I have a few pieces of blog business to announce, but I’m sure you are most interested in knowing the winner of the e-book “Nuturing Creativity: A Guide for Busy Moms” by Renee Tougas. If you didn’t win or didn’t notice the drawing, I highly recommend that you buy the e-book from Renee.  It’s only $3.00, and Renee offers a lot of practical advice for busy moms on how they can work creative pursuits into their everyday lives while rearing children.  She gave me a lot of food for thought, and I plan to go back through her book at some point because it’s very inspiring, and I don’t want to forget her advice.  (Click here to purchase the e-book.)

I’m also going to write a little more on exactly how I organize and make time for my writing and other projects in a future blog post, and if you scroll down, I’m listing some other “blog post goals” too!

Without further ado:

• Okay, so I know you have already seen the winner of the drawing in the photo.  This afternoon my son volunteered to cut out all your names from the paper I typed them on.  He meticulously folded them and put them into a basket (the two-year-old added a few bits of his own paper too), and then he drew one name:  sherilynorton!  Congratulations, Sherilyn!  Renee will be sending you your copy shortly.
• My second order of business is to let you know that I created a Mama of Letters Facebook page, and I have also been adding my blog posts to my Google+ account.  I had been reluctant to create the Facebook page or do anything with Google+ for a long time because I just don’t have time for more social networking.  I know a lot of people don’t like it if you’re not “social” or join in conversations.  The only place I post regularly is Twitter, and even there I’m off and on because as a busy mom, I have to sort my priorities – I’m sure you understand.  Though I love connecting with other people – in real life and online, I have to tip the scale to my family and my personal pursuits.  Having said that, I know an enormous amount of people use Facebook and Google+, and it’s really no trouble for me to simply add my posts to it.   At this time I can’t commit to more than that, but in the future who knows?  If you use one of these mediums and don’t mind someone who is “anti-social” I will appreciate you liking my Facebook page or adding me to your group on Google+.
• When you write regularly like I do, it’s amazing to notice that new ideas keep surfacing.  This is a blessing, yet it can also overwhelm me if I start to think I have to do it all right now.  I stopped thinking in terms of right nowa while back and instead, I make lists, lists, lists.  Since I have a good working list of what I want to write for my columns and blog, I thought I’d share some of them with you.  I hope some of this will interest you and you’ll come back to read it:
  • Later this week I’ll be posting my column about how I have been Teaching Kindergarten Math.
  • How I find time for my writing and other creative pursuits (includes some tools I use)
  • Teaching literacy through puppet shows and storytelling
  • A review of Discover Your Child’s Learning Style and an assessment of my family’s learning styles.
  • My practice year is over (before we are legal homeschoolers): What did I figure out? …and this may be tied to:
  • Making a portfolio and keeping track of my homeschooler’s work
  • Transitioning out of nap time – Yikes!
  • How can a homeschooler find time to clean the house?
  • The Dirty Secret: TV Time
  • Bedtime Routines and the learning opportunities they offer
  • Yes, You Can Homeschool! (Answering a commenter’s list of excuses she receives when people tell her they couldn’t do it.)
  • Kindergarten lessons: solar system, weather, geography and my son’s interest in the human body and nature
  • My Attempts at Character Building for My Five-year-old
• Finally, despite the ideas spinning in my head that I want to get down on paper, I am considering taking a blog vacation in May. We’ll have family visiting us at that time, and I have other writing and photography projects that I need to work on, so I may take 2 or even 4 weeks off this blog.  I find that sometimes it helps to just focus on something in a planned period of time instead of trying to do everything at once.  I’m sure blog advisors might tell me this isn’t good for my blog, but as I mentioned before, I have to sort my priorities, and I’m sure those who already enjoy my blog (I hope you do) will understand.

Thanks to everyone who have subscribed to my blog.  You really inspire me to keep going, and I hope you find some of the information I post here helpful.