Both girls were home sick today. We got a special visit to the ENT today, and some news…a new set of tubes. Woo Hoo!

I know, what counts for excitement around here is pretty mundane. But this means little-sis might not spend this whole winter in the doctor’s office. And that’s exciting.

By this afternoon all the resting had both feeling a bit better. So we made butter.

I have been wanting to try this for a while. All it takes is a container with a tight lid, some marbles, and whipping cream. Then there’s a whole lot of shaking goin’ on. It is a great way to keep two fidgety kids busy. It took quite a while. You actually get it all whipped up to hark peak stage, and then the magic happens. All the sudden you have a solid yellow lump and some liquid. We used a glass jar so you could watch it work.

We had cinnamon toast for our snack this evening…made with homemade butter.

Ok, I have let the Tech Wednesday thing slide a bit…rather like the rest of the blog. The dust is finally settling from the start of the school year, so I can catch up over here. A bit of a warning, if you don’t have kids this one is probably not too interesting.

Big sis turns seven this week, and by far her favorite gift was the webkinz she got at her party this last Sunday.

Here’s the basic concept. You buy a stuffed animal and you get a secret code. Then you go online and the code gets you access to the website. Basically it is a mini virtual world with your pet. You have Webkinz bucks to buy stuff with, and as you spend you have to earn more. Lots of games to earn more money. The basic idea seems OK, but this is making us a bit nervous.

We don’t do TV on weekdays, so this adds a whole new dimension, since she wants to be online a lot more. It used to be a once a month thing, but now she wants to be on daily to check her dog. Can’t blame her, but that’s a lot of screen time.

On the up side there is a lot of emphasis on math, which I like. And it is really forcing her to leave. But, the games can be a lot like gambling. Not hardcore poker or anything, but they are trying to get you to play more…the more you play the more W money you earn.

Another concern right now is the parent’s area. I do wish it gave the parents a better idea of what the kids were up to. You have the choice of turning chat on or off (off for us). I wish you could get stats on how much time they spent and in what areas. You know the company is keeping all of this info. Yes, this might be spying, but she’s seven. And my responsibility. It seems it would be pretty easy for an adult to buy one of these things to get access. And then there’s the advertising on the site…

This brings me back to a big concern over the internet as the girls get older. It can bring so much, good and bad, into your home. I’d like to start letting her e-mail with family, but filtering out all the junk is not easy.

So for now we are a Webkinz house, but in a very limited way. I’ve got some ideas on the e-mail thing…hopefully more to come.

This is a snappy web site I found from reading Thimble Blog. They have scanned in the entire J. F. Ingalls embroidery stamping pattern catalog from 188. I am just getting started on sewing for the girl’s fall wardrobe…this is a great source of ideas!

Why all the spiderwebs? It’s technically fall here, despite the weather (no rain, 90 degrees) so the house has been full of spiders.