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April Ezine

What Do Bunnies and Eggs Have to Do With Easter?

Note: I realize that the newsletter is going out after Easter but I still felt that this was an important enough message to still share with you.

The commercials with the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs have started again this year bringing in the Easter season. Talk about confusing! It makes me think back to when my children were younger, they were raised on a farm where we raised chickens and rabbits and they knew that bunnies had nothing to do with eggs no matter what the Cadbury bunny commercials say. With all the confusion I wanted to make sure that my children understood what the Easter season was really about and to assure them that they were correct, bunnies had nothing to do with eggs.

Since my children have been old enough to toddle about in Sunday school they had been introduced to the season by the making of palm branches and crying hosanna as they walked up the church aisles or across the platform at the front being a part of the junior church proclaiming the news that Jesus was coming. As modern day children get excited and giggle about their part of the service, is how I explained how the people of Jesus’ day must have felt with the thought of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

And then just five days later on Good Friday the cries of the people changed from hosanna to chants of crucify him. God had a plan and Jesus had to die on the cross so that we would be able to go to heaven to live with God when we died. Although it is a sad thought that Jesus had to die we need to remember that he was willing to do this for us and take the time to thank him for loving us enough to do this for us. So Good Friday is a day that Christians can use to remember what Jesus did for us and to be thankful for his love for us.

Three days after Jesus died he rose from the dead and that is a day we call Easter. Easter is so important to us as Christians because our Savior is alive and in heaven living with God and interceding on our behalf. On Easter Sunday the church service starts the celebration of that day with special services such as sunrise service, church wide breakfasts and then an Easter message and special music. Afterwards many families gather together and celebrate at home with a special meal and family time.

So how did the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs come apart of this religious holiday? It is thought that in the 1700′s German immigrants brought the tradition which includes the egg laying hare, representing fertility and new life. Slowly, this became a part of the Easter celebration. We enjoyed making this part of our Easter tradition making sure that our children understood the true meaning of the Easter season.

Please join us at The Odd Couple Blog

Shawn

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.
~Clarence W. Hall

Chi’s Corner

Happy Easter everyone! I love a holiday it always brings my favorite people to my house. There is lots of extra love for me and if I can talk them into a small morsel of food its even better. I love them helping me and I’d like to help you with a new report called Raising Kids in Today’s World. This report is put together to talk to parents about raising kids in today’s world. What happened 15, 10 even five years ago is not the same as it is today. Technology has developed and our kids usually know more about it and how to use it much better then we do. However, there are some key elements that never go out of style when raising kids and those are touched on in today’s report. We will start our report with how to parent young children and the different things we need to think about and travel all the way up to different ways to help our teen-agers. Enjoy this free News to Use!

If you have a cutie at home (human or hairy) who had a fun Easter’s Day please email the picture to us at support@theoddcoupleblog.com. We would love to feature your cutie in our next Ezine.

The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise. ~Carl Knudsen

Introduction to Jen & Our New Column

Many of you have noticed that we have a new feature in our newsletter called Jen’s Garden. I think this is a great addition because so many of us have gardens and like to hear from others who garden as well. What you probably don’t know is that Jen is my sister and I think she has an awesome green thumb! She will be sharing her gardening exploits with us along with recipes that she has tried. Here is an interview that we did.

Q.     Tell us about yourself: (Name, Age, Family, Profession, Education).

A. Jennifer J  Fardello, 39, Brian husband, Hayden son, Eva and Lylah daughters & one baby on the way, Weekend Manager at an Assisted Living Center and  some college.

Q.   Tell us how you became interested in gardening and cooking.

A. My grandparents always had a garden and we helped with it all summer long.  My grandparents canned and froze everything they could. They made their own pickles and tomato juice.  If my Grandpa had ever lost his job they would not had to relay on much money for food because they grew their own vegetables, raspberries and rhubarb.  Plus my grandpa fished and hunted.  Since I only work four days a month and like being available for my kids I am always looking for ways to save money.  I also hate the fact of wondering what is in my families food and did it come from my country or another.  My husband and I try to buy American made as much as possible.

Q.      Who is the most interesting person you have met in your life? What makes this person interesting for you?

A. I would say my Grandpa Chet.  He has had the strongest male influence on me.  He remembered everyone he meet and couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone that he liked.  He raised four children was married over fifty yrs. to my grandma worked a factory job and raised a garden and breed and trained bird dogs.  And he was always there for us grand kids.  He loved to hunt and fish and he went to church three times a week and had a deep singing voice like  Country music singer Josh Turner.   He had a saying that I will say a little different then he did but it basically meant “do me wrong once shame on you, do me wrong twice shame on me”.

Q.   How do you relax after a hard day?

A. I love to read and if I can get into the bathtub and read even better.

Q.    Q.  If you could be someone else (for a day or week??), who or what would you choose?

A. I think I would like to have be my Great Grandmother Dola. I don’t remember a lot about her but everyone has always said that she never said an unkind word about anyone.  Can you imagine that?  My mom  brought back from Mama Doe’s( that is what everyone called my great grandma) a start from her Wisteria bush and I am going to be transplanting them into my flower garden this Spring.  I can’t wait!  Someday I hope to give all my children a start for their homes.

Q. Do you have a motto?

A. “nobody likes a whiner”  I have found that I have said this a lot in the last three yrs.

Q.      Do you have a favorite book, movie or music?

A. I usually listen to Country music, favorite movie of all time is the Sound of Music and I love historical romance novels

Q.      You have to leave to an island and can take five items with you. Which items would that be and why?

A. a book to read, sunblock ( I burn easy), a picture of my family so I can look at them for emotional strength, a blanket for warmth and a Swiss pocket knife I’m sure it would be handy .

Q.      What do you first spot when meeting another person?

A.  Their eyes and mouth, I have a hearing problem and I really need to focus on what they are saying.

Q.  Do you have a secret talent?

A. I don’t know if it is a talent or not but I would say that I love to talk to people and to try to make them feel comfortable when around me.

Q. Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

A. I am always looking for new garden ideas and I truly feel both flower and vegetable gardening are important to me and my family. It also helps reduce my families carbon foot print which I am trying to improve.

Jen’s Garden

I was looking through my freezer at all the food I have in there and what I need to replenish and decided maybe this week I would make some Zucchini bread.  You ask why while looking in my freezer I decided this.  Well I always freeze my zucchini in the summer for making my bread later.  I shred it and then I usually freeze enough in each freezer bag to make enough for a double batch of bread.  I learned this trick years ago from a neighbor named Ruth.  And I was told to use all the juice that is in the bag once it is defrosted as this comes from the vegetable and will help your bread be moist not dry.  Now when I make zucchini bread I no longer put nuts in mine since half the time I give some of it away and you never know who might have a nut allergy.  Instead I put in shredded carrots and raisins.   I figure it makes the bread even healthier.  Let’s face it I have to have tricks when you have little kids.  Like when I put baby food peas in my tuna casserole.

My husband likes to eat this warmed up with just a little butter on it.  He does this for both breakfast and a snack at night.

My recipe comes from page 119 of my Betty Crocker cook book.

Zucchini Bread

Set oven to 350 decrees                               1 cup shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour                            ¼ cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon                      ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
½ teaspoon baking soda                             ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg                         ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 beaten egg                                                  1 cup sugar

Grease the bottom and side of the pan.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg.  Make a well in the middle in the center of the mixture; set aside.

Combine eggs, sugar, zucchini and oil in another medium size bowl.  Add zucchini mixture all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir until moist; it will be lumpy.  Next you fold in nuts ( this is where I substitute raisins and shredded carrots you have decide how much you want to put in I wing it and never measure).

Spoon into the pan and bake at 350 degrease for 50 to 55 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool it completely.  Wrap and store over night before slicing (unless you can’t wait).

You are some bunny special!

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From one egghead to another, Happy Easter!

April Goals and looking ahead

In April think of new and creative ways that you can be a help to others.

Chi shared a great new free small report called Raising Kids in Today’s World.

Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) that enjoyed Easter with you.

Next month has May Day and Memorial Day. Start thinking how you can add joy to others like May Day brings and also to remember those that have gone before us and how we can honor them on Memorial Day.

3 Nails 1 Cross 4 Given

About The Odd Couple:

Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.

Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.

Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine!

March Ezine

10 Ways to Live Green

It’s March with means Spring is in the air and in Texas the grass is green and the trees are leafing out. It’s also the month with St Patrick’s Day so with green being the favorite color of the month I thought we would discuss how we could try to live our lives more green. I have ten ways listed that are offered for us all to try and help out our Earth. Some of these I do some I don’t but am willing to try.

1. Have a garden – I have had a garden every since I was a child. I admit my tween and teen years I did not enjoy it at all. But it was food for our family’s plate. Now I enjoy the time I spend with my plants. Here is a picture of onions, carrots coming up for me.

 

 

 

2. Hanging your clothes out to dry on a line – Cutting down on the use of your dryer during the summer months is an easy and great way to go green. If you can’t have a full clothes line get one of the little wooden ones from the store.

3. When you use your appliances make sure they are full- Fill the dishwasher or washing machine before you use it. Or cut down on the water used for smaller loads. It helps with electricity & water.

4. Limit your driving or carpool – My hubby has to drive to work every day and there is nobody else who lives in our area at work so he can’t car pool. But there are days I don’t leave the house. If I need to run errands I try to do them all in one outing. Gas is expensive and I think we will all be looking for ways to cut down that expense in the very near future.

5. Turn it off and unplug it – Any electronic device pulls electricity if it is plugged in. We are pretty good at keeping things turned off but I have to admit we need to try harder on the unplugging of items. That is one I’m going to work on.

6. Reuse and recycle – We reuse a lot of different items. We also give them new jobs; Ron is genius at reusing and recycling things to be used in different ways in his garage. Coffee cans, baby food jars, etc are used to store his nuts, bolts and other odds and ends.

7. Plastic bottles – I use to think I was doing well if I drank water from the plastic bottles but now I hear that there are things in the plastic not good for us. Plus using and throwing away a bottle after its empty is not good for our environment. I am looking for one of those refillable filtered individual drinking glasses.

8. Thermostat and hot water – Having a programmable thermostat is said to help your energy savings. Turn it down at night and while everyone is gone during the day and have it warm up the house as everyone is coming home. The hot water can be programmed at 120 degrees with is ideal for household use.

9. Light bulbs – experts tell us if we will change over to the compact fluorescent bulbs it will save 30 percent of our energy. We have made the switch and these bulbs are working great.

10. Repair leaking appliances – if your faucets are leaking take an afternoon to go around the house and tighten them up. It will save on your water bill and will help with the water supply in your town.

So there we have it, ten fast and fairly simple ways for you to go green this month. Let us know what you do to practice green in your house. support@theoddcoupleblog.com

Shawn

Please join us at The Odd Couple Blog

There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish and those who wish they were.- Irish Saying

 

 

            10 Secrets to Get Your Child to Love Reading

This book primarily focuses on what you can do to help children up to 10 years of age. During these years you can lay down the foundation for your child to become a lifelong reader. When parents help their children learn to read, they open the door to a new world. As a parent, you can begin an endless learning chain: You read to your children, they develop a love of stories and poems.
Click here to take you to the order page. (hit the accept button and it will take you to the right place)

Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don’t want to press your luck.  ~Author Unknown

In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God.- Stephen Braveheart

Rusty Motors, Plastic Milk Cartons and Gunny Sacks or How to Make a Marriage Green

I have been thinking about this article for awhile. How am I going to come up with a concept of marriages being green? Ron and I have been married for 28 years this coming August and we aren’t the spring chickens that we once where. There are some aches and pains Ron turned 50 this last winter and I teased him about trading him in for two 25 year olds. But after all the time we have been together I wouldn’t trade him for any other man in the world. So…I’ll have to recycle and reuse making it a greener and better place for marriage.

Like a rusty old motor pulled out of a 28 years old car, the motor can be fixed and reused by a backyard mechanic. They are great at finding new parts and working and reusing the parts that are still good. Just like the reuse of trust in our marriage. That has been built, tried and restructured. I won’t lie to you and tell you that the trust have never been broken between us. After 28 years we both have screwed up and hurt each other and broken the trust. But we looked at each other and made the decision that our marriage was important enough to rebuild and go forward. The ironic thing about it is our trust is stronger now because it has been tested and we learned the lesson of the work it took to rebuild and strengthen it.

Plastic gallon milk cartons can be recycled into so many different things. I’ve cut the bottom out of them and used them to protect the plants in the garden during early spring. I’ve cut the top off using them as a container holding anything that needs a bin. Each child had one for mittens one year. My hubby would cut the bottom off and take the lid off using it as a funnel. I could add the support in a marriage as being recycled and used in different ways. How one day it is my turn to support my husband and the next day his turn to support me in a decision I have made. I’ve reused and recycled that support over and over again. The beautiful thing about this is it doesn’t keep track of who used the support last it is just there waiting for whoever needs it.

Gunny sacks are a multi-purpose item that we used on the farm. We received them full of hog feed. The kids took pigs to the local youth fair every year since our oldest was six years old through high school. After they were emptied we would recycle and reuse them in a variety of ways. The kids would put wood on them and drag them up to the house in winter and slide down the hill back to the wood pile. They were used as rough dry off towels in the summer for animals and people and warming blankets in the winter. Love is the same way, it can be thrown around us warming us in the winter and drying us off in the summer. Love it tough and can be used to keep your marriage feeling good and taking care of the other person. It is capable of taking care of all the little trials and tribulations that come up between you and your spouse. Adding the love will help you through any tough spots.

So, there you go a couple of great ways to keep recycle and reuse the things to keep your marriage green and growing. We want so much to lead in the fight of helping others to see that marriage is important and worth fighting for!

 

 

10 Tips on How to Help Your Marriage comes with online workbook questions, video segments on topics and Bonus book: “Hundreds of Things You Can Do To Better Your Relationship.”

The wedding bells are a distant memory, the photo album is tucked away in a closet and the breathless anticipation of a new life has faded away. . .how do you keep that spirit alive?

But, you can rekindle the flames of those forgotten memories.  You can breathe new life into your relationship and we are going to show you just how to do it in “10 Tips on How to Help Your Marriage.” $9.99 Click here for your order page.

May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and for evermore.- St. Patrick

A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.  ~Author Unknown

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May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night.~Irish Blessing

March Goals and looking ahead

In March think of new and initiative ways to become greener and help our planet.

A great ebook resource was shared about the 10 Secrets to Get Your Child to Love Reading.

Chi shared a great free ebook with 100′s of things to do to better your relationship and save your green money and still have a fun time together.

Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) that enjoyed St Patrick’s Day with you.

Check out the ebook we shared 10 Tips on How to Help Your Marriage.

Shawn will be in Dallas on March 31 & April 1 at the Sandi Kerkowski’s event. If you are going to be there make sure to say hi!

Shawn also known as Mrs. Odd is available for interviews on the following topics: Marriage Issues, Family Relationships & Parenting Advise.

We also love to do guest blogging & cross blogging. If you have a blog that deals with marriage, family & parenting we would be happy to talk with you.

Next month has Good Friday, Passover & Easter. It is a month of being Thankful and Hopeful. We’ll talk about that in April.

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter.Lullabies, dreams and love ever after.
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes…That’s the Irish for You! - Irish Saying

About The Odd Couple:

Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.

Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.

Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine

________________________________________________________

February Ezine

 

 

 Top Five Free Valentine’s Day Gifts to Give To Your Special Valentine

Love and marriage and romance have been in the air at our house for the last year. It started last summer when our oldest boy got married and has continued through to this year when our daughter getting engaged this last Christmas Eve and her wedding is coming up in July. I have looked at more wedding magazines and wedding invitations and cakes then ever before. I love the atmosphere of love and happiness in the air. Valentine’s Day does that for me too. What are you doing for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? This year, with the pinch of finances, because of two weddings almost within a year of each other and the economy. I was wondering what I could do for my man that wouldn’t cost any money but show him how much I love him. You are welcome to use some of these ideas for your own loved one this Valentine’s Day.

1. Time is something that we can give to our men. I’m not talking about the fixing dinner, yelling at the kids, and surfing the internet with him in the room, nodding as he scans the TV telling you about his drive home. Long ago in our marriage we were trained that the first 30 minutes when Ron gets home we spend them talking. Doing nothing else and giving our full attention to each other. We usually use this time to determine what is going to happen the rest of the evening. The important thing is we connect. Also give your love a big old kiss when they get home. Touch is an important element for a person.

2. Words of love and kindness. Most of us spend a lot of time with strangers and co-workers talking to them with respect and give pats on the back to them. But when was the last time you complimented your mate? It doesn’t have to be a big thing simple household chore that have to be done but show gratitude toward your love one and you will make their day. Did he take the trash out? Thank him for it. Did she cook dinner? Give her a wink and compliment her meatloaf. Nobody can make it as good as she can. You might give a strange look especially if you have not complimented much in the past but they will like it. So today, make sure to find something you can compliment your spouse about.

3. Attitude is very important. Think what a happy upbeat attitude would do for the special person in your life. If you sent them off to work with a hug, kiss and a smile telling them to have a good day. Your spouse would float through the day with a smile on their face eager to head home back to you at the end of the day.

4. Show respect for your significant other in front of others. If it be in front of your mother or your children or any one else, we need to be careful with the things we say to others about our loved one as well as to them. Respect can also be shown in our actions towards them, when they are talking turn towards them, engage them in conversation and treat them as another adult if nothing else.

5. Touch is so important to a person’s psyche. For most their love language is touch. A kiss, hug, a back rub, touching their hand as they walk by all of these things signals to your mate of your care for them.

So, this Valentine’s Day if you would like to give your special Valentine something that is much more important then a card and some chocolate think about the above gifts that you can give to them and spend absolutely no money.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

To receive your free Fiery Hot Top 10 Marriage Help Tips Report with the videos click here.

Please join us at The Odd Couple Blog

Shawn

Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love. – Erich Fromm

 

Helping Your Child to Love Reading Part 2

Last month we shared part 1 of this report. We wanted to continue on with it this month.

Let the Questions Begin

Ask questions when you are done reading. Treat him like an expert in what he is reading. What was your child’s favorite part of the story, which was his favorite character? What didn’t he like about the story who where his least favorite characters? How would he of liked the story to have ended? Make sure to take his opinions seriously.

Write and Talk, Too

While reading with your child is most important, there are other activities that help to get children ready to read. With a solid foundation, your child will not only read, but will read with enthusiasm.

Begin long before you expect your child actually to read, and continue long after your child is an independent reader.

Talking about Stories

* Have your child tell stories like those you have told. Ask: “And then what happened?” to urge the story along.

* Listen closely when your child speaks. Be enthusiastic and responsive.

* Encourage your child to express him or herself. This will help your child develop a wide vocabulary. It can also help with pronouncing words clearly.

Having a good audience is very helpful for a child to improve language skills, as well as poise in speaking. Parents can be the best audience a child will ever have.

To The Library We Go

Visit the library. Learning to use the library is a true lifetime skill. Do start early. Get a library card in your child’s name and one for yourself if you don’t have one. Go to the children’s section and spend time reading and selecting books to take home. Check out books yourself to show your child everyone can use and enjoy books and the library. Be sure to introduce your child to the librarian and ask about special programs the library has for children.

One of the most powerful tools in creating a child aiming for success is to create a hunger to learn. This can be done with just a regular visit to your local library. Make it a must have activity for your week, getting out a mix of both non-fiction and fiction books for them to read. Teach your child to check the table of contents and the preface or introduction of a book to find out what is in it.

Help them find books on that topic to investigate further. For older children make sure they learn the different services offered by the library such as reserving books, using the computers or other media opportunities. Encourage your child to join any reading programs that might be available. They can also learn how to look up authors and subjects of special interest in the card catalogs.

With computers in every home it might be tempting to use that as a child’s only source of finding information. But surround yourself with books first and you’ll be setting up a life long journey of self education and success.

As you can see the beauty of a public library is that there is something for every age.  For toddlers of 18 to 36 months old they enjoy activities that they can be active and included in such as finger plays, rhymes and songs. These are activities that help with the development of language skills.

Let Their Interest Lead the Way

Your child may go through a period when they favor one book and want it read night after night. It is not unusual for children to favor a particular story, and this can be boring for parents. Keep in mind, however, that a favorite story may speak to your child’s interests or emotional needs. Be patient. Continue to expose your children to a wealth of books and eventually they will be ready for more stories.

Children’s reading interest depends on many different things some of which are their general intelligence, the development that they have in their reading skills, their likes and dislikes, where they live, their age and gender.

The outside influences that touch a child’s life leads to curiosity on their part. If they drive by a construction site they want to know how the equipment is run. If they spend the day in a park the interest in insects and bugs become important. Why is the sky blue, the grass green and the tree trunks brown? These are all great ways to open up the world to your child and to help them understand how it operates around your child. That is the correct time to find books that have these subjects in them and expose your child to stories that tell what they are curious about.

Your childhood memories of your favorite books can also help you to steer your child to some great titles that you know they would like but have not yet found on their own. The great classics that you enjoyed as a child might make the perfect story for those nighttime readings that you share.

Also, think of books as a way to broaden your child’s interest outside of their own little community. Reading books about different lands and people learning their customs. How different people dress and foods they eat, these are still concepts that a younger child will understand and find interesting.

Give the Gift of Books

Start your own home library. Designate a bookcase or shelf especially for your child. Encourage your child to arrange the books by some method-books about animals, holiday books, and favorite books.

Keep an eye out for inexpensive books at flea markets, garage sales, used book stores, and discount tables at book stores. Many public libraries sell old books once a year. You will find some real bargains!

Consider giving your child a monthly book allowance to encourage him to buy new books. Your willingness to spend money on books shows him how much you value reading. You can also subscribe him to a children’s magazine or a book of the month club that will foster his interest in reading.

It is not hard to build a child’s library. How many holidays do you hear from friends and family we just do not know what to get for the child? The adults in a child’s life will find it a breath of fresh air to be able to offer to the child in their lives that they love very much a book that they know will bring happiness and enjoyment for years to come. Nobody enjoys buying nor receiving the cheap plastic toys that will be broke tomorrow and also having an alternative to the games and equipment that go with the entertainment systems that many children have today.

The Free Reading Report 10 Tips to Get Your Child to Love Reading is a great resource for any parent. Get your free report here.

Love is a game that two can play and both win. – Eva Gabor

To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful. – Bess Myerson

February Goals and looking ahead

In February think of new, inexpensive or free things you can do to show your sweetie that you love them. Chi shared a great free ebook with 100′s of things to do to better your relationship.

Look at the things you can do to help your child to enjoy reading. Download the instant report that will give you those tools.

Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) that enjoyed Valentine’s Day with you.

Shawn, Mrs. Odd will be in Atlanta in February at the NAMS conference. If you are going to be there make sure to say hi!

Next month has St Patrick’s Day. Start planning right now how you can use green technology to make our world a better place.

Love is not a matter of counting the years, but making the years count. – Michele St. Amand

 

About The Odd Couple:

Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.

Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.

Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine!

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January Ezine

 

 

Happy January everyone! With us half way into the month how are your New Year Resolutions doing? Unfortunately, studies have shown that most of us have given up our resolutions by this time. I have heard many say that they are so tired of not being able to follow through with their resolutions that they just aren’t going to make any this year. I can understand that up to a certain point. I know I have failed on a lot of my resolutions but this year I did something a little bit different. I quite the wishing game and joined the planning team.

What do I mean by that? Well, before it was I am going to lose weight. The concept was vague enough that I hoped I could achieve it in some way. And I usually did try to lose weight by skipping a meal or not eating McDonalds for a week. But this year I wrote down a plan for how I was going to lose weight and how much I was going to lose. I wrote down a plan as detailed as I could make it. What I was going to eat and when. What I am not going to eat, they kind of exercise I was going to do. I also plan to journal about my journey that way I can read back and get inspired by how great I’m doing or I can see the habits that lead me into problem areas.

You might be asked yourself, great Shawn. But what does that have to do with marriage and raising kids. Well, did you make any resolutions about your marriage and family? Like, I’m going to be a better mom to my kids and not lose my temper so quickly with them. Or, I plan on being a better wife to my husband and have dinner ready when he gets home from work. Those resolutions can fall by the wayside and you will be discouraged again this year. Or you can have a winning plan to make you feel better about yourself as a person, mommy and wife!

How are you going to keep your patience better with the kids? Pinpoint when you lose patience the most is it when they get home from school, in the vehicle going places, at dinner time. Once you know when they you can take steps to help you so you don’t go to the point of being flustered enough to lose your patience. Do you need to have a snack ready when the kids come home? Some books in the car for the kids to look at while you are driving, maybe some easy chores for the kids to be able to help with dinner might help in the other situations.

You want to be a better wife as well. Do you know the areas that you can work on to be a better partner with your spouse? Do you struggle with the house chores, are you at work all day and have trouble getting dinner ready in the evenings? When you know where the struggle is now you can set a plan of action. Write it down is the biggest way to help out this situation. If it’s chores in the house write down all the chores and divide them up between everyone who lives in the house. Even the youngest pre-schooler can help and they often enjoy it. Just keep the chores age appropriate for the kids but if everyone pitches in it makes for a nicer home life for all. If meals are problems make out a weekly meal planner and do all your grocery shopping in one day. Make up as many of the meals ahead of time, freezing them if you need to. The night before look at the planner to see what is for dinner and get it out of the freezer and make sure it will be ready to go when you get home.

The next important item for making your resolutions work this year is to journal. Write down what happened with your plan if it worked and failed and why you think it did. Then write down 5 things you are grateful for. The first section will help you when you go to plan again the second section will keep your eyes on the good things in your life.

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Have a great 2012!

Shawn

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” – Khalil Gibran

 Chi’s Corner

 

Where there is great love there are always miracles. – Willa Cather

 Helping Your Child to Love Reading Part 1

If you have a child who is not enjoying the activity of reading and can see the struggle that it brings into their life every school day. There are things that you can do to help your child learn to love reading.

It all begins with you

Be sure your child sees you reading often, this reinforces the message that reading is important and enjoyable. A child will notice this behavior and may even go get a book to share with you. This is a time that you do not want to ignore, spending time with each other and building memories of book enjoyment will be beneficial years down the road.

You don’t need to be an especially skillful reader yourself to help your child. In fact, some public libraries offer adult literacy programs that involve reading to children as a way to improve literacy skills for the whole family. Nor do you have to devote great amounts of time to reading with your child. It’s the quality of time that counts. Just be consistent–give as much time as you can each day to help your child.

Storytelling

“Why?” This is the question we parents are always trying to answer. It’s good that children ask questions: that’s the best way to learn. All children have two wonderful resources for learning–imagination and curiosity. As a parent, you can awaken your children to the joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity. Telling each other stories is the basis for reading and writing.

Helping your child become a reader is an adventure you will not want to miss. The benefits to your child are immeasurable.

Read Out loud

There is no more important activity for preparing your child to succeed as a reader than reading aloud together. Fill your story times with a variety of books. Be consistent, be patient, and watch the magic work. Start young and stay with it at just a few months of age, an infant can look at pictures, listen to your voice, and point to objects on cardboard pages.

Guide your child by pointing to the pictures, and say the names of the various objects. By drawing attention to pictures and associating the words with pictures and the real-world objects, your child will learn the importance of language.

Children learn to love the sound of language before they even notice the existence of printed words on a page. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. When the rhythm and melody of language become a part of a child’s life, learning to read will be as natural as learning to walk and talk.

Even after children learns to read by themselves, it’s still important for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers’ understanding and motivate them to improve their skills.

With your help, your children can begin to love reading and build a lifelong relationship with the printed word, so they grow into adults who read easily and frequently whether for business, knowledge, or pleasure.

The Free Reading Report 10 Tips to Get Your Child to Love Reading is a great resource for any parent. Get your free report here.

“Love is not self seeking, it’s not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.” (1 Corinthians 13:5 )

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards. – Benjamin Franklin

 January Goals and looking ahead

In January look at your resolutions and make a plan to succeed. Start a journal listing what happened in your day and at least 5 things you are thankful for.

Look at the things you can do to help your child to enjoy reading. Download the instant report that will give you those tools.

Send in a picture of your cutie (child or animal) who enjoyed Christmas with you.

Next month has Valentine’s Day. Start planning right now what you can do to make it a special day for your sweetie.

“All our dreams can come true…if we have the courage to pursue them.” -Walt Disney

 About The Odd Couple:

Ron and Shawn make up the “Odd Couple.” We are a husband and wife team who has been together for the last 28 years. We have laugh, cried, fought, made up and made more mistakes then any two people could. Through it all we have raised the greatest three kids in the world! Mostly, we learned how to use commitment and communication to keep our marriage intact.

Our hearts break when we see the marriages and families struggle and at times not make it. We have no marriage counseling degrees just on the job training, our desire is to give you simple, back-to-basic principles to help your marriage and family life thrive and grow.

Here is a picture of us at the world famous Ft Worth, Texas Stockyards enjoying Christmas in the sunshine!