Do you know what’s in your medicine cabinet? When was the last time you checked the expiration dates on any medications that you have? I can’t say that I ever thought about it before, but I took the time recently to to do just that and I was surprised to find that so many of my over the counter medications were expired. I don’t mean recently expired, I’m talking being expired for some time.
Aside from any prescription medications you may be taking it is a good idea to have some of the following items on hand.
Aspirin, for use as a …read more

It’s that time of year when some of us have family and close friends visit for the holidays. Most of my family lives within an hours drive, but we do have a few relatives who live out of state and spend the night when they do visit.
Don’t be stressed out at the thought of hosting family or friends overnight. I have a few tips to help you make your guests feel right at home.
Make sure to air out your guestroom a few days before. When I say air out I mean just that. Open the windows slightly to let the …read more

There never seems to be enough time in a day for me and I’m sure it is the same for you. I came to the conclusion recently that I needed to set up a time schedule for myself and it really helps. We all need to make the most of our available time in a way that is constructive.
Here are a few tips to help you spend your time wisely.
Create a schedule and stick to it. It will be hard to do at first, but will become easier; make it a habit.
Prioritize chores and activities daily. Do the …read more

I know this is hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is only six weeks away!  Eeek!  How did that happen?  Instead of pushing it out of our minds, it’s better to embrace it and make preparations for a less stressful and happier time.  Planning is key to things running smoothly.
I remember the year we purchased our first home.  I decided that I should host Christmas dinner.  We had my parents and my husband’s parents over.  I didn’t realize all the work that would go into hosting the meal, opening presents, and family time. 
I learned a lot that day and now I …read more

Our house, is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard. Life used to be so hard.  Ok, well maybe the cats aren’t in the yard. They’re inside cats. And life has been very hard lately, but I’m hoping that it’s getting better.
Just a few weeks ago, we moved into our new house. We’re getting settled in and it’s starting to feel like home.  What’s a home without some animals?  Less messy, I guess.

A few months ago, my cat Paisley disappeared.  We had her for over two years, since she was a kitten.  We were upset …read more

Having a fire pit at your home or at a campground is a great way to relax and enjoy the great outdoors once the sun sets and it can be a great social activity for the entire family. But because this is such a popular family activity parents must take extra care when their children are around fire pits. And of course once they are old enough to understand, there are several important points you need to make about fire pit safety.

 
Make sure your children understand basic fire safety.
Before teaching your children about fire pit safety you need to first …read more

I grew up in a military town.  My mom’s dad and my dad’s dad had faithfully served their countries and my mom and dad met and stayed in that military town.  My grandpa retired there. 

Growing up a military town is different.  People come and go from your lives and you may never hear from them again.  You can go to church each week and see the children and wives that are left behind while the husbands are off on deployment or war.  You pray for them while they’re gone and celebrate upon their return.  You see the businesses that struggle …read more

As I mentioned last week, my grandmother was in ICU and wasn’t expected to live.  She passed away Friday evening on May 15.  Yesterday we had the funeral service and today the burial. 
Usually when there is a funeral, there are many people to feed.  Throughout the past few days, we have had about 20 family members here at my parent’s house.  As you can imagine, feeding this many people can be extremely time consuming and expensive.  Thank goodness for caring neighbors and church family.

Throughout this week, neighbors and church members have brought over so much food to us.  Each lunch and …read more

The kids were off from school this week for Easter break, so we went out of town to visit my parents.  It’s been a busy week.  Sorry for the sporadic posts.  It’s hard to keep a schedule when you’re visiting.
We just got back home last night and look at what awaits my attention. 

Eeek!  That’s quite a bit of stuff, huh?  Yes, somewhere under that pile is our luggage.  We have luggage, snacks and other food, stuff to plant in the garden, friendship bread starters (more on that later), toys, birthday presents for J, Easter presents for the kids, and lots …read more

As a parent, I am concerned about the movies my children watch.  I don’t have the time to screen each movie before they watch it, but I want to make sure what they’re watching is clean.  I don’t want to be surprised by inappropriate language or sexual content. 
Thanks to free resources such as Plugged -In Online and Kids-in-Mind, you can quickly check out a movie’s sexual content, violence, language, drug use, and more.  Just this week a relative came over and wanted to know if my kids could watch Marley & Me.  I said, “No way!”  I pulled up Plugged In Online …read more