First Aid: Dealing With a Fever

A fever means your body is trying to fight an infection. If you have a fever, you may feel: Warm or hot — but often without sweat. Chills. The temperature inside your body can be very different from the temperature in the room! Achy. When I have a fever, my joints ache. For other people, the ache may be all over or only in certain places. Headachy. A fever almost always comes with a headache for me! Fuzzy-headed or easily distracted. Treating a fever doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some things you can do at home to treat … Continue reading

Birthday Party Ideas Online

Just this morning, I got an e-mail from a friend and fellow mom. She had some questions about having a birthday party for her little boy who is about to turn two years old. That is when I started thinking about all of the different themes that we have done in the past six years for birthday parties. This past year, as I was telling my friend, we did a pirate theme for my oldest son. We buried a treasure chest in the woods of our backyard. The kids had to follow a treasure map that led through the woods, … Continue reading

A Link Between Obesity and Your Immune System?

Scientists from the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Boston Medical Center are looking at a possible link between obesity and immune system function. Previous research has found that obese people are more likely to suffer from periodontal disease than lean people. This new study looked at why. Researchers worked with laboratory mice — some who were obese and some who were lean and healthy. The mice were infected with a bacterium that causes periodontal disease (porphyromonas gingivalis). The obese mice were more susceptible to gum disease and had a blunted immune system reaction to the infection. Ten … Continue reading

Bored.com

Tired of endlessly surfing the web looking for something to do? Try bored.com, where you can do everything from create fake news stories to watch music videos. Bored.com is a fun web site that is filled with all sorts of things to do. When I first visited, I tried out the Santa bot. I have to say that it was one of the most accurate Santa chat’s that I have seen. The Santa spoke in full sentences that were very relevant. For example, when I told Santa that I had a bad cold, he said he would pray that I … Continue reading

Using Amazon to Your Best Advantage

I love Amazon. I love browsing the site, reading the book descriptions, buying the books . . . sigh. It’s just a good thing all the way around. Are you familiar with the Amazon site? Are you getting all you can out of it? When you first open the page, you’ll see a list of departments down the left-hand side. You can buy tools, electronics, jewelry, and more, but for now, we’re just going to talk about the books. When you click on books, you’ll be given the choice of books, textbooks, magazines and newspapers, and Amazon shorts. Courtney did … Continue reading

GodTube and Other Christian Versions of Online Websites

Are you turned off by less than savory content on your favorite popular websites? Well, you may be surprised to know that the Christian community may just have a version of that same site out there on the Internet. YouTube is a great source of entertainment and sometimes education. You can find un-aired pilots of your favorite shows, cute kids spitting up spaghetti and dads lamenting about how tough it is to get kids to go to bed. Chances are that if there is a topic you can think of, there is also a video about it. But one thing … Continue reading

Finding Layout Inspiration Online

Having inspiration strike you, which in turn gets you scrapbooking layout after layout, is the finest way to get those pages done. However, not everyone knows there are dozens of places on the Internet to find great inspiration. Many scrapbook sites have these terrific galleries in which you can browse by topics, products and more. These are my favorite layout inspiration spots on the Internet. Two Peas in a Bucket – My favorite gallery by far. This website is so comprehensive that you can shop, talk and browse gallery masterpieces all in once place. They have their own set of … Continue reading

Kids Coloring Pages

Looking for some fun coloring pages to keep the kids occupied on a long car trip or during summer thunderstorms? Here are some of the best internet resources for coloring pages. You’ll find all of your favorite characters plus some learning worksheets, too. DTKL’s Coloring Pages DLTK is one of my favorite places to get coloring pages and preschool worksheets. I have been visiting the site since my oldest was two (he is now six). There are plenty of themes to chose from learning subjects, such as as Ancient Rome, the Bible, Community Helpers and Dental Health, to pure fun, … Continue reading

Computing Review: May 4th to May 11th

Did you get all of your news, reviews tricks & tips? Here they are again in our weekly Computing Blog Review. Saturday, May 5th Cool Text Phrases Do you know some of the most common text messaging shortcuts and phrases? If you are a parent, the answer is probably not. It seems like new phrases are popping up by the sec (second). If you want to text with your kids, or just keep up with them, it is important to know the language. As an added bonus, knowing some of these phrases can help you understand what your child is … Continue reading

Cool Author Websites

As I skim around on the Internet, gathering information on authors for the book reviews I do here on Families.com, I have the chance to see many neat websites. Here are some of my favorites. James Dashner is the author of the Jimmy Fincher series for young adults. His site features mystical looking graphics, great shots of his book covers, and mysterious music. This is an example of a site matching the theme of the book perfectly. Jan Karon, author of the “Mitford” books, has taken a series of scenes that could easily be gatherings in Mitford itself and placed … Continue reading