Blogs & Tips Health & Safety Recently I've been upset about some negative people in my life. I'm no optimistic, far from it, but these people just see the bad in every situation and don't notice the good. I NEVER want to be like ![]() Health & Safety I don't know about your town, but here we lose power when there's a snow or ice storm. Here is a comprehensive article from Red Cross explaining what to do and not to do during a blackout. Definately must ![]() Parenting Soon we will have to choose a new President, and for a lot of us, this is a confusing and uncertain prospect. Just when I think I'm sure, I hear something that makes me wonder if I'm on the right track ![]() Home & Garden After sliding around the ice in my Civic, I briefly toyed with the idea of getting a bigger car. In my searches, I came across this site listing the most fuel efficient 4-wheel-drive vehicles. This will be ![]() Parenting If you love pop up books, (and who doesn't?) check out the many books by David A. Carter. We have loved his books for years, and even though my kids are pre-teens and teens, we still get a new copy of our favorite ![]() Family Finance This is a great survey company! I usually receive several survey invitations from them every week and qualify for most. Each survey is worth points. When you accumulate a certain number of points, you can choose ![]() Home & Garden Every year I try a new way to display my cards, but I'm never completely happy with the results. Usually it ends up taking more time than I wanted to spend, and who has a lot of extra time at the end of ![]() Family Finance You're going to think I'm nuts for sharing this, but try it. I used to work in a factory that was air conditioned except for one room. That room got hot. A friend who worked in there smelled ![]() Health & Safety Are you concerned about the quality of your water? You can find out the total hardness of your water with a water test kit. Why spend your own money buying a water test kit, when you can get one free from Culligan? ![]() Home & Garden I was online surfing for a Slanket and I found this great pattern where you can make your own snuglet. A snuglet is a blanket that covers your whole body, but you can stick your arms out. It is ![]() Health & Safety The decision by the Public Health Council will make New Jersey the first state to require annual shots for influenza and bacterial (pneumococcal) pneumonia for infants and toddlers. For sixth-graders, the state ![]() Family Finance The holidays are here, and in addition to the stress of getting everything else done, I'm always confused about who to tip or gift. Garbage Men? Teachers? Hairdressers? Lawn Crews? ![]() Kids & Technology With these ideas you can save more than $129 and make these cheap iPod accessories yourself, with items you probably already have in the house. Apppopriate for tweens, teens and adults. Home & Garden We've all been there: The race starts on Monday and between soccer, karate and ballet practice we drag across the finish line into Friday. Families are more stressed ![]() Family Finance I've been a member of this website for a few months, and they really do pay. I receive survey invitations few times a week from them. Of course, I don't qualify for all of them, but a lot of them I do end ![]() Health & Safety Please take note of the new Boppy Recall of some of their covers. The issue is two fold...the zipper can break and pose a choking hazard and I guess there is a LEAD issue we are dealing with also - Yikes! ![]() Parenting GreatDad provides Pregnancy Tips and Advice for Expectant Dads. The website also provides Parenting Information for New Dads, Single Dads, Stay at Home Dads. GreatDad is a leading source of experience, recommendations ![]() Family Finance If you would like to get your children thinking about giving to others, try a Markmakers gift card. Markmakers allows children to "spend" their finds on needs/causes such as vaccines, medicine ![]() Family Finance Wondering what charities are financially sound? Check out Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator analyzes 5,000 of America's best known charities to assess their financial health. In addition to the Charity ![]() Home & Garden Grab a bundle of pine roping and deck the halls organic-style. Wrap pine roping around banisters or poles during the holidays or simply as your winter season decor. Purchase a yard or two of natural pine roping ![]() Parenting The classrooms in our Montessori school uses tiny music boxes to quietly signal a new transition in the classroom...no flashing lights, no screaming teacher, no school bell - just a tiny little hand held music ![]() Parenting Plaster Molds of Bulging Tummy This is a very unique activity you can do while pregnant, I did a plaster mold of my pregnant tummy with my youngest daughter and we just love having the mold after all these years ![]() Health & Safety This product is fantastic! Oh, how I wish they had it when my kids were little! My Precious Kid sells temporary tattoos which help adults return lost children to their parents, help autistic or mentally challenged ![]() Family Finance Do you have a stack of unwanted gift cards from birthdays and holidays? Or would you like a Gap gift card at a discount? Try out one of the gift card selling websites - CardAvenue.com, SwapaGift.com ![]() Marriage & Relationships This article from Parenting discusses the conventional wisdom that is tossed around regarding your relationship with your partner, like “never fight in front of the kids,” and “don’t worry ![]() Home & Garden Give the Gift of Granola for the Holidays Pour homemade granola into mason jars and adorn them with festive ribbons for a great holiday gift. Offer such treats to teachers, friends and neighbors as a token of holiday ![]() Home & Garden OK, I thought this article was going to be a joke, but no, these are really cool gifts you can get your dog this holiday season, or for his birthday or adoption day or whatever. Check it out! Included is a gumball ![]() Home & Garden A new idea for holiday cards or other occasions - hand made cards that grow into flowers when you plant them! Cute designs, and an environmentally friendly way to send someone a note card! A box of 4 cards is around ![]() Family Finance I hate going to the stores - they are crowded, the kids hate it, the traffic is horrible and right now, it's freezing out! So I've been trying to do a lot of my shopping online. Not only have I found better ![]() Home & Garden I used to enter a lot of snail mail sweepstakes. Since I wanted my envelope to stand out in the entry barrel I started making wallpaper envelopes. I would get the wallpaper books from my local ![]() Home & Garden Every where we look we see trees and since there are so many trees we never think about them disappearing. We seldom stop to look at how beautiful they are. We just assume they will always be here. ![]() Family Finance Does your child love Polly Pocket? This coupon is for up to $5 off which means free toys. Toys R Us, Walmart, K-Mart, CVS, and many other stores have Polly Pocket toys for under $5. We have used ![]() Health & Safety Not sure what toys are ok to buy this holiday season? Look toys up in HealthyToys. This database includes the results of the Ecology Center's testing of 1,200 popular children's toys for toxic ![]() Parenting Parenting magazine put together a great list of holiday books for children, covering Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stories. I haven’t read them myself, but two of the books that looked interesting were ![]() Health & Safety If you have Blue Cross, Blue Shield / Anthem health insurance, be sure to take advantage of their Blue Points program. Blue Points is a way to manage fitness activities and earn points for great prizes. ![]() Family Finance I read this tip in my money-savers email newsletter and thought you'd like it (don't worry- I have permission to reprint it): Make It Lean I like very lean ground beef, but higher fat ground beef ![]() Health & Safety A teaspoon of honey before bed seems to calm children's coughs and help them sleep better, according to a new study that relied on parents' reports of their children's symptoms. The folk remedy did ![]() Home & Garden With so many things getting more expensive by the day, it's time to save what we can. Make your own cleaning solution and save a fortune. Mix about a quarter of a cup of cleaner, something like Mr ![]() Home & Garden My cabinets are stocked with about a million different cleaners, for various household tasks. I don't even want to think about how toxic they all are! So when I needed to polish a brass holiday ornament, I ![]() Parenting There are many tips out there for ridding your child's bedroom of monsters. Here's another that's very simple. Blow them away. Every night, right before tucking my son in, we blow away the monsters ![]() Parenting Not sure what go get your friend or loved one for Christmas? Do you need a last minute Birthday present? Gifts.com has hundreds of gift ideas. You can search by an occasions, recipient, price, etc. I found there ![]() Home & Garden Keep the kitchen cleaner and spend less time handling dishes! When it's time to make a meal, the first step is to unload the dishwasher. Dishes to be used for the meal go directly on the counter ![]() Home & Garden Turn a Flea Market Find into a Photo Frame An old barn or farmhouse window can be remade into a unique wall hanging or mantel display. Pair the old window with family photos or holiday cards and display ![]() Health & Safety The news this morning showed these fake Tickle Me Elmo dolls that look pretty much identical to the real ones. The kids would be happy with them, but since they don't say where they are made or what they are ![]() Parenting It's the moment every parent dreads. You've spent so long explaining to your child about santa and his trips down the chimney. Then the day comes when your child asks if santa is really real. ![]() Parenting When my son was little I found the perfect way to get him to behave around Christmas. I bought a set of cheap bells and attached them to a string with some fishing line. I hung the line across the bathroom ![]() Kids & Technology Do you like Alvin and the chipmunks? Are you looking for some cool ringtones or downloads? Check out the website for more information. This is an official website for the movie, so you can find there tons of cool ![]() Home & Garden Dress up your counter while keeping your gadgets safer… The crafty honchos at Tovolo have designed useful, as well as fun kitchen utensils that are able to stand upright. Each Standz tool has an ergonomic ![]() Health & Safety Obesity in children and teens is on the rise. With television, MP3 players, video games, computers, and cell phones, kids are getting less exercise than they have in the past. If you have a child who ![]() Parenting
Several years ago my husband decided we would start a new family tradition. He’d heard of a German tradition that he liked which involved a pickle ornament. Sadly, we weren’t able to find ![]()
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