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!