31 Days and the special day

Well, I think it's obvious that blogging every day is not for me. Let alone blogging about one subject for 31 days. You live and learn!

Speaking of living and learning.....

Eleven years ago today our firstborn son was born. The term for his birth is stillborn. I have never understood this term. I know it simply means born without life. The thing is, Todd, our son, has touched so many lives it's hard to think of him as stillborn. He was far from still. God used that little life to touch us in way that I would not have chosen, but will be forever blessed by.

Have you ever thrown a pebble into a lake? Todd's life quickly disappeared, but he certainly has impacted our life forever. I pray that God will use me to impact lives like that.

31 Days of Technology in the Home

Day 7 and 8....Shopping and Planning.

Who doesn't like shopping?! Well, I guess there are some people out there who are not fond of this pastime. But, how about you relieve some of that stress by shopping online?

With birthdays and Christmas coming up I've been pretty busy shopping. I purchased an Ipod case for my oldest son's birthday on ebay. I also got a Minecraft skin to go with it! Found that on Etsy. I was so excited when I purchased my first Christmas gift. I chose two of the Scentsy Buddies for my youngest and my niece. They are adorable stuffed animals, complete with scent pak!  I plan on doing some shopping there later also;) My boys also enjoyed getting into the action by circling all the books they wanted in my Usborne catalog. Here's the website to my business, Story Snacks. I could spend all day looking at these wonderful books! I plan on doing some shopping on ThinkGeek and another website I just recently found is EverBuying. Everbuying has tons of things at a great price! Lots of great items for stocking stuffers too!

So, what about you? I would love to hear what your favorite sites are for shopping!

What about planning? Any homeschoolers out there use a specific planner? I am using My Well Planned Day. Absolutely love this!! It has everything you would need to plan your day. From menus to lesson plans, you just plan and add it to your calendar. They will also have an app out soon!! How awesome is that?

Well, now it's your turn. Shop online? Plan online? Share away:)

Day 6: Keeping in touch

There are many ways to use technology to help people keep in touch with their loved ones. It has been so neat to be able to see my kiddos and talk with them when I happen to be miles away! I was on a mission trip  in Guatemala and was able to Skype my family:) Don't get me wrong, I still love receiving letters in the mail and encourage my boys to write, but there is just something extra special in being able to see your loved one's face. Not to mention, it takes a letter longer to get to a person than clicking on a few keys to light up a screen. The weekend is a great time to test this one out! So, grab your computer and start Skyping! Other options are FaceTime, Google Talk, and many more! Have a great weekend with your family:)

My precious family:

Day 5: Taming the Tech Monster

I know this is suppose to be 31 Days on Technology in the Home, but what's the old saying, 'to much of a good thing is a bad thing?' Seriously though, we try to limit the time our boys, and yes ourselves, spend on the electronics. I don't know about you, but I love my little munchkins. I want to spend time with them, quality and quantity! Not to mention, I want them to have healthy habits. I desire for them to have strong relationships, to spend more time with people rather than the t.v.

Stepping off soap box now. There are ways, fun ways, to help tame that Tech Monster. One thing that we do is celebrate Screen Free week.  This is April 30th through May 6th. We put a sign on the t.v., computer, etc. that said SCREEN FREE WEEK! We played games, went outside, did crafts and pretty much did just a lot of fun things together.

We also have a special currency in our home. Emoney! I keep track of all the chores done, good attitudes displayed, extra chores completed, loving attitudes showed toward siblings...you get the picture. Than at the end of the day, Emoney is rewarded to each child according to the "bucks" earned that day. They have the choice to use all of their Emoney in one day (within an already allotted time) or saving it for another day. This has worked well for us and has helped us keep their time under wraps. The one thing that proved to be a problem was keeping track of all of it. So, I found this solution:

Media Minutes Free printable! I love the way this lady keeps the Tech Monster under control in her house! And for all you free printable loving people out there, here's another one. Screentime Chart

What about you? Do you have any helpful hints for taming the Tech Monster? I would love to hear some ideas on this!

Day 4: Ipods and Ipads

My two older boys saved up their own money to buy Ipods! It took them awhile, but they were so excited when the time come to purchase their Ipod. We choose to purchase one for our youngest and are glad we did. These have come in so handy for long road trips or waiting for appointments, etc. I must say, a protective case would be a must! The blue one(with a face) in the above picture I can't suggest though. My son has trouble playing on it without the interchangeable pieces coming out.

I also have an Ipad, which I love! Yes, I am not a techie and also have been known to say I did not even want a smart phone, but I've had to eat my words.

So, today I will be sharing our favorite Apps for Ipod and Ipads!

Free Ipad/Ipod Apps for kids:
Nook
Demibooks Storytime
Lego
Lego Creationary 
Pocket Pond
BrainPOP
PBS for kids
Crayola we bought the stylist that goes with this to unlock more art work.
Fruit Ninja

Paid Ipad/Ipod Apps for kids:
Scribblenauts
Little Things
Fancy Pants
Minecraft I think this one is the most we've spent on an app.
ABC's of God also one of my favorites:)

Apps for mommy:
Adobe Photo Shop
Packing cost 2.99 This app is been a time savor for me. All the list and reminders for things needed for vacations/trips.
Nike Training
Bump
Pinterest of course:)
Shazam
MapQuest
One Thousand Gifts
Facebook

So, if you have an Ipod/Iphone/Ipad have fun checking out all the apps. Most importantly' have fun with your kiddos! Play these with them and talk to them about the games or what they are learning. What are your favorite apps? I would love to hear about any new apps that are kid/parent approved.

Day 3: Internet-linked Books

     This is my favorite! I absolutely love to read. Unfortunately, my boys are not as excited about reading as I am. But, I found a solution that not only helps my boys get excited about reading, but helps us bond over a good book. Internet-linked books! Usborne has wonderful books of all kinds. (Yes, I'm an independent consultant for Usborne:)) The Internet-linked books that Usborne provides have been an asset to our home school here at Ark Academy. It adds so much to our curriculum! Our favorite right now is the Reference Collection. We are currently studying about ancient times in our history. Just yesterday we found links that took us to maps of Israel, videos about the temple of King Solomon and pictures to download. I love books. My boys love technology. These books have been the answer to "linking" the two together! 

Something else that has served as a special way for my little techies and me to bond is to celebrate their interests. For instance, today is National Techies Day! We did not even know that this holiday existed until we were doing our calendar time and came across it here. We have had so much fun today taking "tech breaks" throughout the day to celebrate. Plus, we plan to make cards for our favorite techies. Just a simple thank you to let them know that we appreciate the work that they do for us. (They plan on making a big one for their daddy!) 

My favorite techies:

What are some things that you do to "link" with your children?

I forgot to include the link to all of the blogs participating in the 31 Days challenge. Nester has tons! You will not have any problem finding one that you like. Day 2: Youtube

We like to use YouTube in our home. Although, before I go any further let me just say the we have set rules about viewing anything on the internet without mom and/or dad present. There are lots of parent controls out there to put on your devices. I came across this blog that I found very informative! That being said, I have created a list on my YouTube account called Learning. This has all sorts of videos specifically to help what they are learning(I homeschool) We have found some pretty cool videos! Here's the current favorite. Conjunction Junction In the above picture my Puppy Love is watching a video that sings the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It's super cute! The song and the little boy;) There are also tons of songs, of course. We have found lots of videos to go with our favorite praise songs, such as GoFish. So, in short I think YouTube is a great tool to use for the family, with supervision. It has certainly been a useful tool for us!

I am joining in the 31 Days Blog hop! There are sooo many things I could think of to share, subjects that are really "me" so to speak. But, my boys, and hubby, are very much techies! Technology has been a huge issue with the boys. They want to either play on the Xbox or Ipod, etc. Just take your pick! Don't get me wrong I love my Ipad and Iphone, but sometimes they can be a bit of a time taker. I do NOT want technology to rule in my home, I want to be able to use the technology in a positive way for my family. So, for the next 31 days I will be sharing ways that we use technology in our home. I will also share our favorite tools, games, etc. and ways to tame the Tech Monster when it gets out of control. Looking forward to it!