Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp Kebabs + 10 Tips to Totally Take Care of Your Family This Summer

Disclosure: I received LISTERINE® Brand products and a Walgreens gift card from Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the LISTERINE® Brand Totally Taken Care Of program. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own. #ListerineMom

My family spends so much of the time indoors, but the summer weather definitely gives us more excuses to get outside, from grilling out to playing with the dog, and doing yard work.  Whether we’re at work or play, I always try to take extra steps to take care of my family.  Today, in partnership with Walgreen’s, Johnson & Johnson, and Listerine, I’ll be sharing some of my tips to make sure your family is totally taken care of.

10 Tips to Totally Take Care of Your Family

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Christmas Gifts for Boys with Daisy, Plus $100 Academy Giveaway and a Free Printable

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ItsADaisy #CollectiveBias


Daisy BB Gun

Does your child spend a lot of time staring at computer screens, mobile devices, and electronic games?  Ours too!  Each day after school, Noah can hardly wait to get home to his computer (as he’s mobile gaming in the back seat).  But we also encourage him to do outdoor activities.  For example, he likes to go camping, fishing, and hunting.  And while we can’t exactly do these activities every day, going out to do some target shooting is quite do-able.  For this reason, we got Noah an early Christmas present: the Daisy 880 BB Gun. Noah is 14, so this is a very good gun for his age group.  If you want your child to spend more time outdoors too, you can encourage them and teach them about hunting or camping. Daisy has a lot of great Christmas gifts for boys and girls. [Read more…]

Making Good Decisions Online and #ShareAwesome Contest

The National PTA and LifeLock are teaming up for  #ShareAwesome, an advocacy campaign designed to encourage families to embrace technology and use it for good, making positive, safe decisions online.  Secondly they wish to open up a conversation between parents and kids, so that teens and tweens can make good decisions online.

This campaign is of particular interest to me, because every afternoon when I sit down at my desk to edit photos or write I post, I can’t help but overhear a young gamer playing on his computer in the next room.  When he’s not at school, participating in activities, or sleeping, Noah is glued to his computer! The fact that we can hear him through the walls is a good thing, as it gives us a chance to monitor his activities without constantly looking over his shoulder.  But apart from this, we try to encourage positive and safe behavior online, so that we won’t have to worry about Noah in times when we can’t be there to listen in. [Read more…]

Summer Fun with Cutter® Insect Repellents #CutterRepellents #ad

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cutter® Insect Repellents.

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Are you spending a lot of time outdoors this summer?  Here in the South, it’s really almost too hot to go outside and enjoy anything.  Usually my husband and I like to wait until the evening time.  Just before and after the sun sets, the weather is perfect for grilling out, playing music, or just sitting around and talking.  The only problem with going out at this time is bugs.  For that we like to keep around plenty of Cutter® insect repellents:

Cutter® has several products to help you keep the insects at bay so that you and the family can enjoy the outdoors without having to worry about bloodsucking pest. The products include their CitroGuard Candles, Yard foggers and sprays, as well as personal insect repellents in spray and wipe form.

Cutter Insect Repellents [Read more…]

Avoid Distracted Driving #DecidetoDrive

This week I’m teaming up with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Auto Alliance to promote a very special cause.  The Decide to Drive campaign was started to raise the awareness of distracted driving and its dangers.  Having known people, including family members who were involved in car accidents, this is a very important issue to me.  In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), of the nearly 33,000 roadway fatalities in 2012, there were 3,328 fatalities and approximately 421,000 injuries in distracted driving-related crashes. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 152

friday favorites

Welcome to Friday Favorites!

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This week’s party is sponsored by Julian & Co, a maker of fine, personalized, heirloom quality jewelry for moms and grandmothers.  Through Friday get 20% off at their site with the coupon code: LOVE.

Now I’m excited to share more Valentine’s Day features with you this week!

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Drive Safer with the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pep Boys for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

Pep Boys logo.JPG (3 documents, 3 total pages)

I finally saw some signs of fall this week.  We had a a couple of rainy days and nights, followed by a couple of cool days that began with thick fog! I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of driving at night, and I’ve always hated driving in inclement weather!

But driving under inclement weather conditions is a lot safer if you perform proper automobile maintenance and headlight restoration.

October is Headlight Safety Month, so it is the perfect time for drivers to address a key safety issue on America’s roads that rarely comes to light: dim headlight bulbs and hazy headlight lenses, which may lead to reduced visibility.

 

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One solution to this problem is the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit.  Available in Pep Boys stores, this kit is designed to restore headlight lenses that are losing clear visibility. This increases the visibility capacity of fogged, yellowed, cloudy or hazy dull looking headlights by improving their performance.

I’ve had my car for 10 years, and it’s a 1999 model.  I’ve been able to keep the car in good condition for the most part, but the headlights are definitely hazy!

Here’s an example of a Before and After results of using the 3M Headlight Restoration Kit:


beforeandafter.jpg (4 documents, 4 total pages)

And not only is it effective against those hazy, yellowed headlights, but it is also very easy to use!  I usually count on my husband or my to take care of anything having to do with the car, but even I can do use this kit!

Go by your nearest Pep Boys store to pick up this kit and keep your headlights shining bright throughout the fall and winter seasons!

 

 

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Visit Sponsor's Site

National Preparedness Month

It’s interesting that as kids in schools (and in the work place as well) there is so much emphasis placed on safety. In school each month we had firedrills and tornado drills. And we learned all about how we can keep our home safe and free of hazards, but unfortunately these lessons don’t always carry over into adulthood because we just assume that the accident or emergency won’t happen to us, and we take our safety and good fortune for granted.

And it’s in these times when we’re unprepared and we’re least expecting it that something does happen. Personally I don’t think you can ever be fully prepared for an emergency; nor can you ever be quite certain of how you’ll handle yourself in emergency until you’ve done it. No matter how well you plan, there’s always this chance that in the heat of the moment, you’ll make a mistake or forget the protocol. But this all the more reason that we should at least try to be prepared.

I was cruising through some of the usual blogs I visit, when I ran across a post at Get Organized Now regarding National Preparedness Month. I remember reading about this in the past, but I had totally forgotten about it until I saw it on this blog. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is the sponsor of National Preparedness Month, which is an effort to inform the American people and encourage them to get their home and family prepared for any disaster or emergency that may occur. This includes everything from making a disaster supply kit to planning an escape route in the event of a fire. To learn more about National Preparedness Month and download emergency plans and supply lists and other information, visit Ready.gov.

Summer Safety: Sunburn Remedies

As as kid, I got sunburned a lot. I was–ahem, am– very fair complected, and some of the times even Water Babies couldn’t save me. But as an adult I’ve learned to be more careful and reapply my sunscreen, but sometimes in the name trying to get a tan, I still little burned. After going to the beach several weeks ago, I looked up some sun burn cures/remedies on the net, and I thought I’d share some of these with you. I wish I’d had these years ago!

Showers – Right after coming in from the sun, take a warm to hot shower (before it actually starts burning. The hot water can help to open your pores, draw the heat out of your skin, and can help to ease the burn before it starts.
And after your skin actually starts to “burn”, take cool showers (at least 2 a day) to moisturize the skin and ease pain & itching.

Aloe – One of the most popular cures for sunburn. Use actual aloe leaves, or buy it in a bottle at the store. Apply several times a day to keep skin moist.
After-Sun Lotion – I use Banana Boat Moisturizing After Sun Lotion. It contains aloe & vitamin E. It’s designed to keep your skin moisturized and “extend” your tan.
Apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) – Apply apple cider vinegar to the burn with a cottonball, or make a compress. This remedy should prevent peeling. **A few weeks ago, after a day at the beach I tried this one myself. I was unsure of the immediate effects of it, but I can tell you that I didn’t peel–and my skin was burned worse than a previous beach trip where I did peel, so I think the ACV helped.)

Aspirin – this will relieve pain, reduce fever, and reduce inflammation. It should be taken within 24 hours of getting sunburned.

Ice packs – These can help to keep the skin cool & basically numb the skin. (very good, if you’re itching!)
Baking soda – Dissolve some baking soda in water and make a compress using a clean cloth or add baking soda to bath water. Let the skin dry on its own. This should also help to keep skin moisturized.

Oatmeal Pack – Place some instant oatmeal in a bowl. Place a small amount of water in the bowl, just enough to moisten the oatmeal. Take a damp cloth and dip out some of the oatmeal on to the cloth. Place it on the burn for 15-20 minutes. (I actually tried this one; I placed a towel on the couch, then laid the oatmeal pack on top of it, and laid with my back on the oatmeal pack. It immediately relieved my itching.)

Milk – Before taking a bath, make a compress of cool milk. Apply it to the skin and leave it on for 20 minutes. Then wash off. The fat content is said to help cool the burns but it shouldn’t clog your pores the way butter would.

Cucumbers – To soothe the burn, rub the sunburn with fresh cucumber slices.
Epsom salts – Dissolve epsom salts in water and make a compress using a clean cloth.

Potato -Grate a potato and apply it to the burned area to cool and soothe the burn.

Yogurt -apply plain yogurt with live cultures, let it stand for a few minutes, then rinse off under cool water.

Lavender – Mix 20-25 drops of lavender oil in one cup of water and bathe the sunburned area.

Lemon water – Mix the juice of three lemons into two cups of cold water and rub it on the burn with a rag or sponge. The lemon will cool the burn, act as a disinfectant, and will promote healing of the skin.


Works For Me Wednesday: Remedies for Insect Bites & Stings

I decided to participate in W4MW again this week, and in keeping with my Summer Safety theme, I came up with a list of treatments for wasp, yellow jacket, and bee stings. Shortly after I met my husband, we were outside walking, and I got stung. I had told him before that I was allergic to wasps & bees. And in the days following the sting, he admitted to me that he had kinda thought I was exaggerating a bit about how allergic I was, that is, until he saw how badly swollen my foot got. When he saw that my foot was still swollen after 4 or 5 days, he swore he’d be taking me to the hospital if I ever got stung again…and looking back, that’s probably not a bad idea.

It’s funny…as I think about all my topics for this week’s posts, I’m reminded why I don’t like the outdoors…because every time I go out there, something happens to me!

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If you are highly allergic to wasp & bee stings, you should seek immediate medical attention. Don’t wait for the the sting to swell, etc. At the emergency room they will remove the stinger & will most likely give you a shot to prevent pain, swelling, and itching.

Otherwise you can take care of the stings yourself through a number of techniques and treatments. Here are some which I have used to provide relief:

If stung by a bee, you should remove the stinger as soon as possible. It is said that using a credit card for the removal of the stinger, rather than using tweezers is best, as to prevent the stinger from breaking and/or releasing more poison in to your body. But the most important thing is to remove it.

Shortly after being stung, use tobacco on the sting. Use chewing tobacco or tobacco out of a cigarette. Place a few drops of water on the tobacco and then place it on the sting. Cover with a bandage or gauze. It doesn’t feel good to have this one the sting. You’ll feel a little pressure and a pounding/pulsating feeling. But this method is very effective at preventing some of the pain and swelling.

Take an antihistamine, such as a Benadryl.

As with other injuries, you should wash the sting with soap and water.

Ice may used to relieve itching and pain.

Use creams such as Cortizone or Benadryl.

Also, try Campho Phenique. I’ve never personally tried this for a wasp/bee sting, but Campho Phenique works wonders on mosquito bites (more so than the other creams), and I imagine that it would work better on stings as well.

Use a pain reliever such as Advil or Tylenol for the pain.

Keep the sting elevated if possible. Elevation is very important; this prevents a lot of blood flow from going down to the area of the sting, and will help with pain and itching. And if stung on the foot, avoid walking if possible, as this will cause more pain and swelling. You should also avoid writing, typing, or doing other work with your hands, if you are stung on the hand.

Lightly rub the sting, Don’t Scratch!

What Has Worked for Others:
Here is a list of other items you can try. I’ve not used these personally, but on the around the internet, others have attested that these remedies work.

  • applying meat tenderizer
  • applying toothpaste
  • applying tobacco
  • applying chili paste
  • applying mint leaves
  • applying clay paste, and
  • applying a copper coin
  • applying hot water
  • applying lavender oil
  • baking soda
  • vinegar

To view other Works for Me Wednesday posts, visit Rocks in My Dryer.