Write From Karen

Oops! I didn’t write an introduction! My bad – blame it on the fact that my kids started back to school today. I feel like a robot today – everything is in automatic mode and I’m trying not to think too much or I’ll break down and cry (like I always do the first day of school).

I volunteered to host the Carnival of Family Life today on purpose – I knew I would need some distractions from releasing my kids out into the wild once again. So, if you find yourself suddenly kid-less, please consider clicking on the links below. Have you clicked outside your blogroll lately?

Education

Cindy presents To Copy Is To Cheat; Or Is It? posted at Life Without School.

Family Crafts and Activities

Joanne presents Make A Back To School Gift Basket posted at Homemade Gift Baskets. Joanne says, “I did this for my kids, even though they are homeschooled, and they loved it. It’s a cute way of presenting their school supplies.”

Joanne presents Easy Summer Craft For Kids posted at Summer And Kids!, discussing a very simple craft her daughter enjoyed at Girl Scout camp.

Family Fiction

Jenn presents In the Morning Light (Part One), a fictional story about a man diagnosed with terminal cancer who, facing the end of his life, also faces regret. Based on a writing prompt from A Thousand Words.

Patricia Twitchell presents The Adventures of Penny Pincher: Penny Pincher Learns A Secret posted at Just Bears and Stuff, inviting readers to “join Penny Pincher teddy bear as he learns a secret about ants in winter.” Patricia tells us that it’s a great story for children.

Family Finance

Super Saver presents Sorting a Lifetime of Accumulation posted at My Wealth Builder.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents Watch Out For These 5 Retail Rip-offs posted at Discover Debt Freedom!.

Money Answer Guy presents How Do I Keep From Getting Hit With Credit Card Charges? posted at The Money Answer Guy.

GrrlScientist presents High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families posted at Living the Scientific Life, a review of what GrrlScientist calls “a nonfiction masterpiece that will keep you awake at night planning how to safeguard your economic future — all on your own!” She says that the book focuses upon the “most important and long-term relationship in your life: your relationship with your work, and how that has changed substantially since the 1970’s. It also discusses the myth that the average American can become a wise enough financial planner and investor to ‘beat the odds’ and become financially comfortable.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Upromise Survey: Saving For College, Getting Tougher? posted at The Digerati Life, a discussion of backo-to-school expenditures, focusing upon saving for college.

Matthew Paulson presents 3 Proven Tips To Start Organizing Your Home Easily posted at American Consumer News.

Debt Freedom Fighter presents 5 Ways A Good Credit Report Can Enhance Your Quality Of Life posted at Discover Debt Freedom!.

Money Answer Guy presents Why Don’t We Save More Than We Do? posted at The Money Answer Guy.

Family Health and Wellness

Matthew Paulson presents Love Your Kids With These Healthy Lunches posted at American Consumer News.

Lovelyn presents Recycle Your Compact Fluorescent Bulbs posted at The Art of Balanced Living.

Kathleen Gage presents Never enough time – or is there? posted at Daily Awareness. Kathleen opines that “There is not enough time to do all we think we must do, want to do or dream of doing. One of the few things we truly possess is time. How we choose to use the ‘here and now’ is a personal and a powerful choice.”

Toni presents When TLC is more healing than medicine posted at Wifely Steps, telling us that “the care of a husband is even more healing than medicine.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Exercising the body is exercising the mind posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution. Alvaro asks, “Want to generate a few extra neurons?”

Family Humor

Denise Swank presents Goodbye Lazy Summer Days posted at There’s always room for one more. Denise tells us, “I have six kids — three 3 biological and three internationally adopted — aged 21 – 13 months. I try to find the humor in everything.”

Gabriel Almada presents Se habla español posted at Live from Waterloo.

Family Relationships and Self-Improvemen

Ishan presents A letter to Father posted at Life of an Unorthodox Loyalist, a heart-wrenching message from a teen-aged son to a father who is not paying attention.

Kathryn presents How Many Tears Does A Mom Have? posted at knittsings, saying, “Letting go of a loved one is never easy, even when you know she will be home at Christmas.”

Laura Scarborough presents forever ‘fected posted at Adventures in Juggling.

Family Travel

Matthew Paulson presents Travelers Who Wait Might Have a Disappointing Christmas: Nearly 60 Million Airline Seats will not be offered posted at The Travel Advocate.

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Thank you all for participating in the Carnival this week!

Submit a blog article for the September 1, 2008, End of Summer Edition of the Carnival, hosted at Almost Frugal by clicking here!

The Carnival archive can be viewed here.

Interested in hosting a future edition? Review the schedule here and then drop a line indicating the week you would like to have the Carnival visit your site!