I *Heart* Twaddle

During our first year of homeschooling, I have really been struggling with figuring out what approach I am taking. It's not so much that I feel like I need to put a name to it, but I am just trying to figure out what works best for us.

I have been pretty interested in Charlotte Mason and her approach to education. Although I suspect that we will always be more along the lines of homeschoolers with an eclectic approach, I think that as I change things up for next year, we will likely be having a Charlotte Mason slant to our studies.

But, as long as I've been in the mood for homeschooling confessions, let me go ahead an extend those thoughts...

Homeschooling Confession #8: I *heart* many books that Charlotte Mason (and followers of her method) would consider twaddle. Books that have been dumbed down and the like would be "twaddle." Charlotte Mason believed that children should hear and read wonderful, living books.

And, yes -- we do read those kinds of books. My kids have been loving to follow along with the Ingalls family in the Little House series.

But, our dirty little secret is that they also love to follow along on the zany antics of Junie B. Jones, for example. Oh man -- that Junie B. -- she's something else. Sure, we do have discussions about why many of the things that Junie B. does are wrong, but we all get the giggles while reading the books. (And, seriously -- maybe it gives me us a subtle opportunity to lay some ground work about expected behavior. Yeah...that's what I tell myself.)

Apparently I'm all about keeping it real this week. I have admitted both to bribing my kids to try fruits and veggies, and reading them trashy children's books.

I guess I shouldn't hold my breath waiting for that Mother of the Year Award.



image from Google Images

A Mother's Love Never Ends (Wordless Wednesday #24)

Check out more Wordless Wednesday from around the Web!

Encouraging Kids to Try a Wider Variety of Foods (WFMW #65)

I have a confession to make about something that is working for me. And, do you know what? I refuse to be ashamed.

I have begun bribing my kids to eat fruits and vegetables, as well as to try new foods.

Yep -- I pay them, and I am not shy about telling you that.

I have very picky (and sensory sensitive) sons, and then a daughter who is typically a lot more willing to eat a variety of things. So, this is easy money for her. And, really, that's what I thought it would end with -- some easy money for the four year old.

Instead, for the low, low price of one dime, my kids who often shunned healthy food are now trying things that I would never have dreamed they would try. And, the way I figure it, even if I am giving them a dime at each meal, it is costing me less than $1.00 a day to widen their food horizons. And, as far as I'm concerned -- it's worth it.

Now, I will note that there are some ground rules to this. I declare what is the money earning item at any given meal and I also say how much has to be eaten to get that dime. For instance, when we were having baby carrots they other day, they had to eat at least one baby carrot. So, there is no bitty bites for money.

I realize that some people may find this horrific, but I'm keeping it real here. As long as the kids are willing to work for peanuts dimes, then I'll keep passing them out. Because, really -- in just a week's time, they are finding things that they never wanted to eat that they are saying, "Wow -- that tastes pretty good."

So, I guess that means that...well...bribery works for me. But, watching my picky, Autistic son down a carrot works for me too. And, that's worth way more than a dime.

For more tips, tricks, and ideas from around the blogosphere, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer.

photo by photobunny

It's Left Me in Stitches

My Tackle It Tuesday for this week is actually one that I have been working on kind of off and on over the last two weeks. I keep meaning to post about it, because it's one of those things that I thought about tackling for ages, and am so pleased to have finally jumped right in!

For my birthday, Eric and the kids got me some things that I had been wanting from Amazon, and one of them was the Stitch-It Kit -- kind of a starter set for learning embroidery.

I read through the booklet and loved that it came with everything that I needed to start. But, I didn't actually start. I'm pretty visual, and so I needed another little push.

Well, finally as our Florida vacation neared its end, I put together what I had read in the book with some quality time in my Mom's condo and her patient (albeit sometimes amusing) instruction, and I finally started learning embroidery!

I have been using one of the clothes that was in the kit that I randomly ironed six patterns on as my practice work. This has been so much fun! I'm so grateful to Eric and the kids for buying it for me, and for my Mom for taking the time to show me how to do it (and for letting me video her doing the stitches in case I forgot when she wasn't available).

This was definitely my most fun tackle in quite some time! WooHoo! (And, seriously, do you know how fun it is to just throw my kit in my bag and grab it out when I have some free time? Way too fun!)

To read more tackles from around the blogosphere, check out Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Messie No More Book Giveaway

Just for fun, since the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival is just so darn my fun, I thought that in addition to the $25 Amazon.com Gift Card Giveaway, I would throw in one more giveaway this week!

You can win the book Messie No More by Sandra Felton.

The description from the back of the book reads:

Want a neat and orderly home but don't know how to organize? Need to reduce stress and clutter? Would you like to spend less time cleaning and still have an inviting house?

You can have all of these things, with the help of Sandra Felton, the Organizing Lady! Her foolproof advice on home organization will show you how to become Messie No More.

This drawing (unlike my other one) is open to U.S. residents (with U.S. addresses) only. This post will be closed to comments on Saturday, January 31st at 9:30 am EST.

To enter this contest, just leave a comment on this post with one area of household management that you have the most difficulty with (whether because it's actually difficult, or just because you have a hard time getting around to it). (Comments without this in them will not be entered into the drawing.)

$25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate Giveaway (Bloggy Giveaway Carnival)

If you are new to my blog and have come here through Bloggy Giveaways, welcome to Many Little Blessings!

My name is Angie, and I'm a Catholic homeschooling Mom to three kids (ages nine, seven, and four). Our oldest son has Asperger's Syndrome (high functioning Autism) and our other son has issues with high anxiety, and then when you throw in a sometimes sassy little sister, interesting things are always happening at our house. Really though -- we have been blessed by three pretty darn good kids.

Here at Many Little Blessings, I write mostly about faith, family, and household management topics (cooking, cleaning, menu planning, and the like), as well as posts about crafting, homeschooling, going green (including gardening), and attempting to live a more content life.

From time to time, I even add a new free downloadable Mommy Calling Card design!

Speaking of giving away things, I'm sure that you're here for the giveaway! So, I won't waste anymore time.

One randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate! There are three different ways to enter the drawing. You can do one of them, two of them, or all three!

The contest starts now and will end on Friday, January 30th at 11:59 pm EST. You can enter by one (or all) of the following ways:

1. Leave a comment on the post with one tip that works for you around your house or in your life OR you can leave a comment about something you would like to hear me write about in the future (about one of the topics listed, such as homeschooling, going green, cleaning, menu planning, crafty stuff, etc).

2. Post on your blog or twitter about this giveaway, and then come back and post a link in the comments.

3. Subscribe to Many Little Blessings. No need to post here that you have subscribed, just drop me an email with the code that you'll find at the bottom of the feed.

Menu Plan Monday: January 26th Edition

Wow! Check it out -- I'm actually putting up my menu plan again! And, for the first time, I'm attempting to plan out breakfast and lunch too. So, it may not be exactly what we end up doing, but it's an experiment to see if it helps at meal times.

Main dishes only, typically, are listed. Side dishes often include fruits or veggies, or whatever else jumps out at me at the time.

Monday:

Breakfast: Cereal

Lunch: Grilled Cheese

Dinner: Sloppy Joes

Tuesday:

B: Waffles

L: Sandwiches

D: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (also deliver this to a family from our homeschooling group and church as a new baby meal)

Wednesday:

B: Cereal

L: Chicken Nuggets

D: Gulash

Thursday:

B: Waffles

L: Personal Pan Pizzas from Pizza Hut (the boys will use Book It certificates to get theirs for free)

D: Spaghetti

Friday:

B: Muffins

L: Might be leftovers (or we'll figure it out later)

D: Turkey Breast

Saturday:

B: TBD

L: Turkey Sandwiches

D: From Out

Sunday:

B: TBD

L: Fried Mashed Potatoes and Turkey

D: Shredded Turkey in BBQ

Many Little Links: The Lesson Planning Edition

Since we got back from Florida, I haven't actually sat down to do lesson planning. Bad...very bad.

Oh, yeah, we've still been schooling, I have just been planning one day at a time. And, let me tell ya -- it's not a pretty way to do it. It's tiring. So, I'm relieved to have done it for this week. It really put a smile on my face to have it done!

Now, let me share some other things that I enjoyed this week...

Food & Cooking:

Cinnamon Rolls -- Happy to be at Home

Chocolate Sheet Cake -- The Finer Things in Life

Old Bread -- Angry Chicken

Learning Activities and Homeschooling:

Picasso Artist Study -- One Child Policy Homeschool

Review Cards -- Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Squishy Bag Fun -- Chasing Cheerios

How to Enhance Your Reading Program -- Happy to be at Home

Finances:

Frugal Tip: Snacks for Kids -- Being Frugal is Fabulous (Posted at Blissfully Domestic)

Arts & Crafts:

Stitchy Valentines -- Pimp Stitch

Winter Glove Puppets -- Make and Takes (Posted at Blissfully Domestic)

Star Wars Birthday Party Ideas -- Make and Takes

photo by Fuschia Foot

Super Duper Chocolate Kiss Cookies

For our Christmas baskets/platters in 2008, one of the goodies that was included (that we froze ahead of time) were Super Duper Chocolate Kiss Cookies.


I read about them in a magazine called Christmas Cookies and they were billed as a cookie to make with your kids, since they used premade cookie dough. I will note that making these following these directions was a bit messy, but the kids did enjoy helping.



Ingredients:

• 16.5 oz package of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup cup chocolate-flavored sprinkles
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 Hershey's kisses, unwrapped (it called for dark chocolate, but we used regular ones, because I didn't think they kids would care for the dark chocolate)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large Ziploc bag, combine the cookie dough and cocoa powder. Seal the bag and knead it with your hands until the dough is well mixed. (Angie's Note: These bags are going to get seriously messy inside, and it may be difficult to get everything out. If you are not making these with kids, I would not necessarily put them in the baggie. But, if you are, the baggie is a great way to have the kids help.)

3. Put chocolate sprinkles in a shallow bowl, and then the milk in another shallow bowl.

4. Remove the dough from the plastic baggie and start forming them into 1-inch balls.

5. Dip the balls in the milk, just to moisten them, and then roll them in the sprinkles.

6. Place these balls two inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

7. Bake for approximately eight minutes, or until the edges are firm.

8. Immediately press a Hershey's kiss into the center of each cookie. Transfer the cookies onto a wire rack and let cool.

Makes approximately 36 cookies. These can be frozen for up to three months after baking them.

When Did I Become a Granola Eater?

I was recently contacted by Kim from Zoe Foods about trying some of their granola, and I just couldn't say no.

Not only did all of the descriptions on their website sound great, but Kim was simply delightful. (Seriously -- how can you not like someone who asks you about how your Grandma, who has cancer, is doing each time you talk?) I don't know if you're like me, but my dealings with people from a company go a long way toward my feeling about the company. So, kudos to Kim.

Okay, so, enough about Kim -- let's talk granola.

I was excited to try out two of the varieties I was going to be receiving, but told Eric ahead of time, "You're trying the Cranberries Currants one, okay?" Seriously -- I had absolutely no intention of trying it myself. Because, well...cranberries. Oh, and currants too. Just hand me the honey almond, okay?

We had a little taste testing party when the granola arrived, and then again after I went into a time warp with Christmas and vacation and didn't write the review.

The verdict?

They are healthy and tasty! Of course, they are kind of carb heavy, if you are avoiding those, but it's granola. So, of course it's carb heavy. I really like that the granola is all made with whole grains and flaxseed, and just seems to be full of healthy goodness.

I will admit, we both said that we would have enjoyed more of a cinnamon taste from the Cinnamon Raisin variety. But, I also like to add extra cinnamon to many recipes that call for it, so take that for what it's worth.

As promised, we put off trying the Cranberries Currants, and then I said, "Eric, just try it so I can write the review, okay?"

"Fine," he begrudgingly said.

We opened the box and he gave it a try. I expected a response of, "Yeah, it's okay." Instead, he said, "I think this is the best one."

Yep -- you can guess what came next -- I actually tried it. And...I agreed with Eric! That one is yummy!

The granola is versatile, and can be eaten plain (great to take along for a quick snack), with milk (like cereal), or on top of something like yogurt or ice cream.

Not only did we get to try a great treat, but I got to deal with nice people and I tried something that I was sure I wouldn't like. Looks like we won all round!

Check out the Zoe Foods website to see retailers that currently carry their products!

photo from Zoe Foods

Using Divided Plates and Trays For Healthier Eating

When I was doing in home therapy for a family with a decent sized group of multiples, one thing that I really liked was that I saw that at meal times, their Mom always gave them divided plates with something in each spot.

I thought, "Hey -- this could be a solution for my picky eaters!" So, I picked up two sets of faux lunch trays (with each child having their own color, which is nice, since I sometimes have different kids each slightly different things), and I was all set.

Here's why this has worked for me -- the kids seems to be trying more foods and eating at least a slightly better variety of food. But, here's the kicker -- I think it's because it has encouraged me to give them more variety. Not that I didn't mean to before, but this has been a fabulous visual reminder to me to have them try lots of different things!

To check out more tips, tricks, and ideas, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer!

Project 365: One Year Documented in Photographs

Now that I got a new point and shoot camera a Christmas present (though I got it last October-ish), I finally felt like I could tackle something I had been wanting to do...Project 365! (It was just too hard to commit to taking a picture each day when my only camera was a nice, but heavy, Canon DSLR, that just couldn't be thrown into my purse.)

Project 365 is a way to document a year of a person's life. The way in which this is done is by taking at least one photograph each day during a one year period (365 days).

I began on January 1st, while we were on our way to Florida for vacation. But, that's not really my tackle for this week's Tackle it Tuesday.

My tackle was to get the blog set up for posting daily photos (although I don't promise to post each day, but will post a few days worth at a time, but in their own posts). So, finally this weekend, I got Many Little Blessings: Project 365 up and running!

And, just let me say -- I never want to get 17 days behind in posting the photos again!


Check out 5 Minutes for Mom to read more Tackle it Tuesday posts!

Many Little Links: The Vacation Jet Lag Edition

We were away from home for 11 days on vacation. We have now been home for more than two weeks. But, you know what? I still feel like I'm on some kind of vacation jet lag. It's like I just can't get caught back up on things.

Do you ever feel that way after an extended amount of time away from home?

I thought I would catch up on some of my computer tasks while on vacation, such as emails and blogging, but, instead, I'm behind. (And, this feeling isn't helped by my constant yawning this morning.)

While I desperately try to wake up and really get going today, I'll share some links that I enjoyed from last week:

Cooking/Food/Recipes:

How to Throw a Tea Party -- The Hyper Homemaker

How to Dice a Roma Tomato -- The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Arts and Crafts:

Make Your Own Loom for Weaving -- Unplug Your Kids

How the Plastic Bottles Felt -- Wild Olive

Cardboard Zoo -- Tangarang

Scrapdown Project: Charm Quilt -- Sycamore Stirrings

A January Workshop for You -- Wild Olive

Learning/Homeschooling Ideas:

Field Guide to American Wildlife -- In Heywood's Meadow

Growing Wheatgrass -- Mom in Madison

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading -- The Pioneer Woman - Homeschooling

13 Great Homeschooling Resources -- Happy to be at Home

Writing Thank You Notes -- Vintage Chica

Favorite Books for Artist Studies -- Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers (published at Blissfully Domestic)

Life Skills for Kids: How to Use the Phone Book -- Five J's

Miscellaneous:

11 Great Family Movies -- Simple Mom

12 Tips for Thrift Store Shopping -- Simple Mom

Taking Time to Learn From Others

Our school week was disrupted twice last week by service workers that came to the house. At first, I tried to continue on with school as usual. I thought we would go about our business and the workers would go about their business.

I quickly realized that I was wrong. That was not how those mornings were going to go.

To read more, visit my article today at The Homeschool Classroom...

A Quick Baked Potato Dinner

Here's a tip for a quick dinner that we actually just had last night, and it took less than ten minutes to prepare.

Only Eric and I were eating, since he had a late church meeting, and I waited for him to eat dinner. When he was on his way home, I washed and pierced three potatoes. Then, I popped them in the microwave for seven minutes. (I then checked them and put them in for another minute and a half. Keep in mind the microwave is also a great way to cook baked potatoes as a side dish for a meal, if you're not planning on having the oven on for an extended period of time.)

Once the potatoes were done, I heated up some diced ham (great use for leftover ham, by the way!) and set out some butter and light sour cream.

Voila!

It was delicious and quick, and so much better for us (and our checkbook) than the original suggestion that Eric pick up food on his way home.

What are some of your super quick and easy go-to meals when you're in a pinch?

photo by ex.libris

Winner of the Motivated Moms Planner!

Using the Random Number Generator at random.org, the winner of the Motivated Moms Planner is:

Tara from Tara's World

Congratulations to Tara!

And, remember, if you didn't want, a more organized house can be yours for just $8 for the whole year! (Besides, I love little boxes to check off, don't you?)

There is a Recipe Index Here at Many Little Blessings

I was just thinking the other day and realized that there are quite a few people that exclusively read Many Little Blessings through their FeedReader, since I publish a full feed of my posts. (I love full feeds, by the way. I don't like to force people to come to my blog by having a partial feed. But, that's another post for another time.)

Anyway, so I realized that some people might not know that in my navigation bar, I have a link to an organized Recipe Index. So, if there is a recipe that you have read here on Many Little Blessings before and want to easily find it, just click on the Recipe Index and you should be able to find it!

photo by Arlette

Keeping Track of Stats for Your Etsy Shop (WFMW #63)

I have to admit it -- I'm a stat junkie. I love to check the stats on my blogs, and have always loved to check stats on websites that I have run.

Really, it's not about popularity or obsessive-compulsive behavior -- I just love looking at the numbers. I love watching for trends, seeing keyword searches, and how people end up on one of my sites.

Imagine my delight to recently see that Etsy has implemented a way to use Google Analytics for your Etsy shop! Love it!

Because I already have an Etsy shop and a Google Analytics account, I was able to set it up in no time at all. And, within 24 hours, I could view stats from my Etsy shop. How cool is that?

If you want to set it all up so you can be a stat junkie too, just get a Google Analytics account (if you don't have one already) and go to your Etsy shop login to find the "Web Analytics" link under "Shop Setup" and follow the directions. Easy peasy!

I'm already having fun watching my stats. Now, of course, I just need to work on filling my shop back up and stop having fun with stats.




For more tips, tricks, and ideas from around the blogosphere, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer.

photo by ashe-villain

Confessions from the Middle of Our First Year of Homeschooling

Our state has very few requirements for homeschoolers. Seriously -- very few. The major requirement is to have 180 instructional days.

I will admit -- I have a problem sometimes with how to quantify "an instructional day."

Confession #1: I think I get so caught up in what should count as an instructional day and what shouldn't that I find myself separating out school from our day to day life.

Confession #2: I wish I didn't do that. I want to work toward doing that less.

So what does that mean? That means, I suppose, that I'm not crazy about where I am headed sometimes with schooling. I feel like what I envisioned that I wanted our schooling to look like is not what it looks like right now.

Confession #3: Like many first year homeschoolers, I am struggling to figure out which programs, curricula, etc. work for us. I have changed some things a few times already.

Confession #4: Even though I don't think some of the things are working out like I would like them to, I am continuing with them because I spent good money on them (and I don't want to spend more money on something new already).

I am incredibly tempted to give the kids some time off and try to totally do some restructuring. But, because I don't want to spend more money on materials right now, I also am very tempted to solider through, changing things as needed, and then re-figure things out once this school year is finished.

Confession #5: I know that once I change things, I will still end up having things that don't work. This is probably my leading reason for wanting to just wait until the school year is over to make changes.

In all honesty, I'm not sure what changes I will make, but I know that I want to add in some more Charlotte Mason ideas, some art and music instruction, and more crafty and hands on things. The kids love it when we learn through hands on activities and playing games that they learn from. I need to work toward doing more of those things with them. I want them to think of learning (and schooling) as fun.

I also need to figure out what activities I want the kids to be involved in, and what I'm not as interested in.

Confession #6: Our new co-op has been postponed and is only just finally going to start up this week. I am teaching a class, and I am horribly unprepared as of this moment. I may regret that when I am in a class of 18 children ages 2.5 to 5. (One of my readers, who is also a writer at The Homeschool Classroom, is probably thrilled at this moment that none of her kids are going to be in said class.)

Okay, hang on. Time out.

This all sounds pretty sad, doesn't it?

Only, the thing is, it's not. It's natural for things to change during homeschooling, especially in those first few years of figuring out how your family's path is different from the path of the homeschooling family down the block.

Confession #7: All things said, and despite my desire for a little bit of quiet during the afternoon, I love having the kids at home. I can't imagine sending them back to school to be gone for eight hours a day, five days a week.

Are you a homeschooler? Do you have a confession (or two or seven) to share? Feel free to leave it in the comments or on your blog and link to it in the comments. I sure would feel better to hear some of your confessions too!

Welcome to Simple Mom Readers!

If you have stopped by through my guest post at Simple Mom today, welcome!

Here at Many Little Blessings, I write mostly about faith, family, and household management topics (cooking, cleaning, menu planning, and the like), as well as posts about crafting, homeschooling, going green (including gardening), and attempting to live a more content life.

From time to time, I even add a new free downloadable Mommy Calling Card design!

And, while you're here, be sure to enter for the Motivated Moms Planner giveaway that I have going on through Tuesday!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oh, and for my regular readers -- thanks for stopping by too! You can check out my guest post Composting Bins: Benefits, Rules, and How to Make Your Own at Simple Mom!

Many Little Links: The Back to Cold Weather Edition

After my first full day back at home after vacation, I can't quite decide which is worse -- having a cold and snowy day, or having just been walking around outside in a swimsuit a few days ago and then having a cold and snowy day.

Either way -- I am still dreadfully behind in everything I need to do -- inboxes are full, I have to go back to seeing kids for therapy tomorrow, and I'm still kind of in vacation mode, I fear.

So, for now, I'll just share some links that I have enjoyed over the last two weeks:

Recipes / Cooking:

Basic Cooking Terms and Abbreviations -- From the Land of Monkeys and Princesses (Posted at Blissfully Domestic)

Make Your Own Luck: Black-eyed Pea Salsa -- The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Arts / Crafts:

Copy Art -- LaPaz Home Learning

Learning Activities / Homeschooling:

Taming Those Stacks of Schoolwork -- Happy to be at Home

Locks and Keys -- Itty Bitty Love

Setting Up a Rice Center for Your Preschooler -- Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers (posted at The Homeschool Classroom)

Classic Toys that are Worth the Money -- Simple Mom

New Years Interview for Kids -- Let's Explore (posted at Blissfully Domestic)

Family Sketchbook -- Cakies

Teaching Math Around the House -- Happy to be at Home

Chinese New Year -- One Child Policy Homeschool

Nature Journaling Supplies -- In Heywood's Meadow

Goals for the New Year (lots of great posts, and I plan to do one eventually):

20 Questions for Planning New Year's Goals -- Simple Mom

My Goals for 2009 -- Five J's

Goals for 2009 -- The Happy Housewife

Healthy / Beauty:

Helpful Tips to Get Your Kitchen Into Shape...Then You're Next! -- Happy to be at Home

You Don't Have to Guess My Weight -- Five J's

Miscellaneous:

IndieSacramento Wrap Up -- Handmade and Homebaked by Peptogirl (just loved all the photos in this post!)

5 Steps to Enjoying Your Home to the Fullest -- Nesting Place

Small Space Solutions: Kitchen Pantry -- Small Notebook

What is Black Tie? -- Kathy Friend (posted at Blissfully Domestic)

photo by tamaki

Do they speak English there?

I had this plan over the last week and a half to be all over posting on my blog. Instead, I only managed to post a few times because we were busy having two days of driving, spending seven days in Florida, and then two days driving back home.

So, while I try to settle back in at home, I'll share a funny from our trip...

When we had been driving for a few hours, the kids inquired into where we would be driving and how long it would take us.

I told them, "Well, we still will be driving through Kentucky, Tennessee, and part of Alabama before we stop for today."

Jack looked particularly concerned.

"How will we talk to them?" he asked. "Do they speak English there?"

I'd like to say that we just nicely informed him that they speak English in all of those states, but instead we burst out laughing. Then we told our little traveled son that, in fact, they did speak English in all three.

I am unsure, however, if he thought we were telling the truth after he listened with raised eyebrow to the sweet cashier with the southern drawl at the McDonalds that we stopped at in Kentucky.

photo by jimmywayne22

Motivated Moms Works For Even An Unmotivated Mom (Plus a Planner Giveaway!)

This is certainly not a new topic for Works for Me Wednesday -- Motivated Moms works for me. But, my story is perhaps a little different than some of what I have read before (even when I wrote about Motivated Moms previously).

In case you are unfamiliar with Motivated Moms, you can click the banner above to visit the site (and here is a sample page). It is a FlyLady-type of system, except you print out your task lists and don't have an inbox full of reminders to put your shoes on. (Because, know what? I don't always wear my shoes around the house. In fact, it's not uncommon to find me barefoot, though I will often wear Crocs now that my bad knee has gotten worse.)

Anyway -- do you know why I like Motivated Moms? Because I'm not really all that motivated to keep up the house.

Sure, sometimes I'll get a bee in my bonnet about it, and I'll do a ton of cleaning. But, sometimes I just don't. Motivated Moms allows me to sometimes just let it go. I know that doesn't sound good, so let me explain why it's a good thing.

When I tried to sign up for FlyLady, I would get to the unmotivated phase, and I'd get tired of the emails. So, then I would cancel the emails and that was that. But, with Motivated Moms, I buy the $8 planner at the beginning of the year. And, when I go a couple of weeks without doing it, I don't feel horrible. It's a whole new sheet of paper in the planner, and I just start up again.

So, while it might be nice if I was guilted into cleaning more, I am more apt to just shut down about it. So, I need something that lets me take time off, but then I can literally start back with a clean slate page!

Because I like Motivated Moms so much, I want to share it with someone who hasn't tried it, or maybe who is already a Motivated Moms user. Either way -- a 2009 copy (of your choice, since there are different types) could be yours!

There are two ways to enter the giveaway (you can do both or just one):

1. Leave a comment with a quick household mangement tip -- could be cleaning, baking, laundry...whatever!

2. Subscribe to Many Little Blessings (via email or RSS Reader of some sort, such as Google Reader). There will be a secret code for this giveaway at the bottom of the feed. Just email me at manylittleblessings {at} gmail {dot} com with the secret code in the subject line. I won't read the emails, so make sure to put the code in the subject line.

I will do a random drawing on Tuesday, January 12th at 12:01 pm EST. Good luck!


To read about lots of tips and ideas from other bloggers, be sure to check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Are you a Catholic blogger that would like some free items to review?

I have been part of the review team for The Catholic Company during 2008, and I have really enjoyed the chance to get new books (plus a computer program) to review.

They are currently accepting applications for more reviewers, so if you are interested, be sure and check out their reviewer application page to read more about the program and apply.

A helpful boy

On a recent trip to Walmart with my parents, Noah went through the line with them, and Eric and the other kids and I all went through another line. When we met up, my Mom filled me in on what happened at their check out.

She told me that Noah had been doing little things to try to help the cashier. At the end, she commented on what a helpful boy he is.

And do you know what my beautifully sweet boy said to her?

"I just like to be helpful. That's just the way I'm being raised."

Needless to say, even though pride is a sin, I was beaming with it as we walked out of Walmart, while saying a prayer of thanks for being blessed with such a wonderful son.


(On a side note, I have to say that I sometimes hate the way people stare at Noah when he is stimming from his Autism, but his truly geniune nature is one of the many reasons that I wouldn't take away the Autism if someone offered it up as a possibility tomorrow. How blessed our lives are to have him!)

Many Little Blessings: December 2008 Recap

Top 10 Referring Sites to Many Little Blessings for December 2008

1. Rocks in my Dryer

2. 5 Minutes for Mom

3. I'm an Organizing Junkie

4. The Homeschool Classroom

5. The Inspired Room

6. Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

7. Catholic Mothers Online (The Blog for the Blog Roll)

8. Catholic Blog Directory

9. Lifetime Moments

10. Happy to be at Home

Thanks so much to the top ten list, as well as to the many, many other sites that sent traffic my way in December!

Do you think Mary ever went swimming?

This fall, our parish had an outdoor living rosary.

If you are unfamiliar with a living rosary, let me explain -- 59 people each held a candle, each one representing a bead on the rosary. Anyone from our parish was welcome to come, and they could all hold small candles throughout. We then recite the rosary as a group.

It's really lovely, and it is a night that I look forward to each year. This year, we were able to all stand together as a family, which made it extra lovely.

Of course, no evening is without its giggles in our family.

At one point, Jack turned to me, "Why does he keep talking about swimmin'?" (He said, referring to the priest, who was reciting the first portion of the Hail Mary.)

"Swimming? Who's talking about swimming?" I tried to quietly ask.

"No," Jack looked annoyed, "swimmin'. He keeps talking about swimmin'."

"Jack," I said with a shortness in my tone, "Nobody is talking about anyone swimming."

"Swimmin'," Jack mutters under his breath.

I shot him a look that said, "Don't you dare try that again."

And, we continued praying.

Well...until I had to stifle my laughter.

You see, we usually say, "...Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus." But, one of our newer associate pastors was saying it like this: "...Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus."

Yeah, say that "amongst women" aloud, and you can hear the swimmin' that Jack kept hearing.

When I quitely (and kindly) told him what was really going on, he looked relieved. I'm sure he thought the new pastor was clearly insane. And, quite frankly, I suspect he thought I wasn't far behind.

photo by Angie ~ Many Little Blessings