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  <channel>
    <title><![CDATA[Glam Media Network Blog Posts for - Family]]></title>
    <link>http://www.glam.com/</link>
    <description><![CDATA[Current Glam Media Network Blog Entries for - Family]]></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:01:21 PDT</pubDate>
    <generator>Glam Media Publishing Engine</generator>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[What has been the worst Money saving technique for you?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.thriftymommy.com/what-has-been-the-worst-money-saving-technique-for-you/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Karen and I have shared some great money saving ideas like buying store brands, using the envelope system, and lumping your errands into one trip to save on gas. Now we want to hear the worst money saving techniques you have tried.
Mine has got to be cutting things completely out. You do good for a while and then totally splurge and spend more than you would have ever spent if you would have rationed it. So We at Thrifty Mommy want to know your worst failure when it comes to saving money. Come on. Everybody has one. Let us know &#8230;
Tags: money saving ideasShare This
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      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:56:39</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Thrifty Mommy]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.thriftymommy.com/</gf:blogUrl>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Creating a Virtual Refrigerator with New Family Social Network - YadaHome]]></title>
      <link>http://www.coochicoos.com/for-parents/creating_a_virtual_refrigerato.html</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Newly launched site, YadaHome, takes the premise that your refrigerator is the central communication hub of your household.&nbsp; With YadaHome, you can sign on to create your own virtual refrigerator where you can post photos, recipes, messages, to do lists, grocery lists, and family calendar.&nbsp; Add the social factor where users share their virtual refrigerator with friends and family, and maybe this site just might be onto a great idea.&nbsp; One bummer - the tedious entry for recipes - who has the time?&nbsp; Note to YadaHome, it would be better to link to existing recipe sites online than to ask busy moms to enter in all the ingredients and directions on your recipe form.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:43:03</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Coochicoos]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.coochicoos.com</gf:blogUrl>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[From Around the Mom Blogs - August 26]]></title>
      <link>http://www.coochicoos.com/quick-picks/from_around_the_mom_blogs_augu_1.html</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Boston Mamas: Lunch Lures   Check out these back to school lunch tips that no doubt will lure your child in to enjoy a healthy meal. Clever Parents: Clever Ideas for Healthy School Lunches   Parents today recognize the importance of feeding their children healthy nutritious foods.The Cradle: Almost Famous Baby ShowerTips on having a blinged-out Hollywood style baby shower Modern Mom Groups Have Launched!   Meet other moms at exclusive Moms Night Out events, play dates and more. MomFinds: Win a $100 giggle Shopping Spree    The first giggle giveaway was such a big hit, we decided to give our readers another chance to win big..$100 big. Moms Buzz: Back to School Spending Tips   Here are some tips to spend less when going out shopping for Back-to-School necessities so that you &quot;hit the books and not your wallet.&quot; One Chic Mama: Pumping Made Easy   August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and we bring you two great solutions to make it a little easier.Coochicoos Reader Survey:&nbsp; Who's reading Coochicoos?&nbsp; Help us find out and be entered to win a Dwell Baby Blanket]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:26:17</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Coochicoos]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.coochicoos.com</gf:blogUrl>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Could this Ford Escape Save Your Life?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.carandcaboodle.com/could_this_ford_escape_save_yo.html</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ The beaches in LA county are a little safer of late, thanks to these customized Ford Escape Hybrids. These vehicles have been outfitted for the lifeguards with highly organized interiors and specialized equipment. Lifeguards report that the Escape's V-6 like accelleration is particularly suited for use on the sand. The vehicles are both environmentally friendly and practical, travelling up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas. They have proven extremely reliable - good to know when lives are literally at stake! Bonus points for the internal organization that enables the lifeguards to keep all their supplies exactly where they need them, so they can be retrieved in a flash.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:05:58</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Car and Caboodle]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.carandcaboodle.com</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Im raising a heartbreaker]]></title>
      <link>http://www.supernannyrules.com/im-raising-a-heartbreaker/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[My son recently broke up with a girl that&#8217;s been friends with and known my other son since early elementary school.&nbsp; For nearly a year now, my family has taken a keen liking to this girl.&nbsp; She&#8217;s fun, she&#8217;s endearing and well, frankly, living on the banks of Lake Testosterone, I kind of enjoyed having the girl around from time-to-time.
Since this whole being the parent of dating aged teens thing is so new to me, I&#8217;m finding myself in serious need of advice. 
How do you keep from getting attached to the dates your kids bring home?
I thought by taking the girlfriends along for family days of bowling and having them over for visits frequently was better than having my kids wanting to hang out away from home - now I&#8217;m not so sure.
Why did arranged marriages ever have to go out of style?
Technorati Tags: teens,dating teens,teens dating,young romance,broken heart,teen love,first love
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:31:27</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Super Nanny Rules]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.supernannyrules.com</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Keep Your Teen Driver Safe]]></title>
      <link>http://www.wearyparent.com/keep-your-teen-driver-safe/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[My oldest got his learner&#8217;s permit in December. Since then he&#8217;s been getting lots of practice hours in and driving in different situations; bad weather (snow), at night, on the highway. Now that he&#8217;s 16 he can get his driver&#8217;s license as soon as he completes driver&#8217;s ed. It starts in October and he&#8217;ll have his license by November. I&#8217;m a little scared.
My younger teen just turned 14 earlier this month. He can get his learner&#8217;s permit as soon as he passes the test. I haven&#8217;t taken him to the Department of Transportation for his test yet because I&#8217;m not sure my heart can take it. Two teen drivers? It makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it.
Teenagers are a mixture of inexperience and immaturity, which is a bad combination when it comes to trusting them behind the wheel of a 3,000 pound car. According to Readers Digest Special Report: The Dangers of Teen Driving, more than 5,000 teenagers die in car crashes each year. That&#8217;s a lot. But Readers Digest also has some tips to help make sure you teen doesn&#8217;t become part of that statistic.

Teach your teens about safe driving. We may think our teens are fully aware of the dangers, but many teens need a refresher course. Set rules for your teen and follow through with the consequences. And make sure you&#8217;re being a good role model and following the rules yourself.

No cell phone. There should be no telephone calls and no texting while your teen is behind the wheel of a car.
Always wear your seat belt. Whether they are a passenger or the driver, your teen should always have their seat belt on.
No speeding. It&#8217;s harder to control the car at high speeds. Plus it&#8217;s more difficult and takes longer to stop at higher speeds. So they need to watch their speed and follow the posted signs.
Never drive after even one alcoholic drink. Teens tend to think they are immune from such things as drinking and driving. It&#8217;s not something that pertains to them. Until they go to a party, get talked in to a beer and then drive themselves home so they don&#8217;t have to tell their parents they had a drink. They&#8217;d rather risk the drive instead of letting their parents know they were drinking. Unfortunately that drive may be too big a risk to take.


Fight for stricter state laws or make your own family laws. Some states are moving to a graduated driver&#8217;s license system. They have stricter rules to phase teens in to driving. A Johns Hopkins University study for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that tougher phase-in laws could decrease 16-year-old teen driver&#8217;s deaths by 38 percent. What&#8217;s a tough phase-in law? A law that requires a teen to be 16 before he can get his permit and 18 before he can get a full license, as well as limiting passengers to just one other person, banning cell phone use and prohibiting teens from driving between the hours of 10pm and 5am. If your state doesn&#8217;t have a phase-in law (and many don&#8217;t) then set your own rules for your teen.
Also fight for stricter penalties. The Department of Transportation is quick to tell you driving is a privilege, not a right. If teens aren&#8217;t willing to follow the rules there should be stiff penalties, including losing their license for a lengthy period of time if they are caught speeding, driving recklessly or breaking other laws.
Be tough. When it comes to your teen driving you need to be firm. It can be the difference between life or death. It&#8217;s not the time to be their friend. You&#8217;re in control. You get to decide when he gets his license, you have the car and you have the keys. He needs to follow your rules or he can take the bus. Stay firm on your rules and make him follow them if he wants to drive the car.

Tags: driving safety, graduated driver's license, phase-in driving laws, teen-drivingShare This
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:14:36</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Weary Parent]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://wearyparent.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[What Happened to Caylee Anthony?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.babylune.com/what-happened-to-caylee-anthony/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[What happened to the missing 2-year-old girl, Caylee Anthony? A few weeks back I first heard of this &#8220;missing girl&#8221; through Super Nanny Rules. For a while now I thought of two things, either little Caylee&#8217;s mom, Robin Meade, sold her daughter on the black market or killed her. 
From the beginning Robin&#8217;s story never made any sense, even changing it up from time to time. She was recently bailed out of jail on a $500,000 bail, but she has yet to help in the search for her little girl. Is there are reason she isn&#8217;t looking? 
New documents show that there was proof that a decomposing body was in the trunk of her car. Could this have been her daughter? If so what happened? More documents that have been uncovered showed that she never wanted her little girl Caylee and that it was in fact her own mother that convinced her to keep her. Robin had been looking at adopting Caylee out. 
Right now it seems the only way anyone will ever find Caylee or her body is if her mother starts speaking. Robin wrote a poem only days before she reported her daughter as missing, which really makes one wonder.
 &#8220;What is given, Can be taken away. Everyone lies. Everyone dies.&#8221;

Technorati Tags: caylee anthony,missing caylee anthony,supernannyrules.com,robin meade
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:52:46</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Babylune]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.babylune.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Attempted Baby Stealer Gets 8 Years]]></title>
      <link>http://www.babylune.com/attempted-baby-stealer-gets-8-years/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Remember the story of the two Missouri ladies that kidnapped a very pregnant woman and brought her to a hotel just so they could cut her baby out of her womb? Well she did manage to escape and when she did the two gals were caught, one of which was just sentenced this week. 
Lauren Gash plead guilty last week and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. While I&#8217;m sure this puts a smile on Amanda Culley, the victim&#8217;s face, it sure does make some wonder. Yes, it is true she did not succeed at taking the baby, but what if she had? The good news is no one will have to worry about Lauren for a long while. 
By the way, Amanda did end up having her little boy right after the event took place and he&#8217;s been doing just fine. 
source
Technorati Tags: lauren gash,lauren gash pleads guilty,baby stealer,cutting womb from mom
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:30:35</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Babylune]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.babylune.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Share Road Trip Photos via ShutterflyCareer and KidsDo You Cook?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.careerandkids.com/do-you-cook/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[

I caught this post over at the tree hugging family a couple days ago and it got me thinking. The title of the post is:
&#8220;Idon&#8217;t cook. So I made my eat-in-kitchen a fabulous walk-in closet.&#8221;
It&#8217;s about an ad that encourages people to use credit to &#8220;achieve their dreams&#8221; (like turning their kitchen into a walk-in closet.)Peggy at tree hugging family wrote about this because she encourages people to develop green habits of living. When I read this post, Iinstantly thought about awoman I saw on TV that had a fabulous house, massive kitchen, andcompletely empty cupboards. She didn&#8217;t evenhave plates or silverware. Her family ate out three meals a day.
I understand that busy folks sometimes grab fast food. Last night, for example, I had several appointments during the day and had to work at night to catch up. As a result, we ordered wings and fries from a restaurant near us.However, this is a rare event. Usually I cook dinner for my husband and mother every night.
After reading Peggy&#8217;s post I started to wonder ifbusy parentsare able to cook each night or if they eat out. Or, in the case of most of my friends, do a combination of both. I enjoy the routine of having dinner every night with my family. I don&#8217;t believe eating out all the time gives us the same kind of bonding time and let&#8217;s face it - it&#8217;s too darn expensive!
I&#8217;m also not sure eating out saves us that much time. I challenge myself to find recipesthat only take half on hour to cook, or can be done in the crock-pot. My new favorite is a dinner consisting of tilapia from Aldi (yes, Aldi!), rice, and biscuits. It takes half on hour from start to finish, is delicious, healthy, and costs a total of less than $2 a person. I also check out theBusy Family Meals blog here at b5 foreasy recipes ideas.
My question today is if you or your partner cooks each night? If you do, what is your best advice when it comes to making dinner?
Tags: , busy family meals, easy recipes, family meal, fast food, making dinner, meal from scratch, too busy to cookShare This
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:05:12</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Career and Kids]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://careerandkids.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Climbing the Stairs]]></title>
      <link>http://www.babylune.com/climbing-the-stairs/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Little A is what I&#8217;ve always said will be my adventure boy and he&#8217;s proved this every step of the way. From getting that first tooth to grow through at less than 2 months old to wanting to learn the potty at one. We are still working on that last part. But his newest thing seems to be trying to climb my stairs. Before everyone sends warnings to me I&#8217;m aware it is dangerous to let your toddler climb stairs, one reason I never sleep. 
 
No on a more serious note, we like to hang out in the toy room. (picture above) Course he is only content to sit by the bottom step and crash the hot wheels together there, don&#8217;t ask me why he just likes it. Can anyone explain the mind of a toddler? No, so we just let it be. While he is happily playing he looks up several times to make sure I&#8217;m still there. Now if he catches me looking at him he gets this little devilish grin and inches to the top of the bottom stair. I look and go back to my business, glance back up and he&#8217;s inched to the second one. Now is when the game begins, as he inches I say no, but he goes another and I get closer. Before you know it he&#8217;s trying as fast as he can to get up and I&#8217;m at the bottom waiting for the fall. He doesn&#8217;t fall but still, I&#8217;m there ready to catch him. Now if he could just learn to get back down, we&#8217;d be doing great.
&nbsp; 
How many of you have a sneaker like this? When did your child learn the stairs? Any tips, besides the gate I do have one of those but those are at the very top. This video is not of him but it was one I found on Youtube. While it may not be as funny as I had hoped, but it is cute.
IMAGES: The Life of a Home Mom

Technorati Tags: baby climbs stairs,stairclimber,baby and stairs,sneaky baby
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:06:08</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Babylune]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.babylune.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[The Wednesday section: food glorious food]]></title>
      <link>http://www.solomother.com/the-wednesday-section-food-glorious-food/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[As soon as I stop carpet-bagging around the National Conventions, I&#8217;m going to curl up in bed with a good book or three.
Cookbooks.
One of the most difficult things to do with little time and less money is prepare healthy, home-cooked meals for your family. Modern conveniences have made pressure cooking and Crockpots a must-have in busy homes. If you&#8217;re dealing with the double crunch of time and money, hop on over to ABC.com and copy the recipes from Five Budget-Conscious Main Courses into the back of your cookbook.
Here are some other thoughts on making meals a snap&#8230; 

Get yourself a recipe file, and copy out the recipes you know and love. Whenever  you test a new meal, and it wins your kids&#8217; seal of approval, put it in the box. That way, you can turn to your tried and true recipes without ever having to wonder where you last saw it. Unless, like me, you end up using those 3&#215;5 cards to mark a page in another cookbook. DOH!
Sit down on Wednesday evening with your local paper&#8217;s circular and plan meals around the sales and coupons. Think ahead, too, about what can be frozen. Buy staples when they are on sale and you&#8217;ll save money on the things you really need. Don&#8217;t be tempted to buy something just because it&#8217;s got a coupon. If you don&#8217;t usually buy something, it&#8217;s probably because it&#8217;s not really a good food choice in the first place. 
Do learn how to cook with a pressure cooker and a Crock Pot. Each can save you tons of time&#8230; one by cooking things incredibly quickly, and the other by cooking them very slowly, while you&#8217;re at work. If you know of a good cookbook for either appliance, let me know and I&#8217;ll let all you single mothers know, too.
Cook big batches of things that freeze well. Be sure to label the package with the name of the dish and the date you cooked it. Items can stay for up to a month in a regular freezer with no worries, and even longer in a deep freeze. With just a few hours in the kitchen on weekends, you can have a freezer full of good food to last you a month. 

Last night&#8217;s side dish can be today&#8217;s lunch menu. I often make mac n cheese or stuffed pastas for dinner, and then heat them up and put them in a Thermos for the little guy&#8217;s lunch later in the week. Think ahead. 
If you go out to dinner, think about portions. Can you share an entree? Take leftovers home and have lunch the next day. Order stuff you can&#8217;t&#8211;or won&#8217;t&#8211;make at home, so the adventure of eating out is truly a treat, and not just some fast-food filler for a busy, exhausted mom. The KoE and I are probably going to eat out a lot this week, because I&#8217;m not going to be home at all next week and don&#8217;t feel like stocking the fridge with stuff that will just go bad. One night, we&#8217;re definitely going around the corner for a rice bowl to share&#8230; one order will feed us both dinner that night, with enough left over for lunch for one of us the next day. It&#8217;s a winner, alright. Three big meals for $12&#8230; and no dirty dishes to clean up later!

Tags: budget, good food, home cooked meals, quick meals, single-mom, single-mother, time saverShare This
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:19:04</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Solomother]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.solomother.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Frugal links for 8-27]]></title>
      <link>http://www.thriftymommy.com/frugal-links-for-8-27/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Frugal Philosophy
Consciously Frugal
Water everywhere
6 Financial Makeover Tips from Frugal Duchess
Dave Ramsey and financial freedom for some
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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:18:18</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Thrifty Mommy]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.thriftymommy.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The CarandCaboodle Family Road Trip - We Might Be Giants]]></title>
      <link>http://www.carandcaboodle.com/editorial/the_carandcaboodle_family_road_2.html</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Day two of our trip was one of the most exciting. We left the rolling hills of Sonoma and entered Redwood country. The sky was a sparkling blue and our children thrilled at the sheer size of the mammoth trees. If you have never driven along the Avenue of the Giants, parallel to US 101, it is a magnificent stretch of road that is not to be missed. The two lane highway wanders in and out of the shadows of the ancient forest, twining around stands of old growth trees. Stops along the way allow you to get out and stretch your legs and explore (always an excellent idea when travelling with kids). Once out of the car you will notice the silence of the forest. It's an eerie shadowfilled place, but peaceful. One almost expects to see magical creatures here - a unicorn in a small clearing or a fairy flitting amongst the ferns and trillium flowers. We spent a little time making up stories, aided by the creative story beginnings in the Dreamstarter Book by Jennifer Karin Sidford. This ingenious book ignites you kids (and your own) hidden creativity by giving you a jumping off place for story telling. There is also a card game version and will soon be a web version as well. Our cameras were ready. For the most part I shot pictures using the auto settings on my Sony Alpha Camera. I was grateful for the ability to take rapid succession shots of my kids as they nimbly climbed and scrambled over tree trunks that were 8 feet tall. Later in the day I was grateful for the information I gleaned from watching Me Ra Koh's digital camera instruction videos, prior to the trip. It gave me the courage to expiriment and get a few great shots including one of my own little wood nymphs scampering through the forest.  We chose to turn off the video games and DVD players for this entire portion of the trip, and revelled in nature. Never ones to miss out on a kitschy photo op however, we were sure to pull off the road and wait in line to drive through a &quot;drive through tree&quot;. I insisted that the Honda Odyssey minivan would not fit. My husband insisted that it would. I won but the right side rearview mirror of the van lost...&nbsp; It was at this point in the trip that we declared Shamu (our pet name for our black Oddysey), &quot;broken in&quot;. Note to fellow travellers: Your Honda Odyssey will not fit though! Our car was a little worse for wear but our spirits were not. We stopped for a late lunch at a roadside diner that provided even more entertainment and another &quot;interesting bathroom&quot; photo for our kids' vacation memory books. Sophisticated travellers that they are... The latter part of the day we sped past countless bikers and backpackers all caught up in the majesty of CA highway 101. We were a little jealous of their slow pace as there is so much to see along this route. Down toward the coastline we passed through Eureka where we made one last stop at the Bayshore Mall just off the 101. While we would not usually seek to stop at a mall on a road trip, this one was a perfect pitstop as it contained both an indoor playplace and a Borders bookstore. While the children let off a little more steam, I stocked up on travel reading - Wall E books for my four yr old, American Girl 5 minute Mysteries for my school aged daughters, and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer for myself and my husband. It was still light when we left Eureka and we decided to push on to Crescent City where we hoped to find a motel to spend the night. Unfortunately when we got there, this was not to happen. The town was booked solid, it was coming up on ten pm, and there was at least 15 miles of nothing before we entered the next town. Our kids were exhausted and so were we.&nbsp; We faced our first travel dillemma. Where would we be able to stop for the night?! &nbsp;]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:03:55</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Car and Caboodle]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.carandcaboodle.com</gf:blogUrl>
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      <title><![CDATA[Top 10 AntiVirus Software plus free downloads]]></title>
      <link>http://www.thriftymommy.com/top-10-antivirus-software-plus-free-downloads/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Ok, so the biggest time spender of my time can be on my computer.  I love it and am very addicted.  But when you get a virus on your computer, it can be a nightmare.  On my laptop, we have Avast and it scares me every time I check my email and it pops up that an email has a virus on it.  So I got to thinking about the top 10 Anti-virus software out there and I thought I would let you know what I found.
Here are the top free anti-virus software downloads.

AVG
Avast
PC Tools

Also, here are the top 10 most commonly bragged about antivirus software packages that you do have to pay for.  There is a common theme so I put up the top 10 most recommended antivirus software out there for 2008 (not in any particular order).

 Shield Deluxe
Norton Anti Virus
CA Anti Virus
BitDefender
Kapersky
NOD32
Panda
McAfee
Trend Micro
F-Secure Anti Virus

This should hopefully save you time.  I intentionally did not put in links for each software package but for review sites so that you can compare and find what works best for you and your needs.  So here are links for some comparisons

Anti Virus Review
 2008 Anti Virus Review
Blog Review
All Internet Security

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      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:54:27</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Thrifty Mommy]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.thriftymommy.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Moms Buzz Editor's Hot Picks - Back to School 2008 Edition]]></title>
      <link>http://www.themomsbuzz.com/moms_buzz/2008/08/moms-buzz-edito.html</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Moms' Buzz Editors Hot Picks for July 2008 are not only boiling hot - caliente, muy caliente, chaud trs chaud, but unbelievable! Don't get burned! In this Back to School Edition, we bring you products to get you started with the right foot on the ground in your busy days about to start again! 

 from our Kid's Accessories Drawer

My First Shades (TM)

 Summer may be soon officially over, but the sun shines all year around, and we need to protect those little eyes.&nbsp; My First Shades have come up with a new sunglass design that provides vital sun protection for childrens' eyes, while also starting them down a long path of sun safety. The sunglasses are attached to a neoprene band which holds the glasses closer to the childs face, more securely in place, and, ultimately, minimizes peripheral light that can lead to eye damage. These shades will help children decrease childrens' risk of sun damage to their eyes that can eventually lead to impaired vision, cataracts, and blindness. Fun, fashionable designs and safe! Infant and children's sizes available at www.myfirstshades.com $14.99.from our Desktop

 Tiny Prints - Fresh, Modern Photo Cards, Announcements and Invitations!

TinyPrints.com offer a wide selection of stationery that you will find useful to the Back to School season.&nbsp; At TinyPrints.com you can get personalized Thank You Notes and custom Gift Tags &amp; Labels.&nbsp; Personalized address labels and custom gift tags provide the perfect finishing touches to your stylish stationery. Since you can personalize and customize gift tags, there are some tags that are pretty and functional that can be used to label books, binders or favor bags. You will fall in love with their designs. Find an amazing selection of stationery at www.tinyprints.com - and keep it in mind for the upcoming Holidays! Price varies. www.tinyprints.com.&quot;Truly Mom&quot; Planner

 What does a truly mom needs to handly her busy and long agenda and hit the ground running for back-to-school season? A TrulyMom Planner! Truly Mom Planners are innovative, stylish and practical. It's unique tri-fold design, clean hidden magnet closure, useful pads and calendar, fabulous colors, and gorgeous ribbons, make it truly special. It's an incredibly useful fashion accessory, and portable desk on the go. All TrulyMom Planners come complete with &quot; my day&quot; pad, &quot; my list&quot; pad, &quot;a note to&quot; pad, a post-it note pad, a pull out spiral bound calendar that goes until January 2009, a handy pocket, pen and address booklet. They come in five great colors and measure approximately 9x6x1 3/4&quot; when closed. All planners come complete with weekly/monthly calendar (Aug 2008-Dec 2009), pads, address book and pen! $98.00. www.trulymom.com. 







from our Bookshelf

 &quot;I Brake for Meltdowns&quot; - How to Handle the Most Exasperating Behavior of Your 2-to-5 Year Old by Michelle Nicholasen and Barbara O'Neal

This is a book every new and seasoned mom/dad of 2-to-5 year olds should have by their bed side.&nbsp; Moms Buzz did a post this week about a passage in the book because every single parent in the universe has experienced his/her share of meltdowns. &quot;I Brake for Meltdowns&quot; offers an annotated listing of all the exasperating things little kids do and includes step-by-step advice on how to handle each situation. www.ibrakeformeltdowns.comfrom our Pantry

Shortbread Cookies by Fancypants Bakery - A Must Try!

 Moms Buzz tried Fancypants Bakery cookies, and let me tell you, Moms Buzz ate them all - they are delicious, and brought me back treasured memories of my mom's shortbread cookies. Fancypants Bakery makes the most delicious, buttery, beautifully decorated shortbread cookies on earth. Their cookies make perfect favors for childrens birthday parties, school events, baby gifts, and many other occasions. They are also completely nut-free, so theyre suitable for kids with nut allergies. Fancypants Bakery offers an artisinal, high-quality product, made by a small company. The designs are adorable and each cookie is truly a work of art. Last but not least, the packaging and presentation of the cookies are just beautiful. Fancypants Bakery also offers online &quot;bakery&quot; so customers can buy made-to-order creations from the comfort of your house. Please consider a leadtime of 5 days when submitting your order. Price varies. www.fancypantsbakery.com.  Kids Lunch Box Cards by KidsFunCards.com

One of the things that Moms Buzz does not like about back to school is preparing lunch boxes! The good news is that Moms Buzz just found a fun way to make her kids happy and laugh during lunch-time at school: KidsLunchBoxCards! KidsLunchBoxCards are a super-fun alternative to the humdrum lunch-time napkin note. It's way for your children to feel you close at that vulnerable time during a long school day. KidsLunchBoxCards are colorful, fun and durable. Drop the fun into kids' backpacks, overnight bags, coat pockets, even under a pillow. Cards are blank on the back for those days you want to write a special note or reminder. KidsLunchBoxCards contain 5 different cards per pack in 5 different themes. $4.95/pk. www.kidslunchboxcards.com. from our Toddler's Room

Teach My Toddler Tote by Teach-My.com

 As school-age children prepare for back to school this year, you can also start off your toddler a new year of learning at home with Teach My Toddler.&nbsp; Teach My Toddler is the 1st all-in-one learning system for toddlers. The toddler tote has 17 coordinated teaching tools to help toddlers master the basics; alphabet, numbers, shapes and colours. 5 puzzles, 4 board books, 4 posters and 4 sets of flashcards, all in one handy carrying case. No need to go to several stores buying individual pieces!&nbsp; It gives toddlers a headstart and to encourage interaction between the toddler and their parents, grandparents and caregivers. The toddler tote is portable, so it is perfect for the cottage, Grandmas or on the airplane! Teach My Toddler is designed for 18 months+. Just 20 minutes a day with Teach My Toddler and busy parents can make a difference! $39.99. www.teach-my.com.Note: from our editorial policy we do not get compensated for mentioning a product or business in our posts.&nbsp; For more info, please read our editorial policy or write to us at info @ themomsbuzz.com. For advertising opportunities, please contact, sales @ themomsbuzz.com.&nbsp; To participate in Moms' Buzz free Monthly Deals Vendor Program, get details here. &quot;]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:40:08</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Mom\'s Buzz]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.themomsbuzz.com</gf:blogUrl>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Do You Cook?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.careerandkids.com/do-you-cook/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[

I caught this post over at the tree hugging family a couple days ago and it got me thinking. The title of the post is:
&#8220;Idon&#8217;t cook. So I made my eat-in-kitchen a fabulous walk-in closet.&#8221;
It&#8217;s about an ad that encourages people to use credit to &#8220;achieve their dreams&#8221; (like turning their kitchen into a walk-in closet.)Peggy at tree hugging family wrote about this because she encourages people to develop green habits of living. When I read this post, Iinstantly thought about awoman I saw on TV that had a fabulous house, massive kitchen, andcompletely empty cupboards. She didn&#8217;t evenhave plates or silverware. Her family ate out three meals a day.
I understand that busy folks sometimes grab fast food. Last night, for example, I had several appointments during the day and had to work at night to catch up. As a result, we ordered wings and fries from a restaurant near us.However, this is a rare event. Usually I cook dinner for my husband and mother every night.
After reading Peggy&#8217;s post I started to wonder ifbusy parentsare able to cook each night or if they eat out. Or, in the case of most of my friends, do a combination of both. I enjoy the routine of having dinner every night with my family. I don&#8217;t believe eating out all the time gives us the same kind of bonding time and let&#8217;s face it - it&#8217;s too darn expensive!
I&#8217;m also not sure eating out saves us that much time. I challenge myself to find recipesthat only take half on hour to cook, or can be done in the crock-pot. My new favorite is a dinner consisting of tilapia from Aldi (yes, Aldi!), rice, and biscuits. It takes half on hour from start to finish, is delicious, healthy, and costs a total of less than $2 a person. I also check out theBusy Family Meals blog here at b5 foreasy recipes ideas.
My question today is if you or your partner cooks each night? If you do, what is your best advice when it comes to making dinner?
Tags: , busy family meals, easy recipes, family meal, fast food, making dinner, meal from scratch, too busy to cookShare This
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:41:13</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Career and Kids]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://careerandkids.com/</gf:blogUrl>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Tooth Tunes - Musical Toothbrushes Featuring Disney Stars and More]]></title>
      <link>http://www.playlibrary.com/2008/08/27/tooth-tunes-musical-toothbrushes-featuring-disney-stars-and-more/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s another great line of products for Tween Week!&nbsp; 
Check out Tooth Tunes - digital music toothbrushes.&nbsp; These toothbrushes include a chip that plays 2 minutes of music inside your head while you brush.&nbsp; 
How does it work?&nbsp; Apparently, sound waves stream from the bristles then travel through the jaw bone and into the inner ear where the sound can be heard.&nbsp; 
I wonder how well it actually works.&nbsp; If it does, Tooth Tunes would be a great way to get your kids to brush their teeth for the full 2 minutes that dentists recommend! 
Tooth Tunes retail for $9.99 and include three non-replaceable AAA batteries.&nbsp; Tooth Tunes are manual toothbrushes, and each toothbrush plays one song.
There are 43 different songs available.&nbsp; While some are for adults with artists featured such as KISS, Queen, The Village People, Devo, The Beach Boys, Neil Sedaka and the Theme from Rocky, most are for the tween age range, including:

Hannah Montana
The Jonas Brothers
High School Musical
Ashley Tisdale
The Cheetah Girls
Aly &amp; AJ
Vanessa Hudgens
Corbin Bleu
Hilary Duff 
Jesse McCartney

There are also Tooth Tunes available for smaller children featuring songs such as &#8220;If You&#8217;re Happy and You Know It, Brush Your Teeth&#8221; as well as songs from The Jungle Book and The Lion King movies.
What do you think?&nbsp; Do you know anyone who has tried a Tooth Tunes toothbrush?&nbsp; If so, how well did it work?
Images: Hasbro.com
Technorati Tags: tooth tunes,musical toothbrush,disney stars,disney channel stars,high school musical,hannah montana,jonas brothers,disney toothbrushes,products for tweens,tweens
Share This
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:40:12</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Play Library]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://playlibrary.com/</gf:blogUrl>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Wordless Wednesday - Why do they have to grow up?]]></title>
      <link>http://www.thriftymommy.com/wordless-wednesday-why-do-they-have-to-grow-up/</link>
      <description><![CDATA[
Tags: Little ManShare This
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:27:04</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[Thrifty Mommy]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.thriftymommy.com/</gf:blogUrl>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Christopher Kurtz high chair]]></title>
      <link>http://www.babygadget.net/2008/08/christopher_kurtz_high_chair.php</link>
      <description><![CDATA[

I distinctly remember thinking how I wasn't too fussed what sort of high-chair we got, as it wouldn't be in use for long - yet, three years and counting, and we still slide our daughter in to our (thankfully inoffensive) white Ikea high chair. It's just too useful to have all the crumbs, not to mention the child, contained in one place, though I know the day will come when we realise she's just too big to fit any longer.

Anyway, for those who recognise that the highchair is going to be centre-stage for many years to come - say, you're planning a big family - this design by Christopher Kurtz is surely worth a look. I saw it on that energetic and fulsome interiors blog, Apartment Therapy, and thought those circular motifs were amazing. You can read more about the designer there.

No website as yet, it seems, though: AT give Kurtz's email address for interested parties, which is: christopherkurtz.studio@gmail.com.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:31:27</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[BabyGadget]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.babygadget.net/</gf:blogUrl>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Box Chair Storage System by Eiry Rock]]></title>
      <link>http://www.babygadget.net/2008/08/box_chair_storage_system_by_ei.php</link>
      <description><![CDATA[

I think I'm in love. And I'm sure you know why since, by now, you've read post upon post about how much I adore functional furniture that also serves as attractive storage space. This Box Chair Storage Set from designer Eiry Rock is just the bees knees as far as I'm concerned. The way that these pieces fit together like a puzzle is what got my attention. Or as Eiry Rock puts it himself, "this product is a blatant expression of how one form is removed from another leaving a negative space in its absence." The larger box serves as both a table and toybox while the second smaller one serves as a seat or play surface for your toddler. The chair is, well, a chair and the surfaces have a laminated "wipe clean" finish. All good in my opinion (though I might toss a cushion on that chair before I sit down).

Via Moco Loco.

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:00:25</pubDate>
      <gf:blogName><![CDATA[BabyGadget]]></gf:blogName>
      <gf:blogUrl>http://www.babygadget.net/</gf:blogUrl>
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