I have never met anyone famous but have spoken with (either in person or online) with many people that have. In fact, a woman I used to work with was on the same airplane with my favorite actor, James Stewart.  She didn't want to bother him so she did not say anything to him, but I am still jealous!

Have you ever had a close encounter or sighting of a famous person? If you have, share your story with us. It is a small world after all!

Talented comedian Harvey Korman died yesterday at the age of 81. I used to love watching him and Tim Conway doing their skits together on the Carol Burnett show. Those two had me in tears from laughing so hard. Here is a video tribute to Harvey Korman and his brilliant career.

Two days before Mother's Day, Michelle Duggar announced to her family that she is pregnant with her 18th child. The family of soon to be 20, has children ranging in age from 9 months to 20 years old. This famous family was on The Today Show and you can watch this video from the show. Wow, I cannot even imagine having so many children. The Duggar family seems to handle it with ease and is something really special.

Through Blog Catalog, I have met a blogger named Shirley. She is a very ambitious blogger with high ideals and goals to help children. Her blog is titled Proof Positivity and she sees it as "an opportunity for children of all ages to find their voice through positive news".

Shirley's vision: "For every child to have an opportunity to write or report no matter what their grades are."

She explains why: "A child sometimes needs to develop a love for something before they are motivated enough to bring their grades up."

Shirley's goal: "My goal is to put a studio in every school and for that, equipment is needed. I hope to eventually be able to go to my schools and discuss: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?"

Kudos to Shirley for her love of children and her strong desire to help them. Take a minute and check out Proof Positivity for yourself.

I would like to relay a story that shows us that you can overcome anything with pure determination. Hopefully this might give someone hope and inspiration when dealing with obstacles in their own life.

This story is creative commons so it can be re-printed. It is a little too lengthy to publish the whole thing here so here is a start with a link to the rest:

Professor had a ninth grade education.

If you ask any parent what their favorite sound is, most of them would answer that it is the sound of their child laughing. If you have not seen this video already, you should watch it. It is the cutest little boy just cracking up! His father is so happy hearing his little guy laughing this way.

I saw this video and found it to be adorable! This has happened with my kids but of course, I did not get it on video. I bet big brother does not stick his finger in baby's mouth again!

One of the most famous daddy's of all is admitting that he made a mistake. On January 5th, Dr. Phil made a visit to Britney Spears while she was in the hospital. His visit was prompted by a request from her family to intervene.

The real controversy is the statement that Dr. Phil made to Entertainment Tonight. He told them that Britney is in "dire need of both medical and psychological intervention." This has landed Dr. Phil in a little bit of hot water According to MTV.com:

"A complaint was filed against McGraw earlier this week that accused him of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The complaint alleges Dr. Phil practiced clinical psychology without a license and further violated doctor-patient privilege by discussing the pop star's case with the media."

The Dr. Phil episode where he apologizes is scheduled to air today. He has concluded that his "visit was not helpful to the situation".

Have you heard about the Scientology video that shows Tom Cruise rambling on in a rather incoherent way? I checked it out and I must say that it didn't make much sense. He seemed very creepy to say the least.

Most of the videos were pulled off of the net already by Scientologists. I found one this morning here that is still running. If you have not seen the video yet, check it out and see what you think.

I used to like Tom Cruise but lost respect for him some time ago. There are several actors that I feel this way about. They step out and talk in their self righteous way and impose their beliefs. I suppose since they are famous that this makes them right and important. Sorry, not in my book!

Create You Squidoo Lens On A Shak Subject And You Could Be Featured On Shakadoo! Once you have built your lens, submit it to the group HERE.

What are Squidoo lensmasters saying about having their lenses featured here at Shakadoo? This is some feedback from the Shakadoo On Squidoo lens. I wanted to thank the lensmasters for their feedback by putting them in the spotlight today! They all have fantastic lenses, you can check them out by clicking on their names.

Reader Feedback

Crystal_Booth Shakagoo is great! Thanks for featuring so many great Squidoo lenses on your site. ~ Crystal Posted December 09, 2007

chloecavanaugh Kelly, thank you for featuring my lens on Shakadoo. Your work is very much appreciated! Left ya a little something***** Posted December 08, 2007

Monteath Well put together lens, showing some love! I don't have a house, though I "outfitted" my outhouse when I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. Does that count? :) Posted December 07, 2007

GypsyPirate I love Shakadoo - what a great idea!! Posted December 07, 2007

flowergardener Thank you Kelli, for helping us become more noticable! Shakadoo is awesome, and being featured there gives one the feeling that they really have made a great lens! Posted December 07, 2007

rms Thank you for featuring my lenses at Shakadoo! Posted December 07, 2007

Graceonline Thank you for introducing us to Shakadoo and for providing this opportunity. Good resource! I'll pass it along to my grown children. Posted December 07, 2007

Susan52 Terrific site! Thanks for featuring my Kindle lens on the Shaktronics page of Shakadoo! Posted November 28, 2007

AllThingsMichigan Oh man! Another site where I'll be spending time. Looks pretty cool. Thanks for the info :) Posted October 24, 2007

Clutterbugs What a cool idea for a website! I haven't heard of it before now...I'll definitely be returning to Shakadoo for updates. :) ***** for introducing me to the site! Posted October 14, 2007

To see more about Shakadoo On Squidoo, visit the entire lens by clicking: Shakadoo On Squidoo

Most of us have been in the position where we are ready to throw our holiday decorations out the window due to sheer frustration. Possibly we are inclined to throw them at our spouse?

Decorating can be a lot of fun and a memorable part of your traditions. Yet, when one light goes out, they all go out! Those memorable moments can turn into stressful moments just as easily.

Here is one lady that handles her decorating problems with a great sense of humor (actually, all of her posts are quite amusing). Angela at The "Guga" stage of my life blog tells us about a pre-lit snowman she bought that didn't quite work right in her post "Let's go to ACE".

"After reading the insert, which was carefully tucked into the folded bottom of the box, we realized we had 2 options - take off all the lights and send them back to the manufacturer for a replacement set - OR go buy some lights and get it done NOW.

As I mentioned in the past, Mr. W is retired and his definition of NOW is MUCH different than MY definition of NOW. I would have gone to ACE and purchased the lights immediately (my definition of NOW). Mr. W. has reassured me that he will go buy the replacement set of lights real soon (his definition of NOW)."

I related to this very quickly because my definition of "now" is also very different than my husband's. Luckily, our decorating went off without a hitch this year. However, I do remember  several "memorable moments" from years past where it was not as easy.

I came across an very interesting blog by a man named Scott Hammond. Mr. Hammond is a motivational speaker who addresses issues about parenting, goal setting and personal life improvement skills. It seems that his current focus is centered around coaching fathers to help them improve their parenting skills. Could he be the next Dr. Phil for dads?

In is blog Momentum Creation, Mr. Hammond talks about raising his family with his wife. They have nine children and have learned how to balance family and work in a very large household. His blog has a wealth of information and tips for keeping things running smoothly within the home.

Mr. Hammond's latest series Good Dad/ Bad Dad...7 Secrets of Effective Fathering /Introduction, shares his thoughts about being an effective father:

"We have no training, no schools, no workshops, few seminars, and no classes on how to be an effective father... moreover, as you learned from the exercise above, we have very few examples from which to learn.
At the end of the day, or even the beginning for that matter, a dad has to ask the following questions...

1. Who am I?
2. What do I want?
3. Why am I here?
4. What's not working now?
5. What would I like to see start working now...

I will attempt to answer these questions as the Good Dad/Bad Dad seven secrets to effective fathering continues..."

That was part of the introduction to the series and there is more to learn. I am intrigued to see what else he has to say. As a mom, I will find this information useful too because it gives me ideas to share with my husband.

Society has a lot of problems and families seem to be suffering. I like seeing some positive ideas and thoughts that could help people strive to do better. 

I usually don't follow celebrity news or gossip because I really just don't care. However, the recent drama that has become Britney Spears' life has caught my attention. I just don't know if I feel disdain for her, or if I just feel sorry for her.

She seems to have become the latest portrait of a child star plagued with troubles. Of course she does have some company in that department thanks to Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate Olsen....... the list goes on. These girls grew up too fast and had too much wealth and fame at their disposal.

Next May, we are all going to find out what Britney's mom has to say about the subject. She is writing a book about raising high profile children and the book is supposedly going to be titled " Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World".

Lynne Spears has two famous daughters. Britney's sister, Jamie Lynne Spears, is an actress and stars in the Nickelodeon series "Zoey 101". So far, Jamie Lynn seems to be on the right track and is staying out of trouble.

I really like the picture above of Britney and Jamie Lynn. They look like two innocent sisters having fun in a much simpler time. I hope that one day Britney can find a way to make her life a little more innocent and simple again.

As I was looking over some news articles today, I came across an article that took science in schools to a whole new level.  A student, Kyleray Katherman, from North Bend, Oregon did a test on both fountain water and toilet water at his school to see which was cleaner.  Why you might ask?  In an attempt to allow bottled water back into his school, which had been banned.

I was a little appalled by the results.  The toilet water was cleaner with fewer bacteria growing then the fountain water.  Eeww!  Out children our in schools approximately 180 days out of the calendar year and this is the water they are drinking.

Now the article I read, Oregon Student Finds School's Toilet Water Cleaner Than Fountain's, from Foxnews.com, does continue to explain that one contributing factor to cleaner toilet bowl water is that it is cleaned daily where the fountain spigots may not be.

Now, I don’t bring this article to you to gross you out, but mainly just an FYI.  As a parent it is my responsibility to make sure that my child is cared for, both at home and at school.  I plan to take this article to my children’s schools, not to request bottled water, but to ensure healthier water fountains are offered to my children.

I love when I come across a blog about heroic things that ordinary people do. There is so much in the news about celebrities and it can get boring reading the same stories about them on different days.  I especially love when I find stories about children that are remarkable. I was reading a blog post on Parent Dish called Nine-Year Old Saves The Day and I have to tell you it will give you goose bumps.......

"Shyra Torres plans to be a hero when she grows up -- she's going to be a teacher. Already, however, the nine-year-old is a hero of another sort. She awoke early Saturday morning to the sound of a crackling fire in her New Jersey home, but not the warm comforting kind you find in a fireplace -- instead, this was the life-taking, home-destroying type that eats people and houses.

She woke her sister Natasha and together they got everyone -- thirty-four people in all, living in three row houses -- up and out of the house. She woke her mother who, at first, didn't believe her. "She thought I was joking, but I wasn't," said Shyra Torres. "I ran and said 'Tasha, Tasha, wake up' and we all got out of the house."

What amazed me about this story is that a nine-year old took such control of a horrible situation. She went into survival mode and saved so many people. Isn't it refreshing to read about good news? I think so!

My friend and compadre Heather is about to pop out her third and final kid any minute now. Needless to say, she is antsy. All her other kids came when she was at 36 weeks gestation. This kid, however, is taking its sweet time in coming out, comparatively. She's cruised on past 36 weeks and now is in her 39th week and is wondering if the kid is ever planning on making an appearance.

All my kids were preemies as well- my oldest came at 34 weeks, my middle child came at 36 weeks, and my youngest too his sweet time, appearing at 38 weeks gestation. I know how she feels, except I wasn't 39 weeks pregnant in the middle of one of the biggest heat waves in years.

So when she says she's cranky, I try to cheer her up. I don't tell her, "Enjoy this peace, because things are fixing to get crazy." Everyone and their sister told me that. As if I didn't know how crazy adding another kid to the mix was. What I didn't know was how much adding a third kid would slow everything down. What used to take a half hour to do, ended up taking an hour to do. And so on, and so on.

No, I expect she just wants the endless waiting to be over. I understand that so totally, and I bet you do too, Love Shak-ers. Go head on over and tell her we're rooting for her!

Ree at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman has a powerful post this morning about her daughter witnessing homeless people in Chicago. Homelessness is a subject that is close to my heart- one of my favorite bloggers is homeless, my husband was homeless when he was growing up, and my own uncle is homeless.

When Flip, the 13 year old, found out that my uncle was homeless, he nearly cried. "How can you let him be homeless? We have a couch he could sleep on," he said, indignantly.

How can you explain to a 13 year old who has been sheltered from the ravages of alcoholism that you cannot enable a person like my uncle? That the more you try to help him, the worse it becomes for everyone? I tried, but I felt like I failed. I always feel like I've failed in my uncle's case, anyway. I suppose it's the tragedy of everyone who has alcoholic and drug addict relatives, you keep feeling like there is something you could do about it, when the reality of the situation is that there is no way you can help. They have to help themselves.

Still, we do what we can to help. Flip and I have helped in soup kitchens, and we have helped gather items to give at homeless shelters. And we pray, every day, that my uncle will help himself before it is too late. Sometimes prayer is the best thing you can do.

[Photo credit: Chris Wage at Flickr]

A hearty congratulations to Robert at Coochicoos on his new baby girl! She will bring joy to your home at every turn. We're happy for you guys!

There is an intriguing woman I want to tell you about. She has taken her love for her family and her inspirations from nature, travel and modern architecture to amazingly turn what once was a market solely of pink and blue into a wonderland of color and design.

Uli Belenki, an artist, came to this country in her early 30's from Germany. She settled in New York and had a vision of becoming a graphic artist. After meeting Mr. Right, a photographer named Michael and settling into a world of design, she noticed a void in the baby clothing arena. The stagnant, stereotypical colors of pink and blue were dominating the market so Uli and Michael set out to change all that.

Along with becoming a mother to her first daughter, Uli set up a sewing machine in their New York apartment and got to work. With determination and a myriad of color chips and fabric swatches the first line of Zutano clothing was born and the rest, as they say, is history.

Needless to say, Zutano is a perfect example of the success of her vision and hard work. Uli has set the standard when it comes to reasonably priced baby basics and we consider Uli to be a pioneer of the vibrancy and style that surrounds this market today.

"Zutano" means "whatever" in Spanish and with the response we've received it's obvious there's nothing "so-so" about their items. Midnight tonight is the deadline to get your comment in to be entered to win a $150 shopping spree at the Zutano Boutique. It's been a great 3 weeks and we've so enjoyed having everyone get involved. The winner will be announced in a post tomorrow morning. Good Luck and let's celebrate summer by painting our world with color just like Uli.