I only have a few minutes to post but I wanted to share a wonderful resource for the new year.  I am planning on reading through the entire Bible this year and have found a free podcast of daily Bible readings which take you through the entire Bible in a year.  This is from Learn Out Loud - one of my favorite free audio download websites that I use often.  You can download the entire file to your mp3 player or computer and access it whenever it is convenient for you.  I still plan on reading the text as well but this is a great resource for auditory learners or people who are on the go a lot.  I am planning on having my boys listen to the podcast every evening and do their readings in the mornings.  Here is the link: Bible in a Year Podcast
Enjoy!

If Jesus woke up in my shoes today - how would He handle my day?

I am finding myself asking this question more and more often lately.  In the everyday challenges of being a mom I sometimes find myself in situations that I don't know instinctively how to handle.  Or, I might react in way that produces the desired results but doesn't necessarily get to the heart of the matter. 

I am trying to remind myself to look to our Heavenly Father who knows all about our challenges and can walk us through how to best handle each situation.
God has or parenting answers.  He knows better than any of us how to handle:
Attitudes
Disobedience
Disrespectfulness
Laziness
ALL these heart issues! (in my children and myself!)

While I will never be Christ-like in ALL that I do, I determined to try to put everything in His hands and act and re-act only after prayer and reflecting on the question of
"If Jesus woke up in my shoes today - how would He handle my day?"

Most homeschoolers are already trying to survive on one income in our two income world, and the current economic situation is not making things any better.  Lots of families I know are really having to cut back on their expenses. 

Our family is no exception, and I have been trying to find ways to enjoy Christmas events and activities without spending a lot of money.  I would LOVE to hear what you all do for cheap or free entertainment at Christmas.  I haven’t included things like volunteering, making homemade crafts and goodies, caroling, Christmas parades and the other free Christmas activities we all are used to participating in – I’m sure your calendars are already full with plenty of church and outreach events.
But I have found lots of other free special events for our family to do!  Some have been hard to find so in this post I thought I would share some of the ways I find cheap or free entertainment.

We live in a fairly small town so there are not many free opportunities right here in our community so I have to get creative in looking for Christmas opportunities.  Here are some of the tools I use to find activities:

Churches
Not to sound snobbish, but I don’t really enjoy the typical children’s church Christmas plays unless my children (or children I know well) are in them (doesn’t that sound terrible to say!  Sorry – just being honest), so I usually skip going to typical church plays.  But, I do check the websites of the larger churches in our community for holiday special events.  Most large churches have choirs and put on some kind of free Christmas cantata, carol sing-along, or candle light up service.
You can also usually find a free live nativity scene for the kids to enjoy and the whole family to reflect on.
Community choirs & bands
Most cities have a community band and/or choir.  They tend to be large and in our experience, very professional.  They usually have a free Christmas concert every year.
Newspapers
I go to the newspaper websites of my town and the large cities surrounding us.  Most papers have a monthly calendar and you can see all upcoming community activities.  I don’t like waiting to just read the paper as it comes out – a lot of times you don’t receive much notice of upcoming events – looking at the calendars on the websites allows me time to put them on our family calendar and I get more variety by checking nearby towns (without having to buy all those papers)!
Colleges
I also check the local college calendars.  We have several universities in our area and most have free concerts put on by their bands or choirs, not only around Christmas time, but all year round.
Museums
Many museums have special Christmas displays and activities.  Go to the websites of the museums you are willing to drive to and sign up for their email newsletters, that way you will always know when something special is going on.
Libraries
Most libraries have Christmas story reading times or craft making activities. 
Eventful
This website is a wonderful resource for events in your community.  Check it out at www.eventful.com  You are sure to find something that you love!
Parks & Rec
Our state parks put out monthly emails with special events that are going on.  I sign up for these so that I don’t have to go to each park’s website to find out their activities.  Many parks have hay rides, sleigh rides, star gazing, and other free events this time of year.
State website
Our state has a tourism website that is a great resource when looking for activities (and field trip ideas, too).  Ours is searchable by area in the state.  I typed in our search area and dates and found many activities and places to visit that we had never heard of before!

While you are doing all that web surfing, you might as well listen to some free Christmas music:

Free Christmas Music
We LOVE listening to old Christmas classics and I found some websites that let you listen to music stations for free.  The one I like best is www.live365.com
They have a great selection of Christmas stations to choose from. 

Have any other ideas of how to find free Christmas entertainment?  Please share!

     We are moving and if there is one thing that I am definately not good at, it is cleaning!  Four of my wonderful friends came with me yesterday to clean the house we are moving into.  Three of them are sisters and one is a sister-in-law.  They all grew up in mennonite families and these girls know how to clean!   They actually enjoy doing it!
     Two of them each immediately took a bathroom (now that's love!), one took on the kitchen, and another started cleaning windows while I vacuumed every corner and crevice in all the rooms to remove cobwebs and dust.  We then scrubbed the walls, vacuumed the carpets, and mopped all the wood and linoleum floors.  The hot water was not working but we still cleaned away with cold water.
     Each of the boys cleaned their rooms with some of their friends.  In each room I placed a clipboard with a cleaning checklist so that I would not have to continuously have the boys coming to me asking "What do I do next?".  Next to each task I included what they were supposed to use to clean it.  For example:
     - Wash all baseboards using "lysol cleaner" water and a rag
     - Clean all windows using windex and paper towels
This saved LOTS of time, helped them to work independently, and prevented us from doubling our efforts.  It also allowed us moms to concentrate on our tasks without numerous interruptions.
     Four of the teen boys tackled the basement.  This was a task that I hadn't really thought through.  So, I had my friends come down and help me figure out what should be done first.  We sent them to work with the shop vac getting all the cobwebs along the ceiling and in the corners.  Then they swept the concrete floor.  After that we had them scrub all the walls with a cleaning solution and finish up by mopping the floor with bleach water.  Not one of them complained once.  I was so thankful to them!
     We got the entire house cleaned and even though we were exhausted we had a lot of fun together.  Any task is made easier when you have friends alongside you.  Now the real work begins - KEEPING it clean!

I recently had a chance to review the new Schoolhouse Planner.  I love anything that will help me get organized so really enjoyed reviewing this product.  The Schoolhouse Planner is not only a homeschool planner but a household planner as well.  This is one of the best features!  Instead of flipping back and forth from my home planner to school planner everything is in one place.

Of course, it has lots of calendars:
- a 2008-2009 calendar
- month at a glance calendars in 2 page spreads
And handy lists such as:
- 08-09 holidays
- read the bible in a year schedule chart
It is sprinkled with homeschool articles:
- unit studies by Amanda Bennett
- hands-on history by Amy Pak
- homeschooling through high school by Janice Campbell
There is a huge section of planners for homeschooling - almost 50 various forms:
- annual plans
- curriculum planning sheets
- weekly planning pages
- homeschool goals
- evaluations, grades, and test scores
- logs for recording books read
It helps you keep all your important household information in one place:
- kitchen & measurements conversions charts
- things loaned and borrowed list (boy do I NEED this!)
- emergency contacts
- grocery, and menu planning logs
- household schedules for cleaning and chores (daily, weekly, and monthly)
- budget forms
It even has dinner recipes!
I could do without:
- The “Important US Documents” section.  These are easily found on the web and seemed out of place in a school year planner.  Maybe if I am studying US history this year it would have been helpful.
- The cost.  It is more expensive than a lot of other planners I have looked at.
What I love:
- being able to customize my planner to fit my needs.  I only print what I want to use.
- except for the calendars, all the forms can be used for many years to come.  No need to buy a new planner each year.  So maybe the cost is not as high as it seems when you factor this in.
Overall, The Schoolhouse Planner is a great way for homeschooling moms to organize the two most important aspects of their lives – family and school!
If you want more information, click here: The Schoolhouse Planner

In celebration of Museum Day, The Smithsonian Magazine has a coupon for 2 free passes to tons of participating museums.  The passes allow you and a guest free general admission on Saturday, September 27th.  Here is the link:  Museum Day Admission Card
Click on find a venue, then click on your state on the map and it pulls up a list of participating museums.  I am glad it is on a Saturday so hubby can go - he and I can get in free and only have to pay admission for our boys. 
Stop by Weblink Wednesday by socalval for more great freebies and links
Enjoy!

WIN a 1 year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine!

I have blogged about my favorite homeschool curriculum, my favorite homeschool resource, and now I would like to share about my favorite homeschool magazine: The Old Schoolhouse magazine.
     I have subscribed to a few other homeschool magazines in our homeschool journey, but The Old Schoolhouse is by far my favorite.  It is diverse, thourough, insightful, encouraging, and professionally produced. 
     They have articles from homeschool moms just like us to well known homschool supporters like Ruth Beechick.  The content is rich and plentiful - everyone is sure to find an abundance of information and resources that are applicable to their own homeschool setting no matter what their teaching style or philosophy.
     Another unique feature about The Old Schoolhouse is that they offer it in a digital version!  At first I was skeptical but after looking through it, I was sold. 
     I have been trying to simplify and declutter anyway and this is a perfect way to do that and still have what I need at my finger tips.  The digital version looks exactly like the printed version of the magazine.  The pages flip on the screen as if I am flipping them in my hand. 
     Here are some features I like about having a digital version:
- You can download it to your computer - you don't need to be online to access it
- The contents are searchable (unlike the hard copy!) so if you are trying to quickly get your hands on that article about college scholarships - no problem
- If a company or website on the page interests you, click on it and their web page pulls right up (I love this feature because I am notorious for jotting down sites I want to visit as I come across them but then I will lose the slips of paper or forget all about it!)
- It is cheaper than the print version ($16.95)
- The settings are easy.  To zoom in on a page you just click on it.  You can also adjust the settings to view a 1 or 2 page spread
- I can't "lose" this version like others that I couldn't find when I needed them!
- You can even email articles to your friends!
     I have been thinking of how to celebrate my 100th blog post and when I found the digital version of The Old Schoolhouse I knew it would be the perfect giveaway!  So, leave a comment below and a winner will be picked randomly in one week on Sept 9th. 

     My favorite curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, has won several Excellence Awards!  These awards were published in the Spring, so I am a little behind the times but I am thrilled that more and more moms are hearing about this wonderful curriculum!
     What I like most about the excellence awards is that the winners are selected by moms just like you and me who actually use and are blessed by these resources.  Votes are tallied by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - click here to vote for your favorites!

Tapestry of Grace won in several categories this year:

BEST UNIT STUDY
     1st place
BEST CLASSICAL RESOURCES
     1st place
BEST OVERALL HOMESCHOOL COMPANY
     2nd place
BEST RESOURCE BOOK
     3rd place
FAVORITE BIBLE CURRICULUM
     3rd place
FAVORITE HISTORY CURRICULUM
     2nd place
FAVORITE GEOGRAPHY CURRICULUM
     2nd place
FAVORITE LITERATURE CURRICULUM
     2nd place
FAVORITE WRITING CURRICULUM
     2nd place
They also won 2nd place in the FRIENDLIEST and MOST UNIQUE categories.

Now that is a lot of awards!  I am thrilled to see this little known resource getting this much praise.  I only wish I had found Tapestry of Grace sooner!  If you would like to find out more about this multi-level, multi-subject curriculum for ages K to mom order a free information packet below.  It includes a sample cd.

• Wake up.
  Eat cereal or waffles.
  Sit down and they would do their schoolwork. They would ask questions that I have no idea what the answers are. Then I'd say let's move on to the next subject.
  Lunch would be macaroni and cheese or Cici's Pizza.
  We'd come home and be too full to finish school. So we'd take a nap.
  That's about it.
• Field trip!!
• We would take a sick day and play video games all day.
• Cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would not answer the phone. We would read books, and watch educational videos all day.

I am not really good at working my away around this blogging thing.  I never know how and where to answer questions that I am sometimes asked in my comments section. I can't figure out how to do that so I decided to start a new category just for questions. 
A wonderful blogger friend recently asked:
"My oldest son (9) questions our authority, and has struggles with obedience and kindness. I'd love your input if you have one in your brood like that and the things that have worked for you guys."

Oh yes - I have one like that!  And let me just say that I hope this doesn't come across as if I think I have all the answers - I will just share what has worked for our family and the rest of you please chime in with what has worked for you too!
We have tried many different things over the years to remedy this problem in our family, but for our boys, we have found that the most effective fix for disobedience or bad attitudes is TIME.
I can always tell when I am not spending enough time with my boys.  I will begin to see rolling of the eyes, bad attitudes about chores, procrastination on assignments, arguing and power playing with brothers, and a general distance in the air.  Now, certainly these things are normal when it happens occasionally, but I am talking about when this behavior is consistent.
And when I say spending time, I'm not really talking about "school" time.  As a homeschool mom, I thought I did spend a lot of time with my boys!  Certainly, I'm home with them all day.  But the Lord showed me that most of my interactions with them were either specifically about their school work or chores or activities.  Not necessarily any FUN stuff, or stuff that was important to them.  So, their relationship with me was mostly as teacher and taskmaster.
The Lord revealed to me that I neeed to spend time with them doing the every day tasks of being a boy, and spend time with them doing the things they enjoy doing - yes, even if that involves dirt and bugs, and swords, and taking things apart - ugh!
I know this sounds kind of silly but it really does work.
I compare it to my relationship with the Lord.  When I am not spending time with Him and in His Word, it is so much easier for me to think only of myself, to discount His commands and His will, and to seek my own personal pleasures and desires. 
But, when I am dwelling in His Word, and spending time with Him in prayer, it is so much harder for me to sin, to ignore His will, to ignore what I know is right.
I think the same principles apply to our children and their relationship with us.
So, my advice is to spend time with that little bundle of attitude, even if he doesn't like it at first.  If he truly feels how much you love him, care about what is important to him and want to be with him - issues will still come up but will be resolved much easier because you will have captured his heart, and his desire will be to not dissapoint you!

I want to share with you all an awesome resource for homeschool moms - The Homeschool Minute.  It is a weekly newsletter put out by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine folks and every issue is jam packed with great information and encouragement.  The articles that are included are short - which I like - because I tend to skip and email newsletter if it is too long.  They usually have a contest and a homeschool freebies section.  Each newsletter is centered around a theme with articles and links reinforcing the theme.
I have subscribed to a lot of email newsletters, but in my opinion, this is one of the best.  Short and sweet - just the way I like it!

Want more great links?  Visit socalval's weblink wednesday

Here is one of our first family photos with my mom, grandma, and cousin:

I took this last picture of Joshua on the hay bail the other day.  He was in the middle of playing capture the flag with friends when I stopped him.  After I snapped that picture I said "Bye".  He said "Bye Mom" and then said "Now I can say mom and it really is true".  I didn't know whether to smile or cry!
We are so thankful to the Lord for bringing Joshua into our family!

Honestly, I don't know how my hubby puts up with me!  From goofy to grouchy I am one hard woman to live with!  And the things I ask him to do sometimes make him shake his head in wonder.  This past weekend he and the boys were out of town leaving me all alone. He took the oldest 3 boys camping at their Royal Rangers Pow Wow and our youngest spent time with his buddy since I had to work. 
My biggest fear about being alone was taking care of the dogs.  That is one thing I never have to worry about.  When they get dirty - the boys bathe them.  When they get ticks - the boys and hubby remove them.  I was not looking forward to taking on those jobs.
But my biggest challenge was calling our male Jack Russell inside after he spends time outdoors.  Our girl Jacks listen well and come right when I call them but that male dog is stubborn.  He must know he doesn't "have" to listen to a woman - I am not alpha male.  I knew he would spend all weekend wandering the woods, tromping through the creek, get filthy digging for moles, picking up tons of ticks - all while happily ignoring my calls for him to come home.
Thankfully, I came up with a solution.  I asked hubby to record himself calling the dogs inside so I could play it back on a portable radio when I needed to.
He thought I was crazy!  But being my hero - he did it for me - with the boys and I giggling in the background the whole time.  It seemed so silly!
I wasn't sure if it would work but it was the only thing I could come up with. 
Soon after they left I let the dogs outside.  When I called them in the girls came right away, but Arrow was too busy - laying in the grass sunning himself.  When I called him, he just looked at me, slowly blinking because of the bright sunshine.  I tried calling his name in a nice sweet voice, then in a deep stern voice - nothing.  His look said it all: 
"Can you keep it down, you're disturbing my vitamin D absorption"
He closed his eyes and turned his head away from me.
So, I had no other choice - I got out my secret weapon - a MAN!  I hit that play button and as soon as that dumb dog heard my husbands voice he came running up onto the deck with his tail between his legs. 
I ended up using that tape all weekend and Arrow never did figure out that his boss was not really there. 
I wonder what the neighbors thought.
Isn't that something!  I am amazed at the power and authority men have!  God gave men the job of ruling over the animals and clearly He also let the animals know who's in charge.  I am glad I have the protection and power of my man over me.  A weekend without him made me even more aware of what life would be like without my alpha male!

I have to speak tomorrow at an AARP meeting and I can't believe I am so nervous!   I have spoken in public many times but it was usually pertaining to homeschooling or foster care/adoption.  I wasn't really nervous speaking about those topics because I feel like I "live" them and can speak easily from experience and from the heart - but tomorrow is a little different.
We had a group of AARP folks come to the home where I work for their day of service.  They brought cookies and visited with the elderly who live there.  They liked what they saw and toured our facility and private cottages.  They loved it so much that they wanted someone to come and share with their entire group about our facility.  And my boss thought I would be the perfect person to do it (what is he thinking!!!!!!!)
I feel that our philosophy is truly unique but I am afraid of representing something that is not my own - my own idea - my own business - you know what I mean?
But,
because I thought they never really would contact us again - but they did
and
because my boss was planning on going with me - but at the last minute can't  
I know that the Lord wants me to do it.  So, I am resting in His peace, and counting on His direction.  I am praying that I convey the message He wants me to send about our facility that truly operates to honor Him through honoring the elderly. 
It sure makes me thankful though, for all the public speaking opportunities, speech, and debate classes my boys have had through our local homeschooling community!  No matter what they do in life they will need to be able to speak in public.  My boys aren't great at it, and neither am I, but I know that practice makes better.  So, I'm going to look at tomorrow as more practice.

Kid's bedrooms are another good room for extra learning to take place.  Here are some ways we have incorporated learning into their bedrooms:
- of course, the obvious: hanging posters up!  We have hung posters on topics such as WWII aircraft, planets, animals, etc.
- hang wall mounted magazine holders beside each bed next to the pillows to hold books and magazines that you want them to read.  Ours are often filled with art books, sketch pads, chapter books I want them to read but don't necessarily want to assign, zoo book magazines, or ranger ricks.  We find the boys use these more than their stand alone book shelves.
- create a reading corner: we used dust jackets off of books (you can usually get them at your library if you don't have enough of your own) to decorate the reading area.  We put in a comfortable chair and a magazine rack/table to hold books.
- use the ceiling: this works especially well if you have bunk beds.  I hang pictures and charts that the boys will be able to read as they are laying in bed.
- next to the boys cd/tape player we put a basket with books on audio, cd stories like those of Jim Weiss and Classical Kids stories, and cds of music they wouldn't necessarily just listen to on their own (like learn with Vivaldi)
- create a science corner: we have a small computer desk in one corner and that is where the boys have a microscope (just a cheap kids one that they can't harm!), magnifying glass, prism and other tools they can just experiment with safely
These are just a few of the things that we have done to try to make their rooms a place to think and not just play. Please post a comment to share your bedroom learning ideas, I want to hear what you all are doing as well!
Part 1 - Schooling in every room of the house - the BATHROOM

Having boys around is really handy!  I never have to take care of any bug, snake, spider, frog, or other creature that comes my way.  All I have to do is yell for help and one of my knights in shining armour comes to my rescue. 
Well, it's that time of the year - tick season - and my boys are responsible for tick removal on our 3 Jack Russells.  Thankfully our Jacks are white and short haired so ticks are real easy to spot.  Here is "Skittles" in our back yard - ain't she cute!

We only have just over 3 acres but it is mostly wooded so my boys and dogs can't walk out the door without getting a tick on them.  Lately, they (the boys and our Jacks) have been spending a lot of time at the little creek on our property and they have been coming home covered with ticks.  They are everywhere . . . and I mean everywhere!  One of our Jacks "Arrow" had a tick in a very unpleasant spot - right under his tail shall we say.  Thankfully we noticed it before that little tick went exploring!

I wanted to share more on the subject of strewing and thought my older posts "Schooling in every room of the house" would fit in well with this topic.  Here is the first post in the series:
Schooling in every room of the house Part 1: the BATHROOM!
As homeschoolers we are famous for using every nook and cranny in our homes to our advantage in schooling our kids.  I love to learn in unexpected or overlooked places.  I am going to start this series of blog entries with ideas for learning in the most overlooked room in the house:  the bathroom
I think the bathroom is one of the BEST places to sneak in learning! It is a room that my boys seem to spend lots of time in - especially when I tell them it is time to clean their room (you all know what I mean!).
Here are some of the ways I squeeze learning into the bathrooms:
1.)  I put a small basket on the floor and a file organizer on the back of the toilet and stuff them with books that my boys don't realize are "educational" (like When is a Pig a Hog?, 5 Minute Mysteries, Big Book of Questions and Answers, More Than Meets the Eye, Brain Surgery for Beginners, Art Fraud Detective, the Murderous Maths  books, Kids Discover magazines, etc.)  Mostly things that they normally would not just pick up to read.  I can't tell you how many times they have come to me after a visit to that room and say "Hey, guess what, listen to this!".  I try to put books in there in the subject areas that I feel we need to spend extra time on such as science, logic, art, or language.
I switch the books out every once in a while and sneak in ones that pertain to what we are learning. 
Here is a picture of one of the file organizers in my bathroom:

2.)  I also use the walls on the bathroom to hang posters, charts, and things I want them to memorize.  Here are some examples:
- When we were studying Shakespeare I plastered the bathroom (yes, the one our guests use) with Shakespeare quotes.  They were sayings that we use every day and never realize we are quoting Shakespeare such as "Eaten out of house and home" - my life story!
- When we are studying an artist I tape their work up on the bathroom wall to be admired while "lounging".  Sometimes I use those cheap Dover $1.00 art postcard packs - while studying Picasso I taped his famous painting post cards up on the bathroom wall in chronological order.
- I have a chart of the books of the bible hanging in there for us to work on memorizing.
- I hang pictures of the solar system, skeletons, the alphabet in sign language - anything!  The possibilities are endless.
So, when you get time, go look in your bathroom and see it with fresh eyes.  You can learn a lot in there!