Meet Ripley, The Wonderdog; My new sidekick and soon to be classroom assistant. She's currently in training to accompany me to Author Visits. She's learning lots of lessons and getting a good feel of her purpose. Read more from Ripley in her own words:

"Every dog has a purpose and I am learning more about my purpose each day. This past weekend I went to St. Louis and walked past 9740 Stanley Avenue where Tracy grew up. We walke...

Today I read "Eden and Her Joy" with a 6 year old boy that has just recently lost his grandma. This was the first official reading with a child! This was also the moment where the story became about someone else. His questions and comments were not what I was expecting, they were actually somehow much better than what I was expecting. He had clearly been trying to figure out where his grandma was. When I asked him where he tho...

The Holidays always seem to bring out the "grief" in people. As a child I remember soaking up the emotions of those around me like a sponge, getting it, yet not quite getting it. The mixed messages of sadness combined with the knowledge that my dad was somehow happier and in a better place; somewhere out there... In Heaven.

"Eden and Her Joy" really is coming soon and in it I answer my lifelong question of what it all looks lik...

I took three wrapped packages to my Emotion Belly Kids Yoga Class. We all know kids love just ripping the paper off! Inside of the first box there were feathers and ping pong balls, the perfect way to begin yoga, focusing on breathing and the power of our breath. The second box was empty, hmmmm? That was a thought box. We focused and talked about our thoughts and how important they are for our feelings. The third box contained...

Have you ever sent a balloon to heaven?

My girls were 6, 8, and 10 when my mom passed away. We were all feeling very sad, so I suggested we write messages and send them to heaven via balloon. We worked diligently on our notes, tied them to our balloons, said a prayer together, and released them. Up, up, up they all went, with the exception of my youngest; her balloon didn't quite have what it took and got stuck in a big tree! U...

SUICIDE

It is a hot topic among the many school counselors that I talked to over the past few days. One person even suggested that I write a children’s book on the topic. I of course explained to her that I already did!

John O'Leary spoke about “The Power of One”. He challenged us to think of the one person who inspires us to become the best version of ourselves. He also realized that he was speaking to a room full of people tha...