Angie Rambles

Welcome May: Summer is almost here

2009-05-07T08:29:00.005-05:00

How is everyone doing? The warm weather is trying really hard to show it's face here in IL. We have had some nice days but I look forward to summer. Last night was our last spin class for a while since the gym is closing for two weeks. They have to work on the water system, paint, etc. It might be just what I need with the pinched nerve I have had for 3 weeks. You can read more about that over on my weight loss journal.

I have been working on my name domain website and will hopefully have that up this weekend. It will basically just showcase our websites and my favorite business resources, blogs and stuff like that. I needed one main hub where everything could go. I was going to start a blog with it and use it for personal stuff and business but I'm still debating on that. Do you have your own name domain? If so, please feel free to share it!

Thanks to the great ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom, I am in Jamaica mode this morning. They have a great giveaway (for FIVE people to win) for Ziggy Marley's Family Time CD. I LOVE it and want to win. Jamaica, Reggae, the Marley family, love it all. If you want some fun music to listen to head over there and enter.

While I'm here, did you know I'm on Facebook and Twitter? Hope we can connect!

How is life treating you? Life is good but I'm really facing some challenges both with my workouts and business so it's time to get moving. I have big goals and it's high time I focus more on making those goals become reality.

Oh and if you want to enter to win a very cool laptop and bag, visit Stephanie's Metropolitan Mama blog to enter to win the Toshiba Portege laptop and Small Phantom bag. Read the specs on this thing, it's A.MAZING!

Have a great day,

Mother's Day is coming soon

2009-04-28T12:06:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's almost Mother's Day. Still not sure what to send to my mom. Nothing like waiting until last minute. Last year I sent beautiful flowers and a balloon and she loved that. Any recommendations for this year?

Oh and be sure to check out the 5 Minutes for Mom Mother's Day Giveaway 2009. Holy cow there are so many cool things they are giving away.

I'm going to enter a few of them what about you?

What's Up With Me and Giveaways

2009-03-26T07:51:00.006-05:00

WOW, can't believe it's been a month since I last posted here! I have been putting most of my blogging efforts into my weight loss journal (blog) so again you can keep up with me over there if you choose. I haven't had the chance to get my new personal blog up so I'll just keep checking in here until I can get that together.

I'm so excited because next week my mom and dad are coming in to town to help celebrate my and Kev's birthday's. I'll be 37 next week, April Fool's Day. We are going to go to Bahama Breeze for dinner (I got a $10 coupon from them) and do a bit of shopping at our favorite tea shop, maybe grab a few things from Whole Foods and then get some yummy ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery (got another coupon, free b-day ice cream). I was laughing yesterday because I also just got a b-day coupon via email for Moe's, one of my favorite fast food restaurants. We might have to take a break from cleaning the house this weekend to go grab a free lunch ha ha. I don't usually use coupons but why not if I have them right? Looking forward to next week!

So what's on my b-day wish list you ask? I already ordered a few workout dvd's and they will be here Monday. I also want to look for an ipod docking station, a new camera, a carrying case for my Acer Mini laptop, new sports water bottles and oh new headphones for my ipod. The ones I have were supposed to be good but I don't like them at all. Got any recommendations?

Well, I'm having a blast with entering giveaways when I have time so I want to pass on some links to great items you can also enter to win. I'll try to check in more often with quick updates and giveaway links. Hope you are doing well!

Giveaways:

My friend Kailani from An Island Life and An Island Review has a yummy Bangerang Bake Shop goodie for one of her readers. Sounds so yummy!

$100 Amazon gift certificate giveaway! Need I say more? ha ha Stop by the Miscellaneous Finds 4 U blog to enter. I just found this blog today and can't wait to dig in more. They have a ton of reviews, a great section on blogging and graphics, community service and much more.

And now for a really amazing giveaway opportunity! A huge Kid's Creations outdoor playset and cool digital camera is up for grabs at Dad Blogs Big Spring Contest. I almost didn't enter because I don't have kids at home BUT I decided if I were to win, I would give this away to a family I know but I would keep the camera HA HA

So, I already told you what I would do with the playset if I were to win. I loved to swing when I was young and the playsets these days are full of other fun stuff like a cool rock climbing wall hello? Springtime is the perfect chance for kids to get out side and enjoy the weather so imagine winning this beauty! Run, don't walk to this giveaway and if you decide to sign up for their website, let me know your username because it counts as a referral for me *wink*

So there you have it, an update about me and a few awesome giveaways. Chat with you soon!

New giveaways for the next week will be added below:

Playtex Gloves giveaway over at An Island Life. Ohhh I could so use these!

If you love Dial products as much as I do, head on over to Rockin Mama's clean giveaway. I love the foaming Yogurt Vanilla and White Tea hand soap. Ahhh those scents are wonderful.

Eye 4 Gifts: Unique Handpainted Glass

2009-02-21T11:13:00.003-06:00

I love this store! Bought the "Birthday Girl" Martini glass for my friend's martini birthday party and it was a big hit. I totally forgot to take a picture of my friend WITH the glass so if you just click on the link above, you can see it. Of course it was personalized with her name and date so it was just perfect.

Jennifer, the owner was a great help and stayed in touch throughout the order process. Shipping was fast and the packaging perfect. Kev is already talking about future gifts we can get here. Learn more about Eye 4 Gifts here.

Eye 4 Gifts has such a wide variety of glasses

Wine
Martini
Margarita
Champagne

Here are some of my favorites:

Basset Hound Wine glass

The Palms Martini glass

Parrot-ita Margarita glass

Friendship on Fire Champagne glass

Be sure to check out the personalized and custom order sections on Eye 4 Gifts to see what they have to offer. And I see Jennifer has some specials going on too.

Happy Shopping!

February Check In

2009-02-21T08:08:00.004-06:00

How is your February going so far? Mine is good. Kev and I went to Bahama Breeze for our Valentine's Day dinner (but we went a few days before). Had to run errands so it was perfect timing so we would not have to brave the crowds. It was a pretty fabulous and healthy meal. We would've normally went to Red Lobster, our usual but I just wasn't feeling it this year.

Did you happen to catch my new ride? You can see it here and while you're there friend me on Facebook. Having fun with it. And Kev got one too but in silver. The color and mileage was the only difference. We are looking forward to a nice day where we can get a twin picture of the 2 trucks ha ha. Oh and it's a Dodge Nitro in case you're wondering.

Today it's snowing here in IL and we are staying home! Rented so many movies last night so we are going to just chill out and enjoy the day. Having a nice big bowl of oatmeal and getting work done while hubs sleeps.

Be sure to stop by my weight loss journal (blog) to keep up with my progress. Lately I have been at a standstill as far as the scale goes but I'm still truckin' along. I post frequently on that blog so it would be great to see you there.

Hope you have a great weekend!

PS. Here are some links to a few cool giveaways.

Don't miss the Mom Giveaways Spring Fling in March. It will be here before you know it! Be sure to enter to win the book, Deceptively Delicious. It looks really neat!

Also enter to win a Banana Nut Cheerios Gift basket

and lastly, I love bags so much this is the perfect giveaway. Enter to win one one of these Nest bags.

Checking in

2009-01-30T09:07:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to check in and remind you to visit my weight loss journal (blog) to keep up to date with me. I am doing well and keeping busy. I am looking forward to getting my name domain blog/site up in the near future so I'll be sure to announce it so you can be sure to follow me there.

Menu Plan Monday was also moved to that blog so drop on by and let me know what yummies you've been eating.

I have found some cool giveaways that I would like to share so I'll be posting those along the way as well.

My friend is having a martini birthday party tonight and I bought her the cutest martini glass. I'll do a review of the product soon so you can see. She's house sitting for this family and the house is huge. It has an indoor pool, hot tub and much more. She's there until March, lucky gal. LOL

The first giveaway I would like to share is a blog design giveaway. You know I could use this for my name domain on WordPress that I haven't even published live yet but I want you to have a chance to win too. These designs are A.mazing, love her work.

A few other giveaways can be found on Mel's fun blog, A Box of Chocolates. Get your last minute entries in.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Make it a great one!

L'Oreal Paris and A Mom in Red High Heels

2009-01-09T12:33:00.004-06:00

My online friend Tammy of A Mom in Red High Heels has the coolest opportunity. She's in Beverly Hills at the L'Oreal Paris Gifting Suite at the Golden Globes. As the celebs go through the suite she will blog about the beauty and fashion trends she sees AND she'll let us know what kind of SWAG is going out the door. Ahhh wish I could be there with her but I don't know much about beauty or fashion (that is why I read her blog in the first place LOL). Hope you'll take a minute to check out her blog.

Edited to add:

Tammy has a cool L'Oreal SWAG giveaway posted on her blog. You should go and enter. I'm on my way there now.

Menu Plan Monday: January 2009

2009-01-05T20:40:00.002-06:00

I am now posting my Menu Plan Monday on my healthy weight loss journal (blog). I sure hope you'll come by and read there. I know I have not been posting a lot to this blog but I am going to ultimately have a blog on my name domain which will replace this one at some point so I'm looking forward to that. I'll be posting here off and on until I get that blog up and running. Just wanted to give you a quick update.

Happy New Year!

Menu Plan Monday: December 29

2008-12-29T19:38:00.004-06:00

It seems like forever since I did a Menu Plan Monday and this week we haven't even planned out a menu so it really doesn't even count. I'll most likely start doing my Menu Plan on my healthy weight loss journal (blog) but I'll post the link here so you can still see what's on our menu.

This week we play it by ear:

Monday-Chili
Tuesday- BBQ Turkey sandwiches?
Wednesday- Our 12th Anniversary, New Year's Eve is always at Beni Hana
Thursday- Happy New Year
Friday-?

Have a great week! What yummies are on your menu?

I'm back and Happy Holiday's

2008-12-27T20:50:00.006-06:00

Just sitting here at the computer enjoying some yummy tea. The Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Holiday Tea is absolutely fantastic. So tasty my 24 year old stepson even likes it LOL. Here is the tea with two hilarious mugs my stepdaughter bought for hubs and myself. The mugs say, "Here human, human, human" and they came from the MGM Grand in Vegas.

Anyway, I just wanted to do a quick check-in to let you know I'm still around. Getting back from Jamaica and going right into Christmas prep was tough and kept us busy. We arrived home on Dec. 18th, had to pick up our Basset Hound at the kennel on Friday, pick up my stepdaughter at the airport Saturday and then a family party on Sunday. Then two days to shop for gifts (yes, I procrastinated this year and had to do last minute shopping and we were out until 1 AM last Tuesday). Found out that my parent's would not be coming as planned due to bad weather. I was very sad about that and shed a few tears but they are going to try to come for a visit in April to celebrate our birthday's so that should be fun.

Tonight we went out and I bought some holiday and winter CD's at a nice discount (I added the CD titles to my Holiday Music list and we got some stuff for the Wii. Hubs and stepson are playing that right now. He's over to do laundry and hang out and earlier we played Wii's, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. Fun game!

I'm running my personal and business goals through my head this next week and would like to get my office organized too. We shall see.

Kev and I had an absolutely marvelous time in Jamaica as usual and are already discussing returning next December to spend Christmas there. That would be perfect. Many of you have asked for some pictures and with Kev taking over 4,000 pictures we haven't had a chance to go through them. I did find some that I took on my piddly little camera so I'll share a few to whet your whistle. Enjoy

Ahh the memories. These two pictures I took from our Beachfront Suite. Hubs treated me to a special anniversary gift, a room upgrade the last 4 days of our stay and it had the most awesome view as you can see. I was spoiled. He's the greatest. We will celebrate 12 fabulous years together this Wednesday, New Year's Eve. I'm really blessed.

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things so we can blast through 2009 only to return to Jamaica again.

Missed you all.

Menu Plan Monday: December 8

2008-12-08T08:12:00.004-06:00

Oh this week is exciting! We'll be in Jamaica so we'll be eating REALLY well.

Monday-
I'm on my own, hubs has work holiday party. I'm thinking I'll eat a sweet potato with black beans and chicken breast strips.

Tuesday-
No plan yet but something quick because we have to pack and get everything else done we need to get done. Plus I'm heading out to a very late lunch with a friend. I'm thinking peanut butter and jelly for dinner. Not sure how hubs will feel about that HA HA.

*edited to add hubs says we are ordering in tomorrow night (Tues.) so that solves it but what to order? I dunno yet. Probably something naughty like pizza LOL

Wednesday on we'll be eating yummy food in JAMAICA as long as the weather cooperates and lets us out of town. Please pray, no snow or ice!

Have a great few weeks!

Checking In, ready for vacation

2008-12-07T18:54:00.007-06:00

I'm taking a break from everything I have to get done before we leave for Jamaica. I'm also stressing that the weather is going to be an issue when we go to leave. Please keep good thoughts that the snow and ice they are calling for will stay away, at least until we fly out LOL!

I have been busy cleaning, doing laundry, shopping and getting all the techy gadgets ready for the trip. Hubs bought me the new Sapphire Blue Acer Mini computer and I love it. Look at this beauty

It's going to be perfect for our trip so we can offload pictures and I can check in with the house sitters.

We also got the Christmas tree up and mostly decorated. I still have to put down the tree skirt and decorate the house. The theme for our tree from here on out is the BEACH so you'll see most of our ornaments will have to do with that. I have a few more to put up on the tree but here is what we have so far. The pics didn't turn out so good, sorry.

When we get back from Jamaica, we pick up the dog at the kennel, my stepdaughter will fly in the next day, we have our family Christmas party and then one day to get more cleaning done and my parent's come in to town for the holiday's. I'm excited but we'll probably need another vacation after all that ha ha.

As you can imagine, I most likely won't be blogging while we're in Jamaica but I will post our trip journal and pictures when we return.

Have a great few weeks!

Menu Plan Monday: December 1

2008-12-01T08:55:00.004-06:00

Monday-
Turkey Tacos

Tuesday-
Chicken, potato, veggie

Wednesday-
Turkey Chili

Thursday-
Spaghetti w/Hot Italian Turkey Sausage, biscuit bread

Friday-
Turkey burgers/hot dogs, baked beans

Have a great week!

Getting into the holiday spirit

2008-11-30T14:31:00.003-06:00

For those in the US how was your Thanksgiving? Ours was pretty nice. My stepson spent Wednesday night with us and all three of us went to spin class and to workout at the gym early Thanksgiving morning. It was nice.

We cooked a ham, sweet potatoes, asparagus and acorn squash plus hubs made deviled eggs. We also had a pumpkin pie (for stepson) and a strawberry rhubarb (for hubby). I had a slice of each, yes I did LOL Definitely not as much as years past but that is OK with me. Christmas Eve and Christmas I presume will be much different since we'll have a lot more company. Excited about that because my stepdaughter and my parent's will come into town.

Kev and I are getting ready to head to Jamaica and we cannot wait. It's going to be a much needed relaxing vacation. I won't be posting on this blog while I'm gone but will have a recap with pictures upon our return so be on the look out.

Yesterday, my Twitter friend Robin asked for Christmas CD recommendations and it got me into the holiday spirit having to get them all out so I started to play them while working. Now I can't stop listening! Here are some of my favorite holiday music CD's. What are your favorite holiday music CD's?

I still have to get out the Christmas tree and decorate that plus decorate around the house. This year I wanted to have enough ornaments to have a beach/Jamaican themed tree but no such luck. My goal in 2009 is to gather a ton of beach themed ornies like palm trees, flip flops, anything that resembles the beach or Jamaica and have them cover the whole tree next year. We'll see! I found a lot of cool palm tree ornaments on Etsy last night so I'll be shopping away.

Hubby just baked blueberry-bana muffins and they taste so good. We have been sick this week, today is the worst but at least it's before vacation right? I have a huge to-do list for this week so I'm off.

Hope you have a great week! Happy Holiday's

Black Friday: Time to shop

2008-11-26T09:11:00.005-06:00

Black Friday is almost here! I don't personally go out and shop on this day but my neighbor always has her entire morning planned out and comes back with the best deals. She begs me to join her every year but I can't bring myself to brave the crowds. Shopping online makes me very happy.

I have been working on my Amazon wish list today and it's just so convenient to be able to show family and friends when they ask what I want for Christmas.

Do you have an Amazon wish list? If so, I would love to take a peek so feel free to leave your link here.

And now I'm curious, do you prefer to go out and shop the Black Friday sales or would you rather stay home and shop online like me?

Happy Shopping! And don't forget, a smile goes a long way.

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

2008-11-25T09:17:00.004-06:00

My friend Marie has a fun meme going on her blog. Won't you play along?

I participated on my weight loss journal (blog) and wanted to spread the word. Let me know if you participate so I can read what you are most thankful for today.

Menu Plan Monday: November 24

2008-11-24T06:42:00.003-06:00

It's a holiday week so meals are going to be pretty simple.

Monday-
Tuna & Soup

Tuesday-
Kashi Moroccan Curry (with chicken)

Wednesday-
Order in (my stepson is spending the night)

Thursday-
Happy Thanksgiving

Friday-
Leftovers or breakfast for dinner (with ham of course)

Sat. & Sun.-
As usual we play it by ear

Make it a great week! Happy Thanksgiving.

Menu Plan Monday: November 17

2008-11-17T12:18:00.004-06:00

Another crazy week! Have no clue really what we'll have as I'm trying to eat a lot of what is in the cupboards before going grocery shopping again. Not sure if it will work but here are some of the meal ideas we have so far. Just throwing possible ideas together of course LOL so no set menu plan this week

*Tonight (Mon.), I know we'll have breakfast for dinner (waffles, bananas, etc.).

*Turkey and salmon burgers with potato fries

*The usual Thursday night spaghetti w/turkey sausage, homemade pasta sauce and biscuit bread

*Turkey chili

*Breakfast again (eggs, sausage, etc.)

Hmmm guess that gets us through the week. Maybe we'll go grocery shopping this weekend or try to make it until we go shopping for Thanksgiving which by the way we are having my stepson over this year. Went to my parent's last year (and will totally miss that this year) but my stepson asked what we were planning because his mom is going out of town this year so we'll have him over to celebrate. He even gave us a coupon that he got from work for a FREE ham, way cool!

Be sure to head on over and link to your Menu Plan Monday

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday: November 10

2008-11-10T07:30:00.002-06:00

This week is kinda crazy. Hubby has a procedure coming up on Wed. so food on Tues. and Wed. is up in the air. Here's what is on the menu as of right now.

Monday-
Turkey Brats, baked beans

Tuesday-
Omelets

Wednesday-
Tuna & Soup

Thursday-
Spaghetti, homemade sauce w/ground turkey, biscuit bread

Friday-
Turkey sloppy joes

Have a great week!

My Husband Rocks- He Plays Chauffeur

2008-11-07T12:57:00.005-06:00

My husband rocks for so many reasons. But this week, my hubby rocks because he is going to play chauffeur tonight for myself to get to the city of Chicago to meet some of my favorite food and weight loss/fitness bloggers. Hubby works all day and will come home tonight to just turn right around to drive down to the city which will take us over an hour. THEN on Sunday, a blogger friend of mine from out of town and I were going to take the train from the suburbs into the city until Kev had me check the schedule and train service doesn't eve start until 9 AM and we need to be down there by 9:30 AM so hubby will play chauffeur once again on Sunday morning.

What a great guy! I know he doesn't really want to do this but he is anyway and THAT is why my hubby rocks.

Why don't you join the blog meme fun?

Menu Plan Monday: November 3

2008-11-03T10:21:00.004-06:00

It's Menu Plan Monday and Laura has a giveaway. All you have to do to enter is post your menu plan and link up on her blog.

I imagine our week is going to be kind off because we won't have an oven to cook anything. Kev went to roast artichokes in the oven last night and the whole kitchen and living room was full of a terrible gas smell. He checked it out and the broiler worked but there was very little flame lighting the gas stove/oven. So needless to say, we now have to look for a new oven. UGH!

Here's the tentative plan.

Monday-
Pasta w/leftover veggie pasta sauce, grilled artichokes and garlic bread (hmm looks like I need a protein in there, not sure what we'll do about that)

Tuesday-
BBQ Chicken, potato, veggie

Wednesday-
Tuna and Soup

Thursday-
Jamaican Jerk Chicken or Trader Joe's Chicken Sausages, potato, veggie (this day is up in the air)

Friday-
Dinner out

Let's pray the microwave and grill don't go kaput this week too, knock on wood LOL

Make it a great week!

My Husband Rocks- Halloween Edition

2008-10-31T16:07:00.006-05:00

My hubby rocks-he's so creative and likes to have fun.

Kev manages an Allergy/Asthma practice and everyone in his office dressed up as the 7 Dwarf's today. Here is his costume that he sewed this week. From a simple Disney picture, he was able to create the most adorable costume. He was Dopey, what a cutie. Can't wait until he gets home so all the neighborhood kids can see him.

He shaved off his moustache AND goatee though, boo hoo

Here's his office crew

Last year he was Mr. Mucus, the big green guy from Mucinex and the year before he was a milk carton (everyone in the office was an item people are allergic to). Cute stuff.

Would you like to join in on this fun meme? Visit Katy Lin's blog and play along

A very Happy and Safe Halloween to all.

edited to add a link to Kailani's post Halloween costume contest. Be sure to head over there to enter your pictures AND check out all the cute costumes already posted. Love them all!

Menu Plan Monday: October 27

2008-10-27T08:19:00.004-05:00

It's Menu Plan Monday. Here's our plan for this week. What are your menu plans?

Monday-
Chicken Stir Fry w/veggies & brown rice

Tuesday-
Turkey Chili w/biscuits

Wednesday-
Pork Roast w/veggies

Thursday-
Spaghetti w/biscuit loaf

Friday-
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Over the weekend Kev wants me to try to make pizza dough in my new Oster ExpressBake Breadmaker That will be interesting and fun. Do you have a breadmaker? If so, have you ever made pizza dough? I need to find a whole wheat dough recipe because the one in the guide is for white only. I could also do a mix, white/wheat flour.

Menu Plan Monday: October 20

2008-10-20T20:42:00.004-05:00

Menu Plan Monday is here again.

To be honest, we don't really have a menu plan for this week so I'm just putting down possible ideas and we'll take it from there.

Monday-
Turkey tacos (yummy dinner!)

Tuesday-
Keywest blend Chicken, potato, veggie

Wednesday-
Black Beans & Rice w/turkey sausage

Thursday-
Breakfast for dinner (don't have the makings for spaghetti unless I can get to the store)

Friday-
Turkey burgers/hot dogs

Gosh, I am just throwing this all together and have no idea if that's what we'll have. Feel out of sorts today.

What are you having for dinner this week?

Work Life Balance=Less stress

2008-10-18T17:21:00.004-05:00

My friend Aurelia has an awesome resource for work life balance and shows you ways to reduce stress. Her website has helped me gain perspective over the years and Aurelia herself has been a great life coach. I have met Aurelia in person and she's just a joy to be around. Here's a great article from her that you might enjoy.

Stress Reduction Tips For The Entire Family

Busy family lifestyles lead to stressed out families. Stressed out families can often lead to more problems and issues. Learning to deal with family stress before the stress becomes a huge problem is a good idea. If you already have problems, then learning to deal with the issues that are causing you stress is essential in helping you to overcome these difficulties.

One of the largest contributors to stress is over commitment. Families are pulled in multiple directions by varying activities. The more children there are the more activities there are, the more refined the balancing act becomes.

Think about the list of activities that you and your children are involved in. Why are they involved in each activity? Is it because they have a passion for it or is it because they needed to have a more rounded activity schedule? Let your child choose a few activities that they feel drawn to. Let them explore their passions, but don't sign them up for every activity there is. Teach them to pick and choose their priorities when choosing activities. Doing one thing and doing it well is different from doing several things that there isn’t a passion for.

The same that applies for your children and their activities should apply to yours as well. Learn to say no. If you are already committed to several activities and are stressed for time, do you really need to participate in one more activity? Learning to say no and to weed through the activities you already do will help cut down on your stress.

A less stressed parent makes a less stressed child. Our moods and behaviors are often reflected in our children. Leading by example is a wonderful motto to live by. Our children see how we deal with stress and emulate it. Wading through our activities and learning to say no are only two activities. Another one would be to learn to slow down and enjoy family time.

When is the last time you had a sit down meal with everyone gathered around the table? A meal where there was no rush to get somewhere or to go and pick someone up. Having a meal together is a family bonding time. It is an excellent opportunity for children and parents to be together. They can discuss what is on their minds, what goals they have or even what is bothering them, to cause stress. Just this simple act of sitting down and sharing a meal can lower stress in a family.

Have a family movie or game night. These are activities that everyone can enjoy together. Have the children and parents take turns picking out movies or games to play. There may be old family favorites or you may find new ones that become your family's games.

Whatever you choose, do it together. The more a family shares, at meals, movies or over games, the closer they become. A closer a family is the more they are inclined to talk and discuss things. This is a great combat against family stress.

Reduce your family's stress with Real Life Solutions from Aurelia Williams.

I really enjoyed that article especially because it's true. My stepson is now 24 and comes over often even though he works and lives on his own. 9 times out of 10 we have a homemade dinner together and play games when he visits. Just wish my stepdaughter could be to experience it as well but she lives with her hubby in another state. One day!

PS. Oh and don't miss Aurelia's great book on Finding More Family Time