::housekeeping::

I swept up all this junk in my house the other day. You would’ve thought I hadn’t swept in a week, but it had been only a day and a half. One of the cons of living on the beach….but I’ll gladly take it!

but this is not the kind of housekeeping that i’m gonna talk about today. I know you’re all very disappointed today, I’m gonna talk some blog housekeeping…

first off…i never spent much time in the beginning of starting this blog on a blog design. Just downloaded some free stuff from the worldwideweb. But I realized the other day that my background somehow just disappeared, and I don’t know how to get it back. So it made me start thinking that I should use the opportunity to jazz up this site a bit. Problem is, I don’t have the time nor the knowledge on how to do so. So if you see some changes around here, and then if you see some changes back, maybe you can just excuse it cause you’ll know that its just me playing around trying to figure things out! And…if any of you reading are really cool web designers who would be willing to design some pretty cool blog stuff for me that would suit my style, let me know. or if any of you have great tips for me, PLEASE tell me! I need help!

and while we’re talking blog, I have to tell you that I probably would’ve shut this thing down LONG ago if it weren’t for you guys, my readers. Sometimes it becomes a burden, and I get discouraged that this little blog is just a waste of time. But it seems like somehow in those times I always get some kind of comment, email, or conversation that encourages me to keep pluggin away. But I have to be honest…if it weren’t for my handy dandy site meter that allows me to track how much traffic I get on this thing, I would really think that I have about 5 readers, most of whom are family!! I am absolutely floored everytime I check in on my meter by the sheer quantity of you who read this blog. I am BLOWN AWAY!! I don’t get it….i really don’t…and I kinda think ya’ll are crazy for reading this small little snippet so faithfully!! (maybe i’ll actually start referring to you too as “crazies” instead of “my readers”!!) but anyway, thank you SO much for being my “crazies”! You all are the absolute best! Even though I don’t know who all of you are, I know that you are out there. i’m grateful and its the only thing that keeps me doing this whole blogging thing.

For example, a few months ago, I received this package:

A teacher from Alabama who just happened upon my blog one day contacted me after I had posted some stuff about shark’s teeth. She said her 1^st grade class was studying sharks and she was able to pull up my blog in the classroom and show them all a picture of a real shark’s tooth! I thought that was great…but I got so excited when it dawned on me that it would be so super easy to send some actual sharks teeth her way for the kids to see in real life.

I had my kiddos make a little video teaching that 1^st grade class how to find a sharks tooth on the beach, and we sent a little package her way, so excited to share a bit of “our beach” with some sweet kids in alabama.

Totally unexpectedly, a few weeks later I received a package from that class with individual thank you’s and drawings from each student, along with a picture of the whole class. It made my heart want to burst! (thank you SO much to Ms. Hill’s Class!!)

That’s the kind of “community” that made me start this blog in the first place…as a place to share life with one another. That’s my vision…to give you a peek into our small snippets with the hope that you’ll share your’s with me too!

So while we’re on the subject of you, my dear blog reading crazies, I thought i’d ask you for a favor. I am really trying to consolidate this thing, and get a good system going. I’ve failed big time in being a quick responder to emails and comments, mainly because I simply didn’t know a good way to do so, and they were coming at me from all angles and I can’t keep up as I have been getting emails coming to a number of different email address!

So here’s the deal…from here on out, if you could, would you PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE leave your comment or question in the comments section of my blog on whatever post you desire, as opposed to emailing me, facebooking me, or replying to my emailed post if you are a subscriber, and that way it will all come to one spot. In return, I am making you a PROMISE! I here do so solemnly promise – will try my darn hardest best – to be a quick responder and will respond to questions and comments back at you in the same comments section where it was posed. So if you ask a question, check back in that comments section for a response. Or sometimes I might address your question in a future post. Or if you leave a contact email, I will possibly email you directly if needed. But either way, I will get back to you! That would make my life much more simplified, and it would serve the original purpose of this blog, which was to create a type of community amongst my readers, as sometimes the best thing about a post is what you all write in the comments section!

If for some reason you aren’t able to post comments, let me know and i’ll get the problem solved for you. (ufkimball@aol.com) otherwise, i’ll look forward to communicating with ya’ll in the comments section! (btw…if that really just rocks your world too much, don’t just be silent. Let me know and i’ll still be happy happy happy to hear from you, even if it is through emails

With that being said, I would LOVE to hear from all of you, since I know ya’ll are out there!! I have to confess…I am the WORST at commenting on other peeps blogs…the worst. But i’ve made a goal to try to do so more often, cause now that i’m a “blogger” myself, I realize just how important those comments are. They really are what keeps this little boat afloat! So please please communicate with me!

moving onto some fun stuff…my kids came to me the other day like this:

as i was in the process of making these cupcakes and i had just told them that they couldn’t have any because they were for a baby shower i was hosting.
they thought that if they were “pregnant” then they could come to the shower and eat a cupcake. those smart little monsters!