Is anyone even thinking about the holidays in 100 degree weather? You should! End of summer is the perfect time to plan, get great deals and great selection for holiday gifts for your family! Shopping for holiday gifts for your family doesn’t have to be a strain on your budget, time or sanity. You can find unique and thoughtful gifts for every member of your family on your Christmas list that will astound them on Christmas morning – and it you don’t have to spend hours trekking through store after store, braving the winter winds and parking lot chaos. You can find great Holiday and Christmas gifts for your whole family with ease and comfort by following these 5 tried and true family gift-giving tips: Read the rest »

There are BIG kids and there are LITTLE kids. But boys never really stop being kids, do they? Even when boys become Dads, something temporarily dormant is set loose and Dad is once again free to be a kid himself. Here are 5 irrefutable comparisons between Dad and his kids that can leave no doubt that Dad is the biggest kid of all: Read the rest »

We have all heard the terrifying statistics on the American weight problem and the increase in childhood obesity. One of the most important gifts you can give your children is a lifelong love of being active. If we start now, show them exercise can be fun, being active will be a natural part of their life as they grow into adulthood. Read the rest »

Everyone has heard that women are from Venus and men are from Mars, but did you ever think that these ingrained differences in the sexes are instilled long before we start dating? I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with each of my two children (my son, Jarod, age 8 and my daughter, Brooke, age 6) at their elementary school two days in a row. Please allow me to share with you the vast differences in these mind boggling encounters and you might reach the same conclusion that I have – little boys and little girls are VERY different, right from the beginning.

Entering the Classroom:
As I entered my daughters first grade classroom, I was greeted with a headlong rush into my arms followed by a soupy kiss. Almost in synchronized harmony, a cacophony of little girl voices called out “Hello, Brooke’s Mom!” I was then nearly trampled by Brooke’s chattering friends as they all clamored with inquiries to sit with Brooke at the honored table of “Parent Visitors”. I was flush with the feeling of celebrity. Read the rest »

At this time of year you are probably busy shopping and planning your gift-giving for your family, searching stores and online shops for the perfect, unique gifts to express to your family how much they mean to you. Our families know that we love them – not by the amount or largesse of the gifts we purchase for them – but by the little things we say and do for them all year long. If you are overwhelmed with holiday shopping or looking for a way to get your feelings noticed on a limited budget this holiday season, here are 5 no-cost ways to show your family you love them:

• Do something unexpected to make a family members life just a tiny bit easier – The other day my husband, without my asking, went out in the evening and filled my car up with gas so I wouldn’t be rushed in the morning. He’s a keeper! Read the rest »

When my oldest child went to kindergarten, I fretted for weeks about whether or not he should take the school bus. I think what terrified me the most was that he would be out of my control. I later learned the school bus is the safest way to get your child to school – here’s why:

The Stats
Statistics show that the safest way to transport a child to school is in a school bus. Fatal crashes involving occupants are extremely rare events, even though school buses serve daily in every community - a remarkable 8.8 billion student trips annually. Every school day, some 440,000 yellow school buses transport more than 24 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. Said another way to give perspective to the huge magnitude of pupil transportation, the equivalent of the populations of Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon ride on a school bus twice every day - almost always without a serious incident. Read the rest »

My son starts third grade today. It is thrilling and exciting, yet doesn’t contain the heart-wrenching emotional trauma for me that say, kindergarten held. However, it triggers me thinking about my performance as a Mom as I tend to evaluate every so often. Of course I am my own harshest critic, most Moms are. Did I pack a healthy lunch for him? Is he prepared for the challenges of a new grade? Could I have done more?

The entire day is whittled away obsessing over these questions. As a Mom, I want the best for my family…doesn’t every Mom? When my son gets home and empties his crisp Pirate backpack, a lone paper flutters to the floor. When I bend to retrieve it, I note the title in my son’s loopy handwriting: “Three Things that Make me Happy”. Read the rest »