For those interested in saving some money, here is a really neat giveaway! Check out For Such a Time As This.

We use and love Rosetta Stone in our homeschool. Here is a chance to win your very own set:

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

You REALLY want to win this contest! We started raising chickens last year and are really enjoying it. We built nesting boxes last year without really knowing what we were doing and have realized we made a few mistakes. We have been wanting to replace them lately and would love to get some of these! How cool! If you want a chance to win some of these awesome nesting boxes, pop over to Life on a Southern Farm  and enter for a chance to win!

How about $100 gift card to finish up your Christmas shopping? I hope I win! I could really use this card and I bet you could too . Pop over to Common Sense with Money and enter for your chance to win. Merry Christmas!

As homeschoolers we love to do things that bring what we are studying to life. My oldest daughter and I both love Jane Austen, so recently we ordered the "Elegant Ladies Closet" pattern from Sense and Sensibility Patterns . It arrived quickly and we were so pleased with the quality. We have not completed the project yet, but are excited to see the final product. Now it even easier to use these patterns as they have just made them available as e-patterns available for instant download! What a cool idea!

Over at Fishbowlsense you can win a lovely set of Bath and Body stuff in the Coconut Lime Verbena scent (which is my absolute favorite). Check it out :o)

Kathy at Teaching Good Things is celebrating her 43rd birthday by having a giveaway everyday this week! hop over and check out what neat things she has planned.

I came across a great article posted by Jess over at Making Home that so precisely captures my feelings about birth control and the world's attitudes about children. Here is an excerpt:

"If a two-year-old in a family of seven children has tantrums or is wearing mismatched clothes, it's because "the mom is spread too thin". But if that same child is the only child of two doting parents, it's because "bless his heart; he's a normal two-year-old" and because independent little two-year-olds love to pick out their own clothes.

If a mother of three children is exhausted as she's pregnant with her fourth, it's likely to be met with an "I told you so" attitude from those who have already inappropriately shared their thoughts about family size. And she rarely gets sympathy. More likely, she'll get a "you made your bed, now lie in it" perspective from most of the people around her. But a first time mother struggling with morning sickness gets sympathetic comments and offers for how others can help.

And lest you think I'm just whining as a mom of four, I'm really not... I'm just stating things the way I've plainly seen them. And these are things I hear from many of you, my friends and readers."

I also am a mother of four and have experienced similar reactions too. I remember venturing out with my newborn fourth and my three older kids to Target. We got into the elevator with some other folks and by the time we reached the second floor and got off I whispered to my husband "do you feel like the circus just came to town and we're it?" It was the first of many times that our "large" family garnered some strange attention and attitudes. Definnitely an interesting topic and Jess' article is a great read.

Does that scare you? It scares me! I love the holidays but it's still summer. We're still in the 90's around here. But, every year I do vow to get my act together and have a relaxed, well-prepared Christmas season. This site promises to help us do just that. Today they kick off their 100 Days Till Christmas countdown. I'm game.

Don't you just love Usborne books? We sure do. This week you have the opportunity to win a really great one! Pop over to Homeschool Hollow for your chance to win.

In the interest of accountability, I thought it might be a good exercise to post my monthly goals. Nothin like public humiliation to motivate oneself!

For my Bible/devotion time, I am working through the one year reading plan. I have been pretty faithful with that, but find myself rushing through my prayer time. So that is my first goal for the month - to have better quality prayer time.

We have been s-l-o-w-l-y chipping away at our finances with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. So, we are working on our baby emergency fund of $1000. My goal for this month is to put $100 in there. I am hoping to put bigger chunks in soon, but we have some unusually large bills to pay this month.

I used to be a Flylady devotee and still use many of her principles to keep my home under control. So, to prepare for fall and the holiday season, I would like to fling 20 kitchen size trash bags full of clutter this month.

I also hope to do the kitchen deep cleaning project from the Homemaker's Mentor  . Do you know about this site? It is wonderful! Martha Greene and Rebekah Wilson teach old fashioned homemaking skills in the spirit of Titus 2. I have learned so much neat stuff! This kitchen project is pretty major. I don't know if I will finish it all, but we'll see!

My husband and I have become very interested in back country hiking and backpacking, so we are working on getting in great shape. My goal is to walk /hike 30 miles this month.

On the homeschooling front, my goal is to not fall horribly behind this early in the year!  I guess what this would look like is to keep my records current, stay current on corrections, and current on the lessons/reading/etc that I have planned for the month. I don't think I've ever truly met this goal before. I like to keep a relaxed atmosphere in our schooling and those two things seem mutually exclusive sometimes!

Lastly, my husband really wants to become more self-sufficient, so I am participating in a September challenge to do one thing a day toward that goal. We recently received a gift from the DIL's of a floor to ceiling metal storage rack system for our laundry room. There are six huge shelves to fill with pantry items. I have been working toward filling it with frugally procured items (couponing etc with Money Saving Mom) such as rice, beans, grains, pastas, canned goods, toiletries, and other staples. Everytime I pass by and see it I feel encouraged.   And, we have a new flock of chickens (raised from chicks since spring) that should start laying anyday now. So, that will further our goal too. For this month, I would like to save enough money to buy a milk goat ($125) and build the pen for it.

That's it! I'll post how I am doing at the end of the month.

So I have been getting really into couponing and regularly reading blogs like Money Saving Mom. I have been learning a lot and I think, saving a lot. It takes some research and some practice, but last week I was able to do a really cool deal at Walgreens. I combined several coupons, matched them with sales and ended up with ten free items! Yay!!! This week I found out about a neat giveaway (who doesn't love cool free stuff!?!?!) at the couponcoup. Check it out at http://thecouponcoup.blogspot.com/2008/08/happy-birthday-to-me.html.

There's one on every street. I don't know how it happened (I certainly didn't seek out this status) but we have become the local hangout for the neighborhood kids. I do my best to shoo them on to the next house, but back they come. Actually I love kids and don't mind them being here at all. The Lord has put it on my heart lately to grow in the area of hospitality and I think it's just so funny that he keeps sending kid after kid after kid to my door. I must have to graduate from kids before he'll start sending the adults . I seriously suffer from a perfectionist attitude that has kept me from offering hospitality like I should and I think God has been prettty clear that it's time I changed. So, I am working on keeping the common areas of our homes in presentable shape all the time and when whoever is visiting happens to see the ugly messes that lurk behind closed doors, I am getting better about just shrugging it off and doing better next time. I doubt that anyone who visits lives in a perfectly maintained, beautifully decorated home anyway. I'm sure they've seen messes before, and maybe, just maybe they are sighing with relief and thinking "it's not just me". So, I will keep practicing hospitality on these little curmugeons that keep popping over because gosh darn it if they don't keep blessing me just by being here. That's it for today - I'm off to offer OtterPops (try saying that five times fast) to the five kiddos in my livingroom.

I have sorely neglected my poor little blog, and my DD14 has been reprimanding me. What can I say? The move, followed closely by a new school year caught up with me and my blog suffered. Anyway, I am back and will try to do better. I have sat down with a glass of iced tea and a fierce determination to write! It's pretty bad when we're well into summer and the photo in my last post has pumpkins!

Summer is well under way and I have indulged, without remorse, in a full month of not even thinking about school. Ahhhh. That was so needed and so refreshing. Now I feel ready to begin planning for the new school year. I have ordered the majority of my curriculum, but need to still figure out my plan for history and science. I am excited about the new year now, and have some fun and inspiring ideas for teaching these two subjects. This year will be different in that a neighbor (who is also my pastor's wife) and I will be teaming up to teach math and history. She will be teaching our four (between us) ninth graders math, and I will be teaching the same group history. I am hoping it will motivate all of us and be a lot of fun!

In other news, last week we had a crazy but totally fun week of VBS. I worked in crafts and also as a leader for the 1st-5th grade kids. We had a ball! DD12 is at camp this week with two of his friends. I miss him! I know he will have a wonderful week and grow in his faith, but it's hard to have him gone. Even though he's almost a teenager, he's still my little guy. Thank God I have three more at home or I don't know what I'd do with myself.  Next week, my DD14 heads off to her camp for a week. Sigh. This time I was smart and invited my sweeet niece who just turned 19 to visit for her annual summer visit with us. That will definitely be fun.

That's it for now. Oh! Be sure and check out Cindy Rushton's Virtual Seminar this weekend called Let's Get Organized for the New Schoolyear! That sounds awesome! And, just what I need to get some inspiration! Cindy says: " Talk about a MUST! I will take you by the hand and have a mommy getaway to plan for your new school year. I think you will enjoy it!  BTW...the Membership Site already has some fun goodies loaded and ready for you to dig into. So, make your plans to join us."  Here's how to join in on the fun:

This Weekend--July 11-12

Let's Get Organized for the New School Year Virtual Seminar! 

Sign up today to join us live (just register with your name/email for us to send you the passwords and schedule updates) or grab a ticket for access to our

Membership Site AND free ebooks/audios!

Sign up here: http://www.CindyRushton.com/LGO2008.html 

Have a great day!!!

In the mood for some fall fun? Check out Highlights from Higher Ground - there will be fun pumpkin posts (some with recipes) and a contest for sweet handmade pumpkin pot holders. Happy Harvest!

http://highergroundtoday.blogspot.com/

Enter to win the complete set of
Terrestria Chronicles
on the HSB Company Porch!

This lovely stretch of beach is where we spent a good part of the day yesterday. We have been vacationing at the coast and visiting some of our old stomping grounds. Saturday we had a party to celebrate my dad's 71st birthday and took the opportunity to make a long weekend of it. Having moved so far inland, we have been craving the crisp ocean air and sand between our toes. So, we played and played at the beach yesterday and had so much fun we didn't even mind when a rogue golden retriever ate nearly half our picnic - heh heh heh - oh well!

Even the drive to Halfmoon Bay is a delight. To get to the beach you have to cross over a pretty mountain pass then dip down into an agricultural valley where you meander through pumpkin patch after pumpkin patch (Halfmoon Bay is the "Pumpkin Capital of the World"). The green fields are splashed with the most striking array of brilliant oranges and golds right now as the town prepares for the annual Pumpkin Festival. We also saw a gorgeous sunflower field with a huge variety of flowers from deep russet to classic yellow. What a lovely weekend - we saw great friends, had a ball with family and visited places we really miss having moved so far inland. It will be hard to go back to the daily grind tomorrow!

We are finally starting to get settled into the new place and getting a feel for country life. It is lovely being surrounded by so much beauty - but also a HUGE change in many other ways. The kids and I are battling feelings of isolation and trying to get connected. We are starting to meet neighbors and miraculously a TON of homeschoolers! Praise God! We have found a church we like but to be thorough will probably check out one or two more. We are praying for a nice church family and a good circle of friends in the near future.

On another note - have you ever checked out Mrs. Wilt's blog? It's one of my favorites. Lot's on inspiration to be found there. Check out this post - I am having serious feelings of cake-envy ;O) http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/1114243/21479159.