Monday, December 7, 2009 - Free Mp3 Christmas Music & for all year long
Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying all of the Christmas music on the radio now. In our household, it is not unusual to hear Christmas music in May on our stereos. Why only enjoy great music one month out of the year?
Anyway, I was visiting Tina's blog about homeschool and family happenings and found out about a free give away. Amazon.com is giving away a free download of Christmas music everyday to countdown to Christmas. The first day was a beautiful song by Casting Crowns and Day 5 had a song by Jars of Clay. All FREE!!!
Warning: to my Christian friends. Be sure to preview the song before downloading it. For example Day 4 is actually full of cuss words. I will give Amazon credit that it will warn you if a song is explicit. Also, there is a Christmas song by Lady GaGa. It goes without saying it is about sex. Sigh, sometimes you have to sift through. Not sure why they choice some of these songs. I guess they are trying to appeal to all people.
But do not throw the baby out with the bath water. There are some still some good songs that are free. Just use your own good judgement.
The link is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&ref_=dm_gw_castingcrowns4&docId=1000453281 Check back everyday until Christmas to see the new song offered. Again, this is free and enjoy Christmas music all year long!
Amazon also offers free music all year long! I have downloaded some really great classical music. You can find that link by clicking here.
Dec. 7, 2009 - Home Spun Vignette #9
Hmm...It appears I forgot to post this last Friday. I'm thinking I just didn't want to admit that I turned 41. Or I've become forgetful in my old age. :o) Things are going much better now.
It is a blessing that Thanksgiving weekend was so peaceful, because we have been very, very busy this week. Chase has been making some final preparations for his second-degree black belt exam this evening, which included a paper on the history of tae kwon do, several extra classes and a last minute photo session of the poomse he made up, followed by several hours of me fiddling with computer programs to help him put it all together and print it out. And two last minute trips to buy ink cartridges for the printer (the first trip resulted in the wrong cartridge.) All I can say is that homeschooling does not make one immune to the phrase "Oh, and I need it by tomorrow." At least I got a nice thank you card from my son for the help. My husband's car went in for repairs on Tuesday and to coin a phrase, "It's dead, Jim." Our poor little 17 year old Camry is now about as useful as a paperweight. We are back to being a one car family. Oh well, I don't suppose it would be difficult to chauffeur one more person around when he needs me to, and on the bright side, hubby will get a little exercise sprinting for buses. In the midst of all this activity, Sierra has turned vegetarian, which involved a extra long grocery store trip as I tried to figure out what to feed her. Long story. I can't make this stuff up. Oh yeah, and...today's my birthday.
Update: My birthday is now past and Chase did well on his 2 hour test. Check out the video on this post at my other blog.
At some point, I'm hoping to start preparing for Christmas. I'm thinking I should have some free time by the end of the month. Good thing we celebrate Little Christmas!
Update: Hmmm...I still haven't really begun my preparations except for some small things like folding my cards and hanging stockings. I wonder if I have a free day next week...
Dec. 7, 2009 - Home Spun strip #421
Sunday, December 6, 2009 - Maintaining excitement throughout THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
QUESTION: "Amy, how do you maintain excitement for 12 days of Christmas Shmily time? I tried it last year and frankly it was hard! Hubby was feeling special but honestly I just wanted to be left alone and sleep. Help me get mentally straightened out to try again!" - JessicaI have to be honest... I struggle EVERY year with this whole thing, to some extent. Now, don't get me wrong, it's so much better than it used to be BEFORE I started the "12 days of Christmas" with my hubby... but that doesn't mean it doesn't go off without some trials, and I honestly believe that the more women that I tell about the 12 days of Christmas in order to bless their marriages... well, do you think that satan is just gonna sit back and watch my marriage flourish? Absolutely not!
I honestly hesitated this year when I realized when THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS was going to be and when the baby was due... I am literally due the day before I normally start this whole thing (which is my hubby's birthday) and so not only did I realize I was going to have the "normal" struggles of prior years... but having a baby at some point before the 12 days is up certainly means I'm gonna need to get a LITTLE... uh... creative... Not only will hormones be in full swing... but I will have a new little one "sucking the life out of me" (I nurse my babies) and that can be draining as well.
But the more I thought about "canceling" the whole thing... the more I knew I needed to do it... not just for my sweet Beloved... but because I needed to look forward to it as well. I needed to remind myself of all those reasons I fell in love with my husband... and the many more that I've fallen in love with since then.
I think we all know that by doing this... we certainly are blessing our husbands and our marriages... but I realized how I've really taken the whole thing for granted by thinking that I'm doing my husband some great big favor... when, in reality... I am equally blessed by these very special 12 days each year. By focusing on the good things about my husband, I "fall in love" all over again with the man I married... but there is still more...
I GET to serve my husband more intentionally then I normally do. Sure, I wash his clothes, make meals for him (although I don't know if he'd say that's a blessing or not considering the cook HE is), make sure his closet is full of clothing that fits and shoes to wear... but I can so easily fall into the routine of being his wife, that I forget the privilege of being so much more... a servant who acts out of love, expecting nothing in return... THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS makes me focus on my husband's wants, needs, and desires more than ever before and I find myself truly loving making him smile. It's no longer about what he's done for me... what I might get in return... or why he isn't do this or that... my focus is not on ME... and honestly women, that's right where God wants me as a wife all the time.
So, while I know 12 days IS hard to keep the excitement alive... I want to challenge you to really focus on your husband and not yourself... push yourself to go a little further when you feel like throwing in the towel... go the distance because in the end... it will not only be your husband that will be blessed... but you as well.
FYI: I made a booklet to encourage your husband for 30 weeks... in it there are a few things that might help you to stay focused on your hubby as you prepare for the 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS... and to help you stay that way throughout. You can find the booklet by clicking the following link: 30-week Husband Encouragement Challenge.
Dec. 4, 2009 - MamaBuzz Tour: 12 Days of Christmas Fun Project Pack from Hands of a Child (PreK - 1)
If you are a regular visitor to my blog then you know that I enjoy adding in lapbooks, notebooking and lapnoting to our homeschooling lessons. They make for a fun and memorable way of learning about a topic, wether it is Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims to doing a unit study on "Make Way for Ducklings" - it gets the student and the teacher out of the teaching rut. Lapbooks and the like also make retention of the information learned easier to recall later and also make an easy way to show an assessor what your child has learned over the school year.
I was given the chance to review the 12 Days of Christmas Fun Project Pack put out by Hands Of A Child which is geared for grades PreK to 1st but can easily be adjusted if you'd like your older student to work alongside a younger one. If you've never heard of Hands Of A Child they are one of the leading producers of lapbooks for homeschoolers and they are quality lapbooks. A project contains everything you'll need to teach about the topic, including lesson plans, extra books that can be obtained at the library, and the printouts needed to complete the lapbook.
In 12 Days of Christmas Fun you'll get 84 pages chock full of lesson plans for 12 days with a list of all needed supplies broken down by the day. The Hands Of A Child website says this is the biggest PreK project pack as of yet and with 24 activities and 7 bonus activities to have your child complete an entire lapbook and 12 days of ornaments. The lapbook contains items relating to the 12 Days of Christmas song, fruits of the Spirit, 10 Commandments, and other Scripture/Bible facts. There is also some math and science thrown in - so if you wanted to use this as a 'break' from regular teaching to gear up for Christmas you could feel as you are covering all the bases for the 12 days leading up to or following Christmas.
With this being an ebook it is instantly downloadable so you'll have access to the unit and all reproducible materials as soon as you purchase it. There are several different options for purchasing the unit:
- Ebook $20.00
- Printed $24.00
- CD $21.50
- Printed/CD combo $27.00
- Kit Pack (all reproducibles printed on different colors of paper and a folder bas already folded) $12.00
There are beautiful clip art that your student(s) can use to decorate his or her lapbook and of course the ornaments while adding a bit more learning and fun are optional as are the bonus activities. You will find much to do in this lapbook and while the price at first may seem steep with all there is to do in this project pack it is well worth it and if you have multiple students then the price goes down dramatically. The only thing you'll need to provide is a file folder or two, the printed reproducibles, scissors, pens or pencils, the ornament supplies and glue.
**This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by: Hands Of A Child for this review.
Dec. 4, 2009 - Fun with WiddlyTinks!
I was just reading Heidi's blog and saw this entry about the Widdly Tinks website. Heidi's photo tink was so cute that I just had to try it.
Here's what I came up with:
I had a lot of fun playing on their site and thought I'd pass it along for you all to enjoy too!
Dec. 4, 2009 - Featured Blogger ~ PearceFamily
It's time to get back to Featured Blogger again! It's been a nice break and it was nice to have Amanda Bennett on the HSB home page for two whole weeks, but there are so many other bloggers to meet!
This week I want to introduce you to the PearceFamily of Planted Oaks and Little Acorns. This fun family takes time to enjoy life and homeschooling.
We've been talking about preparing for Christmas here on the Porch but how about preparing for a baby? Lori is one blessed mama! Her oldest daughter gives her a pedicure before the new bundle of joy arrives. What a special treat!
Have you joined the workbox craze? Then meet another mom who has fallen in love with this way of doing homeschooling! She has a whole category dedicated to workboxes.
Now here's a fun idea for blessing other families this Christmas! Give them 12 days of gifts that fit with the 12 Days of Christmas song. Lori blogged about it in 2 separate posts, days 1-4, and days 5-12.
Go wish the PearceFamily a Merry Christmas!
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Dec. 4, 2009 - Take Our Survey and Get 2 Free E-Books!
- Turning Points in Homeschooling offers ample support and incredible insight that will help answer many of the troublesome questions you may have.
- Fiesta of Freebies 2nd Edition offers incredible organization of the many Freebies that were offered throughout 2008 in the Freebie Friday E-Newsletter and The Homeschool Minute.
Dec. 4, 2009 - Molly Makes Merry
Comfort and Joy
for Christmas
Just in time for Christmas!
A link to the free E-Books will be available upon checkout.
Are you worried about gift-giving? Get excited about giving to others! Make some spectacular gifts yourself quickly and easily. Enjoy phenomenal tips to keep the holiday season stress-free right into January as you put Molly's ideas to good use!
Tucked neatly within the pages of Molly's Digest, you'll find:
- Ideas for teaching your children gratitude and generosity.
- A beautiful, decorative use for last year's calendar as the year comes to a close.
- Great suggestions for family gifts, generic gifts, and even food gifts.
Would you like to be more "PC"? You can be practical and cost-conscious this Christmas season when you use Molly's ideas! Be "pleasantly confident" this year when using these inspirational gifts. Discover . . .
- When socks are a great Christmas gift.
- How to use popcorn as a gift to strengthen families.
- Practical gift options you can give to everyone by simply making small variations.
- Begin the countdown to Christmas with Eat a Red Apple Day.
- Include discussing tree decorations with Mitten Tree Day.
- Make your card deadline day December 9.
- Study worldwide celebrations on International Children's Day.
"In this edition, you will also find recipes as well as ideas for special days during the month of December. For example, I had no clue that December 8 was a National Brownie Day. Mmmm! Sounds delicious and good to me . . . My favorite article was definitively the "Eight Frugal Family Crafts." It gave me special ideas not only for extended family members but for my own family as well. I really love the Movie Night and the Super Sundaes ideas. Very creative and fun to put together . . . For me, I would love a Book Lovers' Basket or a Scrapbook Box of Surprises--anything to brighten my holidays. Once again, I think that Molly's Money-Saving Digest for the month of December 2009 is wonderful. Thanks Molly for this full year of your wonderful ideas!"
Monthly Feature--"Comfort and Joy for Christmas" will be exactly what your family feels when you simplify and minimize. Be courageous this Christmas and eliminate obligation and guilt, consider family gift-giving, agreeing to end gift exchanges or to make homemade gifts--Molly tells you how!
- Eight Frugal Family Gifts will ignite creativity in your entire family as you gather to design gift baskets for a Movie Night, Snacks and Desserts, and gaming fun for other families this Christmas.
- Twelve Generic but Sensible Gift Ideas could bring everything from safety to convenience into the life of the recipient and are incredibly fun to choose and personalize!
- Ten Fabulous and Frugal Foodie Gifts provide the thoughtfulness of both time and taste to friends and family with ideas to dress up cheesecake, present incredible bread as a present, and give the gift of baking fresh cookies in a two-part gift experience!
- Let's Get Together! Foodie gifts create incredible opportunity for a get together and can make hosting a holiday brunch much simpler than you ever imagined!
- All the Trimmings includes tips for decorating, wrapping, and all the holiday trimmings with a thrifty perspective. A quickie list will help keep your holiday sanity as you get it all done.
- Great Expectations for Kids helps you develop a lifelong attitude of gratitude in your children with five guidelines you can easily implement.
Do you love details? Check out each and every part of the December Molly's Money-Saving Digest right here:
- Molly's Minute--Year-end blessings from Molly remind you to focus on family, friends, and faith this Christmas season--regardless of how you choose to celebrate. The first full year of Molly's Money-Saving Digest is complete with this December issue, and more great things are coming in 2010!
- Begin With the Basics--"Candy Making 101" will warm your heart and pleasantly fill the tummies of friends and loved ones. As a frugal art, candy making gets off to a great start, and this article brings recipes, tips, and wrapping ideas. Even some historical reading is thrown in for good measure! You'll love making homemade toffee and mints, and you'll learn what important piece of equipment will help most in your candy making.
- On Sale This Month--With all the Christmas shopping going on, you won't want to miss the list of sale items this month. The list goes far beyond Christmas gifts to items you'll be thankful you found on sale now--you'll use them all year long.
- Keeping it all Together--"Staying Sane During the Holiday Season" isn't just a great title for this article--it is possible for you! This section offers perfect direction for staying on track this season and will prevent you from doing too much. Links galore will also save you time and money!
- Feather Your Nest Frugally--What 6-foot-by-2-foot decorative item could you be working on that will be enjoyed all year long? It isn't your Christmas tree. This great idea will call for you to "pull the tubs from under your bed, dance through the garage, and send your husband up to the attic." Aubrey Lively shares this project she and her mother haven't even officially named because it is too fantastic and beyond words! Pictures and instructions will motivate you to completion as Aubrey walks Molly readers through the entire process with a specially made item just for the Digest.
- Pull Up a Chair--Another great gift idea awaits, along with the usual week's worth of weeknight menus. From tasty Mandarin Almond Salad and old-faithful meat loaf that makes a house a home, to elegant but frugal meals the children will love, Molly's meals have you covered. The Turkey Noodle Leftover Casserole will make the whole house sing--perfect for caroling preparation! Recipes include an ingredient list, easy-to-follow instructions, and even a few more great gift ideas will be found sprinkled within this week of menus.
- Parenting That Pays--Dividends are great when you invest in your children; find wonderful ideas for serving others while instilling consideration and generosity in your children. Get motivated as Jennifer Sikora shares ways her family chooses to serve others, and she encourages your family to do the same.
- Something Old, Something New--"Old Calendars to New Art" will close the 2009 year in style as you learn about a great recycling idea for calendars. Get long-term use from the pictures you loved in your calendar far longer than one year!
- Goal-Getter Spotlight--"Today a Laptop, Tomorrow a Castle" takes you into the life of Aubrey Lively as you hear from an all-around goal-getter. She shares her heart for writing and her story of a small-step process to reaching big success!
- Readers Write In--Molly opens this section this month to fellow readers sharing family traditions. Exactly what did happen to Paula's disappearing gingerbread man's arms and legs? Enjoy her story with a recipe for cinnamon ornaments. Delight in Lisa's very creative final hidden gift that will help your family when it comes time to tear down the Christmas tree. Perfect personalized gifts, tips for gift-giving, even tips for opening gifts can all be found in wonderful advice from fellow Molly's Digest readers.
- Molly's Question of the Month--Are you signed up for Molly's free, weekly E-Newsletter? If not, you are missing out on tips and creative ideas to stay frugal throughout your household. You don't want to miss it!
- Words Worth Saving--Perfect for a monthly memorization activity, Scripture is found throughout Molly's Money-Saving Digest. Enjoy God's Word as you celebrate this Christmas season and all of December.
- Directory of Links--Count on this directory of the links found in the Digest, enabling you to instantly reach websites while viewing your Digest online. Or print the list for a great resource of money-saving sites to refer to again and again.
New Molly readers, veteran Molly readers, homemakers, homeschoolers, and moms very much like you have previewed the December Molly--what did they say?
"As always, there are money-saving tips and recipes in the pages of the latest Digest. An entire week's worth of menu-planning meals for suppertime are shared, including a terrific recipe for frozen meat loaf. There are a few recipes for making your own candy, along with links for others and how to turn the goodies into great gifts. In addition, there is fantastic idea after idea for low-cost gift-giving--much appreciated in my household this year! . . . And there are ideas for decorating too, such as yummy-smelling cinnamon ornaments, as well as some non-Christmas decorating ideas for your home. I'm going to be referring to this copy of the Digest often as the Christmas season approaches!"
"Knowing that this issue was December and would be directly linked to the holiday season, I was so pleased to read that the writing for the Digest would be directed towards Christians with diversity in convictions and beliefs and traditions in mind. With that said I was able to grab the Digest and sit to glean cheerfully from its contents without worrying about whether or not to avoid or pass through any of the writings . . . I got my cooking thinking cap back on in the recipe section and am making my lists for cooking up those extra meals for the freezer. Once I'm in the habit of doing it, boy, does it make life easier in the kitchen on co-op and errand days for us. On a personal note, it always makes me wonder why people only decide to help out others during the holiday season. Is Christ not in our lives EVERY DAY of the year, EVERY month as well? Setting our children up for service projects and helping the homeless and families in need should be a part of our everyday living, not just the last month of the year. I enjoyed reading all the gift ideas, and I think I might even do those year 'round, especially to families with multiple siblings--giving is so much fun! I love the idea of giving for the body, soul, and spirit; wow, what a great concept to teach with as well! All in all, another wonderful Digest full of ideas and encouragement for the homeschooling Christian family."
"December's Molly's Money-Saving Digest is perfect for this year. I had already been stressing over how to still celebrate a meaningful Christmas with less money and less time. Molly's Digest has so many great ideas to de-stress my Christmas time. I had to grab pen and paper to write down recipes and ideas. The candy-making section inspired me to try something new. The family gift ideas are a great way to make someone know they are special without having to spend too much. I also thoroughly enjoyed the ideas from readers on new Christmas traditions--at least new to me. Now I can hardly wait for the holidays to begin."
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Dec. 4, 2009 - Special Words for Special Needs ~ A Calm Heart for the Holiday Season
I love the holidays! Around here it takes some effort though. I have to think through all my decor...can it be swallowed, chewed on, obsessed over or otherwise some danger that will require me to call the poison control guy? Are the meals at my house or somewhere else? Then what about our diet restrictions? If we are going to somewhere else is it safe enough that my little one who runs away will not get out? And so the list continues.
This is not say that I get uptight and overwrought for the holidays. I have done that before and as much as I would like to say it's not going to happen again... I just don't know. I have found a calm that helps me deal with the season.
Part of the calm comes from an acceptance of what can and cannot be. My husband and I have collected small Hallmark ornaments for years. The past 5+ years they cannot come out. We tried they were broken. So now we stow them away knowing that a time will come later in our life when we can put them out. I read an article in a country decor magazine that sung to me. The lady being interviewed had two children on the spectrum. She had made all her ornaments out of rolled stripes of cloth, very country looking, and nice when one of her sons flung one across the room!
Another one that hurts but is necessary, is that we cannot schedule everything and meals with everyone. In the holiday season it seems that there is a place to be every weekend and many week days. We could get a babysitter but is that truly what the season is about? For us no. We choose what we can do reasonably and then in the end if we have to we are ready to cancel. I don't like be so soft about meal commitments and events. It can be hard for others to understand but I know that my responsibility as a parent to a wonderfully special child comes before my social calendar.
As for diet restrictions I make a meal for us ahead of time. We bring a portion of the meal. We quietly load up the kids plates with the good stuff. I also go understanding that we will most likely have some contamination of glutens or caseins. It happens. I am not happy and I do not take that as a reason to break our diet in a big way. We get right back to work doing the best you can and eating the best you can.
All of this happens the easiest if I have a grand plan for the month. I mark out on a calendar, we hang on the wall, the whole month. The kids and I go over it repeatedly. As my son says,"If you don't tell me. I don't know and I get icky feeling inside when you jump up and say it's time to go." That was such a perfect insight into how he sees a change in schedule. It isn't an inconvience for him, it is a physically unpleasant response. Be clear about your plans!
Your holiday season can be wonderful! Carefully and thoughtfully think about your expectations. Plan the season accordingly. Get the whole family involved in keeping a calendar for events. In the end talk about and live out what is the most important part of the season. I believe if you do that you will feel fufilled and at peace! May the Lord bless your holiday season!
Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Heather is also dealing with personal health difficulties. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling.
