Family Alive

I’ve got a good line-up of websites that I go to on a regular basis for inspiration and ideas. This parenting job is full of opportunities to be creative and as you know from past blogs, it creates lots of funny stories. I thought I’d compile a list of my current favorite parent blogs/websites for those of you that are interested. Don’t we all need more on the internet to keep us from getting real work done?

• Parent Hacks – The names says it all. It’s FULL of great ideas for anything you could imagine. One recent post had great ideas for helping toddlers help you clean. I’m all for that! Another bookmarked link I have is this post for sending used stuffed animals and toys to children in Iraq.
• Family Fun – Crafts, food ideas, birthday inspirations.
• Baby Toolkit – New site I’ve just bookmarked with reviews about baby/kid stuff. Current headline: Barf-A-Rama: Coming Soon to a Home Near You. Ain’t it true.
• Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager – An interactive portrait of America’s name choices. Startiing
  with a "sea" of nearly 5000 names. Typing in letters will zoom in to
  focus on how that initial and name has been used over the past century. Each stripe is a timeline of one
  name, its width reflecting the name’s changing popularity.
• Premeditated Parenting – Premeditated Parenting an international ministry which supports
  Christian parents in raising godly kids in a crazy mixed-up world. All
  of the articles are intended to be practical, biblical, and helpful. They’ve also got a "weekly-ish" email that highlights their tips.  (Thanks, Lyndsey L!)
• Baby Cheapsakate – The name suits my $$ philosophy so well. Saving Big Bucks on Baby Stuff. She also highlights where the cheapest diapers can be found each week. Great for the occasional week that I have to buy diapers!
• Want Not – This is, hands down, my favorite read. Honestly, I check it several times a day. Amazing freebies, deals, and tips. I recently got a Leapfrog Lea’s Phonics Railroad, regularly close to $60, for $15, SHIPPED, from ToysRUs. Sweet future bday present! Now if I can just remember I already have a gift for that birthday…
• MotherLoad: The MomAdvice.com Blog – Ideas for organizing, cooking, saving money, just general good "mom" stuff. Every Friday, she does a "Freebie Friday" full of links for free deals.
• In the Trenches of Motherhood – Mother of 7 (!), "answering the question, how do you do it?"  Just what I was wondering!  Recent fun posts: Recipe for self-hardening clay to make beads for stringing, Pretzel recipe (I haven’t tried it yet, but I can’t wait to make them with Analise!), fun treasure-in-a-bottle project. 

I suppose that’s enough for now.  I follow a lot of individual people’s blogs that are all fun to read.  I didn’t leave y’all out, just wanted to highlight the ones full of inspiration and ideas.  Enjoy!