http://jillmanty.com random rants and raves Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:05:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Hi. I’m Jill Manty, and this is my blog. I’ve no idea how you got here, so if you’d like to let me know, leave it in the comment section. This blog has no real purpose. It’s just a place for me to share my thoughts, ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060303-introduction/ It’s important for you to understand that I have a strong faith in God. It greatly influences who I am, and I try to make decisions that bring honor to Him. Recently, I’ve been studying about how to be a better wife. Not only do I hope ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060304-being-a-better-wife/ Well, a new to us car, anyway. Now this may not seem like a big thing to you, but this is the first time in 6 years that we will have a second car. Here in the Houston ‘burbs, with no public transportation, that means that for the ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060306-we-are-getting-a-new-car/ This is one of the best pieces of parenting advice I know— never, and I mean NEVER tell your children what is in food before they eat it. If they rave about the food and ask for seconds, then maybe you can tell them after they’ve eaten it. For example, ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060307-feeding-picky-eaters/ One of our children has a cough. He doesn’t have a fever. He doesn’t even seem particularly congested— he just has this pesky cough. It’s been going on for a couple of days now but seemed to get worse last night and wasn’t significantly better this morning. So, ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060308-in-search-of-the-perfect-cough-remedy/ I have to say I’m really enjoying having a second car. Today, when I realized I needed to get some things done, I didn’t need to wait for my husbad to get home. Oh, the freedom, the independence And, at the same time, I was a little sad yesterday ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060309-oh-the-joy-of-running-errands/ Do you have children with normal feet? You should count yourselves very blessed. Our second oldest has wide feet. Well, really they’re extra wide. Like his father, this means buying shoes for him is a challenge. My husband has been known to buy very expensive shoes that ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060312-buying-shoes/ Woke up this morning. Read the headlines. This one caught my eye: “McClatchy to buy Knight Ridder for $4.5B” Thought, “Why on earth would someone want to buy the Knight Rider car for $4.5 B? That seems a little steep for a collectible.” No, ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060313-todays-laugh-at-my-expense/ Our 12 year old son has been looking forward to American Inventor since he first saw the previews for it back in January. It was very disappointing to us that last night’s series premiere was not very child friendly, at least several portions of it (particularly at the beginning). ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060317-american-inventor/ I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve my/our parenting— I always try to involve my husband in the improvement, as well So, when I recently read this article, taken from the book, How to Raise Your Children Without Raising Your Voice, I was really impressed. So ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060319-parenting-advice/ There is a company called Life Gem that turns the ashes of your departed loved one into a diamond. I love my husband, but I’m not turning him into a ring after he passes on. Nope, just not going to do it. Yuck. Of course, I ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060323-in-the-category-of-things-that-make-me-say-ewwww/ A Washington man was rushing to catch his commuter train and forgot his daughter in the car. Even though it was clearly not intentional, and the little girl was unharmed, the man will face charges of leaving a child under 8 unattended. I bet that no sentence the ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060323-a-sure-sign-youre-too-busy/ If you’re French, I suggest you stop reading right now because you’re not going to like what I have to say. The French are nuts. First, they look down on everyone else because they think they’ve created this French utopia. Oh, yeah, utopia— except for the constant ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060328-the-french/ Rats. One of the last bastions of sanity in this country has fallen. Perhaps you didn’t even know that it existed. But most of Indiana has never followed Daylight savings time, choosing instead to remain on Eastern Standard Time for the entire year. For the first ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060331-indiana-caves-to-daylight-savings-time/ I thought this was really funny. After dismal ratings last year, the Miss America pageant has chosen to go reality. Reality television and beauty pageant… aren’t those oxymorons? Do you think we’ll get to see the contestants without makeup and without their hair done? But ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060402-miss-america-goes-reality/ I’ve decided that I could really easily be a true media hound. I love it when people write about me— or even when something I write about myself gets prominently displayed. Like today, an article that I submitted about my blogging experiences is being featured on Problogger. ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060409-my-blogs-featured-on-problogger/ I didn’t really go anywhere. But my blog did. I don’t know exactly what happened to it, but it crashed. Fortunately, my husband was able to fix it. Whenever I recommend blogging to people and talk about how easy it is, I always neglect to mention that it ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060417-im-back/ There’s an excellent article on homeschool marketplace about the different methods of homeschooling. It’s part of their series on choosing homeschooling materials. We definitely fall into the eclectic homeschooling category. If it’s a good teaching curriculum, process, method, idea, I want to try to use it. ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060427-different-homeschooling-methods/ Today on Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Kids there was an interesting modern take on the story of The Ant and the Grasshopper. For those of you not familiar with the classic Ant and the Grasshopper story, here is the original: The Ant and the Grasshopper In a field one summer’s day ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060428-a-fable-for-today/ My 7 year old just told me that he did his best stacking the silverware, and that his best was the best he could do. I was right there with him, thinking “That’s right my best is the best I can do”. Then he quantified it with “Well, ... http://jillmanty.com/index.php/20060501-is-it-really-our-best/