Noah the Fish and Pool Safety

Noah has always been a fish. I took him swimming when he was a baby. I would just hold him in the water and dance with him in my arms. When he was a toddler, he would dip his face in the water. He loved the water. As he got older, he started to try to swim. Now he has his very own snorkel and mask. He does flips underwater and will swim every chance he gets. It’s really important to teach your children how to swim and to be comfortable around water. There are things you need to teach them to be safe. I still have to remind Noah to walk when he is around water. It’s also usually slippery. He is really good at stopping and walking. I also don’t let him swim alone.  I make sure there is someone with him. We don’t have our own pool. I also make sure he is safe around kiddie pools when we have ours in the backyard.

Accidents can happen in an instant. It is really important to watch your children. One time Noah was just standing on the stairs of a pool.  He ended up falling in and my sister jumped in fully clothed and grabbed him. It was really scary. Thankfully he was ok and that my sister who was a lifeguard was right there and thought fast. Noah wasn’t as good of a swimmer as he is now. Lifeguards are great. I try to swim in places where they are available. They are becoming scarcer unfortunately.  I rarely see them at the beach anymore.  Water does make me nervous. I make sure that I am close, I am not on my phone, or doing anything that could distract me from keeping Noah safe.  Nothing is more important than my son.

Check out this article for more tips about Pool Safety

Decorating Your Car with Car Decals

Car decals are a fun way to decorate your car. You can find all kinds of things to decorate it and give it your own personality. I remember my mom had a Caribbean Soul window cling on her car.  It’s a great way to express yourself.  My best friend has her blog url on her van.  Decals are usually different than bumper stickers. Bumper stickers are permanent. You can usually remove decals or what I refer to as window clings. They are made out of plastic that just stick to the window. A bumper sticker is an actual sticker. You can buy car decals and use them to decorate your windows in your house. I think it would be fun to buy holiday window clings and decorate your car.  You have to be careful though, so it doesn’t block your vision while you are driving. You can use them to show your support for a cause or charity.

I used to have quite a few car decals. I had a couple Grateful Dead bears, a Phish window cling and a few other assorted items. Car decals can also come as a magnet that you can move around whenever you like. Make sure you remove it before you go through the car wash though. The car wash can cause damage.  Car decals are a safe way to give your car flair without damaging the paint or the pain of removing a bumper sticker.  When I first started buying car decals I was limited to the local music store or the mall. You only could choose from the selection in stock. Now you can buy them online and your options are limitless. If you wanted something special, you can get it custom made. It’s really easy to design online and it’s sent to your home. It’s also a cheap way to advertise your business on your vehicle.  I think I would get one that says “I love you more.” In memory of my Grandma Rose.

Check out this post about Car Decals

What kind of car decal would you have made?

We were Unprepared for our Road Trip

As the summer is winding down, you might want to sneak in one last road trip. Sometimes you can think a road trip sounds like fun but if you aren’t prepared for the long drive, you can have a huge problem.  We recently decided to go on a road trip at the last minute. We were going to fly, but I decided to save the money and hassle of flying and just go by car. We drove down to Florida. We weren’t really prepared as we should have been. We forgot all kinds of things. I forgot to bring an extra pillow for myself to sleep with in the car. I finally was able to find a pillow pet to use. It was a very long drive. We didn’t bring enough snacks, so that resulted in having to buy them at a gas station. I didn’t put enough ice in our cooler.  I forgot to bring my iPod and headphones to listen to music. I didn’t really care about my iPod as much as having headphones. I did realize when we were flying home that my headphones and iPod were in my computer case, so I had them the whole time. We also brought too much stuff with us. That’s really easy when you are on a road trip, but I kind of forgot that we were flying home. It made for some very interesting and heavy carry-on bags. I did remember to bring blankets because I get cold really easily, unfortunately, I didn’t plan how I was going to get them home. There was no room in our bags for blankets or even a stick of gum.  We did plan and got some books on tape that we all enjoyed listening to. That did help pass the time but it was a long drive. It was fun but next time I need to plan better.

Here’s a great article about what most people forget to pack on their road trip.