Need Help? Ask Your Angels!

Yesterday my father-in-law and I went to the mass celebrating the 140th anniversary of Most Holy Name of Jesus parish, and the 125th anniversary of St. Anthony’s Chapel in Troy Hill. The old neighborhoods there are so rich with the ethnic diversity that is characteristic of Pittsburgh! The church itself is beautiful, St. Anthony’s Chapel is breathtaking. If you’ve never been there, it’s worth a trip. Tucked inside the little chapel are more than 5,000 religious relics that have come from all over the world…tiny pieces from Jesus’ cross, bones and pieces of clothing from apostles and saints….the only place you’d find a larger collection of religious relics is at the Vatican in Rome! The chapel has a long history as a holy and healing place.

Bishop David Zubick was there with parish priests and deacons to celebrate the Mass, and to officially welcome the newest relic: a tiny piece of bone from St. Christina that was found in a family home in Paris.

The mass and ceremony were powerful and inspirational; and were strong reminders that when you’re feeling like things are out of control, you can quickly bring balance by tapping into the power of prayer.

Two women known as the Angel Ladies, Eileen and Charlotte, have strong ties to St. Anthony’s. We got to spend the morning with them. They are based in Pittsburgh but travel to people around the country helping people to connect with their spiritual side. The Angel Ladies believe that we all have angels around us to guide us and protect us. They believe that we all have the ability to communicate with our angels to tell them exactly what we need.
Here’s how Charlotte says to get started:

The Angel Ladies say over the years, they have seen incredible blessings come to those who do communicate with their angels:


Recent studies show that people who pray and go to church regularly are healthier all the way around.
j.

Summer Learning

Last week we celebrated the last day of school by spraying the kids with Silly String as they got off of the bus, then moving inside for a beach party lunch.
Summer is a time for fun. I’m all for relaxing for a bit, and enjoying some extra time as a family. BUT….I’ve read a lot of reports about how much learning children lose over the summer. One study showed most teachers have to spend the first four to six weeks of the school year re-teaching many of the things their students learned before the summer break!
I want to make sure my kids go back to school next year feeling confident. I talked to pre-school director Tracy Belmonte about wanting to keep the learning going without sacrificing any
summer fun. I hope our conversation gives you some good ideas.
j.

Fast Firming for the Arms

On my continuing quest to firm up mostly all areas of my body (!!), I love how a little tool called the Firming Band can quickly and easily help. I featured it on the TV show recently, and I show it to groups when I do presentations on How To Take Care of Yourself While You’re Taking Care of Others. In ten minutes or less, you really can get a great strengthening and toning workout with the Firming Band. I’ve had some questions about how to use it, so I went out in my back yard and shot this little demo of some basic moves:

There are many other exercises that you can do with the Firming Band to target different areas of your body. You can print out the arm exercises and get more information about the Firming Band in the Take Ten with Jen area of our main web site.
j.

Easy Family Reunion

The unofficial start of summer is officially this weekend!
Are you planning on gathering the family for a reunion this year? If so, I know of something that could help a lot with your planning and your budget…a FREE, fully-catered Family Reunion for 50 people at Idlewild Park & Soak Zone!
Growing up here, I have many fond memories of Idlewild Park and Storybook Forest. I have pictures of me and my sisters with the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe; and now I have pictures of my children with her! (wow)
Idlewild’s Great Family Reunion Contest Contest runs through July 7, 2008. To enter, you have to create and submit a :30 video commercial to YouTube that shows what Idlewild means to you and your family. There will be one grand-prize winning famliy, and others will win season passes to the park.
You can get all the details and the rules here, but I wanted to make sure you knew about it!
j.

Theme Park Preparedness

The kids had their school day at Kennywood Park today. It was rainy…it was cool…we ate much more junk food than normal (Kennywood does have some good new healthy choices—we had great watermelon and salads; it’s still hard to resist those potato patch fries though)…the kids loved it!
With five children, I have learned that it really pays off for me to spend a few minutes to think about and pack a bag (filled with things we may or may not need) for the day.
I think of it as my Mary Poppins Bag, because it seems that I can reach in and pull out almost anything we need for almost any situation.
I bring:

• a small first aid kit with water-proof Band-Aids – not just for cuts—good to have for blisters from park-walking, etc.
• anti-bacterial hand wipes - which I used today to wipe off tables and hands, to wipe a little bit of “ride grease” off of my daughter’s leg, and to hold on my youngest son’s lip, which he bit on the jack rabbit ride (poor baby).
• small bottles of water - water’s healthy, and it’s good to have some of your own to save time and money on drink stops.
• sunscreen
• lip balm
• sugarless gum – can satisfy a sweet tooth, and has way fewer calories than a funnel cake!!!
• little two-way radios – we have four that can all work on the same channel, which is great to keep in touch quickly when the group splits off for a bit.
• socks – how nice not to have to walk around with wet feet after water rides!
• cameras – I took our little Flip—which I love–to get some video, and a small digital camera.
• a little notebook and pen – how many times do you run into an old friend and have nothing to use to jot down their contact info?
• cash in small bills – to make paying for games faster and easier. Decide on an amount you want to spend, get that amount in $1 bills, and when it’s gone, no more games.
• some business cards – you just never know who you might run into.
• umbrellas that fold up to only about 7 inches – wow were those great to have today! I got mine at Target—bright yellow, which made it easy to keep an eye on everybody.

I am able to fit all of this in a medium sized zippered tote bag that is made of durable, water-resistant fabric and has comfortable shoulder straps. It has a zippered pocket inside where I keep my keys and cell phone. It also has a little coin purse that hooks onto a loop inside, so it’s easy to find. I still have room in the bag to load in small stuffed animals and other park souvenirs.
After you get a bag like this set up, it’s easy to maintain. I keep mine stocked most of the time, so that I can grab it and go to soccer or baseball games, too (I add snacks if we’re going to a game). You can of course customize your bag to fit your family’s needs. I hope this list will help to get you started.
j.

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