Teens and the Perfect Valentine's Day Idea

Now that the stores have ripped down the plastic snowflakes, retired the waving Santa robot to the warehouse, and replaced those ever so charming ‘sliver bells’ with gigantic half naked babies, you start to get the feeling Valentine’s day is nearing at a rapid pace.

It’s the day teens cower at the thought of handing over a rose or a box of chocolates to their ‘crush’, the day that separates the mice from the men and the girls from the women. Gear up, because every year millions of Americans are just waiting for you to give them a Valentine’s Day gift they can sink their teeth into.

If you’re anything like me that supply of Christmas candy Ol’ Saint Nick dropped into your stocking is long gone, and by this wonderful turn of events we discover a holiday to replenish out stocks of sugar. Whether you are a chocolate hog or a fruity maniac nearly everyone can be delighted with ample helpings of candy!

If you’re not one of those people who enjoy eating half their body weight in sugar, there is hope for you too. Gift baskets! If you have ever had the pleasure of receiving one of these bad-boys you are truly blessed, someone obviously likes you because every new discovery you make while opening these fantastic gifts is like a bit Christmas, or if you’re a bit of a scrooge it is like an entire birthday party in a basket. Love can’t be measure in physical gifts right? It’s the thought that counts… “Those 6 month old dollar store sweet tarts had a lot of thought behind them!”

Yeah… right…

Whether or not you are seething at my opinions, laughing at me, or cursing Aunt Alexis for those sweet tarts, the truth is this, love should be behind every gift you give, Valentines of not. Before you drive off to the mall, credit card in hand, think about who you are giving the gift to. If you have a friend who can’t stand those sweet tarts don’t get them! Expired of not! The thing is, the thought does count, and if you are still reluctant to put aside your favorite sweet and get what Earl’s tummy rumbles for, you don’t deserve the sugar coated happiness that comes on this day!

In the end no amount of candy, Valentine’s Day gifts, of baskets full of happiness can amount to what this day is really about, love for your family, friends, neighbors, and maybe even your special someone.

A Valentine's Day Poem

It's is that time of the year again.  Christmas is over and it is a new year and so now it is time for love to be in the air.  Every year I want to do something special for my husband.  Of course there are always the old stand buys.  You know, the top five Valentines gift Ideas.  The first has to be candy.  Chocolate to be exact.  What man does not love that?  The cute little heart shaped boxes fill with enough sugar to please anyone's sweet tooth.  Second on my list would be Valentines underwear.  You see them in the store and you have to wonder how many men are walking around with little hearts all over their bottoms.  Third place has to go to a romantic movie date and if you can afford it the biggest bag of popcorn.  The romantic movie is really for you, but by adding the popcorn it makes it seem like it is all about him.  The fourth best Valentines gift would have to some kind of sports tickets.  And last but not least coming in at fifth would be a beautiful candle light dinner.  What man would not love that?  Well, don't forget to drop the kiddos off at grandmas or the romantic evening might not be the best idea.

Now all those ideas are great.  I mean after all they are my top five favorites.  But I use one of them every year, so this year I want to do something different.  You see, we are a little tight this year and so I am thinking it is time for something creative.  I have to admit that I am not all that poetic, but maybe writing a poem to express how I feel would be inexpensive and something we could share over the years to come.

So here is my first poetry try.  Maybe you can do a better job, but what is important is that it is something from the heart.  I mean after all isn't that what it is all about.  Happy Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day reminds me
Of the feelings I have
Every time I think of you,
The warms feeling I have
At the sound of your voice
Valentine's Day reminds me
Of the love and comfort I get
From knowing
You are in my life.
Everything wonderful about Valentine's Day
Reminds me of you.
Happy Valentine's Day!

We Love To Give Gift Baskets Just For Fun!

I love to give gifts baskets.  There is no better feeling for me than giving someone a little something to make life a little brighter. I don’t mean giving a gift basket when you are expected to, at holiday times or birthday celebration. I mean just because.  No matter where we are in life the trials get harder and even everyday life can be difficult to manage.  So what better way to make life better for someone else than giving them a surprise just because gift basket.

I like most people am on a tight budget, but every time run to Wal-Mart or Target I make sure I hit the clearance isles. I look for those little fun things that could make a family or friends day better with a surprise gift basket made with love.

It doesn’t take much.  Candy is always fun gift basket filler, stationary, a little plant, new pencils and pens can all make a gift basket recipient feel loved and cared for.  I collect items for several months. Sometimes I really score and find a cool item or two at the dollar store. Alone it may seem just okay but put it together with a theme gift basket and WA LAH you have a wonderful creation.  Then I wait.   I watch for when I hear a friend having a hard day. 

I always keep a few baskets on hand. I can find them at garage sales and often they are like new and I always peruse the craft store as well.  I put together the basket and write a little note that lets them know I appreciate them. 

I love to send my daughter to the door, she rings the bell and we drive off quickly before anyone notices us.  Our record is 13 seconds!  Try and beat that.  I will never know what the reaction is of the people we gave the gift basket was.  But I do know one thing, the joy I had in making that basket makes me feel like I am the blessed one.  It also helps me forget my own problems and somehow puts life into perspective.

So the next time you get a chance, pause and think of how to bless someone else.  A gift basket is only one myriad of ways to make someone else’s day, and life that much better.

Gluten Free and How it Affected my Family

Growing up my sister and I always wanted kids.  We would get the winter Sears catalogue and pick out our husbands and kids.  It was so much fun dreaming as little girls about our future lives.  Time passed and we grew up. Now as adults there are moments we both would relish being little girls again.

We both still love kids.  I have 7 and she has 5.  She and her husband adopted their last child.  He is precious to all of us and maybe even loved in a more deep way because he came to our family in a unique manner. When she had him she received a baby gift basket from me. From the time he was little he had trouble digesting milk.  He was slow to grow.  Having had 4 other children my sister took this as normal.  But as he grew and had other behavior issues and digesting issues she knew something was wrong.  She tried giving him protein, taking him off of sugar; she tried everything that came to her own mind.  It wasn’t until she saw a specialist who diagnosed my sweet nephew with food allergies.  She told my sister their son was allergic to gluten.  Laura was relieved and bewildered at once.  Gluten-wasn’t it found in most everything?  How could her son eat anything?  How would they go to dinner or through the drive through after football practice and the gazillion other activities their family often has going on? 

They belong to a strong church family.  And word soon passed about their son’s food allergies.  It was only a day later that a huge gluten free gift basket arrived at her door.  It was like a breath of encouragement when she searched through the beautiful basket.  It was the beginning of a long journey to understanding what her sons needs were.  The best part is the behavioral change she saw in him.  Not only did he feel better but his skin was clearer and his teachers commented on his behavior.  I must say it is still an unknown daunting issue for me.  It is a whole new way to live and eat.  I am learning and listening to her and now another dear friend who is also gluten free.  Even our kids point out items in the store now that say “gluten free”.  I hope that one day I know enough to contribute to his health and give them my own gluten free gift baskets of love.

How To Deal With School Anxiety

I’ll never forget that first day of school.  My family had ripped me away from all my friends and a life that I cherished.  Not only would I not know anyone, but I hadn’t even had time to check out the town or walk through my new neighborhood.  This was not going to be fun.

I sat there in the third row waiting for the inevitable.  It wasn’t like I hadn’t done this before.  Every few years my dad would get a new job and away we would go.  The sweat was already beading up on my brow.  More kids were piling in and soon the teacher would make his appearance.  There he was.  A big man.  This would make it even more unpleasant. Now he was using a ruler to get the attention of the class.  Tap, tap, tap.  It echoed through my head as I sat dreading the call of attendance.  Why did they always have to do this?  Why didn’t my parents help me out with this?  Here it came.  It never took very long since my last name was at the beginning of the alphabet.  “Alexander Anderson?” Whew, that kid didn’t have the greatest name either.  But, still, it was nothing like mine.  Here it came.  “Burrrrnnaarrdd?”  The sound seemed to echo off the walls as the kids began to burst into laughter.  I slumped in my seat.  How small could I possibly get?  I could hear my voice begin to squeak.  “Its pronounce BurrNerd,” I croaked.  This elicited another round of laughter and cat calls.  “It was my uncle’s name.  No one can say Bernard correctly, so you can call me Eric.”  It didn’t help.  The teacher was somehow taken aback as if the laughter was directed towards him.  He wrapped the ruler again to regain attention.  I could see him cross out my name and apparently make a note of my “new” name.  I wondered what shade of red was on my face as I could feel the heat reflecting off my hands. 

You can imagine the difficulty of finding a place to eat lunch after a morning like that.  I decided I would try something new.  I couldn’t be the only one that was new at this school.  OK, I’m taller than most people here so I can get a good look around the cafeteria.  There was a kid by himself at a table near the play ground door.  He looked like he’d lost his best friend.  I bet his parents had made him move too.  I went over and sat down next to him.  “Hi.  My names’ Eric.”  I held my head high, put on the biggest smile I could and made believe I was the most popular kid in school.  As his head slowly lifted, I could see some color and a cautious smile crawl into his face.  Victory, I thought to myself.  I would never again think of myself as the lone kid.  Instead, I now had the power to conquer the fear and loneliness in others just by being nice to them. 

For More Information visit Planet Gift Baskets Resource Center

Massive Egg Recall - August 2010

Dan Shapley Dan Shapley – Thu Aug 19, 7:14 pm ET

(Photo: FDA)

A massive egg recall by Write County Egg has sickened hundreds of people, and affected 13 retail brands that the egg factory packages. The culprit: Salmonella on egg shells. The egg brands affected by the recall include: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms, and Kemps.
Eggs are packed in 6- 12- or 18-egg cartons with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, and 1946.
Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.
Consumers should not eat the eggs and should return recalled eggs to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.
Bacterial contamination on modern industrial-scale chicken farms (factories, really) is a growing problem. Cramped conditions are breeding grounds for disease. Widespread use of antibiotics is creating drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
One antidote to the problem is to choose locally sourced eggs from farms that allow their chickens to run free. Though be aware that the label "free range" doesn't mean what you might think.
Salmonella poisoning symptoms
Within 6-to-72 hours of eating an egg, you may experience lower abdominal cramps, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, fever, chills, malaise, nausea or headache. Symptoms may persist for as long as a week. While most people recover without treatment, some patients require hospitalization.
Among the 21,244 cases of foodborne illness reported from tainted food-related outbreaks in the United States in 2007 (the last year for which data is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), salmonella was the No. 2 cause of illness, causing 27% of foodborne illness outbreaks, including 55% of multi-state outbreaks, and 81 illnesses attributed to salmonella in eggs; five deaths resulted from salmonella-contaminated food. The two biggest foodborne illness outbreaks that year were caused by salmonella, in hummus and frozen pot pies.

Back to School Sales - Make the Most of Them

At our house we love back to school sales. It's the time where we get to feel like we are getting a great deal. The wonderful think about these sales, is not only will I fill the coffers for my own children's school year, but many times these supplies make great gifts for young children too. Here are my top ten items to stock up on.

1. Crayons, all sorts. Brand does not matter, anything $.25 cents and under is a major stock up price
2. Markers and Pencils. $.50 cents and under and we run to stock up.
3. Scissors, if your house is like mine, it likes to eat scissors and at .25 cents a pop it is worth getting 10
4. Spiral notebooks, any other time of year and they are well over $1.00 each. At $.15 a pop get 20
5. Construction paper - I don't think I even need to explain why this is a good buy.
6. Glue - Oh how much glue a preschooler can use. Add in any crafty prone children and it's a great buy.
7. Rulers - Cheap to purchase they make great straight lines when drawing.
8. Tape - So many uses, and children love to use tape on everything
9. Staplers, Removers and Hole punches, Oh my! It never hurts to have a few and some backups
10. Notebooks, if you don't buy a couple now, you will wish you did two months in when theirs is already destroyed.

Now how do these make great gifts? I love to buy the pencil boxes when they are under $.25 and fill them with markers, pencils, glue, tape and scissors. Attach to a big bag of construction paper and you have a simple and enjoyable gift for almost any young child. If your really awesome, you will stick in a bag of M&M's and some fancy little stickers. Your gift will be the hit of the party.

Outdoor Heat Beating Fun Ideas

To beat the summer heat we here at Growing Your Family, sat down with our families and came up with a list of fun things to do that help you cool off. Hope you enjoy! Leave a comment with your favorite ways to cool off.

• water balloon toss
• water bucket relay
• sprinkler dash - make an obstacle course in the back yard, while the sprinklers are running
• spray bottle cup fill (have one child with a spray bottle and one with a cup. First group to fill their cup wins.
• wash the car, or the neighbors, or the neighbors kids.
• water gun wars
• make Popsicles
• frozen t-shirt relays  - you may have to plan ahead, but freeze one t-shirt for every child, and a few for adults. First one to unstick the frozen folded t-shirt and puts it on wins.

We hope you enjoy this hot hot day and take a few minutes to cool off with these fun ideas.

A 10 Minute Break for Mom

Face it, mom's need a break once in a while. While you may not get a whole hour nap in the afternoon, or even find a minute to use the rest room with the door closed, ALL THE WAY, you can carve out little 10 minute pampering sessions that can extend the wear and tear on your mental state. Here are just a few simple remedies to capture a few minutes of needed revival.

1. Peppermint Foot Soak - Have some fresh peppermint in the garden? Even several peppermint tea bags will work. Boil them for 10 minutes in 8 cups of water. Carry it outside and add another 8 cups of cool water. While the kids are playing, soak your feet in some cooling peppermint water

2. Put on your favorite music and dance with the kids around the living room for a few minutes. Happy music and laughter will serve your soul well.

3. Treat yourself to an outdoor hair washing. Yes, it's simple, and yes, it's very refreshing. A cool hose, on a hot day over just your hair and head will feel wonderful and invigorate your senses.

Potty Training - How does it work?

Summer time was always my choice for potty training. Since it's summer time I thought I would share my story and how we made it work.
I have potty trained twins, a boy, girls a single baby and a dog. Okay, the dog is a little different but I did train him! For the twins we chose summer time because they could run around in the back yard without a diaper until I could see them pee. Funny thing is, they were just as amazed that they were peeing as I tried to be. One of the first things you need to know as a potty trainee, is what it feels like when you need to go. You can't learn that if you don't know your going. This is why summer time was our choice training time.
The second thing we started was potty charts with rewards. At first each child got a reward for sitting on the potty. Usually a sticker to go on a chart. After three stickers they were rewarded with a fruit snack. Not too many, as they will sit on the potty a lot to earn rewards. After a couple of days of sitting and getting rewards, we worked on peeing to get rewards. Even a dribble got praised and rewarded. It takes awhile, but making it fun to learn, giving rewards and lavishing a lot of praise will make it easier.