Don’t let the fact that school’s out deter you from doing some education things this summer. Learning can be fun!

Whew! The dog days of summer are here, and it’s time to mosey on outdoors. But you can still hear the kids whining, “What can we doooo?” Well, there are several things you can do, if you feel like getting creative. Don’t let the fact that school’s out deter you from doing some education things this summer. Learning can be fun!

Go on a nature walk.

Pack a light back-pack with drinks, a snack, a clear jar and a lid for collecting fun things, a change of clothes for the kids (optional, if you’d rather travel light), and books on birds and trees, if you have them. Find a safe place to roam, whether it’s a local park or your own backyard! Look at the trees, talk about the shapes of the leaves, how old you think the trees are, or maybe what each part of the tree does to keep it healthy. Watch some birds, and see if you can identify them. Talk about how they fly south for the winter. Examine bugs and collect a few to watch for a few days. Sit quietly and just listen to nature with your eyes closed. Look up at the sky and identify cloud shapes, tell each other of what they remind you. Enjoy your snack, pack up the back-pack, and tell your kids about your childhood summers during the walk home.

Hone those reading skills.

Why not make use of your local library? Make it a weekly trip, and let your kids each pick out 3-5 books. Visiting the library is a great way to teach children to care for things that they borrow and return them on time to the owner. Plus, making the transition back to school in the fall will be so much easier if they’ve made a habit of reading over the summer, especially if they’re choosing their own books.

Do you have a nearby children’s museum?

These are really growing in popularity, so chances are good that if your city doesn’t have one, a neighboring city does. What a nice day trip for you and your crew! Museums are great learning environments because they combine fun activities with interesting facts, all geared toward kids’ minds.

Learn about camping.

If you don’t have a tent, find a big blanket and some lawn chairs. Put the chairs in a circle, place the blanket over the chairs, give your kids some “equipment” and let them have their own kind of fun right in your backyard.

For a break from the learning, how about some water fun?

Fill a bucket of water and give your kids paintbrushes. Tell them you’d like them to paint the driveway. They’ll have a blast and stay cool at the same time. This is a lot of fun, and it helps your children “express” themselves without getting crayon on your walls! Don’t forget the things that you did as a kid to pass the summer days, too. Did you jump in the sprinkler? Fill a tub with water and play with water toys?

Whatever you do, enjoy the time with your kids. As fast as time flies with kids, it always seems to go faster in the summer!

Mia Cronan is an at-home mother of five children, ages 12, 10, 8, 5, and 2, living in northeast Ohio. She owns and edits http://www.mainstreetmom.com the magazine for modern mothers with traditional values. Mia can be reached at mia@mainstreetmom.com

MainStreetMom.com is the flagship site of http://EMCWebs.com.

I know 1st hand how frustrating it is return home after a busy day then slave over the stove or to rummage through the cabinets when you have hungry, impatient tummys waiting.  Visit http://reallifesolutions.net/personal/quick-dinner-ideas.html for your quick and easy dinner ideas.

A nice tie into this is learning how to do a little meal planning so that you actually spend less time cooking and more time really enjoying yourself and your familly. I am an avid meal planner and wrote this easy to follow article on how you too can plan your meals and free up your precious time: http://reallifesolutions.net/personal/meal-planning.html

As you know, I love hearing your feedback. Do you have any of your own personal tips that you’d like to share with me?  If so, just e-mail me and I am all ears

Here is a great resource - The Healthy Express Cookbook: 101 Fresh, Light & Quick Dinners.  Offers you healthy, home-cooked meals that are super fast to prepare — visit http://reallifesolutions.net/Cookbook.HTML to learn more

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We’re related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs an d YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
2. Mom . You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend’s.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don’t do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.
2. I’d make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Hee hee -Just got a Call from Shayna, My 20 year old daughter that is on the Baby countdown. YES, she is due in about 3 weeks.  

Back when she was 2months preggo and complaining about the morning sickness I was trying to explain to her the usualy order of pregnancy stages.

1st the OMG I am so tired, and why wont I stop throwing up

Then the Hmm, this isnt too bad

Then the UGHHHH Is this baby EVER gonna come outta me - I feel like I am gonna pop

Then the WOW Look at all this damn ENERGY I have

Then the Labor

Well - looks like we are at stage number 4. She called me and the conversation went like this - I look at my phone and see its Shayna

Me: Hey Lady Shay

Shayna: Gotta question for ya

Me: Shoot

Shayna: Why did I just wash ALL of the baby clothes THEN iron them???

Me: Cracking up, histerically

Shayna: MOMMYY!! I mean it I can’t stop, I’ve washed and ironed the clothes, steralized the bottles, wiped down the crib, dusted the entire house and just got off of my hands and knees becuase I wanted to scrub the kitchen floor.

Me: REALLY cracking up at this point. I finally get out “OK I will be booking my ticket THIS week.

Shayna: Is this normal?

Me: Totally - not just prepare to feel like you are going to pop and be ready for all of the energy you feel now to leave as quickly as it came

Shayna - Love ya.

Me: LOL love ya too….

ROTFLMAO

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.

By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, ‘The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.’

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn’t finished, and before the morning was over I finished off a bottle of Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream, a package of Oreo’s, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

Pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace.

Last week we posted a great contest asking for suggestions for a “tag line” that would be used for Real Life Guidance. We received TONS of great suggestions and honestly, Tricia and I had a hard time choosing a winner.  Check out all of the entries here.

Well, as hard as it was to do, we had to choose a winner and the winner and the winning tag line is……..

Real Moms … Real Guidance … Really Easy

This suggest came from Tiffany of NatureMomsBlog.  For her winning suggestion,Tiffany will receive:

1. A button on this site for a full month

2. A free report of her choice from www.reallifeguidance.com  

3. $5 Cold Hard Cash into her paypal account

We’d like to thank ALL of you for participating! Your suggestions were greatly appreciate and keep your eyes peeled out for more fun contests like this!

Note: Tiffany - Contrats and please email me at at info@reallifesolutions.net as soon as you can

Hi there ladies.  Well if you know me, then  you KNOW that coming up with good “Tag Lines” really isn’t my thing

I’ve spent over 1 hr looking at a beautiful new banner that was created for me by Marie Ynami at OnlineWebHelper.Com and trying to come up with a catchy Tag Line that screams “CLICK ME” Well, quite honestly - I am coming up empty.

I’ve decided to go with Banner #1

The banner was created for Real Life Guidance and as for a Tag Line, all my brilliant mind can come up with is “Help for Busy Moms“.  Ok, so as you can see, that isn’t too brilliant.  As usual, I run to my trusty Assistant, Tricia over at timesaverva.com  and she suggested I turn this into something FUN for everyone.  She is such a smart cookie.  So here’s the deal:

I would love your suggestions for a cool, “click me” tagline to go onto my new banner. So far the banner just Says “Real Life Guidance” and I am looking for a great tagline to go beside that text.  Again the banner is for http://www.reallifeguidance.com/   I would love to see what your suggestions are.  After we  have received the suggestions, Tricia and I will  pick a winner.  The winner will then receive the following:

1. A button on this site for a full month
2. A free report of your choice from www.reallifeguidance.com  
3. $5 Cold Hard Cash into your paypal account

Not too shabby Huh?   We are taking suggestions starting now  until Sunday, April 20th at midnight then we will announce the winner on Monday Afternoon. 

Are you ready? Get Set! Go

I don’t think I’ve every participated in a Tuesday Toot so I decided to give it a try.  Just a few Toots from me

1. I’ve managed to work closely with Isreal (my 16yo Junior) today on creating her Spreadsheet of colleges that she wants to apply too. I am so excited that she is attacking this with such vigor and excitement and my Toot re: this is that I am taking a Step BACK and allowing my teen to grow, choose her potential colleges and remain totally non-judgemental!!
2. My Parenting My Teen site is looking GREAT!! Tricia, my VAhas been working her buns off adding content to the site and I wouldn’t be happier with the progress.
3. I met with the teachers and staff at Isaac school and talked about the utter disgust displeasure I feel towards the way things were handled this year but I did it very professionally, eloquently and backed it up with studies that I pulled off of the web.

So I want to see your Toots!  Leave a comment and please link me to your Toots

This is an email that I received that I just had to share.

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can’t use the remote in a hotel room because I don’t know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.  

I can’t sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I can’t enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pass-time while driving alone is picking your nose (although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot)

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can’t touch any woman’s purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.  Yuck!

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown)  who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the  $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won’t crawl in my back seat when I’m pumping gas..

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put ‘Under God’  ! on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can’t boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face…disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don’t support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda & Singapore a nd Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their  recipe.

Thanks to you, I can’t use anyone’s toilet but mine because a big brown  African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can’t ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can’t buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician… Have a wonderful day…

Oh, by the way…..

A German scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don’t bother taking it off now, it’s too late.