Are You Prepared For A Natural Disaster?

My husband and I were recently discussing natural diseasters and emergency preparedness and both of us realized that we really are not prepared for a real emergency.

Do you have a plan? Are you and your family prepared? If not, it’s time to get prepared!

While surfing the interenet today for more information on this topic, I found a great web site that I would like to pass along to our blog readers. This web site has a FREE printable emergency preparedness checklist that you can print out and put into action NOW before a real disaster happens.

You can also purchase items that you and your family may need from this same web site (we are not affiliated with this site in any way).

The site is called Preparedness.com and I really think you should check it out. It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to a real emergency.

Shelly

Get Outdoors For A Family Picnic

Now that summer is in full swing, do you and your family enjoy outdoor picnics? I am not talking about big family reunions & gatherings, what I am specifically talking about is some family time with just your spouse and kids?

One of the things we enjoy doing as a family is going out to remote areas, public parks, etc. and planing an afternoon picnic.

Now if you have never done this for your family, here is a list of things you will need:

Picnic Blanket or Picnic Table
Picnic Table Cloth (if using a table)
Plates, Napkins, Plastic Utensils and Cups
Picnic Basket and/or a Cooler with ice
Trash Bags (for clean up)

You don’t need to get all elaborate with your food choices…you can plan simple sandwiches/subs, macaroni or potato salad, some chopped up fresh fruit, potato chips & pretzels and perhaps a few pickled eggs.

While out on your picnic, you will want to bring along a few things to keep the kids busy or activities that the entire family can enjoy such as: a ball, kites, fishing poles (if near water), bubble blowing machines, bocci ball, frisbee or any other small & portable outdoor activity that you can think of.

The most important thing is to keep it simple so that you don’t stress yourself out. Remember, this is family time so you will want to plan ahead for a stress-free afternoon outdoors!

Shelly

Kite Flying – A Great Family Activity

Now that it’s the middle of the summertime season, what kind of family activities do you enjoy doing outdoors? One of the things we have always enjoyed doing as a family in the summertime has been kite flying.

Kite flying is an inexpensive family activity because all you really need is a kite! You can buy inexpensive ones at your local dollar type of store or you can go for more expensive ones at a kite shop.

If you have small children, I recommend getting the cheap and easy kites. If you have older children, you can purchase the more expensive kites…but either way, kite flying is a lot of fun!

When we plan kite flying family days, we also pack a picnic style lunch. All you need are some sandwiches, fruit, a snack and a few drinks. While you are at it, don’t forget to pack a blanket!

So this summer when you are thinking about a good family activity to do outdoors…consider going out and flying a few kites!

Shelly

Kids Crafts – Tie Dye T-shirts

If you are looking to keep older kids busy this summer, how about letting them tie-dye their own T-shirts? You can go out to your local craft store and buy kids T-shirts for about $3.00 a piece or better yet, dig some out of your child’s closet and use those!

I recently did a product review for a company called Simply Spray which has these awesome spray fabric paints. Sort of like traditional spray paint but made for fabrics! These were really easy to use and it only took me 90 minutes to make a tie-dye tshirt for my nephew (allowing for drying time).

Here is what you will need to make one:

100% cotton T-shirt
Simply Spray Fabric Paints (3-5 colors)
Newspaper

You will want to do this project outdoors during a nice weather day. Lay down several sheets of newspaper. Take your cotton short and scrunch it up. Stand back about a foot or two and lightly spray your T-shirt. I left mine dry for 10-15 minutes, rearranged the shirt by scrunching it again and then sprayed on another color. Repeat that process until your shirt is done.

Note: You do not need to heat set the paint! I left mine dry for 72 hours before washing it.

Pretty easy and fast! A great little summer craft project for the kids to keep them busy.

Shelly

Kids Birthday Party Ideas

When it comes to hosting a birthday party for your child, what kind of things do you like to do? Are you the type of parent that does the same old thing every year by just having a sleep over party or do you get creative and look for alternative ideas?

I raised a daughter so I have hosted a lot of birthday parties and been to hundreds of kids birthday parties over the years. I have seen some common theme’d ones and some really over the top parties.

Here are some that I have attended over the years.

Bowling Alley
Circus
Spa Salon
Backyard Pool
Backyard Carnival with Games
Public or Private Park
Outdoor Wilderness – Camping
Backyard Camping
Roller Skating
Ice Skating
Game Night Slumber Party (board & card games)
Movie Slumber Party
Movie Theater Party
Horseback Riding
Miniature Golf
Game Arcades
Arts & Crafts Party
etc. etc. etc.

So my blog question today deals with kids Birthday Parties. What kind of parties have you hosted for your children?

Shelly

Letters To Your Child

Over on Cheryl’s blog, Mommy Quit Her Job she talks about her daughter’s second birthday. She was writing a letter to her daughter mentioning all the milestones she had accomplished that year, wrote about the funny things she said and did, the things she learned, who her friends were and etc. She would save these letters until her daughter was old enough and then she would give them to her.

Writing letters to your child is a beautiful idea and I wished I had thought of it myself.

What I do have is a baby book, but I haven’t kept up to date with it for a long time now, much like photo taking.

She did some pretty amazing things considering she was born one month early. I know my daughter first crawled at 6 months old, sat up by herself at 6.5 months, cruised at 8 months and walked at 11 months. She combined two words at 16 months and spoke her first complete sentence before 2. Her exact words were, “I heard a noise outside the door.”

I wrote down when her baby teeth came in and when they fell out; I remembered some of the funny things she had said, but I can’t quite remember how old when she said it. I’ve missed out on the good and bad things and I won’t be able to get it back.

What about you? Have you written letters to your child?

~Sophia

Summer Vacation – Ideas To Keep The Kids Busy!

In just a few short weeks, the children will be out of school for the summer vacations. Once that happens, many parents will be scrambling for ways to keep the children busy.

As a mother and grandmother myself, I am not fond of letting kids sit in front of a television all day long or allowing them to play video games for hours on end.

So, my blog post today is to give you some ideas that you can utilize to help keep the children busy this summer.

* Invest in some new board games that are appropriate for their age, including puzzles.
* Plan to have mini arts and crafts days a few times a week.
* Exchange babysitting services with another local mom for 2 afternoons a week. (play dates).
* Invest in some new reading books that are appropriate for the childs age.
* Invest in some outdoor games such as Bocce Ball, Volleyball, Badminton, Croquet, etc.
* Plan to take your children to the neighborhood park 1-2 times a week.
* Visit your local library 1-2 times a week.
* Plan afternoon trips to: the museum, the zoo, rollerskating and ice skating rinks, amusement parks, swimming parks, movie theater, etc.
* Volunteer this summer in your community. There are many organizations that will accept an entire family to do some volunteer work for them.

As you can see from this ’short’ list, there are many things you can do that don’t cost a fortune to keep your children busy this summer. If you ask me, these ideas are so much better for them than letting them sit all day long in front of the tv or video game console!

How do you plan on keeping your children busy this summer?

Shelly

Classic Children’s Books For Toddlers

We all know as parents how important it is to start reading to our children when they are small. As a new grandmother to an 11 month old grandbaby, I am building a book collection for her and was thinking about all of the classic books that I used to read to my daughter when she was a little girl.

Here are some of the classic books that I think every small child needs in their library book collection.

Clifford The Big Red Dog – Norman Bridwell
Dr. Seuss ABC – Dr. Seuss
Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown
Pat the Bunny – Dorothy Kunhardt
The Little Engine That Could – Watty Piper
The Poky Little Puppy – Janette Sebring Lowrey
The Owl and the Pussycat – Edward Lear
The Real Mother Goose – Blanche Fisher Wright
Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams

Do you have a small child? What are some of your children’s favorite books? Do you have any favorite books that you can remember from your own childhood?

Shelly

Does Parenting End When Our Children Turn 18?

When I was a young mother…I used to say to myself that I couldn’t wait until our daughter turned 18…then our (my) parenting job would be over and life would be easier.

However, I quickly learned that I was mistaken in my thinking. Once our children turn 18 years old, our parenting does not end…just the way we parent does.

When our children are young, we teach them right from wrong, advise them on their education, dating, clothing they should wear, music they should listen to and so forth.

Once our children turn 18…we still advise them on their education, career choices, dating and/or marriage, etc. Once they get a little older than that, we advise them on marriage, pregnancy, family (child rearing), careers and more.

Now that my daughter J is 25…I find that I am still “parenting” her even though she doesn’t live at home. What has changed is ‘how’ I parent her. I no longer control her decisions or the outcome of her decisions. My job now as a parent is to advise, support and encourage her to make the right decisions in her life. If she makes the wrong ones…it’s my job to support her (emotionally) and encourage her to correct her mistakes.

So if you are a parent of a young child…trust me, your parenting doesn’t end when your child turns 18.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Shelly

Kids Craft – Mini Felt Play Cookies Project

I love making play felt food items for my little grand daughter and you can easily make them too. With this particular project, older children can easily make them or you can make them for them. Please use adult supervision while making this craft project.

This mini felt cookie project is quick, easy and very inexpensive. Here is what you will need:

Dark Brown, Medium Brown, Tan & Vanilla Colored Craft Felt
Embroidery Floss to match felt colors
Blunt Tip Embroidery Needle
Scissors

For my pattern: On a piece of paper, I drew 2 1/2″ diameter circle and cut it out. This will serve as your cookie pattern.

From desired colored of felt, cut out 2 felt circles. From a different color of felt, cut out little circles that are about 1/4″ in diameter, these will serve as your chocolate chips.

Using 2 strands of embroidery floss in your sewing needle, use little hand stitches and attach the ‘chocolate chip’ circles to one side of one piece of cookie felt. Fasten Off.

Pick up your second piece of cookie felt and place it wrong sides together with your first circle. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, whip stitch the 2 circles together. Fasten floss off.

You have now made a little felt cookie.

You can glue magnets on the back side of them to make them into refrigerator magnets or the smaller children can use them in their kitchen playsets.

Have fun!

Shelly

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