Memory Monday- #8

We're slipping a little this month. We worked on the verse last week, but don't really KNOW it, like we do the previous set of six. This morning I was reviewing with Quinlan, and talking a bit about what it means. "For all have....what? What has everyone done?" He wasn't sure. "All have sinned. Everyone has sinned in their life." He didn't buy that, though "Nuh, uh! Not everyone!" I expressed my confusion. "Jesus never sinned!" He had me with that one!

Memorize This:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 6:23

Putting Christ in Christmas

There are many things we could be doing this month to celebrate Christ's birth. I have a few favorite books we use to guide our discussion. My all-time favorite is Lisa Whelchel's Adventure of Christmas. This book goes through many of our holiday traditions and explains how that came about and ties it to Christ.

A few years ago we made an Advent Wreath (from dollar store supplies), that's still holding up to our use of it. Each Sunday we light the candle(s) and talk about what that week stands for. This culminates on Christmas Eve when all four wreath candles, plus the center Christ candle are all lit. This year, we also have A Family Advent, but have not utilized it much, yet. What a great way to keep Jesus as the center of our focus this month!

This is the first year our kids have made a list of things they want. To keep the focus off of presents, we do not put the gifts under the tree until the week of Christmas. The gifts the kids buy/make for each other are wrapped and placed in their stockings, so those are also out of sight. We had a blessing in disguise while my husband was laid off, after we were first married. At that time, there was no money for presents under the tree. We had little ones that wouldn't remember, and had to be creative about the few gifts that made it into the stockings. Since that time, each child gets one present under the tree from Mom and Dad and a stocking full of goodies from siblings. It's so sweet to take them to a $1 aisle and have them ponder the gifts for each other, or watch as they make things, or even wrap up their own toys for each other. In this way, my hope is that the focus isn't on what they're getting, and spending hours staring at presents wondering. My hope is that they are thinking about what will bring a smile to someone else.

What do you do? What are your favorite resources to prepare your heart this season? How are you intentionally passing these things on to your kids?

Need to Order Christmas Cards?

Check out SeeHere.com and photo cards at a great price. This makes me want to expand my mailing list. I ordered mine before Thanksgiving, but these deal is incredible! Use the code 50cards to get 50 free cards. Pay only shipping (about $5). Or use the same code on 24 cards and pay about $2.50 in shipping.

This site also offers free shipping if you order more than 60 cards, so get the best deal by ordering 60, type in the code for 50 free cards and pay $4.90 for your order.

This deal is good through the December 12th.

Check out Freebies 4 Moms for other great deals, too.

Memory Monday- #7

With the Advent season upon us, there are so many good things to ponder. I've decided to continue working through our verse list. Check back tomorrow for some ideas on bringing Christ to the center of your celebrations.

Memorize This:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ~Romans 3:23

Memory Monday- Review

The discipline of memorizing verses is a great one. The focus and concentrated effort is good for our minds, hiding God's Word is good for our hearts...so many benefits. And it's been a lot easier to do than I had previously thought. Of course, having kids makes it easier. We're adding hand motions and singing. That's not how I memorized when I was in college :) but it's so much easier! 

It's also really easy to lose verses. How did that one start? What's next? I had that one! ...and now it's gone. We're working our way through a list that will take us just over a year. But after every six verses, I'm building in a review week. This way, God's Word is ever before us and we can be sure we really have it in our hearts and minds. Here's the list of verses we've worked on over the last six weeks. If you don't have them memorized, pick one and hide it in your heart. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Romans 12:1

2 Timothy 3:16

John 15:7

Matthew 18:20

Matthew 4:19

How do you review memory verses? Any tricks or games? 

Daily Deals

There are so many tips and tricks to saving money and getting good deals. I've discovered that most of it is about being able to wait until the good deal comes along. Because it will. Eventually. We've purchased everything from Mac and Cheese to a van at a greatly reduced rates because we were able to wait for it to hit our price point. It's a little harder when something suddenly breaks, but even there at least one store will have that item on sale or you can find a floor model.

I troll daily deal websites. There are four I currently keep up with, so if you know of any more, please let me know! We've bought a few items- head phones, pull up bar, child's microscope- at great prices. When you see these deals, you have to be able to know something about the product, or be able to do a quick bit of research. They're only up until midnight! It's always better to pass on something you're unsure of. I've been keeping tabs on these sites for a couple of months, and the deal usually comes around again.

My most recent purchase was a Shark cordless sweeper. I HATE sweeping my kitchen, and this thing is great. Plus, the kids can do it- even my two year old! They fight over who "gets" to sweep, so I have to send them to vacuum other rooms with it, too. The reason I'm sharing this, is because it's the daily deal on 1saleaday.com again today. I do not make any money if you buy one. It's just such a good deal on a product I'm falling in love with. I had to pass it on!

Daily Deal Sites:
www.1saleaday.com
www.woot.com
www.tanga.com
www.groupon.com

Memory Monday- #6

I'm so thankful that we have the Word. That here in the U.S. we can pull out our Bible's anytime and anywhere. Many places around the world are not able to do this in safety. Memorizing Scripture allows us to put these verses in our hearts and minds. It does help us now, but it will also help us if we ever find ourselves in a situation where we cannot have our Bibles openly.


Last week, I didn't have an opportunity to spend time reading the Word. I used to guffaw when I heard people say that, but now I'm a mom with five kids, and I've been sick to boot, so no more snickering from this corner! Anyways, I was running an errand in my husband's car with no stereo and the verses that we've memorized just cycled through my mind (in the song form I taught them to my kids!). What a great time I had mulling over those verses and really THINKING about what they meant. I do believe that I now understand what meditation is about a little better. 

This week is our family's sixth verse from the Topical Memory System. 

Memorize This:

Matthew 4:19

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (NIV, 2010)
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (NIV, 1984)

"And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (NASB)

Christmas Photo Cards

Have you taken your family photo yet? The time is now here to get a great deal on your Christmas photo cards.

Go to www.seehere.com and upload your photos. Right now there is 50% off all of their photo products when you enter the code cards-39 and get free shipping on a purchase of 60 cards or more for a total of about $15. New accounts also get 25 free 4x8 cards when you use code 25cards, you'll have to pay about $5 shipping. You can only use one code per order, so determine what will work best for you.

Or go to www.vistaprints.com and turn your photo into a postcard. You'll save on shipping, too! Right now order 100 postcards for $17.50. These are often free, so get your cards ready and wait for the deal!
Update, I got an e-mail on 11-17, postcards are now free! Pay only shipping when you order 100 postcards.

I'm not sure how long these promotions will last, so get those pictures taken!

Memory Monday- #5

We've had a great couple of weeks singing our memory verses. How do you get these to stick?

Memorize this:
For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them. Matthew 18:20

Fall Art and Science Lesson

This fall we had a great time when Grandma came down to do an art lesson with us. This one was started from the book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. Grandma read this book to the kids all snuggled up on the couch. Then came the science lesson.

We are lucky enough to live across the street from a park. They went on a nature walk and collected a bounty of leaves, petals, nuts, and other goodies. Conversation focused on which tree different leaves came from, the difference in the colors, and what would happen to that nut if it was planted.

Everyone came inside to warm up and that bounty was dumped on the kitchen table. Large pieces of art paper were handed around and the kids turned that bounty of fall foliage into beautiful works of art. One leaf man is holding a bouquet of flowers. One isn't a man, it's a leaf fish!

After a hearty lunch, we chose the greenest leaves to make leaf prints. Make sure you have something protecting your table, as this one can quickly get messy. The "veiny" side of the leaf was painted (don't use too much!) with an acrylic paint (although tempera would work as well) then pressed onto the paper. Different leaves in different colors to make a wonderful collage of leaves. After the paintings dried, they drew animals in their forests! Just like Henri Rousseau!

Memory Monday

I know that it's hard to memorize verses, or at least we THINK it's hard to memorize. It's really not. How many songs do we know? How many lines can we quote from movies? How many definitions and other things have we learned for exams? When our pastor recently passed out a list of 60 verses that we could memorize, our family made the decision to memorize them. We're on our fourth verse, and I've decided to chronicle our journey through a weekly post called "Memory Monday." If you'd like to join us in our journey, check back every Monday for the new week's verse! (If you'd like to just get the list for yourself you can find it here.)

Recently, Eleanor (age 2.5) was saying "17...new creation...old has gone...new has come" over and over again (from 2 Cor 5:17, the first week) She doesn't have the first part of the verse, but if a two year old can do it, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that we adults can do it, too!

Memorize This: 

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." 

~John 15:7

I'd love to hear/see how you chose to memorize this verse. Did you just repeat it over and over? Did you illustrate it with clip art? Did you add hand motions? Make a song of it? Share with us!

Singapore Math

There are three things that I think it's important to teach my children everyday- Bible, language, and math. I'm convinced that everything else is more about learning the process of learning than anything else. (I mean really, do you remember your 2nd grade social studies?) Math is an essential building block for many other subjects. It needs to be built upon gradually over time. Oh, the pressure to get it right!

There are so many math curriculum out there. Quite honestly, I chose this one because it was inexpensive. Prior to purchasing these books (again from a used curriculum website!), I made it up as I went along. I found a list of things that kids needed to know at different grade levels and worked through that. We could do more/less while playing with cars, we could do big/little while standing in line at the grocery store, we could do counting while setting the table. That's what I love about homeschooling- incorporating what they're learning into every day life. you can do this with a child who goes to a traditional school, too, as long as you know what material they are covering in class. It's the best way to learn- seeing how it plays out in real life. Eventually, we hit a point where I wanted to make sure I was covering everything and in an order that would help them later on, too. So, I found a Singapore Math text and have been using it as a teacher's guide. We still do the "daily life" math as before, I just have an organized plan behind it now!

However, my kids seem to like worksheets. (weird, huh?) So, I make those up on my own. Or buy a cheap workbook from Sam's Club. Or both. This summer we made counting sticks. We glued ten beans to a craft stick. Now we can practice counting by tens, learn about place value, etc. This year, my boys are starting in books 1A and 2A. Quinlan should be able to finish 1A before Christmas, and Zachary will work up to the multiplication section in 2A. We'll go through one sub-chapter each week, utilizing lots of games and manipulative ideas. We'll probably start some timed drills at their own levels in a few weeks.

My girls are learning math, too. Those cheap workbooks from Sam's Club come in handy, as do a number of free resources on the internet. Veronica (age 4) is learning simple addition and subtraction- both how to do it and how to write it. She's learning her shapes and calendar skills. Veronica loves having her own workbook, and how easily she can complete a page lets me know what we need to work on. If it's hard, we need to "play" more with that topic. Eleanor (age 2) is learning about counting and colors and shapes. Most of the math the girls are doing is learned through play. Each week I pick one thing to be intentional about. "Eleanor bring me a blue ball." and there we've just had a math lesson!

What math resources do you use and love? Have you ever used an abacus? I still don't know what that's all about. How can we moms incorporate math learning into our daily conversations with our children?

Internet Math Resources
Singapore Math
Hubbard's Cupboard
Free Math Worksheets
Right Start Math

Art Lessons

My idea of art is setting a box of crayons and some construction paper on the table. If we're going to be crazy, I might add a pair of scissors and a glue stick! But I don't want to deprive my kids of the wonderful art experience. I remember making fun projects in elementary school and being challenged in junior high. I start out with good intentions, and check out craft books from the library, but we don't often do any of the projects.

Thankfully, my mother-in-law used to be a preschool teacher. I think she's starting to miss it because this summer she suggested coming down and doing art lessons with the kids. Of course, I said yes! So, every couple of weeks, she will prepare a lesson on a particular artist and his/her style of art.

We started with Eric Carle, and oh, how fun it was! Check out the official Eric Carle website to see pictures of how he makes his art, to hear him read stories, and more. We modified his method a bit because painting tissue paper sounded way too messy! So, we used a newsprint style paper instead. We dug through drawers and boxes looking for fun objects to make texture with. Then we spent well over an hour painting. It got messy.

After a break for lunch, running around the block, and reading some of Eric Carle's books, most of the papers were dry enough to do the second phase of the project. This meant cutting shapes out of the painted paper and gluing them to some nice art paper to create our pictures. We also made a few cards, and have plenty of painted paper left to make a bazillion more!

And here's a shot of the kiddos with their final projects. Tools needed for this project: tempera paints, paint trays (we used egg crates), newsprint paper, brushes (sponge brushes, fat brushes, skinny brushes, whatever you have), objects to create texture/designs (serrated cake scrapers and potato mashers were fun), art paper/cardstock, scissors, glue sticks, and loads of patience. Also consider a table covering, paint shirts, and lots of paper towels. The end result could be simulated simply using construction paper or tissue paper on white cardstock. All in all, this was a pretty fun project. Grandma's a little worried than none of the other lessons will quite stack up to the fun of this one. But I think my kids are sufficiently art deprived, that they will be excited about anything! I would totally do this again. It was nice having another adult in the room, especially during clean up time, so I would probably invite another family to join us.

Are you art deficient like me? How do you teach art to your children? Have you ever done an Eric Carle- like project? What other variations on this theme can you think of?

First Language Lessons

We began our school year with language lessons. Not for any grand educational reasons, but solely because the book I use has all my lesson plans laid out, even telling me what to say. I've been meaning to work out the structure to the rest of the subjects, but July just got away from me. (Don't tell me that doesn't happen to you!)

I feel very poorly equipped to teach language to my children. I never really learned much about grammar and sentence structure. Literature and poem memorization wasn't part of my education. This was not something I felt adequate to making up on my own. I knew that I needed a text that would lay it all out, clearly and succinctly. Thankfully, a fellow homeschooling mom suggested this book, and we have fallen in love with it. I've been so excited about it that other moms have picked up a copy and are using it in their homes, too! The text that we are using is called First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind. It appears that my copy of the text is out of stock on the publisher's website as they are now publishing each level separately. I was lucky enough to find mine on a used curriculum website for $10. It's been a great investment, and we're planning to continue in this series.

What I love about this text is that I have no prep work. That's right, none! Click the link to the Amazon page and you'll be able to see a few sample lessons. Everything is scripted for me, there's no need to think. :) An added benefit is that someone else can do these lessons with my kids, if I can't, and they don't need to think, either!

Copy work!

Right from day one, we are learning about the parts of a sentence and day two we start memorizing a poem! This book contains the first and second grade levels. So, both of my boys are using this book. The foundation for good grammar is being built, memorization and recitation is starting, dictation and copy work are begun in the first grade level and are more heavily emphasized in the second grade level.

My second grader has a composition notebook that he is using to record his copy work. He does not enjoy writing, but I'm glad for this opportunity to sit still and practice it. He usually chooses to lay on the floor for his writing, which really isn't best practice for his penmanship, but we'll worry about that later!

What resources do you utilize for teaching your children language skills? Do you do anything for penmanship? How about spelling? We don't do either of those right now, and I'm wondering what's out there.

Starting School

first day of school

As a homeschool family, we have the luxury of choosing our school calendar. I've been eager to start what I consider "structured school" for some time now. This summer has been full of fun activity, but my kids were starting to get that whiny "I'm bored" attitude. There was fighting and bickering and it was time to do something.

Oh, yeah, "structured school" is the stuff I plan out ahead of time. Things like reading and math lessons, science experiments, unit studies, that kind of thing. A lot of what we do that's not structured or planned could also count as school hours if I needed to keep track of them. Things like going to the library or zoo, baking cookies or doing chores, I can think of a way to make most anything count!

One thing I've learned is that jumping into the school schedule full bore does not work for me or the kids. We get tired, worn out, and crabby. So, I slowly add things in over a few weeks and hope that by the time we hit September we're actually doing everything on our full schedule. Take that ride with us. As we add each subject, I'll share what we're doing, the materials we're using, and the fun we're having.

Whether you homeschool or not, you're constantly teaching your children. Are you intentional about the things that you're passing on, or are you just hoping that things will turn out for the best? What kinds of things are you teaching them, how are you doing it. Please share!

I'm Back, and Ready to Blog

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on this blog. I've been thinking a lot about it and how this blog compares to others out there. There are so many great  blogs about saving money and I don't want to repost all that same information. I went back to my first post and thought about that for a bit. Saving money on groceries and other expenses is just one aspect of our approach to our finances. Yet, that's what I felt like I was focusing on, not just here on the blog, but in my life. I got burned out.

As I reread my first postings, my heart got excited again. We really have learned a lot about finances, more than just how to save money. Writing about each lesson learned just once, isn't really enough! I'm excited to examine my life for ways I can be incorporating those in more and sharing them with you. I'm excited to can tomatoes this fall and share my experiences with you. I'm excited to show you some great deals- the ones we run with, the ones we don't, and the logic behind our decisions. I'm excited to share our homeschool adventures with you, and how we manage to do that without spending a lot of money.

And I'm interested in the things that you're learning through your finances, the ways you're saving, the choices you're making. I'm interested in starting a conversation and providing a format where we can learn from each other. I'm interested in doing writing blog posts about things you're interested in learning about. So, leave a comment today, leave a comment everyday. Let us learn from one another and make the most of what we have.

Resource Review- restaurant.com

Today was my anniversary. I guess it still is, but the day is almost over. Eight years ago today we were getting our pictures taken at Sunken Gardens, pledging our lives to one another, eating a great meal, and dancing with our friends and family. It was a great day. (and I don't appear to have any of my wedding photos digitized, so enjoy this engagement pic!) We had a terrific honeymoon. We spend our week eating one meal out each day! Our hotel had an awesome breakfast and we decided to combine our lunch and dinner budget and eat at great restaurants every day. We won't be able to do something like that again for quite a while...now that we have five kids.

But we do make a point to have a date night a couple of times a month and we usually enjoy a dinner as part of our evening together. You may wonder how we manage to do that. Well, there's the mystery shopping. I try to get us some meals out for the cost of my time to fill out the survey afterwards. Most of our dinners are spent this way. Tonight we utilized a new favorite resource- restaurant.com.

Restaurant.com offers certificates to a number of restaurants at a discounted price. Usually you'd pay $10 for a $25 gift certificate. Last fall, we signed up for the dinner of the month club. Each month we receive a $25 gift certificate redeemable at any of the restaurants on the site. Some restrictions apply- gratuity is added, minimum purchase amounts, etc. The best part is, that I was able to use a promo code and bought our year's worth of dinner out for the low price of TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS! And now, you can enjoy the same incredible savings. Enter the promo code ENJOY through May 13th, and you'll receive 80% off. Get your $25 gift certificates for only $2!!!

And peruse some other great tips at Works for Me Wednesday. Remember, you've got until Thursday to get a great deal on dinner!

Menu Plan Monday

One thing I've learned about dinner time is that if the meal takes a lot of work to prepare, I just don't want to do that clean up. And if it only takes a little bit of work to prepare, I still don't want to do the clean up! Today, I remembered that my skillet can go in the oven. I have one recipe that utilizes this feature- you brown you chicken in the skillet, add the other ingredients, then stick it in the oven. Do you think I can do this with any type of casserole I might make? What one-pot meals do you make? Even crock pot meals are great- as long as the crock pot is the only dish I have to clean up!

Monday- BBQ Pork Chops, Potato Salad, Green Salad
Tuesday- Date Night! Fried Rice for kiddos
Wednesday- Green Bean Casserole for small group dinner
Thursday- Burritoes
Friday- Pizza Night
Saturday- Fried Rice and side dish for Cub Scout dinner
Sunday- Eat What You Want Night

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas this week.

Need Diapers?

This spring I started using diapers.com. I love it. I love that they have a referral program, I love that they offer discounts, I love that they have free shipping. Most of all, I love that I get my order in just a couple of days. It's great!

If you need diapers, sign up for an account and use my referral code (NETT4468). You'll receive $10 off your first order (of $49 or more) and $5 off your second order! You can even mail in your coupons for more savings! If you're already a diapers.com customer, use the Mother's Day code 5formom and receive $5 off your order.

I'll be stocking up on diapers this weekend, how about you? They also offer a variety of baby and children's products. So, if you're lucky enough to have all your kids out of diapers, check out their website and see if you can score a great deal on anything else right now!

Is a Garden Really Worth It?

Spring is here, spring is here! I love being warm again. It's fun to see the flowers growing inches ever day and the bright colors can't help but make me feel more cheerful and optimistic. This spring we put in a small strawberry bed, but I have yet to put in any veggies.

I like to get the most bang out of the small space we have. Why plant potatoes when I can get them so cheaply all year round? I'm not going to put a watermelon plant in, because then that's all I'd have! Plus, I could probably buy one for less than the cost of watering it. We typically go for things like dark green lettuces, sugar snap peas, roma tomatoes, basil, and spinach. While it's not much of a variety, we can have a daily salad, make some salsa or tomato sauce and can it, and get some pesto in the freezer. I usually have extra peas to freeze, as well. These are the things my family eats that cost a bit more at the store, so it's worth my time and effort to grow them myself.

Last year, I found this great article from one person who kept track of their garden costs for one year to see if they had any savings over purchasing their food from the store. It's a great read and gets you thinking about what  you plant and why you plant it. Most gardeners aren't just doing it for the savings, but for those of us who are frugally minded, it's a great resource for helping you do a cost-analysis of your garden. In seeing where your money goes, you can make changes to save even more if you choose to.

What's going in your garden this year?