Did someone say chocolate??

 

Yes I believe they did say Chocolate, and journal, and soft throw, and brown mug!! What in the world am I talking about? Well, Got Chai’s latest giveaway of course!

You could win your own sample of Pillsbury’s latest greatest dessert and a mug, throw, and journal that are chocolate brown!!!

Check it out here!!!

New Book by Dr. Kevin Leman and Contest

 

 

Dr. Kevin Leman has a new book, It’s Your Kid, Not A Gerbil. The name gave away the content to me, especially after I saw the picture on the cover.

I have felt guilt at times over not joining the rat race and signing my kids up for every activity available. I’m looking forward to being encouraged by this book.

Tyndale House Publishers is offering a give away on their blog. Prizes include, an iPod touch and book packages.  Good Luck!!

Review: The Grace Card, DVD

Enter below to win your very own copy of GraceCard!  Drawing will be September 3!! *Extended*


Family movie night was great last night. We watched GraceCard, which is the first movie produced by Graceworks Pictures with the help of Calvary Pictures, creator of Fireproof.
The core theme of the movie is forgiveness with some racial tensions interwoven. I cried during parts of the movie and laughed at others. I would highly recommend it to anyone desiring a clean, thought provoking movie.
There are some adult type themes such as selling drugs, drinking, and robbery. These are done very tastefully and are not overpowering or glorified in anyway.
I would also say this is a new production company and the acting, as you might imagine, is not Hollywood status, but it is easy to overlook that and see the greater story. Forgiveness. Just as Christ forgave us, so we must forgive. We MUST! Bitterness will tear us apart, we are the ones who suffer when we choose not to forgive.
GraceCard does a great job of showing just how bitterness, anger, unresolved conflicts, and grief can consume us and eat away at us. But also, how free we can truly be when we choose to let go of it all and simply call on Jesus. He’s the ultimate Healer of all our pain, suffering, sorrow, and infirmities. 
For more information about GraceCard visit: http://www.thegracecardmovie.com/themovie
You can also check them out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thegracecard
If you would like to win a copy please do one or more of the following (one entry for each):
1) Follow me on GFC
2) Follow me on Facebook
3) Follow me on Twitter
4) Follow me on Networked Blogs

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:
    “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

School’s In!

 

We started back to school this week and I must say, things went very well. The schedule I created will need some tweaking but I’ve kept a record of how much time we spent on everything this week and I have some ideas in mind for making our day’s, not only run more smoothly, but hopefully quicker as well.

This is Lucas and Shiloh’s first year of kindergarten.  Shiloh isn’t exactly “old enough” for kindergarten but hey, this is my homeschool and we do things my way around here, hee-hee. Seriously, I don’t know if she’ll be able to do it, but we’re going to try.

 

School Buddies

Our Morning Board in Action

Josiah hung out with and helped us a lot this week!

 

 

I think it’s going to be an amazing year!

Beach Daze

There is just nothing quite like a week at the beach. The lazy days on the beach and quiet nights with a book. Everyone doing their own thing and enjoying it. Some fish. Some swim. Some read. Some walk. All have fun! There are 8 cousins here so that in and of itself is a recipe for a great week. I'm dreading the end of the week...it's never long enough!

             Shark Fishers!!

They fished in the surf and on the peer daily

          Ninja on the beach

  

There was even time for naps

 

          My nieces and me

Man I’m going to miss this week when it’s over!

School Time’s A Comin’ Part 2

Yesterday I talked about school for my little ones but things are changing for my older boys as well. At the end of last year we decided that my oldest son needed more attention. Not because he wasn’t doing well in school, just because he was feeling a little left out. I was working with his brother through almost all of his subjects and I never sit down with Jordan during the day.

So this year I’m moving the boys away from their desks and we’ll be doing school at the kitchen table. 

I purchased these crates, one for each of them and and a pink one for me. We’ll keep all of our daily books and supplies in them and bring them to the table each morning.

These are no where near full. Some of the stuff in there now are review products that were started in the middle of the last school year. We’ll continue working through those this year. I just purchased our remaining homeschool books this week, so we’ll hopefully be ready by August!

I’ve created a schedule that I’m going to slide into a page protector. Each day we’ll be able to check off as we work through it. I’ve also fixed it so I can adjust the times once we get started because I really wasn’t sure how much time some of our subjects would take.

School Time’s a Comin’

And I’m getting ready!!  My older boys and husband have been out of the house this week so I’ve used the time to get all of my school planning done. I have worked day and night but it’s been fun.
Lucas and I stayed up together a couple nights.  Believe it or not we made some pretty sweet memories working together.


Shiloh stayed up with me last night….and it shows, lol

I really wanted to be ready to start school by the first week in August and I had two full weeks coming up, so I knew I would need to get it all done this week. I spent the first two days buying some supplies and cleaning out our library/computer/homeschool room.

I must admit, it looks quiet nice (I really should have taken a before picture).I know it won’t stay that way though, lol.     
                            

We don’t actually do school in this room (we did once upon a time) but I do have an area for Jordan to do his Phonetic Zoo and Bible work.

We cleaned a shelf off of this bookcase to make room for our Sonlight Core E!!! I also have to make room for some Heart of Dakota books that I loaned a friend last year. Not sure where I’ll put those but I’ll figure it out.
My 5 year old son will be starting kindergarten this year and his 4yr old sister will be doing it right along side him. I wanted to make it special for them so I have a few things planned to make learning fun and easy (I hope!).

I’ve set up an area in my kitchen for us to do their school. In the past I’ve tried to do it in different areas of the house but we always seem to end up back in the kitchen. So this year the kitchen and dining room will be our main school areas except for when we’re doing our reading (SONLIGHT!!) That’ll be done on the couch as always.


So for the little ones, I moved their small bookcase and filled it with some of the books I want us to read this year.


They each have a cubby bin to hold their glue, crayons, scissors, etc. and another bin to hold their workbooks and papers. We bought stickers and I decorated one bin and they decorated the other.
I also created a morning board (although it may not get done in the morning…just depends). The idea came when one of my blogging friends (Rusheika, at Island Mama's Adventures) introduced me to the idea and directed me to 1+1+1=1 and Mama Jean.  I used Hubbard's Corner to help me determine what I wanted them to cover this year. I made a list and as soon as they cover a few of the items on the board, I’ll redo it and add new stuff. At least that’s my plan…things often don’t go the way I plan…we may totally hate this morning board thing. Goodness I hope not.

Our Morning Board

So there’s part of our school plan.  Tomorrow I’m going to blog about the older boys and the changes we’ve made for them.