Mother’s Day Poem - As I Look Back...

As I look back on my life
I find myself wondering…
Did I remember to thank youfor all that you have done for me?
For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes
and accept my defeats?
Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
good judgment, courage, and honesty?
I wonder if I've ever thanked you
for the simple things…
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared?
If I have forgotten to express my gratitude
For any of these things,
I am thanking you now…
and I am hoping that you've known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.

Hope You Had A Great Mother’s Day!

Adopted from www.mothersdaycelebration.com

How-To Project: Planting A Child-Friendly Garden

Gardeners love to share their interest in gardening, and sharing with their children can be particularly rewarding. Even 2 and 3-year-olds can help plant their own little patch, and watch as life unfolds around them. Here are some suggestions for making gardening enjoyable -- and safe -- for young children.

Tools and Materials
Child-sized trowel; Child-sized cultivator; Child-sized rake; Child-sized hoe
Stake a claim. Section off a corner of the garden or yard where a child can do as he or she pleases. It doesn't have to be designed or even particularly attractive, just a place where he or she can explore without risk of damaging your prized plants!

Let the children choose what they'd like to grow. Most often, these will be plants they recognize, such as pumpkins and potatoes. Plants with large seeds, such as beans, sunflowers, and nasturtiums, are easiest for small hands to sow. Though radish seeds are small, children delight in the almost instant growth and harvest. Or plant with a theme, perhaps a "pizza" garden containing tomatoes and peppers as well as herbs such as basil and oregano.

Children love hiding places. Consider constructing a tepee from tall poles and twine, to be covered with climbing beans and flowers. (Be sure to leave an opening for a door.) Or create a special room: a circle of tall sunflowers with shorter sunflowers or other flowers between them.
Many culinary herbs are attractive and have interesting scents. Chives, sage, mint, and basil are good choices for a child's garden. Edible flowers, such as nasturtiums, pansies, violets, and calendulas, are also good.

Since many other plants -- even something as familiar as rhubarb leaves -- are toxic, teach your child to consult with you before anything into his or her mouth. Only a few are so toxic they should not be used around children and pets.

Two extremely toxic plants are castor bean (Ricinus communis) and precatory bean or rosary pea (Abrus). Many other plants are toxic in larger quantities and should be avoided in a child's garden. These include angel's trumpet (Brugmansia), delphinium, foxglove (Digitalis), euonymus, morning glory (Ipomoea), St. Johnswort (Hypericum), lantana, cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), and valerian (V. officinalis).

Tips:Make gardening fun, not work. Offer encouragement and how-to, but go easy on detailed advice. If a child sees you at work in the garden, he or she will want to imitate what you do the best way to learn. Adopted from www.garden.org

Recipe Of The Month! 24 Hour Salad

Here is a really good (& easy) summertime salad that you will be sure to enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 head of lettuce
• 1 small onion—chopped
• 3/4 lb. bacon, cooked, drained, chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip
• 1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  

Preparation:
Put salad in a 9 x 13 glass dish—layered as follows:
Lettuce, onion, bacon, cauliflower,
Miracle Whip, sugar and finally the
Parmesan Cheese
This salad should be made up 24 hours before use. Which means you can get this done ahead of time and just grab it out of the fridge when your guests arrive or as you head out the door to the pitch-in! How great is that!

Vitamins For The Mind: Goals & Goal Setting

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

When Andrew Carnegie died, they discovered a sheet of paper upon which he had written one of the major goals of his life: to spend the first half of his life accumulating money and to spend the last half of his life giving it all away. And he did!

Some people are disturbed by those tough days because all they have is the days. They haven't designed or described or defined the future.

Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles.

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

Don't set your goals too low. If you don't need much, you won't become much.

If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.

We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life. Adopted from http://www.jimrohn.com/

Family Biking

Biking is becoming more and more of a family activity and it is something that kids love to do. If you already have bikes then this activity is free. It is one of the best forms of exercise and a great way to burn off some energy. In addition, it will get the family out into the fresh air for a while. You can ride as part of a vacation or simply plan an outing around town. Biking as a family can be more fun than

you think and much better than riding alone. Parents, if you haven't been on a bike in a while don't fret. Riding a bike is like swimming and once you learn how to do it, you never forget.

Any time you do anything with children it is important to create a game plan. When biking with the family it is important to determine where you are going in advance. Be sure to pick a fun route. It is beneficial to keep rides flat when possible. Remember a small incline for you can feel like a mountain to your child. Short rides at first work best because it will give the kids a sense of accomplishment. Avoid traffic whenever possible. Try to use as many quiet, residential roads, or cycle paths as you can. Park paths and boardwalks at the beach are terrific when traveling with youngsters. Make sure you know the exact distance and the approximate time it will take to complete the excursion. It is important that everyone in the group be able to handle the distance. You will want plenty of roadside attractions so you can stop along the way. Ponds, streams, playgrounds, ice cream stands, and picnic areas are great spots for the kids get take a break.

Selecting Your Child's Bike Size

While standing over the bike's crossbar with both feet flat on the ground your child should clear 1 to 3 inches.

When sitting on the bike seat with both hands on the handlebars you child should be able to place the balls of both feet on the ground.

He/she should be able to get on and off the bike without difficulty.

A comfortable reach of the handlebars is extremely important for gaining proper control of steering. Have your child pretend to play the piano on the handlebars. His/her back should be straight.

He/she should be able to stop the bike using hand brakes without fumbling for the levers.

Children's bike sizes are determined by wheel diameter rather than height and frame size. The table below is a helpful guide to use as a starting point for bike size but is not a substitute for an expert opinion.

Age Child's Inseam Bike Size

2 - 4 years 14 -17 inches 12 inches

4 - 6 years 16 - 20 inches 14 inches

5 - 8 years 18 - 22 inches 16 inches

6 - 9 years 20 - 24 inches 18 inches

7 - 8 years 22 - 25 inches 20 inches

9 and over 24 - 28 inches 24 inches

Adopted www.allstaractivities.com

Reasons Why Dogs Are Better Pets Than Cats

Not sure exactly where this originated but it’s been floating around online.

• Dogs will tilt their heads and try to understand every word you say. Cats will ignore you and take a nap.


• When you come home from work, your dog will be happy and lick your face. Cats will still be mad at you for leaving in the first place.


• Dogs will give you unconditional love until the day they die. Cats will make you pay for every mistake you’ve ever made since the day you were born.


• Cats look silly on a leash.


• A dog knows when you’re sad. And he’ll try to comfort you. Cats don’t care how you feel, as long as you remember where the can opener is.


• Dogs will bring you your slippers. Cats will drop a dead mouse in your slippers.


• When you take them for a ride, dogs will sit on the seat next to you. Cats have to have their own private basket, or they won’t go at all.


• Dogs will come when you call them. And they’ll be happy. Cats will have someone take a message and get back to you.


• Dogs will play fetch with you all day long. The only thing cats will play with all day long are small rodents or bugs, preferably ones that look like they’re in pain.


• Dogs will wake you up if the house is on fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door. Adopted From http://cat-vs-dog.com/
  

Skin Care: Tips For Healthy Skin

Good skin care — including sun protection and gentle cleansing — can keep your skin healthy and glowing for years to come.

Don't have time for intensive skin care? Pamper yourself with the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the natural aging process and prevent many skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips. Protect yourself from the sun - The most important way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, freckles, age spots and rough, dry skin. Sun exposure can also cause more-serious problems, such as skin cancer. For the most complete sun protection: Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This is when the sun's rays are the strongest.

Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with tightly woven long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. You might also opt for special sun-protective clothing, which is specifically designed to block ultraviolet rays while keeping you cool and comfortable.
Use sunscreen when you're in the sun. Apply generous amounts of broad-spectrum sunscreen 30 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after being in water.

Don't smoke - Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin - fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking - such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke - may contribute to wrinkles.

If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or treatments to help you stop smoking. Treat your skin gently - Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin, so keep it gentle: Limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time, and use warm rather than hot water.

Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers. Shave carefully. To protect and lubricate your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving. For the closest shave, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction the hair grows, not against it.
Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on your skin.

Moisturize dry skin. Find a moisturizer that fits your skin type and makes your skin look and feel soft.

Eat a healthy diet - A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. The association between diet and acne isn't clear - but research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in fats and carbohydrates may promote younger looking skin.

Manage stress - Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin - and a healthy state of mind - takes steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make time to do the things you enjoy. The results may be more dramatic than you expect. Adopted from www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-care

How To Find The Right Summer Camp

Summer camps for kids are a special time that will create lasting memories for kids. The social interaction and fun activities provide their own mini vacation. There are, however, so many summer camps to choose from within each state and camps that may be the best fit in another state or beyond. Here are four websites that provide detailed information about all varieties of kids camps for the summer.

• http://www.kidscamps.com/ - Looking for a summer camp for your child? KidsCamps.com, the Internet's Premier Summer Camp Directory, has been the destination website for finding summer camps and summer programs in the United States, Canada and worldwide since 1995. Start your search for camps!


• CampPage Summer Camps Guide – Children's summer camps and wilderness programs for boys and girls in the United States and Canada. http://www.camppage.com/


• My Summer camps help your child develop character, learn valuable life skills, make new friends and discover new interests. MySummerCamps.com is a comprehensive, easy to use summer camp directory for kids, teens and youth. The complete source for finding summer camps, summer camp jobs and camps for sale or rent in the USA, Canada and Worldwide. www.mysummercamps.com/


• http://www.campchannel.com/ - Online since 1995, the Camp Channel's summer camps directory will help you locate the perfect summer camp or camp job as a camp counselor. While many traditional overnight summer camps have been operating for over 100 years, there are also many youth camp experiences which emphasize specialized activities along with other new innovative summer programs. Adopted From www.ehow.com
  

Reel Partner Of The Month!: Reel Travel Blessings

Summer travel is a peak experience, especially for families with school kids who've been counting down the days to vacation time. You will find lots of great ideas for your summer travel, including many affordable getaways at Our User Friendly Web Site!

www.reeltravelblessings.com

Pay Off Your Mortgage?

It sounds great -- living mortgage free! But there are definite pros and cons to paying off your mortgage early. Before you commit to making such a huge -- and potentially life changing -- expenditure, there are several questions you need to ask yourself. To complete an early mortgage payoff, you need to closely examine your financial situation and be sure you don't undertake this important decision lightly.

Will this outlay leave you more financially secure than you are now? Do you have any other significant debt? Could the money you'll use to pay off your mortgage be put to better use as an investment? If you are inclined to taking financial risks, you might consider investing your money instead. The profits you realize from your investments may offset the expense of the mortgage, and allow you to come out the other side with your principle intact.

Will you still be able to enjoy life in the manner to which you've become accustomed? In other words, if you lay out all your cash to pay off your mortgage, will you still have enough to entertain, garden, do home improvement projects, travel and generally enjoy your life? Can you afford your kids' college education if you pay down your mortgage?Can you afford your retirement? These areas are too important to ignore in your haste to pay off the mortgage.If your finances show that you are in a position to pay off your mortgage early without sacrificing other important areas of your life then there are various ways to go about a mortgage pay off.

• Make two mortgage payments each month on a bi-weekly plan. - lowering the balance rapidly.


• Check with your lender to see if you are allowed to prepay your mortgage without restrictions or penalties, and if so make lump sum payments whenever possible. For example put your yearly bonus toward your mortgage to pay it down.


• Refinance your loan to a shorten the length of time you will owe on your mortgage. Your payments will be considerably higher but the mortgage will be paid off much faster.


• Make high payments if you can afford to. Speak to your lender about arranging a new payment schedule.


• Pay a lower interest rate by refinancing the house, but continue to pay the same amount you do now at the higher rate to payoff the mortgage faster.