All Things Hold Together

I have gone through about 6 different wordpress themes in the past 18 hours.  Here are some of the things I learned.

• Do not attempt to change your blog theme when the kids are home and awake.

• Do not spend an hour making a custom header image for a template without checking if it has a stupid “non-commercial” license that prohibits you from using it on a blog that has affiliate links, if you have any.

• Some themes will totally screw up your entire blogging software. Not just how the blog looks, but even your ability to write and edit posts.

• The default theme is not so bad.

(I am going to change it, later when the kids are out playing.)

Hello, blog reader.

Sorry that I haven’t posted in a while. I just had a couple of days off. The kids are at my mothers and my husband has been home from work.

Need I say more?

I hope to get back to posting later today.

Have a great day!

We love Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt. We buy it because it is all natural, low sugar, and made in our neighboring state of New Hampshire. (And they are not even paying me to say that!)

We love it so much that we have a pile of lids that I collected for a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening.

Since I have so many lids, I thought I would offer a subscription to one of my readers as a “thank you” for reading.

Just leave me a comment and you will be entered to win a free one year subscription to Organic Gardening.

I will randomly draw a winner on Friday at noon (EST).

You can promote this contest on your blog, but it is not necessary for entry. Just make sure I have some way to get in touch with you if you win, or check back on Friday to see if you won.

I updated my template. It’s time to say goodbye to Christmas decorations this weekend. I wanted to do a winter theme, but I decided to go season-neutral. I am not sure how I feel about it yet.

Update: 01/01/2008 - I changed the template again. This one I do like.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I have been feeling really run down. I also have been busy working on something special that I plan to unveil next week when I announce the bloggy giveaway that I am doing for Fall Y’all.

I am hoping to get some posts up later today, and then blog regularly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Updated!

I didn’t do a Frugal Fridays post this week - even though I had one all planned out - because I am feeling like my head is going to explode. (And the little boys playing with action figures and making VERY LOUD sound effects right next to me are not helping.)

Still, you should check out the other Frugal Fridays posts and Crystal’s yummy sounding recipe. (I am going to make this to try as a yogurt topping.)

Updated: Man this is how out of it I am. This is the link to this week’s Frugal Fridays. The link above, with the granola recipe, is an old one. The link came from another blog (In a Shoe I think) and was mentioned in a collection of recipe links. Okay, sometimes when I read from my Google Reader, I am not paying attention, I guess. Hopefully it is just the cold. Okay, now I am going to lie down!

Coming up on ATHT:
A post about how I do menu planning and shopping (this is half done).
A review of “The Story of the World.”
A post about our new mice.
A post about our friends that moved to Seattle and the amazing things God is doing in their lives.

As you can see, I have a lot to post about, so hopefully I will feel better soon!

I have so much that I want to blog about, but I have a head cold and I have exceeded the amount of time that I can sit upright without the pressure buildup being intolerable.

Hopefully, I will get a chance to post later.

I was wondering, though, how do you like the shortened posts on the front page, with the link to full post? Is that a pain, or does it make finding things that interest you easier? Or does it make no difference?

I would love to know.

Have a blessed day!
But then, isn’t that redundant? Every day is a blessing!

I added some code to my blog template to make it so that I can show only part of the post here and the reader has to click on the link to read the full post.

(Read full post)

Sometimes I write long posts about things that some people might not care about.

Like if someone stops by to check out my homeschooling posts, that person might not want to read my faith posts.

Also, if someone wants to just check in once and a while, it will be nice for that reader to be able to just scan the posts and just read the ones of interest.

This is basically a test post to see how it works.

Here goes.

Laura at Writing Thoughts tagged me with a meme. One of the rules is to link to the blog post that originated the meme. What a cool idea! It was neat to see how this meme came to be.

The point of this meme is to list ten or fewer posts that give the reader the gist of what the blog is about. Sort of like the re-cap at the beginning of a TV show.

What great timing! I was just thinking about where I am going with this blog, and the fact that I need to write some sort of “mission statement” to keep me focused. So, here goes.

All Things Hold Together is, first and foremost, my personal space. This is the place I come to talk about what is going on with me, like in this post, Friday Photo-blogging (which is not a wordless photo-post). I usually post these under “My Things.”

This is also my place to post about my family, like our trip to the Ben & Jerry’s factory or the squirrel that visits our porch (and a funny thing Little E said about it). These posts are filed under “Our Family Things.”

This is also a homeschooling blog, since that is an inextricable part of our lives. Under the category “Homeschooling Things,” you will find my own thoughts and struggles around homeschooling (Being a Good Homeschooler), posts about things we do in our homeschool (Homeschool Biology Class), posts wherein I share homeschooling links I think others might enjoy (Free Ed Stuff), and my reviews of curriculum we have used (Curriculum Review: Saxon Math 2 and 3).

Since I love to cook, I also love to share my recipes and tips with my readers, such as this recipe for Homemade Granola Bars. You’ll find those under “Cooking Things.”

Another part of what I want to do with this blog is to share some of my other homemaking and frugal living tips. I have been trying to participate in Works-for-me Wednesday and Frugal Friday, and hope to make that a regular thing.

And being a crafty mama, I also want to share some of my “Crafty Things,” though up to now, I have only done this one about a Nice, But Easy Gift Craft.

As you can see, there are a lot of things in my life and this blog is where I like to share all of those things. But it is not this blog that holds them all together. No, it is my faith in the Lord that holds all of these things together. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” -Colossians 1:17

That is why the last, but not least, thing I want to share in this list of posts is one from my “Faith Things,” called, “Walking By Faith.”

So, that is what this blog is all about. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will again.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have to tag five people and tell them the meme rules.

1. Please try to limit your post to 10 items or less
2. Tag 5 people
3. Take your time. Do some digging in the archives and find the perfect ones.
4. Please link to the post that you were tagged in (that would be this one you are reading) and to the post where the meme originated (this one).
5. The people you tag, please let them know, so the meme can keep going.

I am going to tag some blogs I recently started reading and don’t know much about yet: Rocks in My Dryer, Life From My Laptop, Consent of the Governed, and “Bizzy” House with Peaceful Hearts.

I am also tagging Dana at Principled Discovery because if it wasn’t for her having Laura Spencer guest post on her blog, I wouldn’t have found Laura’s blog to get tagged there.

And if you haven’t seen Laura’s guests posts on Principled Discovery about earning money though freelance writing (I and II), I highly recommend you do. (If you’re into that sort of thing.)