FAMILY TIME: winter blues

lately we've been feeling a little 'slow'.  the weather has been COLD and snowy, and it's hard to get out and there's only so much you can do inside!

so, i thought we'd try and make a change.  we now play a LOT of games!  i love board games anyhow, but now, my 5 year old is old enough to play fun games that i enjoy playing!  he's getting really good at clue jr. and rummikub.  we play simpler games with my 3 year old, like lucky ducks and bingo.  and our all time family favorites are disney scene it and sorry.

i'm not trying to endorse these specific games because there are so many out there!  and if you take your time, you can find them in really great condition second hand!  thrift stores, kids resale stores (like once upon a child) and book resellers (like half-priced books) usually carry used games for a LOT less than retail stores.

or you can always make up your own 'games' with things around the house.  have a scavenger hunt to find the most pennies or the biggest pillow or whatever in the house.  set up an obstacle course like a somersault in the living room then run up the stairs and do 10 jumping jacks and reverse.  

we love games!  and it's a great way to spend time with your kids and show them that you care.  it's an easy way to make memories and pass on family traditions (when they get a little older i'll introduce them to our family's tradition of tripoly!).

a surefire way to cure the winter blues!

what are your favorite games?  share them with us so we can add them to our collections.

DIFFERENCE: tropicana rainforests

did you know that right now when you buy certain Tropicana Pure Premium OJ's you can enter in a code printed on the package and help tropicana save 100 square feet of rainforest?  

COOL!!!  so just buy the specially marked oj's and effortlessly help save the rainforest!!!

they've teamed up with coolearth.org to help protect certain high risk rainforests.  already cool earth has saved 42,697 acres of rainforest in 2 different parts of south america. 

how much oj can your family drink?  how much of the rainforest can you save?

DIFFERENCE: outlet hunt

did you know that even an electronic device that is turned off but still plugged in uses electricity?  electricity that you have to pay for?  it's not that much, but it all adds up.  and why waste money and resourses if you really don't have to?

so go around your house and locate all your outlets.  if there's something plugged in and not being used (like that old VCR player), unplug it, and leave the cord close by for that one time you might use it this year.  you'll be surprised at how much you have plugged in all the time.  even power strips drain electricity, so switch them off whenever possible.

baby-proffing note:  of course it isn't safe to leave cords laying around with little kids.  then again, it's not that safe to leave an outlet exposed with cords hanging out either.  try and block them with furniture, or get those box covers that cover the cords and the outlet and the little plug covers.

my big shocker: i used to leave my desktop computer running 24/7, sure it would go to standby, but it's still using up electricity.  but then i learned that leaving it powered on all year would cost me about $200!  so now i turn it off at night, and it usually doesn't come back on till the afternoon.  i'll take that money to the bank!

FAMILY TIME: resolutions

with the new year, it's fun to think of some resolutions for everyone in your family.  we sat down and talked about what a 'resolution' is, and brainstormed some that we wanted to make for 2009.  it was a lot of fun, and the kids enjoyed coloring their resolutions, since neither can write very well yet (one of their resolutions;).

we used heavy cardstock and labeled each with our name and the year.  then we made one for our whole family.  it will be nice to look back on it at the end of the year and see how well we did at keeping them!  

so, give it a try, set aside some time with your family and talk about setting goals and writing them down.  then play a fun board game and have a treat.  maybe family nights can be one of your family resolutions!

because a goal not written is just a dream...

DIFFERENCE: eat green

now that the holiday festivities are over, we need to stop blaming them for our indulgence in 'special' treats.  add more fruits and veggies into your daily diet, since hardly any of us get what we actually need, more matters!

check this out for great ideas and recipes on getting MORE!

http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

did you know...

a 1/2 cup of pasta sauce or salsa has 1 serving of veggies?  so pile it on, and reduce the other stuff, like sour cream on your taco or baked potato.

DIFFERENCE: start fresh

happy new year! it's the perfect time to start fresh; to clean out your lives, closets and the world around you.

we'll go on a journey together to find helpful ideas, hints, money and time saving tips that will simplify our lives and make the world a little brighter and happier!

we can make a difference, one mom at a time! let's work together toward a greener and safer world for our families!