Author Archives: Deanna

The Everywhere God – Fire Tablet GIVEAWAY!

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The Everywhere God Giveaway

This giveaway will have 4 winners. The grand prize winner will receive a new Fire 7″ Tablet loaded with the Kindle edition of The Everywhere God.  The Fire tablet includes:

  • Beautiful 7″ IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600) and fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. Rear and front-facing cameras.
  • All-new Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free – including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more
  • Enjoy more than 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps and games
  • 8 GB of internal storage. Free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire devices. Add a microSD card for up to 128 GB of additional storage.
  • Updated user interface – Fire OS 5 designed for quick access to your apps and content plus personalized recommendations that make it easy to discover new favorites
  • Up to 7 hours of reading, surfing the web, watching videos, and listening to music
  • Stay connected with fast web browsing, email, and calendar support

Three more winners will each win a print copy of The Everywhere God.

The Everywhere God is a book about hope for children of all ages. Written for his young granddaughter during a particularly difficult time, the late Pastor Bob Nelson wanted to be sure she knew God was with her no matter what else was happening. Despite people and circumstances, his message is clear, God never leaves or forgets about us and His love never ends. Upon it’s completion, he knew it was something special and wanted to make it a children’s book. Unfortunately, time passed and things never fell into place for his vision to come to life. He passed away in 2008 before he could see it happen.

More than 20 years after it’s original writing, Bob Nelson’s daughter remembered this treasured poem and like her father, felt it needed to be shared with the world. For many years she kept this special story in the back of her heart and always dreamed of making his vision for a children’s book a reality.

To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter below after reading the terms and conditions.

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Terms and Conditions:

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.  Void where prohibited by law. Must be at least 18 years of age. This giveaway is in no away associated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. No purchase necessary for entry. Odds are determined by the number of entries. Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn. Entry into this giveaway will subscribe you to The Everywhere God email list.

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May the Faith Be With You (Kids Devotional Book Review)

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I’ve been wanting to find a devotional for Ian that could help him start to build a habit of having a regular quiet time with God.  When I got a chance to review May the Faith Be with You: 180 devotions that are out of this world from Zonderkidz, I had to check it out.  What better way to encourage a 7-year old boy than tying it to a movie he loves?

May the Faith Be with You is designed for young readers just starting out in a time of personal prayer.  The format is quite simple, taking up just one page for each devotion, so there’s not an overwhelming amount of reading required.  At the top of each page is a short Bible passage, just one or two verses fully written out so a Bible isn’t necessary unless one wants to read the surrounding verses.  Then readers are led through the following:

  • Master Moment (a simple sentence about the focus of the day’s devotion, i.e. “God watches over us during both the calm times and the stormy times of life.”)
  • Ways of Wisdom (a short paragraph about how the Master Moment relates to the Scripture passage)
  • Use the Force (a short prayer connecting the Master Moment to the reader’s own life)

I was disappointed to find that, apart from the title of the book and the subtitles for each section of the devotions, there’s really nothing about it that relates to Star Wars at all.  In fact, it seems rather generic, like it would be easy to republish the book using a totally different theme just by slapping on a new cover and changing the subtitles.  If your desire is to find something to appeal to Star Wars fans, May the Faith Be with You will probably leave you wanting.

However, if your main goal is finding a simple devotional guide to help your children build a quiet time habit, then this might be a good fit.  I appreciate that it is Scripture based without a lot of extra commentary.  It’s not very “meaty,” but that’s why I think it’s a great choice for younger kids.  Each devotion would probably take five minutes or less, so it can help establish a good habit without being overwhelming.

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Wrapping Up Weeks 19 and 20

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
Our last two weeks of school before Christmas were mostly about reaching the milestones I had in my yearly lesson plan book.  In addition to finishing our regular math and history lessons, we learned about several holidays and did a lot of memory work (times tables and history time line) as we drove about town, enjoying several “field trips” before the schools let out for the holiday.

Our family has enjoyed learning about Hanakkuh over the last couple years, and the kids always look forward to a night of celebration with friends at church.

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On St. Lucia Day (December 13) we read about the Swedish traditional celebrations (part of my heritage), and Arianna dressed up.

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On one unusually warm day we headed to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa (throwing in some lessons on erosion and gravity while we were there).

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We also spent a few hours at one of our favorite children’s museums.

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The kids had fun putting on their own “Christmas pageant” and acting out the visit of the wise men.

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And after our 100th day of school (woohoo!) we joined some friends and headed “Back to Bethlehem,” enjoying a fun family evening at a church that recreates the setting of Jesus’ birth, complete with animals, a town market, dancing, and of course, Baby Jesus.

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So the last two weeks may not have looked like our typical school schedule, but we’ve had a lot of fun learning opportunities, and I’m thankful once again for the flexibility of homeschooling.  Now we’re looking forward to a week visiting with cousins, celebrating Christ’s birth, and hopefully resting and recharging.

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Holidays, Weekly Wrap Up

The Anticipation of Advent

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Over the last few years, I have grown to love the Advent season.  As a child, I felt like the weeks leading up to Christmas were absolutely magical, and as I grew older I never seemed able to recapture that anticipation.  Of course, what I was really looking forward to back then was Santa’s arrival and present delivery.  It was hard to feel the same once I had outgrown that fantasy.

We don’t play the Santa game at our house, but once we had children I wanted to try to create a similar sense of excitement as we looked forward to the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.  The great mystery of His arrival is so far beyond any childish dreams about a jolly fat man bringing presents.

We’ve developed many Advent traditions to help make this season a time of wonder and delightful anticipation for our family, and this year as I was decorating our home, I decided to add one more (borrowing from my nominally Catholic roots).  We have Nativity scenes scattered throughout the house, and I set them all up without Baby Jesus (except for a few where that was impossible).  Right away my kids started asking, “Where’s Jesus?”  To which I replied, “He’s not here yet.  We have to wait for Christmas!”

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Every time I pass one of those scenes, I’m struck by how incomplete it feels, which was the whole point, of course.  It’s hard for me to imagine a world without Jesus, where the only thing to cling to was the hope of God’s promise.  Having a concrete reminder of His absence has helped me spend time each day reflecting on how Christ’s arrival brought a sense of completeness (or at least it set things in motion for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise).  I tried it on a whim this year, but I think this is going to become a tradition.  (I’m still trying to decide how I want to bring out the Jesus figures.  I’ve got lots of great ideas from which to choose!)

“O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.”
 

Posted in Holidays

Kwik Stix (Review and GIVEAWAY!)

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Kwik Stix Review
Looking for a simple gift sure to delight a young art lover?  Check out Kwik Stix Tempera Paint Stix from The Pencil Grip, Inc.  They sent us a 12-pack of these fun art sticks to review, and they were a big hit with our whole family!

About Kwik Stix

Basically, Kwik Stix are a way to get the bold, bright colors of tempera paint without the mess.  They are available in a 6 Pack (great stocking stuffer!), 12 Pack, or a large class set of 96. If a child is old enough to hold a crayon, they can easily use Kwik Stix.  They’re similar to glue sticks in thickness and in the way they twist up from the bottom.

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The color goes on very smoothly, almost like oil pastels, only without the mess.  Just take off the cap, paint, and the color is dry within 90 seconds.  You can use them on paper, cardboard, wood, and canvas for quick, easy art projects without having to get out smocks, brushes, water, and everything else that usually comes along with painting.

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Our Experience

DSCN0953xI knew Kwik Stix were going to be a hit with my children, and I was right.  All four of them ages 2-7 had a blast creating pictures.  (While the caps are small enough that young children who put things in their mouths would need supervision, I loved how easy it was for my 2-year old to join the older kids’ fun.)  At first I tried to do just two kids at a time, thinking of other art projects we’ve done, but because these didn’t require cups of water and messy paints, it really wasn’t a big deal when the others came and joined in.  I was especially impressed with how quickly the paint dried.  My kids ended up making paper airplanes out of their pictures, and nothing got on their hands even though they had just finished them.

DSCN0946xMy 7-year old went straight to work creating multiple drawings, but I think some older kids (or those more artistically inclined) might want more precision than these thick sticks can give.  We found that the colors mixed pretty well just by using one on top of another.  Ian wanted gray and easily got it by drawing with black on top of white.  I loved that when a tip got another color on it, it was easily wiped off so the colors could stay true.

The only thing I didn’t like about Kwik Stix was the caps. We have a constant battle in our house trying to keep caps on markers, so I’ve drilled it in to my kids that they need to put caps on the ends so they don’t get lost.  My 4-year old had trouble getting the caps off by herself, and then once I got it off for her, she tried to put it on the end and realized she couldn’t.  Only my oldest was able to get the caps on tightly when he was done, so I had to go through the set and fix most of them.

Overall, however, we loved the Kwik Stix!  According to my kids, they smell like pancakes.  (I don’t necessarily agree, but at least they don’t smell bad!)  The kids loved the bright, bold colors, and I loved how easy it was to let them have a good time creating beautiful art with no mess to clean up!

Want to win your own Kwik Stix?  The Pencil Grip, Inc. has generously offered to send a 6-pack to one of my readers!  Enter the giveaway below!

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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 18 (2015-16)

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
 Don’t you love those weeks when everything actually goes according to your plans?  I have a natural tendency to try to pack too much into our days/weeks, and it’s really hard for me to ease up or take a day off.  Yet I really want to minimize the time we spend on academics over the next few weeks, so I battled with the side of myself this week.  And won.

At the start of the week I sat down with Ian and showed him my lesson plan book for December.  We looked at what needed to be done (basically two weeks worth of lessons in his Veritas Press Self-Paced History Course, and five math lessons with lots of additional facts practice).  I told him once those things were completed, I wouldn’t ask him to do any more official schoolwork until after Christmas.

To be honest, I wanted him to dive in and get through it all this week.  He didn’t.  And so I just bit my tongue, took a deep breath, and let him go at his own pace.  We took a day off for Arianna’s birthday and he still managed to get in a solid week’s worth of work, so I can’t complain.  In addition to his history and math work on the computer, he’s reading through Robin Hood (A Stepping Stone Book), the assigned literature for his history course.  Ian loves being read to, but he’s usually reluctant to read on his own, so I was surprised at how enthusiastically he picked up the book each day.  He even asked if we could get some of the other Stepping Stone books, intrigued by the titles like Man in the Iron Mask and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  I told him I’d rather he wait a couple years and just read the “real” books, but I’d help him look at the library for the Stepping Stone versions.

DSCN0913xAs far as Elijah goes, I didn’t demand much from him this week.  Instead of doing regular lessons, I set him to work systematically going through his Architecto Gameand the Equilibrio book that uses the same blocks.  I like giving him something to do besides flying through grade levels on CTCMath.com, and since he’s fascinated by building things, I figure his time is well spent developing his spatial visualization skills.  After Christmas I’ll have him go back to lessons too, but for these light weeks I think this is a great Kindergarten activity.

Read Alouds

One of my goals over the next few weeks is to read with my children as much as possible , and we got off to a great start.  They spent a lot of time pawing through our collection of Christmas books, sometimes just flipping through them quietly on their own, and sometimes bringing them to me to read.  Here are the ones we read this week(for my most complete list of Christmas picture books, see my post Christmas Book Countdown):

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Best Christmas Pageant

I also had the pleasure of introducing the boys to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, one of my childhood favorites.  From the first page, Ian was hooked, and within a few chapters we had drawn Elijah in as well.  They kept begging for more and we ended reading the book in one sitting (well, with a few interruptions from the little ones).  It was such a hit I went searching for the movie, which I’d never seen.

So all in all we had a delightful week of snuggling up with books and enjoying lots of family time in the glow of the Christmas tree with the iPod serenading us with Christmas carols pretty much all day every day.  Bliss!

Posted in Holidays, Weekly Wrap Up

I Prayed For You by Jean Fischer (Book Review)

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If you’re looking for a sweet, thoughtful book to read with your preschooler, I would encourage you to check out I Prayed For You by Jean Fischer.  I received a copy from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, and from the first time I read it through I was convinced that this 20-page board book was definitely going to be one of those stories I read again and again to my children.

A mother bear narrates the book, and each page alternates between her talking to her young cub about some aspect of life and short, rhyming prayers to God about that particular thing.  The first page sets the stage beautifully:

Before you were born, I asked God for something special.  I asked Him for you.

“Dear loving Father in heaven above, send a sweet baby for Mama to love.”

I instantly remembered the years before I had children and that was the deepest cry of my heart.  I remember the pain of waiting and longing for that positive pregnancy test, and the overwhelming thankfulness I felt once they had arrived.  Almost every page in this book connected with my heart and had me nodding in agreement.  Mama Bear talks to her cub about watching his first steps and praying for God’s guidance, listening to his first prayers and praying he will always turn to God, tending her cub’s injuries and praying for God’s comfort, and so on.  The only page that didn’t really fit for us was the page about sending her cub off to school for a whole day without her, but I’m sure we’ll find other situations that we can relate to in a similar way.

For older kids the board book form and cuddly bear illustrations might seem too babyish, but they’ll certainly appreciate the love expressed on each page.   Even if younger kids haven’t necessarily experienced some of the things in the book yet I think they’ll love hearing about how someone has been praying for them.  This is the perfect book for taking some time to sit down for a good snuggle to reassure your children of how precious they are.

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Posted in Book reviews

Slowing Down for Advent

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Advent 1I love making Advent a season of joyous anticipation in our home.  Over the years we have developed many traditions and I’ve tried to make plans for special activities to help point my children to Jesus in the midst of the chaos in the world around us.  Here are a few things we’ve done at least once:

This year, however, I feel a call to slow down, to purposefully step back from the busyness of the season and soak it all in.  I want to keep school work to a minimum, just keeping up with Ian’s online history course, playing math games, and reading with all the children a lot.  Rather than wrapping up books for each day, I’ve just left them all out for the kids to peruse.  Ian’s already started bringing me old favorites, and I hope we’ll all find lots of time for reading together.

Reading is actually my only real plan.  Last year we really enjoyed Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide, a story broken into daily readings to be enjoyed through the weeks of Advent.  We loved gathering as a family every evening by the glow of the candles on our Advent wreath and the lights on our Christmas tree to hear about Jotham’s latest adventure.  It was such a hit that this year we’re reading the next book in the series, Bartholomew’s Passage.  I had planned to also go through Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp, but it might just be too much to try to do both, so I may save it for another year.

I’m hoping to have all our gifts purchased by the end of this week so I can just rest, reflect, and ready myself for the celebration of Christ’s glorious arrival.  I’m sure things will come up, but with God’s help we’ll slow down enough to really enjoy the beauty of Advent.

Posted in Holidays

Wrapping Up Week 17 (2015-16)

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
 

It’s amazing how much a little structure can change things.  When we moved back in June, we took down our Accountable Kids pegboards, and they’ve sat in a box ever since, just waiting to be put back to use.  Two weeks ago we finally got around to mounting them on the wall, and consequently the kids accomplished an amazing amount of things they’d neglected in the last few months, like practicing the piano, getting laundry regularly, and helping with the dishwasher.

I used some of the time that allowed me to get back into the DVDs from IEW’s Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar.  As the boys have progressed in their writing class (using Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales: Writing Lessons in Structure & Style) I find that I really need to know how the IEW system works to be able to help them.  They are both young to be attempting this material, and they definitely need some “scaffolding” to get through it, but I think they’re both getting a lot out of the class, and we’re just trying to introduce the ideas this year.  We find ourselves having lots of conversations about finding interesting words to describe the world around us.

“Conversational” is probably the best word to describe our whole week.  We got caught up through lesson 14 in Our Planet Earth (from God’s Design for Heaven and Earth), just reading the text and talking through the different kinds of rocks.

In math, I only had Ian do two lessons in Teaching Textbooks Math 3 and we spent a lot of time playing games to help the boys learn their multiplication facts (excluding 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s).

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We finished reading Marianna Mayer’s adaptation of Ivanhoe.  I think I’m going to quit on Pinocchio though.  I remember really enjoying it as a child, and perhaps if I’d been more intentional about finding time to read it we’d be more enthusiastic, but as it is, Ian’s not thrilled with it and we’re not terribly motivated to pick it up.  Perhaps I’ll come back to it with the younger children in a few years.  There are just so many wonderful books I want to read with all of the kids during Advent, so it’s time to just put Pinocchio away.

A few final thoughts

The older three children had their final choir performance for the semester on the Friday before Thanksgiving, which helped me really feel ready for the holidays to begin.  We wrapped up a few loose ends in history and writing this week (which is why I’m posting a week late), but now we’re just enjoying the holiday break and looking forward to the joyous anticipation of Advent.

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Posted in Weekly Wrap Up
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