Aug. 30, 2008 - I am moving over to a blogger site
I have been setting up a new blog at www.livetolearneveryday.blogspot.com
I thought if I was ever going to move I needed to do it now. I love blogging and am excited that I found a place to blog where it is helpful to the computer non savy. :) I like to just click on a button and have them do all the html.
I will continue to blog here and at www.livetolearneveryday.blogspot.com for the next several days so I can get the word out about the move.
Aug. 14, 2008 - Blogging Interruptis
I must have had an internet connection addiction. It seems so clear in hindsight. The day I lost my internet connection I was only mildly panicked, sure that John, my hero, could fix it by night fall. Alas, I went to bed without checking my email or reading my blog feeds on night 1. I woke up the next morning and purposely stayed off the computer until afternoon rest time and prayed for a quick connection, piggy backing off a neighbors wireless connection. I said all the proper praises to my God, who loves me even in the small things, and uploaded all our first day of school pictures and blogged about my day. Unfortunately, that was the last of a clear connection for days to come. I could feel the anxiety rising in me as I had many emails left unchecked and unanswered. People probably wondered where I had gone. Of course no one called me, except Jennifer J , to check on my well being after being off Facebook for 4 days in a row. My beloved tried so hard to reconnect me, but after 6 plus hours fiddling, unplugging, twisting, praying, and generally trying to keep his cool, he called AT&T. Their diagnostician, in the Philippians, concluded that our modem had gone bad. Again. So now I wait for a new modem that will ease my stress level at the end of the day and connect me to your world. And yes, I admit that I have an internet blogging addiction. J Just so no one worries about my soul, I do make sure my house is clean, my children are educated, dressed and fed, the bread is made for the day, my chores are done, dinner is in the crock pot, my quiet time has been first, and that my children aren’t standing over me with big solemn eyes begging for my attention. So there, I love to read all of your blogs and to add to mine own in a form of therapy that only the internet can provide.
Jul. 31, 2008 - A Memory Game
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot-- or just from blogland-- anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
Jul. 14, 2008 - Craft Organization Ideas
I have been cleaning and organizing our craft/laundry room again. I decided to move all of our "office" type supplies in there. Which meant I had to reorganize the upper cabinets. Check out here for more organization pictures of this room.
I decided to use an art caddy to hold the commonly used messy craft supplies so they were all in one location. I m not so sure where to keep this potential crafting hazard though.
I also downsized how many bottles of glue that we had. I rationalized that we would never have 13 kids glueing at the same time so we could probably throw some bottles away. 
I found that glue slides very easily through the hole in a funnel and that up to four bottles of glue can rest in the aformentioned funnel. :)
I used a mason jar to hold all the extra glue since all the bottles were half full. It works for me.
Jul. 10, 2008 - Netflix
Well, I signed back up. We were a Netflix family a year ago and then took some time off to go TV free. I have found that Netflix can be a great homeschool resource that is very affordable. The selection is extraordianary.
Now that we are back,I love being able to choose documentaries and educational type movies. The little girls can watch cartoons that I approve of too. I am amazed at how much there is to see.
I am not personally a TV or movie watcher but I did find myself watching two movies last night that were very thought provoking. Maxed Out and The Business of Being Born. I highly recommend both of those to you. Click on the links to read a thorough review.
Maxed Out is a documentary on the misuse of credit in our society and the other one is on the state of giving birth today.
May. 27, 2008 - To bribe or not to bribe . . .
It's the time of year when all the local libraries gear up for a summer of reading fun. I have been to two different counties to pick up reading book logs and story time hours. Of all of my goals for the kids, I want reading to be one of the top priorities.
Today I explained to the boys about the Brown family book club. When you read enough books or chapters of books you will get 1/4 pound of candy at our local candy by the pound shop! They are so excited! What makes it even more fun is that our neighbor wants to participate with us. I promised him I would take him when he finished his book log too. On top of their 1/4 lb of candy they will get 3 extra pieces for finishing the log first, 2 pieces or 2nd and 1 extra piece for 3rd. I hope that this is the summer that their love of reading takes off. I want more than anything else, outside of their love for Christ, for them to love reading like I do. I derive so much pleasure from the writtten word.
So bribe I will, if that is what it takes. I hope to build a sweet assocation with reading with the thrill of candy!
Today is day one of the book log so I am including some pictures of them reading. Both of my boys started out reading Magic Treehouse books and then changed to other books later on. They both have a hard time getting into chapter books. Sam can read them but gets overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the book.
May. 9, 2008 - Rachel is one . . .
For the little girl who has everything I came up with a solution. I had each of her siblings "create" a book to read to her. Sam made an animal number book that I laminated and comb bound. He designed it in Microsoft Home Publishing with minimal help.
Katie's book is 4 x 4. I designed the pages per her instructions in Photoshop Elements 6.0 and then printed them at home. She and I laminated them, hole punched them and then threaded them on a key ring. I thought Rachel would like the tactile quality of the ribbons so we tied lots of grosgrain ribbons on the key chain. We gave the mini book to Rachel and she adored it. She dragged it around all afternoon! Katie was so pleased.
I am relieved to skip the influx of plastic toys this year. I hope she can read her books for years to come.
Jun. 30, 2007 - Power sorting
I have found a way to tame the laundry monster!
With five kids, we do about 2-3 loads a day with an extra 2-3 loads on the weekends. I am always struggling to keep up with the 15+ loads. Well for the first time this week the kids and I have played a game called "power sort". Other families might call this sorting the laundry! I gather all the kids who can walk and they sit, in a semicircle,with their assigned baskets. ( In our home everyone has a color and the linens have ther own basket.)
So I sit in front of Mt Saint Laundry and say get ready to catch. I proceed to throw the pieces of laundry to the right person and call out the name of the piece. For instance our newborn has quite a few pieces that belong to her so I will yell, Rachel as loud as I can an they have to catch the piece fast. I usually get through all 5 loads in about 2 minutes. The toddler runs around and tosses things during all this. 
Then I have the kids run the baskets to the right room. Their adrenaline is pumping at this point so they run fast. Then we power fold the kitchen linens and towels. They love racing to get it done first. It is amazing how fast they can help when I call it a game and give it a strong sounding name.
