May not have gone as smoothly as we thought. I love Time Machine and our external hard drive, because we were able to restore everything from around 1.5 days before we went in for servicing. However…our iLife applications won’t restore correctly, they won’t open, and it is a known issue. I’m just not sure where our original install discs are!!!
Also…our backup won’t just update/write over our existing backup, so now our external hard drive petition that was set up for the backup is too small…ehm…
Ah well, a few glitches, but no more crashes, so they must have done something right!
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Kissimmee Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.
Doesn’t that sound like “Kiss me!” to you? No worries though, I’m not trying to be suggestive . Kissimmee is a region located in the heart of Florida filled with exciting things to do and places to stay. We’re still trying to decide where to go for our family vacation this year (we normally plan small-scale outings within the province), but if we were to plan a trip to Kissimmee where would we go? (Oooh, this is fun!)
Oh, we would most definitely have to stop by Sea World. My children are fascinated by marine mammals, and there’s no way we could fail to go!
Oh, and ahem – Disney World – the children would never forgive us if we didn’t stop while we were in the area.
While Kissimmee has a wide range of accomodation options available from RVing to luxury hotels, while we’re dreaming, why not go for a hotel (remember, I said I love ice machines)? The Radisson Orlando sounds right up our alley, with their three pools
(Kaelynn has discovered a passion for swimming) and 20 acre resort (lots of room for burning off extra energy!)
Kissimmee definitely sounds like a family-friendly destination – I’d pick it over Vegas any day!
I was so excited when my copy of Paladins by Matthew Christian Harding arrived in the mail today! I’ve been reviewing books for a couple of years now, but his is the first that has included an endorsement extracted from one of my reviews on its interior pages! Woohoo!
If you’re traveling to homeschooling conferences you might meet the Harding family, and be blessed to talk with them about their series of evolution/magic/humanism free Christian fantasy titles for young readers. My daughter Kaelynn (7) was so excited to see the sequel (we’ve read the first together), that she immediately asked for Paladins to go into the bedtime reading slot. It’s a good thing we only have three chapters left in our current read-aloud!
Some people HATE staying in hotels. They need their own sheets, their own beds, and just don’t feel comfy staying away from home. I’m entirely the opposite though! Ever since childhood I’ve found hotels exciting, and somehow exotic – away from the ordinary. Now keeping in mind that the last hotel I stayed in was during our honeymoon 8.5 years ago, the rarity of a hotel stay also adds to its allure.
My top three favorite things about hotels:
1. Ice machines – again, ever since childhood I’ve found these intriguing
2. Maids – you get to have a shower and basically walk away, you get to sleep in a bed and not worry about changing the sheets. In a way, this is a feeling of FREEDOM, no housework!
3. Room service – the ultimate luxury. Sure, we can get Chinese food and pizza delivered (if you live in the city – we don’t), but room service is…just special! Again, haven’t had this since our honeymoon either .
So, I’m all for hotel stays when they’re needed, but I’m sure that if it was a necessary way of life it would get old fast – like eating out too much while traveling starts to feel like a chore. Then again, if I could afford boutique hotels san francisco, it might not get old AS fast!
I was talking to my daughter late last night (her favorite time for spiritual conversations), and she was telling me how much she wished that she could read better so that she could dig into a real Bible for herself and find the answers to her questions in God’s Word.
We’ve been reading together through The Beginner’s Bible on a near-daily basis, and she’s doing really well, she only needs help with a word or two on each page. I’m hoping that with some more practice she can move to an NIrV in the near future. We have one picked out already (larger font, grade 3 reading level), we’re just waiting for some more reading readiness .
I just had to share because one of my big milestones for educating my children is to get them reading their own Bibles on a regular basis . It’s exciting to see her enthusiasm to dig into the Word for herself!
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 1-800-Flowers. All opinions are 100% mine.
Flowers are an easy way to express emotions and care towards someone you’ve been thinking of. Apart from the typical romantic events – dates, anniversaries, and the like, flowers also make a great token of thoughtfulness. For those in hospital, struggling through hard seasons in their lives, to celebrate graduations, and many other events both big and small. I’ll always remember when my good friend Freya sent me a bouquet of flowers after the birth of my first daughter, it was lovely, and very thoughtful of her.
If I were to send someone a bouquet of flowers today, I’d send some off to my sister Kaelie. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer late last year, and they’ve been working through his illness, surgery, and recovery together as a family, which can be tough. A “Just Because” bouquet would be entirely appropriate for them as a flower delivery gift.
If there’s a friend or family member in need of encouragement or support in your life, 1-800-Flowers is an easy way to deliver, because you can arrange the entire delivery online! You don’t need to call in, or visit a floral shop in person, just click, and go.
Yesterday my husband Larry did a couple of subjects in Kaelynn’s homeschooling with her while I was putting my two little girls down for a nap (I’ll admit – I had one too!) After that she asked me if Daddy could do all of her homeschooling with her! I asked him if he’d like to try it (we’re really only doing core subjects right now), and I showed him what to do today, and I think they had a great time together.
I think he has less of a tendency to get stressed out than I do, so it was more enjoyable for everyone. I did “preschool” with my little girls for the hour and a half that they were doing their work. Larry’s never really done any of the homeschooling before so it was very interesting to see him working with Kaelynn – he did a great job!
E.M. Bounds is well known as one of the pre-eminent, and certainly one of the most prolific authors on the topic of prayer. Power Through Prayer is an audio production of one of his classic works, which while brief (50 pages in print-form, 2.5 hours of audio) is deeply convicting.
Bounds writes mainly to pastors, opening each of his brief 20 chapters with a quotation from a great man of faith, followed by his own musings on the importance that a rich prayer life has on the fruits of one’s ministry. Though geared towards the pastoral implications of a dry or rich prayer life, Bounds’ applications can easily be transferred to the life, ministry, and fruit of any believer.
Focusing on the internal spiritual life of pastors, Bounds points out that academic study, charismatic delivery, theological know-how, and a wide variety of other pastoral skills are absolutely no substitute for communion with God. He rightfully points out that reliance on any of these outward abilities will result in a dead ministry. While it may be popular, it will lack the truly life-giving quality that draws members of the body closer to their Lord.
Hovel Audio’s narrator Doren Elias (Doren is a man, just thought I’d clarify as his is an unusual name) speaks with a warm, rich voice that handles Bounds’ rich text skillfully. Though brief, this audio book is well worth listening to multiple times, as it is so full of practical insight on the importance and power of prayer on life.
As a mom of three-daughters, I’ve noticed that the female penchant for pretty footwear starts at an early age. It’s most obvious in my oldest daughter (now 7), but my two younger girls are also very fond of playing in my shoes (not that I have many pairs for them to choose from!)
In our house, the girlier the shoe, the better, but in our daughter’s search for the perfect footwear they can often toss aside fit considerations. Startrite not only has the most adorable Girls canvas shoes but they’ve also produced video fitting guides like this one, that you can use to make sure your children’s growing feet are properly shod.
Fitting girls sandals is particularly important, because there isn’t as much shoe to cradle the foot, you don’t want the sandal to be slipping and sliding around, causing instability, and possible injury through twisted ankles.
Though this fitting guide is specific to Startrite, these fitting tips are also helpful when purchasing any brand of childrens sandals when shopping at a store. If you are interested in checking out Startrite’s shoe choices, you’ll find that they are incredibly charming, and would make perfect church shoes – I’m sure my daughter would be delighted with a pair (some are definitely appropriately girly!)
It’s a common practice amongst God’s people to welcome a new baby into the family of God through some sort of official recognition. Some churches dedicate their infant children to God’s care and protection, and ongoing sanctification throughout their lives, others view this process as part of the road to salvation (our family doesn’t share that view, as we believe in grace and God’s saving power alone in the life of a believer, not works).
None of our children have ever been dedicated in this way, though I did consider it with our last baby, we weren’t part of a stable body when she was born. Still, I can see how presenting the baby to the body has great meaning for parents, the community, and the tradition of giving gifts to the infant can also prove to be significant to the child as they grow. There are some truly lovely christening gifts available, some of heirloom quality that a child can look back at as they grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Does your family celebrate the arrival of new babies on some specific way? I’ll definitely be asking Larry his thoughts as the arrival of this new little one draws closer.
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. Kissimmee is a region located in the heart of Florida filled with exciting things to do and places to stay. We’re still trying to decide where to go for our family vacation this year (we normally plan small-scale outings within the province), but if we were to plan a trip to 
Oh, we would most definitely have to stop by Sea World. My children are fascinated by marine mammals, and there’s no way we could fail to go!
.
None of our children have ever been dedicated in this way, though I did consider it with our last baby, we weren’t part of a stable body when she was born. Still, I can see how presenting the baby to the body has great meaning for parents, the community, and the tradition of giving gifts to the infant can also prove to be significant to the child as they grow. There are some truly lovely 
