It was 78 degrees here in Atlanta yesterday. Out walking with my youngest child, I saw arms, legs and toes peeking out. The park was packed and people were out jogging, walking dogs and exercising. I love Spring!

Actually, I enjoy all of the seasons, including winter. But I have a special appreciation for those first few warm days of Spring.

Here are 10 Things I Won’t Miss About Winter

1. Coats. Buckling my youngest into her carseat with a heavy coat on, keeping up with kid coats, the bulk of having to wear a coat – I’m over it!
2. Shoes. Hello, black Old Navy flip flops and pedicures. I’ve missed you.
3. Dry Skin. Even the best of moisturizers don’t seem to solve the dry ashy skin that is part and parcel of winter with its dry, forced indoor heat.
4. Heating costs. The furnace will stay off for a couple of months! At least, until the heat makes A/C necessary.
5. Layers. The undershirts, socks, cardigans, gloves and hats make for more laundry, more clutter in the van, and more hassle. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a t – so much quicker and easier!
6. Being indoors. Who doesn’t feel a little blah when stuck indoors for days at a time? Hello, Sun, vitamin D and daily visits to the park.
7. Kids indoors. I love being able to kick my kids out the door for several hours of afternoon playtime in the pleasant weather. Less bickering, less fuss at the table and bedtime – the fresh air wears them out and makes them eat better too.
8. Cooking. Raw fruit, smoothies, salads – easy to throw together and oh so tasty when it’s warm outside.
9. Shivering. I hate that shivery feeling I get when I get out of the shower in winter. Don’t you?
10. Darkness. There’s nothing like having sunlight on your face – it’s good for your health (in moderation of course) and gets you out of bed in the morning. Long evenings outside are nice too.

What won’t you miss about old man winter?

I don’t know about you, but my skin has a tendency to look dry and dull in the winter. I have to pay special attention to good skin care to keep my skin looking good. And did you know that the damaging rays of the sun can actually be stronger in the wintertime? Don’t forget your facial sunscreen to help prevent premature aging, and try some of the following tips to get a rosy glow even during the dry, cold winter season.

Exfoliating: To exfoliate you will need a physical agent like salt or sugar, or an enzyme, which basically eats dead skin cells. There are even foods that are rich in enzymes which you can use to create your own at home mask to use in the process of exfoliation. These foods include pineapple and papaya. Milk also has fatty acids that mildly exfoliate. This is why the traditional milk bath has been so popular.

To create an easy inexpensive natural exfoliant, mix sea salt with olive oil. Smoothe in on in the tub and rub your skin gently, then rinse in the shower. You can do the same with sugar – not so great to eat, but awesome for your skin! Add a drop of your favorite essential oil to make it a spa treatment and relax you.

Eating: Yes, something that you already do on a regular basis if done correctly can change your skin. For example to help dry skin, include foods in your diet that are rich in fatty acids. Some of these foods include salmon, olive and coconut oils, avocado, and nuts. Incorporate these into your daily diet to see what a difference they can make. What may look like dry skin may even be eczema or a rash caused by food allergies, so be alert to that possibility too.

Homemade Treatments: You can make your own at home masks and treatments to treat other skin issues. Some common combinations are oatmeal, honey and water to create a mask, or avocado and honey. Smear these on your skin, allow to dry and then rinse them off.

A simple honey treatment can moisturize your skin and make it glow. Pat two drops of honey on your face after cleansing, while still damp. Your skin won’t be sticky when you use such a small amount.

Find more natural beauty tips here, including a free report with more recipes on making your own natural skin care treatments.

Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods is a fantastic cookbook by Cynthia Lair. We moms often become interested in a whole foods diet once we get pregnant. Whereas before we might be mostly interested in maintaining our weight, once we’re responsible for another life, it becomes more important to maintain our (and baby’s) health.

But once the little one starts eating solid foods, we’re thrown a curve ball. How do you prepare meals for baby, you, and a hungry husband too? And what about your older kids? It’s all a bit too much some nights. But fear not.

Thankfully there are many awesome cookbooks available that make the job of preparing and cooking food for your family a little easier.

Feeding the Whole Family is one such cookbook. It’s not strictly vegetarian nor does it advocate any kind of strict eating regimen. It’s just what it says – a whole foods recipe book. You won’t find fake foods or boxed stuff, yet the recipes are simple and easy to prepare, are tasty and appeal to everyone in the family – even the toothless wonder baby!

What makes this cookbook unique is that each recipe has a recommendation for feeding a baby who is just starting solids. This cookbook has simple instructions for preparing solids for your baby without making separate meals.

The first section of the book provides an overview of what whole foods eating actually means, provides suggestions for alternative ingredients (such as healthier fats and sweeteners) to healthy up your existing recipes, and other tips for pregnant and nursing moms who may have questions about their diet. It gives instructions on how to prepare whole grains including some that may be unknown to someone new to whole foods eating.

Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods is available on Amazon.com

Becoming a mom – it’s the most life-changing event we go through.  Our children become the center of our lives, and we must make adjustments to in our schedules and priorities make sure they’re cared for.  Instead of hiring nannies or using day care services, more and more moms are choosing to start their own online businesses so they can be there for their kids and still contribute to the family income.

This is especially true right now during the tough economic times we’re living in. Even if you’re comfortably existing on one income, you may find yourself on no income soon enough if your husband gets laid off, downsized, rightsized, outsourced or whatever they’re calling it these days. Do you have the recommended 6 months’ living expenses tucked away in savings in preparation for this event?

Statistics show many of us do not. This is all the more reason for mom to look for ways to make money online before the disaster strikes.

Starting an online business has a number of advantages for moms.  These include:

* Start-up costs can be kept low.  So even if you are not currently working outside the home, starting an online business is usually within reach with small adjustments to the budget.  Setting up a website means acquiring a domain name and hosting space – and with tools like WordPress available at no cost, you can literally be up and running for around $20. You will also want to invest in some education. Learning the basics of how to market your website online are not difficult, but be careful where you get your information.

The Natural Mom Business Guide is one solid source of info. It includes an ebook with detailed information about researching your target market, the various ways to make money with a website, and how to get the traffic you need to earn income. It even has video and audio tutorials as well as printable “cheat sheets” you can keep by your computer to remind you of the essential steps you need to take in your business to build traffic and make more income.

* Doing business online doesn’t require one to keep regular hours.  You can work early in the morning before the kids get up, during the baby’s nap, or late at night when everyone is in bed.  And with the automation that the Internet has to offer, orders can be processed and virtual products delivered while you are sleeping or taking care of the kids.

* You can get some work done with the kids right by your side.  Older children may even be able to help you with simple tasks.  Did you know that the IRS allows you to deduct wages (up to a certain amount) paid to a child who is age seven or older to work in your home business from your taxes? I have even trained my oldest son to add articles to my websites. He earns a nice wage for doing so, far more than an allowance, and is providing a valuable service to me.

There are all sorts of online businesses that are great for moms.  You could sell your crafts or start a recipe website, or you could start a podcast.  You might offer services such as writing, transcription, web design or virtual assistance to customers around the world.  Or you could create and sell information products.  Even blogging offers impressive money-making potential.  The possibilities are many, and there’s sure to be something out there that’s just right for any mom.

Moms make up a large portion of the people who are making money online.  This allows them to take a hands-on approach to raising their children while still making money to support the household.  They don’t have to count on a sitter to take care of their children’s needs, and they don’t have to make a commute part of their daily routine.  It’s no wonder that the number of moms starting online businesses is growing in leaps and bounds.

If you need some assistance choosing a niche, get some coaching from an experienced online marketer. Take the leap – you’ll be glad you did!

Cell phones – they’re everywhere. It seems that now every man, woman and child has one. Cell phones are marketed to everyone from young kids to the elderly. New “simple” phones are being created for these two age groups.

But just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s harmless.

Shelly Kalnitsky of The Cell Phone Radiation News Bureau collects data from available research showing that radiation from cellular and cordless phones is especially harmful for kids, and will indeed be responsible for more cases of cancer than cigarettes for our future generations.

Cell phone radiation and kids -learn what you can do to minimize your child’s exposure to cell phone radiation.

photo credit: juhansonin

My kids have been enjoying this wooden balance bike by Skuut. Unlike most bicycles made for small children, it has no pedals. It also has no training wheels.

The Skuut is a Scandinavian design. The purpose of it is to teach a young child how to balance so they can learn how to ride a bike well without the adjustment from training wheels to a “big kid bike”.

You can hear their testimonials and learn more about the bike here: Skuut bike review

If you’re a woman in her 20′s or 30′s, hysterectomy may be the last thing on your mind. But did you know that women are getting hysterectomies at earlier and earlier ages? The average age for a woman getting a hysterectomy is only 36, down from 42 only a decade ago.

Since hysterectomy is major surgery and has life changing effects, it’s important that we learn about the risks now before facing the decision to have the surgery.

Nora Coffey, president of the HERS foundation shared some of these risks and safer alternatives with me recently. Learn about the afteraffects of hysterectomy and alternatives here.

After “boy meets girl”, “a boy and his dog” is probably the second most irresistible theme, and one that this film revolves around.

Beethoven’s Big Break is the story of a young boy, Billy, who dreams of having a dog. The irony is that his father is an animal trainer. He’s surrounded by exotic animals all the time that he can’t bond with, so he longs for a “normal” pet.

Jonathan Silverman was his usual geeky but lovable self as 30something widower Eddie, struggling to make a living while getting dinner on the table and take care of his son’s needs without mom. His life suddenly gets even more stressful when he’s sacked from his job, becoming a scapegoat for the mysterious disappearance of the dog who happens to be the star of a popular show. Meanwhile, Beethoven has blundered and ambled his way into their lives, adopting Billy as his human. This is the last thing Dad thinks he needs!

At first Beethoven’s arrival in their lives is a huge disaster, but then things turn around (of course!), and Beethoven becomes an asset not only between father and son but also to Eddie’s job and even his love life.

While Dad and Billy start to really enjoy all that Beethoven is bringing into their lives, a sinister plot is unfolding that may bring all of it crashing down. Beethoven is kidnapped. Will he be returned to Billy and Dad or will the bad guys win?

You’ll have to watch it to find out.

The movie was a big slow in places and a bit long for young kids. Mine kept walking away to do other things and then would return to it later. It didn’t seem to hold their attention. Of course their favorite scenes were ones in which Beethoven causes huge disasters.

That said, what I didn’t appreciate about the movie was the disrespectful attitude of the kid at the beginning. I don’t feel really good about allowing my kids to see a child on the screen speak in a sarcastic way to his Dad and get away with it. I’ve noticed this about many movies marketed to kids. I guess it’s a kid’s fantasy to be able to tell their parents off from time to time.

Beethoven’s Big Break was a made for DVD movie so you can grab it, starting today, at Amazon.com

Moms these days have more than ever to keep up with. It’s essential to have some kind of system for keeping track of it all. (Little scraps of paper everywhere don’t count!)

Someone has come up with a mom-friendly solution. The Mom’s Essentials organizer. It’s not too big, and not too dowdy. It’s got mom appropriate sections like areas for meal planning and grocery lists, web sites you want to keep track of, people you’re supposed to call, a weekly to-do list at a glance, even sections for stuff you’re going to delegate (since we moms need to be reminded that yes, we CAN delegate!).

Maybe it will help you keep your stuff together in 2009.

A lot of couples choose to manage their fertility by use of “natural family planning” (NFP) methods. They want to avoid the side effects of hormonal birth control or the annoyance of barrier methods.

Natural Family Planning is made a little easier with Cycle Beads, invented by Victoria Jennings, Ph.D, an anthropologist who specializes in reproductive health. She directs the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University.

Cycle Beads provide an easy to use visual guide that helps a woman track her cycle. The beads are colored differently and correspond to the days of the month. Each day a woman moves a small rubber band to the next bead. When the band is in the section of white beads, a couple needs to either abstain or use another method of birth control if they want to avoid pregnancy – or have sex if the goal is to get pregnant!

You can listen to an interview with Dr. Jennings on the difference between various methods of natural family planning and how Cycle Beads came about here.