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Hey! I just realized that today is my Second Blogoversary! Nathan made me this cool badge:

Have a great day!

~Andrea

I saw this Blog Readability Test on onfire's blog and decided to try it.

I don't know exactly what this means for me. Should I use bigger words, smaller words, more complicated sentence constructions? Should I keep it the way it is? Are all four of you able to understand what I am trying to convey?

~Andrea

The Blog Tip Challenge of the Month at the HSB Company Porch sounds pretty fun this month. Here's the info from The HSB Company Porch Homeschool Times:

One way a blogger gets others to come to their blog is to start a weekly or monthly blog post meme (pronounced like theme). The blogger challenges their readers to post on a certain subject on their own blogs and then asks those bloggers to sign up by either leaving a comment or using the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the original post. This way other readers and bloggers can read all the posts that mention the same topic. For instance, Thursday Thirteen, Wordless Wednesday, and Works for me Wednesday. The list could go on and on and on! If you see a meme on a blog you'll know it because it will direct you back to the original post. So start your own meme!

Blog Tip Challenge of the Month

Even if you don't want to start a meme you can certainly take part in them! Remember many of the other participants will be reading your entry. Right here's a great place to start - The HSB Company Porch Homeschool Times. Write a blog post in newspaper fashion about any homeschool event or activity you have taken part in. It can be truth or fiction, the point is to have fun! Tell us how the dog ate your schoolwork or about the field trip to the pizza parlor. Don't forget to write it just like it's an article in a newspaper. Give it a catchy title like 15 Homeschoolers Caught with the Dough at Pizza Ritza!

Once your entry is posted come back to the Porch and sign up with Mr. Linky, that way everyone can read your post and you can read all the other entries!

I decided to recycle a blog post that was already written in newspaper fashion: Stolen! King Cluckenhamen and His Family! (click to read it).

I hope you decide to participate - I'm having a lot of fun reading all of the creative news stories out there! Go here to submit your story and read others.

~Andrea

Since I had so many books that I didn't finish on my Winter Reading Challenge Wrap-up post, I'm really excited that Katrina at Callapiddler Days is hosting the Spring Reading Thing 2008! The challenge goes from March 20th, through June 19th. One random participant will win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com, but you have to post your initial reading list by midnight (EST) tonight and post a recap by midnight on June 24th. You can join the reading fun anytime though - the deadline is only to be eligible for the prize!

Here's my list (leftover from my Winter Reading Challenge list. I noticed that a lot of people added their Bible reading goals to the Winter Reading Challenge. I thought that was a great idea, so I added my Bible reading goals to this list. I'll hopefully add some more books, but I would like to get most of these finished up first. Books I'm currently reading are in red; books I have completed will be crossed off.

Martin Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens (free online)

Helen's Temper, by Mrs. George Gladstone (with the HSB Literary Club - free online)

Awakening Youth Discipleship, by Brian J. Mahan, Michael Warren, and David F. White

What is Form Criticism?, by Edgar V. McKnight

Deep Justice in a Broken World, by Chap Clark & Kara E. Powell

Soul Searching, by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton

From the Bible:

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

Daniel

Romans (current family Bible study)

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Happy Reading!

~Andrea

It's time for the Winter Reading Challenge Wrap-up. Thank you to Trish at A Joyful Heart for hosting this. Congratulations to Gretchen, who won the $25 Amazon gift certificate!

I tend to read several books at a time, so I knew my list was probably a little ambitious to actually finish. I never started What is Form Criticism?, by Edgar V. McKnight. Otherwise, I did okay, considering the length and content of some of my book choices. My original post is here.

Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens (free online): I really enjoyed this one, although I have only come across one Dickens book that I haven't liked (and I didn't finish it, so it really doesn't count). :-)

Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell (free online): As soon as I started this I realized that I had already read it! I read it again anyway. It is quite different from other Gaskell novels that I have read, but the characters grow on you, especially Miss Matty.

The Practice of the Presence of God, by brother Lawrence (free online): I highly recommend this one. Brother Lawrence almost seems too good to be true, but his insights on focusing on God (really "praying without ceasing) are invaluable. His humility really captured me.

Families at the Crossroads, by Rodney Clapp: This is another one I highly recommend, although many American Christians will be offended by some of what Clapp has to say. This book caused me to take a good look at how much American culture has impacted my thinking (and I thought I already had a pretty good grip on that). If you decide to read it, make sure you read the whole book to get the big picture.

Life Skills for Kids, by Christine M. Field: This is a great book to help you plan teaching some of the skills your children will need. Some of the author's ideas about preparation for adulthood seem a little bit over-planned for me, but that is a very natural reaction from the way she was raised. I found the book to be very helpful. It would be a great reference to keep on hand.

Martin Chuzzlewit, by Charles Dickens (free online): This one hasn't been a favorite for me, although the satire is brilliant (of course). I'm plugging away at it though. I'm almost halfway through it.

Awakening Youth Discipleship, by Brian J. Mahan, Michael Warren, and David F. White: This short book is pretty scholarly, so I have to read it when I can really focus on it - not too often around here! I'm only about a quarter of the way through this book, which I had hoped to finish.

Deep Justice in a Broken World, by Chap Clark & Kara E. Powell: I skimmed through "Deep Justice," as we will be using it for a youth/family book study. I still have to go through the book and do a thorough reading. This book is addressed to youth leaders, but it is very practical for anyone with children. It's another book that is probably controversial among American Christians, but, in my opinion, the book is an excellent tool for youth leaders and/or parents who would like to introduce their children/students to some of the wrongs in our culture and do something about them. It's all about serving the hurting.

Soul Searching, by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton: This book has been on my shelf for quite a while, and I still haven't made much of a dent in it. I added it to my book list, but it is one that I will keep plugging away at in between other books. The subtitle is "The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers." As you can see from that, it is mostly statistics and commentary on those statistics. I'll be finishing it, but it probably won't be for a while.

~Andrea

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!

Enjoy!

~Andrea

I've been tagged by onfire. Here are the directions:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4 .Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

This was difficult for me, but I finally came up with something perfect:

Methinks that I think too much.

I'm tagging:

Sawickis

Apples of Gold

The Daniel Academy

A Pondering Heart

The Daily Planet

~Andrea

I was tagged by Kristie! Here it goes:

Use the first letter of your name and find words with that letter. The number of letters in your name determines how many people you can tag.

What is your name? Andrea

4-letter word: arch

Vehicle: ATV

City: Antwerp

Boy’s name: Andrew

Girl’s name: Allyson

Movie: Anne of Green Gables

Occupation: architect

Something you wear: armor

Celebrity: Audrey Hepburn

Food: armadillo eggs

Something found in a kitchen: anise

Something found in a bathroom: aloe

Reason for being late: appointment

Something you shout: Alleluia!

Animal: ardvark

Body part: appendix

Word to describe you: adept

Well, the directions say I can tag six people since I have six letters in my name. So, if you are reading this and six people haven't yet commented to say they did the tag, consider yourselves tagged! Please leave a comment if you decide to do this tag so I can read yours!

~Andrea

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