TOS Review: How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids

My first review product for the year is from APOLOGIA  I was very excited about this because I love the products those folks publish.  
  The book I received was written by Rachael Carman who, along with her husband, are owners of Apologia. Her new book is called How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids. This book was part of a presentation Rachael shared during previous homeschool conferences and was so well received and relevant for all homeschooling moms, she decided to turn it into a book.
You can purchase a copy of the book on their website, for $13 and be sure to read a sample chapter while you’re there. This is a small, hardbound book, with approximately 200 pages.
Mrs.Carman uses the word HEART to give the reader step by step ideas on what we can do to help our children have a heart for the Lord. After all, isn’t that every Christian mom’s ultimate goal?
Here’s a short overview to help you understand the content:
H= Have a Heart for the Things of God (how can we expect our kids to if we don’t?)
E= Enrich your Marriage (loving one another helps your children see what a healthy marriage relationship is supposed to look like )
A= Accept your Kids (God used this one to convict me. He also used two other (random) sources to show me THE SAME THING. You know it’s from God when you get it from different sources…He never stops pursuing us!)
R= Release Them to God (I had a very difficult week and the last thing I felt like doing was reading this book but I knew I had fallen behind and needed to finish it. Boy, God must have had His hand in it because as I read I felt Him telling me “everything’s going to be okay, trust ME!” I really, really needed to hear from Him, and I did! His timing was prefect! Isn’t it always?)
T= Teach Them Truth (My husband happened to read this chapter and loved the illustration she used to show how God’s truth is ALWAYS TRUTH! In fact, he loved it so much he decided to use it during his Saturday night chapel at the youth center where he works. He’s also planning to use it during his Sunday morning children's sermon. Good stuff!)
Would I recommend this book? Oh yeah! God blessed me in and through it! I have some pages dog eared and I will be revisiting them. If you would like to see what others thought of this book, visit the crew website.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

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.