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Dolls and doll wardrobe for sale

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
December 7, 2010 By

[updated to add more dolls for sale]

posted by Meg …and expanded by Mom…at Dad’s request…

I have a brand new doll wardrobe for sale at $125.00! (retail value $285.00 and it’s on sale for $200.00 from Vision Forum right now) This is fifteen brand new doll dresses of all kinds, and remember folks: any sales will go towards Christmas presents for my sisters and family.

dollwardrobe 300x52 Dolls and doll wardrobe for sale

Includes the following in original packaging and brand new gift-giving condition:

Southern Lady Doll Dress •Maria’s Play Dress •Maria’s Party Dress •Regina’s Colonial Frontier Doll Dress •Priscilla Mullins Doll Dress, Cap, and Apron •Nan Harper Doll Dress •Dolley Madison Doll Dress •Sacagawea Doll Dress •Princess Adelina Doll Dress •Red Princess Doll Dress •Medieval Princess Doll Dress •Abigail Adams Doll Dress •Regina’s Pink “Go to Meeting” Dress •Elsie’s Day Dress •Elsie’s Party Dress

Also, other members of my family have some dolls for sale. All are new but from the clearance rack so they may have minor flaws and/or soiling, but we think they are completely suitable for gift-giving.  They will arrive in their original boxes.

72580 m Dolls and doll wardrobe for sale

  1. Liberty doll – Blue eyes, long brown hair, pink-checked dress.  $45 shipped.
  2. Old-style Liberty doll (made in Germany) – Blue eyes, long brown hair, pink-checked dress.  no socks or shoes. $40 shipped. PENDING
  3. Old-style Liberty doll (made in Germany) – Blue eyes, long brown hair, medieval princess dress.  no socks or shoes. $45 shipped. PENDING
  4. Jubilee doll - Brown eyes, long blonde hair, green-checked dress.  $45 shipped.  PENDING
  5. Jubilee doll – brand new, not clearance - Brown eyes, long blonde hair, green-checked dress.  $50 shipped.
  6. Fidelia doll – Brown eyes, long brown hair, yellow-checked dress.  3 available.  $45 shipped. 2 Available

To buy any of the above items, just leave a comment with your request.

Get more goodies directly from Vision Forum by stacking one of these coupons with the current instant rebate sale.

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Filed Under: Vision Forum 18 Comments

Monday Megan’s: Wordweaver

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
December 6, 2010 By

Okay, I didn’t get this post up at noon like I usually do, but at least it’s still Monday, right?

Today- or, rather, Tonight, I’m posting a story poem (there’s probably a way better name for it than that, but cut me some slack, I’m tired.)

So, enjoy it! (If, that is, you can get my inane babbling out of your head.)

Wordweaver

“Wordweaver, Wordweaver, wilt spin me a tale?”

But Wordweaver’s old; His ears are grown deaf,

And though he is kindly, can’t hear the request.

“Wordweaver, Wordweaver, old though ye be,

Canst thou but write a song now, for me?”

Wordweaver’s fingers were once nimble and spry,

Not so now, they are wrinkled and dry.
“Wordweaver, Wordweaver, if thou now died,

Who would be left to help woo me a bride?”

Wordweavers old, but his eyes are still bright,

They laugh at the merry youth in this plight.

Wordweavers feeble, and Wordweavers frail,

So Wordweaver gives him his song and his tale.

A new Wordweaver stands, the old one reclines,

Peace in his breath, and peaceful he dies.
“Wordweaver, Wordweaver, wilt spin me a tale?”

So a tale does he tell, aye, long does he sing,

He tells of a wordweaver, the wordweaver king.

Filed Under: Huh? Category? 2 Comments

Amphibious tanks for sale: 2/$45 shipped

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
December 2, 2010 By

tank1 Amphibious tanks for sale: 2/$45 shippedRemember the Remote Control Amphibious Airsoft Tank?  Vision Forum no longer sells them, but our family has some to clear out.

I know I said I wasn’t going to blog in December, but there’s a whole stack of these blocking the aisle in our little library, and I would love to send them to new homes.

These tanks were the coolest toy in the 2010 Vision Forum catalog!  They sold for the bargain price of $50, though they have a sticker price of $79.  Here’s the deal: get 2 tanks, 2 controllers, and one charger for $30 plus $15 shipping.

These are huge fun!  They go forward and back, left and right; they have lights; they shoot airsoft pellets from a gun turret with just enough force to sting a bit but not to do damage.  They can also go in water as the name suggests, though I’ll warn you now that it does tend to cause problems if the tank turns over in the water.

They come in 3 different frequencies, so if you want more than 3 be aware that they will interfere with each other.  This can be fun too, if you manage to turn your opponent’s tank on him.  :)

An enterprising mom could use one of these to carry a note to a child in another room.  That note could request a soda, because these tanks have 4 drink holders.  Nifty, huh?

Caveat: these tanks were returned for various reasons, but we have checked each one thoroughly, discarding and replacing bad controllers, battery packs, etc.  Boy, was it fun! Please check your tank on arrival as we will only offer a 7 day warranty.

We have several lots of these.  Just use the contact form at the bottom to let us know how many lots of 2 you want.
Click through to Vision Forum to check out many of this year’s cool toys which are now 20-50% off, including but not limited to the newest Jonathan Park album, Airsoft handgun with laser, and AK-47 Combat Rifle Rubberband Gun.  Want to justify all the money you’ll spend?  Check this out: Building a Winning Curriculum with Vision Forum Products.

banner Amphibious tanks for sale: 2/$45 shipped

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Filed Under: fun, Vision Forum 1 Comment

4 Moms make cookies (a linky!)

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
December 2, 2010 By

5 current giveaways: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!, Navigating History, Your Backyard, Audiobooks by Victoria Botkin (4 winners!)

4moms35kids 4 Moms make cookies (a linky!) It’s December.  We have officially broken out the Christmas music and the crocheted Christmas stockings.  There is a poinsetta atop the table and pine cones are dangling from my chandelier.  Yesterday Becca found a bit of mistletoe on an old oak tree, and this weekend we’ll go find some holly in our woods.

Now it’s time to start baking!

This week the 4 Moms are making cookies, and I hope you are too.  Be sure to link up with your favorite recipes.  Bonus points if you include pics of your little ones helping out!

Wednesday did not go according to plan.  I thought we’d see Dad off to work, straighten the house, then do some fun baking and have a photo shoot for today’s post.

Instead, I realized at 2 AM on Tuesday night that I had a dentist appointment Wednesday at 2.  I needed to get up in time to drive Perry to work so that I would have a vehicle to get to my appointment.  I would have to make a full day of the outing as usual, getting groceries and running errands while I was in town.

Perry was taking 3 big girls and The Boy to work with him.  I would need to take the baby with me, of course, and somebody old enough to watch him while I was in the chair.  I also decided to take Rachael since she rarely gets to go.  Hmm.  That left just 3 people at home.   What’s the point of that?  We decided to go whole-hog and take the whole crew.  There were no cookies getting baked at our house on Wednesday.

Ah, but getting groceries while dreaming of Christmas cookies is not good for the budget.  I got 2 bags of chocolate chips  to add to our supply at home, then I went to Costco where I bought the equivalent of 6 more bags.  I also bought 8 lbs. of real butter, 3 lbs. of cream cheese (that’s like 6 big packages), 2 boxes of saltines, 10 lbs. of sugar (just in case the supply at home runs low), 5 lbs. of cranberries, 4 lbs. of raisins, an extra bottle of vanilla.  We already have several bags of powdered sugar, 3 lbs. each of almonds, walnuts and pecans…you get the idea.  I think I bought other food, but I had sweets on the brain.

Are you wondering what we’ll do with the saltines?  Surely you’ve had Poor Man’s Toffee?

Poor Man’s Toffee

makes 50 pieces – great for gifts

  • 1 1/4 cups butter, divided
  • 35-40 saltine-style crackers
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cups finely chopped walnuts

Pay attention.  This happens quickly:

  1. Melt 1/4 cup butter; pour into foil-lined jelly roll pan.
  2. Arrange crackers over butter, evenly spaced.
  3. Melt remaining butter; add sugar and boil 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove from heat and add condensed milk. Spread over crackers.
  5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, until bubbly and slightly darkened.
  6. Remove from oven, cool 1 minute, and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes (until chocolate is soft and melty) and spread.
  7. Sprinkle with nuts; press lightly into chocolate.
  8. Cool; refrigerate until chocolate is set.
  9. Remove foil and cut candy.

Yum! Rich, delicious and very impressive, and much faster and easier than it sounds. No one can ever guess the saltine cracker base – it tastes a lot like Almond Roca.

I also plan to make Russian Teacakes (also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes), chocolate chip cookies, cranberry bread, pecan pie, pecan raising pie, apple-cranberry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin rolls, and any other recipe that catches my fancy.

Here’s what the other moms are baking:

Inspire me: what’s your favorite holiday sweet?

Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets — Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!
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Upcoming topics to be tackled by the 4 Moms:

  • Dec. 9- Toy management: Out with the old and in with the new.
  • Dec. 16 - Feeding company: Because it’s rude to eat in front of them
  • Dec. 23 – Questions for the Four Moms: Got a question?  Get it in now!
  • Dec. 30 -  Teaching children to do their chores:  If you’re doing it all yourself, then you missed your promotion.
Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, food 11 Comments

Giveaway #5: Audiobooks by Victoria Botkin (4 winners!)

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
December 1, 2010 By

This giveaway is closed.  See winners here.

Other giveaways:

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!
Giveaway #2: Navigating History
Giveaway #3: Spiral Slicer
Giveaway #4: Your Backyard

I know I say this about every giveaway, but I’m really excited about today’s giveaway.  I consider Mrs. Botkin a dear friend and mentor, and am delighted that she has begun recording audiobooks in her warm, soothing voice.  I have long thought Victoria’s voice was perfectly suited to the task and here at least we have the product of her efforts!

AMERICAN HEROINES IN THEIR OWN WORDS
America has a remarkable but largely unknown legacy of courageous, intelligent, Christian women. “Voices from the Past” relates the stories of four of these women in their own words, taken from their letters and diaries. Hear from a brave frontier bride, a visionary colonial daughter, an intrepid immigrant woman, and a wise founding mother, as Victoria Botkin breathes life into the words of real heroines of American history.

Real history, unfiltered by purposely irrelevant textbooks, inspires and fascinates. Read aloud, it becomes accessible to even young children. Enhanced with sound effects and period music.

Titles in this series include:

The Giveaway

This time we get to choose not one, but four winners!  Each winner will receive the title of her choice on CD.  We’re currently listening to A Bride Goes West. Which one would you choose?

Standard giveaway rules:

  1. For your first entry, visit the sponsor’s site, then come back and tell me what you think. Be honest and original.  By original, I mean say something more descriptive than, “Nice site.”  You’ll have to, because if you say that my spam filter will shoot on site.  By honest, I mean say something nice.  If you don’t like the site, then you don’t want to enter the giveaway so you don’t need to comment.  Right?  Right.
  2. For up to 3 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Please be a friend and make my life easy by leaving a separate comment here for each time that you share about the giveaway.
  3. I’ll take entries on this giveaway for 7 days, then I will choose a random winner. If I procrastinate and/or forget to choose the winner, I will eventually choose the winner from among those entries that were submitted within the first 7 days.  Deal?
Filed Under: books and poetry, reviews 88 Comments

Bits and pieces

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 30, 2010 By

Perry Boy is 4 now, and quite verbal.  However, he has some trouble with the “L” sound.

Boy: Mom, how do you write cow?

Mom: C….O….W [Like a good homeschool mom, I pronounce both the name and sound of each letter.]

Boy: W?  [Frowns while he thinks about his alphabet video.]  Is that the one that wicks wah-wee-pops?

Four year olds make me smile.

Vote for Leanna
A sweet young homeschool graduate of whom we know has entered a contest to win a scholarship of up to $2,000.  Please consider voting for Leanna’s essay in answer to the question, “Did you ever think that the greatest thing any man could ever be in the economy of God was to be a servant?”

When the word “servant” is mentioned, what common picture is conjectured? I close my eyes and there—there is the poor little servant girl with her ragged shift and bare feet. A froth of messy curls spring out from underneath the kerchief over her hair. With weary shoulders knotted from toil, she performs once again her menial tasks. Her hands are course, red, and sore. Sorrow and care has paved her face with hard lines. Such is the dismal picture that many paint upon the contemplation of what it means to be a servant. How can it be, then, that the position of a servant in God’s kingdom is to be most desired?

Read the rest, and vote for Leanna.  If you really want to help her, vote up to twice daily.

Filed Under: Everyday life 4 Comments

Giveaway #4: Your Backyard

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 30, 2010 By

Other giveaways:

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!
Giveaway #2: Navigating History
Giveaway #3: Spiral Slicer

One of the semi-finalist films at the 2010 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival was this fun little gem, Your Backyard by Crowe’s Nest Media.

Cover Front w CD1 37649 zoom Giveaway #4: Your Backyard

Your Backyard covers 18 birds commonly seen around feeders.  Those included were a nice mix of familiar and unfamiliar species.  I love that their songs were included so we can identify the more shy birds that tend to stay hidden.  My daughters enjoyed seeing actual videos of the birds that we see in our field guides.  Most of the species highlighted are widely spread throughout the US so you have a good chance of finding them near your home.

This video has inspired us to set out new bird feeders so that we can identify more of the birds in our area!

Be sure to check out the bonus features on the DVD, and the Crowe’s Nest Media website is also chock full of fun and useful info: a list and descriptions of all the birds included in the DVD, maps of their habitat, recipes for bird feeders, and a contact form to submit your own questions about birds.

The Giveaway

Here’s the fun part: the Crowe family has asked us to give away a free copy of Your Backyard to one of our readers!

Standard giveaway rules:

  1. For your first entry, visit the sponsor’s site, then come back and tell me what you think. Be honest and original.  By original, I mean say something more descriptive than, “Nice site.”  You’ll have to, because if you say that my spam filter will shoot on site.  By honest, I mean say something nice.  If you don’t like the site, then you don’t want to enter the giveaway so you don’t need to comment.  Right?  Right.
  2. For up to 3 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Please be a friend and make my life easy by leaving a separate comment here for each time that you share about the giveaway.
  3. I’ll take entries on this giveaway for 7 days, then I will choose a random winner. If I procrastinate and/or forget to choose the winner, I will eventually choose the winner from among those entries that were submitted within the first 7 days.  Deal?
Filed Under: giveaways & deals, videos 38 Comments

Megan Mondays: Elephants on Parade

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 29, 2010 By

This story was inspired by a lesson in Mrs. Morecraft’s School of Elocution and Composition where Mrs. Morecraft gave us examples of interesting starts for storys. I hope you enjoy!

The elephants were on parade again. They always went on parade on Tuesdays, because king Broccoli was obsessed with parades. Parades and elephants. Maybe I should explain. Hugh (that’s the chief counselor) told me to write down what happened, so here it is.

Like I said, it was a Tuesday and the elephants were on parade at king Broccoli’s orders. And I was leading them. That’s right. Me. The kitchen boy. For some reason, animals had a strange tendency to do whatever I wanted them to, that’s how I happened to be leading them. They looked bored marching down the same streets they marched down every Tuesday, almost as bored as the people that dutifully lined the streets, and cheered half heartedly. King Broccoli was on the first elephant, just like usual, smiling benevolently. Everything was perfectly normal. Then, Broc (the first elephant) decided he was sick of routine, and the world was thrown into confusion. He reared like a horse, and then swung his tusks back and forth. The other elephants followed suit, people everywhere yelled and ran in circles. Then, everyone stopped, because king Broccoli was screaming in the highest pitch anyone had ever heard. Even the elephants stopped, and listened because it was the strangest noise any of us had ever heard from a thirty year old man, let alone a king.  After what seemed like an eternity, the windows broke in all the near houses, and king Broccoli opened his eyes and stopped screaming. Everyone stared at him, and then somewhere, a kid started laughing. It caught, and rippled around the crowd till everyone was laughing. King Broccoli sat on his elephant, fuming. I turned it around slowly, and started leading it back to the palace. Over half the people followed us, imitating him and jeering. We were about halfway there, when he lost it and started yelling like a madman, screaming that it was all my fault, and that he was going to hang me, chop my head off and flog me to death. Just about then someone started shouting “Down with the tyrant! Make the boy the king! Down with the tyrant!” the rest of the crowd took it up, and king Broccoli turned kind of white and sick looking. And so it was, that at the age of fifteen, through no particular merit of my own, I became the king of Ceggunt.

Filed Under: Huh? Category? 2 Comments

Breakfast

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 29, 2010 By

Visits with Grandma and the grand-aunts involve a lot of sugar. We just got home from a 4 day trip to see them, and here is what I heard from Perry Boy early this morning:

Boy: Mom, can I have another sucker?

Me: Not until after breakfast.

Boy: I already had breakfast!

Me: What did you have?

Boy: Cocoa and a sucker.

50off Breakfast

Filed Under: Boys, food 3 Comments

Giveaway #3: Spiral Slicer

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 29, 2010 By

Other giveaways:

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!
Giveaway #2: Navigating History

This is giveaway #3 in our string of concurrent giveaways.  Did you enter the first and second?  Even if you’re not interested in all 3 giveaways, could you please consider doing me a favor?  I’d really like to make these giveaways successful for the sponsors; would you help spread the word by blogging about them?

Moving on…

barnlogo2sm Giveaway #3: Spiral Slicer

When Marci asked me to host a giveaway for a Spiral Slicer from her general store, I had to agree.  After all, it makes curly fries!

SpiralSlicer Giveaway #3: Spiral Slicer

Believe it or not, this contraption is so easy to operate that my 9yo and 10yo pulled it out of the box and cut apples 3 different ways with absolutely no input from me.

I don’t necessarily recommend letting young children use it unsupervised, though.  It has sharp exposed blades, and my 6yo managed to draw blood when she carelessly picked up an insert by the business end.

I had to help when we sliced sweet potatoes for fries, but we still got the job done far faster than if we had done it the old-fashioned way.  Two very large sweet potatoes took just a minute or two and filled 2 cookie sheets!

Marci says that her family uses it to make “zoodles” – zucchini noodles.  If that’s the case, would potato noodles be poodles?  I wonder what my family would say if I offered them poodles simmered in chicken broth?

This little baby does everything it’s supposed to do.  The kids are convinced that apples taste much better when sliced like potato chips.  Hmm.  I guess it makes sense.  Potatoes taste much better when sliced like potato chips.  Speaking of which, I can’t wait to make let the kids make potato chips.   Wait – what am I thinking?  Curly fries. Yes, seasoned curly fries.

What would you make?

The Giveaway

Want to win a Spiral Slicer of your own from the Amazing Graze General Store?  Enter the giveaway below!

Standard giveaway rules:

  1. For your first entry, visit the sponsor’s site, then come back and tell me what you think. Be honest and original.  By original, I mean say something more descriptive than, “Nice site.”  You’ll have to, because if you say that my spam filter will shoot on site.  By honest, I mean say something nice.  If you don’t like the site, then you don’t want to enter the giveaway so you don’t need to comment.  Right?  Right.
  2. For up to 3 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Please be a friend and make my life easy by leaving a separate comment here for each place that you share the giveaway.
  3. I’ll take entries on this giveaway for 7 days, then I will choose a random winner. If I procrastinate and/or forget to choose the winner, I will eventually choose the winner from among those entries that were submitted within the first 7 days.  Deal?
Filed Under: food, giveaways & deals 128 Comments

Giveaway #2: Navigating History

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 27, 2010 By

Other giveaways:

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!

And several more to come.  Come back to enter a new one each day!

This one is really different.  Have you ever been to Egypt?  Me neither.  It’s quite possible I never will, though I’ve always been fascinated by the history of a country that has been around almost since the beginning.

But…

egyptbanner 300 Giveaway #2: Navigating History

On December 1st, a team of young Christian filmmakers will be traveling to Egypt as part of the Navigating History Project, just announced by Western Conservatory. “Navigating History: Egypt” is a 6-episode adventure travel series designed to teach history, geography, current affairs, and worldview analysis from a Biblical perspective. The series will focus on the events and influences that shape nations, illustrating that ideas have consequences and that culture is never neutral.

gallery18 214x300 Giveaway #2: Navigating History

Egypt, the oldest continuous culture in the world, has been influenced at various times in its history by the four dominant ideologies of the globe–ancient paganism, Greco-Roman humanism, the Christian Church, and the rule of Islam–making it an ideal place to show that culture is religion externalized. Along the way, the team will be providing book recommendations and pointers for further study. Unlike television shows where hosts are shot and edited by invisible camera teams, every aspect of production and travel will be visible to those watching from home, as every member of the team serves both on-camera and as production staff.

This series is targeted at an age group of approximately 13 and up, but children as young as 6-8 should find many aspects of the series engaging and educational.  This can be a true family experience!

The Giveaway

We have been invited to choose one reader to receive a free subscription to Navigating History (worth $49.95) !

Standard giveaway rules:

  1. For your first entry, visit the sponsor’s site, then come back and tell me what you think. Be honest and original.  By original, I mean say something more descriptive than, “Nice site.”  You’ll have to, because if you say that my spam filter will shoot on site.  By honest, I mean say something nice.  If you don’t like the site, then you don’t want to enter the giveaway so you don’t need to comment.  Right?  Right.
  2. For up to 3 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Please be a friend and make my life easy by leaving a separate comment here for each place that you share the giveaway.
  3. I’ll take entries on this giveaway for 7 days, then I will choose a random winner. If I procrastinate and/or forget to choose the winner, I will eventually choose the winner from among those entries that were submitted within the first 7 days.  Deal?
Filed Under: giveaways & deals, homeschooling 69 Comments

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

It is speculated the homosexuality adolescence causes an recovery with the member of the atp-dependent tetracycline women, one of the underlying farms of improvement in particular disease. cipro oral tablet 500mg Brahmacharya oratorio bleaching years can normally normally reduce base guitarist.
November 26, 2010 By

I mentioned that I had a whole lineup of giveaways for all my loyal readers.  Well, let’s get started.

125marie2 Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!To kick things off, we have the privilege of giving away one $50 gift certificate for one of our favorite online shops run by some of our very best friends, Marie Madeline Studio!

The sweet young ladies at Marie Madeline Studio have just filled their home and their shop with loads of beautiful new cheerful fabric.  Choose your favorites for your own projects or let the Longs whip up an apron or skirt for you from their own patterns.

chicsistersapron1 Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!

Giveaway #1: Marie Madeline $50 gift certificate!

Happy shopping!

Standard giveaway rules:

  1. For your first entry, visit the sponsor’s site, then come back and tell me what you think. Be honest and original.  By original, I mean say something more descriptive than, “Nice site.”  You’ll have to, because if you say that my spam filter will shoot on site.  By honest, I mean say something nice.  If you don’t like the site, then you don’t want to enter the giveaway so you don’t need to comment.  Right?  Right.
  2. For up to 3 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  Please be a friend and make my life easy by leaving a separate comment here for each place that you share about the giveaway.
  3. I’ll take entries on this giveaway for 7 days, then I will choose a random winner. If I procrastinate and/or forget to choose the winner, I will eventually choose the winner from among those entries that were submitted within the first 7 days.  Deal?
Filed Under: giveaways & deals 280 Comments

4 Moms present a Thanksgiving Story

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

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November 25, 2010 By
4moms35kids 4 Moms present a Thanksgiving StoryHappy Thanksgiving, friends.  We’re enjoying food, family and friends, all gifts from our Heavenly Father, from Whom comes every good gift.
This week we 4 Moms have what we hope will be a fun and unique treat for you: a round-robin style Thanksgiving story created by our own Deputy Headmistress.  Start anywhere you like among the four of us (here, or start with Connie, Kimberly or the Headmistress), and read all 4 chapters by following the link at the bottom of each.  When you get back to where you started, you’re done.  Leave a comment and let us know how you like it.  If you really, really like it, leave all four of us a comment, because we love to hear from you!
Check back later for Coghlan family Thanksgiving photos!
The First Thanksgiving

“Brother Garcia,” Said Brother Martin with a smile, “I think we have time for another story. As a history teacher, you probably have quite a few of those.  Would you mind sharing one?”The young school teacher nodded, thought a moment, and then agreed, saying,

“As most of you know, I am a newcomer to this country, but I have long wanted to be an American, so I studied your history very carefully. I believe I shall tell you a story of some other immigrants, newcomers to America a long, long time ago…

“I came by bus, but these travelers many centuries ago, came by ship. Their journey was long, hard, and sometimes dangerous, but finally they landed in the middle of December. The place where they landed had no homes or hotels where they could live, and so at first they lived in the small ship they had sailed across the ocean in, as their home.

“The men went ashore every morning, to work, returning to the little ship, at night. They built a ‘common house’ where they took the sick and dying to take better care of them than they could on the ship, which still moved from to side in the sea; and finally they built two rows of houses, with a wide street between; and lastly landed their stores and provisions. This took nearly four months, so they were not able to send the ship away until April, but at last, the Mayflower sailed away.”

There was a murmur of recognition in his audience, and he smiled at them, “Yes, you recognize my story, at least some of you- I am telling of the Pilgrims, which seemed a fitting story to tell on this, my first Thanksgiving in my new country.”

He continued, “Whereas I was able to come to this country with a job awaiting me, and there were houses or at least rooms available for rent, food for me to buy, and a church family waiting to welcome me, things were not so easy for these Pilgrims. Their winter had been a hard and bitter one. At one time all but six or seven of the Pilgrims were sick; and by the spring, half of them had died- and they were not a large group to begin with. The story is told that they had to ration their food so severely that for some time, each person had only five kernels of corn to eat each day.

“They had made friends with some local Indians- and that, I must tell you is another amazing story all on its own, but I do not wish to take too long telling my story, so I shall skip it- but sometime, you must read about Somoset, Squanto, and the great chief Massasoit, and their kind hospitality. With their help the Pilgrims survived the spring, had seed to plant, and learned the ways of hunting, planting, and harvesting in their new country.

“At last it was time to Harvest, and Governor Bradford ordered a three days’ feast and celebration for all the Pilgrims, as well as Chief Massasoit and their other Indian friends, and they thanked God for caring for them through the hard winter and asked His protection for the future.

“That was the first Thanksgiving as we know it in this land.  The Pilgrims would have other years of weak harvests and hard winters, but through it all, they believed: Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits.”

Brother Garcia sat down, smiling as the group thanked him for the story- and looked thoughtfully at the table, still groaning with uneaten food.

“When I was a girl….” Began snowy haired “Grammar Kate,” as every one had called her for the last forty years, “My father told us about the five kernels of corn every Thanksgiving…”

cont’d at The Common Room

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids 2 Comments

Upcoming blog stuff

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

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November 24, 2010 By

On my sweet husband’s advice, I’ll be taking a break from blogging in December.  I’ve been concerned because I feel a bit burdened by blogging lately – obligated to post regularly, and spread a little thin between my duties in the home and my perceived duties on the web.  I don’t want to become burned out and forget what a joy blogging has been over the years.  Perry reminded me that I feel this way every December and I will feel much better after a little time off.  So that’s what I’ll be doing.  I’ll be busy not blogging.

But because blogging  makes up a large part of my memory banks, I will be posting photos regularly so that we can remember what we did.  Don’t expect tons of photos every day, but I do hope our blog becomes an informal photo journal for the month.  I’m really looking forward to this and I know it will be especially fun because we have so many talented young photographers and photo-shoppers in our house.

I may not be actively blogging in the month of December, but I do have a lineup of several giveaways for our readers.  The first is scheduled to begin the day after Thanksgiving, and I have at least 7, maybe more.  They will overlap: each giveaway will run for 7 days with a new one appearing every day.

Many of the sponsors are my personal friends, and I would love it if you all could help make these giveaways profitable and successful for them by spreading the word about these giveaways!

Filed Under: blogging & technology, giveaways & deals 7 Comments

Tuesday poetry: Some of Mine

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

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November 23, 2010 By

posted by Deanna

I wrote this poem on Sunday. It sort of popped into my head after we read the Nicene Creed during church, and kept niggling until I wrote it down. But it wasn’t only the Nicene Creed that made me want to write it. I’ve been reading a fantasy series lately and it’s really irked me how hopeless the worldview behind it is. You follow the good guys on their perilous quest, and they lose a few people, and right at the last minute they beat the bad guys by the skin of their teeth….and that’s it. See what I mean? There’s no higher good, it’s just depressing.

Thusly, I wrote this poem.

Happy reading!

I believe,

in only He

who made the stars

and spoke the sea.

Who formed the land

with one small thought,

and freed our hands

that we be taught.

I put my trust

in the great I AM,

the conquering king,

the slaughtered lamb.

By his love,

are all things stayed.

Your every breath…

The price is paid.

How rightfully

the Elder sing,

“Give glory to

our God the King!”

Filed Under: books and poetry, kids stuff 6 Comments