday so I have a lot to write about. . She was also my inspiration for my business; Hailey’s Dragonfly Garden of Botanicals (http://www.haileysdragonflygarden.com)

So, go get a journal or even a notebook and tell your grandchild what fun you had with them when you were both sitting on the kitchen floor and banging on the pots and pans like drums. Tell them how they made you laugh when they splashed in the tub for the first time. It doesn’t matter what you write in, as long as you share from the heart!

Joyful Writing,

Dakota Dawn

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Mule Camp Market Fall Festival



We decided to try a local Fall Festival called Mule Camp Market. What a great time we had. Our only concern last weekend seemed to be the weather, but Mother Nature kept us in mind and it didn’t rain until Monday!
Hailey was off school on Friday, Oct 9th so she helped me sell soaps and was part of our TV debut. We were interviewed live on Gainesville Channel 18. I was very nervous as I have never done a TV interview but we heard it went really well. (We hope to see a copy of it soon). It also turned out to be very successful, as many people stopped by to buy our soaps after seeing us on TV.
It was a lot of work to get ready and to set up but I must say it was well worth it as we met many people in our area and made some new friends.
We debuted three new soaps and we have decided to keep all of them.
We have added :
Butter Bar, Australian Pink and Raspberry Vanilla Oat.
We also conducted a drawing for a $25.00 gift certificate and the winner is....... Julie Hayes from the Atlanta area!



Til next time, Enjoy!