An Educated Choice is written by Dr. Frank A. Brock, who spent almost two decades as president of Covenant College in Lookout Mtn., GA. It is written primarily for parents and educators of high school students who are college bound. It helps facilitate discussion between parents and teenagers with practical information about finances, curriculum, social influences, and preparing to receive a good education.

Today in My Garden: 365 Tips for Your Midwestern Garden

Before you buy, make sure to assess the types of clothes you really need. If you work outside the home, your needs will be different than if you have a home office, or if you are a stay at home mom.

If you work outside the home, is your office a casual office, or do you need professional looking clothing?  If you need to purchase professional looking clothing, you’ll need to purchase several maternity suits or other tailored clothing.

If you have a home office, you can get away with purchasing causal clothing, but you will probably need to purchase several suits or tailored clothing for business meetings or other formal functions.

If you are a stay at home mom, your clothing budget can be very minimal.  You will probably need to purchase one tailored outfit at some point in your pregnancy for a formal function, but you can purchase casual clothing and save yourself a great deal of money! 

 If possible, check to see if friends still have their maternity clothes.  Many women save their clothes from pregnancy to pregnancy. You may be able to borrow some outfits and make your budget stretch even further.  Another way to save money on a pregnancy wardrobe is to check thrift stores for clothes.  Usually, they have casual clothing for sale, but every so often you can find more formal outfits.

If you are skilled at sewing, you can use your current wardrobe and add expandable waistbands to accommodate your growing figure.  I have met several women who did this.  While it did take time, they felt that the savings were worth the time spent altering their clothing.

Do NOT purchase clothing for your entire pregnancy at once.  You may start out in medium maternity clothes, but as your baby grows, you may need to purchase large sized clothing, or you may be in medium sized clothing throughout your pregnancy.  By a few outfits at a time, and when you outgrow them, purchase more clothing. 

 Even if you can borrow clothing or re-use clothing from prior pregnancies, the seasons may be “off”.  For example, I saved my clothing from my prior pregnancy. I had my son in early March though, and so my clothing was mostly winter clothing.  With this pregnancy, most of my clothing is summer clothing as I am delivering in August.  Therefore, I needed to buy more clothing because the seasons didn’t “match”.

Although it’s tempting to purchase a lot of maternity clothing, try to restrain yourself!  Remember that pregnancy only lasts for a short amount of time.  Even though you’ll be wearing maternity clothes for a short while after you deliver, it still is wise to limit your spending!

This series has documented the contemporary landscape architecture of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and England. Now at last comes France, that historic force in formality (Versailles), fauvism (Fontainbleau) and egalitarianism (public parks), and a recent force in contemporary landscape architecture. The most accomplished projects of 20 renowned French landscape architects are presented–figures like Michel Corajoud, Jacques Coulon, Allain Provost, Pascal Cribier, Gilles Clement, Jacques Simon and Michel Desvigne–alongside the work of their up-and-coming younger colleagues–Louis Benech, Anne-Sylvie Bruel & Christophe Delmar, Catherine Mosbach, Christine & Michel Pena and many others. These inviting public parks, breathtaking castle gardens and gigantic sculpted surfaces surprise and please in 250 color photographs.

The batter takes about 10 days to make.  Almost every day, you need to stir the batter or add ingredients.  At the end of the 10 days, you reserve a portion of the batter to pass along to friends(this is why the chain letter comparison is applicable).  You use the rest of the batter to bake Friendship Cake.

I always enjoyed making the batter and baking Friendship Cake, and now my children enjoy helping me.  Shortly before we moved out of Amish country, I asked a neighbor to share her starter batter recipe with me. I never needed to ask for the starter recipe because there was always batter for the asking.  I’m glad I did get the recipe before we moved, because it seems that no one down here in the south has heard of Amish Friendship Cake.

To make the starter, you’ll need:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of milk

Mix these ingredients in a bowl and cover.  This counts as Day 1.

Day 2: Stir the mix and cover

Day 3: Stir the mix and cover again

Day 4: Let the batter rest.

Day 5: Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of milk.  Stir.

Day 6: Let the batter rest.

Day 7: Stir the batter.

Day 8: Stir the batter.

Day 9: Stir one last time.

Day 10:  Add 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of milk. Stir well.

Take out 3 cups of starter batter.  Put 1 cup each into 3 small containers.  Give 1 container to 3 friends with a set of these instructions.  Your friends should start with Day 2 instructions.  If you want to save the starter for yourself, or if you can’t find any willing friends to take your starter batter, you can freeze some of the starter. It does freeze well.

Add the following to YOUR portion of batter(one cup will be left):

2/3 cup of oil

3 eggs

2 cup of flour

1 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

If desired, you can add  1/2 cup each nuts and/or raisins before baking or a box of vanilla pudding. 

Stir well. Bake in a floured and greased laof pan at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.

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Rather than tell readers how much money they need to retire, Lara determines the growth rate they need to earn on the assets they do have. He then uses asset allocation to achieve that growth rate with the least amount of risk.

It’s tempting to spend your time snoozing in the sun or reading the latest thriller.  When you are at the beach with young children, those things are just not safe or practical.  An article in our local paper discussed the great number of “lost” children that end up wandering away from their parents and wind up at the lifeguard station waiting until a parent or guardian claims them.  If the children are “un-claimed” for a certain amount of time, the lifeguards do have to call the police and report the incident.  This surely would dampen any beach trip.

Make sure to use lots of sunscreen!  If your children are in and out of the water, sunscreen can get washed off easily.  Be sure to re-apply sunscreen frequently.  I buy special sunscreen for faces and use lip balm that has a sunblock in it for maximum protection as my children are very fair skinned.  If you have young children, or children that are very fair skinned, you can also reduce the risk of sun burn by having them wear a t-shirt over their swim suit.  A hat can further reduce the risk of sunburn.  Many stores sell “swim shirts”  which are made of swimsuit material. I’ve gotten my children shirts that match their swimsuits.  This has made them more likely to wear the shirts and reduces the risk of sunburn.

Before going to the beach, check to see if there are any rip currents in the area or choppy water.  If so, you may want to re-schedule your trip or stay close to the shore.  If you do get caught in a rip current, it’s best to go with the flow.  Many swimmers drown simply because they get tired from fighting the current.  Let the current carry you and then swim out of the current by swimming parallel to the shore.

If possible, go to a beach where there are lifeguards on duty.  Many beaches do not have lifeguards on duty.  In our area, there have been cutbacks on lifeguard staffing at beaches.  Their hours have also been cut too due to budget restrictions.  Therefore, you may want to double check before heading to the beach.

With a little preparation, and some caution, you can have a wonderful and safe trip to the beach!

The Poems of a Day: A Collection of Fugitive Poems Written Amid the Cares and Labors of Daily Journalism (1873)

I knew of a couple who insisted upon going out to eat with their toddler even though she had an ear infection.  Suffice it to say, they had a less than stellar experience that night.  I’m sure that the other diners at the restaurant would have said the same thing.

If your toddler is in a bad mood, or just isn’t feeling herself, it’s best to skip the restaurant.  You may be able to ignore her bad behavior, but chances are that the rest of the diners in the restaurant won’t be able to do this.

If possible, try to eat during “off hours”.  For example, you usually don’t have to wait too long to get a table if you avoid the “rush times”.  After 4:30pm until 7pm could be considered “rush times” for dinner.  Friday and Saturday nights are usually very crowded at restaurants; Mondays are great nights to eat out because most people don’t do so!

Choose a kid friendly or family restaurant until your toddler is a little bit older and has better manners. Kid friendly restaurants usually are full of other families and if your toddler acts up, very few people will be offended. Be sure to ask if there are kid activities or if the restaurant has coloring pages or crayons to keep your child busy until her food arrives.  Restaurants with juke boxes or video games are wonderful for keeping children busy.  Be sure to bring extra quarters just in case.

Of course, it’s always best to bring your own entertainment.  Before you leave the house, fill a bag with quiet toys, books, coloring pages and crayons.  Some crackers and a juice box will help keep your hungry toddler in a good mood until her food arrives.

When ordering food for your toddler, be sure to ask the waitress to put the toddler’s order in first to the kitchen.  Mention that you’d like the toddler’s meal to be brought out as soon as it’s ready, instead of having it held until the adult meals are finished.  This really helps!  If finances permit, be sure to order an appetizer which will keep your child entertained and busy until the food arrives.

It’s important to note that each time you take your child out to eat, it does get a little bit easier.  As your child ages, she will learn how to behave and to wait patiently until her meal arrives, until then, the above suggestions can help make your trip out more enjoyable.