Spotlight Saturday

This week I would like to spotlight Sweet Mary, a friend, a mother, a blogger, a prim artist, and much, much more. She writes a variety of posts from book and product reviews to her personal thoughts on world events.

Drop by and tell her Lily sent you, you are sure to enjoy your visit: Mary Bennett

FEARless Friday

My heart is full this week, and I ask you to pray for everyone on Angie's page.

Please pray for a special family who has a baby due this week, and the baby, without a miracle, will not survive.

Please pray for Sweet Mary, as always.

Pray for all children who have started or are starting school soon, that their hearts and minds are turned towards their work, and their grades reflect their efforts and learning.

Oh my, the fear is intensifying around here. Please continue to pray for us. We still have no answers and our life could be very different a week from today. I'm trying to have faith and let go of the fear, if it is God's will that our life be so drastically changed, then there must be a reason for He has never let us down before. I suppose that is why fear is so very, very dangerous. Fear replaces trust. I am doing my best to trust, Lord, please give me the strength.

I beg our Blessed Mother to wrap her mantle of love and protection around our family at this time, and to intercede on our behalf with her most precious Son.

This is a very difficult time in our life, very difficult.

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers, you are always in mine. God bless. This post is linked to Angie at Free Spirit Haven, and to Sweet P's.

How It Happened That a Librarian Loves Audio Books!

One day, I was working in the library, and the library director said to me, "We have a new media that came in with our rotating collections, they are called Playaways." This was a few years ago, and I did not own an MP3 player or an iPod (though my daughter did). She went on to explain that the case looks like a VHS cassette, but inside there is a mini-MP3 player which is pre-loaded with an audio book, put on by the publisher. A patron just needs to add a single battery and their personal headphones. She thought it would be a good idea if someone tried to work one so we could teach the patrons. I looked at the titles, and I chose one. I brought the thing home and it sat on my shelf until she asked me, "How did you make out with that Playaway?"

Needless to say, I went home and I sat down with my crochet project and the Playaway over the weekend. It did not take long for me to fall in love with playaways. They are so convenient. The book is preloaded, you can bookmark your place, and the readers were brilliant!! I especially loved that I could accomplish my to-do list, hobbies, or errands, all while knocking some titles off my reading list (which is extensive). I soon found, however, being a new media, playaways are not widely available within the library system. I started looking for alternatives, which is when I decided to go ahead and get an MP3 player. I found I could get digital titles from the library and then upload them. I also figured out I could upload audio cds to my itunes or media player and put them on my MP3 that way. Not every audio book has good narration, but many of them have amazingly talented ones! They are read by actors/actresses, and professionals who can do multiple voices, sometimes sing to you the songs in the story, and occasioanlly, there is a cast of readers which is especially fun.

I would not want to listen to all books, but I love to hear the British classics read by Brits. I enjoy hearing characters from the South read by Southerners, it adds a level of enjoyment to the story for me. So I choose my audio books based upon their story. If there are multiple narrators within the story, those are fun to listen to as well. Sometimes I will choose a more challenging piece to listen to while I am crocheting, or driving because the story comes alive. Titles I want to read but are slow going in the beginning are also good choices. You can give a book a fair shot on audio, give it a bit more time than a title you'd be tempted to walk away from. Since you are doing other things, it is not wasted time, and you give the story a little longer of a chance to develop before abandoning.

Then I decided to combine "transliteracy" into my classroom. I started using audiobooks at home for the children, for my reluctant readers. I picked up the book and the audio at the library, and had them listen and read along with chapter books they were wanting to read. Things just a bit above their reading level. It worked very well. The children loved being told to get their MP3 player and go listen to a book. They were required to read along, and suddenly reading became fun and much less stressful. These reluctant readers also took to reading aloud to siblings, a fringe benefit for mommy. The littles had more reading time than mommy could afford to spend because the olders became more involved, voluntarily. Did you catch that? Voluntarily!

Therefore, I am now a fan of audio books. Both for my own personal enjoyment, and also for use in my home school. I have enjoyed listening to old favorites on audio, they are great for re-reads. It adds another dimension to the enjoyment of a book, but mainly I am a fan of multitasking and this is the perfect way to do that!!

Table Talk: Getting to Know You

Below are my three tidbits of conversation to get things rolling. Answer in the comments to keep the conversation rolling, and then, link up and start a conversation on your blog. To link up, click on the button above! Have fun, the entire purpose is to get to know you better :)

1. I am currently STILL trying to organize my five students for school. We had intended to start yesterday, but that shall be pushed back to next Monday at the latest. Why am I so far behind? Well, I have 10 bookcases of materials just for school, as well as various odd piles of materials scattered in a couple of random places. After homeschooling six children for 14 years (Oldest is in college now) I have accumulated a lot of curriculum and manipulatives. Therefore, I decided this year, to PURGE AND ORGANIZE first. No matter how long it took. Then, we are implementing a new organizational system that is taking time to set up, but will be totally worth it in the end (workboxes). Did you have a big project this year?

2. I love audio books because I can pursue my other hobbies while listening. I also use them extensively in my homeschool program. Interesting audios, when used as a read-alongs, have been the turning point for some of my reluctant readers!! Do you listen to audio books?

3. Some of the hobbies I like to pursue while listening to my audio books are: Crocheting, cross stitich, sewing and all sorts of crafts. I am hoping, with my new organizational system for school, to get back to both listening to audio books and crafting again. What hobbies do you pursue?

Looking forward to your answers, and feel free to join me :)

Happy Labor Day!

Perhaps it is my vocation as a stay-at-home-mom of six children that makes me think of this on labor day:



My labors of love, my six beautiful children, my family. I hope you and your family have a wonderful day. Whether you can be together or not, whether you have to work or not, whether it rains or the sun shines, I wish you all a blessed day of memories and love.

Well this looks like fun. This week I choose to spotlight a sweet blogger who could use a little bit of encouragement to keep on posting :) Elizabeth over at Indigo Impression is a college student, dancer, and has a beautiful cat. She has a really pretty blog that I always enjoy visiting! Stop on over to Indigo Impression and let Elizabeth know that Lily sent you!

Fearless Financial Friday

Well, since it is 9PM, I almost missed it today; better late than never! I spent the day driving The Oldest back to NJ, and hopping on a bus back home today. Long day of traveling, thankfully it was not as hot as the last time I did this, two weeks ago :).

I waited for Fearless Friday to announce that my husband has accepted an offer for a FULL TIME JOB!! It is a good offer, not as much as he was making before, but it is a great offer. I could not be more pleased, and neither can he, so please join us in prayers of Thanksgiving, God is so good.

And, please pray that this job offer is in time to save our home. Yea, it has been tough. We need some heavy-duty prayers on this one. It is a biggie.

Sweet Mary had a scan to check the status of her cancer. Please pray for all good news on her results. And visit her cancer blog.

Please pray for my children as we gear up to start school this week, I do not think I am going to be ready on time due to the "home" crisis mentioned above. I will do my best, and maybe they can get started by week's end.

Please feel free to add your prayer intentions in the comments. As always, I will check the comments and pray for those intentions as well. Also in my prayers are all my readers.

Thank you for your wonderful prayerful support, prayers move mountains, and this week MY HUSBAND FOUND FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT. Thank you for all the prayers that held us up, and for all who prayed for him to find a job, God bless you, your prayers are very efficacious!

This post is linked to Fearless Friday over at Angie's blog Free Spirit Haven, and to Sweet P's.

Big Score at Walmart!!!

I probably should not let the cat out of the bag...but here goes. We noticed that Walmart had Elmer's gluesticks on sale, a 2-pack for 25 cents. I went to pick some up and was sad to note they were sold out. I went back the next day, just for those gluesticks, and the back-to-school display of the gluesticks was still empty! So I had a little time to kill before going to work, and I found myself in the regular office/school supply section of the store, and not the big seasonal display. When I looked around, I found 2 pegs, completely stuffed with the gluesticks. I was THRILLED!! No one thought to go to the regular area of the store...SCORE!! I bought 8 packs, 16 gluesticks in all, for $2.00.

Elmer's Virtual Bag It Forward And Adopt A Classroom

CMash Loves To Read sent me a Elmer's Virtual Bag. I think I was picked because I confessed to loving school/office supplies here. So when she sent me this Virtual Bag to help students, I was glad to help.


By posting this and linking to Elmer's, this is what will happen:
ELMER’S VIRTUAL "BAG IT FORWARD" rules:



• Copy and paste these rules into your blog post or Facebook note.
•Create a post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
•Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
•Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
•Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
•Elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by September 10,2010).
Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation
Be sure to head over and leave your link to the post on Bag it Forward post for the post to count towards Elmer's Donation .
I am passing this on and hope you will help!!!

Okay ladies read the instructions below copy and paste to your blog and/or you can find full instructions at http://bagitforward.org/donate-a-bag/
Elizabeth from Indigo Impression
Sweet Mary from MaryBennett
Dexter from Dexter's Wild Life
Thank you!!

I pray you enough

I'm not an email forwarder, but a friend of mine sent me this prayer today. It was in a lengthy email, which I'm not including, but I loved the prayer. Lisa, thank you. I do not know the origin or the author.

I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear..

I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

You Know It Is Too Hot When...

Your secret stash of chocolate melts in its cool dark hiding place; that spot no one knows about but you! Just one more reason I am glad fall is on the horizon! Not that I mind melted chocolate, but I cannot eat all that has melted in one sitting. And if I wanted melted chocolate...well that is what Nutella is for :). Off to lick more chocolate off my fingers...


Click on the photo for the link to the photographer's website.