You can find me at my new blog location … ElCloud Homeschool.  This blog will remain where it is for as long as the HSB powers let it remain.  I have reviews linked here from across the web, that need to be found.  But I have also moved my content to my new blog, so it can be found at the new location, as well.

Thanks!  I hope to hear from you at my new blog home soon.

April E.

Two years ago, I felt like my word for the year was just … persevere.

Last year, I wanted my word to be … peace.

The past few months, I’ve taken the word our pastor is teaching about and tried to focus on it … joy.

As I look at 2012 approaching, I still need to persevere.  I still long for joy and peace.  I’m not making resolutions simply because I am supposed to.  I don’t want to make them out of tradition, and break them out of tradition.

But I have another word … responsibility.  I have responsibilities that I’m not fulfilling to the best of my ability.  I’m not doing my best for God, or my family.  I need to do better, give more in some areas:

• time with God and reading His Word
• nurturing my marriage
• listening to each of my children
• training my children
• homeschool preparations
• hitting all those “little extra” school subjects it’s easy to let slide
• meal planning
• house work and laundry
• living frugally
• gardening

I know I need to improve in these areas.  My husband and kids know I need to improve.  The house SHOWS that I need to improve.  I’ve been slacking at my job, not fulfilling my responsibilities, letting God and my family down.

I need wisdom to know how best to change.  I need perseverance to stick with the tasks.  I need joy as I go about my work.  I need the peace that these changes will bring about.

Not making resolutions.  Just fulfilling my responsibilities.

Serving Him,
April E.

I was playing around with a different blog template.  I found one I could easily swap out without messing up my sidebars at all.  But the fake underwater picture had to go.  After much time trying to find just the right photo that would still let my blog title be readable, I think I really like this partial view of my 3 year old son’s face.   G has beautiful eyes, I think.

But then I wondered, will others think those are creepy eyes staring back at them when they arrive?  I hope not.
So, verdict please.  Creepy?  Or darling?

April E.

I hope today was filled with the joy of Christ’s birth, and salvation, for each of you.  Because that joy is enough to carry you through whatever pain and struggles you may face in the new year.

April E.

The sound of a soda can or bottle opening can be heard across the house.

The sound (or smell) of chocolate being eaten can be detected no matter where you try to hide with it.

Pregnancies can not be disguised in this house … with children guessing within days of the positive test.  (No I am not pregnant.)

And there is absolutely no way to disguise the sound of legos when you give them as a gift.  Unless you open the box and individually wrap each lego block in tissue paper, it only takes one little shake to give the gift’s identity away.  Sigh.  That won’t be a surprise tomorrow.

April E.

I know that some of my favorite bloggers when I began blogging six years ago are no longer writing regularly on their blogs.  Some just quit entirely.  Not all, but many.

So how long can a person blog before they just run out of things to say?  Before they feel as if they’ve become mundane, repetitive, and superfluous.  Superfluous.  I think that’s how I’ve been feeling lately.  As if I don’t really have anything to say that isn’t being said by someone else, on another blog, and probably better than I can say it.  In other words, I’m superfluous.

To be honest, my life lately has been hectic, feeling as if I’m constantly running in circles, putting out fires, spinning too many plates, wearing too many hats.  Did I use all the cliches yet?  Despite its hectic pace, it’s still been very mundane.  No major excitement.  Just doing what needs to be done daily to care for my husband, our 8 kids (teens down to toddler), our home, my mother-in-law with alzheimers, and still meet our community obligations at church, homeschool group and 4H.  Somehow that has all seemed too blah to write about.

I guess I should return to posting the little funny moments that brighten my day and make life enjoyable.  Or the little successes, no matter how small, that let me know I am not failing at the tasks God has given me.

I don’t want to quit blogging.  I’m just not sure what to say.  What can I write that will bless, encourage, and cheer someone else?  What can I write that is honest and true, and not depressing?  Because I am tired, and sometimes I am discouraged.  I often sit at this computer screen and stare at the blog dashboard, and I realize I just have nothing to give, nothing to say.  So I dash away to facebook where I can post 3 sentences and receive feedback from my family and friends instead.

Life is a little less hectic now that my oldest daughter has earned her actual driver’s license.  I’m able to spend less time running to town.  My mother-in-law no longer requires daily visits from me, since my husband often takes her medications to her on his way home from work.  I still run her to hair appointments and doctor appointments, but I am not having to be there every afternoon.

Maybe once Christmas is over, and January is under way, I’ll find more time to blog again.

April E.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

God Gave Us Love board book

WaterBrook Press; Brdbk edition (December 20, 2011)

***Special thanks to Laura Tucker, WaterBrook Multnomah Publicity, for sending me a review copy.***

LISA BERGREN is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than thirty books, with more than two million copies sold. A former publishing executive, she now splits her time working as a freelance editor and writer while parenting three children with her husband, Tim, and dreaming of the family’s next visit to Taos.

Visit the author’s website.

As Little Cub and Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, the young polar bear begins to question why we must love others… even the seemingly unlovable.

In answering her questions, Grampa Bear gives tender explanations that teach Little Cub about the different kinds of love that is shared between families, friends, and mamas and papas. Grampa explains that all these kinds of love come from God and that it is important to love others because…

“Any time we show love, Little Cub, we’re sharing a bit of his love.”

This sweet tale will warm the hearts of young children as they learn about all the different sorts of love, while the gentle explanations of each provide a valuable opportunity to encourage children to share with others a “God-sized love.” Now in a sturdy format, ideal for the littlest hands at storytime, bedtime, or anytime. Would make a great Christmas gift!

Product Details:

List Price: $6.99
Reading level: Ages 0 and up
Board book: 22 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; Brdbk edition (December 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307730271
ISBN-13: 978-0307730275

AND NOW…ENJOY AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES, God Gave Us You. (Click on images to see them larger):