Traffic pro

For those of you that do not know, I started a contest on my main website. It is an on going contest. If you look in the left side bar you will see it with the links for the main website. There are a few ways to win.

Fun Family Ideas Contest

In this contest you submit a fun thing that your family does complete with instructions so other families can learn how they can do it too. Photos are helpful.

Photo Contest

This contest is for people that would rather just submit photos of their family doing the projects that are already on the site. You do not have to include people in the photos if you want it to be more private.

Publishers

If you have your own website and would just like to be considered for the award you can submit your site this same way. You will also be listed on our Family Links page.

*Now that I have added a blog, I have decided to also write a blog post about each award winner.

For full details please go to the Contest Page.

New Contest

Now for something new. Now that I have started a blog to go along with the website I have spent more time reading other blogs. I have really enjoyed spending the time reading about other people's families and what they do for fun. So I have decided to make a new category in the contest.

Parenting & Family Blogs

If you would like to submit your blog for consideration the contest starts now! It will be an on going contest just like the other ones. The details will be a bit different though. The winners will be posted on a new part of the website that will be just for blog winners. Blogs tend to be about many topics so I must stress that the blog and all the links contained must be 100% kid safe. I do not want to upset any of my advertisers. That being said, I will still be doing blog posts about the winners. I will have to see how it goes though. If there ends up being too many winners I may have to change it to more than one winner per post.

More ways to win!!!!

Is this contest not enough for you? Would you like more exposure? You are free to apply for every contest and award that you qualify for. You do not have to pick just one. You can also apply more than once. Do you have a few great ideas or photos to add to the main site? Feel free to keep on sending them in.

Links Back

I will ask one thing in return. If you publish a website or have your own blog and would like me to add a link to your site with your entry I would like you to do one of the following...

• (If your website or blog won an award) Display your award in a side bar or on an awards page with a link back to either the main site, my blog, or my blog post announcing you as a winner. A site that is displaying our award, check out Preschool Mama.
• Add my website to your links page.
• Add my blog to your blog directory.
• Add one of my stores to a store directory.

**If you want to make other arrangements, contact me and we can work something out.

To Enter

Simply email me all your information. Make sure to include...

Name: Does not have to be your full name. Just whatever you want to appear.

Email Address:

URL:

*Remember to check out the contest page to get more information about what you should include for each category and how much information you want shown. If you are submitting a Fun Family Idea remember that the better the instructions the better your chances of winning. Pictures are always welcome. You can have as little or as much personal information included as you want.

I can not wait to see those entries so start sending them in!

This is a continuation of yesterday's blog "Entrecard Roadtrips".

I signed on to Entrecard to find an ad for me to approve. Since my blog goes along with my business sites I have to check out the blogs to make sure they do not contain anything that is not family friendly. My advertisers would be none too happy about that. So while I was there I decided to start my first road trip from there. My next few road trips all started from ads I have waiting in the que. I figure if people want to put ads on my site I should always drop on them first.

Since starting I have made sure to always drop on people in my inbox. Kind of a "share the love" kind of thing. Yesterday I have to apologize for though. For the interest of keeping it a pure experiment I did not go there next. I had been only dropping in one or two categories so my inbox was going to be more likely to give me false dead ends since they would all have ads in the same categories.

So the next way I chose my starting point was by just doing a random search. I thought this would make my results more pure. After awhile it got very hard to go very far on my roadtrip that way. I then changed to an artificial random and went from topic to topic just picking one blog.

My plan for the blog today changed drastically. I usually do not have that much of a plan. I just sit down and think about what has been going on in my life at the time or what I really want to talk about. This time I actually had planned it ahead of time but then changed it in the middle.

I just started doing the Entrecard thing around 2 days ago. I have never come close to the 3oo cards that are allowed a day. I do not know how other people find the time to do it. It all starts off well. I like the idea of doing a road trip of blogs. I go to the Entrecard website and first drop at the people who dropped on me in the last day. Then I go on a roadtrip. I pick a blog and then from there I just go from site to site.

I started to find that I would get stranded on sites that did not actually have a drop box or get stuck at a road block when I would end up on a blog I had already been on. Then there is the eternal U turn when you end up on a blog that is displaying their own ad.

I know I could just use the Entrecard website and click each one from there but that just is not as fun to me. I like seeing the strange turns a road trip takes you on. If I just used the site I would probably not go to blogs that are in categories that I am not as interested in. I used to love going on road trips with no plan but seeing what you would find.

I decided this morning to do an experiment. I was going to get a full 300 cards dropped by way of road trips. Today being a Friday, I figured that it would be a good day to slack off. I have been keeping track of my road trips in my idea notebook. It is taking much longer than I thought it would. I am only at around 98. I was started to feel like I needed a nap so I figured I better post something for the day. This is going to be one of those days that are over before you know it.

So far I am finding it is hard to get very far on a road trip and the longer I do it the less far I go. I still prefer doing it this way though. There are some gems out there that I would not have found otherwise. I am finding so many sites that I want to take the time to read but because of the experiment I have to keep moving along. If I was not so insane about finishing everything I start I would have given up by now. I can not wait to get it over with so I can spend more time just reading blogs again. LOL


Well, I better make myself a cappuccino and get back to work. The next couple of posts will be the experiment results and my ode to my

DeLonghi BCO70 Caffe Nabucco Espresso, Cappuccino, and Coffee Bar . Without which I would never make it through all of this. LOL

I have been sitting here today trying to decide what to make for dinner. We had some pretty warm and humid days this last weekend so I have not made anything in the oven for awhile. Today it is a bit chilly out and it just started to rain. This would be a great day to make dinner in the oven.

I love dinners that can be almost completely made in one pan in the oven. It is much nicer to just put everything in one pan and forget about it than to stand over a stove for a long time. Plus you have much less dishes.

We eat a LOT of chicken in this house. This means that I am always trying to keep it interesting. I do not want the family to get bored with it. Well, today I decided to make Greek Chicken. My kids absolutely love it. I figure that it will start getting warmer soon and I will not want to have the oven on for very long so I better make it now.

I love that I can throw it in the oven and move on to all the other things I need to do. Serve a salad and you have a whole meal that everyone loves with very little work. For this recipe you can use any chicken you have on hand. It can be chicken halves, cut up pieces, breasts with skin and bones, or boneless skinless breasts.

I have a few versions of Greek Chicken that I make depending on what ingredients I have on hand at the time. The recipe can be changed around a lot to suit what you have. Today I do not have any lemons at the house and I am not about to run to the store so I will make my cheating version.

Well it is getting closer to the end of the school year. I know many of you have kids already out of school or just about to get out. Schools get out later here. Plus we have snow days to make up. So June 10th will be our last day. I can not wait!!!

I love summer break. Well, at least I love it for most of the summer. There is a point towards the end of the summer that I start to really miss having that time alone during the day. I start to miss being able to get things done. I also start to miss having the house quiet enough to think. LOL

Yes, I love my kids. Yes, I love spending time with them. That is obvious since all my sites are about family. I do firmly believe that mothers need to take care of themselves though. Moms need to have their own time for themselves so they can enjoy their family. This way we will be able to be the superhero everyone expects us to be without ending up in the nut house. LOL

In my house I keep lots of supplies on hand during the summer. It is my way to head them off before they start with the "I'm Bored" routine.

We have two containers of supplies. One is a big Rubbermaid full of arts and crafts supplies. The other one is the jewelry supplies Rubbermaid. This one is what I will be talking about today. I have all girls so those of you that have just boys might get a bit bored today. You may want to keep reading and make some simple jewelry yourself though.

I try to keep these supply boxes stocked so it is ready at a moments notice. If you buy just a little each time you go to the store and keep it all organized you will end up with a good supply kit before you know it. You always end up with extras when you do crafts so keeping it all together and organized saves time and money in the long run. It is also very helpful if you tell friends and family to buy things for the supply box as gifts. There are only so many stuffed animals that can fit in a house.


Summer Jewelry Supply List

Friendship Bracelets

Embroidery Floss - This one is simple. That is all you need unless you want thicker ones then you can use Yarn.


Macrame Bracelets

Cording - When you go to the store you will find many types of cording. It is all a matter of preference. All that is required is that it is not stretchy and not too rough. Usually the best is Hemp or Jute.

Beads - (optional) These are just to add to the bracelet if you want it to be more personal.


Friendship Pins

Large Safety Pins
Small Safety Pins
Seed Beads
Long Elastic Cord or String- (optional) This is if you want to make other things like bracelets.


Beaded Bracelets, Anklets, Rings, and Necklaces

Beads of all types
Elastic cords
Optional Items - If you are just starting out working with beaded jewelry you may want to start easy. All you really need is beads and cord. These are great for little kids too so if they lose them you are not out much money. I always tell my kids to save as many of the beads as they can if the elastic snaps. This way we can reuse them and the kids are not as sad at the lose. Once you have made a few of these you may want to look around more in the jewelry section of store like Michael's. There are endless possibilities.


Memory Wire Bracelets

Jewelry Pliers Set - you can find cheap ones at Michael's. I got a set of 5 types for about $20. It really was better for me to get a full set. You will find many uses for them. Some of them are multiple use ones too. For this one you will need one that can cut the wire and has a cylindrical tip that you can wrap the wire around.

Memory Wire - They come in different sizes so make sure you think about what you will be using it for. The first time I bought some it was too small of a circle and it was very uncomfortable around the wrist.

Charms - (optional)

End Caps and Glue - (optional) epoxy or jeweler's cement glues. Don't use superglue.

Okay, so that is the basic Summer Jewelry Supply List. Don't not be afraid to wander through the craft store and think of new ideas. A trip to the craft store could end up being the highlight of your day. They can be a lot of fun or maybe I just need to get out more. LOL

If you click on any of the craft headings you will be taken to the main site for the instructions on how to make each one. I hope this will help you combat the "I'm Bored" monster this summer. Keep checking back to see more Summer Break ideas.