New to Blogging

Hello everyone!  I am new to blogging but hope you will all help me as I explore this new adventure!  The reason for my blog is simple.  I am raising two children, a girl who is mostly raised, she is 20 now, and a boy who is semi-raised, he is 15 now.  In the course of raising these children, I have encountered many people who have touched their lives, some for the better and some . . . well, not so much.  My home has been and, I hope, will continue to be, a refuge for their friends who need to see that a home can be a loving, supportive, and healthy environment.  Unfortunately, I cannot take them all in and raise them, so when I send them back to their own environments, sometimes . . . many times, I worry about them.  This is because you can only help a child so far if you can't change their environment.  I hope that through this blog, I will be able to share some tools that I have learned through the years, and in turn, help parents parent more effectively.  And just as important, to be here for those parents and to let them know that they are not alone.  It truly does take a community to raise a healthy child.  I hope to start such a virtual community here.  Welcome friends and neighbors!