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2010 Relay For Life Relay For Life of Santa Clarita Sat 9am to Sun 9am, May 22-23, 2010 at Central Park
We have 104 days left until Relay!
Fighting cancer is a team effort. The impact we can make together is much greater than what any of us could do alone.
At Relay, our team will camp out overnight and take turns walking around the track to raise money and awareness to help the American Cancer Society save more lives from cancer.
By joining or donating to our team, you will be a part of a life-changing event that gives everyone in the community a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.
Help us create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.
Click on the above link to join our team or donate. And if you would like to help out in raising funds or volunteer the day of Relay, please e-mail me, Melissa@SCValleyMommies.com
A big thanks to Cassie Girl Cosmetics for being a special sponsor by donating the registration fee & T-shirts to our Team Members
Economical Holiday Grins and Giggles When I asked my daughter what she wanted for Christmas this year, she told me there was nothing that she wanted. Later I overheard her saying to her brother that she was excited to go to Grandma?s house for Christmas, not for the presents, but to spend time with family.
Boy, did those two comments warm my heart. However, I know when present unwrapping time comes she?ll want to tear open presents just as much as the next person.
Looking back on my own childhood, yes, I do remember getting a bike one year, which I was very pleased to receive. However, the presents that I remember most are ones that didn?t cost a lot of money. They were creatively wrapped and the three that I remember best of all were edible.
First, aware that I was a Violet Beauregarde of a gum chewer, my uncle gave me my very own jumbo-sized box of gumballs. I remember wondering what could be inside the wrapped box he had given me, and being delighted when I uncovered my whopping supply of chewing gum.
Another year, I remember a friend of the family placing a wrapped mandarin orange in my stocking. Not only was I excited that he had brought me a gift, but his present tickled my funny bone as well.
Finally, I remember my grandmother giving me my very own box of neatly packaged handmade cookies. What could be better than a personal stash of favorite cookies sitting in a pretty handmade box?
Looking past the edible gifts while staying focused on dear Grandma, I recall that she was also an expert at creating captivatingly wrapped packages. Her shopping bags usually contained an assortment of individually wrapped, inexpensive, but amusing toys and trinkets she had collected over the year.
So this year as I contemplate what to give my children, I remind myself that the spirit of Christmas is not about how big or expensive the gifts I give are (even though advertising is pushing to convince me otherwise). Christmas giving is about the love and thought put behind the gifts, no matter how small that gift is or how much money it cost.
I admit it does help that my daughter has an attitude of gratitude instead of a case of the gimmies. It is her attitude that will help give me the courage to wrap an orange, a gigantic box of chewing gum, or a homemade box of cookies.
It is my hope that those inexpensive, yet significant gifts will create smiling memories to look back on for a lifetime.
Do You Have the Time? When I go to the grocery store to buy a particular item, the number of products on the shelf causes my head to spin. I can understand why people stick to one brand. It?s much less time consuming to grab the same product time after time than it is to read through all of the fine print on the bottles while trying to compare them all.
The older I get, it seems the less time I have. I remember my parents making comments about this when I was younger. It didn?t seem possible to me as a child since every day seemed to stretch on forever.
Now that I?m juggling the activities of two busy children, homework, housecleaning, cooking, laundry, and trying to fit my own interests into all of that, I can understand the way my parents felt. I?ve often thought that life was simpler back then and in some ways, it was.
Before you disagree with me, understand that this was the world I grew up in. It may be a generalization. It doesn?t describe everyone?s upbringing, but it does describe mine.
When I was a kid, we didn?t have to sit in car seats. I could ride my bike to the other side of town and my parents felt safe about it. Yes, there were certain foods that weren?t the healthiest, but the dangers weren?t as obvious so we ate whatever we wanted. I could play in the front yard without my parents worrying about who was driving by. At the same time, since the Internet did not exist, my parents did not have to worry about who I was chatting with on-line.
Not only that, but there were also fewer companies offering fewer products. It?s those products that contribute to my information overload so much that I often look for ways to make the most of my time. Not only is it important in my world, but it?s an important lesson to teach my kids.
Here are ten time saving tips I have come up with:
Designate a home for items that you use every day. Teaching children to put their shoes away in the same spot every time will prevent the last minute frantic search while heading out the door.
For easily accessible organization, hang an over-the-door shoe holder on each bedroom door. Not only will this make clean-up time easier, but it will offer your children a home for their items (see tip 1).
Pack things away in colored containers for easy finding later. For example, store Halloween costumes in an orange tub.
Do laundry every day rather than letting it pile up. Have your kids help fold and put away the laundry. Wash socks, sorted by owner, in lingerie bags for easy pair matching later.
Place a notepad on your refrigerator to write your needed grocery items on when you think of them ? and determine what you will need for the coming week. Then designate one time during the week for your main grocery trip and resist mini-trips during the week.
Pay bills online rather than writing them out by hand. This also saves the expense of checks, stamps, and envelopes.
Sort through and recycle unwanted mail when it arrives rather than letting it pile up.
Shop ahead for birthday parties and Christmas from clearance sales. This will not only save you time, but money as well.
During birthdays or holidays, when your children receive a large amount of toys, allow them to open one or two and put the rest away to open later (kind of like saving for a rainy day).
Set a schedule and stick to it. For instance, have your kids practice their musical instruments at the same time every night. This way they will know to expect it rather than fighting against it.
Establishing a routine is the key idea consistent in each of these tips. And these tips will not only help to save time but will also help to instill discipline in your children.
