Smart kids are so cool! There is a smart kid in the news right now that is just amazing people all over the world! He figured out how to make one of the newest kinds of mobile phones available to more people – he unlocked the Apple iPhone! He spent over 500 hours working on this, but, he was bound and determined to have an iPhone, and his mom didn’t want to switch cell phone providers, because of the great cost! So he worked and worked, and he got his iPhone to work with T-Mobile! He documented the whole thing on his blog, Finding JTAG on the iPhone. I’m telling you, this is one cool kid – and I would just be willing to bet you that he is a READER, wouldn’t you? Readers definitely are leaders, and this kid is going to go far!

GO READ A BOOK!

There is this great (and darn funny!) mommy blogger, K8, who is having a whopper of a scrapbooking contest!! She amassed way too much scrapbooking stuff and she has decided to share the wealth with the lovely blogosphere! I think that’s totally awesome! All you have to do to be entered to win is to blog about her contest, or put a pretty graphic in your sidebar like I’ve done! This scrapbooking contest would be so totally awesome to win! I guess you can tell I’m excited about all of these goodies, huh?

And the graphic for the contest is just so darn cute, too!

If you haven’t been to K8’s blog, called Three Wild Monkeys, before – go. Go now. She is so funny – even if you’re not going to enter the contest – go read her stories – she just totally cracks me up! And her kids just could NOT be any cuter!!

GO READ A BOOK!

More on the Back to School series:

“I can’t believe you forgot to give me your Wednesday folder until this morning! Bring it to me quickly – I don’t want you to miss the bus!”

How smoothly your bedtime routine goes will determine how smoothly your morning goes. It’s important to have routines for bedtime as well as in the morning. The best way to keep track of needed tasks is to use a chart.

If you leave it to your memory, which might not be as sharp as IBM memory, or that of your children, something will slip through the cracks. In this fast paced world we live in, and with children’s developing brains, someone will forget. I don’t know about you, but if something simple at night can make my mornings run smoother, I’m all for it.

There are a couple different options you can use with regard to charts. One method would be to list each item that needs to be completed in a separate line on the chart. You could list tasks such as homework completed, lunch made, backpack packed, clothes picked out, showered, teeth brushed. Whereas the morning chart would be dressed, lunch out of refrigerator, teeth brushed, and dog fed. Each task could get a check mark or a sticker – depending on the age of the children.

Another option would be to list all that needs to be accomplished on a separate piece of paper or chart. Leave that on the refrigerator or some accessible location. Then once the children have completed all their assigned tasks, one gold star, sticker or check mark could be placed on the calendar.

It doesn’t really matter what system you use – as long as it works for your family. You may get some resistance when you introduce it. Or you may be pleasantly surprised and the kids will look forward to not only completing their assignments, but also, seeing the acknowledgment for a job well done.

There may be a transition time necessary for both parents and children. That is to be expected anytime a new routine is introduced. Hold each other accountable. Allow them to remind you if you get “too busy” to follow through with the chart.

Make sure you catch them doing something right. You entire family will benefit from well organized bedtime and morning routines!

GO READ A BOOK!

I thorougly enjoy reading church signs, most of the time – especially when the church has a cute sense of humor – or a really current way of getting their inspirational point across.

But the sign at my public library right now TOTALLY ROCKS!!

I love this sign! Isn’t that awesome? I didn’t even have my camera with me when I first saw it, but, because I wanted to share it with you – I ran home and got my camera!

When I first saw it, I thought it was so funny and so awesome, you’d have thought I needed my portable oxygen concentrator!! I was carrying on like a book-loving freakazoid! The kids were totally making fun of me! HA!

But all I have to say is that, yep – librarians are just cool!

GO READ A BOOK!

See?

Ok, ok, those aren’t really my books, and heck! That’s not even my wall! It is, however, the coolest bookshelf I’ve ever seen! And I want one! No, I think I need one. Yeah, that’s it – I need one!

It’s called a Conceal Invisible Bookshelf and you can get it a very cool online store called VAT19 – where they sell all kinds of “Curiously Awesome Products”!!

The guys at VAT19 just started a blog, too! It’s the Vat19.com slash Blog and it is “dedicated to all that is curiously awesome”. And I must say that, so far, I am quite enjoying it!

GO READ A BOOK!

This video ROCKS so hard, it’s not even funny! I totally, completely, whole-heartedly LOVE IT!!!

GO READ A BOOK!

It can be especially painful on a Monday morning. Everyone is groggy and grumpy and it is a wonder they make it to their buses on time. It can be painful in other ways, too, though. Sammie was getting her breakfast this morning and scratched herself on our old cabinet hardware! This stuff is awful – it must be the original hardware that was put in the house when it was built in the early 60’s. It has these two prongs inside each cabinet door that stick out, waiting to pounce – and scratch your precious skin! We are slowly making changes to this house, and that is one change that I (and Sammie!) will be glad to see made!

GO READ A BOOK!

When my kids were little, I kept a plastic tablecloth ready at all times. When they wanted to paint or create anything, we cleared off the floor, laid out the tablecloth and went to work! It was one of those sturdy, semi-thick kinds of tablecloths so it lasted through a lot of years of art. It was great, all being on the floor together creating, it made for easy paint and supply-sharing. And when we were through, I just wiped it down with a wet sponge, let it dry, and then put it away. Ahhh…I miss those days! I might just have to make them all paint with me after school today, whether they want to or not! I’m sure they’ll have fun once we get started!

GO READ A BOOK!

OH MY GOSH! Yes, my sweet little baby boy is starting to drive! Mark told me that he was going to take him across the street to the college, so that he could drive in the parking lot. Next thing I know, I see Patrick driving down our street! Hello! Our street – lined with houses! Little children, little kittens, etc. I gave Mark holy heck for that. I know Patrick is a boy, and did seem to have the ‘controlling the wheel’ part down better than I did my whole first year of driving, but, taking his first drive on a residential street was just not cool! I just can’t believe that my little baby boy (yes, I know he’s almost 14 – you be quiet!) is driving a car! And he is on the internet so much, he may start thinking he wants to look up some radar detector reviews – no way! Listen – if you need a radar detector, you’re not driving safely enough! Especially as a teenager! You can grow up and move out of my house, and then get a radar detector! Until then, you just drive by the laws! Got it? Grrrr!

My baby’s growing up… Think I’ll make myself feel better and …

GO READ A BOOK!

That’s what some old folks I know would call them, anyway. I’m talking about electromagnetic disturbance illnesses. I was reading a very interesting article about this woman who suffers so much from this that she can barely leave her home and when she does she wears this thing that looks like a mosquito net to block the frequencies that are so debilitating to her. It’s really weird how all of this new, fancy technology we’ve come up with is actually causing all new illnesses. It makes it not sound so fancy anymore, doesn’t it? We might all need RFI Shielding everywhere we go before too long! Now you know I’m going to have to find some books on this topic – this is just way too interesting!

GO READ A BOOK!