Ezra and Hadassah - book review & GIVEAWAY

This was a sad, true story. Ezra and Hadassah: A Portrait of American Royalty is a book about two children and their journey through the foster system and their experiences as adoptees.  In the beginning, the book reminded me of A Child Called It, but soon, I was engrossed enough in the story that it stood alone for me.

While it was a difficult read, emotionally, I think it's a good book for parents of kids from hard places.  The child's perspective on the events that took place was a window for me to see how Hannah and Katie might perceive things.

The author, Heather Young, is 5 years older than I am, and this book offers a disheartening glimpse into the foster system of our childhood era.  While there are certainly a lot more "best interest of the child" slogans now, and kids have attorneys, guardian ad litum, and CASA support these days, I'm not naive enough to think these cases don't still occur today.

I don't want to give away too much of the book's actual content, as I hope you'll read it for yourself.  I imagine that getting this written and having her story all lined out on paper must have been very validating for the author.

I'm pleased to be able to offer you the chance to win this book.  I would love to get this into the hands of a fostering or adoptive family.  I think the perspective of kids from difficult places will help families "reset" their thinking and dealing with their children.

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Weekly Wrap Up 21- with contest winner

I thought I'd share a couple of the projects the kids have done from God & The History of Art recently.  Above we have Brianna's Last Supper, and below is a two-headed dragon by Eli.

I have a feeling we'll be bird-walking more into the realm of dragons next year.  They go so nicely with knights and castles, after all!  I remember hearing that dragons are depicted with different numbers of toes in different Asian countries, so we'll have to check into that at some point, too.  Eli has asked for these, which seem like a good supplement for next year.  If anyone has any castle building material recommendations, please share!  

Eli is working on his foreign language program.  Review coming soon!  

Couldn't resist sharing this photo bomb.  That's cranberry juice, Paul's drinking.  Really.

Our house heats very unevenly.  It has large void spaces from the high ceiling, open floor plan thing we've got going on.  Eli got the bright idea of doing some record keeping to find out what the difference in temps is in various rooms.  It's 73* in the warmest room and 66* in the coldest room right now.  

I made them a form to cut apart and write temps down.  I love these impromptu learning opportunities!  

Friday was the day to draw for the winner of the Unstoppable DVD.  

Eli has the best hat for this.

And the winner is... Chantel!  Congratulations, and enjoy your DVD!  

Our bathroom remodel is chugging along.  Flooring comes next.  I'm impressed with how quickly things are going, given how long the living room took in our old house.  

That's all for this week!  We're still working our way through Children's Homer.  Next week, we continue to learn about King David, and touch on Phoenicia.  In about a month, we get to learn about early India, which should be a fascinating break from the Fertile Crescent area.  

We're officially half way through the school year, and the daffodils will be making an appearance soon.  About this time every year, I start to think I might survive this homeschool thing after all.  

Linking up with Great Peace Academy and:  

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Saint Patrick's Day Shirt Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I love reviewing.  I love the variety of products I'm exposed to, that I might never have tried otherwise.  But what I really love is when I get to write a review for something that I already wanted to purchase.  

Such was the case with the St. Patrick's Day shirt.  

There's one day a year where everybody is a little bit Irish.  Everyone wears green, and often, that green takes the form of a special Saint Patrick's Day t-shirt.  

When I selected the shirt for review, I chose this one for Eli because it's no-nonsense look seemed to fit my tween boy best.  When it arrived, I was delighted to discover that the green shamrock on the front of the short sleeved tee matched the green of a long sleeve shirt Eli already owned.  Perfect for our sunny but crisp weather the day of our photo shoot.

"Hey, this is my St. Patrick's Day shirt."  

Now, some of the choices on the website are things I wouldn't want my family wearing.  

But this one?

Suits him well.

We had a great time, enjoying the sunshine in the development going in behind our house.  

He was a cooperative model for me.

And the shirt?  I really like it.

Nice quality cotton, sized just right.

Please take a moment to visit www.saintpatrickdayshirts.com and see their selection of St. Patrick's Day shirts.  

Eli can be a tough customer when it comes to what he will wear.  I'm happy to report that this shirt passed the test!

You can connect with saintpatricksdayshirts.com on Facebook, too, where they post deals and promotions.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Juppy Baby Walker GIVEAWAY

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I was excited to receive the Juppy Baby Walker to review with Luke.  In fact, this is Luke's very first review!  

The Juppy is the only baby walker the folds up small enough to fit in your diaper bag.  

It's designed to keep you from having to hunch over when helping your fledgling toddler practice those precious steps.  

Because Luke has special needs, he's still not walking at age 2.  Since the Juppy fits toddlers up to 35 pounds, it works for him just fine.  

We spend a lot of time hunched over "walking" him from place to place in the house.  

With the Juppy Baby Walker, we can take him for a walk outside in the fresh air without hurting our backs.  

The Juppy Baby Walker has adjustable straps, to make it perfect for short or tall parents to use.  It's also machine washable 100% cotton.  And safe?  Not only does it have a zipper in the back, it has not one, but TWO velcro tabs across the zipper for security's sake.  It's far safer than traditional baby walkers, because an adult is always right there with the child.  

I spoke with Luke's physical therapist about the Juppy, and she said while they're good for typical kids, sometimes special needs kids can get lazy in them because they don't need to hold their own balance.  I'm still glad we reviewed the Juppy Baby Walker, because it's always good to try new tricks.  You never know what will be helpful with Luke.  He does lean quite a bit in it, but maybe as he develops more core strength, it will be a better option for him.  

You can see the Juppy in action on YouTube or visit the Juppy News Blog.  Be sure to follow them via Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest for the latest news and promotions.  

Are you ready to WIN a JUPPY?

This giveaway is open to our neighbors to the north!  US and CANADA only, please.

Remember, if you've won a giveaway here on Greatly Blessed in the last month, please refrain from entering to allow others to experience the thrill of winning, too.  Thank you.

  

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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