In case you haven’t done walking lunges before, here’s how to perform one:  Make an exaggerated step forward.  Bend your front leg to form a 90 degree angle without letting your knee pass your toes.  Drive forward with your front leg and bring forward your back leg to step. Repeat.

One fun way to incorporate these productive lunges into your day is by playing hide and seek with your kids. When you are ‘it’ – count – and then when you go to find your kid(s), do Walking Lunges!

OR

Do you play ‘monster’ with your kids?  This is totally a monster looking move!

Not only are you going to be working out but you’ll look so funny that your kids will more than likely follow you and mimic your movements.  Even if they don’t, it will surely create lots of laughs for the both of you!

Get fit and have a great Friday!

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Selecting your categories ~

The first step to establishing a working and successful home budget is to first figure out what categories you will need to include.  This will be all income streams and all expenses that you have for you and your family.  Typical categories for income would be from your job, interest, child support, etc..  Typical categories for expenses would be: mortgage, phone bill, groceries, electric, eating out, etc…  Basically anything that has money coming into your home would be listed as income and anything that has money leaving your home would be an expense.

Write down your categories ~

Whether you choose a piece of paper or a spreadsheet ~ just write your categories out.  Organize them in the following manner:

(example)

Income

• job income
• interest income
• child support

Monthly Expenses

• mortgage
• phone
• water

Non-Monthly Expenses

• vet bill
• quarterly water bill
• upcoming gifts

Now that you have your categories set, it’s time to make a column for each pay day.  If you get paid once a month, make one column ~ twice a month, two columns ~ etc…

There!  You’ve got the outline for your budget (minus the numbers, of course).  Next week we’ll be filling in the numbers, so you’ll want to do some information gathering this week.  Look at ALL of your expenses that you had in the last year and get good dollar amounts on how much you spent in each category.  Try to be as accurate as possible.  We’ll use those numbers to create your budget.

Hmmm…maybe I should pass this series on to the govt!!??

See you next Tuesday!

If there isn’t, don’t despair!  With a quick search online or a phone call to your local grocery stores, you could probably find something similar in your area for a reasonable cost.  In a search that I did, I found that Safeway, Giant and Stop & Stop all have delivery services ~ which are a bit more expensive ~ but still only $6.95-$7.95.  Not bad.

Actually, by doing it this way, I save quite a bit because there are no impulse buys!  That’s a pretty big one for me ~ especially if I’m hungry.  So, if you’re looking to save a big chunk of time ~ look into express lane shopping for your big grocery shopping trips.  It may just be worth it!

Today’s Fit Friday challenge is:  Play Tag

Tag involves sprints which not only build muscles but build endurance.  The more muscles you grow, the more fat you burn.  On top of that, the cardio is great for your heart.

Aside from the obvious body benefits, playing tag is just plain fun!  You and your kids will have a ball running around.  What a better way to spend some time?

Maybe invite the neighborhood kids and parents and make it a whole big tag event!

Have fun getting fit!  Tag, you’re it…

Here’s how YOU can join the celebration:

–Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.

 –Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 2 slots. This week Hearts Make Families will not be participating due to technical issues. She will be back next week.

–Follow as many blogs as you’d like.

–Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you’re from Friday Follow.

–Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow.

The Blog Hop is the same at each of our three hosts blogs so you do not have to add your blog at each site. Just one – but you can follow each blog. Follow a few or follow them all.

The list is new each week. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. The list is only open to add your blog links on Fridays. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

Please be patient with following or getting followers. With the tremendous response there are a lot to visit. The Mcklinky will stay here so you can visit blogs at your own pace

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Take a plastic bag and tie string or yarn to each handle ~ take it outside, hold on tight and let ‘er rip!  The wind gets under it and boy does it move and you can make it do tricks by pulling slightly on either side.  How’s THAT for recycling?

Even if you don’t have a kite or a plastic bag to make one, go outside with your kids and just run in the wind.  It’s so much fun to let it push you around and hold you up and make you run faster and slow you down and let your hair go all wild… Just playin’ with mother nature.

Have a windy day ~

When choosing a way to help ~ if you choose to donate money ~ follow these guidelines:

1. Go to the well know charities first ~ Red Cross, UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, etc..  One that you’ve heard of prior to the incident.
2. Don’t give to a fly-by-night charity who just set up shop after the tragedy.  They MAY be legitimate but they are riskier and will take lots more time to research into their legitimacy.
3. If there is a local group in your area traveling to the area and you KNOW the people or the church or whatever ~ that’s usually a safe bet because you KNOW the people or you attend the church.
4. Go to a news site that you TRUST and look at their list of legitimate charities.  Even so, still do a check on the charity to make sure that you are comfortable giving money to them.
5. Check with ANY charity you choose by asking where, specifically, your money will be going ~ what will they be doing with it.
6. Check them out through the BBB or some other independent source.

Just listen to your gut and do your research.  Here are a couple of sites that list some charities ~ but again ~ do your own research before you give them anything.

• MSNBC
• Fox News  ~ they also have SCAMS listed here

And remember ~ you don’t have to give financially to help.  You can say a prayer ~ keep them in your thoughts… If you know of a family affected you can be there for support.

My heart goes out to those affected by the earthquake in Haiti…

I see boredom in a different way. I see it as an expression of an emotion. A way of saying – I just don’t know what to do with myself because nothing seems interesting to me.  I don’t see it as an invitation for others to fill my time. It would be better to see if the bored person WANTS assistance in finding something new and interesting to do. Maybe boredom is the beginning of the creative process and, left to their own devices, would lead the person to a new and exciting place, once inspired.  Maybe it’s even a person trying to be comfortable with just being with themselves.

To me it’s like when you’re hungry but you don’t know what to eat and so you stare in the fridge or in the pantry and it’s like you’re staring into an abyss because nothing looks good. Yet there you are – starving. Suppose instead of someone coming up behind you lecturing you about choosing something because there are people starving in 3rd world countries, someone walked into the kitchen because THEY are hungry and they start cooking. And it smells good. The smell reminds you of cookies that your mom used to bake when you were little, so you call her up – get the recipe – bake them up – take your first bite and AHHH…perfect…just what you were looking for.

Same goes for boredom. If you hear that your kids are bored, sure, see if they want some help finding something to do – make helpful suggestions. But if they don’t want suggestions, go do something that interests YOU.  You never know ~ you just may inspire them.

The only problem with legos these days is that they are pretty expensive.  That’s the downside.  (…and stepping on a stray lego with your bare feet..OUCH!)  That’s why I was pretty excited to see that they are having a giveaway!  All you have to do to enter is, if you have your own site, go lego.com  and become an affiliate. Put their Atlantis banner on your site ~ send them a screenshot and you’re entered in the contest.  The prizes are:

1st Prize: Neptune Carrier (8075); Guardian of the Deep (8058); Monster Crab Clash (8056)
2nd Prize: Gateway of the Squid (8061); Seabed Scavenger (8059); Sea Jet (8072)
3rd Prize: Shadow Snapper (8079); Wreck Raider (8057); Manta Warrior (8073)

Contest ends January 31st.   So, if you want some free legos, enter!  I’m sure they’ll be fun to put together and play with with your kids.

Legos.  They bring back memories, don’t they?  All the pieces, figuring out what to build ~ they were cool.  Well, legos have come a long way.  They now sell kits of what you are to build with all of the pieces and the people.  Filled with familiar characters (like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Spongebob) and playful scenes.  They are a challenge to put together for the most part and are more like a puzzle now than anything else.

I’ve spent a lot of time together with my children putting them together ~ figuring, talking, laughing…  It’s a good way to spend time in their world, doing what they want to do.  After my kids and I put them together, we can play together with the finished product. 

…and if you think that the pre-packaged plans stunt their creativity ~ think again. 

After we’ve played a while, my kids use the various legos in the more traditional way and they build their visions.  The pieces are so shapely and interesting now.  In fact, they can build so many things now that actually look like what they are trying to build!  The kits seem to inspire them more than just staring at a pile of legos on the floor.  Much like staring at a blank page and trying to write something.

So, go win some legos and have a fun time creating with your kids.