Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Julia ward howe

spa gift certificate

In 1870 Julia Ward Howe called for a Mother's day proclamation in response to the Civil War. She saw this as a way to celebrate peace and motherhood. After her death her daughter Anna took up the cause to make Mother's day a recognized holiday. In 1908 she petitioned her church to celebrate the day and her request was honored so on May 10, 1908 the first official Mother's day celebration was held. She arranged for carnations to be given to each Mother in attendance as this was her mother's favorite flower. Interestingly enough this tradition is still upheld today by many businesses. Today we celebrate this holiday by giving our Mother's all sorts of gifts from flowers to jewelry. Here is a list of some of my favorite gifts to give my mother.

Live plants are a great way to show how much you care. Better then cut flower since with proper care they will live on forever. The blooming type of plant is much more desirable than the green leafy type since it will bring a bit of color into any room.

If your mom isn't the plant type then why not a spa gift certificate; a great way to show you love her with a little pampering. Besides she has taken care of you all your life and deserves a little time to herself. Choose a spa that is close to her house and maybe even join her for a special day. You can even make a day out of it and surprise her with a healthy lunch.

Personalized gifts are also a great way to show off your love. Personalized key chains that hold a picture are a great way for your mom to remember when you were little. Before giving this gift have it engraved with a special message and be sure to include a photograph of a special memory. Key chains aren't the only gift that can be personalized a personalized compact makes a great gift for a mom and a great reminder of how beautiful she is.

There are so many ways to show your mom that you love and appreciate all she does for you. A gift doesn't have to cost a fortune and it doesn't have to be made of gold. It can be something as simple as making dinner for her or making her a special card. Moms love that sort of thing.

Brenda Hopkins writes for Wholesale Favors about Personalized Mothers Gifts and Gift Ideas and gives advice on personalized gifts

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Step by step directions

memory boxes

Mother's day is a holiday celebrated all over the world in many different ways but the meaning still remains the same. It is a time to honor the woman who gave us life and threatened to take it away from us at any moment when we were bad.

Honoring a women that means so much to you is sometimes difficult. It is hard to but a gift for someone that means so much. What do you buy for a woman that has done so much for you flowers and cards may not be enough for you, you want something special.

You could spend hours making your mom a special craft there are many blog sites out there that have great step by step directions on making the most wonderful crafts. Some are very simple you can even consider going to the craft shop and buying craft kit for making thing like memory boxes or necklaces. But if time is an issue or you are just not the crafty type then what do you do?

Gift baskets make a great gift weather you design your own or you by one premade. Perfect for any type of mother, if your mom loves to relax in the tub or you think she needs a spa day to herself then design a great basket full of soaps, bath salts and lotions to make a spa day at home. If you mom is a coffee coinsure then you can design the perfect coffee break for her complete with cookies and a special mug engraved with her name on it.

Maybe you are looking for a gift with a little extra special touch then why not buy your mom a personalized photo album. You can fill it with all your favorite memories through the years. Then when you give it to your mom you can spend the day reminiscing about all the special times you have had. Putting a special message on the front of the album makes it all that much more special. A gift truly from the heart unlike any other. Consider taking her out to a special lunch and plan time to talk about all these special times you have has.

No matter what gift you give your mother make sure it is from the heart weather it is homemade or store bought as long as it is from you it will be perfect in her eyes.

Brenda Hopkins writes for Wholesale Favors about Personalized Mothers Gifts and Gift Ideas and gives advice on personalized gifts

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Diamond earrings

diamond necklace

If you're struggling over what to get your mother for Mother's Day, stop stressing and entertain the thought of gifting your mother with jewelry for Mother's Day. You will find a large selection of beautiful jewelry that your mother would be so proud to receive. It's the perfect way to let her know how important and special she is to you.

Perhaps you could honor her with a beautiful gold and diamond necklace, she would love being able to wear this and show it off to all of her friends. You might also choose to present her with a necklace that has all of the birthstones of her children in it. You may decide to place her and your father's birthstone in the necklace as well to make it just a little bit more special. To have a piece of jewelry that represents the whole family is a really big deal to a mother.

You may know of a certain piece of jewelry that she has been wanting but would never buy for herself. It may be that gold ring with the ruby settings or it may be the silver ring with the sapphire settings. Whichever one that she has mentioned in the past or even shown to you while you were out shopping will make a great Mother's Day Gift for her.

Maybe you and your siblings have discussed a charm bracelet for her that is adorned with charms that will really be sentimental to her; Mother's Day is the perfect day to give her that beautiful charm bracelet. She may be more excited over a tennis bracelet that she can wear on those special occasions. You'll have no trouble finding the perfect tennis bracelet to bring tears of joy to her eyes.

You may decide that your mother would love a pair of diamond earrings. Give her those beautiful diamond earrings and watch a smile spread across her face. She may have mentioned pearl earrings so you may choose to go with those. Imagine how pleased she would be to receive a pair of pearl earrings from one child, a matching pearl necklace from another and a pearl bracelet from another. This would make the perfect jewelry ensemble for your mother.

Jewelry gifts that mothers receive are so special; it is something that they can hold onto for the rest of their lives. Each time that they wear it, they are always going to think back to that special Mother's Day when they received it. Mother's also love bragging about their children and the beautiful gifts that their children present them with especially on Mother's Day. This gives them the perfect opportunity to show others how special they are to their children and what good taste in gift buying their children have. Any gift a child gives their mother is a special gift and a keepsake for life, jewelry is one the best gifts for mom.

Since the early 1970s, The Bradford Exchange has been recognized as the premier source for a vast array of unique limited-edition collectibles and fine gifts. We specialize in unique items for people that are passionate about collectibles and our products make excellent gifts for all occasions. The Bradford Exchange has an amazing assortment of gifts for Mother's Day.

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May Holidays

holiday in mexico

Most of us want our children to be well-rounded and aware of other people's traditions throughout the world. What better way to introduce your children to the variety of cultures than through Holidays and the food associated with them? Every culture in the world has their holidays and customs and food is almost always a part of them. A Holiday or Celebration occurs in almost every month of the year and May is no exception.

Let's start with the First of May which happens to be May Day. May Day stems back to Pagan and then Roman Times. May Day was a big holiday in England at certain times and depending on who was in power. Traditionally a Maypole was erected with streamers hanging from it and children dancing around it. The Romans introduced the idea of flowers to May Day as their observance was in relation to the worship of Flora, the Goddess of Flowers.

Next comes Cinco de Mayo which is the celebration in Mexico of the successful battle against the French in Puebla. Cinco de Mayo is a National Holiday in Mexico and is celebrated in many communities across the United States as well. In Mexican Communities there will be Fiestas complete with a Piñata filled with goodies for the children. Many restaurants will be offering Cinco de Mayo Menus also. Many people will have their own celebrations at home and it is certainly a good reason for a party. The atmosphere will be colorful and the food tasty!

In the United States the second Sunday in May is Mother's Day. This year, 2012, it falls on May 13th. This is one of the days that more flowers are sold than on any other. Restaurants will be busy serving Mother's Day Brunches, Lunches and Dinners and many families will be honoring Mother at home.

The final Holiday in May is Memorial Day which always falls on the last Monday in May, this year being the 28th. Memorial Day was originally intended to honor the memories of those people whose lives were lost fighting our wars. It seems in many areas that the original purpose has been lost and many people use the day to honor not only war heroes, but deceased family members and friends, which in my opinion is okay also.

However, it seems that in most areas the real purpose of the day has been totally lost in that many people think of Memorial Day as the start of our summer activities, mainly picnics and beach and BBQ Parties. Add in the papers will advertise food and other items for your Memorial Day Activities.

Whichever way you choose to celebrate it of course, is up to you. But it is nice to remember those people who have given their lives to make ours better.

May is also a month for early graduations and the beginning of summer vacation for school and college students. Summer and warm weather is right next door and the beginning of pool, beach and vacation time. Food, of course also plays a big part in our holiday observances and especially during the summer which is a time for BBQ's and picnics. Enjoy!

I have been a children's cooking teacher and educator for over 35 years. I teach monthly classes in Westlake Village, California for children, teens and their parents. I love to share my ideas to help kids be safe, learn and have fun in the kitchen. I hold a MS in Nutrition Education and Food Sciences from California State University.

Please check out my website at http://www.sylveeeskitchen.com

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Media hype

Media hype

As yet another Kentucky Derby looms on the horse racing horizon the media hype and frenzy is at an all time high. You can buy a lot of data and information about the horses and their connections. You can read countless articles that dissect the Derby as it has never been dissected and examined before. While at a local OTB lately they had one of the televisions tuned to a horse racing channel and a commentator there talked for hours discussing the big race and all his angles and thoughts.

After a while his words were nothing more than babble. One word kept popping out of his mouth above all others, "value." He seemed to think that his listeners wanted value from the race and that he knew how to get it for them. He picked the race apart so cleanly a vulture would have passed the carcass by and yet, he never seemed to come to a final conclusion that was simple and realistic enough for the casual horse player to grasp and play.

There's an old saying, "Over analysis leads to paralysis." Nothing sums up the media overload surrounding the Derby any better than that saying. Enough is enough and then some.

It's a horse race and it will run and play out like a horse race. At the beginning, no mortal knows who will win or what will happen. We handicap the race and make our best guess and then some of us brave souls plunk down some cash and try to come out ahead on the deal. Some will and some won't, that's how it works. You can talk things to death and when the dust settles what is going to happen won't be affected at all by what you've said. When the gate opens the race begins, not two weeks before the actual event.

Here's my advice for picking a winner in the Derby. First of all, it's a classic race. Handicap it like a classic, meaning look at the breeding of each horse and determine which ones are bred to go the distance. The ones who really are capable of easily going the distance will be your first picks. Let's keep it simple and limit that list to 5 horses.

Next, let's talk about form. Horses often peak before the Derby and put up a good race in one of the races leading up to the big event but then come up short or empty when the first Saturday in May rolls around. Look for a horse that closed well on a dirt track and finished in the money. Obviously, if the horse earned enough money to be in the Derby then it will have some experience and class or it wouldn't be able to enter the race. If it can go the distance and may be rounding into form, then it has a chance and you'll probably get some good value because these types of horses are often overlooked in favor of the horses who ran a big race in one of the prep races.

If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/true.html and get the truth about betting on horses and winning. Bill Peterson is a former race horse owner and professional handicapper. To see all Bill's horse racing material go to Horse Racing Handicapping, Bill's handicapping store.

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