Mindy McAlindon is our WAHM of the month. She is a home schooling mother of 3 with one on the way! She also works from home as a grass roots marketer. Her latest project is helping a company called, Front Porch Entertainment. The new Family Night Movie, “The Jensen Project”. Check out this new family movie night movie trailer at Moms 4 Family

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT IS BACK!

1. You cannot stick your tongue out and look up at the ceiling at the same time.

2. All idiots,after reading #1 will try it.

3. And discover #1 is a lie.

4. You are smiling now because you are an idiot.

5. You soon will forward this to another idiot.

6. There is still a stupid smile on your face

I apologize about this but I’m an idiot and I needed company.

You now have 2 options…delete it or send it along to put a smile on someone’s face today.

PBandJAHM.com

The next time you feel like GOD can’t use you, just remember…
> Noah was a drunk
> Abraham was too old
> Isaac was a daydreamer
> Jacob was a liar
> Leah was ugly
> Joseph was abused
> Moses had a stuttering problem
> Gideon was afraid
> Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
> Rahab was a prostitute
> Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
> David had an affair and was a murderer
> Elijah was suicidal
> Isaiah preached naked
> Jonah ran from God
> Naomi was a widow
> Job went bankrupt
> Peter d enied Christ
> The Disciples fell asleep while praying
> Martha worried about everything
> The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
> Zaccheus was too small
> Paul was too religious
> Timothy had an ulcer… AND
> Lazarus was dead!
>
> Now! No more excuses!
> God can use you to your full potential.
> Besides you aren’t the message, you are just the messenger.
> And one more thing… share this with a friend or two…
> In the Circle of God’s love, God’s waiting to use your full potential.

Beyond BBQ - Family Fun Ideas to Show Your Patriotism
Many of us celebrate Memorial Day and the 4th of July with a yummy bbq, but this year I want to encourage you to go beyond the basic bbq to make your celebration the best ever. From crafts to ways to honor our soldiers and table decorations this is your one-stop idea shop. Whatever you do be sure to end the night with a fireworks display that features music with a military tribute for a special grand finale.
Craft:
My friend Lea Sullivan loves patriotic crafts especially simple ones to do with the kids. She suggests cutting red and blue paper or letting the kids rip paper into pieces. Then basically use white paper already prepared as a flag and have the children fill in the places with the right color. “Then if you want to take it further, you can frame these and put these out each year as a 4th of July decor in your home,” Lea suggested.
A mutual friend of mine has stepping stones in her backyard made from concrete squares painted in red and blue by her mom and then 3 year old son using craft paint.
I love the idea of letting kids make their own version of Betsey Ross flag into a quilt using fabric, chenille straws or beads or by simply weaving construction paper in on top of itself to make a wavy effect.
Make your family t-shirts to wear for this year’s Fourth of July festivities and show off your patriotic spirit and creativity. You will need a t-shirt (preferably white), a large piece of cardboard, wax paper and fabric paint. Simply follow the directions on the paint and let your creativity run wild as you create flags, stars, fireworks or words like “USA” or “proud to be American”. Be sure to practice writing with the paint before decorating your shirt.
Learn:
Have kids put on a play similar to a Christmas pageant where they reenact the signing of declaration of independence, or the Boston Tea Party or whatever historical event your family finds interesting. Just keep it fun and light as you learn together.
Be a patriot year round not just on holidays like D-day or Memorial Day and actually talk to your children about what those Holidays signify, and I’m not talking about just a day off from school or work.
Another friend Susan Metcalf Richardson reminds moms and dads to do a little research into our heritage such as The fourth verse of the poem for the Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key which mentions the motto:  “In God We Trust”. “I think it speaks to that as a tradition from the beginning, not just when they added it in the 1950’s,” Susan shared.
Honor:
Write the dates in on your family calendar and honor them. Think of those in your family or circle of friends who deserve to be recognized and send them a card or even a small craft to show them that their service has not been forgotten.
Take your celebration a bit further by sending our troops overseas a care package to let them know we appreciate their sacrifice and hope they will all return home safely soon. When you send out your party invitations, include a note to inform guests about what you plan to do and include a suggestion on what they can contribute. Make sure you cover the basics like toiletries, non-perishable snacks, and even overseas phone cards to connect with loved ones at home. For a full list of suggested items to donate visit: OperationShoeBox.com

Yellow is the official color of the armor branch of the U.S. Army, and displaying a yellow ribbon has become an American tradition that shows you await the safe return of a loved one from war. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply mix yellow fabrics, napkins, even yellow poppie centerpieces and ribbon in with your checkered tablecloth or other red, white and blue patterns. Finally, remember to hang an American flag in your space as well!

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t always the easiest holiday to plan fun activities with your kids. There are no shamrock dyeing kits, shamrock ornaments to make for the tree, or shamrock green fireworks displays to go see. Unless you live in an area that puts on a great parade, most of us moms are relegated to baking a few green cookies. This Holiday tends to pass by without much notice from your children.
However, here is a list of 10 ways to spread the joy with your kids and have some leprechaun fun on St.Patrick’s Day. We like to pretend that mischievous leprechauns snuck into the house the night before and left little green clues. Most of these ideas are best if done the night before after your kids are sound asleep.
To keep it simple, and inexpensive, you can create all these leprechaun tricks with just a bottle of green food coloring, a pack of shamrock stickers, and a tube of green lipstick. (No green lip stick? Mix some green food dye into a little of your lip gloss). I purchased all these items at my local dollar store for under $4.00 including tax. The morning giggles they create are of course priceless.

1) Start with the first thing that they see in the morning. Dye the potty water green! Then, just wait and listen for the funny reactions.
2) Put shamrock stickers on their bathroom mirrors
3) Put shamrock stickers on their door handles
4) Leave a shamrock sticker trail to the kitchen, on the stair railing, floor, wall, etc..
(At this point, you have the option to meet them in the kitchen sporting green sunglasses and green lipstick. Definitely worth a few more laughs.)

5) Pull green milk from the fridge to serve up on their “Irish” charm cereal.
6) Put green sprinkles on their cereal, oatmeal, or breakfast food of choice.
7) Drink water with green ice cubes (made the night before)
Put some shamrock stickers on their back-packs or lunch bags
9) Slip a sheet of shamrock stickers into their back packs to share.
10) Send them out the door with a big green lipstick smooch on the cheek!

By Kathy Kline Danner
© 2007,2009
To learn more on how to Be a JAHM = Joy @ Home Mom visit PBandJAHM.com and to fight financial stress EnJOY Freedom From Financial Stress

Why did you choose this company? My daughter made her First Communion last year. Several friends asked me where I was getting her veil. I realized that there were few options in our area, so I started making them!

How long have you been doing this? 1 year

What do you hope to gain from this venture? The joy of making custom veils for beautiful little girls.

What are your financial goals and do you think you will achieve them with this company? I’d like to earn extra money for family vacations.

How do we contact you if we are interested in purchasing or representing this business? Mimi.buettner@comcast.net

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/02/savings-experiment-whats-the-cheapest-long-distance/

If you are like me you have been given house plants or you bought outdoor plants for a porch or patio and then bring them inside with the good intention of rolling them back out next Spring….. Also, if you are like me, you have done a whole lot more rolling them out to the curb in the garbage can.

As always, PBandJAHM has scoured the web and asked some moms with actual green thumbs and here are 5 tips for keeping those house plants alive till next spring and beyond…

1) Replicate their climate of origination as much as you can. All house plants are originally from somewhere. You may have a tropical plant, or a fern that needs humidity or a succulent that needs less water but lots of light. During the winter months most indoor plants will need to be in the sunniest window you have and you may still have to supplement with a heat lamp or a florescent grow bulb.
2) Water the soil less, but mist the foliage with a water spray bottle a couple times a week. Most house plants are killed from over watering especially during the winter months. Water the plants so that the soil is moist to about one inch deep and only when the soil is dry. Give them a thorough soaking right before you put them back outside in the spring after the last frost (if they are going outside).
3) Use water that is the same temperature as the plant. This has multiple benefits. Keeping the water in a pitcher by the plants adds to the humidity and it allows the chlorine and fluoride from your tap water to dissipate. Plus, the room temperature will keep the winterizing roots from getting shocked.
4) Put a small amount of dish soap in a spray bottle to spray down the plants once or twice a month to keep spider mites and aphids from sucking the life out of your houseplants. The soap won’t hurt the plants as long as it is mild and is only 1/50 or less of the solution. You can also adjust the amount of the soap until the mites are gone.
5) Group your plants together. All plants put out a certain amount of humidity of their own and so pushing them together will help increase their humidity level.

Here are two very useful sites for more information including a list of specific house plant ailments with cures.

web terrace

the garden helper

Take the first “baby step” by calling your energy companies and ask them to come out to your home and evaluate your home for energy inefficiencies. It is often a FREE service. We have done this in two different homes in two different states for free.
However, in middle TN where we reside now, it does have a $150 fee. The bright side, is that they let you apply that fee to any major upgrades you may decide to purchase like new energy efficient appliances or a new water heater ect. Check with your power and gas company for assessments.

We received a Home Energy Survey with customized advice on what changes in habit or small improvements we could make to save specific amounts of money. They also provided us with a booklet called the Home Energy Survey Reference Guide. It gives you detailed instructions on how to save energy around your doors and windows, with your heating and cooling system, your water heating system, insulation, and they include tips on hiring contractors for larger jobs.

For example, our customized report showed us :
Crawler: If we installed a “clock thermostat” which is programmed to automatically reduce the settings at night, we could save at least $100/a year.
Walker: We could save another $100 + with weather stripping around our doors and windows.
Runner: By adding additional insulation to our attic, we could save over a $200 per year.

Another budget saver that many of the energy companies can offer is dividing your average annual costs into equal monthly payments. This way you can anticipate what your monthly bill will be every month and you won’t get “bit” during the peak months. And, if you save money this year with some of the above mentioned energy tips, then your next year’s monthly bills will be lower to reflect this year’s annual amount. It can really save you from a December and January crisis trying to pay for extra Holiday expenses and an extra $300 or more in winter energy costs. OUCH!

It also doesn’t hurt to just wear an extra layer of clothing around the house this winter.
-Kathy Danner