Exciting News from TOS!
 
Attention writers!
Grab your pencils and get those creative juices flowing!

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine is hosting our second Storytime Writing Contest! We have two creative fiction categories: adults (16 and up 2,500 words or less) and children (15 and below 1,500 words or less). Deadline to enter is March 16, 2009. $7.95 fee per entry.

Grand prize winners in both the adult and child categories will receive prize packages valued at over $1,000, publication in the Summer 2009 issue of TOS, and publication in our Storytime 2009 Compilation E-Book. Eleven Honorable Mentions from each category will also be included in the E-Book in addition to receiving gifts from top homeschool companies.

We look forward to reading your entries!

For a detailed list of prizes, official contest rules, to meet our judges, and to upload your story, please visit: www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/Short_Story_Contest.php.
 
Need help teaching writing? We have over 200 writing products in the Schoolhouse Store!

We recieved two bottles of Country Bob's all purpose sauce to review and let me tell you, we really enjoyed them. So much in fact that we went to Kroger's(a local grocery store), and bought two more bottles. My husband gave half a bottle to his brother and he tried the lil' smokey's recipe and loved it. I don't want to over sell this product but my husband went through the fridge one night to find different things to dip in it. We would like to try the spicy version soon but it is not offered in our grocery store so we will probably have to order it. So far, our favorite thing to use it on is chicken. We marinated it in the sauce and after cooking it, dipped it in the sauce also.

Another great thing about this company is that is it Christian owned, it says right on the bottle..."Christ is our CEO"  If you go to the website...http://www.countrybobs.com/pages/signup.asp and sign up for their newsletter, they will send you a free bottle of their "all purpose sauce".  I recomend you try this, you'll love it too.

And the best part is I get to give a bottle away to two lucky winners!  So leave me a comment and I will put you in the giveaway.  If you post about it on your blog, you will get a another chance to enter!  US Residents only!    Make sure you leave me a way to contact you, blog or email address.  If not I will have to delete your entries!  Thanks so much!  Contest ends Friday January 9th at midnight!

Thanks to Country Bob's for this opportunity!

Well today I turned 35 years old.  Wow, I'm now considered one of the older moms, I sure don't feel it.  Well, maybe with a little arthritis and having a harder time getting up from the floor-I do feel it some! 

Today is a bittersweet day, its a birthday but it's also the day my mother in law went home to be with the Lord one year ago.   Most of my readers know but she wasn't just a typical mother in law, she was truly like my mom.  We had Thursday dates every week and lunch every other Sunday.  We talked on the phone several times a week and spent every holiday together.  And what a grandmother!   The kids miss her like crazy.   This was such a huge loss in our life.  I think the sudden death made it worse for me, cancer diagnosis one month, 2months later gone.  It was like one month she was an active involved (not sick at all) and boom she was gone!  That has been one of the most difficult things for me.  Don't get me wrong, I would have not wanted her to suffer and be sick for months, even years but it just seemed to make it harder in a lot of ways to say goodbye!  With thoughts of this couldn't be, she was so healthy and on and on. 

I have learned so much this year about grief and loss.  I have seen my friends and family rally by my side and offer help in many ways.  I will never forget the ones who cried with me just because they saw me hurt.  My dad who wept and wept with me on the phone after telling him of my loss, and reminding me after feeling guilt about how we were dealing with medical decisons said.  "Angela, there is no one on this earth I would trust more with my life and medical decisions then you, why?  Because I know you will always have my best interest and love for me!  Those words carried me through a very difficult time!   It is really hard when you have to help make decisions and distant family members come in and want to offer unwanted advice in difficult situations.  I'm sure many of you have been there. 

I have had online friends (Tammy) and others too and online/real life friends- JEN (who just left me a beautiful comment)  who have prayed for me and thought of me more then I could have ever dreamed.  I know they were directily sent by God!  I have no doubt whatsoever!

I still have not had one day where I have not thought of Judy, The holidays are different, the Thursday's with the family is different but we are moving on, forward through life waited to be reunited and I have the calm assurance that the day will come and there will be a lot of hugging!  I'm grateful most of all for God's comfort (he has sent me dreams, people, and when I look back even before her diagnosis I can see HE was preparing me and my heart along the way.   NO ONE can stop the pain, people try, they would do anything to take it away but they can't .  Grief is something you have to walk through, everyday, every minute but coming out the other side you are stronger, wiser, and appreciate those with you even more!   I didn't want Judy to die on Jan 2nd and I will tell you, visiting her gravesite and seeing that date on her tombstone I felt once again a stab.  But I know God had a reason (I truly believe he wanted me to know that HE knew exactly what she meant to me)  Her homecoming day, the greatest day of her life will now be shared with my earthly birthday.  I will miss her calling me today singing Happy Birthday!  She ALWAYS did that for all of us.  You would pick up the phone and she would sing away to you!  But I know she is with her Savior and is enjoying every minute! 

Tonight I was supposed to go out on a date with my hubby for my birthday but my daughter has a really bad stomach bug that is going around the area really bad so we had to cancel.  It's funny, that would usually bum me out a great deal but I'm just thanking God I have my children here with me to care for.  We can celebrate another time!  If anything I have learned this year, is life can be HARD, PAINFUL, and DIFFICULT.  But everyday the sun rises and God is GOOD.

My son was so sweet last night, it melted my heart! 

Sam:  Mom, I have a couple of those New Year.....um, what do you call them?

Mom:  Resolutions or goals for the New Year

Sam:    Yes, those.  I want to be a better brother and a better son!

Mom:  I think those are wonderful goals but you are a wonderful son and brother.  But I know what you mean, we could all work on how we treat one another and I think that is a wonderful goal to have!  Thank God for his mercy, we are just sinners saved by grace and it wonderful to work on areas we struggle with.  It is pleasing to God

I just thanked the Lord for such a loving child who could clearly see areas he could use improvement.  He is a wonderful son and brother but we have stuggled lately with a lot of anger toward the siblings and I tell you sometimes I think we are hitting puberty early.  We have these mood swings all of a sudden, like everytime he is corrected,   "you hate me"  and just being real touchy and hurt easily.  He is really tall for his age, maybe hormones are sorta kicking in!  I don't know but I'm just touched he does see his weaknesses and wants to work on them.  We should all strive for that!

This sounds fun!  Kelli is hosting this fun meme where we are suppose to look back at 2008 and share what our first sentence of the first entry was for each month.  My year starts out with quite a bit of pain with the loss of my mother in law but we also have many fun things that come our way as well.

January

Tonight at 8pm my mother in law Judy went home to be with the Lord.

February  (loved doing Mary's show n tell)

We made an animal cell.

March (went to St. Augustine, Fl)

I have been out of town.

April

Finally pictures of spring fun! 

May (broke my ankle)

Well, I will have to say my kids have been so sweet trying their best to take care of mommy while she is hurt.

June

Well we are finally finishing up school this week. 

July (had my first contest for the new planner)

Today I am going to review the new Old Schoolhouse Planner!

August  (post on what really matters)

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to our basement for a possible tornado sighting. 

September (starting writing many reviews this past year)

Well I know most of you have probably already seen this but if there is anyone out there that hasn't you MUST! 

October (starting partcipating in HSB Post memoir assignments, have really enjoyed these)

This week Homeschool Memoirs Theme is Snacks!  Now thats a fun theme, anything talking about food is good! 

November

My son had his first Taekwondo's tournament this past weekend.

December

Wow!  Another year has passed and my oldest is now 10, half way to adulthood, does that ever make me want to weep?

I'm a little late on last weeks' assignment because of celebrating Christmas with family so I'm working on it now!  We are supposed to make a list of all of our goals for the new year.   In years past some of my new years goals have really worked out, others have NOT!  Sometimes I think I have too many so this year I would love to shorten the list some so I can really concentrate on the important ones!

1.  I have to find a better way to ORGANIZE my life.  I just feel my time is not always spent wisely and feel like so many times there is too much on my plate so I long to get a system that truly works for me being a work at home homeschooling mom.  I often fall behind on laundry and paperwork and a million other things in my home that causes me chaos.  I just can't stand it anymore-this is going to be a top priority. 

2.  My weight-this year has brought me a lot of pain being the first year without my mother in law.  Sometimes in our grief we tend to fill ourselves up with unhealthy choices.  Being really honest many times food has been my comfort.  Don't get me wrong, God has been right there with me and many many nights when I have missed her the most I have clung to him with everything I have had but still too often I run to food instead of my Savior and I have gained many pounds for it.  I HAVE to make some changes this coming year or my health is going to be effected for sure!

3.  I want to memorize more scripture and get into my Bible even more this year.  On Beth Moores Blog, she is giving a chance for people to sign up and have accountability for scripture learning.  I think I will join this.  I would love to include my children in this with me!

4.  I want to be a better wife and mother.  I think we should always strive for those goals.  There is always room for improvement!

5.  I want to find more time for laughter.  Sometimes I take life way too serious.  I get so caught up in my to do list, what isn't done and the weight of the world I don't laugh enough.  I reall want to take time to smell the roses!

I'm sure there are many other things but this is it for now!  I hope to really concentrate on these areas for the new year!

Vaseline's newest product, Clinical Therapy is a prescription-strength lotion that is available without a prescription.

It started in Kodiak; one of Alaska's many small towns, with a population of 6,000. Due to the location, Kodiak endures an extremely icy climate leaving many of its residents with dull, dry and cracking skin. This very reason is why Vaseline thought the demographic would be perfect to demonstrate the effectiveness of Clinical Therapy Lotion.

Vaseline turned to Petal Ruch, a voice coach and 50-year-old mother of four, who tried the product and felt it really worked, to start a word-of-mouth campaign for new Vaseline Clinical Therapy Lotion.  If she liked it, she could then freely "prescribe" it to anyone else she thought needed it.  Through word-of-mouth, her experience spread to more than 600 townspeople—including 39 cousins, a Russian music group, a knife maker, police detective, owners of fishing vessels, and many others-- whom also discovered that Clinical Therapy works.

View her story here: m80im.com/newsroom/2008/11/11/vaselineclinicaltherapy/

Clinical Therapy Lotion provides 60% more moisture than a prescription lotion, and is available without a prescription.. The best part is that it's not greasy, watered down or too thick and is available lightly fragranced and unfragranced making Clinical Therapy great for the entire family.

If Clinical Therapy is a product you are interested in trying that's great because Vaseline encourages you to use it, share it and "prescribe" it to others. This is an effort to prescribe a healthy skin regimen to people in your community.   

Here is the link to the Vaseline YouTube page: youtube.com/VaselineTherapy77.

Thanks to Vaseline and the FRN for this opportunity!

I really like Weight Watchers, its true I have been on and off again but truly I know this program works.  It's really about getting healthy and doing it by eating what is normal and healthy for your body size.  I joined again recenly and am hoping this coming new year will finally see me at my goal weight.  I love my group leader and love the benefits of doing the program and feeling good about myself! 

The exciting part I get to tell you about today is Weight Watchers has some wonderful new tools. 

1. Weight Watchers launched a fan page on Facebook to showcase upcoming products and deliver news and information to Weight Watchers food enthusiasts. It will feature links to recipes, product-related vidcasts, instant polls and more.

2. Weight Watchers is also debuting an interactive widget tool, "I Really Want!" to help consumers hungry for a snack find a sensible alternative. The "I Really Want!" widget offers various Weight Watchers sensible food products as well as everyday snack alternatives.

3.Turn tasty Weight Watchers food into incrEdible rewards! It's an easy way to choose from extensive rewards including beauty products, cooking accessories, DVDs and more! For every Weight Watchers food product you buy, simply cut out and save the UPC barcodes and following the simple instructions at www.WWIncredibleRewards.com.

I especially LOVE the I really Want thing.  If you want something crunchy, salty, sweet or whatever you just plop that word in and voila it offers healthy choices for you to choose!  The New Year coming is a wonderful time to start healthy choices, Weight Watchers is a perfect choice for that!

Thanks to FRN and Weight Watchers for for this opportunity!

Every child loves puppets and puppet shows!  It can be such an enriching learning experience to see how puppets work and to make stories and jokes and everything else out of them.    Puppettools is a company that helps you and your child make puppets to enrich your learning experience.    To learn more about the idea behind Puppetools click here. 

There are many patterns and tons of ideas on making your own personal puppets with this website, there are also several videos on the site to watch.  The puppets can take quite a bit of time so it would be up to you if its worth your time commitment or not! 

 $20.00 INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIPTION:Designed for individual users. Get complete access to all resources for a full year. Upgrade to the group subscription any time for $79.00. Ideal for individual users / households.

$99.00 GROUP SUBSCRIPTION (Habitat):Designed to be shared among small & large GROUPS such as families, home schoolers, classrooms, scout troops, 4-H, entire schools, and non-profit organizations with educational missions. This is the best way to derive the greatest benefit as the group subscriptions as up to 30 people can share the cost and enjoy the ride. Need access for more users? No Problem -- you can simply add more users anytime in lots of 50 or 100 and the cost can be as low as $2.00 PER USER. The purchaser (account owner) may assign up to 15 administrators per account --all users receive access to all resources for a full year.

Thanks to Puppetools and Homeschoolcrew for this opportunity!

What a wonderful book for your children to learn to build their own website!  It's a 60 page ebook. What a great entrepreneur adventure for your kids.   The book takes your child step by step to teach them how to build their own website.  It is recommended for ages 8-12.  It will teach them the drag and put method to build their site!  This was even fun for me.  She teaches how to add photos, sounds, links, and animations.  I can't tell you how fun this is, you have to try it.  "Let's Make a Web Page" is at an introductory price of $19.99 (regularly $29.99)

They also have some wonderful resources for older children. 

"Logo Adventures"  teaches computer programming for ages 8-12.  Children learn to draw and animate.  "Computer Pure and Simple" is a complete computer education set of books and Microworlds cd for which teaches how to program and use a spreadsheet, html, programming using Logo language, web page design and more.   Middle Schoolers and up could use this program.  It can be purchased separately or as the set.  The complete set is either $122.97 or $161.97 depending which operating system you use.  It can be used on a MAC if you have a pc emulator using Word and Excel.  "Website ABCs"  is a website building product geared toward high schoolers and adults

Thanks to log adventures and the homeschoolcrew for this opportunity.

 I was honored enough to be able to review the family template of Legacy Prayer Journals.  I have always wanted to make a personal journal for prayer, one with pictures, scripture verses, and more.  Now I have the tool to do just that!  They have several templates-one for singles, one for couples only, one for couples with children and even empty nesters.  They have a place to pray for each child where you can make individual pages for them, a place to put your favorite worship songs and hymns, confessions, and many verses!  If you are a srapbooker you can take your template and make your journal look like a scapbook, however if your not you just paste your pictures on and put your pages in a 3 ring notebook and it will still be beautiful.  I just love everything about this.  This is one of my projects to finish after Christmas and when I do I will post pics of it.  The website is legacyprayerjournals.com and there you will find out all kinds of information.  

The BEST PART is they are offereing a special for Christmas so make sure you check this out and order before Christmas.   LPJ is running a sale for Christmas! Just use this code "CHRISTMAS" in the "special instructions to merchant" section when checking out and the transaction will automatically refund your account 25%! That makes your $20 CD only $15!

If you buy more than one you'll get 50% off of each additional CD you order when you use the code "CHRISTMAS"!

This sale ends December 25th!

Last week I talked about  how I cherish things from our past or others to decorate or use in our home.  A good friend of mines mom always makes cookies and candy for a bunch of us every year.  She is a wonderful baker and we get a box full of chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter ones, candy and in years past her great sugar cookies which I love.  Well, arthitis has set in and she can't roll and press the sugar cookies of years past so I was blessed enough to inherit her cookie cutters.  She knew how much I loved them over the years and gave me those along with her recipe for them.  This is the set.  Everytime I use them I will think of all the years these cutters made cookies for some many people in her life.  I am honored they are in my kitchen now!

To win a chance to get  a can of pledge go to my entry Here

This weeks assignment is to share something we like to make when the weather outside is frightful!

Well I love to make hot chocolate, especially when the kids come in from playing in the snow.  I love to have a warm bowl of chili or really anything in the crockpot. 

I saw an idea in a Christmas memory book once where during the first snow this family made a bowl of potato soup.  I loved that idea, I got this recipe from Homespunhearts last year and we LOVE it!

2 c. chicken broth or water
2 c. diced potatoes
1/4 c. diced onion
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Bring the above ingredients to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine:
2 c. milk
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. butter or margarine

Microwave on high for four minutes whisking half-way through. Stir into soup.

Stir in 2 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend is what I use)

Serve when cheese is melted and combined. 

We received two great products from the Trigger Memory Systems.  TimesTales and three cleaning flip charts.  We LOVED both of them, they are working great for our family!

The first one is TimesTales. Times Tales is a creative, innovative mnemonic-based program that makes it fun and easy to memorize the upper multiplication facts.  Times Tales uses cute, simple stories to provide students with a "memory peg", allowing them to quickly recall otherwise abstract facts.

- Covers the most difficult to memorize times tables: 3x6,3x7,3x8,3x9,4x6,4x7,4x8,4x9,6x6,6x7,6x8,6x9,
7x7,7x8,7x9,8x8,8x9,9x9

- FAST -  most children learn in two 45 minute sessions!

- Non-consumable - can be used by the whole family.

- FUN - kids love this learning method and ask for more!

When you first open the book you wonder how in the world is this going to work?  But let me tell you -It DOES!  My son now knows all the hard times tables which he was really struggling with.  The directions on how to tell the great stories with the numbers are very easy to follow, you just read the short story and by the end they know the answer!  Everytime that problem comes up you think of the story and voila you know the answer.  I'm very curious if he will retain the stories-only time will tell but for now it WORKS, you have to try it!  Well worth it.

The next product is 3 flip clean charts for your kids.  One is for their bedroom, one is to help them learn to do the laundry, and the third is the zone cleaning which concentrates on the living room/entry, kitchen and bathroom.  These charts are wonderful too.  They have check lists that the kids can check off with dry erase pens and step by step directions for the children to tackle their chores.  I love how they break down each step, even the youngest children can use these, there are pictures and writing.  My sister in law and I was looking through the laundry one and talking about how it was given US tips that we had never heard.  These are well worth the money. 

TimesTales is 29.95 and the flip charts are 29.95 for the combo pack, they are also sold separate.

                         Thanks to the HomeschoolCrew and Trigger MemorySystems for this opportunity!

If you have a product, book, curriculum, anything that makes life better  for you please write a review and then leave a comment and sign Mr. Linky so we can all see the product you are reviewing.  I love to write reviews and love to read them so I think this will be so much fun!  Feel free to copy the picture above and add it to your sidebar or just use it for your review entry

 If would like to do a review but Tuesday is not good for you please feel free to link up to Mr. Linky any day this week, we would love to read your review regardless the day you post it!

Rather than try to explain this one, I'm going to copy and paste some information I received from Jennifer at Time 4 Learning - including what Time 4 Learning is and a very information FAQ: 

What is Time4Learning?
Time4Learning is an online educational program consisting of math and language arts curriculums from preschool through eighth grade. As a bonus, we include science and social studies. Students use it for homeschooling, as an after school tutorial for remediation and enrichment, or as a summer school replacement. Time4Learning has thousands of members across the country and globe.

Note: When international members initially sign-up, they will need to include NA in the STATE field in order to proceed to the next page.

Whether mainstream, gifted, or special needs, Time4Learning provides a flexible, student-paced approach. Children can be placed in different levels by subject. For example, a child might be in fifth grade language arts but fourth grade math.

Can I use Time4Learning as a homeschool program?
Time4Learning is a home-based program used for homeschooling or as a supplement to traditional education. The majority of our users are homeschoolers. Some choose to use Time4Learning as their core curriculum; others use it as a supplement. Our program correlates to state standards. We recommend that you review your state’s legal requirements before choosing any program. If you are new to homeschooling, we recommend reading our free “Welcome to Homeschooling Guide”. Our Getting Started Guide also explains how to use Time4Learning as a homeschool program.

As a member of the homeschool crew we were able to get a limited time membership to review!  This is a neat program for preschool-8th grade.  Each one of your children get their own login information so that when they go to the different subjects they have things that are age appropriate for them.  The graphics and the sound are very good, they stand out!  My children really enjoyed doing many of the activities on the site!  They have math, language arts, science and social studies. 

This was a great site to play with, for me personally it's not how I homeschool.  I'm more a living books hands on homeschooler, I barely use the websites many homeschoolers use!  However I can see how this kind of site could help many homeschoolers who need their children to work more independently from them while they are working from home, or for the ones who really struggle getting school done because of their schedule or other time restraints.  I do think its a great supplemental tool that can enhance many subjects.  This is a secular website and it does have evolution content.  I disclose that because I feel my Christian readers need to know about such things.  It is not in everything and you may do many activities before ever seeing it, you could easily not use the science part.  This cost  is 19.95 a month for one child and you can add additional children for 14.95.  There is a 2 week money back guarantee!  So if you order but end up not liking it, you can get your money back.

Thanks to Time4learning and homeschool crew for this opportunity!

This giveaway is now Closed!

I have used Pledge since I was a little girl dusting with my mom!  It is truly the best dusting product I have ever used.  Just spray it on and wipe away and your furniture becomes dust free!  They even have different fragrants now so you can spray with a great scent that you love! 

Did you know that pledge not only helps with shining and restoring wood surfaces but it also removes 84% of allergens found in dust.  Plus, Pledge's Antidust formulas keeps surfaces less dusty, which means  you'll be able to dust less often. 

Pledge Furniture Polish conducted a national survey and learned that many Americans don't know about dust and the potential impact it has on their health.  They found most Americans only go as far as picking up clutter around the house rather then taking the extra step to dust!  Whoops, I am sure guilty with this statistic!

Many of us struggle with allergies, 90 percent of our homes maintain a household conducive to allergies due to the presence of pets and plants.  Using Pledge helps reduce the presence of allergens in the home by trapping and removing the dust mite allergens, pet dander and pollen found in household dust!

I do see that when my home is totally dusted I really do feel better.  I always thought it was just the fact I had a clean house but I really believe there is so much yuk in the dust it has a way or many ways of making you feel blah! 

Now you have a chance to win your own can of pledge.  Just leave a comment telling me how often YOU dust.  Now be honest!  I can say that I'm lucky to do it once a month, however after seeing the study from Pledge I will be doing it more often!

You must have a US address to try to win!

If you blog about the giveaway, come back and leave another comment letting me know-I will enter you twice. 

Contest ends on Friday December 19th at midnight.  I will use the random number website to pick my winner!

"This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program by SC Johnson, who also supplied the product for review and giveaway."

Thanks to the FRN and SC Johnson for this opportunity!

Make sure you leave my an email or blog address, If not I will reject it.  I will have no way of knowing who you are!

Join Canadagirl for more Show n Tells.

I love decorating the house with things from our past or pieces of our heritage.  I thought I would share some different things this Christmas season from that! 

The first picture is a painting my husband did in the 80's his senior year in high school.  He painted this for his mom as a Christmas gift, you can see the inscription on it below.  She passed away this year so all of these things I'm sharing today remind us of her this Christmas.  The picture don't do this painting justice because of trying to take the picture through the frame but it is so beautiful, my husband is quite the artist!

The next two are ornaments my mother in law made, they are now priceless to us!  We had many more and several years ago our tree fell over with help of our kitties and most of them broke.

My husband just loves this Santa, his mom put it out every year.  It's so 70's.  It reminds my husband of his childhood!