Simply Silhouettes – Weekly Giveaway
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008
Happy Friday! I hope your week was a good one. We have have had SO MUCH SNOW here in the last week, it is really amazing. My dear, sweet husband worked from 5:45AM yesterday morning until 10:00AM trying to clear our driveway of snow. There was so much wind that the banks of snow on the sides of our driveway piled too high for our 4 wheeler (with a snow blade) to plow. You can see him in the photo–click on it to view it at a larger scale- (he is about 5′ 11" tall and you can see that the snow banks are above his waist). He was forced to start shoveling by hand. Then thankfully in what we think was purely God’s grace someone (who we don’t know) came along with a "blade" as my husband tells me they are called, and cleared our driveway in a matter of 10 minutes. I was then able to call up our Mom 4 Life team mebers and let them know they could finally all come to work (because they now could get onto the driveway:)! Oh what an adventure life is sometimes!
Our winner of the Handy Burpee burp cloth is Emily C. Congratulations! For the rest of you, get yours for 10% off for the next week:).
I am REALLY excited to offer you this next giveaway item and I know you will be too. Simply Silhouettes is a brand new product on Mom 4 Life. This would make a great Valentine’s Day gift! You send in a photo of your child and choose your style, color, and font (if text is desired). What you will get is a totally personal, unique and memorable way to cherish your child with a high quality custom canvas. The winner this week will get a 8"x12" gallery wrapped canvas (to see what this means read the description here) along with their choice of color, style and font/text (if desired). Retail value is $100.00!
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So how do you enter to win? You really seem to enjoy casting your vote so we are going to do it again this week, this time in the form of a survey:). I have a few products that I have been asked to consider adding to Mom 4 Life. I would like to get your feedback on them. I also have a few additional questions about Mom 4 Life I would like to get your thoughts on. There are 10 questions total. The survey is open to the first 100 people who enter and will close Tuesday the 5th at midnight.
Update: we have now had 100 people fill out the survey so that option is closed. If you would still like to enter, simply email 5 friends to let them know about this great giveaway with a link in your email and cc me in on the email heather (at) mom4life (dot) com as well and you will be entered, good luck!
A wise little boy
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Surprize Me! | Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008
A friend of mine forwarded this to me today. It’s a 12 year old boy calling into a Christian radio program: He wanted to share something God put on his heart after he had to put down a calf that had broken its back. It’s just over 2 min long and has been viewed over 6 million times! If you get this via email you can click here to view/listen, otherwise you can simply click on the image below.
DIY – How to make a baby pod
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Hot New Finds | Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Ok this is something fun for moms that sew from www.thethreadbanger.com. I would like to share this quick tutorial on how to make a baby pod (aka a cute all encompassing baby sweater) to keep your baby warm for the winter months. It’s super easy and very cute and stylish, enjoy! (If you get this via email you will have to visit our blog first to see the video.)
Is Chocolate Good For You?
By jennylee | Category: Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2008
As Valentine’s Day approuches, we all have heard conflicting reports on whether chocolate is good or bad for you. Since chocolate seems to be one of kids favorite treats I decided to touch on the subject. I know we all can agree that chocolates are delicious but are they good for you?
Most people are told that chocolates increase blood pressure and are fattening. This is true but not for the reasons you may think of. Cocoa butter and chocolate do not raise blood cholesterol or fat. However, when consuming milk chocolate or lower grade chocolate where a part of the total fat content comes from milk fat or various other types of fat, the cholesterol level might be adversely affected. Same when it comes to sugars. The cacao bean contains quite a lot of carbohydrates, but most of it is starch, soluble dietary fibers and insoluble dietary fibers. A very small proportion is simple sugars. Sugar is added during the manufacture of chocolate. 
Even though chocolate bars, not the actual chocolates, contain high amounts of sugars and fats that are not healthy for your body, they also contain other things that actually are. For example, chocolate contain antioxidants specifically polyphenols (similar to those found in wine) with antioxidant properties which are health beneficial. The antioxidant flavinoids are found in the nonfat portions of the cocoa bean. The flavinoids also reduce the blood’s ability to clot and thus reduces the risk of stroke and heart attacks. Chocolate also contain Theobromine is a very mild stimulant with a mild diuretic action (increases the production of urine). Please note that theobromine can be toxic to animals like dogs, cats, parrots and horses.
In chocolate or the cocoa bean we find Phenylethylamine which is a slight antidepressant and stimulant similar to the body’s own dopamine and adrenaline. Cocoa and chocolate can increase the level of serotonine in the brain. Serotonine levels are often decreased in people with depression and in those experiencing PMS symptoms. Cocoa beans are rich in a number of essential minerals, including magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese and surprinsingly to many, chocolates contain Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, E and pantothenic acid.
All in all, chocolate does give us some essential nutrients and natural mood enhancers but sadly the nutrients it does give us is not enough to outweigh all the sugars and fat that it puts in into our bodies. Like our moms use to say “don’t eat too much candy.” J
Spare Time Workout
By mel | Category: Fit 4 Life | Posted Monday, January 28, 2008
“Spare Time Workout”
In just a few minutes a day you can get your abdominal strength and tone back.
Be persistent and patient!
Warm up
Do arm circles 10 each direction
Butt kicks standing kick your bottom about 10-15 times each leg
Neck rolls gently roll from side to side.
“ taught tummy”
These strengthening exercises were created by Dr. Sahrmann and are very effective for post-partum core recovery.
Lay on back
“Heel slides” warm up
Start pos: knees bent
Movement: slide heel so leg is straight
20 on each leg
“parallel”
Start pos: Knees in the air,
Movement: extend one leg at a time hold 6 inches off the ground fro 3 sec then switch
Start with 5-10 reps 2 –3 times increase reps when you are stronger
“Straight Forwards”
Start pos: Legs together extended straight up in the air
Movement: use your abs to lower to floor. (as soon as your lower back starts to arch bring them back to start) start with 5-10 reps 2 to 3 times note* you may only bring them a few inches down at first.
100’s
Start position: knees bent, arms straight off the floor, and chest off the floor
Movement: pulse, contracting your muscles moving your hands forward
Goal: to get to 100 with out stopping. Start with 20 reps.
“Belly button squeeze”
Start pos: Sit in chair, take a deep breath in through your nose Draw in your belly button hold and relax breathing out through you mouth 20 reps 2 sets
When the baby’s neck is strong enough to support its head incorporate your little one into the workout.
Standing Baby press
Calf raises w/baby
Start pos: hold the baby in front of you
Movement: use you calves to press up and raise the baby up above your head. 10 reps 2 times (if he gets fussy switch out to hand weights and press up)
Mommy+me Pushups
Lay your baby on its back and get into a pushup position over the baby Start pos: Do pushups from your knees (once you get stronger you can do regular ones, note*always keep you abs tight, don’t let your hips drop)
Movement: Lower your chest over baby and then press up. This is very amusing to them. 10 reps 2-3 times
Sit-up peek-a-boo
Start pos: Lying on your back with your baby propped against your bent knees.
Movement: Holding them in place, use your abs to come up off the ground… all the way up… and slowly lower yourself flat. peek-a-boo! 15-20 reps 2 times
Keep up those New Years resolutions! Stay happy,healthy and strong!
For additional questions contact mel@tightbodwithapod.com
