We Interrupt This Normally ♥Sweet♥ Blog.....

.....for a somewhat frivolous and useless post!  Only somewhat frivolous because I'm linking up with The Homeschool Village today for February's Fantastic Finds.  If you're visiting from The Homeschool Village, please feel free to ignore the first part of this post and scroll down to my Fantastic Find (look for the Homeschool Village button), and may I offer my apologies ~ my brain is all over the place today and if you notice my blog header.....I suppose I'm feeling a little more Sassy than Sweet! ; )  I do have a GOOD find.....be patient with me.

First, my rant:

Why, oh why, oh WHY must they discontinue products I have fallen in love with???  Seriously....WHY???  I recently found out that the company who makes my skincare and make-up products has gone out of business.  This is a major ordeal for a girl with problematic skin that stages a rebellion at the mere thought of changing products.  No kidding.  I took me YEARS to find the perfect line.....and I log on to reorder, and literally told my computer screen, "Noooooo!!!  You can't do this......I need you!" 

I love this skin care line.....because my aggravating, oily, sensitive, break-out prone skin loves this skin care line.  I also loved the fact that it was a small, independent company in a world of corporate  monopolies.  I ♥ the little guys.  And I woke up this morning to yet more rebellion at trying new products when I looked in the mirror ~ and I know true beauty is on the inside....but it's really nice when the sight of you doesn't scare people. *Sigh*.

In light of this devastating disclosure, I'm giving a shout-out to a few of my very favorite products (and I am not in cahoots with the product manufacturers ~ I am just a big fan):

I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this, but I am hooked!!  I think I avoided it, thinking it was something along the lines of the sugar-laden energy drinks that are all the rage now.  I'm a label-reader, and once I took the time to read this one, I discovered that it's full of good stuff!  Wow!!  It's amazing!!!  I think I might be able to conquer my to-do lists with this little mighty booster!  I also think I need to find it wholesale.  I need lots of it.  It's awesome. 

Next, we have my absolute most favorite hairspray.  And I've tried lots of hairsprays.  I ♥ this one ~ it only takes me a little dab and I'm done.....and is the only one that will hold my hair (long hair is heavy!).  I know it says Instant Freeze, but I seriously only use a little bit and it leaves my hair less stiff than the others because I don't have to use as much.  It smells good, too.  I like it.  A lot.

And now, because I ♥ CHOCOLATE, and ♥ it VERY much.......my indulgence that leaves me feeling not-so-guilty:  Zone Perfect Double Dark Chocolate Nutrition Bars.  *Sigh*  The let me have my chocolate with a little less guilt.  Without ruining my protein-to-carb ratio that I try to maintain.....and are sometimes a quick meal replacement when I'm too busy or am on-the-run and don't have time for a real meal.  I may be slightly addicted.....but I'm okay with that.

And now, I'll stop.  But I think you should buy these products.  I'm absolutely sure that you should......because I don't want them to ever, ever be discontinued.  I need them.  Every day. ♥

I wonder if I've lost my Homeschool Village linker-uppers yet.  If not, your perseverance of reading through all that nonsense has paid off.  I promise I'm not this flaky all the time, so please come back!  Here's the real find:

 

One of my children is a very reluctant reader, much to my dismay.  His weakest area is also spelling and grammar, regardless of the fact that we drill him and focus on it A LOT.  With his two siblings being good readers and also much better spellers, I 've always thought if I could find a book series that he could "get into" that his weak areas would naturally improve (at least a little).  It worked for my daughter and my other son.....but they also seem to be naturally inclined that way.

Have you noticed that there's not a whole lot of good fiction series out there for boys?  I had been checking out a youth sports series from the public library, but when my other son (they have the same reading level....his is above-average, while his older brother's is average) brought me one wanting to know what !@#$% meant, I was less than impressed.  Seriously, is that necessary?  I realize that I probably should have been born 100 yrs. ago, but I really despise profanity.  I despise how profane, rude and crass our society has become.....and even thought the actual word wasn't printed in the book, it's like saying "this is a bad word and when you're older you can read what it is, because when you're older it's ok.....and that's what grown-ups do".  He was half-heartedly reading the series anyway, so I kept searching.

I wanted a series that would appeal to him, but also reinforce good values and character traits.  We homeschoolers, we're so picky ~ aren't we?  A good friend of mine recommended a series she recently discovered, and I bought him the first 4 books for his birthday.

He was actually excited to receive them.  Frank Peretti is one of my MOST favorite Christian fiction authors and I have many (if not all) of his books in my collection, so he was fully expecting them to be good.  Lo and behold, over the next few weeks, I would find him curled up in his bed, propped up with pillows, happily and contentedly READING.  He would often come to me, telling me how good the books were and giving me a play-by-play of the story line.....and asking when I could buy the remaining books in the series.  This is the child that we would have to threaten with dire consequences to get him to complete his required reading time each day.....and reading ONE WHOLE CHAPTER was an effort (not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to).

I also found several series for kids by Jerry Jenkins, another of my favorites, and have them bookmarked for when he finishes this one.  I knew he had the Left Behind Kids Series, but was unaware of the others.

Also, for some good non-fiction History reading, we've found these by Peter Marshall to be wonderful.  There's a series of three books.....and all three of my children used these as part of their reading time, without complaint!

Now that I've got him hooked, I think perhaps a whole new world has been opened to him.....I hope, I pray.  We shall see if his spelling, grammar and writing efforts improve.  I'm ordering the next 4 very, very soon.  :: )