Wired For Noise

I’m jumping into the Bloggy Giveaway here to offer some free snacks to some lucky moms out there. It your kids are anything like mine then yogurt is a one of the most requested treats in the house. Between the boys and myself we go through 6-8 cups each week.

So to share the yogurty goodness I’ve been given coupons for free 6 packs of Yoplait Kids Yogurt and told to spread them around. It’s yummy, healthy, and easy to serve when you’re in a rush. Plus it wipes up easily, which is a good thing if you have a food flinger like I do.

I have 20 coupons* to share among 10 lucky people. Each winner gets 2 coupons for the 6-packs of Yoplait Kids Yogurt. That’s 12 servings for free. See how generous I am?

All you have to do is leave me a comment here between April 21 and 25. On the 26th I’ll choose the 10 lucky winners at random from the comments and contact them.

I also have two other giveaways going on. Free books for creative, tree hugging kids and a free baby sling for any mama or mama-to-be.

* the coupons cannot be redeemed in California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.

Welcome one and all to the 14th edition of Unschooling Voices! I am super excited to be able to host April’s edition. Though I know it is April Fool’s day I’ll try not to joke around too much here. Oh heck, let the joking commence!

Laura from Sea Bird Chronicles shared a very important holiday with Poem in my pocket, saying “April 17 is the first annual Poem In Your Pocket Day! The idea is to carry a poem with you on that day and read it aloud whenever you like. A fun activity to do with kids!”.

How about What I’ve Learned at School by Robert Pottle:

At school I’ve learned a lot of things
I really like to do,
like running in the hallway
and eating gobs of glue.
I’ve learned I’m good at making pencils
dangle from my nose.
I’ve learned to hum and pop my gum.
I practice, and it shows.
I’ve learned I like to cut in line
and love to cut the cheese.
I’ve learned to fake a burp, a cough,
and even fake a sneeze.
You’d think with all this learning
I’d be doing well in school,
but everything I learn to do
appears to break a rule

I found that poem at Giggle Poems, a fun site of silly poetry for kids. Laura has also been collecting fun sites in her post Favorites: web sites for children posted at SeaBird Chronicles. She says “For months now I’ve been bookmarking sites for children that are truly delightful to visit. The sites below are well-designed, fun, clever, and probably just as interesting to you as to your children!”.

Rose shared a little of her family’s day in An Uncredentialed Day posted at Learning At Home. Behold, the horrors of an uncredentialed parent teaching her children. Oh the terror, oh the pain, oh… look pancakes! Mmmm.

Karen shared a perfect example of unschooling in action in 98 Seconds on YouTube Leads to Hours of Fun and Learning posted at Two Boys and a Dragon. Not only is that spark of creativity pretty cool, but her blog name totally beats mine. I’m so envious.

Stephanie W has a post near and dear to my mom of boys lovin’s heart called Interest Led Learning, “All Boy” Style over at the always great group blog Life Without School. She shares that “I’ve found that most of our formal interest-led learning richochets off things I would never have tagged as “educational.” We’ve followed rabbit trails from interests like trading card games and ended up in new and sometimes unexpected places.” OK, but what about burping contests at the dinner table? Cause my boys are excelling at that right now.

Feeling a little hesitant by all the super cool unschoolers around you? Don’t worry, Kevin has some Unique Learning Adventures For Homeschoolers that you can take advantage of from his blog M4K Homeschooling and Education.

Ending on a more serious note, Jennifer Price shared her thoughts on the passing of unschooling advocate Lisa Heyman at her blog Cosmic Mama. Her life touch so many and she will be greatly missed.

I hope you all loved this edition of Unschooling Voices as much as I did.  For more information on next month’s edition and for links to all the previous editions check out the Unschooling Voices main page. Thanks!

Tags: unschooling, unschooling voices, home education, family

Tomorrow is a big day.

First of all it’s the first day of the Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes For Mom. You can shake your groove thang (I totally wanted to say that) and party with some cool blogs that you might not have ever seen before. Plus, there are prizes. Everyone loves prizes. I’ve got a $20 gift certificate going in as one of the prizes. Which means tonight I need to get those pink and green spring-time themes earrings made and in the shop. And the flowery necklace, and the funky bracelet. Check out the prize page to see what other goodies are up for grabs, then join in the week long fun.

More importantly, tomorrow is Evan’s birthday. My tiny little baby is no longer tiny, or a baby. Yesterday he kicked my butt at Chutes and Ladders three times! He will be another year older and and even more amazing and cool. Not that I’m biased or anything. Mr. Big Stuff is strutting around the house today because he got a phone call and was personally invited to stay the night with his favorite cousin. Apparently there will be cake too. And I’m not invited. Suddenly mom is losing her coolness. Dearest is supposed to be off work Monday so, weather permitting, we’re going to take the boys to the zoo. I’m going to make cupcakes and pack a picnic and try to earn back some mommy points.

Tags: ultimate blog party, birthdays, kids, fun

Welcome to the January 6, 2008 edition of Carnival of SAHMs! This is the first edition for 2008 and looks like a grat one. Hopefully this is an indication of just how well 2008 will go! Read and enjoy all of these great posts that bloggers have shared. And don’t forget to leave comments!

I have to open the carnival with this post. Why? Because I’m a sucker for cute newborn babies. Come ohhh and awww with me for pickel and her Nuestro Muchacho Del Bebé (Our Baby Boy) posted at A Child Chosen.

Reading is a favorite past time of mine. Even though I do not get to do it often enough. I keep a runninglist on my left sidebar (scroll down a bit) of the book I’m currntly reading.  Seabird took it a step further by sharing The Good, the Sayonara, and the Fluff: My Books of 2007 posted at SeaBird Chronicles, saying, “Brief reviews of the books I read in 2007, with an emphasis on parenting/education-related books.”

Of course being a parent often means that the majority of our reading comes from children’s books. At least it is time well spent! Lori helps us with How to Raise a Reader : A Cowboy’s Wife posted at A Cowboy’s Wife.

But if you’re looking for a good book to pick up all for yourself Tiffany Washko has a suggestion. The Self Sufficiency Handbook posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Reading is just one of the many parts of parenting. There is also the chaos of endless cleaning, answering questions, and repairing broken toys. Renae made me smile with her post on Real Life posted at Life Nurturing Education.

It can be a challenge, but well worth it. Melissa McCann presents On the Challenges of Being a Stay-At-Home Mom posted at Having Patience.

Luckily nap time gives some of us a little quiet in the day. Just don’t spend those minutes thinking too hard on the mysteries of life. WhatWorksForUs ponders some Deep Thoughts posted at What Works For Us.

You could always spend that time catching up with an old friend. Rose shares just that in A Visit From a Friend posted at Learning at Home.

One thing I try to remember is that even in the chaos there is something educational going on. The lesson may only be that mommy is a littl crazy before her morning cup, but it is an important life lesson nonetheless. Silvia presents Po Moyemu–In My Opinion: Radical Unschooling So Far posted at Po Moyemu–In My Opinion, saying, “Radical Unschooling is not for the faint of heart!”

With the major news going on during the Christmas shopping season on all the toy recalls some other important things in children’s lives were overlooked. Take some time now to dig through your cabinets and see what you might need to get rid of. Tiffany Washko posts about BPA – The Danger Lurking in Baby Bottles, Formula Cans, and Sippy Cups posted at The Attached Parent.

Of course while you’re there you could just go ahead and try to tackle some of the clutter. You know you have it, we all do. If past attempts at taking care of clutter haven’t worked why not try somethign different? Pat B. Doyle shares Feng Shui and Clutter posted at Barton Pond Feng Shui.

You know how that clutter got there, right? Jaimie has added to her thanks to Christmas gifts. I Love Stuff posted at Hug Twice.

Though many of us add to our clutter the old fashioned way. I’m exhausted jsut reading about :: Suzanne :: and her whew: six hours of shopping posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Though, if you’re going to be out shopping you might as well save some money. Stephanie shares some tips with After Christmas Grocery Savings posted at Stop the Ride!. Don’t forget to make those shopping choices healthy!

If you’re trying to lose weight this year, and who isn’t, add some exercise to that balanced diet. January J Harshe presents Getting Off Your Butt! posted at The Skinny on January.

This is a great one for any stay at home moms trying to start their own at home businesses. Wanda Grindstaff presents Success vs Failure in a Home Based Business posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition ofCarnival of SAHMs using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. If you would like to host a future edition check out the Carnival of SAHMs homepage and send and email to carnivalsahm@gmail.com We always need future hosts!

Tags: blogging, blog carnival, carnival of sahms, sahms, stay at home moms, motherhood, parenting, children, family, life