Family

End of Year Teacher Gifts

June 13, 2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Well, one of the most wonderful times of the year. My girls are moving on up in their school careers. I will never have another kindergartner and this makes me so sad. How can I be a mom of a 3rd grader? Time you know, you could put the brakes on a little bit. That would be the best thing ok?

Introducing, my newest 1st grader and 3rd grader.

We have so much planned for the Summer and are going to enjoy every single minute of it. I actually have put together a schedule that will keep the “I am bored” comments at bay and will share that tomorrow. In the meantime, take a moment to see these cute End of Year Teacher Gifts I found on the Skip To My Lou craft blog.

Embellished Scissors

Teacher Appreciation Flower Picks

Both crafts were a huge hit with all the teachers. I included a hand written thank you note to each teacher as well detailing how much I appreciate them. Teachers do a very hard job and we need to always remember that they are not definitely in teaching for the money but for the love of the children.

Let the summer memories begin!

Ways to Budget and Save Money

June 6, 2011 by Jennifer 2 Comments

We are all feeling the effects of the economy. Believe me, with my husband’s unemployment, we had to find a way to cut our monthly bills in half. Each month when you are budgeting finances, the stress and anger comes out. You wonder how on earth can your bills be so high. This is a common scenario for most families. Here are the tips that helped us.

Avoid Using Your Dryer – Dryers waste a lot of electricity which means higher bills for you. Try to hang up your clothes instead. This not only saves you money on electricity but will help some of your clothes last longer as well.

Shop Around – Always shop around. Utility companies are in fierce competition with each other, use it to your advantage and shop around for the best savings. Don’t think you have to stick with a supplier you’re not happy with.

Filter Your Water – Investing in a good water filtering system can save you money on buying bottled water. It will also help you save money by making your appliances last longer due to lower lime scale buildup in hard water areas. You can even use less detergent when washing clothes or using the dishwasher.

Leave the Car at Home – Don’t pay the outrageous fees for gas. If possible try to walk, you can also consider taking the bus or carpooling. When filling up the car, shop around for competitive rates.

Don’t Buy Disposable – Try to cut back on your shopping bills by not buying disposable items such as paper towels, use a clean dish cloth instead. Try to reuse your aluminum foil or sandwich bag containers or better yet buy plastic containers you can wash and reuse.

Make Sure It’s Full – Don’t use your washing machine or dishwasher when it’s half empty. Play around with the temperature settings to see if a lower temperature will do the job just as well as the pricier higher one.

Turn Off the Lights – Your father was right. Turn off the lights you’re not using to save electricity. If you’re just relaxing try lighting candles instead, this will save money and create a nice atmosphere (make sure you follow all safety guidelines).

Lower Your Water Bill – Try to take showers instead of baths. Turn off the water while you’re brushing your teeth. Collect rain water and recycle it to water the plants. Make sure your faucets aren’t dripping. Use a bowl full of water when doing the dishes instead of leaving the tap running.

Change the Setting – Set your thermostats a couple of degrees lower in the winter and a couple of degrees higher in the summer for a big savings on your utility bills.

When budgeting finances, make sure to use these tips. Then you can sit back and watch your bills decrease. As an added bonus, you’ll also be contributing towards a healthier environment for your children.

Internet Safety for Kids

June 5, 2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

Parents are obligated to protect their children from online dangers. Kid online safety is a huge responsibility we have right now. First off, you should teach your children not to give out information like your phone number, credit card numbers, where you live, or even your last name over the Internet.

It is important to make sure have a spam blocker on your computer to prevent dangers that can harm your child, or open up room for someone to view your activities.

Never click on links that take you to other sites unless you know they are safe. Do not click on those advertisement e-mails in your inbox or online, since most times the sites will link you or your child to inappropriate materials. Do not click on those advertisement e-mails in your inbox or online Well when you want to find something always use the search bar not the address bar

One of the bad deals about Chat Rooms is that some women online will have their children’s picture listed along with the child’s profile. This is opening up room for child pedophiles or other dangerous criminals to gain access to their children. Avoid putting your child’s picture and personal information on the Internet. Being a proud parent does not include putting your child at risk. Try not to save stuff from online because it could already be infested with Viruses, Trojans, Codes, Worms, and so forth.

Kid online safety also means protecting your computer. I recommend McAfee Virus Protection Programs, Trend, and AGV. As for Spyware programs you can download a free version of Microsoft Anti-Spyware at the Microsoft site. You can also get free copies of Spyware programs from Comcast and AOL. Yahoo offers valuable tools for free that will protect you also. It is also important to setup Popup Blockers, since this too will protect your child from harmful items on the Internet.

Next, you are going to teach your children to protect them from online dangers. Teach your child to avoid giving personal information ANYWHERE online. This will include phone numbers, full names, addresses, and so forth. Teach the children not to give anyone pictures of him/herself or anyone in the family.

If the child is utilizing Instant Messenger, tell him/her not to fill out any forms online unless authorized by you. Tell your children not to publish any information that could lead to Cyber Stalkers, Pedophiles, and so forth. The Instant Messengers should provide Parental Controls, be sure to setup the controls to protect your child. Some Instant Messenger (IM) programs offer parental restrictions that will prevent your child from visiting inappropriate chat rooms, or else enter rooms where children are forbidden. These programs are nice, since it will prevent your child from logging into Instant Messenger at friends’ homes as well.

Similar to offline, teach your children not to talk to strangers online. Inform the children that pedophiles, Cyber Stalkers, and other dangerous criminals prey the Internet searching for a child to harm.

Teach your children to avoid giving out Instant Messenger contact information through e-mails, newsgroups, or any area online. It is important to teach your children to use good usernames while visiting the Internet. In other words if the child has an e-mail and instant messenger address, make sure the child does not have a provocative username. A username such as “Hot Momma” may attract the wrong attention.

Be sure to enforce all communication between you and your child. If you enforce the rules, likely your child will listen. If you permit any room for leniency, you might put your child in harms way. Remember kid online safety is the main thing!

Are hitting milestones always this sad

June 2, 2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

My precious and sweet little L hit a huge milestone last weekend, and a part of me is so excited for her but then the other part of me wants to crawl in a closet and have a good cry. You see, L is my youngest and each of these big milestones she hits, means my youngest is not a baby anymore.

Go ahead and say it, I know I am not going to make a good empty nester. I just wish I could stop time on the clock from rushing forward at fierce lightning speed. Let’s set this latest scenario up.

The hubby is out in the drive with his tools acting like he is Mr. Bicycle repairman to M’s bicycle. Much to my surprise, he actually knew what he was doing. I should have known, he is the ultimate Mr. Handyman. Well, over on the side L was really paying attention to his tools and then would look at her training wheels real strongly. After some really close concentration, she popped up and said “Daddy, bring those tools right over here and take off my training wheels.” Say what? L, are you sure and just when did you become boss in this family. 😉

I muttered to my parents who were in town visiting, that we are all going to be surprised if she just takes off on the bicycle when the training wheels are off like she has been riding without training wheels for years. The time has come, it is either make it or break it. Now is time to cue the video. Listen in closely to L’s words.

And folks just like that, she was off. How did you enjoy that little “southern accent” by the mom herself at the beginning of the video? Just keeping it real folks. My baby girl L, has not stopped riding her bicycle all over the community. She proudly tells anyone that will listen that she has no training wheels now. That’s my baby girl.

I am so proud but let’s take a while for the next big milestone accomplishment ok? I need to finish wiping the tears of joy, sadness and the overwhelmed feeling first.

You Can Save A Life With CPR

June 1, 2011 by Jennifer 1 Comment

Moms, did you know that nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, and four out of five cardiac arrests happen at home? That means the life you save with CPR is most likely to be someone you love. Heart disease is still the #1 killer in women. That’s why Go Red For Women® is asking women to Make It Their Mission to help save a life with CPR. Anyone can learn CPR and we all need to team together and learn it. You just never know when the time will come and you could save someone’s life.

Go Red for Women has put together a fantastic instructional video to teach us how to do CPR. Take just a couple minutes of your time this week and watch the video. Two simple steps will help save a person’s life.

Not enough people act when they see someone suddenly collapse and this leads to unnecessary deaths.
– Only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.
– Sadly, 93 percent of cardiac arrest victims don’t survive to make it home from the hospital.

Please take the time watch the video and share with all your family and friends. Together we can save lives!

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