Family Musings

Bruce wrote a lovely essay about why we chose the name Mary Mitchell for our daughter. Here is that essay represented in a Wordle. I hope they figure out how to turn these into higher resolution documents for printing and framing.

Ten Talents hosts a daily This for That McLinky that allows bloggers to get some help in exchange for helping others. Here are the rules: 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 MckLinky 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 wonder if you left someone hanging because your job is done as soon as you help out the three ppl above you! You can link up as many times as you want! Just a couple of quick points: 1) PLEASE DO NOT link up unless you have time @ the very moment you link up to meet the requests of t...

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...

For a while now Bruce and I have had trouble with Charlotte's eating habits, particularly at dinner. She dawdles and takes her time. We don't like to leave her at the table to eat alone, so it has sometimes meant that every one's meal is drawn out too long. So today, I decided to try something new. I set the timer for 20 minutes and then explained that whatever wasn't done at the end of the time, could be saved for later. I think by making it clear that meal time has its limits, she'll be encouraged to do more eating and less talking. What do you think? Do your children dawdle at the table?  What did you do to solve the problem?

PosePrints.com is unique in the world of customized cards, announcements, and invitations. They allow you to create a cartoon or silhouette version of your little one to adorn your card instead of just relying on stock images.  I had fun playing around with different birthday invites for Mary (since Charlotte already had invitations printed). I was able to email the pose and card I designed to myself to use as a digital invitation for Mary's 1st birthday. It worked perfect for us because we do 1st birthdays pretty low key around here, so there is no need for a printed card. Once I received the email, I was able to forward it to my family as an informal invitation. I think the card would have looked cute printed as well and there is an option to order blank cards to use as thank you notes or to print invitations yourself. One thing I had trouble with the first time I used the site was how to create a baby pose. I could only see the adult female pose. I e-mailed customer service...

Toddlers are not too young to learn to give to others. And honestly, most kids have too many toys anyway. That is certainly true of my own toddler. So for her 3rd birthday, instead of asking guests for gifts, we asked them to bring a pair of new pajamas. I also took her shopping to pick out a pair to make sure she was really involved in the process. Then, Charlotte and I went to the FL Baptist Children's Home and donated the pajamas to their emergency shelter. We were able to get a tour of the facility and learn more about how children end up in their emergency care. I hope that by doing this, she will start to learn about the value of helping others and be excited to come up with her own caring and sharing ideas for parties in the future. Other moms are doing the same thing to help their kid's celebrate. Malia, of Homemaking 911, has done it twice. One year her daughter hosted an Operation Christmas Child Birthday Party . Another year, her daughter asked to support the Tou...

I can barely believe my 'Marykins' will be a whole year old in 10 days! (And that I'm just now sharing her 9-month photos!) It's almost time for Mary's birthday! And she is ready Photos from Mary's 9-month session with Karissa Barber , owner of K. Barber Photography in Lakeland, FL .