"A Wink and a Smile"

Check out some of the familiar faces at The Pioneer Woman's blog . It has been a very good week for me. So much to be THANKFUL for!

the writer who has been quite busy lately. *This might be a mishmash of a blog post ... a little like the thoughts running through my head. School, Homeschool, and swim practice are all back in session. After nearly 2 weeks, I almost feel like a routine is going ... ALMOST ;) Because it seems like I switch things up every year between Catholic school, homeschool, public school, private school. I could easily claim i n s a n i t y . Seriously, it isn't that bad ... My oldest did public school (in another state) for 5 years, Catholic school for 3 years, and now this is her second year in private school. Daughter #2 did 3 years of public, 2 years of Catholic, homeschool, private, homeschool (NOW). Daughter #3 did 2 years of Catholic, 1 year of homeschool, and now year 2 of public. Daughter #4 did 1 year of Catholic and now public (2nd year). *None of this includes the preschool years. Homeschooling is going OKAY. I won't say GREAT yet because I feel like there are som...

I completely got rid of my previous template. I wasn't thrilled with the colors (not sure how to change them) and when the header photo was messed up, I added my own picture, but I still didn't like the look of my blog. So for now I went back to the MINIMA template, but actually researched and worked in a 3rd column. I like 3 columns ... looks neater to me with all of my "stuff". It would be possible for me to look up someone and PAY that person to rework my blog, but as you can see from the few years that I have had this blog, that I like to mix things up a little. It could impact my visitors, but I don't care. I'm the one looking at it the most ;) Trying to learn HTML or at least find ways to copy and change parts to get looks that I like. Today my blog looks one way, but I can't guarantee what tomorrow's "LOOK" will be. Patience ...

PLEASE STAND BY ... I got this template free from LENA and apparently she has exceeded her bandwidth limitations. As a result I lost the header photo. ***For now, I have "figured out" how to put my own photo in its place, but I'm not sure this will be a permanent "look". WHAT TO DO????? I'll have to figure it out later tonight. Something tells me that it will take a lot of work on my part ... once again (ugh).

Blogger is driving me nuts.  Earlier today I didn't even have real access to my blog ... some sort of ERROR that a lot of other people had.  It may have had something to do with my template or widgets. ANYWAY, I'm feeling like this place needs a little work. BEAR with me!

THIS FIRST ... which is kind of funny.  I can't seem to escape the whole TEETH thing - LOL! and then ... the lyrics to Harry Connick Jr's song and then ... a producer who made a movie called   A Wink and a Smile ( 2008 Seattle International Film Festival) ... this doesn't appear to be "my style" ;) and then ... ME here at A Wink and a Smile which has been the name of my blog since June 2006 when I started blogging. What show's up when you google the name of your blog?  Maybe you have a much more original name than I do.

CAN'T decide on a theme or color for my blog? Surely I am confusing anyone who visits my blog because there is no continuity. I am fairly sure my husband would say that describes my life ... ever changing.

This morning I am coming up for some air after spending a week with my mother-in-law and almost a week with my Mom. I still have 13 more days with my Mom. Let's just say that I am busy BUT I have lots that I could be writing I will blog some of it SOON PROMISE!

It's been a little while since I posted, but honestly, I have been SOOOOOOO BUSY. I guess that is to be expected around this time of the year. Some days (or moments) I feel all together, but a lot of the time I really need to look at a list ... even then I am often overwhelmed. This is such a special time of the year and REALLY, I do want to enjoy it. Last week was such a nice break for me ... the hubby was home, we got some house jobs done (a brand spanking new sink and faucet ... YAY!), and I took the week off of homeschooling (I needed that break). We had a wonderful Thanksgiving (just the 7 of us), and I even got some good outdoor runs in. However, when Sunday hit, I started to feel the stress again ... back to homeschooling, back to parochial school, and TIME TO START SHOPPING. Don't even get me started on the other daily things that I do. I usually don't take a breath until 9pm at night and that's on a good night. My blogging may be few and far between. I wish tha...

New header and some new c o l o r s . Not sure that I love it, but I needed something different for FALL. Today starts the first of many days that temperatures will not get out of the 60's ... woo hoo ! Fall foliage should also start to become more noticeable by the weekend. I just love this time of year. The weekend was WONDERFUL and tons of pictures were taken.

I will come up with a creative, funny post like cris I will say what I said I would say the day before like meg I will write something cool that we did today like dawn I will showcase my children's many funnies like karen I will speak from the heart like jennifer or {c} I will share some of my favorite photos like joy and tara (who am I kidding????she is amazing) I will speak with elequence about my faith like margaret ... Tomorrow I will remember! Gosh, wasn't that the shortest post ever.

I mention this because I wonder if it is better to NOT know how many people view your blog and for how long. Case in point ... Today I opened up a link to a lovely homeschooling mommy's blog, and NEVER closed it. I am fairly sure that it appears that I was viewing her blog for 12 hours. I do have more to do in life than just read blogs. They are fun, but please note that sometimes I leave my computer without closing a link. Life is interrupted quite frequently in this house. Really, I am not a weirdo ...

As I was working on my blog yesterday ... moving over posts, making things look pretty, etc, I was thinking about my title. I guess it was almost a year ago that I came up with "A Wink and a Smile" as my blog title. It really does not have significant meaning. This little post was taken from my previous blog ... I remember the days of just keeping time Of hanging around in sleepy towns forever Back roads empty for miles Well you can’t have a dream and cut it to fit But when I saw you I knew We’d go together, like a wink and a smile Leave your old jalopy by the railroad track We’ll get a hip double-dip hip Tip-Topy, two seat Pontiac So you can rev her up, don’t go slow It’s only green lights and no rights Let’s go together like a wink and a smile Now my heart is music, such a simple song Sing it again the notes never end this is where I belong Just the sound of your voice the light in your eyes They’re so far away from yesterday Together like a wink and a smile We go together ...

I will be the first to say that I don't "love" change, but somehow it finds me. Learning new things can be quite frustrating, but maybe that is what I am meant to do. SO, after many frustrations with VOX, I am attempting to try out Blogger once again. I love the look of Typepad, but I am not so sure I want to invest money. As much as I like to look at some blogs, I don't post as often as I would like to. SO , once again I am testing...

I am not so sure. I really put a lot more thought into my other blog http://momto5minnies.vox.com/ and I don't know if I want to keep up two of them. I seem to look at three types of blogs ... Blogger, Vox, and Typepad. I can post to someone on Typepad really easily. On Blogger I guess you can post to someone anonymously, or you can use your account. Vox appears to just allow VOX members to post, and aside from the few Mommies that I know, I don't really search out other bloggers there. Maybe this is my sign that I am on the computer too much. I don't need ANOTHER place to put my thoughts. Thinking about it, is just wasting time. LOL!