Over at Callapidder Days there's a fun reading challenge going on called the Spring Reading Thing 2008. All you have to do is put up your intended reading list for March 20-June 19 and then link back to your post and start reading. There are some fun prizes offered for additional incentive. You can also post reviews of books read, but that's optional.
I'm hoping to read the following:
Face to Face with God by Bill Johnson
Prophetic Evangelism by Sean Smith
The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
Revision and Self Editing by James Scott Bell
The Invisible Woman by NIcole Johnson
Experiencing the Resurrection by Henry and Melvin Blackaby
Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
That's about eclectic enough, isn't it? Come join the fun. What are you reading this spring?
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!
Wow! It's been a great week with so many stopping by to visit the Ultimate Blog Party post. Thanks to everyone who participated. I definitely want to do this again next time and hopefully offer a prize as well.
Hey everybody! It's time to party! The 2008 Ultimate Blog Party is now in full swing. This is my first time to participate, but I hope not the last. Be sure and visit the site and check out all the amazing participants.
First, a little about me. I am a 40-something mom with 9 kids, ages 3 to 22, and one adorable granddaughter. I live in Texas, where we have been alternating between fun-in-the-sun and winter wonderland. When I'm not homeschooling or struggling to keep up with the laundry, I like quilts, sewing, knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch and home dec. I'm also writing a novel, which is why I sometimes forget to write here. LOL I am trying to get better about posting and hope to post some cool pictures soon, so be sure to check back.
Now, back to the business at hand, the Ultimate Blog Party. Not only can you travel around the blogosphere and meet lots of cool ladies, there are also some wonderful prizes being offered. There are so many great ones to choose from, but my faves, roughly in order, are:
58 — Customized 6 Week Fitness Plan
54 — $60 Gift Certificate to Mikarose.com
15 — $50 gift certificate to Kids Magical Wonder
12 — $50 gift certificate to Happy Panda
11 — $40 gift certificate to Good For The Kids
59 — $25 Cash
60 — $25 Gift Certificate to Amazon
117 — $25 Gift Certificate to Target
If I don't get any of those I also like #10($25 gc), 55($23), 39($20 gc), 46($20 gc), 98($20 gc),
91(Burt’s Bees), 100(books), 52(Bag), 116(book and $5 gc), 21(Foot Revitalizer), 79(Skin Care), 90(Fused Glass Pendant), 70(Chocolate), 92(Pearls), 49($10 gc), 102(Fortune Cookie Kit)
Like I said, lots of fun prizes up for grabs and the list grows daily.
Have fun. Make some new friends. And go ahead. Put on some fun music and dance. No one's looking!
It's been a truly wondrous day today. I ran some errands with my dh and while we were out the latest batch of winter weather rolled in. On the way home, huge snowflakes were falling at an incredible rate. It was a little sad when it finally stopped and the storm blew through. We ended up not getting as much snow as the weather service thought we would initially. Oh well, we are enjoying what we have.
OK, I guess everyone knows the joke about how if you don't like the weather, just wait and hour or two and it'll change. However, as variable as our weather is, this takes the cake. Yesterday morning, I left for church with no jacket, no sweater, no wrap of any kind. Now, for those who don't know me, this is unusual. It has to be at that perfect temperature where it's warm enough outside without being so warm everyone cranks up the air conditioning. I pretty much carry a shawl, sweater or light jacket with me all summer because I freeze in the AC. But I digress. Day before yesterday, it was in the mid-70's and sunny. Yesterday morning, it was shirt-sleeve warm, even for me. Then a front started blowing in. It rained cats, dogs and large beasts of burden all last night along with thunder and lightning continuing into today. What do we have in store now? Snow. Yep. I was out of my coat for two whole days and now we have a 60% chance of snow. Crazy!
I just recently discovered a great new social networking site just for homeschool moms. It's called the Homeschool Lounge and it's terrific. It has groups for every different concern, interest, or homeschooling methodology out there. It's also a great place to meet up with other moms just to fellowship or commiserate. Right now, the founder is running a fun contest on her blog. The winner gets an Amazon gift certificate. Just think...free books! Head over to Less of Me ~ More of Him and read all about it!
Check out the cool new contest on the official company porch. They are offering a blog makeover by Christi Gifford from Art Designs by Christi.
As you can see, I am in need of just such a makeover. Last week, a glitch caused my blog to be overwritten by another template. All changes I had made were lost including buttons I had put on there and my hit counter and everything. I'm a bit discouraged, but at least the posts were all saved. It would be lovely to have a fresh start.
I can hardly believe that the first month of 2008 has flown by like this. It's been action-packed. We started out the year celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on the 1st. My eldest dd was home from the USAF with her dh and dd. When they started home, a 12-point buck (that's a big one) ran out in front of them and wrecked their car. Fortunately, no one was hurt but the deer. My dh said the deer must have had serious thrill issues. LOL
Once they were home safely, the rest of the month by with church activities, packing Christmas decorations, ministry stuff, two birthdays, educational stuff and planning for later in the year. I'm now looking around and finding what I want to have completed before tomorrow night. Ack!
We've had to deal with health issues including hospital stays for members of our extended family here in town.
We've had revival meetings at our church.
We are still playing catch-up on laundry and such from when the oldest kids were gone at camp last month.
We've had multiple days in a row of 100+ degree weather keeping the kids inside and the air conditioners running.
We have various parts of the house being rearranged, redecorated, or decluttered.
And of course, I've been planning our new school curriculum. I'll be posting more about that later.
I hope your school planning is going well and your summer is a bit more peaceful than mine has been thus far. I am so thankful that I have Someone who can give me peace even in the midst of all this chaos!
I've been away from all my blogs for some time now due to several family crises. I'm back now and have made some decisions about blogging. First, I love it and have missed it. Second, I can't keep up with 3 blogs with anything approaching regularity. Therefore, I'm moving my homemaking blog over here. I'll be posting the stuff from it to this one and adding new stuff too. My article blog A Good Name for a Blog will still be in the same location.
