by | Aug 4, 2021 | From the Heart |
Whether your kids are still young or grown up and have youngsters of their own, it’s always good to spend time together as a family. While day-to-day life can make it tricky to spend as much quality time together as you’d like, finding ways to bond can strengthen your relationships. To keep things exciting and find new ways to enjoy each other’s company, why not try these five fun ways to bond as a family?
Photo by Josh Willink from Pexels Pexels – CCO Licence
Go Hiking
A hiking trip can be a great way to have fun together, particularly if you turn it into a multi-day event and camp overnight. With essential supplies, a range of treats, and custom printed t shirts to ensure everyone is easily identifiable, family members of all ages can take part and enjoy themselves. Be sure to choose a suitable trail for everyone and make sure you’re prepared for the terrain. As you enhance your skills, however, you’ll be able to take on more adventurous routes as a family.
Cook Together
Sitting down to an evening meal together for many families is an important way of connecting, but cooking together can be even better. Even if some family members aren’t budding chefs, you can have fun learning new skills and sharing the responsibilities of preparing a meal! Whether you’re throwing together a quick weekday meal or prepping for a family BBQ, encouraging everyone to get involved is a fun way to spend time together.
Try an Assault Course
If you want to test your limits, book a day at an activity center and take on an assault course as a team. While very young children won’t be able to participate in this one, there are many outdoor activity centers geared towards youngsters. By finding the right course for your family, you can work together, enjoy some friendly competition and have hours of fun.
Have a Gaming Session
If your kids are into gaming, trying to cajole them away from their screens can be a challenge but, if you can’t beat them, join them! Ask your kids to teach you how to game, and you’ll have a shared hobby that you can partake in at any time. What’s more – playing games online is a great way to connect with family members who are based elsewhere, so you can stay in touch with siblings, cousins, and kids and have fun at the same time.
Sing Karaoke
Nothing lifts your mood like belting out your favorite tune, which is why karaoke is so popular with people of all ages. Rent a karaoke machine, buy a couple of microphones or book a session at a nearby karaoke booth and you can sing your heart out. Encourage everyone to create a list of their favorite songs, and you can create your own bespoke playlist!
Making Time for Family Fun
When you have an endless to-do list, it’s always a challenge to fit family time into your schedule. However, making it a top priority regularly will benefit everyone. Having fun together strengthens bonds and makes you feel closer to your nearest and dearest. By choosing easily accessible and fun activities for everyone, family time will become a firm favorite in your household!
by | Jul 31, 2021 | Fashion |
We all want the best for our children, and this means that we work hard giving them the things in life we think they need, but when we do this, we can run the risk of doing too much for them. The best way to raise healthy and happy children is to incorporate healthy habits that they can maintain throughout their life. If you can help your child develop healthy habits early on in life, they will feel the benefits forevermore. Here are a few things to get you started.
Image by alteredego from Pixabay
Encourage Your Children to Read Food Labels
Something that we all forget to do, but that meal that may appear healthy on the surface could hide an abundance of sugar. Many pediatric dental care providers will help you to look after your child’s teeth and reduce sugar intake by avoiding sweet foods and juices, but it’s important to recognize where sugar could be hiding. It’s not always just in the sweet stuff!
Focus on the Positives
If we use an abundance of negative language and tell children what they cannot do, we have to remember to rephrase and re-frame by telling them what they can do instead. Keeping everything positive will have a big impact on our children’s mindset. When they have a more positive attitude to solving a problem, rather than thinking they cannot do it, learning to solve a problem through trial and error, and giving them the right tools to solve problems will make them feel they can accomplish anything. Positivity is so important, and one little thing you can do with the end of every single day is to encourage practicing gratitude, as this helps them to focus on the good things, even if they think they had a bad day.
Choose Real Rewards
We have to find ways to celebrate good behavior beyond sweet foods and video games. While screen time can be beneficial, it is important to focus on the motivation factors based on their age. Finding a system that works will make a massive difference.
Focus on Family Time
Families don’t always spend time together anymore, but if you can focus on making one part of the day family time, it reinforces that idea of togetherness. The best example is dinnertime. You could help your children get involved with making the meals, everybody doing the dishes together, and that quality family time around the table is very beneficial for the family.
Be Realistic
You have to be aware that they are going to be pushbacks. You may feel that you’ve got to invest yourself wholeheartedly in giving your children healthy habits, but this can mean you are overdoing it. It’s important to remember that you need to focus on your health too, as this sets the right example for your children. But if your children aren’t on board with new healthy habits yet, remember to take it small and steady. Gradual changes will make the biggest difference in your children’s health over time, so don’t beat yourself over the head if they don’t get it right away.
by | Jul 30, 2021 | Fashion |
Hi, Elegant Lovelies,
Isaac Mizrahi Wrap Dress
I must admit! I should be more confident, but I still don’t feel totally comfortable taking pictures of myself. NO, everyone who has a blog wants to take thousands of pictures of themselves. I either feel that I’m not my fighting weight, too over thirty, or not attractive enough. I think that is one of the reasons why I created this blog was to face my inner complex fears. I have been putting my foot in the water for almost twelve years. I am here showing up, so I guess that counts for something. This was such an exhausting work week that this stress release showed up and doing what my passion is.
This week in the midwest, the temperature and the humidity top out over 105 degrees. I am actually listening to Hot Summer from Prince’s latest that was released today.
Today’s Style list
Chambray Shirt with striped cuffs
Faux-Wrap Dress, self-tie belt: Isaac Mizrahi
Sandals: Earth Origins Suede Upper – Pippa
Necklace: Gift
Watch: iWatch
The dress is so cool and flowy. I have to love myself to be able to give love. If my inner self is not confident, then what I wear means nothing.
I couldn’t find the exact dress on QVC.com, but this dress is similar.
The Faux-Wrap Dress
The Faux-Wrap Dress
The Faux-Wrap Dress by Isaac Mizrahi is an added safety of nothing flying up with that burst of wind. The actual fabric is sewn to the other side of the dress, giving an illusion of a wrap skirt with added security. I usually don’t add the self-belt, but it was so hot that I didn’t want to be wearing a leather belt. I think that it looks chic without one. I added the chambray shirt jacket because the dress does not have sleeves. Since I would be working in the office, I needed extra coverage with the air conditioning.
This week has been very stressful, so I need my fashion to be chic, cool, and easy.
by | Jul 30, 2021 | Fitness |
Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t need to break the bank. A lot of people associate eating healthy and working out as something that’s a luxury. It’s honestly far from the case, as you don’t need a gym membership or organic vegetables to live a healthy lifestyle. These are six tips that will not only help you to live a healthy life but they’ll also save you some serious cash.
Image Credit
Get more sleep
A good night’s sleep is the foundation of good health. You need 7 to 9 hours per night of sleep while your body works to repair itself, and your brain processes the information it took from the day. If you get enough sleep per night, you won’t need to stop by your local café to pick up any coffee. You’ll get to save money while also getting in some more sleep.
Skip the membership
You don’t need a gym membership to stay fit and healthy. You can work out at home, go for walks, or even check out your local park for outdoor fitness equipment. These are all great ways of getting to burn some calories, all while sticking to a budget. Gym memberships can be far too expensive, and the contracts can be hard to get out of, which can cause financial challenges.
Use free fitness apps
There are so many free fitness apps online; you can easily stay on top of your health journey and goals by tracking your progress. Whether you want an app that tracks the number of calories you burned, tips for new exercises, or logging your daily meals, there’s a free app for that.
Avoid eating out
Eating out can be incredibly tempting, especially if you’re someone who has a busy schedule or dislikes cooking. You can save a serious amount of money just by not going out to eat. Restaurants have a massive markup on both their prices as well as their calories on the food. While it’s tempting to go out and share a meal, some restaurants won’t allow that or will charge a fee. But if you do go out to eat, try to avoid eating the entire portion and ask for a to-go box, so you’ll have leftovers for the next day.
Get cooking
Cooking at home is a great lifestyle change that can help you save a lot of money, plus you’ll be able to track your calories much easier. You’ll get to choose what ingredients you want in your food. Cooking at home also invites the opportunity to do meal prep. These not only allow you to save time during the week, but they also allow you to feel less tempted to buy food while you’re out.
Take advantage of employee health benefits
Some companies offer their employees special wellness programs such as gym memberships, rewards, and even dental care. These can all help you with your journey to living a healthier lifestyle while also giving you the chance to save a bit of money. Sometimes, these accounts are linked to health insurance plans, so you may be able to save money on future health care expenses too.
by | Jul 26, 2021 | Music |
It is safe to say that almost everyone loves one form of music. Many people also nurture hopes of learning at least the basics of one musical instrument. Playing an instrument holds immense benefits to both mental and physical health. Unfortunately, it isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially if you haven’t picked one up before or are unsure where to start. So, how can you learn to play an instrument on your own? Here are some tips to consider.
Image by Christoph Schütz from Pixabay
Choose your preferred instrument
The key to learning to play any instrument is repetition, several hours of practice, and dedication. But first, you would need to pick an instrument you would love to play. The happier you are with your instrument, the more willing you’ll be to put in the work required to learn. If you are unsure, you might have to try your hands on several options to find one you’re more comfortable with.
Set your goals
Your primary goal is to learn to play your preferred instrument. However, you need to set goals or targets you want to achieve with your practice. Therefore, set a goal that will motivate you to keep practicing your instrument even when you don’t feel like it. For example, it could be to start writing songs, become a sound engineer, or even impress that special one in your life. It doesn’t matter what your goal is as long as you can rely on it for motivation.
Find the suitable lesson sources
Thankfully, with numerous opportunities to leverage, taking music lessons today is not as difficult as it used to be before. Today, you’ll find several music tutors, lessons, and programs online, depending on what you want. Regardless of this, the most important thing is finding a convenient schedule for you and staying committed to it.
Practice like your life depends on it
When it comes to learning a musical instrument (or anything else in life), you can only become as good as you practice. The best players you will find today sacrificed (and still do) hours of practice to become as good as they are. However, the key to effective practice is time. Create a schedule that is convenient for you and gives you ample time to practice. You should also find almost all the practice resources you need online, depending on your preferred instrument. For example, if you want to practice the saxophone, you will find a broad collection of saxophone sheet music or music notes for a saxophone.
Watch or listen to talented musicians
There’s a lot you can learn simply by watching your favorite musician play their instruments, especially when creating a personal style. Aside from watching other musicians, watch yourself play. Whether it’s before your mirror or by video-recording yourself, you can identify what you’re doing wrong when you see yourself play.
Choosing to learn how to play an instrument is great! With these tips, you would be playing your instrument like a pro in no time.
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