Back to School Encouragement

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Now that school has started for most kids, why not encourage them with a “Back to the Books” bar!! This is something I like to do for my kids. This is a wrapper that you print, cut out, and wrap around a Hershey bar. I am including a downloadable Microsoft Word file that anyone can download, print and use for their kids. The front reads: Back to the Books – A Great Year Ahead.  On the back is a section with Nutrition Facts that reads:

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1 Student
Percent Daily Values (DV) based on
Upcoming School Year
Health 100%
History 100%
Language 100%
Math 100%
Reading 100%
Science 100%
Spelling 100%

The Ingredients section is actually an encouraging message that reads:

May your upcoming year be filled with good grades, new experiences, old and new friends, and lots of fun. Always strive to do your best, do what’s right and be yourself. Best wishes for a great school year.

There is also a bar code that represents the date of 08/2008.

I am including one for boys with a blue background, and one for girls with a green background. I usually secure them on the back with some glue stick, or you can use tape as well. I print mine on glossy stock paper, which is a little thicker, and looks more like a candy wrapper, but you can use regular paper as well.

I enjoy making these up for various occasions. If anyone is interested in having me create something special for them, drop me an email with your idea, and I’ll get back to you. I have done “Thank You” bars for birthday parties, where the kids will write the thank you message themselves, and I then type it in the ingredient section. The Birthday Boy/Girl hands one out to each guest at the end of his or her party. As a surprise I present one to the Birthday Boy/Girl with a candy bar of their own, that has their name on it. These are a great personalized treat. What kid doesn’t like chocolate? You can contact me at: anniehow@ymail.com.

Just wanted to share this idea with you. I hope your kids are encouraged by this sweet treat.  Here are the downloadable files.

Back to the Books (boys)

Back to the Books (girl)

Lower Your Grocery Bill – Part II

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When I told you all about The Coupon Master, I also came across another great resource, but didn’t want to tell you about it until I went through the whole process. I found this information in the same Women’s Day article as the Grocery Game and The Coupon Master. This organization is called Angel Food Ministries http://angelfoodministries.org. It has been around for fifteen years. When I went to the site and looked at the history and what they were about, I was really impressed. What a fantastic idea and a wonderful example of God using people to help other people. This is what it’s all about.

First of all, it is for anyone who needs to save money on food. This is not like a food pantry, where sometimes you get food that has passed the expiration date on the box. This is more on the lines of Market Day. You can go to the website and see if there is a church or organization in your area that is a host of Angel Food Ministries. When you find one, you can contact them directly. You will get an order form that you fill out, and you can mail in checks, or take your payment in. They also accept food stamps. There is a due date for the orders. Then there is a pick-up date at the end of the month. I received my order form through email, after I contacted the church in my area, which was St. Paul Lutheran Church in Matteson, IL. You purchase “boxes” of food. You have to purchase a regular box in order to purchase a special box. The regular box is $30 and feeds a family of four for one week. This is what I received in my regular box for this month:

1.5 lb. Ribeye Steaks (4-6oz)

1 Whole Young Chicken (about 5 lbs.)

28 oz. Chicken Breast Nuggets

28 oz. Salisbury Steak Dinner Entree

28 oz. Breaded Chicken Breast Filets

12 oz. Smoked Polish Sausage Links

16 oz. California Blend Frozen Vegetables

1 lb. Rice

16 oz. Frozen Chopped Spinach

16 oz. Frozen Carrots

10 ct. Frozen Waffles

16 oz. Bean Soup Mix

32 oz. Borden 2% reduced fat Shelf Stable Milk

9 oz. Instant Potatoes

15 oz. Can Fruit Cocktail

1 Dozen eggs

1 Dessert Item (Apple filled Cookies)

All for $30. I did a rough estimate on what this might cost in the store, and it would probably be about $45. This is good quality food too. I put the steaks on the grill tonight, and they were so good, they about melted in my mouth. It had to be the grade of meat, because I tend to burn things up on the grill, and dry out most meat. Anniehow…They also have special boxes that you can purchase once you buy a regular box. I bought the 7 lb. Family Grill Box that included the following:

1.5 lb. Baseball Cut Steaks

2 lbs. Juicy Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

2 lbs. St. Louis Style ribs

1.5 lb. Hamburger patties

The special boxes are $18 – $20. Last month they had a 4.5 lb. Steak and Chicken Combo Box for $20, 4.5 lb. Stuffed Chicken Breast Box for $18, and a Fresh Fruit and Veggie Box for $18. You can buy as many of the regular boxes and the special boxes as you want. There is no limit to what you purchase. You can always go on the site to view the menu for the upcoming month. For September they have something new, which is the Senior Box. There are ten individual fully cooked meals labeled with heating instructions, all for $25. They also have a special “5 for 4” box, which is 5 dinner meals that will feed a family of four. I just think this is fantastic. It does save you money, and extra trips to the store. You can also find information on the website for being a host site. If you are a host site, you do receive something for being a host, which makes for a great outreach and fund-raiser for churches. Like I said, I went to the church in my area, and it was so smoothly run. You bring boxes, and they have carts that you can place your boxes on. You tell them who you are, and they hand you a slip of paper, and you go to the food area, and a person is there, and gives you one of each (or however many you ordered) of the regular box, and the special boxes are already boxed up, so they hand those to you. Take them out to your car and you are done. I was also able to order for next month as well.

This is a really great resource for people who live alone, or for senior citizens or for anyone who would like to save some money on groceries. It saves you money, and it also helps your local church. For more information visit their website at:

http://angelfoodministries.org

I’m Back

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This weekend was my “Me Time Extravaganza.”  Well…it wasn’t that grand, but I had a whole weekend to myself.  I was house-sitting and did absolutely nothing and it was wonderful!!  I didn’t have to cook, clean, answer any questions, or talk to anybody, I didn’t even talk to myself!!  I went to my favorite hot dog joint for dinner one night, went to my favorite bakery and bought sprinkle cookies, which I didn’t have to share, and a chocolate chip coffee cake that was delicious, which I ended up sharing, because I forgot to bring it home with me.  I know my house-sitting hosts are enjoying it.  I watched TV, mostly home design shows, I love Flip This House.  I watched one of my favorite movies, Head Over Heals with Freddie Prince, Jr., it’s one of those movies that it’s just silly and far fetched but funny.  I also actually worked on a cross-stitch project that I started over three years ago.  I love to cross-stitch, it’s very relaxing to me.  The reason I know I started it over three years ago, is because it’s a baby blanket for my baby who just turned 3!!  I did this for all my kids.  When I found out I was pregnant with each of them, I started a blanket.  Believe it or not, I actually finished the twins’ blanket before they were born.  But I did have help on the second one, which was a joint effort with my mom and niece.  I did finish one all by myself.  For Elijah’s, my middle guy, that one was done shortly after he was born.  So the big joke is that Benji will have his done in time for his Kindergarten graduation.  I hope not.  My daughter showed it to him one day, and he just hugged it and didn’t want to put it away.  So then he began to pressure me to get it done.  Anniehow… I did get some work done on it.  It was so nice not to have to do anything, and I didn’t worry or feel guilty that I wasn’t doing anything.  I realized I need to do this more often.  When I came home, the house was clean, and everyone was exited to have me back.  My husband looked even more attractive to me, I did miss them all.

Now I’m trying to get back to life.  We have a couple of weeks left before we start school, and we are trying to have as much fun as we can.  My sister-in-law and her husband were in town from California, so we visited with them.  Today, the twins have their friends over, so that makes a total of 7 kids.  You think it would be chaos around here, but it’s not, the girls are in their room and the boys are in the boys’ room.  These friends are their “homeschool friends” since they are homeschooled too.  We try to get together as much as we can with them, last year we did a couple of field trips.  When we all get together there is a total of 9 kids, so it’s like a little class.

It’s nice to have a couple more days left to plan some fun.  My husband and I would like to take the kids miniature golfing and also take a trip downtown to see the fountain.  Something to look forward to before we have to hit the books again.

Modest Needs

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ModestNeeds.Org - Small Change. A World Of Difference.

Back in 2002 or 2003, I came across this website and thought it was a fantastic idea. I am so excited to hear that they have been featured in Forbes Magazine, and that article was syndicated to the homepage of AOL. This is what the website is about.

Keith Taylor is the Founder and CEO. Back when he was in graduate school, he worked at a theater and had two teaching jobs at two different colleges. One month he had to skip paying rent because he had some unexpected car repairs. His boss at the theater heard about what happened and handed him a $525 check made out to the landlord. Keith remembered this act of kindness and when he was a teacher at a Tennessee University, he decided to start a little web site offering people help with small bills. His salary at the time was only $33,000. He had some television interviews and received some publicity for what he was doing. He just wanted to help people. But in 2002, his hobby became something bigger. He allowed other people to donate money to help with people’s needs. He was connecting people with needs with people who wanted to help. Back then you couldn’t get help with rent. It was for the unexpected expenses that may come up within a month. I recently visited the site and saw that things are different. You can now get a Self-Sufficiency Grant for one months rent, or other needs that you have. Modest Needs is a short-term fix. It’s for people who are self-sufficient, but need help to stay that way. All applications are screened, the ones that are not cut are then asked to provide up to 15 documents to verify their situations and identities. If approved for funding, checks are not made out to the individual, but to the landlord, or utility company. Modest Needs reports that seven out of every ten recipients log back into the site as donors. It’s a great way to help people in need, or get help when you are in need.

Once the article was featured on AOL, within about 10 hours, people across the US and around the world funded more than $22,000 worth of requests. This was funded by one-time donations of $10, $20, $30, or $50. It’s nice to know that there are people out there who are able to help and actually want to. As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot of money from one individual. Just a note for those who want to donate, Modest Needs raises operating funds from outside resources, so your donations go to fund the needs.

They have Back-to-Work Grants, Independent Living Grants, and Non-Profit Grants. If you want to learn more, click on the link at the right in my Helpful Links, or the banner at the top of this article.

B12 Boost of Energy

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I had to do get my B12 shot today. Usually older people have to get B12 shots, but a couple of years ago, my doctor found out that I was B12 deficient. This is how it happened.

I usually didn’t see a regular doctor routinely, I saw my gynecologist yearly, but that was it. Once my dad had his by-pass surgery and was diagnosed with heart disease, my siblings and I knew we needed to be tested for high cholesterol, and the things associated with heart disease by the time we were 35.  At that time my brothers and sister were that age, I had a couple of years yet. They all got tested, and had high cholesterol. I put mine off until I was 38, praying I inherited my mother’s genes. So I went in and my doctor did all kinds of blood work. In addition to my high cholesterol (242 ugh!!) She also found that I was B12 deficient. When I went in for my check-up, I did mention to her how tired I was all the time. Usually when I told people that or my gynecologist, the response would be, “You have 4 kids, you should be tired!” I would then think, yeah, they’re right. But deep down I knew this wasn’t a normal tired. I could get 9-10 hours of sleep in a night and still take a nap in the afternoon. Plus day to day tasks seemed overwhelming to me, it was like my mind was bombarded with all the things I needed to do, and then I had a hard time getting things prioritized. So I was very grateful that my doctor was able to figure this out. She suggested the B12 shots. So to start, I had to get 3 shots within 1 week and then I would get them monthly after that. So I systematically set them up for the week before my little guys 1st birthday. We were having a huge cookout since he was born on the 4th of July, inviting a bunch of people. My husband was working as a truck driver then, so he was on the road for the better part of that week. So I knew I had a lot to do, not to mention it would also be “my time of the month.” When I got the first shot, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t remember feeling this good. By the third shot, I was unstoppable. The energy, the clarity of mind and thought, and the restful sleep I had once I got the shots was unbelievable!! My husband even noticed the difference right away. When I told him how good I was feeling, it brought me to tears. Because all those years I was having problems, I just thought it was me. It was never said to me directly, but I always felt like it was implied by different ones that I was lazy or lacked motivation. After awhile, I just started to believe I was, because there was nothing I could do to change it. Looking back, I feel this contributed to the bouts of depression I dealt with. At that time I didn’t think I was depressed, just thought I was stressed over different circumstances I was dealing with. So after talking with my husband and just being relieved that there was something physically wrong with me, he actually apologized for not getting me to a doctor sooner. We as women and moms take care of everyone and we are always the last to go to the doctor. We need to be in the best health we can be, because it affects everyone around us. Also, with our spouses, we need to urge them to see a doctor, if something doesn’t seem right. We know when something just isn’t right!! Don’t be afraid to ask questions and talk to your doctor. Keep going until you find one you like and who’ll listen. In that first check-up of mine, I talked with her about different things, and almost didn’t ask her this one last thing, I was too embarrassed, or thought I was being too vain. Even though it had been a year since I had last given birth, I just felt like my stomach seemed too big. When I wasn’t really holding it in, I felt like I looked like I was 5 months pregnant. So that’s what I told her. So she had me lay down and she had me lift up like I was doing a crunch, while she felt down the middle of my stomach. She knew right away what it was, Diastases Recti. That’s the separation between the left and right side of the rectis abdominus muscle which covers the front surface of the belly area. Multiple births and repeated pregnancies increase the risk in pregnant women. So she gave me some exercises to do, and that cleared up as well.

Every month I go in for my B12 shots. I can tell when I need one, my sleep isn’t as sound, and it takes me longer to wake up. When I just get the shot, I can sleep or take a nap, but once I wake up, I’m awake. It’s strange how something that gives you energy and alertness can also give you sound sleep. I plan to continue to get these shots, I have tried talking B12 in pill form, it just didn’t work as well as the shots. So I encourage you as a woman and a mom, if you just don’t feel good or are tired all the time, if you can, see your doctor, and ask questions, am so glad that I did!!