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In case you haven’t heard of them, I’d like to introduce you to a great company called Bondi Band.

Bondi Bands are terrific stay-in-place, wicking headbands (and more) – great for your really active type activities, but also for the daily “marathon”!

And they also believe in giving back…

In an effort to make the world a little better, each year BondiBand picks a charity to donate some of our hard earned profits to.

We are a simple company with a dedication and belief in our product. Our philosophy is to make a great product at a great price and to build relationships one at a time. And as much as we believe in making a tidy profit we also believe in giving back. Each year we donate 10% of our pretax profits to charity. For 2008 we have chosen the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

First, let me show you my beautiful girl, wearing an adorable Bondi Band “Pigtail Hat”!

Is that the cutest thing ever, or what?

And also, much to everyone’s amusement, R.T. has also decided that anything Jewel likes that much must be a good thing…

The hat is tough and well made, the color is vibrant… And did I mention adorable? They make a ponytail style, too!

And yes, they sent something for me, as well. Other than suggesting the pigtail hat for Jewel, I didn’t make any requests – typically when you receive samples for review you don’t get to choose…

So, I was beyond delighted when I pulled out a black “original” Bondi Band for me to try, and this was the imprint:

What a caring, thoughtful treat!

I truly enjoyed wearing my Bondi Band, which did an amazing job of staying in place. It was nice not to have to mess with the pair of clips I wear with all the other headcoverings in my current wardrobe.

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Want to get your hands on this? Here’s how!

BUY IT!

Online directly from Bondi Band!

WIN IT!

TWO lucky As For My House readers will win a Bondi Band of their choice!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Head on over to Bondi Band and leave a comment here telling me what you’d like to try!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each).

Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entries, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Become a Fan of Bondi Band on Facebook.

In additon to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like subscribing to the blog, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details! (You can get an extra entry, for instance, just by entering our other current give-away(s)!)

This giveaway ends Saturday, 7/3 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your goodies will ship directly from the sponsor!

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Comments are now closed. Look for the winner in a separate post, soon!

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I was delighted to receive the latest edition of Franklin Springs Media’s wonderful Homestead Blessings series for review (and a giveaway – keep reading!):

Homestead Blessings: The Art of Quilting

The West Ladies welcome us back with their familiar warmth and charm, this time into a cozy sewing room complete with a lovely old treadle sewing machine.

After a little introduction to the history of quilting, we dive in to a start-to-finish tutorial.

Looking at a lovely Amish quilt may make the entire process seem intmidating, but the West Ladies break it down into simple, managable steps that really made me feel like it was possible that I could make a quilt!

They touch on color selection, fabric, and laying out your quilt, then delve into the mysteries of piecing the blocks together, assembling the quilt, the actual quilting, and binding.

During the course of the video they make a complete (if small) “country” quilt, as well as adorable quilted potholders. They also show and discuss “whole fabric” quilts, including tied quilts.

I was a little disappointed by this DVD, which seemed skimpier than previous installations.

The cover of the box has a lovely quilt image on it, but more complex designs are never more than mentioned in passing. The intro to the DVD shows what looks like a quilted casserole dish cozy, but that is not shown or mentioned in the program.

Although a quilt is, indeed, a large undertaking, it seemed like it either needed a lot more depth, or perhaps needed to include another small project or two (such as the potholders) to fill it out.

Some of the instruction was also frustratingly vague, and the closeups of Jasmine attaching the binding showed only the back of her hand, rather than how to perform the task.

In spite of that, though, it was a great way to inspire confidence in our ability to complete a simple quilting project, and Jewel and I are anxious to get moved, get out our sewing machine, and give it a try! (And I’m putting a treadle machine on my “Wish List”!).

This DVD would be an excellent starting place for someone who had never quilted, and perhaps never even considered it.

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WIN IT!

TWO lucky As For My House readers will win their own copy of the Art of Quilting DVD!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment here and share whether you’ve ever quilted, or even considered it!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each).

Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entries, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Become a Facebook Fan of Franklin Springs Family Media.

In additon to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like subscribing to the blog, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends Saturday 6/26 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winners will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your goodies will ship directly from the sponsor!

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Comments are now closed! Look for the winners announced soon in a separate post!

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The publishers’ description is as follows:

Take a wonder-filled journey with Jesus and His disciples.

Animated straight from the pages of the popular Read and Share® Bible, The Jesus Series introduces children to the life of Christ. Unlike the 3-minute, bite-size story format of the Read and Share® DVD Bible Volumes 1-4, this DVD is an uninterrupted half-hour presentation of Jesus’ ministry along the shores of Lake Galilee and the villages near Nazareth. Children will see Jesus call His disciples, feed 5,000 people, heal the sick, teach about God’s kingdom and introduce the Lord’s Supper.

This DVD completes The Jesus Series by presenting the life of Christ in a way that little ones can understand and build a solid foundation on.

My opinion of this DVD is… well… mixed. And one of its best features is also one of its biggest downfalls.

The Good:

• The story aggregates a number of story segments from the Bible into one continuous storyline that children can easily follow.
• I enjoyed the simple, uncluttered animation, which still had fun details like moving water!

The Bad:

• There is content added that is not in the Bible. It’s well done, it’s consistent with the impression the Bible gives of those involved, and it is important to the story flow (especially for little ones)… but it is not the Bible. This is not horrible, just something to be aware of, and make sure you discuss with your children.
• Maybe it’s just trying to cover too much ground in too little time, but I can’t imagine most children would follow a lot of the jumps, and I found myself explaining “the big picture” of a lot of it to my children as we watched.
• Lack of drama, excitement, something… The music wasn’t lively, the characters weren’t lively. The whole thing was rather monotone – when Jesus’ life and ministry was anything but!
• There was a huge emphasis on Judas. With the brevity of the piece, and the number of more “adult” concepts left out entirely, it was very odd how much of Judas there was – especially as much of it was fabricated (see first point).

This DVD wasn’t BAD, but I would pick something else if I was choosing…

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Our Modest Matron for today is Nina, of alltumbledown: A Modest Attempt at Style.

The blog, in fact, is how I “met” Nina, clicking though to her site after reading her comment on another modesty blog.

Nina photographs herself every day (yes, every day!), and posts about her outfits – with little musings about style, modesty, and life thrown in for good measure.

I was very interested in her choices because of her Jewish faith… well, let me get out of the way and let Nina tell you all about herself.

• Religious affiliation: I’m a Modern Orthodox Jew. For those unfamiliar with the many shades of grey within the umbrella of Judaism, this means that I adhere pretty strictly to traditional Jewish law and practice while being fully involved in the positive aspects of the secular world.

I attended a Jewish day school from K-12, spent a year post-high school studying Jewish texts in Jerusalem and then went off to a small secular liberal-arts college.

• Life Situation: I have been married for nearly 2 years to my wonderful husband, a future doctor (since he’s halfway finished with med school, we joke that he is a “doc”). I work for a small museum in Lower Manhattan, where I do research, lead walking tours and manage viral communication. I plan on going back to school relatively soon for a PhD in history and religion. We don’t have kids yet, but are excited to start a family together in the not-too distant future.

• How long have you been dressing modestly? (Were you raised that way?)

I grew up Orthodox, and as such, always had a sense of propriety and modesty even when wearing shorts and bathing suits. My current modesty code, which includes wearing skirts to the knee and to-the-elbow sleeves, was a choice that I took on after my year in Israel. After spending the year studying Jewish law, I dedicated myself to more stringent observance, the most superficially apparent of which was my wardrobe.

Covering my head started after marriage, in accordance with Jewish law. I cover my head, not my hair (basic disagreement in Jewish law about which is the thing to cover – most people side with authorities who hold that hair is the issue, but I follow authorities who believe that the majority of the head, not hair, must be covered.) When I wear a hat or scarf, that is my hair hanging down.

• Can you share a little about your journey to modest dress?

For me, modesty is less about espousing a specific notion of femininity and much more about affiliating myself with a community and lifestyle. In the Jewish world (well, my Jewish world – there are just so many incredibly diverse communities that it is hard to generalize) wearing a skirt and headcovering automatically associates you with those who care about Jewish law. This isn’t to say that those who wear jeans and go bareheaded don’t—in fact, many do—but at first glance, my dress lets people know about my observance level.

I won’t lie: it isn’t easy, especially in summer when everyone walking around is wearing cute little sundresses and shorts. Dressing as I do has become rote but I do remember that it is a choice I anew make each day.

Blogging about my “modest attempt at style” has been the best resource for me. It challenges me to be creative with my wardrobe instead of wearing the same thing every day, and has put me in touch with an inspiring network of women who do the same.

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Here’s my simple-living, green, thrifty tip of the day:

Don’t want to darn socks? Me, either.

I’m not sure my family would wear them, anyway, as used to smooth, fluffy textures as everyone is.

But I don’t just toss them in the trash, ether. Waste of money, waste of fabric, etc., etc., right?

So I pull out my trusty sewing scissors and give them a couple of snips.

I clip once across the sock, going up from the “point” of the heel.

For my anklets, I then just discard the remaining elastic band portion. For athletic socks, this divides them into two.

I’ve also been cutting off the toe-tips. This helps them lay flat, removes the toe seam, and allows them more free water flow in the wash. This is strictly optional.

These little cloths have a wide range of uses:

• Baby diaper wipes
• Family cloth wipes
• Dish cloths (not a drying towel, but instead of a sponge for washing)
• Handkerchief
• Cleaning cloth – windows, etc.
• Dedicated shoe-shine cloth
• Eyeglass or computer screen cleaner (used appropriately)
• I’m sure you can come up with your own unique uses, in your particular situation

You can just toss them in the wash… With your diapers, or your regular white load, depending. A few little cloths don’t add greatly to your washing burden.

If I had access to my sewing machines, I’d serge up the edges, as certain socks are starting to unravel at the cut edges. (Why some and not others remains a mystery).

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Here’s my darling princess, Jewel, age 5, climbing up the climbing wall at the Miami Children’s Museum.

She’s a brave climber, for sure.

But also, and more importantly here, it simply never occured to her to think that climbing a rock wall was something that you wouldn’t, couldn’t, or shouldn’t do in a dress.

Whyever would that stop you?

As proud mama watched from the shade…

Victory!

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Praises!

Mom had her cancer surgery yesterday. She’s now recovering in the hospital, and all went well!

Her doctor is very confident that they got everything, and the laproscopic procedure was uncomplicated. She’ll go home in a day or two to finish healing.

Final lab results will be back next week, but not a concern.

Praise the Lord for healing and mercy!

Ponderings…

After a lot of trouble getting connected, I finally went over to the mobile health clinic run by the pastor of our sister church, Kendall Brazilian. This was just a screening appointment, and I filled out an application to be sent to the County to qualify for free services.

Since I have been suffering, the doctor was kind enough to write me a prescription for my migraine medicine, to hold me over until I can actually be seen.

So I quickly headed over to my local pharmacy to fill it. Let me walk you through the result:

Fill: New (Self-explanatory, I hope)
Insurance: AMPLN (This is my AmeriPlan discount card, not insurance. It saved me $36.71!)
Quantity: 6 (Yeah, only 6. It’s 1 or 2 per headache, and they are closely guarded)
Status: Picked Up, Date Filled: 5/25 (Yeah…)

And… Did you catch that…

OUCH!

At $27.38 per pill, the stress of taking one is enough to give me a migraine!

It’s a non-formulary drug, so even when I’ve had various insurance overthe last two decades it wasn’t covered at all, or they paid a small percentage.

But it’s the only thing that works…

A lot of time and appeals for “medical necessity” have sometimes yielded fruit.

Hmmmm… What do you think my odds are of getting the military insurance to pay for it when Wolf is full-time active during his training?

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Today my mother will undergo surgery for her recently-diagnosed cancer. (12:30 pm California time, to be exact).

They’ll be doing a complete ovo-hysterectomy, as well as removing the cervix.

She’ll stay overnight in the hospital and go home Wednesday. Hard to believe she doesn’t stay longer, but with the laproscopic methods they use now they can throw you out sooner… Good for the bill, but I’m not sure it’s best for people’s healing.

Her doctor is very confident that they will get everything and she’ll be “clean” when this is over. A pathologist in the room will confirm clear edges before they finish the procedure.

The hopsital is discounting her cost 75%, and the surgeon 30%. The total bill will “only” be about $50K, and she’ll only have to be off work 1-2 weeks.

Whew!!

I’m encouraging her to take at least a week off, then do another week of phone sessions. She’s anxious to get back (for her clients, and her income!), but I’m nervous she’ll push too hard and not let her body heal.

My sister is taking off work for at least a week to be with her.

Sure wish I wasn’t on the other side of the country with little kids!

Please pray with me for the outcome of the surgery, for financial blessings, and for my mother and sister to be drawn to the Lord through this trial.

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Today’s Modest Matron is – Tamara!

Tamara is a Reformed Southern Baptist, and describes herself as, “joyfully married to a godly man, recently celebrating our 9th anniversary, and have been blessed with 5 children- the 5th being due November 2010. We home educate our blessings and serve the Lord in a foreign land.”

Be sure to read through to the end, to read the incredible story of Tamara’s “silent witness” to her community of muslim women.

Her History:

I was not raised to dress modestly. I was raised by a single woman who, by default, took on the ideology of feminism and seduction that is so prevalent in this world. This was all that she really knew as well, and so it was all she could teach. I faithfully followed the world’s ideals of womanhood most of my life, but as I came to know the Lord as an adult, He began to faithfully renew my mind in every aspect of life. I praise Him for the grace to work with me, the desperate mess that I was, step by step, layer by layer. I did grow away from seduction to a great degree before marriage, but it was after marriage that the Lord began His greatest work of holiness and healing in my life.

To give an example to show how the Lord began working in my life, in college, I began to understand that the way which I dress can affect a brother negatively. I was broken over this fact, and asked a few brothers in Christ to come and search my wardrobe and tell me the things that might make them or another brother stumble, and those things were thrown into the trash in shreds. However, I still had MUCH to learn about my own heart and how deep my ideologies were held and why, and the repentance and growth have been constant and increasing the older I grow in the Lord. He is faithful to renew our minds with His Truth.

Being a first generation Christian, the undertaking of the Lord’s growing me in holiness and Truth has been a large one. Though I can say that I *am* free, I must also profess to be ever growing in the freedom for which Christ has made me free!

Her Mission Story:

My husband and I desired to be missionaries from the time of our courtship. Much work was to be done in our lives- understanding right doctrines, ridding ourselves of debt, repentance of sin, understanding biblical order in the Church and biblical order in the home, what true ministry even is, what is a godly man, what is a godly woman, what the Bible says to all of these things. We had a long road of seeking, searching, failing, repenting, rejoicing in abasements, being broken and chastened, being strengthened, growing, praying… and the culmination of our prayers was an answer of discipleship among a precious body of believers in Spring, TX a little over three years ago.

For 1 1/2 years we were among a true fellowship who strived to honor the Lord- something we’ve found to be uncommon amongst modern Christianity at large. This church was a place where the focus was not on the lost, as though they were the very Lord of the church, but where true discipleship of believers, Titus 2 and edification in love could be found. Disciples were made in order that they would be strengthened to GO OUT and make more disciples in the world. We soaked up much, and this is really where the greatest paradigm shifts began to occur in most all areas of our lives. None of the principles were radically new to us, but rather added to our understanding and to our ability to walk out the direction which we already were headed, striving to serve the Lord. As a woman, I saw truly godly ladies and learned much from them. And, after 1 1/2 years of that- BOOM! We were sent.

As we came to the place where we were sent, not by a group, not my a man’s will, but by the sheer hand of God to do dominion work, we grew even more grateful for all the ways that the Lord had transformed our minds, our family, and us as individuals especially in those precious 20 months we had at our home church.

Tamara’s daughters with a family friend

Her Testimony of Modesty:

Pertaining to modest dress, we were sent to a place of absolute religious legalism. It saddens us to see women who are so oppressed, or who adopt cultural norms blindly without fully grasping their implications or origins. Prisoners who do not know they are behind bars. And yet, they are drawn to us.

Freedom is beautiful, and Christ can shine through those whom He has set free! Everywhere we go, people take our pictures, pet our children and kiss them, watch us, and more than several times, we have seen groups of women following us- watching us in awe.

I am every bit as conservative as these women, but I am different: I am free, because of Christ my Lord. I may not cover all the way down to my wrists and ankles, and all the way up my neck, but my clothing frames my face and not my body. My face is not wildly painted, as some women here feel the need to do in order to assert themselves. I am not oppressed. My husband and I are always together, and I am the only apple of his eye!

Where we live, everything about us is drastically different, yet similar in certain aspects of principle, and it has struck me being here how blessed I was to learn what biblical beauty and femininity are and how to let those things shine for God’s glory. As we- my daughters and I- dress modestly, chastely, and yet beautifully and femininely, the glory of God shines through us and that is one way to lift up the Lord so that He can draw all men unto Himself!

Our freedom in Christ is not to do whatever we want, but a freedom to finally be enabled to do as we should and live to glorify God on whatever mission field we are placed!

I can bring God glory just by being His free woman; His lady- amazing!

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R.T. had to have some major dental work done on Tuesday. And with that much to be done on someone his age, they do it under full anesthesia in the Operating Room. The child is still, as well as getting pain relief, and everything can get taken care of.

You take your child in, and nurses and doctors come and check them and talk to you. Once all is determined to be well, they are given an oral medication that is a sedative and anxiety-reducting medication (related to Valium).

Once the medicine takes effect, they are wheeled back into the Operating Room, monitors are attached, and the the complete anesthesia is done. The preliminary medication is really just to ease the separation from Mom.

So R.T. had been given this medication, and was starting to act “dopey.” I suggested that Wolf take Jewel out to the waiting room, to remove the added distractions and help R.T. relax.

When they started to leave, R.T. screamed, and tried to go after them. It was a weird, overdramatic reaction. They lovingly said goodbye, and I soothed him while they left.

Just moments later, a nurse came to take R.T. back.

I told her that he was not ready yet, and she seemed frustrated with me. She checked the clock – it had been the ten minutes she was “supposed to” wait; his head was bobbing, he was clearly feeling it.

But I held my ground, and she agreed to come back in another few minutes.

I laid R.T. in the bed, and reclined next to him. I stroked and soothed him, encouraging him to relax, even sleep. I reminded him that when he went to sleep, and woke up, he would be able to nurse again. (Yeah, it had been a long night fasting!)

When the nurse returned, R.T. didn’t even respond when I got up off the bed and raised the side rail. He obliviously watched the ceiling go by as she wheeled him down the hall…

Those extra few minutes made the difference between screaming trauma and total contentment.

R.T. being child #3, I am by now well-versed in trusting my mama instincts. I know God made us attuned to our children, and I don’t hesitate to use that fact to everyone’s advantage.

It is the one thing I most wish I could gift to new mothers.

Too often, people are quick to take the “advice” of others, even when it is not right for their child or their situation. This is especially true when there is some weight of authority – doctors, nurses, teachers, etc.

I am not discounting the value of these people, or their advice… I am simply saying that, as in the situation I just described, they do not necessarily know the entire situation, and they certainly do not know your child as well as you do.

Trust it, mama. It’s a God thing.

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