Must Have School Supply if your Children Make INBs During the School Year

First of all I know some of you are wondering what in the world a INB is.  It is an Interactive Notebook.  Many middle school and high school classes use these.  Basically the students use a five subject notebook to paste in all of their handouts and notes and anything they need for the class.

The one problem with INBs is they get huge and take a beating.  It is very important to have a really good five subject notebook.  Otherwise, your kid will spend half the year trying to tape theirs back together.

My kids started using the Mead Five Star Advanced line of 5 subject notebooks when my oldest went to middle school for all their INBs.  These notebooks hold up for the entire year without breaking a sweat.  They are the best notebook ever!  I'm serious.  What makes them so much better than the rest of the spiral notebooks?  Two things, vinyl on the front and  back and a cloth cover over they wire spiral.

Now having said all that, they aren't cheap.  They are typically about $8 each.  And...they can be a bit hard to find.  You have to know where to look at each store for them and be a bit persistent until you find them.  In fact, throughout the year when I happen to be in the office supply section of any box store if I see one of these babies I grab it and stash it for the next school year.

You can find the Mead Five Star Advanced Five Subject Notebooks at Target and Walmart, I know.  Sometimes they are in the special school supply section and sometimes they are over with the regular school and office supplies.  Wherever they are they will have maybe a half a dozen of them if you are lucky and they will be hiding near the rest of the other spiral bound notebooks.  Amazon does have them but they are double the price so don't even bother.  Oh, on the Target website it will tell you if your local store has them and what aisle they are on.  According to the website all of the Targets near us currently have them in stock.

I'm telling you, run, don't walk and buy these precious guys now!  You will be sad if you don't.  I currently have six of them in my stash.  I have no idea how many my kids will need this year, but I'm ready.  And yes, I waited to post this until I had all I needed.  I didn't want there to be a rush on them and not be able to find them. I kid, kindof.

Jenn

What's for Dinner?

The question that is the bane of my existence.  Every day my family not only expects me to feed them, they expect me to decide what to feed them.  Of course, I'm supposed to consult my crystal ball and devise a menu that appeals to all five of them, have it ready when they are ready to eat, all while driving around town getting them from one place to the next.

At dinner last night I read everyone the new bios for the blog.  The single sentence that got the most feed back was this one. I love to cook, sometimes I hate it, mostly because no one will help with menu planning but everyone complains about what I serve. All five people I live with insisted that this was not a true statement and were quite offended that I had written this.

Fast forward to 5:30 pm tonight.  I've been busy all day.  Doctor appointment for me, no worries, just the annual check up; end of year goal setting conferences with Ruby and Eliza Claire; caring for Charlotte; designing our trip t-shirts and car decals; picking up Rehm from school; eating bon bons.  You know just a typical day.  I have no dinner plan.  I need one.  I text Michael and ask for ideas.  His response, "dunno."  Really helpful.  I asked three of the four children if they had any ideas.  Nope, nada, zilch.  Yeah, it was an I Hate to Cook night.  But that wasn't getting anyone fed.
What did we end up having?  I told Rehm I was seriously considering just having a Kraft Mac and Cheese night.  He immediately offered to make it.  I took him up on it but knew we really needed more.  So I turned to my trusty Instant Pot and in 45 minutes had Cincinnati Chili on the table.  Of course, since the mac and cheese got done first, the three children that are eating real food ate before the chili was done.  But Michael and I both enjoyed a bowl of chili and there are enough leftovers I know what's for dinner tomorrow night.

OK, so if you don't know what the Instant Pot is, you need to.  It is my new best friend.  I don't know how I lived without it.  It is magic.  Seriously, it is an electric pressure cooker.  I really didn't understand all the hoopla about them until I got my own.  Oh my!  It is just amazing.  If you are busy and running ragged trying to get everything done in the evenings you need one of these.  So far I've made all kinds of pasta, rice, and grains, a couple of chicken dishes, beans, hard boiled eggs, and chili.  I'm probably forgetting a few things.

Think Crock Pot on steroids.  No need to remember to put something in before starting your day.  This magical machine cooks in mere minutes! For example, past in half the time it takes by stove top directions.  Dried beans from plastic bag to tender, yummy awesomeness in 45 minutes.  Cincinnati Chili usually takes me 30 minutes to prep and then cooks for 2-3 hours.  From the time I got the meat out of the freezer until it was ready to eat was 45 minutes.  Like I said, it is magically.  Run, don't walk to Amazon and get one.  I only bought a 5 quart.  I regret that decision.  If I had it to do over I would buy at least the 6 quart.

Oh, and if you are like me, when you hear pressure cooker all you think of is the vague horror stories from your childhood of them exploding contents all over the kitchen.  No worries, this is not your mother's or grandmother's pressure cooker.  It has lots of safety features and it is electric not stove top.  I can actually turn it on and leave the house to go cart kids around and have dinner done when I get home.  Did I mention it is life changing, magic?
 
I may still have a love/hate relationship with cooking but at least the Instant Pot allows me to get the job done in a timely manner once I come up with something to fix.

Jenn

Have you noticed?

I've been doing a lot more blogging from my phone. I finally found an app that was affordable, allowed me to easily add several pictures, could add tags and future post times, and let me easily edit previous posts or save a draft to come back to. This has been great as I can now blog quick stuff easily on the go. And if the pictures I want to use are on my phone I don't have to email or upload them to my computer! The app I'm using is BlogPress. It cost about $3. It has been totally worth it.

Another new app I love is Camera+. It was $0.99. It allows you to take pictures in bursts - one after another like a DSLR. It also allows you to do basic editing of the photos as well.

Both of these have been well worth the money and have made blogging much more fun.


Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

What could it be?

A really big box for a maniac accidentally got delivered to a neighbors house. After going to fetch it the littles wondered what could possibly be in such a big box.


So we opened it up found...



But what could be in all those peanuts?

Just the cutest little pig you ever did see.


But you would think he could have fit in a smaller box.



This is a replacement piggy bank for Rehm as he accidentally broke his while dusting in his room (shocking that he was dusting, I know). Cici has given all the grandkids and nieces and nephews one of these personalized banks at birth. They are hand made at a pottery place in East Texas, the name of which is escaping me at the moment. Each is personalized with the child's name and birth date. And each has it's very own personality. Rehm won the title for first child to break the bank. He was not happy to call Cici and tell her he had done so. Luckily his Cici loves him very much and was happy to replace his pig.

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Vacuum Cleaners, Again!

After my wonderful experience with vacuums earlier in the week.  I decided Wednesday to go buy the Bissell Clearview Helix I returned on Tuesday.  I got it home and the first thing I noticed is the box opened differently.  The first one I got was supposed to be opened from the top.  It was hard to get things out and part of me wonders if the broken handle happened in trying to unpack the box.  The new one was supposed to be opened from the front.  It was much easier to get all of the parts out of the box and of course, I found nothing broken.

The first thing I liked better about the Bissell over the Hoover T-Series Rewind was the tool storage.  Everything seems to have a more secure place on the Bissell.  Then I turned on the Bissell.  On bare floors it feels self-propelled.  The Bissell advertised that it had side edge cleaning, and it really does.  With the Hoover, I had to go around the base of all the cabinets with the crevice tool to get the crumbs it missed.  I did not have to do this with the Bissell.  The last thing I liked better about the Bissell was the hose attachement.  It has a rigid 18 inch or so long piece with a handle that you pull out.  It was much easier to use and manuver than the Hoover hose.

I have no idea how long this vacuum will survive and honestly my expectations are low.  But, the Bissell Clearview is definitely a better and cheaper vacuum than the Hoover T-Series. 

I know you were all waiting on the edge of your seats for me to make a decision on the whole vacuum thing and I know you will sleep much better know the Bissell is the better choice.  Yeah, I know you all really don't care and I have no idea why I feel the need to share this stuff.  Oh well. 

Jenn

Today Was a Good Day...Mostly

I made my first loaf of bread from Healthy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The kids got me the book for Christmas because they want me to make even more bread than I already do.  Today's loaf is the master recipe sprinkled with flax seeds. It was really yummy. My next things to try will be the Parsley  Garlic Knots, which also use the master recipe, and the Lentil Curry Bread. I cooked the lentils today but haven't made the dough yet.

I love days when things come in the mail. Today was a great day as three different packages arrived. First was my new compost container for the kitchen.  I had a crock several years ago but the lid got dropped and broke so I quit using it. Then we quit composting for a long time.  We started back last summer and since then I've been using a Gladware container and that just wasn't working for me.  I hated it sitting open on the counter.  It was small.  And the cats kept stealing broccoli and other things out of it and making a mess on the counter.  I found this great copper coated stainless number at gardeners.com.  I really like the way it looks, I shouldn't be able to break it, and it holds so much more than the Gladware did.

The second package to arrive was a box of Playmobil stuff - all little stuff (cats with climbing tree, dogs with person, pediatrician's office, vet with dog, snowman with boy). I will admit that we now have plenty of pets for our Playmobil families. The box arrived partially open and I was afraid it would be missing items. Surprisingly, it was not. I ordered from Ridge Road Station. They seem to have good sales and free shipping. This is my second time ordering from them and I've been pleased both times. I do check prices against the Playmobil site as occasionally a "sale" item isn't really marked down.  But overall, I find I can save quite a bit using their site.

The last thing to arrive was new lids for our Thermos Funtainer Sipsters. Did you know you can get replacement lids and straws for about $2 a piece? Given the price of the Sipsters this is a great way to extend their lives. You do have to call (800.831.9242) - can't do it online but it is so worth it. Some of our bottles are three or more years old and on their second or third lid.

In other news I bought a vacuum cleaner today. But, it, of course, deserves it's own post.

The Bigs brought home report cards. Unfortunately, one child had some explaining to do. I'll just say, at our house effort is key, and in a couple of subjects it was lacking.





Jenn

Vacuum Cleaner Shopping

OK, this is going to be really long winded.  Apparently there is a bit of a back story that has to be told to make the current shopping make sense.  So bare with me or skip today's post.

For a while I've been looking for a new solution for daily sweeping/vacuuming needs.  I used to have a cordless Shark that I loved.  It would pick up any mushy food that got thrown on the floor and all the dog hair off the carpet to boot.  Alas, it broke and I bought a new Shark a year or so ago.  The new model is horrible.  It doesn't pick up half of what the old one did and my shag rug (trust me it isn't as ugly as that description makes it sound) in the family room completely kills the battery before you can finish sweeping it. 

I tried the broom option and while it does great on dirt and getting in corners, it doesn't do well with dog hair and it doesn't do rugs and carpet at all.  I've tried a swifter and that is just a joke with my family and pets. 

I haven't been willing to bring down the big "good" vacuum and just use it because it is a pain to lug it downstairs and well I hate it.  I bought it four and a half years ago.  I remember because the twins were about a week old when we went to buy it and I think it was our first outing with all four children in tow.  Yeah, I know, smart decision to take them all shopping a week after birth to make a $500 purchase. 

The "good" vacuum is a Kenmore Progressive canister.  When I bought it it was the top rated vacuum from Consumer Reports.  I planned to buy a Dyson but Consumer reports talked me out of it and into the Kenmore.  This vacuum cost as much or more than the dyson.  Two years ago, the vacuum broke and had to be sent off for repair twice and still came back not working.  After pitching a major fit, Sears replaced the vacuum with a new Progressive.  With in a few months the dirt sensor quit working.  At this point is has a short in the hose and the power head quits working if you push it too far out in front of you.  It really should be replaced.

The problem of the "good" vacuum is also exacerbated by the fact that it has always been used about 90% of the time by my wonderful cleaning crew.  I truly love them and have no reason to think they have mistreated the vacuum but at the same time I've never had a vacuum have this many problems in such a short period of time.  I've also never had one that the hose looks like it has been stepped on or otherwise mishandled before...I have been hesitant to buy another expensive vacuum for fear that it won't last any longer than this one has.  I really don't know if the quality of vacuum is the problem or the treatment of the vacuum has caused the problems.  Since it still works I want it to continue to be the one the cleaning crew uses as I can't afford to replace this level of vacuum every 2-4 years. 

So to solve my daily sweeping/vacuuming needs I had finally decided to get an inexpensive upright to keep downstairs since it would work on floors and carpet and could be the backup if the "good" vacuum quit working. 

Last Friday the twins and I went to target to pick out the vacuum.  It takes me forever to make these decisions and we probably stood in the vacuum aisle for a half an hour while I compared all my choices.  Ok, I'll admit during that time my darling children were running up and down the aisle racing various vacuum floor models and testing out all their features. Yeah, I know, Mom of the Year. 

I finally decided I liked the Hoover T-series Rewind.  It was $99 and had a retractable cord, which was a big selling feature for me since this was to be the "grab and quickly clean up" vacuum.  Of course, once I decided which one I wanted I found out the Target I was standing in didn't have any in stock!  But, they had five at the Target five miles away.  So I put the twins in the van and we went to the other Target and purchased the vacuum.

I really liked the vacuum.  It had great suction and it totally disgusted me to see what all it picked up, especially on the carpet/rugs.  I used in once and the next night Rehm used it.  He has a secret love of vacuuming, which I encourage as much as possible.  Unfortunately his favorite thing is to use the attachments to suck up individual particles of things not cleaning large areas.  Last nigh Rehm asked if he could vacuum and I of course said, "Yes!"  He came back a minute later to say the cord was stuck and he couldn't pull it out.  I tried and I couldn't get it out either.  The way it had retracted there was no way to get the cord out past 3 feet.  Today the vacuum went back to Target.

I spent another 45 minutes standing in Target trying to decide which vacuum I wanted since I didn't want to risk another Hover rewind.  I decided on the Bissell Cleanview+ Helix.  It was only $80 and didn't have a retractable cord but otherwise was very similar to the Hoover.  I got it home opened the box and started to assemble it.  That is when I found a piece broken off the handle!  So I took it back to Target to get another of the same model.  Only, they didn't have anymore!  But, the Target five miles away had eight!

I took the fact that I was going to have to go to the other Target as a sign to give up!  I still don't have a good everyday option and I still have a crappy "good" vacuum.  Part of me thinks I should save up and get a Dyson (you know the one I should have gotten 4 years ago) to keep downstairs to be my everyday solution and "good" vacuum and part of me wants to just go to the other Target and get the Bissell and forget about this for a while.  And there is another part that thinks maybe clean floors are overrated and I should just do nothing. 

Things to take away from this post: 
Jenn spends way too much time obessing over things like vacuums

A week after giving birth is not the time to make $500 purchasing decisions

Don't let Consumer Reports talk you out of buying what you really want

Meaningless Factiods:  
I grew up calling a vacuum a  sweeper.

At the age of 3.5 or 4 the twins had no clue what the vacuum was because they had never seen it before!  I told you the cleaning crew did the majority of the vacuuming at my house.

Jenn - Vacuumless in Cedar Park

A question you really shouldn't ask your children

Tonight at dinner I was reading the kids a story out of the Dinner Time Bible by Dr. Mary Manz Simon. A couple of friends recommended this Bible to me and my family loves it. It is great for all four of them. They all participate with the questions and it normally sparks some really good conversation. We started a tradition that whoever is sitting in seat number six gets to pick the prayer for the day. Each evening they talk about who gets to sit in that seat because they look forward to the privilege of picking our prayer so much.

This week Michael has been out of town and dinner time has not been quite normal, meaning I haven't sat down to eat with them but have instead been doing things in the kitchen while they eat. Monday night in the middle of dinner, one of them said, "Mom, where is the Dinner Time Bible? We have to read it!" If that isn't a great recommendation for this Bible I don't know what is.

This Bible has two pages of dinner prayers to pick from at the front of the book. It has some facts about each story and kind of a warm up paragraph, then it has the story followed by questions for the kids and a prayer with blanks for them to fill in.

Anyway back to tonight. We were reading the story of Joseph's brothers coming to Egypt to get food and discovering Joseph. At the end the question section tonight said:

"An adjective is a word that describes someone or something. Words like smart, short and happy are examples of adjectives. In this Bible story, Joseph was described as hard working, honest, and trustworthy. How would you describe the person who is reading with you now? What words describe you?"

Of course I was just reading along with no idea where this was going and was halfway through the sentence "How would you describe the person who is reading with you now?" when I realized what it said and that they were all going to describe me! I had absolutely no idea what any of them were going to say. I was expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised. Rehm's answer: nice. Charlotte's answer: nice, beautiful, smart, loving. Eliza Claire: smart. Ruby: big girl! And yes, Ruby's response cracked me up.

Much better than the responses I expected. Guess which girl I'll be extra nice to tomorrow...

I do highly recommend this book. It has been a great addition to our dinner time routine. We have had some really good discussions thanks to this book and obviously the kids like it since they are asking us to read it.

Jenn

PS This book is available through Scholastic. Mine actually came from a book fair at a local public elementary school.

Best Nightlight/ Flashlight Ever

Santa was nice enough to bring these cute lady bug nightlight/flashlights for Ruby and Eliza Claire.



The leaf has a cord that plugs into the wall. The bug sits on the leaf. There is a light sensor on the system and it only lights up when the room is dark. When the bug is taken off the leaf it becomes a very bright flashlight. The flashlight will work for four hours before it needs to be recharged.

I was so tired of finding flashlights laying on the floor turned on, changing batteries in flashlights, and changing light bulbs in traditional nightlights. Now I don't have to. The girls almost always know exactly where their flashlights are, they always have a nightlight and their flashlights always work.

Santa found these at Lowes, the hardware store, not the grocery store. They were approximately $15. According to the package there is also a rocket version for the boys out there - our Lowes did not have the rocket.

Scarring my Children for Life?

It is hard to see in this picture, but each of the numbers on this clock is a different color.

One night recently Eliza Claire came into my room at 1:22 am sobbing. Her problem, her clock had fallen off her night stand and "broken" and now she didn't know what time it was. She "needed" to know what time it was! I had to get up dig the clock out from under the nightstand, pop the battery cover back on, and set it where she could see it again. Then she was happy to go back to sleep.

So why is a three year old so obsessed with time? Well, because her parents are very schedule and rule oriented. Eliza Claire is not allowed to leave her room in the morning until there is a green seven. If she can't see her clock, she doesn't know when there is a green seven. If she doesn't know when there is a green seven she can not leave her room. This is a problem as Eliza Claire does not want to be in her room forever.

A day or two after this happened I heard her talking about the time again and was once more reminded of how unusual it is to have a time conscious three year old.

I truly hope I am not scarring her for life, hopefully she will just always be a punctual individual.
Jenn


PS. Target carries this clock the numbers are red, green, red and yellow. This is the perfect clock for young children as they don't have to remember which number is the hour number, they just have to be able to recognize the color and one number, for us the green seven. A yellow seven does not work, only a green one.

Kindle Review

Michael surprised me at Christmas with a Kindle. It really was not even on my radar screen. I love to read, but typically get all my books from the library so it had not occurred to me to want a Kindle. Having said that it was a very pleasant surprise. One that I have already grown to love.

The Kindle does not come with any kind of case, nor is it back lit. So the very first thing I did was spend several hours looking at my cover and light choices to go with it. Yes, I really did spend hours. I tend to totally over think decisions like this. It used to drive my mother crazy and now drives my husband crazy. I like to know I've explored all my options and made a very educated choice. I ended up ordering a leather M-Edge cover and an M-Edge light. I went with this brand because they make a pocket on several of their covers that their light slips into so that it is stored in the cover and doesn't have to be kept up with separately. I felt that I should order a nice sedate brown or black leather case but in the end my love for chartreuse won and I have to say I have not regretted that decision at all.

Cover

Notice the book light down the spine of the case

Light up and on

So far I have read four books on the Kindle. The first was an 800+ page novel. The next two were free Kindle books. There seem to be a couple of new free books each week. Then I bought another book last week. I figure if I only pay for about half the books and don't by new releases, my reading habit won't be too expensive.

I traveled for work while reading the first book and was so glad to be carrying the Kindle than the mammoth book. It was very handy to have the book light for reading in the hotel room as I was sharing it with my co-workers. I even found that I liked not having to worry about the sound of turning pages keeping others awake. It also led to me meeting one of the members of the band Go Fish, something that would not have happened without my Kindle handy.

I like the size and convenience of the Kindle. It fits in my purse and weighs a little over a pound (with cover and book light). It doesn't matter if I have 1 book or 20 with me it weighs the same. I don't have to worry about having the right book with me when I leave the house because I have them all available. If I forget my Kindle, I can read any of my Kindle books on my Kindle app for my Iphone. I don't like reading on the Iphone as much as the Kindle but in a pinch it works. I like that anytime, anywhere I am about one minute away from a new book. The Kindle wirelessly connects to amazon for quick and easy browsing and purchasing of books.

I have always been an avid reader, easily reading a book or more a week when I have them available. For the last few years my biggest barrier to reading is finding time to go to the library to get books. Taking four children through the adult stacks with me doesn't work very well as keeping them library quiet is near impossible. Going without them and before the library closes also proves difficult. So having books available has gotten more difficult. This has led to buying books at Sam's or where ever I might be that I could quickly grab one while running other errands. Of course, my choices have been more limited and I have reverted to paying for books. If I'm going to pay for books having the Kindle makes more sense as I can buy what I want at anytime without having impatient children in tow. I never have to be without a book. That makes me a very happy person.

I wish the Kindle was back lit as that would negate the need for a book light. Having an Iphone I keep trying to make the Kindle a touch screen, sadly it is not. The selection of books for the kindle is pretty good. I have found a couple of authors who have series I want to read that only some of the series is available for the Kindle. This is a bit frustrating when I've read the first book in the series, on the Kindle, and the next one available is book three of four.

Oh one other really great thing about the Kindle is the battery life. If you turn off the wireless, the battery will last me for 3+ weeks on a single charge of reading at least an hour each day.

Overall, I'm really glad to have the Kindle. It is not something I would have ever bought for myself but I do enjoy it. It was the perfect gift for me given my love of reading and one I'll use for years to come.

Jenn

The Latest in Cat Fashion

You can't really see the color here but can see how they fit

No, those are not painted nails on the cats - I don't have that much time on my hands. They are Soft Paws. They are plastic tips that glue on their clipped claws to keep them from destroying things like my leather recliner that is sporting a few small nicks and now, a lovely cat deterrent. Since Phineas and Isabella look so much a like, I purposely ordered a package that had two different colors to give everyone another easy way to know who was who.

The package cost $22 including shipping. There are enough tips for five applications, since I'm not putting them on the claws up on the side of their paw, otherwise it would be enough for four applications. They are supposed to stay on four to six weeks. We will see if they really do.

I waited several weeks to put them on as I wanted the cats to get less skittish and more used to me messing with their paws. I've been making an effort to massage their paws and clip their claws with some frequency.

I applied the soft paws without any help. I waited until the cats were snoozing and the children were quiet (watching TV). I got three or four on each cat before they got feed up with me. But over the course of an hour I got them all on. Phineas has tried to bite his off a few times but seems to be getting used to them. Isabella doesn't seem to mind them, though maybe the cake incident is her way of telling me what she really thinks. It was funny to watch them try to climb their scratching post last night, it took a bit of adjusting since they didn't have the same traction as before.

An added bonus that I would never have paid for, or gone to the hassle for is how cute they are. The girls love them and want to know what other colors they come in. It has only been 24 hours but as of now I'd say we will be purchasing these regularly in the future.

White Elephant Gift Review

Michael received the Turn Your Drink Can into a Bottle Tops at a white elephant gift exchange at work. Yes, they are "as seen on TV." No, I'm not really sure what the point is beyond having something for people to buy for white elephant exchanges.

The kids, Rehm especially, were very intrigued with these. After determining that Michael intended to keep them, I decided to try them for the sole purpose of doing a product review here on the blog. Michael took some of them to work with him. He says he hasn't tried them yet. He is waiting until there are more people in the office.

As I told Michael, before trying them, I expect that while goofey and not really necessary that they would probably come in handy as I like to set an unfinished drink in the fridge and they would cut down on the spillage if knocked over. I also admitted that since I take a drink in the car with me they would probably be useful for transporting the drink around with me on the occasions where I don't finish it during the drive. Then, I admitted that they were so goofy and I'd feel like such a dork using them that I would probably let that outweigh their usefulness and not use them.

Did I mention that my husband just said he was waiting for more people to be in the office before trying them?




I did try one this week. It did snap easily onto the can as promised. It did keep my soda from spilling, even when Rehm turned it completely upside down. It did come off easily by simply just squeezing the can as advertised. I did feel like a complete dork the entire time it was on my can and I have not used one since. The kids were completely fascinated with the blasted thing the whole time I was using it.

Would I buy this product for myself? No. Would I buy it for a gift? Only if it were a gag. Could this product be useful? Yes. If you would like to try one, we have twelve, let me know and I'll get one to you.

Jenn

Bear and Kitty Cat

Eliza Claire and Ruby have gotten in the habit of bringing their luvies out of their rooms. I don't know how it started and I don't really like it due to the problems that ensue but haven't nipped it in the bud yet either.

Eliza Claire actually has two luvies, bear and sheep. Bear in her most favorite and goes everywhere I'll permit. Sheep is necessary at night but is definitely the second rate luvie. Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Sheep. It must be hard to always be the one left behind. But Sheep doesn't seem to mind too much and is always right there waiting for Eliza Claire when she is needed. Even in the dark in the middle of the night Eliza Claire can tell Sheep and Bear apart. And she must have both, no matter how long you have to search in the dark for the missing on.


Ruby has one luvie, Kitty Cat. I'm not sure how she ended up with one and Eliza Claire ended up with two, but it was not intentional. We used to have a puppy dog too and all four got rotated and each girl had only one luvie at a time. Somewhere along the line Puppy Dog got lost (probably two years ago). And sometime after that Eliza Claire ended up with a second luvie in her bed. Probably becaues she was losing her luvie in her bed and waking me up to come find it and I decided that if she had two in her bed it would take her longer to lose both of them.

Kitty Cat in her swimming soup

Ruby was not happy that I was taking pictures of Kitty Cat. She wanted no part of it and didn't want Kitty Cat in them either, as evidenced by those chubby little fingers trying to grab her.

About six months ago Grandma got the girls another one of this style luvies to be the back up. His name is Extra Bear and he is a third rate citizen (even though he looks just like Bear). Nobody wants Extra Bear ever! I feel really bad for Extra Bear and the scorn he recieves. It must be really hard to never be wanted or loved.

Last week Ruby lost Kitty Cat. For about a week we could not find her anywhere. I was beginning to think she was truly lost. While she was gone Ruby made do with random other stuffed animals and dolls but at nap and bed time every day asked for Kitty Cat.

We found Kitty Cat yesterday in the corner of the play room. Ruby was so happy to see her. Surprisingly by bed time she was lost again. When I tucked Ruby in she asked me to look for her. I asked her where Kitty Cat was. She said, "downstairs, she wearin a purple swim soup!" It totally cracked me up that the blanket style luvie was wearing a swim suit. We found her again this mornin and Kitty Cat looks really good in her "swim soup."

But now Bear is lost! And we were late to school looking for her. We could not find her anywhere. I know he is in the house, but I don't know where. Eliza Claire is not going to be nearly as easy to pacify until he is located. I dread going home because I know it is not going to be pretty where Bear is not located for nap time.

I think it is time to go back to the Luvies Must Stay in you Bed rule.

Oh joy,
Jenn

PS. Since writing the original, Charlotte found Bear in an Elmo purse and brought it to Eliza Claire in time for nap time. Way to go Charlotte!

PPS. At press time Extra Bear could not be located for photo op. I told you he was a third rate citizen.

The Blog Book

Front Cover - 2007 was our 10th anniversary and this picture was taken outside the church where we were married. It seem an appropriate cover photo for the book

Back Cover - Picture was taken Christmas Eve 2007

I ordered a book of a year of Mayhem Mania from blog2print about two weeks ago. It came in the mail today. I love it! It is perfect! As I write Charlotte is sitting beside me, flipping through it with a running commentary of every picture she sees. She is having a blast.

I've known about web sites that do blog books for over a year now and been saying I need to take advantage of it. Several months ago I looked into blurb. From the looks of it blurb produces great books and allows you to do a ton of customization. Unfortunately, blurb requires you to download their program to do the book in. The few times I played around with it, by the time a did a page or two the program crashed, required me to reboot and start over. I had over a year's worth of blogging to do and this did not seem like it was ever going to be a viable solution. You could have blurb automatically populate the pages but I didn't like it's formatting. The pictures were square and small. And every post got its own page no matter how short it was. So some pages had a bunch of wasted white space. Blurb did have an option to footnote each post with any links used in the original posts. But I don't remember anyway to include the post's comments.

A few weeks ago I found blog2print. It did not require downloading a program. It did everything on its site. Blog2print also allows you to customize your book extensively. I chose not to go that route as I now have over 500 blog posts to deal with. I went with its default layout. It took 20 minutes from start to finish to make an almost 200 page book containing a year of blog posts for $87. For an additional three dollars, I got the entire book in .pdf format, which I did for back up purposes. Blog2print does not footnote with links, but it does footnote with all comments. The comments are not with each original post but are in the back of the book though the post does nicely note the footnotes. The pictures are smallish (probably 2x3) but good. The pictures do not show up in the same spot they did in the original post and captions end up as part of the text. Blog2print does not page break after each post it fills the entire page. This means that sometimes a new post will start at the bottom of a page - not ideal, but not a huge deal for me either.

Click on the picture above and you will notice that the captions do not match the pictures. But it is pretty easy to figure out what goes with what. Here is the original post so you can see the differences.

Typical page above

Close up of how comment footnotes are noted

Another option I found was to pay someone to do a custom book. The person I saw started at $200 for the first 50 pages and $1 or $2 for each additional page for the size book (8 1/2 x 11) I did on blog2print. I would have had a much "prettier" book when completed but I would have had a fortune in it (a minimum of $350). I could not do that.

The last option would have been for me to set aside the time to do all of the customization myself. But right now I'm not getting laundry done and could not imagine where I was going to carve out the time to spend hours and hours making the perfect book.

I think blog2print gave me a nice balance between time, cost, and final layout. It is not my dream book and it is not perfect, but it is "good enough". And sometimes "good enough" is what I need.

I will definitely be ordering Mayhem Mania 2008 from blog2print soon.

Jenn - learning to let go of some things and like "good enough"

We're Finally a Wii Family

Our Mii Family

Michael and I talked about getting the children a Wii for Christmas. After many rounds of debate we decided not to take the plunge. Then we received some cash as gifts for the holidays and decided to go for it after all.

Of course Nintendo quit shipping Wiis for a week or so after Christmas. Something about closing out their fiscal year. I don't know but you would think they would be able to close out the year and still ship product. Seems like a bit of a flaw in the business plan to me. Anyway, that lead us to have to wait a few extra weeks to get our Wii as no one had them in stock. Last week we found it.

We didn't unveil it until the weekend as we have instituted a "Wii is for Weekends" rule. If you know my son you understand the reason for this rule. He is addicted to all things with screens and if you don't have very clear rules about their usage he hounds you to death wanting to know if he is allowed to play. Every two minutes you have to have the following conversation:

Rehm: Can I play DS?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I play computer?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I play Wii?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I watch TV?

Me: No

Rehm: What can I do?

Me: You can play with your sisters, you can get out a toy, you can read, you can go outside.

Usually he stomps off for a minute or two and then comes back and starts the whole thing over. This continues until you make a hard rule, like no screens between 8am and 4pm. Thus the neeed for the" Wii is for Weekends" rule.

Last Saturday afternoon we decided it was time to get the Wii out. All the kids were playing in the family room. Rehm was playing his DS. We bring it downstairs and start unpacking it. Rehm keeps playing DS. Charlotte goes up to him and tells him we have a Wii. He ignores her. We are all laughing as Rehm has been asking for a Wii for months and he is sitting three feet away from one and is completely oblivious! Finally I pick up the box an wack him on the head with it. I get a "Mom!" and he keeps playing. So I wack him with the box again and then hold it up in front of his face. His eyes got big. His jaw dropped and he tossed the DS down.

Oblivion

Rehm's first question, "Why do you have a Wii box?" Brilliant, I know. That's my boy. "Because we have a Wii," I respond.

"No we don't."

"Um yeah, we do. Why else would I be holding a Wii box?"

"Where?"

"Right here" point at Micheal who is getting everything ready to hook up.

At this point the child looks like a fish out of water. His eyes are bugged and his mouth is working but nothing is happening. He is so beside himself with excitement he can't even form words. I wish I had a video of him but I was too busy laughing and enjoying his response to even think of recording it.

The children all checking out their Miis - this is the twins favorite part of the Wii

So far we all love the Wii. A lot of it is too advanced for the girls. But I do like that it is easy to help them in a way that make them still feel like they are doing something, not just watching others play. I'm sure part of that comes from my own memories as a child of never getting to play video games because I was the youngest and least coordinated so I always got relagated to observer instead of participant.

Rehm is already investigating any loop holes in the "Wii is for Weekends" rule. We have talked about holidays being exceptions and possibly bad weather days from school. This led to a discussion about why the rule would not be suspended for the summer. Duh!

So far we have Wii Sports, Wii Play and Madden. Somehow my dear, dear husband did not buy the Wii Fit, even though it was in stock when he bought the rest. Apparently even though I've said for six months I'd love to have it, we don't need it yet but of course we could not have a game system without having a football game. Don't you love that logic? Oh, he did offer to buy it for my birthday, in July...

Woohoo it is almost time for a Wii Weekend. I don't think we discussed if the weekend included Friday evenings or not. I guess I will be negotiating that detail later today.

Happy Friday y'all,
Jenn

Since Several of You have Asked

Here is a review of the new camera.

I ended up purchasing the Nikon CoolPix S550 because it had the same megapixels as the old camera, more optical zoom, and the price point was very reasonable ($150). This is only my second non Canon camera ever.



My very first Canon was the Snappy. It was a very simple automatic 35mm with no zoom but included flash. I got it when I was 14 so I would have a decent camera to take with me on my trip to Europe that my parents were nice enough to allow me to go on. Thanks Mom and Dad!



I had the Snappy until after I got married. So about 10 years. I finally replaced it as I wanted something that zoomed. When I took the plunge to go digital I bought a Canon Digital Elph Power Shot S100. It actually still works but the zoom doesn't and at this point the battery doesn't hold a charge for more than a picture or two.


When the zoom went on the Digital Elph, I replaced it with the Canon Digital Elph Power Shot SD 1000. Loved this camera. It did everything I wanted and more. It had lots of settings and features. It took video. It had 10 megapixels which was a huge improvement from the 2.1 the old one had. I truly had no complaints about this camera. Well until I dropped it just right and killed it.

Not wanting to spend $250+ on another digital point and shoot that was likely to be dropped. I looked at severa options and dicided on the Nikon. Overall it is a good camara. It takes a great picture. It is small and very easy to use. It does not have all the bells and whistles of the old camera.

So far I have found that it won't allow me to zoom in and out while shooting video, my old one did. When viewing pictures, it doesn't self orient - meaning if I turn the camera it doesn't adust the picture to face the direction I turned the camera, my old one did. I also seem to have more pictures come out blurry than I did with either of the canon ones.


The accessories are far inferior to the old camera. The Canon used a mini USB cord to connect to the computer. The new one uses a proprietary cord and has the USB and A/V cords all connected together which makes for a bulky mess of cording to store and carry. It also means I have to have this cord to get pictures off the camera where as with a mini USB port any mini USB cord works. The battery charger is much more cluncky as well. It is a box the battery pops into plus a cord that plugs into the wall. My old one was just the box, it plugged in directly needing no cord. Again, much more bulky to store and travel with.



I have noticed that the new camera seems to do a better job with red eye. And, it pops up a message warning you when it detects someone blinking when the picture was taken.



I do have to say I haven't sat down with the user's guide yet. I'm hoping once I do some of my issues with the camera will be solved...

All in all, it is fine. But next time I'll be asking to see all the accessories before making my choice. Oh, and I'll probably buy another Canon.