By Chrissy Bernal One of our twin girls, Sienna, is special needs. Aside from being a Primordial Dwarf, having conductive hearing loss and glasses, she has an unknown variant of a syndrome called Dandy Walker. It's fairly unheard of, so it's not really clear what impacts it has on people who have it. When she was born, doctors told us she would be a vegetable if she survived. read more

By Diana Saufley “Organize” and “budget” are two words most people cringe from when talking about Christmas. However, keeping your gift selections and wrapping process simple through organization will ease your budget and holiday stress. Making wise choices and sticking to a plan can increase the joy of gift giving for your gift recipients and you. Have you had those Christmas’ past read more

Courtesy of Cy-Fair Hospital What do you do when your child has a fever? Should you call the doctor, go to the emergency room, or give your child medicine to bring the fever down? It is important to remember that most fevers are not serious. In fact, fevers under 102 degrees Fahrenheit generally do not need to be treated if your child is over three months old and is acting normally. A read more

By Deanna Parmenter This blog is the first of four in a series talking about basic accounting concepts that I frequently get asked about. By understanding these concepts, you may be able to reduce your taxes and eliminate some of the work (and fees) done by your CPA at tax time. You are excited about your business idea, all of the preliminary planning work is done, and pretty soon read more

The Simply Cy-Fair family would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! We hope this holiday season brings you together with those that matter most to you, and is a time for you to reflect on the things you are thankful for this year. Simply Cy-Fair has much to be thankful for - our loyal readers, our blog contributors, our neighbors and community members, and so much read more

Courtesy of Cy-Fair Hospital While we all like to indulge a little during our family meals on Thanksgiving Day, there are ways that you can incorporate healthy eating into your holiday festivities. If you want to eat a healthy diet, you’ll need to do more than choose the right foods. It’s also important to prepare foods in a healthy way. There are many different methods to cut read more

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss Does baking with your kids make you shutter a little? I’ll be honest – I feel that way. I love to bake and in fact, I used to work for both Safeway and Albertsons; in their bakeries. For me, baking is a stress reliever much like gardening is for my parents. I don’t always bake as well as I want to (see my car cake!) but the act of creating something from scratch read more

By Chrissy Bernal In years past, it has been a fun family tradition. After a lovely Thanksgiving afternoon, my mom, sister and I would have our list ready, store ads in hand and alarm clocks set for 2:00 a.m. Yup, Black Friday shopping fun! We would arrive at the chosen first store for the day and drink our coffee and muffins. It was a lovely time to visit and giggle about read more

By Diana Saufley Hopefully soap is something that you use on a regular basis. Today soap comes in many forms and options and used mostly for bathing but it does have other uses. It’s the fall season and I usually prefer to write about home décor. But I also like finding opportunities that preserve the environment by utilizing things that you already own that can be re-used. First, read more

By Sara Parker I have never tried to persuade someone to adopt, and I won’t start now— even during National Adoption Month. I am not simply placating when I agree that many people have valid reasons not to pursue adoption. Sometimes, the timing is not right. Sometimes a spouse is not on board. Sometimes the financial situation is too dire. And sometimes, let’s face it: it’s just not how read more

Courtesy of Cy-Fair Hospital   Can you believe it is already November and time to plan for the family trip for the holidays? Before you hit the road for a much-anticipated family trip, you may want to do some early planning and smart packing to make the ride less bumpy for you and your children. Whether you are traveling by plane, train or automobile, these timely tips can go a long read more

By Deanna Parmenter   When I wanted to start my first business, I didn’t have a clue how to market it or get financing or even what rules I had to comply with. Unfortunately, I am not alone. Many great ideas die before they even get off the ground because of lack of knowledge on where to start. The federal government offers a wonderful resource known as the Small Business read more

By Chrissy Bernal   October was Breast Cancer Awareness month, of course. So, it's not surprising that many things around town were adorned with a splash of pink. Football players wore pink, some died their hair pink and Facebook profiles were changed to reflect the month. I had a friend who died his goatee pink. I’ll actually be attending a fundraiser this weekend and purchased a read more

By Diana Saufley Do you have a budding artist in your home? It’s a hard job being a parent when your child beams with pride and hands you their creation and says, “Look what I made.” First, you have to try and discern exactly what you are looking at without bruising their little ego when you don’t have a clue & guess incorrectly. Then it is a challenge to find a way to display their read more

By Diana Saufley While decorating my home for fall is one of my favorites, I also like creating some outdoor spaces that tell my guests we are celebrating one of our favorite seasons of the year. We don’t have the beautiful spectrum of colorful leaves on trees that they have elsewhere in the country. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pull some color together that will give everyone the fall read more