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Life with Boys

Posted by html404 on March 29, 2010
in Uncategorized

I am reading a new book, just started it actually. I cannot say anything yet, as it is for a book review for April, but I will say that I knew from the moment I got the book pitch that I was going to need to read it and enjoy it when did….and I was right. As the title of this post indicates, it is a book about life with boys – the wilder side.

Those of you with sons know that life takes an adventurous turn when they come into your life, especially if you weren’t an adventurous person to begin with. Or if you grew up in a family of all girls, like I did.

I thought my three girls were active, but they were truly nothing to what their two brothers are like when they came along! We went from having a neat organized house and yard to having a beat up house and yard the older the boys got. It doesn’t help that we now have seven children living in our house, trampling the grass, digging, pounding and exploring either.

The thing is boys gravitate towards dirt, trees, building something out of nothing a lot more than the girls. Not that our girls didn’t do some of that, they did and still do. However, more often than not, the girls were/are usually outside with a blanket and their baby dolls having picnics and playing house – anything family related. The boys on the other hand love anything to do with wars, fighting, protecting and all that goes with those things.

The wilder side of boys is precisely the reason we desire to get out of a suburban, townhouse community and into the country where our children, our boys especially, can run, explore, create ugly, but ingenious on ugly creations, patchy lawns and definitely don’t want children climbing their trees! In the suburbs, neighbors shake may their heads, avoid you and your projects and if they don’t complain about you, they are certainly tempted to! In the country, neighbors offer to help you make your ugly projects!

Life with boys can be exasperating if you don’t have a sense of humor or you are worried about finances -the cost of re-drywalling, repainting, or wallpapering walls just to hide the gouges in them from who knows what kind of play went on behind your backs, the cost of re-seeding or re-sodding the lawn, to replacing blinds, screens and doors because of rough use. This is especially true if you are hoping to sell your house sometime in the future! The author of this new book seems to have a balance perspective of life with boys – One that I hope to learn from since I tend to find life with boys more exasperating and worrisome than humorous. It has been a goal of mine to make our children’s hearts matter more than material goods…let’s just say it is a journey and I have yet to arrive at my destination.

Stay tuned for the real book review…

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The Promise of Morning – Revell Book Tour

Posted by html404 on March 28, 2010
in Books

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

The Promise of Morning

The Promise of Morning
by Ann Shorey

The Promise of Morning is book 2 in the At Home in Beldon Grove series. This story was heart wrenching in some ways. In other ways it was a typical frontier story that showed the strength and endurance the pioneers are known for during such a tough time in our nation’s history. This story was set in Illinois and I haven’t read too many stories from the 1800s that were based in Illinois.

The pioneers faced many controversial issues just as we do today and the towns people of Beldon Grove were no different. Sometimes people are called to stand alone in certain issues/convictions which makes it a lonely road to travel. Our family can certainly understand what that’s like. Having seven children and another on the way in a time when 1.2 children per family is the norm, we definitely stand out in our townhouse community and when we go to public places. Plus the fact that we homeschool, but that isn’t so different anymore since homeschooling is becoming more well known. Most people are very accepting of that fact. It’s the amount of children we have that blows their minds.

I liked this story and the real life struggles the characters experienced, as well as how their faith was strengthened through their trials. So often during tough times it feels like we are at our weakest, but it is on the other side of the trial that life’s next hurdle of hardship show us how the tough times have made us stronger. The Promise of Morning characters endure hardships only to discover their marriages, their communities and families are stronger because of what they experienced during their trials. If only more people today had the endurance and strength of the early pioneers, how much better would individuals, marriages and families weather the storms of life.

“Available March 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Earth Hour

Posted by html404 on March 27, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products

This week I learned of a new event that I did not know happened on the last Saturday of March every year since 2007. I cannot rightly say why I was not aware of Earth Hour until now, but I am glad that I learned of it.

Earth Hour is when millions of people around the world turn off their lights on the fourth Saturday of the month from 8:30pm to 9:30pm to work towards climate change. Today, March 27th, is the fourth Saturday of the month this year.

Resources:

http://www.afreshsqueeze.com/chicago/articles/earth-hours-darkness-sheds-light-climate-change

https://www.myearthhour.org/home

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Scattered Petals – Revell Book Tour

Posted by html404 on March 26, 2010
in Books

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

Scattered Petals

Scattered Petals is the second book of the Texas Dreams series written by Amanda Cabot. It is set in the wild west era (1856) and deals with very tragic events that occurred as a result of traveling across country from the East Coast to Texas. The experience of the main character, Priscilla Morton is devastating to her spirit and to her faith.

I devoured the book and cried all through out it. What can I say, I am a cry baby (wry smile). This book tugged at all sorts of emotions. I could only imagine what I would do and feel if I were the one who had to go through what Priscilla Morton did.

The way the author wound the story into one of healing, forgiveness, unconditional love and second chances makes it a delightful love story.

I found it hard to write this review because I really didn’t want to give away any of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for younger readers (11-18) until their mom has had a chance to read it first. The bible deals with many of life’s issues and if our children are exposed to scripture then our children will already be familiar with of life’s problems and sins. I would just hate to unnecessarily scare a young woman, especially one who might be prone to the sin of fearing too much.

“Available March 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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SuperKids Nutrition

Posted by html404 on March 25, 2010
in Health and Nutrition

SuperKids Nutrition is a website/organization offering tools, resources, articles, books and expert advice on how to teach kids about proper health and nutrition.

Their mission:

is to create future healthier generations through good nutrition. SuperKids Nutrition aims to empower children and families to reach their full potential by having the energy and good health needed to accomplish their life goals. Read full vision statement…

Here’s something new that I learned while visiting www.SuperKidsNutrition.com, its about pomegranate: it’s a powerhouse of antioxidants. I did not know that, but it doesn’t surprise me. We don’t buy pomegranates usually, but we have been given them once or twice. The thing is I don’t think I could stomach to try it when we did have it because of the way it looked inside. Some of our children did and liked it. We have had pomegranate juice. We all liked it. It was commercially made, but without all the bad sugar etc. We try to buy juice that is pure juice without all the added corn syrup, fructose, sugar etc.

I also did not know that pomegranate seeds are a great source of fiber. Another little tidbit is that pomegranate is native to Iran and symbolizes abundance, fertility and good luck (not that I believe in luck, but obviously someone does!) The full article about pomegranate is here.

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BibleMan – Combating the Commandment of Confusion DVD

Posted by html404 on March 25, 2010
in DVDs & CDs

I received the following DVD in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of this DVD.

Bibleman

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up to receive this BibleMan DVD. I had only heard and seen a couple of products at our old bookstore. I was under the impression BibleMan was animated, I guess because of the toys, but I was wrong. This DVD is actually a live adventure with the actors performing on stage in front of a live audience. I really enjoyed the opening song! It was encouraging.

Of course, I loved the biblical principle presented in the DVD, which was based on Ephesians 6:11 (ICB) “Put on the whole armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks.” They did a very good job of showing us how we are in a spiritual battle and that we need to be prepared to fight by using the armor of God.

Our children have enjoyed watching The Commandant of Confusion and Chaos cause a disruption in the Biblical Adventrue Training Academy. They really liked it. Again, this is a product probably geared towards children under 8. I couldn’t find any age recommendations, but I am going by my children’s reactions and comments. As I have said before, I find as our children get older they are not entertained by the same things as the younger crew. Although, our nine-year-old daughter said that she likes BibleMan, so again, every child is going to be different.

Some Christian films in the past have seemed amateur-ish, especially once you have viewed anything Hollywood or Disney has created with their multi-million dollar budgets. However, BibleMan was like watching a live theater performance. I was pleasantly surprised with the content and production.

For more information visit www.bibleman.com/ BibleMan may be purchased at most Christian retailers, as well as at other major retailers like Walmart and Amazon.

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Hair Cutting

Posted by html404 on March 25, 2010
in Wordless Wednesday

How many of you cut your family’s hair? I do. With nine of us, it definitely saves us a lot of money over the course of the year. I didn’t start cutting my husband’s hair until we had our boys. It was after I started cutting our sons’ hair that my husband asked me to cut his too. Let’s just say that it’s been a learning curve and there have been plenty of bad hair cuts around here!

Our older girls have always had longer hair styles, so they have usually just needed trims. I have cut my own bangs since my college days, so bangs haven’t usually been too much of a problem unless I had a wiggly child! I really like basic cuts since that is about all I can do. I only use hair clippers (Wahler) and scissors, but really prefer hair clippers for the guys of the family.

New Hair Cut

Blondie in our Wordless Wednesday picture and our daughter before her both look sweet with a shorter hair cut, like a bob. I like how it looks and how easy it is to care for. When I just had our three girls and even when I had five children, I would spend extra time just to do the girls’ hair. Then time became of the essence in getting anywhere and having everyone ready on time, so the two younger girls get shorter hair styles now. While the older girls can style their own hair and can even give Blondie’s a quick brush.

I just recently cut everyone’s hair and was pleased with how Blondie’s hair turned out. She was too!

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Wordless Wednesday – New Hair Cut

Posted by html404 on March 24, 2010
in Uncategorized

Hair Cut

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Wood Bracelets from five ACCESSORIES

Posted by html404 on March 23, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Fashion, Giving Back/Charity

I received these products in exchange for some work that I did for someone.

Well, this is long overdue review, as I have had these bracelets for awhile now. I was suppose to write this up at about the same time as the recycled picture frame. Regardless, I am doing it now, right?

I like jewelry, but tend to like it in small portions and sizes. For instance, when I was in my teens or early twenties my childless aunt had all of my sisters and female cousins look at her jewelry to tell her what we wanted upon her death (she’s still alive today), I chose my grandmother’s wedding band. My aunt was shocked and asked me if I wanted her huge diamond cluster instead. I told her no that my grandmother’s ring had more meaning to me and the huge diamond just wasn’t me.

So this brings me to my review, the triangular bracelet is bulkier than I would normally wear, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel as bulky as it looks. But it still takes some getting use to when I am use to small chain or bead bracelets. However, it has a comfortable fit and is appealing to the eye. It is made out of solid wood with elastic.

Wood Bracelet

The flowered bracelet has been a favorite of mine since I first learned of five ACCESSORIES, and I actually gave my mother-in-law one for her birthday. She loves blue. I love flowers and this definitely attracted my eye. It has a nice loose fit, is very pretty and is my favorite of the two.

Both are well made and will be a great accessory for nearly any casual outfit.

Flowered Wood Bracelet

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Living On A Dime Sale ’til Tuesday

Posted by html404 on March 19, 2010
in Uncategorized

I have a special treat for you today. Tawra at Living On A Dime and Gary from The Dollar Stretcher have offered a special deal to bring you Living On A Dime’s Grocery Shopping On A Budget e-course AND Dollar Stretcher’s e-book extravaganza at a dramatically reduced price. control-your-money

Until midnight on Tuesday March 23rd, 2010 you can get both of these great money saving collections for 70% OFF (yes, you read that right)!

We’re holding this special sale as a way to help you save more and live better in 2010!

Here’s where you can grab your copy and save 70%:

*******************************************
Try The Savin’ O’ The Green 11 e-book Special for 70% off And Get Six
Free Bonuses!
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If the 70% discount isn’t enough to have you heading to the website, these SIX free gifts will surely do the trick:

* Bonus 1: Eating Healthy On A Budget e-booklet grocery-sack
Don’t follow the crowd! Eating Healthy On A Budget shares thoughts on eating healthy without dumping the contents of
your purse on the counter at the grocery store.

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Eating Out is one of the biggest reasons for personal debt in America. Is Eating Out Eating You Up? looks at the cost of
eating out and provides great alternatives that cost significantly less!

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Save over $10,000 in a year – Stop throwing your money down the garbage disposal! Grocery Savings includes lots of useful
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* Bonus 4: Kids’ Recipes e-book
The Kids Recipes e-book provides you with useful recipes for food and craft items to keep your kids busy through the
summer.

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The Crock Pot Recipes ebook contains 470 recipes that you can toss into the crock pot for an easy meal that’s ready just
when you need it!

* Bonus 6: 224 Meals In A Hurry e-book
224 Meals In A Hurry gives lots of delicious recipes to get you in and out of the kitchen in a hurry so that you’re not tempted to eat out…AGAIN!

WHEW! That’s a lot of goodies… and you get it all FREE when you try the entire Savin’ O’ The Green e-book Special for 70% off.
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SVG2010e-books

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P.S. This special ends at midnight on March 23rd. If you’d like to get the Grocery Shopping e-course and Dollar Stretcher extravaganza so many readers are raving about… and save 70%, then go here now!

This post contains our affiliate link for Living On A Dime.

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