Today's Flower #6

Camera Critters #1

Fun Indoor Activities for Kids

Parents are always looking for great ideas for fun kids activities for all occasions. Kids love to play and be creative and the more new kids activities parents can come up with the less bored the kids will be and the more creative and self developed they will become. .

Parents can read and discuss a book or a chapter of a book with their kids. Parents can make up their own endings to make the stories more exciting and unpredictable. You can even make up your own stories by sitting the kids in a ring and letting them "add a sentence". You will be surprised at how good the stories end up to be. Kids are usually very creative.

Today's Flower #5

How To Look Younger & Beautiful

There will hardly be any one on this earth who wants to look old. In fact, almost every one of us wants to look young throughout his/ her life. However, time is relentless and you tend to get older every year. When it comes to looking younger, there is no need to go under the knife.

All you need to do is to inculcate few tricks in your routine. There are some tips and techniques that, if followed religiously, can make you look younger than your age and also much more beautiful. For instance, if you keep fit, exercise on a regular basis and watch your diet, your body will feel as well as look quite young.

Let us explore some tips on looking younger than your age.

*Make sure that you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. It will help your body stay hydrated and flush it free of toxins as well. At the same time, it will make your face glow and shine.
*Always wear a sunscreen lotion when you go out in the day, to protect your skin from harmful ultra violet (UV) rays. Make sure that you are using a sunscreen with at least 15 SPF.
*Visit your hairdresser for a younger hair makeover. Rather than sticking to an old-fashioned hairstyle, go for a younger and more carefree look. You will drop years from your age, this way.
*Pay attention to the lipstick color. Always avoid bright red and brown shades and stick to neutrals, like beiges and pinks.
*Do not overdo with your eyebrows outlining. Subtlety is the key when it comes to eye makeup that makes you look young.
*Get manicures and pedicures done on a regular basis. Go for a facial sitting at least once in a month.
*Avoid wearing round neck blouses, which may draw attention to a drooping posture. *You should always prefer wearing V-neck clothes, which direct the eye up.
*Always maintain a proper and confident posture. It not only makes you look younger, but also help you appear slimmer than you are.
*A young fragrance always makes you seem much younger than you really are. According to a survey, women wearing scents with pink grapefruit in it appeared, on average, 6 years younger than their actual age.
*Try to get at least 7-8 hours sleep on a daily basis. It will help you feel younger as well as extremely refreshed.
*It is said that love can make you feel as well as look years younger than your age. *Fall in love with your spouse once again. Better yet, fall in love with yourself.
*Avoid processed foods as well as those food items that have too much sugar in them.
*Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Increase your consumption of food items that are rich in proteins.
*If you are overweight, try to lose those extra pounds, by sticking to a healthy diet and indulging in exercise. No crash dieting please!
*Include the basic steps of cleansing, toning, moisturize and nourishing your skin, in your daily routine.

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Key to enjoying life

Finding ways to relax is one key to enjoying life. Relaxation calms your fears and helps you release stress. Having less pent up stress can be helpful for fighting disease and staying healthy.

If you haven't been good at relaxing, how do you start? First, it's important to surround yourself with positive people. Negative vibes from friends and co-workers can spread, making it hard for you to relax. Avoid them or, even better, have them join you in some spirit-raising activity!

Rent a funny movie or visit a joke Web site. Laughter releases tension and helps put life back in perspective.

Clean your inbox daily. No, not your e-mail. Your mind. Buy yourself a notebook or start a computer journal. Every night jot down happenings, thoughts and things accomplished that day, or even your frustrations. When your mind is "cleaned up," it is easier to relax and fall asleep.

Being able to unwind and relax is one step toward a happier, healthier life. Don't be shy about being happy, pass it on to your friends and co-workers, they'll thank you for it.

Today's Flower #4

Carrot Coconut Soup

This soup is rich in vitamin A and has great flavor!

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1 TBS + 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 TBS fresh ginger, sliced
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp curry powder
2 cups sliced carrots, about ¼-inch thick
1 cup sweet potato, cut into about ½-inch cubes
5 oz canned coconut milk
salt and white pepper to taste


Directions:

Chop onion and let it sit for at least five minutes to bring out its hidden health benefits.
Heat 1 TBS broth in a medium soup pot. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and ginger and continue to sauté for another minute.
Add curry powder and mix well with onions.
Add broth, carrots, and sweet potato and simmer on medium high heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add coconut milk.
Blend in batches making sure blender is not more than half full. When it's hot, and the blender is too full, it can erupt and burn you. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Return to soup pot and reheat.

Hair color trends 2010

Gone are the days when hair colors were just used to hide grays. Today, the hair colors are as much as an accessory as are the lipstick, shaving cream, and even soap. Actually, hair colors not only up your glamour quotient but also provide a necessary glint to your face. The easiest way to bring out a change in your appearance is by making a change in your hair. While until ten years back, no person could think of coloring their hair before it started graying, today, even, teenagers are opting for hair colors.

With all the biggies in the fashion world bringing in their signature hair color, how could the en masse not get swayed. The trend of hair coloring is spreading rights and lefts and not without good reasons. Nothing can lift your mood and looks better than a good hair color. Fashion is fickle but in the world of hair colors, it changes very gradually and pretty much anything goes. The trend of the color largely depends on the season mainly winter and summer. While for summers all shades of blondes generally rules, for winter, brown and black shades are preferred.

As 2010 is a year of natural shades for hair, the year has brought with itself the rage of all shades of brown hair colors. In all the fashion weeks for the upcoming year, the models walked with brown or shades of brown hair. The idea behind this is that brown colored hair matches all the skin complexion and so people with any skin tone whether fair, pale, wheatish, etc can wear this hair color. Moreover, many hair experts claim that brown colored hair gives natural warmth to the facial structure of a person. Go for any shades of brown especially chocolate brown, light ash brown, dark golden brown, Glazelnut, cocoa, light chestnut etc.

If you are bored with the same hair color but don’t want to experiment too much then you can consider shades of plums, mahogany or auburn. These not only give you a fresh and gorgeous look but would also give your face a soft look. Although before you choose any of the given colors, make sure that you are not giving your hair a drastic change. For instance if you have blonde hair, then switching to auburn, plum or mahogany, color would be a bit drastic. This change would be a good change for brunettes. However if you have ivory or creamy toned skin, then you can go with these hair colors

Garlic remedy on my feet?!?!?

Garlic on my feet. Yes, you read right. Here’s what I do: I crush a few garlic cloves, put them in a little jar or bowl, and cover it just so in olive oil.

In about a half hour, I rub the oil on my feet. I do this on my kids as well when they have a bad cough or they have a chest cold. For me, I also put the garlic pieces between my toes (but not for kids).

Then, I put socks on for the night and go to sleep. When I wake up, I have garlic breath, so I know it works! No kidding! Garlic enters your system and heads straight for the lungs.

Garlic is amazing for the lungs. This is a great way to fight bacterial infections. It also enhances your immune system and fights viruses at the same time! I love this garlic remedy.

It’s not just for vampires anymore!

Well, I have no personal experience with garlic being effective on vampires, but I did see it once in a movie. However, I do have A LOT of experience with garlic warding off illness.

Not only is it antibiotic, it is also directly effective against viruses. It is also anti-fungal and anti-parasitic as well among many other things. It's important for colds AND flus.

Well, the most obvious garlic remedy is to cook with it. I give ideas about using garlic in the immune soup recipe as well as in my special-tea. Eating garlic regularly is extremely healthful. It also helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol counts. It’s absolutely amazing.

It’s most potent to use garlic raw. Cooking with it regularly is good for your health, but when you need it in an acute situation, use it raw.

Juicing it and adding it to other juice is a great way to take raw.

There are many good raw garlic recipes that are garlic remedies, such as humous. This is a traditional middle eastern dish/spread. You can find it at supermarkets or you can make your own.

These recipes are a great example of "eating your medicine." Eating healthful meals with antiviral and antibiotic properties built into them is optimal. However, if you are already sick, then cooking garlic into your soup is one of your best options.

How to help someone you’re worried about

Everyone has human qualities they can draw on to help a suicidal person. Anyone can be called upon to help a friend, parent, or coworker

If you find yourself in this situation, the following tips can help you assist someone in trouble:

*Take the person seriously and avoid mocking them, moralizing, or challenging them.
*Tell them that you’re worried about them.
*Listen to them and show them that you understand the severity of their distress.
*Check whether the person is thinking of committing suicide, and if so, try to find out how, where, and when they intend to do it—the more precise the plan, the greater the need to act quickly.
*Support the suicidal person in their search for a solution but respect your own limits and avoid doing everything in the person’s place.
*Encourage the person to go for help and accompany them if necessary.
*Seek information and support for yourself so you can be in a better position to help.

Keeping the suicidal person’s secret to yourself can limit your ability to act and leave you carrying the burden of the other person’s well-being on your own. However, out of respect for the affected person, be discreet when seeking help.

Today's Flower #3

Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods

Electric shock

What is an electric shock?

You know that all the appliances like fans, lights, TV, computers etc. work on the principle of electricity. The human body offers considerable resistance to electricity when it is dry. However, wet skin allows transfer of electric current into our body easily. Materials like wood, glass, air and rubber also offer resistance to electricity. Sometimes while using various electric appliances just by putting fingers into the sockets, we may get a jolt of electric shock Cuts and abrasions are wounds that cause your skin to break. Cuts can be caused by sharp object such as knives, glass splinters. brasions are caused when your skin rubs against a hard surface and it breaks. Small cuts called scratches may be caused by needle or thorns.

What happens when we get an electric shock?

When current passes through our body, it causes contraction of the muscles. If the current is long enough and strong enough, it may cause the eart to beat funnily, it may destroy the muscles and even cause burns at the site where we touched the electric point. Hence, the best may to prevent electric shock is to wear rubber-soled shoes or slippers while handling electric appliances. Also if a person is struck to the electric source, do not pull the person with bare hands but pull him with help of a wooden rod.

"Last but not the least,Do not ever touch the live wire or else you’ll go all haywire!"

Maximizing With Music Therapy

As I mentioned yesterday, there is not a single music that is good for everyone. People have different tastes. It is important that you like the music being played.

The following are general guidelines to maximize the effectiveness of the music.

To wash away stress, try taking a 20-minute "sound bath." Put some relaxing music on your stereo, then lie in a comfortable position on a couch or on the floor near the speakers. For a deeper experience, you can wear headphones to focus your attention and to avoid distraction.

Choose music with a slow rhythm - slower than the natural heart beat which is about 72 beats per minute. Music that has repeating or cyclical pattern is found to be effective in most people.

As the music plays, allow it to wash over you, rinsing off the stress from the day. Focus on your breathing, letting it deepen, slow and become regular. Concentrate on the silence between the notes in the music; this keeps you from analyzing the music and makes relaxation more complete.

If you need a stimulation after a day of work, go for a faster music rather than slow calming music.

When going gets tough, go for a music you are familiar with - such as a childhood favorite or favorite oldies. Familiarity often breeds calmness.

Take walks with your favorite music playing on the walkman. Inhale and exhale in tune with the music. Let the music takes you. This is a great stress reliever by combining exercise (brisk walk), imagery and music.

Listening to the sounds of nature, such as ocean waves or the calm of a deep forest, can reduce stress. Try taking a 15- to 20-minute walk if you're near the seashore or a quiet patch of woods. If not, you can buy tapes of these sounds in many music stores.

Music Therapy

Listening to music does wonders to alleviate stress. Please note that everyone has different tastes in music. Listen to the music that you feel comfortable. Sitting down and forcing yourself to listen to relaxation music that you don't like may create stress, not alleviate it.

Music has always been a great healer. In the Bible, we learn about how David played the harp to help ease his severe depression of King Saul .

Music is a significant mood-changer and reliever of stress, working on many levels at once. Many experts suggest that it is the rhythm of the music or the beat that has the calming effect on us although we may not be very conscious about it. They point out that when we were a baby in our mother's womb, we probably were influenced by the heart beat of our mother. We respond to the soothing music at later stages in life, perhaps associating it with the safe, relaxing, protective environment provided by our mother.

Music can be one of the most soothing or nerve wracking experiences available. Choosing what will work for any individual is difficult, most will choose something they 'like' instead of what might be beneficial.

Among the first stress-fighting changes that take place when we hear a tune is an increase in deep breathing. The body's production of serotonin also accelerates.

Music was found to reduce the pain during dental procedures.

Playing music in the background while we are working, seemingly unaware of the music itself, has been found to reduce the stress.

Music was found to reduce heart rates and to promote higher body temperature - an indication of the onset of relaxation. Combining music with relaxation therapy was more effective than doing relaxation therapy alone.

Poached Egg over Spinach

Start the day with an extra boost of greens in this easy-to-prepare meal that you can also serve for lunch or dinner.

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
2 omega-3 enriched eggs
1 tsp light vinegar
1 lb fresh spinach (or kale or collard greens)

Mediterranean Dressing
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 medium clove garlic
sea salt and pepper to taste


Directions: Spinach

Use a large pot (3 quart) with lots of water. Bring water to rapid boil.
While water is coming to a boil, press or chop garlic and let it sit for at least 5 minutes to enhance its health-promoting properties.
Wash spinach.
When water is at full boil, place spinach into the pot. Do not cover. Cooking uncovered helps the acids to escape into the air. Cook spinach for 1 minute; begin timing a soon as you drop the spinach into the boiling water. See 5-Minute Kale or 5-Minute Collard Greens recipes if you use these greens in place of spinach.
After the spinach has cooked for 1 minute (do not wait for water to return to a boil), use a mesh strainer with a handle to remove spinach from the pot. Press out excess liquid.
Toss spinach with dressing ingredients while it is still hot. Mediterranean dressing does not have to be made separately.
Poached Eggs
Bring 1 quart water to a high simmer in a 10-inch skillet with 1 tsp of vinegar.
When water comes to a high simmer poach eggs for about 5 minutes, or until whites are firm. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and place over spinach mixture.
Serves 2

Today's Flower #2

If you know someone that is feeling down and out because of an illness, send him or her a gorgeous arrangement of flowers and help them to feel better immediately. You will let them know how much you care about them and how much you want them to feel better.

Life long dietary habits

Wondering how to improve a child’s health through his diet? It might be a good idea to start looking into whole grain foods.

Whole grains have been found to be nutritionally superior in giving health benefits than refined grain foods like white rice and white bread.

Food items made from whole grain, such as cereals, bread and even pasta, contain all the healthy parts of the grain. With these parts intact, kids can enjoy all the whole grain benefits together with vitamins and minerals to help improve their health and support their growth and development.

Whole grains contain all three important parts of a grain: Bran, which is rich in fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc, copper and phytonutrients; Germ, which has vitamin E, B vitamins, antioxidants and essential fats; and Endosperm, which offers carbohydrates, proteins and small amounts of B vitamins. Together, whole grains deliver a complete nutrient package

By incorporating whole grains into your kid’s diet at an early age, you establish good lifelong dietary habits in your child which lay the foundation for later health.

With all these health benefits, you definitely want your kid to have a whole grain-rich diet every day. You can start increasing his whole grain diet through breakfast cereals that are made with whole grains like Nestlé Koko Krunch, Koko Krunch Duo, Milo, Honey Stars, and Cookie Crisp, which provide all the healthy goodness of whole grains to boost children’s health