Great Deals for This Weekend – November 19, 2011

There are some really awesome deals going on this weekend! Retailers have started amping up their weekend deals in order to attract as many holiday shoppers as possible. Now is the time to get something good for free, or to get something nice for an equally nice price. Powell’s is doing something that chocolate lovers will not be able to resist. Buy 3 books (any three books), and you will get FREE chocolate! You can choose from any books in the Powell’s store, or from their website. The books can be new, used, on sale, or any combination of the … Continue reading

My Last Blog

This is going to be my last blog as the Adoption Blogger for Families.com. I’m looking forward to spending the summer with my kids, possibly working at their school, and taking on new writing projects. I may well guest blog occasionally for this or other Families blogs. It seems the Adoption Blog will continue, so I hope this blog, along with Families’ forums, can be a source of information and community for adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth parents. Yesterday I could think of a million things to say in my last few blogs and wondered how I would fit it … Continue reading

A Pearl of Great Price

During the period when we tried to assess Regina’s potential disabilities and decide if we could parent her, we wondered what effect raising a special needs child would have on our family life. Would we have to totally change our lifestyle to accommodate a rigid schedule of appointments and daily care? The image I persistently recall from this time in my life is the biblical parable of the Pearl of Great Price, the pearl of such surpassing value that the merchant was willing to sell all that he had to obtain this pearl. Could I give up my image of … Continue reading

You May Not Want To Buy That Gift Just Yet

Did you know that there are a few things that you would be better off waiting until after Christmas to purchase? Even if you plan to give the items as gifts, the sale prices on these items after the holidays are likely to make you think twice before choosing to grab the item now instead of giving a gift card. For example, if you plan to give someone a television this year and you were unable to score one of the super amazing deals that happened on Black Friday, you can give a gift card in the approximate amount that … Continue reading

How Well do YOU Know the Bible?

A recent survey found that mormons know more about the Bible than catholics, or other protestant religions. Interesting huh? This survey also found that atheists and agnostics know more about major world religions than those of other faiths. Is this surprising? I’m not sure if it is, but I do find it very interesting. Many times, our church is accused of not even believing in the Bible at all. But, we are encouraged as members of the church to read, and know all works of scripture. Books that we believe are scripture include both the Bible and the Book of … Continue reading

Tea Parties to Reinforce Etiquette: Part 2/The Homeschool Tea

Let’s discuss tea etiquette. In order for you to plan a tea for the purpose of teaching proper behavior you must be aware of the basic manners for hosting a tea. Once you know the proper etiquette and have the right supplies you will be ready to plan a tea for your homeschool co-op event. Homeschool co-op teas are quite successful if the hostess is in the know with regards to how to plan a tea. I highly suggest planning a homeschool tea as a method to introduce manners in a group setting. This will reinforce the importance of personal … Continue reading

Easter Again…a Reminder of our Miracles

It’s Easter again–six Easters after I broke one of my rules. The rule I broke? “No hassling doctors or social workers at home unless someone is dying.” But I needed to know! We were supposed to be having a medical consultation, via conference call, on whether the grim prognosis we’d initially gotten about our daughter’s sister was valid. Would she have needs that we would be unable to meet, given family health issues and our two other children? Somehow we had gotten the wires crossed. And I just couldn’t observe Easter without knowing: was I celebrating a new life that … Continue reading

Cool Cruise Deals to Paradise

Regular readers of this blog know that I track travel deals to Hawaii very carefully. And with the recent demise of Aloha Airlines and the skyrocketing price of fuel, bargains to paradise are relatively non-existent. So when I was notified of this next cruise deal to the Pearls of the Pacific my jaw dropped. Some of the Aloha State sailings reflect savings of nearly 50%. Take a look: NORWEGIAN This early-bird special offered by Orbitz is a real steal. It takes place aboard Norwegian’s Pride of America and sets sail in December 2009. The seven-night voyage departs round trip from … Continue reading

Sleeping with the Fishes

It’s probably not an offer you would consider if an associate of Don Vito Corleone suggested it, but the following deals, which allow you to come face to face with exotic fishes while you are trying to catch some zzzz’s, are 100% pure family-friendly. FLORIDA Getting to Jules’ Undersea Lodge, located in Florida’s Key Largo is an adventure in itself. Spending the night at the unique lodging requires diving 21 feet beneath the sea surface through a tropical mangrove lagoon. Your payoff for taking the plunge—an unforgettable night mingling with vibrant sea life at an underwater hotel that originally started … Continue reading

The Most Popular Hotel Room in Washington, D.C.

It is now… and for all the wrong reasons. If the walls in Room 871 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. could talk I’m sure former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s high-priced call girl wouldn’t have been offered nearly as many lucrative book deals. Since the Spitzer sex scandal broke hotel managers say they have had dozens of people calling to book a night in the now infamous room. But, according to hotel big wigs, guests can ask for Room 871, but they might not get it. Apparently, standard operating procedure dictates that guests can’t be guaranteed a … Continue reading