Wishing a...

Happy Bloggy Birthday to my friend Carrie at Reading to Know!

As part of her birthday celebration, she is holding a little contest for an Amazon gift card - the requirement is to post a photo of yourself with your favorite book. She and I share a deep love for L.M. Mongomery's writings and so it was easy to pick my favorite from the series - Anne of Windy Poplars. (This is my original, well-loved book from the box set I was given in junior high). Windy Poplars has always been my favorite of the series - partly because Anne is off on her adventures as a teacher, living with the precious Aunts Kate and Chatty and one-of-a-kind Rebecca Dew, and also because a majority of the book is written from the standpoint of letters from her to Gilbert. As someone who truly misses the art of corresponding by mail, I loved reading the (highly wordy) letters that she sent to Gilbert and I'm a sucker for pretty much any book written in this fashion.

All book-loving talk aside, Carrie is a wonderful friend and one that I am so thankful to have gotten to know through blogging. There are lots of times I contemplate throwing in the towel on this little online space (time being precious and hard to come by lately), but I am so thankful for some of the relationships that I have made through writing in this spot and commenting on other blogs. My book-loving friends Carrie and Amy fall into this category. They are an encouragement to me as a wife and a parent and I am so glad the internet has enlarged my world to include them.

Around the Web, a New Jelly Telly Post, and a Giveaway!

• I have a new blog up of at Club Jelly Telly today … all about taking a deep breath as we are gearing up for the beginning of a new school year and remember who is the one worthy of our trust when we get anxious. Read more here.

• Doesn’t this look like a fun little online workshop? And, if you blog about it, it’s free! So there you go. I’ve recently found Edie’s blog (Life {in} Grace) and wish I had tons of time to dig around her archives and get to know her better.

• I’ve been perusing a few of my favorite posts from Elizabeth Foss and Kendra Fletcher and trying to fire myself up for school this year. This is a busy season in our house with a VERY active 2 going on 3 year old boy and I am in need of encouragement for me and a few ideas in my pocket to keep this boy out of trouble and busy while we do school. If you aren’t subscribed to these two blogs (or at least making generous use of their archives) you need to be.
• As a fun little back-to-school treat for you, the few and faithful that read here, I’ve got a giveaway. (I don’t know the last time I’ve had one of those!) I’ve got an extra unopened copy of Volume 1 of What’s in the Bible that I’d love to mail to a new home. If you are interested, leave a comment on this post by Friday afternoon and I’ll draw a winner. (Make sure you leave me an email with your comment so I know how to track you down.) For one extra entry, you can facebook or tweet about this giveaway, and then leave me a comment with the link. Good luck!

This contest is closed - congrats Tami!

Winner of A Simpler Season

Congrats to my in-real-life friend, Mills! Comment #3 was chosen by random.org so I'll be emailing you a copy of a A Simpler Season today, my friend!

The Happy Day Project

Strongly considering.

Unexpected sunshine?

I like. : )

I'm Just Curious

As I am coming off a very full and fun weekend, I've been thinking some about the blog that I have been neglecting. I put together a one question survey that I was wondering if you would take a minute to answer, pretty please? I'm just curious why you (or anyone) comes by my little spot here and what kind of posts are of interest. In the end, this will probably still be a little-bit-of-everything kind-of a blog, but I'm curious. : )

It will take five seconds to answer. Unless you want to leave me a comment and expound. But you don't have to. : )

Much thanks. And have a great Monday! (Just click the link above to go to the survey).

Projects Galore

Random things that probably don't deserve a post on their own but that I want to remember or share:

One Little Word

Ali Edwards is kicking off One Little Word for 2011. This is a way of picking a theme for your year to ponder over, grown in, think on, etc., and the years that I have participated have been great growing seasons in whatever area I set aside. In conjunction with this is a new class that she has developed and I was gifted this by my sister for Christmas. It's a series of 12 monthly prompts and creative projects to remind us of our word that we chose and to give yourself pause to see where you are with it and how it's being reflected in your life. My word that I have chosen for 2011 is serve. More on this later...

Gratitude Journal

Monika at I Love it All has put together several posts walking you through the project setting up a gratitude journal for 2011. The girls and I are going to do something similar for school starting in January and, while our journals aren't as scrappy as Monika's (or as cute!), they will have the handwriting of my oldest two girls (ages 7 and almost 5) and myself and that will make them memorable. I have been blessed by Ann Voskamp's recording of journaling the endless gifts that God has bestowed upon her and that was the impetus that brought about starting these thankful journals with the girls. Ann has also turned her thoughts on this into a book that I can't wait to read. And this post of her's on The Year of Here. Goes hand and hand with what I have been thinking with my serve theme. And not a little bit convicting.



Nature Study

The girls and I are going to attempt to add an afternoon of nature study into our week as the weather permits. I am going to be using Harmony Art Mom's Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenges Ebook. As part of this study, we also have 3 different artists to study - one per month (Caspar David Friedrich, Gilbert Stuart, and Claude Monet), and 3 different composers to study (Vivaldi, Waldteufel, and Dvorak). I am not a "nature girl" as Noelle likes to call herself, preferring instead the indoors (air conditioning or fire depending on the season), a book, and diet coke, so I am sure I will appreciate all the help.

Project Life for 2011

I know I said I wasn't going to do at 365 photo-a-day project this year. But then, I started looking back through my 2010 album and I'm back in again. It is so wonderful to have these little snippets of our life. I wish I had been better about journaling closer to the time the picture was taken, but I've still got these precious memories recorded. You can click the button below for more information about Project Life and the great resources that Becky offers (both her products and just general blog inspiration).



2010 has been a good year for me creatively and I'm looking forward to new projects in 2011!

I'm sure I'll think of something else once I hit post. But, it's a start. : )

Winner of Summer Sensations

Congratulations to Karen who won a copy of Summer Sensations! Hope you enjoy it!

10 on the 10th ::: The July Version

Meredith is hosting 10 on the 10th today and it's been a while since I've participated. I typically don't Saturday blog, but it's 5:45 p.m., I've had my Saturday night bath already and am in comfy clothes. That means I can play for a bit. : )

I thought I'd share 10 links that I have liked of late. Here goes:

1. Bookplates you can print for your child(ren)'s books! : ) I had a ball looking through the different designs and there are some illustrators in there you may recognize. My girls will be thrilled that I found one with Angelina Ballerina on it!

2. A neat, crafty way to make envelopes for CDs. Easy and cute.

3. A recipe for BBQ Beef & Rice that is my new favorite summer meal. Super easy and delicious! And, if you like simple, delicious recipes and don't know about Stolen Moments Cooking, you need to check her site out. I haven't been disappointed by a recipe of her's yet!

4. This book calendar that you can find on Etsy. It's technically to keep track of when books are due at the library, but I think it would be a fun way for my reading girl to keep track of what books she is reading.

5. A great post from Elizabeth & Marie at Write.Click.Scrapbook. about how to tackle the PILES of old photos that you have.

6. A cute summer to-do list. May have to get all crafty and make this next summer.

7. Last night, we watched the movie version of 5 Children and It by E. Nesbit for our family movie night. I read the book about a month ago and really enjoyed it. Of course, the movie takes some liberty modernizing the story a bit, but it is still really cute and the girls totally got into the story.

8. A few more scrappy pages from this week. Thanks to the free templates that Moon Ko put up on Write.Click.Scrapbook every day this week, I got a few layouts done and had fun playing with my photoshop program. I'll never switch completely to digital - I have too much paper on the shelf that I want to use. : ) But for getting some of last week's vacation pics scrapped quickly so the girls can enjoy them? They were perfect for that.



Papers are from a free kit on TwoPeas, Summers Here!

9.



Paper from a Happy Birthday Kit and Happy Go Lucky. (Please ignore the typo in the layout. Oops.)

10. And, with that, I ran out of links and stuff to say. Happy weekend!

I'm still on my break, but...

Worth checking out. : )

Blog Break

It's about time for my annual blog break. I need some time away from the computer and the next few weeks are BUSY with VBS, a mini-dance camp for two of the girls, and some time with extended family. I'm a little burnt out on the blog so a few weeks off will be good and then I can reassess if, how, when, why I am blogging (which I think is good to do from time to time). I'll still be checking email so you can always find me there if you have any exciting news. : )

You will see a few posts that I had previously scheduled before I decided to take my June break and I decided to just leave them. Otherwise, I'll be back sometime in early July ... I think. : )

Enjoy your summer!

Download N Go Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my Download N Go giveaway. I had fun reviewing and sharing these two units, and how much we have enjoyed them! I numbered the comments in the order I received them, and the winner of their choice of a Download N Go study is:

Congratulations, Shelley! Shelley, let me know which study you want, and we'll get that sent to you!

Thanks again to those who played along. : )

Goodies

I'm not one of those folks who wins things, finds the $20 bill in the Target parking lot, etc. : ) However, in the last few weeks I've had a few strokes of bloggy luck that have been super fun.

So far, I've received:

• a cool marriage book (What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage) from Carrie at Reading to Know.
• a personalized address stamp from Dreamland. (And I had been looking at her Etsy shop trying to decide on a stamp because I have been wanting a return address stamp for some time ... then I won her giveaway!)
• a SOCCER GOAL from Monica at The Homespun Heart.

Thank you to these generous blogs for the giveaways - I'm looking forward to enjoying/reading/playing with our new goodies!

Joining In

Contemplating participating in Ali's Week in a Life project in a few weeks. Even if I don't, it's a great reminder to be aware of my life and the little things that make up our days and that I am so thankful for. You can read more about it here and here on Ali's blog if you are interested.

Sorry the posting has been so infrequent of late. Wrapping up school so that we can enjoy our spring break next week, dr. imposed light activity for a bit, and trying to soak up as much of this beautiful spring weather as I possibly can has left me little time for blogging. Life is good ... more soon. : )

Going, Going

I had hopes of doing a Ten on Tuesday blog this week, but time is elusive. N1 is attending a nature camp this week (she is LOVING it!) but taking a munchkin to "school" and picking her up is new to our routine. My hats off to you Moms that do this daily. And our camp doesn't even start until 9 am!

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back one of these days, but I'm trying to stay on top of things between pick-up and drop-off right now. More later. : )

Hello 2010

Happy New Year! As much as I usually enjoy writing a resolution/goal type post for the new year, I just can't wrap my head around it this year. Partly, I think, because November and December of this year kicked. my. tail. So, instead, a little list-y of some big and small things/ideas/plans - both the frivolous and the important - that I'm looking forward to in 2010.

1. Reading the Bible through in a year. :) Again, I'm going to try that this year. Each year, I get a little closer and with my 2010 birthday (NOT the one that I celebrated yesterday) being one that I switch to a new decade, I would like this to be the year that I get this done.

2. Be inspired. I have let myself become dull to things that inspire me and get me excited creatively. To kick off 2010, I am taking this class (Inspiration Defined) at Big Picture Scrapbooking from one of my favorite scrapbookers (Elizabeth Dillow). I want to do more scrapbooking and creating and sending of birthday cards and making goodies and am EXCITED for this. Shameless plug: if you are a scrapbooker and not acquainted with Elizabeth, (1) check out her book, The Scrapbooker's Almanac; and (2) visit Write.Click.Scrapbook. which she helped launch. Both excellent sources for inspiration!

3. Have you read the Pioneer Woman's cookbook yet? Wow. Yum. Etc. One of my 2010 goals is going to be to cook quite a few of the recipes in this cookbook. Seriously. Maybe even all of them ... unless they include seafood and then I just can't do it. (And, yes, this would fall in the frivolous category of goals). :)

4. For ye olde blog. Last year was super heavy on the book reviews and that burnt me out on reading big-time. I think it's safe to say that it will quite a while before I pick up any Christian fiction. (And, please hear me say it's not because everything that I read was horrible. It wasn't. There were some wonderful books in there!) This year I'm going to read for me and who knows where that will take me. :) There will definitely be more time spent with classics - N1 has asked to read Peter Pan as our next chapter book, after we finish The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and I'm looking forward to that since I've never read it either. That said, there will definitely be less book reviews 'round these parts and more memories which is what I started the blog for.

5. A few things that I anticipate participating in:

My niece was gifted with the complete Anne series for Christmas and I'm going to read Anne of Green Gables along with her in January and participate in Carrie's challenge. I'm thinking there will be a viewing of the movie after, too. :) (If you have a Kindle, there is a TON of L.M. Montgomery stuff for free on Amazon right now!!)

I have the complete hardback (yellow spine) collection of Nancy Drews and it's been a while since I've revisited. I am going to unofficially play along and just see where I end up.

Well, there's a start. I'm sure I'll hit publish and think of something else I wanted to add, but so be it. Welcome, 2010!

ETA: Heehee. Already thought of something that I was going to put on here ... I am going to see how long I can go in 2010 without eating pizza. No big reason other that I am just tired of it! :)

Bloggy Break

I'm going to sign off the blog for a bit. I'm wrestling with some things and my need to simplify means I need to take a bloggy break. I have already committed to a few book tours/reveiws, but I don't know when I'll resume any other blogging.

Thanks for understanding. :)

A Giveaway from Crown Bindery

It's been a while since I've been able to do a giveaway on the blog so let's do one in honor of our first day of homeschool today! :) I've been emailing with the very nice Carla of Crown Bindery and she has graciously offered to give one of my readers one of her 9x11 Triple Crown Notebook Binders!

There are a LOT of things that I like about these binders!

• One, her shop carries a great assortment of different fun and colorful papers so you can have a binder that is your favorite color, or one that is a different color depending up on your mood. :) Yellows, blues, pink & orange - a huge variety.
• Two, the binders aren't your typical three ring binder. Because she uses binder rings, you can lay them flat in your lap and write in it like you would a spiral notebook. However, because she uses binder rings you can add and subtract paper to your heart's content. (To be truthful, I am kicking myself that I didn't come up with this idea first!) :)
• Three, she uses a thicker-than-normal laminating film that makes your binder super stiff and strong. I'll be honest again here - when I first saw these binders I thought, "I'm pretty crafty - I can make that!" Well, not with my little home laminating machine! As she says from her shop: Each laminated page is handcrafted by laminating doubled-sided paper. First, paper is hand selected for color and pattern. Each page is then cut to size and painstakingly aligned to assure a perfect fit in the laminate pouch. We run the pouch through a thermal laminator to seal it up tight, three hole punch each finished page and attach the rings. Waalaa! A Crown Binder is born! Her's are much thicker and sturdier than mine which makes a huge difference in the durability. I learned my lesson. :)

Carla has created these binders in several sizes - 9x11 for your standard notebook size sheet, 9x6 for a half-sheet of paper, and then several smaller index card sizes that would be perfect to keep little hands busy in the car or at a restaurant, or for holding your file cards if you are doing research.

I hope you will celebrate back-to-school with me and take a look at Carla's Etsy shop! If you want to be entered to win one of her 9x11 Triple Crown binders, take a peek over at her shop and let me know what you like the best in a comment below. I'll close comments on Friday morning and post the winner that day! Good luck!

Weekend Links

~ I love these downloadable coloring books from Flipflops and Applesauce. They are perfect for the three year old that wants to do school with the big sister ... and she learns a letter or two along the way. :)


~ If you like having handwriting fonts on your computer go here ... and they are free. :)


~ a nifty tutorial on making small blank books. These would be perfect to make for party favors or small blank books for my girls to tote around with them!


~ homemade crackerjack ... what a super cool summer time snack or party snack for a child's birthday!


~ N1 and I have thoroughly enjoyed making lapbooks over the last year or so. Homeschool Share has a TON of new lapbooks, chapter book studies and little workbox projects for preschoolers on their site. I've spend a good bit of a rainy morning this week browsing and printing for the girls. :)

~ is it ever to early to think about Christmas? Links to a neat Daily December project/album both here and here.

Weekend Links

~ An easy way for me to lend a hand to my friends (while still caring for my family ) is to make meals to take to others. I'm not a cooking pro at all, so any tips that I find are ones that I store away for later, like these from 4 Reluctant Entertainers.


~ Speaking of meals, I can't decide about this Sausage & Gravy Breakfast Pizza. I'm tempted to try it! :)


~ I've read several posts this week about travel - from scrapbooking products inspired by travel to trips you can take through children's literature. I'm itching for a road trip. :)

Happy Weekend. :)

Weekend Links

~ super cool idea on making tea in a jar to save space in your fridge - I'm trying it out today with some pomegranite tea bags! :)

~ more on spiritual journal from A Holy Experience.

~ lazy summer lunches. I need all the help I can get. :)

Just a few for the weekend. Have a great one.