Inspired Wednesday - Establishing Routines & AiO Giveaway!

On Monday I shared with you what our regular school days look like.  

Today I want to tell you more about our devotional schedule.

When My Big Helper was little-little, I tried to have devotions in the morning.  I tried to have devotions in the morning, but every morning ended up different, depending on where and when we were heading out that day.

Eventually we ended up having devotions at night, and that worked for years.  

Then our schedule changed again.  With one child in school and an early bedtime important, we struggled to find a time to read and discuss scripture.

When we moved to full-time homeschooling, I played around with this a little, and now my study Bible lives on our kitchen table.

We try to read at breakfast, and some days that works.  Others, when we're rushed to leave, we might not make it -but it's still there at lunchtime.

This has been different than anything we've done before, but we like it.  The kids often ask me to read more, and we have the rest of mealtime to talk about what we've read.  We're not so rushed, and this gives us time to discuss what we're learning.

I've also noticed My Big Helper making connections between what we're reading and what she's reading on her own.  She's starting to tell me when she remembers hearing a particular verse before, or connect it to something that's happened.  

Sometimes schedules need to be fluid.  Sometimes we need to watch for teachable moments.  Sometimes, we do what works, even when it's a bit different.

This is what works for us.  How do you make crazy schedules work?

Adventures in Odyssey is giving away a free sample download of their book, 90 Devotions for Kids.  Click over here to download your own!

AiO is giving away one copy of 90 Devotions for Kids to one of you!  Use the widget below to enter.

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GratiTuesday - Bug Bites, Sharpie Stains, & Frozen Corn

It's that time again.

Time to begin food storage for winter.

Actually, we've been doing that for a while now.  We've already stored berries and strawberry jelly in our freezer, but now the corn stalks are tall and waving their tassels proudly.

As a kid I loved helping to freeze corn.  My dad always seemed so strong and sure as he ran each ear quickly through the cutter.  I could never figure out how he could do it so quickly or without getting cut or burned.

My mom always kept everything else running smoothly.  She cleaned the ears, blanched them, cooled them, and had them ready for my dad.  She monitored my sister and I as we scooped the corn into bags and got the kitchen cleaned up afterwards in a snap.

I did the corn one year by myself.  It was completely depressing to do all that work by myself, although I did enjoy my freezer full of corn all year long.

That made my joy even brighter, though, when the kids began to help with this process.

For the past few years the whole family has worked together to husk the ears. We generally do a fair amount, and it can be hot, buggy work to husk all that.  

My Big Helper has been chief bag label-er and corn scooper for the past few years, and we've developed our own simple system for making it all happen.  I've enjoyed working with her.

This year was different, though.  

Daddy had to be away for work, and so we purchased the corn ourselves.  We took chairs outside under a tree and husked away.  (My Big Helper kept pointing out the myriads of mosquitoes on my legs while worked.  She failed to mention the myriads on her own - until the next morning.)

Next we moved inside, and I half expected My Little Man to bow out and find a book to read. He scrubbed his hands and pulled up a chair, though, after asking what his job could be.

He began by labeling the bags and eventually moved onto corn bagging.  Despite my many years of helping to preserve corn, though, My Little Man surprised me.   He didn't just do the basics but thought of something new.

Maybe he was remembering our trip to the art museum the day before.

Whatever it was, he decorated the bags!  He drew pictures to go with his labels.  At first they were simple things like smiley faces, but as time went on he drew complete scenes.

I smiled through the rest of the corn cutting (still wondering how my dad ever did all of that without burning himself), until it was time to put away the bags.

Then My Big Helper began to yell, "Oh, no!  Sorry, Mommy!" and hop around on her chair.

I looked to where she was pointing, only to see that the corn juice had run onto the bags and then transferred the happy blue pictures onto my countertops.

The pictures looked great on the bags.  Somewhat less so on my counters.

After removing all corn, juice, and bags, we discovered that Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers really are magic, and they do remove Sharpie stains from countertops.

Phew.

So now, I'm sure I'll be smiling every time I pull a bag of corn out of the freezer.

First at the cool blue pictures.

Then at the memory of how they got there - three sweaty people, singing along to the radio and working together to story up for winter, all while one short person constantly exclaimed, "Isn't this fun, Mommy?"

Lastly at my sight of my counters - blue-free.

For more GratiTuesday, visit Heavenly Homemakers.

What Does a (Home) School Day Look Like?

As a college student I studied how to structure a school day.

As a new teacher in a different state I learned the regulations for how many minutes we were supposed to study each subject.  (They need to add those up - first-graders really do need time to go to the bathroom - that's important.)

As a (home)schooler, though, there aren't rules about what to do when and for how long, and that's one of the best things about it.  We can totally do what works for our family.

Our kids need a lot of sleep and family time is important to us, so those two factors are being big in determining our schedule.  When my husband gets home from work (after commuting to another county), we eat a late dinner together - usually around 7.  That means that baths are around eightish and bedtime (hopefully) by 9.

We grown-ups then finish clean-up from that day and prep for the next.  We all now go to bed later than we used to....

but, that's okay, because we can also sleep in more.  The kids are serious about their sleeping, so while one gets up around 7, the other gets up somewhere between 8 and 9.  That gives one-on-one time for me with the oldest - sometimes talking, sometimes playing a game, and sometimes just snuggling in on the couch to read together.

Breakfast happens between 9 and 10:30.  Yes, I know that's late, but that's what works for us.  Afterwards we start some laundry and clean up any messes from breakfast.

Then everyone makes their way to the playroom/schoolroom.  My Big Helper works on independent assignments while My Little Man writes in his journal and reads to me.  I review her work as needed, and then everyone does math.  When we're finished with that, we break out a computer for a virtual online tour, snuggle up on the couch for some read-aloud time, or find the art supplies to create something new.  We might pull out our science books and read a chunk of the next chapter, as well.

The kids have separate reading and math assignments, but we do everything else together.  They're actually becoming so close in math that we may study the same topic at the same time this year, as well - at least sometimes.

I always think we'll be done by lunchtime, but invariably we end off on a rabbit trail.  Somebody wants to practice more spelling words or read through the dictionary or find the country that was mentioned in the book, and off we go.  We usually end up finishing things after a late lunch, when we read our read-aloud book and then do a few chores.  

The kids then have free time until supper, when they must be picked up and ready to eat as a family.

And then we do it all again .....

What do YOUR school days look like?  I'd love to know.  I'm always curious as to how others get things done!

"Rosemary Cottage" by Colleen Coble

Amy came to Rosemary Cottage to grieve, to heal, maybe even find love. But there's a deadly undertow of secrets around Hope Island . . .

The charming Rosemary Cottage on the beach offers Amy Lange respite she needs to mourn her brother, Ben. She's even thinking of moving her midwife practice to the Outer Banks community. It's always been a refuge for her and her family. She also wants to investigate Ben's disappearance at sea. Everyone blames a surfing accident, but Amy has reason to wonder.

Coast Guard officer Curtis Ireland has lost a sibling too. His sister, Gina, was run down by a boat, leaving him to raise her infant daughter. If anyone knew who little Raine's father was, Curtis could lose his beloved niece. Yet he can't help being drawn to Hope Beach's new midwife, Amy. He even agrees to help her investigate what happened to both Ben and Gina.

Can two grieving people with secrets find healing on beautiful Hope Island? Or will their quest for truth set them at odds with each other . . . and with those who will go to any length to keep hidden things hidden?

You'll have an inkling of who should fall in love with whom from the very first chapter of this book - but they won't.  Better yet, you'll fall in like with them, and you'll keep turning those pages because you want good things for them - and they're not readily forthcoming.  You won't get bored, though, because you won't be able to predict all the twists and turns in this story, which is what master storyteller Colleen Coble planned all along.

You won't care that you can't figure it out, because you'll keep thinking that you have.  You'll be able to piece a few bits of information together, sure that you're on the right trail, only to have another mudslide come along and wipe out half of your supposition.  You'll have to start all over again with the new information that the sliding mud uncovered, but that's okay - you'll be excited again to be on the trail of the answer.

With each page turned, your heart will become just a bit more attached to Hope Beach and its occupants.  With each patient of Amy's you'll pray for a safe delivery and for Curtis to come home after another daring sea rescue.  You'll want Raine to be safe and for Heather's motives to come to light and for someone to tell the lovebirds to get with it already and see the Cupid flying about overhead.

You'll want to - but you can't.  

They're only characters in a book.

Only you forgot that.

It's that good.

Click here to read other reviews on this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now.

Best-selling author Colleen Coble's novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Book of the Year, RWA's RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers' Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has nearly 2 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

Learn more about Colleen: http://colleencoble.com/

I received a free copy of Rosemary Cottage from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Inspired Wednesday - Build a Hideaway!

A few weeks ago I shared my excitement over a few of the freebies found on the Winter Promise curriculum's website.  In return for sharing these with you, the company's owner sent me a piece of their curriculum to check out. 

I received a book called "Hole Up in a Homemade Hideaway," which is one component of the K-1 curriculum 'Hideaways in History,' a complete year-long study of life in different time periods throughout history.  The idea is that for each week of the school year you would study a different time and place - and then the book provides directions for building a location that would be specific to that particular place.

I must say, I'm fascinated with this book.  My Little Man is now in first grade, but my Big Helper is in third, so she's a few years' past what this book is geared towards, but she's looked it over and can't wait to get started.

There is a full years' worth of hideaway directions in this book, so that's 30+ building plans.  We won't be using the book in this way - as I shared with you on Monday, we usually park ourselves in a given time period and stay there for several weeks, so we won't get through the entire book in a year; but who says we have to?

We'll be using this book for years to come.  Rather than use it as the base of our curriculum (which would be great, if that's how you plan) we tend to use it as an extension.  It will be a fabulous supplement to the units that we're already planning.

Come October, when we are learning about ancient Egypt, both as a family and in our book club groups, we'll be building cardboard pyramids and decorating them with hieroglyphics.

When we study China, in preparation for the Geography Fair and at my Little Man's request, we'll be building the Great Wall of China.  We might build part of the Forbidden City, too.

When we read the Imagination Station book about the early Pilgrims in America, we might build the Mayflower.   If time permits this year, we'll be moving into the Roman Empire, and so we could build a Gladiator arena or the Trojan Horse.

Those are just a few of the possibilities for this school year.  They match up naturally with our study plans.  The structures in the book begin chronologically just after Creation and continue as recently as World War II.  We'll be able to continue with these next year and even the year after that - as long as my kids are interested in building what we're studying.

These creations don't have to win any awards, either.  Each one requires only basic materials, most of which you'll already have around the house - things like cardboard boxes, scissors, paint or markers, and newspapers.  I love that I don't have to go hunting for specialized equipment!

Since we plan to make only a few over the course of the school year, we might go all out for each one.  That might work for us - and each set of "blueprints" provides directions for 'fancying up' your structure.  

If, however, you move a bit more quickly, or your children are younger, that might be difficult.  That's okay- the Winter Promise people planned for that, too. There are also directions for creating a simplified structure that will be easier to put together but will still give your kids the same idea.

Building something for kids to play in turns their lessons into life.  It helps it to become real.  It makes their learning kinesthetic and changes it from words on a page to something interactive.  Suddenly they can become the people in the stories more easily.  They can add their own art, pretend to be the heroes of the age, and relate to the whole era.

I've done this with two-year-olds and with second-graders, and it never fails to reach them in some way.  I'm looking forward to more frequent and more elaborate structures with all sorts of elementary-aged kids this coming school year.  Best part?  All of this creative thinking comes ready-made for me.  I don't have to research it, study it, or figure it out.  I can just climb in and have fun with the kids.

OH - and this book won't break the bank, either.  At just over $20 for more than 30 building plans + multiple modifications for each one, I think this is a steal. 

So who's with me?  Anybody else ready to Hideaway in History this year?

What special time or place will you be learning about this year that could benefit from its own special Hideaway??

Last week Nancy at There is Grace shared some lessons she learned at StarBucks - and how they could be translated into our churches. To find out more, visit There is Grace - and Nancy, please visit our Inspired Wednesday page and take the "I was featured on Washed Up Inspired Wednesdays' button back with you.  

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"A Bride for All Seasons" Review

It All Started with an Ad in a Mail Order Bride Catalogue . . . Melvin Hitchcock of the Hitching Post Mail Order Bride Catalog isn't dishonest---not exactly. If he tweaks his clients' applications a bit, it's because he's looking out for their best interests. This charming bouquet of novellas introduces four Hitching Post prospects in the year 1870, each one eager for second chances . . . and hungry for happiness. Year in, year out, they'll learn that love often comes in unexpected packages. And Then Came Spring by Margaret Brownley Mary-Jo has been unlucky all her life. But who would guess she'd travel halfway across the country to meet her match . . . only to find him dead! An Ever-After Summer by Debra Clopton Ellie had no idea she's not what Matthew ordered. And what's wrong with being a "Bible thumper" anyway? She's determined to show him she's tougher than she looks---and just the girl he needs. Autumn's Angel by Robin Lee Hatcher Luvena would be perfect for Clay if she didn't come with kids. But kids are a deal breaker, especially in a rough-and-trouble mining town. The trouble is, there's no money to send them back. . . Winter Wedding Bells by Mary Connealy David's convinced he's not long for the world. He needs someone to mother his boys when he's gone---nothing more. Can plucky Irish Megan convince him to work at living instead of dying? A Bride for All Seasons has something for everybody.  With faithful characters and not, some interested in love and others running from it, from robust cowboys to opera singers and those just shy of dying, there's a character for everyone in this anthology.   My favorites, of course, were Mary-Jo and Ellie.  I love their pluckiness in the face of diversity, and Megan comes in hard on their heels for just the same reason.  Their sheer determination and grit reminds me of just how easy many of us find basic life now - and how blessed we are if we have made our own love match. The premise of the story was pure hilarity -  or, it would be, if it had not left so many people in such dire straits.  Can you not picture a skinny little bean-pole of a man seeing himself as Cupid and trying to 'improve upon' the ads that were sent to his mail-order-bride catalogue?   The only issue I had with this book is that the stories are short - which, by definition to fit inside an anthology, they must be.  Most of the characters had the depth built into their backgrounds to be much more than a short story, and so I kept expecting more twists and turns than the author had time to build in.  I think that's a good thing, that I wasn't ready to turn the last page on these characters, so I'm definitely looking forward to the next adventure penned by these four. You  can read other reviews on this bloggy hop here; or, click over here to purchase your own copy now. Margaret Brownley is a NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author and has penned more than twenty-five historical and contemporary novels. @margaretbrownley    Robin Lee Hatcher is a Christy and RITA award-winning author. Her books often appear on bestseller lists. @robinleehatcher    Mary Connealy is a Carol Award winner, an a RITA, Christy and Inspirational Reader's Choice finalist. @MaryConnealy    Debra Clopton is an award winning author of sweet, heartfelt, western romance that face life with a smile. With over 2 million books in print, Debra has her first book coming as a movie starring LeAnn Rimes. @debraclopton I received a free copy of A Bride for All Seasons from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

GratiTuesday - Setting Giant-Sized Goals

*This post contains affiliate links for a company whose products I have used and loved.  I recommend them because they are high quality.  If you choose to click on these links, you'll be supporting our homeschooling efforts - and we thank you.

Over the past few months I've gotten to work with the elementary-aged youth at our church.  We used the fabulous curriculum that came with Tales of the Not Forgotten  by Beth Guckenberger.  (You can read my review of that book here.)

The conversations that we had sparked something in my Big Helper - something new and special.  She decided to raise money for the Hands and Feet Project's orphans' home in Haiti - and then, upon learning that it was possible to go there on mission, she set that as her goal.

Now, I think this is a wonderful thing.  As hard as it will be to let her go, and even harder if she's heading off to our continental American shores, she's only eight.

Fortunately for me, Hands and Feet requires that you be thirteen years old before going there to do mission work, but my Big Helper is not letting that stop her.

Last month she decided that it was time to plan her annual lemonade stand, and about a week before setting up, her face lit up.  She looked at me and announced, "Mommy, this year I want the money to go towards my Haiti trip!"

I wasn't sure what to say to that.  Does she realize that this trip is five years away - minimum?  Does she realize how much it's going to cost to get her - and her daddy - and the four other people they require all the way there?

No, she doesn't.  She wasn't counting the cost - she was just stepping out in faith.

And then she decided to expand upon last year's lemonade stand and sell orangeades - and art.

She was so pleased with her debut piece of oil pastel artwork that she decided to add art to her lemonade stand.

As word spread about what she was trying to do, the demand for her artwork far surpassed what she was able to create in the few days' time prior to her sale.  In fact, she's still trying to catch up.

But she's happy.  

Her lemonade stand efforts went so well - and people were so generous when they learned what she wants to do - that she raised many times over what she's ever made before.

So much so that a few days later we visited the bank, where she opened a new account to keep her Haiti money safe.

Life has slowed down since her lemonade stand supplies were packed up for this year, but her dreams haven't.  She's dreaming as big as ever - with a giant-sized goal heaped upon lots of faith and sweetened with lemonade and sugar.

If you came by My Big Helper's lemonade stand and supported her efforts to go to Haiti, we thank you.  If you're one of the people waiting in line for her original artwork, we thank you, too - you're both increasing her faith and her confidence.  To Beth Guckenberger and the See the Light Crew - only God could have mashed together my Big Helper, oily sunflowers, and Haitian orphans with your outstanding lessons to get a goal this beautiful.  Thank you.

For more GratiTuesday, visit Heavenly Homemakers.

Want to know more about how she began her own "art business?"  Check it out here!