Sharpen Those Pencils! (Robot Pencil Toppers)

Who knew that on this first day of March we would be celebrating National Sharpen Your Pencil Day? Honestly, we seem to celebrate this every day. With 6 kids messing with all the pencils in this house, it is a rare day when I find one sharp enough to use.

To make our pencil-sharpening even more special, I created some fun pencil toppers. We kind of skipped the coloring-first part, but you can color them and then cut them out. You can get the download over at Granola Mom 4 God. You see, this pencil celebration idea was all hers. She even has cool prizes/freebies if you link up today!

Maintaining and Upcoming

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I sent my family off to my sister-in-law's house and stayed home since I was sick. I've been feeling kind of blah for awhile now--I guess I have been dealing with walking pneumonia. Right now 2 of my kids have the same thing and it's no fun! All this to say that I'm already feeling behind for December and December hasn't even started! I thought I'd share a couple of things I know will be happening on my blog in the next couple of weeks plus other tidbits.

Coming Up In December:

• Starting Monday I will be joining a group of bloggers sharing 5 Days of Christmas...(various topics.) I will be sharing Five Days of Christmas Children's Books-- and if I'm able, I will continue posting book-related posts all through the month of December.
  


• I have already assembled and glanced through the new All About Reading Level 1 program! Oh, my I'm so excited to implement this curriculum! I'll have a review/giveaway Friday Dec. 9th - so mark your calendars!
  


• I also have downloaded Grapevine's Birth of Jesus Bible Study. I am planning on using this as part of our Bible study in the month of December. I'll have a review on that Christmas study too. Advent11 will give you 20% off on any item not already on sale from now until December 31.

My Posts This Month Not Found on My Blog:

Xx is for X-ray over at Totally Tots

Five Everyday Items for Toddler Learning over at AboutOne 

Letter M

Things have been a little quiet here on my blog this week. I’m participating in a local service event with my church that is so exciting and exhausting at the same time. So much is going on this week that I’m not sure words will be adequate to share all that I’m experiencing. This year there are 362 participants under 18yrs., and over 250 adults serving our community. We’re doing a week-long blitz! This is my 5th year participating and it is so awesome to see our youth working together to impact our city. So right now blogging is on the back-burner for a couple of weeks while I get caught up.

I do however have a post up at Totally Tots today: Letter M is for Moon.  There are a couple of free printables plus some fun activities to go along with the book Goodnight Moon.

And while you’re checking this out, you might check out the craft archives and see what things we’ve done in the past.

This was a fun project we did after reading the book My Heart is Like a Zoo. Click the link for complete directions.

I hope you are having a great summer!

Education Cubes Winner!

What a day! It is taking me forever to get started and it's already past lunch! Well I finally got around to going to Random.org to pick the winner of the Education Cube membership and $20 GC to Amazon and the winner is:

Brad Jolly! As usual, I went and checked out the winner's site---and boy Brad is quite the photographer! I got stuck looking through his portfolio. Wonderful work! I hope you enjoy your Education Cubes!

In other non-related news:

I started a Tumblr site! This is just a mini-site where I share various cool projects that I find on the internet that I hope to either do with my kids or that I just plain think are cool.

Also I've been so grateful for the comments, awards and features. I'm not always able to comment, but I do try and I do appreciate all your kind words. They've meant a lot--especially this past week.  Two particular highlights this past week were:

Spell Outloud highlighted on Families.com
Spell Outloud highlighted on Examiner.com

Thank you so much Richele and Starr! Those two shout-outs made my day!

Totally Cool!

Yes, can you believe it—I’m posting a picture of me! :) I needed a headshot for my bio. post showcasing  the Totally Tots writing team! I’m honored and excited to be joining the group of ladies writing over there.   Totally Tots is a Christian-based toddler idea site that has multiple resources that parents of toddlers will appreciate.  I’ll be rounding up ABC theme ideas and sharing them bi-weekly. I’ve been busy planning ideas, creating, and photographing them for this column. My first post will be live on Wednesday, which will also reveal something else I’ve been working on! 

I've also started a fan page on Facebook for Spell Outloud. I might leak some intel on my other project over there ;) 

Stay Connected:

Christmas Tag

I was tagged by JDaniel4's Mom, and since I'm kind of stuck on a project, I thought answering these questions would be a nice distraction. :)

1. When do you usually know and feel that it's finally the holidays? Honestly? Now that I’m an adult it never seems like the holidays are finally here. I have all these great holiday plans that never seem to get finished, and before I know it Christmas Day is over.
   
   
2. What do you want for Christmas this year? Hmm, this is hard for me to answer.
   
   
3. Do you go all out with decorations? No. I would love to if I didn't have to put it up or take it down. :) The older kids do most of the Christmas decorating. We have a Christmas tree covered in eclectic ornaments, several mini-trees, and a Fisher Price Nativity set. Pretty simple!
   
   
4. What are you doing Christmas Eve? We play games, watch a movie and usually have pizza on Christmas Eve. Then each child gets to open one gift.
   
   
5. 
   What are you doing Christmas Day? We eat our Birthday Cake for Jesus, open our stocking gifts, and celebrate with family.
   
   
6. It's Christmas time. What are you reading? The little girls and I have been reading various Christmas books. Other than that, I haven't had much time for recreational reading.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Favorite movie to watch during the holidays? Nestor the Long-eared Donkey. Brings back wonderful childhood memories.
   
   
8. Favorite Christmas song? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Casting Crowns
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9. Favorite holiday drink? A good hot chocolate with marshmallows.
   
   
10. How is your Christmas shopping going? Christmas shopping? Was I suppose to do that?
    
    
11. If you could spend Christmas Day anywhere else, where would you spend it? Home surrounded by family.
    
    
12. Any holiday traditions? Each child gets a new ornament to put on the Christmas tree.
    
    
13. Favorite thing about the holidays? Seeing the decorations and lights around town, and spending time with my family.
    
    I'm not going to officially tag anyone, but copy and paste if you are game and then leave a comment below so I can go check it out! :)

Stay Connected:

Answering questions is not my forte

I've always wanted to join those "10 Question" memes, or "Top 10" lists that I see various places. I can't because usually I can't think of more than 2 answers. I could do a "Top 2" list though :) Because of this, I usually don't participate in Blog Awards because I know I won't finish it. Well today I figured it doesn't matter--- I'll answer what I can :)

Recently two bloggers passed on the Versatile Blogger award to me. Thanks to Katie from Katie's Nesting Spot and Erin at Baldwin Homeschool. I also received the One Lovely Blog Award from Tiffany at Sweet Phenomena and also was tagged by Jodi at The Homeschool Desk. Here are the questions she asked:

#1 What did you do before you became a stay-at-home or homeschool mom? Do you think you’ll go back to that profession when you are done homeschooling? 

I was an elementary school teacher. I doubt I will ever go back in that capacity, but I love to teach and would love to find other ways to use my teaching skills.

#2 If you could live any place in the world, where would you live?

Hmmm, I like where I live--close to family.

#3 Do you have any pets? 

Nope.

#4 What kind of car do you drive? 

I drive a black "loser cruiser" aka "mini-van" --- term came from my friend Jodi, who drives a green one :)

#5 What is the last book you read? 

It's been awhile since I've read just for fun, but it was probably some Janette Oke series because my 12yr. old has been reading those.

#6 What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? 

I seriously cannot remember. I'm not much of a movie person, so I usually volunteer to stay home with the little ones.

#7 Do you have any phobias? 

Sharks. Good thing there are none of those in the Midwest.

#8 Do you have any bad or annoying habits? 

Of course not! ;)

Usually you pass these awards on to others, so I'm going to in my own way--lol!

Here are some of the bloggers who have influenced me since starting my blog over a year ago:

Jimmie from Jimmie's Collage: She knows so much about homeschooling and articulates it so well in writing. That impressed me. She's the one who got me started writing articles on Squidoo.

Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler: I love Erica's willingness to share with others. Her printables and curriculum have made my life easier since I don't have to come up with it myself! She is one creative lady who is talented in so many areas.

Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations: She's another classy blogger who shares info, printables and tips with others. I've been practicing saying her name right just in case I should bump into her some day. (Listen to the Days of the Week Song to hear the correct pronunciation)

Carisa from 1+1+1=1: I am just impressed with the network of blogs she has going, her lovely Christian spirit, and her willingness to share with others. I've gleaned lots of ideas from her site and her Totally Tots site.

K-Tribe from Believe: She has been such a big encouragement to me.

Oh and there are so many more bloggers who deserve their names in this post--but I'm getting tired and I'm way past my 2- limit! :)  All this to say, I'm glad to be a part of the homeschool/educational blogging community.

My Favorite Summer Memories

I have enjoyed reading all the comments under the Photography class giveaway. In order to enter I asked for people to recount their favorite childhood summertime memories (you still have time to enter!) Reading them transported me back to my childhood.

I grew up in the same neighborhood that my mom grew up in. All the neighbors knew each other, and we had a bunch of kids in a one-block radius. I remember on warm summer nights the moms would gather on someone's porch (it varied) and talk while the kids ran around the neighborhood playing freeze tag, and once it got darker, flashlight tag. We loved it when the moms' chatted because they would loose track of time and we'd get to stay outside longer.

Another good memory is of 4th of July. When I was younger, we would have a big family gathering at my house since we lived only a couple of blocks from the parade route. We would set up all our chairs ahead of time and then when it was time for the parade, we'd walk from our house to our saved spots. In the evening we'd head to my uncle's house since we could see the fireworks right from his backyard. It was always a fun day spent with family.

Those are a couple of my favorite summertime memories. Since you all were sharing, I thought I needed to share too! :)

Next week Sarah, from Digital Reflections, will be posting about Big Summer Fun. You won't want to miss it. ;)

Also, you still have time to enter the Photography class giveaway! I have actually taken this class before and it is so worthwhile. You have access to chats (if you want to do them), PDF lessons, video lesson, message board and a gallery to share photos. Katrina does such a great job teaching in a way that is understandable. Check here for the photography class details.