My daughter got 10 of 20 words right on her last spelling test. Of course, that's also 10 of 20 words wrong. Either way we had to do something to help her absorb the words quicker. The regular methods just don't work for her in the time frame of getting the words on Monday and passing a test on them Friday.

All kids learn differently so I'm shaking things up. My newest idea is we are writing a song for each week to help her absorb them in a different way as well as pick up the word as a vocabulary word, which the school seems to stress far less (don't let me get started on that!

This week is homophones:

S O L E is the bottom of my foot
S O U L is my eternal soul

P A W S is what my puppies have
P A U S E is what the DVR can do for me

S E N T is what I did with the mail
S C E N T is smelly to me
C E N T is one simple penny

B E A R lives out in the woods
B A R E means naked I will be!

C H O R D is musical to me
C O R D plugs into my TV

S E R I A L means part of a series
C E R E A L for breakfast it will be

D Y E D is what we did to our shirts
D I E D means you have bit the dirt

R E I G N is how long the King rules
R A I N gets me soaking wet

M I S T feels great on a hot day
M I S S E D means you didn't hit the ball

We've switched to a different soccer team this year. When we signed up, it did say that they get a white jersey this year but no ball like they did when she was little and playing in this league. Fine, I didn't think anything of it and we certainly have about five balls here.

It turns out that the kids who played last year got red jerseys though, meaning they have white and red jerseys. The first three games of this season guess what color our kids wear - RED. How can you assign children to wear a jersey you didn't give them? How can you justify it by saying they were given last year when we weren't in this league last year.

When she was younger, they got the white or red jersey but also the other color in a t-shirt. You only got the new items if you were new to the team, that's logical and it wouldn't be cost effective to issue real jersey stuff each season. But you do have to give child the items you expect them to wear in a game to represent your team. And then I realized they didn't give her shorts either - which they all got last year.

Are you telling me it is really fair to make my child wear just a red shirt we find lying around? She won't match her teammates and we don't even have red shirts (our favorite collegiate team has a rival that wears red, so we have almost no red in this house). These kids moved up an age level and moved from 6v6 to 8v8 - there are new kids on every team in the league!

I emailed the league and their entire response was that we could come to their offices - about 20 minutes away - and BUY a red jersey for $18. WHAT? I've asked a friend with a bigger growing daughter to see if she has an old red jersey we can borrow.

At this point, there is a decent chance on Saturday that most of my daughter's teammates will be all dressed to match in their red jersey and league shorts but a few of the kids will look like random semi-matching stragglers in red tshirts and plain black shorts.

JCPenney's Pepper Pink Twin Quilt

I just got my daughter new quilts for her bunkbeds as a surprise. I was looking at the girl ones and I realized she's not a young girl anymore. The girlie stuff was cute but seemed like it didn't have enough flair for her.

She's a tweener now so I went up to the teen section - AHHHH, that's so scary!!! I found something I loved that still had pink in it and definitely had a younger look but has some funky style. But it has black in it, which she's going to love but reminds me she is getting older. So I sucked it up and bought her two of them for the bunk beds, the pillow shams and those neckrolls with the black fringe. I hope she likes them!

And for my husband who reads this - they were on sale and I had a 20% overall coupon!

This school year is my son's last year in preschool. I am hoping he can be accepted to first grade next school year. Though I am nervous that he doesn't take reading very seriously. He can write but reading aloud what he wrote, he doesn't do too much.

There are times I even doubt if he knows really what he is writing. Or maybe he is one of those kids who gets more confident in writing stuff than verbally speak out loud.

Homeworks are another thing. I think it is best to be able to stick to a schedule. Like homework should be done before dinner. Then later he can watch a bit of cartoons on tv. Not later than 9 pm is my ideal bed time on school nights.

Still, I feel am not doing enough supervision. Well I am really trying my best to put more attention to the study habits, and establishing a routine. These days there are just too much distraction - tv is number one think.

We'll see. Hopefully, he can get the hang of it this early. But sometimes it isn't easy falling into a strict study hours at home.

This is one of those stories that will tug at your heartstrings. It is a great reminder that there are wonderful people out there trying to do amazing things for children who have already been through too much.

Read A Family Again, if Only for a Week, a story about a camp that brings together siblings separated by foster, adoption or home placements.

Taking another look at children and the Olympics, MSNBC has an interesting article entitled The high price of raising an Olympian. The article discusses the financial commitment involved with raising an Olympic athlete.

Training costs are pricey alone but when you factor in the rest of the expenses, it can be staggering.

"We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Heather," Jan Peck [mother of soccer player heather mitts] recalls. "Tournaments, hotel accommodations, private lessons, food, travel, sitters for siblings or pets - all those things cost money."

And what if you don't have all of that cash on hand?

Gymnast Shawn Johnson's parents, for example, took out a line of credit on their home and have used that money over the years to cover travel expenses. The debt has made a dent in the family finances, but that's a price parents seem willing to pay.

I don't even want to think about the families with more than one child competing at that level.

After years of the grubby fingers of children and their markers, food and mess coupled with three scratching and dirty dogs, our living room furniture finally gave up the fight and died. It had been on a downward spiral and even expert help couldn't save it. We decided to put it down before it (we) had to suffer anymore.

Hopefully soon it will be in a better place - like a frat house.

It is survived by a wooden stool and some corduroy cubes. Donations may be sent to the family at Bank of America.

The proud owners, Jeff & Michelle along with their daughter Hayley, are pleased to announce the partial arrival of a new living room. Most arrives today and bookcase on the 18th and 26th.

Please pray for the health and stability of the new furniture as we have no idea of its lifespan.