A Gift of Love

Some husbands lavish their wives with jewelry, flowers and chocolate -- or so I've heard -- and while my own husband has given me set of sapphire jewelry once (my favorite & birth stone), gives me flowers on occasion and definitely knows my chocolate preference (dark), his gifts usually lean towards the more practical and unique.

Zoo Pictures

We went to the zoo today.  I took some pictures. 

Here are my favorites...

E was more fascinated with the animals than ever before.  She's growing up so fast!

Africa!

I'm trying something new here at Mama Flock.  I've joined an affiliate program and put a link to a site selling a notebooking set for a study on Africa over there on the right (you may need to scroll down a little bit).

We are currently studying Africa in geography and this is the perfect complement to our studies.  I was so excited to order it for our school.

If you or someone you know could benefit from this outstanding resource, direct them to my site so I can earn a percentage of the profit for referring you to this product.  It's easy to download after a very reasonable fee for what you get in the set and all payments are handled through PayPal.  Check it out!

P.S. You can check out a great write-up of this product here.

Goodnight, September

Wasn't it just January 1 like a week ago?

This year has gone by so fast and yet we have been challenged and pulled in so many directions, I can hardly believe it's October-eve already!

Courageous Women: My Sister, D

My sister, D, never reads my blog unless I take her by the hand to my computer and load up a specific entry for her to see/read because she just doesn't have much time for blogging.  Or reading.

D is a single mother to four(!) beautiful girls.  So they keep her pretty busy all the time, when she's not working, running errands or hanging out with a friend once and awhile.  I do understand why someone in her shoes doesn't get the chance to read my blog.

My point is, I don't even know if she'll ever see this post.  So I'm blogging about her and how she's inspired me with her courage for my benefit and so that maybe my readers can also be inspired by this lady I've known most of my life as my baby sister.

Free

Lately, the kids have all been "daddy's kids" more than usual.  I think, because of that, C must have said something to the kids because I've been hearing a lot of justifications to their positive comments about Daddy to me so I don't feel bad or something.

For example, this morning, Z was saying he was glad it was Friday because then he gets to go with Daddy and S to bring her to her teen group. 

I said, "I was thinking tonight you could stay with Kool and the Gang so you can do a fun thing I have planned for us, also because I think S needs some one-on-one time with Daddy tonight."

There was silence.

Teen Books That Even She'll Love to Read

I've been bragging on our teen daughter, S, lately and how amazing she is to me.  Granted, she is still completely human and has struggled and rebelled like the rest of us have.  However, at her core is just a compassionate, mature, phenomenal person that I am honored to have in my life.  I am awed by her strength and grace just about every day in big and small ways.

How did she get to be so incredible, you ask?

Clear the Stage

Our daughter, S, told me about this song yesterday and I hadn't heard it before.  I love the lyrics, the sound of the song and even the simple idea behind the video.  Take a look...

Even If

It's a Monday and I am just really not usually a fan of Mondays.  But this is the day the Lord has made and I'm trying to keep things in perspective.  Each new day has the hope of "anything is possible."  Sometimes, it's easy to forget that.

On my way to dropping off my nieces at their schools this morning, this song came on the radio and it just really hit me in a precise moment when I needed to hear it, I suppose, and suddenly I was crying my eyes out at the lyrics.

Preview

I hope to share with you a few photos from the hundreds I took as I documented my birthday weekend as soon as I have some time to sort through them and pick some good samples.  But in the meantime, I'll just share with you one of my favorites from the weekend.