The 12 Week Holiday Planner for the Christian Family!

When my friend Sheri asked if I'd help spread the word about her newly revised Holiday Planner I was so excited! 

I received her 1st edition a couple of years ago and have used it for the last 2 years. I LOVE it!

But she has recently revised it and you can bet that it is even better than before.

Check it out!

Do your holidays seem to always become stressful and full of "wait to the last minute" to do items? If so, then this eBook is for you! Begin October 1st planning and organizing for the holidays.

My desire in putting together this eBook is to provide a tangible way for you to plan out your holidays so they are enjoyable, less stressful, and more filled with the things that really matter. Many of you have enjoyed Marilyn Moll's (www.urbanhomemaker.com) holiday timetable over the years, helping you plan out your holidays. What I have done in this eBook is provide dozens of forms to go along with Marilyn's timetable!
To top it off we have included some of our favorite holiday recipes for you to try and enjoy!
What you will find in this 171 page ebook:

• 
  
  
  
  Blank monthly and weekly calendar pages for planning your year 
• Weekly "To Do" lists showing exactly what needs to be done each week 
• Thanksgiving and Christmas Menus forms 
• Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Recipe Card forms 
• A Holiday Self-Evaluation form 
• Shopping Lists 
• "Sheri's Tips"- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook 
• Christmas Craft and Gift Ideas 
• Memory Making Ideas for the Family 
• Holiday Journal Pages 
• Many, many forms such as:   Christmas Gift Shopping List   Gift Making Checklist   Christmas Card Checklist
     Holiday Wardrobe Planner   List of Baked Items to Share/Give Away   Favorite Meals to Freeze for Later   Decoration Ideas   Needed Supplies to Purchase This Week   Holiday Baking Schedule   Kids' Gift Idea List   Christmas Gifts to be Shipped 
• PLUS!!! Two bonus weeks with family tradition ideas, menus, and 
• PLUS!!! Some of our favorite holiday recipes! 
• PLUS!!! Holiday Coloring Pages! 

Buy once, and never buy another holiday planner again!

Buy yours today and begin your holiday planning now! Get ready for a more meaningful, organized, Jesus-centered holiday season!

Click here to purchase this wonderful holiday planner.

Sharpening the mind a little, even though it hurts me so!

For those of you who don't already know, I really enjoy the Jane Austen movies. Last year I purchased her collective writings all in one book.
This book is HUGE. It's not a curl up by the fire kind of book. No it's a sit in bed and rest this bad boy on a pillow for support kind of book. This is how thick it is.
See what I mean? Thick huh? Next time I'll try to think past the killer deal I was getting and think about what a pain it is to read! LOL.
There really isn't anything easy about her writings. I have already read Pride and Prejudice and I am now reading Mansfield Park. For the first 2 chapters I had to keep going back to the first paragraph to figure out who was who. I think I have it now. It's hurting the ol' noggin'. You won't find me using her writing style anytime soon, though I am going to be writing in an English dialect from now on. So if you could do me a favor and read my posts in an English accent I would greatly appreciate that. As it may help me through this extremely large book.
Speaking of writing styles. I crack up when someone comments on MY writing style and how much they love it. I am sure that I make "writers" crazy with my "writing style" LOL. I didn't even know I had a "writing style". I wonder if there is a name for it. Maybe I'll call it Kimagery or something. Hee! Hee! Whatever it is I appreciate you putting up with it because I'm sure at this point in my life it isn't going to change. But I thought the least I could do is change my accent and at least "sound" smarter! Ha! Ha! Oh me!
What books make your head hurt? LOL.

BIG HUGS TO YOU MY SWEET FRIENDS!

UP!

I am pretty sure we will be taking the whole family to see this movie. It looks pretty good. I checked it out online at Plugged In and it looks pretty funny. Here is the trailer for those of you who haven't seen it yet. If you see it before we do I'd love to know what you think.
I am loving the dog in this movie!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Works For Me Wednesday- Noah Websters 1828 Dictionary

What's working for me today are these two books!

I can't do this book justice. I believe that every homeschooling family should own one and if you love the English language and it's roots, then you would love this as well. Noah Webster defined the meaning of the words in relationship to Jesus Christ. They aren't watered down and diluted to make the next generation happy, as what is happening with the "new" dictionaries of today. I believe you won't find such a valuable resource as this for your library. You don't even need an English curriculum as this fully covers that. I recommend it highly. Click here for a comparison of this dictionary and dictionaries now.

While I'm at it we found one more gold nugget. It's called The Original Blue Back Speller and it was also written by Noah Webster. Take a peek inside! It a book of common sense things and was used to homeschool kids way back in the day but is still applicable today. It's small but packed full of useful information. Talk about simplifying the way we educate our children.

Going back to our roots is working for us today.
To see what's working for everyone else head on over to We Are That Family!

HUGS!

Found this while doing some perusing!

You want to know where 90% of the people of Melbourne, FL were this past Saturday? Cause I can tell you! Sam's Club. Have mercy! It's stops raining for a few hours and EVERYONE and their MOTHER went to Sam's. How do I know this? Because I too had cabin fever and headed out to do my monthly Sam's shopping trip. What I didn't expect is the Christmas like crowd that was there. I literally had to park out in the Dopey 98 section. Seriously I parked closer to their gas pumps then I did the actual store. And as always, people were patient, kind, and on their best behavior! Yeah, right! I had to leave and come back to several areas that I wanted to check out because people lined the aisles. I purposely went down the detergent aisle just because it was empty. I didn't need detergent but it was EMPTY! * deep breath* As aisles thinned out a bit I was able to gather my necessities. I love to stroll by the book section. I don't know why. I don't have time to read books. But I love to "look" at them. Especially the cookbooks. I don't need any more cookbooks! I need intervention! But as I came to a slow pause around that section this caught my eye! A Debbie Mumm Home Cooking Recipe Binder!You all remember MY binder right? Well I love it because I can put my favorite recipes all in one book. But this was too cute to pass up. It came with a note pad and magnets and pretty paper to print your recipes on and splash guards.........(can you picture my excitement?) And the cool thing is is that the stuff I already have printed out in MY binder will fit into this one! YES!
Here's a look at the inside.

And the pretty paper to print my recipes on!
Isn't it just too cute? How much you ask? $9.88! Not bad, says I! I should buy more and print my recipes out to put in them and sell those bad boys! LOL. Hmmmm!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day! God Bless America!
HUGS!

Book Review- Or should I say books review? Either way I'm reviewing me some books today!

It's no secret I love to cook. And through the years I've come a long way. I've gained a mountain of knowledge in my quest to cook healthier and like a miner hunting for gold, I think I've struck it.

I've been eyeballing the Sue Gregg cookbooks for quite some time. I downloaded the free sample she offers and tried a few recipes, but the books I wanted were a little more than I wanted to spend and I couldn't just choose one to start with. So I found her website and sent the link to my husband explaining fully how I really didn't NEED the cookbooks but it WOULD benefit him and the family in a round about way and I left it at that. My husband knows my heart and my intentions and I did post a pretty good argument, I mean I explained how I could save the rain forest if I just had these cookbooks. Okay maybe not save the rain forest but I know something good will come of it. Aaaanyways, I had since forgotten about it and about 4 or 5 days later a box came in the mail addressed to my husband and I didn't even look at the return address so the box sat there for a few hours not being opened. My husband calls me from work which sparked the whole, "Oh yeah, you got a package today." He asks from who and I look and it's from Sue Gregg. Oh happy moment!!!! It was kind of cool because he got to witness my excitement over the phone. Now of course I tore into the box like a kid on Christmas and I swear I heard the Hallelujah chorus and saw a light shine down on my precious new Sue Gregg cookbooks. I've been perusing them ever since. Now these aren't just cookbooks with recipes. She has a TON of useful information in these babies. She has Menu's made up depending on your tastes and she explains things in layman's terms for those of us who have been known to stare blankly at some recipes and go "Huh?"
So last night I got my books and my free menu planner form and started making my menu. I've decided to have a one month rotating menu but have room for new recipes to be added. They didn't all come from here because my family loves a lot of my brainstorm recipes that I have posted on my cooking blog, but I am incorporating a few of Sue's each week. I'll let you know how I like them.

Have a most excellent Monday my friends!

FoodMatters DVD Review

We received this film the other day and watched it. We find that we need to watch it again and take notes just because of all the wonderful information in it. If you've ever been concerned about your health and what you eat etc. This dvd is for you. They have a website that has the trailer and all the information you need to check it out and see if it's something you'd want to invest in getting. This is something that I definitely wanted to share with you because we Americans walk around sometimes in a daze and believe the lies that we hear from our doctors and such. I'm not downing doctors but sometimes they blindside you with one-sided information. This dvd brings out the importance of nutrition and what pharmaceuticals are doing to us.
I hope you go check it out at FoodMatters.
Hugs.

Works For Me Wednesday- Book Review

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

This book worked for me in many ways. It was so inspiring in my roll as a wife. It's been around for awhile but I don't think I ever talked about it and I'm not sure why.
If you are struggling to see God's vision for womanhood or caving to the worldly views of what a woman should be, then this book is for you. This was such a great read. It is so honest and fresh in its approach to our calling as wives.
If you pick one book up this year to read, let it be this. It will encourage you and bless your socks off.
If you have read this book then please leave a comment below to share with others who have not.
Click here for a more thorough review of the book.

For more Works for Me Wednesday go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Blessings to you my friends.

Fireproof

My husband and I went to go see the movie Fireproof last night. It was wonderful. They did a great job with this movie and it would be great to promote it. We don't go to the movies very often but when something like this comes out we make sure we try to support it so they will and can continue to make more like it. It will definitely touch your heart, make you laugh and make you cry as well. I hope if you have a chance you will go see it soon. If you do let me know how YOU liked it!
Blessings to you this Saturday!

Book Review- Homeschooling Books

This book review is for 2 homeschool books. If you are thinking about homeschooling, just started homeschooling or have been homeschooling for years, I believe these books will change the way you do things. When I first started homeschooling I had the "public" school mindset. There would be text books and curriculum for EVERY subject on the planet and they would sit for a certain amount of time etc. I realized it was not working for me or my daughter. Then I was introduced to Miss Charlotte Mason. This book, The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, and Charlotte's way of teaching has changed our homeschool environment from one of drudgery to one that is excited to learn. My son is now homeschooled and I'm so glad that I found this approach before I gave him a bad taste of learning. If you click the picture it will take you to a link that you can take a glimpse inside and look at what it has to offer. I highly recommend.
The second book that I discovered is Homeschooling The Easy Way by Cindy Rushton. I don't even know how I came about finding it but I am so glad I did. She goes right along with the Charlotte Mason love of learning style and has sooo many great ideas. One idea that has made homeschooling for my daughter fun, is scrapbooking her work. She loves to show off her notebook now. It isn't like pulling teeth to get her to start her schooling any more. She comes up with stuff herself that she wants to learn and then goes crazy. If you click on the picture it will take you to her site where you can read in greater detail about the book. She has many other amazing books as well, but this one would be my first pick for getting started.


Blessings my friends.

Book Review- Joey Green's Incredible Country Store

Joey Green's Incredible Country Store

Potions, Notions,
and
Elixirs of the Past
and How to Make Them Today

I've just started reading this book and I love it. I picked it up at JoAnne Fabrics of all places. As I'm reading it I'm thinking that it's reminding me of something and then I remember a show we used to watch back when we had cable called "Unwrapped." The show would take you behind the scenes of candies and other treats and give you the history of it and how it's made. Well this book does much the same but way more.
Here are the contents:
1. The Apothecary- Elixirs, Remedies, and Tonics
2.The Candy Counter- Sweets, Treats, and Old-Time Favorites
3. Toys, Games, and Brainteasers
4. Gadgets and Gizmos-Old Fashioned Ingenuity and Insanity
5. Home and Hearth- Candles, Potpourri and Crafts
6. The Corner Barbershop- Soaps, Perfumes, and Close Shaves
7. Kitchen and Pantry-Cooking, Cleaning, and Kooky Concoctions
8. Apparel and Footwear- Keeping your pants up and your feet warm
9.Sources- Where to get everything.

As you can see it has a little bit of everything. If you love nostalgia you will love this book. It even gives you recipes to make some of your favorite candies etc. If you click on the book above, I've linked it to the page on Amazon that you can take a peek inside. I'm not even finished with this book yet but had to mention it because I'm having so much fun with it. Let me know what you think. Are you a sucker for old timey things too?
Blessings,

Book Review- The Complete Tightwad Gazette

I've had this book for about 4 months now. While there is a lot of great information in it, there is also a lot of stuff that I personally couldn't see myself doing. But I think that is with anything really. There are great tips and recipes throughout. She covers just about everything that you can think of from using recycled lumber to making bubble solution for kids. The only thing I didn't care for was that there is no rhyme or reason to the way the book is laid out. The information isn't really categorized. You basically have to read this from cover to cover to get all the information. I just skip over things that don't pertain to me. It is fun reading though. Some of the stuff I just had to laugh at and move on. I would recommend it but not paying full price for it. I got mine off of ebay. All and all if you are trying to be a bit more money conscious then I believe you could benefit if you aren't then leave it alone lol.
Blessings,

Book Review- Penny Pincher's Almanac

I've decided to start writing reviews on books that I find worthy of my time. I stumbled across this book at the library while strolling down the many aisles. I wasn't looking for anything imparticular but my eye caught the words "Penny Pincher" and I thought " hey that's me", so I checked it out and brought it home. I only got into a few pages and realized I had to have this book. A lot of it is common knowledge stuff that I already new but there were so many hints and tips that I wanted to implement that it would have taken me more time to write everything down then to just order it. So I got it for .75 off of Half.com but I saw that they also have it at Amazon.com. Reader's Digest puts it out. The contents are as follows:
1. good eats for less
2.beauty on a budget
3. frugal health and fitness
4. home sweet home
5. penny-smart parenting
6.cent-sational special occasions
7.going out and spending wisely
8. thrifty travel
9. thrifty home improvements
10. cheap car talk
11. money-savvy medicine
12. frugal finances
Just a note: Please don't come back and hate me if you get the book and don't like it lol. But for the price you just can't beat it. It retails for $15.95. Check it out at your library first like I did and see it first then decide if it's worth getting.
I hope you found this review helpful. I just saw in the picture that it says 1743 ideas and the book I have has 2753 ideas. So be sure to get the newer one. Just thought I'd make note of it.
Blessings.