The one thing that will be under our tree this year is Nike. The perfect gift for men, women, boys and girls is a new pair of tennis shoes or Nike sports clothing. The cold weather thermal tops are top notch when it comes to keeping warm on the field or when running in the colder weather. The Dri-fit technology works wonders keeping the bodies temperature regulated absorbing moisture and this is perfect when the weather is colder but activity breaks a sweat. The shoes have always been a great fit and a hard working shoe for any use. Nike has been a household name for many years and adorns the feet of youth athletes to professionals. There is no substitute for quality and endurance. Regardless, if you are shopping for the holidays or just getting ready for a winter, spring or summer sport, Nike is the way to go for the entire families needs.
Years ago Nike was a favorite of mine and I still remember the white tennis shoe with the red swoosh that I so excitedly wore to school to show off. Now, many years later I feel proud when my children show off their new Nike shoes with the same excitement. Being an avid walker I find that Nike never lets me down. Never a blister or feeling of tightness from the shoe nor a slip or slide in the heel, I always know I can get many miles out of a new pair. Purchasing cleats for my sons that play football, I can say that each year a new pair of Nike's will survive the entire season and could be used again and again, if they did not grow out of them. My daughter plays soccer and her cleats as well, take a beating and still finish the season looking almost as good as new. One product I must say has proven its quality is my sons back pack. It is on it's third year of heavy books and being tossed here and there and it still looks brand new. We have gone through more than one backpack a school year with other brands, but Nike never ceases to amaze me.
The colors and styles of Nike shoes is vast and it is almost hard to choose which ones to buy. The clothing is well made and pure quality. As a consumer of Nike, the product is well worth every dollar. This year our tree will have several Nike items wrapped delicately and placed beneath our Christmas tree, and I know that in the spring I will be prepping my tennis player and soccer star with more Nike products to get us through another season of sports. Once a true Nike lover always a true Nike lover and our affair started when I was a kid and not giving away my age, that was a long time ago. Purchase Nike this Christmas, as the saying goes "Just Do It" you will be happy you did!
Family Best: Life, Family, Farm, Fun, Food and Everything Else Under The North Georgia Mountains Sun!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Hunger in America
There is a report out by the United States Department of Agriculture that indicates there are 49 million Americans going hungry in our Nation. Seventeen million of them are children. These statistics are the highest recorded since the United States Department of Agriculture started taking the numbers in 1995. These statistics are shocking, knowing that there are Americans going days without food and children having to go to bed at night with hungry bellies not sure if there will be food tomorrow. The unemployment numbers continue to rise and more and more families are finding it harder to make ends meet. Food drives get a lot of media coverage during the Holiday season. In Atlanta, there are many different food drives and everyone that can should contribute food. Publix Super Markets, along with The Feed the Hungry Foundation and The Salvation Army. Customers are asked to donate food at any Metro Atlanta Publix store this holiday season, Nov. 2-Dec. 31.
Kroger and Comcast, B98.5 and CBS Atlanta work together with their CAN hunger food drive during the holiday season. If you are looking to volunteer your time there is volunteer match that helps match you to the right charity.
In the county that I live in the CARES program helps the hungry for Pickens County Georgia. The poverty level in our county in 2008 was 3,170 people and this is a very small area. The numbers are rising as people encounter job loss and pay decreases. Getting involved and helping out those that are in need is what America is about, neighbors helping neighbors.
Not only do families need food during the holidays, they need assistance all year long and if one person can help feed a hungry child, then we should all do what we can to help.
Kroger and Comcast, B98.5 and CBS Atlanta work together with their CAN hunger food drive during the holiday season. If you are looking to volunteer your time there is volunteer match that helps match you to the right charity.
In the county that I live in the CARES program helps the hungry for Pickens County Georgia. The poverty level in our county in 2008 was 3,170 people and this is a very small area. The numbers are rising as people encounter job loss and pay decreases. Getting involved and helping out those that are in need is what America is about, neighbors helping neighbors.
Not only do families need food during the holidays, they need assistance all year long and if one person can help feed a hungry child, then we should all do what we can to help.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thanksgiving
I've been adding new information on my website about Thanksgiving and of course it is an ongoing project. But, I do enjoy having a place to set up all my own. It is fun and I love adding new information, hopefully some day I will have some visitors to share it all with! It is nearing that time of year to start getting ready for the holidays, especially Christmas that sneaks up so quickly. There are some great ways to teach children about Christmas around the world and other ways people celebrate their holidays.
There are going to be some amazing discounts this year due to the recession and retailers struggling to stay out of the red. Everyone should take time to research their shopping lists and get the best deals. If you can stomach the crowds on Black Friday that is the day to hit the stores with your shopping list in hand. Make it fun go with someone you enjoy spending the day with, have breakfast out and create a new tradition.
Get organized this holiday season to alleviate stresses and have everything running smoothly. It works out so much better when we do not have to stress over every little detail because we feel like we are forgetting something!
I am truly in the holiday spirit this year, more so than the last few years and am ready for it all to get rolling!
There are going to be some amazing discounts this year due to the recession and retailers struggling to stay out of the red. Everyone should take time to research their shopping lists and get the best deals. If you can stomach the crowds on Black Friday that is the day to hit the stores with your shopping list in hand. Make it fun go with someone you enjoy spending the day with, have breakfast out and create a new tradition.
Get organized this holiday season to alleviate stresses and have everything running smoothly. It works out so much better when we do not have to stress over every little detail because we feel like we are forgetting something!
I am truly in the holiday spirit this year, more so than the last few years and am ready for it all to get rolling!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
A Great Halloween!
We threw together a Halloween party this weekend to celebrate the holiday and for my son's birthday party combination. It was a great success and the kids loved all the food and fun the night had to offer.
The table looked amazing and the food was fun to make. Of course all the recipes can be used for any party table but adding a few embellishments made them spooky for Halloween.
Cat Face Taco Dip
One container sour cream
One packet taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese
embellishments
Mix the taco seasoning into the sour cream well, spread in a shallow dish and top with shredded cheese.
Scary deviled eyeballs
One dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
1 cup mayonaise
salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces room temperature cream cheese tinted red
green olive slices
Mix the yellow egg yolks with the mayonaise and salt and pepper until creamy, using a fork will help press out any chunks and will give more yield. In a bowl put in the cream cheese and mix red coloring until the color is what you want. Place into a ziplock bag and snip a tiny corner off. Fill the empty egg halves with the yolk mixture and then pipe lines on and smear with a toothpick. Once they look like you want them to, add a green olive slice to the center to look like a bloodshot eye.
Spider Eggs
This is an easy recipe for any party!
Frozen home-style meatballs from the freezer section of the supermarket
One small jar grape jelly
One bottle Heinz chili sauce (on the ketchup isle)
Throw it all together in the crock pot, set it on low and let them cook and when ready serve. Either transferring them to a fondue pot with Sterno or putting the crock pot on the table and plugging it in.
Skull cheese ball
2 packages of room temperature cream cheese
1 packet ranch dressing powder
Mix together well and put into the refrigerator to cool again then shape as desired. If not making a skull, roll into a large ball and roll in bacon bits or chopped pecans for coating.
All in all the night was a success, everyone had a great night and the food was almost gone. You know it's a good party when there isn't much leftover!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Organizing a childs room
Having wonderful children to dote on and spend time with is amazing. We picture them all day while they are at school in the best light, but the door flies open at the end of the day and they all march in tossing their items here and there and making their messes and we have to wonder what happened to those angels we were fondly thinking of just a few short hours ago. The evening drives on and there are dinner dishes and of course papers and homework to get through. We, of course, shuttle them to activities and watch them with the proud mom smiles and adoring watchful eyes and all along we try to keep our sweet thoughts somewhere in our minds. Eye rolls, long loud sighs, head tilting in some child like language letting you know that you are obviously not on the same page with each other, puts a fog over the angelic daydreams we have when not in the same room together. Darkness comes and they all go to sleep at night. Walking in and checking on them before retiring and seeing their angelic sweet faces lost in dreams and slumber, we are then able to regain our sweet smile and disposition on how wonderful our little darlings truly are, of course, until morning. Washing, drying and folding their laundry and whisking into their room to stop short and see the wasteland of mess and clothes tossed all over the place. A child's room can look like a war zone or in some cases a junk yard or dump. We have to wonder how a child can walk into that room and not see what we see when we look around. How can they function with all the clutter and chaos and another question is where do they get all this junk from? Well, in short a child is like a junk magnet and their eyes only see what they want to see. Children have the ability to function in all sorts of messes and with blinders on can look around and think that this will do.
The first thing we can do to help our children is to teach them about organization. Everything has a place and make a habit of keeping that place for the same thing every time. Also, simplify their life. Kids don't need everything they think they need and taking some of the chaos away will make things easy to manage. Limit clothing for kids. They love new clothes and as they progress into preteen and teenage years they want even more. A rule of thumb for every new item that comes in an old item must come out. Keep a box in the laundry room to put the older items into and when it is full donate it. Teach them to hang up most of their clothing and use the dressers for small items like socks, underwear and pajamas. Designate a drawer in their dresser for gloves, hats and belts. This will keep them on top of small things they need often. If you have a boy that wears hats, put a rack up to hang them on and if it's a girl with purses, do the same with a rack and a lot of hooks to hold them up. Hooks and baskets are great organizers for kids because it does not take a lot of effort to get the items where they need to go. If a child has to put forth effort like opening a door or drawer they will just toss it anywhere. Shelves are great pieces of furniture for a child's room. This allows them to easily store and retrieve things they think they need. Although, we know they probably don't touch half of what they have year after year. Teach them to let go of things that have no meaning to them or that they do not use. A good rule of thumb is if you have not used it, thought of it or touched in in six months it can go. Keep their room basic and all the furniture up against the walls. This allows for plenty of floor space and keeps them from getting things behind the furniture. Put storage under the beds to prevent stuffing all their clothes and items under there. Closets can be easily arranged so that there is room for things on shelves and clothes hung up. A little investment in closet systems can save years of headaches. If a child gets their room so messy that its overwhelming for them to clean they will never get it finished. Help them to get organized and let them do the work. A child will be more able to manage if they do it themselves with some helpful assistance and encouragement. Most often just hanging out in the room with them and helping with trash and items that need to be removed makes them happy enough.
Taking time to keep children organized makes a happy home for mom. It is so much easier to get in and out of their rooms with things we need to put in there such as clean laundry or things we've picked up. Teaching kids to do their own laundry is ideal, but in most cases we end up having to do some of it no matter what we teach them. Once a child has their room clean and organized its easier for them to keep it up and maintain it. Not to say that they won't get lazy and things won't get messy again, but having to do a reset once a year is much better then constantly nagging them to clean up their rooms daily when to them their room seems fine.
Spending some time getting children set up and organized can help them as they grow older learning how to clean and maintain their mess. It truly can make them more productive and balanced in their lives.
The first thing we can do to help our children is to teach them about organization. Everything has a place and make a habit of keeping that place for the same thing every time. Also, simplify their life. Kids don't need everything they think they need and taking some of the chaos away will make things easy to manage. Limit clothing for kids. They love new clothes and as they progress into preteen and teenage years they want even more. A rule of thumb for every new item that comes in an old item must come out. Keep a box in the laundry room to put the older items into and when it is full donate it. Teach them to hang up most of their clothing and use the dressers for small items like socks, underwear and pajamas. Designate a drawer in their dresser for gloves, hats and belts. This will keep them on top of small things they need often. If you have a boy that wears hats, put a rack up to hang them on and if it's a girl with purses, do the same with a rack and a lot of hooks to hold them up. Hooks and baskets are great organizers for kids because it does not take a lot of effort to get the items where they need to go. If a child has to put forth effort like opening a door or drawer they will just toss it anywhere. Shelves are great pieces of furniture for a child's room. This allows them to easily store and retrieve things they think they need. Although, we know they probably don't touch half of what they have year after year. Teach them to let go of things that have no meaning to them or that they do not use. A good rule of thumb is if you have not used it, thought of it or touched in in six months it can go. Keep their room basic and all the furniture up against the walls. This allows for plenty of floor space and keeps them from getting things behind the furniture. Put storage under the beds to prevent stuffing all their clothes and items under there. Closets can be easily arranged so that there is room for things on shelves and clothes hung up. A little investment in closet systems can save years of headaches. If a child gets their room so messy that its overwhelming for them to clean they will never get it finished. Help them to get organized and let them do the work. A child will be more able to manage if they do it themselves with some helpful assistance and encouragement. Most often just hanging out in the room with them and helping with trash and items that need to be removed makes them happy enough.
Taking time to keep children organized makes a happy home for mom. It is so much easier to get in and out of their rooms with things we need to put in there such as clean laundry or things we've picked up. Teaching kids to do their own laundry is ideal, but in most cases we end up having to do some of it no matter what we teach them. Once a child has their room clean and organized its easier for them to keep it up and maintain it. Not to say that they won't get lazy and things won't get messy again, but having to do a reset once a year is much better then constantly nagging them to clean up their rooms daily when to them their room seems fine.
Spending some time getting children set up and organized can help them as they grow older learning how to clean and maintain their mess. It truly can make them more productive and balanced in their lives.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Halloween
We had our family pumpkin carving contest last weekend and we all did fantastic this year, even Keegan's pumpkin was amazing and this is her second year to do her pumpkin completely by herself.
We all had a great time and we actually made eighteen cups of pumpkin from all of our pumpkin scrapings and that will get us through the winter. Saving the pumpkin meat and cooking it down, makes great pumpkin to have on hand for breads, pies, muffins and cakes. I just cook it down, pulse it in the food processor and then put it in one cup increments into freezer bags. We use our pumpkin for our Thanksgiving pies and other yummy things all winter long. We did our seeds as well toasting them in the oven with a little canola oil and garlic salt. They turned out amazing.
It was exciting to put the pumpkins out and wait for dark to come to light them and see how well we did with our carving. This is such an exciting time of year for the family. It begins our holiday season where we spend a great deal of time together eating, laughing and playing. We enjoy our family time and sharing our days and evenings together cooking, doing puzzles and playing games.
Having a close family bond is a great way for children to grow up and learn how to interact with others. I didn't really have that as a child and I've always worked hard at giving it to my children. I think it gives them substance in their other relationships. Watching them grow up and form friendships and have relationships is very heart warming, but sad as well knowing someday they will all be out of the nest. Enjoying holidays and sharing family time is so important because it goes by so quickly.
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