Notebooking Nook

New Titles - African Grassland Animals

2012-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Notebooking Nook has just released two new titles I want to share with you!

African Grassland Animals Notebooking Pages - $1.00

Description:
Explore the savanna of Africa by studying animals that roam the grasslands. This set includes one cover page for the set. Each animal includes, one fact sheet, 3 basic-lined pages and 3 primary-lined pages. I've also added additional templates if you choose to study additional animals not included in this set.

African Grassland Animals Mini-books and Flashcards - $1.00

Description:
Explore the savanna of Africa by studying animals that roam the grasslands. Included for minibooks: cover art, 2 basic-line templates, and 2 primary-line templates. Included for flashcards: art for cards, 3 basic-lines card choices, 3 primary-line card choices.

Both Sets Include the Following Animals:

Aardvark
African Elephant
Antelopes
Baboon
Buffalo
Cape Hunting Dog
Cheetah
Dung Beetle
Giraffe
Hippopotamus
Hyena
Impala
Kudu
Leopard
Lion
Meerkat
Mongoose
Oryx
Ostrich
Rhinoceros
Vulture
Zebra

Both titles have also been included in the following bundles:

The Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection - $90.00 - Over 150 Titles Included
All Science and Nature Bundle - $25.00 - 16 Title Included

My goal is always to provide quality titles at very affordable prices.

2011-2012 Curriculum Choices for Christian

2012-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this ages ago :)

Together School:

Scripture Study - The Book of Mormon Made Easier

I use the hardbound copy and each of the kids has their own soft bound copy to follow along.

Christian - 7th grade

Language Arts

Writing: The Complete Writer: Writing With Skill Level 1

Grammar: Easy Grammar

Spelling: Sequential Spelling

Literature: I choose literature to go along with our history studies

History: Story of the World Vol. 4

Geography: We study the geography that goes along with our history

Science: Rainbow Science

Math: Teaching Textbooks - Math 7

Personal Reading: I expect Christian to read at least one chapter from a book on his reading level. He is allowed to choose the book as long as I approve. He's not a big fan of reading but once he gets into a book he usually can't put it down :)

Music: Piano lessons (practice 20-30 daily)

Physical Fitness: Martial Arts (3 days a week)

Putting a Button with Code on Blogger

2012-01-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not new to blogging, as some of you know. However, there are some things I just couldn't figure out for the life of me. One of those things was putting a button with code on my blog. I'm guessing there are some of you that are in the same boat I 'was' in. Well as you can see by looking at the left-hand side bar I've got buttons with codes - one I paid for but the other I did on my own!! Yay! I really am quite excited about it, as you can see :) So I'm going to share with you the website where I found the easy instructions...

A Heart for Home has the code for how to accomplish this. You just add your links and a couple a few other easy changes which are clearly marked and you're in business. Trust me if I can do it, anyone can!

Organizing All That Unused Paper

2012-01-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

This looks like a somewhat decent way to store your paper and for me it worked for many years. BUT, it took up not only the three shelves shown in this picture, but two others.... that's 5 shelves I could have been using for something else, like BOOKS for example. I wanted a different way of storing all that unused paper.

If you do notebooking or lapbooking, chances are you have a lot of paper in several weights and colors. I like to keep the colors and weights separate from one another... just a little OCD :) Anyway, I saw this paper organization system on a blog several months ago and I WISH I knew where it came from! If you do please let me know so I can give credit where it's due. Anyway, it's so easy and makes so much sense, I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

All you need is a file crate and hanging folders. I use colored folders and put the same or similar colors in the files. So here's my version of this system.

So easy! Now... what to do with all those paper trays? I know what to do with the 5 empty shelves! :)

Let me know how you store your paper. I'm always open to new and different ideas! I'm working on organizing my schoolroom better so any and all ideas are welcome!

Homeschool Planning Pages

2012-01-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Teaching Homeschool Planning Pages in Color or Black and White Options

2 Styles of Student Weekly Scheduling Pages, Student Checklist, and Chore Chart Checklist in Color and Black and White Options

Because of their sizes, I had to put them into several different files. They are labeled below.

Because of the size, I've had to upload these into several files. They are available in both colored or black and white versions. I will indicate below what you will be downloading.

Teaching Planning Pages

Teaching Planning Pages - Colored - 10 Pages

Teaching Planning Pages - Black & White - 10 Pages

Student Pages Style 1

Student Weekly Planning Pages with Cover - 3 Pages

Student Checklist - 1 page

Chore Chart Checklist - 1 page

Student Pages Style 2

Student Weekly Pages Pages with Cover - 3 Pages

School and Chore Checklist - 2 Pages

Student Black and White Pages

Black and White Student Pages - 10 Pages

Melanie's Curriculum 2011-2012 School Year

2011-10-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've had a few requests to post my kids curriculum for this year. I know it's well into the school year, but I hope it will help those of you who will be planning your schooling in the coming years. Melanie is 15 and a sophomore. She is very independent and works well alone and actually prefers to work alone. She is a little behind in Science and Math because of our house fire a few years back. Those are the subjects that we fell quite a bit behind on during that year of rebuilding.

Also, I'm down to only teaching my two youngest kids. My son, Chris, is 12 and still needs help with many of his subjects. I am working hard to get him to be more independent over the next year or two. I'll add his schedule on another post.

Together School is what I call the things we all do together :) We don't have a set time for anything. I'm sort of on call to go to do work for my husband at a moments notice. So with all this out of the way... here's Melanie's schedule... :)

Together School

Scripture Study - The Book of Mormon Made Easier - This takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes.

Spelling - Sequential Spelling - Melanie has struggled with spelling and Chris is ahead, so they are on the same level.

Independent Studies

Literature - (some of the literature guides are undecided - I'll add what I find for those later)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens using this literature guide. Complete in 12 weeks.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn using this literature guide. Complete in 12 weeks.
The Scarlet Letter - literature guide undecided
To Kill a Mocking Bird - literature guide undecided

English/Writing - Institute for Excellence in Writing or IEW - the link is for the continuation course. You can find schedules for IEW courses on the IEW Yahoo! Group along with other great resources. You can find where to begin with IEW here. She is also taking English 101 at our community college during her second semester.

Science - Apologia Physical Science 1st Edition using this schedule from donnayoung.com from this page. I added the page because there are other useful things there for you to look through.

American Government and US Constitution (Part 1) - The 5000 Year Leap Study Course. This course comes with the text book (5000 Year Leap), curriculum guide, DVD lessons and so much more. Read through the description for more information. She is taking a full year to complete this course rather then just one semester like it suggests.

Math - Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1

Music - Voice lessons and piano lessons, she's been taking voice for 4 years and piano for 2 years. Our violin teacher moved away last year and we haven't been able to find someone to take over. She will also be performing in the high school musical this year, Beauty and the Beast.

On Fridays, Melanie brings me all her work to grade. She grades her own math and post it on a schedule I have posted on the wall of the school room. I completely trust her to grade her own work. She likes to get good grades and beats herself up if she doesn't do well. She'll ask for help when needed and we always discuss how she's doing after I grade her work.

Downloading Issues

2011-10-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

I've had several people contact me recently because they are having problems downloading my free files. What I've discovered is that hslaunch.com, where I upload my freebies, has changed how you download files. Instead of the file opening up on their page, the file goes directly to your download folder on your computer.

So, if you are unable to see the file, you will need to open your download folder or wherever files go when you download directly from the internet.

I'm not sure how else to help you all that are having problems. If someone else has another idea, please feel free to leave a comment to make whatever suggestions you might have.

Hope this helps!

Famous People and Events of the Middle Ages TOC

2011-09-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple requests for a table of contents for my title Famous People and Events of the Middle Ages. I'm unable to add it to the original file because of a house fire several years ago. I lost all my originals. So I'm going to add it here on my blog.

Click here to download the Table of Contents

Click here to purchase Famous People and Events of the Middle Ages for $7.99 - originally $15.00

Constantine Notebooking Pages

2011-09-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Constantine Notebooking Pages

(click above for download)

Collection of 6 pages - Both basic and primary-lined pages included

My Baby's on a Mission!

2011-09-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Literally, my baby's on a mission! Our oldest daughter, Ali, decided over last Thanksgiving break that she would like to serve a mission for our church. She went through the process of filling out her paperwork and received her calling in May. She was called to serve in the England Leeds Mission and she reported to the Preston, England Missionary Training Center (MTC) on August 5. She left the MTC on August 26 and entered the mission field and is now serving in the small coastal town of Redcar. She is doing great and loving every minute of her mission so far. She has already learned so much about herself and is growing in the gospel daily through prayer, diligent study, and service. We're grateful to have children who are willing to give up all worldly things, school for a time, and precious time with family and friends to serve the Lord.

We all miss Ali, but are so proud of her and her choice to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We love you, Sister Stout!!!

Btw, young men serve for 24 months and young women for 18 months. Ali will return home 3 and a half months after Jonathan, who is serving in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission.

Here are a few pics and the video of her opening her call.

One last family picture before she left for England.

Some of her friends coming by to wish her well and say goodbye.

Taken on our way to security at the airport... it was a difficult goodbye for all of us :(

Sister Stout with her MTC group. She in the second row back, 3rd in from the right.

She loves England!

Ali doing some street contacting.

LDS missionaries do not know where they will be called to serve. So opening that envelope is an exciting time for them and their families. Ali has always had a great desire to study and live in England, so when she received her call she and the entire family were very excited for her. She felt that Heavenly Father knew the righteous desires of her heart and sent her to a place she'd love to go. She said she'd be studying and the sharing the most important thing in the world while there - the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For those of you who are not members of our church, here is simple explanation of what our missionaries do.

Freebie - Gila Monster Notebooking Pages

2011-09-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Gila Monster Notebooking Pages

(click above for download)

Collection of 8 pages - includes basic and primary- lined pages.

Freebie - Fish Notebooking Pages

2011-09-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

Collection of Fish Notebooking Pages - 5 pages in all!

(click above for download)

Teaching Textbooks Grading Logs

2011-08-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Do you use Teaching Textbooks math? We've been using Teaching Textbooks for years and love it! Several years ago I put together some grading sheets to keep track of my kids lessons and tests. The younger grades have grade books included, however, pre-algebra and up do not. My friend, Sonia, from Homeschool Treasure Trove was kind enough to make the algebra 2 and geometry forms... Thanks Sonia!

Pre-Algebra Grading Sheet
Algebra 1 Grading Sheet
Algebra 2 Grading Sheet
Geometry Grading Sheet

You can also download answer sheets for both pre-algebra and algebra 1. Includes sheets for both lessons and tests.

Pre-Algebra Answer Sheets
Algebra 1 Answer Sheets

Whisper Sale.... SHHHH!

2011-05-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

(This Sale has ended)

Have you heard about the Whisper Sale going on at Currclick yet? It's not being advertised on their website and only a handful of customers know about it. I wanted to make sure that my loyal customers have the opportunity to save! All titles offered during this sale are 50% off! Plus, you'll find some freebies available as well.

All Notebooking Nook's titles are included in this sale.

Some of the best deals available through Notebooking Nook include...

All American Bundle - Includes 15 titles! - Only $12.50

All Bible Copywork Notebooks - Includes 14 titles! - Only $5.00

All Science and Nature Bundle - Includes 15 titles! - $12.50

Medieval World Combo - $9.00

To get the special price for the titles above and all my titles you must add them to your cart from here.

It's time to start stocking up for the upcoming school year! This is just the place to start!

Lastly, 100% of Notebooking Nook's profits from this month's sales will go to a friend of mine who is struggling with breast cancer. Her husband was recently laid-off, my friend is too sick to work, and they have 4 children. There is a portion of her treatment that is not covered by their insurance and they are asking their family and friends for help. It would mean a lot to me and her family if you would consider purchasing something from us to help her with her cancer treatments. Thank you and God Bless.

Note:
My friend, Janice, lost her battle with cancer, May 20, 2011. The money from this sale was put into an eduction fund for her children. Thanks to all who purchased my titles during this sale.

Spring -It-Forward Sale

2011-05-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Spring-It-Forward Sales Event is going on RIGHT NOW over at Currclick! This sale will not be advertised on their website and a mailer was only sent to their top customer base. However, I want to pass the savings on the to you!!

All Notebooking Nook titles will be 50% now through May 20! Head on over now and stock up for the upcoming school year!

Free free to pass on the saving to your friends! ;)

Type 1 Diabetes Website

2011-03-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

My husband, Allen, and daughter, Cassie, worked together to create a website focusing on type 1 diabetes. The topics included are: What is Type 1 Diabetes?, Symptoms, Complications, Treatment, Celiac Disease, and they also added some videos that Cassie has made about her diabetes. I know there are some of you out there that have children with type 1 and or celiac disease. They did this for a school assignment, but I think if was done well and will help bring awareness or be helpful to those who might be newly diagnosed.

Type 1 Diabetes website created by Dr. Allen Stout and Cassie Stout

Freebie: Simile and Metaphor

2011-02-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

Simile and Metaphor Notebooking Page and Minibooks

Presidents' Day Sale

2011-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

There's a BIG Presidents' Day Sale happening right now over at Currclick!

8 of my titles are included in this sale and I've also included 1 FREEBIE!

Head on over and check it out!

Mathematicians Are People, Too - Vol.2

2011-02-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

Mathematicians Are People, too is two book series about the lives of great mathematicians. I found some really nice notebooking pages for volume one by Jimmie on one of her Squidoo pages, but wasn't able to find notebooking pages for volume two. So, I made some for my kids and thought I'd share them with you.

Printables for Mathematicians are People, Too - Vol. 2

Euclid Notebooking Pages
Omar Khayyam Notebooking Pages
Leonard of Pisa or Fibonacci Notebooking Pages
Gerolamo Cardano Notebooking Pages
Rene' Descartes Notebooking Pages
Pierre De Fermat Notebooking Pages
Maria Agnesi Notebooking Pages
Benjamin Banneker Notebooking Pages
Charles Babbage Notebooking Pages
Mary Fairfax Somerville Notebooking Pages
Neils Henrik Abel Notebooking Pages
Ada Byron Lovelace Notebooking Pages
Sonya Kovalevsky Notebooking Pages
Albert Einstein Notebooking Pages
George Polya Notebooking Pages

New Title - The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Copywork Notebook

2011-02-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Copywork Notebook - $2.00

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's classic poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is a great piece of literature to study while studying the American Revolution.

This copywork notebook includes:

Cover page
Basic-lined pages
Primary-lined pages

New Releases: Literary Terms and Elements

2011-01-31T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've just released two new titles I hope will be helpful to your homeschool.

Literary Elements Minibooks - $2.00

This lapbook book can be used in a couple different ways. You could study literary elements and complete the lapbook as it is laid out or add some or all of the minibooks to your literature study. This is a double lapbook which includes 15 minibook activities.

Here's what included:

Activity Directions
Title Page
Elements of Plot
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Point of View
Conflict
Internal/External Conflict
Irony
Tone/Mode
Symbolism
Theme
Imagery
Figurative Language
Genre
Type of Literary Genre
Story Map
Suggested Layout

Literary Terms Flashcards - $1.00

Knowing literary terms will help your child with both understanding a a piece of literature and with their writing. Learning a term or two a week will be a great benefit to your child in these areas.

Included in this set:

• Definitions of terms
• 40 Flashcards with lines
• 40 Flashcards without lines
• Additional blank cards to add terms not included in this set
• Definition cards that can be added to flashcards
• Pocket that could be added to a lapbook or notebook to store flashcards

Enjoy your Literature!

Teaching Problem Solving Using SODAS

2011-01-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

I want my kids to be able to solve problems on their own and I'm sure you want the same for your kids. But this isn't something they learn by watching their parents problem solve necessarily, I believe it must be taught. I've been listening to a wonderful seminar by Nicholeen Peck about teaching self-government to your children. I've been learning many great things from this seminar and I'm working on implementing much of what I'm learning in our home.

One thing Nicholeen uses with her children is something called SODAS, which teaches problem solving and stands for: situation, options, disadvantages, advantages, and solution. SODAS have been around for years and I wish I'd heard of them sooner! SODAS are similar to looking at pros and cons, but they go much deeper than that. If I see a behavior I know isn't good for my child's character or will harm them or someone else, I would come up with a situation for them to consider. However, I also feel that this can be used for the kids to make decisions with something they'd like to do. This will allow them to have considered everything first, then come to us and we will better understand what they'd like to do and if it's something that will benefit them. There are a couple examples of this further down in this post.

Here's how a SODAS looks....

S: Define the problem Situation
O: Examine the Options (at least three but more is fine)
D: Determine the Disadvantages of each option (have them try to come up with at least three)
A: Determine the Advantage (same thing, at least three)
S: Decide on the best Solution and work to implement it

I will probably have my kids explain how they plan to implement the solution as well. I will have this be a written activity for my kids because they are older. However, if they were younger I'd talk them though it. I know there will be many times we discuss them as well and we have done something similar to this with our kids over the years anyway, but this gives more of a framework to work with. They will be putting their SODAS in just a spiral notebook.

To introduce SODAS to my kids, I came up with "easy" situations that I know they have been thinking a lot about lately. My 14 year old daughter takes voice lessons and her teacher wants her to join a choir so she has experience singing in a group. She already sings in our church choir, but they 'just' sing, there really isn't any teaching involved. By the way, she also takes violin and piano lessons, takes a class at the college 2 nights a week, works about 10-15 hours a week at my husbands office and has a church activity one night a week, so she's a bit overwhelmed with everything she has going on. So, here's her SODAS...

S: Mrs. W wants me to join a choir. Would it be a benefit to me with everything I have going on?

O: 1. I could join the high school choir.
   2. I could join the community women's choir
   3. I could stick with the church choir only.
   4. I could not join a choir at all.

D: 1a: If I join the high school choir it's during our school day and might cause stress in our homeschool.
   1b: It's 15 minutes away and M-F and this could create extra stress for mom driving me back and forth.
   1c: I might be exposed to bad language and bad behavior.
   1d: Having to be there everyday may be too much for me to handle with everything else going on.

   2a: It might be only older ladies
   2b: I think it's the same night as another activity
   2c: I don't know anyone

   3a: They don't teach you how to sing, you just go there to sing.
   3b: You have to stay longer at church and wait to eat lunch and I'm always hungry after church.
   3c: The choir isn't very big and not very good.

   4a: I won't learn how to sing properly in groups.
   4b: I won't be able to make new friends.
   4c: none

A: 1a: I could learn how to sing in a musical group.
   1b: I could make new friends.
   1c: It will help me to learn not to be nervous singing in front of other people.

   2a: It's only once a week.
   2b: A greater range of people (age wise) and they might have more to teach me.
   2c: Good place to share the gospel with others. (note: she loves to share the gospel :)

   3a: It's only on Sundays
   3b: It's already at the church, so nobody has to take me and I can get a ride home.
   3c: I know everyone there.
   3d: I could bring a snack for after church.

   4a: not needing to practice one more thing
   4b: not needing to go to another lesson
   4c: not needing to travel around too much

S: Before I decide, I need to find out which day the women's choir meets. This is my first choice. My second choice would be the high school choir. I know I need to join a choir so I go further with my singing.

We are having a difficult time finding out more about the women's choir in our area. I think she is making the right choice. I honestly hope it's on a night we can make it work for her.

Christian (11) also did a SODAS yesterday. He usually fights me when it comes to anything that involves writing, but he actually enjoyed this a lot. He has always enjoyed problem solving so for him this was fun. Plus the situation I gave him was something he is somewhat excited about. Here's his (which by the way took him over an hour without one complaint)...

S: Should I buy a small animal and if so, where will it live?

O: 1. It could live in my room.
   2. It could live in the garage.
   3. I could not purchase an animal at all.

D: 1a: It might make my room smell bad.
   1b: It might escape and run around the house which would freak out mom (his words ;)
   1c: none

   2a: I might forget to feed and play with it.
   2b: If it got out, it would run away or the dogs would get it and eat it!
   2c: It's cold in the garage and it might not survive.

   3a: I wouldn't have a cute little pet.
   3b: I wouldn't learn the responsibility of taking care of a small animal.
   3c: I'd be sad if I didn't have a small animal to play with.

A: 1a: I'd remember to feed and play with it everyday.
   1b: I could use air freshener in my room to make it small really good.
   1c: If it did escape, I'd notice sooner and probably be able to find it.

   2a: My room wouldn't smell bad.
   2b: It would be quiet at night if it was playing and I was trying to sleep.
   2c: none

   3a: I wouldn't have to take care of another animal.
   3b: I wouldn't have to spend money on the animal.
   3c: none

S: I will buy an animal and have it live in my room. But, if it starts to smell too bad, I will move it to the garage.

My husband and I agreed to allow this and he bought two dwarf hamsters last night. One of which has escaped twice since then and we just now found again :) Oh, the joys of parenthood!

The point is is that they both thought through all their options and looked at all the advantages and disadvantages before coming up with a solution. I told them that when they come up with their solution, if it involves someone else, they should work to make it a win-win. I know by what they chose for their solutions, they were trying to make it work for us as well as them.

I can see that this will be a very useful tool for our children and I hope some of you will find it useful as well. Please check out Nicholeen's seminars and/or books if you'd like to try some of her other wonderful ideas. They are very principled-based and so far have been very valuable in our home!

Note: I'm not at all affiliated with Nicholeen Peck, I am just enjoying her seminar and wanted to share :)

Freebies - John Trumbull Notebooking Pages

2011-01-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

John Trumbull was a famous American Revolutionary artist. My daughter Ali choose him as the artist for the art study portion of her free American Revolutionary unit study. I had forgotten to add these to my blog when she put out her unit. It was put into two separate files because of their size.

Download file 1
Download file 2

Freebies - Martin Luther King, Jr. Notebooking Pages

2011-01-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some Martin Luther King, Jr. freebies for you. Included is a fact sheet, several notebooking pages to choose from and 2 minibooks.

Download Martin Luther King, Jr. Notebooking Pages and Minibooks

ProClick Binding Machine

2011-01-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

One of the most used tools in our homeschool would have to be my ProClick Binding Machine. It has been invaluable to me over the years! I've bound nearly every notebook we've ever created with this. We have also used binders quite a bit, so I can't say that we've used it with all our notebooks. Many times, instead of placing our lapbooking elements into a folder, I will bind a book and place them in that instead. I usually only do this if our study became very extensive and it would require so many folders it becomes too much.

So, I thought I'd add my pros and cons about my experience with my Proclick.

Pros

The spines can open and close so you can continue to add to your project. It comes with a handy little tool to help you reopen the spines.
The spines come in a variety of sizes... up to 110 pages!
The spines can be easily cut down so you can use them for smaller projects or smaller paper
Pages lay flat, which allows you to put your book together and continue to work on it.
The ProClick is small and easy to store
Very easy to use, even a child could use it

Cons

I can only punch about 6-7 pages at at time and only 2 pieces of card stock
I can't bind large papers, such as 12x12 scrapbook sheets.

Honestly, neither of the cons have ever been an issue for me. But, I thought I'd add them in case it might be an issue for you.

I'm completely thrilled with my Proclick and I highly recommend this for both the notebooking and lapbooking homeschooler!

December in Review

2011-01-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

Not much school took place in December... for obvious reasons. We did finish Johnny Tremain. I also had Melanie read Carry on Mr. Bowditch and Chris read The Sign of the Beaver. They will be completing literature guides from Progeny Press over the next few weeks. Other than that, we just spent time together as a family.

Cassie was able to come home a little early from SUU because all her finals were just essays she had to submit and the only test she had in class was also done early. Ali came home about a week later. It was great having my girls home for an entire month! We had a great time with them. They just left to go back to school today :( But, they'll be back in a couple weeks for Cassie's 19th birthday.

Jonathan finished his two months at the Mission Training Center (MTC) on December 16 and was able to call during his layovers. We loved talking to him! They had problems with their plane in Atlanta and he was able to talk to us while there for over an hour. Obviously he arrived late to Belgium, but he was excited to finally get there and meet his Mission President, President Brubaker. Jon said both President and Sister Brubaker are awesome and super cool. He said he knows he will be learning a lot from them and is excited to have such great people to assist and mentor him.

Jonathan with President and Sister Brubaker the night he arrived in Belgium.

Besides when they travel to their mission, LDS missionaries are only allowed to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day and talk for about 40 minutes... so we were able to talk to Jonathan again on Christmas. He also calls his mother in Austria, so we only spoke to him for about 20 minutes. He is currently serving in Zwolle, Nederland and struggling a bit with the language, but loving every minute of his time there. We receive an email from him each Monday and get to hear all about his awesome experiences.

Christmas was great! We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with our kids and invited some of my in-laws, as well. My husband's brother, Alex, who just returned from Afghanistan and Allen's other brother Phil, his wife and two little boys. Santa brought everyone new PJ's and an ornament and then we read the Christmas story in Luke. We also read Santa Claus is Coming to Town to the little boys.

Christmas day, after we open up our gifts, we travel to Las Vegas and spend it with members of my family. This year was really special because it was my parents 50th wedding anniversary. All 8 of my siblings and their children came to celebrate both events. The only members of the family that weren't there were Jon and another nephew who is serving a mission in Hartford, Connecticut.

Here we are all on Christmas day! We had 3 new babies girls all born within a few weeks of each other. The youngest grand baby in this photo is only 6 days old! It was wonderful having everyone there! My parents were so excited. We hadn't all been together in about 7 years.

Here's my little family with my parents...

All my sibs and my parents...

Christmas night we spent at my parents. We had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts. My parents wanted a photo of them with all 9 kids and this was their favorite... it was a good time! I'm dead center in the photo... sixth from the top and bottom.

On December 28, things weren't so good. Our youngest, Christian, was attacked by one of our rottweilers. He had to have about 25 stitches in his arm, back, and hip. He's recovering well and the stitches will be coming out tomorrow. It was a scary thing for him, but he said he isn't afraid of the dogs. We did get rid of the dog that attacked him though. We sold him to another breeder who knows what happened and was fine with it. I won't be showing photos... let's just say it wasn't pretty. He was very brave and will no doubt be a stronger and more compassionate person because of it.

New Year's Eve we had our traditional party. We had about 30 people attend and about half of them stayed the entire weekend. It was nice, but I have to admit, I was ready for everyone to go home by the end of the weekend. It had been quite an exhausting week with Christmas and Christian's injuries.

I'm excited for this new year. My husband and I are committed to exercising more and eating better. We have both already lost 6 pounds each. Not bad! My personal goal is to run a couple 5k's by the end of the year.

We will also have another missionary leaving sometime this year. Our oldest daughter, Ali, has decided to serve a mission and will be starting her mission papers this month. We are so humbled by her choice to serve to Lord. Young women in our church are not obligated to serve, but she feels strongly that this is what the Lord wants her to do. We are very proud of her!

Cassie's Diagnoses Day

2010-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Today is my daughter's two year anniversary of having Type 1 Diabetes. She posted this video on her facebook this morning for all her family and friends to see. She said it was okay for me to post on my blog.

Happy Dday Cass... I love you so much!

Freebie - American Revolutionary War Unit Study and Lapbook

2010-12-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

This lapbook was created to go along with an American Revolutionary War unit study put together by my daughter, Ali. This unit study was a learning service project for one of her history classes (she's a senior and history major at Souther Utah University). Please leave her a comment if you are so inclined. She would love to read your feed-back, whether it is good or bad. We both hope you enjoy this study!

American Revolutionary War Lapbook

Lapbooking Elements:

Geography (2 Minibooks)

Whose Side Were They On?

Define Tory and Whig: People Divided

Sons of Liberty and The Liberty Tree (2 Minibooks)

Minutemen

Join or Die

Weaponry

Flags of the American Revolution

My Opinion of the American Revolution

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Lapbook

2010-12-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Sonia, from Homeschool Treasure Trove, has created a wonderful lapbook and other activities to go along with Narnia's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This movie will be in theaters this Christmas and the book is excellent. This would be a great study before treating your kids to the movie.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Lapbook - Overview
Voyage of the Dawn Treader Activities and Discussion Questions
Voyage of the Dawn Treader ABC's - A-M (Manuscript)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader ABC's - N-Z (Manuscript)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader ABC's A-M (D'Nealian/Modern Manuscript)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader ABS's N-Z (D'Nealian/Modern Manuscript)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader Coloring Pages

For those looking for a great way for your younger kids to experience Narnia during the Christmas season while you are busy, you might want to consider the Focus on the Family Radio Theater Complete Set. This is a dramatized set, but very well done and will keep your kids interest. We listened to these as a family several year ago and LOVED them!

Thanks, Sonia for such a great resource!!!

40% Off All Notebooking Nook Titles!

2010-11-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

A Season of Giving Sale at Currclick.com going on now through December 13th! All Notebooking Nook Titles are 40% during this sale!!!

How to Add a Flap to a Lapbook

2010-11-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

Today I received an email from Tracie asking how to add a flap to a lapbook, like the one above. I put together a short tutorial for those who are unsure about how to do this.

The supplies I use are the lapbook (file folder), card stock or 24 weight paper, and packing tape. You can use other kinds of type, but I prefer packing tape for its durability.

I cut a piece of tape about the width of the lapbook when it's closed.

I then attach the lapbook to the tape using about half the height of the tape.

Last, I just place the paper on top of the remainder of the tape and then you're ready to add your minibooks!

Tracie also asked if I ever use construction paper as a flap. I don't use it because I find it to be very flimsy. I choose the weight of my paper after I know what the weight of my minibooks are going to be that I add to the flap. Some lapbook elements, like a pocket, would need a heavier weight paper. You can also cut the center portion of another file folder (once you fold it like a lapbook) out and add that to your lapbook in the same way. This is slightly heavier than the card stock for a little more stability and it is the same length, which looks a little nicer finished.

State Minibooks

2010-11-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

Check out Notebooking Nook's latest release!

State Minibooks - $1.99

Click Here for Description and Full Preview

You can also get this title when purchasing ALL 50 STATES NOTEBOOKING PAGES

Use this discount link and receive All 50 States Notebooking Pages for only $12.00 - This complete set is valued at over $300.00! This is a great time to pick up your copy!

Click Here for Description

Click Here to See a Full Preview of Georgia Notebooking Pages

This offer ends Monday, November 22.

See all Notebooking Nook titles here

Sample Layout for State Lapbook

World Diabetes Awareness Day

2010-11-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

There on the shoulders of Einstein, is my insanely beautiful and wonderful daughter, Cassie. I know I've mentioned a few other times that she has type 1 diabetes, but today is World Diabetes Awareness day, so I want to spotlight her once again.

Anyone who knows Cassie loves her to pieces. She is one of those unique people who light up a room every time she's in your presence. She is one of the kindest and most giving people I know. Cassie was diagnosed with type 1 on December 7, 2008 and it is a rare day that I hear her complain about the things she has to do on a daily basis. She is truly one of my heros and I'm so proud of her and her contagious positive attitude.

Despite everything she goes though with her checking her blood several times a day, giving herself several injections of insulin a day, and the low blood sugars she get often because she is insulin sensitive, she stays extremely active and hates when people act like she can't do something or eat something because she is diabetic. But, she is learning patience through this trail she will have throughout her life.

I want her to know how much I love her! How grateful and humbled I am to be her mom. How extremely thankful I am for insulin that keeps her alive. I look forward to a cure in her lifetime and really feel it is a real possibility. How blessed I am to know she loves her Savior and allows His great atonement to work in her life. She is such a great blessing to me and the rest of our family.

I found this video that spotlights some of the buildings that will be lit up in blue around the world today in support of finding a cure for diabetes. It also tells a little about type 1 diabetes and what signs to look for. Please take the time to watch... I was in the dark about my daughter for a long time before her diagnoses and I wished I had paid closer attention so we could have diagnosed her sooner. Click here to read more about the warning signs of type 1.

Happy Day!

2010-11-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Two happy events took/take place today.

On a minor note... my WASHING MACHINE IS FIXED!!! Finally! It ended up being a safety pin that got lodged into the pump. It blow my control panel out and that was all we thought it was, but after the repairman replaced the panel it still didn't work. He called Whirlpool and they suggested cleaning out the pump and there he found that little sticker safety pin! I'm not sure how it managed to get there, but I'm glad it's fixed now.

On a major note... my wonderful brother-in-law will be landing in America on this happy Veteran's day after serving in Afghanistan for the last year. We've missed him dearly and are so glad to have him home safe and sound for the holidays! We love you and are so proud of you Alex!!! WELCOME HOME!!!

Freebie: Tall Tales Notebooking Pages

2010-11-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

I've been going through some of my half finished work and came across this file that was nearly finished, but I never shared. I made these pages a couple years ago to along with one of my youngest son's Bear scout requirements. I added primary lines for those of you who might be interested in having both.

Download Tall Tales Notebooking Pages.

Washing Machine Woes

2010-11-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post as a venting session to myself. I'm going to have a little pity party, so if you're not big into complaining, now is the time leave :) Actually, I think I've been very patient with my washing machine problems...

One month ago I was visiting my daughters who attend college in Utah and came home to a broken washing machine.

Background... I purchased this washing machine soon after our house fire (Dec. 07) and this is the fourth time it's broken seen then! Because it's a different problem then the last three times, and it didn't happen within a one year timeframe, they won't replace it!!!

(Back to my venting) It took over a week to get anyone here to look at it. The repairman said the control panel is burned out and he'd be able to get a new one in a week or two!!! So I patiently said, I guess that's gonna have to be okay! Well it was nearly two weeks before the part came in and once he received my part, he held it hostage until LOWES (where I purchased the machine with an EXTENDED and REPLACEMENT WARRANTY) would pay for his travel costs.

So, then I'm the middle man between Lowes and the repairman... seriously, they were bickering and complaining about each other to me!!! Finally, I told Lowe's that they had better pay the travel costs or I'm going to take them to small claims court and get a new washing machine! Well, they finally agreed to pay his travel costs and the guy was supposed to come out on Monday to fix it, but was sick. Then, when he finally did show up... IT WAS THE WRONG PART!!! (taking deep breaths!!!)

Well, I'm now back at square one! The repairman is going to want to be paid for coming out again. I live in a sorta rural area and he has to travel about 50 miles to get here. I hate to complain, but I'm sick to death of going to the laundry mat!

(Calming down now) So, the moral of this story is... don't buy Whirlpool's Cabrio Top Load Washing Machine! Also, don't buy from a large retailer, such as Lowes. I think you get much better customer service from your small local businesses.

In comparison, about ten years ago I purchased a washing machine that broke 3 times overs a 2 or 3 year period from a local mom and pop shop and they replaced both the washer and the dryer after the third break.

So, now I get to call Lowes once more and see what they are going to do to get my washer working :( I just hope I don't have to go another full month before it's fixed!

Horse Notebooking Pages

2010-11-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

NEW RELEASE! HORSE NOTEBOOKING PAGES

$1.99

Description

Do you have a child who loves horses? Well, then this set of notebooking pages is for you!
This set includes lots of diagrams, with and without labels, so your child can fill them in. Pages to describe specific things about taking care of horses, additional pages for writing and coloring pages.

Toilet Paper Pumpkins

2010-11-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have seen this idea before. I've seen them all over the internet, so I can't give just one person credit. We made these during literature today. We're listening to Johnny Tremain and after I turned it on, I got up and got everything out for the project. My kids watched me make one and then both joined in. We made 8 of them. We would have made more, but that was all the fat quarters I had in Fall colors.

Here's what we used for this project (the list below makes one).

Full roll of toilet paper (not just the tube)
1 fat quarter in a Fall color
leaf cut out of felt (here is the pattern I used... After cutting we cut them all out I thought we could have bought some silk fall leaves and that would have worked great too, but I wanted to use things I had around the house).
2 green pipe cleaner
one brown lunch bag

First, we printed out the leaf pattern, traced it onto the felt and cut them out. Next, we pulled the fat quarter up over the toilet paper roll and stuffed it down the tube. Then, we cut off both ends off the lunch bags and twisted them up to look like a stem. Next, we rapped the leaf around the base of the stem with the ends of the pipe cleaners and twisted the pipe cleaners around a pencil to look like vines. Last, we stuffed the stem into the top of the pumpkin.

This was a really easy, fun and a super fast activity to do with the kids. It took us about 15 minutes to make them all. I think they're pretty cute!

Countdown to Thanksgiving Minibooks

2010-11-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

NEW RELEASE! Countdown to Thanksgiving Minibooks for only $1.00 until Thanksgiving!

I've also reduced Thanksgiving Notebooking Pages, now only $2.00 until Thanksgiving!

Our Missionary

2010-10-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

This week was bittersweet for my family.... on Wednesday, we dropped our 'son', Jon, off at The Mission Training Center in Provo, UT to begin training for his mission to the Belgium Netherlands Mission. He will be teaching the gospel in the Dutch language. We are LDS (mormon) and all worthy young men, 19 years of age are asked to go serve the Lord for 2 years. He was willing and excited for this experience! We're so proud of him and his choice to serve. It was a difficult road for Jon, he isn't a member of our family and he admits that if he hadn't come to live with us he certainly would not have chosen to serve the Lord.

Let me tell you a little about how Jonathan came to live with our family. A little history first... my father baptized Jon's dad (Carl) back in the early 1970's. My dad was the bishop of our ward and met him through the missionaries and took him under his wing. He became close with our family and we spent lots of time with him. Carl served a mission in Austria and met a great family while there. After his mission, he returned to visit that family and ended up marrying one of their daughters, Eva.
They lived in America for a while, but ended up moving back to Austria, where Jonathan was born. Jon's father died when he was 5 years old. His mother came out to visit our family when Jonathan was 10 and he asked if he could stay the rest of the summer with our family. His mother agreed, but Jon ended up staying a full year. His mother had always had a difficult time with Jonathan and asked if we would help raise him. We agreed.

When Jonathan came to live with us he didn't speak must English, but learned very quickly. After that year, he went back to live with his mother for a couple years. He began to be very rebellious making life very difficult for her and she asked if we would take him again. We were excited to have him come back! When he returned though we soon saw that we had taken on a different kid than had been with us a couple years earlier. He was causing lots of problems and we really didn't want to have him if he was going to make life in our home crazy. So, we told him that he had to reimburse us for the plane ticket we spend to get him out here and make the money to go back to Austria. He was 14 at the time and we had been homeschooling him. We found him a landscaping job and had him working full-time to earn the money to go back to Austria. We knew that having him work hard to earn the money would most liking make a change in him and we were right!

By the time he earned most the money he had become very humbled and asked if he could stay. We were thrilled to see his change of heart and we were glad to have him. He only returned to Austria twice during those years to visit and his mom and sister came out a couple times to visit him. So Jon lived with our family for more than 5 years. He has been a joy to have as part of our family. He has always fit in and always felt like one of our own. He's been a great blessing to our family and such a great example to our other kids!

Some of our extended family coming out to say goodbye to Jon.

The girls just love Jon and are so happy for him. Although, Cassie (the one on the right) is still crying that he's gone. Jon and Cassie are very best friends. She's away at college and I call her several times a day to see how she's doing. It's getting better now for her, thankfully!

My boys! All my kids bring me so much joy!

We all love Jonny so much and are going miss him like crazy! But, we know these are going to be the best two years of his life!!!

My Pantry

2010-10-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've had so many of my family and friends suggest that I post photos of my pantry on my blog and I've finally decided to go for it. First, I just want to say for those who may not know, our house burned down about three years ago and of course when something like that happens you get to 'redo' all those things you didn't like in the previous house. I had a large pantry in my last home, but it never really worked for me. I always wanted those can rotation racks, for starters. I loved that idea and I was definitely going to make those part of my new pantry. Second, I wanted to be able to fit 5 gallon buckets on my shelves for food storage. I don't have any of those on there right now, but I wanted that to be an option for me.

The original plan was to put in a large pantry and a counter top for my crock pot, and other larger/small appliances to sit on. We used the original foundation of the house and needed to rebuild with nearly the same dimensions as the old house. So, we made the kitchen and family room smaller and even took out one bedroom to add a VERY large pantry/extra kitchen. We entertain a lot, not to mention having lots of kids who have lots of get togethers themselves, so it's been nice to have a space for that.

We hired several carpenters while building the house for about a week and then hired full-time the one that would work for the least amount of money, but was still really good at his trade. He ended up doing lots of carpentry work for us that we would have never been able to do in a good economy.

One last thing, when our house burned down most of our old major appliances still worked (they were banged up but hey, they worked) and our cabinets were in pretty good shape, just banged up from roof tiles hitting them. So we reused all those in the pantry. We repainted all the cabinets and the only appliance we purchased for that space was a dishwasher. I know, I know... most people don't have a dishwasher in their pantry, but it's actually an extra kitchen too.

Welcome to my pantry/extra kitchen... I could have cleaned the door before taking the pic! Oh well!

Here are those can rotation racks I mentioned. I LOVE them!!! I got them at a Walmart in Utah for about $150.00 each.... I think. So worth it!

I had these corner shelves that I didn't know what to do with and I saw these super cute canisters on a little of this. a little of that and I loved them! So I went to Walmart and bought eight of them (about $7 each) and put some of my bulk stuff in them. I currently have canisters for flour, bread flour, sugar, brown sugar, pancake mix, rice, pecans, and walnuts. I love them so much and have room for more so I'm thinking I'll do some beans, powered sugar, chocolate chips.... I don't know, I just really like them A LOT! You can purchase the vinyl for the canisters at Say it on the Wall.

Here's a closer look at my canisters. Aren't they super cute?!

Here are my shelves that can old 5 gallon buckets. Well, at least the 5 bottom shelves can all the way across. I think we set it up so I can get 6 buckets on each shelf.

You can't really see them, but I put labels below each shelf so the kids know where to put everything. I think it's pretty obvious, but they always seem to put things away in the wrong place. The labels keep them accountable.

Here's the shot of the pantry side of the room. (sorry it's blurry) As you can see I have a double oven there on the left which came from the old house. The door leads to my garage which makes uploading groceries very convenient!

Here's the 'kitchen' side of my pantry.... I know it's completely over the top, but I seriously couldn't talk my husband out of it when we rebuilt the house. He wanted to use the old cabinets and said he'd rather have a smaller kitchen and family room and have this space then not. You probably can't tell, but there are 4 crock pots on the left side counter from a party we had the other night. We had over 100 people at our house. So when I say we entertain, I'm not kidding! My husband and I are both one of nine kids and our Thanksgivings are always at our house and we usually have over 75 people attend. It's been a nice way to keep everything out of the way when we have large get-togethers.

In the cabinets are all my small appliances, serving dishes that I use when I entertain and our nicer dishes that I only pull out on special occasions. But, this is also the 'kids kitchen' and when they have friends over they use this one so I don't have to see the mess. So there are also a couple cabinets with plastic dishes and pots and pans for them to use.

I have to admit that sometimes it stinks having both kitchens. First of all, the kids eat in the dinning room then put the 'pantry' dishes in the main kitchen and we are always having to take those dishes into the other room after washing them. Second, I HAVE 2 KITCHENS TO CLEAN!!! Who needs that! But we don't use it so much that it's that big of a deal most the time.

All in all, I'm glad my sweetheart talked me into this space. It's been a lifesaver when we entertain.

Flashmaster - Electronic Math Flashcards!

2010-10-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

We've been through our share of math flashcards, as I sure many of you have! I was reading through the blogs I follow and found the Flashmaster on one of the blogs I read... (I truly wish I remember which blog it was so I could give credit!!!) The the fact of the matter is that the Flashmaster is easy to use, fun for my son, and more convenient than fumbling with a bunch of flashcards. I wish I had had it with my older kids, but I'm glad to have it for my youngest. One great convenience is that we can take it with us when we run errands and he can work on his facts in the car.

I was honestly a little hesitant because of the price ($49.95!!!) but I'm happy with it and I'll just pass it off to one of my kids when they're ready to start homeschooling. So, it will be used for the next generation... very far down the road... but still!

Great product!

Declaration of Independence Copywork Notebooks

2010-09-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Declaration of Independence Copywork Notebook - only $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

Includes:

3 Notebook Cover Choices
The Entire Text of The Declaration of Independence
Basic-lines Copywork
Primary-lines Copywork
Additional Templates in Both Basic and Primary-lined options

You might also be interested in the following titles:

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Notebooking Pages - $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

Includes:

Study Helps
2 Cover Choices
3 Templates for Each Signer
One Basic-lined, One Primary-lined
Fact Sheet for Each Signer

Includes discount links to more titles (each only $1.00) after purchase.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Mini-books and Flashcards - $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

Study Helps
Cover Art for Each Signer
2 Mini-book Options
Art for Flashcards
Pocket for Flashcards
8 Flashcard Options

Includes discount links to more titles (each only $1.00) after purchase.

School and Chore Charts Tutorial

2010-09-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

So nearly 20,000 of you have downloaded this chore chart system, but do you use it? Do you see the vision here? So many times I download something from the internet and think to myself "well, that's cute, but I don't get it." So yesterday, I made my son a new chart (the last one got destroyed long ago when we moved). I know, it took me nearly two year to get around to making him a new one. I'm not sure why? I guess I thought he was getting too old for it. But, when he saw it finished he said "Oh mom, I remember that chart... I loved it!" Then my 14 year old daughter asked when hers was going to be finished. I was shocked! But, it's so easy to use, you'll see why.

Here's what you'll need to get started:

half size poster board (if you're using the smaller chart you can use the small poster boards that come in a 5 pack)
velcro sticker buttons (keep in mind that you will need double of one side of the velcro to add to the poster board)
scissors
double stick tape
I also print out something like 'Chris' Chore Chart' to add to the top

Here's how I put it together...

First, print off your card choice (small or large)... I personally like the large.
Cut them out and laminate them.
Print out the grid using colored paper (if desired) and laminate.
On your grid chart, add a velcro button to each square
Then add the opposite velcro button to the velcro on the grid chart
Next, add all the cards to the grid... the 'opposite' side of velcro will stick to the back of the cards.
Now add the 'opposites' again to the back of the cards.
Add double stick tape to the grid and add it to the bottom of the poster board.
Above the poster board add all the cards.
Add title with glue or double stick tape.
Trim around the poster board

Cards before laminating.

Chart before trimming the poster board.

Finished Charts

In the morning, I just put everything I want him to do that day on the top portion of the chart. Once he's completed the task he then puts the card on the grid portion. He's finished when the grid is full. And, all you have to do is grab the cards you want them to accomplish that day and move them off the grid. SO EASY!!!

New Titles - Signers of the Declaration of Independence

2010-09-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Mini-books and Flashcards

This title is available for only $1.00 through Monday,October 4. As an added bonus, I've added two related titles for only $1.00 each with the purchase of this title! You will receive discount links for these titles with your purchase, so keep an eye out for those!

Study then record what you learn about the great Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Many of these great men lost everything in the hopes of a free nation.

Included:

Study Helps
Cover Art for Each Signer
2 Mini-book Options
Art for Flashcards
Pocket for Flashcards
8 Flashcard Options

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Notebooking Pages

This title is available for only $1.00 through Monday,October 4. As an added bonus, I've added three related titles for only $1.00 each with the purchase of this title! You will receive discount links for these titles with your purchase, so keep an eye out for those!

Study then record what you learn about the great Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Many of these great men lost everything in the hopes of a free nation.

Included:

3 templates for each signer
basic-lined
primary-lined
fact sheet
Additional layouts also available for addition study

Lives of Signers of the Declaration of Independence

2010-09-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

My daughter will begin reading this book Monday and I want her to write a short narration for each of the 56 founders. I just published Signers of the Declaration Notebooking Pages for she and my son to use during our study. This title will sell for $5.00, but now through Monday, October 4 I'm selling it for only $1.00. With your purchase you will also receive discount links to three related titles for $1.00 each.

I've also found a book I just purchased for my son called The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of the Independence by Dennis Brindell Fradin.

Here are a couple websites that might also help with your study...

Here are a couple youtube videos I found to go along as well.

Science Choices for 2010-2011

2010-09-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Melanie:
Apologia Creation with General Science - we own the 1st edition

Supplements:
Exploring Creation with General Science Audio Book MP3-CD

Apologia General Science 1st Edition Lapbook Journal

Christian:
Exploring Creatio n with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright

Supplements:
Notebookin g Journal for Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright

Book List for History

2010-09-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

I usually have my book lists for the year all made up by the time we start school, along with tons of resources and notebooking pages all made up. But this summer was so extremely busy that I've only made up a small part of my book list and nothing else. However, I do have lots of books in mind. We are studying American History this year, picking up where we left off last year. We will begin with the French and Indian Wars.

We typically spend 1 to 2 weeks on each section. I'm hoping to get through a lot this year, but that's always my goal ;) Life has a way of getting in the way most of the time! As I decide on more books, I'll add it to this post, along with links to other resources I find to go along.

Our spine for history this year is All American History Volume 1... we started in Unit 3. Although, we will also be using parts of A New World of Adventure, as well.

French and Indian Wars - 1690-1765

Group Literature - Calico Captive

Easy Fun School Study Guide
About Elizabeth George Speare (Author)

Melanie - The Real Benjamin Franklin

Christian - Benjamin Franklin (In Their Own Words)

American Revolution - 1765-1783

Unit Study by Cindy Downes

Group Literature - Johnny Tremain

Spark notes for Johnny Tremain
Lesson Plans
Study guide - 1 - includes information about author
Study guide - 2
Study guide - 3
Johnny Tremain movie

I found the audio book of Johnny Tremain at my library.

Melanie - Lives of the Signers

Christian - George Washington's Socks

Framing a New Government - 1783-1800

Group Literature - Winter Hero

Melanie - The Real Thomas Jefferson

Christian - Thomas Jefferson: Third President of the United States (Childhood of Famous Americans)

Pre-Civil War - National Growth/Western Exploration

Group Literature: Of Courage Undaunted

Melanie - ????

Christian - Francis Scott Key (Sower Series)

Well, that's all I've got so far... like I said I still have a long way to go. But, I'm getting there and with a little luck, I'll have it all figured out soon!

By the way, my kids are posting most of their assignments on their school blogs this year. As I mentioned earlier I've been busy and looking for resources and making them is something I just don't have time for right now. They are basically adding narrations to their blogs and we have group discussion as well. It's working really well so far. Plus, the great thing about blogs is that it's like keeping a portfolio of all their work online, where it can't get lost.

Anyway... this post is UNDER CONSTRUCTION! More to come soon, I hope!!!

Followers Giveaway... And the Winners Are...

2010-09-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

First, I want to thank all those who entered the giveaway! I wish I could give something to everyone!

So let's get to it!

Insect Combo Winner: Pati

All 50 States Winner: Erica Halmar

All Science and Nature Bundle Winner: Sandra from Colourful Children

All American Bundle Winner: Theresa Cooper

Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection Winner: Trish from God's Army School

Congrats to all the winners!!!

Headin' Out of Town

2010-09-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

We're heading to our cabin this morning for some long over due rest and relaxation! We've only been up once this summer because we had a septic problem that needed fixing and now that that's all worked out, we're heading up! Yay! No internet or cell phones, aw, peace! We'll be back late Monday... then home for one day and then we're off to Disneyland for the rest of the week. It's going to be a crazy week, but tons of fun!

FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY!

2010-09-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

~ This Giveaway is Closed ~

TO CELEBRATE BACK TO SCHOOL I'M HAVING A GIVEAWAY!!!

Here are the prizes:

One (1) person will receive:

The Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection

One (1) person will receive:

All American Bundle

One (1) person will receive:

All Science and Nature Bundle

One (1) person will receive:

All 50 States Notebooking Pages

One (1) person will receive:

Insect Combo

RULES:

1. You MUST be a follower to one or more of the following:

This Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Or add my button to your blog or website (my button code is in the left-hand sidebar). Once you've added my button to your blog or website, add a comment here with your link.

2. Leave a comment and let me know what prize you're interested in! Please make sure I know how to get ahold of you!!! You won't be able to receive your prize if I can't send it to you :D If you're not comfortable leaving your email in the comments then sent it to me privately here along with your prize choice.

3. All entries must be submitted before midnight (PST) on Sunday, September 12. Winners will be announced Monday, September 13.

Let all your homeschooling friends know by spreading the word!

Thanks for entering!!!

Blog Makeover!

2010-09-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I got a cute blog makeover. I wanted something fun and colorful and I think that's been accomplished! I want to thank Staci at Blogging Bella Designs for doing such a great job. She's very creative and super easy to work with. I was a little reluctant to do anything different because I'm really very slow when it comes to all this sort of thing, but she did everything and made it absolutely painless. And I think she did it for a great price, check out her prices here.

If you're considering doing something different and fun with your blog, head over to Blogging Bella Designs and fill out her questionnaire.

I'm extremely happy with the end result! Thanks again, Staci!

Back to School Sale Ends Today!

2010-08-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

Today's your last day to save 40% on all Notebooking Nook titles at Currclick.com's Back to School Sale! Don't miss out on this great chance to save!

Notebooking & Lapbooking Basics

2010-08-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

I often get asked the same sort of basic questions about notebooking and lapbooking... What goes into a notebook or lapbook? What subjects/topics can I notebook/lapbook? How do I get started? What sort of supplies should I have handy?

All these are great questions and I'm going to attempt to answer them the best I can. Please feel free to comment if you have other questions I don't answer here. So let's get started.

What goes into a notebook or lapbook?

copywork
narrations
fact sheets/worksheets
reports/essays
biographies
maps
science research
nature findings
photos
vocabulary
art/illustrations
timelines
puzzles/games
and the list goes on....

So basically, anything you'd like to add that is relevant to your study. Don't limit yourself to what you "think" it's supposed to be... go for it and add what you'd like.

What subjects/topics can I notebook/lapbook?

History
Geography
Science/Labs
Nature Study
Language Arts
Math
Biographies
Holidays
Seasons
Any subject or topic you can come up with!

How do I get started?

This is easy... just get started. I know this isn't what you want to hear but it's the absolute truth. Don't wait until everything "looks" a certain way or you think you have everything you "need". Your kids will surprise you with their creativity. Below I will list some of the things you will want before you get started but most likely you already have all these things laying around your house. Mostly, you just have to have the desire. But since you're taking the time to read through this post I'm presuming you already possess a desire :)

What sort of supplies should I have handy?

This all depends on how you want your notebooks to be set up. There are options and I'll give you some different ideas of how you can do this.

How to store all the wonderful pages your children have created?

Here are a few ideas....

3-ring binder (you could place pages in page protectors)
spiral notebook
composition notebook
sketchbook
journal
scrapbook
bind your notebooks yourself... I use something called a ProClick. I wrote a review about this here.

What type of paper should I use in our notebooks?

You will want different types of paper for different projects. I mostly use plain copy paper, but for variety we use different colors as well. Especially in our lapbooks. Here's a list of some types of paper you could use.

plain copy paper (there are both 20 lb. and 24 lb. weights... I prefer the 24 lb. weight but it is a little more expensive. I use this because it's more sturdy)
colored copy paper
printed pages (pre-made) This link will take you to my freebie page or click here to see my products.
scrapbook paper
card-stock
linen
lined paper
construction paper
photo paper (for photos you want to add to your notebooks)

Here are some ideas for writing and art supplies.

pencils (plain and colored)
pens (different colored pens are fun)
crayons
chalks
pastels
markers
paints
scissors
glue or tape (I like double-stick tape)

Below is a list of extra supplies that are in no way necessary but sometimes fun to have around in case your child gets really creative or you have a mini-book that needs something extra to put together.

paper trimmer (I love mine and actually feel it's a necessity!!!)
fancy edged scissors
hole or specialty punchers
border templates
ribbons
photo corners
brads & eyelets
stickers
fancy & lettering stencils
rubber stamps
photos
images from internet (clipart) (Google and Yahoo both have image searches, but BEWARE not to allow your child to search on his own)
binding tool

Let me add a one more thing... It can get a bit overwhelming having all this stuff laying around so having a plan to organize it all is important or it will take over your space! I'll add a separate post about how to organize all your supplies soon but if you have any ideas you'd like to share with me, that would be great!

Ramblings about Facebook

2010-08-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

I was on Facebook tonight checking out my kids profiles (the only reason I even have a Facebook is to check on my kids!). I don't know about you homeschool moms but I constantly want to correct my kids spelling and grammar on there! They tell me that that's the one place it doesn't really matter. Well, it matters to me for some reason and it really drive me crazy! Oh well, I guess it's just one of those things I have to live with. Such as life, I suppose!

Also, I've had other moms surprised that I allow my kids to have Facebook accounts. Well, three of my kids are adults and out of the house. It's a great way for us to connect. They post photos so I can see what they're up to and I really like that a lot. As for my younger kids, they are also allowed to have accounts but, I moderate EVERYTHING! I have all their usernames and passwords and I set their accounts so only their friends can see anything. One of my kids changed his settings so "friends of friends" could see his photos. After a conversation about why that's not the safest plan we changed it back and he's fine with that now. It can be safe if you're involved in the process and stay involved. My kids don't spent too much time on Facebook but it is a fun way for them to connect with their friends and stay in the loop with activities and that sort of thing.

Humanitarian Aid - Brazil 2010

2010-08-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Two of my kids (Cassie, 18 and Brandon, 16) had the opportunity of a lifetime this summer! They took part in a humanitarian aid project in Brazil for two and a half weeks. Back in April of this year, the state of Rio de Janeiro experienced terrible mudslides that left more then 15,000 people homeless. My kids and a group of 20 other youth went there to help rebuild homes that were affected in the mudslides. They were able to see where the major damage was done and they said that it looked as if no homes had ever been there. But, hundreds of homes were buried along with the people that were in them. It was very devastating!

While there, they worked about 10 hours every week day and the they were able to sightsee on the weekends. They visited Iguazu Falls and my daughter said if that was all they had done in Brazil it would have been worth going just to see it. She was in absolute awe of the falls. They toured Rio the second weekend. But they both admitted that they enjoyed serving the people the most. They grew to love those were serving so much.

When I met them at the airport they were so humbled and grateful for all they have. My son is already saving to go again next summer! They both absolutely loved every minute of their time there.

Growing Pains

2010-08-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Why do our kids have to grow up?! I just returned from taking my two oldest daughters to Southern Utah University and being back home without them here, feels empty. This is my oldest daughter's third year away from home, so I'm use to her being gone... sort of. But, it's Cassie's first year :( She's going to do awesome at school and she was so excited to be there. I shed a few tears that I didn't let her see but she knows how I feel.

The playing ground at our house was always even... three boys and three girls. Well, now it's just my 14 year old daughter and I with all these boys and my husband, of course. But, they are all great, so it's fine. Anyway, I miss my girls, a lot! I'm sure I'm going to drive Cassie crazy calling several times a day like I did Ali at first. But it will get easier for me, I know.

Growing up stinks! But, I'm also excited for my kids and grateful for who they are, the goals they have set for themselves and the examples they are to me and others.

2010-08-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

ALL OUR TITLES ARE 40% OFF DURING

CURRCLICK'S BACK TO SCHOOL SALE!

Embroidered Crayon Apron

2010-08-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure how exactly to title this because I know there are crayon aprons that hold crayons and this is not what I'm referring to. But, I think some of you might like this idea.

Several months ago I was asked to plan an activity for 12 and 13 year old girls. My daughter, Melanie, (who was 13 at the time) thought up this neat idea. She wanted to make aprons where we trace on a pattern, color them with crayons and then embroider around them. We had started to make a crayon quilt before the fire but never finished it (for obvious reasons :D) and I thought it would be a fun and easy activity for the girls.

So, here are the supplies we used to make them.

One white or cream colored apron (we purchased them in the craft section at Wal-mart)
A box of crayons (Crayola seems to work the best)
A pattern (I'll talk more about that latter in this post)
Light box - here's the one I own
tape (preferably a heavier tape like masking)
iron
paper towels
black embroidery floss
embroidery needles
scissors

To start, we needed to figure out what pattern we wanted to put on the girls aprons. My daughter wanted a bee, her name and flowers. So to make it easier I just made all the girls the same pattern, except for their names. I found cute clipart at Clipart.com, (which is not free but I use it for my business) but you could find something anywhere online. I added their names with a cute font and we were in business!

Next, after printing off a pattern for each girl, they taped the pattern to the light box and starting tracing on their pattern with a pencil. We also tape on the apron so it doesn't shift. If you are using a thinner fabric you will want to iron freezer paper onto the fabric to make it stiff enough to trace onto. This works wonderfully!

Now that you have your pattern traced on it's time to color. My daughter likes to color in shades to give it depth. Again, if you are using a thinner fabric, leave the freezer paper on until after you are finished coloring. Will will be sorry if you remove it!

After coloring on the pattern, with a medium heat on your iron, you will cover the pattern with paper towels and iron until you leave no trace of crayon on your paper towels. You will go through quite a few paper towels depending on the size of your pattern. I suggest you get the cheap paper towels if you don't usually use them typically.

Once you're finished ironing, you can start embroidering! My daughter likes to use just a straight stitch but she has also used a button hole stitch for a few things as well.

Here's how my daughter's apron turned out.

All the other girls only put their names, with the bee and a couple flowers. But, Melanie was having so much fun that she wanted to add more flowers and stitch around the edges. She had so much fun that she's actually just starting her third apron.

Her second apron she made for my mom. Here's how that one turned out. As you can see there is much more detail. My mom loves it!

Here are some shots of her working on the one she is currently making on for me.

She has started stitching but I didn't get photos of that. I will definitely add photos of the finished apron when she's finished!

Lastly, she has been getting her patterns for her aprons at pccrafter.com. They offer lots of cute patterns for crafts at a pretty reasonable price. You can also preview everything before you purchase.

Rag Quilts

2010-08-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

I love making rag quilts! When we lost our house to a fire a couple years ago we lost almost all our quilts and I haven't made the time to make more. Well, my wonderful mother (who is an avid quilter) cleaned out her fabric room (which is huge!) and gave me hundreds of yards of flannel! You can image how excited I was!!! Well, since my beautiful daughters go to school in cold country, I thought I'd make them each a new rag quilt for those cold nights.

Ali (my oldest) helped a lot with the quilts but Cassie has been in Brazil for the last two weeks and has no idea about them at all. She's been wanting to make one for a while and will be thrilled it's been done for her. They leave for college just a few days after she returns from Brazil.

Ali's quilt... she likes a more patchy type... no rhyme or reason.

Close up of Ali's

Cassie's quilt has a pattern

Close up of Cassie's

We used 10" squares and made them for full size beds. We used 8 squares across and 12 squares down. The photos were taken on queens so they fit a full much better. They will actually be on twins at school but the girls wanted them a little bigger. We also used all flannels but you could also use 100% cotton for the front of the quilt to make it a little lighter. To make them even warmer we used a piece of batting in between each square. The batting squares are 8" and we sew an "X" on each square.

Note: When I say "squares" I'm referring to both the front and the back as one square or block, I guess. :D

I'm now making one for my California king. I'm also using 10" squares for that one - 12 across and 14 down. I'm still cutting the squares for that one and will post pics when I'm done.

These quilts are super cute, easy to make and you can make them fast. We took a couple days to make Ali's because we were busy, but I made Cassie's in one day.

If you would like to make a rag quilt of your own, here is a website that gives great instructions.

Notebooking Questions and Answers

2010-07-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

I really want to learn notebooking. How do I start? How do you choose what, how, and when to notebook?

My best advice would be to just start. Don't wait until everything "looks" a certain way or you think you have everything you "need". Your kids will surprise you with their creativity.

When I started notebooking I began with history, but this was just me. I love to notebook history because there is so much you can include: historical maps of the civilization, event, empire; quotes from whomever you are studying; and great images you might find online. We love the Usborne Internet Linked World History Encyclopedia! Along with the links to enhance your studies, they also have maps and clipart you can add to your pages.

At the moment, we are working on the dinosaur packet available on my website. We spent a couple days last week reading about dinosaurs. This week we are filling out fact sheets for the dinosaurs and then from those we write up a brief narration about the dinosaur, color the picture, and mark on the map where fossil evidence has been found.

Another really easy way to start is to begin a nature notebook. Just spend some time outside and have the kids look for something interesting to write about. It might be a cluster of lady bugs in a bush or an ant hill. They can take pictures of the things they find and use the pictures to look up what they find. The pictures can be included in their notebook, along with any information they find in their research.

I like to print most of my pages onto 24 lb. paper, but you could use 18 lb. without any problems. I print cover pages onto card stock. If the kids are going to be doing a lot of gluing on a page we might also use card stock. I collect scrapbook materials when I find them on sale. We like to use "fancy" paper behind some of the images as borders or use punched out shapes to dress up the pages. This is not the most important part of notebooking, but once the research is done and the pages are mostly put together you can add all the "frills".

Can you tell me a little bit more about copy work and how you notebook it?

Copywork is means of showing your child how a piece of literature should look and be written. When your child does copywork it is important that they not look at a word and copy one letter at time, but look at the whole word and write it. This really helps a lot with spelling. Seeing the proper way to punctuate and the usage the different parts of speech is also a key to copywork. Your child can't help but do better in their writing if they are daily see great works of literature and copying them.

Copywork can very easily be brought into notebooking. I keep a bookshelf in my schoolroom with books of poetry, fables and quotes. They also take their copywork from their literature. I also have a binder where I put quotes and scripture verses for them to copy. I still have young children who copy and so I make sure to find very short verses for them. However, since they are used to copywork, I can also give them a longer
piece to copy and they might spend a week on it, copying one or two lines a day. I couldn't do this with my older kids when we first started out because it would overwhelm them.

All you need is a basic notebook page for these notebooks. If your child enjoys illustrating make sure there is an illustration box for them to add a drawing to. I like to look for coloring pages for my younger ones and shrink them down to fit onto their pages. I copy it to my desktop, drag it into my drawing program and create a page for them. This way the page is all ready for them to write and color. One of my younger kids enjoys drawing his own pictures and another likes coloring a picture which has already been provided for her. I do have a primary copywork packet available on my website.

Over the years I've done different things to get the kids motivated about doing their copywork . . . I used to keep separate jars with scripture verses, quotes, and poems and they would pull them out and that was their copywork for the day. We still alternate days doing a verse, quote, poem, literature and their choice for each day of the week. Although, like I mentioned before, some selections take more then one day.

I bought the book on inventors and the notebook pages from you, but what do I do with them? How do we study the subject? What is my part and what is my son's part?

Much of notebooking is having your kids narrate back what is read that day. The pages you purchased will be nice to have him copy his narration onto. Use the fact sheet to fill in the facts as you come to them or have him research the answers over the next few days. Once that is completed he could use it to write a report on the subject.

If you have the inventors book you could just read through one or two sections a day and have him write about what you read. You can also do further study by checking out books from the library and utilizing the internet.

The empty boxes provided on some pages are for illustrations, such as diagrams. The boxes could also be used to add quotes, maps of where the invention was introduced or the inventors birthplace. You might find a picture of a monument in his honor. If your son enjoys making models he could put something together that relates to what you are studying and add a picture of it to his page.

One other thing about narration . . . I have an 8 year old who narrates to me as I write it on a separate piece of paper. I still have him use primary lines (he's a bit messy) and often use a highlighter, writing in the narration for him to trace over. If his narration is long, we decide together what the most important part of the narration was, and he writes it on the paper. I still add his whole narration to his notebook, but because writing is a struggle for him I don't push it too much. I usually type it out for him. Although, he really enjoys typing and will sometimes type part of them out himself.

Ye Are My Disciples

2010-07-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Savior said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). This principle is something I have strived to teach my children both at home and out in the world. I believe that the one true key to happiness is to labor for the happiness of those around us.

In our family prayers, some often used phrases are "help us to find ways of serving others" or "give us opportunities to serve those around us." Do we really want to have to go out of our way to serve others? Are we really looking for opportunities to serve? For myself, I have to say, yes (at least the majority of the time, I do have my bad days and fall short more than I'd like to admit). I always hope my children are doing the same and of course I do see them go out of there way to help others. I know they don't do this for the approval of others, but because they truly want to live to be Disciples of Christ.

A few weeks ago my 16 year old son had the opportunity to go to a 5 day youth conference (EFY) put on by our church. This is something he looks forward to every year. We didn't check to see what time registration was and he was a few hours early, so to kill a little time he went to Wal-mart to wander around. As he was walking in, he saw an older woman who was struggling to get out of her car. He ran up to her and asked if there was anything he could do to help. She asked him if he would get her a motorized shopping cart and he ran inside to get one for her. After he reached her car again he helped her into the cart and bent down to give her a hug. He stayed with her during her shopping to help her reach high things on the shelves. Once she was finished, he put her groceries in her car and he helped her back into the car. She gave him another hug and teary-eyed thanked him for being such a good boy.

Now, I don't want you to think that my boy shouts from the roof tops when he does a good deed, in fact, I didn't hear about this from my son at all. About a week later, I was talking to my younger daughter who also attended the conference and I asked if she had had any experiences that she wanted to share with me. She said that during their first devotional the counselors were talking about serving others and how some people do it for the glory of men and others do it to glorify God. Then out of the blue, they called my son to come up front. Apparently, some of the counselors where also at Wal-mart early that morning and were paying close attention to my son's actions. They were thrilled again when they saw him register at the conference. They called him up front (about 500 kids attended) and shared with the attendees what they observed my son do. After which, one of the counselors read some scriptures relating to service where the Lord speaks to one of his servants and whenever the Lord spoke the name of the servant, the counselor replaced the name in the scripture and used my sons name (I wish my son had taken down the scripture but I'll try to figure out what it was!). My boy was overcome and wept.

The Savior is our perfect example of service. Even though He came to earth as the Son of God, he humbly served everyone. Jesus used a parable to teach the importance of service. In the parable, he speaks of his return to the earth and of separating the righteous from the wicked. To the righteous He says: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye game me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." (Matthew 25:34-36)

The righteous didn't understand and asked: "Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or wen saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" (Matthew 25:37-39)

The Lord answers, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethen, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:40)

I love that! We are here to serve one another - to be the Lords hands.... to say kind words, do good deeds and to gladden the hearts of our brothers and sisters. There is no one here on this beautiful planet that isn't a VIP to God and His Son! They love each and every one of us the same and we are obligated to serve others as Christ served. He gave ALL He had for us and if He wants us to love each other, isn't it the very least we can do!

Lastly, in Galatians 5:14 it says: ... "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And, John 13:34: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

I Know That My Savior Loves Me

2010-06-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

I teach the 5 year olds at church and this is a song they are learning to go along with this year's theme and program. This is not one of my kids or students but I thought it was so precious I had to put it on my blog. I get to hear the kids at church sing it every week and it always fills me with the spirit to hear the little children sing it.

Here are the lyrics:

"I Know That My Savior Loves Me", Friend, Oct 2002

1. A long time ago in a beautiful place,
Children were gathered ’round Jesus.
He blessed and taught as they felt of His love.
Each saw the tears on His face.
The love that He felt for His little ones
I know He feels for me.
I did not touch Him or sit on His knee,
Yet, Jesus is real to me.

Chorus
I know He lives!
I will follow faithfully.
My heart I give to Him.
I know that my Savior loves me.

2. Now I am here in a beautiful place,
Learning the teachings of Jesus.
Parents and teachers will help guide the way,
Lighting my path ev’ry day.
Wrapped in the arms of my Savior’s love,
I feel His gentle touch.
Living each day, I will follow His way,
Home to my Father above.
Chorus

Copyright © 2002 by Tami Jeppson Creamer and Derena Bell. All rights reserved. This song may be copied for incidental, noncommercial home or church use. This notice must be included on each copy made.

You can get the sheet music here.

His Hands - ASL 2 Final

2010-05-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

My 18 year old daughter, Cassie, is taking American Sign Language 102 at our community college and absolutely loves it. She has always been fascinated with ASL and as a younger girl taught herself a lot on her own. She invited me to her class to watch her final this week and she did a beautiful job. Her teacher and several of the students were all in tears by the end. Her teacher said that she's going to make a believer out of him. I hope you enjoy it as well.

The music she used is "His Hands" sung by Jenny Jordan Frogley. You can download it from iTunes. I put in the smallest option from youtube but it's still too big. You can click on the upper left hand side of the video to watch it on youtube.

Sale on Some Great Titles!

2010-04-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a few discounts I've put together this week. You can only receive the discount by clicking on the special links below. These offers are good through Monday, May 3.

All American Bundle - Sale $15.99 - Normal Price $24.99

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?discount=81485

Ten of our most popular titles in one bundle! All relating to America in some way and we're throwing in the Geography Terms Flashcards as a bonus to this collection.

Titles included in this set:

All Science and Nature Bundle - Sale $14.99 - Normal Price $24.00

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?discount=45013

All our current Science and Nature titles in one complete set! 100's of notebooking pages, mini-books sets, and flash cards to assist in making learning more fun!

14 Titles currently available in this set:

Dinosaur Notebooking Pages
Nature Study of North American Birds Notebooking Pages
Nature Study of Mammals Notebooking Pages
Nature Study of North American Desert Wildlife Notebooking Pages
Owl Notebooking Pages
Insect Notebooking Pages
Squirrel Notebooking Pages
Crabs Notebooking Pages
Great Inventors Complete Set
Biomes Mini-books
Giant Panda Mini-books
Honeybee Mini-books
Insect Mini-books
Periodic Table of Elements Flash Cards

All Bible Copywork Notebooks - Sale $4.99 - Normal Price $8.00

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?discount=90298

All our current Bible copywork notebooks in one complete set! Each notebook includes cover page, primary and basic-line options, and memory cards with pocket that can be added to lapbook or notebook.

Titles currently available in this set:

1 Corinthians 13
Psalm 5
Psalm 8
Psalm 16
Psalm 19
Psalm 24
Psalm 27
Psalm 32
Psalm 91
Psalm 96
Ruth 1
Ruth 2
Ruth 3
Ruth 4

All 50 States Notebooking Pages - Sale Price $9.99 - Normal Price $18.50

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?discount=95665

Each set of State Study Notebooking Pages includes 67 notebooking pages for a total of 3,350 pages in all. You will find both primary and basic-line options. Some pages include maps and/or illustration boxes. These notebooking pages are designed so you can create a personalized notebook for each of your children.

Each set of notebooking pages includes:

2 Cover Pages
Basic State Facts
Region and Geography Page
4 State Flag Pages
4 State Seal Pages
2 State Quarter Pages
3 State Bird Pages, includes coloring page
3 State Flower Pages, includes coloring page
3 State Tree Pages, includes coloring page
2 State Song Pages
3 Major Bodies of Water Pages, includes maps
3 Large Cities Pages, includes maps
5 Economy Pages
5 State Capital Pages
3 Mapping Pages
5 History Pages
2 Famous People Pages
4 Native American Tribes Pages
4 Tourism Pages
2 Field Trip Pages
8 Additional Templates

My Favorite Resources

2010-04-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

I've used so many different resources and curriculum over the 13 years I've been homeschooling and some have been ones I refer to over and over again. I wanted to compile this list for those of you who might be just starting out on your homeschool journey.

Language Arts:

Writing: Excellence in Writing (IEW) - a little expensive but well worth the money. I also really like their theme-based lessons. They offer lots of different themes at all levels.
Literature: We love to read lots of literature and will often put together a lapbook or notebook to go along with our reading. I do offer a few literature titles as well as some freebies for literature (scroll down a little for the literature freebies). We are currently using Learning Adventures Unit Study - A New World of Adventure for our literature. I think Progeny Press also puts out some really nice literature guides and use them often.
Spelling: Sequential Spelling
Grammar: Easy Grammar
Copywork: My kids have done copywork for the last 6-7 years. I offer many copywork notebooks but some other favorites we use are from both Westvon Publishing and LightHome Publications.
Phonics - While I'm passed this stage, I LOVE starfall.com! It was an enormous help to me while teaching my kids to read. My youngest basically taught himself to read using this site. And... it's FREE!!! They also offer downloadable worksheets to go along with the books or you can purchase them at a very affordable price.

History: I've used lots of different resources over the years but my all time favorite is Learning Adventures Unit Studies. Of course, because it's a unit study it offers more than just history.

Mystery of History
Truthquest History - A literature based study of history
Tapestry of Grace - This is also a unit study but it's main focus is history
Drive Thru History

Science:

Apologia Science - These books have worked best for our family. Knowledge Box Central and Live and Learn Press both offer supplements to go along with these books.

(This post is a work-in-progress)

Fab Fridays - URG

2010-03-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, as great as my intensions are to have something fun for my kids to do every Friday, sometimes it just doesn't work out!

2 Thursday ago I was taking my sweetheart to the airport and 15 minutes from the there my engine decided not to go any further. We've been having car problems for a little while but we thought we had them all resolved. Apparently not! My car is still being worked on and it looks like it will be another week before I get it back. So, as a result of this happening I was stuck in Vegas all day Friday making arrangements to get my car back to Bullhead City... 2 hours south of Vegas. But, my sister was home and took us to the airport! LOVE having family close by!

This last Friday wasn't a total bust, just not planned out very well. My kids argued a little about what we were going to do. So I decided we were going to complete a regular school day and then just work on existing projects they have going.

Melanie cut out an apron we had purchased fabric for a while ago. She also sewed some buttons on an applique piece she's finishing up.

Christian just made a couple little crafts we had laying around the house.

Both kids also made some cupcakes which turned out super cute!

Spring into Savings!

2010-03-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

ALL NOTEBOOKING NOOK TITLES ARE 30% OFF!!!

Freebies - Point of View

2010-03-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Point of View Notebooking Pages and Mini-book

Basic and primary lined pages or choose the mini-book - 4 pages

Awesome Find

2010-03-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

I just came across this awesome site that offers text and audio for books that have lost their copyrights. There are literally thousands of books on this site and I'm finding so many great titles. The quality of the audio is very good on the ones I sampled.

The website is called LibriVox. Here's the link to their entire catalog. I'm super excited about this find!

Eventful Week

2010-03-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

We're taking a Spring Break this week because all my college age kids are on their break. I had big cleaning projects planned as well as a quick trip to Disneyland for a day. We did one of the "Give a day, get a day" that Disney was offering and we had hoped to go this week. But life has been extra busy for my husband and his schooling and we just couldn't fit it in. However, my daughters drove up to San Francisco to see the musical Wicked and loved it! They've been singing songs from it since they got home. I'm glad they had that time together.

I have done a few cleaning projects and want to accomplish more today. I'm planning on going through my closet and getting rid of some old clothes. I hate having more then I need! It feels overwhelming to me, plus I'm sure there are plenty of people who could use them more than me. I also want to clean out the fireplaces and the garage.

I've been to Vegas 4 times in the last week. It's about 2 hours north of us, so a little bit of a pain. My husband's been taking proctored exams and also flew to Texas and back. He leaves again tomorrow, so back to Vegas we go! My husband has a hard time driving too long without getting tired. We were in an accident 2 years ago after he fell asleep behind the wheel so I or one of the kids take him whenever he needs to go into Vegas. Anyway, he's in school to get his medical degree and it's put a little extra stress on the family. But we prayed about it and know it's what we need to do right now.

So my "Spring Break" hasn't been too relaxing but I'm still spending it with my family and enjoying them all the same. Oh, and one last thing... I broke a toe on Saturday so I'm doing all this with a little limp :)

Fab Fridays - Pretzels

2010-03-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

WARNING! This post may get a little twisted!!!

We love pretzels and almost every time we go to the mall we go to Auntie Anne's and purchase one or two to share. I don't know how many times I've thought about making homemade pretzels and never took the time to do it. When I asked my kids what they wanted to do last Friday I was excited for them to say they wanted to make pretzels! I just have to say they were probably the best tasting pretzels of my life... NO JOKE! They were FABULOUS!

I found the recipe at Allrecipes.com. They were so good we're planning on making them again after church on Sunday, only this next time we'll make a double batch :)

But of course we weren't just going to make pretzels, we had to learn a little bit about them as well. Here are a few website we found along with our study and some notebooking pages I put together for the kids to do.

History of Pretzels

Wikipedia about Pretzels

Aunt Anne's Facts about Pretzels

Pretzel Notebooking Pages

Fab Fridays - Hoover Dam, Discovery Museum and Dinner Show

2010-03-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

I grew up 10 minutes from Hoover Dam and spent lots of time down there as a kid. I can't tell you how many school and church field trips I took there while growing up. Since 9/11 lots has changed at the dam and because it became sort of a hassle to go because of security and such I hadn't taken my kids there since then. Well, I decided it was time and plus I wanted to see how the construction of the new Hoover Dam bypass was coming along.

Well, lots had changed since the good old days. When I was a kid a full tour was about $7 and this included going into the dam. Now just to park is $7 and then another $8 a person just to go into the visitors center. If you want the full tour (which includes a movie) you're going to pay $30 a pop!!! We only did the visitors center, but if we go again we'll park on the Arizona side and walk across the dam and just take pictures. That's doesn't cost anything. Anyway, there's also a free dam movie at the Hotel near by but we didn't have time to stop to see that this particular day. I do plan on taking the kids to see that another day or we'll just find something on Netflix to watch :)

There were a few interactive activities in the new Hoover Dam visitors center.

This is part of the memorial for those who lost their lives building the dam.

We also went to the Lied Discovery Children's Museum with my sister and her 5 kids. It's mostly for younger kids but my kids had a great time anyway. There were still lots of things to keep them interested.

Christian spent a lot of time making bubbles... he loved this!

Christian had also just finished writing a report about tornados so this was fun for him too!

My sister, Jenny, and her two oldest kids at the Discovery Museum

Melanie in the 80 mph wind... too much fun!

The last thing we did this day was go to the Tournament of the Kings show at the Excalibur Hotel. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures... very disappointed about that, ARG!! But it was very fun. It's a dinner show and we were served chicken, vegetables, roll, and potato wedges and we you don't get any utensils, so we ate with our hands... pretty fun. The kids had a great time!

This is WAY more than we would typically do in one day but we were in Vegas and we tried to fit in more than usual.

Fab Fridays

2010-03-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

I've got 6 kids and only homeschool 2 of them now, which I have to admit is fabulous! I loved homeschooling all my kids but having so many of them and all at different levels and trying to get my older ones into good colleges put an enormous amount of stress on me and took a lot of my time. So who suffered in the meantime?... my younger kids, of course. And I'm one to carry around tons of guilt, loose sleep over it and hopefully make a new choice in the morning. Well, the new day comes along and all those same issue about working with the older kids flooded my day, but again!

I didn't completely ignore the younger kids, please don't get me wrong, we just didn't make time for the "fun stuff." I remember spending time doing all sorts of fun projects with my older kids when they were young. We usually had a 4 day school week so we could do projects or field trips on Fridays. Well, why should my younger kids not have those same great experiences? So, I've repented now for straying from those precious moments and am now having those same fun experiences with my younger kids.

But wait! Let me explain a few things first... I always invite my kids to cook with me in the kitchen, help with odd jobs around the house, we always are reading a book together and we spend time running errands together and of course we have school everyday... but, in my most humble opinion some of these things don't all together count as what we affectionately call our "Fab Fridays". In our family, Fridays have "planned" activities that the kids come up with on their own. They can but don't have to relate to what we are learning in school, but they usually do. Mom needs to know ahead of time what they are planning so I can come up with a short lesson to go along and create notebooking pages or lapbook elements to go along. Sometimes they are things the kids have been interested in or something we studied several years ago and they want to "do it again". Lastly, we add our adventures to a notebook we titled "Fab Fridays" (of course). We add photos and other things that relate to what we did for our activity. If what we did also has something to do with what we are studying we add a copy to that folder as well. So with all this said I'll share some of the things we've been up to lately and I plan on adding a new post every week about our "Fab Fridays."

*** I'll add the "Fab Fridays" to their own post so they can be linked to more easily :)

Diabetes - Made Simple

2010-02-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

Freebie - Cloud Matchbooks

2010-02-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

Cloud Matchbooks

We added these matchbooks to a half size poster and put it on the wall near a window. When the kids fill in their weather chart each day they refer to the poster and try to identify which type of cloud is in the sky.

You could also cut off the bottom portion of the matchbook and make flashcards adding the definition to the back side. The flash cards to be added to a filing system or place them in a pocket and add them to a notebook or lapbook.

United States Presidents Minibooks and Flashcards

2010-01-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've just released a new title that I think will be a great addition to your study of American History.

United States Presidents Minibooks and Flashcards $2.50

This set includes:

Cover Art
2 Minibook Options for each US President
Cabinet Page
Images for Flashcards
Pocket for storing Flashcards
4 Flashcard Options

Minibooks and flashcards are great to add to lapbooks, notebooks, creating a timeline notebook or filing system, review, and games.

This title has also been added to my Complete Collection which is still on sale through the end of this month for only $50.00. If you haven't purchased this collection, now is a wonderful time to do so. After the January 31 the price will go up to $100.00. Don't miss out on this great price - there's only a few days left to save!

My Beautiful Children

2010-01-22T09:11:00.000-08:00

We took photos for the grandparents for Christmas. They turned out pretty good considering we took them 2 days before as an after thought. I have such great amazing kids!

Freebie- Copywork Notebook Covers

2010-01-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Copywork Cover - Girl

Copywork Cover - Boy

Get EVERYTHING I Offer for Only $50!

2010-01-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to offer my COMPLETE COLLECTION to you, over 120 titles, which includes, minibooks, notebooking pages, copywork notebooks, flash cards and student notebooks for only $50.00! Even if you have purchased other titles from me in the past, this offer is too good to pass up to snatch up all my other titles! With this purchase, you will receive over 120 titles in all! Don't miss your chance to get EVERYTHING I offer for only $50!

Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection - $50.00 (Valued at $640.75)

* offer good through January 31

Humanitarian Aid Sale

2010-01-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Our family had such a blessed holiday season with our family and friends - it was very special.

Two of my children, Brandon age 16 and Cassie age 18, along with 14 other youth have been given the opportunity to go to Niterol, Brazil for three weeks this summer. While there, they will be building a new home for abused or neglected boys. The boys currently live in an old, run-down house but have land for the construction of a new home. My children have set a goal to collect $5000.00 in donations to help fund this project. They will be having bake sales, yard sales and other things to raise money. They asked if I would be willing to help by giving some of my earnings from the Notebooking Nook. I'm so proud of my kids for wanting to give so much of their time and energy for such a worthy cause that I'm going to give 100% of my January earnings to help fund their project. But I need your help and I want to make it worth your while.

Humanitarian Project Sale

With the purchase of any bundled set over $10.00 you will receive the Joyful Steward Student Planners FREE! ($21.00 Value)

See all our bundled sets

~OR~

Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection - $65.00 ($640.75 Value)

(PLEASE NOTE: ANY BUNDLED SETS ASSOCIATED WITH MAKE IT REAL LEARNING ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS PROMOTION)

Click here to see all our products

We have a family friend who is currently serving a two year mission in Brazil and writes that the conditions are very poor. By purchasing from us this month you will be making a difference in the lives of several young boys. I know you will be blessed for you willingness to give. Thank you.

If you would like to make a donation we will be adding a link for that soon.

Below are some photos of another youth group that went to Brazil in the past doing the same type of project...

National Diabetes Awareness Month

2009-11-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

Do you know the warning signs of type 1 diabetes? They include one or more of the following and occur suddenly:

extreme thirst
frequent urination
drowsiness/lethargy
sugar in urine
sudden vision changes
increased appetite
sudden weight loss
fruity/sweet or wine-like odor on breath
Heavy labored breathing, stupor/unconsciousness
Each year 15,000 children are diagnosed with type 1 - that's about 41 kids everyday. Our daughter was one of those 15,000 kids last year. We're trying to make a difference for Cassie and other children and their families who live with this chronic illness everyday.

This Saturday, November 14th, we are walking to cure diabetes. Please help by making a small donation (or large) by using the link below. We appreciate anything you can do to help. I pray a cure is found and our daughter and others can live a more normal life.

If you would like to donate to our family team, it's called "Cassie's Crew" and it's taking place in the state of Nevada. You can donate at the link below. Thank you so much.

Walk to Cure Diabetes

Freebies - Fiction or Nonfiction Notebooking Page

2009-10-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

Fiction or Nonfiction Notebooking Page

Notebooking Nook

New Titles - African Grassland Animals

Both Sets Include the Following Animals:

The Notebooking Nook's Complete Collection - $90.00 - Over 150 Titles Included

All Science and Nature Bundle - $25.00 - 16 Title Included

My goal is always to provide quality titles at very affordable prices.

2011-2012 Curriculum Choices for Christian

Putting a Button with Code on Blogger

Organizing All That Unused Paper

Homeschool Planning Pages

Melanie's Curriculum 2011-2012 School Year

Downloading Issues

Famous People and Events of the Middle Ages TOC

Constantine Notebooking Pages

My Baby's on a Mission!

Freebie - Gila Monster Notebooking Pages

Freebie - Fish Notebooking Pages

Teaching Textbooks Grading Logs

Whisper Sale.... SHHHH!

Spring -It-Forward Sale

Type 1 Diabetes Website

Freebie: Simile and Metaphor

Presidents' Day Sale

Mathematicians Are People, Too - Vol.2

New Title - The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Copywork Notebook

New Releases: Literary Terms and Elements

Teaching Problem Solving Using SODAS

Freebies - John Trumbull Notebooking Pages

Freebies - Martin Luther King, Jr. Notebooking Pages

ProClick Binding Machine

December in Review

Cassie's Diagnoses Day

Freebie - American Revolutionary War Unit Study and Lapbook

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Lapbook

40% Off All Notebooking Nook Titles!

How to Add a Flap to a Lapbook

State Minibooks

You can also get this title when purchasing ALL 50 STATES NOTEBOOKING PAGES

World Diabetes Awareness Day

Happy Day!

Freebie: Tall Tales Notebooking Pages

Washing Machine Woes

Horse Notebooking Pages

Description

Toilet Paper Pumpkins

Countdown to Thanksgiving Minibooks

Our Missionary

My Pantry

Flashmaster - Electronic Math Flashcards!

Declaration of Independence Copywork Notebooks

Declaration of Independence Copywork Notebook - only $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Notebooking Pages - $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Mini-books and Flashcards - $1.00 (Through Monday, October 4)

School and Chore Charts Tutorial

New Titles - Signers of the Declaration of Independence

This title is available for only $1.00 through Monday,October 4. As an added bonus, I've added three related titles for only $1.00 each with the purchase of this title! You will receive discount links for these titles with your purchase, so keep an eye out for those!

Lives of Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Science Choices for 2010-2011

Book List for History

Followers Giveaway... And the Winners Are...

Headin' Out of Town

FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY!

Blog Makeover!

Back to School Sale Ends Today!

Notebooking & Lapbooking Basics

Ramblings about Facebook

Humanitarian Aid - Brazil 2010

Growing Pains

Embroidered Crayon Apron

Rag Quilts

Notebooking Questions and Answers

I really want to learn notebooking. How do I start? How do you choose what, how, and when to notebook?

Can you tell me a little bit more about copy work and how you notebook it?

I bought the book on inventors and the notebook pages from you, but what do I do with them? How do we study the subject? What is my part and what is my son's part?

Ye Are My Disciples

I Know That My Savior Loves Me

His Hands - ASL 2 Final

Sale on Some Great Titles!

My Favorite Resources

Fab Fridays - URG