Quote from Forum Archives on August 5, 2003, 5:50 pm

Posted by: jhbreneman <jhbreneman@...>

HEART TO HEART NEWSLETTER
ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN
Compiled especially for YOU with LOVE by Lois Breneman

 

8/5/03 BABY MOBILES, MISC. TIPS, HUMOR, TEMPER, PATIENCE

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CONTENTS:

ACTIVE LEARNING FOR BABIES

TASTE OF ECUADOR: LLAPINGACHOS - POTATO AND CHEESE PATTIES

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

( Postal Service, Long Distance, Computers, Landscaping, Rockets, Burp Pads)

WHAT A DIFFERENCE ONE OR TWO LETTERS CAN MAKE!  (HUMOROUS BLOOPERS)

MEMORY PLANNING: THE ART OF DOCUMENTING YOUR FAMILY VACATION  

PROVERBS FOR PARENTING ~ TEMPER THAT TEMPER

WHAM & SHAM (DEFINITIONS)

PATIENCE

 

 

ACTIVE LEARNING FOR BABIES

By Lois Breneman

 

Hanging a mobile above a baby’s crib will get their attention to a certain degree, but will only provide passive learning.  Active learning, however, is much more gratifying for both baby and those watching the wheels turning in the minds of these babies in action! 

            Recently I have been reading the book, Baby Minds – Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love by Linda Acredolo, Ph. D., and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D., who are also authors of Baby Signs.  This is a fascinating book!  Dr. Carolyn Rovee-Collier of Rutgers University has found that not only infants as young as two to three months are capable of figuring out how to make things move, but that they take enormous pleasure in the opportunity.  Hundreds of babies who had been given a way to control the movement of the mobile hanging above their cribs have provided this conclusion. 

            The technology to do this is extremely simple.  All you need are bells or a mobile attached to the infant’s foot by a soft ribbon!  That’s it!   Not one battery is needed!  And it really works to the delight of baby and his audience, if he has one.  At the beach, while playing with my 4 ½ month old grandson, I didn’t have a ribbon, so I pulled out a very long piece of plastic wrap and squeezed it into a long ribbon.  I tied about a dozen small colorful balloons and toy rattles to the long strip two to three feet above the floor.   I attached one end of the “ribbon” to the light and fan pull cord on the ceiling and gently tied the other end to Justin’s foot.  He immediately loved the colorful balloons and toys, and showed his approval as he kicked and waved all four limbs in excitement.  In a minute it seemed as though he realized that the movement of the toys was contingent to his kicking, which made him step up the kicking even more!  His bright eyes, smiles squeals and longer attention span assured us that he knew what was happening!   Later I attached the "ribbon" to Justin's hand, with equal results.  What fun it was to watch him entertain himself for quite a long time, even while teething!

            Dr. Rovee-Collier is convinced after having watched many babies rapidly solve the mystery of the mobile, that they “hit the ground running” (or at least kicking) when it comes to solving problems.  Babies are eager and willing to work very hard to understand how their world works.  It is rewarding to researchers and parents that even Down’s syndrome babies will work hard to figure out this specific problem, and are fascinated with controlling the mobile. 

            Because researchers have been so impressed with the joy generated from this experience, they have used the “contingent” mobile, where movement of the mobile is contingent upon an infant's own movement, with emotionally disturbed babies. One eight-month-old emotionally disturbed baby gives testimony to an inborn thirst for figuring things out.  This baby was so withdrawn that he rarely moved and no one had ever known him to smile.  After being hooked up to the mobile, within two hours, all that had changed!  He was not only kicking vigorously to move the mobile, but he was smiling broadly for the first time in his eight months of life!  How rewarding that must have been to see!

            I highly recommend this book to mothers, grandmothers and anyone who works with babies or young children.

 

 

TASTE OF ECUADOR: LLAPINGACHOS (POTATO AND CHEESE PATTIES - MAKES 20)     

(Taken from Cooking with a Latin Beat, by Maria Baez Kijac)

Contributed by Bill & Tracy Coupe, preparing to go to Ecuador as missionaries with their two daughters.  Please pray for the sale of their house in Utah. 

 

A true treasure of the Ecuadorain cuisine, loved by the rich and poor alike.  On weekends, when people go to resorts around Quito, the roads are full of local Indians cooking these patties over hot coals in portable braziers.  People often make special trips to resorts where there are small eating places specializing in llapingachos and roasted pig.  They can be served as a first course, side dish, or main course, always on a bed of shredded lettuce and carrots and decorated with strips of avocado and tomatoes.  And of course, a dish of aji (hot sauce) on the side.

 

       2 lbs. of Baking Potatoes, peeled and quartered

       1 teaspoon salt

       1/4 cup oil and 1 teaspoon of paprika  (manteca de color)

       1/2 cup minced scallions, white part only

       1/2 cup fresh White Cheese or Muenster, shredded

      

Drop the potatoes in boiling salted water to cover.  Cook until soft, drain thoroughly and mash with a potato masher.  In a small skillet, sauté the onions in lard and manteca de color for a couple of minutes.  Mix with mashed potatoes, cool the mixture then mix with cheese.  Shape into patties about 3- in. in diameter and 1 inch thick.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

 

The best way to cook these patties is in a non-stick grill, like for pancakes.  Heat grill over medium heat, brush with manteca de color, add patties and let them brown until crispy on the bottom.  Brush top of patties with manteca de color, turn them and let them brown until crispy.  When properly done the patties will have a beautiful brown crust and should be tender inside.  Too much fat will make the patties fall apart, that is why non-stick pans work best since little fat is needed.  To serve, make a salad with shredded lettuce and a little shredded carrot, dressed with a little oil and lemon juice.  Line a serving tray with salad, top with a layer of llapingachos, and decorate with slices of tomatoes and avocados. 

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

(On Postal Service, Long Distance, Computers, Landscaping, Rockets, and Burp Pads)

 

US Postal Service Tip ~ If you live in the USA, there is no need to call your local post office nor leave a form or note in your mailbox, in order to request that your mail be held while you are gone.  Simply call 1-800-275-8777 to give the dates you would like your mail held and the date you want delivery resumed.  Be sure to write this number in your personal phone directory.

 

For a low cost of just 2.9 cents per minute for all long distance calls in the US, go to www.onesuite.com.   There is no hook-up fee and no minimum charge - simply 2.9 cents per minute!  Payments are made in increments of $10 with a credit card at the web site.  You will be given an access number and a card number to use.  If you have a telephone with memory, simply plug in the two numbers to the memory for quick and easy dialing.  This has saved our family a lot of money with all three of our children and other family members living out of town. 

 

Toll Free Number for College Kids at 2.9 Cents Per Minute ~ You may want to give your children who are attending college your calling number (in the tip above) for calling home more often to keep in touch.  There is trust involved, of course.  Incidentally you can go into the web site above to check all the calls that are made.

 

A Quick Fix for Too Many Accumulated E-mails in Your Inbox?  What can you do?  Delete them all?  Here is a speedy and better way to go through and sort them out?  On the bar just above your e-mails, you will see the headings, "From, Subject, Date, and Status."  Click on “From” and all your e-mails will be categorized in alphabetical order.  This way you can go through and move several from the same source to a folder in one easy step, by clicking on one, then holding the CTRL key while clicking on the others and moving them all at once to the desired location.  When you are finished and want to put the remaining e-mails back in order according to the date, click on “Date.”  This method works with your Send Box as well.  It even works with your Delete Box, in case you have accidentally deleted an e-mail and want to find it again, provided you have not yet emptied your deleted files.

 

Speedy E-mail Filing ~ When moving e-mails to folders, first click on the e-mail you want to move, of course, and click on “Move to Folder.”  This is the speedy part now – if you are moving a Heart to Heart Newsletter to your “Heart to Heart” file, hit the “H” key and it appears instantly.  If you have a very long address book and only the beginning of the H’s appears, you will need to hit “HE” to get the “Heart to Heart” file folder to appear. 

Also when searching for a file, I found that if I click the first letter of the file name, the first folder beginning with that particular letter will come up and I have to manually go to the one I want.  Example: When I click “H” and it automatically goes to the first “H” in my file.

 

How to Send E-mail to Friends Without All the Addresses Showing ~ In order to protect the privacy of your friends, you can send “Blind Copies” and have only your own e-mail address appearing on their copies.  Here’s how.  Put your own address in the “Send To” box.  Put your friends’ addresses in the “Cc” box.  Then to “hide” the addresses, simply enclose all the addresses in parentheses.  Example:(abcd@juno.com, fghi@cox.net)  By doing this, only your address will appear on your friends’ e-mail, but in your “Sent” copy, they will all appear.  You will also be sending a copy to yourself with this method.

 

Bradford Pear Trees are beautiful, fast growing, and very popular in many cities and countrysides.  However, back in March an unexpected heavy snow took its toll on those beautiful Bradford pear trees in our hometown, wiping out hundreds of them!  One of those striking pear trees was in our own back yard.  That was the second gorgeous fully mature Bradford pear tree we had lost in our back yard.  I saw the other one being twisted off near the base of the trunk like a matchstick by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.  A horticulturist at the local cooperative extension service told me today that the Chanticleer, Cleveland Select and Aristoctrat pear trees have a different branching system that handles the weight of heavy snow better because they stand more upright.  Many nurseries won’t even sell the Bradford trees anymore, because the older, fuller and more beautiful they get, the weaker they become when it comes to wet snow or strong wind.  These other three varieties are more stable, longer-lived choices of pear trees – something you may want to consider in landscaping around your home.

 

Film Canister Rocket Correction ~ Recently I told you how a H2H friend, Lisa Weddle, had tried shooting off a rocket with her family, using the directions in a precious H2H newsletter and that it really worked, going about 25 feet into the air!  Since I need to practice up for our grandson, I also wanted to try it, but used the dark film canisters and found that they didn’t work.  Lisa said the lids to the white or clear film canisters fit differently than the dark ones and that is what you need to use – not the gray or black canisters.  Sure enough, the clear ones worked great!  As I set off several rockets on the Outer Banks from the sundeck of our beach house recently, I assured my grown kids that I was not reverting back to my second childhood, but getting ready for our grandson!  As my husband helped, he was amazed at what Alka Seltzer could do!  And they advise us to drink that stuff?

Directions: First you make a rocket launcher.  Lay a paper plate on the table and stand an empty toilet paper tube vertically on the plate.  Tape the tube to the plate.  If you want, your children could wrap the tube with a decorated piece of paper or construction paper and even decorate the plate.  Put about 1/4 inch of water into the film canister, drop an Alka Seltzer tablet in and put the lid on tightly.  Quickly drop the canister “upside down” into the rocket launcher and stand back.  In a few seconds it should shoot up into the air!  The Alka Seltzer tablet may be used more than once.  If you can find the canister, you can use that again too!  We never did find one of ours!

 

Burp Pads ~ Recently I made two different styles of burp pads for my grandson.  One was black and white with tiny dots of red, since infants’ eyes nearly bug out of their heads at those colors.  Justin didn’t disappoint us either!  The other pattern was a T-shirt knit fabric of brown Scooby-Doo’s on a white background, and he really loved that pattern too!  The key is to use contrasting colors, especially white with very dark colors.  Terry cloth or another soft white fabric makes a good backing.  Use the bright side to stimulate and the other side when you are trying to put him to sleep!  We entertained Justin for an hour with these while waiting to eat out one evening at the beach.

To make burp pads, cut according to the ones bought in a store – sizes and shapes vary.  Place wrong sides of fabrics together and cut the two fabrics together, pin, and sew bias binding around the edge.  Pull the binding to the back and hand sew a blind stitch with hand quilting thread.  The hand sewing can be done while talking with your children, watching TV or riding in the car.  I made a dozen pads to hand stitch when I get the opportunity and plan to use most of them as gifts. 

            These cloths are soft and I can see a baby latching onto these as a “security blanket” too, which is far better than dragging a large, dirty blanket around.  Justin enjoyed holding it to his face.  You could have several identical pads handy, so they can be laundered often.  One-foot squares of nylon tricot can also be cut for latching onto (as security blankets), and one of our babies loved this idea!

  

 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE ONE OR TWO LETTERS CAN MAKE!

 

Thank the Lord for church ladies with computers!  These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services.   Origins of these quotes are unknown and probably would never admit to them anyway!   Contributed by Diane Alvarado of New Jersey

 

1. Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

 

2. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

 

3. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water."

The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus."

 

4. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church.  Please use large double door at the side entrance.

 

5. "Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands."

 

6. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

 

7. Our next song is "Angels We Have Heard Get High."

 

8. Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

 

9. Miss Charlene Mason sang, "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

 

10. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

 

11. Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

 

12. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

 

13. During the absence of our Pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J.F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.

 

14. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing, "Break Forth into Joy."

 

15. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

 

16. A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall.  Music will follow.

 

17. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

 

18. Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

 

19. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

 

20. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

 

21. Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals."

 

22. The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.

 

23. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 P.M. - prayer and medication to follow.

 

24.The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

 

25. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM.  Please use back door.

 

26. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

 

 
MEMORY PLANNING: THE ART OF DOCUMENTING YOUR FAMILY VACATION  
by Colleen Langenfeld ~ Copyright (c) 2003 ~ Used with Permission 
 
You have saved and planned for your family vacation.  
You are drooling with anticipation. 
You dream of idyllic time spent with your spouse and children. 
Of course, you'll be taking photos to remember this great time spent together.
Maybe using a video camera, too!
Would you consider doing one more thing?
Locking in those great moments forever with a little 'memory planning'?
What's that, you say?
Memory planning. Simply put, plan the 'taking' of your memories and you will end up with a
more vibrant and satisfying collection of momentos. Much better than just a few rolls of film or cassettes of videotape.
Intrigued? It's easy!

- Start by collecting brochures, postcards, ticket stubs. 
- Keep a small notebook or assign a family member to take notes. At moments when someone
says 'this is the best time ever' ask him or her to describe their feelings & jot down the details.
- If using a video camera, narrate what was exciting or compelling about the event you are taping.
- Try to identify scents and sounds with events as well as visual clues. Write these things down in your notebook and collect samples when possible.
- Be a reporter; always ask yourself and others 'why' when they say they love something. Identifying
the why helps to stamp the event firmly in our memory.

Doing these steps faithfully will really help later on when you are pulling all of these independent
parts together. Your accurate journalizing will make all the difference, says Lygia Brown, Independent
Scrapbook Consultant: 'After safely preserving our photos, the most important part of scrapbooking is journalizing. Compare a beautifully decorated album with no words, to one with words and you will see the value of documenting events, people and places. Journalizing adds meaning. Use the questions of a journalist as a guide. (Who, what, when, where, or why?). Journalizing is a priceless enhancement.'  ( For scrapbooking questions Lygia can be reached at Lygiabrown@yahoo.com )
  
So make sure you plan your memories this vacation with as much care as you plan your route. Pack a small bag designed to hold the memorabilia you will collect plus your journal. Schedule the time now that you will need after your trip to complete the archiving of your vacation memories.  You'll be so glad you did!
_________________________ 
Colleen Langenfeld delivers deals, tips and creative resources to working moms who want the most out of their homes, families and careers at http://www.paintedgold.com. Sign up for our free newsletter and get an online Creativity Toolkit as our gift to you!
  

 

PROVERBS FOR PARENTING ~ TEMPER THAT TEMPER

By Patti Chadwick

 

Proverbs 16:32  "It is better to be patient than powerful; it is better to have self control than to conquer a city." (NLT)

            This is a very important verse that affects the whole Christian life.  Many of us struggle with a bad temper and this verse serves as a reminder that only fools rush in, saying things without thinking and acting in ways that are unlovely.

            My teens and I have memorized this verse in the KJV and like the way it is stated, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty...."  It's hard to keep one's temper and it shows great personal strength do so. The KJV goes on to say, "and he that ruleth his spirit than he who taketh a city." It is harder to control yourself than it is for a warrior to invade and capture an entire city! What a lesson for your teens!

            No wonder James 3:8 warns us "but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." How hard it is to say the right thing. Even harder is NOT saying the wrong thing.

            Do you struggle with your temper? When you get busy or tired, is it easy for you to be provoked? When you are provoked, do you behave in an unseemly manner? You are a model to your teens. You set an example, whether good or bad. You need to set the right example for them to follow in this matter. Usually people live what they learn, so make sure you are teaching your teens to control their temper by controlling your own. They need to learn this lesson early on; their adult life will be all the better for it.

            Why not memorize this verse with your teens and take it to heart. Use it as a reminder to practice self-control in your everyday life and relationships.

 

Patti Chadwick is a WAHM of 3 teens and is creator of two websites. 

www.Parentsandteens.com is designed to help parents connect with their teens. www.Historyswomen.com is an online magazine highlighting the extraordinary achievements of women throughout history. Visit both sites and sign up for her FREE newsletters.

 

 

WHAM & SHAM (DEFINITIONS)

WHAM=Work-At-Home-Mom

SHAM=Stay-At-Home-Mom)

 

 

PATIENCE

Contributed by Barb Campbell of Mississippi

"Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope,
Patience with God is Faith." ~ Adel Bestavros  

"Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  James 1:3-5

 

 

Your “Heart to Heart” friend,

Lois

 

Friends may subscribe to "Heart to Heart" by e-mailing jhbreneman@juno.com and sending their first and last name, city, state and name of the person who referred them to this newsletter.  If at any time you stop receiving this newsletter, please let me know, so I can correct it.  To unsubscribe, please reply with a brief message.  Thank you!