Home And Family

When you’re the host, there are so many things to consider, from invitations and the guest list to the menu and the music. Don’t make etiquette mistakes that will ruin the party for everyone; learn what not to do to have a wonderful party.

Guest List. When you are compiling the guest list, be aware of any guests who might not be compatible, whether they are exes, bosses or simply people who just don’t get along. Make sure you choose guests who will interact well together and who will keep the event lively. Invite a reasonable number of guests; too many or too few can create an atmosphere you weren’t looking for.

Menu. When you are planning the food for a party, it is your responsibility to think about what your guests will like. Avoid serving taboo foods to people with known allergies or religious food restrictions. If your party is serving alcohol, be sure to have some non-alcoholic alternatives for those who choose not to drink. Be aware when you are serving alcohol that you don’t let your guests drink too much, as you can be liable for accidents caused by your guests while intoxicated.

Socialization. As host, it’s up to you to make sure that your guests are comfortable and having fun. Don’t assume that guests are going to open right up and get to know each other. Make introductions and find common ground enough to make guests comfortable, and keep checking throughout the event to make sure nobody is feeling left out.

Attitude. The worst thing a host can do at a party is to become overstressed and create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Becoming upset at spills or mistakes that happen will only bring the party down, so treat everything with a sense of humor. Chances are, you are the one most bothered by any particular incident. If you can laugh it off, you and your guests will enjoy the evening more.

Goodbyes. Don’t make the mistake of allowing guests to linger longer than you had planned. While you don’t want to make guests feel as if they are being rushed out the door, your party is not necessarily an all-night event, either. Allow guests to take the hint that it’s time to leave by helping them gather their coats, offering a last cup of coffee or boxing up leftover food for them to take home.

During a woman’s pregnancy, she is prone to a lot of discomfort and hemorrhoids are one of them. This is condition wherein the veins around the anus or the lower rectum appear swollen and inflamed. They may either be internal or external depending on what type of vein was affected. Luckily, there are several trusted hemorrhoids pregnancy treatment available especially for pregnant women.

Pregnant women would experience hemorrhoids usually during their last trimester. This reason for this is that the growing fetus and uterus induce the pressure on the veins on the lower pelvic area. Technically, hormonal changes affect the enlargement of the hemorrhoid vessels and the typical symptom of pregnancy that is constipation is actually the main culprit for hemorrhoids.

Hemorrhoids pregnancy treatment may be possible using home remedies or topical creams just as long as there is an initial check up with the doctor. The doctor would be able to determine what would be the best treatment for you, depending on the severity and the type of hemorrhoids you are having.

Most of the time, hemorrhoid pregnancy treatment is centered on relieving symptoms. What follows next is the increase intake of fiber and fluids which would relieve pressure in the hemorrhoid veins. Also, bowel habit should be modified to cater to specific needs while in treatment.

The doctor may suggest application of topical creams and ointments that are safe to use during pregnancy together with the application of ice pack on the infected area for 10 to 15 minutes, 4 times daily. He would also be advising you to increase your fiber and fluid intake and might suggest some stool softeners in your diet, too. Once you and your doctor have decided on what hemorrhoid pregnancy treatment you wish to have, make sure you remember not to rush whenever you are in the toilet. It is always better to take your time.

Children are not simply mature adults. Their digestive systems are immature on a physical and functional level. Digestion and diet is extremely important when it comes to preventing and treating disease in children. Unfortunately, the food industry has spent millions upon millions to convince moms that convenience is the most important piece of food selection. But if you think about it, staying up all night with a child who has an ear infection or a fever is not all that convenient. Maybe it’s time to rethink the way we feed our kids.

After studying many dietary theories, I’ve come to the conclusion that Chinese dietary theory makes the most sense of any approach to healthy eating. Chinese medicine have been utilized for thousands of years and has much to teach us about feeding our kids.

Prevention is key to our health and well being. It is so much easier to stay well than it is to get well once we’ve become sick. The Chinese have a saying that treating a disease is like digging a well after you’ve become thirsty. We might think of it closing the barn door after the horse has run off! Consider this approach with feeding your children. We’ve all heard lots about the skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity, food allergies, asthma, behavior problems and many other disorders. What can we do on a daily basis to make sure our children won’t have to suffer from these problems?

Here are some pointers from the wisdom of Chinese medicine that will help to make sure your baby/ toddler gets off to a good start.

Introducing solids

Your baby’s first foods are essential and will determine the health of your baby for the next couple of years.

Here are some common mistakes parents make when starting solids:

• Don’t start too early- make sure your baby is ready. There is no advantage to pushing solids earlier, there is no proof that your child will sleep thru the night if you start solids early- its simply not true. Introducing solids too early may cause food allergies, digestive problems and a host of other issues.
• Do not introduce too many different foods too rapidly. Take at least one week for each food. PAY ATTENTION! Are your child’s poops affected? Signs of indigestion: gas, loose stools, constipation, increased mucus, skin eruptions. Discontinue that food and wait a few weeks or longer before re-introducing it.
• Don’t introducing the wrong foods Which foods are the wrong foods? Foods that make the foundation of the Standard American Diet: Baked flour products, cheese, sweets, ice cream, chemicalized processed food products. !If you introduce these food products too early before the digestive system is ready to handle them, you’ll end up with dampness, phlegm, and stagnation. in the digestive tract. According to Chinese medicine, these can result in allergies, skin problems and chronic upper respiratory issues.

Growing children’s digestive systems are cold by nature so they need WARM food.

Babies do not have molars to grind food! Therefore, food should be pureed like a thick soup use a blender or a food mill. Serve food warm, mashed, pureed and cooked, Never raw. Introduce one single food at a time, this way you can see if the child can truly digest that food.

Think of introducing foods as a very important form of an elimination diet! This is most important action you can take to avoid the creation of food allergies.

Here are some ideas for first foods:

• Start with well cooked rice, pureed into a congee- a soupy rice porridge.
• Follow with cooked pureed carrots, roasted butternut squash
• Mashed sweet potatoes
• Mashed regular potatoes
• Mashed cooked peas or beans.
• WAIT until way later to introduce animal protein, cheese, wheat, corn
• GO ORGANIC! DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHANCES WITH GMO FOODS Kids are not just small adults. Pesticide residues do have an impact on growing babies.

Here’s a list of foods to avoid in the first years:

• Fruit juices. The sweetness of juice can be especially harmful for small babies and toddlers AND can create a sugar addiction! Stick with room temperature or warm water. There is NO nutritional benefit in giving any child juice! Everyone is much better off eating fruit and drinking water instead. Starting kids on juice will not only create unnecessary mucus/ upper respiratory infections, it will help to create picky eating behavior into the toddler and preschool years.
• Bread and all baked flour products do not supply significant nutrition and can act the same way that refined sugar does.
• Raw veggies- very indigestible for small children.
• Cheese- super phlegm/ mucus forming.
• Sweets/ Ice cream wait as long as possible to introduce these completely unnecessary foods.

We all love sugar and sweets. Some of us love them too much! This is not a perfect world and sugary food products are everywhere. As parents, it is up to us to monitor and limit the amount of sweets that our kids eat. We do have to step in and set limits when sugar intake becomes excessive to the point of setting up disease mechanisms.

The list of foods to avoid looks like the standard American diet that so many of us feed our toddlers and small children. No wonder we see so many food allergies, skin eruptions and drippy snotty noses! All of these foods are damp and mucus causing according to Chinese medicine!

Most importantly, feed your children real food, not food products. It’s easy to mash a bit of roasted butternut squash as you make some squash or other real food for the rest of your family. No need to be a short order cook, feed your baby/ toddler what the rest of the family eats. Just make sure you and the rest of your family is walking the real food walk! It really is more convenient in the long run to have your kids healthy, introducing the right foods at the right time is the secret formula for success.

Think of the digestive system as a stove, food needs to be warm to be effectively digested. Think body temperature around 100 degrees for all food and drink. If you think about it, breast milk is delivered at the ideal temperature for babies. Do not serve food to baby at room temperature, warm it up a bit to support digestion. Never give a baby or toddler cold, chilled or frozen foods. This will cause dampness/ stagnation which results in digestive tract complaints, mucus and skin problems.

Cheek art (also known as cheek painting) is one of the easiest styles of face painting to master and also a great way to extend your face painting repertoire.燡ust about anything can be painted on the cheek from simple shapes like hearts or stars to more detailed pictures such as team mascots or national flags.燞owever whether you’re a beginner or an experienced professional face painter, it’s not always easy to find new ideas.燭o get your creative juices flowing, here are my top 5 ways of finding inspiration for cheek art designs:

1.?Browse through children’s coloring books and picture books, particularly those suitable for preschool children.燭hese usually contain simple line drawings and outlines which can be easily adapted for cheek painting.

2.?Search for coloring pages online.燭here are thousands of online coloring pages freely available.燭his is perfect if you are looking for a particular design.燜or example if you want to paint puppy dog design, search for “puppy coloring” and you’re sure to get plenty of ideas.

3.?Clip art websites often have simple designs that are easy to adapt as cheek art, and again they are searchable if you are looking for a particular design.

4.?Face painting websites often have great pictures of cheek art and sometimes video instruction as well, if you want step-by-step instructions.

5.?Children’s clothing stores are great to browse for new ideas.燤any clothing ranges for babies and children have some cute emblems or embroidered designs which are appealing to children and generally quite adaptable for face painting.

For maximum effectiveness, let you children show you their favorite designs and let them tell you about why they find those designs appealing.?You may gain some insight into the mind of a child which will broaden your face painting horizons!

Kohlrabi is said to be the hardiest of all vegetables. It will withstand temperatures in the upper 20′s and will keep growing even after Swiss Chard has frozen out. It will keep growing if you cover the plants at night when temperatures dip into the lower 20′s. Your kohlrabi will stay alive until temperatures are consistently 25 degrees or colder.

Thought to be developed from a plant called “marrow cabbage,” kohlrabi is indeed a member of the cabbage family. Its Latin name is Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes. Its common name comes from the German words kohl, for cabbage and rabi, for turnip.

Kohlrabi was first grown about 1500 A.D. in Europe and made it to the United States by the 1800′s. Sometimes mistakenly called a root vegetable, kohlrabi shares cold hardiness with that class of vegetables and in fact tastes best if grown in cool weather.

The kohlrabi “root” is actually a swollen part of its stem and forms just above the surface of the soil. The leaves are also edible and are most often eaten like spinach, either raw or cooked.

Plant kohlrabi in spring as soon as the soil can be worked, whether you’re planting seeds or transplants. Harvest kohlrabi before hot weather arrives.?Plant for fall harvest in mid-summer, about the time you plant your late cabbages. Time your planting so you can harvest kohlrabi beginning one to two weeks prior to your first fall frost. Depending on the variety, kohlrabi matures in 38-55 days.

Plant kohlrabi in rich soil and keep well watered as kohlrabi tastes best if grown on rapidly. Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. When the seedlings are a few inches high, thin to 2 to 5 inches apart. Use the thinned plants for tender stir fried greens.

Begin to harvest kohlrabi when the knobs reach about tennis ball size. Kohlrabi has a celery-like flavor but tastes a little bit more nutty than celery. Kohlrabi keeps longer than celery too. Stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator or root cellar, it will keep for several months.

Copyright Sharon Sweeny, 2009. All rights reserved.

Many of you reading this are already familiar with my work. If so, you know that I am a big advocate of growing herbs in containers. In fact, unless you have acres and acres of lands, grow herbs solely for their beauty (or you sell plants wholesale), and/or don’t have access to pots, urns, coffee cans, planters, or the like, I don’t see any good reason to grow herbs in a garden plot. There are simply too many great reasons for “containing” your herb gardens!

But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in growing herbs outdoors. Quite the contrary… Since I split my time between sunny – and warm – Arizona and the cool mountains of North Carolina, my own herbs are outside (but very close at hand!) a minimum of ten months out of the year. They only venture indoors when frost is a danger or during particularly cold and rainy days.

Having said that, I am aware that many of you live in colder climates and you must bring your herbs indoors for much longer periods of time. However, the vast majority of you can certainly keep your herbs outside for many months each year – something I highly recommend for the following reasons.

1. More space and flexibility. Turn your balcony, fire escape, window box, deck, patio, front step or gate railing into a portable herb garden! These options increase the number of herbs you can grow as well as the amount of sunlight they get. This is much harder to accomplish if you’re constrained to smaller indoor spaces. And if your yard is bigger, your choices increase exponentially!

2. Less mess. I don’t know about you, but I’m a notoriously messy plant “waterer.” (I think I just invented that word.) Although I have every intention of lining all of my pots with coffee filters (something I always advise!) I don’t always remember to do so. The result is that when I water my herbs, I get messy soil run off. It’s a pain to wipe up inside my house, but when my herb containers are outside I just let ‘em drip.

3. More natural sun and water. This one is related to the first, but I wanted to emphasis how much herbs love sunshine. In fact, if you had to err one way or the other, it would be better to give them more sunshine and less water (although I’m certainly not recommending that you forget to water your herbs!). In most situations, outdoor herbs will get a bigger and longer dose of sun than indoor herbs. Additionally, it’s wonderful when Mother Nature waters your herbs because she usually does so with a “gentler” hand and for longer periods of time (this ensures that the roots are saturated).

4. They’ll attract helpful and beautiful creatures. If you keep your herbs inside, you’ll miss out on one of the most delightful benefits of herb gardening – nature’s beautiful and abundant creatures such as butterflies, hummingbirds, and yes, even bees. Even better, these delightful helpers – as well as other insects – will keep herbs such as, basil, bee balm, anise hyssop, and chamomile healthier.

5. They’ll make your outdoor space smell and look beautiful. Herbs are not only useful and flavorful; many are also pretty and extremely fragrant. Your outdoor herb garden will provide you with color, rich textures, lush foliage, and a wide variety of flower form. Even better, most of these lovelies aren’t just pretty faces; rather, many of them make tasty seasonings and soothe body, mind, and/or spirit.

I hope you’ve found these tips to be helpful and that you’re excited to find out why so many people worldwide love container herb gardening!

Everything man-made we see and use nowadays has got a creator. This creator held an idea which turned into a concept. From that concept came the vision. Then the vision became reality, but with reality follows several questions such as ‘What will it look like?’, ‘is it needed or wanted?” or ‘how will it be applied by the end user?’ these all need responses. With every new product made, it can then be adjusted by somebody else who has another vision and so the cycle of production continues and grows.

A man named Cleven Goudeau A.K.A (also known as) “Goodie” bore such a vision, which was way back in 1963. Mr Cleven Goudeau’s vision has granted many including myself to participate in the journey he began so long ago. A journey of acknowledging that black art and culture exists and should be seen.

Goodie is rightfully the Pioneer and Innovator of Black Contemporary Greeting Cards. It had to start somewhere and it began with this man. Black greeting card businesses nowadays whether they are an internet site or a market store in your local town didn’t exist. Come to think of it when Goodie’s artistry talent was 1st printed in a newspaper in 1951, the internet, which we have come to depend on today didn’t yet exist since the World Wide Web was born in 1969. Nothing on these lines existed when Goodie took those bold 1st steps and developed his 1st black card in 1963. Other people didn’t even realise these steps needed to be taken. But that is the beautiful thing about ideas, it only takes one individual to envision something special and to follow up on it. Then that idea contributes great changes to society and then society adjusts to let in those great ideas. It’s taken numerous years for this man “Goodie” to be acknowledged and granted such a title of “Pioneer of Black Greeting Cards”.

He has opened many doors for ethnic greeting card designers like me, yet many black people still don’t know this courageous man exists and the achievements he reached. I truly believe without his vision in 1963, we would not see black cultured greeting cards today.

You have to also remember that when Goodie’s vision happened segregation was still about. A time when black people where looked down upon, not worthy of sharing the same schools with our white counter parts. With all this happening, what Goodie did was a heroic accomplishment up there with Rosa Parks, riding at the front of the bus accomplishment. Its people like Goodie that inspires me and makes me really love my black culture. A culture, that’s overpowered numerous obstacles and is still breaking down barriers today.

The turning point for Goodie was when his mother was sick and had to go to hospital. Wanting to give her an exceptional card he designed his own Get Well card. The doctors and nurses enjoyed it so much that this single black greeting card found its way around the entire hospital. With such an outstanding response his first line of “Goodie Cards” was born. Which I find ironic for that was the reason I began my line of greeting cards, but I designed my black card for mother’s day. His cards sold at local speciality stores in 1966. He attempted to get help with a business loan of $50,000 but was refused. Goodie was entering an industry with a brand new product which had no rules, no standard, and no nothing. An outstanding product for over 20 million black people to enjoy but the white establishments in the industry didn’t understand. The greeting card industry then was worth $800 million annually and had only four major participants. Yet these major participants weren’t creating black greeting cards. In 1968 Goodie became the co-founder and executive creative director of Onyx Enterprises Inc. This was the only greeting card company that created black greeting cards and white greeting cards side by side nationally. Sadly Goodie departed the greeting card business in1973 due to unsatisfying sales and complications with marketing.

His product had its own merits and required nothing more than equal acceptance by the companies already in the greeting card industry. For he was in a time when black people had to prove themselves. This great vision wasn’t embraced like it ought to have been all because they didn’t want to understand what black people needed and wanted. Thanks to the most high and his blessed gift his range of Goodie Cards allowed him to put three kids through college, however Hallmark and other greeting card companies will happily support the statement that ‘there was no market for black greeting cards’ and completely deny the black market. Yet their statement just doesn’t add up, why because black people have always existed and we have the same demands as any other culture. So if white people have a way to share happy celebrated moments by sending greeting cards, why would not their black counter parts want the same.

Nowadays Goodie works with students introducing them to the world of cartooning through classes at Micheal’s in Vallejo, while also teaching classes at the Vallejo Arts Foundation.

This great man ought be part of black history and be commemorated for what he’s done, for so many of us striving to succeed in the greeting card industry with our own range of black greeting cards. He’s accomplished a lot and collapsed so many barriers for us, yet this great man is so humble, he is truly blessed.

His words, is the only way to finish this epic story:
“I create things that can’t be denied”.

Happy Learning.

Some people will have you believe that orchids are hard to care for, and in some cases, that’s true. The old saying ‘feed weakly, weekly’ comes to mind when dealing with these unique flowers, but what do you feed? Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are vital ingredients for orchids, just like any other plant. The air and growing medium will provide some of this, but most orchids are pot grown, and will need supplemented. This is even more important for orchids since, instead of soil, they are planted in bark, rocks or sand.

Pellets, liquid and mulch are just a few forms that these supplements come in. Whichever type you choose, your objective is to maintain the proper balance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Fertilizers and soil treatments will usually be labeled 30-10-10 or 15-5-5 and sometimes 20-20-20. These numbers indicate the percentages of the three elements that we discussed earlier. Do not be alarmed that the numbers don’t add up to 100%. The remaining percentage consists of whatever else the compound is made up of.

Some will allow orchids to grow on the bark of their trees, which is similar to how some (epiphytes) are found in the wild. These types will respond well to the stronger mixture (30-10-10). A medium mixture (20-20-20) is sufficient for those that are grown in pots. These levels may need to be adjusted at different times of year.

Try using a 10-30-20 mixture at the end of Summer to strengthen those last blooms of the season. It’s also a good idea in the spring, before the first blooms, to provide some extra nutrients to get them started.

Great care should be taken when fertilizing since orchids are such sensitive plants. You will risk fertilizer burn if you over do it. Fertilize your plants once a week, with the first one of every month at full strength. Then, for the next three weeks, dilute the mixture to one quarter of that. It’s also a good idea to rinse out any unwanted salt residue with water once a month.

The elements in the fertilizer will react with the elements already present in the soil to create salts. These salts will prevent water absorption, and cause other harmful biochemical reactions as well. It should not be much of a problem in small amounts, but letting it get out of hand will harm your plants.

If the label on your fertilizer lists something called ‘potash’, this is merely another name for the element called potassium.

Since it dissolves well in water, potash will usually need to be provided often and in different forms. Liquid potash comes in a convenient spray that can be used on the leaves or directly on the soil.

If you’re not sure of how much fertilizer is necessary, remember that you will do more damage by applying too much than too little. Start with a small amount and adjust it up from there. Usually your fertilizer will come with easy to follow directions that should help you get the mixture just right.

In the last 6 months, I have discussed a lot about List of baby names with Nicole(My Colleague who will have a baby soon).

Nicole has been pregnant for 5 months and she has struggling with her first baby names for 5 months as well:)

Since I am not that busy during that time, so I start to find some resource for Nicole.

Firstly, I found a top list of baby names from internet.

Top 10 Boys Names for 2006

1 Jack

2 Joshua

3 William

4 Lachlan

5 Thomas

6 James

7 Daniel

8 Noah

9 Ryan

10 Ethan

Top 10 girls Names for 2006

1 Chloe

2 Charlotte

3 Ella

4 Emily

5 Olivia

6 Jessica

7 Isabella

8 Mia

9 Sophie

10 Sienna

However, Nicole seems did not like it that much because she want find a particular list of baby names.

So I keep on searching until I find out this tiny software(Find more on my blog):

I download a free trial version pass it to Nicole. Two days later, Nicole said she like it very much because she can:

* Search By Meaning

* Search By Origin

* Search By Multiple Criteria

Cool, so when we have our maternity leave party for Nicole, we brought this software to her. She is so happy because the package not only contain a software, it is also has some free book as well.

Last Friday, I get an email from Nicole and she said she got a healthy baby and an elegant name through the software:) I feel so happy for her because I think the name she choose is a great one when i get the baby’s picture.

Wish you good luck and find your lovely list of baby names.

If you’re already a keen gardener, then you probably look on herb garden kits with a certain amount of disdain. After all, the cost of the components purchased individually would be a lot less than the cost of the overall kit, and sometimes they don’t even contain everything you really need to start a thriving indoor herb garden.

For those of us who are more the keen amateur chef than the keen amateur gardener however, herb garden kits can be a boon. They get things kick-started, (hopefully, see below) providing everything that’s needed to get some luscious culinary herbs up and growing.

The other reason to buy one of these kits is as a gift for a friend. There are a lot of people who enjoy cooking out there but who rely on dried herbs (ok for some herbs, terrible for others) or store-brought herbs (expensive) to punch up the flavor in their cooking. You probably know some (maybe you even get invited to their place for dinner – here’s a chance to kill two birds with one stone!), so consider a herb kit as a thoughtful and useful gift for them.

A word of caution to temper all this enthusiasm though: not all herb garden kits were created equal. In fact, some of them consist of little more than three seed packets and some cute wooden stakes to label the plants with. That’s not an herb garden kit, it’s a joke. Decent herb garden kits should include: lots of varieties of seeds, enough to suit every taste; potting mix/soil that has been specially designed to suit the herbs included (lighter for Mediterranean culinary herbs); a tray to germinate the seeds in, and detailed instructions on what to do.

Don’t forget that you (or the person you’re buying the herb garden kit for) will also need something to grow the herbs in once they are established. Some kits are sold bundled with a planter of some kind, so opt for one of these or alternatively buy it separately. Keep in mind that herbs grown indoors are likely to need some additional artificial lighting at some stage, and planters that aren’t flat (some have tiers) are going to make things difficult when it comes to this – grow lights need to be very close (as in, no more than one inch) to the foliage in order to work properly.

One final thing: a popular option when it comes to herb garden kits over the last few years has been the hydroponic-style AeroGarden by AeroGrow. These are obviously substantially different from an ordinary herb garden kit, but some people swear by them. The main downside seems to be cost, and possibly the main upsides are the convenient inclusion of a built-in grow light and the fact that you don’t have to use soil. There’s plenty of debate about these on the internet, so do a little homework and see if you think this type of system would suit you (or your gift recipient) before buying.