I'm okay with them -- I think I've successfully whittled down my blog reach to eliminate drama from my life. As soon as traffic starts inching up, I panic and switch URLs... I don't know how those super popular bloggers deal with all the advice and criticism.

Anyway, I mostly feel guilty that I don't seem to be able to find the time to comment on blogs I read. I am a professional lurker, so having comments on my own site feels a bit weird. Like, come comment and talk to me, but pardon me if I can't get over to comment on your site. Kind of a weird thing to feel guilty over, but there you go.

Well, my reason for blogging has probably changed from year to year, but currently it is for documentation purposes. It helps me remember to take photos and journal our lives. This would probably still occur if I were only journaling privately as I've always been a journal-keeper, however I think I'm a bit more motivated to take good photos and remember details when I'm writing for an audience.

More than one sentence, but one word: documentation. :)

Just in case anyone else comes lookin': http://kodiakcanvas.com/6010/

Yes, that's the one, we love this one: http://kodiakcanvas.com/6010/ but I'd really like more space... it works though and if we went bigger we wouldn't fit on most tent areas in camp grounds. Of course it wouldn't matter for roughing it!

Aw, thank you! I check out yours as well (love how Google will translate for me!) You are a talented seamstress :)

Well, we're big campers but most of our favorite haunts are still buried in snow this time of year. But if you didn't mind hotels, I'd probably recommend taking a chilly drive up through the parts of Yellowstone that are open. We have been unseasonably warm and sunny, but it there is still probably a lot of snow up there. It might be fun to stay in a lodge up there and go see some geysers and check out the new (indoor & warm) visitor's center.

If you drive up through Idaho Falls, on the way up to Rexburg, you can stop at Yellowstone Bear World: http://www.yellowstonebearworld.com/ they open on May 12th and have sweet little cubs the kids can hold and feed this time of year, and LOTS of bears to see.

The dinosaur exhibit at the Idaho Falls museum is pretty sweet, but if you've been to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point in UT this one pales a bit by comparison.

HTH!

The Fire is really mostly used by the kids with the wifi off. My heart beats true for my Kindle 2 :o)

Oh you know, the availability of lots of different shops and restaurants. I still miss Trader Joe's from AZ... wish we had one here.

The book isn't age specific, really. So I think I'd just go on what the child her/his self seems to be interested in. My toddler might not really care about drawing a leaf, but he likes to get his supplies out and scribble with us during nature time. My kindergartener adores it... she probably would have enjoyed it last year as well. My second child would have hated it in pre-school and Kindy -- so I think it all just depends. Provide lots of art paper, colored pencils, and even watercolor if you like. Lead by example first. Go on a hike and collect some interesting things to draw. When you get home, sketch them without criticizing your own work. Share what you've drawn. If anyone is interested, help them get started... see how it goes. Add nature books with inspiring photographs, help identify plants you're looking at (yay for google... we've found tons just searching for things like "shiny, oblong berries, dark pointy leaves" etc.). Good luck!

My friend's sister colored it for me a while back, but it's grown out about a half inch, so I'm back to debating. Such maintenance, it drives me nuts.

Oh thanks! They're both en route to me now, I've flipped through the root cellaring one at my mom's house but I'm excited to get my own. I'm pretty overwhelmed by seed saving; we've tried previously and I've messed it up, so I'm hoping the book will help.

We haven't had good luck with anything we've tried. We seem to get it in too late (thanks to frosts) and then it frosts early in the fall. The green plants are tall and gorgeous but the ears of corn are tiny.

This year we're trying one called Stowell's Evergreen that's supposed to be early and also allows you to hang the full plants upside down by their roots in your garage or cellar, keeping the ears on the plant for extended use. No idea if this will work or fail; stay tuned!

You mean after things like murder and rape and abuse? Like, superfluous things? I hate unsolicited advice and stupid commercials. I especially can't stand badly designed billboards. If you're going to pollute the world with huge ads, at least make sure I can read them from my 65 - 70 mph car without dying in a car crash.

Did you just email me? If not here you go: Getty Dubay - love it!

Yes, if you cull them (eat or sell) when they are around 2 years old. After that, they don't produce enough to make it worth it. Bonus: they'll eat almost everything from your own table, and I love giving them our scraps. I give the meat items to the dogs (though they'll eat it too, I just feel weird having them eat chicken!) and the chickens get everything else. That helps economize egg production as well.

No problem! Those are called Primary Composition books, and you want to look for the books that have unruled tops and ruled bottoms. Ours are from Amazon: http://amzn.to/xl5sCt Love them! We use those for history and science, and regular sketchbooks for nature journals :o)

Sorry! I used to disable comments on all posts (just couldn't keep up), but even now with comments open they automatically close after 7 days or so to cut down on spam.

We just use spiral bound sketch books in an 8 x10-ish size. Michael's carries them, and I've found them on Amazon. :o)

I love the book called Wild Days http://amzn.to/yBkdjJ there are others on the subject but I liked this one a lot. Got us started and then we took off.

Yes, we use the same concept for our history books and science books too. Illustrating, then writing about what we saw or learned about. I use sketch books for the nature journals, and composition books that have half the page blank, and the bottom portion lined for the history and science books. LOVE it. Highly recommend, especially for visual learners.

Right here: http://balancingeverything.com/2012/01/03/ch-ch-ch-ch-changes/ :o)

Sure thing, it's right here: http://balancingeverything.com/2009/11/12/the-daily-stuff-that-needs-doing/