Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 460

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being JenniferTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Children’s Book Review: Little Blue Truck

Disclosure: Today’s post contains affiliate links. The opinions are my own.

My son Thaxton LOVES it when I read books to him.  He always takes books off the shelves and brings them to me to read.  Sometimes we read a few of his books several times a day each!  The other day his dad called out the name of a book he’s only had a for a week, and Thaxton gave this excited look.  I told him the book was in his room.  The next thing I knew he was crawling toward his room.  I thought he’d bring back a random book or else get distracted by the toys in his room.  But in a few moments he returned with the correct book in hand.  (It was on an ottoman in his room stacked beneath 3 other books.)  Needless to say, I was very impressed that a 13 month old was able to recognize and bring back the right book.  I’m very excited at how much he loves to read, and I hope his love of reading continues!

This year I’ve decided to start a new feature on the blog, Thaxton’s Book Nook, where I’ll be sharing some of the books Thaxton and I are reading.  It will give me the chance to give a little insight in to our days and what we are enjoying, and it will also give me the opportunity to recommend some good books for you guys and your kids! [Read more…]

Three Health Insurances Only for Your Kid: Which One Should You Choose?

There are many cheap health insurance covers for kids. In this article we’re going to talk about three most important ones: Short-term health insurance, Children’s Health Insurance Program and Major medical plans. All parents want what’s best for their child. When your family is uninsured, you might be tempted to keep everyone safe so you won’t have to pay for medical care.

As a general idea, both parents and children should have minimum essential coverage, because it’s required under the Affordable Care Act. It’s not always the case with many families. Perhaps you want to get a health insurance for your kid.

Short-term health insurance

If you want temporary benefits, you might want to go for dependent-only coverage.

This insurance gives you from 30 to 364 days – it depends on the state. The child-only insurances are available for kids that are two years or older. The advantage here is the money, they cost less than others. The rates are lower for this one because they offer coverage to help you pay for unexpected cases, or high-cost illnesses. However, it’s not considered to be a minimum essential coverage that goes ok with the ACA’s individual mandate, and they do not include vaccinations, behavioral assessment, or autism screening. Not even hearing and vision screening. As a general rule, the stronger the short-term plan benefits, the higher you’ll have to pay.

There are many different health plans with different types of coverage. Connect Plus offers limited benefits for some pre-existing conditions – and not many have this benefit. A pre-existing condition is any kind of medical condition that came up before you started to coverage with the new health insurance policy.

You might want to go for this if your child is two years old, or older, if he or she is qualified for an exemption from the ACA’s mandate, or if he or she does not qualify for an ACA subsidy and needs an affordable health insurance. Also, you can get it if your kid needs coverage very quickly, like tomorrow.

Major medical health insurance

The major medical insurance is a policy made to help you pay for covered healthcare expenses that come from preventive services to emergency care. The ACA (short for Affordable Care Act) requires all the major medical plans to have guaranteed issue and it basically includes the basic requirements – the ten essential health benefits.

If your kid needs a long-term health insurance (that’s for more than 90 days), then a major medical health insurance is what you should go for. It’s true, they may cost more, but they do qualify as minimum essential coverage, and they include no-cost preventive care services and healthcare services for about ten categories from the ACA. They are

also guaranteed issue, and that means that your child won’t be denied the coverage, based on his or her health history or pre-existing conditions – they all must be covered.

It covers emergency services and hospitalization, mental health care, maternity and newborn care and ambulatory patient services. Also, it includes prescription drugs, lab services, habilitative services and devices, pediatric services, vision and oral care, and health services and chronic disease management. It really depends on the coverage you have. And the coinsurance and deductible amounts, plus the network restrictions have an impact on how much money you’ll have to pay for the insurance.

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

CHIP is short for Children’s Health Insurance Program and it’s available for all the kids from families that earn too much actually to qualify for Medicaid, however, not enough to buy a family or an individual health insurance plan from a state-based exchange or from the private market.

The thing with this one is that each state makes up its own CHIP eligibility requirements, which means that the program differs from one state to another.

Overall, it provides the standard Medicaid benefit package and periodic and early screening, diagnostic and treatments. It also comes with mental and dental services.

There are also some separate CHIP benefits, like benchmark coverage, Benchmark-Equivalent coverage or secretary-approved coverage.

Benchmark coverage is based on the State employee’s coverage plan and the HMO plan. Also, on the standard Blue Cross or Blue Shield preferred provider option that’s offered to Federal employees

Benchmark-Equivalent coverage includes Physician’s services, Laboratory and x-ray services, Inpatient (and outpatient) hospital services, surgical and any kind of medical services and Well-baby and well-child care (including immunization).

Secretary-approved coverage offers any other kind of health coverage that’s acceptable by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 459

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being JenniferTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta – Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. The opinions are my own.

About a year ago I discovered the Instant Pot, and I was intrigued by all the recipes and blog posts I found online.  After a couple of months of browsing I decided I would buy an Instant Pot when they went on sale for Black Friday.  And I got one!  My husband was a little skeptical at first.  He wondered why we needed an Instant Pot. (After all, we already have a Crock Pot!)  But I promised him, it would be worth it!

Thanksgiving night I was looking online at the Instant Pot and getting ready to place some Christmas orders, when my husband walked in the door with an Instant Pot in hand! (While running out the store, he decided this would be a nice surprise for my upcoming birthday.)  Now I have to admit, at first I got a little intimidated by this contraption, but luckily my husband loves to cook too, and he was happy to help me with the first recipe I decided to cook.  (Since then, he’s been more than happy to experiment with his own Instant Pot recipes!)  And like a lot of things, once I got to working with the Instant Pot, I found it very easy to use!

Today I am sharing the very first Instant Pot recipe I decided to make.  It is Crack Chicken Pasta, or if you prefer Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta.

Why I Love This Recipe

This pasta turned out so great!  Personally I love anything that has Chicken Bacon Ranch in the name, so I was very excited to make this!

And I was impressed with just how easy it is to make this one-pot meal (pictures of the process are below).

I was also happy to serve this to our baby.  He’s eating more table foods now, and he loved it.  I just chopped up some of the chicken and noodles for his portion and then served him some veggies on the side.

Tips and Recommendations

If you wanted to make the whole dish healthier, you could add any vegetables you like; I’d recommend broccoli or perhaps a medley of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.

I should also mention that Instant Pot Recipes like this one make a LOT of food, and they are very easy to freeze for later.  (I have a a goal for 2019 to do a lot more freezer cooking!)

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If you’ve been thinking about buying an Instant Pot and just haven’t gotten around to it, I completely recommend it.  I have the Instant Pot 7-in-1 DUO60. I have the 6 quart, but this same model comes in 3 and 8 quart.  The 6 quart is a good size for our family, and it allows me to make enough food for freezing or to giveaway, and it has all the functions and features we need.

And if you already have an Instant Pot, then I’d love to have your recipe recommendations! Leave a comment here or share with me on social media.  (You can also link up your recipes at our latest Friday Favorites linky party!)

Free Daily Planner Printable for Mom Bloggers

I’ve only made a few printables on my blog, and it has been a long time since I made one! I saw a lot of daily planning sheets and bullet journal pages on Pinterest, but I couldn’t find one that had everything I was looking for in a planning page.

I need a planning sheet where I can write daily goals, but in particular I wanted a page where I could write down plans for my blog and online work.  And I also wanted one where I could write plans and goals for myself as a housewife and mom.  Since I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I made THIS!

At the top of the page, I made a spot for inspirational words and scripture.  Beside this is a notes section.

The next section I will be devoting to business, but the categories could easily fit for personal use:  Goals, To Create, To Write, To Share.

Then I have a section titled To Clean and To Cook.

Finally I have a sections marked To Do and To Buy.  And finally I have a section marked To Teach.  I made this section so I could make notes of things I’ll be teaching my son, but it could be used if you’re teaching an actual class or if you teach things on your blog.

Download Your Free Daily Planner Printable 

The Key to Getting Your Home Safe

Your home is the only place where you live and spend most of your time in. your home is your biggest investment for the whole life which you never want to waste.

It is very important to get this foundation and investment safe.

A person spends its whole life in buying a house and then maintaining it. You cannot compromise on the money that it cost you and neither on the lives of people who live there.

New Houses

If you want to make your home completely safe, then you need to get the foundations strong. If you are building a new house, then, of course, it is a big concern for you, and you pay a lot to just work on them. The architects and other people keep trying to make it so strong that it would be able to hold weights for years. New house, though, is a big investment with a hectic job, it will ensure that you are not risking ours and your family lives in the long run because everything is built newly.

Old Houses

When we talk about the old houses that you have bought from someone else at a second hand, then you need to take several precautions to fix it. The basement of them is often not fit anymore to hold a lot of weight, and if any kind of problem ever occurs, it can result in something a lot devastating. It is very necessary to check the condition of the foundation of a house before you buy it. It can, later on, cost you a lot if there is a lot of work to be done.

Not only the body of the house, but you need to see and find out the quality of the foundation of the home that you are going to buy.

If there is not a lot of work that has to be done on it, then you can buy it and get this work done easily at low rates.

Some people often ignore the problems if they are not major which is the wrongest that you can do to your home and yourself. If you do not get it all repaired just in time when it is not troubling you much, then it can cost you way too much later.

Even if it was your home previously and it is now old, you must keep checking the conditions of your foundation to make sure that you are safe and don’t have anything to worry about. The unknown risks are the riskiest.

Repairing the Foundations

Your home is your responsibility, and you need to take care of it. Getting it repaired whenever needed and also the foundations are all different ways if how you can take care of it. If you are currently residing in Hamilton and have any such sort of problems, then many Foundation Repair Hamilton near you provide the greatest services with the least rates.

A lot of people like to perform such actions on their own which is not a very good idea as they are compromising the security of shelter that they have.

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 458

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being JenniferTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Katie Daisy Planner Review

Disclosure: Today’s post contains affiliate links. The images are from from my Katie Daisy planner. I do NOT own these images and am merely sharing them for my review and recommendation purposes.

With a new year comes a new planner!  I love getting new planners…the empty pages are so clean, and there are just so many possibilities ahead to fill them!

In the past I have a bought a lot of Blue Sky Planners.  They always have very simple, clean, and pretty designs available.  And they have a variety of sizes and formats.  But last year I went a different route. And for the second year in a row, I’ve chosen a planner by Katie Daisy. These planners are just beautiful! They make me feel so energized and inspired! Let’s check it out!

Format

The planners are 5×7 sized.  (I do wish they came in a standard notebook size. That is what I’ve always purchased in the past, but these are so pretty I can deal with the small size.)

They have a front pocket and a page marker for you, which can be very convenient.  They also have a full monthly calendar followed by weekly pages, which is the format that I like.  (If a planner doesn’t have this 2-page month calender, I’m not in to it!)  It’s also a 7-month calendar so you can buy these toward the end of the year and go ahead and start using it!

Artwork, Quotes, and Notes

Now what sets these planners apart from others I’ve purchased is the beautiful art work, inspired quotes, and places for you to make notes and journal.  I decided to share the above page. It is one of my favorites from the planner and a great example!

I find these note pages are great for making lists and notes about what is going on.  They can also be great for journaling and writing notes to yourself to get you motivated.

 

I decided to end this post with a photo of one of the quote pages.  I think if we woke up with this quote in mind each day, our day would be much brighter, happier, and more productive.  (Don’t you agree?)

If you still don’t have a planner for this year, I invite you to check out the Katie Daisy planner, as well as the Katie Daisy Wall Calendar.

5 Tips to repairing your boiler in London

Boiler breakdown is very common especially if the boiler is used often. In the event that your boiler stops working knowing a few repair techniques can come in handy. Learning how to carry out boiler repair London can save you money and time. Here are a few repair tips which may come in handy the next time your boiler stops working.

  1. Check the pressure gauge

Once you realize that the pressure gauge is not working you need to check the boiler’s parts to determine what isn’t working correctly. In most cases when your boiler pressure is low then this makes the pressure gauge stop working. Check to see if the pressure is as it should be and if you see that the gauge is indicating low pressure then the first step is to concentrate on fixing this. The solution to this is to top up the pressure and this is usually straightforward once you consult the boiler’s manual.

  1.    Reset the Boiler

Every boiler has a timer and if you have recently had a power outage then you need to check the timer and reprogram it as necessary. Each boiler has a different type of timer and when you realize it’s not working then you need to consult the manual. Once you find the reset button for your boiler what you need to do is press the button for like 10 seconds. After that, the boiler should work.

  1.    Check the thermostat

Another area which can become faulty is the thermostat. Before calling an engineer, check to see if the thermostat is broken and if it is then you may need to replace it. To check the thermostat, start by ensuring that the temperature is configured to the right degrees. You may also need to check if the batteries are adequate and if not replace them with new batteries. Low battery signal will always display on the small LCD screen.

  1.    Check to see if your pilot light is on

The pilot light is another area which you need to check to make sure that it is on. If the pilot light is not on then your boiler will not work and you may need to consult the manual for directions on how to fix it. In the process of relighting the pilot light, it’s very important that you follow the manual instructions carefully as to not damage the boiler or cause a fire.

  1.    Bleed radiators

The first step is to check which radiator is not warm and this can be caused by air that has been sucked in. Listen for a hissing sound to determine if the gas is escaping. Make sure that all the gas has escaped, then close the radiator valve. Turn on the radiator and if you no longer hear any hissing sounds then it means that all the air has escaped. It’s important to check the pressure gauge because bleeding the radiator leads to a drop in pressure so it’s important to fill it up.