I've Made the Committment - Wanna Join Me?

So, I've decided to commit to something HUGE!  I'm going to Read the BIBLE in 90 days!  Wanna join me?  I know I can't do this alone!  That's why I joined this program.  I will have hundreds of other people reading right along with me.  I will have a Mentor checking in and praying for me.  I will have to check in every Monday to make sure I am accountable.  I will begin this journey on July 11th.  What are you doing July 11th?

I am the first to say, I am not sure I can do this.  I REALLY WANT to do it. But, I am scared.  It is summer.  Our schedule is....well....not very scheduled.  I am taking a class 2 weeks after this starts where I will have to do other reading.  We are taking a week's vacation during the first month of this journey.  I will be starting another intense Bible Study of the Book of Acts 2 months into this study.  I already have limited hours in my day. 

But, I still signed up, because they next opportunity wasn't until January.  I signed up because I really want to understand more of God's Word.  I signed up because I am hoping it will bring a calmness to my days.  I signed up because I want to grow in my relationship with God.  I signed up because I was asked by Susan of The Confident Mom and I respect her insights.  I signed up because I thought if I signed up, I might encourage someone else to sign up.  So......wanna sign up?  Well.......to sign up, click HERE.  Let me know if you sign up and we can check in with eachother and support and encourage eachother too!

Chore Expectations

I am always amazed when talking with other moms that there are many who don't expect their children to do chores.  Our children have regularly been doing chores for a couple years now. 

I remember summers when I would be home along all day starting in 6th grade - high school.  I could sleep in as late as I wanted as long as my chores were done by the time my mom got home which was usually by 3-3:30 in the afternoon.  I remember coming down the stairs and there was always a note for me on the counter with that day's chores.  It usually involved sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, doing dishes or mowing the lawn.  Or sometimes the dreaded clean my room.  Other times it would be things like write a letter to someone or make some cookies.  I remember days frantically running around getting things done at 2:30 because I had chosen to be lazy all day.  I was a soap opera addict back then and would arrange my whole day around THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, AS THE WORLD TURNS, AND GUIDING LIGHT.  I would even take our little black and white TV outside while I layed out in the sun so I could still hear it!

Anyway, chores are imporant to growing up and being able to take care of yourself.  I want to know that when our kids go off to college, they will be able to handle making themselves a meal, washing up the dishes and doing their own laundry.  I also want them to know that it takes a whole family to run a house, not just the mom or dad.  And when everyone helps out, everyone takes pride in their home and feels good when it is picked up because they were a part of it. 

So what are the chores our kids perform?  In a previous post I wrote that for this summer I wrote chores on popsicle sticks.  Then each day I put the chores I need done that day into a cup and the kids draw from them.  Chores on the sticks include:

-Emptying the dishwasher (I'm too picky to let them load it yet.)

-Folding and/or putting away their own clothes

-Vacuuming

-Dusting

-Sweeping

-25 Item Tidy (pick up 25 items in your room and put them away properly)

-Mom's helper (includes any little jobs I need done like restocking toilet paper in bathrooms or helping me with a project)

-Clean their bathroom
-Pick up the mudroom
-Setting or Clearing the Table

I also always include a free one, so that someone can get a day off or only have to do one chore which the kids think is fun.

Having the kids help out with chores not only keeps me from stressing out about all that needs to be done, but gives them some ownership in the family, in their home, and in their things.  They also realize that the house doesn't magically return to normal while they are at school or asleep.  That it takes work to maintain an orderly home.  I'm hoping the women who marry our sons will appreciate this some day!

Review: The Art of Saying Goodbye by Ellyn Bache

THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE
By Ellyn Bache
Fiction
Published June 1, 2011

She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.


With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There's Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisely, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it's up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they've ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

I received this book from Librarything and loved the idea of the storyline.  After reading it, I found that the author wrote this story after going through a similiar situation several years ago in her own neighborhood.  That made it even more touching for me. 

The story takes place over 1 1/2 months in the lives of Paisley, the woman with cancer, and her neighborhood friends.  The story mostly takes place in current time with a few flashback chapters to give you the backstory.  The storyline flows easily between characters and I was easily able to identify with Andrea and Ginger in the story.  I think as you read this novel you would find yourself fitting your own friends into the characters' identities.

At just 335 pages, this could easily be a weekend read and would be an excellent choice for book clubs.  My copy also came with discussion questions in the back of the book.  There are a lot of themes that would lead to great discussions including death, grief, friendships, alcoholism, marriage, parenting, and self-identity.

This novel is heavy in dealing with the knowledge of death looming, but there are stories mixed in that will make you laugh.  There isn't anything shocking or too climatic to make you drop your jaw, but the story of the women itself will keep you turning the pages.

I loved the roll of the feather boa in the story.  It makes me want to run out and buy a feather boa for me and my daughter.  As the story said, "Drape it across your shoulders and dance, girls, and all the cares of the world will go away."  Every girl needs her own feather boa. 

I also got a good laugh when one of the characters tells her teenage son, "Anyone with something dangling between their legs doesn't need something dangling from their earlobes."  I am going to have to remember this line.....just in case.

I also loved how all the friends and the whole neighborhood came together in one final gift and show of support for Paisley.  It was finally one way that everyone could feel like they were "doing something".  Everyone feels helpless when someone is hurting.  There is only so much food you can make, errands to run, and hugs to give.  But, to truly DO SOMETHING makes everyone feel like they made a difference. 

Reading the story makes you think about how you will be remembered.  How do your friends view you?  What is the measure of a person's life?  What is the measure of your life? 

I gave this 4 out of 5 stars mostly because I loved how the author took a real situation and turned it into a beautiful story of friendship. 




Thanks to HarperCollins for sending a copy of this book.  This book is my honest opinion and I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

Thing I Love - Footloose

Things I Love...


This is my feature where I get to share something that I just love. Since you are my friends, I like sharing things I love with others. It could be anything from a new product, food, recipe, song, image, to a person and everything in between. This will be something I am completely doing on my own, without pressure or compensation from a company, author, PR/Marketing firm, friend, business owner, etc. This will just be something that makes me happy and I want to share it with you. Enjoy some love!

Today's love is...........................FOOTLOOSE!

Did you know there was a new FOOTLOOSE movie coming out October 14th?????  I just found out this week.  I am super excited because FOOTLOOSE is one of my all-time favorite movies ev-er! 

To get the full scoop go to http://www.footloosemovie.com/.  Or just check out this awesome movie trailer!!!

Tags: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Quest for Zhu Movie Trailer

You had to expect that as popular as the Zhu Zhu Pets are, they would be coming out with a movie.  Sure enough, Cepia LLC, the makers of your favorite ZhuZhu Pets, have announced that they will be releasing two animated movies with Universal Pictures! Zhu-natics around the world will see their beloved ZhuZhu Pets characters come to life in two feature-length, animated films based on kids’ favorite ZhuZhu Pets characters in, “Quest for Zhu™” and “Power of Zhu,™” to debut exclusively on DVD in 2011 and 2012, respectively.




Check out the trailer for the "Quest for Zhu" movie.  Your favorite Zhu Zhu pets will be starring in it, including Pipsqueak, Mr. Squiggles, Chunk, Num Nums, and Stinker.  Watch them as they go off on a crazy  heartwarming and heroic adventure. 




Get your Zhu-groove on with Pipsqueak, Mr. Squiggles, Chunk, Num Nums, Jilly and the Rockstars in their own rendition of the Jackson 5's "ABC". 





As an extra bonus, here is the newest trailer for the "Quest for Zhu" movie, coming out on DVD this fall!

A Winner

Sorry for the delayed announcement.  I ended up being gone all day on Monday and didn't have a chance to do the drawing for the Barielle Nail Strengthener Cream.  This winner as chosen by random.org is #6, Keeley.  Thanks to everyone who signed up.  Don't forget to check out http://www.barielle.com/ or their Facebook page.  They offer lots of giveaways to their Facebook fans!  Thanks to Barielle for sponsoring this giveaway!

A Lesson Learned

Thursday morning started like any other morning has this summer.  All of us got up later than we should have and we were running around trying to get out of the house by 10AM.  How did we so quickly get out of our school routine?  We used to be up and ready by 7:45!  Anyway, we had to get the van serviced and run errands in town and be back to get ready to leave again for baseball games.  It was going to be a hectic day.

So, on my way out of town, I stopped at the library and my friend said, "What is your twitter post all about?"  I said, "What?" and she showed me "my" post.  I had tweeted that You would never see me again. I didn't have time to do anything about it, but instantly was wondering what was going on.  As soon as I got to the car dealership I went on Twitter with my phone.  Sure enough, I had been hacked.  They had tweeted and changed all my bio info to say I was dead.  I was sick.  How cruel to do that.  Then because I stupidly had the same password to access my blog, I was instantly worried about that and sure enough, they had tried to mess with it.  But, thanks to Blogger, they shut it down.  So, all I had to do was verify a few things and my blog was back.  I love my blog and I was just sick to my stomach that all my information was possibly gone. Thankfully I was able to get it all back! 

Then after more research and changing ALL of my passwords, I found out that I wasn't the only victim.  Check out the article HERE.  There are actually nasty people in this world who get joy out of messing with people's lives.  I think it is sickening.  I am grateful that I had very little that was messed with because of the numerous security measures that many websites take.  I had several emails from websites telling me my email address was on "the list".  So, I spent most of yesterday morning changing every single password.  When they tell you not to use the same password, they mean it!  It was a lesson I learned the hard way, but you can change it before it happens to you.

The best passwords are 8+ characters long and use upper and lower case, numbers, and punctuation.  No password is full-proof, but at least these are some tips.  And it is a good idea to change them every few months. 

So, I am back.  I am not dead.  I have new passwords and I hope that what happened to me, doesn't happen to you.  Take precautions and protect your passwords!