Have you checked your recalled toys lately?

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise--there is yet another large and long and big list of recalled toys. We watched the new on NBC and the story was basically--The list is too long to put on TV but check our website. So CLICK HERE to check the latest round of recalls.

p.s. it makes me so mad when i have to throw away my son's favorite thomas the train stuff. sometimes i could just kick china in the teeth for not only making him cry when i throw his toys way, but more so for SUPPLYING TOYS THAT MAKES MY 4 CHILDREN SICK AND COULD KILL THEM!!!!!!!

anyhooo...check it out.

What are your kids watching?

OH MY GOSH! I just discovered this great site. So you remember the Nielseon ratings people? Well, now they have a website. You go there and you can either register and put your 2 cents in on t.v. shows, music, movies, etc. or you can go there and find out what others are saying about the stuff your kids are buying and putting in their heads. I put a scroll from the nielson site in my sidebar. I just think that this is a fantastic tool for parents to find out about all that stuff every kid just HAS to have. When your child goes to buy that new Foo Fighters CD or when they are going to watch High School Musical 2 at their friend's house, you can now go somewhere and find out what others are saying about it. So instead of the item's "Official Website" for information, you now have a place where someone who has actually seen or heard it can tell you all about it.

But just wait...you thought I was done...yea...well...this site has more than just T.V., movie, and CD information. The nielson people have now included Hollywood personalities and even internet sites in their lineup. I think it is about time there is a place where you can go to find out about all this stuff. And I don't think that only parents can use it. We, as bloggers, can use this site to find discover other sites and find out if they are right for our genre instead of wasting our time registering for a site and find out later we can't really use it. And it is not just about "digging" something, but you find out why someone loves it or why they want to "bury" it, so to speak. I don't know about you (well, if you are into blogging and all of cyberspace as I am, I do know...), but I don't have alot of free time. Between my kids, hubby, blogging, reading, e-mail, marketing, running errands, business building, dishes, and laundry, i TREASURE my free time. This site would allow me to find out if any t.v. show, movie, CD, w.w.w. sites or even something staring someone famous, is actually worth me not hanging out with my kids. I guess in short, I like this site and feel it is about time.

Check out the sidebar!!!

I had to publish some more pages for this blog. The links are in my sidebar in the --This ol' Iowa girl's favorite fantastic family fun cyberspace links!--list. I am going to add stuff there everyday ( hopefully). But I thought I would just mention my sidebar...just in case you were just skimming the titles. I would not want you to miss anything awesome!

Whatcha Need?

Ok...last post for today, I promise. But I was thinking of all the things I want to find and post and thought maybe other readers (i hope i have at least 1 by now) may want to know or find something. PLEASE, give me suggestions. I have plenty of ideas for last for some time but maybe you guys want to know something more. So if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment...
Thanks everybody!

Kerith's Korners of Tumblelogging.

I didn't really know what it was either until last nite. I was putting off sleep while blog surfing and I stumbled across several sites that were officially called microblogging or tumblelog sites.

1. Twitter.com
2. Jaiku.com
3. Pownce--waiting list to get on.
4. Tumblr--Larger than normal print--great for the grandparents!!! (my favorite but no button to put on my page. This one does have a link I loved it so much!
5. Sideblog--more of a photo blogging site.

The idea of a microblogging site is that you just put in a sentence or two of what you are doing at the moment (perfect for the gotta-have-it-now McDonalds time we live in). Just like a social site or a blog, you can add friends you have already and have the whole of cyberspace to make new ones. Twitter had a button that I have already put on my blog if you want to follow me there. Jaiku and Tumblr doesn't seem to have one but I will keep my eyes open for it.

Tumblr was my favorite.

• easy to read
• nice, friendly look
• ability to start private tumblelog for just you and invited friends...like grandparents that just want to keep in touch.

I thought these sites were facinating because as all bloggers know, short and sweet is king. It is a way to keep in contact with everyone you know. I don't know about you, but with 4 kids, keeping track of all of my "korners" on the internet, and family chores, I do not have alot of time of officially e-mail, post on my social sites like I should, write letters, or even call. And I have noticed that my in-real-life friends are having the same problems. I think this is a fantasic way to keep in touch, pure and simple. Now all I have to do is convince all of my friends.

P.S.--I did not add hyperlinks to the twitter and jaiku words. I liked these two sites and thought they could come in handy for parents or even some responsible kids. But I wanted parents to have a chance to check out the sites. No hyperlinks=no accidental clicks!

Kerith's Korners of the Fair

1. I love to play dress-up.
2. I always want to be a big helper.
3. Me sssssssssooooooooooooo sleepy!
4. I also love to put my mom's make-up on.
5. My dad takes off as soon as he hears grinding metal.
6. There is just so much to do and to buy and to eat and to see.
7. I just can't keep my hands off of old stuff!

I just love, love, love going to the fair. Now that I have kids, it is just a bigger reason I get to be a kid again.

Can I borrow a book?

I found the most fantastic site. I know, I know, we bloggers have become addicted to the typed word and cyberspace but the written word is what inspires us to blog for fun or even for a living. You MUST try out this site:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

IT IS AWESOME! When you first start you post 9 books and you get 3 book credits to get 3 books. The have audio books also (for the busy parent who wants to read but only has time if someone reads to them---hey, I've been there). People request the books you post. You ship them. You request books from other members and them ship them off to you. Everytime you ship a book and it is received, you get a book credit. And if you run out of credits and there is a must have book you found, don't worry. You can buy book points. Their cost is about the cost of shipping a book. I joined it about 2 weeks ago and have already gotten my initial 3 books and have shipped 3 books...Man, I can't wait for those sweet, sweet 3 book points. And my kids love the fact we are getting packages in the mail. And yes, I used my first 3 book points on kids books. Hey, I can wait for my audio books. And besides, I have a blogg to write. So check it out. You will not be sorry!!!!

Is my toy from China?

We have been throwing away dozens of toys because they have been officially recalled or are just made in China and we just can't chance it. If you want to find out officially about your toy, go to http://www.recall.gov/
You can join 3 recall lists to find out about toys, food, clothes, whatever.
And did you know that about 80% of all toys in the WORLD are made in China. Just makes you think about all those toys in your kids rooms, or the toys they used to play with or the little charm that your kid ate when they were 2. I don't know about you, but it makes me want to throw away everything. But I don't. But I have had to throw away alot of my kids favorite toys--Wooden car sets, Thomas, Pixar Cars, dolls, lots of stuff. But I would rather have them cry alittle than get sick alot.

Holy internet, Batman!

I just wanted to say I have been looking for stuff for kids and families on the internet and ...oh...my...gosh...I can't believe all the information out there. No wonder people are simply overwhelmed with info. It is not the finding it, but the knowing how to find it...what search engines to use, what key words, tags, labels, etc. to use.

But in the meantime, one terrific search engine---aimed towards kids is http://www.zoo.com/.

love it, love it, love it. I will check it out more and report back but this is cool.

Do you remember where you were?

http://911digitalarchive.org/

I was working at a daycare. One ladies son was trapped in the subway. Another woman's boyfriend was supposed to be in the air--lucky, lucky, lucky he was running late. We had no idea what was going on until our significant others starting calling the daycare and parents were coming in to pick their kids up. I think we closed about 2 hours early that day because all of the parents came to pick up their kids early. I will never forget.

Where in heck should we put our computer?

Computers have become just about the most important item in the house. Everyone wants one in their "space" or they want privacy when they are IMing, blogging, creating their web space, texting friends, e-mailing, gaming, working, surfing-you get the idea. Placement is very important, especially when it comes to young users of the computer and the wonderful world wide web.
I do not think that kids should have their own computer in their room. The internet is a world of its own and it is just too temping for a child to explore things in that world. Parents have boundries for children in the real world. It should go double for the cyberworld due to the fact that any and everything is available at the touch of a mouse.
We have a 5 year old son who has been using the computer and the internet since he was about 3 1/2. Some of you may think that is very young but we know that it was going to be the world he would grow up in. He needed to know how to use it. (And when we go to the library, he is the kid showing other kids how to get to the cool kid sites.) So, needless to say, our computer has always been in a public place.
When he first started, we converted a large closet into a computer room. It had high foot traffic past it so he could ask us questions and not go into a new site without us seeing it. Now we have the "family office" in the kitchen. This works out great because the kitchen is already a room that people are hanging out in. Mom can look up cooking shows and watch them as she cooks. Dad can look up car stuff and be right by the car if he needs to go look at it. The kids are in a space that everyone shares.
Another thing we did at first is give everyone their own profile. Mom and dad's profiles have a password so the only one to click on is our son's profile. We let him pick his own profile icon (Transformers) and his own wallpaper (Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends) and his screensaver (Chicken Little). He is still too young to really spell out stuff in any search sites so we have helped him find the sites he likes and bookmark them to the desktop. Some of them have icons that match what the sites is about, such has Noggin or Cartoon Network, several have the same Internet Explorer icon. But don't worry, they figure out fast which icon is which fun site. You can change the icon or name if you wish but our son has figured it out with no problem.
The one thing we did not expect is how fast he learned stuff. He can change is icons, wallpaper, and screensaver. He found transformers on e-bay, which lead to You Tube. We like the site but there are non-kid stuff on it too. Yeah, we had to block some sites already so he couldn't get to them. We simply have to keep an eye on him and where he goes and it has been a fantastic learning tool for him, and us as well. It is a way for all of us to find what we want and share it with the whole family.

Alittle info. on me

I thought I would introduce myself. I am Kerith. I am 31...I think. I have 4 kids and a great hubby. I decided to start a blog because I think it is too hard to find kid friendly stuff on the internet or there is SSSOOO much you don't even know where to start. I was looking and searching and up late nites just looking for new stuff for my kids or new sites for them to check out or kid friendly stuff for me. As you know...when you are a mother...your interests seem to meld into your kids and what they can do or see or get at or get into. So bear with me as I post the stuff I find that I think is great for kids and families in general. I will hopefully organize it in a way that you like. I thought it would be great if it was all in one spot...then I got a great idea...why don't I just do that and then other will eventually find me and this family friendly blog...well...thanks for listening and come back ya'all.

kerith