Be our Guest!

Do you have guests coming over for the holidays!?

What do you normally do to make them feel welcome?

Here is a great idea that takes only a minute or two to throw together

and you probably have most of it lying around! 

A Guest Basket to make them feel weclome and that has some stuff they may have forgotten or something they may need during their stay that they don't want to ask for.  Below are some ideas I thought would be fun to give your guest.  Most of these items can be purchased for under a dollar if you don't already have them.

The contents:

A good book or two

A card game

Snacks (for those midnight hunger strikes!)

Toothpaste/toothbrush- someone usually forgets one or the other!

Breath mints- for the obvious, who wants to ask for those?

First aid kit- just in case :)

Trial size shampoo, conditioner and gel or body wash

Floss- I just threw in an extra from my dentist office

Chapstick- I ALWAYS forget this!

Nail clippers

Yummy smelling lotion- Pamper them a little :)

Stuff I didn't have but would be fun to throw in:

Chocolate!!

Flashlight (to go with the books)

A note for your guest to welcome them!- Don't forget to let them know where the extra towels are!

What do YOU do for your guests?

(yes, this is the time you go ahead and leave me a comment!)

Tech-Savvy Tips

1. Google Reader:

Have you ever "blogged surfed" and found an AMAZING blog? then you can't remember where it is? 

Do you get tired of checking all the blogs you follow only to find out that half haven't posted new things yet?

Well... you may or may not know about Google Reader.  For those of you who already know about it.  Well, sorry this post isn't for you :)  For everyone else- I am about to make life easier for you!

If you already have a Gmail account (which I will talk about) then this is EASY and doesn't require you to set up another account.  (If you don’t want to set up an account, you can also have blog updates sent to your e-mail.  It is called "subscribing to emails", not all blogs offer it yet.  By subscribing via email, you receive the exact same updates you would via a reader.)

You can just go to the blog and click to follow:

If in doubt, you can always copy the blog’s URL and paste it in your reader. It looks like this in Google Reader:

You just click on the "Add a subscription" button and then you will see the place to put the blog's address (like shown above).  You can also group your favorite blogs into categories (food blogs, crafts, freebies, etc).  Then when a new post is published you will see it in Reader.

It is THAT easy!  Then you can just scroll through them, star them, share them, email them to others and more! 

2. Gmail:

I love my Gmail account!  It is the BEST at eliminating SPAM!  It also has so much storage space for you that you never have to delete any of your messages.  So nice!  It is worth checking out- especially if you want to do google reader!

3. Hulu.com:

I love to watch the Biggest Loser!  I am addicted now!  However, we don't have a TV.  Instead of paying whatever amount for TV, I watch it for free online!  I have to watch it a week late, but that is ok (its free!)  There are also a ton of other shows that you could watch- Extreme Makeover, The Dave Ramsey Show (my husband is a HUGE fan of him!), The Chopping block ( I love cooking shows) and more!  However, just like on TV there are a lot of not so great shows as well. 

There will be more to come later, but those are the ones that I use most often (and that I thought of as I was writing this...)

Shower in peace

Why is it that your children can play on their own for atleast 5 minutes until you want to go to the bathroom or shower? Then within seconds, it seems like they are banging on the door wanting you out!! I came up with a plan to have some toys only be for when I shower, that way they would stay semi new and hold their attention better than their toys they can play with all day long.
I got a few toys from around the house and one new one and put it in my closet on the "shower toy shelf". The toys have varied from a cash register (then I gave my daughter a pile of books to scan), flannel board pictures, cooties game, and all of her food and dishes. This kept her from banging on my door (unless she had a potty emergency) and I was able to shower in peace. It worked for me! Good Luck with it. What are some things that have worked for you? Or has anything worked? :)