In a Fort Night

Making forts with the wood from our fence.

Nine For Dinner!

This was taken the other night when we had our neighbor over for dinner and also our friend Julia. That makes a total of 9 people at our table. Check out the hardwood floors and painted walls and new back door! I'm really proud of Aron and how great he is at this remodeling thing. I think we'll start flipping houses. NOT! NEVER! NO WAY!

Are You Spending Too Much Time on Facebook?

My husband is going to love this one. He refuses to get a Facebook account, and I can't say that I blame him. Although I do find out cool things there; things that are useful in my homeschooling journey, encouragement, new friends, important life events of acquaintances when they are too busy to call every single person to say they are pregnant, for instance.

It's also a place where my heart has been broken with drama, whether I started it or not! The majority of my time spent on there can be quite annoying to many because I'm mostly on there to promote my blogs, my writing, my proofreading, my ebooks.

Today a friend posted this. Asked her if I could share and she said yes. Something to think about. I know it's going to be in my head all day long.

I've been thinking a lot about Facebook lately. At times it is an amazing tool to reconnect with old friends or a great way to share the everyday with loved ones. However, it also is a place I spend too much time, time I could be spending caring for my children or tending to my home or husband. I find it a bit lonely in the day to day real life b/c many of us don't reach out to each other as often b/c we can just "catch up" on fb. Birthday's have become a day when we get excited to get many fb messages but the phone is quiet. That makes me feel lonely. Pictures I see posted can produce a sense of insecurity or frustration and can effect my mood. That is crazy. I've also realized that I have never seen or heard of anyone coming to have a personal relationship with Jesus b/c of the quotes I post or the religious pictures I share. I've also never convinced anyone to see things my way in the political arena but I certainly have offended plenty with my own opinions. As much as I love showing off my kids to the world, I would rather spend real time with my friends and family, sharing real life, the good and bad.

With that said, I"m going to be closing down my fb account. Probably not deleting it altogether but downsizing it to almost nothing. It does not mean I don't want to be friends. It means I want to be real friends and spend real time with you. Please feel free to call me or better yet, stop by, even unannounced! You'll probably find me in the middle of a mess, chasing kids and wearing yoga pants.

I will be keeping up my business page so if you want to see what's going on in that avenue of my life, feel free to drop by there and like my page for updates. You might see pictures of my cute kids there. 

Life has gotten off balance and I need to take steps to reclaim it. This is a hard choice as I love fb and love staying connected. I hope to spend some time with you soon. 

Beanstalk Children's Garden in Swope Park

Alphabet Flash Cards Review

I was so excited to give these alphabet flash cards to 5-year-old Eva when they came in the mail! She was excited to have them! She and Samuel, who is 3 years old but will be 4 in October (time to get crackin' on that reading, dude!), love to play with them.

They remind me of the super successful Hooked on Phonics system which I used to teach my older kids to read. They learn the letter first, then the sound the letter makes, then it's a natural progression to learning to string those sounds together into simple words.

These are a staple in any homeschooling household, and are great for on-the-go, as well!

And now a word about Alphabet Flash Cards sold by Educational Toys Plane

Involve your child in the joy of learning their ABCs. School Zone Alphabet Flash Cards bring skills such as memory, listening, and movement into each fun-filled lesson. Children will get to know phonics and be able to connect letter sounds with objects: K is for Kite, for example. They will also learn that each letter is a symbol that can be memorized. Offer this colorful world of letters to your child today.  

This item is located in their ABC toys section, and can also be found on their site in the following
categories: toys for 3 year olds, toys for 4 year olds or toys for 5 year olds.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.