Wordless Wednesday: Summer picture story

The anticipation is half the fun.

OK, I know the number of flotation devices is a little overkill.
Nervous mother here.

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
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Spring Reading Thing Wrap-Up

I can't believe that Spring is already over. And I had such high hopes for my reading this spring. I found out that I don't have as much time to read as I would like.

Let's refresh everyone's memory of the books I read and reviewed:

When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury
Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid by Ryan Dobson
How to Lead Your Child to Christ Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth

What was the best book you read this spring? None of the (three whole) books I read this spring would make it to my "best book" list. If I had to pick a best book, I think it would be Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid by Ryan Dobson. In a nutshell, it is a straight-forward look at why it is not necessarily a christian virtue to tolerate everything.

Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? All of the books I read were new (to me) authors. I would like to read some more of Karen Kingsbury.

If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why. Many of my books were books I had already started and not finished. I was hoping that this challenge would give me the motivation to finish more of them.

Did you come across a book or two on other participants' lists that you're planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones? The book Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson was one I had read about and bought. I read the first chapter, shortly after buying it but sadly, I haven't looked at it anymore. I am planning to get to it very soon.

What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge? I learned that I shouldn't pick so many books. It doesn't change the fact that I still have those books to read, but I shouldn't air my dirty (book) laundry for all of the bloggy world to see. I learned that having a two and a four year old keeps me too busy to read as much as I would like.

Would you be interested in participating in another reading challenge this fall? Absolutely!

Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting the Spring Reading Thing!

Go Thank a Firefighter Today

Daddies and sons, brothers and friends. Heroes among us.

Vacation Planning

Recently, my son who is now 4 has been asking to go to the beach. Every single day he asks, "Are we going to the beach today?" Unfortunately, we live just out of the reach of going just for the day, so I have been trying to find a reasonable place to go for a reasonable price. This is not an easy task, my friends. I have tried some of the online travel agent services, but found that they were difficult to use and lacked much information. Sometimes you can go through a realtor for beach house rentals, but one of the problem I found with that was that you have to rent a house for an entire week when all I want is one or two nights. If you go to the hotel chain web sites, you get a very high rate when there might be a smaller non-chain place next door that is cheaper.

I found a site today that seems to be easier to use and has some really great deals. The site is all about Cheap Hotels.

You can find hotels, motels, resorts, and vacations rentals all over the United States and even all over the world. The prices I found for a vacation rental at the beach, (even at the last minute in the middle of the summer) are better than any of the other sites I have searched and they give information about the location of the beach and activities in relation to the hotel. There is a rating of each hotel listed and all of the amenities that the hotels offer. Special discounts on some of the packages bring the prices even lower. In fact, I found some beachfront vacation rentals that include a kitchen, separate bedrooms and a pool for less than $150/night and there is not a minimum 7 day stay.

And while I was searching, I looked at some vacation ideas for my husband and me to get away from the kids for a few days. You can browse major vacation cities with one click, get rental car and air rates and get rebates and special promotions like coupons for gas just for booking your vacation through this site. They even have a lowest rate guarantee!

I put this site in my favorites so that I can go back to them easily when I am ready to book vacations. It looks like it might be easier to go to the beach after all.

This post sponsored by hotelreservations.com.

All About Animals Day Camp

This is the week for my son's "camp". He goes from 9-12 this week and the theme is "All About Animals". When I picked him up, he had a bird house that he had painted and decorated. I asked him if he had a good time and if he learned about birds today. He looked at me as if I had asked him if they learned quantum physics and he said, "No. Why would we learn about birds?" So I then said, "Well, what did you learn?" and he answered, "We learned that all dogs need to go to the jap-a-narian."

I wonder what he'll learn tomorrow.

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A Tribute

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

I learned this morning that Ruth Bell Graham went home to be with the LORD yesterday. This is a sad occasion for those who are left here a little longer without her. Her husband, the great Rev. Billy Graham released a beautiful statement following her death. Part of the statement said, "Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team. No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work throught the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support... I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Isn't that a beautiful tribute from a husband? He really appreciated what she was for him and understood that they had a calling together. God did not just call him, but him with her by his side.

I can only pray that my own husband and I can be such a TEAM called to do our job from God, even if that job is only within our own home with our own children and not with the world, as the Grahams have done.

Go to this blog post on 5 minutes for mom for another beautiful tribute to this godly lady.

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the Sun

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Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Tell Your Blogging Story

OK, so I'm a day late and a dollar short. It's the story of my life. I seem to be late or last minute all. the. time. Anyway, I see that the Mr Linky on Chilihead's blog is still active, so I'm going to post this anyway.

How did you start blogging?
Actually, I started blogging because I read on the internet that you can make money by blogging. It gave the directions on how to start a blog and I started reading blogs just to see what I wanted to do with mine, you know, if I ever started one. I found some really funny "Mommy" blogs and some money making blogs. Those weren't funny, though. They were mostly boring and so I found myself going back to the funny mommy blogs over and over to read just "a little bit more". I so want to be one of those funny mommy bloggers because sometimes things happen when you have a toddler and a pre-schooler that you just can't keep to yourself.

Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it?
I guess I didn't really go about trying to get traffic to my mommy blog unless you consider entering contests, Mr Linkys for memes or carnivals or book reading or what have you. I have left just a few comments on other people's blogs, but I tend to be a serial lurker. (This shows in my blog's web stats and the number of comments I get, by the way. Almost NO ONE sees this blog and those who do find it by mistake. And stay on it for "0 seconds". However you do that.)

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?
I hope to one day turn into a really hilarious blogger. Like so many of the people whose blogs I regularly visit. I have not been successful because I am not naturally a funny person. My plan to achieve this goal is to keep reading these blogs and hope that some of it rubs off on me.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?
Some of my previous posts are very serious. That would be NOT what I am going after. However, I do keep my options open.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?
Good question. I am still on the learning curve and some of the things I still want to know are things like blog design, how to put things like video or other things in my posts and other of the blogging mysteries. Also, where do you find time to blog when there are so many great blogs out there to read? It seems like I am reading all of the blogs and then the whole day (or time to be on the computer) is gone.

Do you make money with your blog?
Despite it being the reason I started blogging, I have not made one red cent.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?
No one that I know knows about my blog. Why? Well, I don't really know. I guess I wanted to have a certain amount of anonymity. If they find it, that's OK, but I don't think they will, because none of them are "computer" people and they may not even know what a blog is.

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?
I have no advice. I'm too new at it myself. I guess you should look at your motives for blogging and just do it.

Happy Birthday Bub!

Happy Birthday to you!

It is so hard to believe that my baby is already 4. He told me a month or two ago that he didn't think he wanted to turn 4. I asked him why and he said because he likes being 3. Secretly, I was thinking that I don't want him to turn 4 either. That I want him to stay my cute little 3 year old forever.

Really, that's not true either. I do want him to grow into a fine man. I want so much to enjoy every moment of this time with him. I just wish it didn't go by so fast.