I know you have seen them. Those adorable blogs that look like scrapbook pages or fabric. Well guess what? I got one. And I owe everything to The Cutest Blog on the Block. I spent more time on picking a design than it took to set it up! You have got to check this site out. There are tons of choices and they are free!! Thank you Becky and Ashley, I am so glad I found your site.

School starts back on September 4th for my 10,8 and 6 year old. Even when they get on my last nerve and I say “Ooo, I can’t wait until school starts” deep down I will miss them. It is so much easier to keep an eye on what they are exposed to.

This year will be starting 5th grade which means next year she will be going to middle school. She will no longer be around to look out for her little sister. K.K is 6 and she is having speech difficulties. She becomes very shy around anyone that is not immediate family. She will not speak at school because she says she is scared. I don’t know what to do. She loves going to school and learning new things. It obvious she is soaking everything in, she talks non stop at home. I just don’t know what to do. I have tried to understand what she is scared of. She said her voice sounds funny. I assured her it doesn’t. I have asked her to do it for “mommy” and that has not worked. I even tried bribery. I told her if she talks in school I will let her go to toysrus and pick anything she wants. It almost worked. She started to whisper a little at the end of the school year. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have run out of ideas.

“Are you stalking me? Because that would be super”! That line is from the movie Van Wilder and that has to be one of the worst pickup lines I have ever heard. If someone said that to me I would just walk away shaking my head. You have to wonder does anyone really try to use those lame pickup lines? Of course they do! If they didn’t what would we laugh at :). Do you think you have a pickup line that works every time? If you do go on over to Extreme Style by VO5 There is this cool game called the Ultimate Flirting Championship. I had fun playing it. You get to choose your face, hair and nickname. You then have to wait for another player or you are asked to be a judge. I was chosen to be a judge. I was able to ask two contestants five questions. After each question I had to choose which answer I liked the best. The answers were really funny. I have to admit one player had some great pickup lines!

If you think you have what it takes to win why not go to www.VO5VictoryHair.com and play the Extreme Style by VO5’s Ultimate Flirting Championship?! Let’s see if you have VO5 Victory Hair. After you play be sure to grab the widget to put on your blog.

My 6 year old loves little songs that rhyme. She especially loves you get to incorporate movement into. When we started singing them all my other kids just could not resist and joined in too J

Two Little Dicky Birds

Two little dicky birds, sitting on a wall
One named Peter, One name Paul
Fly away Peter, Fly away Paul
Come back Peter, Come back Paul

Round and Round the Garden

Round and round the garden,
went the teddy bear,
One step, two steps,
tickly under there,
round and round the haystack
went the little mouse,
one step, two steps
to his little house

Slowly, Slowly

Slowly, slowy, very slowly
creeps the garden snail
slowly, slowly, very slowly
up the wooden rail
quickly, quickly, very quickly
runs the little mouse
quickly, quickly, very quickly
all around the house

This little Pig went to Market

This little pig went to market
This little pig stayed home
This little pig had roast beef
This little pig had none
And this little pig cried all the way home

Itsy-bitsy Spider

The itsy-bitsy spider
climbed up the water spout
down came the rain
and washed the spider out
out came the sun
and dried up all the rain
then the itsy-bitsy spider
climbed up the spout again

Do you have a rhyme you loved as a child or one that your child loves now?

I’m number 2098!! I came across the Million Blog List and figured why not add my blog to the list?

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There is a perfect opportunity to get some blog love over at Blog around the world. She is making the ulimate blog white pages sorted by state. But that is just part of it. Bloggers will also get featured and interviewed to help drive traffic their way. She is also having a giveaway to win a $50 giftcard to Target or Macy’s, your choice. I think this is a great idea and I hope everyone checks it out.

With school starting back September 2 for my oldest and September 4 for the other three I have begun to start thinking about bedtimes. Better yet, what is the right bedtime. My oldest is 14 so I tend to not be so strict with her bedtime. Last year she had to be at the bus stop by 7:55am. She had to be in bed by 11pm and I woke her up at 6:30 in the morning. That system worked out pretty good for her. It is a little bit more tricky with my other 3. I have tried to have a 9:00 bedtime for them. They have to be at school by 7:30 am. I wake them up at 6:00. Unfortunately there are times when they do not go to sleep at 9 because they are playing around, need water, to go to the bathroom and stuff like that. My 10 year old thinks she should be able to stay up later but I don’t think so. Sometimes she has trouble getting up in the morning.

I have seen around the internet where some parents have bedtimes at 8pm for their kids, I have even seen some as early as 7pm. So now I am curious, what is your kid’s bedtime and how did you come to the decision of picking that time?

Coupon for Frozen Minute Maid Frozen snack
sugarfree chocolate chips
Free 8oz bottle of Ensure
Free bag of Malt-O-Meal cereal Use $1 coupon at Walmart, cereal should only cost $1

If you have a blog you need to promote it. That is just common sense. You can not just expect people to just know you have a blog and visit it. Almost everyone has heard of Entrecard or BlogUpp as a way of getting more traffic and exposure. But those can not be the only two sites you use. You will get some traffic but not a lot. These are a few that seemed to catch my eye.

Blog Engage : A great site to submit your own blog posts. Readers get to vote on your blog and with enough “engages” your post moves to the front page.
Conduit: You are able to make your own toolbar for readers to download. There is also an opportunity to earn a little money.
Zimbo: A user driven site that will help not only help you get more inbound links but you will be able to reach more people who may enjoy reading your blog.

I am still learning so I am pretty sure there are tons of other sites that can be used to promote your blog. What are your recommendations?

I just found out about the National Thank You Day contest. It ends in four days but I still think it is worth mentioning.

directly from site…….
This year’s contest serves to honor those who make our lives special every day. We’re looking for the person who most deserves a thank you. And you can help.

Nominating someone is a great way to commemorate National Thank You Day —a day where you can show everyone who’s given you an encouraging word, a leg up, or a good laugh, just how much it meant to you. An everyday thank you should not happen someday! Whether it’s a big favor or a small kindness, we all depend on the thoughtfulness of others. So nominate the person in your life you’d most like to thank.

Show them a little gratitude and a lot of thanks, and let your every days be thankful days.

To enter someone in the contest, nominators are asked to submit an essay up to 150 words about who they would like to nominate and why, and to create the ultimate thank you gift valued up to $20,000. The grand prize winner will be selected by Peggy Post, among other judges, and presented with their prize in-person by the celebrity etiquette expert on National Thank You Day, Monday, September 22, 2008.

One-hundred first prize winners will receive an autographed copy of Post’s latest book, Excuse Me But I Was Next…The Top 100 Manners Dilemmas and a 14 ounce box of merci Finest Assortment of European Chocolates, and all nominators who submit an eligible entry will receive a buy one get one free coupon for merci chocolates (8.8oz box)