Ironic List of Links

It looks like everyone else is blogging about not blogging so much.

How's that for irony?

Then again, what is blogging for if not to share ideas?

The stifling nature of connectedness seems to be on everyone's minds these days, even the big bloggers:

• Scribbit considered quitting (but didn't).
• Shannon has wondered what her place should be in the online world.
• Crystal Payne is cutting back on Biblical Motherhood as her family grows.

At least I know that I am not alone in struggling to find balance!

Don't worry -- this is the last you'll hear from me on this topic, at least until I think of something else to say about it.

I'll be back tomorrow with "7 Quick Takes" and good stories.

I promise -- I might be more quiet, but I am not going away.

For now at least :)

Being Offline has Worked for Me

Works for me Wednesday is usually a time to share household tips, tricks-of-the parenting trade, or methods of increasing your blog traffic.

I've shared some good stuff with y'all in the past, like setting up the coffee maker ahead of time, my homemade personal planner, and preschool ideas.

I don't have any tips for you today.

None.

I will tell you what has been working for me, though -- staying off of the computer!

It started out as a Lenten sacrifice -- an embarrassingly difficult sacrifice for me. The first few days were brutal. My eyes would drift to the screen as I walked past; my fingers would graze the keyboard. When the computer was on for necessary tasks, I would find myself reading email and blogs before I even noticed the transition.

These slip-ups offered a great opportunity for prayer and reflection. Why was I online anyway? What did I gain online, and what were the corresponding costs? Over time, I found myself enjoying this break from the internet. It was calming, relaxing, and even FREEING. There was no longer an obligation to read through every post, no feeling of inadequacy that I wasn't doing enough. I also found myself being more attentive to the children's needs. There was more time for the here-and-now.

On Easter Monday (Dingus Day for all of you back in South Bend), I went right back to the computer with glee. I read the paper; I checked every blog.

Then, the next day, I heard a crash from behind me as I read "just one more" email. One of the children had knocked over a tray of tomato seedlings while I was distracted by the computer.

That was enough for me; I resolved to be more responsible in my computer usage. I am still struggling to find my exact limits, but for now I have started by abandoning Twitter, reducing blogging, and marking all blogs as "read" before I turn off the machine at night. I feel no obligation to visit every blog every day, or to post the minute details of our every day.

I am enjoying some time online, but nothing like I used to. The cost, however, has been the companionship that I had been getting online from other stay-at-home moms. I will try to build some time into each day for correspondence, because it is important to stay in touch.

Has anyone found a balance that really works for them?

Giving you my Best

According to traffic statistics, my top ten posts of 2008 were:

1. Free Giveaway: Corduroy and Caps for Sale
2. Happier Children Through Sensory Play
3. One Stop Planning
4. Simple Exercise Plan
5. Online Shopping
6. Toys Worth Buying
7. Diaper and Panty Storage
8. Cast of Characters
9. Learning to Learn to Read
10. A Day in Our Life

Not surprisingly, this list is comprised of one giveaway and nine "Works for Me Wednesday Posts." A link from a larger blog sure increases traffic, doesn't it?

There are some very good posts in that list -- Happier Children Through Sensory Play -- might be my favorite post ever (if only for the title), but here are a few more that deserve a second look:

• 100 Things About Me : I have never had so much fun writing a post
• I Love Blogs : it is so much fun to read good blogs
• I Hate Blogs : why I try not to read so many blogs
• A Tuesday in Detail : a blow-by-blow account of our day.
• After the Craft - shows what a house with preschoolers really looks like when we finish an art project.
• The Difference Between Boys and Girls : just like it says
• Splash : my boy being a boy. Ouch! might have been a better title.
• Their Own Sense of Style : the girls being girls
• Brush Those Pearly Whites : aren't they cute?

Happy New Year!

What I get for Being a Good Girl

As promised, I have been turning Reader and Gmail off when I am not using them in order to reduce the temptation to check them throughout the day.

There have been some benefits --

1. I have had more focused time with the children. We have read more books and had less misbehavior at transition times.
   
2. I have gotten a lot of things done around the house --
   
1. The Red Room is almost ready to be used in a self-service manner for Montessori-like preschool,
2. The wood is stacked up and ready to go for winter.
   
3. We finally mailed of our foster care application.
   
3. Using times of temptation as an opportunity, I have been praying more.
   
4. I am more conscious of appreciating the moment and contented with the life I live.
   

But.....I still have five loads of laundry to be folded and I really miss all of my online friends. I would try to catch up this weekend, but we are hosting a dinner for 18 (!) tomorrow night and I still need to prepare for Sunday's religious education class.

So look for my comments on your blogs during my designated 15 minutes on Monday! Or Tuesday or Wednesday or so.....

I Hate Blogs

I have already told you that I love blogs, but now let me tell you why I hate them:

1. Blogs take up time. Even with a feed-reader, even skimming the nonessential, reading blogs takes time.
   
   With always connected high-speed internet, I am tempted to read throughout the day, pulling me away from the children that need my full attention.
   
   
2. Blogs make me feel inept. Why isn't my garden as productive as Kate's or Mary's? Why isn't my house decorated as well as Heidi's? Why aren't I crafty like Jo or Michelle? Why don't we have serene preschool sessions like Stephanie? How come I don't write as well as Shannon or Lora Lynn?
   
   Melissa doesn't let her daughter eat Goldfish becuase of artificial colors....am I a poor parent for allowing them?
   
   Tanya painted a mural in her son's room. Why haven't I done anything nice like that for my kids?
   
   Julie is doing such a good job teaching her son core values. Are we doing enough?
   
   The Pisecos have children near our kids' ages, and they are doing in-depth history lessons. Should we?

Is my reading making me dissatisfied with the wonderful life I have? Is it taking time away from what matters? For the very reason that I stopped reading women's magazines, for the very reason that my children do not watch commercial television, maybe I should stop reading blogs.

Instead of cutting them out completely, I have a plan to moderate my internet reading.

1. Read fewer blogs. I currently subscribe to 108 feeds in Google Reader. By October 1st, I will reduce this to 50 including news feeds.
2. Read blogs only during designated times. There is no reason to have Google Reader open throughout the day. When my 15 minutes of computer time is up, I will close the Reader window to reduce the temptation to check.
   
3. Be content. I will reread and take to heart Julie's lessons on contentment for her son. I am who I am, my kids are who they are, and we are very blessed to be living the lives that we are.
   

So if you don't see as many comments from me, now you know why...

I Love Blogs

Most of the time I spend online is "visiting" with my friends. I know a few of these folks in real life (like the Ruiz family, the Library Despot, and OCP librarian), but I have met most of them here on the world wide web. Through their blogs and group postings I have gotten to know fine people like Kate, Heather, Julie, Amber, PisecoMom, and Patricia. I have only just "met" Merranda, Angie and Carisa, but it looks like I may be stopping by their blogs to visit for a long time as well.

They make me laugh, they make me cry, and they commiserate with me when I am down. Most of all they let me know that other women worry incessantly about their kiddos, but take joy in the gift of life.

I love this little world of blogs. My online friends teach me so much, and so do the blogs I read specifically for advice. These are my "top seven" informational blogs:

• Parent Hacks : Simple, often obvious, tips for parents. Who would have thought of carrying water bottles in a 6-pack holder?
  
• Montessori Free Fall : Written by Tatum's mom, this blog describes one family's adventures in doing Montessori preschool at home. Stephanie gives the nitty-gritty detail of adapting montessori methods to the home. For a good starting point, read her series on "Choosing Montesori Materials."
  
• A Bit of This and a Bit of That : Another Montessori preschool blog, this one is written by an English woman living in Japan. It is very helpful to see how Ebi-kun progresses. Jo also runs frequent Montessori exchanges.
  
• Little Acorns Tree House : Little Acorns Country Day School has two students -- sisters Ellie and Savannah. Their mother is the teacher and administrator, while their father is the school benefactor and guest science and technology teacher. The blog is a very thorough log of the girls' work and mom's curriculum choices. I have found the planning posts very helpful, and their new home-designed art curriculum is very comprehensive.
  
• The Mom With Brownies : Links to free educational materials. What could possibly be more useful?
• Home Ec 101 :Cooking, cleaning, and living on the cheap. All the info that a SAHM needs.
  
• The Simple Dollar : Since we are talking about living on one income, simple-to-digest financial advice is very important. Trent explains the basics of savings, investment, and living on a budget in terms that even I can understand.

After all of that seriousness, I need some entertainment. These are seven blogs I visit for a laugh or a cry. Who needs cable anyway?

• Crummy Church Signs : Just like the subtitle says, this blog offers "critical analysis of critically bad church signs." The signs (and the commentary) are hilarious. Don't worry Christians, the purpose is not to blaspheme but to enlighten.
• Chocolate for the Brain : Absolutely the funniest thing in the blogosphere, this witty mother of eight makes me snort every single time. For a good laugh read Moon Woman Speaketh and Relative Math.
  
• Ask Sister Mary Martha : If Sherry Antonetti is the funniest mother on the web, Sister Mary Martha is the funniest nun. The tag line is "Life is tough. But Nuns are tougher. If you need helpful advice just Ask Sister Mary Martha. She'll help you. Just don't expect any sympathy." Sister answers any and all questions with the funniest (and most accurate) explanations of Catholic teachings possible.
• Alive and Young : A Catholic humor blog, Alive and Young has two very funny series: "Adventures in Catechesis" and "Not Said by Jesus Sunday" as well as several posts about beer and the theology (see Hypostatic Union of Christ: The Black and Tan).
• Vita Familiae : Mother of four four and under (with a fifth child on the way), Lora Lynn has a knack for finding the best in life with toddlers. Think you had a rough day? Read this, or catch up with her current posts about forced bedrest.
  
• World's Greatest Mommy : Another funny mom of many, the World's Greatest Mommy has an introspective style. To get a sense of her humor read the descriptions of each of her family members along the left side bar. Then for a switch of pace, read the series she wrote about her dad for Father's Day this year.
  
• Roses are Red, Violets are Violet : I started reading Katie's blog because she has a six-year-old son adopted from Russia. I continued reading it because her prose is profound and her poetry delightful. The blogs above frequently make me laugh, but this one more frequenlty, makes me cry. Some of the best are posts about her mother such as "Butterflies" and "A Lime Popsicle," but her parenting posts are equally inspiring.

I hope that this satisfies my responsibilities as a double winner of the "Brillante Award" :)

Retro-Blogging

I'll be blogging about the past for a bit longer.

The camera and the computer are refusing to talk to one another, so I can't show you any of the neat (well, messy really) activities we have been doing over the last week. They're kind of like a married couple having a spat.

And I just noticed that I am coming up quick on a major blogging milestone. I have a 500th post planned, but I want to get all of those half-baked draft posts published so that the number really reflects 500 public posts.

Expect some more posts about Army business cards and three-month-old bonfires.

And hope that the computer and camera start getting along. You'll want to see some pictures of the "clean mud" we made yesterday.

Book Posts

I am constantly inspired by my bloggy friends' book posts. I often consult Kate's, Heather's, and Jenny's blogs before choosing library books.

In the past I have tried to review of books on one theme (see ducks and construction), but have been overwhelmed by the time required to write these posts.

Instead (both as a service for my preschooling readers and as a record keeping mechanism for myself), I will post a list of the children's favorite books once per week. These may not be the highest quality books on our shelves (I could really do without Curious George myself), but they are proven winners with my crew of mini bookworms.

I will keep the books up on the sidebar (look left) for a month as a quick snapshot of what we have been reading.

The warillever Fan Club

Thank you for your participation in my recent poll. With 11 readers participating, the results were

I really like it when warillever posts:

• preschool crafts (8)
  
• memes (3)
  
• anecdotes about the Agents and Cousins (6)
  
• poems (3)
  
• backyard photos (6)
  
• household tips (6)
  

I don't like it when warillever posts:

• preschool crafts
• memes (2)
  
• anecdotes about the Agents and Cousins
• poems (2)
  
• backyard photos
• household tips (1)

It looks like y'all think I should just keep on keepin' on. So that's what I plan on doing. And just because you asked, there is a preschool craft post in the works. About scorpions of all things.

I've Got a Few Questions for You.....

There are a hardy few who have been reading this blog since the beginning. Of course, most of them are librarians, which may explain their inexplicable persistence in reading such uninspired tripe for so long.

Not that it is really "uninspired" or "tripe." Unfocused might be a better word. Or meandering. Meandering, like a mountain stream making its way to the ocean, except with words instead of water and with no mountain or ocean. Okay, so isn't at all like a mountain stream, but it meanders nonetheless.

And I love the meandering. I love that whenever I have something to say, I just open the Blogger window, type in my thoughts, and add it to this meandering stream of words. It is a creative outlet, where I am the creator, I am the editor, and I am the queen.

But y'all have a role to play too. Remember way back in my second post, I said that this blog isn't about me, it is about us. That it is a way for us to keep in touch. Which means that it should be a conversation. That I shouldn't ramble on about things that you don't care about, but should instead find areas of common interest.

I'll admit that for the most part, I blog selfishly. Mostly because I am too lazy to keep a journal or a scrapbook, but also because I enjoy the interactivity of this medium. Especially when y'all drop me a comment. That makes me smile. But since no one (except Kate) ever comments, I figured that I would beg for some input. See that poll floating at the top of the page? Please answer the questions.

No, really. Answer it, now. Tell me what you like, and what bores you to tears.

I will stop writing until you have answered. :)

I Wanna Be Like Gabe

As siesta was wrapping up this afternoon, Agent 002 came upon me reading blogs. He peered over my should at Heather's Unplugged entry.

Can we do that? I want to make humongous Easter eggs!

And he went right ahead and found a balloon to start another egg-tastic craft -- balloon decoupage:
It is currently hanging from the light fixture until it dries. Agent 002 can't wait until he gets to pop the balloon :)

A side note, another of our other egg projects was also inspired by Heather's blog.

You may have noticed that some of our paper Easter eggs have patterns on them. These were created by wrapping yarn around a toilet paper tube, dipping it in paint, and then rolling the tube on the paper eggs. Heather and her sons did this (much more neatly, I must add) last summer.

Which just goes to show you that I am not, in fact, very creative, but I have a good memory for other people's good ideas. I can only hope that every once in a while, something I post here inspires someone else.

Valentines and Priorities

Sorry for the silence.

Due to the weather, my husband has been working from home quite a bit. Somehow his job takes precedence over my blog. What gives with that? :)

No posts for today either -- I'll be spending the morning making Valentine's treats for a "high tea" later in the day. Fruit skewers and Red Velvet cupcakes. Wish me luck!

The Cast of Characters

The Main Characters:

• Agent 002 -- our son, born in 2002.
• Agent 004 -- our daughter, born in 2004.
• Cousin F -- my Goddaughter and niece, cousin to the Agents, born in 2005. Spends her weekdays at our home.
  
• Cousin P -- my nephew, cousin to the Agents, born in 2007. Spends his weekdays at our home.
• Janice -- the cat
  
• mr warillever -- my blessed husband, also known as "Papa"
• Mama -- that's me!

The Supporting Staff:

• Grammy -- my mother; Grandmother to the Agents, F, P, Aa and M.
• Grampy -- my father; Grandfather to he Agents, F, P, Aa and M.
• Grandma -- mr warillever's mother; Grandmother to the Agents as well as Cousins E, C, T, B, A, Mm and D.
• The Uncles -- my brothers Jimbo* and Jethro; mr warillever's brothers On, 7, and Ichabod; and our sisters' husbands -- three Ms and a D.
  
• The Aunts -- my sisters M and Kak, as well as Uncle On's wife K.
  
• The Ants -- mr warillever's sisters E and P.
• Cousins -- in order they are E, C, T, B, A, Aa, Mm, M, F, D, and P
  

*Jimbo has also been called JR on this blog

Creative Maintenance

You may have noticed that I have been blogging more regularly.

That is one of my resolutions for 2008. Not that I have blogged about that, because one of my other resolutions is to spend less time at the computer. Contradictory? Yes, but it has been working so far.

I have some interesting posts in "draft" status -- about books, marriage, and fish -- but you won't see any of them until I finish tweaking the blog design and apply labels to select posts in the archive.

Drop me a comment if you like the new template, or if you have any constructive criticism. Do you like the color? I am fond of the third column, but haven't figured out how to balance that with a wider post section.

Internet Woes

This is all that I have seen online for the past five days. We are up and running for the time being, but have no faith that our internet service will work consistently.

Ooooh! Pretty!

I have toned down the design a bit. I hope y'all like the more subdued feel of the site.

The August that was

In August we celebrated a birthday, visited with old friends, traveled to Canada, attended a music festival in the Catskills, toured a museum, hiked, stacked our firewood for the winter, continued a home improvement project, went to the state fair, and still found the time to write two books. Agent 002 also wore his first necktie, started kindergarten, and rode the school bus.

It was a big month.

No wonder I barely posted on this blog.

I am Nice

...or at least Amber thinks so. She has given me a "Nice Matters Award."

See me blushing?

I do try to be nice here (I have even posted about it), but it feels good to have someone else recognize me for it.

Here are some bloggers that I think are nice:

• Julie of Happy Catholic: Because she prays for anyone who needs it, and what could be nicer than that?
• The Summa Mamas: Because they are the summa. And nice too.
• Cardinal Sean O'Malley: Because he reaches out to the tech generation while staying true to what is true.
  
• and all of the Homepreschool bloggers who support each other, teach each other, and make each other laugh:
  • Cynthia of More Muffins Please
    
  • Amber's Homeschool
  • Amy Sue and her Looney Lagoon
  • Heather's Homeschooling Fun
  • Yasmina
  • Kate, who is Homeschooling in the Garden State
  • Shauna's Waterfront Learning
  • The Koch Family
  • Daphne's Adventures of Plenty
    
  Please drop a comment if you are a "homepreschooler" and I missed your blog - I'd love to read it.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.

We've been outside a lot, and the computer has been tied up with
new-car-search. And I've fallen back into the habit of reading books
printed on actual paper, which really bites into my internet time
;)

Now that we finally purchased a vehicle (a 5yo minivan. Yikes! am I
really a minvan driver?), mr warillever won't be searching the online
classifieds constantly, and y'all might hear from me a bit more.

Over the River and Through the Woods

.... to Grandma's house we go.

I'll be offline for a few days, but talk to y'all soon. I bet that I'll have some good stories for you -- traveling with kids does that.

And if you need something to entertain you while I'm gone, read about the indulgences you can earn while toting children around the country (by Ironic Catholic).