My son was hanging out with one of his friends. They were browsing the web and playing games. The friend asked if he could see our video card. My son told him he could and then took it out and showed it to him. We were surprised to discover that his friend didn’t realize that you could do a lot more with a computer than just do work and play video games, especially if you have a decent video card. He said he didn’t know that you could watch tv and movies.

Do you like bird watching?  If you do there are a few things that you can do to help encourage birds to visit your backyard, giving you the opportunity to watch them a bit more closely. Birds require food, so be sure to offer food in a safe place. They also need water, so be sure to have a bird bath or small water feature in the yard. Be sure that you make a spot for yourself to enjoy watching the birds without being right in their space and scaring them away.

Halloween product are starting to appear in stores. Halloween is a fun and exciting holiday for kids around the world who celebrate it. People dress up in many different costumes and go out for candy. You’ll see many different things on this night such as aliens monsters and cowboys. But one thing that you’ll probably see more of than any other is kids in pirate costumes. My two favorite things about Halloween are watching my kids have fun and giving out the candy.

In the summer lots of families spend more time in their backyard than they might during the rest of the year. Swimming is very popular, as can be attested by the crowds at homes with a pool. No inground pool? No problem you can be inflatable ones fairly inexpensively. Aside from swimming you can have a lot of fun in your back yard. You can do a lot of things there. Many families set up different outdoor games, games such as badminton and horseshoes. What’s your favorite summertime outdoor activity?

Our front porch is a fun place to hang out and talk with friends. A chill spot if you will, as my son would say. However the chairs out there are very uncomfortable. In order to resolve this issue I bought outdoor cushions. The front porch is now very comfortable and is once again a fun place to be with friends.

You know that rubber seal that goes around your refrigerator? How do you clean it? For years I would try and fit the corner of a cleaning rag in there. I never got it clean. Recently I learned a trick to getting those spaces in the rubber seal clean. Use a q-tip. Yep. Stick the q-tip into your favorite cleanser and then pull the q-tip from one side of the space to the other. It’s inexpensive and it really works!

If you’re like many parents you put pictures and drawings that your children have created on the refrigerator. I don’t think it’s out of line to display anything you’re proud of. I hung some of my own college tests on there a few years back. I have a picture my 14 year old drew hanging there. I have several pictures that my younger son made. Heck, if my husband were into architecture or engineering I’d hang cad drawings up there if he gave them to me. How long will you or did you display things on the fridge?

A fun summer activity with the kids is backyard camping. That’s right camping, but in your backyard. It’s got lots of advantages over camping away from home.

• It’s close to home.
• It’s free.
• You know it’s safe.
• You don’t have to worry about forgetting things.
• You don’t have to wait in summer traffic.
• You don’t have to wonder where to go to the bathroom.
• You don’t have to pack all of your gear.
• You don’t have to lug gear for miles.

What other reasons do you know of that make backyard camping an ideal summer activity?

Years ago we bought special child proof door knobs so that my youngest child couldn’t get into certain rooms. The doorknobs were made of plastic with two rubber buttons you have to push to open the door. After doing that you turn the knob and it opens like a normal door. Just recently we took off all of the covers. All of the doors that the knobs were moved off of are now very sticky because the plastic caused a green substance to form. I guess it’s some sort of oxidation. I’m having a heck of a time getting it to come off. I’d put the covers back on except they broken when I removed them. Any suggestions? Has this ever happened to you?