Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Archives for December 2014
Closet Fix
There was an unusable door going into our closet from the kitchen side. I can’t even explain it. You couldn’t even push the door open enough to get into the closet. We took the door out last year, and since then anyone who wanted (or not) had a perfect view into our closet. No more.
Hubby and I bought sheetrock to close the closet off, so now there’s not a gaping doorway there! I used the same brown to paint it that I used in the kitchen. The only thing that bugs me is where the door used to latch. I guess I can get a wood crayon or something to fix that. We’ll eventually put some shelves in the recess there. I’m so happy with it!
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Chestnut Grove Academy 1000th Post Giveaway
So, my friend Jen over at Chestnut Grove Academy recently hit her 1000th blog post and her 150th Field Trip Friday Blog Hop Post! That’s A LOT of homeschool blogging and field trips!! We wanted to celebrate in a BIG way and to thank those of you who read her blog!
There are over $500 in prizes set up for you guys. There will be 3 winners, so the odds of winning are even greater!
We would like to thank all of the amazing donors and tell you a little bit about what you can win! Then, use the Rafflecopter form to enter. There are over 45 ways to enter, with some daily entries, so make sure you come back!!
A HUGE Thank you to our sponsors:
A+ Interactive Math, Veritas Press, SchoolhouseTeachers.com, Building Brilliant Minds Online, Skrafy Minecraft, Classical Composers Monthly, Educents, Classroom Friendly Supplies, Our Time to Learn, and A Virtuous Woman
Now for the Prizes:
A+ Interactive Math – 1 year family math package for 2 students ($199.99 value)
Veritas Press – Self-paced Bible course for grades 2nd-6th ($179 value)
Building Brilliant Minds Online – Introduction to Architecture course for ages 11+ ($150 value). We are looking forward to taking a course with Building Brilliant Minds Online this Winter!
SchoolhouseTeachers.com – 3 Full year subscriptions ($139 value each)
Educents – $30 Gift Card
Educents is a online DISCOUNT place for all things educational! It’s a great place to find amazing deals on homeschool curriculum and supplemental materials. They often even have FREE items! Check them out!
Classroom Friendly Supplies – The Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener ($24.95 value)
Classical Composers Monthly – Fine Art Pages – Christmas Set, Winter Set and Corrier & Ives Set ($14 value)
Be sure to check out their entry – Register for FREE units!
Skrafy Minecraft – Any Skrafty Homeschool Class
Our Time to Learn – About Me Curriculum Book ($15.99 value)
A Virtuous Woman – Planner of your choice
We are so excited to be able to bless the lives of Jen’s readers with some of these amazing prizes. They have been divided into 3 packages, and they are listed on the Rafflecopter form in their groups.
Please pay attention to the Terms & Conditions at the bottom of the Rafflecopter form!
Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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God Shows the Way Review
As an emerging reader and lover of books and stories, I love to find books that interest my 6 year-old son. I was so excited to receive a copy of The Berenstain Bears God Shows the Way to review. I grew up with The Berenstain Bears myself, so I knew it’s be a wonderful addition to our book collection. The books are well-known for their Christian themes. This book is really cool because it’s actually 3 books rolled into 1!
- Faith Gets Us Through
- Do Not Fear, God is Near
- Piggy Bank Blessings
In the first story, the Bear Scouts are taking a trip to Spooky Cave to earn a merit badge. Spooky Cave lives up to its name, and the cubs are a bit afraid of going. However, the cubs realize how amazing the cave really is, and trust in God for their courage.
Next, whens she was small, Sister Bear was afraid of so many things: shadows, thunder, bugs, and even birds! As she got little older, she realized she just had to trust that God would taker her fears away. When she put her trust in God, she wasn’t afraid of all those things anymore.
Finally, the bear siblings learn that they cannot always have what they want. Mama teaches them the value of money, of saving for what they want. They did extra chores around the house to earn the money they needed for something very special. There’s a great surprise for Mama at the end!
This book has some great moral lessons, and is geared especially for early readers. Lucas isn’t reading yet, but the stories are engaging and not too long. The words are a nice size print, so when he does read, the words will be easy to see. This is a great book for all Christian families to own! Family Christian has a wide variety of Berenstain Bears books, so go check them out.
I was given a copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing. All opinions are my own.
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Dining Room Redo
So, I posted recently that I could no longer tolerate the color we’d painted the living room before we moved. The paint was really reflective, tacky, etc. We had also painted the dining room the same color, just to make things easy. The first picture is how the dining room looked before we ever did anything to it. Scary, right? It’s hard to tell from this angle, but the trim pieces on the righthand side of the wall didn’t even match up on the top and bottom. Maybe a 5 year-old helped?
This picture is after we painted it late last year. A definite improvement from the original.I couldn’t find a picture of the room empty after painting…probably because it was the same as the living room?.
So, last week, we finally went to pick out some baseboard trim for the living room. While we were at Lowe’s, we decided to look at some paint colors for the dining room. I brought home a couple of paint cards, and there was a tie between 2 colors. I decided to go with the somewhat lighter and non-orange-y color, Winter Wheat. I definitely do not want white, because I despise white walls. I normally do not like brighter colors, but since the dining room also functions as our school room most of the time, I wanted something a little cheerful as well. This has a slight yellow hue, and it really brightens up the room nicely.
Here is with everything put back into place. I think the green curtains still work fine in here. I really need a bigger whiteboard.
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Parenting Unchained Book Review
How many people know that Satan will do whatever it takes to feed lies into our minds, especially as parents? How many of us realize that it’s an ongoing occurrence? Satan would love nothing more than to tear families apart. We as parents are fed lies by those who are worldly and are full of deception. Parenting Unchained-Overcoming the Ten Deceptions that Shackle Christian Parents by Dr. James Dempsey gives 10 examples of deceptions that parents are led to believe in. Dr. Dempsey is a pastor with a doctorate in Early Childhood Education. He and his wife are parents to 3 daughters. He wrote this book using examples of his own parenting ways along with Biblical examples. The book retails for $14.95 at the time of posting, and the Kindle version is .99 cents through the 12th.
I was so glad to be given the opportunity to review this book. I know that all parents can use some insight on raising their kids from someone who’s been there. Having raised his own 3 daughters, Dr. Dempsey has plenty of experience. Here are the 10 deceptions covered in the book:
- It’s All About Your Kids; Your Character Doesn’t Matter
- You’re Capable; You Can Do This
- God Only Cares About Rules
- You Can Be a Parent Without Investing Much Time
- Teaching the Right Information is Enough
- Why and How You Discipline Don’t Matter-Just Make Them Obey
- You Don’t Need to Talk About Your Faith
- Children Should Choose Their Life Course (Without Your Help)
- It’s All About Consistency (You Don’t Need to Adapt)
- Life Should Be Easy
The book is just under 200 page long, but it’s so full of great information and encouragement to parents. It’s not written in a condescending manner at all. It’s more like a loving parent showing you an easier way to do something, with Scripture to back it up. It’s a book that will challenge you and really make you think. Some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“God says your character is the foundation for your parenting.” page 11
“Don’t ignore God’s work in your own heart as He directs your work on the hearts of your children.” page 23
“The truth is, you can’t do it alone. You need God’s wisdom.” page 25
“Not only must we follow the example of Christ, we m just be an example for our children.” page 69
I appreciate this book so much. It’s made me look at my own character as a person and a Mom. As I said earlier, the Kindle version of the book is on sale for .99 cents through tomorrow on Amazon. Please get yourself a copy! I highly recommend this for ALL Christian parents.