Santa Claus is coming early this week at KONK AM.  We have a wonderful guest coming into the studio today who will bring with her many presents which we can in turn all share with our own families and the families around us.

While ALL my guests on the peep show are especially special, today’s show features a woman I’ve heard great things about over my ten plus years here in the Keys and I am very looking forward to meeting. Islamoradan Mirine Dye, mother of two beauties, childbirth educator, doula, lactation consultant and eco-parenting educator and advocate will come on the airwaves to share her vast array of parenting wisdom. If you have any interest in how to live in a greener sort of wisdom for your children and your planet, this is a show not to be missed.

We’ll hear just what “green parenting” is and how it begins with the choices we can make right from the very beginning, even before baby is conceived.   She’ll talk about our environment…the one within… and the one immediately surrounding us and our children… and how these things can affect us in the long run.  Cloth diapering, breastfeeding,  BPA’s and a watchful eye towards organics and on Mercury overload …. these are just a few of the topics we’ll cover on today’s show.

Mirine has a bachelor of science in maternal and child health and a master’s in public health.  Her passion and dedication to share this passion with others is contagious.  Tune in today at 3 for the inside scoop on how to be a consciously savvy parent right from the get-go.    And if you have any questions, feel free to call in and ask!   Call 305.296.2769  ….296 CROW…. OR, if you’re feeling shy, you can email Mirine direct at Mirine@bellsouth.net.

Happy Holidays, listeners, and thanks so much for tuning in!

If you were offered a simple, low-cost, non-toxic, all-natural method towards wellness, would you take it? A prescription-free, over-the-counter remedy with dozens of practical applications that would optimize your health?

No such thing, you say?  Well, consider the coconut— or more specifically, the oil that comes from it.  Yes, coconut oil!

An age-old tropical topical and ingestible antidote for more than just a few ailments, this curative oil has innumerable benefits.  Immune boosting, skin protecting, digestion improving, anti-aging, weight loss stimulating and disease preventing are just a few of the therapeutic properties of what some nutritionists call “the perfect food.”

The benefits of coconut oil have been scientifically studied as far back as the fifties.  That’s more than a half a century worth of medical research, published studies and clinical observations that support the miracles of this miracle oil.  In fact, it shares some of the same fatty acids (40% lauric acid) found in breast milk, the very thing we feed the little living miracles two human bodies can create.  Converted by the body, these life-propelling liquids provide protection against viral, bacterial and protozoal infections. And—in both breast milk and coconut oil— that’s just the start of things.  The clinical list of what these medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil can do is virtually endless.

I’ve spent the last two years experimenting with coconut oil and doing loads of research based on both Bruce Fife’s professional scientific research and many testimonials to compile a book that easily describes the science behind coconut oil and more than fifty daily uses.   WIth a two sections dedicated specifically to babies and pregnant women, you’ll see just how gentle, healing and effective this miracle oil is for every member of the family, too.

Tune into the peep show today at 3 on KONK AM to find out all the many ways coconut oil is good for you,  and all the many super easy ways you can use it….every day!

For more information or to order extra virgin fair trade coconut oil, check out www.vivapura.com!

I have a confession to make.  Over the last handful of years, when it comes to Christmas, I’ve been sort of a Grinch.  As an artist who always seemed to fall short of both time and money, it’s been a holiday I’d hoped would pass quickly by.  And when it did, I’d grumble something about excess and mass consumerism and the loss of the “real” meaning of Christmas, without ever truly stopping to celebrate those things myself.

Then something very strange happened to me the other day while in the middle of Pier One Imports.  I went there to scope out stockings.  With a toddler now in tote, surely I could indulge her Christmas fantasy at least a little, setting out a Christmas Stocking from St. Nick to fill ….after we celebrated Solstice and honored the things we felt grateful for.  But amid the overflowing aisles of glittery Christmas ornaments and stacked red and green dinner platters, I felt this sudden urge to purchase basket loads of ornaments and then move to New England.

As one who loves the subtropcial island lifestyle and the weather that comes with it, believe me, I know that sounds ludicrous.  What I attribute the momentary lapse of reason to is this:  having a child of my own and the yearning towards nostalgia, ritual, tradition.

Though my own New England childhood was lean and dotted with moments so cold I remember my breath and the itchy wool blanket draped at my neck as we watched old encylopedias burn in the woodstove, there was never a shortage of creativity and imagination in our household.  And nothing spurned that on as much as the wonder of Christmas.

Letters written and mailed to St. Nick.  Carrots and cookies left out for elves and reindeer.  Ice skating on ponds made frozen by the ” preparatory powers of the North Pole.”  Snow angels with a wish for each wing stroke made.  Snow suits and hot chocolate and candles that smelled like cinnamon and evergreen.  Oranges dotted with cloves, the juice sticky on our hands. Tree decorated with old ornaments that somehow seemed so sacred just touching them, and the cranberries and popcorn strung fresh each year that would later be left out for the birds.

It’s not the presents I got or didn’t get that’s remembered;  it’s the experiences we created that MADE the holiday what it was.  In fact, even as a child, I remember helping my grandmother wrap gifts more than I remember the gifts themselves.   The crinkle and crease of the paper, the glitter of a ribbon, the little smirk on my grandmother’s face when I point out the presents she’s wrapping is for herself.   The bigger grin a bit later and our “little secret” when I discover the empty Albertson’s pie boxes in the garbage, proof that her phenomenal pies were not hers after all.  It’s the memory of the senses that makes it all so palpable.

Now that December is just about here, it’s got me wondering about how everyone out there celebrates their holidays. Think back to when you were a child and the month of December rolled around.  What was in like in your home?  Or, if you have family now, what rituals and traditions do you have to make it all memorable and special for you?

Mondays peep show on KONK AM will be in honor of holiday traditions, and a little smattering of news about whats new on the island in terms of events and programs to help you and your family celebrate.  We’ll take calls from listeners so you can share ideas about how you go about making this Christmas season “REAL” for you.    Call in at 305.294.2769 (294 CROW)  or comment on this blog to share your stories with all the peeps listening in to the peep show from 3 to 4 p.m. this coming Monday.   I can’t wait to hear from you!

We here in the Keys are lucky to have some incredibly compassionate, intelligent professionals running our public agencies.  The Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition is no exception.   Today’s peep show on KONK AM at 3 p.m. features the fantastic Arianna Nesbit, CEO of Healthy Start, a community-based prenatal and infant care coalition of private and public agencies, community-centered and private providers in Monroe County.

Developed to support healthy birth outcomes, the Healthy Start program offers free-of-charge services and assistance with Medicaid, nutritional counseling, childbirth and breastfeeding education, psychosocial counseling, baby spacing and assistance in understanding and finding good prenatal care.  Other initiatives include outreach, support, training and educational programs such as Fetal and Infant Mortality Review, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Task Force, Keys Prenatal Care, Zero Exposure Project, Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding, health care provider training and support, and campaigns aimed at improving the health of women during their reproductive years.

Arianna has a broad base of interests particular to her work with Healthy Start.  In addition to having a Masters degree in Public Health Administration, she is a certified childbirth educator and a certified labor doula. For almost five years, she has dedicated her professional talents and passions to her work at Healthy Start.

“If I can help families have healthy children it makes a positive impact on that child, his or her parents, their family and friends and society as a whole, ” says Arianna.  “There is a lot out there that people don’t know about pregnancy and babies and its our job to educate and to help those who aren’t pregnant have positive birth outcomes. I will put a few things on paper to cover and we can just talk…that is something I usually don’t have a problem doing.

Tune in today to find out about this great community resource and the woman that helps make it all happen!

(Mamma says:  eat your fruits & veggies!)   The holidays are fast upon us, and what better way to celebrate than to gather together to eat, drink & be merry.   Yet, as many can attest, within weeks we start unravelling, emotionally and physically.  One trick to avoiding the downward holiday spiral is to become more mindful of what foods you’re using to help you “celebrate.”   You are, as they say, what you eat.

To help prepare us for the weeks to come, today’s peep show on KONK AM will be a shoot from the hip talk forum on moods, foods & gratitudes.  One theory I have is that if we can icrease our levels of mood and gratitude, we just might be able to decrease or intake of all those not-so-good-for-you holiday foods, which in turn bring us down down down and our weight up up up.

We may get a call from Health Dept. Dietician Emily Hassler with tips and advice, and I’ll introduce you to a great new buying option here in the Keys for all of your fresh and organic produce via Annies Buying Club.   And, if there’s time, I’ll share a parenting path we’ve disovered to be healthy and beneficial for our entire family when it comes to nutrition…. baby lead weaning (which has nothing to do with weaning your babe from the breast and everythign to do with letting them explore foods on their own…with your supervision, of course).

And we’ll be touching upon all the ways we feel gratitude for our lives, especially during the holiday season.

Most importantly, we want to hear from YOU! Call in at 305.294.2769 (294 CROW) to tell us what you are grateful for, how you manage healthy eating habits for you and your family, and how we all can create more mindfulness not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year.

libby moore, leader of sea science

Does anyone remember those exciting science experiments back in school, watching your beaker of fizzle behind goggles, hoping you’d done it all properly and that the blue poof of smoke was actually supposed to be there? Perhaps a faint and vague memory now, and if you can remember exactly WHY you did the experiment, the actual PURPOSE behind it, more power to you.

If only we’d had someone like Libby Moore around back then.   (Ah, but she was busy preparing to be exactly who we need her to be NOW for OUR children!).   For over five years, Libby has been the owner/operator of Sea Science, an science educational program geared towards a variety of ages and a variety of topics.   Their mission?  To bring science into a setting in which children can interact and have fun while learning.  And because Libby is mobile, she provides all the equipment, activities and instruction to present a science topic in the most appropriate location.  (which includes but is not limited to after school programs, science fairs, homeschool settings, Saturday programs and boys and girls scouts science related merit badges or goals).

And in case you’re curious, all of her programs comply or correlate to the National Science of Standarsd, Sunshine State Standards, and a program in the works that will offer an online program for Science FCAT topics to help students and parents review and perform science at home.

But let’s get back to that hands-on fun….and the sort of stuff that inspired Ms. Moore to start her own business in this educational realm.   Libby has taken her own personal love of science and some fond memories behind it as her inspiration to not only start the buiness but become and interpretive guide, which, she explains, is “someone who is able to explain the natural surroundings or cultural history of an area.

It provides a person with a connection between themselves and the natural world or history.  The National Association of Interpretation certifies people in different fields and their website is www.interpnet.com.”

Says Libby, ” I have always been interested in science ever since I was a little girl and my mother wold take me out to look at the night skies, pointing out the constellations and telling the stories behind them. Dad pointed out the plants and animals wherever we went.”

Perfectly enough, Sea Science’s current program explores the world and wonders of the plant kingdom.

“We just finished looking at photosynthesis by playing a game where a student becomes a tree and they have to catch CO2 molecules on their leaves.  The leaves are sticky paddles and the molecules are sticky balls.

“The best thing about the classes,” she continues, ” is how much the children enjoy them.  We all end up laughing and having a good time and in the end they walk away remembering the science.”

Tune into the peep show today at 3 to hear all about Libby and her innovative Sea Science programs and visit her site at www.seasciencenow.com to see her latest schedule of programs.

And you thought homeschooling was for kids that lived out in the middle of Nebraska, miles away from anything?   Think again, because home schooling is happening right here on our tiny island.  In it’s 14th year, it represents children from 8th to 12th grade at Desiderata (where the school gets its accreditation) and junior high schoolers at FKCC. WIth instructors Tom Murtha, Keri Jherpi and JImmy Wray  added to the repertoire, it’s an education definitely worth hearing about.

And we’ll hear about it today with special guest Karen Wray, who says “HS2 was started by a concerned group of parents with children that were getting lost at the high school.”

Wray’s children Lena (17) and Louis (18) have reaped the benefits of attending this alternative form of schooling in a multitude of ways which Wray will share with us on today’s show.   If Louis’ photography says anything about how well this method of education has served him, its obvious it’s had some impact.

Of course it helps to have parents like Karen and Jimmy, both creative passionate people who help more than just hteir own kids see things in a new way.   Tune in today to hear all about home school high school, some stats and questions on home schooling in general, and some personal anecdotes from Karen about life as parent, artist, and what it’s been like to raise her children surrounded by water and an ever-evolving creative workshop at Safe Harbour Marina.

And if you’ve got anything to say, ask or add, we’d love to hear from you!  Call in at 294.CROW!

sherry & cosmo....

Tomorrow’s 3 oclock peep show on KONK AM features the radiant & creative Ms. Sherry Sweet Tewell and her courageous cat Cosmo, otherwise known as “Cosmo The Boat Cat.“   Cosmo is inspiration for her new & wonderful children’s book filled with fact, fantasy, and a little bit of wisdom all rolled into one.   It’s the story of one happy cat who must move not just near the sea, but ON the sea….on a boat… and all of the adventures that befall him when he himself falls into the water.

Sherry’s beautifully illustrated book features her signature local sea creatures supported with a great story written by fellow artist extraoidinaire Marky Pierson. Listeners will get to hear Sherry talk about her passions, process, inspiration in this recently finished project, as well as how important story-telling is for children of all ages.

For example, did you know that according to the Children’s Reading Foundation, “just 20 minutes a day reading aloud with young children strengthens relationships, encourages listening and language skills, promotes attention and curiosity, and establishes a strong reading foundation. These skills are essential for success in school and in life.”

Tune in Monday at 3 to hear all about it, & visit www.cosmotheboatcat.com for more information and a sneak preview video of this fantastic new book!

and for more wonderful events around this very special book….check these dates and locations:

Thursday, Nov. 5      Style Key West, 313 Margaret   Signing    6pm – 9pm
Saturday,  Nov. 14    Coffee Plantation on Caroline     Signing/illustrations on display  12 noon – 2pm
Sunday     Nov. 15     GLEE Recycle Fair with kids     Signing and Sell   Bayview Park
from Poinciana School
Recycle Rangers fundraiser
Thursday  Nov. 19      TSKW Walk on White, Artisians   Signing and Sell   6pm – 9pm
Fair – Main exhibit hall
Saturday   Nov. 21      Stone Soup Gallery, White Street  Reading, art activity   12 noon – 2 pm
Reading event for kids
Saturday   Nov. 28      Grand Opening Green World       Signing    6pm – 9pm
Gallery, 712 Duval
Thursday   Dec. 3       Coffee Plantation on Caroline      Signing   6pm – 9pm
Saturday    Dec. 5       Family Fun Day                         Reading, art activity, video showing
The Cosmo Show at TSKW         10 am – noon
with Reef Relief
Thursday   Dec. 17      TSKW Night on White                illustrations/paintings on display
Open studio upstairs                  6pm – 9pm

“Cosmo The Boat Cat” available at these local stores and galleries
Coffee Planation, Green World Gallery, Margaritaville, Stone Soup Gallery, Style Key West, The Studios of Key West (Sherry’s studio)   In Marathon:  Island Fish Company Gift Shop

Salty mamma

Today’s peep show guest brings an important message for all parents of children of all ages.  In fact, even if you don’t have children, you might want to tune in…what she has to say is THAT important.   And pretty simple, too…something we do without even thinking.

Tara McCabe weaves her love of the sea and commitment to yoga to help her be the radiant mamma to sons Cole, 7 and Brody, 4.   When pregnant with Cole, Tara started yoga, which helped keep her focused, strong and limber.  Now a yoga teacher herself at Shakti Yoga Studio, Tara reminds us that beyond all the imminent twists, bends and balancing that asanas (poses) ask of us, it is the breath we must truly remember to be happy, healthy and whole. And a happy parent makes for happy children, right?   (We can only hope!)

Tara shares her passions with her children and other children on the island through children’s yoga classes, and has recently started up a paddleboard yoga series, which she says “is a great way to commune with nature and the universal spirit.”   Her paddleboard hours are tuesday 9 am..friday 630 am…sunday 8 am.

Tune into KONK AM today at 3 to find out just how a little bit of salt and a whole lotta breathing can help you find that deeply peaceful place within.

Let’s hear it for the fathers of the world who really know how to nurture…  Today’s show features Eric Holowacz and Jay Scott, big-time daddy-o’s to three and four girls each.   Highly creative and dynamic, Eric and Jay will  offer their perspectives and insights on what it’s like to stay home with the wee ones and what it’s like to parent here in Key West.

Personally, I’m quite excited to hear how the men do it and what pointers I might swipe to help make life with bambina sweeter and easier.   It’s clear to me that she relates differently with Dad and listens better too.   Hmmmmm…….  how do they do that?

Tune in today at 3 to find out!

Meantime, enjoy this endearing video of the beautiful Eva Holowacz, made by her dear old Dad.

And this image, my favorite so far of the Pappa Power in my own little family…