Family Musings

After the birth of my son nearly three years ago I had to rearrange my priorities and writing for this little corner of the internet was set aside. I joked for a while that I was a semi-retired blogger but the truth is I've been nearly silent for three years.  However, I still have a voice and plenty of things to say.  This week I am attending the moms meet Summit in San Diego, California and will be looking for inspiration and connections to move the blog forward once again.  I look forward to sharing my life again with all of you and making the many new friends that come with being part of the blogging community.

One more recap before 2012 marches on... here are the most popular posts on Family Musings in 2011 that were not some sort of review or giveaway: Keeping Life Real & Honest : In which I share about my personal struggle with depression and the steps I was taking to make a better life for myself and my family 8 Tips for Occupying Kids in the Car : Inspired by a FB post from MOPS Int'l, I shared how I manage our car time without losing my sanity Why We Chose Sonlight : This was an important post for me in clarifying why our family chose this homeschool curriculum for our preschooler My Mother's Day Gift to My Mother : Every mother loves a good gift, and my mom loved this one! 30 Day Photo Challenge : This series held many of my most popular posts of 2011. Too bad I didn't finish it. Maybe that will be one of my blogging goals for 2012. Acting Out Bible Stories: Jonah & the Whale : Want a fun way to help your children remember Bible stories, then thank my husband...

Today, instead of reading my rambles on here, you can read them over at Inside That Head of Mine . Angela is the blogger over there and she interviewed me for the first in her series of blogger interviews. I think she asked some great questions and I had a fun time answering them. Learn all about what inspires me as a blogger. If you like what you read, leave her some comment love when you visit. Then come back and do the same thing here!

A recent post by Joy at Church Planting Confessions , sparked an idea to share with you how I manage my blog reading time. I've had to become more intentional with my online time recently for lots of reasons, including my desire to spend more time with my family and declutter my home. The main tool I use to manage my blog reading is Google Reader. Every blog I read is given a label and categorized by the type of blog it is. Some of my categories include 'Friends' (real life friends who blog), 'Moms' (other mom blogs that I find interesting), 'Church' blogs (from pastors and ministries I respect), 'Missions' (written by missionary moms), 'Miscellaneous' (crafts, fashion, or other random topics), and 'Homeschooling'. I read my friend's blogs first to keep up with their lives, even if I see them regularly. It helps us get into deeper conversations when we are together. Reading my friend's blogs is also a way to help my childr...

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to Tara of Pip Designs , my fabulous blog designer, for my photo update. The picture was taken by Karissa of K Barber Photography, a Lakeland family photographer . Also, the Twitter button link has been fixed and I'll try to make it a 2012 resolution to add some new recipes to my new 'Recipes' tab. Maybe I'll share the Giada De Laurentiis recipe that I tried this week. It was awesome! What is your favorite Family Musings recipe ?

I can hardly believe that this post is number 1,000. That's a lot of writing y'all! My very first post was on Friday the 13th in April, 2007. But I love my second post even better because it has a picture of my mom the moment she realized she was going to be a grandmother . Over the years I've shared lots of stories, reviews, and even thrown in giveaways to keep it fun. Here are some interesting statistics: 98 review posts written 72 giveaways 13 Thursday Thirteen posts 54 posts about my faith 201 posts about Charlotte Moon 50 posts about Mary Mitchell and lots of other miscellaneous posts and the randomness that is life! I've really enjoyed writing at Family Musings even if sometimes I do get in over my head with lots of product reviews to write. (I currently have several in the queue, just trying to space them out some.) This blog has also had a lot of different outfits. Some of them better than others of course... and as a way to celebrate publishing 1...

While traveling through blog land, I came across a photo challenge that I think I can accomplish. It's only 30 days long and there is a theme for each day. (HT: Shoofly Pie & Grits ) For Day 1 I am to post a photo of myself and share 15 facts. I have to include one with someone else in it since I am the family photographer you'll rarely find me in front of the camera. Now for my 15 facts: Purple is my favorite color. I was once a radio DJ. I collect churches. I wish I had the discipline and time to improve my photography. Generally speaking, I do not like hanging out with a bunch of kids. I am scared to go back to teaching for fear I won't work for someone as awesome as my last principal or with people as amazing as those at FPMSH. I wish I had more time to pour into networking with other bloggers. I really, really, really want to go to the 2011 MOPS convention in Nashville. Anyone want to sponsor me? I'm addicted to Facebook, but still don't quite ...

I don't get to attend fancy blogging conferences. I don't have a sponsor willing to pay my airfare to cool cities like Nashville. And I know I'm not the only one. So I want to know, other than attending big conferences - What works for you when it comes to networking with other mom bloggers and increasing your community and influence. Linked up at We are THAT Family WFMW .

I was looking around at the statistics for my site and thought it would be interesting to share the ten posts that had the most page views in 2010. Giving Birth  - I suppose everyone loves a good birth story. Or that is how it would seem, but this post is mostly about breastfeeding. I hadn't even given birth to my first daughter yet. And I mentioned Victoria's Secret. So it gets a lot of hits from Google. Nearly 2000 last year alone. Originally published: May 2007 My Legs Hurt - What a good post to be reminded of! My feet are starting to hurt again a lot and I really am doing something about it. Only this time I am NOT pregnant! Originally published: June 2007 I Got Purple Highlights - Some of the search strings that bring people to this post include references to 28 or 30 being too old for purple highlights. I don't think so! Originally published: July 2010 Easy-Peasy Dehydrated Apples - I love that this post gets so much attention. This is one of my favorite thing...

I am testing a new comment system and want to know if it worked. Feel free to ignore this post, or try to leave a comment to let me know if it worked.

I have been suffering from a serious case of blogger burnout. It is the only thing that could explain my near 6 week absence from Family Musings. In August, I began writing for some other people and then my blog became all about obligations and I finally rebelled against my own self-imposed obligations outside writing commitments and took a break. But I missed this blog. I missed sharing funny stories about Charlotte and Mary. (And there have been some good ones recently.) I missed sharing my amateur photography with you. I missed getting honest to goodness real feedback from my friends. So, I'm back. I've got some stories and pictures to share. And I also have some review obligations to follow through on. Hopefully you'll enjoy the mix, get a good chuckle from Charlotte's antics, and maybe even discover a new product or company.

I like to comment on my friends blogs. I also like to enter giveaways on blogs. But I hate entering CAPTCHA codes. Sometimes they are annoyingly hard to read. And when I can't get it right after 2 tries, I just give up and don't leave a comment. This is the text I saw on a recent CAPTCHA: As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments. It makes me wonder, how many automated programs are out there trying to comment on stories about potty training or the newest birthday giveaway. Do programmers really go out of their way to write software to SPAM us? I've had CAPTCHA turned off on my own blog for at least a year. And I have also deleted the rel=nofollow code. And I only get a few SPAM comments a week. I want to challenge other mom bloggers to change their CAPTCHA settings for 2 weeks to see what kind of difference it makes. If SPAM reaches an unacceptable l...

I've come across a really neat way that one blogger found to help other bloggers out and I want to take a moment to share it with you. The owner of Ten Talents wants to help us connect with one another by sharing links. They can be links to giveaways that you want more entries on, links to your Facebook page, or requests for more Google Friend Connect followers. This is beautiful in it's simplicity. If this is your first time linking up with us on This for That, please READ THIS POST for more information! Post your "need" in the McLinky by writing about what you need and linking to where others can fulfill that need.  Meet the need of the 3 ppl DIRECTLY ABOVE your link, AND THEN YOU ARE DONE! If you want more than 3 ppl to help you out, then wait a bit, come back later and enter your need again (just make sure you AGAIN help out the 3 ppl DIRECTLY ABOVE you).  The idea is that you help out 3 ppl and 3 ppl help you out...AND you don't have to wonde...

... to tell you why I need a blog makeover. Long time readers will know that this blog has worn many different fashions.   Some nicer than others to be sure. At one point, I even  had a really cool professional blog design, but then, that company went under and my awesome blog design went away with their image hosting. :( [Insert really cool blue silhouette of girl holding a balloon here] And I've been floundering for several months since Mary was born because my old blog design didn't include her, just Charlotte. I finally got tired of not seeing both my daughters on my page and now, I'm just stuck with this simple, standard Blogger template. The colors are great, but a gazillion other people have the same design! And now my button doesn't match my blog. I am in major need of a blog makeover that reflects my family, passions, style idiom, and favorite colors! My style idiom is very well defined. I do my best to make sure my home and my personal wardrobe...

My life is wonderful! There are few things I would change about it. Even when it gets kind of crazy busy and I need to spend my relaxation time watching the Food Network instead of blogging. Then, you throw in a 3 day hospital visit for my mom (she's okay, thanks for asking), the pending arrival of an exchange student (who is staying for 10 months!), and my preparations to leave for another 3 1/2 days to go to the MOPS Convention (the 2nd time in so many weeks that Bruce gets to have solo overnight parenting duties)! Oh, and don't forget the planning for my oldest daughter's 3rd birthday! So much is going on I can hardly decide what to do first! That being said, my birthday series is going to be postponed until next week when I get back from my MOPS Convention. By then, I should have all sorts of other details taken care of and be able to give my full attention to showing you with more than 15 different birthday related giveaways! If you are a vendor participating in that...

For those of you who read my blog solely for stories about Charlotte and Mary (even the ones about potty training ), I wanted to let you know that in a couple of weeks, there will be a pretty big birthday event on this blog. It will focus on toddler/preschooler birthday ideas and so far there are 16 giveaways planned, with more in the pipe waiting for the details to be ironed out. It will roughly run for the first 2 weeks in August, but there will be some Charlotte and Mary stuff in there, because they will be helping me review the products. I need a 3 year old's opinion on some of these things! For those of you who read my blog because you like the stories about my girls AND you like the chance to learn about new products and possibly win free stuff, then stick around! Share it with your friends! Subscribe in a reader or by email (links in the sidebar)! Leave a comment! I really am excited about what is coming up... and I think you should be too! More sneak previews to come!

Did you know I have two daughters? Not from looking at my blog design you didn't. It's sad y'all. Mary turned 10 months old yesterday and I still don't have a new design to reflect the foursome that our family has become.  Seriously, I need to redesign my blog. The task seems huge. I have so many ideas and really no ideas all at the same time. (Ok, that makes sense in my head!) I'd like to know, who did you use for your blog design? I want something simple, that I will still be able to play with and adjust as things change around here. But I don't want to spend a lot of money. Can you help a mom out and point her to some quality redesign companies?

Just wanted to give you a heads up... I've got something big planned for my blog coming up in just a few weeks. And it may or may not have anything to do with a certain toddler's 3rd birthday and presents for my blog readers! Make sure you are subscribed to the RSS feed by clicking one of these links: Subscribe to Family Musings by Email Subscribe in a reader   You'll need to be subscribed to participate!

I'm bad when it comes to remembering birthdays. I get Charlotte and Bruce's birthday mixed up all the time! And they were born almost 30 years apart (well, 29 years and 362 days apart to be exact). So, even though I planned to do some kind of birthday party when my blog reached 2 years old, I forgot. The Baby Brain may be getting worse now that number two is incubating inside of me. But, from my first lame introductory post to my first giveaway ever , from my posts about nursing to my posts about Charlotte's crazy sleep habits , I have loved having this piece of broadband (or dial up if you are old school), to share my life with all of you. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. So to celebrate, enjoy a piece of birthday cake, raise a glass, or hit the little 'x' in the upper right hand corner of your screen... do whatever this little blog inspires you to do! But before you go, make sure to leave a comment what kind of present you would give to Family...

"You're likely not the kind of addict that [the psychiatrist] has seen -- women who don't bathe and abuse drugs to help them stay "up" for more online time. You may have noticed, though, that going online has become an imposing part of your life, which, at the least, means a load or two of laundry goes unwashed (and who cares about that?). " Source: CNN.com I don't use drugs and I don't skip showers just so I can spend more time online. But, maybe, I don't clean the toilets or mop the kitchen floor as often as I should so that I have more time to pursue my online interests. I've been trying to prove to myself lately that my time online is not an obsession or addiction. I even attempted a 7-day fast of the computer to see just how dependent I was on my laptop. And last night, knowing I have very important company coming at the end of the week, I began to place more priority on my household chores than my online chores. After all, my VIP ...