The item I’d like to propose as actually worth buying is the Leap Frog Didj Handheld gaming system. Yeah, it’s a gaming system, BUT it’s an educational gaming system. Depending on which game(s) you purchase, your child an work on her spelling and language or her math.

My daughter has a Didj and one game, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The game itself is just like a video game, but when she comes to critical junctures, she has to solve a math problem to move forward. So far, this is the only game we have, but I plan to buy the Nancy Drew game so we can also work on her spelling words. I’ll be able to type in her weekly spelling words and those will be integrated with the Nancy Drew game. How cool is that? I wonder if she’ll even know she’s studying…

The Didj is for children ages 6-10. My daughter is 8 and my son is 10. Both have enjoyed playing with the Didj. If you’re considering buying one as a holiday present, here is the important part: the Didj is $89, the games are $29. I receive e-mail a few times a month with coupons for games. Two frustrations: 1) My daughter says the games are savable and she has to keep repeating some tasks. I’m not sure about this because I haven’t bothered to re-create it. Sorry. 2) The Didj re-charger is sold separately and the web site didn’t list a price. You can buy an AC adapter for $10 or use one you have, though, and you’ll be fine. So, really, neither of these frustrations is a deal-breaker for me.

The thing that is most interesting to me and drew me to the Didj is the Learning Path. From the Leap Frog people: The Learning Path is a free online tool which allows you to actually see what your child is working on with her LeapFrog toys. Just set up an account, plug in your Didj often, and the Learning Path will give you detailed information on particular skills engaged and progress made, e.g., "your child worked on CVC-e words today, and got 90% of the questions right."

So that’s my contribution to the Toys Actually Worth Buying theme. If you have a chance to try a Didj, do.

While you’re here, I want to point out two other options for your holiday buying needs. Instead of hitting up the tired old department stores, why not buy from home-based or smaller businesses? The Bloggy Giveaways Holiday Discount Guide and the Mom-Preneurs Shop-A-Thon page at Tip Junkie list many great vendors with excellent products that are off the beaten path. Check them out before you brave the crowds at the mall. What is better than shopping online while sipping your coffee or tea and just chillin’?

Please don’t forget to check out the other WFMW posts at Rocks In My Dryer.

1. Spooky Riddles by Marc Brown My children love to tell the jokes and riddles from this book. By the way, do you know why vampires drink blood? Because root beer makes them burp!
2. Halloween by Gail Gibbons This is an easy overview of how Halloween began and where our traditions come from.
3. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams We started reading this book when my children were just toddlers. Even though Max and Wild Thing are quite the big kids now at ages 8 & 6, they still love to act out this book as I read it.
4. Rattlebone Rock by Sylvia Andrews Who can resist the beat?
5. Shake Dem Halloween Bones by Mike Reed Just like a sock hop with all your favorite storybook characters. Very fun.
6. It’s Halloween by Jack Prelutsky I had this book when I was a little girl and it was my favorite. Sharing it with my own children has brought all the magic back and they love it too!
7. The Best Halloween Hunt Ever by John Speirs My kids have always enjoyed the I Spy series of books. This book is similar, but the pictures are cartoons. Some of the things are really hard to find! (Hint: The answers are in the back of the book.)
8. Meredith The Witch Who Wasn’t by Dorothea Lachner Sometimes you just aren’t what you’re "supposed" to be. And that’s OK. In fact, sometimes it’s better.
9. In the Haunted House Lots of fun rhymes and surprise ending.
10. Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting From Amazon: As the unnamed narrator looks on, a skeleton, a ghost, a vampire, a
    werewolf, witches, goblins, gremlins, a devil and a mummy pass by. The
    monsters are in fact children dressed up in Halloween costumes, but
    Brett’s pictures are deliciously scary.

The following three books are our favorites. They are hilarious and fun to read. Drum roll, please!

1. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini Meet Gritch the Witch. Gritch has a PROBLEM! She wants to make Piggy Pie but doesn’t have the piggy. This book is the first of the Gritch books and it’s hilarious. Our absolute favorite Halloween book ever.
2. Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini Gritch is back and she needs a new broom. She hoofs it over to Foxy’s for the best deal in town. Or is it?
3. Broom Mates by Margie Palatini Gritch’s sister stays the night. Sibling rivalry at its best.

To view more hints and tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer the original Works-for-Me Wednesday tipster!

1. To vs. Too: Too always means in addition or also. Any time you’re confused about
   whether to use ‘to’ or ‘too’, ask yourself if you can substitute ‘in
   addition’ or ‘also’. For example, I want to come too (also).
2. Comma vs. Semicolon: This has been explained in several places better than I could explain it here.
3. A vs. An: Use an before words that begin with a vowel sound (I’ll be there in an hour.). Use a before words that begin with a consonant sound (She has a ball.).
4. Affect vs. Effect: (The following is courtesy of mom2fur from my comments on the previous grammar post.)

   Effect is a noun, a thing. You use the word ‘the’ with nouns–the
   dog, the cat, etc. If you can put a ‘the’ in front of it, the correct
   form is effect–just match up the "e"s! (You might need to reword the
   sentence in your head first.) For example: What is the effect of eating a gallon of ice cream in one sitting?

   Affect is a verb. It’s a action word. Just think "A for Action" and you should get that one right every time, too! For example: I wonder how it will affect me if I eat this entire gallon of ice cream?

5. Then vs. Than: Than is only used when making a comparison (You’re smarter than I am.). Everything else usually uses then.
6. This ! is an exclamation point. It is not an explanation point.

My hero, Grammar Girl, has a great pdf document to help you write better. Download Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Finally, what grammar post would be complete without a quiz?

Now head back to Shannon’s for the rest of this week’s WFMW posts!

Chocolate and cherries? And it’s in the crockpot? Easy and yummy. My two favorite things.

Ingredients

• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1 (18 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. Place pie filling in slow cooker.
2. Combine dry cake mix and butter.
3. Sprinkle over filling.
4. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

Now head back over to Shannon’s for some additional foodie treats.

I realize not everyone feels this way; I am married to one who does not share my love of language or grammar (but he is very funny, so I keep him).

I will admit that I edit menus when I eat out. I am distracted by misspelled or misused words. I make these same mistakes myself and am mortified every time I realize what I’ve done. However, there are few things I never misuse and those are the items I want to write about today.

1. Cannot is one word.
2. A lot is two words.
3. Irregardless is not a word at all. The correct word is regardless.
4. The Oxford comma, contrary to what Toddled Dredge tells you, is essential.
5. Lose means to misplace something; loose means something is too big.
6. i.e., means "that is"; e.g., means "for example". They are not interchangeable. You must use a comma after both.
7. Could have and would have are correct; could of and would of are not.
8. It’s is a contraction of it is or it has; its means of or belonging to (possession).
9. An ellipsis should only have three dots (…).
10. You only need one exclamation mark!

Grammar works for me.

Please be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer for the rest of the Works-For-Me Wednesday tips!

PC (You can find more Windows/PC keyboard shortcuts at http://support.microsoft.com)

Mac (You can find more Mac keyboard shortcuts at http://support.apple.com)

This post is cross-posted at Blogging Basics 101.

Head back to Works-for-Me Wednesday at Shannon’s to see what’s working for everyone else this week.

Did you catch that? I said hours. As in completely immersed in their own creativity and basically quiet.

In fact, when I bring out the canvas art, my children have been known to become excited, yet calm. They encourage each other and praise each other’s efforts. They are proud of their own accomplishments. In short, canvas art is the great equalizer and mother’s best friend.

See the concentration?

I’ll admit this is a project for older children. You won’t want to let your toddler loose with paints and no supervision. My kids are 10 and 8, though, so I can put them in the garage with the door open and let them go to town while I blog surf do laundry and clean.

So what exactly is it? Oh, you’ll laugh when I tell you. It’s that easy.

Go to Michael’s (or any craft store) and buy the cheapest canvas you
can find. I’ve found that Michael’s has sets of two canvases for $5.
Wal-Mart may be cheaper (if you ask Shannon), but I haven’t checked. And don’t forget that Hobby Lobby usually has a sale on canvases so check their fliers.

As for paint, anything you have will work. We have used left over wall
paint and acrylic paint. The kids love to feel like they are using
"real" paint instead of their school-like water colors.

I set up two card tables in the garage and cover them with plastic
sheets (you can use a shower curtain from the Dollar Store) or cardboard. The garage
is cool enough for them and keeps the wind out. The garage is also a
good place for paint spills as opposed to my kitchen or dining room.

I give them the paints and brushes we’ve accumulated and tell them to be as creative as they like.

We’ve done this three times so far and each time my children are
beaming with pride for themselves and each other. And I have cheap art
that’s completely awesome–to me, anyway.

There is something about having a canvas that makes this project special. The canvas makes it professional for my kids. And the confidence and creativity it inspires works for me.

If you liked this idea, won’t you kirtsy this post? Just click on the kirtsy this link below. Thanks!

Head back to Works-for-Me Wednesday at Shannon’s to see what’s working for everyone else this week.

I love me some Etsy. I could browse for hours and drool over all the cute crafty things people make and sell. Then I become overwhelmed and walk away with a glazed look.

So! Much! Cuteness!

Can’t! Concentrate! or Make! Decision!

That is, until I discovered Etsy Pounce. Pounce is a feature that shows you what has just sold or who is waiting for their first purchase. You can see what others have bought and see what that same shop offers.

I have found it’s less overwhelming to shop Etsy this way. I also have found some interesting things I may not have discovered otherwise.

Etsy Pounce. That’s what’s working for me this week.

You know the drill. Head back to Shannon’s dryer for more WFMW!

You have two browser windows open. One for Amazon so you can browse
through books and find a few you’d like to read. The second window is
for your local library so you can then look up and reserve the book you
found on Amazon.

Well, do I have a new trick for you! It’s called Jon Udell’s Library Lookup.
You are going to make me your hero and favorite friend after you start
using this. You are going to wonder how you ever existed without it.

Here’s how it works for Firefox (and you most definitely should be using Firefox as your browser!):

1. Go to the Jon Udell’s Library Lookup site.
2. Scroll down to your state and find the library you want.
3. Simply click and hold on the link and drag it onto your browser toolbar.
4. Go to Amazon.com and look up a book (like this one).
5. Click on the Library Lookup button you just put on your toolbar. A new window will open.
6. Click over to the new window and see with amazement that you have
   just looked up the book at your local library and now all you have to
   do is reserve it.
7. E-mail Chilihead to tell
   her she is your favorite and you will tell the masses of her
   fabulousness. Name your first-born after her regardless of gender. Buy
   Groucho glasses in bulk and hand them out at your local library.

Here’s how it works for Internet Explorer (which you really need to ditch and just start using Firefox):

1. Go to the Jon Udell’s Library Lookup site.
2. Scroll down to your state and find the library you want.
3. Right click on your library’s link.
4. Choose "Add to Favorites".
5. Choose the "Links" folder.
6. Go to Amazon.com and look up a book (like this one).
7. Click on the Library Lookup button you just put on your toolbar. A new window will open.
8. Click over to the new window and see with amazement that you have
   just looked up the book at your local library and now all you have to
   do is reserve it.
9. E-mail Chilihead to tell
   her she is your favorite and you will tell the masses of her
   fabulousness. Name your first-born after her regardless of gender. Buy
   Groucho glasses in bulk and hand them out at your local library.

To view more hints and tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer the original Works-for-Me-Wednesday tipster!

I’m really not much of a coupon clipper, but I know many of you are. I found this tip at Boing Boing which pointed me to The Simple Dollar and, in case this will help you, I wanted to write about it.

The gist is that you clip the coupons, then hold on to them for about four weeks. At the end of four weeks you take the coupons to the store and you will probably notice the items with coupons are also on sale. Sweet.

The reason is that coupons are usually the first wave of promoting the sale of an item. As the weeks go by, other waves of promotion start. By the fourth week, the item is on sale in the store and, combined with your non-expired coupon, that means big savings for you.