Pin It buttons

My dd Rachel told me there were new widgets for Pinterest. I have tried the Pinterest widgets before and could not get them to work on my blog.

Now you can pin any of my jpg images right from my site to Pinterest. And I can easily do it also.

All you have to do is hover over a picture. If it is a jpg, a small white Pin It button will appear in the upper left hand corner. Try the pretty flower picture below.

Did you see the pin it button???

If you click the picture you will just get the jpg. But, if you click on the little white Pin It button my picture will get pinned. Isn't that wonderful.

If you want to add this, easily, to your blog check out this link...
http://business.pinterest.com/widget-builder/#do_pin_it_button

All you have to do is add a little code to your html. I was easy to locate the correct spot.

Maybe this will help my blog, not it I don't write some good content though. I hope to have a good post to put up on Friday.


all content on my blog is ©

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Bloglovin'

You only have a few more days.

Google Reader and Google Friend Connect are going away on July 1st.

I would hate for my blog, and the many others in your Google Reader account, to be lost forever so don't delay.

I started using Bloglovin long ago, but recently I took down my Google Friend Connect since is is going away soon. I love Bloglovin'. If you don't like Bloglovin' that is fine. There are other readers out there. Just make sure you find one you like BEFORE July 1st.

You can easily import your blog feeds from Google Reader through a few simple steps:

1. Create an account, if you don't already have one.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Scroll down to the heading that says Other  
4. Click the Import Blogs button.
5. Click the Google Reader button.
6. Click Import from Google Reader.
7. It will then ask you to log into your Google account, do that.
8. Then it will ask for permission to manage your data. Click Accept.
9. Wait while it imports them and you're done!

Bloglovin' will sort the blogs by the same categories you had them in in Google Reader. If you didn't have any categories you can add them.

Bloglovin' allows your readers to count as visiting your site when they read your blog through Bloglovin'.

Bloglovin lets you read just a snippet of the blog. From there you have multiple options. You can mark the post as read, like it, or share it.

Most of the time, however, I just click on the top blog. It takes me to their reader where I can see the whole post. From there I have a bar on top...
 

... that lets me choose to read all the posts in my feed or choose a category to read. I can read that post and make it a favorite by clicking the heart. I can move to the next post by choosing older (since I have my posts share with the newest first) I can also share it to Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

If I scroll down I can comment right from Bloglovin' I don't have to click over to the post. The only time I click over to the post now is if I want a different picture to post to Pinterest. Bloglovin' chooses only one picture for Pinterest. If I want a different one then I click on the name of the post and open it in a new tab so I can choose the picture I want.

I hope you will consider Bloglovin'. But like I said, don't just do nothing... do something before the blogs you love disappear and you have to start all over looking for your friends.

I have a Bloglovin' button on my sidebar if you need to add my blog to your new reader.


all content on my blog is ©

Blog at Home Mom ~ a Book Review and Giveaway

Are you a blogger? I am... of course you already know that because you are reading my blog. Are you a new blogger? Are you a blogger with a bunch of kids? Are you a blogger and a homeschool mom? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions than Blog At Home Mom is a book for you.

I have struggled with my blog over the years. I had the most sucess when I was doing reviews for TOS and had a lot of people looking at my blog. The past few years I have felt that I didn't really have anything worthwhile to say. My life seems to be on hold and so does my blog. Sometimes my blog seems to be a burden and I have considered shutting it down.

Lately I have been praying about it. I have also been setting goals for myself and my blog. Then along came the opportunity to review this book. A GODincidence. Just what I needed to give me a boost. Nothing much new, but a lot of reminders of why I blog. I also got a "kick in the pants" about my family and home. The Lord has been dealing with me about this in a number of ways, one of them through this book.

"When things are out of balance, your blog will feel like a burden, or conversely, your mothering responsibilities will feel like a burden. When either of these happen, it is best to take a step back, evaluate your responsibilities, and see what needs to change or be let go of altogether." pg. 5

God gives us talents and passions. He wants us to use them. Balance and Priorities need to be right. That is a daily struggle for me. I spend way to much time in worthless pursuits. Prov 12:11 says, " Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense." I don't have land to work but I do have work to do. Instead of doing the things I should I spend to many days, to much time in a day, on things that profit me and my family NOTHING. I have yearly goals, monthly goals, daily to-do lists and sometimes the days go by and things don't get done. I tend to get caught up in things I am doing, like playing a game, and forget the time; or I am stressed or down for some reason and I just don't feel like doing what I should. I have had to many of these days. I try not to be too hard on myself because we have been and still are going through a long trial... 8 years so far. But I also don't want to have day after day when I don't get anything done. This book was an extra kick, just where I need it.

I have goals for my blog. I want to have my blog be more interesting, more productive, more read by other people. I want to serve my Lord through my blog and I want to post things about my family as a reminder of days gone by and of today as well. The original purposes for my blog were to share about my family and more specifically about out homeschooling. I have not shared much about homeschooling lately because I felt our method of homeschooling had changed and I didn't have much to share. I can still share resources I find and the things we are reading and doing. It may still be a help to others who are just starting their homeschool journey, or have been at it a while. I have a post I am working on and want to have it up this week. It is written on my blog goal sheet and on my Goal Planning Monday post. Another way I keep myself accountable and moving toward my goals.

I want to make plans for my blog. I have begun using the printable here - Free Printable Blog Planner It was just what I needed. If this planner does not fit your needs look around the Internet, there may be something that suits you better, but this was just right for my blogging needs. I have room to write notes about 3 major blog posts for the week and places to make short reminders about other things I want to remember to blog about during that week... like meme's I like to participate in. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks.

This e-book also talks about setting goals for your children. My children are old enough now to set their own goals. Of course I still have wishes and dreams for my children but since they are 16-26 years old goals are up to them to set. I have tried to be a good example to them in setting and reaching for goals of my own. Now that, and prayer, are all I can do.

This book doesn't just talk about blogging. We need to have ballance so we need to attend to all areas of our lives. I do need to do some organizing and cleaning in my home. I have been really lazy about it and many things have been neglected. I have had a goal of working on a chore sheet so I can get more done each week. I need to just attack one or 2 little cleaning chores each day. I especially need to get to organizing and cleaning up our basement. It becomes a dumping ground so quickly. I have many things down there that need to be sorted through and thrown out or organized better.

One of the things I need to do better on with my blog is reaching out to my readers. When someone comments I need to leave them a comment back. I also want to reach out to the blogs that I read on a regular basis and leave comments more regularly. I have lots of Internet friends and some of them I rarely comment on. I need to do better with this and if I wasn't wasting so much time on other things I could accomplish this goal easily and then get on to other things.

One of the things I have let slip in the past few weeks is my Bible time, Christin talks about this as well. I have not made it a daily priortiy and more days than not I have let my time in the Word of God go by the wayside.

"You cannot blog with integrity if you don’t have your priorities in order. Your blogging is
your testimony. Without Christ at the center, it lacks power and will therefore lack reach
and transformation."  pg 23

If I want my blog and my life to glorify God than I must seek him and stay close to him. I need him daily because I am such a frail human being.

I give Blog At Home Mom This book gave me a lot to think about and reminded me of a lot of things that I needed a reminder of. I would recommend this book for all bloggers, but especially ones who are stay at home mom's with little ones.

There are lots more chapters, there is a lot more content... if you want more you will have to download the e-book... or enter to win a copy below. Christin and her family are trying to adopt and the sale of this book goes toward that goal for them.

You can find the links for purchasing the book and the list of the chapter titles here -
Blog At Home Mom

There are also jpg's of quotes from her book that you can pin from her site to advertise her book and help spread the word.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

all content on my blog is ©

This Blog... now on BlogLovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Why would I join another place to follow blogs??? Because I have friends that use blog hosting sites other than Blogger and the Google Friends Connect in my sidebar only works with Blogger now... so in order to follow friends on... say WordPress... they have started using BlogLovin. So... now you too can follow my blog in a number of ways... just check out the right hand sidebar for :
GFC
BlogLovin
RSS feed
e-mail
or choose more than one way to follow if you like.


all content on my blog is ©

My Blog Has a New Look...

... come and check it out and leave me a comment letting me know what you think of it. Take in the details and let me know if the colors and background work for you/your computer/your eyes. I really want to know... not that I will change anything because I already worked on this for 6 hours and I need to get some other work done. But, I will take your suggestions to heart if you have anything you think I should change... You never know you could have the idea to make this just perfect... or you may like it as I have it.

I want to make my own tabs. I don't like the ones blogger has. I will work on that soon. New, better, prettier tabs would really spice things up.


all content on my blog is ©

Most Viewed Posts and Pages from May – December 2010

A friend and fellow crew mate, Tristan at Our Busy Homeschool, posted My Top 10 Posts in 2010 and I thought it was fun so I decided to do it also...

So here are the top posts and pages for the last six months from

I am posting each popular post and page with the link in case you are now interested in boosting that posts readership

1. Homeschool Memoirs #28: Life Skills  posted March 6, 2009  had 740 page views 
2. Lego Organization, Clean-up, Storage and Display Part 1  posted Jan 14, 2009   376 page views 
3. Make Memories with Books and a Seminar by Cindy Ruston    posted Nov. 4, 2008   373 page views 
4. Not Back To School Blog Hop - School Room   posted Aug. 10, 2010    359 page views 
5. How do you organize your files on the computer?   posted July 3, 2010   323 page views 
6. Favorite Non-School Games   posted March 4, 2009   190 page views 
7. 2008 Beijing Olympic Lapbook Minis and Maps   posted Aug. 8, 2008   135 page views 
8. The Blog Cruise - Thinking about Homeschooling? New Homeschooler? Here is some advice from a Veteran    posted Aug. 16, 2010    120 page views

Top 2 Pages (tabs at the top)

1. Memes  205 page views 
2. Resources for 2010-2011 School Year 139 page views

It was interesting to see that some posts I did in 2008 are still most popular with people.


all content on my blog is ©

Signatures

Just wanted to show you all that I figured out how to get the my cool signature from http://mylivesignature.com/ to come up every time I do a post. It is so cool! Each time I do a post now the signature will already be there. I can also add it to the forums I am on... I can't figure out how to get it on my e-mail yet... but I am working on it. What do you think... leave me a comment and let me know.

2010 Ultimate Blog Party

Are you planning to attend the Ultimate Blog Party, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom?  This will be my first year participating and I am not sure all that will be involved, but who doesn't like a party!! I do know I will meet a lot of new bloggers and there some great prizes involved in the UBP.  It’s a great way to find blogs that you might not find otherwise. If you’d like more information about the UBP, just click on the banner to the left, or use this link.

Keep you eyes and ears open for updates here and on 5 Minutes for Mom.

Debbie

Verification

One of the ladies that does the 365 project asked if those of us on Blogger could turn off our word verification. You know, where you have to type a word in to get your comment published. She said she had a lot of trouble getting things to verify and that sometimes she had to type 2 or 3 times to get her comment to go through. So I removed it. Over the course of the next week I got at least one spam comment every day. Some days more than one, and a couple of them were disgusting! I have commented on lots of friends blogs and done the word verification thing and it has never been a problem for me. So, I turned my word verification back on. I am sorry if it is a bother. You can read my posts and not comment. But, I will not take it off again. Even if I am loosing readers because of it. It is a shame we have to do these things but I do not want to have to read the filth that comes in the comments just so I know whether to post them or delete them. I have enough filth in my e-mail spam box. I hope you all understand, keep reading, and keep commenting.

Debbie

Disclosure Statement

This policy is valid from June 23, 2009

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact  Debbie @ dlphsmom at inbox dot com.

This blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we will and do accept and keep free products, services, travel, event tickets, and other forms of compensation from companies and organizations.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Debbie

One Year Blogaversary

One Year Ago TODAY I started my blog



12 Months

160 posts

My how time flies.

I am sorry to not have any fanfare.


No prizes


No freebies


No Giveaway


No Big Party


But I could not let the day go by without at least saying:

Happy Blogging Anniversary to ME!




Have a Great Day
Debbie

Smilies

Just a quick post to give some information to my friend Michele, and anyone else reading my blog that is interested. Michele asked me yesterday where I get the smilies for my blog. Michele if you click on any of the smilies it will take you to the site I use... so here are some smilies to click on...







there you go
click on one of the smilies
you go through the list on the right sidebar on their site,
click on the smilie of your choice
get the html code from the middle line
and paste it in your blog post
it will show up when you post or you can click on preview it you want to see it.

If you want to resize it you have to save the post. go up to the tabs on top and click edit posts then come back to the post and click on the smilie and you can drag it to enlarge it.

any other quesitons,
just ask,
Debbie

Giveaway at Doodlebug Designs the blog

Judi at Doodlebug Designs is giving away a free blog redesign here is what she had to say click the box above or on my sidebar to go to the giveaway.

"Start the New Year with a fabulous blog design! Haven't you been longing for a change in your design? Have you been wanting a different layout? Have you been wanting more bells and whistles? Here you have a chance to get all of that and more absolutely free! This free design will include as many or as few elements as you would like."

WOW as many elements as I would like.. I better start a list in case I win... now what would I want??? I don't know, I am too new of a blogger to even know what I would want... I will have to peruse some of my favorite blogs and start taking notes. LOL

Debbie

New Hit Counter

The other day my dd Jessica noticed that the hit counter on her new writing blog Literary Pursuits was missing. Then she looked on the blog she shares with dd Rachel Young Homemakers and it to was missing. Then she, of course, checked mine.

We found out the counter that we had chosen, which was fine, and free, also did not save at the turning of the new year.

So we have switched hit counters to one that tracks over the years and has ways to look at your stats for the past 30 days, this month, last year, by country, by browser and by operating system (the last is interesting but not really helpful to me in any way).

The thing that is bugging me, and I know it is a little thing, is that there is no way to know how high my counter was on this blog before it crashed. I just started my blog last April and I think I was nearing 10,000 now I am at 20 or so. Well that just bugs me. I was so excited to reach 100 and to reach 1000 and to reach 5000 and now to start all over just makes me sad. Oh well, I will have to put up with it and concentrate on making my blogs interesting so you all keep coming back and some day I will get to 10,000; maybe.

Thanks for letting me vent.
I feel better now.
Debbie