Family Musings

The summer months bring out the fountain beverage fiend in me! I can hardly make it on a car trip greater than 45 minutes without wanting to stop for a super cold fountain beverage. Typically, I am not picky about where the drink comes from. I just want it cold. Ice cold. I was getting gas recently and saw that Race Trac was going to sell a reusable cup for $6.99 that came with free refills all summer! (Until September 6th) And Race Trak has crushed ice. Jackpot! Then... to make the deal even cooler, Mom Select  gave me a $10 giftcard to buy my own cup for review. And they also asked me to giveaway a $10 Race Trak giftcard. Now I can shared my crushed ice love. I shouldn't have all the free refills... though I've probably refilled my cup 20 times in the last 14 days! The refill process is super quick so long as the line isn't long. And even then, I've had the cashiers ring me up on someone else's order just to move me along. So, if you like Race Trak, ice cold...

When my brother announced he was moving his family to TN, the women in our family immediately knew we needed to get some family photos taken. Fortunately, I'd recently reconnected with a friend from high school who is a photographer, Abby Blom, and this is some of what we ended up with. Thanks Abby!

Mary has been enjoying herself this week at VBS as well, though she wasn't really interested in getting her picture taken. :)

For Father's Day, I sent Bruce on a 3-day motorcycle trip. Yep. That's right. I'm a good wife. :) And then, while he was gone, I set up an office for him. A private space where he could work on his lesson plans and Bible studies with minimal interruption. Yep. That's right. I'm a great wife. :) Before my head gets too big though, I will say it isn't anything fancy. We don't have a lot of room to work with here so he gets half of our guest room. But it is his. And he can keep his mess stuff behind a closed door. So, while I was busy clearing out what had become a major storage space, this is what Bruce was up to.

Yesterday was Charlotte's first day of VBS ever. I mean real VBS. With teachers and stories and crafts and recreation time and music time. It was so exciting for me and for her too. She even memorized her first verse for the week and remembers it this morning - I am wonderfully made. Psalm 139.14 In front of the building, ready to go in! Settled into her classroom, playing with ponies. The theme this week is Saddle Ridge Ranch. *VBS is Vacation Bible School. Christian churches plan activities for elementary aged kids to enjoy, typically over the course of 3-5 days. Children are divided by grade/age and learn about Jesus from their teachers through stories, games, and songs.

I left teaching the year before one of the coolest things to come to my school ever happened. Fortunately, I was able to live vicariously through my husband when he had a SMART Board installed in his classroom. When MomCentral contacted me about the Smart Love of Learning tour, I decided to share it with you (because I know some of you are teachers, will be teachers, or were teachers) because it was a product I knew I could get behind. Or next to. Or in front of. Because really, you can stand anywhere in your room to use a SmartBoard! But, since I've never actually used one, I asked my wonderful husband to tell you what he liked about it. And before you read this, trust me when I tell you that he gives VERY FEW things a glowing review. :) Teachers in my school district are strongly encouraged to integrate technology in their teaching. Our annual evaluations even include a section just for our use of technology. So, it was a great blessing when my classroom was one of the first e...

Recently, I decided to turn my blog into a Do Follow blog. I thought it would be a nice gesture towards those who faithfully comment. Now, I'd like to extend that favor to the rest of mommy blogdom. So, if you are a mom who blogs and has removed the no-follow tags from your blog, please leave a comment below so I can add you to my master Do Follow Mommy Blog List. Family Musings Work at Home Mom Revolution Freebie Spot Mommy Rubz Belly Baby Babble Lots of Fun Times Three JoniRae You could be next... If you want to help spread the do follow love, please consider adding a link to this list on your own blog. <br> <br/><a href="</span><strong><code>http://www.familymusings.com/2010/06/do-follow-mommy-blogs.html</code></strong><span class="postbody">">Do Follow List<br/> It will look like this - Do Follow List