Category Archives: Blog stuff

Party Time

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I know I am a bit late in joining the Ultimate Blog Party 2011 hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom, but better late than never, right?

So. Thanks so much for stopping by! I really am truly thankful for all of my friends and readers who take the time to read my thoughts.

Who am I? Well, I’m Kelly. I am a wife, mother of 5 ages 8 and under, homeschooler, blogger, etc. I am many things but most importantly I am the child of the Most High King.

I started blogging in 2004. Wisdom Begun has been around since 2007. I also own A Full Table which is on hiatus at the moment as I redesign my vision for that.

Sometimes I go out of the house looking like a mad woman just to get some chicken sandwich. My son makes sure to unload the dishwasher while properly dressed. And we use Pixar nicknames for our kiddos on this here blawg.

Oh yeah, my daughter makes sure to get plenty of protein!

I hope you have enjoyed reading a little bit about my crazy life. Enjoy the rest of the party!

Contact Form

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I have been made aware that my Contact Form is not working properly. Apparently those who are using it are hitting send and then the little arrow moves around and around but nothing else happens. Please rest assured that I am getting your emails from that and am currently working on fixing that plugin.

 

Thanks so much!

Changing Gears

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Zahnrad. / Gear.

When I began this blog about two years ago I had a vision to provide encouragement for mothers with a focus on homemaking and home education. Soon after I narrowed it down to sharing ways to enhance everyday living for mothers with young ones. Since that is my current period of life I figured that this purpose would best fit who I am and what I was capable of.

Over this pregnancy I re-evaluated the needs of my family and myself and cut out unnecessary or superfluous activities. I decided to continue blogging because not only did my husband insist that I needed to do it but also because I feel that blogging is part of the gifts that God has given to me. I am by no means a great blogger but it does allow me to reach out to my Christian sisters while not interfering with my more important duties of being wife and mother.

At the same time I knew that my heart was no longer in the mommy blogging arena. This niche of blogging required me to put in more writing time then I felt I had to produce posts that were worth reading. Since mediocre content and spotty posting are not what I strive for I knew that I needed to make a decision on where Wisdom Begun was headed.

After much prayer – and when I say much I mean A WHOLE LOT of prayer – I knew that if I wished to continue blogging my focus would have to change gears. I considered very carefully how I could add to the blogging world and looked at the issue from all angles. And I prayed and prayed and prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit’s wisdom in this matter. Soon enough I came to the realization that I could no longer blog at this spot.

So. I will no longer write regularly here at Wisdom Begun. Occasionally I will post as I feel led but instead my blogging energies will be going towards my new project. Coming August 30, 2010, I will be launching a brand new food blog geared towards recipes and tips to help you feed your large families. This blog will allow me to share what I do every single day and I look forward to a fresh perspective on the blogging world. You will find recipes that have been doubled or tripled (or more!) to help feed your crowd, as well as ideas on bulk cooking, menu planning, and other helpful ideas.

I am truly excited about this and will be posting updates in the next couple of weeks. I am grateful for those who have faithfully visited Wisdom Begun over the years and I appreciate the relationships it has brought about. Since I will leave Wisdom Begun up I hope that what I have provided here will continue to be a blessing for many years to come.

Photo courtesy of stefanweihs

A Bit of Everything

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As is normal at this time of year our family has been battling one illness after another. These times test me to my very core, forcing me to be miserable or to choose to give up that much more of myself. Dying to self so that others may benefit. Not fun, not easy, but the benefits promised are eternal.

Today will not feature a post from me. Caring for my family while they are sick is top priority. Instead I will deal with some “housekeeping” issues for Wisdom Begun, things I want you to be aware of. Below you will find a list of things on my heart that I want to share with you and also a thing or two that I hope you will take advantage of! Enjoy your weekend with your family. I pray you will be a blessing to those God has called you to serve!

  • Building a community is a hot-topic in the blogosphere at the moment. I desire this personally from this blog for many reasons. I changed the focus for this blog for a reason: to serve you. You will find here my heart in this matter of raising young children. Practical tips and resources to help you will be found here. Most of all I want this to be a place of encouragement. To this end, I hope you will check out the free forum I have set up over at Blog Frog. Some topics have been posted already in order to facilitate discussion. However, you are more than welcome to start discussions of your very own. Let’s encourage and pray and love one another through this journey! You can visit the Wisdom Begun forum and check it out for yourself or you can subscribe, or do both! Don’t be afraid to post a new topic just to introduce yourself.
  • I will be starting a new blog chronicling new steps I am taking toward frugality as well as share deals I run across with you. I will keep you updated!
  • On my heart is raising daughters to become mothers and homemakers, to turn away from feminism and turn back towards the biblical role of women. I  am unsure if I will make this topic a series of post, a monthly column, or a brand new blog. Again, I will keep you updated.
  • You may have noticed that many of my posts have been reviews lately. As my time on the TOS Crew will  be ending in the next few months I will be posting less of these. I hope that you have found some of the products reviewed here helpful.
  • Coming up will be a series on how to use your Point and Shoot camera by a special guest poster. Have you ever desired to have gorgeous photos grace your blog posts but you do not have those fancy cameras and lenses many bloggers have? Learn how to use your point and shoot camera in order to take the best photos you can.

That is all for now. Please pray for me as I nurse back to health those dearest to me. Much love to you all!

Photo credit: svilen001

New Year, New Direction

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Over the past year and a half since I launched Wisdom Begun, I have struggled with what exactly I should focus my blog energies on. The very idea of this blog was born from the epiphany I had one day of who I am. For me, education did not stop after college. Fascination with methods and new things and “just how does that work?” has continued. I get this from my mother and I think it is a pretty neat trait. Sharing what I learn with my bloggy friends is a great benefit. I am grateful that my desire to learn never ended once I achieved adulthood, but rather was enhanced.

Learning about this and that does not a coherent blog make, however. Streamlining topics is very important to me for two reasons:

  • To give people who visit my blog an expectation of what they will find here
  • And, to allow me to focus my time and thoughts to write posts I can be passionate about

Over the past year and a half you have read my thoughts on environmentalism, learned what my children eat, and read my reviews. Recipes pop up, I share the announcement of the birth of my youngest, I share how to menu-plan, and some really useful homeschool links are posts that you have encountered. Rarely have you known exactly what you will get when you come back for a visit. This year will be different.

How?

I told my husband last night that young mothers are the forgotten ministry. People pat us on the head, tell us it gets easier (if that!), and then go on their way. As I am in the very midst of being a young mother (I’m 29 years old and have 4 children ages 6 and under) my heart is in this stage of life. This is where God has put me and I can relate to all the struggles that being a modern stay-at-home-mom/wife entails.

So. Beginning today, January 1, 2010, you will find a blog that strives to be THE one-stop site for young mothers. You will find crafts and home education tips geared toward the younger set, short devotionals to encourage, continuation of product reviews of items that you may find useful, quick and easy meal time helps, and more. I am going to go ahead and give two disclaimers:

  • I am a Christian. That is my life and who I am. Any posts I publish will have that as the groundwork for what I write, regardless of whether or not I actually write about anything “religious.” I am also a SAHM who home educates her children. Many of my posts will focus on that. However, and this is a big however, it is my hope that even if you do not match exactly how I live my life that you will still get something out of this site.
  • I reserve the right to right about topics that may not be “on topic.” There are many things that I am passionate about. I have a major desire to learn how to garden. I also want to learn how to can. Web/blog design is a hobby. Photography with my little P&S is something I want to learn as well. In fact I have in the works right now a series of guest posts from a pretty awesome photographer. So you may find posts that go off in these directions. Like I said before, I am learning wisdom along the way. My learning style takes me in what some may call little rabbit trail directions. I like that and I hope you like the diversions, too!

Now. For your part. Ask questions, whether by emailing me or using my contact form at the top or in the comments section. I’ll get back to you either personally or maybe you will find my answer as a blog post! If you are a young mom yourself then consider this a place to find encouragement. If you are an older mom why not offer advice?

There you have it. 2010 will bring big personal changes for me as well as for this blog. Thanks for stopping by if you are new here and thanks to all of the great folks who continue to visit. I appreciate you all!

Photo credit: ba1969

Giveaways and Reviews, Oh My!

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Recently I received an email that requested me to hostess a giveaway here on my humble blog.  It would have offered my readers the opportunity to win a nice product and I would have received the product as well.  I was excited to be able to post the giveaway and was already to start posting about it when I read something in the fine print.

(Make sure to always read the fine print, y’all.)

The winner of my giveaway would have to pay for shipping.

[Insert sounds of screeching tires and brakes here, please.  It really helps with the effect.]

Ever had that feeling of letdown when you realize something really cool just is not as rockin’ as you originally thought?

Yeah.  That was how I felt.

I am just not going to host giveaways here at Wisdom Begun where my precious few readers are going to be asked to pay to ship their own prize.  In my opinion, that is just plain ridiculous, looks tacky, and seems scammy.  (By the way, “scammy” must be a word because my spell checker isn’t doing that annoying red highlighting thing.  Oh wait, now it is highlighting.  Oh well, I’ll leave the word in anyway.)

So you will never find that kind of thing here.  Nope.  Never.  Nada.  Giveaways are just that.  They give away.  There should be no strings attached.

What you will find here are honest reviews that I am not paid to give.  I fully disclose the fact that I have received the product free of charge to review.  If I do not like the product, I generally do not give it any review, with the exception of the reviews I do for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I will occasionally hold giveaways but those will be completely free.  I will allow some advertising on my blog for products that I use myself or can display with no problem.  However, that advertising will never drive this blog.

That is my firm stance and promise to my visitors.

Photo courtesy: Egilshay

Confirming the Rumors

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Many of you have heard that I was one of the four blessed winners of the JVC Everio/BlogHer Sweepstakes. You may also remember my post about it. I have gotten some emails and tweets asking if this is true.

Yes. It is true.

I, Kelly @ Wisdom Begun.

Who never wins anything.

Come July, you will find me blogging, tweeting, and videotaping – with my brand new camcorder courtesy of JVC – from Chicago.

Totally awesome, huh?

Unwholesome Speech

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Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. -Ephesians 4:29

This past week I have been busy weeding through those I follow on Twitter. Tweeting is fun and I enjoy the people I have gotten to know through it. Lately that enjoyment has been disturbed by uncouth speech. Curse words and flippant uses of God’s holy name are thrown around like insults amongst politicians during campaign debates.

And it is not just the men who are guilty. It is also the women, whom God has called to have an “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). Flinging around curse words has almost become chic in Twitterville and Bloggyland.

I really feel it unfortunate that I even have to bring this up. Do people realize how unprofessional foul language is? It is difficult to take seriously any person who talks this way.

And so? The answer?

Stick with those blogs and websites that are edifying. Find that a funny gal you follow on Twitter is throwing words around loosely? Decide whether or not the comedy is worth brain cells being used up on cussing.

In the end, you will be all the better for it.

JVC Everio BlogHer Sweepstakes

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We have a great video camera that seems to be on its last leg. I also want to attend BlogHer one of these days. What do these two sentences have in common? This: JVC is graciously going to give four blessed people a paid trip to BlogHer ’09 (airfare, registration, food, and hotel taken care of!) AND one of their JVC Everio camcorders.

Awesome.

Want a chance to win this? Head over to the JVC BlogHer Sweepstakes and enter.

More Bloggy Love

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Christy from Mercy Every Morning is one of the sweetest, most sincere bloggers I know. I value her blog posts and appreciate the thoughtful comments she often leaves me here at Wisdom Begun. I consider her a blessing!

She recently gave me two blog awards and I want to share the love. Here is the first one and I will share and pass the love later on this week with the other:

The Kreativ Blogger Award stipulates that I must award this to six other bloggers after I share six things I am thankful for. You will find my award recipients after my “thankful for” list.

I am thankful for . . . .

  • The grace and mercy bestowed upon me every single day by my heavenly Father. I am nothing and He is everything.
  • My husband. This man is my best friend. He loves me as the Bible commands him to. He works extra hard, doing even household chores, so that I am not overwhelmed by all that God has asked of me. I love him
  • The four precious kiddos that keep me on my toes. I love their individual personalities and figuring out just “who they are.” They are my adorable sweeties.
  • I am grateful for the job my husband has, especially in these tough times where many have no employment. I am thankful that we see him for breakfast, he gets to come home for lunch, and is home by 6 PM most every night.
  • My home. During these chilly past few nights, I have been thanking the Lord for His goodness in giving me a warm, pleasant home over my head.
  • For all the things I have learned, am learning, and will learn in the new year.

I would like to share this award with following six bloggers, in no particular order: