Do you need to make online cash? A lot of people feel the need to make money online and if you are someone who wants to earn extra money from home in your spare time or on a full-time basis to help pay the bills, freelance writing should be at the top of your list of things to learn how to do.

There are a lot of ways to make money from home, and I’m not referring to stuffing envelopes, doing paid online surveys or trying to make money mystery shopping. Nor am I going to recommend any kind of “earn money at home” job that is nothing but a scam. If you want or need to earn money from home, you need to understand that there are scammers on the internet just waiting to take your money with bogus offers of how to earn money fast and easy. Beware of at-home jobs that are nothing but a ripoff!

Learning how to become a freelance writer is not rocket science. You don’t need a college degree, a high school diploma or even the best typing skills. If you can read and write in English, you can earn money from home fulfilling any number of freelance writing jobs online or offline to earn extra money at home on your computer. I make money typing at home on my computer keyboard as a writer, and if I can earn money at home writing, so can you.

How to Become a Freelance Writer For Beginners

There are a lot of stay-at-home moms making money hand over fist as freelance writers online and offline who started off as beginners, writing in their spare time while taking care of their children at home. Men and women of all ages are finding that freelance writing is an excellent job opportunity to make money from home, and parents who are working part-time or full-time outside the home but want to stay home with their kids can easily learn how to make money at home as work-at-home moms or dads.

How much money you can earn as a freelance writer depends on you and how much time and effort you are willing to put into starting and building your freelance writing business, to the point where writing and earning money from home becomes second nature to you. You don’t need special equipment or a fancy home office either. If you have a chair to sit on, a table or desk for your computer and some kind of Internet connection, you can become an online freelance writer starting today with no previous experience or special qualifications.

You may be wondering, how do I become a freelance writer if I don’t know how or where to begin? All you need to start freelance writing is a helpful guide that provides the step-by-step instructions to becoming a successful freelance writer, written by knowledgeable and experienced writers who work from home as freelance writers and know what they are talking about. Who better to get advice about freelancing from than people who are actually earning money themselves as freelance writers?

In the 65-page freelance writing guide ebook called “Freelance Superstar”, beginner and intermediate freelance writers are provided easy-to-understand tips and instructions on how to become a freelance writing superstar, such as:

• How to start a freelancing career

• How much money freelance writers can make

• Review list of 24 online writing gig job sites

• Ways to get high-paying clients

• Difference between regular writing and SEO writing

• Difference between content writing and copywriting

• How to improve your writing skills

• How to get repeat business and clients

• How to get paid as a freelancer

And that’s just for starters! Bonus items available for a limited time are:

1. Email templates you can use to solicit clients
2. Process map for your freelance career
3. Gorgeous “Portfolio” WordPress themes
4. Step-by-step blogging video tutorials

Authors Gobala Krishnan and Monika Mundell have both been earning a cool full-time income from freelance writing for years, and through their freelance writing guide you too can discover exactly how to become a well-paid, successful freelance writing superstar in your own right. Do you want to be a freelance writer? What are you waiting for?

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Do you want to become a freelance writer and get paid to write online or offline as a well paid writer? Do you know what freelance writing is and how much money you can make as a freelancer? Do you want to quit your job and work from home writing freelance articles, perhaps as a newspaper or magazine writer, and get paid to write?

Maybe you are a stay-at-home mom or you lost your job in the recession and want to know how to become a freelance writer and work for yourself without the stress and worry of where the next paycheck will come from. Well then, you should seriously consider the fact that freelance writing is an excellent job opportunity you or anyone else can do in the comfort of your own home!

What is freelance writing? Wikipedia defines a freelancer or freelance writer as a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer. There are many different types of freelance writing gigs and jobs available where companies and individuals seek to hire freelance writers who know how to produce great content on the web or print copy, such as newspapers and magazines.

Freelance Writing Business

How much do freelance writers make? Some freelance writers make six figures a year, more than $100,000 per year, and while the idea of making a six figure income as a freelancer sounds really good, not everyone will get paid that kind of money. As a freelance writer, I’m sometimes asked “how much do you make as a freelance writer?”, but as a rule I never discuss money or how much I get paid as a freelancer.

Some writers disclose their freelance earnings, and based on some polls I’ve seen about money made doing freelance work, some get paid more than others as should be expected. Freelance writing jobs offer many ways to make money with your own freelance business online or offline, getting paid good money to write with or without an online website or blog, such as writing for magazines or newspapers.

Tip: Magazine writing pays very well, and copywriting pays REALLY well! Before you can start getting paid as a magazine writer or any type of writer, you have to know how to become a writer without any special qualifications or degree whatsoever. If you have writing experience and expertise, all the better, but being a freelance writer does not require any experience in writing. You can read and write in English, right?

The best part is, becoming a writer and getting paid to write is not hard! Anyone with a good grasp of the English language can become a professional writer and get paid good money for their writing skills and abilities. You are never too old to become a writer, so if you are an empty-nester or getting up in age, now would be a great time to start your own freelance writing business and start getting paid to write.

Freelance Writing Guide

If you are ready to start your own freelance writing career and get paid as a writer, you should know that there is a lot of information and misinformation about freelance writing on the web. However, I can personally vouch for this brand new freelance writing guide by Monika Mundell and Gobala Krishnan, who have collaborated in writing this joint venture (JV) guide to freelance writing.

New beginner writers always have a lot of questions about how to become a freelance writer, including setting your freelance writing rates (how much you should charge); finding your niche or topics to write about; branding your business and using business social networking or social media sites to build your brand; ways to find freelance writing gigs; managing your business and health as a writer, just to name a few.

After carefully reading and following the step-by-step instructions in this guide titled How to Quit Your Job and Make a Living From Freelance Writing, beginner freelance writers and more-experienced writers will learn everything they need to know about freelance writing, how to become a freelance writer and ways to get paid more money for the freelance work writers write for clients.

If you want your freelance business to be a successful money-making business, writers must treat their freelance writing business as a business rather than as a hobby. Monika and Gobala do a great job of explaining that if you want to build a business as a freelance writer, where you get paid enough money to quit your job and become a full-time writer online or offline, it requires strong work ethics and great time management amongst other things.

Some of my favorite things included in the guide is a list of 24 freelance writing job sites online to get paid to write as a freelancer; how much money you can expect to be paid as a freelance writer; tips and advice on maintaining good health and posture as a writer, and the pros and cons of each job bidding site. Like I’ve said, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet about freelance writing, but if you are serious about becoming a freelance writer and want to start getting paid to write, you must get Monika and Gobala’s freelance writing guide and ignore people telling you that you can’t make money as a freelance writer. Yes you can!

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Genealogy research and tracing my family tree history has been an interest and hobby of mine for several years. October is Family History Month and there is no better way to celebrate but to begin creating a family tree of your own with names, stories, photos, vital records, birth dates, marriages, divorces, deaths etc for a complete family history of your ancestry and roots.

Genealogy or ancestry research can seem rather daunting for a beginner, especially when you consider the time it takes collecting family documents and records kept in old Bibles, going to libraries checking through large volumes of books and files, family history databases, charts and vital records reports.

Then there are the newspapers, obituaries, cemeteries, tombstones, census records, church records, land and property records, deeds of ownership and much more. It would be great if diaries, personal letters, Bible notes and photos were all we needed to build a family tree, and it would make the process of building a family tree pretty easy.

Free Family Tree Makers

When I first started searching for information on relatives and ancestors to create a family tree online to pass onto my children and grandchildren, I wanted to collect as many details as I could for free. There are genealogy search engines and websites that provide information about family records and data for little or no cost at all (Geni.com), to get help in finding your family tree history and create a family tree online, or you can use family tree software on your computer.

MyHeritage.com is also a free family tree maker that allows users to create and print a family tree for free, but after trying it for awhile I chose Ancestry.com instead. Some “free” tree maker sites are really just a free trial period, where after a certain period of time, your free trial runs out and you must become a paying member to continue using the site. Personally, I would much rather go with a well known, highly respected and user friendly website or trusted genealogy software on my computer than to risk having to start all over again.

Even though you don’t need to become a paid member of a genealogy research site such as Ancestry.com in order to make a family tree, perhaps with the help of the free family tree finder from the Mormon Church Genealogy records site (LDS) or Yahoo Groups, it sure helps to have thousands if not millions of genealogy researchers doing much of the work for you.

To get an idea of the amount of information you can gather with or without the help of genealogy software for PC and Mac users, or family history sites on the internet besides those already mentioned, here is a list of some kinds of records hobbyist and professional genealogists use in their research:

• Vital records – birth records, death records, marriage and divorce records

• Adoption records – which, if you’ve ever gotten stuck while researching your family tree, adoption records can make genealogy research very difficult

• Church records – baptism/christening, confirmation, bar or bat mitzvah, marriage, church membership and funeral records

• Court records – civil and criminal records

• Emigration, immigration and naturalization records

• Medical, military and conscription records

• Ship passenger lists

• Hereditary and lineage organization records

• Newspaper articles, occupational records, oral/dental records,

• Passports, schools and colleges attended, alumni association records

• Social Security, pension and tax records

• Voter registration, wills and probate records

• Deeds, land and property records

Family Tree Genealogy Software

Family tree software programs are available in compatible Windows versions and for Mac users to run on the Macintosh operating system, making your genealogy research a simple and easy process. Be sure the program you choose is not an old version and that it allows you to import Genealogical Data Communications, also known as GEDCOM files, and offers upgrades. Reviews of genealogy software for Mac users say Reunion 9 is the best family tree program, and while MacFamilyTree by Synium was given good mention, most preferred Reunion 9 overall.

Reviews for PC users show Family Tree Maker to be at the top of the list of genealogy software, easy for beginners and experienced family tree researchers to use. Legacy Family Tree tied for second place with RootsMagic. Software programs like Personal Ancestral File and The Master Genealogist weren’t given the best marks all around, with most recommending Family Tree Maker overall.

Surname Origin and Last Name Meanings

Have you ever wondered what the nationality of your surname is or what the origin and meaning of your last name is? Do you know what your family crest or coat of arms looks like? Discovering the origin and meaning of your last name is fun too, and you can get a lot of detailed information about your surname by using a free surname finder online.

Reading surname histories and discovering the meanings behind your family name, family crest or coat of arms symbols, shield and colors is very enlightening and fun. Being of part German descent, reading the history of the German coat of arms featuring an eagle with colors similar to that of the Flag of Germany in black, red and gold offered a good history lesson for me, which is now included in my family tree.

If you ever need a translation of the motto, flags and banners for your coat of arms or family crest and what they all mean, Wikipedia has a complete list of coats of arms articles, motto’s, emblems and descriptions that include Presidents and Vice Presidents from every state in the U.S., Canada and other countries.

Common surnames such as Miller, Jones, Brown, Smith and similar last names can make researching genealogy and creating a family tree tedious, time-consuming and overwhelming while trying to find past relatives and ancestors, which is why I personally recommend Ancestry.com to create a family tree online.

The list of things you can do with a family tree are virtually limitless. You can design or make a coat of arms that matches your family tree, look at coat of arms pictures and clipart online where you can download a printable copy of your coat of arms for your records, and even purchase a coat of arms plaque to hang on your wall at home as decoration.

I’ve learned a lot about my family history since I started a family tree online a few years ago, and I have found and met cousins and distant relatives who use RootsWeb, even connecting with them on Facebook and sharing family stories. If you haven’t already started your own family tree, I would encourage you to start a family tree today. You never know who you might find in your family line, and just how easy and fun it is to make some interesting discoveries along the way.

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Christmas 2009 is here. Are you ready? Every Christmas holiday season parents ask, “What will be the most popular hot new toys for Christmas this year?” The latest trends in new toys for Christmas correspond closely to the economy, which is why the “Recession Christmas” or frugal Christmas gifts term is often used by people looking for affordable Christmas gifts for their kids and teens.

Toy makers and manufacturers understand that people have less money to spend on Christmas this year and are making smaller versions of large more-expensive toys, with one example being the new mini version of last years big Fur Real dinosaur from the Hasbro Fur Real Friends line of toys.

A hot new trend in toys for 2009 are Eco-friendly, “Green” or recycled toys that are made out of recycled materials to help the environment. Toys made from environmentally friendly materials are called Green Toys, such as the Fuzz That Was by Mary Meyer, which are stuffed toy pets made out of old recycled water bottles.

Green Toys for Kids

An Eco-friendly green toy company in California called The Green Toy Company sells “Made in the USA” toys for kids from 100% recycled materials, including a toy recycling truck, a toy dump truck, indoor gardening kit, jump rope, sand play set, an Ecosaucer, a toy cookware and dining set, toy tool set, a toy dish set, a toy chef set, and a toy tea set – each made from recycled milk bottles.

Popular “green” toy brands like Sprig Toys, Green Toys, Plan Toys, miYim Toys and HaPe Toys offer a large variety of children’s toys for babies, toddlers and older kids at affordable prices that will help keep you within your Christmas budget. Check out the list of best-selling toys for Christmas or Chanukah and you’ll see that the ever-popular Leap Frog Tag Reading System by LeapFrog is still high on the must-have list, along with the English version of Bananagrams and the Spanish Bananagrams by the Bananagrams company. Here are some of the best-selling green toys for kids:

1. Green Toys Tea Set by Green Toys
2. Sprig Toys Eco-Truck Dump Truck by Sprig Toys
3. Sprig Toys Eco-Truck Loader by Sprig Toys
4. Green Toys Cookware and Dining Set by Green Toys
5. Green Toys Recycle Truck by Green Toys
6. Plan Toy Solid Wood Drum by Plan Toys
7. Green Toys Tool Set by Green Toys
8. Green Toys Dump Truck by Green Toys
9. Sprig Toys Eco-Truck Excavator by Sprig Toys
10. Sprig Toys Discover Rig by Sprig Toys

Hot Christmas Toys 2009

Other hot Christmas toy items this year for girls or boys include electronics such as the Radica Ucreate Music and Radica Ucreate Games by Mattel; the Jonas Brothers Pix Micro Digital Camera; the Disney Floral Pix Digital Camera; Hello Kitty and Friends Plush Doll and accessories; Zhu Zhu Pets (especially the hamster) and anything by the Vtech toy company.

Jessica Hartshorn, Senior Lifestyle Editor for American Baby Magazine, examined the most popular hot new toys for Christmas 2009 from the American International Toy Fair. Predictions of the most popular toys for Christmas include the comeback of classic toys, board games and puzzles, remote control cars and frozen snack machines referred to now as freeze pop machines.

Top 10 Most Popular Games

1. Mindflex Game by Mattel
2. Bananagrams by Bananagrams
3. The Settlers of Catan by Mayfair Games
4. Quiddler by SET Enterprises, Inc.
5. Wild Planet Hyper Dash by Wild Planet
6. SET Game by SET Enterprises, Inc.
7. Scrabble Slam Cards by Hasbro Games
8. The Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Extension by Mayfair Games
9. Twilight Board Game by Cardinal Industries
10. 100 Assorted Pokemon Trading Cards Lot by Pokemon USA

Children’s Learning Toys

Educational toys, aka “working and learning toys”, are making a big comeback as some of the best Christmas gifts for kids. Crayola has a “Drop and See” ball drop-style toy that uses “TaDoodles” to teach small kids colors, shapes and sounds, but is also fun for kids to play with. Toy brands like Hasbro, Fisher Price, LeapFrog, Melissa and Doug, Think Fun & Insect Lore working and learning toys for children are battling for the #1 spot of most popular educational toys for children on Amazon.

1. LeapFrog® Tag Reading System by LeapFrog
2. Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks by Fisher Price
3. Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper by Hasbro
4. LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table by LeapFrog
5. ThinkFun Zingo by ThinkFun
6. Live Butterfly Garden by Insect Lore
7. Melissa & Doug See & Spell by Melissa and Doug
8. Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym by Fisher Price
9. LeapFrog® Leapster® 2 Learning Game System – Green by LeapFrog
10. Melissa & Doug Magnetic Wooden Alphabet by Melissa and Doug

Keep a close eye on Melissa & Doug toys/arts and crafts for kids because these are cleaning up on Amazon! Melissa & Doug Arts and Crafts are selling like Hot Cakes, especially the Deluxe Standing Easel, and they are all getting rave reviews!

The toy fair also revealed a new and innovative kids toy called the Peek-A-Boo Bag from I-Play for toddlers that has become quite popular, which is a small square cloth bag filled with beads and various colorful shaped toy items. There’s a see-through plastic window sewn into the peek-a-boo bag where kids can shake, squish or squeeze the toy to move the beads around, revealing new shapes and colors of pink, blue, yellow and white.

The 2009 Toy Fair in London offered a few “best new toys of 2009” recommendations including toys from brands like Ben 10, Charlie and Lola, In the Night Garden, Peppa Pig, Timmy Time and Yo Gabba Gabba. What about you? Are you looking for Green Toys for kids to help the environment, or just trying to find cheap Christmas toys for your kids?

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UPDATE Below: Oprah Winfrey is coming to Dallas Fair Park, the home of the State Fair of Texas, on Monday October 12th, according to an WFAA news release. All we know so far is that Oprah Winfrey is scheduled to tape a show at Dallas Fair Park on October 12, but details of how Dallas/Fort Worth area people may be able to obtain tickets to see Oprah tape the Oprah Winfrey Show at the State Fair are still unknown.

Mike Devlin, WFAA president and general manager said, “We are pleased to welcome Oprah back to North Texas. Oprah is scheduled to be out and about, on the road across America this fall and Dallas-Fort Worth was one of the first cities chosen for a visit.”

“Oprah and her on-air contributors will be highlighting our area, and sampling the best of what North Texas has to offer. WFAA is pleased to provide assistance in bringing her to our viewers during the State Fair of Texas,” said Devlin.

UPDATE: Local residents interested in more information on Oprah’s visit to North Texas at Dallas Fair Park and How To Get Tickets to see Oprah at the State Fair of Texas in October, please go “www.oprah.com/audience” for ticket reservation info. You can also follow the State Fair of Texas on Twitter to receive updates on Oprah’s Dallas visit next month.

I wonder if Oprah will try any of the deep fried, heart attack on a stick, State Fair foods while she’s in town. In case you didn’t know, the State Fair of Texas is also known as the Fried Food Capitol of Texas. Maybe Oprah will have the courage to taste test the Deep Fried Butter at the fair. Blech.

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Ready or not, the Christmas season is upon us. Stores are stocking up on anything and everything related to Christmas gift-giving, while many families are trying to find ways to survive Christmas during a recession. Christmas may not seem so “Merry” for those affected by job layoffs, home foreclosures and in some cases, outright poverty. Many families are in need of life’s basic necessities, due in part to the economic downturn, and will be in need of Christmas donations from those more fortunate.

According to a survey by Ing Direct, only about half of American adults (54%) plan to spend $300.00 or more on holiday Christmas gifts this year, a 10% decrease from what Americans spent last year during the 2008 Christmas holiday season. The survey results show that only 11% plan to spend between $1 and $100 in 2009 on Xmas gifts, and 23% plan to spend $100-$299, compared to 21 percent last year.

11% of those surveyed don’t plan to spend any money at all on Christmas toys or gifts in 2009, compared to 7 percent in 2008, a 57 percent increase. 14% of parents are giving children smaller Christmas stockings this year, while others are choosing to not fill Xmas stockings at all, and some will just hang the stockings as a Christmas decoration. Older Americans (55 years old and up) show the most dramatic change, with 61% planning to spend $300 or more dollars on gifts this year, compared to 71% from last year.

41% of Americans say saving more and spending less is a top priority for the remainder of the year and beyond. According to Forbes.com, 67% of Americans say they will continue their frugal ways by saving more money and spending less even after the economy recovers. The recession creates a great opportunity to rethink priorities in life, with less focus on luxuries and frivolous spending, and greater importance being placed on real “needs” vs. “wants”.

If you are being frugal by choice or by sheer necessity, Christmas presents a financial challenge for those who are needing a less expensive, affordable Christmas holiday. Here are twelve inexpensive, frugal Christmas gift ideas that won’t break the bank.

Frugal Christmas Present Gift Ideas

1). Candles – Scented candles are one of the best Christmas gifts candle lovers can receive. You can buy candles and wrap them in cheap wrapping paper and/or ribbon, or make homemade candles yourself in your kitchen (if you enjoy doing do-it-yourself craft projects) and wrap the candles with inexpensive, decorative tissue paper and ribbon as a gift.

2). Stationery or journal, with or without a fancy pen, makes a great gift for someone on your gift list who enjoys keeping a writing journal or writing letters to family and friends. Older folks especially, who don’t use a computer to send and receive email, still enjoy writing to friends and family the “old fashioned” way, and being gifted with beautiful stationery just might be their favorite Christmas gift of all.

3). Jewelry – Jewelry gifts for Christmas don’t have to be fine jewelry made of expensive diamonds or pearls, but can be inexpensive costume jewelry and accessories like: cufflinks, bracelets, necklaces, lockets, charms, earrings, sterling silver rings, birthstones, wrist watch, pendants and chains. Jewelry tops the list of the most romantic Christmas gifts to show your love for the special him or her in your life.

4). Books and/or Magazine Subscriptions – Researching the most popular, best-selling books and ebooks for adults or children is a great place to start, with many adults preferring to read books on a Kindle eBook reader. Books by a favorite author, and/or magazines for kids or adults makes a great Christmas gift that avid readers will enjoy. Children’s classic books are always a good choice, as are newly released books or kid magazines that are fun and educational at the same time.

5). Music and DVD Christmas gifts can sometimes be tricky, especially if you aren’t quite sure what kind of music or movies the gift recipient likes. iTunes gift certificates or gift cards from Amazon.com, in whatever amount you can afford, will satisfy the music-lover and movie-lover in your life without a doubt.

6). Homemade Christmas gifts from your kitchen. Homemade food gifts may include such tasty treats as chocolate spoons for the coffee lover; chocolate-dipped pretzels or marshmallows; homemade caramel popcorn or Kettle corn; cappuccino mixes; homemade breads or muffins; peanut brittle or fudge just to name a few.

7). Christmas gifts in a jar are an inexpensive, frugal gift for anytime of year. Gifts in a jar may be cookie or brownie mixes, holiday beverage mixes, baking mixes, gourmet coffee mixes, tea mixes, soup mixes and even bath salts layered in a glass canning jar, or Mason jar.

8). Homemade gifts of quilts, embroidered handkerchiefs, scarves, hats, gloves, socks, shawls, sweaters, hair ribbons and other things sewn and made by hand are meaningful gifts to be treasured and passed down through the generations as family heirlooms.

9). Photo albums, scrapbooks and picture frames with photo(s) of special occasions and loved ones create long-lasting memories that can be personalized for each gift recipient. Try your hand at scrapbooking with some inexpensive scrapbook supplies and start making homemade crafts and gifts now, and see for yourself if your handmade gifts aren’t the most treasured Xmas gifts of all.

10). Board games and card games are cheap Christmas gifts that can get the whole family (and friends) involved in having fun together on Christmas day and after the holiday season is over. Researching classic board games and checking out the list of the most popular board games and card games is a great place to start, and many of the old board games have been updated and re-released as new and improved.

11). Inexpensive Christmas gifts for him may be travel toiletries, favorite specialty beer or wine, hand tools, car wash kit, shoe polish kit, personalized golf balls, business card case, wallet, money clip, coffee mug, One For All Universal Remote control, men’s cologne or aftershave, gift certificates for guy gadgets. There are also many personalized Christmas gifts for men that are not expensive and will fit in just about anyone’s Christmas budget.

12). Christmas gifts for her under $50, $25 or even under $10 may be bath and body products, her favorite perfume, slippers, scented jar candles (see #1), digital photo frame, affordable jewelry, cashmere sweater or socks, jewelry box, small purse or handbag, iPod, mobile phone accessories, tickets to a play or concert, lingerie, or even engraved/personalized Christmas gifts for women within your Christmas budget.

Are you planning or having to cut back on your Christmas spending this year? What are some of the ways you are going about enjoying the upcoming Christmas holiday season during these tough economic times? Are there any Christmas traditions or expenditures that you and your family have decided to eliminate this Xmas season, perhaps not sending Christmas cards or trimming back on the list of gift recipients? Share your ideas for a frugal Christmas in the comments below.

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Children should come with warning labels, am I right mom and dad readers? As a parent, do you have times where you could use a good laugh about raising children? Have you ever wished that your children came with warning labels when they were born?

Do you remember those crazy and frustrating times that didn’t seem very funny at the time, but later on you discovered you could laugh about them?

Although children don’t come with an instruction manual for parents, kids should definitely come with warning labels, such as:

• Caution: Children Have No Warranty or Guarantee
• Caution: Motherhood Causes Identity Theft
• Caution: Teaching Children to Talk Will Backfire
• Caution: Children Cause Hearing Loss
• Caution: You are Not Smarter than a Fifth Grader
• Caution: Peace and Quiet Come with a Price
• Caution: Children are Not Cheaper by the Dozen
• Caution: GPS Locator Recommended

Patti McKenna’s new book, appropriately titled Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels, is a true and humorous personal story of raising children from birth through young adulthood.

Excerpt:
 

“Children have a natural tendency to explore, and their quest for discovery often takes them to unexpected places. While they may start out tugging on your leg, eventually making one leg of your jeans a few inches longer than the other, they ll wander from the task at hand and wind up in unfamiliar territory. I had never visited the space between the refrigerator and the wall until the day Sam got stuck in there. How she wedged herself in there, I’ll never know, but I had to physically move the refrigerator to free her from her newfound confines.

Then, Heather got her little head stuck between the rails of the banister. I also cannot explain how that occurred, but it is a phenomenon I believe should be added to the seven wonders of the world. The fact that we managed to pull her head out has to be the ninth wonder. Meridith got stuck, too. It’s frightening to know that your child is stuck and needs you, but you can’t pinpoint her location. The kids were outside playing, and their dad was with them, doing odd jobs and going back and forth from the garage to the yard. Walking out of the garage, he heard, Daaadddyyy! I’m cruck! Right away, he knew it was Meridith, because she was the only one who mispronounced the word stuck. Meri was cruck, but just where was she cruck at?”

“The title says it all. Patti has captured a truthful and humorous look at being a parent.” – Greg S. Reid, Author, Speaker, and Filmmaker

Patti McKenna has a nack for words, and her tongue-in-cheek parenting book of just 120-pages is full of hysterical stories about raising children, and is a book that appeals to both moms and dads with kids of all ages. Released in May 2009, Children Should Come With Warning Labels chronicles Patti McKenna’s funny and touching true experiences of everyday life as an average mom.

There is also two bonus sections: Parenting Survival Tips and Tricks, which are realistic, comedic, and on target, and Parenting Group Discussion Topics, which are thought-provoking and invite healthy debate on issues which are important to parents in their journey of raising children.

The story about the “industrial size jar of Skippy peanut butter” one child got her hands on while the parents were sleeping is priceless, as is the story about how Patti’s child nearly got her arrested for shoplifting in the grocery store. It gives new meaning to the saying “out of the mouth of babes”.

Ahh the memories. Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels by Patti McKenna is available at Amazon. I’ve read Patti’s book twice already and am about to start reading it for a third time – it’s THAT good!

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Do you and your family enjoy playing fun board games? If so, the new Blurt! game is a must-have for family game night and parties with friends. Blurt! The Uproarious Word Race Game is back with a brand new 2009 edition, after having been sold by the original publisher and taken off of the market for several years.

The first and original Blurt! game was the brain-child of Tim Walsh in 1990, as he was trying to help keep 3rd grade students quiet in their classroom, and failing miserably. Tim was dating a teacher at the time (who he later married) and says, “My job was to quietly entertain a few kids in the corner of her classroom while she worked with the rest of her students on year-end projects.”

Browsing through some books with the students, Tim opened a dictionary and began to read aloud to himself, “The nut of an oak tree.” The 8-year-old students didn’t stay quiet for long. One child mumbled, “Oaknut”, but Tim smiled and said “No, it’s an acorn”. Continuing on with more word clues and seeing the children get more excited as they guessed at the answer, a light bulb went off in Tim’s mind and he knew he had discovered a great new game.

Blurt! was originally released as “Blurt! The Webster’s Game of Word Racing” in 1994 by a small puzzle company in Wisconsin, going on to win numerous awards and entertain families, selling its 1,000,000th copy in 2000.

“Blurt! was invented for kids, obviously, it came out of a classroom”, says Walsh. “Families and kids love it because it’s fast and fun, but go on YouTube and you’ll find more than a few school and college-age kids playing it and having a blast too. It’s not intimidating like trivia and it’s hilarious what people Blurt on in the heat of play.”

The newly updated Blurt! game is better than ever, with new words and clues that make game night fun for all, which now includes a Junior version of the Blurt game for children ages 7-9. Here’s a test of your “blurting” abilities: Think fast. What word means “a partially dried grape”? Hurry! If you are the first player to blurt out “raisin”, you’re well on your way to winning this uproariously funny board game of rapid word recall called Blurt!

How about another test of your blurting skills? Think fast. What would be your answer to “a person living in total solitude by choice”? Drumroll please…..If your answer is ‘hermit’, you are right. When we were playing Blurt and I was given that clue, I said ‘monk’.

What would you blurt out to clues like “a large, hairy spider”? Or, “dirt that is wet and sticky”? How about, “an ice cream holder you can eat”? or this clue, “the daughter of a king or queen”?

This updated Blurt! game comes with:

• 300 cards – 1800 clues

• Jumbo Blurt game board

• 6 game pieces, die, and guide

How to play Blurt!:

Roll the die. Read the corresponding clue. All players (3-12 players, ages 7 to adult) blurt word guesses. The first player to blurt the correct words moves ahead on the board. How simple and easy is that?! As the race heats up and the rapid-fire blurting gets excited players tongue-tied, a fun game night becomes a hysterically funny game for children and adults alike. The first person or team of players to circle the board wins the game.

Blurt!, the world-famous board game, is now published by Educational Insights and is celebrating the game’s 15th year of fast-paced fun, with OVER ONE MILLION SOLD. Not only is Blurt a great vocabulary building tool for kids, but Blurt! is a great addition to adult parties, social gatherings, family game night and even schools! I especially like how Blurt! is a multi-generational game that even grandma and grandpa will have fun playing, and is educational and fun all at the same time.

And guess what? Tim Walsh is offering autographed copies of the newly updated version of Blurt! to three (3) winners, which includes the Junior version of Blurt!, by way of a giveaway contest right here on Telling It Like It Is! How cool is that?!

How you can win Blurt! (U.S. residents only)

1. Sign up for my free Newsletter Updates to my blog by email, confirm your subscription with the email you receive (check your spam folder), then come back and leave a comment that you’ve done so (I will be verifying).
2. Leave a comment telling me the name of your favorite board game while growing up, and your favorite memory of playing the game. NO KEYWORD NAMES will be permitted.

Bonus Entry Points:

• One Extra Entry-Add my banner button (right sidebar) to your sidebar or add me to your blogroll, then leave a separate comment informing me you’ve done so (Yes, I will be checking).

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Twitter (right sidebar), then leave a separate comment telling me your Twitter name.

• One Extra Entry- Become a friend on Facebook, then leave a separate comment with your Facebook name.

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Networked Blogs (right sidebar) and leave your name in a separate comment.

• One Extra Entry-Tweet about this contest on Twitter, then come back and leave the URL Twitter status link so I can check.

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Google Friend Connect (right sidebar) and leave your name in a separate comment.

• One Extra Entry-Favorite Telling It Like It Is in Technorati and leave your name in a separate comment.

Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notice with their full name and complete mailing address, otherwise another winner will be chosen. This contest will run until Thursday, August 20th at 10 p.m. CST and entry rules must be followed to be considered valid.

GOOD LUCK!

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I recently had the opportunity to review the Only Hearts Club dolls by Only Hearts Club and fell in love with the 9-inch OHC dolls for children. Fortunately, parents are becoming more aware of the sexualization of children through the media, with children’s clothes and toys becoming more and more inappropriate as time goes by.

Only Hearts Club understands the growing problem for parents to find age-appropriate toys for their young girls and boys, with many parents not being too keen on buying Bratz dolls or Barbie dolls anymore, and a lot of parents were understandably very upset about the “Dora the Explorer Going Skank” nonsense that happened recently.

The good people at Only Hearts Club are allowing me to host a Only Hearts Club dolls giveaway contest! For a chance to win, there will be three (3) lucky winners of a 9-inch Only Hearts Club doll of their choice! This contest is open to USA and Canada residents only, sorry. Each winner will be contacted by email and asked to provide their mailing address. Should you be a contest winner, your contact information will be shared with the contest sponsor in order to send your prize.

Only Hearts Club Giveaway Rules:

a) Sign up for my free Newsletter Updates to my blog by email, confirm your subscription with the email you receive (check your spam folder), then come back and leave a comment that you’ve done so (I will be verifying).

b) Visit the Only Hearts Club website and choose the 9-inch doll you hope to win, then leave a separate comment with the name of the doll.

To receive extra entry points to win an Only Hearts Club doll (each task will earn you 1 extra entry):

• One Extra Entry-Add my banner button (right sidebar) to your sidebar or add me to your blogroll, then leave a separate comment informing me you’ve done so (Yes, I will be checking).

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Twitter (right sidebar), then leave a separate comment telling me your Twitter name.

• One Extra Entry- Become a friend on Facebook, then leave a separate comment with your Facebook name.

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Networked Blogs (right sidebar) and leave your name in a separate comment.

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Friendfeed and leave your name in a separate comment.

• One Extra Entry-Leave a comment on any article linked in this giveaway contest post, come back and let me know which article you commented on.

• One Extra Entry-Tweet about this contest on Twitter, then come back and leave the URL Twitter status link so I can check. You are welcome to Retweet this contest once a day until the contest ends, but please come back and leave a separate comment for each Retweet, along with the URL permalink.

• One Extra Entry-Blog about this contest, linking to the Only Hearts Club review article and Telling It Like It Is.

• One Extra Entry-Favorite Telling It Like It Is in Technorati and leave your name in a separate comment.

• One Extra Entry-Follow me on Google Friend Connect (right sidebar) and leave your name in a separate comment.

***In order to ensure all of your extra giveaway contest entries are counted, be sure to leave a separate comment for each completed task. NO KEYWORD NAMES will be permitted.

Winners will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notice with their full name and complete mailing address, otherwise another winner will be chosen. This contest will run until Friday, August 14th at 10 p.m. CST and entry rules must be followed to be considered valid.

GOOD LUCK!

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The Allen Birthing Center, located in historic downtown Allen Texas, is the birthing center my daughter chose to deliver her baby in May 2009. Allen Birthing Center is a free-standing birth center, staffed by 3 experienced and highly-educated certified nurse-midwives (CNMs), offering prenatal care, labor support, delivery and exam of the newborn, postpartum care, well-woman exams, family planning, and primary care.

As soon as my daughter learned about her pregnancy, she had what seemed like a million questions and fears for a first-time mother, which is understandable. We discussed birthing options, the average cost of delivering a baby in a hospital vs. a birthing center or homebirth, pros and cons of each option etc, so she could make an informed choice for herself and her baby.

I was very careful to just explain the facts of each option because I didn’t want her to feel any pressure or influence from me about how or where to have her baby. Just because I chose the home birth option to deliver her and her older brother, and hospital births for my first four children, doesn’t mean she should make the same choice I did.

My daughter asked me, “If you could do it all over again, which option would you choose now?” I had to be honest and tell her that if I had known years ago about certified midwives, birthing centers and homebirth options, I would have chosen to give birth to each of my children at home. The differences between laboring and delivering a baby in a hospital vs. delivering at home or at a birthing center for low-risk pregnancies are huge.

I suggested she check out Ricki Lake’s Business of Being Born documentary, and explained that she needed to create a birth plan where she would list her personal preferences for labor and delivery, including how and where she would decide to give birth. I also explained that she needed to decided whether or not she wanted pain medication or an epidural for pain relief during labor, because that would have everything to do with where she would labor and deliver her baby.

After doing a considerable amount of research into Dallas/Collin County birthing centers and midwifery, she and the baby’s father decided to tour the Allen Birthing Center and interview the certified midwives, Rebecca “Becky” Burpo, Lana Amelia “Amy” Giles and Elizabeth “Betty” Hoffman, to get answers to their questions from the experts.

The Allen Birthing Center’s philosophy about childbirth is equal to that of my daughter and the baby‘s father – that birth is a normal process that needs very little intervention, but support and encouragement throughout their pregnancy, labor and delivery would be provided, ensuring their personal natural childbirth choices were respected.

My daughter did not want an epidural or any pain medications at all during labor, and she was thrilled with the prospect of being able to move around freely at the birthing center during labor vs. staying flat on her back in a hospital labor room, as well as the waterbirth option if she so chose. Knowing that the Allen Birthing Center works in close cooperation with nearby hospitals reassured her even more, just in case something unplanned or unforeseen were to occur and she needed to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section.

In order to find Texas birth centers and midwives in our area, we checked out the Association of Texas Midwives (ATM) and the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) website for listings by state and county. Allen Birthing Center is the only natural birth center in all of Collin County, but I found a total of 12 birthing centers in Texas:

Allen Birthing Center
406 West Main Street
Allen, TX 75013
Tel. 214-495-9911
Website: www.allenbirthingcenter.com
Contact: Rebecca Burpo, Director

Birth and Women’s Center
3100 Swiss Ave
Dallas, TX 75204
Tel. 214-821-8190
Website: www.birthcenter.net
Contact: Cherie Boettcher, Director

Gentle Beginnings Birth Center
1817 Harwood Court
Hurst, TX 76054
Tel. 817-479-0124
Website: http://www.gentlebeginningsbc.com
Contact: Ann Crowell

Inanna Birth & Women’s Care
1823 N Locust Street
Denton, TX 76201
Tel. 940-483-1569
Website: http://www.inannabirth.com
Contact: Jean Sala, Owner

Special Beginnings
513 W Church Street
Grand Prairie, TX 75050
Tel. 972-642-3446
Website: http://www.special-beginnings.com
Contact: Betty Winford

North Houston Birth Center
7007 N. Freeway #435
Houston, TX 77076
Tel. 713-699-4211
Website: http://www.northhoustonbirthcenter.com
Contact: Kathleen Vande Giessen, CNM

Reunion Women’s Health & Birth Center
201 Kingwood Medical Drive # B 300
Kingwood, TX 77339
Tel. 281-359-2229
Website: www.reunionmidwives.com
Contact: Janet Little, Midwife/Owner

Bay Area Birth Center
3210 Strawberry Road
Pasadena, TX 77504
Tel. 713-472-5525
Website: http://www.houstonbirthcenter.com
Contact: Jackie Griggs, Director

Rite of Passage Women’s Health & Birth Center
2206 E Broadway, Ste E
Pearland, TX 77581
Tel. 281-485-2886
Website: www.pearlandbirthcenter.com
Contact: Bernadette Olivier, Director/Owner

Lovers Lane Birth Center at Cottonwood
304 S Cottonwood Suite A
Richardson, TX 75080
Tel. 214-366-3579
Website: http://www.dallasmidwife.com
Contact: Dinah Waranch, Owner

San Antonio Birth Center
7272 Wurzbach #101
San Antonio, TX 78240
Tel. 210-593-0462
Website: http://www.birthcentersa.com
Contact: Nicole Voge, Office Manager

Nativiti Women’s Health & Birth Center
26614 Oakridge Dr
The Woodlands, TX 77380
Tel. 281-296-2333
Website: www.nativiti.com
Contact: Melanie Dossey, Director/Owner

My daughter’s labor and delivery at the Allen Birthing Center went very well. Her labor lasted 10 1/2 hours, which is pretty darn good for a first-timer, and she went from 6cm to 10cm (complete) in just 40 minutes! She had quite a bit of back labor, which can be extra painful if you’re stuck laying flat on your back in a hospital labor room for the doctors and nurses convenience, but she didn’t so much as whimper, cry or scream during any of her labor pains. She’s a tough cookie! She was able to walk around at will, have her back massaged by the baby’s father, stand/sit in the shower with strong water flow massaging her sore back and eventually moved to deliver her baby girl by waterbirth in the tub.

Each of the two birthing suites at the Allen Birthing Center are very comfortable and decorated beautifully, and the website provides photos of the birth center inside and out for expectant mothers to check out before scheduling a free consultation visit and tour. The total cost of pre-natal care, labor, delivery and aftercare for both mother and baby was only $4750.00 – PLUS they file medical insurance for patients – and they even allow payment plans. What’s not to like about a birthing center staffed by phenomenal experienced midwives, and a cost that even young expectant parents can manage to afford on their own? My daughter said that if she chooses to have any more children, that she’ll definitely use a birthing center and midwives again, and may even decide on a homebirth.

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