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Save In Piggybacking

In all the changes that I have made this year I have been learning the importance of "piggybacking".  Piggybacking is when you butt one thing after the other and save because it is already heated up.  For example... to dry one load of laundry after the other and save because the dryer is already heated up.  Another way I have piggybacked my savings is when I roast my coffee beans.  I roast what I need for that week...one batch after the other. A third way that I can think of right off the bat is piggybacking while baking or cooking with the oven.  Get the biggest bang for your buck by baking several things together and right after the other.  In the winter time it is also a nice way to raise the temperature a little in your house.  I guess you can say it is like multi-tasking your energy use and save.   .

Now to join in the fun of Tightwad Tuesday....

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  Link your TWT post click on MckLinky and give exact the URL of your post.   (each Tuesday that  you join in on the fun)  

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example of a URL ...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/693425/

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  Now go ahead link and read and comment on all these other's wonderful TWT's. 

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 Lets save our pennies, nickles, dimes, and dollars  together !

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"There are only a few big ways to save money but there are many small ways ....that all adds up."

 

In a former life that I now dimly remember, I occasionally got free music as a sales associate for The Ark Bookstore in Denver. Normally, the samples were of new, relatively unknown groups that their label was trying to push. There was the rare exception, however, and those were moments that made the low wages and long hours almost worth it. Chief among those moments was when our Sparrow representative stopped by with a pre-release copy of Steve Taylor's 1993 album, Squint. It was the last—so far—studio album that Taylor would release, capping a decade-long career in the Christian music industry. Most folks don't know who Steve Taylor is. However, most Christians have likely heard the Newsboys' song, Shine, which Steve produced and wrote the lyrics to. In fact, Steve's partnership with the Newsboys is what most credit them for their success.

Steve's music has had a huge impact on my life. Songs like Hero, Meltdown, On The Fritz and so many others fed my spirit when I faced religious hypocrisy and pretentious spirituality at a young age where I needed truth and solidarity. Truth confronts, but it also comforts. One of the best examples is in the song, "Curses," where the chorus (echoing Psalm 37:25) repeats,

Never have I seen the righteous forsaken
Never abandoned in the floodlands
Never have I seen their children out begging
Never have I seen them slip through your hands

This simple refrain would echo in my mind every time I faced worries about making mortgage or buying groceries. It remains a reminder that not only is God faithful, but that I am not the first of his children to encounter financial difficulty.

There is something else about the chorus. In this modern,"lower-middle class" lifestyle, I tend to forget the meaning of floodlands. Today, modern civilization has flood control. Rivers that used to rage and ravage towns and cities are now harnessed and regulated by dams and reservoirs. The floodlands were areas that were normally dry but prone to extensive inundation. As a result, no one who could afford to build would build in such an area. They tended to be vast areas with thick undergrowth crisscrossed by a myriad of foot trails. The only inhabitants were the poorest of the poor, vagrants living a nomadic lifestyle and eating hand-to-mouth. If a river were to flood, they would be among the first victims, sometimes the only victims. Being abandoned in the floodlands would never be by choice. It would be the last stop before dying.

God is always mindful of our situation. He never lets us slip through His hands. We make mistakes, but He never does. Also, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we would never see the floodlands, or walk through them. He may have us pass through the floodlands for any number of reasons, not the least of which would be to reach out to those are also in desperate need. Yet here is the one thing that brings me such comfort: we will never be abandoned! We have a God who carries us through the fiercest storms and the highest waves. Most importantly, when it's all over, we get to go home with Him. That's worth any trek we might face here on earth.

Just in case one thinks I'm blowing smoke, I'll offer a subjective proof, one of many small miracles God has done for me and my family. Two weeks ago, my mind turned to Christmas. It dawned on me that we might not make mortgage, let alone have the ability to purchase gifts this year for my children. Rather than fret, I told God about it and asked Him to please provide Christmas gifts for my kids. Later that week, I got a call from our church saying that a family wanted to bless a family in need with Christmas presents and asked if I would be interested. "Are you kidding? I was just praying about that this week!" I told them. Needless to say, everyone was blessed at how God worked the whole thing. He usually isn't so blatant and obvious. God uses subtle and practical ways for us most of the time. But once in awhile he offers us unmistakable signs that He's there. With God, we are never abandoned.

My wife came up and told me that Sesame Street had done another spoof. This time it was a skit called "Desperate Horse-wives." I got a groan when I asked if the characters were less than neigh-borly.

In all seriousness, I'm not that thrilled with how the folks at Sesame Street parody network TV shows. While I am sure that the creators mean simple and innocent fun with their skits, I believe it also sends the message that the shows they represent are normal and acceptable in normal households. I'm not sure how normal we are, but Desperate Housewives is a show that we do not let in our house. My children know that when Extreme Makeover Home Edition is over and they hear, "Previously on Desperate Housewives..." power to the television is to be immediately terminated. It's almost comical how they scramble to turn it off, as if they were diving on a live grenade.

While it may not be a grenade, many TV shows are painfully difficult for us to watch these days. Some of the shows are so corrosive, I wonder how anyone can possibly watch them. Consequently, some nights we simply don't turn on the television set. Instead, we will read a good book or play a game together, if we don't split up to do separate things. We avoid the shows not because we like feeling superior or cerebral, but because we've found that these shows actively interfere with our hearts and minds.  

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8, The Message)

I can't come out with a list of TV shows that I think are bad or good. The verse above should be more than enough for the average Christian, especially when it's paired with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Each person is responsible only to God for decisions like these. However, Jesus did give us a special charge with children.

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 (NIV)

To me this verse means that God takes the destruction of children's innocence very seriously. This is why the Sesame Street skits irritate me. It feels like they're playing with fire. Look smart all you want, but I would prefer if they would just stick with "C is for cookie," and the yip-yip monsters.

What? You've never heard of the yip-yip monsters?

Yip Yip

| MySpace Video Thanks Jodi!

I have decided after much prayer that I need to close Show and Tell Friday.  It has been wonderful connecting with so many ladies this way.  I feel like I need to scale back some in my life.  Thank you all who have joined in ALL on the fun over the last couple of years. 

Celebrating 19 Years !

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I have to say  ...boy have we come a long way baby!   I had moved and  started a whole new life with Handsome in a different country from my birth, had four sweet boys, built a house and a life with my Handsome.   Do I regret any of it ???  No, God has blessed me through the thick and the thin and has shaped and molded us in so many ways. ( and still is !)  

Honey,

Happy Anniversary and may we have MANY more !  I am more in love with you now than I was way back then and I was head over heals in love with you then.

XXOOO

And we're off to Russia for a week or so.  We're reading chapters 17 and 26 in Story of the World, Vol 3; learning about Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

Russian Coloring Pages with a paper Matroyshka craft
Lots of Russian links
TIME for Kids Russian Teacher Guide
Russian flag coloring page
Enchanted Learning Russia printables


Play Durak - a Russian card game

Make a salt dough map of Russia.  My kids love doing them and we rarely do. 
2 parts flour
1 part salt
1 part water. 

Put an outline map onto cardboard, and use a physical map as a reference to form the country.  When it dries in a day or so, then paint it.

Cook Russian food.

Print out a map of the polar regions; color, talk about arctic circle and why Peter the Great needed to find a warm water route to the west.

Listen to Peter and the Wolf - Classics for Kids Lesson Plans

Russian music from library

Some DDS numbers for Russian books:
JF Meyer
E Robbins
E Metaxes
E Tolstoy
J 398.2 SIL
J 947 CAT
J 947.31
J 394.26
J 914.7
947 M

Diane Stanley - Peter the Great

movies: PBS Catherine the Great, A&E Peter the Great Biography, and Peter and the Wolf movie (after listening to it).......and since it's so close to Christmas, Nutcracker ballet and other Russian ballets from Netflix

I strongly suspect that those who would spend 30 minutes decrying Federal corruption and bureaucracy wouldn't spend 30 seconds on Google looking up who's on their local school board. If there was ever a weak point in democracy, this is it.

Thanks, Mike Rosen, for your thought-provoking commentary.

 

 

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Homeschool Swimming lessons are one of the biggest highlights of our school year.  At our local aquatic center they have accomidated us homeschoolers twice a year and organized  a chance to get all our kids in their levels to learn how two swim within a two hour slot.  That is huge for a homeschool mama and what a blessing that is.  This year I only have my two littles in swimming lessons and the two boys are both in the same level too.  That is great for me because they can have fun and learn together and we have been going a hour and a half early for them to have fun in the open swim too.  Gotta get the biggest bang for my our time.  While they are having fun in the water I am ....sitting and loving every minute while knit.  Ohhhh how I am enjoying this time. 

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I have two October babies.  I didn't get pic's of my oldest's b-day b/c he was not with us for his b-day.  But I did get a pic of Luke and his birthday cake.  I cannot believe I have a 17yo and 15yo.  Boy do they grow up fast !  I also had to sneak in a pic of what it looked like this week when it snowed.  It has been snowing and melting several times in the last few weeks.  It won't be long before it decides to stay for the winter.

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Now, if you want to join us in the fun of Show and Tell Friday  just....

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~Make a Show and Tell Post and make sure it is wholesome.  It can be pretty much what ever you want to share.  It could be about you ...or your family ....or what is going on in your homeschooling.

~Some how link me ( Mary @ Raising 4 Godly Men or Canadagirl ) so others will know where to go to join S&T.

~Come back to me and let me know you posted your S&T by clicking on the MckLinky and using your exact URL to your Show and Tell Post.   ( I need you  to tell me each week that you want to participate, okay ?  )

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~If you want the S&T button to put on your blog go HERE

~Then

" please go visit other gals wonderful Show and Tells !  Oh,  don't forget to comment.  EVERYONE  loves comments."

I've scaled back a little to just Reading, Writing, and Math for the time being.   Here are a bunch of grammar worksheet links that I've found...a lot of them go along really well with First Language Lessons, Level 3.  I don't have the student workbook, and even if I did, I think I would still need some more reinforcements, so this is what I'm using and it works great!

1,025 noun worksheets (and more)
6th grade grammar worksheets - yes, I think they could be used for 3rd grade *cringe*
Daily Grammar - these are great, short little sheets, perfect for quick review
a blog with a bunch of grammar links....maybe they're the same as what I'm putting up, lol.  I haven't looked through it all yet, but there's a lot!  Very helpful!
Gigglepotz - ??? about the name, but a bunch of different worksheets
Language Arts worksheets
Fantastic worksheets - this is the site I go to first.

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I have to share a yummy frugal recipe that is wonderful for this time of year... Pumpkin Coffee Cake.  I would also like to to share some trivia about me.  I LOVE, love, love anything pumpkin.  I love foods made with it, pumpkins are my favorite things to grow in the garden, and I love how cute pumpkins are.   I like the shape so much I made a candle cast for my candles from a mini pumpkin.   So, in honor of pumpkins here is my recipe to share.

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Pumpkin Coffee Cake

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of margrine or butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tblsp baking powder
• 1/2 salt
• 3/4th cup milk
• 1/2 cup mashed/or canned pumpkin
• 1/3rd cup flour
• 1/4th cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. gr. cinnamon
• 2 bsp margrine or butter

In a mixer cream sugar, margrine/butter,  and beat eggs and vanilla.  Sift or stir together flour, baking powder,  and salt;  add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.  Blend pumkin with 2/3rds  cups of batter. Spread  remaining batter in a greased  8x8x2 inch baking pan.  Drop pumpkin mixture over batter by tsp's.

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Mix 1/3rd cup flour,brown sugar, and cinnamon:  cut in 2 Tbsps  of margrine/butter.  Sprinkle over coffee cake.

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Bake 350* over 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm.

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I hope this is  a winner for you all.  I love baking and if you can make it frugal it is even BETTER.

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Now to join in the fun of Tightwad Tuesday....

.

  Link your TWT post click on MckLinky and give exact the URL of your post.   (each Tuesday that  you join in on the fun)  

.

example of a URL ...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/693425/

.

  Now go ahead link and read and comment on all these other's wonderful TWT's. 

.

 Lets save our pennies, nickles, dimes, and dollars  together !

.

"There are only a few big ways to save money but there are many small ways ....that all adds up."