<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Sat, 16 Aug 2025 19:42:02 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>Toddler</category><category>Tags</category><category>Health Tips</category><category>Mom Tips</category><category>Parenting</category><category>Source: Parenting</category><category>Sleep</category><category>Source: WTETTY</category><category>Awards</category><category>Barefoot Books</category><category>Children&#39;s Books</category><category>Entrecard</category><category>Home and Garden</category><category>Truth of the Matter</category><category>Contest</category><category>Top EC 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Yue</category><category>Gymboree</category><category>Halloween</category><category>Holidays</category><category>Illinois</category><category>Indiana</category><category>Japanese Name</category><category>Jewelry</category><category>Just For Laughs</category><category>Lap-band System</category><category>Library</category><category>Look of the Year</category><category>Make Money Blogging</category><category>Model</category><category>Mom&#39;s Meetup Group</category><category>Money Resources</category><category>Mosquito Magnets</category><category>Motherhood</category><category>Naptime</category><category>New York</category><category>Online Shopping</category><category>Payday Loans</category><category>Personal</category><category>Picnic</category><category>Shoes</category><category>Source: Remedy</category><category>Spanking</category><category>Spelling</category><category>Student Loans</category><category>Summer</category><category>Technology</category><category>Travel Guides</category><category>Travel Tips</category><category>Trick or Treat</category><category>Video</category><category>Web Hosting</category><category>Weight Loss Surgery</category><category>Women</category><category>Women&#39;s Clothing</category><category>Word</category><category>Working Mom</category><category>Young</category><title>My Barefoot Journey</title><description></description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>107</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-1242493277149754034</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-01-19T00:50:45.916-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Arts and Crafts</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Creativity</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>Let There Be Mess</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBu_MeVRh2gXtUxCU8Cy3L9DLN3QGp_EIPnpCrKIUw_DIdkRxfbzMhzSbRNvWzcu3y_flT4puls9PW9SkMxwURDJ88_f_lm-Cle9CXuUseQUiDnIRD_Ic2MLbfZsnlSjH58Oo/s1600-h/Playdoh+copy.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 221px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBu_MeVRh2gXtUxCU8Cy3L9DLN3QGp_EIPnpCrKIUw_DIdkRxfbzMhzSbRNvWzcu3y_flT4puls9PW9SkMxwURDJ88_f_lm-Cle9CXuUseQUiDnIRD_Ic2MLbfZsnlSjH58Oo/s320/Playdoh+copy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428324260067771794&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;I am particularly organized in every way, but when it comes to fostering creativity on my child I just let the mess take over.  I read that creative spirits should freely focus on creating and not be distracted by the need to keep the workplace in order.   My toddler is no exception.  You should see the mess he creates when he kneads, cuts, and rolls those play dough. My consolation is hearing how he labels every shapes he created out of the dough, his imagination is really working.  I just let loose and not become too critical about the mess during creative play.  I try to nurture and cultivate my son&#39;s ability and desire to be creative. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2010/01/let-there-be-mess.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBu_MeVRh2gXtUxCU8Cy3L9DLN3QGp_EIPnpCrKIUw_DIdkRxfbzMhzSbRNvWzcu3y_flT4puls9PW9SkMxwURDJ88_f_lm-Cle9CXuUseQUiDnIRD_Ic2MLbfZsnlSjH58Oo/s72-c/Playdoh+copy.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>31</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-5027655431294462346</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-11-18T20:02:29.288-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Family Matters</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>Obsessed With Me?</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;My three-year old son is attending pre-school twice a week and I must say it has been a welcome treat for me to get some time off from him.  But that time without him seems still not enough.  I still struggle keeping up with chores; online work and studies.  My son doesn&#39;t take a nap in the afternoon anymore unless he&#39;s got a pretty rough day.  He literally zaps my energy out during the day so at night I don&#39;t have enough energy to go through my usual routine. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There&#39;s a mom in my son&#39;s pre-school whose son can play by himself for hours so she&#39;s able to do a lot of things during the day.  Though I find that odd, I wish that my son could play by himself for longer time too.  He&#39;s all over me all the time.  He wants interactive play.  He wants to get involved in everything I do in the kitchen, laundry, even when I just take a pee in the toilet.  No kidding, he would stand there  and hand me toilet paper; new pantyliner and even flush the toilet for me.  When I put anything on like my pants, socks or shoes, he&#39;ll get excited and would offer to help me.  He is playing &#39;mom&#39; to me, imitating the things I do to him.  His words would always include &quot;Let me help&quot;, &quot;Let me do&quot;, &quot;I do it too mommy&quot;.  Sometimes I feel like my son is obsessed with me, and its pretty exhausting lol.  I guess I just have to cherish these moments huh, like what every moms I know would tell me.  He will grow up sooner than I expect and hopefully he would be this helpful and involved in my life too ;-).  We&#39;ll see. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/11/obsessed-with-me.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-8999039311478341906</guid><pubDate>Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:54:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-08-02T12:55:00.428-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Dedicated Server</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Web Hosting</category><title>A Great Web Hosting Site for Busy Moms</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m sure busy moms like myself would agree with me that 24 hours in a day seem not enough to do everything around the house.  However ways to save and maximize the time in a day to get more things done are a welcome treat.  While I want to make my life simpler, I also have a habit of  browsing through the net and comparing products and services all the time to get the best deal.  I don&#39;t just plunge into buying anything.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also don&#39;t have the luxury of time sitting at the computer continuously.  I&#39;ve been trying to search for dedicated server in a while and while searching through the web for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://webhostinggeeks.com/dedicatedserverhosting.html&quot;&gt;dedicated server&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;, I came across WebHostingGeeks.com, a website that provides a list of the top 10 web hosting providers.  This  site really makes it easier to compare and choose the right provider that fits anybody&#39;s needs.  Instead of going through sites after sites to compare the pros and cons and prices of a web hosting provider, at Web Hosting Geeks this won&#39;t be a problem anymore.  WebHostingGeeks.com caters to everybody&#39;s needs when it comes to choosing the right web hosting provider as it has the best resource for web hosting reviews and ratings. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/08/great-web-hosting-site-for-busy-moms.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-4507964000018182543</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:19:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-07-02T12:58:22.818-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Entrecard</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Top EC Droppers</category><title>EC Top Droper Day - June</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;Here are my top 10 droppers for the month of June.  Thanks guys for dropping here regularly.  Check out my sidebar for some linky love.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://writingsofmaria.com/&quot;&gt;Life&#39;s sweets and spices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A work-at-home-mommy who loves to cook, bake and read. A frustrated chef, now a dedicated blogger. Blogging makes me happy and this is where I share my thoughts, ideas, [sometimes] feelings, my love for food and then some…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wondermom.info/&quot;&gt;The Modern Mom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Moms like me are becoming more and more housekeeping savvy.  From stretching the family budget to diy&#39;s, smart solutions and more.Being a wonder mom is now no sweat with all these wonderful alternatives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tekla88.info/&quot;&gt;Take a coffee break...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Coffee. Can’t start the day without having my cup of hot, creamy, not-so sweet morning booster.  This blog is all about my favorite kicker and its benefits, with some teasers on other great tasting beverages.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mlizcochico.com/&quot;&gt;A Simple Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A 40 year old mother of two who likes to write just about anything. A baking enthusiast, a crafter and a hobbyist. This is about me, my views, my interests and my favorites.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://yummyascanbe.info/&quot;&gt;Yummy-as-can-be&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m a mom and a wife to picky eaters which prompted me to search for yummy and healthy recipes, and modify so my family can enjoy them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://liz.mommyslittlecorner.com/&quot;&gt;Mommy&#39;s Little Corner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A blog that talks about my adventures of being a wife and a mom. This blog also focuses on food, nutrition and health.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thisismyblog.info/&quot;&gt;Life&#39;s Tricky Situations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mlizcochico.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;moms..... check nyo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m a 40ish year old mom of two. I love to bake, cook, plant herbs (in pots cause i don’t have a garden), cross stitching, hardanger embroidery, bowling and just like any typical pinay moms i love watching telenovelas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cacainadjourney.com/&quot;&gt;Cacai&#39;s Step and Journey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My personal blog talks about my own wits, views, reviews, thoughts, beliefs, happiness, and my day to day experiences in this beautiful world we&#39;re living in, of good quality standard for which everyone of all ages is welcome. ***Adverts, I welcome you all, feel free to ad. (~_~) ***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mncmakina.com/&quot;&gt;Online Marketing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I Learn Online Marketing&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/07/ec-top-droper-day-june.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-153504090312996941</guid><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-07-02T22:43:32.645-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>ABC&#39;s and 1,2,3&#39;s</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;I used to worry about my son not having interest on identifying alphabet and  numbers while other playmates his age can identify them very well already. I read in the book &quot;What to Expect the Toddler Yeas&quot; that children who can recognize letters and numbers before school may only enjoy temporary edge from other kids.  Studies show they don&#39;t retain it, as other students quickly catch up.   Not having interest in academics at age 2 or 3 does not in any way suggest that a child won&#39;t be a good student. Don&#39;t belittle a child if he isn&#39;t ready to count or learn the alphabet.  There&#39;s plenty of time ahead for these before first grade. Make learning fun and exciting, like my son and I count together when climbing stairs.   Let toddler be and enjoy as he is, but stimulate learning by talking, reading, and counting with them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/06/abcs-and-123s.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-804067550284915232</guid><pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 21:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-09T17:23:27.357-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Home and Garden</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mosquito Magnets</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Summer</category><title>A Fun and Safe Summer for the Family</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_q_NiJP14gMcxD6DCsmiQcyvGEjXWxeJ36TGw_an3vG8owWXe2dGtBRi_2MwhHb2QloK4-TBVW0zsolSqMA9K3Bz3ZetDSGIq1_j6TxSwM8UvG3mFzDhfqPCrGHCjH_MnwJSi/s1600-h/MosquitoMagnet.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 264px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_q_NiJP14gMcxD6DCsmiQcyvGEjXWxeJ36TGw_an3vG8owWXe2dGtBRi_2MwhHb2QloK4-TBVW0zsolSqMA9K3Bz3ZetDSGIq1_j6TxSwM8UvG3mFzDhfqPCrGHCjH_MnwJSi/s320/MosquitoMagnet.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333937057533248034&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;After what seemed to be an endless cold season, now the weather is really becoming warmer for good. Having come from a country with tropical weather, I really prefer the warm season over the bitter cold ones.  Warm weather means grill season too.  Grilling is a very important endeavor during the warm weather.  Most families spend more time in their backyards; getting together with family and  friends; and enjoying their all time favorite grilled food like barbeque, hamburger and hotdogs.  My family is not an exception to this.  In fact,  as soon as the weather became a little warmer, we right away moved our  Friday night dinners to the deck. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Comic Sans MS;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But in as much as grilling and eating out are two exciting things to do, there are however &#39;uninvited&#39; guests lingering around that prevent us from enjoying our meals to the fullest.  These pesky mosquitoes not only can be very annoying, they can be health hazards too as they may carry the dreadful West Nile virus.  I saw the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=37628&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mosquitomagnet.com%2Faboutus%2Ftestimonials%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BMosquitoMagnet%2BReviews%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mosquito magnet review&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Comic Sans MS;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt; at MosquitoMagnet.com and I was really impressed at how this mosquito magnet gadget works.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like the testimonial from a guy who lives in a forest with lots of trees.  They are usually swarmed with mosquitoes during the summer when they go out to their backyard.  But with the use of a mosquito magnet, they are able to go out and enjoy their backyard.  And I was surprised to see how much mosquitoes this mosquito magnet collected after a month and a half at work in their backyard, enough to eat them alive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since we&#39;ve got tons of trees in our backyard as well, we also experience being attacked by pesky mosquitoes and bugs.  This mosquito magnet is a very good investment, it will be a great help for us to enjoy our grilling and eating out in our backyard even more.  Mosquito magnet will zap all the pesky mosquitoes and even bugs so our summer will be more fun and safe. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Comic Sans MS;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Comic Sans MS;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;map name=&quot;map2613&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/disclosure?slot_id=37628&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mosquitomagnet.com%2Faboutus%2Ftestimonials%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BMosquitoMagnet%2BReviews%2B09&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;0,0,206,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/code_of_ethics&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;207,0,225,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;/map&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Post?slot_id=37628&amp;amp;url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark&quot; src=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/view/post?slot_id=37628&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialspark.com%2Fimages%2Fdisclosure_badges%2Fdisclosure_badge_orange.png&quot; style=&quot;border: 0pt none ;&quot; usemap=&quot;#map2613&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/05/fun-and-safe-summer-for-family.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_q_NiJP14gMcxD6DCsmiQcyvGEjXWxeJ36TGw_an3vG8owWXe2dGtBRi_2MwhHb2QloK4-TBVW0zsolSqMA9K3Bz3ZetDSGIq1_j6TxSwM8UvG3mFzDhfqPCrGHCjH_MnwJSi/s72-c/MosquitoMagnet.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-2303740965171586075</guid><pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 13:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-09T10:06:10.763-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Awards</category><title>The Smile Award</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;This is a very long overdue tag from my blogger buddy Mize of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;font-family: trebuchet ms;&quot; href=&quot;http://nightclicksforextras.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;Night Clicks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;.   Mize is a terrific person and one of the sensible bloggers that I came to know through blogging. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This tag has a rule: Click copy/paste, type in your answers and tag four people in your lists. Don’t forget to change my answers to the questions with that of yours.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;~ 4 places I go over and over: Hongkong, Canada, Philippines, New England states&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;~ 4 people who email me regularly: family, relatives, friends, and a lot of spammers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;~ 4 of my favorite places to eat: British Beer Company (English), Minerva (Indian), China Pearl(Chinese), Ginza (Japanese)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;~ 4 places you’d rather be: Philippines; Victoria, BC; London, UK; &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Hongkong&lt;br /&gt;~ 4 TV shows I could watch over and over: Home &amp;amp; Garden, Food TV Network, Health Channel,&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:verdana;&quot;&gt; Discovery Channel&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO9dj-rQmU77oHOImIFECOVh4QrUGD57d4sN7i2P9U_yh44S_NCsmc0Bbp3jRgA1QYFoowmDmQg80XU-KR4Rqup-9jY315rs3zP9q3D-j-514roZk-V1xVRESZ70mew6HMbi9/s1600-h/thesmileawardsm.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 199px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO9dj-rQmU77oHOImIFECOVh4QrUGD57d4sN7i2P9U_yh44S_NCsmc0Bbp3jRgA1QYFoowmDmQg80XU-KR4Rqup-9jY315rs3zP9q3D-j-514roZk-V1xVRESZ70mew6HMbi9/s320/thesmileawardsm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291694164768321714&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Here are the qualifications to receive this award:&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A. Display a cheerful attitude.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;B. Love one another.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;C. Make mistakes.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;D. Learn from others.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;E. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;F. Love life.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;G. Love kids.&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Rules:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Please link back!&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Post the rules&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Choose 4 people to give it to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;4. Recipients must fill the characteristics above&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. Create a post to share this&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6. Thank the winners&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;* * *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;I want to share this award to my other friends who certainly possess the qualifications above:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Carlota @ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.carlotaonline.com/&quot;&gt;Dashing Smiles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Dhoy @ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dhoyblog.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;Simply Irresistible&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Yen @ &lt;a href=&quot;http://yenpart-daily.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;In My Shoes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Lanie @ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lanieonline.com/&quot;&gt;I Thought So&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/05/smile-award.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO9dj-rQmU77oHOImIFECOVh4QrUGD57d4sN7i2P9U_yh44S_NCsmc0Bbp3jRgA1QYFoowmDmQg80XU-KR4Rqup-9jY315rs3zP9q3D-j-514roZk-V1xVRESZ70mew6HMbi9/s72-c/thesmileawardsm.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>5</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-2503937547787439880</guid><pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 21:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-04T22:47:25.231-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Education</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Financial Aid Resources</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Student Loans</category><title>Student Loans and Financial Aid Resources</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;Sending our kids to college can be very tough, but it is the greatest achievement that all parents can accomplish.  However, not all parents can afford to send their kids to college, so they look for financial aid resources or federal student loans to help pay for their children&#39;s education.  To save parents the time, stress and confusion in looking for the right financial aid process, there is a company called Student Loan Network that can help them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Student Loan Network is one of the nation&#39;s fastest growing providers of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.studentloannetwork.com/&quot;&gt;student loans&lt;/a&gt; and related information. They have been in the business for more than 10 years and have helped students and their families access financial aid resources such as federal and private student loans, scholarships and consolidation funding for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education. The Student Loan Network is a member of Edvisors family of companies, a global leader in online education marketing and financial services.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/05/student-loans-and-financial-aid.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-3861445867920305733</guid><pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2009 21:04:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-05-04T17:11:40.784-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mom Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Source: WTETTY</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>Is There a Best Season for Potty Training?</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;Potty lore has it that summer is the best time (some members of the older generation would say the only time) to start teaching a toddler to use the toilet.  And there&#39;s undeniably some wisdom to that tradition: A toddler who&#39;s dressed lightly (or better still, not dressed at all) has a better shot at making it to the potty in time than a toddler who&#39;s decked out in layers of winter wear. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, seasonal considerations should take a back seat to toddler readiness.  Spring, summer, winter, or fall, the best time to teach a toddler about toileting is when he or she is ready to learn.  If your toddler turns out to be ready in the winter, keep the house a little warmer than usual so that he or she can run around lightly clad.  The minimum amount of clothing will allow for maximum success with toileting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-there-best-season-for-potty-training.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-1434231145881710796</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:36:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-04-24T01:40:04.423-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Deef Repellent</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Deer Control</category><title>A Worry Free Stroll in the Yard</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/uploads/socialspark/public/assets/672/iStock_000002248614XSmall_2.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 386px;&quot; src=&quot;http://socialspark.com/uploads/socialspark/public/assets/672/iStock_000002248614XSmall_2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Wherever I go, there goes my little tot too.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, I&#39;m sure we will be spending a lot of times in the yard again.  He just loves playing in the backyard while I do my gardening chores.  But I worry about deer ticks that might be lingering around as we get few visits from deer looking for food in the woods. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have a friend who has Lyme disease and her children got them too while she was pregnant with them.  It is a horrible disease that makes them really sick.  So I am just worried about my little tot getting this dreadful disease from the ticks brought by the deer while enjoying himself in the woods.   To get my mind off worrying, I searched for information online to &lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.havahart.com%2Fadvice%2Fcritter-library%2Fdeer-control%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BDeerOff%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;learn about deer control&lt;/a&gt;.  I need to have some kind of &lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.havahart.com%2Fstore%2Fanimal-repellents%2FDO64MS%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BDeerOff%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;deer repellent&lt;/a&gt; to make my backyard safe for my family especially my little tot. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I found this Havahart &lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.havahart.com%2Fourbrands%2Fdeer-off%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BDeerOff%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Deer Off&lt;/a&gt; II Battery Powered Sprayer that not only repel deer but rabbits and squirrels as well.  So it means that I can also see my plants and vegetables bloom to the fullest and not be feasted on by these animals before I can even harvest them.  The sprayer is very convenient to use and can be carried around without a problem.  I love it that the deer off  formula is safe to use in organic gardening  as it is made from natural and food based ingredients.  This also means that it will not harm the environment and  I  can use it directly on bulbs, plants, shrubs, and  flowers.  This is certainly a great buy to keep my plants alive, but mostly for my peace of mind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;map name=&quot;map2612&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/disclosure?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.havahart.com%2Fstore%2Fanimal-repellents%2FDO64MS%3Futm_source%3DIZEA%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BDeerOff%2B09&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;0,0,206,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/code_of_ethics&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;207,0,225,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;/map&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Post?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark&quot; src=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/view/post?slot_id=36643&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialspark.com%2Fimages%2Fdisclosure_badges%2Fdisclosure_badge_orange.png&quot; style=&quot;border: 0pt none ;&quot; usemap=&quot;#map2612&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/04/worry-free-stroll-in-yard.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-7266427014767225741</guid><pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-04-21T14:51:21.013-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Children&#39;s Books</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mom Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Read and Learn</category><title>Listening Tips for Parents &amp; Caregivers</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zJ1r1DaUQtb93azx4s4SeVHycNuPRYH6tmXRBeKrvojCfbtayj-DpGwtCa0_ULkAsOnUjRxkx2yKPGjCMy8afrgQT33vUO6mSdeH1AjuFhrN4o4I0i_nQHhnCa-6TwYlBKYq/s1600-h/Mikey_stuff+toys.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zJ1r1DaUQtb93azx4s4SeVHycNuPRYH6tmXRBeKrvojCfbtayj-DpGwtCa0_ULkAsOnUjRxkx2yKPGjCMy8afrgQT33vUO6mSdeH1AjuFhrN4o4I0i_nQHhnCa-6TwYlBKYq/s320/Mikey_stuff+toys.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327215387422006754&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;My little tot is always busy as a bee.  He is very energetic and is always up to something.  I&#39;m sure moms out there can relate to me that it&#39;s hard sometimes (or most times) to settle down busy little tots to listen up. Listening takes practice - so does getting young children to listen.   I found these tips on listening at the back of a book by  Elizabeth Verdick, the author of Listening Time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Photo: I opened my little tot&#39;s bedroom and found him reading a book to his stuffed toys. Now he&#39;s talking to little puppy, as if saying &quot;Listen.&quot;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Use the following tips to help just one child or a group of toddlers settle down and listen up:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Be a listening role model&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;-&lt;/span&gt; Try quiet, soothing tones when you speak to your child.  Avoid shouting across the room - instead, use proximity (stand or kneel by your child) to get attention.  You may wish to play soft music to create a relaxing atmosphere.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Use hand signals - &lt;/span&gt;Show how you can say &quot;Quiet&quot; without speaking a word - by placing a finger to your lips or tuggling your earlobes.  You may also teach how hands can &quot;talk&quot; so mouths don&#39;t have to.  For example, a child can tap a finger on your shoulder or raise a hand in the air to signal that she or he needs help.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;fullpost&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Talk about how eyes &quot;listen&quot; -&lt;/span&gt; We may hear through our ears, but our eyes help us &quot;see what to do.&quot; During listening time, remind children, &quot;Look at my eyes, please,&quot; or &quot;Eyes on me.&quot;  This makes it easier for each child to hear your directions and follow them.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Model an &quot;indoor voice.&quot; - &lt;/span&gt;Demonstrate how an indoor voice sounds compared to an outdoor one.  Make the phrase &quot;Use your indoor voice&quot; a part of your daily reminders.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Teach steps for settling down - &lt;/span&gt;Getting toddlers to quiet their busy little bodies needs to happen in stages.  Try to do this sequence: &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;First,&lt;/span&gt; get them to sit cross-legged on the floor and place their hands on their laps.&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; Next&lt;/span&gt;, ask them to make their bodies calm and still.  &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Finally&lt;/span&gt;, have the children pretend to zip and lock their lips with an invisible key and put the key away.  Or try the &quot;if you can hear me&quot; option: &quot;If you can hear me, touch your nose.  If you can hear me, sit down.  If you can hear me, don&#39;t speak.  If you can hear me, sit and listen quietly.&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li  style=&quot;text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Practice circle manners - &lt;/span&gt;Circle time can lead to wiggles, giggles, &quot;I want to sit by her,&quot; and &quot; He bumped me!&quot;  Show children how to keep their hands and feet to themselves and respect their neighbors.  Create lots of opportunities for practice.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Give light-hearted reminders and praise. - &lt;/span&gt;You might say, &quot;Let&#39;s use our listening ears,&quot; while you tug on your earlobes.  Or pretend to zip and lock your lips and hide the key.  To reinforce that it&#39;s time to listen, use this chant: &quot;I&#39;m quiet as a mouse.  I&#39;m still as can be.  Who&#39;s ready to listen? Me!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/04/listening-tips-for-parents-caregivers.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zJ1r1DaUQtb93azx4s4SeVHycNuPRYH6tmXRBeKrvojCfbtayj-DpGwtCa0_ULkAsOnUjRxkx2yKPGjCMy8afrgQT33vUO6mSdeH1AjuFhrN4o4I0i_nQHhnCa-6TwYlBKYq/s72-c/Mikey_stuff+toys.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-8371978039483467195</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-04-02T16:37:23.751-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Entrecard</category><title>EC Top Dropper Day - March</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Another month is over and it&#39;s time to acknowledge my top EC droppers once again. I really appreciate the time and effort that everybody is putting in, for consistently dropping their EC&#39;s here. But the following top ten droppers will get a special spot in my sidebar for a month with their links. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQVOwMLykfLV9TLpEmcnSvMEwSpcidkZsH5Xj_Zc4znauUxFlqoRxQKEZogcivsPgWvcL4qGBq1hnsNhVE_KNFQKcUSWyS6BJ-todTiCh1zDbIGQp9y3fCK2cZ2aYSz7MclJ6/s1600-h/EC+Barefoot+Mar09.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 208px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQVOwMLykfLV9TLpEmcnSvMEwSpcidkZsH5Xj_Zc4znauUxFlqoRxQKEZogcivsPgWvcL4qGBq1hnsNhVE_KNFQKcUSWyS6BJ-todTiCh1zDbIGQp9y3fCK2cZ2aYSz7MclJ6/s400/EC+Barefoot+Mar09.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320195498523941298&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/04/ec-top-dropper-day-march.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQVOwMLykfLV9TLpEmcnSvMEwSpcidkZsH5Xj_Zc4znauUxFlqoRxQKEZogcivsPgWvcL4qGBq1hnsNhVE_KNFQKcUSWyS6BJ-todTiCh1zDbIGQp9y3fCK2cZ2aYSz7MclJ6/s72-c/EC+Barefoot+Mar09.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-3423869349343036896</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:40:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-04-02T02:41:29.532-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Home and Garden</category><title>A Bug-Free Lawn</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvScdy0BGXQ79lHpmX62AM4SN608m4sUFxUDiZCJrpj3NFUD9477v9S-j50FZNipcoSvdvvYSQyPvzzfBQnSr_80lgwq99J5ESzIYgnX75nkDu-yXrRtGykmQPqZjaKdPHVL-/s1600-h/Pest+Control.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvScdy0BGXQ79lHpmX62AM4SN608m4sUFxUDiZCJrpj3NFUD9477v9S-j50FZNipcoSvdvvYSQyPvzzfBQnSr_80lgwq99J5ESzIYgnX75nkDu-yXrRtGykmQPqZjaKdPHVL-/s200/Pest+Control.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319979061337613090&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Spring is my favorite season of all. I refer to this season as  the &#39;coming back to life&#39; season.  After a long cold winter, the trees and plants are sort of awaken from deep sleep and then will show-off their vibrant colors for every gardener&#39;s sight-seeing pleasure. I just love to get my fingers dirty digging up and freshening up my garden.  It is always something to look forward to.  But pests and bugs are also coming out of their hideout to feast on the plants.  They are indeed every gardener&#39;s nemeses and even the professional ones are not exempted.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love flowering trees and shrubs of any kind and every year we try to add a plant or two in the yard.  But there are pesky insects that feed on these plants that more often prevent them from living longer.  So it is frustrating to see that beautiful and expensive flowering trees and shrubs just die in no time. Anyway,  I recently learned about a safer way to protect not only the trees and shrubs but also lawn, ornamentals and flowers from killer insects using an &lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=35200&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saferbrand.com%2Fstore%2Finsect-control%2F5109%3Futm_source%3DIzea%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BBugPatrol%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;organic pest control&lt;/a&gt; called Safer Brand Bug Patrol. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/post?slot_id=35200&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saferbrand.com%2Fstore%2Finsect-control%2F5109%3Futm_source%3DIzea%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BBugPatrol%2B09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;organic bug patrol kills over 40 insects&lt;/a&gt; on contact.  While it can kill  different damaging insects, it is however safe and will protect the environment because it is organic.  This product is very economical and convenient to use. You just attach  the solution to the hose and you&#39;re ready to spray and kill both hard and soft bodied insects.  Wow I can now imagine having a bug-free lawn.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;map name=&quot;map2396&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/click/disclosure?slot_id=35200&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saferbrand.com%2Fstore%2Finsect-control%2F5109%3Futm_source%3DIzea%26utm_medium%3DSS%2BBlogs%26utm_campaign%3DSS%2BBlogs%2BBugPatrol%2B09&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;0,0,206,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;area href=&quot;http://socialspark.com/code_of_ethics&quot; shape=&quot;rect&quot; coords=&quot;207,0,225,45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;/map&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Post?slot_id=35200&amp;amp;url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark&quot; src=&quot;http://socialspark.com/metrics/view/post?slot_id=35200&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialspark.com%2Fimages%2Fdisclosure_badges%2Fdisclosure_badge_orange.png&quot; style=&quot;border: 0pt none ;&quot; usemap=&quot;#map2396&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/04/bug-free-lawn.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvScdy0BGXQ79lHpmX62AM4SN608m4sUFxUDiZCJrpj3NFUD9477v9S-j50FZNipcoSvdvvYSQyPvzzfBQnSr_80lgwq99J5ESzIYgnX75nkDu-yXrRtGykmQPqZjaKdPHVL-/s72-c/Pest+Control.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-8996094881581807326</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-20T17:29:36.317-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mom Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>What to Do When Kids Act Up</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Finally winter is almost over, though it is sunny for most days but still a bit chilly, at least you don&#39;t need too much gear to put on anymore. When the weather was still very bitterly cold and tons of layers need to be put on especially with young kids, it is always a hassle going out of the house. It&#39;s so frustrating when we have to go somewhere and my son acts up and won&#39;t wear his winter jacket, boots, hat and mittens, not to mention he&#39;s arching his back sometimes when you sit him in his car seat too, whew! I would sometimes literally drag him just so we won&#39;t be late for an appointment. It&#39;s always hard to head out in time when things like this happen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here are some common problems that moms encounter everyday and suggested quick solutions:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul  style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;PROBLEM:&lt;/span&gt;  Your child screams uncontrollably when it&#39;s time to get dressed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;HOW ABOUT:&lt;/span&gt;  Making it a matter of choice: &quot;Do you want to wear a dress or jeans?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NO LUCK? TRY:&lt;/span&gt; A change of scenery.  Getting dressed in the kitchen might be more fun&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;* * *&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul  style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;PROBLEM:&lt;/span&gt; Your child clamps her mouth shut at the sight of a spoon.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;HOW ABOUT:&lt;/span&gt; Taking a bite yourself.  It will look less like you&#39;re forcing something on her.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NO LUCK? TRY:&lt;/span&gt; Giving up - for now.  She won&#39;t starve, so pick your battles.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;* * *&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul  style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;PROBLEM:&lt;/span&gt; Your child refuses to share at a playdate&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;HOW ABOUT:&lt;/span&gt; Putting her leadership skills to work: say &quot;Teach Kristen how to play with the toy.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NO LUCK? TRY:&lt;/span&gt; &quot;Two more minutes, then it&#39;s Kristen&#39;s turn.  Decide what to play with next.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;* * *&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul  style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;PROBLEM:&lt;/span&gt; Your child won&#39;t go to bed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;HOW ABOUT:&lt;/span&gt; Letting her rest on the floor of her room.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;NO LUCK? TRY:&lt;/span&gt; Turning off the lights and TV&#39;s. With no reason to stay up, she may go to sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;* * *&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-to-do-when-kids-act-up.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-3043289287006121840</guid><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:25:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-12T14:38:09.714-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Eyeglasses</category><title>A Better Alternative to Getting Prescription Eyeglasses</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vMQJ0-4e33Qxa3FICvEUl2367KO2hrDVdV0Z9amuY6sF1caNLK8Ir8hy0J4Ro69hfTWcGEXTu05Ft5jW7D4mrdhKmjH3C0R4EPhxTN6MUI_r5101Me43mDAUZbtRolxP52Dp/s1600-h/GlassesShop.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 151px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vMQJ0-4e33Qxa3FICvEUl2367KO2hrDVdV0Z9amuY6sF1caNLK8Ir8hy0J4Ro69hfTWcGEXTu05Ft5jW7D4mrdhKmjH3C0R4EPhxTN6MUI_r5101Me43mDAUZbtRolxP52Dp/s320/GlassesShop.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312371142692253730&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I&#39;ve been having headaches the past days.  I thought that maybe it is due to my lack of sleep or I may have been staring at my computers too long.  But even when I got rested already, the headache is still there.  So I figured it might be that I need new glasses already.  Well it&#39;s been almost a year now since I got my present eyeglasses and I wonder if I need a much stronger prescription this time.  Oh geez, even if I have optical insurance, a pair of simple eyeglasses will still cost me too much.  Especially that I add more features to them like anti-glare, anti-scratch, UV protection and more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It &#39;s good to know there is a better alternative I can go to online, it&#39;s called GlassesShop.com.  GlassesShop.com is an online prescription eyeglasses expert that offers  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.glassesshop.com/&quot;&gt;Wide Selection of Eyeglasses&lt;/a&gt; at very affordable prices.  It is committed to providing its customers with the best and most affordable prescription eyeglasses with high quality and stylish frames plus high index lens; anti scratch; UV protection; quality case and cleaning cloth. The site of Glasses Shop is very easy to navigate so you can right away find what you are looking for.  The eyeglasses are arranged by categories like price range; frame styles; material; recommended eyeglasses; and gender.  It also has prescription sunglasses and special glasses like bifocal or progressive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the things that I liked about GlassesShop.com is its Virtual Try-On feature that allows you to actually see how a certain style of frame will look on models with similar shape of face as yours.   Or you can also upload your own picture that shouldn&#39;t exceed 1MB and see how they would actually look on your face, how cool is that? Since my eye doctor appointment is coming up soon, then I can get my own prescription and order online for additional eyewear.  I already have the style of frame in mind and ordering online is such an easy step.   I&#39;m glad to have learned about GlassesShop.com because with them I can afford to have more than one pair of prescription eyeglasses at a price even much lesser than only a pair I could get at my regular eye doctor&#39;s clinic.  This is a welcome savings for a frugal mom like myself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/better-alternative-to-getting.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vMQJ0-4e33Qxa3FICvEUl2367KO2hrDVdV0Z9amuY6sF1caNLK8Ir8hy0J4Ro69hfTWcGEXTu05Ft5jW7D4mrdhKmjH3C0R4EPhxTN6MUI_r5101Me43mDAUZbtRolxP52Dp/s72-c/GlassesShop.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-3019817959261675913</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:36:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-09T15:09:40.659-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Lap-band System</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Weight Loss Surgery</category><title>Quick and Easy Weight  Loss Surgery</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;If you are obese and have tried different diet plans and exercise without any favorable result, you can perhaps consider an obesity surgery as another option to losing excess weight. LAP-BAND system is considered the safest and proven weight loss surgery.  The procedure uses a laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedure that is completely reversible and adjustable for life.   The laparoscopic surgery is performed by a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.journeylite.com/&quot;&gt;lapband doctor&lt;/a&gt; on an outpatient basis, so you basically get a surgery in the morning and be discharged to go home a few hours later and enjoy the comforts of your own bed that night.  Get a quick and easy weight loss with LAP-BAND&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/quick-and-easy-weight-loss-surgery.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-2636041317124352161</guid><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:51:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-09T10:11:53.392-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Children&#39;s Books</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Toddler</category><title>My Son&#39;s Favorite Bedtime Story</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;My son&#39;s favorite bedtime story is &quot;Goodnight Moon&quot;.  He actually has memorized the lines in the story, that whenever I read it, I will always pause and he supplies the missing words in the sentence.  This book was a gift to him by a friend when he was 14 months  old and until now it&#39;s still his favorite of all.  I even memorized it myself, that even when he flips the pages ahead of me, I can still catch up.   Here is how the story goes:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;GOODNIGHT MOON &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;by Margaret Wise Brown&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zdwYxcxzpLKsabfCGQWzu9h_Rl_zJy-iayH2KzliMyvr4oIzuMuUzd_rmo_RSxcNOxxLxAd433iDu0POS6CyK_HBU8SCjVrqXJ4gdslax9VFP0CK6Fd1g8Io_HCml9OjFdhR/s1600-h/Goodnight+Moon.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 269px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zdwYxcxzpLKsabfCGQWzu9h_Rl_zJy-iayH2KzliMyvr4oIzuMuUzd_rmo_RSxcNOxxLxAd433iDu0POS6CyK_HBU8SCjVrqXJ4gdslax9VFP0CK6Fd1g8Io_HCml9OjFdhR/s320/Goodnight+Moon.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311179756753510770&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;In the great green room, there was &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;a telephone and a red balloon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And a picture of, &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;the cow jumping over the moon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And there were &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;three little bears sitting on chairs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And  two &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;little kittens&lt;/span&gt; and a pair of&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; mittens&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;little toyhouse&lt;/span&gt; and a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;young mouse&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;comb&lt;/span&gt;, and a&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; brush&lt;/span&gt;, and a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;bowl full of mush&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And a quiet old lady who was &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;whispering &quot;hush&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;room&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; moon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;cow jumping over the moon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;light&lt;/span&gt; and the &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;red balloon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;bears&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;chairs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;kittens&lt;/span&gt; and goodnight&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; mittens&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;clocks&lt;/span&gt; and goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;socks&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;little house&lt;/span&gt; and goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;mouse&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;comb&lt;/span&gt; and goodnight&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; brush&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;nobody&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;mush&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And goodnight to the old lady &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;whispering &quot;hush&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;stars&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;air&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Goodnight &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;noises everywhere&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The highlighted words above are the words that my son say himself while we read the book.  Sometimes he would insist to read the book to me instead.  And on the part of the &#39;old lady whispering hush&#39; he would say it softly with his index finger on his lips.  I just point to the pictures to encourage him to identify them.  How about you, what&#39;s your son&#39;s or daughter&#39;s favorite bedtime story?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-sons-favorite-bedtime-story.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zdwYxcxzpLKsabfCGQWzu9h_Rl_zJy-iayH2KzliMyvr4oIzuMuUzd_rmo_RSxcNOxxLxAd433iDu0POS6CyK_HBU8SCjVrqXJ4gdslax9VFP0CK6Fd1g8Io_HCml9OjFdhR/s72-c/Goodnight+Moon.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-7960701912524681526</guid><pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:46:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-08T19:26:37.279-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mom Tips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Online Shopping</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Shoes</category><title>Less is More For Busy Moms</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWWeMU1d1ac1b5Ar7SaRuc3vU78ZBms_xARW80YJQBZFt89QsMlXXUfDzwWRbB0QpFL5kqRBKoxE7w24nGXW4Fa61tRVPEWztiQYH4qlH5hc5zOkVGtkwTu9x_z0Hc7pgFIiR/s1600-h/ShopWiki.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 49px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWWeMU1d1ac1b5Ar7SaRuc3vU78ZBms_xARW80YJQBZFt89QsMlXXUfDzwWRbB0QpFL5kqRBKoxE7w24nGXW4Fa61tRVPEWztiQYH4qlH5hc5zOkVGtkwTu9x_z0Hc7pgFIiR/s320/ShopWiki.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310962278604940690&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;For busy moms like myself, less is more.  I want to simplify things so I can accomplish more.  When shopping for example, I would rather do it online since I&#39;m mostly online after my tot&#39;s bedtime anyway.  That way I can hit two birds with one stone - doing some online work and shopping on the side wearing only my jammies.  I don&#39;t need to take a trip to busy malls with an unpredictable tot in tow, and come home with only half of the things in my list. That is if I&#39;m lucky.  And when shopping online, I don&#39;t just shop at any shopping sites.  I look for reliable sites that offer great deals as far as discounts and shipping are concerned.  I find ShopWiki.com a very reliable and helpful site in the sense that it returns more results from different stores when you search for a particular product.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like when I was looking for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Shoes&quot;&gt;shoes&lt;/a&gt; the other day particularly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Running+Shoes&quot;&gt;running shoes&lt;/a&gt; for me and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Rain+Boots&quot;&gt;rain boots&lt;/a&gt; for my little tot, it gave me different stores  that carry the style and features I wanted.  So more stores means more options to compare and more savings in the process.  The way ShopWiki works is it crawls and seeks out every store on the internet the same way as Google works.  So unlike the traditional online sites that will only show stores that have paid for placement, ShopWiki will give more information regardless of whether they earn anything from it.  Not only that, the best feature that I find very useful at ShopWiki is the Buying Guide they offer that you won&#39;t find in other sites.  Aside from results I got from searching for shoes, I also got the top picks, video reviews, foot type, shoe types, controversy, insoles, quick tips, major manufacturers, related buying guides, external links and related searches.  Basically you won&#39;t go to any other sites anymore to get more information, you can find everything at ShopWiki already.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So to my fellow budget conscious and practical moms out there, or to future wives and moms searching for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Wedding+Shoes&quot;&gt;wedding shoes&lt;/a&gt;,  ShopWiki is our one stop shop in the net.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/less-is-more-for-busy-moms.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBWWeMU1d1ac1b5Ar7SaRuc3vU78ZBms_xARW80YJQBZFt89QsMlXXUfDzwWRbB0QpFL5kqRBKoxE7w24nGXW4Fa61tRVPEWztiQYH4qlH5hc5zOkVGtkwTu9x_z0Hc7pgFIiR/s72-c/ShopWiki.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-834400401628516511</guid><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:07:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-06T21:25:47.334-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Motherhood</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Women</category><title>It&#39;s Not Easy Being a Woman</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m sure a lot of women will agree with me that it&#39;s not easy being a woman.  There are so many situations that we have to deal with at every stages of womanhood.  Like the discomforts of menstrual period; the risk of pregnancy; the pain of child birth; hormonal imbalance; post-partum depression;  the pain of going through mammogram procedure; hot flushes and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazing-solutions.com/creme.html&quot;&gt;vaginal dryness&lt;/a&gt;  caused by menopause and so on and so forth. Add to that the challenges and sacrifices of rearing a family 24/7 without monetary compensation.  I just wonder why some men would even have the heart to hurt women considering all these.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-not-easy-being-woman.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-2820481552594051464</guid><pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:24:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-06T02:00:31.744-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Contest</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Technology</category><title>Who Wants to Be an XML Grand Master?</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;If you are a student or professional well-versed in XML; database technology; or hardcore programming skills in DB2, here&#39;s your chance to be recognized for your skills and win fabulous prizes at the same time.  There are 5 contests you can register for and each &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xmlchallenge.com/&quot;&gt;xml contest&lt;/a&gt;  has separate recognition and sets of prizes in store.  Before you can participate, you first need to take a Quick Quiz once.  You will earn participation points for each entry that you make.  And whoever garners the most participation points will be crowned as the &quot;XML Grand Master&quot;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;Register now for one of the following contests:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Video Contest&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; -&lt;/span&gt; Invent a creative use of XML, XQuery or DB2 and record yourself doing it&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Gadget Contest - Develop a downloadable gadget or widget leveraging DB2&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Query Contest&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;- Use XQuery to find 5 answers.  The best queries win the best prizes.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ported App Contest - Port or develop a new app for DB2.  Enter as an individual or assemble a team.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;XML Contest - Win by building useful, user-friendly XML apps from scratch.  Enter as an individual or assemble a team.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/who-wants-to-be-xml-grand-master.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-1781066745916573667</guid><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-05T00:19:04.722-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Food Business</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Furniture</category><title>If I Were to Put Up a Restaurant</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;I love eating at diners. I guess they are the only place not affected so much by recession. Everytime I drive by the local diner close to us, the parking is always full and there is a long queue of patrons waiting outside despite the cold weather.  So if I were to put up my own restaurant, I would love to do a diner.  Diner foods are normally easy and simple and not at all expensive.  And what better furniture to go with simple inexpensive dishes but tables and chairs that are not too fancy either.    At FashionSeating.com, there are a wide selection of commercial &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fashionseating.com/Tables_c4.html&quot;&gt;Restaurant tables&lt;/a&gt; to choose from.  I found a specific style of furniture at FashionSeating.com that will perfectly go with the style I&#39;m envisioning my dream diner would look like.  I would go for the aluminum table tops and chairs because they are very easy to clean and maintain, and they will definitely last longer.  FashionSeating.com is a great resource of stylish seatings of great value.  It is a very helpful site for restaurant entrepreneurs  who are looking for chairs, tables, and stools of different finish.   At FashionSeating.com, there is really one style that will fit everyone&#39;s needs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/if-i-were-to-put-up-restaurant.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-1322296723359866192</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-04T15:25:02.857-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Cosmetic Surgery</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Forum</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health Tips</category><title>Would You Consider Plastic Surgery?</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;If you were to ask me if I would consider plastic surgery, my answer is no.  I am very contented with the body I&#39;m born with even if it has many imperfections.  But just for the sake of argument, if I had one thing in my body that I want to alter, it would be my tummy.  When I became a mom, exercise was the farthest thing from my mind.  I want a quick transformation of a flabby tummy into a flatter one. I would take a quicker route to do a make-over and hire a competent and reputable Cosmetic Surgeon in an instance.  But I read that not everybody is a good candidate for certain surgery, so it pays to get reliable &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mya.co.uk/askanexpert/forum/&quot;&gt;Cosmetic Surgery Advice&lt;/a&gt; before &lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;even considering to get one.  I found that MYA Cosmetic Surgery Forum has informative discussions relating to cosmetic surgery that will hopefully enlighten the questions that are boggling my mind.  So if you are seriously considering a nip tuck, get free plastic surgery advice &lt;/span&gt;at Make Yourself Amazing Cosmetic Surgery forum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/would-you-consider-plastic-surgery.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-4663539935850589022</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-05T00:29:42.273-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Eyeglasses</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Health Tips</category><title>Practical Buy at Hard Economic Times</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tspIBbMHQWiUsu_dVBgyasCQFkZgqkU8pwveHwsXli2-cWBkg4RWtdZcRvwKSs_rC2zEqVP-F1uPxXLHX_rSoBDrwfQy4q8PhIwRwtwZwaTi-arnIoVo0HT0WJ0wWca1EhCo/s1600-h/Zenni+holiday+frames.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 69px;&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tspIBbMHQWiUsu_dVBgyasCQFkZgqkU8pwveHwsXli2-cWBkg4RWtdZcRvwKSs_rC2zEqVP-F1uPxXLHX_rSoBDrwfQy4q8PhIwRwtwZwaTi-arnIoVo0HT0WJ0wWca1EhCo/s320/Zenni+holiday+frames.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285781955291032706&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;If you haven&#39;t heard about ZenniOptical by now, I don&#39;t know where you have been hiding. ZenniOptical is all over the news and it was recently featured at New York Times. ZenniOptical offers stylish prescription &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php&quot;&gt;eyeglasses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt; that only cost from as low as $8. Unbelievable but true.  This is a very practical buy especially at this hard economic times. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;Like in my situation where I can&#39;t function without my prescription eyeglasses, ZenniOptical is the great choice to get my eyeglasses from without breaking my bank. It has a wide selection of stylish and quality frames with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. I need new pair of eyeglasses every year which cost me at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt; least $135.  Those are without any add-on features and it can go up to as much as $285 depending on the features I want.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why do you think ZenniOptical can offer these glasses at very low prices? Well it&#39;s because  no middlemen are involved, they manufacture their own frames and sell directly to their customers so then they can afford to sell them for much less.  And they don&#39;t have any advertising expenses so nothing is being passed on to the consumers anymore.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt; With ZenniOptical I can afford to even have spare eyeglasses and  still not spend as much as I have  been spending.  And if that is still not a bargain, I can purchase as many pairs as  I want and just  pay $4.95 flat shipping charges. What a great deal!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:trebuchet ms;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/practical-buy-at-hard-economic-times.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tspIBbMHQWiUsu_dVBgyasCQFkZgqkU8pwveHwsXli2-cWBkg4RWtdZcRvwKSs_rC2zEqVP-F1uPxXLHX_rSoBDrwfQy4q8PhIwRwtwZwaTi-arnIoVo0HT0WJ0wWca1EhCo/s72-c/Zenni+holiday+frames.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-7345829055631478402</guid><pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-03T15:45:36.557-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Home and Garden</category><title>Durable Yet Affordable Shutters</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;Our house is already 15 years old and I must say it needs a few retouching here and there.  We had the exterior wall repainted twice already and I guess this year might be a good time to do another one.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.larsonshutter.com/&quot;&gt;exterior shutters&lt;/a&gt;  might also need replacement if not repainting.  This is a major project that we are thinking of doing this year so I&#39;m on the lookout again for great deals.  I saw a site called Larson Shutter Company that carries a large selection of exterior shutters.  I didn&#39;t know there are so many different kinds of shutters available which are not found in the local home centers.  I would go for the durable, care-free shutters that will last longer because they are fade resistance and can withstand environmental extremes.  These features and more are found at LarsonShutter.com at very affordable prices and with factory direct free shipping deal now through the end of year for online purchases. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/durable-yet-affordable-shutters.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787538.post-2230258597271096263</guid><pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:56:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2009-03-03T09:13:46.554-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Trips and Travel</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Vacation</category><title>A Disney Vacation</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify;&quot;&gt;I&#39;ve got tons of photos I took of our vacations within US and overseas.   I am quick to upload them to my online albums but not quick enough to arrange them on separate files. I  really need to sit down for it and also make backup copies on CD&#39;s.   I just couldn&#39;t seem to find the time to do it continuously.  There is always a distraction everytime I try to do it.  Anyway, the other day while going through some of the photos, my son was beside me watching me the whole time. I played a slideshow of our &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.orlandothemeparkvacations.com/&quot;&gt;Orlando vacations&lt;/a&gt; for him and he got so excited to see the pictures of Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters taken at Disney World.  Oh why wouldn&#39;t he be?  I was so excited myself when I was there with my then boyfriend hb.   I enjoyed every minute I was there, and the child in me surfaced.   Hopefully in two more years when my son is old enough to appreciate Disney World, we can take time off and travel back with him.&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://mira-burns.blogspot.com/2009/03/disney-vacation.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Mira)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item></channel></rss>