2011 Ultimate Blog Party

It's time once again for the 2011 Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes for Mom! I've enjoyed participating for the last several years. I enjoy the opportunity to meet new bloggers, not to mention the chance to win some great prizes!

If this is your first visit to my blog, I invite you to look around and stay awhile... or "follow" me and come back later... I look forward to making your acquaintance! If you leave a comment so I'll know you were here, I'd be happy to return the favor.

Latin Alive! - review

I wasn't too sure about reviewing a Latin program this late in the game. After all, my oldest daughter will be graduating in 2 months. I didn't figure she would be interested in starting a Latin program now. And I didn't know if it would even be appropriate (ever) for my younger daughter who struggles with auditory processing issues. But Latin Alive! from Classical Academic Press intrigued me. I decided that I would love to study Latin sometime, even if my girls didn't. However, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I'm supposed to actually  use the program with my children if at all possible. So I asked the girls to try it and give me their opinion.

The Latin Alive! 1 Bundle includes the Latin Alive! Book One student text, the Latin Alive! Book One: Teacher's Materials, and the Latin Alive! 1 DVD & CD Set ($139.95).With the multimedia materials I expected the girls to be able to use it somewhat independently. And I was right. What I didn't expect was how much they loved it! I mean, we're talking about Latin here. A "dry, dead" language. At the end of the school year-- when the kids balk at anything that seems too much like work. Believe it or not, they begged to do more! And they were tossing Latin words around at each other and then just laughing uproariously. You would have thought it was a new game or something just-for-fun.

Needless to say, I was impressed. And not just by my children's reaction to it, but by the materials themselves. The format is easy-to-understand and appealing. I especially like how little bits of Roman history are included here and there, to help make the "dead" language relevant.

"Students will be delighted by what they learn in each new chapter of Latin Alive! Book One, and they will learn to see that Latin is everywhere around them. As the first text in a three-year series, it is a rigorous and thorough introduction to this great language, and is designed to engage the upper school (middle and high school) student. Brimming with relevant facts and stories this text offers something for everyone."

Classical Academic Press also offers Song School (for grades K-3) and Latin for Children (for grades 3-6). Visit their website to learn more.

Inland Northwest Homeschool Conference

This weekend I will be hosting the Sonlight booth at the Inland Northwest Homeschool Conference in Spokane Valley, Washington. It starts this afternoon at 2:00 and you can register at the door! I'll be speaking this afternoon at 4:00 on Raising Kids Who Love to Learn.

As a special "thank you" to conference attendees, Sonlight is allowing me to offer a $15 coupon to each family who stops by my booth! Also, if you mention this blog post, I will have an extra small gift for you. These will be available while supplies last, so be sure to stop by early. You will also have a chance to win my drawing for a tote bag full of books! If you homeschool in eastern Washington or northern Idaho, I hope to see you there!

In the meantime, I need to go iron my tablecloths and review my workshop notes. Have a great weekend!

Campfire Fuel

We don't heat with wood at home, but we do love a good fire when we're camping. So Lyle keeps an eye on Craig's List for bargains on firewood. Last weekend he found a deal on "mill ends."

 We loaded up the back of the pickup with short pieces of 2x4s. Then we packed it into paper boxes. It packed nicely because it was boards and not logs. That will make it more convenient to load up to take camping, too. We ended up with 38 boxes full!

It's probably not the kind of wood you would want to burn slowly in your wood stove, but for camping it will be great. It will be fun to sit around the fire on crisp mountain summer evenings and take turns tossing the small-ish pieces in.

Campfire popcorn, s'mores, coffee in the percolator, conversation by starlight... Is it camping season yet?

Bound by Guilt - review

Bound by Guilt by C.J. Darlington is the sequel to Thicker Than Blood. I thoroughly enjoyed both stories. It was neat to follow up on the characters from the first book with Bound by Guilt, but it could very easily be read as a stand-alone book as well. I am especially intrigued by the antique book theme of the stories, but I find the characters to be believable and the plot is strong. Just what I look for in a good book!

Shuttled between foster homes, Roxi Gold will do anything to fit in. Soon she’s traveling the country stealing rare books from unsuspecting bookstores. Police officer Abby Dawson has seen the worst of society—and not just at work. One fateful night, both their lives are changed forever. One searches for justice, the other finds herself on the run.

Spring Cleaning

All winter my office has been accumulating clutter. I've had other, more pressing projects that demanded my attention, so I've just had to ignore and work around the clutter. But I've also watched several episodes of Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive this winter that have really inspired me to do some major decluttering. And so... this was the week to tackle my office.

I have to admit that it feels really good to get everything in order. Maybe when I'm finished I'll be brave enough to post a picture of my workspace. Having everything in it's place is it's own reward... but my heart gave a little skippity when I just now came across these 40-year-old pictures of the sweet little boy who grew up to become my husband!

I need to figure out the perfect place to put them where I can enjoy them every day. Not buried in the bottom of box!

I wonder what other treasures I might find?

Pleasant Places

 

O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

--Psalm 16:5-6

Who is God? - review

A year or so ago my family and some friends went through a very helpful Bible-based worldview study from Summit Ministries. All of us learned so much about how our society is being brainwashed, if you will, into believing in moral relativism and other false concepts and ideas. I appreciated how the study strengthened our faith, and gave us the information we needed to intelligently stand up for what we believe. However, that particular study was geared for older teens and adults. My younger daughter missed out on it.

Recently, when I was asked to review the first book in the "What We Believe" series from  Apologia Educational Ministries  I didn't realize that it was a worldview study for children. I also discovered that Apologia had partnered with Summit Ministries to produce this series. Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him? is the first book in the series. I have been reading it with my younger daughter. It is the perfect level for her: upper elementary/middle school. Each lesson includes a continuing story, discussion questions, vocabulary words, learning activities, short related articles, and Bible verses. My daughter is really enjoying it, and I am very impressed with the depth of information presented at a level she can understand and relate to.

Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him? is a large, beautifully illustrated hard-back book. There are a total of 4 books in the series. Other titles are: Who Am I?, What on Earth Can I Do?, and Who is My Brother? They are $39 each.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Visit the TOS Crew blog to read other reviews.

Loveland, CO Homeschool Convention

My family and I are headed to Loveland, Colorado this week to host the Sonlight booth at the Home Instruction Ministries Spring Curriculum Fair. We haven't had a road trip since our trip to Helena in November so we are looking forward to being on the road again. This will be my first homeschool convention of the season. (I have a total of five on my schedule at this time.)

As a special "thank you" to conference attendees, Sonlight is allowing me to offer a $15 coupon to each family who stops by my booth! Also, if you mention this blog post, I will have an extra small gift for you. These will be available while supplies last, so be sure to stop by early. You will also have a chance to win my drawing for a nice basket of books and other goodies! If you homeschool in Colorado, I hope to see you there!

Fickle March

March is such a fickle month. It can't quite make up its mind whether to go ahead and be Spring... or to just allow winter to linger awhile longer. I could decide for it, but then, it didn't ask me, did it?

Around these parts March came in like a lion. We had frigid winds and snow early in the week. We can only hope that it will, indeed, go out like a lamb!

A day or two later the sun came out and it warmed up a little. Still not exactly what you'd call warm, but at least it melted some of the snow... and the sunshine was definitely welcome!

Then we got rain. Cold rain. It melted the snow a little more. Just at sunset time, the clouds parted and the sun cast a gorgeous rainbow across the eastern sky. I was driving at the time, but hoping that Laura saw it and had her camera handy. When we pulled into the driveway, there she was on the step, camera in hand! (She took the above picture. Isn't it neat how the rainbow is reflected in the street?)

Spring will come! Eventually.

Fun honors...

Penny @ Knee Deep in Grace nominated me for the Stylish Blogger Award. This is one of those "pay it forward" type awards. I'm honored Penny thought of me. Thank you, Penny!

The rules are to share 7 things about yourself (which I've done before here and here and here and here!), and then to share 15 recently discovered, great bloggers to receive this award. Here's where I'm going to have to fall down on the job. I just haven't had time to explore and discover new-to-me blogs this winter. I haven't even been able to keep up with all the blogs that are already on my blog reader. Instead, I'm going to name the last 15 bloggers who commented on one of my posts. If you see your name on my list and would like to accept and pass along this award, please do! Those of you who have taken the time to keep up with my hit-and-miss posting the past few months and to encourage me with your comments are definitely what I would call "bloggers with style"! So there ya go!

1. Keetha @ The Eclectic Company
2. Laura @ Thru My Eyes
3. Aliene @ Meditations and Memories
4. Barbara @ Barbara's Bakin' n Bits
5. Jan @ Butterflies and Rainbows
6. Laura @ Glimpses of Our World
7. Lisa-Anne @ The Berry Patch
8. PSE @ For His Glory
9. Angel @ Finding the Inspiring
10. Rebecca @ Making Memories 1999
11. Barb @ Santa's Gift Shoppe
12. Alecat @ Serenades and Solace
13. Dori @ A Moment in Time
14. BP @ Raindrops and Rainbows
15. Flo @ wonderfullyflo

And then... Barb at Santa's Gift Shoppe notified me that she was featuring my little baby booties on her blog. She thought maybe they were tatted, but no, they are crocheted. I can see where it would be confusing, though, as I showed a small tatting project on the same post. Thank you for featuring me, Barb!