Penguin Awareness Day is January 20th. This is the perfect time to educate yourself or to teach children about penguins and their environment.

Currently, several of the 17 species of penguin are endangered and many more are considered vulnerable or threatened. What does it mean for a penguin species to be considered threatened or vulnerable? This means that without human intervention, certain species may soon become endangered and ultimately extinct.

Teaching children about penguins on Penguin Awareness Day doesn’t have to be so dire. A lot of fun activities can peak a childs interest in penguins and encourage them to learn more. Also, learning about penguins and issues that are causing them to become a threatened or endangered species will teach children about the importance of being responsible for their environment and can lead to an interest or concern for other environmental issue.

Let’s face it, penguins are cute, and kids don’t want cute things becoming extinct! What better way to introduce environmental studies?

Here are a few suggestions of fun things to do with children on Penguin Awareness Day.

• Make a penguin craft
• Read a book about penguins
• Watch a penguin movie
• Decorate a cupcake to look like a penguin
• Create a penguin mask
• Dress up as a penguin or wear black and white (maybe with a bit of orange around the neck to be a King or Emperor penguin)
• Play a fun penguin game
• Colour in penguin pages or do a dot to dot
• Learn about a specific penguin species
• Donate or adopt a penguin through a charitable foundation

Whatever you choose to do on Penguin Awareness day I’m sure the penguins will appreciate it.

All of the odd looking members of the root vegetable family are apt candidates for the soup pot. Their earthy taste and soothing, rich texture are played to good advantage in this pale, golden hued potage. In addition to those listed below, consider parsley root, rutabaga, turnips, sweet potatoes and winter squash.

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

¼ cup unsalted butter
1 small leek, cleaned, thinly sliced
1 pound celery root, peeled, thinly sliced
¼ pound carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 small baking potato, peeled, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup whipping cream
Salt, freshly ground pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg to taste
¼ cup sour cream for garnish
Shredded lime rind, for garnish, optional

Melt two tablespoons of unsalted butter in a large saucepan. Add the leek and cook gently until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the celery root, carrots, potato and celery. Cook until the carrots begin to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the stock, heat to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are thoroughly softened, about 20 minutes. Strain the solids from the liquid, reserving the broth. Puree the solids in a blender.

Combine the puree with the reserved liquid and return to the pot. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the whipping cream, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and the nutmeg. Heat slowly until the soup is just below the boil. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot, drizzled with sour cream. Garnish with lime rind if needed.

Sinusitis is a condition which affects more than 30 million people in the United States every year. Symptoms include the excretion of thick yellow or green mucus, headaches, tooth pain, post nasal drip, a sore throat, fatigue and bad breath. Sinus infections generally tend to clear up within the course of a week, but chronic sufferers may experience bouts which last for months. The best way to fight off a bacterial sinus infection is with antibiotics. Viral sinus infections, on the other hand, usually resolve themselves while fungal sinusitis may require surgical intervention.

As an experienced sinusitis sufferer, one of the most common questions people ask me is “Are sinus infections contagious?”

The short and sweet answer to this question is ‘no’, as bacterial, viral and fungal sinus infections are caused by the accumulation of mucus in the nasal passage. This accumulation of mucus blocks the passage of air, creating the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and fungus.

This being said, sinus infections are often the result of a cold or the flu, both of which are extremely contagious. As such, it is best to avoid contact with those infected with a cold or the flu, especially if you are prone to sinusitis.

To read more about treatments for sinusitis, visit: Sinus Infection Remedies

To read about how the Neti Pot can help cure your sinus infection, visit: The Neti Pot Solution

If you enjoy playing games with your dog or are looking for the best interactive dog toys on the market, take a look at Hyper Pet products. They have a line of interactive dog tug toys called Tuggin’ Tails that combine the best of a plush toy and the classic rope toys for dogs.

There are a lot of reasons to give your dog an interactive toy. Dogs need mental stimulation as much as their humans do. Toys that engage the dog, encourage play, and work off excess energy are a plus. Dogs get bored, too. A good game of tug of war can do all three. Of course the best reason is that they allow you to play with your dog.

My Maltese dog enjoys a good tug on a rope toy as much as the next dog, but he’s happiest when he’s tossing a disc in the air so he can run, pounce, and toss again. Flying discs for dogs are the perfect interactive dog toy for him. For dogs with a strong prey drive who are ready to chase-and-pounce, their Flippy Flopper flying disc toy is a bestseller.

The American Pet Products Association reported that 45.5 billion dollars was spent in 2009 in the pet industry. That is a lot of money and part of that went to the category of pet toys. Some owners are known to spend twenty dollars and more a month on pet toys. That’s a lot of money so it’s important to get good value and a big bang for your buck.

If you’re going to buy toys for your dogs, your money will go much further if you look into toys that enhance a dog’s life. Interactive dog tug toys and a good flying disc will do that.

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Planning a wedding is a big job, that can take more than a year to do, depending on the nature of the wedding.  One of the most difficult parts of wedding planning is choosing the best wedding invitations for your event.

There are so many options when choosing wedding invitations.  Besides knowing how many you need, you also need to know what your budget is.  Then you can get started wading through the option.  Some of the varied choices are color, size, flat card or folded card, how many inserts, evite vs. snail mail, envelope color, print color, font type, photographs or no photographs, theme, design, traditional or modern.  I think that you can get where I am going with this.

To help keep you on track, and not completely overwhelmed, one of the things you can do is create a checklist with all of the options, then tick it off when you decide.  It helps if you have a theme or at least a color scheme for your wedding before you go to the invitations.  This helps eliminate invites that will not go at all with the rest of your wedding.  Depending on who is paying for the wedding, you also have to consider your parents’ opinions.  If they will be offended by black wedding invitations, well, then that option is out.

You can decorate your baby nursery with a western flair and create a room that can grow with your baby. Mixing items that are infant specific with items that were actually meant for an older audience can really make a unique look and give your nursery a personality of it’s own.

Decorating a baby nursery today is a lot more fun than it used to be. There are so many wonderful choices that allow us to really put some personality into the decor of the room.  No longer are we tied to blue for boys and pink for girls.  Of course there are a multitude of choices that have those colors for the two genders but they are not as boring as they used to be.

I like the idea of a western themed nursery because it really does fit whether we are raising a little cowgirl or cowboy. By adding the right touches, the nursery can help the child have an appreciation for animals, nature, and a little history. With some imagination you can mix both new and vintage items to achieve the overall look of a western room and environment.

There are a few sets for cribs that can get you started on your Western Nursery and give you more ideas on what you want to add to the room to make it fit your lifestyle.

Who says that Christmas has to be red, green, and gold?  My Christmas tree is going to be decorated with hot pink this year.  I have been adding pink decorations since my aunt learned that she had breast cancer.  But this year she beat the cancer, and everyone in my family has decided to have a hot pink Christmas to celebrate.

Seriously, what color could be more celebratory than hot pink when it comes to beating breast cancer.  And did you know how many hot pink Christmas decorations that there were?

Christmas decorations can be found in several shades of pink, from pale pink to hot pink to mauve, but hot pink seems to be the Christmas pink of choice, as I have found numerous hot pink trees, tree skirts, and ornaments just to get me started.  This has made me decide to do some research into hot pink Christmas decorations, and I have found some very interesting ornaments for our Christmas tree.  We are using a real live Christmas tree, so the tree itself will be green, while the decorations will be pink.  This tree will be a celebration of life in a very feminine way that is a triumph for all of us.

One of the best gifts to give your pregnant wife or girlfriend for Thanksgiving is a maternity Thanksgiving shirt.  Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with family fun, get togethers, and lots and lots of food.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, are all great foods that are likely to spill on a maternity top.  If you get your wife a Thanksgiving maternity shirt that is comfortable, easy to wash, and made specially for the holiday, she will be able to feel as comfortable as possible, and join in the fun without feeling bad if she spills.

In addition, a Thanksgiving maternity shirt that is a t-shirt is made for washing and wearing, and it gets softer and more comfortable each time it is washed.  She will love the feel of the cotton poly blend, and it will get her into the festive holiday spirit.  Whether cooking, eating, or cleaning up, the shirt won’t be in the way.  It can get dirty, be washed, and worn again later in the weekend.

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that is primarily about sitting, relaxing, family, and food.  Other than cooking, there is very little pressure for the weekend, and that is the way it should be.  Visiting with friends and family is something that we do not get to do often enough.

Christmas is a fun time of year for anyone with a family, and if you are pregnant during Christmas, you will find yourself busy as ever, with parties, preparation, as well as the usual baking, cooking, and shopping.

To stay comfortable during all of this, it helps if you are wearing the most comfortable maternity clothes possible, and to get in the mood for Christmas, those comfortable shirts should be Christmas maternity shirts.  There are several manufacturers of very cute Christmas maternity shirts that are sure to get you in the mood for all of the holiday preparations, and keep you there while you bake Christmas cookies and wrap presents for your family and friends.

Maternity shirts need to be easily washed, and affordable if you are going to buy them.  No one wants to spend too much on their maternity wardrobe, and it is so easy to get your clothes dirty when you are pregnant.  After all, you have a big belly that is just sitting out there in the way for spills, and rubbing up against counters when you are working.

It is advisable to carry an extra shirt with you when you are pregnant just for these reasons, and no one but you will know that you managed to get another shirt dirty again.