With the arrival of summer I’m finding my time to blog has become very sporadic. I know, I know “DUH”! Seriously though, I just need to adjust to the new schedule and work it all in, haha!

Today I have a meeting and I’ll be dragging all 6 kids with me. I’m preparing to take a couple weeks off at www.SweetnSimpleDesign.com, so all the last minute orders are piling in.  It’s actually a nice problem to have. 

This weekend we’re having a double birthday party for The Salesman and Lion at the Y.  It should be fun and is definitely a change from the usual party at the local pizza place.  I’m excited to be able to do something like that for them! 

Are all of you finding it challenging to adjust to a different schedule for summer?

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a second and remind all of you that the Week of Giveaways event is still going on at Froggy Reviews!!!  The event is really going well and there are still many more giveaways to come! 

So far, you can enter to win …

A Greeting Cookie from The Greeting Cookie Company.
A Korker Bow from MarieLynn Boutique.
An Organic Cotton Tote bag from The Green Path Company.
A Boutique Hair Bow from LLL Designs.
A Miss Pink Fairy Dress from Sapphire Secrets.
Two winners for an Educational CD from Regionz Kidz.

And there are still more to come!  The event ends on Monday, but there’s still time to tell all your friends about it!  All of the contests are open for entries through Friday June 29th.

This afternoon at precisely 4:59pm (my time) Summer officially arrives!  It’s been a strange year so far and the weather has been unpredictable to say the least.  Spring was more like winter and the last month is the first sign of Spring we’ve seen. 

You can imagine my surprise when I found out that summer is actually arriving with halfway decent weather in our area!!!!  I am so very excited!  We have a busy weekend planned and we’re celebrating my Dad’s 60th birthday at a beach/park about an hour away.  The drive getting there will be interesting, but I have been hoping that the weather would be nice so that the kids could actually play!  It’s actually looking promising!

Do you have any big plans for the summer??? 

Hi everyone! I’m over at Faith Lifts today! I’d love it if you’d come on over and visit me.

I am part of a wonderful group of writers at Faith Lifts and you can find a new devotional each day at the site. If you like what you see there please feel free to subscribe to the feed for Faith Lifts and get the daily devotionals delivered to your email box.

See you there!

Ever get to that place where life isn’t going the way you thought it would?  Where things are going backward and you’re desperately peddling forward?  Where you feel like you’ve lost control of every facet of life … but not in a good way? 

That’s where I’ve been finding myself recently.  The good is being overshadowed by the crazy parts.  I work hard each and every day to find joy, peace and growth in my life.  To be content with where I’m at and to try and make my world a little better place.  Every once in a while though you may get to the point where you find yourself in “the depths of despair” … that’s where I’m at. 

The kids’ last day of school was yesterday, but when they got home from school I was so frazzled I didn’t even know what to do to celebrate or make the day fun.   I’ll be spending most of the rest of this week trying to come up with a plan for the rest of the summer … for all of us.  Fun things and the things that simply MUST get done around the house.  Setting up any necessary appointments for the summer and hopefully some activities to keep everyone moving.

Through it all though, I’ll be desperately crying out to God for the answers and direction!  If nothing else, just to give me peace and rest in the midst of it all.  He is the one solid thing I have on my side!  The One I can call on in my time of need and despair.  The One who loves me more than I can even fathom.  I often don’t call on Him soon enough or take His promises to heart. 

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV)

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV)

The “them” in my life is everything on my “To Do” list, and even in a small way the fear of the crazy, potentially life-threatening things my Twinkies will attempt each and every day. 

Do you have any “Goliath’s” in your life that are leaving you feeling a little discouraged or even terrified?

This is not a typical Mommy Reality, but it is a very true one for me!  This is going to be a long post, but a story worth telling … and an ending worth reading.  So without further ado …

Three years ago our oldest son, CJ, had a very rough year at school!  He was in third grade and we had just changed districts.  We knew this would be difficult for him since he didn’t handle change all that well, but we also knew that the district he had been in was NOT one that we were comfortable with them continuing all the way through to Jr. High or High School. 

For quite some time we had been trying to find a way to move back into Hubby’s hometown and raise the boys in the schools there.  So we finally took the leap and registered them in the elementary school we thought they’d be in - in a complete act of faith.

There’s a long story involved in why they were in a different elementary school for that first year in the new district, but it turned out to be an agonizing and long year for us. 

CJ is not a kid that just jumps into action the first month of school, things don’t really click with him until sometime in November … ever!  I’m used to it now, but with a new school, everything was a little odd.  When they tested him in the fall he was on the upper end for scores, but by the first conferences, they were concerned about his “lack of attentiveness” and “need for help”  and they wanted him tested. 

This was the beginning of a long, grueling and heart wrenching school year.  One where teachers felt like there was something “wrong” with my child and they didn’t know how to fix it or make him better.  By the end of the year I was ready to quit.  They met with us again and still wanted him tested.  We made it very clear that although we would allow them to do some academic testing there was going to be a limit. 

Right before the end of the school year he did receive the testing and basically we found out that he is dyslexic.  Although I don’t think that’s all there was to it, it was enough to get him into some reading help with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to try and get him back on track.

The following year we switched to the elementary school we are still in and LOVE!!!!  We have met some great teachers along the way.  The first year in this elementary for CJ was a bit shaky too though.  I can’t tell you how many times I said “here we go again” that year!  I met with the principal of the school at the first sign of issues and since it was our first year there she was hesitant to do much to help us. 

The teacher of the reading education he was now receiving was AWESOME … seriously!!!  He has worked with her through 4th, 5th & 6th Grade and WOW!  But I’ll get back to that.  The same CANNOT be said of his 4th grade teacher.  It was her first year teaching full time (she’d been a sub until that time) and she treated him like he was a pain.  I won’t get into it much more, suffice it to say that she wasn’t asked to return the following year. 

The principal “got it” by the end of his 4th grade year.  I think she finally realized that I wasn’t one of those parents that found any little thing to complain about … in fact, she hasn’t heard from me again since!!!  She met with me before final placement for CJ’s 5th grade year and the subsequent results changed our lives!

When CJ started 5th grade he hated school and thought he was stupid.  His teacher that year had worked in the corporate world for many years and when she decided to start a family she also chose to become a teacher.  She was a ray of sunshine who entered the classroom believing that her students were each magnificent individuals with amazing abilities and futures.  I cried the first time we met with her as she perfectly described our child’s strengths and weaknesses and what she was doing to encourage him in both. 

He wasn’t a pain to her, he was an individual and in her opinion he was brilliant and she told him so!  She knew, as we did, what he was capable of and instead of letting him slide by with complacency and lackluster work, she required him to live up to his abilities … and he DID!  By the end of the year he had more confidence than I had ever seen in him before and was doing fantastic.  I could go on and on and on about her and the blessing she was to our son, but I must move on!

Here we are now with him in 6th grade.  Still barely meeting his goals for reading and still in the program.  I had desperately hoped that somewhere along the way the IEP would become unnecessary and would be dropped for the following year, but it never happened.  More than that though I desperately prayed that above all else the IEP would disappear by the time he enters Jr. High in 7th grade.

The test that was given to CJ three years ago has to be given every three years until the child is determined to no longer qualify for an IEP (at which time the IEP disappears as though it never existed).  Time to retest arrived a few weeks ago.  The school counselor set it up with me, conducted the test and scheduled a meeting for Hubby and I to go in and discuss the results.

We arrived at the school understandably nervous.  But when we sat down for the meeting we were immediately told “Well, this won’t take long, we have nothing but good news to report.”  Could it be?  Did I hear her correctly?  What exactly does that mean???? 

The bottom line …. he doesn’t qualify for ANY services.  The IEP is no longer valid and will be dropped immediately.  He will have no special services setup for him as of the first day of Jr. High. 

AN ANSWER TO PRAYER.  Not to be taken lightly in my book!

We couldn’t have been more thrilled with this information, but the good news went a little further for us.  You see in giving the test, the counselor had to work one on one with our son for a fairly long time a couple of days in a row and she said that it was a delight to work with him.  I think we must have looked at her rather blankly (are you talking about my son?) so she told us that she usually has to work with children who are disrespectful and very unpleasant.  “He was so polite and kind and did just what I asked him with a great attitude.  You have a very nice young man there.”  Wow!  So, can I see that a little more at home?

I didn’t actually realize the enormity of this until later that day as I drove CJ to Youth Group.  Suddenly it hit me like a ten ton brick … I prayed for this, exactly this, that all of education plan would be dropped by the time he entered Jr. High …. and it happened!  I was stunned, overwhelmed, and I cried!  Explaining the feelings and the miracle of those results to my son was a blessing for me … and him! 

So, if you’ve stayed with me through this entire book-of-a-post I just want to say … Lean on Him and trust your cares to Him.  Be amazed at His awesome gifts along the way.  He hears the heart of a Mother and Father and wants nothing more than to see His children be blessed.  He loves your children even more than you and sometimes all we have to do is ask and trust and let him take care of the rest.

Be blessed this week!

I recently had the opportunity to review Go Pets Vacation Island for Nintendo DS.  The first thing that interested me about this game is that it was created by a mom who wanted something fun and creative for the family to enjoy.  The second thing I loved is that you simply can’t go wrong with a game about pets! 

I got to spend a couple of minutes with the game and thought it was very cute and fun, but the real reviewers were my almost 10 year old son “Salesman” and his best friend, our neighbor boy “C” so I’ll let them talk about the game! 

From the kids’ perspective [Mom's questions and Notes about the game are in brackets]:

It’s really fun, it’s kind of like a sims game.  You start out just playing the game, you create yourself by giving a little information and setting up your character and how it looks. 

You can adopt a pet and take care of him and you can even take care of other people’s pets.  Shells are money and when you take care of someone else’s pet you get shells.  You can play games on it too.  Like darts, dominoes, and Go Wok a great cooking game which is very fun but challenging.  [Note: I spoke with C's mom and found out that he spent a lot of time playing Go Wok.  She asked him what he was doing and he excitedly answered her that he was cooking!  She was very surprised that it was so fun for him and held his attention for so long.]

There are some places in the game that are locked until you have played other areas first.  [Note from Mom:  I think this is a great way to keep a game interesting and extend the "new" life of a game!  By opening areas as they go, children have new sections and activities to tackle all along the way.] 

The Iku messages are also fun where you can send a message to other players and they can send messages back to you.  And you can get presents. [Note: Iku's are similar to a text message, but only use icons like emoticons, etc to keep the game completely safe for children!]

You can even pet your pet.  [Mom: How?] There’s a hand in the game that you can use to pet them :).  You can dress your pet too.  You purchase clothes using shells and you can dress your pet up.  You can buy other things with shells too, like art supplies and toys.  There’s a place that has a hanger and you go to the cart and it will show you all the places to shop.  [Mom: You mean like a mall] Yes, kind of like a mall, but it’s a Pet Mall!

That pretty much wraps up what he had to say about it.  Notice that you don’t see any mention of all the educational things they do as “activities” in the various areas of the Island.  The game is set up to be complex, but totally kid friendly.  They don’t realize they’re learning as they are playing

This game is an interactive title, so once your child’s DS is connected to your wireless network they can enjoy all of the features that have been built into the game and interact with other online players.  It’s like a virtual universe for children complete wth a social network in a completely safe environment where all of their information is protected.  The only thing communicated online are the Iku’s [emotions and simple concepts].  They can pass gifts to other players and play with other childrens’ pets, but that’s as far as it goes.

I love that this game is simple and fun for children.  I sometimes get frustrated with all of the games that are marketed for children that are complex and questionable in content and nature.  Like I said at the beginning … You just can’t go wrong with Pets :)  For more information about this game, you can visit it’s website at http://www.gopets-ds.com/.

Ok, so about a month or so ago I told all of you about the family joining the local YMCA.  I worked hard to go every Tuesday and Thursday to at least do a little something.  There is a yoga class on those two mornings and I thought that would be a great way to break myself (and the kiddos) into a little regular workout without it being overwhelming.  I was wrong!

Not being accustomed to using weight or cardio training equipment I really was limited to going only on the days a class of some sort was offered in order to feel comfortable.  But then there’s the whole twins and childcare issue …. ugh!!!

They have a tendency to HATE childcare of any type.  Nursery … went nuts any time they saw the hallway that led to the class - even if I was working in there!  Two year old class room … Bug has warmed up to this idea a smidge.  I go in with them and he hangs on me for a second and then goes merrily on his way - coloring, drawing, etc.  He does not like to see me leave though, so as long as I sneak away he’s happy.  Monkey though … now that’s a whole different ball game! 

He will scream and cling and act like he is being killed … dead!!  I’ve mentioned this problem before and it DOES NOT GET BETTER WITH CONSISTENCY.  The only consistent thing I’ve learned about my little Twinkies is that there isn’t any merit to being consistent with them - ugh!  Being my last children I suppose they felt it necessary to make sure that the mold that we were ever so comfortable with was completely shattered! *Sigh*

So try as I would taking them every Tuesday and Thursday was becoming more and more stressful.  Not to mention the fact that if there was a green gooey nose or any other remote inkling of an ailment I refuse to go anyway and expose others to it.  So here I was … STUCK!

Thankfully our friends who live down the road are members too and we had been going together as often as we could and she recently met with a great Personal Trainer at the Y.  One day as I told her my dilemma of being stuck only going when a familiar class was offered because I don’t know anything about the equipment, she quickly recommended that I meet with this Trainer.  So I gave her a call and set it up. 

My blessed neighbor offered to watch the little darlings while I met with her this morning … she did it while we were all at the Y though, so it simply reinforced why I must have more freedom to go there when I want.  Thankfully the gal is also a mom and totally understands that I have limitations.  Maybe a few more than most with 6 kids, but she was quick to offer me great exercises to do at home as well as a plan to do while I was at the gym. 

It was a little daunting, but overall I was soooooo happy I had done it.  I simply must point out that the ellipticals have tv’s!  Seriously LOL!  We got on them to warm up and it was so funny because mine was on the Food Network … I simply had to laugh.  Making yourself drool over fattening food while you work out seems a little ironic, but it is one of my preferred channels so I was happy!

I left there with a renewed purpose.  No more time on my hands, but more freedom to go to the gym when it works for me.  Thank goodness.  Summer break is quickly approaching and I need that flexibility. 

Just wanted to give all of you a little update!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Oh and for those of you keeping up with the computer saga, it continues and looks like it will be continuing for a while. 

In the life of a Mommy blogger and a Graphic/Web Designer, one of the worst things that can happen is for a computer to be out of commission!  This is where I have been for a week now.  In the middle of several projects with more coming in.  Contests that are supposed to be featured, but can’t.  UGH!!!

Last weekend my computer’s AC adapter completely stopped working.  It is only 5 months old so I called the manufacturer.  “No Problem” they told me … it would arrive in 3 to 5 business days.  OK, I thought, I’ll stick it out and be patient.  And I was … until Thursday afternoon rolled around and nothing arrived. 

By mid-morning today I was frantic and called the manufacturer again to check in and see that the parts had been sent as I was told.  Yes, they shipped out on Monday, but are not scheduled to be delivered until next Tuesday.  SAY WHAT??????  I was astounded, shocked, mouth-hanging-agape and horrified.  you have got to be kidding me.  What am I supposed to do?  I spent the entire coversation asking for a solution and NOT losing my cool and they offered me NOTHING! 

Meanwhile it is all I can do to ’save face’ with my lovely new customers and try to find the best way to facilitate all of their needs through this ordeal.  My Dad has a computer by the same manufacturer and since my hubby’s adapter isn’t compatible, my computer has made a little trek over to my parent’s house to see if there’s hope!!! 

I’m praying that his cord works and my little computer will be fully charged in the morning.  If so, I will be able to transfer everything over to the brand new, lovely little external hard drive we purchased this evening (much to our pocketbook’s chagrin LOL).

This may seem like a silly thing to get upset about, but integrity means a lot to me.  I work hard to create beautiful designs for my customers in a very short period of time, which they greatly appreciate.  The idea that this process may be messed up - even for a moment is very difficult to swallow.

This is not a coincidence in my opinion however.  As you will find out over the next couple of weeks, my computer’s power cord stopped working almost exactly the moment I said “yes” to supporting and helping lead a ministry.  I’ll tell you all more about that another time, but the point is that this isn’t the first time I’ve had computer problems shortly after taking on a new ministry responsibility!

So, I was hoping to offer some great good news today, with the promise of some great pictures of things we’re doing around the house, but that will still have to wait a bit.  I truly hope you all have an amazing Memorial Day weekend!

I had a lot of fun sharing Linney Shvede and their great products with you.  

We do have a winner for that contest and it is …

#8 - Call Me A Bookworm

Congratulations and be sure to check your email for a note from me on how to claim your prize!