Countdown to Christmas!

It would hardly be a shocking revelation to mention that I LOVE this time of year. Thanksgiving begins this most wonderful time of the year with reminding me to count my blessings. With a glad heart, I anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Savior.

We plan to make lots of budget-friendly Christmas crafts to give as gifts this year. Now that Big Sis is almost 8, she really understands the idea of giving from the heart and taking the time to create something special for loved ones. I can tell already that we'll also be making precious memories to last a lifetime!

Keep checking back for ideas for salt dough ornaments, felt ornaments (glued and stitched), recycled lightbulb ornaments, watercolor wreaths, printables, a Nativity lapbook, and more!

I'll also be posting Christmas-related book reviews for Zondervan and Waterbrook/Multnomah so stayed tuned for giveaways!

Integritas Academy File Folder Game sale!

Integritas Academy is having a sale on their file folder game collection. Shanna is a homeschooling mom of 7 and has created some wonderful games to make early learning fun. I know Big Sis enjoys them! Please be sure to stop by and check out the selection! Here is the info from her blog:

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Our lowest price ever...

Purchase Integritas Academy File Folder Games Collection 1 CD-ROM and SAVE!!!

17 games for only $15 $10!!! (until Dec. 25th)

(plus s&h)

Includes:

AM or PM
Buried Treasure
Busy Buzzing Numbers
Contraction Contraption
Counting Coins
Crocodile Chomp
Crocodile Chomp Addition & Subtraction
Don't be Late!
Let's Play Doubles!
Let's Play Doubles! Multiplication
Letter Match
Name That State
Parking Patterns
Rainbow Ice Cream
Seasons Change
Skip Counting
Who Has the Patience for all these Patients?

Purchase one for you and all your friends. We will gift wrap and mail to multiple addresses for FREE!**

Visit Integritas Academy now to purchase!

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks
Author Unknown

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

Notebooking Resources on sale!

Black Friday Sale Event

Tired of Busywork? Seize the Most from Your Day . . . with Notebooking!

Notebooking is a powerful tool that captures what your children have learned, turning it into a concise, artful piece of work. Visit NotebookingPages.com for free and affordable templates to help you get started today! Simply print out a selection of free notebooking templates or choose pages from one of their themed sets.

Now is a great time to try some of NotebookingPages.com's products during their annual Black Friday Sale Event! Every product and specially priced combo set is 35% off! You can get ALL of their products for $65 - save over $70! This sale is in effect from Tuesday, November 24 - Monday, November 30th.

Check it out here:

NotebookingPages.com Black Friday Sale Event

It's that time of year again! Usborne Books Black Friday sale 2009

It’s the sale everyone has been waiting for. Find great gifts for kids of all ages during Usborne’s Black Friday Sale. Beginning Thanksgiving Day at Noon (CST) through Monday 11/30 at Noon (CST).

Don’t miss this special event!

Rome wasn't built in a day!

I love words. Writing them, reading them, learning new words, listening to a funny turn of phrase. Apparently, I've passed this love of words onto Big Sis because she often gets a kick out of common expressions and learning new vocabulary words. She even keeps a notebook of new words that she learns through her reading and daily lessons. (It was her own idea to do that!) She points out homonyms and homophones all the time, thanks to All About Spelling. Anyway, I often throw a cliche into our daily conversations because I know she will ask me about it. It's so much more fun to hear them in context and application rather than reading a list of them, plus she gets to play "word detective" that way. We were talking about setting goals and accomplishing things with our current lapbook project and our conversation went like this:

Big Sis: "I thought we would have finished this one by now."

Me: "Well, you know Rome wasn't built in a day."

I waited expectantly, thinking she would ask me what that meant.

Big Sis: Pause with a very thoughtful expression on her face . . . "You're right. I think it took 12 years."

??????

Not sure where that came from, but it cracked me up!



For more Tiny Talk Tuesday, click here:

Free lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning and Live & Learn Press

I've found some free lapbooks recently so I thought I'd pass them along. If you haven't tried lapbooking yet and want to see what it's like, this is a great chance!

From Live & Learn Press:
If you join their Yahoo group, you can download several free lapbooks, including one for Thanksgiving! It's 76 pages long, complete with very thorough instructions, study guide, and answer key. They also have free lapbooks for 4th of July, Mother's Day, Father's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc.

From A Journey through Learning:
Sign up for their e-newsletter and receive an Overview of the 17th Century lapbook for free! Sign up for the Heart of the Matter newsletter and receive another free lapbook from AJTL!

Don't forget to check Homeschool Share for free lapbooks, too!

A Journey through Learning and Live & Learn are both having Black Friday sales so check them out! (I'm not an affiliate -- just sharing some good deals and fun freebies!)

Win a planner and a magazine subscription!

Check out the contest at Homeschooling and Loving It! You can enter to win the Well-Planned Day planner and a one-year subscription to Home Educating Family magazine. Hurry because the contest ends Wednesday!

"White Picket Fences" winner!

I used random.org to generate a winning number for the White Picket Fences giveaway. The result: Comment #7. That means that Julie is the winner! Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll have more giveaways coming up soon, so keep checking back for your chance to win!

Fall Reflections art project

I wanted to get this posted before fall ends and winter officially begins! We had fun doing this art project from KinderArt. Big Sis got into it and added more details than the example picture, but I haven't gotten the pictures uploaded yet. She also mixed her own fall colors with the paint. I must warn you, you have to press really hard to get the crayon to transfer to the lower half of the picture. It's worth it, though! Have fun!

Christmas Wreaths

Wreaths of Maine creates beautiful, fragrant wreaths for the holiday season. They're handmade from authentic Maine Balsam fir and make your house smell like Christmas! The business was started by homeschoolers and they now offer a fundraising opportunity for other homeschoolers. Big Sis is selling wreaths to earn money to buy a butterfly garden in the spring. She wants to raise a butterfly from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, then release it for a science project. She wants to earn the money herself by selling these wreaths. I'm so proud of her! I'd appreciate it so much if you'd consider purchasing a wreath to help her out. You'll not only be supporting Big Sis in her efforts to earn her own money, but you'll be supporting a business created by other homeschoolers! The wreaths are 100% guaranteed, shipped direct to your door, packaged carefully to keep them fresh. If you order online, please enter her promotional code 4505 so that she gets credit. Leave a comment here so we can thank you!

ORDER DEADLINE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30

Science with Magnets!

Usborne Books has a great sale on this fun Science with Magnets kid kit right now. It's 50% off! Regular $14.99, but now $7.50. The book is 33 pages long and the kit comes with the following items: compass, corks, magnets, nail, wire, non-hardening clay, and paper clips. Recommended for ages 6 and up. Great projects for a rainy (snowy!) day.

Counting to "Yay!"

Lil Sis (27 months) has learned to count to five recently and does so repeatedly, every chance she gets. It sounds like "wahn, too, fee, foh, fie," which is cute enough in itself, let me tell you. Once she started doing this, the whole family cheered and yelled "yay!" after she got to five every time. Apparently we are so encouraging that she now thinks "yay" is the next number after five! So her counting now sounds like this, "wahn, too, fee, foh, fie, yay!" All of this done with the biggest grin. Her enthusiasm is irresistible!

For more Tiny Talk Tuesday, click here:

TOS Review: Molly's Money-Saving Digest, November issue

Molly’s Money-Saving Digest has hit the mark this month with subjects near and dear to my heart: family photos, saving money with coupons, slow cooker recipes, and scrapbooking!

With three little girls, I take tons of photos and I learned some great ideas for storage and scrapbooking in this issue. Molly even mentioned some websites that I’d never heard of before but are now saved to my favorite bookmarks! I enjoyed the ideas for special photo projects shared by other homeschooling moms, as well.

As a family trying to do some home repairs and renovations on a very limited budget, I found the Goal-Getter Spotlight very inspiring. I always love to hear success stories from families like us.

The Directory of Links is a time-saver – Molly did the “legwork” for me! I can surf those sites while our dinner is in the slow cooker, courtesy of the great recipes in this issue. I’ve never tried a dessert recipe for the slow cooker before, but Molly even has ideas for that. The baked apples will fit perfectly with our fall unit study and our trip to the apple orchard to pick our own apples. I can just imagine how the wonderful aroma of apples and cinnamon will fill the whole house while they cook. Is your mouth watering yet?

Overall, I found inspiration and practical suggestions in Molly’s Digest this month. I’ll be putting the information to use soon!


Sound interesting? Want more info? Click this link:





Fine print: I received a free copy of this issue to review. I was not compensated for my opinion. The views expressed are my own.

Operation Christmas Child 2009

As we approach Thanksgiving and think about all of our blessings, it's time to remember those who are less fortunate. This week (Nov. 16-23) is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, an outreach ministry of Samaritan's Purse. Please consider packing a shoebox full of gifts for children who will have nothing otherwise. There are drop-off locations all over the country, or shoeboxes can be sent directly to Samaritan's Purse. You can choose to pack a box for a boy or a girl. They have instructions and suggestions on the website to make things easy. Visit the website and find out more about this program that brings hope and happiness to children all over the world at Christmastime!

We're on a very limited budget, but the gifts don't have to be expensive or fancy. It's a great reminder for Big Sis that there are many children in the world who don't have the privileges and blessings that we have here. We've spent time looking at the world map and talked about some of the countries where packages might be delivered. It's a meaningful geography lesson. This year, you can even track your package and SEE where it goes if you make your donation online rather than by check in the box.

Hands of a Child Lapbooking giveaway!

Laura at Day by Day in Our World is hosting a great giveaway for Hands of a Child lapbooks. Stop by and check it out!

Book Review Blog Tour + GIVEAWAY: White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner

Although I've heard Susan Meissner's name associated with "must-read fiction" from the CBA, I had not had the opportunity to read any of her novels yet. I was happy to receive a review copy of her latest, White Picket Fences, from WaterBrook/Multnomah publishers.

The theme of the novel is secrets and the destructive effects of keeping them. The characters are complex rather than one-dimensional. The storyline is detailed and interweaves many characters in unexpected ways. This book is not an easy read if you're looking for escapist fiction or "fluff." It's not a typical romantic novel with a happy ending. I found it hard to get into at first, but I was glad I stuck with it. Even though the ending isn't entirely satisfactory as far as resolution for all the characters, I feel the book was worth reading. If you enjoy fiction that makes you think and question what goes on beyond the surface of those seemingly perfect "white picket fences," you should add this to your reading list.

From the publisher:

When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless, and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands– in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm–and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a “normal” life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.

Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn’t seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn’t expect her arrival will affect him much–or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams unbeknownst to anyone else.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won’t make them go away.

Will Tally’s presence blow apart their carefully-constructed world, knocking down the illusion of the white picket fence and reveal a hidden past that could destroy them all–or can she help them find the truth without losing each other?

****************

Here's your chance to win a copy!

Enter the giveaway by doing one or all of the following:
1. Leave a comment with a way to contact you.
2. Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me you did.
3. Blog about the contest and leave a link in the comments.

If you do all of the above, you will earn three entries. Contest ends Saturday, November 21 at midnight. A winner will be drawn randomly on Sunday and posted by Monday. U.S. residents only, please.

DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of this book to review from WaterBrook/Multnomah. My opinions are freely expressed with no coercion or compensation.

Caramel corn: a delicious part of our unit study!

Note: I am not one of those domestically-inclined, recipe-sharing divas. It's just not my thing. Give me a topic to research, a paper to write, books to review, or the like, and I'm all over that. Cooking? Not so much. Cleaning? Uh, no. Organizational expert? Only in my dreams. However, I can be persuaded to try new things and stretch my boundaries in the name of education, fun, and . . . delicious snacks. So when Big Sis got it into her head that we had to make caramel corn to go along with our Autumn Treasures unit study (specifically the part about popcorn), I put my research skills to work and came up with what looked like a fairly simple recipe online. Guess what? It's good stuff! I mean really good, as in "if this had been a disaster, I so would not be sharing this post with you!" I've even got the pictures to prove it. Too bad we don't have aromavision so you could smell it! Yum!

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. Apparently there are websites devoted entirely to recipes! Some of the caramel corn recipes include vanilla, which sounds like a good idea to me but I forgot to add it to ours. Try it and let me know!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups unpopped popcorn
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda

Directions

1. In a 4 quart saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of the oil , and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove from heat. Place popped corn in oven to keep warm. Repeat until all corn has been popped.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
3. Boil sugar, butter, syrup, and salt for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add baking soda. Stir well.
4. Pour over popped corn. Spread onto cookie sheets and pl ace in oven for 1 hour. Stir every 15 min. Remove from oven and let cool, breaking apart the popcorn a s it cools. Store in air tight containers.

   
   

   

The caramel sauce after it has boiled. Can you say STICKY???

The popcorn before putting it in the oven

The popcorn in the oven. Did I mention you have to stir it A LOT?

The finished product. Yummy!

Big Sis' contribution was combining the ingredients at the beginning before I boiled them together. She got to measure things, so that counts as math, right? After that, we had a lesson in telling time (and patience) as she asked every few minutes for an hour, "Is it done YET?"

Overall, it was fun and delicious!

Field Trip: Statue of Liberty

Recently we got to tag along with DH on a training trip for his job. We stayed in New Jersey, just outside of New York City. My "mama instincts" said that a trip into the city with three little girls was not something I wanted to tackle, but we were able to visit Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side. Big Sis really wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and being a true-blue homeschool mom, I saw this as an awesome field trip opportunity! We're now planning a lapbook on the Statue. I think we got some nice pictures. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time.

City view from the park

Historic train station, an important stopping point from Ellis Island

The Liberty Science Center is really cool!

I like the silhouette effect in this picture.

DH and I saw NYC when we were first married and that was enough for a lifetime for me! LOL I always thought I'd like to live in NYC since it seemed like an important thing to do for a true "writer's life." Now I prefer the quiet country life by far, especially for raising children.

I'll leave you with the words of Emma Lazarus, the poet who wrote The New Colossus featured at the Statue of Liberty. I think they're fitting words to remember on Veteran's Day, in celebration of the freedom we enjoy here. Remember to thank God and thank a Veteran today!

THE NEW COLOSSUS
by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land,
Here at our sea-washed, sunset-gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome, her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin-cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she,
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Time to vote! Homeschool Blog Awards 2009

The voting begins today at The Homeschool Post! There are so many great blogs to choose from in all the categories. Head over to vote for your favorite before November 21st!

While you're at it, if you feel so inclined, please vote for me. I've been nominated in two categories: Best New Blog and Best "Live What you Believe." I am so honored to just be on the nominations list!

Personally, I think anyone who invests their time and effort to further the causes of faith, homeschooling, motherhood (guess I should say "parenthood" since there are Dad blogs, too!), and takes the time to share their hearts and ideas with the blogosphere is a real winner in my book!

Christmas Books on sale! 50% off!

Usborne Books has some great sales right now! You can't beat 50% off on these fun Christmas titles. Both are hardcover. I personally own both and can vouch for the quality. The Hide-and-Seek touchy-feely is lots of fun. The colors and illustrations are gorgeous! Both Big Sis and Lil Sis love that one. The Christmas Treasury book makes a good family tradition -- we read the stories over the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Here are the descriptions:


Have fun finding all the Christmas things in this touchy-feely flap book. Only $8.50!

The mystery and wonder of Christmas are captured here in this charming collection of stories, activities and carols, including the birth of Jesus and the story of Saint Nicholas. Presented in a way that young listeners and young readers will find easy to understand and enjoy, this book will be a source of lasting interest and pleasure to the whole family for years to come. Only $2.40!

What do Mulan, a ladybug, and a flower have in common?

They're sisters, of course!

Baby Girl, 2 months old

Lil Sis, 2 years old

Big Sis, 7 years old

Big Sis had her heart set on being Mulan this year. When I found out the costume cost $50 from Disney online, I thought "No way!" I could not -- and would not -- spend that much on a child's costume. Fortunately for Big Sis (and my sentimental Mama's heart), I was able to find this one used on eBay for a fraction of the cost (less than $15). It was practically like new!

Since we live so rurally, trick or treating does not exist in our area. We head to the mall to go trick or treating inside. This works out great because the weather doesn't matter, it's well-lighted, and I feel safer about the stores giving out treats rather than going randomly door to door.

I understand the objections to Halloween from a Christian perspective. However, our girls are so little and we attach no spiritual meanings to the event. You might as well call it "Dress Up Day" as far as the girls are concerned. And what little girl doesn't enjoy dressing up? I feel as long as it has that innocent connotation for them, we can enjoy it and let them just be kids. I totally respect those who object and don't participate, though. I think these verses from Romans are important to consider in this matter and I pray that we are never a stumbling block in this regard.

Fun Fall Lessons: Word Wall & Family Tree

Since Big Sis is enjoying lapbooking and any kind of artsy-craftsy hands-on lessons right now, I decided to do a BIG visual that also serves as seasonal decoration in our house. Don't you love multi-tasking? I found this seasonal tree by Carson-Dellosa on sale for 10 cents at Book Closeouts! Yeah, 10 cents! It has all four seasons for the tree with the corresponding season words. The colors are bright and the drawings are really cute, though you can't tell that from my pictures. LOL It's designed for classroom bulletin boards (about 2x2 feet). We've got it on a door near our homeschool desk. (Maybe I should do a post about where/how we homeschool?)

This picture shows the tree after we added some things. The tree set came with some reproducible apples, leaves, and acorn cut-out patterns. It also came with some lesson ideas for different subjects/ages. Did I mention this was only 10 cents? LOL I love finding a deal! Big Sis colored the apples, leaves, and acorns, cut them out, and we used some old blank labels I had to write on them. Since our theme is "fall," we made an "-all" word family wall. I told her to think of all the -all words she could and write them down on the labels. She came up with all, fall, wall, tall, ball, mall, call, and hall. After she colored and cut them out, she put these labels on the apples and acorns and we taped them under the tree.


Big Sis then labeled the leaves with our family names so we could have our "family tree." We stuck those on the top part of the tree with double-sided tape. She included Grandma & Grandpa so there are 7 leaves instead of 5.

Big Sis had a lot of fun doing this and it tied in well with our Autumn Treasures unit study/lapbook. (I'll share more on that later. I've been having camera trouble.) I like the cheerful decoration for the house! I can't look at it without smiling. ;0)

Overheard

As I was doing laundry the other day, I put Baby Girl in the swing while Big Sis was sitting next to her doing an art project. Lil Sis was playing with the Little People barn in the floor next to them. I overheard this conversation:

Baby Girl: Stretch, grunt, coo

Lil Sis: Baby!

Big Sis: Yes, that's our baby.

Baby Girl: making a loud diaper, as breastfed babies are prone to do


Lil Sis: (laughing and pointing) Funny baby!

Big Sis: (in a wise, older sister voice) You can laugh at her now, but just wait till she gets older and wants to play with your toys. Then you'll see what being a big sister is all about!


Apparently, it's not all it's cracked up to be when it comes to sharing! LOL


For more laughs like these, visit Not Before 7 for Tiny Talk Tuesday!

Books for Christmas!

Want a simple alternative to traffic and hectic shopping malls, but still need a great gift this season? Think Usborne Books! www.qualityusbornebooks.com

Here are a few Christmas books for kids of all ages that might interest you:

50 Christmas Things to Make and Do, Spiral Hardcover $9.99
This inspiring book is bursting with fun, festive ideas for things to make and do in the weeks before Christmas.





Christmas Treasury Kid Kit, Hardcover, $11.99
This Kid Kit contains shape cutters, paints, colorful construction paper, glitter glue and sequins for making amazing Christmas ornaments and festive paper projects. These activities will keep excited children happily occupied during the weeks before Christmas.




Baby's First Christmas with CD, Board Book, $14.99
This magical book is perfect for a baby's first Christmas. They will love looking at the enchanting pictures and listening to the tinkly Christmas music.






Advent Nativity Book, Jigsaw Book, $14.99
Make your own Nativity scene and bring the Christmas story to life with this charming and original book.



Christmas Baking for Children, Spiral Hardcover, $14.99
From gingerbread houses and spiced apple muffins to Christmas cupcakes, this charming book is packed full of recipes that will fill your kitchen with the mouth-watering smells of Christmas baking. Just follow the simple steps to bake scrumptious Christmas treats.

You'll find all these great books and more at www.qualityusbornebooks.com. Let me know if you'd like personalized recommendations based on age and interests!