Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Welcome to my little place at the Ultimate Blog Party 2009!

Who Am I?

I am a former teacher "wanna-be" turned newbie homeschool mom.
I am a mama to three little ones (who are growing up too fast!).
I am a wife to one hard working and long commute drivin' husband.
I am an imperfect Christian woman who truly desires to become the wife, mom & friend that God has called me to be.

What do I blog about?

As my blog description states, "my favorite days are when we are simply at home" - and that is my blog in a nutshell. I blog about my simple days at home.

And even though we spend lots of time at home, my days are anything but boring. As a homeschooling mom with three kiddos, my days are filled with: cooking, cleaning, reading, schooling, laughing, crying, loving, and so much more.

On this blog, you'll find posts about:

what's on our bookshelves

gadgets that make my life simpler

how I keep my kids occupied so I can get dinner on the table :)

and much more !

I'm definitely heading back over to the Ultimate Blog Party - I can't wait meet some "new-to-me" bloggers!

Oh, and be sure to check out the prizes that they're offering over at the party ~ I'd love to win the $30 CBD GiftCard from A High and Noble Calling 'cause it's the season for restocking my homeschool shelves. The $25 Amazon GiftCard from Just Say These Words could buy lots of books too! And the $25 Shutterfly GiftCard from Sandwichink.com would sure come in handy, I'm in the process of making a photobook for my daughter.

But if my top three are already taken, I'd love these prizes (in order of preference):

#19, #21, #22, #71, #26, USC #15, USC #56, USC #79

Our New Thermometer

Before having children, I didn't really think too much about thermometers. I think we may have had a basic digital one stowed away in the medicine cabinet, but I can't recall ever pulling it out to use it.

However, when we brought our first child home from hospital, taking an accurate temperature became much more important to us. All the books advised that the rectal temperature was the most accurate way to obtain a newborn's temperature - so that's what we did.

But what do you do when your children get older and rectal temperatures are a bit, um, harder to obtain? (for us, this was when they graduated from diapers) Taking an accurate oral temperature (mouth) is not so easy when you're dealing with a preschooler. And ditto for obtaining underarm temperature readings.

Thankfully, in the midst of the latest round of sickness that went through our home, my husband came across this thermometer. He purchased it on his way home from work - and we tried it out immediately. It is so simple to use, and the kids even think it's kind of fun.

In fact, this thermometer is so easy to use, you may just become addicted - ask me how I know :)

Photobooks to the Rescue!

I love pulling out my oldest son's scrapbooks. As I flip through the pages, I recall special memories and fun times that we had.

By the time my daughter came along we had invested in a digital camera - needless to say, she did not suffer from the "less pictures of the 2nd child" syndrome. However, I wasn't so good at actually scrapbooking the pictures - that would take more time and creativity than I could muster with two little ones.

And poor baby number three, not as many pictures and nary a homemade scrapbook!

I did have good intentions with my sweet 3rd child. I had even purchased a complete (and completely ADORABLE) scrapbook kit - album, matching pages, stickers - the works! But after he reached his first birthday and I still had not produced even one page, I loaded it up with my "things to consign" stash - and I headed to my favorite photobook site.

Ah, it was so nice to just sit down at the computer, upload my pictures and drop and drag them into place. A couple hours later I had a photobook of his first year. A few more clicks and that book was on its way to me. No agonizing over which sketch to use (they have pre-selected layouts to choose from). No need to lug all of my supplies out (all I needed was my computer).

I know, it's not the same as creating a book of memories with my own hands, and I admit, I do prefer the homemade pages that I created for my older children. But at this season of my life this option fits the bill. I get a tangible book filled with memories of my childrens early years.

And guess what, my kids love flipping through these books just as much as they enjoy the scrapbooks that I spent many hours putting together.

Who knows, maybe someday I'll have the time and creative energy to do more paper scrapbooking. But for now, I'm sticking with my photobooks.

He's 7!

It's hard to believe that this little guy...

just celebrated his 7th birthday!

10 Years

We just celebrated 10 years of marriage.

Scott planned a get-away trip for us - a cabin in the mountains. We were forewarned that the cabin was a bit hard to get to...the first time we headed up the mountain we missed this sign (where we were supposed to turn), we kept heading up and up and up until finally I told him we could not go any farther - I admit, I was a bit frantic at this point - I could just picture us falling off the side of the bumpy, rocky, curvy, remote, mountain road!

Scott got the car turned around and we headed back down, and we found the downed sign - and thankfully we soon found our cabin. And I have to admit, it was well-worth the work it took to get there.

Previous vacationers to this cabin mentioned black bear sightings - but no bears for us except this one :).