Reading Goals for 2013

It's January so I have, of course, had new goals on my mind. One of those goals is all about reading.

I LOVE to read~I am a total book nut. Just ask anyone who's ever helped us move--we get more comments about how many boxes of books we have than anything else:) I just can't help myself. And, frankly, I don't want to. A book addiction is not a bad thing, right? And I'm more than happy to pass along my book addiction to my kiddos. They love books, too! We are always having a shortage of bookshelf space at our house.

When it comes to setting reading goals for myself, I've never really ever been specific. And I certainly don't want to set goals that make me feel bogged down if I don't meet them. However, I do want to track my reading this year. I plan to keep a book log throughout the year. I found this adorable one that I'm printing off and keeping handy to write in. I also found these and these for the kiddos. I also want to track their reading this year as well. I usually keep a loose log of their reading anyway (with the Book-It program and other summer reading programs), but I would like to be more diligent in that area.

I definitely want to challenge myself to read more non-fiction. I do read non-fiction so it's not a category that I have a problem with, but I do tend to read more fiction than non-fiction and I would like to balance that out more.

I am also enjoying downloading free eBooks to my Kindle (which was a surprise birthday gift this past fall). So far I'm sticking to the freebies with the Kindle and that is a lot of fun! I absolutely have no plans to go strictly digital in my reading though, just mixing it up a bit. I keep an eye out at several blogs that post free eBooks often: Ben & Me, Blessed Beyond a Doubt, and Money Saving Mom.

And I'm always up for good book recommendations! So feel free to drop me one in the comments!

I'd love to hear what your reading goals and plans are for this New Year~tell me what you've got on your nightstand!

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 ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

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