Christmas is a time of hope and expectations.  It is my hope that in the following days all of your hopes and expectations become a reality in your lives. Lives are depending on us and because they are I am sending you a note of hope, joy, and peace that passes all understanding. I am so proud to be part of your team. As a foster parent of Angels of Grace Foster Family Agency, I want you to know that we are here to support and protect you as you respond to the calling in your lives to parent foster children. As the Director of Angels of Grace Foster Family Agency, it is my privilege to lead this agency with my heart, while at the same time making sure that we are all operating in compliance with the regulations required by the State of California Community Care Licensing.  It is not my intent to make our families feel uncomfortable with when requesting that we comply with state regulations in order to operate in excellence. I do, however, expect us to support each other. In order to provide the best service possible to our foster children, it is important that our foster homes, reports, and the care of our foster children be delivered with high standards. All of you go above and beyond your call of duty and you are a valuable part of our team; we cannot do the great work that we do without you. It is my ultimate desire to be a blessing to you and your family, to encourage you to keep on being a blessing to the foster children that have been entrusted to you. “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25.) Thank you for all of the wonderful work you do. I pray that God richly bless you and your family this Christmas, and that you have a prosperous new year. Love always,    Lisa Casarez, MSW
	In This Issue
	Message From Lisa
	Getting to Know Us
	Safe and Secure
	Safety Resource Websites
	30 Ways to Show Kids You Care
	Types of Coughs
	Home Treatment for Coughs
	Recognizing Symptoms of Illness for Immediate Action
	Recipes for Kids
	Reaching Goals with Charts and Contracts
	Boys Town National Hotline
	Making Friends
	The Fresno Met Reopens
	Grand Opening of Angels of Grace Safe Haven Transition Home

What is Angels of Grace?

Angels of Grace Foster Family Agency is an agency that is providing a place of refuge and healing for foster children. A place where they can receive the nurturing and care that they need from professional social workers and trained foster parents. Every day our foster children are able to draw strength from the human warmth and affection that has frequently been denied to them.

You may also appear personally at:

Angels of Grace FFA

Angels of Grace Foster Family Agency believes in the safe and security of its children placed in our various homes. No matter how busy you get in life, please take a few minutes out of your day to ensure the safety of all children:

• Safety locks should be on all windows, gates, and sliding doors that allows outside access for younger children.
• Lock away all chemicals out of the reach of children.
• Place outlet covers on all reachable outlets around the entire house.
• Install and maintain smoke & carbon monoxide detectors.
• Place corner protectors on all sharp corners of furniture (i.e. coffee and end tables, and counter tops).
• Wrap all excess cords.
• Keep all space heaters out of the reach of children.
• Screw in door stoppers to keep doors from closing and locking.
• Place finger pinch guards on all doors and toy boxes.
• Cabinet locks and drawer latches, appliance knobs, covers & latches, stove & burner guards should be placed throughout the kitchen.
• Place toilet latch, bathtub soft spout cover, non-skid tub mats, and child proof containers throughout the all bathrooms.

Safety Resource Websites

• www.parentingisprevention.org 
• www.mcgruff.org 
• www.safekids.org 
• www.stayingalive.ca 
• www.chp.edu/besafe 
• www.injuryfreezone.com

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30 Ways to Show Kids You Care 

 

         

 

1. Notice them.
2. Smile a lot.
3. Acknowledge them.
4. Learn their name.
5. Seek them out.
6. Remember their birthdays.
7. Ask them about themselves.
8. Look in their eyes when you talk to them.
9. Listen to them.
10. Play with them.
11. Read aloud together.
12. Giggle together.
13. Be nice.
14. Say yes a lot.
15. Tell them their feelings are okay.
16. Set boundaries that keep them safe.
17. Be honest.
18. Be yourself.
19. Listen to their stories.
20. Hug them.
21. Forget your worries sometimes and concentrate only on them.
22. Notice when they’re acting difficult.
23. Present options when they seek your counsel.
24. Play outside together.
25. Surprise them.
26. Stay with them when they’re afraid.
27. Invite them over for juice.
28. Suggest better behaviors when they act out.
29. Feed them when they’re hungry.
30. Delight in their discoveries.

     

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Recipes for Kids

Pretzels         

Prep time: about 30 minutes

 

Ingredients:

 1 tbsp. yeast

1/2 c. warm water

1 tsp. honey

1 1/3 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

Utensils:

Oven (You'll need help from your adult assistant.)

Small bowl

Mixing spoon

Medium-size bowl

Cutting board, sprinkled with flour

Baking sheet, sprayed with nonstick spray

Measuring cups and spoons

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius).
2. Put the yeast in a small bowl with the water and honey. Stir a little, and then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
3. Mix the flour and salt together in a medium-size bowl.
4. After the 5 minutes is up, check on the yeast mixture. It should be bigger than before and a little bubbly. Add this mixture to the flour and salt mixture.
5. Stir everything together. Use a spoon to start then finish with your hands. The dough is ready when it's still a little crumbly and flaky.
6. Put the dough on the cutting board and knead it like you are playing with clay. Knead it into one big ball.
7. Break off a piece of dough that's about the size of a big gumball or super ball. Use your hands to roll it into a skinny snake.
8. Twist the snake into a medium-size pretzel shape, and put it on the cookie sheet. Do this with all the dough, making 12 pretzels.
9. Bake your pretzels for 10 minutes. Let them cool and take a bite!

Serves: 12
Serving Size: 1 Pretzel

Nutritional analysis (per serving):

56 calories

1 g protein

0 g fat

12 g carbohydrate

0 g fiber

0 mg cholesterol

192 mg sodium

2 mg calcium
0.7 mg iron

 

Note: Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used.

Source: http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/pretzel.html

 

 

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Frozen Yogurt Pops  

1. Pour yogurt into paper cups. Fill them almost to the top.
2. Stretch a small piece of plastic wrap across the top of each cup.
3. Using the Popsicle stick, poke a hole in the plastic wrap. Stand the stick straight up in the center of the cup.
4. Put the cups in the freezer until the yogurt is frozen solid.
5. Remove the plastic wrap, peel away the paper cup, and eat your pop!

Serves: 3 to 4
Serving Size: 1 pop

Nutritional analysis (per serving):

127 calories

5 g protein

2 g fat

21 g carbohydrate

0 g fiber

7 mg cholesterol

73 mg sodium

262 mg calcium
0 mg iron

 

Note: Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used.

Suggestions:

If you like, you can make this recipe using plastic ice-pop molds instead of the paper cups and Popsicle sticks.

For a cool-looking snack, fill your cups only halfway with one flavor of yogurt in Step 1. Follow Steps 2, 3, and 4. Remove your pops from the freezer, take off the plastic wrap, and spoon in another flavor of yogurt that's a different color. Put the plastic wrap back on and freeze once more. When your pops are frozen, you'll have two-colored treats!

Source: http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/yogurt_pops.html

 

 

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Parent Health Care Center

 

If your child has a cough, you can try the following treatments:

1. Give your child plenty to drink. This will prevent the mucus from thickening. Hot liquids or soups will ease the soreness and irritation in the chest and can loosen mucus as well.
2. Let your child inhale humidified air (or air that has moisture in it). Water vapor can ease and reduce your child's coughing. This can be done in several ways:
   • Use a cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom
   • Run a warm shower in the bathroom with the door shut. When the room is filled with steam, sit in the bathroom with your child on your lap for approximately 10 minutes. You can read or sing to him so that he will be relaxed.
   • Hang a damp towel in your child's bedroom.
3. If your child has a dry cough or a croup cough, let him inhale cool air. Breathing in cool air will reduce the swelling in the respiratory tract which will then suppress the coughing. You can do this in several ways:
   • Open the window so that your child can inhale cool, humid air. You can also take the child outside.
   • Take your child out for a drive with the car windows open.
   • Let the child inhale the vapor from an open refrigerator or freezer.
4. Avoid exposing a child with a cough to cigarette smoke. This will aggravate the child's discomfort and make the cough worse.
5. A child with a distinct dry cough should avoid exercise. Older children and youths will often notice their cough gets worse during physical activity.
6. You can try giving your child over-the-counter cough medicines, but they are not very effective. There are two types of cough medications:
   • Expectorant cough medicines are supposed to help loosen mucus and can be given for a wet cough.
   • Cough-suppressant medicines inhibit the child's cough reflex and should only be administered in the case of a dry cough that affects sleep at nights. They should not be administered for a wet cough, because the cough is needed in order to expel the mucus, nor should they be given to children under 12 months old.

Children get sick today for various reasons.  Because we are not sure of the immediate cause, one way we can help keep our children healthy is to recognize the need as soon as possible.  You should make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible if your child has any of the following:

• Your child is vomiting or has chest pains.
• You suspect that your child may have asthma or an allergic reaction.
• You suspect that your child has a sinus infection.
• He has had a fever of 100ºF or higher for more than 72 hours.
• He is an infant in between the ages of 1-3 months and has been coughing for more than 72 hours.
• He has been suffering from increasing or persistent coughing for more than 3 weeks.

One effective way to change your child's behavior is to use charts and contracts - agreements between you and your children that spell out what they will receive from you when they behave in certain ways. Privileges are contingent on specific behaviors you want to see from your kids. For example, "When you finish cleaning your room, you may go out and play."

Both charts and contracts have three main parts:

1. Specify the behavior your child needs to change.
2. Specify what privileges can be earned.
3. Specify how long the agreement is in effect.

Source: http://www.boystown.org/parents/tips/reachinggoals.asp

The Boys Town National Hotline is a 24-hour crisis, resource and referral line especially for kids and parents. Trained counselors can respond to your questions every day of the week, 365 days a year. We can help teens and parents with suicide prevention, depression, school issues, parenting troubles, runaways, relationship problems, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, chemical dependency, anger and much more.

Source: http://www.boystown.org/hotline/index.asp

Everyone needs friends. They are a principal source of happiness and hope in our lives. However, the ability to make friends varies from person to person. To some people, making friends is easy, and to others it’s very difficult.

We all have the capacity to make friends. Unfortunately, many people never reach their potential. Making friends is a skill, and the first step in developing that skill is knowing how to get along with others.

People who are good at getting along with others take an interest in what other people like. They learn to develop interests that make them enjoyable to be around. Therefore, the more things that your child knows how to do that involve interacting with other kids, the more opportunities he or she has to make friends.

  

A 14-footTherizinosaurus is posted as the centerpiece of the newly revised Fresno Metropolitan Museum.  After three years of vigorous renovations costing $28 million dollars, the Fresno Met reopened its doors  to the public. It offers new fun and innovative exhibits, paintings, and much more. This is an astounding event for children of all ages, young and old.  Following a great turnout of their grand opening, they have decided to allow 150 days of free admission to all who are interested. Take a trip downtown to the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and explore a world of never-ending adventures.

To find out more about this article “Exhibit tells feathered dinosaurs' story,” written by Felicia Cousart Matlosz / The Fresno Bee on 11/14/08 16:20:58 and other articles posted, please click on the following links below or visit the Fresno bee at http://www.fresnobee.com/:

Museum Event Anything But Quiet, Sedate - Monday Nov 17, 2008

Exhibit Tells Feathered Dinosaurs' Story - Friday Nov 14, 2008

Meet the New Met  - Thursday Nov 13, 2008