Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
And Merry CHRISTmas everyone!
Christmastime is here again – it’s time to write our letter.
We thought long and hard on what to write – and decided to go one better . . .
So, we offer you this poem – all about our year.
We hope you find it fun to read and it brings you a bit of cheer.
Brian still works at Campbell’s, crunching numbers every day.
He blows his whistle in the evenings when the basketball’s in play.
Heidi’s still a homeschool mom, working from home with joy.
She loves sharing her days with her two girls and one boy.
Ashley spends her days reading, writing, singing, and playing guitar.
She’s 16 now and waiting to drive – hoping the car will take her far!
Tenth grade is full of ups and downs, hard days and fun ones too.
The years are passing much too quickly – she’ll graduate in two!
Gracie enjoys doing math and lots of crafts and art.
She plays the piano quite well now and recently the violin did start.
Fifth grade is going well this year and passing quickly by.
It’s hard to believe she’ll be 10 in 6 months – my how time does fly.
This year, Ian has changed and grown and learned many new things
He entertains us every day – especially when he sings.
In school, he’s learning letters and numbers; in his spare time he plays with toys.
He teaches us so much each day – the fun of living with boys!
In January, we traveled to Florida to spend some time with Mickey Mouse.
In the spring, we worked on the attic of our 80-year-old brick house.
Now each child has their own room – their own extra special place.
Summer took us on day trips and Brian went to Iowa for the big race.
We visited the Historic Triangle in Virginia for a few days this fall.
Even the rain couldn’t stop us from exploring, learning, and having a ball.
We’ve been through some hard days and learned lessons galore -
About friends, church, and cancer, and waiting to see what God has in store.
Now 2009 is ending and we’re looking forward to 2010.
And we want to send this poem to our family and our friends.
May God bless you with a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a new year full of fun.
And, if at all possible, let’s get together this coming one!
The byline for the Triviathon game is "the trivia game where you can compete and win without ever knowing the answer to a question" (hence the reason that Ian can not only play this one, but win it too!) There are 3 different types of questions that make up the game cards - how many spaces do you want to move? (2 types) and to what colored space do you want to move? Here's an example of one of the cards (taken from the website):How many spaces do you want to move?
A. The number of countries that border the Sargasso Sea
B. The number of hearts in an octopus
C. The number of people named Oscar to have ever won an Oscar
D. The number of dogs that survived the Titanic
You can only move 1, 2, or 3 spaces (or 0, and stay where you are). Of course, you want to move the most spaces (as the object is to make it around the board first). So, which one would you choose?
The questions are fun; and, while they do require some thought, they can also be answered "off the top of your head" and still get you a good move on the game board. In addition to the cards, though, there is also fun to be found in the playing pieces. This game actually comes with 12 playing pieces (which I find a wonderful asset - most games require you to play in teams if you have more than 4-6 players). Each playing piece is a different color, and each one has a name/personality - such as The Flirt, The Whiz, or The Bully (you can find out more about each character here). Each character comes with a card that explains its personality trait, and a special "move" that the character is allowed to make throughout the game. We haven't used these special moves yet, as we're still adjusting to the game itself; but I think they will be a fun addition to the game and would make Triviathon hilarious to play at a party. (You can also create your own character).
Triviathon was invented by the Herbert Brothers, whose Doritos ad gained the distinction of "#1 Super Bowl Commercial of 2009". I'm impressed, as this is a game that definitely required much thought, time, and research in order to create it. The game sells for $29.99 and is, in my opinion, well worth that price. It will pay for itself in fun in no time! It can be purchased from the Triviathon Online Store or at Amazon.com. Though I think that Triviathon would make a fabulous Christmas gift, it's too late for Christmas delivery now. However, there is plenty of time to get Triviathon to you before New Years Eve! I'm sure your friends will thank you for it!
Oh, and did I mention that we had almost as much fun reading the box and the directions as we did playing the game?!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! I want to share a couple of video clips which I located on YouTube...they are from a Public Television show that I have seen many Decembers over, titled, "Rick Steve's Christmas in Europe." These two clips share my favorite parts of the show. I love the peacefulness, the simplicity, and the picture of the family generations coming together. I hope you enjoy it, too!
Rick Steve's Christmas in Europe ~ Part 9
Rick Steve's Christmas in Europe ~ Part 10
May God bless you and your families as you focus on the beauty of God's plan for His children, and all that "Emmanuel" means to you.
~Lori
I think we are going to have that White Christmas I have dreamed of for years. Well, at least a slushy Christmas. LOL! We got at least 13 inches of snow and there is still plenty on the ground. It is supposed to warm up a bit today and will probably melt a bit away.
Here is the children's first full size snowman EVER! His name is "bicycle man" and he has sun dried tomatoes for eyes! How much more southern could he get. LOL!
The slide off the back deck.
Me in my Pillsbury dough boy coat. I finally know what I want for Christmas! Snow boots and more gloves. Notice~I have a sock on one hand.
I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas....I hope you have a day filled with love, joy and peace.
Blessings,
Dawn
Equips parents to guide their young children through all major doctrines in an understandable, chapter-a-day format.
Sure, it’s easy to teach your children the essentials of Christian theology when you’re a theology professor. But what about the rest of us?
With Big Truths for Little Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6–14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths.
The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children. With this non-intimidating format, parents will be emboldened to be their children’s primary faith trainers—and perhaps learn a few things themselves along the way.
Bruce Ware is an evangelical theologian and author. He is currently Professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Formerly, he was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he served as Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biblical and Systematic Theology. Prior to this, he taught at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and at Bethel Theological Seminary. Dr. Ware has written numerous journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews.
Crossway is the publisher of the English Standard Version of the Bible that I won several months ago. I've been so enjoying that Bible - it's easy to read because of the large size and the additional study notes are so helpful in learning and researching more about the Bible. Dr. Ware's new book - Big Truths for Young Hearts - is a great way to utilize my Bible (or your version of choice) to teach my kids important Biblical truths.
I have not actually started working through this book with my children yet, as I thought it would be a great way to usher in 2010 - by starting the year off learning more about God and His Word. This book could be used in a family setting, for family devotionals (daily or weekly, depending on how much time you choose to spend); but it would also be useful for Sunday School teachers. It's been my experience that so many of the current Sunday School curriculums are extremely dumbed down; so if I were teaching a younger children's class right now, I'd enjoy using this book to teach truths and stir up intelligent discussions. Children are so smart and absorb so much. This book will help them absorb things that are important.
NOTE: I received this book free from Crossway in exchange for my honest thoughts.
I'm testing a recipe for an upcoming Crock-Pot cookbook for Molly Green of Econobusters. I've been testing new recipes all week, and it's been quite fun. Today's recipe (the last one I'm testing) just happens to be Potato Chowder - and this is the perfect day for a nice warm bowl of soup. 
We also enjoyed spending some time with the West Ladies from Homestead Blessings this morning. We learned all about soap-making. I'd love to give it a try - but all the talk of lye and how caustic it is sort of has me freaked out. Maybe we'll just attempt the hand-milled soaps (made with an already prepared soap bar). Those actually look like more fun to me anyway. If you've never seen any of the Homestead Blessings dvd's, I'd encourage you to check them out. We have all 6 of them now (with the exception of the newest addition - The Art of Cooking), and I just love watching them. Truly, I'd love to go and visit with the West Ladies in their home - it looks so cozy and they all seem so hospitable. 
We also spent some time with Tim Hawkins this morning. That guy is always good for a laugh! We have 3 of his dvd's now and, no matter how many times we've seen them, we still laugh each time! I'm looking forward to seeing him in person at the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati this spring! Speaking of the convention, are YOU going to be there? If so, be sure to stop by the TOS booth and say "hi". I think we'll spend some time playing games and baking Christmas cookies today. That sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?
How many of you are TOS Affiliates? Ever think about becoming one? I'm sure you have a lot of questions about it. Let's find out with this week's Featured Blogger the TOS Affiliates Corner!
How do you become a TOS affiliate? Find the answer on the first blog post, Welcome to the TOS Affiliate Blog!
If you become an affiliate, what kinds of ads have to go on your blog? Check out the latest TOS promotion for When I Grow Up I Wanna Be A Police Officer.
As a TOS affiliate you won't always be asking your readers to buy something. TOS loves go give away freebies! While you don't make any money off of these promotions being able to tell your readers about free gifts is always a bonus!
So if you aren't a TOS affiliate yet, what are you waiting for? Christmas break is a great time to get started because in 2010 TOS has a lot of great products coming out!
Say hi to Cheryl, the TOS affiliate coordinator and if you have any questions you can ask her in a comment.
Would you like to nominate a HSB blogger for Featured Blogger of the Week? Email me at tlinschied@thehomeschoolmagazine.com. Please keep in mind that Featured Bloggers must be at least 18 years of age and their blog must be encouraging, uplifting, and/or inspiring.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
WooHoo! My northern blood is doing the happy dance! It is snowing like crazy outside. About an hour ago, we measured 9 inches of snow in our backyard! This is AMAZING for our area!
The weather man says we may get up to 12 inches! There is also snow forcasted for most of next week, including Christmas Eve. Dare I wish for a White Christmas?!?!? I think, if the snow keeps up for much longer, it will be more snow than I have seen in 10 years, which is when we moved to this area.
The kids rushed through their schoolwork and chores this morning so that they could get outside right after lunch. I would like to say that they had a great time in the snow. However, there were many tears out of Goldilocks. She cried and cried about how cold the snow was, that the snow touched her and about how she didn't have the sled she wanted, and on and on. After about 10 minutes of melting down, she got used to the idea and started having fun. There was enough snow to sled for real and make two tiny snowmen. At the time we went out, there was about 2 inches.
The girls had loads of fun making snowmen.
Everyone loved sledding! I even got in a few runs.
Of Course, Tom Sawyer had to eat just a little bit of snow!
They finished off their time with a good old snowball fight, which caused more tears! Sigh...
We went out one more time when Daddy got home. By that time, it was about 6 inches. The sledding wasn't as good, but the snowball fights were great, with no tears this time.
The one downside to this storm is the effect it is having on our Southern Grand Magnolia tree. It is dropping lots of branches because of the weight of the snow. It is considered one of the historic trees in our city because of its height and girth, and I am afraid we may need to get an arborist to take care of it when all is said and done. Several of the branches hit the minivan, but it seems okay.
Blessings,
Dawn