Jun. 25, 2008 - Hmoeschool Convention Report- part one

I have to say, I had a beautiful post about the homeschool convention, and I lost it! Waaaaah!!!!!

I was so excited returning from the convention. We saw a great Vendor Hall, heard some good speakers, and just enjoyed having the time to spend together. We especially enjoyed hearing Todd Wilson (the familyman). Even Jason, who was determined that he did NOT want to sit in workshops all day enjoyed some of the workshops.

The Vendor Hall was one of the neatest things for me. For all the years I have homeschooled, I have usually ordered online or from a catalog. It was a really good experience to see it all out in person in real life! Of course, I would have liked to spend more money than I did.

Here is what I did get:

Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their Chores: I have heard such great things about the Maxwells' books. but I haven't read them. I was persuaded after one of the workshop speakers- a mom of six who homeschools and runs a family business- said she was amazed at how much more time she had found in a day after using MOTH.

Math-U-See: Again, I had heard such god things about this curriculum but couldn't quite figure out if it was a good fit. We were watching the demo DVD, and Jason said, "This is the way I learned math!" That sold me because he is waaaaay better at math than I am.

Total Language Plus: I love literature units and think grammar is so much better learned in context, so I purchased several units to use with Kathryne and Charles this year.

State History: We purchased a state history curriculum written by a homeschool mom for her own children because Jason has been looking for a curriculum to teach the kids state history.

The things we bought will help to round out what I had already bought or ordered:

Story of the World- I bought volume 1 and 2 used and ordered the activity books.

Considering God's Creation- I bought it used. I really like Apologia also, but this was cheap and I think will work well with notebooking which I want to do more of.

Draw Write Now- I had bought one of these that we have been using this year, and we love it. I bought two more so far for next year.

That covers our Vendor Hall experience. I will share some more about the workshops next time- if I don't lose my post.

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Jun. 25, 2008 - VBS Report

I just have to share about VBS! We are having VBS this week. Our church is fairly small. We have about 15-20 children usually. I had lots of volunteers and much excitement was generated for VBS, but I must admit, I was still somewhat skeptical.

On Monday we had 57 children. Tuesday we had 59. And today we had 62! It has been amazing. We have several unchurched kids who are coming and some who are new to town and just don't have a church to attend yet.

So far things have run very smoothly. There have been some of the usual bumps in the road- printer malfunctions, running low on snack and having to run out and get them, but there have been no major mishaps. All the parents that I have talked to say their kids are having a blast.

It has been amazing to me to see how God has worked in the lives of these people in this church to make this happen. I had the idea and ordered the started kit, but I certainly could NOT have brought this about by myself. God has moved tremendously in the hearts and lives of His people to bring us to this place!

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Jun. 24, 2008 - Schoolhouse Planner Giveaway

I LOVE to plan! I love planners and forms and binders and notebooks! I have been looking and looking at the Old Schoolhouse magazine's Schoolhouse Planner. I have thought about buying it but just haven't made up my mind.

Proverbs 22:6 Academy has a giveaway to WIN a copy of the planner! Check it out here and enter. (If you win and you're not a planner, I'll be glad to keep it for you.)

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Jun. 23, 2008 - The Homeschool Toolbar

If you haven't seen this on Tiany's blog, check it out:

We are very excited to introduce an amazing and handy resource for homeschool families, the ultimate toolbar for Homeschool Moms...

The Homeschool Toolbar!

It's free of spyware or viruses, does not open pop-ups or hijack your searches, allows you to control your privacy features such as cookies and cache from the toolbar and no personal information is required. It has a Google powered search box, includes an email notifier where you can add all of your email accounts in one convenient place such as Yahoo, Google, persona, business etc...plus it will notify you when one of your accounts receives mail!

The Homeschool Toolbar features include:

Homeschool Resources
The Latest Homeschool & Parenting News
Web search using Google
Integrated Homeschool RSS feeds
Homeschool blogs
Category browsing
Search highlighter
Tons of quick shortcuts
Weather forecast
Quick links to The Homeschool Lounge
Organizing tools such as a To do list, notepad, calculator, conversion charts, maps and more
Radio connected to "Positive & Encouraging K-LOVE" , NPR or your favorite local radio station (this feature is optional and can be added or removed, as can all features..)

Lastly, it will NOT slow your computer down!

To learn more about this amazing and resourceful tool and download your own you can visit the Homeschoolbar website at HOMESCHOOLBAR.COM !

If you have a blog,or website you think the homeschool community would benefit from please contact The Homeschoolbar HERE We are also taking submissions for Homeschool Mom owned businesses!

Get your Homeschool Toolbar today! You wont want to surf the web without it!

Now for the giveaway.... It's all very simple!

1. Link to us from your blog or website and share the info above in a post to help us get the word out about this great new tool for homeschoolers!!!
2.Be sure to share about the giveaway.

3.Then link the url of your post to our mister Linky!

To grab the button simply copy the code within the text box and paste into your site or right click and save to your computer!

We will do a random draw at Random.org on July 1st. We will pick two winners and each winner will get to choose a $25 Gift Certificate from one of the following online Stores.
Currclick
Nest Learning
Amazon
or
Overstock

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Jun. 23, 2008 - Monday Meanderings

To learn more about "Monday Meanderings” please go HERE!

Bible Study/ Devotions ~ Reading through the Bible overview in 60 days- I am up to John. For some reason my daily read through the Bible e-mails stopped this weekend. I haven't had time to go check it out, but I am in 2Samuel.

"Must Do"~ (Not the “To Do” list but the “Must Do” list!)

This week I Must ...

Survive VBS! We were off to a good start this morning with 57 children!
Pack for the beach.

Homekeeping ~ Probably not much extra will get done this week. I am not going to focus on my monthly focus area but on getting the house in order to leave for the beach- mainly packing and laundry.

Train Them Up~ We are not doing much school work because of VBS, but I do have some ocean stuff I would like to finish reading before we go to a cool museum I found at the beach.

No menu plan here this week- trying to get by without a big grocery trip before the beach, so we'll be eating up what's in the pantry and freezer.

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Jun. 22, 2008 - So Tired!!!

I vowed when I started a blog not to whine and complain, but I am breaking my vow.

We returned last night from the Homeschool Convention. It was wonderful, and I hope to be able to write about it at length and share some of the great things I learned and how nice it was to share that experience with Jason!

This week is VBS. I am "in charge." Thankfully I have had a great team of workers that have helped me tremendously! I purposefully did NOT think of VBS while we were at the convention, but I was struck by all of it last night. I have spent the day today preparing at the church all afternoon and at home tonight. It is now 11:30, and I am waiting for my dear husband to return home from a trip to Walmart where I sent him to buy yarn for nametags.

I am hoping very desperately that I am finished for tonight after the nametags.

I'll be back when I have recovered to post VBS pictures and talk about the convention.

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Jun. 18, 2008 - Book Review

Just because I completed the Spring Reading Thing does not mean I can stop reading. In fact, I sent my dear husband to my mom's on Friday night to get me some more books to read.

I have finished Dawn's Light, the third and last book in the Restoration series by Terri Blackstock. It was GREAT. I highly recommend the whole series. The action centers around what happens when all the earth's power is knocked out by electrical pulses from a supernova- and yes, she explains how it could scientifically happen. The main family in the book, the Brannings, have had to learn to rely on God instead of themselves as they have faced the challenges of living in a world with no technology. In this final book, the Brannings are reminded again how God is in control and is watching over them even in tragedy.

So, an updated reading list- these books are what I've read since January, not just for the Spring Reading Thing:

Every Day Deserves a Chance - Max Lucado (NF)
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
The Hand that Bears the Sword (book 2 of a series) - George Bryan Polivka
Home to Holly Springs - Jan Karon
Sunrise - Karen Kingsbury
Summer - Karen Kingsbury
The Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards
Jacob's List - Stephanie Grace Whitson
Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper
War of the Worldviews (from AIG)
Echoes - Kristen Heitzmann
Life Management for Busy Women - Elizabeth George
Children of Hurin - JRR Tolkien
Someday -Karen Kingsbury
Ever Present Danger -Kathy Herman
Uncharted - Angela Hunt
Playing for Pizza - John Grisham
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Never Look Back - Kathy Hermann
Grave Risk - Hannah Alexander
The Appeal - John Grisham
The Long Awaited Child- Tracie Peterson
Anxiety Attacked- John MacArthur-
The Five Love Languages of Children- Gary Chapman
Crimson Eve- Brandilyn Collins
Mark's Story- Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
Bad Ground- Dale Cramer
The Lost Sheep- Brandt Dodson-
Will Medicine Stop the Pain? by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Laura Hedrickson
Forty to Life by Dave Jackson-
Willow Springs - Jan Watson
The Briton- Catherine Palmer
Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick A Thousand Tomorrows- Karen Kingsbury Like Dandelion Dust- Karen Kingsbury

Currently reading:

Beyond the Clouds- Karen Kingsbury

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Jun. 18, 2008 - Getting Fit

I have wanted for quite a while now to get fit. I am a good weight, but I have never been extremely active, and I have really noticed that I have NO strength and endurance. One of the major things my therapist pointed out when I did physical therapy was the need to develop strength in my back and shoulder muscles so that I would not continually pull and strain things.

I have several problems:

How to find time
Knowing WHAT to do
Staying motivated

I have found a great online resource recommended on a web board I frequent: SparkPeople

I have set up a page with my fitness goals- you don't have to be trying to lose weight. It gives me a place to track my nutrition every day- something I really need to watch, and a place to track my exercise every day. It also gives a suggested weekly exercise routine based on the goals I gave.

I highly recommend it for anyone who wants some direction and accountability but can't afford to join a gym or has no desire to drag kiddos around to find somewhere to exercise.

Check out my page here and see my goals and progress.

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Jun. 14, 2008 - And a Tribute to my Dad

Not only is husband a wonderful father but I have been truly blessed to have a wonderful father growing up. My daddy loved me and led me to my Heavenly Father which was the greatest gift he could give me.

This picture is one I have posted before when I wrote about my wedding, but it is one of my favorite pictures:

My daddy, my friend:

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Jun. 14, 2008 - Happy Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day tomorrow, I just had to copy this poem. I found the link on the Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Minute, and I loved this because it fits my Jason perfectly. I copied it for him, so he could take it to work and hopefully remember all the time how much I appreciate him and all the things he does for us.

My children are very blessed to have a wonderful father who loves me and loves them and wants to spend time with us!

In honor of our Daddy and all daddies everywhere:

Only A Dad
Edgar Guest 

Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.

From the book "A Heap o' Livin'" ©1916

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Jun. 12, 2008 - Great Summer Giveaways at 5 Minutes for Moms

Check out the newest givaways at 5 Minutes for Moms!

Creative Summer Days

Written by Jennifer

The advent of summer is a source of mixed feelings:

happiness about a more laid-back schedule
anxiety about how I’m going to answer the “I’m bored, Mom” ’s
resolve to make the most of the extra time to start some good habits
determination to use some of these months to reinforce and advance school skills

Do you feel the same way? Well, 5 Minutes for Mom is here to help.

From June 10 - 18, we’ll have new ideas (and of course, giveaways!) to help keep your kids and the whole family busy, healthy, and happy! All of the contests will be listed here. To enter, leave a comment on each separate post for the items that you’d like to win.

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Jun. 12, 2008 - Updated Reading List/Spring Reading Thing- I FInished!

I have added some more books to my finished list. I have finished the books from my Spring Reading Thing List!

Here's my current list:

Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick - This was excellent. I have now finished a trio of books about dealing with emotions that a good online friends of mine recommended. Expect a book report or two.

A Thousand Tomorrows- Karen Kingsbury - Another great read by this author; not quite as deep as the Baxter books but a good read.
Like Dandelion Dust- Karen Kingsbury - Also another lighter read by the author but very good; very surprise ending!

I am now without anything to read at the moment (except magazines) and am about to go crazy! I'm calling my mom (AKA bookstore) to see if I can run pick up something.

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Jun. 10, 2008 - Please Pray for the Lawrensons

Many of you have heard of Nate and Tricia Lawrenson and their baby born at 24 1/2 weeks. Tricia has CF and had a lung transplant in April. She and baby Gwyneth had been doing very well and the family was back at home in Outer Banks. There have been some complications for Tricia. She is going in for some testing tomorrow. The family has asked supporters to pray specifically between the hours of 7-10am EST.

You can read the details on Nate's blog.

I have been extremely touched by this family and amazed by God's work in their lives!

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Jun. 10, 2008 - New Homeschooling With Encouragement Book

Many of you are familiar with SoCalVal and her resource website Weblink Education. She has written a new book for beginning homeschoolers that is excellent. I got my copy today and have already skimmed through. I will definitely recommend it for new homeschoolers I meet. It was encouragement to me - a somewhat veteran homeschooler- as well!

Check out the book here.

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Jun. 9, 2008 - Big Red

We are now the proud owners of a conversion van!

Yes, I know. At a time when most sane people are downsizing their vehicles for better gas mileage, we have bought the world's biggest gas hog. It gets a whopping 12 miles to the gallon!

The fact is, we've been looking for a conversion van for a while. When we go to the beach or on a trip, we are squashed into a mini van with all our stuff. A "seven" passenger mini van really means 6 people can comfortably ride and only if you don't pack any stuff!

So we went looking again on Saturday. Our mini van has died several times. We actually have another mini van we bought from some friends, but Jason was ashamed/concerned to sell our van to some poor soul who could break down in it on the way home.

So, we found a 91 Chevy conversion van and traded ours in. With our trade in and the other three vehicles we are selling, we will have almost no out of pocket cost! Don't ask me why we had so many other vehicles to sell. That's a whole nother story.

Our new (old) van is quite ugly- a faded red color. The inside is in great condition with a working tv and cd player. It will be great for trips! But Jason started calling it "Uggar" when we brought it home. It has since been affectionately dubbed "Big Red."

Here she is.

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Jun. 9, 2008 - Monday Meanderings

Bible Study/ Devotions ~ I am continuing reading through my 60 day overview and am in the gospels. By e-mail I am in Samuel reading through the Bible in a year.

"Must Do"~ (Not the “To Do” list but the “Must Do” list!)

This week I Must ...

~ Work on VBS!!!! It is coming in 2 weeks and I am in charge.

~ Upload some photos and organize them. My memory card is full!
~ Get the title turned in and new (old) van detailed. I'll post and show some pictures of our Big Red.

Homekeeping ~ June is kitchen/pantry/fridge organization. I have worked on the fridge and would like to straighten and clean out the pantry if I can get to it this week.

Train Them Up~ We are starting an Oceanography unit for school. For Bible time this summer we are going to be catching up on our Catechism memorization. We were memorizing catechism when we were at Westminster but have slacked off when we changed churches. Jason and I both think it is still important for them to learn the catechism, so I'm picking up on that this summer.

I am not making a menu plan this week. I have been very frustrated by my efforts here. I keep a well-stocked pantry and usually "shop" from the pantry and freezer to prepare supper each night. I am having a hard time planning meals because we really need more flexibility. So, I am going to try it this way for a while. As long as I pick out and start supper by lunch time, we are okay.

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Jun. 8, 2008 - Worshipping on Sunday Morning

Hillsong United - Mighty to Save - With Subtitles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

We are home from church this morning, so I am worshipping here online! Come worship with me!

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Jun. 7, 2008 - Check out MySpace

I finally broke down and got a MySpace page. I figured since I was all over the net, I might as well be there too. Several of my real life friends are there. (Yes, I do have friends in real life. :-) )

Go check out my space here, and if you are on MySpace, let me be your friend.

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Jun. 7, 2008 - Drama Camp Performance

Charles and Kathryne performed last night in their production for the final evening of Drama Camp.

It was great! The children learned through the week about music and drama, but they also learned about seeking the greatest treasure- faith in God. The teachers and helpers were fantastic. It was amazing how much they could get out of those kids in just one week of work.

I have some photos I hope to post, but I need to go through them. While I am not too hesitant about putting my kids pictures on the internet, I know some folks really don't like it. So, I am going to try to post some that have my kids but not others.

If you want the check out the drama camp, you can go to Kidshine online. Soon they will post some pictures and videos of the week's camp.

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Jun. 4, 2008 - Very Powerful and Thought Provoking

There is a very powerful and thought-provoking article on the Homeschool Blogger Front Porch about keeping them home where they belong. If you haven't read it check it out here.

The quotes from very influential people in our public school system were astounding.

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