Zebra fish and hearing loss

Click here to read a Wall Street Journal article about some research involving regrowth of hair cells...a process that has the potential for a cure for sensorineural hearing loss. Perhaps David & Abigail will see a cure in their lifetime...

Postage hike

Don't forget that the cost of postage is going up again -- by 2 cents -- on Monday, May 11th.

In the meantime, save a little money by purchasing the "Forever" stamps, which will still be good even after the rate hike.

KFC deal / Walgreens deal

Hi all...a quick post to let you know about a great KFC deal, if you haven't already heard about it. (No, I didn't hear about it on Oprah, so no smart-aleck comments are necessary. :) I heard about both of these deals on the Spend Freely blog.)

Get two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit!

Click here to get your coupon (you can print up to four coupons, but only through today...make sure you print out four different coupons with four different numbers!).

~

Also today, you can get a free 8x10 photo from your local Walgreens...just upload your photo and then use the coupon code "MOTHER". Today only!

Random pictures from the last couple of weeks

Here's a picture from last Sunday of Abigail looking like Ingeborg (a character in one of my favorite book series!).~

At our puppet show field trip, Bruce looked up and noticed something fun on one of the puppets hanging from the ceiling...Can you see it? Here's a close up...Considering our interest in Sherwin-Williams, we were delighted to see evidence of its use at the Puppetry Center...and we couldn't resist the plug for our favorite paint! :) ~

While we were in Florida for our Minota family vacation, my sister-in-law Krystle gave me a French manicure/pedicure. :) I've gotten several compliments on the cool silver sparkles! The manicure is long gone, but the pedicure still looks pretty good! Here are my feet at the Gulf beach the other day...

"Purple Angel Sleeves" smocked dress giveaway

...from a site that I have been following lately, Spend Freely. It is a blog by a friend of a friend and I have gotten some helpful info from it. I had been planning to post about her blog here anyway, so I'll combine the two -- entering the giveaway and letting you know about her blog! Spend Freely is where I learned about signing up for the Betty Crocker mailing list and thus receiving the Warm Delights Minis treat I blogged about yesterday. I've also now joined the Eight O'Clock Bean rewards program -- it's our favorite coffee brand, I've bought it for years, but now I get points (which add up for free stuff) for every bag that I buy, too. There's lots of other interesting info on the blog, too, so you may want to check it out if you're anything like me -- I'm always looking for ways to save money, but I do NOT have time to check out every sale and comb through every flyer. Okay, enough of the recommendation. Would you like to win this dress? I would. :) Enter here.

Busy minds

When I mentioned a while back to my friend Greta that I wanted a supplemental grammar book, she recommended the book First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise. After looking through the book, I decided that it was exactly what I was looking for, and so we got a copy over Christmas break and started it this week. I'm very excited about it! (I won't go into details about the book itself since most of you won't really care anyway -- but for those of you in a homeschooling situation, it's worth a look!) Below is a picture of the kids with their pictures illustrating the poem "The Caterpillar" (C. Rosetti). Their pictures started out as a simple caterpillar on a "leaf or stalk" but then their imaginations took over and the pictures got rather creative. That tends to be the way of it with my kids. Now mind you, sometimes I give them very particular instructions that they have to follow closely; that is, after all, a skill that they need to learn. But for the most part at this stage, as long as they include the main gist of the assignment, I leave them alone and let their imaginations soar. It's so much fun to watch what they come up with! On that note, below is a picture of David's spelling paper this week. The last instruction of the paper was to draw a clown ("clown" is one of his spelling words). As you can see from the picture, it started with a clown...and then morphed into a clown with a power saw, a cannon, and four special tools that "drill into the ground and then spin around to shovel the dirt out and then spin around again to drill some more" -- the stuff in that brain of his is quite fascinating!!!

My favorite Yankee Candle scent...

Dairy farm field trip

On Tuesday my parents and I took the kids on a field trip to Cagle's Dairy, a local dairy farm which also happens to be the last dairy farm in Georgia to do the whole operation, from raising their own calves to milking their cows to packaging the milk and distributing it to local grocery stores.

They have a hopping agri-business in addition to the regular work of a dairy farm, so we were able to go on their Dairy Tour. Aside from learning all about cows, milking, and milk-processing, we also fed corn leaves to calves, watched a cow being milked, went into the processing plant, took a hayride through the farm to see all of the sights, watched a beautiful Border Collie herd the cows in the field and bring them up to our haywagon for a snack, and fed the goats. To end our visit, we got a free mini-jug of fresh chocolate milk (or a free mini-pumpkin to take home, in my mom's case!) and visited their store. (unfortunately, I didn't realize that the setting on my camera had gotten switched, so some of the pictures aren't the best...)

Christopher Columbus!

(...saying it with the exclamation point always makes me smile as I think of Jo (as portrayed by June Allyson) in Little Women, who used it as a mildly epithetical exclamation, much to her sisters' horror!) Today the kids came to school dressed as explorers (their version of one, anyway), and we finished our school day with a short lesson and fun activity book about Christopher Columbus. (For anyone interested, the activity book was downloaded from Enchanted Learning, a great website that I use often for school activities. A lot of their stuff is free, and some of it is members only. I just joined, since I have more than gotten my money's worth just from the free stuff...and I wanted access to all of it!)Today we introduced our last few "special sounds" in phonics class. They are designed to last throughout the first grade, but David & Abigail have picked up on them quickly and I saw no reason to slow them down. Here they are with big smiles just after they finished the corresponding book. Good job, kiddos!

Children's Book Week

In celebration of Children's Book Week this week, I thought I'd share a series that we have been enjoying. Each book in this series has enough content to feel like a "real" book, yet is also simple enough for the kids to read on their own.

The series is the Scholastic reader series; we have been flying through their level 1 collection and I just ordered a few of the level 2 books (we haven't gotten them yet). Pictured is one of my favorites, "Yuck! Stuck in the Muck" .

On a side note, Amazon.com (click links above to go there) is including these books in their current 4-for-3 sale (i.e. buy three, get one free); and with a $25 order, you can choose FREE Super Saver Shipping.

Part of my heritage

My mom's latest quilt has been posted

as Quilt of the Week for an online group --

click here to see it!

(you do not have to be a member)

She is so very skilled with all things needle and thread/yarn,

so I am very excited that she has been given this honor!!!

Congratulations, Mom...

and thanks for instilling in me the love

of the domestic arts and for

patiently sharing your knowledge and experience.

Postage rate hike (again)

Just a reminder that the price of postage is going up again...the new rates take effect on Monday, May 12th.

Be aware, though, that the "Forever" liberty bell stamps (see picture at right) do NOT need a 1 cent stamp accompanying them. They are valid, as is, permanently...so you may want to go buy a book or two at the current price!

If you would like to verify this info (hey, I'm a skeptic, too, so I understand!), visit the post office site here.

Spools of thread...use # 1001?

My mom clued me in on this one -- beautiful artwork using spools of thread (click to visit) -- who would have thought?! I did have to chuckle that the display is partially funded by Coats & Clark (thread manufacturer)...good business decision, but amusing nonetheless!

Series on grief

I would recommend that, when you have a quiet few minutes, you click here to read a series on grief (scroll down and start at part 1). It is a series that gives a little insight on what's likely going on 'behind the scenes' for someone who is grieving. Most of us are very uncomfortable around someone who is grieving, in part because we don't know what to expect, to say, or to do. Over the last couple of years, Bruce and I have often discussed that every one of us needs to be taught how to interact with people who are grieving, because it does not come naturally. (Admittedly, even after experiencing some deep grief of my own, I still don't find it an easy thing to reach out to others who are grieving.) A little bit of background: The blog I am linking you to is Molly Piper's (and yes, for those of you familiar with John Piper of Desiring God, this is his daughter-in-law). Molly and her husband lost their little girl last year just before her full-term delivery; baby Felicity was stillborn. At the time of their loss, I was still reeling after our third miscarriage, and from the time we heard their news, I have followed Molly's blog and prayed for them often. I can't imagine the depth of their grief, and Molly has been a real blessing to me in that, although they recognize and acknowledge God's perfect plan for their lives, and glorify Him even through their pain, at the same time she has been very open about the grief that occurs and that is very real and very painful. I hope that this series will be a blessing to you, too -- and to those around you who are grieving and need your love and encouragement.

Florida trip pictures part 1

The kids enjoyed some reading time on the way down...(on a side note, the big Richard Scarry books are our all-time favorites for car rides...they are so full of fascinating stuff to look at and read!) I can think of quite a few captions to go along with the look that David gave me for this picture!

^David playing video games with Uncle Caleb...

David plays whole-body style!

^Hanging out with Uncle Matthew before bedtime

Pepsi's new commercial

Hooray for Pepsi on this one -- check out their new SuperBowl commercial, which plays off of a popular deaf-community joke. Click on the link below to go to Pepsi's website, then click on the video square "Bob's house", and when it shows up in the video window, click on "big" (just to the right of the video) to see the bigger (easier to see!) version. Click here to watch the commercial.

Right ho, Jeeves!

Today is the birthday of one of Bruce's and my most beloved authors. P.G. Wodehouse (pronounced Woodhouse) was born in Surrey, England, on October 15, 1881. His writing is full of dry British humor and a tremendous ability to humorously portray human nature. We also love BBC's rendition of Jeeves & Wooster, which we have watched countless times (and still laugh every single time). If, like us, you love British humor and good writing, give Wodehouse's works a try!

Children's Place sale

A heads-up for those of you who shop at Children's Place (I shop on their clearance rack for my kids), I stopped there today for a baby shower gift (not from the clearance rack!) and was rewarded with a bunch of stuff for Abigail -- skirts, shirts, pants, tights, and even two purses -- stuff that I had eyed earlier this year but refused to pay $15-$20+ for -- and today I got them for $4.99 or less! (There were even gorgeous shoes, sneakers, and boots, though we couldn't take advantage of those because of Abigail's brace) I checked their website and this appears to be a chain-wide sale both in-store and online, so I thought I'd share the news. (And for Debbie, who bemoans her excessive distance from a mall, they currently have $5 shipping for online orders, too!) The kids had a blast while I dug through the sale racks...there was a little girl about David's age, whose mom was also shopping, and the three kids played in, around, and under the clothes very happily while the moms shopped! Playdate at the clearance racks...!

Accolades for 'Miss Potter'

A friend had recommended the movie Miss Potter (the story of Beatrix Potter) to me, and Bruce and I watched it this week -- wow. It is not often that we are struck by a movie; we are not easily impressed. But this movie was excellent -- good acting/writing/directing/costumes etc, and the story was compelling. An added benefit was that there was nothing objectionable in it (which is so rare). It is not a "chick flick" that you can watch and then just walk away from lightheartedly -- it is very moving -- that is all I shall say about it so that I don't get into trouble by giving anything away! Definitely a must-watch if you're looking for a good movie. On a side-note, if you are looking for excellently-done Tales of Beatrix Potter DVDs (who doesn't love Peter Rabbit et al?), we really like The Complete Beatrix Potter Collection. A must-have for any child (or child-at-heart)...

Kids' magazine recommendation

Just thought I'd share this on my blog since many of you have young children...and what mom (or aunt, grandma, etc) isn't always on the lookout for good ideas?!

We just got the latest issue of this magazine and we all enjoyed it as much as we always do. The kids snuggle on either side of me and we read it cover to cover...the kids have yet to lose interest before we finish the whole thing, and we even enjoy doing the little recipe and projects in each issue.

I loved the regular Highlights magazine as a kid, but it's still a bit over my kids' heads, so when I stumbled on this one (it just premiered this year) I was thrilled. It's geared towards ages 2-6 and has the same fun components as Highlights (e.g. Hidden Pictures), but simplified for littler ones.

Click here to see their website; it's also available through Amazon.