Summer Tips: Beach Safety by Wendy T

Follow these important tips to keep your kids safe at the beach:

• Have children wear bright color bathing suits, rash guards and shirts so that you can see them easily. Have all you children wear the same color if possible. Make sure that their bathing suit is not the color or the pool or bay or ocean. Bright colors can save their life if they are drowning or being tossed in the waves. (stay away from light blue or teal in the pool, or Navy or black or dark colors in the ocean or bay)
• Discuss a meeting place or procedure if they get lost or separated.
  
• Have a whistle or specific signal that your children know they need to respond to.
  

Thought for the Day - from 'Nana'

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." ~ Ephesians 4:32


Remember that we are forgiven, when we ask, for anything and everything! So it is very important that we forgive others for their transgressions against us.

Get your Beach Bag Ready!

It's summer time and before you hit the beach you have to gather up all the kids' suits, towels, toys, lotions, snacks, drinks, camera and about a dozen other things you need. It can take a while to get it all together and loaded into your car, not to mention the fact that once you arrive at the beach, you might realize that there are items forgot to bring!

So just what do you need to put in your beach bags? And how do you make sure you don't leave any essential at home?

Simple Solution: Make a list and pack your beach bags ahead of time. Get your bags packed and keep them packed so they are ready to go when you are!!

**To make this task even easier we have a complete list for you, which included some items you might not even know you needed (thanks Wendy T.!) So if you would like to view the complete Beach Bag list, check it out in the post below.**

Complete Beach Bag List

Parent Survival Guide

This week, for some reason, I've been running into moms struggling with disciplining their children. So I thought, every friday, starting next week, we'll be posting topics on discipline. I hope we can give you simple tools to help in this area.

Thought for the Day - from 'Nana'

"God sets Himself against the proud, but He shows favor to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God and God will draw close to you." ~ James 4:6b-8a.

It is about remembering that God is the Creator of the Universe and is so much bigger than we are; that it is amazing He loves us, listens to us and gets involved with us.

Humbling ourselves is knowing this and going before Him with a heart that is full of this knowledge; being confident of the fact that He is the one who will listen, help and give us what we really need. Because we don't really know - all the time - what we need. Give Him your heart, tell Him all that is on your heart. Draw close to Him and he will draw close to you!

Create a "Summer Fun Wish List" - by Wendy

The start of summer is the perfect time to create a Summer Fun Wish List with your family! Get a poster board or just a piece of paper, and list all of the things you want to do, the places you want to go to, the games you want to learn to play. Create them as a checklist and use this as you plan your summer calendar. Also, print out or create a summer calendar and fill in the days that you know are already scheduled so that you can see your entire summer schedule on one page. Here are a few ideas for your family wish list…

Plans for Summer
___Splish Splash (local water park)
___Adventureland (local amusement park)
___A day at the Ocean
___Train ride to NYC
___Aquarium
___A walk in the Rain
___Fly Kites
___Make tie dye shirts
___Pick Fruit
___Go on a scavenger/treasure hunt


Games to Learn
___ Go Fish

___SPIT

___Rummikub

___Scrabble/Scrabble Slam

___Kings in the Corners

___Bananagrams

___Concentration

Create any list you want, dream a little, have fun. Maybe learn 1 new game each week, at the end of the summer, you will have learned 8-10 new games to pass on to friends. For more ideas to put on your Summer Fun list, hit the library.

Check out what your Local Library has to offer:Libraries are a great resource for summer activities and ideas for fun new things to learn. Many offer free summer programs and discounted or free passes to local educational attractions/museums.

The Museum Pass Program: (Long Island moms should take advantage of this!) Call your local library and ask them about this program. There are passes available at the library, which you can put on hold. You can have them for 2 days at a time. Reserve them way ahead of time if you know that you are going. The passes allow you free admission to many of the museums on Long Island and in the city. (American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Clark Botanical Gardens, Whaling Museum, Garvies Point, LI Children’s Museum, Met. Museum of Art, Old Westbury Gardens, and more.) Check out list at Library.

*Before you go to any park or place of fun, google it to see if there are any coupons or discounts available.*

--by Wendy Trunz

Thought for the Day - from 'Nana'

Precious Ones,

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us,,,they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love." ~ Romans 5:3-5

Life can really get tough at times, but Our Lord is always there. Cry out to Him when you need to! He will answer. What might seem like a huge obstacle, is often just a step you need to climb to continue on the road. And remember those he has place in your life who you can talk to and pray with as well.