Search Results for: home outdoor environment yard

Keeping Toddlers Safe Outdoors

Now that it is time to spend lots of time outdoors with the kids, it is also time to think about keeping the kids safe in the yard. Each of our homes and yards presents different safety issues for young children. Keeping curious toddlers safe can feel like a full time job sometimes. Next time you go outside, take a look around the yard and identify any poison ivy or other dangerous plants that are native to your geographic area. Remember where they are and either remove them (learn how to do so safely first) or keep your child away from … Continue reading →

Plants to Avoid When You Have Kids At Home

I love plants. I think that they’re the most fabulous things for cleaning up your indoor air and making a lovely environment in your living room, kitchen, bathroom, or other space. However, I also have a smallish child, and other smallish children visit my home on a regular basis. While I don’t think that they’re prone to eating random plant leaves any more, it’s always good to know what I have in my home so that I can make sure that no one ingests something that would make them sick. What house plants should you avoid when you have a … Continue reading →

Discovering Patterns in Nature and the Home

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Part of basic math is discovering the patterns that exist in nature, in our homes, and all around us. After your preschooler can recognize shapes, she will begin to realize that shapes come in collections – patterns of circles, lines, and swirls. Identifying patterns will help children with geometry later in life. It is also an important pre-reading skill, since recognizing sight words is all about recognizing the patterns of the letters that you have seen together again and again. How can you and your preschooler discover patterns in and around your home? Use different sorts of dry noodles to … Continue reading →

Home Blog Month in Review: October

As I sit here looking out my window at the backyard, the birds are hovering in the pine tree against a strong wind and steady rain. The temperature is chilly today, and the calendar reminds me that we have left October behind. October 1st Buy a Home for $1.75 It seems that the housing crisis has made some interesting news lately. Home Month in Review: September 2008 Has the weather turned cooler now that September has passed? Pretty soon, it will be time to get that heat turned back on! Meanwhile, check out all of the articles that were posted … Continue reading →

Creating a Rich Environment for Kids

Since we have moved to our new area, we run into families that are what I would consider affluent. The kids live in large, new homes and are surrounded with plenty of the latest toys, clothes, vacations and possessions. Each home has an expensive outdoor play systems, trampolines, pools, a number of current video game systems, etc. With our frugal budget, we can’t quite compete with all of that. But what we can do is create a rich environment for our kids. I think we have managed to do that, since our house is the current “hang out house” for … Continue reading →

Home Blog Month in Review: August

Did you have a good month? We seem to have packed an entire summer’s worth of activities in this past month. Now, it seems, it is back to school and time to get ready for autumn. Still, it is nice to look back toward warm sands and wearing shorts even as we will soon be crunching leaves and taking out the sweaters. August 1st Getting Out Grass Stains With summer in full swing, chances are that your family has been playing outdoors quite a bit. And with all of that outdoor play comes the grass stains, especially if you are … Continue reading →

Ask a Pets Blogger: How Long Does Parvo Live in the Environment?

A friend of mine recently fostered a dog who was suffering from parvo. With vet treatment, the dog survived and has gone on to a forever home… but my friend is now worried about future fosters. What can she do to protect the next dog that comes to stay with her? Parvo is a tough one to get rid of because it is so hardy — especially outdoors. A few ways in which the parvovirus can be spread: Carried on shoes or clothing. Surviving sub-freezing temperatures to infect dogs after the spring thaw. Freezing does NOT kill the virus — … Continue reading →

Home Week in Review: June 16 – 22

We hope you enjoyed this week’s articles. If you missed any of them, here is a handy round up: Three Painting Tips Painting a room is an easy and affordable way to update it, change the decor and make it fresh. If you change nothing else, a coat or two of paint will be a big improvement for your home. Here are three painting tips to help you in your project. Summertime Schedule Looking at the title, you might ask, “What schedule?” Many families who have children home from school for summer vacation have no real household routine during the … Continue reading →

Home Week in Review: March 31 – April 6

Is it starting to feel like springtime where you live? The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day today. I’m looking forward to many more just like this. In the mean time, here are this week’s articles at a glance: Electronics: Walkie Talkies They’re not just fun gadgets; they can also be very useful devices for communication. To Garden or not to Garden My answer is to garden, but the bigger question is when to begin… Will Your Home Sell in a Recession? Trends Can Influence a Sale Mary Ann offers a timely and informative series of articles on … Continue reading →

Home Week in Review: March 10 – 16

This week, we went from “talking trash” to discussing Spring Cleaning. Did you miss any of these? Reducing Your Trash By reducing the amount you waste, you can save money (if you pay per bag or pound of disposal) and do something good for the environment. Here are some ideas to help you reduce your garbage… Don’t miss part two and part three. Yard Work… Now? Is it time to start yard work already? It may seem a bit early, especially if your weather is still a little unpredictable, but there are some things you can begin doing now… Things … Continue reading →