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10 Things You Can Do to Help Prevent the Flu

This post is sponsored by Diamond Links.

I work in a hospital and they take flu season very seriously. They’ve drilled certain things into our heads to help prevent the flu and daily to help the spread of all germs. Here are 10 things you can do to help prevent the flu.

Hand Washing – This is the most important. If you don’t even read the rest of the list you can do a lot just by washing your hands. Our hospital tells us we should wash our hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. That’s long enough to sing the birthday song.
Cover your mouth and nose – When sneezing or coughing cover with your hand or a tissue. You can even wear a scarf or take a handkercheif with you when you have to leave the house for a doctor’s appointment or to go the pharmacy.
Regularly wipe down frequently touched surfaces – Things like doorknobs, toilet flush lever, sink knobs, etc can be wiped down with an all purpose spray or wipes. Think about it, not everyone washes their hands like they should.
Clean electronics – This is something not everyone thinks about. Things like keyboards, TV remotes, touch screen devices, and headsets come in contact with a lot of fingers. We actually had a rash of pink eye go around our house one year and I realized it was being spread by a touchscreen tablet that everyone was using!
Eat Healthy – You body can better fight off the flu when it has the nutrients it needs.
Antibacterial gels/sprays – Keeping an antibacterial gel on you when you travel or in the car can help when hand washing isn’t possible. There are plenty of antibacterial options out there from products like Purell, to alcohol-free options, and natural options like Doterra OnGuard sanitizing spray.
Consider the flu vaccine – I know not everyone is interested in vaccines but for those that are there are plenty of places to get the flu vaccine even if you don’t have insurance. Rite Aid stores offer flu vaccines for $25 and if you have insurance, often it’s free. Of course your doctor’s office or your child’s pediatrician is another source to obtain flu vaccines. Some employers also off the flu vaccines to it’s employees.
Drink plenty of water – this is a good idea anyway. There is some research that says drinking plenty of water can help strengthen you immune system thus helping your body fight the flu.
Immune boosting supplements – there are some that swear by products like Emergen-C or Airborne. A friend recommended air born to me and I stock up during flu season.
Get Plenty of Sleep – According to the Sleep Foundation, when we don’t get enough sleep our bodies can get out of wack. Lower our immune systems and more.

With the spring not too far off in the distance Dr Summit Shah can help with your allergy needs too!

Forming an LLC for my Blog in Pennsylvania

This post is sponsored by DiamondLinks. Any opinions expressed are my own. This post is not meant to take place of legal advice. I am not a legal professional.

I’ve been thinking about creating an LLC for my blog for a few years now. I’ve known other bloggers that have done it but was a little shy about pulling the trigger. On one hand I had this blog I created, I make a side income on it, and I’m considered a professional blogger. On the other hand, did I really need to? Did I want to spend the money? Where do I even start? I’m no a lawyer! I don’t have a business degree! Help!

I looked into those online legal sites but I wasn’t going to get away without spending at least $350 for what seemed like the minimum but the way they worded things made it seem like you needed a lot more. I looked into getting a lawyer but just to get my foot in the door was going to be $225 not to mention what other charges there were. Well it turns out I have a friend that’s a legal secretary for a local lawyer and she guided me through the process getting an LLC for my blog in Pennsylvania. It was a lot easier than what I expected.

All of the links you need for business formation forms in Pennsylvania can be found here. I chose to do an LLC to help protect my personal assets should anything crazy happen. For my blog the only things I needed for my LLC in Pennsylvania was the certificate of organization form and the docketing statement. Eventually I will do a fictitious name too.

Hearing some of the scary stories of what have happened to a few bloggers and reading inspiring stories like Matt Redhawk and Parker helped me finally take the step. I’m proud to say the paperwork and check for my LLC are in the mail to Harrisburg!

Different states and different types of businesses have different needs. If you are not sure about what your state or business needs, it’s best to consult a legal professional

Our Experience in Hiring Roofers

This post is sponsored by DiamondLinks. Any opinions expressed are my own.

About 10 years ago my husband and I bought our first house together. The house was right next to a church and used to be a church rectory. It had sat on the market for about a year before we bought it and we got an amazing price on it. We knew there was work that needed done on it but they told us it had a new roof, siding, windows, and door put on it. Those are big things so we were ok with the other work that needed done.

Since it was a church that was selling the house we also trusted their word, especially since the siding, windows, and door appeared to be new and the roof “looked” new.

We had to water-proof the basement, upgrade the electrical system because it still had old knob and tube wiring. The house needed insulated, we had insulation blown in. We did that. We gave the bathroom a facelift. A couple years into the house we started noticing little water spots on the drop ceilings. Eventually it lead to water pouring into our living room. We ended up finding out the church didn’t actually FIX they roof. They were aware it had holes and just had someone put shingles over it! So we started researching roofers.

The first thing we did was a local search to see who we had to choose from. So let’s say you live in Tampa you’d do a search for roofers tampa. After you find a few names you can look and compare on site s like Angie’s list or Home Advisor. Most importantly, in my opinion as around to your local family, friends, and co-workers.

We ended up finding a contractor called George Beckett and Sons out of New Paris, PA. They were about an hour from us. We didn’t know if they’d be able to do it. We also got quotes from 2 other contractors. Beckett and Sons ended up being the lowest quote so we asked around. Had a lot of good feedback about them so we hired them.

From the time they started work in November that year it only took them a week to get the entire roof on including fixing our back porch roof that was bowing. I told my husband, every time I looked outside they were working. There was no standing around. Honestly I’d expect them to take a break once in a while but when they were there they WORKED. We recommend them to anyone local.

Educational Apps for Your Preschooler from Kids Academy

This post is sponsored post written by me for Kids Academy. Regardless I only write honest reviews.

All of my kids LOVE electronics. Xbox, smartphones, tablets, hand held gaming systems, etc. I try to let them indulge in their typical kid interests when I can but I do monitor everything I can. I look up video games to make sure it’s not something inappropriate, I check out review on apps and what it has to offer before I download it for my kids. I have parental controls set on all the electronic devices I can. My 5 yr old in particular loves his games. So when I found out about Kids Academy apps and was asked to review them, I said, sure thing.

There are several apps available from Kids Academy geared toward preschool and Kindergarten children. Right in my youngest son’s age range. If he’s going to be entertaining himself with an app may as well make it educational right? There are free and paid versions of all the apps. When referencing the apps, I tried the free version of each. I’m going to preface these review with this. The free versions of kids apps are a good way to try the game, check out the graphics, and see what the app has to offer. In general though, I’m not a fan of free app versions, especially pertaining to kids as there are usually a lot of advertisements and things they can get into that they probably shouldn’t. Also your limited to how far you can go or to what offerings you can use on the app. It is the same with each of these apps.

1. Kids Academy: Kids Puzzles Preschool Math Games

This is a screen shot from my phone. You trace the numbers with your finger. As they go along they get them right they collect fireflies in a jar. They have an easy to understand narrator to help your child with what to do. With the free version it only allows you to go up to number 3 until it prompts you to buy the full version. The graphics, colors, and sounds are engaging. The only thing I found frustrating with this app is if your child tries to trace too fast or doesn’t get it right on the dotted line it says “oops try again” You also must touch each bold dot when tracing in order for it to accept the tracing or you get the oops message again. My son became frustrated at time because he did go right to the bold dot all the time. I tried it myself and it happened to me a few times. In the free version this is the only activity.

2. Kids Academy: Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Kids Games

For this one, the free version had 3 different learning games. There is the one I have pictured above with my screen shot. It shows them an objects that starts with that letter, says the name of the object, and tells them the letter it starts with. They then show them what the letter looks like and your child can try their hand at tracing the letter. Again, the free version only goes up to the letter C until it prompts you to buy the free version. The other games on this app include the firefly number tracing game like the first app I have listed and another alphabet game where they find object in the picture that start with the letter being prompted. The graphics are cute, colorful, engaging. The narrator is easy to understand.

3. Kids Academy: Learn to Read and Write Kids Puzzles

This one again has 3 different activities in the free version. Mazes, a rhyming word activity, and tracing letters (similar to app #2 listed above). This one features a cute dog as the main character in the first 2 games listed. The maze are fairly easy. Your child must touch the dog’s bone and drag it to the end of the maze. If they lift their finger up at all though it goes back to the beginning of the maze. The mazes are not long so it’s really not a big set back. This one I”m going to talk about the second game “Rhyming Words” I like the idea but I think there are things that can be improved. With this one there is no narrator. It simple shows the dog at the beginning of the maze with a though cloud and an object pictured in it. The object is very small. There is no audio for you to know what the object is. The first one was fairly easy. The was a pen in the thought bubble and you have to drag the dog’s bone to one of 3 objects. The correct one will be the one that rhymes. For the pen one the objects were: hen, peas, cow so of course the pen would go to the hen. The next task showed up and the dog had…what to me looked like a trophy in the though bubble. but the object choices appeared to be train, dog, and bat. So I’m going through my head “maybe it’s not a trophy maybe it’s an award but then that wouldn’t rhyme. So I started going through the objects, maybe it’s not a train maybe engine. I couldn’t figure it out so I started dragging the bone to the different objects it connected with the dog. The it showed “cup” and “Pup” In my opinion, I think the narrator should state what the object is and if your child touches the other objects it should say what they are too. Rhyming is both visual and auditory learning.

So to sum up my opinion on these apps. The visual appearance couldn’t be much better for a kids app. I feel there are some things that could be tweeked as far as audio and sensitivity for toddler and preschool hands. The free version is good for parents to try with your kids to see if it’s something you want but if you do like it I recommend the paid version. The free version has many ads and pop ups for the paid version which is some what frustrating. If you don’t have parental settings on your phone you may find your child purchasing things you didn’t want to. I like the fact that the apps are geared to right level of learning for the preschool and kindergarten children. As with any app or game though, your child would need parental supervision for reasons I just stated. The links included in the post are for the free version on iTunes.

This review contain my personal opinions of the products specified. I did received compensation for this post