Book Giveaway!

I'm sorry that these didn't get posted on Saturday. Guess what? Last week's winners didn't get mailed either. ::snort::

I'll wait until Friday to draw winners this week, as I'm posting these late.

If you are a participant in the summer reading challenge (it's not to late to join), you are eligible for this random drawing. Simply leave a comment and let me know which book you'd like to be considered for. You'll need to give me a way to contact you so that we can exchange addresses off blog.

*The Purpose Driven Life* by Rick Warren. Brand new copy. Honestly, we have been given several copies. I have not made it past the first few chapters as I really struggle with the way he uses various obscure paraphrases of Scripture. This means that I have to look up each verse in several translations I trust before I move ahead to the next sentence.....BUT if you don't have that hang up you may enjoy this book.....and many who DO have that hangup tell me that they love this book. I loved the first line "it's not about you". ::snort::

*Homeschooling the Early Years* by Linda Dobson. Used copy - no markings. This book is a "complete" guide to successfully homeschooling the 3- to 8- year-old child.

*For the Children's Sake* by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. Used book, name in the front, but no markings in this copy. This was my first exposure to Charlotte Mason's theory years ago; I was hooked. It's a small book. It's an easy read. It will give you fresh vision for what homeschooling could be.

Spectacular Sunday

Quote of the Day: "If a man twists his head" (looks both ways), "that means the ghost is clear" (coast is clear).

Traditional Service.....I ducked out of church early to set up for the after church fellowship. A nice time to visit - lots of new folks coming in.

We raced home and dropped off children, picked up a change of clothes, and then Michael, Jared, and I headed back to base.

Gospel Service. Our chaplain candidate preached and it was great. She also preached in the traditional service...but I missed her as I was setting up for fellowship. I was glad to catch her the second time around. ::snort::

At 4 p.m. Josiah met us at the bowling ally with all the other children. Our chaplain candidate and the Hardings met us there too. Debbie and I realized that once again Arielle was the only girl....but there wasn't much we could do about it right then.

We migrated to DQ after bowling...where we took up 3 booths....

Got home to messages from Krista, Shop Natural truck driver and Don and Beth. I fell asleep while Michael was still talking to Krista. ::snort::

Full day...

Simply Saturday

The day began with Jared at the local airport for his first Civil Air Patrol flight.

We thought this one was funny....small town TX with a football field in the very center of town. Jared had a blast. He enjoyed getting to fly the plane. I, on the other hand, am always too worried about puking to think about flying. Mike is talking about getting current and flying again. There is a possibility he can join CAP and fly their planes at a discounted rate.

We picked up Jared and headed for the pool. Cy and Jamin didn't have to work until 3:00, it was a rare family day at the pool.

Mike and I ran out and bought "things" and had lunch at Outback. Bre called with her new cell phone number while we were eating. Nicholas got she and Krista verizon phones. I guess they have unlimited weekend and night minutes and can call any other verizon phone for free....so Mom and Dad - email them your phone number and I'm sure they'll send you theirs.

Mike worked on computers. Mike and Jared went running. Beth, one of my dear Sister Friends called. She, her dh, and youngest son (Jared's age?), are winding their way to see us. They are in Blithe, AZ tonight.....I can't tell you how exciting it is to have FRIENDS stop in and see you in a "new" location. None of our new homes really feel like "home" until family and friends stop and visit.

Ummm....I haven't really got a clue....


There seems to be an epidemic of climbing the walls around here

Fun Friday

Produce co-op.

Swimming - we'd not gone at all this week. The children deserved a treat.

I busily printed photos of Stacia's first year...but didn't finish before I had to leave the house. Tonight was PWOC's Project night on base. I decided to keep working on transferring old photos to a new album. My friend, Debbie, was uninspired with her project and so she helped me take photos out of my magnetic albums. I got the second album transferred and all the pages are out of the 3rd album. I've arrived in Liberia, West Africa.

BTW - this is part of my Scrapbook Challenge thingy. I hope to be able to make more progress now that I have a whole album of photos removed from the magnetic album and ready to transfer. Sherri, another friend, attended tonight. She sells Creative Memory and was laughing at my old tape runners. I have BOXES of these....but using hers quickly helped me decide to pitch all of them and buy a new one. ::snort:: Wow - much quicker with a decent tape runner. Mine aren't THAT old - I sold from 2003 - 2005.

That's it for the day.

*Confessions of an Organized Homemaker* by Deniece Schofield

I received this book from Paperback Swap. I first thought, "Yeah, I'll skim this and put it back on PBS quickly." As I started reading I thought, "I'll keep this one, it will be good for a resource to hand out." As I finished the book I debated what to do - it IS a good book. I found that I was already doing 80% of what she mentions. I could keep it for step by step instructions as I implement some new organization in my kitchen...and it would be nice, I suppose to have to loan out.....but I have so many books kept for that reason - and I NEED TO CLEAR OUT THE BOOKS!!!! I put it back on PBS, where it was on someones wish list. LOL

I really enjoyed the easy style of writing in this book. Deniece shares many great tips. She has quite a bit on setting up a calendar type household notebook. I find that I already did this on my own but my notebook is not small enough to "carry with me". I'm still not convinced that I will go back and get a smaller one...I like that I can easily 3 hole punch most fliers, support group directories etc. and put them right in my notebook. When I set up my notebook I decided NOT to have daily planning sheets. She goes into detail as to WHY this is a good idea and suggests you only keep 2 months of daily sheets in your notebook at a time. That will stretch my already bulging notebook, but I may do this.

Other ideas that I may implement are: storing spices in a plastic bin that can be pulled off the shelf at one time, having a cleaning cart (not sure where to find one of these), plastic dish drainer for storing cleaning supplies in a cupboard.... She has a filing system that is vastly different than our. She says to have 12 folders by month - all bills from January are filed in that folder etc. She recommends this over a seperate folder for each bill....and then ::gasp:: I guess you throw the bills out at the end of the year? I'm not sure I'll implement that one but it does sound like much less paper.....Remember I recently took a whole BOX of files to the attic. ::snort::

She seems to REALLY like dishpans and kitty litter boxes - you'll have to read the book to discover why. ::snort:: The book was a bit dated....it WAS written 13 years ago....but the principles are timeless. You can visit her website for products and ideas.

I recommend this book.