Search Results for: blog how goes the outdoor challenge

How Goes the Outdoor Challenge?

A little while back I talked about the outdoor challenge. Simply put, my challenge to you (and to myself!) was to get your child outdoors for as much time as they were spending in front of a computer or a television screen every day. How are you doing? I must confess to flunking the first few days, but I have an excellent excuse. My daughter came down with the stomach flu and it lasted for two days. When she’s sick, she watches more television, although I did do a good job entertaining her with books, naps, and those paint-with-water crafts. … Continue reading →

Ways to Savor Summer Nights

While some parents are busy belting out “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” I am desperately trying to squeeze as much outdoor fun into what’s left of my daughter’s summer break. Classes resume next week and neither one of us is ready to say so long to the season. My family spends a ton of time outside during the summer months, and this year has been no exception, despite the record-breaking heat. Now that the new school year is about to start, we are trying to get in as many outdoor adventures as possible. Since I telecommute, I … Continue reading →

Be a Healthy Example to Your Children

We really are our kid’s best example. While we strive to make healthy changes to our lifestyle, we should be making sure that our children embrace the same desire. If we don’t pass on a healthy lifestyle to our children, then we are just setting them up for future health problems, let alone self esteem issues. Obesity is a real problem in this country and it is becoming an increasingly significant problem amongst children. It is easier for children to not be active—computers, television, video game systems, iPods and the like are drawing children to become couch potatoes. As parents … Continue reading →

How I Got My Home Gym For Free

The fact that I’m frugal spreads over into every part of my life, from my diet and clothing, to my health routines. Of course, I wouldn’t sacrifice my health just to save a buck, but I do look for free ways to work out. A lot of doctors recommend walking, but since I live in Tucson, Arizona, walking outdoors any time between the hours of 6am and 9pm isn’t going to happen, especially during the summer. I don’t like being uncomfortable, and trudging around in the heat kills any of my good intentions to exercise. Staying indoors where the temperature … Continue reading →

10 Free or Cheap Things to Do With Kids During the Spring

I was reading a blog post by Tricia Edgar this morning called “How Goes the Outdoor Challenge?” It got me to thinking about things my kids and I could do this spring. As a single mom, I don’t have a lot of money to budget for activities, but there are a lot of free and cheap things that can be done with kids. Here’s what I found: 1. Take a nature walk or hike. Stop along the way to talk about the things you see: leaves, rocks, birds, animal tracks, etc. 2. Go for a bike ride: Your bikes have … Continue reading →

Bad Weather and Active Pets

Fall and winter in the Pacific Northwest often means rain. And rain means MUD! There are days I want to walk my dogs in hip boots and a full-length coat (at least I have the coat, in a muddish shade of brown so the splatters don’t show). There are some days I don’t want to leave the house at all. Lally (my boxer mix) is the same way! She’s a funny little girl: she hates the rain, and hates getting wet. On days when the skyfall is constant, it’s hard to get her more than a few steps outside the … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking Week in Review for April 1-6, 2008 with a Few Extras

I don’t know what it was like for you in your neck of the woods this past weekend, but our area was absolutely beautiful and was the closest resemblance to Spring that we’ve had since last year. We got some flowers planted, grass seed poured and enjoyed the outdoors as much as we could. Days like those are hard to find to scrapbook, because you want to enjoy the weather, but you can always do it at night or early in the morning. Remember to make time for it, while still enjoying the beautiful weather. Here is what has been … Continue reading →

Fitness The Week in Review – September 30 – October 6

Welcome to our first Week in Review for October and a review of the topics we covered this week. I like to go over what we covered in one fell swoop so that you can catch up one some of the articles you may have missed this week. So without further ado, here we go with our Fitness Blog week in review: Saturday, September 30th We took a day off to spend with the family and just focused on our Week in Review today. It’s important to remember that weekends are a good time to reconnect with family especially when … Continue reading →

The ABC’s of Frugal Living: 26 Tips to Live a More Frugal Life

The ABC’s of Frugal Living – 26 Tips to Live a More Frugal Life The frugal living blog at families.com is chock full of great information to help you live a more frugal lifestyle. We all strive to save money and the bloggers in this category are here to help. A: Amazing Dates Have a date night for less! New Cheap Date Ideas A Cheap And Fun Date Idea It’s Date Night Date Night On a Budget B: Budgeting Make a plan and stick to it. Be sure you watch where your money goes each month and try to do … Continue reading →