Blogroll!

I finally added a blogroll for all the feeds I read! :) phew, that was time consuming... I probably spend just as much time reading blogs as I do writing them. I am completely obsessed with the blogosphere as of late. Which is seriously interfering with my packing ;) But there are sooo many good blogs out there! If you don't want to get addicted, please don't check any of them out ;)

The cool thing I've noticed lately is all the giveaways! What a great way to get traffic to your blog and who doesn't love giveaways? What a wonderful way to promote a product or business. I will totally do this once I set up my Etsy shop! I started it almost a year ago with every intention of listing lots of cute crocheted items for baby... but then got sidetracked *with* babies ;) But I plan to give it a real go here once we get settled after the big move. I'll be in a much better position to do it then.

5 Minutes for Mom had a great list of giveaways on their blog, so check out that link. And Judith Shakespeare is giving away a really cool T-shirt on her site: The Only Thing I Know
Happy Blogging!

Wordless Wednesday

Myspace and kids...

Funny that I had just blogged about letting my 10-year-old daughter have a myspace page... and feeling that it was harmless if I kept close tabs on her. I had also downloaded the myspace IM program for her. And that was the mistake. I set it up so that only people on her friends list could contact her through the IM program. Somehow 2 people that she didn't know sent her IM's.

Now, when she first started using computers at school I sat her down and talked to her about entering/giving out personal information. When we set her up with a laptop and wireless internet connection in her room I had another discussion with her about never giving out any personal information. When I set up her myspace page I had yet another talk with her about never giving out any personal information. I mean I *really* had a talk with her on all these occasions and explained to her the dangers of giving out information. Also, on all these occasions we discussed *never* talking with anyone online that she didn't know.

Thank God I was checking her myspace page and messages every day. I noticed that she had a friend on her friend's list that I didn't know, and didn't approve. And this friend was from the state that we are moving to. I knew she didn't know this person. I immediately went upstairs to ask her about it - and of course as soon as I walked in the room I could see her close out of something on the computer. So I asked her about this friend, and after much nonsense talk I finally got out of her that it was someone she was talking to through the IM program. She believed that it was another girl of 11 years old who lived close to the town we are moving to. Which meant that she had divulged this location to this person. This person IM'd her, which means that somehow they got around the block on it (supposedly only people on her friends list could IM her)... so it could not have been some 11 year old girl. Luckily I had the IM program set up to log IMs. I looked through their conversation and saw that she had given out her name, her age, where she lived (just the state) and where she was moving to (and yes, she actually named the city, which is a very small town)! While I was going through her IM logs she got an IM from some supposedly 17 year old boy in Jamaica, who she had apparently been talking to when I came up to her room. She knew that what she was doing was wrong. She had also given that boy her name, age and state and on top of that had asked him what else he wanted to know!

Needless to say, I pulled her wireless card out of the laptop faster than you can say wireless. And unfortunately for her I am deleting her myspace page. And I'm deleting the IM programs from her computer. She's not getting the wireless card back until after we move. And when we move her computer will be downstairs within constant supervision.

The horrible thing is that I thought I was being careful. I thought I was checking up on her enough. I thought she would be able to handle herself appropriately. I thought I had talked to her enough and stressed to her enough the importance of not giving out personal info and not talking to people she didn't know. This really goes to show that you just can't be too careful. And I need to do much more work with her on being careful in this world.

Tuesday Toot

All of my Tuesday Toots (for the next couple of weeks anyway) will probably have something to do with moving. Surprise. This week I actually have a list of accomplishments! :)

1. I got a bazillion phone calls made! Called all the utilities for the new place and called all the utilities here. Called all the places to change our address or filled out online forms...
2. And... I got almost all the dishes done!!! Now that one is the most amazing. OK, I still have one thing left to wash - the roaster that's been sitting there since I don't even want to say when... If it doesn't fit in the dishwasher it takes me a while to get to it.
3. And... I got at least 2 loads of laundry done!
4. And... I was showered and dressed by 10am! (I think I'd been in my pjs since friday).

I had a busy day! Now I really need to get my butt in gear and start *really* packing! We have maybe close to 40 boxes packed. I'm guessing we'll have at least 100 total (and that's a modest estimate). 8 Days and counting!

Princess, Princess, Princess

Let me just start by saying how much I really hate all the princess stuff out there. And how much my 10-year-old daughter loves it, and wants everything princess she sees in the store... Of course I flat out refuse to buy her any of that garbage. I'm sure she feels slighted. But I really think it's awful. I am all for my daughter having confidence in herself and I hope to try to foster that in her - but all the princess stuff goes well beyond the realm of self-confidence. I do not want to raise a spoiled brat princess. Of course she thinks we won't let her get any of that crap because we don't think she deserves it or something - and every time we go to the store I have to explain to her that we don't think she's bad, we just hate the idea behind the princess stuff...


Imagine my dismay when I find she's changed her myspace name to ~*~*~Princess~*~*~ and her headline was even worse it said something really close to "I'm a princess and na na na you're not" or maybe it was "don't you wish you were" - anyway it was awful!

I know, I know - you're all thinking what is a 10-year-old doing with a myspace page? In January, when we were visiting relatives in Iowa, her two older sisters and several of her cousins were gathered around the comupter checking their myspace pages... they are all just a little older than my daughter. I figured it was a good way for her to stay in touch with them. I just explained to her that I was doing something special for her that was a privelige. I set her account to private and I check up on her everyday. I'm very viligant about that. I've told her that I need to approve any friend requests, and that she is not to communicate with anyone she does not know. If she does, I will cancel her account immediately.

Anyway- back to the princess... so how did I handle it? I showed my husband, and he said send her a message, tell her I said she can't use that as her name... what a guy :) I don't have to be the bad guy this time ;)... so I sent her a myspace message: to "Ms Princess... dad does not want you to be using the name princess. we don't think it's cute. find something original. and I really didn't like your headline - it makes you seem way too full of yourself. You should try to be modest. I don't want you sending the wrong message to people. Remember, this is a privilege." (I had to take on some of it - didn't want to blame dad for everything) She had her name and headline changed within 5 minutes. It was really close to bedtime, and when she was going to bed I could tell she was mad and put off with us. I had a nice talk with her and re-explained the whole princess thing... explained humility and being humble... because really, I know that she is a good person and not full of herself in that way. As a matter of fact, when I emailed her teacher about us moving to Iowa, she emailed back about how much she would miss M, and how wonderful a student and person she was, said she had a big heart. And I know that is her. She does have a big heart. I just hope she gets over the Princess fad soon! I think that when we get to our new small town Iowa home I will get involved with the community and drag her with me to do some kind of charity work or just some kind of volunteer work in the community.

Is it Funny??

D's new phrase... "Is it funny?" Been going strong for at least a week now. Not quite sure where he got it from - either from us telling him he's not funny when he's doing something naughty (like spitting out his food) - or he's just now getting to the point where he recognizes when something is funny in a cartoon. He just started laughing at certain points in his favorite cartoons - like when Dorie starts talking Whale in Finding Nemo (I think that was the first time I heard him laugh at a cartoon)...

Anyway, his new phrase is getting quite annoying. Imagine this: 8+ hour trip of "Is it funny? Is it funny? Is it funny? Is it funny?" He would just be giving it up after a 20 minute stint when someone would laugh, which would renew his interest in the phrase and he'd be on it again for another 20.... then he'd forget about it until he spit out his cookie or squirted his juice... "Is it funny? Is it funny? Is it funny?"

I do think he's really testing out the concept. When he laughs at the tv he will turn and ask "Is it funny?" When we got stranded in a motel in Iowa this weekend he was messing around with the dresser, hiding his cars in the drawers and such and finally pinched his poor fingers in a drawer. My husband asked him "Is it funny?" The poor little guy shook his head and said "No, not funny!"