Family Musings

I feel like we hardly stopped this week. We did something neat and fun every day! Monday . Would you believe that we have done so much this week that I can't remember where we went this Monday? I know we did something that morning, but it is escaping me. My excuse - baby brain . I guess I need to start this post at the beginning of the week and add to it daily. Tuesday we visited a new park with our playgroup. It was further away than expected so we got there kind of late, but so did our friend Jackie and her son Cayman. But that was alright because we just stayed later and played longer. We also got to vote on Tuesday. Wednesday was the Kindermusik preview class at the Lake Morton Library. Charlotte did not like sitting in my lap while we sang. I was worried about that, but the teacher, Debbie Mondale, made us feel at ease about her wandering. In the end though, I decided to not join Kindermusik this Fall because I am feeling a bit overscheduled... and I don't want to be one o...

I have several little bits of information to share... Enjoy clicking! ******************************* I was in the Ledger back in April and didn't even know it! No pictures, but I am quoted at the very end. ******************************* I have entered a picture of Charlotte into an amateur photo contest . Would you head over and vote for her as the cutest baby? ****************************** Do you have kids that love to build? K'nex is holding it annual contest to find the most ingenious kids out there. Their will be 3 winners in 3 different age categories, each winning $10,000 for college. Plus, another 7 semi-finalists will be chosen. Boys and girls in the following age categories are invited to enter - 5 to 6-year-olds; 7 to 8-year-olds; and, 9 to 12-year-olds. The prizes are too numerous to list here, so go over to the K'nex website to learn more and enter your budding architect! You can even browse other K'nex creations for some inspiration. The picture to the ...

Yesterday, there was another round of elections in FL. These were mostly local positions we were voting on, but we still went. Remember, all politics is local, right? We took Charlotte with us to vote and this is actually her second polling experience. I posted about her first voting experience here . I know she won't remember these, but by blogging about it, I hope she realizes how important voting is to a healthy democracy. Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com ***************** My new friend Andrea has 2 giveaways on her blog that you should go check out - Little Fit & Boon Bath Toys . Also, I am a featured blogger this week at NewBaby.com . Click over and check it out. This site isn't just for new moms though, but for anyone with kids. NewBaby features content specifically targeted to expectant moms, all the way up to kids who are 4 years old.

I host giveaways and contests because I think it is fun to share new products and books with my readers and because I hope it builds reader loyalty. Since I anticipate that giveaways will become a regular feature of Family Musings, I decided to outline a clear giveaway policy. There is no limit to the number of times you may win. I won't prevent you from winning just because you've won before. Sometimes I will use a random number generator or choose a winner and sometimes I will choose based on other criteria. I will always tell you in the contest announcement which one it will be. You do not need a blog to win, but you have to leave some way for me to contact you. Winners will be contacted via e-mail or in a comment on their blog and if they do not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to another commenter, whom I will choose based on whichever criteria I care for a the moment. Each entry should be left as a separate comment. That means one comment for your first entry, 1...

This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been contacted. My baby girl LOVES yogurt. I try to give her some every morning to go with her fruit and cheerios. I started out buying the Stonyfield Farms yogurt because I wanted to avoid a ton of extra sugar. I have been slowly trying to phase high fructose corn syrup out of our diets and would like to keep it out of Charlotte's from the very beginning. Honestly, I just bought the Stonyfield because I assumed it was the healthiest choice. However, when I was offered a chance to try Yoplait Kids yogurt for free, my frugal self just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I found out that Yoplait Kids uses no artificial sweeteners or flavors, plus it has "25% less sugar than the leading kid's yogurt." (I wasn't able to verify that statement, but it came with the marketing materials for the prize pack.) This morning, Charlotte tried the Banana Yoplait Kids yogurt and really liked it. She even let me feed her almost the ent...

Have you ever had one of those days when you felt like a complete failure? You know, nothing seems to go right, no matter how hard you try? Ever had one of those weeks? Yeah, me too. I recently had a day like that and at the end of it, all I could do is cry. I knew deep in my hard that my problems that day had been caused by my prideful heart. I didn't want to repent. I didn't want to ask for forgiveness. I wanted so badly to be right, for the people I had wronged to come to me and accept responsibility for my actions towards them. You know what? It didn't happen. You know why? Because I was the one that was wrong. Did they have their own sin? Possibly. But it wasn't for me to deal with or confront. I had to look into my mirror and suck it up and own up to my negative attitude, my unkind words, and my hasty reactions. I had planned to meditate on John 3.17 this week. The church we have been attending has used this as their adult memory verse for the month so I've be...

This week we had a blast! Charlotte and I went to the gymnastics studio again , only this time I remembered the camera! And, then I figured out how to use One True Media to edit the videos so I could share this with you: Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com We also had fun visiting Explorations V, a children's museum in downtown Lakeland. Charlotte finally got to paint! They do art projects on Fridays and this week was foam painting. She didn't eat too much of it, and got cranky when I took the paint brushes from her, but I think we might have a budding artist on our hands. I didn't think to take my camera with me, so this photo of her painting will have to do. I will confess that I made the purple moon and the red C. The rest though, was all Charlotte. She even mixed the blue and yellow paint to make the green. I was impressed with how easily she cleaned up too. The paint was made with glue, shaving cream, and tempera paint and came off her face with just a wipe ...