Rising prices may curb travel plans for some Texans this summer as the national average price of gas reaches $3.62 per gallon according to motorist organization AAA and could affect tourism across the country including Houston. NASA?s Space Center Houston announced a plan that will help make their venue even more affordable for families this summer with H.O.T. or Half off Ticket, where every adult and child ticket purchased online at www.spacecenter.org through May 31 will be sold at half the price of regular admission and can be used Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

A family of four with two adults and two children who purchase tickets through the H.O.T. program can save as much as $34 while four adults can save nearly $40, leaving extra cash for gas or other expenses.

?We recognize our city?s tourism may be impacted by the serious economic issues facing families today such as the price of gas,? said Roger Bornstein, marketing director for Space Center Houston. ?We hope to see Houston and other Texas attractions join our effort and create similar initiatives.?

NASA?s official visitor?s center will have a host of new exclusive events this summer including "Radio Disney's Camp Rock" where fans can rock like the Jonas Brothers and compete for valuable prizes; Daredevil Island will transport the whole family deep into a jungle adventure filled with bungee jumping and other thrills as well as a spectacular Independence Week Celebration.

Owners of a child carrier from Chariot Carriers, Inc. know how easy it is to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle after they have children, and now they can help other new parents discover how easy it is to continue all their favorite outdoor activities through a photo contest.

Chariot Carriers, Inc. has announced "Take it Outside," a monthly photo contest with prizes for people who use a child carrier from Chariot Carriers to continue healthy outdoor activities like walking, jogging, hiking, cycling, X-country skiing, and more.

"The blessing of having kids in your life should not force you to stop the things you enjoy most, especially an active, healthy lifestyle," said Dan Britton, president and C.E.O. "We are asking our customers to take photos as they use our child carriers and share them with us to help other parents learn that they do not have to give up the outdoor activities they enjoy."

Each month one photo will be selected from each of the four categories, and the winners will receive their choice of the CTS strolling, jogging, or cycling kit or any two accessories as a prize. The contest will continue monthly through July 2008, according to Britton.

The diagnosis is "Amblyopia" and the Pediatric Ophthalmologist told us that our son had to wear an eye patch and glasses. How do you get a two year old boy to do that? She had no idea, but said that he could go blind in that eye if he didn't. So after a lot of struggling with my son I came up with a DVD called "The Eye Patch Kids" which is helping so many children deal with wearing an eye patch in a different way. Instead of struggling with your child, you can just put on the DVD and the patched puppets will convince your child to wear it.

It's about the story of "Princess" and how she goes to the eye doctor to discover she has Amblyopia and has to wear a patch over her eye. At first she isn't happy, but soon finds with the help of her other friends that wearing a patch isn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. She also shows the kids that decorating your eye patch to make it unique is a great idea. The puppets show her lots of fun things to do while patching.

It?s a great educational tool to help win the battle of patching with your child. There are also 4 songs on the DVD including "The Eye Patch Rap" and our favorite "The Bjort Bop" which "The Bjorts" sing together. Your child will laugh and sing their way through patching with this DVD.

Prevent Blindness America lists the DVD as a useful resource for patching children with Amblyopia. It is also the recipient of a 2005 telly award. Visit our website at http://www.bjortandcompany.com for more information.

PREGNANCYPLANET.NET is one of the most comprehensive websites over the internet that provides its users with all the information they need related to pregnancy. This recently launched website provides free pregnancy information to anyone who visits this website. When a couple hears the news that they are going to have a baby they find themselves both excited as well as getting worried about many factors like what will happen during the pregnancy, how the baby will be born, how much will a hospital cost and many other such questions. PREGNANCYPLANET.NET provides information related to all these and many other issues that a couple will face during and after pregnancy.

There are many other useful features offered by PREGNANCYPLANET.NET. One worth mentioning is the pregnancy calculator. This tool is ideal for those who want to know the expected date of delivery of the baby. Using this tool is also quite easy as the expecting mother will only need to enter the last date of which she had the period. Using a predetermined formula the pregnancy calculator will give the expected date of delivery.

Advices and tips are always welcomed by everyone during pregnancy. Whether you are pregnant for the first time or the third your experience will prove to you that each time is different them before and thus you will need to take care of yourself differently. PREGNANCYPLANET.NET provides you healthy pregnancy tips, online pregnancy guides, pregnancy advices etc. Tips and advices are also published on this website related to parenting. Everyone knows that parenting is much difficult then pregnancy and thus special care needs to be taken when raising a child. PREGNANCYPLANET.NET also has a Parenting Community which allows parents to communicate with each other, discuss problems, swap tricks and much more. Based on information gather from this community and other such resources PREGNANCYPLANET.NET provides its users with lots of parenting tips.

Is your younger teenage daughter struggling with low self-esteem because her breasts aren't developing fast enough? Perhaps your older teenager is unhappy with small or asymmetrical breasts and fears they will never change. In today's society, with so much peer pressure about looks and sexuality, and so many superficial rewards available to the 'beautiful people', it's no surprise that teens are demanding breast augmentation surgery at younger and younger ages.

But experts warn that breast implants may be a permanent solution to a temporary problem, since most teen issues with breast size and shape are resolved as the girl matures. And, whereas most adults choose plastic surgery to stand out among their peers, teenagers ask for these procedures because they want to fit in. It's important to talk honestly with your teen to find out what they're really thinking.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, cosmetic surgeons performed 3,841 breast augmentation procedures on teenagers in 2003, a 24% jump from 2002. The Society recommends the surgery for females 18 years of age and older and cautions that breast augmentation surgery for teens is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

The downside

? The surgery itself carries risk, especially from the anesthesia
? Additional surgery may be necessary within 5-10 years
? Some women experience breast pain or hardness and nipple numbness
? Breast implants do not last a lifetime
? Removal of the implants may cause dimpling, wrinkling or puckering of breast tissue
? Health insurance does not cover cosmetic procedures and may not cover corrective surgery post-implant.
? Breast implants may interfere with mammography

While breast augmentation may indeed be a viable option for some young women, it is crucial that a reputable cosmetic surgeon takes extra time to meet with and counsel the teenager and her parents. Breasts do continue to develop well into the woman's early twenties, making it nearly impossible to determine whether the teenager really Is your younger teenage daughter struggling with low self-esteem because her breasts aren't developing fast enough? Perhaps your older teenager is unhappy with small or asymmetrical breasts and fears they will never change. In today's society, with so much peer pressure about looks and sexuality, and so many superficial rewards available to the 'beautiful people', it's no surprise that teens are demanding breast augmentation surgery at younger and younger ages.

But experts warn that breast implants may be a permanent solution to a temporary problem, since most teen issues with breast size and shape are resolved as the girl matures. And, whereas most adults choose plastic surgery to stand out among their peers, teenagers ask for these procedures because they want to fit in. It's important to talk honestly with your teen to find out what they're really thinking.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, cosmetic surgeons performed 3,841 breast augmentation procedures on teenagers in 2003, a 24% jump from 2002. The Society recommends the surgery for females 18 years of age and older and cautions that breast augmentation surgery for teens is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

The downside

? The surgery itself carries risk, especially from the anesthesia
? Additional surgery may be necessary within 5-10 years
? Some women experience breast pain or hardness and nipple numbness
? Breast implants do not last a lifetime
? Removal of the implants may cause dimpling, wrinkling or puckering of breast tissue
? Health insurance does not cover cosmetic procedures and may not cover corrective surgery post-implant.
? Breast implants may interfere with mammography

While breast augmentation may indeed be a viable option for some young women, it is crucial that a reputable cosmetic surgeon takes extra time to meet with and counsel the teenager and her parents. Breasts do continue to develop well into the woman's early twenties, making it nearly impossible to determine whether the teenager really needs breast augmentation.

Making the best of it

After consulting with a qualified plastic surgeon, you may have decided plastic surgery is right for your teen. How can you benefit the most from the experience?

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons offers these tips for a rewarding outcome:
? The teenager must initiate the request. Parental support is important, but the teens own desire for surgical improvement must be something they truly want and have wanted consistently over a long period of time.
? The teenager must have realistic goals, appreciating the benefits and limitations of the surgery, and avoiding the fantasy that her whole life will magically change because of it.
? The teenager must demonstrate sufficient maturity. Breast augmentation surgery is painful and there are rules of recovery that must be strictly followed.
? Teens who are prone to riding the emotional roller coaster or who abuse drugs and alcohol or are being treated for clinical depression are poor candidates for surgery.

The most important part of choosing to go forward with cosmetic surgery is the surgeon you choose. He or she must be board-certified in plastic surgery and have hospital operating privileges despite the fact that most cosmetic procedures are done in the surgeon's office.

It's very important for teens and parents to discuss the procedure itself, the costs, the recovery period and whether insurance will cover any part of it. No matter how unhappy the teen may seem, plastic surgery is surgery, with all its inherent risks and complications, and is not something to be rushed into lightly.

Pat Montgomery is a business owner, author, parent and grandparent who offers a loving, common sense approach to parenting. Pat's book, Now You Know What I Know: Parenting Wisdom of a Grandmother offers great advice for parents and grandparents from her experiences raising her three children as a single mom. In one review, it was described in the following way: "Montgomery offers pearls of parenting wisdom in an easy conversational style that is punctuated with real-life examples, grace, and humor." Parents Rule! is designed for couples and individuals from the time you think you might want to be a parent all the way through being a grandparent. Pat believes that all parents need timely information and frequent encouragement for the amazingly wonderful and difficult job of being a parent. That is what Parents Rule! is all about, offering parents a place where you can receive the information you need and the understanding you crave. If you are a parent, you should listen to this show.

She has had guests from all sorts of backgrounds. Go to http://www.radiosandysprings.com to check out all of Pat's old shows like "Raising Children Overseas," "The Disney World Trip," and she even special guests like Lesa Day.

Every Thursday afternoons at 2PM join Pat with Parents Rule at AM 1620 in the Sandy Springs Community or at http://www.radiosandysprings.com all around the world.

America - a country founded on principles of individual freedom, by strong-principled men and women who fought to create a social structure in which citizens could choose their religions and their own ways of life.

Some people may consider that the American way of life is under attack by political or economic factors. This may or may not be true - but one thing is certain: America and Americans are under concerted attack by those who manufacture, smuggle, distribute and sell drugs of abuse. This is so true that there is no corner of this great country in which illicit drug use or abuse of prescription drugs cannot be found.

Families who move from cities to suburbs or from suburbs to rural areas simply trade one profile of drug abuse for another. Instead of the presence of heroin dealers in an inner city neighborhood, a suburban mom now faces the threat of addictive prescription painkillers that are readily available in her children's high school. Instead of the threat of powder or crack cocaine found in a metropolitan area, a family may face an even greater danger from the crystal meth available in a seemingly-pristine rural area. Crystal meth is a smokable form of methamphetamine with an even higher addictiveness.

The truth is that the drug epidemic now posing a threat to us all is not a new problem. Back in the 1960s as drug use in America hit a new plateau of acceptability, an early anti-drug crusader American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "The acceleration of widespread use of drugs such as LSD, heroin, cocaine, 'angel dust,' marijuana and a long list of others has contributed heavily to a debilitated society. The drug scene is worldwide. It is swimming in blood and human misery." It was this observation and grave concern that motivated Mr. Hubbard to spend the better part of the next twenty years researching effective solutions to drug addiction.

As the drug epidemic began to find its way from the big cities to suburbs and rural communities, the problem met so little opposition as to grow unchecked. This occurred because smaller communities did not have an adequate tax base to hire and train sufficient numbers of law enforcement officers to detect and arrest the dealers. The limited resources of small towns also meant fewer and smaller drug treatment programs, fewer trained substance abuse professionals or school nurses.

In the past decade, more federal funds have become available to help suburban and small town America address the drug problem. But in fact, there's no pot of money unlimited enough to provide adequate drug enforcement, judicial, treatment and rehabilitation in every urban, suburban and rural area of this country that needs it. The numbers of drug users and addicts are simply too huge. In 2006, more than twenty million Americans ages 12 and older were current users of illicit drugs. More than 22 million people were classified with substance dependence or abuse, which meant that they were either addicted to drugs or alcohol or used enough of the substance to damage their lives.
Waiting for a federal handout will never be the solution. What CAN we do to protect our homeland from the curse of substance abuse?

There is actually a great deal that can be done to improve this scene. In this editorial series, we will arm you with information that can give you tools to impact the drug problem in your home or community. This is a fight that concerns us all. If communities are educated on drug abuse and band together in a united effort, we can be triumphant in this battle and so preserve the way of life we hold so dear.

In response to the growing need for information, VegasKids.Info was launched to help parents plan their trip with kids to Las Vegas. The website carefully rates and reviews hundreds of attractions and sites such as amusement parks, recreational parks, shows, museums, thrill rides, tours, hotels, and restaurants from the parents' and kids' perspective. The website also provides a summary table with several criteria to help parents make a quick and informed decision in choosing the best attractions for their kids in Las Vegas. The table criteria include fields such as minimum and recommended age, distance from the strip, attraction duration, schedule, fun value, and educational value.

Once upon a time things may have been easier for difficult questions. Cemetery plots were things that were handed down through generations of families. However with this constant moving for a better job or due to the economic depression we as Americans are finding it harder to stay put.

Here is an example of how Buy and Sell cemetery plots can help you. If your family has moved from Vermont and you don't want to keep your family burial plot. What are your choices? Sure you can place an ad in the newspaper but like everything else in newspapers it will be washed in between real estate for sale or a car for sale. The importance of this transaction going through for you and your peace of mind is how the team of customer service representatives can make a difference in your transactions.

I am sure it's no surprise to anyone who has had to face a family member dying that the choices are vast. The costs are growing exponentially within the industry. Some times looking for a cemetery plot is an arduous task. At Buy and Sell cemetery plots things couldn't be any easier. They have a listing of every city every state including every cemetery name there is. These are costs that other business will charge you the consumer for. Whether it's by paying a fee for a listing or joining their group in order to get this information.

This is how they differ. The people at Buy and Sell cemetery plots on the Internet will provide the consumer a full service database of all their listing. They connect the dots from reaching agreements of buying or selling your cemetery plot. They take the hassle of legal contracts to making sure the deed to sell your cemetery plot is verified.