A friend of mine found this fantastically easy recipe for Eggless Sugar Cookies.  This can be a fun baking project with the kids:

No Excuses

Are you alone this Valentine’s Day? Does it seems like a day that serves only to remind those who do not have a significant other that they are alone? Well if you are nodding your head, then maybe you need to find some fun ways to pass this February 14th, here are 7 tips:

1.  Buy yourself a big heart shaped box of chocolates then take a bite out of each one, throwing back any fruit flavored nougat ones that you do not like

2.  Create yourself a Valentine’s Day playlist of all your favorite that no one else likes. Play your new playlist at maximum volume, while singing and dancing along

3.  Call a friend or family that you have not talked to in a while who is also alone on Valentine’s Day

4.  Clean out your closet, making a big pile of clothes that do not fit or are no longer your style and bring them to your local Salvation Army

5.  Order yourself whatever you feel like eating and have it delivered right to do your door while wearing your pajamas

6.  Draw yourself a bubble bath, pour yourself a glass of wine, and grab a cheesy magazine or juicy book

7.  Go to bed and be thankful that Valentine’s will not come again for another 364 days

I was with a friend the other day, and somehow we got to discussing love. What is Love? We both felt that it was something strong and beautiful, but it is hard to nail down exactly what it is. Then I remembered that I studied the four types of love for a paper in college. Eros, is the sensual and physical romantic love, named after the Greek god, Eros. Stergo is the affectionate, protective love, like parents feel for their children. Agape is Godly love, and Philo is brotherly love, like we feel for friends.

I wish that English had different words for love. It does seem strange that we say “I love chocolate or ice cream,” and “I love my husband,” but they really are not the same thing.  Something to think about……

Valentine’s Day is the second most popular day each year to send greeting cards.  Candy and flowers are also popular gifts on this day. We celebrate Valentine’s Day in honor of St. Valentine. Valentine’s History states that Valentine’s Day has been around since the Middle Ages. There are many legends to explain how this day of love originated. One legend has it that a priest named Valentine chose to defy the law made by Emperior Claudius II that outlawed marriage for single men. The emperior believed that single men made better warriors than married men. However, Valentine disagreed and married couples in secret. He was put to death for his kindness and belief in love.

Another popular legend states that another man by the name of Valentine was imprisoned and fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. When he was about to be put to death, he sent his love a note signed “Your Valentine”, which prompted the use of these words on the cards we send today. Whether or not these legends are true, the fact remains that the Valentine’s History has been long standing, and will continue to be celebrated through the giving of cards, gifts and flowers for many years to come.

Are you always stressed because of the endless clutter in your house? You’re in luck. Here are some tips on decorating and organizing the house.

• Make a schedule for all the things that you have to do—and follow it. This is a great time-saving tip.
• Choose the days when you can organize and decorate your house. Make sure that very young kids are at school or teenagers are at home to get their help. Choose a time when you don’t have anything else to do.
• Make a rule in your household that whatever they take out or they use, they have to return to proper places themselves.
• Throw away or donate the things that you don’t want and you don’t need. Better yet, have a garage sale. This way, clutter in your house will be lessened and at the same time you will earn extra cash.
• If your house is small, don’t use heavy and dark furniture such as an overstuffed sofa that has a base that touches the floor. Buy a sofa in which you still can see what’s under it. Avoid using dark wooden furniture. Use light colors for your walls.
• For big spaces, you can do so many things but to make your house feel less empty, use warm colors. Don’t use white.
• Invest in some space-saving and double-purpose furniture if you have small space in your house. For instance, buy a chest that you can also use as a bench. You can have extra seats for your visitors and additional storage space all in one piece of furniture.

Are you a supermom who works for nine hours a day, five days a week and still has to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for your whole family everyday? Here are some useful cooking tips for busy moms like you.

1. Plan your family’s meals for the whole week. Don’t waste time thinking of the things that you need to buy when you’re already in the grocery.. Moreover, this can relieve you from the stress of having to think of the meal that you have to prepare when you arrive home everyday.
2. After you’ve bought everything that you need, prepare all the vegetables by washing and cutting them. You ca even prepare the vegetables that you need for the next days’ meals. Just make sure that they are kept in a safe, nice place that will keep them fresh. This may look time-consuming but in the long run, can actually save you more time.
3. Buy a crock pot. You can put all of the ingredients into the crock pot and you can leave it alone when it’s time to go to work. When you return, dinner is just about ready.
4. Prepare your family’s favourite dish. You can make a whole lot of this for three or four meals. Just keep each meal in the freezer and just take it out and reheat it when you need it.
5. Plan a big meal for dinner and keep the leftovers for the next day’s meal. For example, if you made chilli for dinner today, you can add the leftover chilli to your baked potatoes for tomorrow’s dinner.
6. Think of ingredients that could stretch a meal such as potatoes, rice, and pasta.

Most people think of teenagers as rude, obnoxious, rebellious, and full of angst. However, parents should also consider situations or things that teenagers have to undergo like peer pressures, early or late development, weight problems, pimples or acne, menstruation, boredom, and other issues. This is the time when children are confused.

Here are some tips on parents dealing with teenagers.

• Practice what you preach. Or walk your talk. Don’t say one thing and then you’ll do another. It will be confusing for teenagers. This is the time when they need a role model or someone to look up to.
• Don’t give them too much freedom when it comes to decisions. They still need your guidance and supervision. However, don’t be too controlling. The decision is still up to them but you have to give them limits.
• Talk to them. Be very open when it comes to expectations to avoid misunderstanding. Also, be consistent when it comes to disciplining your teenagers.
• Don’t control your teenage children’s individuality. Respect the way they want to look, act, or think. Just observe them. But when the time comes that they nee your help, always be ready to offer it.
• Agree to disagree. There are some things that you can’t really do anything about, like your child’s preference for music which sounded much more like noise to your ears than music. It’s impossible to have a perfectly harmonious relationship among people who belong to different generations.

So instead of complaining that your teenagers are very difficult to understand, why not take a look at yourself several years back to see that you were once like them.