Family Musings

Some of you may remember the essay my husband wrote last year about the naming of our daughter. A few months ago, he sent me the same essay in a different format. I've tweaked it a little more and would like to share it with you. Just click on the image above to see it larger. I would love to have this printed in color so I can frame it and hang in my daughter's room. Some fun things to turn into a Wordle might be A list of your students for classroom teachers, Your favorite quote, A Psalm from the Bible, The names of all of your family members, A famous speech, The text of your child's favorite poem, or Random news stories. If you make your own Wordle, let me know so I can come check it out. It is a lot of fun to play with all of the different options. Among other things, you can change the colors, word orientation, font, background color, and even put the words in alphabetical order.

For my birthday I received a copy of Hello Cupcake . It is an inspiring book that shows even lame cake decorators like myself, how to make cutesy cupcakes. Since I have been hanging out with my family this week, Michelle (my sister-in-law) and I decided to make some owl cupcakes in honor of Halloween. They taste as yummy as they are cute (and for the record, I think they are super cute!) Doesn't this cupcake look wise beyond her years? Making them wasn't incredibly difficult. We frosted the tops of the cupcakes and then split open Oreo cookies for the eyes. Junior Mints filled in for the pupils and the beaks were made of banana Runts. We also sawed the other half of the Oreos to use as the owl's eyebrows and then covered them with frosting. My piping technique needs some more practice, but you still get the gist of what these are supposed to be. These weren't difficult to make at all, but we might have overdone it a bit by making 45 of them! We managed to get two of the...

Tess is back with another homeschooling product review! ************************************ Here I am again with another review that The Old Schoolhouse magazine has set me up to do. I think this particular review would be something a parent of a preschooler to a college student might find interesting. I have learned about a site, Helpme2teach.com , that could definitely give any home schooling family the peace of mind and confidence they need to know that their children are accessing sites that are safe and filled with valuable information they need to help them learn. Here is a website that claims to have 2000 plus safe educational links that are suitable for children, parents and teachers. I say “claims” not in a bad way but just that I can’t sit down and count them. We are all familiar with how to surf the internet for information that we need. If you are anything like me then you definitely know how to search for that hidden gem that you know will give your child the “A HA” mo...

My family calls me the CVS Queen. Let me show you why. Pictured: 4 Colgate toothpastes, 6 G2 flavored water, 1 32-oz Propel, 3 bars of beauty soap, 4 bags of tootsie rolls, 1 Tylenol Rapid Release, 1 dye-free Children's Mortin, 2 bath poufs, 4 cans of Progresso Light Soup, 2 Blade Body Sprays, 1 box of Just For Men (which comes with an $8 rebate) and 2 travel size Christophe Products. Not pictured are 2 more bags of Tootsie Rolls, and 2 Reinventing Beauty magazines. Would you believe that I only paid $11.09 out of pocket for ALL of this?? My receipts say the retail value of it all is $71.43. Plus, on top of that ridiculously low price, they paid me another $13.69 in ECBs ( Extra Care Bucks ) just to take this stuff out of their store. That means, I netted $2.60 this week! I'd say that covered my gas for the three trips I made, but I walked to CVS 2 of those times. (Now aren't you even more impressed with my frugality?) And I still have an $8 rebate to submit, which means I ...

I often find lots of giveaways from other bloggers that I want to share with you. This one I am sharing just because the dress the blogger is giving away is utterly amazing! You have to at least go over and check out the dress, even if you don't enter. Marie-Therese Gown Giveaway

Some people want to label me as a member of Generation X. And, now, someone wants to label me as a member of Generation Huggies. What? Well, Huggies were first introduced to parents 30 years ago, about the time I was born. I have no idea if my mom used Huggies on my sweet bottom, but I know that they are the preferred diaper for my daughter's tiny bottom. Several months ago, I discovered that they stayed with her better when she was moving around and more importantly, could hold all of her nighttime wetness without leaking onto her pajamas or bed sheet. To celebrate 30 years of Huggies baby-love, they have created Generation Huggies , a website, contest, and sweepstakes all in one! The contest is a way for moms to reflect on what motherhood has meant to them. I viewed several of the videos already submitted and loved to see mom, just like me, talking about how motherhood had changed them. It is clear that Huggies will be choosing real moms for their national ad campaign. If you...

Ahhh... natural. It seems that natural is the magic word when it comes to consumers these days. We are all looking for those products that keep our family safe and allow us to claim a shade of green as our own. Personally, I started my rode towards greenness in earnest about a year and a half ago. Sure, I sorted my recyclables and put the ubiquitous yellow bin at the end of my driveway. But that was about it. Then, I was on vacation and found this over-sized canvas grocery bags. I bought 4 of them and never looked back. It is rare for me to forget my grocery bags and I feel good when I use them. I have acquired a few more since then and have them stashed every where - under my seat in the car, in the stroller basket, and around the house. At some point after Charlotte was born, I considered using flannel cloth wipes instead of toilet paper, but my husband absolutely refused. So, we compromised. I bought a set of white cloth napkins at the thrift store, and we gave up paper towels. That...

Thanks to Peter Plum of VeggieTales Review for tagging me for this meme. My family knows I am not really a pet person, so this should be interesting. (If you are not sure what a meme is, then check out The Daily Meme for a definition.) 1. What is the first pet your remember? A long-eared rabbit named Honey. 2. How many different kinds of pets have you owned? Um, 2. Honey and a bichon frise named Alex that I shared with my brother. RIP 3. What was your strangest pet? No strange pets for me, as I'm not really a pet person. 4. What is your dream pet? The one that doesn't need to be taken out for potty duty and cleans up after his self. 5. What is your nightmare pet? Any pet that doesn't come with someone else to take care of it. 6. Your Best/funniest pet story. Alex, the bichon, was a Christmas gift when I was in the 6th grade. My parents had picked him up on Christmas Eve so that we would get him first thing the next morning. The only problem was, he li...

I haven't had a lot of time to enter blog giveaways as usual, mostly due to helping Bruce grade his student's papers. But finally, I took some time this week to enter some that looked interesting, and I liked the ones below so much that I am sharing them with you - all to earn extra entries! Momma In Flip Flops has a smorgasboard of a giveaway this week. Have you ever heard of The Spotted Box ? I hadn't, until Andrea shared it with us. I was surprised to see how many items they fit in each box, and from so many different companies. Plus, all of the companies seem to be small businesses, particularly those set up on Etsy. I think my favorite company this month is Felt Hungry . It looks live winning this giveaway might be the only way to get a box this month too! When I checked on the 15th at 9:15 pm, the October boxes were already sold out! Do you want a blog make-over? Then, check out RS Designs ! They are giving away a $60 credit over at Sisterly Savings (who was recently...

Yesterday might have been Blog Action Day , but today is World Food Day . I had intended to address the issue of poverty for Blog Action Day, but then I read this post. The author pretty much summed up my own thoughts on the matter, and way more succinctly than I ever could. So, if you want to know how I feel about the relative importance of poverty - go read his post. While World Food Day is a yearly event sponsored by the United Nations and NGOs around the world, I want to focus more on what Christians can do to alleviate the food problems that our world experiences. First, if you are a member of a Southern Baptist Church, a portion of your offerings are given to the Cooperative Program, which has a World Hunger fund . The money in this fund is "available to Southern Baptist missionaries to meet food-related needs such as assisting people with receiving food, buying food, growing food and/or using food properly." What I think is particularly important to note about this fu...

Charlotte has had fun playing with a new toy this week, an Aquadoodle Draw ‘N Doodle Mat . When I received it for review, I was really surprised by how large it was. She could sit on it and still have plenty of room for "drawing." What I especially like about it though, is that the mat is mess-free! Charlotte can draw to her hearts content, and I don't have to worry about her coloring on her clothes or the carpet. All I have to do is fill the "magic pen" with water and then let her at the mat. The large fabric doodle mat works with the water to reveal her designs. Mostly that consists of scribbles and dots right now. The drawings disappear as they dry, allowing for hours of no-mess fun. I especially like the "how-to" doodles along the edges. It gives this art handicapped mom some ideas for entertaining her daughter. They even sell accessories like stamps and wide brushes on Amazon. The other cool water toy we received is the Bath Blizzard . This fun, c...

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Kind of. I dove back into Lies Women Believe and am glad I did. It always amazes me (even though it shouldn't) how God's timing is perfect. The first lie I addressed this week was "I have my rights" (pg 73.) This is definitely a lie I believe. I believed that "if any of [my] rights are violated, [I] have a right to protest." That is kind of what happened with my recent church situation. I believed that my right to be heard out was violated. Saying this doesn't make my opinion less valid or that the pastor shouldn't have been willing to talk to me. But it does mean that I went about sharing my opinion in the wrong way. I was like Jonah and Ninevah. My "emotions were controlled by whether or not [I] thought [my] rights were being fulfilled." That is how Satan got me to lose focus on my study for two weeks. Now though, I have let go of the situation. I prayed that God would give me a peace ...

On Wednesday, instead of going to story time at the library, we met up with our friend Jackie, and her son Cayman for some quality time feeding stale bread to ducks and some meandering around the nearest pumpkin patch. I took over 130 pictures and then pared it down to about 100. It was extra tough trying to choose the cutest pictures to share. Charlotte is so adorable I just can't help going a little overboard when I pick up the camera. This trip to feed the ducks was the first time I took her out of the stroller. I've always been worried about the ducks being too aggressive or trying to keep her out of the lake. It was definitely a new experience for her - she stood in the same spot for about 2 whole minutes, not knowing what to make of her new lakeside freedom. Finally though, she got moving and began to investigate what was on the ground. And then, she was off! She wandered all around our little area, going back and forth between a big tree and her stroller. Eventually thou...

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Charlotte slept for 10 straight hours last night. No, that isn't a type, I mean to put the 1 in front of the 0 to make the number ten. I could hardly believe it myself, but it is true. I loved being able to sleep from about 10:30 pm until 5:30 am. That is more continuous sleep than ever in the last ~15 months. I hope this continues for a long, long time. Right now, she nurses right before going to sleep and then again in the early morning (between 4-5 am). My plan, once she sleeps really well for an entire week, is to switch her bedtime nursing session to before bath time. I'd really love for her to be able to go to sleep without nursing. Then, Bruce and I could go out in the evening more often and leave her with her grandparents. (I'm not ready for a random babysitter yet. And why should I, when G-ma loves to spend time with Charlotte?) So.... I am one happy, and very well-rested momma today. I may even be back with a new video blog soon...

Last Sunday (yes, we skipped church), we visited Sea World with my family. It was a lot of fun and made even better by the fact that Bruce gets in free for an entire year because he is a teacher. I was able to get a 12-month pass as well for less than $100. It includes free parking and 10% off in-park purchases. But, enough about our deal... onto the pictures! Yeah! It's the sting rays! This was the first animal we visited and clearly, Charlotte was excited. Charlotte is a great walker and it really isn't fair to make her sit in her stroller all day, so G-ma bought her a Goldbug backpack that also has a tether for me to keep her close by. It was wonderful to be able to let her loose a little and it allowed her to get closer to the action - but not too close! Part of being on the move means climbing onto every possible surface. She didn't quite make it onto this ledge, but it sure was cute to see her try! Once I finally got her settled up there, she enjoyed watching the lar...

I love to read. It used to be, pre-Charlotte, that I could read a decent sized book in just a day or two. Once she came along, I took to reading more on-line though since I couldn't hold a book and a nursing baby at the same time. That was when I discovered blogging. It never really occurred to me though, that I could read a book on my computer. I had downloaded some cook books in PDF format, but never novels or non-fiction. Now though, as e-books grow in popularity, there are so many titles available. And, just like in the real world, there are niche publishers that focus on special topics - even green living. Think about it, doesn't an e-book publisher that focuses on environmental issues make sense? Of course it does. EcoBrain is a relatively new e-book publisher that does just that, and then some. They even have an Environmental Mission Statement ! They publish e-books about the environment , sustainable living , outdoor activities , and even the business of being green. I...

Tess is back giving homeschooling parents another great tool for staying at the top of their game. ****************************************** Here I am again, Jennifer’s guest blogger about all that home schooling stuff. Please take a moment and let me tell you about this great magazine. I am a fairly new subscriber to “The Old Schoolhouse” magazine but I am not new to home schooling. My family is now in its 8th year of home schooling. This magazine gives me a feeling of staying current. I love reading about the new products, the political issues that we home schooling families face, and about the success stories as well as the stories of trials faced by parents that are trying to do what they believe is right for their families. With this being said, I wanted to tell you all about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Fall Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical gifts (not downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of the Old Schoolhouse Magazine tha...

Okay, I'm really not so an al retentive that I counted 175 nights from the first time we tried Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution, but we are some where in the ball park with that number. I figured since there hadn't been an update since night 31, it was time for one, especially considering that we've finally made some progress. For the last three nights, Charlotte has slept 6 hours straight, without waking up and asking for her Momma's Milk. You could say that I am thrilled. I'll say that I am well-rested. I haven't been able to get that much straight sleep since BEFORE Charlotte was born and I was getting up to use the potty 2 times a night. What made this sudden change? I don't know. A switch just flipped in her brain, she gave up her 11 pm nursing session and now loves sleep more than milk. Can I tell you that our mornings and afternoons are happier too? They are. I love this little creature I call my daughter. She is suddenly more affectiona...