Joyful Mother

Summer Plans

I have a two calendar pages for June and July sitting in front of me. I am trying to think of some different things to do that don't necessarily include sitting in front of the television. So, any suggestions from you guys? I have the latest Family Fun to help me and maybe I will be getting a new one soon. I had planned on doing some school review this summer but a veteran homeschooler encouraged me to enjoy my summer (she's a college professor too). She said that most curriculum has review built in and that I shouldn't worry about it. So, I may take her advice, even though I am itching to buy curriculum and school supplies and get started! LOL! By the way, click here if you are in need of a term life insurance quote.

Friday Felicities

Tomorrow I will be hosting Friday Felicities at beckyperry.us. Felicities are things that make you happy - things that make you smile! What makes you smile - gold bangles? Chick Flicks? Sleep? Why don't you participate with me? Just make a post of your felicities and then head over to beckyperry.us to sign Mr. Linky. I will be looking for you!

This Is My Family

We had a cookout last night at Jessica and Joe's and I decided that I wanted a family picture. I love it!

Back Row: Nathan and Elizabeth, Joe and Jessica, Scott and Jennifer, Dick and I. Katie is standing in front of Jennifer and William and Sara are in front of me. Front Row: Chloe, Janie, Mom and Dad with Delaney and Libby in front of them and Jonathan in front of Sara.

This and That Thursday

I have the perfect lead in for today's blogging link. The past week has been rough on my body and I could very easily go for some massage therapy! The gouty foot aside, I also fell at a restaurant on Monday night and yesterday morning I turned my ankle and fell in my bedroom! Good grief, right!? I wonder if things like that happen for a reason?

My boys have colds but it hasn't slowed them down much. I think William feels the worst but he is still out and about shooting basketball, drawing and helping his Daddy plant the tomatoes. We finally got them planted yesterday and it is not even June yet, LOL! I know we are cutting it close but maybe we'll still have some good, fresh tomatoes!

Graduation

Who needs travel guides when you have a laptop? Last night before we left the hotel, I looked up my sister in laws address and printed off the directions to her house. I have also done my banking since I've been gone and have kept in touch with friends. It is almost like I haven't even left, except for the 12 hour drive that is. We have a graduation party tonight and then the actual graduation tomorrow. Is it weird to you that graduation is on a Sunday? Do a lot of places do that? Ours were always on a Friday. I think around here though they may have a lot of high schools to fit in.

Kansas

Hello from the Sunflower State. Wait a minute - Kansas IS the Sunflower State, right? We got in yesterday evening in time for dinner and after visiting with family for a couple of hours we came to the hotel and crashed. I was so excited to get about 7 hours straight sleep! This morning we have been visiting family again and will be attending a graduation party this afternoon. Other than family, we won't know anyone else at this party of about 100. This is definitely out of my comfort zone. Click here for a lipovox review.

Look Out Kansas!

The time has now come for our road trip! Tomorrow we will be packing up the rental car and heading out towards Kansas. We'll spend the night somewhere is MO and drive the rest of the way Friday morning. The boys are looking forward to 5 nights of staying in hotels - they really love it. As long as none of the rooms have a wine refrigerator, we'll be okay. There will be a graduation party sometime during the weekend and a graduation to go to on Sunday and we'll head back home on Monday. It's a whirlwind trip for sure!

Healing Promises Blog Tour

Healing Promises (Defenders of Hope Series #2) by Amy N. Wallace Read more about this book...

Facing a new threat.
When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he’s seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren’t retreating into doctor mode…he needs his wife now more than ever.

Frozen in fear.
Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission–beating cancer when she can, easing her patients’ suffering at the very least. Now the life of her tall Texan husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God’s healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?

Faith under fire.
As Clint continues to track down a serial kidnapper despite his illness, former investigations haunt his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case into risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?

My Saturday Afternoon

It's been a busy day for me. I got up fairly early (well at four am but then went back to bed till 7am) and started in with my house cleaning. I don't know why but I find it easier and am more motivated to work when Dick is home on the weekend. I was trying to think ahead so things would go easy this afternoon and we wouldn't be late for a wedding. Then all of a sudden Dick says we probably need to leave in about 15 minutes. What!? As it turns out, Jonathan (that little booger) had moved the clock back 15 minutes. We still got there on time though - we only live about 7 minutes away.

We are going out for Mexican tonight. I knew we would be tired when we got home and who wants to fix dinner then? I am getting tired of Mexican but when it comes down to choosing that or cooking myself, eating out wins everytime! I am closing with a very odd link for this post - Death insurance. See, I told you.

My Check Came!

Last week one of the girls on the message board told us about a company called Revolution Money Exchange that is similar to Paypal. They were offering new customers $25 just for signing up and although I had heard about it previously, I had put off doing anything about it because it seemed to good to be true.

After checking it out, I realized that I could sign up without giving out my banking information. I gave it a go and today I got my check in the mail - so I had to let you guys know it is the real thing. This offer is still good until May 15th so if you want an easy $25, you should sign up.

You can have the whole $25 transferred to your bank account (if you give out that information and it does seem safe) or you can opt to have a check sent to you which will cost you a $2.50 check fee, which is what I did. So, in actuality, I received $22.50 for 5 minutes of my time spent filling out a form.

So, if you are interested, click here to sign up for a new account and receive $25. If nothing else, you could put that money in your gas tank.

Friday's This and That

Mr. Linky is all set up at beckyperry.us if you would like to participate in Friday Felicities! While you are there, be sure to check out my new banner in honor of Nattie, the creator of Friday Felicities.

After a cloudy and stormy day yesterday, it looks like today is going to be sunny and clear - and all the way up to 84 degrees! I can only imagine what July and August are going to be like! I still don't have any tomatoes planted but the hubby says this weekend will be a good time - I guess we'll see!

Well, I'm off to start my day. Well, officially start my day, I've been up since 3am. Before I go, here's a plug for Phentermine without prescription because - isn't that a good thing? Heh.

Twitter & Firefox Fans

Twitter is really big right now so if you have an account and you use the Firefox browser, you might just be interested in Twitbin. I wrote about it here if you want to read about it.

New & Cool

So, have you ever been listening to the radio and hear a song that you would like hear again? Wouldn't it be cool to tag that song, like you tag so many things on the internet, so you could buy it? Well now it is possible with an iTunes tagging enabled HD Radio you can! If you are listening to a tune you particularly like, such as those found on those new country music stations, you simply click the "tag" button and all of the information about that song will be saved from your receiver to your iPod. This kind of new technology simply amazes me. I do love gadgets and I am one that would love to run out and buy the latest and greatest. I mean, who would have ever though of iTune tagging? Apparently someone did!

The songs you tag will then be transferred to a playlist called "tagged" in your iTunes the next time you get ready to sync your iPod. That's when you can go directly to the song you heard and liked and purchase it from iTunes.

A lot of states are offering HD Radio technology and you can find out whether your state has stations available by visiting a page similar to the one that lists Florida High Definition Radio stations.

Someday

Painting our bedroom has gotten me in the mood to do some more home improvement projects. I knew that would happen! I truly don't know where I would start first. The kitchen is in good shape but in very much needs updating. It's the same with all the rooms - good condition but need new paint. The bathroom needs a little more. I wish we could just gut it and start over - we even have a 2nd bathroom to use till the project is done - but I don't see that happening at all!

We have talked about closing in the porch and making it a playroom/laundry area. Currently the laundry is a small closet/room on the porch so that would work out fine. I don't need lots of room but having it indoors would be ideal. The playroom would be brightly painted with lots of shelves, carpet and a tv mount in one corner - I think it would be perfect!

Friday Felicities

If you would like to participate in Friday Felicities with me, please click here.

Pray Request

If you haven't seen this prayer request on beckyperry.us, would you please go read it? This is for a very dear friend of ours. Thank you.