Doggy Do’s

Posted on May 18, 2012 by avatar

It has been about three months since I adopted two beautiful dogs. One was an Alaskan Malamute and the other was a Siberian Husky. You might have already read about this in my earlier post called, “Kegels, The Forgotten but very Important Exercise”, which I posted on March 23rd.  In this post, I shared how running with one of these dogs had gotten the better of me.  Well, now after having these beautiful creatures for three months, I have to admit that they totally got the best of me.  I was not prepared for how much work, care and money goes into having one pet, let alone two.  Sadly, I was not able to keep up with the needs of these awesome dogs that my kids and I loved, so I had to give them back to my neighbor that I got them from.  He had told us from the get go that if it didn’t work out, he would be happy to take them back.  Thank goodness for special people like him!

 

I am really grateful for the opportunity to care for these two dogs. There were some great things that came out of it.  One of these is that my children, who a few months ago were scared half to death of dogs, now love them and are comfortable being around them.  Another thing is that a new part in my heart opened up.  There is something about taking care of a pet that I think opens a part of the heart that otherwise wouldn’t get opened which gives a greater capacity to love all of God’s creatures.  I realized that it can be very rewarding to have a pet, but you have to be prepared for all that is involved with taking care of them.  It requires a ton of time and money.

 

Here is a list of necessities that I wish I would have thought about before I decided to adopt my dogs:

  • Dog House
  • Large Kennel or dog run (prepared so they can’t chew or dig themselves out of it)
  • Small kennel to travel with and sleep in at night
  • Dog dishes (one for food and one for water)
  • Food / Treats
  • Pitcher or jug for carrying water to dish and measuring cup for food
  • Leashes (I found that I needed a 5 ft. and a 25 ft.)
  • A stake and a 25ft. cord so they have some room to run (opt.) (can be the same as the one from above but must be wire so they can’t bite through it.
  • Zip line and solid structures to hook it to (opt.)
  • A collar
  • Training collars or training systems (any where from $10.00-$100.00)
  • Barking Collars (my dogs howled at the full moon and bothered the neighbors)
  • Waste bags (For picking up after dog while walking or at the park.)
  • Heart worm medication
  • Tic and flea products
  • Grooming products or money to pay to have them groomed
  • Dog toys
  • Shovel, garbage can and garbage bags (for cleaning up waste)
  • Health check-ups every 1-3 yrs.
  • Medical care and antibiotics as needed

 

The items on that list are things you will need that require money.  You will also need an investment in your time.  Dogs also require these things:

 

  • Daily walks or running (depending on type of dog)
  • Standing water at all times
  • Lots of interaction
  • Daily Kennel clean up

Barking throughout the night was one big problem I had with my dogs.  They barked so much that we couldn’t sleep and neither could my neighbors.  We started getting complaints.  My wonderful neighbor who owns 25 huskys and Malamutes suggested sleeping them in small kennels at night.  They really seemed to love this.  I think it made them feel safe and the barking stopped.  They can stay in these kennels for 8-12 hrs.

My neighbor also told me how he prepared his large dog kennel so that his dogs would not be able to get out. (my dogs got out many times. They were becoming a nuisance to my neighbors.)  Here is his suggestion:

  • Fence a large area
  • Dig a trench next to the fence on the inside of kennel
  • Run chicken wire from the fence into the trench around the whole perimeter of the kennel
  • put large logs or railroad ties in the trench on top of the chicken wire
  • Fill trench with gravel or dirt

Zip lines are also a great option for dogs.  They can be purchased on-line or at certain stores in their pet section.  They have to be attached to some kind of sturdy structure like a tree, swingset, or pole.  This allows the dog to get a lot of exercise by running back and forth all day.

I hope that this post will be useful to you if your are considering getting a dog for a pet.  If you are well prepared, having a dog can be a very fun and rewarding experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Small Things Blog

Posted on May 16, 2012 by avatar

My sister recently told me about a very cool blog that I think all of you Wonderful Wonder Women out there will absolutely love.  This blog, written by another amazing Wonder Woman, has tons of interesting and helpful things for women including hair tutorial videos, fashion ideas, make-up tips and crafts.  Since I am helplessly hair challenged, my favorite part of this totally awesome blog is the hair tutorials.  I learned many things the very first time I visited her blog and will continue to go back time and time again. Just maybe, with the help of her simple to follow videos, I can take my hair from flat and lifeless to hair that is stylish, fun and sexy!  Check it out at: http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/

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Identifying Your Passion

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Julianne

We talk a lot on this blog about following your passion or pursuing your passion, but the obvious question is, how do you identify your passion? It’s easy to say ‘Go for it! Follow your passion!’, but it isn’t always easy to know which passion to follow. So I’ve come up with a sort of criteria that helped me identify my passion.

First, are you enthusiastic? Wayne Dyer calls enthusiasm ‘God speaking to you.’ Is he right? I don’t know, but enthusiasm is a great start. Your passion should make you happy!  That’s the first criteria. It needs to be something you enjoy. If it’s not, it’s probably not it.

Okay, so you enjoy a lot of things. So do I. I like to scrapbook. I like to spend time outside in the sun. I like to sew. I like these things. But what do I love? What do you love? That’s the next thing. Focus on what you love. I love to read. I love to write. I love to play the piano. I love to take pictures, particularly birth photos. Are these my passions? Maybe. That leads us to my next step…

What do you crave. That may sound strange, but your passion will create an intense desire in you to fulfill that passion. Craving is probably the wrong word but it’s the best I can think of at this point. When you are passionate about something, you love doing it so much that you may even start feeling deprived if you don’t get to. That’s how I feel when I can’t write or play the piano. I feel deprived. But when I finally get to do it my chest feels like it expands and I can’t stop the happy grin from spreading across my face. Your passion will create feelings of joy. It will bring you happiness. You’ll want to do it whether or not you’re getting paid. Passion kind of feels like your chest swells with powerful positive emotions, to the point where you can’t always contain the emotions and they spread to the rest of your body, i.e. your face and hands. Face starts grinning and your hands get all animated and you just can’t wait to do whatever it is you love. That’s how I would describe the feelings of passion when I experience them.

So on to our next step. We all get those feelings of passion. They come for me anytime I try something new. Of course, they’re more powerful for some things than others, but those feelings come a lot. So the next guide is the test of time. Some passions fizzle out. Some passions die off. Some passions are passions until you try it and realize that they’re not. But your real passion will stand the test of time and all that entails. It will be something you want to do even after years have passed. It will be something you want to do even when it is a drudgery, when some days it sucks. You just won’t be able to quit. That’s the last step I used to define my passion. I have a passion for writing. I love writing. I love everything about it. I love words. I love the way they form sentences, and the way the sentences form paragraphs. I love the way words flow. I love the rhythm of the words. I love the stories they create (Oh, that’s the other thing, you may or may not love every single thing about your passion, and people may think you’re a little crazy. But if you’re happy, who cares!). So I just love words. When I started writing there were times I wanted to quit and times I figured I was finished, but every time that happened I would always go back to it because I would get that craving again. That’s how I really knew that I had found my passion. I simply could not let it go. Nope. I loved it too much. So in a nutshell, here’s the criteria…

  • Listen to your enthusiasm. It’s telling you something.
  • Focus on what you love.
  • Look for the craving, the drive to do it regardless of what anybody says, regardless of the barriers that pop up, and regardless of whether or not you are making money with it.
  • Put it to the test of time. Follow those positive emotions, that drive, until you don’t want to anymore. If it’s a true passion it’ll bring joy to your life. It’ll help you feel fulfilled. It will make your life better and it’ll help you make other people’s lives better. True passion brings good things to a lot of people.
  • If you stop feeling the drive, let it go. If it’s still a passion it’ll come back. If not, you’ve done what you need to with that and you can move on to something else.

I think it’s important to specify that passions can and often do change as we age, as our thoughts change, and as our lives evolve. Some passions intensify, others fade, and others slip away after they are fulfilled. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just your life changing to make you a better you. The above is my criteria for finding your passion. I’m sure there are tons of great suggestions floating around out there and I would love to hear them. Feel free to share a comment with me. Maybe together we can inspire somebody to discover their own passion!

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Tennis Balls, A Must Have For The Laundry Room

Posted on May 12, 2012 by avatar

I have recently discovered the beauties of having tennis balls to help with the laundry.  Some of you may have already figured this out, but I had never used them before.  I own a Cleaning business and was surprised when one of the ladies I clean for asked me to wash her dry-clean only down comforter.   I questioned her about it because I didn’t want to be responsible for damaging such an expensive item.  She said it would be fine if I would throw 3 tennis balls in the dryer with the down comforter.  She was right.  The comforter came out fluffy and perfect!

I recently tried this on my own down comforter and was very happy with the results.  It was fluffier than it had been for a long time, and it saved me a lot of money in dry cleaning. I started throwing my tennis balls in the dryer when I needed to dry a small batch.  Small batches don’t usually dry well. They usually just tie up in knots because they don’t move properly in the dryer.  The tennis balls kept everything moving and the batch came out as good as any other batch.

With these successes under my belt, I decided to wash my dry clean only down filled coat.  I was nervous when I put it in the washer and was worried that I would be buying myself a new coat for next winter.  It came out of the washer looking a little scary.  I was a little nervous.  I threw it in the dryer with my tennis balls. The end result was amazing! It came out of the dryer in as good a condition as it was when I bought it. It almost looked like a new coat.  More money saved on dry cleaning.  Yea Me!

I would be careful when trying this out with your dry cleaning only items. It would be smart to start with the things that are easily replaced before  moving on to more expensive items, but I think you will be pleased with the results!  Tennis balls will forever be in my cabinet next to the laundry soap and stain remover because they are too good of a tool to be without!

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Blondies

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Julianne

When the beginning of the year hit I decided to go on a full blown health kick… so I did. I cut sugar and white flours out of my diet, increased my fruits and veggies a ton, and seriously watched every little thing that entered my mouth. Nothing got past my carefully guarded lips that wasn’t ridiculously full of nutrition. I was able to stick with this for quite a while, upwards of three months more or less, and then something terrible happened….

I fell off the wagon and it ran right over the top of me.

Dang.

Oh well! My diet is still better off than it was three months ago. But since I seriously killed my health kick, I’ve been having some more goodies and I’ll tell you what, they are yummy! Darn things…. oh so tempting. So now I’m posting a recipe for a delicious goody to tempt all of you.They’re kind of like a chocolate chip cookie brownie or something. Yummy yummy!

Blondies

3/4 C. butter

1 and 3/4 C. brown sugar

1 t. vanila

3 eggs

2 and 1/4  C. flour

2 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 C chocolate chips

nuts optional

Combine the wet and dry ingredients separately and then mix all ingredients together with a wooden spoon in one bowl until everything is mixed well. Put in a cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes. The outside edge of the goody will be a golden brown when the blondies are done.

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Love Vitamins

Posted on May 4, 2012 by avatar

Do you ever have times in your life when you  feel sad, discontent, or depressed and you just don’t know why? I have been feeling like that a lot lately.   Oh the guilt! “What is wrong with me?” I asked myself. “I must be selfish and spoiled, or maybe I am just plain old ungrateful!  After all, there is no real reason why I shouldn’t be happy. I have a great life! I have an awesome husband who treats me like a queen, lots of amazing, beautiful children, a nice home, and all of the comforts of life.  Why then, do I want to get my fastest jogging shoes on and run far, far away!”

The other day, while pondering what I should do with myself, I remembered a book that I started reading years ago where the author talked about the importance of filling our emotional love tanks. Hmm, Light Bulb! “Maybe I am not a spoiled brat after all”, I thought.  ”Maybe my body is just screaming out for some emotional love and support.” I decided to search that book out again and refresh my memory about those love tanks.  I am sooooo glad I did.

In this book, Author John Gray,  teaches that every person has ten emotional love tanks that need to be kept full of love vitamins in order for us to feel completely happy.  Each one of these vitamins fills a special need that we all have.  If we are lacking in any of these vitamins, we will lack the vitality that we need to keep us feeling happy, content and successful in our lives.

Here is a list of the vitamins that must fill each tank:

  1. Vitamin G1–Love and support from God.
  2. Vitamin P1–Love and support from our parents.
  3. Vitamin F–Love and support from family, friends and having fun.
  4. Vitamin P2–Love and support from our peers and others like us with similar goals.
  5. Vitamin S–Love and support from ourselves.
  6. Vitamin R–Love and support from intimate relationships, partnerships and romance.
  7. Vitamin D–Loving and supporting someone who is dependent on us.
  8. Vitamin C–Giving back to our community.
  9. Vitamin W–Giving back to the world.
  10. Vitamin G2–Serving God.

In his book, he goes into much more detail about each love vitamin. He even gives ideas on how to go about filling up your tanks. When I read through his list, I was not surprised to realize that not only were most of my tanks empty, they were bone dry.  It has been a long time since I have done anything to fill some of these tanks. I did have one tank, though, that was not only completely full, but was probably overflowing. I think this was causing its own problems. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing! No wonder I have been feeling off balance.  Hooray for John Gray!  Now I know what I must do to feel content, peaceful and happy again. I am so excited to get started on filling my tanks to the brim! This book is a must read!

 

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Crystal Salt Therapy – Energy for Your Day!

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Julianne

When you’re a mom like me, you go through your day doing all the mom things you do, and then you go to bed at night praying that maybe you’ll get enough sleep to get you through the next day. Chances are, you won’t. For whatever reason, you wake up multiple times a night. Most of the time it’s to a kid waking up crying or climbing in your bed. Or, if you’re like me, it’s just a touch of good old insomnia. The end result is a never ending cycle of exhaustion. You wake up at seven (or whatever time you do) and by nine o’clock in the morning, you’re ready to go straight back to bed.

That was me until about a week ago, and then a friend of mine introduced me to the new best thing in my life, crystal salt therapy. Let me just tell you, it is AMAZING!!!!!! I was the person waking up at seven and wishing two hours later that I could sleep for the rest of the day. And then I got a job, and now I wake up at five thirty in the morning on the days that I work. Seriously, by eight or nine in the morning I was sitting in my cushy office chair trying my hardest to stay awake. Then I drank the salt. Such a huge difference!!!!

Last week I worked four days out of the week. Three of the four I took my salt in the morning, and I didn’t start getting tired until two or three in the afternoon, and even then it wasn’t the level of exhaustion I normally have. But on Friday, the last day I worked, I didn’t take my salt. By nine o’clock, I was feeling it. I wanted to sleep. It took me a minute to realize that the difference was the salt!!!

So how does it work? It’s super easy. You get your salt, which needs to be salt from a natural source without any additives or unnatural anything. I believe they recommend you get the crystal Himalayan salt, which is what my friend is using. So you take your salt and add it to a jar of water until the water is completely saturated. You’ll know your water is saturated when you see the chunks of salt in the bottom of the water. The salt is no longer dissolving which means the water is saturated. That salt water is your base. Just set it on your windowsill or in a cupboard or something. It’ll last a while.

Every morning all you do is take one spoonful of the salt water, add it to a glass of water (about a cup, cup and a half is what we do), and drink the water. We squeeze a lemon into ours which makes it much easier to drink. Anyway, drink the water down and go on your merry way. You may not notice a difference until one of the days you don’t take it, but then you’ll realize that the stuff is amazing!!!

I’ve been super busy lately (I moved and got a job all within a little over a month), so I haven’t had time to do some serious research on the crystal salt therapy. But I did find this link with a little more information for those who are interested. I hope some of you try it. Let me know how you like it!

 

 

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/salt.htm

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Quote

Today’s Quote

Posted on April 27, 2012 by The Boost Team

Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.
~ Mother Teresa ~

Works Cited: http://www.sapphyr.net/women/women-quotes-motherteresa.htm

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Ghee – A Lost Treasure?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Julianne

I’ve been on a bit of a health kick lately and have been doing tons and tons of research on what foods are best for your body. I’m getting a lot of conflicting information for a million different sources, but I have learned a few things that I thought were worth sharing, in particular the benefits of healthy fats. I wanted to spotlight the fats because in my research I’ve learned how incredibly important they are to the human body. The diet of the last fifty years has been almost entirely focused on reducing fats. It has been focused on taking away the oils, the butters, the high fat dairy products and replacing them with low or no fat substitutes. They say this is important to reduce obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, and a million other health problems. Coincidentally, the disease rates we now have have jumped dramatically in the last fifty years. Are the fats the solution? No. They’re not a cure all. But taking them out of the diet certainly isn’t helping the problem.

With that in mind, I wanted to spotlight one of the many healthy fats I’ve been doing some research on. Bear in mind that the benefits of this fat are not limited to this fat alone. Most healthy fats have similar benefits. This particular fat, however, is known as clarified butter, butter oil, or ghee. All it is is butter that has had all of the milk proteins removed by simmering it down and taking them out. The end result is pure butter oil.

Health benefits of butter oil:

  • It aids in mental clarity.
  • Helpful in weight loss.
  • Good for the skin.
  • Said to be anti-carcinogenic
  • Lactose free so people who are lactose intolerant can usually eat it.
  • Anti-viral.
  • Improves digestion.
  • Helpful for burns.
  • Helpful for blisters.
  • High in Antioxidants.
  • High smoke point which means it’s healthy to cook with it.
  • It is not a hydrogenated oil and there are no unnatural or unhealthy trans fats.

I wanted to share a how to video for making ghee, but I haven’t been able to make the video (I am in the process of moving. The video simply isn’t happening). However, I did find a great video for making ghee on The Healthy Home Economist blog. Click here for the link.

And, since we all know I didn’t come up with this info on my own. Here and here you will find a bit more information on ghee.

I’d like to know what you all think about this amazing oil or, if you have more information on it, I’d love to hear it! Feel free to let us know in the comments!

 

 

 

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A Handy Equivalent List for Cooking

Posted on April 23, 2012 by avatar

A few days ago my newly married daughter was trying to adjust a recipe so she would only make enough food for 2 people instead of the normal 10 or 12 that the recipe was designed for.  This required her to reduce the measurements quite a bit.  She found it very helpful to know some equivalent measurements. I thought other Wonder Women might also find this helpful, so I decided to post a list of the most commonly used ones.

1. 3 tsp. =1 Tbsp.

2. 2 Tbsp. = 1/8 Cup

3. 4 Tbsp. = 1/4 Cup

4. 5 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. = 1/3 Cup

5. 4 oz. = 1/2 Cup

6. 8 oz. = 1 Cup

7. 2 Cups = 1 pint

8. 2 pints = 1 Quart

9. 4 Cups = 1 quart

10. 1 egg = 1/4 Cup

11. 1 pound shredded cheese = 4 Cups

12. 1 Cup unwhipped cream = 2 cups whipped cream

13. 1 chopped onion = 1/2 Cup

14. 1 lemon = 3 Tbsp. juice

15. 1 orange = 1/3 Cup Juice

16. 1 to 1 1/4 Cups uncooked macaroni = 2 1/4 Cups cooked macaroni

17. 7 oz. of uncooked spaghetti = 4 cups cooked

18. 1 Cups corn syrup = 1 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water

19. 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup plain yogart

20. 1 clove garlic = 1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic or 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

 

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Innocent Expectations!

Posted on April 20, 2012 by avatar

My kindergartener knows the real meaning of setting her intentions. Dr. Wayne Dyer would be proud.  She made up her mind that she needed some money, took the steps to get it, then expected that it would come.  Needless to say, it worked!  Lol

This girl really knows what she wants!

This is what her sign reads.

 

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Thanks for your Comments

Posted on April 18, 2012 by avatar

I want to thank all of our readers who post comments on our blog.  Julie and I love hearing from you!  We want all of our Wonder Women readers to have a voice and invite you to comment whenever you have something to say whether you share our view point or have an opposing view point.  You see, we are all connected to each other and we learn from each other.   That is one of the amazing things about being human, and as Wonder Women, we learn from sharing with each other.  I believe that is why women like to get together for lunch etc. because when we talk about different ideas and things, we take ideas home with us  that help us to improve ourselves and our lives.  We welcome opposing view points to ours, because they give us a new perspectives to look at which might open our eyes to a new understanding of things.

A couple weeks ago, we had someone comment on a post that Julie wrote entitled, Let Your Daughter be a Princess.  Unfortunately, this person chose to criticize Julie’s ideas and even commented on how poorly written her post was instead of being respectful of Julie’s ideas and then sharing her own so we could all get a different viewpoint and new perspective to think about. This Wonder Woman was obviously a person who is very strong in her belief system and must be an amazing person because she has the ability to take what she believes and actually set up guidelines in her home that follow her belief system.  Sadly, because of the way she chose to respond to Julie’s post, instead of our Wonder Women readers being edified by her perspective on this subject, some were actually offended and angered by her comments.

Because of this, I would like to ask all of our readers to be respectful of each others view points when responding to any of our posts or the comments of  others, so that we can all learn from and enjoy each other.  I would also like to remind all of our readers that this is a blog.  Julie and I chose to start a blog because it gives us and other women a place to talk about our lives in an informal setting and not have to worry so much about using proper grammar and punctuating everything perfectly.  That, to me, is one beauty of a blog. We hope you will continue to bless us with your perspective by posting comments on our site, but please comment in a respectful and loving manner toward everyone so that we can continue to boost, refresh and inspire each other!

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Pool Preparation for Wonder Women

Posted on April 16, 2012 by avatar

Summer is just around the corner and with it comes many hours spent at pools, lakes and water parks. ( Oh, that sounds like heaven.  I love summer! ) Anyway, the other day I took my kids swimming at a rec. center.  I tried hard to be organized and get everything prepared early, but I still found myself wishing I had taken a few more things with me.  I decided to make a list of all the things I wished I would have taken, so I would be more prepared next time.    I thought my list might also benefit some of you WONDER-ful WOMEN out there too. This list is pretty extensive because I tried to include everything I would need whether I am at the pool, water park or the lake. So, of course, I hope you will add to it or take away from it to make it your own.

Another thing to consider is what to carry everything in. I took a tote bag with me when I went to the pool, but I had to be careful where I put it so everything I had in it wouldn’t get wet.  I came up with a genius idea to stop this problem.  I decided that next time I go, I will put all of my things in an insulated cooler bag because they are water proof and my things won’t get wet.  I also like this idea because I think my things will be less likely to get stolen if people think it is our lunch instead of my camera bag, wallet or cell phone.  Of course, most of these things can be locked up in a locker, but sometimes I want to take pictures or make a phone call and want to keep a few items with me.

Summer is still a couple months away which I am grateful for because that gives me time to gather the things on my list.  I will have to buy a lock, a swimming suit or two, a few pairs of goggles and maybe even another insulated cooler. ( I might just keep most of my supplies in the cooler bag to make getting ready for the pool that much easier.) It will be worth the effort, though,  because when someone mentions going swimming, I will have everything I need at my finger tips. Yea me! Instead of going to the pool feeling a little harried and stressed, I will go feeling relaxed, happy and awesome like every Wonder Woman should.

Wonder Womens Pool Supply List

  • Swimming Suits (T- shirts etc. are not usually allowed in pools anymore.)
  • Flip Flops that won’t get damaged from getting wet.
  • Swim diapers for babies and toddlers
  • Sunscreen (unless you are indoors)
  • Towels
  • Dry clothes to change into. (Don’t forget under clothes)
  • A comb or hair pick
  • Hair elastics and clips
  • Hats (for those who are not swimming but are sitting in the sun)
  • Sunglasses
  • A lock ( most pools offer lockers to keep your valuables safe.)
  • Swim toys, noodles, tubes etc.
  • Goggles for each person
  • A nice bag for carrying everything in
  • Life Jackets
  • Camera/video camera (make sure video cards have space and batteries are charged)
  • Collapsible insulated coolers / regular cooler
  • Ice packs / ice
  • Water
  • food/snacks
  • Lawn chairs
  • Beach umbrellas ( for lake use)
  • Toys for little kids who are tired of swimming
  • Band aids
  • Baby wipes for spills and easy clean up
  • Picnic supplies

 

 

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Honey, the Miracle Healer

Posted on April 13, 2012 by avatar

I was really glad to see Julie’s post about natural products we can use to help take care of burns.  I have had some experience with this and thought I would share it here.

About seven years ago, I had to leave for a day and left my 14 year old daughter, Kimberly, taking care of my little 2 year old baby girl named Elizabeth.  My husband was outside of the home working on an addition we were building onto our home.  He would come in periodically and make sure everything was ok, then go back out and work.

Kimberly cooked a pan of vegetable soup for my little Elizabeth to have for lunch.  It had gotten almost to the boiling point, so she took the pan off of the burner to let it cool down for a few minutes before dishing it up. She left the room for a minute and didn’t realize that my 2 year old had gone back into the kitchen.  Before too long, Elizabeth had reached up onto the stove and pulled the pan of steaming hot soup onto her little body severely burning her face, arms shoulders and back. The soup was so hot that it literally melted her skin on her face and pieces of her skin were hanging off of her face.    Kimberly acted quickly and rubbed honey all over Elizabeth’s burns before she called for her Dad.

My husband took one look at Elizabeth and knew she needed medical attention, so he took her to the hospital where they covered her burns with special medication, wrapped her up like a mummy and sent her home with instructions for my husband to bring her back again the following day. The doctor we saw the next day sent us to the burn unit at our local children’s hospital because he felt like his hospital wasn’t equipped to handle burns as severe as hers were.

The doctors at the burn unit took off all of her wrappings and did a thorough check of each one of her burns.  They were extremely surprised to find that only one of them was a third degree burn.  They assumed that because the soup had been so hot, her burns would have been much worse than they were.  They were very amazed!  We told them that our daughter had rubbed honey all over Elizabeth”s burns shortly after the accident happened, and we wondered if that had made a difference.  They said the only explanation they could find was that the honey must have stopped the burns from progressing so they never got as bad as they probably would have.  We were thrilled to say the least!

It took a long time for Elizabeth to recover fully from this accident. We had to clean her skin twice a day for weeks, so it wouldn’t get infected, and she had to do physical therapy to ensure that her skin kept stretching properly.  She also had to wear a hat every time she went outside for a whole year so she wouldn’t have a lot of discoloration on her skin.

Today, she looks great!  She doesn’t have any scarring on her face and only two scars on her arm and shoulder where the burns were the worst, but these scars are barely noticeable.  The only noticeable thing on her face is that the skin on her left cheek is a little more red than the skin on her right cheek. People looking at her would never know that she had ever been burned.

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for helping her little body to heal so amazingly and also for giving us honey which is not only a delicious sweetener but is also a wonderful miracle healer.

Elizabeth showing off a cute picture she made in school.

I am including some links to some websites that teach how to take care of burns.  They suggest not putting anything on very severe burns, so please use honey and other natural products carefully. They might be best used on burns that are not very severe.

http://www.burnsurvivor.com/burn_types_third.html,

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-burns/FA00022

 

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Holistic Burn Treatments

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Julianne

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to avoid it, burns happen. You and your kids get sunburned, somebody steps on a hot coal, touches a hot pan, fries their head with a curling iron, drops a burning marshmallow on their eye (seen this one happen), spills a pot of boiling liquid, and on and on and on. Point being, burns are a fact of life and they freaking hurt. But lucky for us there are burn treatments we can use to help the burn heal faster and hurt less. And guess what, they’re right in our house! Now, I’m not a doctor so there’s no way I’m going to try to give you medical advice in terms of what you should do when you get a burn, but here are a few things that just might help.

For minor burns:

  • Aloe vera (for sunburns)
  • Coconut oil 
  • Ghee
  • Honey to prevent infection.
  • Lavender oil
  • Turmeric
  • Plantain
  • Tea bags
  • Calendula

For more intense burns:

  • Shredded potatoes:
  • Dr. Christopher’s Burn Ointment
  • It might be wise to use some of the treatments above in combination with these remedies.

Again, I’m not a doctor or an expert, so don’t take what I’ve written as professional medical advice. As with everything we mother’s do, go with your gut! I have seen good results with Dr. Christopher’s Burn Ointment and I’ve recently been filled in on how well the potato method works. To use the potato method simply shred the potatoes and pack it on the burn, then hold it in place with a clean towel or gauze. The potatoes, as far as I understand it, are highly effective in reducing the pain and aiding in the healing.

For more holistic healing methods for burns, I think you’ll find this site interesting. Hopefully none of you will have to use these remedies for major burns, but for sunburns at least, coconut oil and aloe vera are great for relieving the pain and helping to turn the burn into a tan with less peeling.

 

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Today’s Quote

Posted on April 9, 2012 by The Boost Team

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.

       ~James Russel Stowell

Works cited:http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/imagination.html

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Treasure the Moments

Posted on April 6, 2012 by avatar

Yesterday was a very sad day.  My kindergartener was at school getting ready to have an Easter party with her classmates when her teacher was called away suddenly.  The school sent a note home with the students at the end of the school day which stated that the dear teacher’s husband had been killed in a tragic accident.

Now, I am not posting this to upset people or ruin their day, but hearing about this tragedy put a few things into perspective for me.  I thought about how many times my husband and I have had a little disagreement in the morning before he went to work and he left without having it resolved.  I thought about my children and wondered if they know how much I love them. As parents, we don’t always convey to our children how much they truly mean to us. I know I spend a lot of time asking my children to do their chores or checking up on them to see if their school work is finished etc., but I don’t spend near enough time letting them know that they are the most important things in the world to me.  The sad thing is that we don’t always get a second chance to resolve issues or to say, ” I love You”, to the people who mean so much to us.

Because of this, I wanted to remind all of us Wonder Women to treasure the moments.  Even though we are extremely busy each day, It is vitally important for us to enjoy and savor the moments that we have with the ones we love.  We need to take time to connect with our spouses, play games with the kids, hug our children when they walk by and tell them how much we love and cherish them.  Taking pictures and writing down our stories is also important to make sure our memories are kept alive.

We have all seen the words “Live, Laugh, Love” all over the place in the past few years.  I have loved them and even have them hung in my home, but I have decided that these words just don’t say enough. My new motto will be, “Love deeper, kiss longer, Hug tighter, and treasure every precious moment!”

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Homemade Lip Balm

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Julianne

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on how to fill Easter baskets without the sugar. In that post I promised to share a recipe for homemade lip balm sometime before Easter, as soon as I could get it perfected. Well, I perfected it today so now it’s time for the recipe!

What you’ll need:

Coconut oil

Beeswax

Chapstick tubes (I got mine at Kitchen Kneads, a local health food store).

Essential oils (optional)

I don’t have an exact recipe, I kind of just guesstimate on everything, but for my lip balm I did a 2:1 ratio. Two parts coconut oil to one part beeswax. That made the lip balm just about right.

The beeswax is really hard which means it’s hard to cut, so I just kind of shaved off sections with a knife until I had approximately one tablespoon.

I melted the beeswax in a small saucepan until it was a clear liquid.

After melting the beeswax I added two tablespoons of coconut oil and mixed them together.

My coconut oil was already melted because I keep it in the cupboard directly above my stove, which means it’s always hot, so after I melted the beeswax I just put in two tablespoons of the melted oil. If yours isn’t pre-melted I doubt it’ll be much of a problem. You might have to heat the beeswax and coconut oil on a very low heat until it’s melted, but I suspect it’ll just melt right in. Just don’t melt the two together on a highish heat. I didn’t have good success with that. After the two ingredients were combined, I put in a couple of drops of peppermint essential oil because I think my kids will like it, but that’s not really a necessary step.

Once you have everything combined, all you have to do is pour the liquid into the chapstick tubes. It will solidify in the tubes within ten minutes.

Pouring it into the tubes without spilling over the top was quite a challenge for me, so good luck! I did mine with a paper towel under the tubes so it wouldn’t make a huge mess if it spilled.

Once you’ve poured it into the tubes, you’re done. That’s it. Simplest thing in the world.

I only have pictures of four of the tubes, because I ruined one and forgot to grab the last one for the pictures, but my three tablespoons of coconut oil and beeswax made about six tubes of lip balm. I used it on my lips and it didn’t feel all that different from other lip balms that I’ve used (granted, I rarely use lip balm so I’m not the expert). Needless to say, I really liked this stuff. Even better, it’s good for you skin, there are no unnatural fillers, and it won’t hurt anybody if ingested. When you make your own, I’d love to hear about it! Feel free to comment and let me know how it turned out!

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Adorable Easter Topiary

Posted on April 2, 2012 by avatar

One of our wonder Women friends made this adorable Easter topiary to adorn her mother’s kitchen counter.  She saw the original one on pinterest.com and thought it was so cute she just had to make one. She took the original design and added her own twist which made it very colorful and bright. It is a fun decoration to make their Easter holiday more festive, but the best part about it is that by Easter morning all of the peeps will have gone hard (which everyone knows is the best way to eat a peep), and she and her family will be able to enjoy eating this delectable decoration.

Supplies Needed

1- small flower pot

1- 6 or 7 inch styrofoam ball

1- thick wooden dowel

1- green styrofoam block, slightly bigger than the pot.

Wooden toothpicks

About 80 peeps

A decorative plate

1 bag of jelly beans

A little bit of easter grass

Misc. Easter candy to decorate plate

1 yard of 3/4 -1 inch ribbon

Directions

Decorate your flower pot with ribbon (decals or painting with stencils would also be a fun addition).

Force the green styrofoam block into the pot so it holds tightly.

Set pot aside while you make the flower.

Push dowel into the center of the styrofoam ball.

Make a triangle on each side of the ball with toothpicks about an inch apart. (Front, back and sides)

Stick peeps on the toothpicks on an angle through the fattest part of the peep with beaks facing toward center of triangle and tails poking out like a petal. Put a lot of peeps on and around each triangle then fill in the spaces in between until the whole ball is covered.

Push the dowel into the styrofoam that is in the flower pot.

Fill the rest of the pot up with jelly beans to cover the green styrofoam.

Place flower pot on the decorative plate

Spread Easter grass on plate and decorate with candy.

Works cited, http://pinterest.com/search/?q=peep+topiary

 

 

 

 

 

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Living Through History

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Julianne

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of keeping a journal, on history, on the fact that in sixty years the time I’m living in will be history. All of us living our lives are living through history. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. We are like Laura Ingalls. Her books now are a priceless piece of history, but when she was living the experiences in the books, that was just how they lived. It was life.

I have to talk about the people I know that are walking pieces of history. My grandmother, for instance. She has memories of the day JFK was murdered. She lived through it, she felt the pall fall over the nation when it happened. And she was just living. But now, she’s a part of that history. Her memories of that time help shape for those around her a picture of how it really was. The history books say JFK was murdered at this place on this date by this man. Her experience says yes, he was murdered when they say, but this is how the country felt, this is what it was like to be living that day. This is true history. My grandfather, who passed away six years ago this April, lived through WWII. He was stationed in the Phillipines. He had experiences that the history books will never talk of, but those experiences were a part of history. You can never get the true history just by reading the history books. You have to read and listen to the stories of those who lived it. That is true history.

So why the rant, you ask? Because we’re all walking through history. Because each one of us now is just living, but someday we will be history. We will have those stories telling what it was like to live during this time. How we lived, what we ate, what it was like during 9/11, how it felt to be living during this economic crisis, what the day to day life was. A lot can and will happen in sixty years, in fifty years, in forty years. Who knows, maybe in forty years our clothes will wash themselves (that’ll be awesome!!!) and washing machines will be a piece of history. I know a lot of people think that it’s silly to keep a journal since there’s nothing important to record anyway, but if you really think about it, the history is just in living. Your life now may seem important only to you, but you never know who will be affected by your story years to come. I’m not going to spout that everybody should write a journal or ask for a committment for people to start. Heaven knows I don’t keep a faithful journal. I probably only write in it once a month (wish it was more though).

I just wanted to get this thought out there: The history books are written by people that weren’t there, people that don’t know anything really about what went on; they don’t get the true history. They don’t get how the people felt, how they lived, or the daily ups and downs of their lives. They just get facts. Facts and dates. But where are the true histories written? Where are the stories that show how life was, how people lived, felt, breathed, acted, and thought? People write them. Not scholars. Not governments. Not an onlooker only interested in facts. People. You and I. We’re people. Our stories, our journals, autobiographies, and memoirs. That is true history.

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