My friend, Cindy, is assembling boxes for a large group of single marines who are coming home from deployment. You can read more HERE.

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! 

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program.  Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking.  Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included!  For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports. 

 

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/  and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it.  And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it.  And good luck!  The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg.   And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win.   Yay for free stuff!

I am having a sidewalk sale this week-end at my store. I have many, many great deals! You can get the address from my website www.dhss.com.

Have a blessed day! Tami

A friend of mine made this video. It is quite powerful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZVlheNkQFo

I wanted to let you know about a great new
resource we've found that mixes one of my favorite
Springtime passions - gardening and growing things!

The Erskine family has just opened their new site,
"Green Thumb Family". It is the neatest blog, just
chock full of stuff about growing both great gardens AND great kids!
If you've ever wondered about integrating your gardening
with your homeschooling, here's your answer!

You can check out the site at: www.GreenThumbFamily.com

But hold on, it gets EVEN BETTER!

The Erskines have put together a super "toolkit"
which currently has 14(!) great hands-on resources,
and more coming almost daily. You can see it on their
site, BUT DON'T ORDER IT THERE! We have a special page
set up where you can get the whole thing (AND all the
updates) at a nice discount for the next 10 days!

Here's the page you'll want to remember, it's the only
place you can get the toolkit at a discount:

http://www.homewaypress.com/index.htm?hop=discounths

We highly recommend you check out the blog, then
get yourself a copy of this "toolkit" asap.
Spring is just around the corner, and this would be
a wonderful way to make it a great growing season,
both for your garden AND your family!

http://www.homewaypress.com/index.htm?hop=discounths

This comes at the perfect time for me and my children. We were just talking about planting our garden this week.

Have a blessed day! Tami

Hello,

I apologize for not posting this week. I have been busy getting ready for a bookfair this week-end. I have come through the 30-day challenge of not complaining to my husband about anything he does a better wife and help meet to him. It has been a true eye-opener to me on how I relate to my husband, and also how it is in my power to build him up or tear him down with my words. I do think this is something that I will be continuing. The Holy Spirit has truly been with me, and He has done most of the hard work on me. So I give Him the praise and honor for it all!

If you have been participating, please comment and let me know how you are doing.

Have a blessed day! Tami

Hello,

Don't you love how God uses something simple to bring great lessons to His children? In my case, I have been participating in a 30-day challenge to not complain to my husband about anything he does. This has brought some great things to me. I am more aware of what I say to my husband and also how I say things to him. God has also brought things to mind from my childhood where I have held onto hurt that I needed to let go. So I will say that this challenge has been fruitful to me in many ways, and it is not over yet!

How are you doing, if you are participating in this challenge?

Have a blessed day! Tami

Hello! Sorry I missed reporting about my challenge for the past three days. I have been covered up with tax return receipts.

I am still getting those little prompts from the Holy Spirit to hold my tongue, and He is keeps showing me other ways of complaining without speaking. It has been a revelation to me how my eyes, attitude, and actions are also involved.

How are you doing this week?

Have a blessed day! Tami

Anne of Palm Tree Pundit has this week's edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling posted on her blog. Check it out!

Have a blessed day! Tami

Well, today the Lord showed me that I can complain with my eyes as much as with my mouth. I caught myself before I gave "the look." And I know it was a prompting from the Holy Spirit. WOW! The things I am learning about myself during this challenge!!!!!

Anyone else taking part in the challenge? Please comment!

Have a blessed day! Tami

Wednesday and Thursday have gone quite well. I have become so conscious of every word that I say to my husband. And I am even trying to work on the tone in which I say things to him. Sometimes it is not what we say or don't say, but it is our attitude that can bring a complaining or even nagging spirit out.

Have a blessed day! Tami

Today marks two weeks into my challenge of not complaining to my husband about anything he does, and I can say that I made it through another day! And I mean that in a nice way. It is still hard to remember to hold my tongue, but I find myself stopping before something of a complaining nature comes out. I also cooked a wonderful meal for my family tonight. That is not a normal occurrence for Tuesday night. Usually, three of my children are at piano lessons on Tuesday night, but their lessons were canceled by the teacher late this afternoon. We had some of the delicious taco soup that I made at lunch, along with cubed steak, potatoes, salad, and pineapple for dessert. YUM! My husband definitely appreciated the extra efforts I made tonight.

Have a blessed day! Tami

I thought I would post a pic for Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday.

 

Is there a better way to celebrate your birthday?

Amanda has done an excellent job with this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Hop on over and check it out!

Have a blessed day! Tami

Well, day 13 is not quite over, but I am going to go ahead and post while i have a few minutes. So far today has gone well. I have been able to hold my tongue, and I have not complained to my husband about anything he did. And I complimented him on the awesome dinner he cooked for all of us. He made hamburger steak, potatoes, salad, and biscuits. YUMMMMMMM!!!!! He is such a great chef. I have told him before that he should have gone to chef school. Then again, he would have a terrible schedule, if he was a world-famous chef. LOL

Have a blessed day!!! Tami

I have not spent a lot of time writing about our school happenings this year, because we have been very busy DOING school. We are currently studying "Authority and Light" with KONOS Obedience in a Box. This is a revisited unit for me, since I did it in our second year of homeschooling with my two older children. It is fun to go back and do some of the same activities with the younger boys, and it is fun to add in new activities. We are finishing up a book about Thomas Edison. And we are going to attempt to assemble a lamp. I won a lamp kit last month at our annual 4-H awards night. So school this week will do double duty. It will also yield us a project book for 4-H when we are finished assembling the lamp. I LOVE combining schoolwork with our 4-H activities.

I am also enjoying Sequential Spelling with my oldest son. For the first time, spelling makes sense to him! Isn't it great when something you have struggled with for a long time finally clicks????

I also have 4 children in various places in their math books. I have two children using Math-U-See. One is just beginning a book, and one is almost ready to finish a book. I have another child using Saxon math, and he is almost done with his book, too. And my daughter is using Alpha Omega's Consumer Math program this year. Isn't it fun to relearn lost math skills alongside your children?

That's a peek into our week! What are you doing this week?

Have a blessed day! Tami

I have a quick update about Day 11 and Day 12. I have made it two more days without complaining to my husband about anything he does. I am also trying to take opportunities to say positive things to him to build him up. It is hard to think that sometimes our words can tear down more marriages than anything else.

Anyone else joining me on the challenge???

Have a blessed day! Tami

Hello,

This is just a brief update, since I am at a bookfair. Day 10 went very well. I had a stressful situation today, and I was still able to hold my tongue. It's amazing what the Holy Spirit can do in a person's heart when they commit something to prayer.

I have a long day at the bookfair tomorrow, so I will probably do a two-day update on Sunday.

Have a blessed day! Tami

Sorry I missed updating yesterday! I am preparing for a bookfair that starts today, and that took up all my spare time. I will report that I am still guarding my tongue and not complaining to my husband about anything he does. And I do still have to be conscious of holding my tongue. It is so easy for those little sharp "barbs" to come up, especially when I am stressed. I will be updating again over the week-end at some point.

Have a blessed day! Tami