Library Treasures

Today after doing school lessons we decided to take the kiddos to the library. It'd been a few weeks since we'd had a chance to go and since it was a gray, rainy day it seemed like a good time to go.

After I'd looked around and gathered up a stack of fall themed books for the kids, I left Vince in charge of watching them (our library has a great play area) and I took off for my favorite spot there: the used book store! I love that smell of musty old books that hits you when you first walk through the door. Most always I find some little something there that I *need*, but today I really hit the jackpot! I found some great books in the children's section.

First there were these: The Discovery of the Americas (perfect since we've been discussing Columbus) and Sarah Morton's Day (a day in the life of a real-life pilgrim girl--perfect since Thanksgiving is upon us).

Next, I found this awesome Van Gough coloring book! It has tons of his paintings in coloring page form with lots of quotes and information about him. Perfect for our next art study. We've already had a small study on Monet.

And, finally, my real steal: four classic books from the Junior Deluxe Editions. I found Jo's Boys, The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, and Robin Hood.

Now for the best part of all of this--every book here only cost $1 each! That's why I say those classic editions are a steal, because I have several others from that series and it's hard to find them in antique malls for under $10 each. I was pretty excited! Books do that to me! If my children don't become avid readers, it sure won't be for my lack of stuffing books in their faces from the moment they were born-ha!

Does your library have a used bookstore? Do you enjoy shopping there?

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

my blessed life

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