Last Chance!! Store closing! Ultimate Homemaking Bundle!

Absolute Last Chance!!

Store Closing Forever!!

Don't you hate it when you see signs like that, and then two weeks later drive by the same store and it's still there?  You know that they just jacked their prices up and slapped sales signs on everything to increase traffic.  It's all a gimmick.

But let me assure you, The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is not.  But it is closing TOMORROW!

As my husband would attest (probably with a few mumbled choice words), I've been known to, on a whim, buy a book that looked helpful only to lay it down a few months later to collect dust.  And take up space.  And cause more clutter.

Here's the great thing about e-books.  They don't cause any clutter.  Or take up any space.  Or collect any dust.

And while they are, as a general rule, less expensive than a hard copy of a book, they still cost something.  I mean, the person who poured all their blood, sweat and tears into the book still deserves to get something out of it.  So, my husband was quite pleased when I discovered the wonderful world of e-books and e-readers.

Which brings me back to The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.

On average, I've found that most e-books are going to cost between $4-6, unless you get them for a really good sale.  At which point the poor person who wrote it isn't making any money (which sucks because they are usually doing all the work for themselves, but I digress...)

So, when I purchased and downloaded my bundle, I kept track of the number of books that I immediately put aside to read.  Blog at Home Mom, The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight, Dear Wife...letters from a help meet, The Homemaker's Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule, Taming the Laundry Monster (OF COURSE!), and multiple printables.

Total estimated cost: $35

And that's just for the ones that I pulled off first glance!! Which in itself more than pays for the cost of the bundle.

I challenge you.  Look at the list of books here  and see if you can't come up with at least 5 books that spark your interest.  Then consider the fact that there are 75 more there to choose from!  And you don't have to keep them all.  If you have a book that doesn't fit your season of life - for example pregnancy - you can send them to a friend.  Just be sure to delete them from your own system.

So, what's keeping you here??  Go! Be free!  You won't find a deal this good again until next year!  But this is your last chance.  So HURRY!!



This post does contain affiliate links.  Please see disclosure page for more information.

Ultimate homemaking bundle & a note from me :-)

For those that know me in person, you know that the idea of being a me being a great "homemaker" is fairly laughable.  That's one of the reasons why I was excited to come across this amazing resource.  Not only did it encourage me that being a homemaker is more than keeping a clean home (thank you, Jesus!), but it's filled with tons of stuff to help me (and you) improve our homemaking.  And I don't know about you, but I'm all for growth.  If you're not learning, you're dying.
So, while I haven't had an opportunity yet to review these resources, I have had a chance to look over them and am excited at what all is offered.  With that in mind, take a look and let me know which ones you're most excited to read.  My goal, over the next few days, will be to share with you which ones I'm most excited to read and why.  Maybe you'll get a glimpse of my dirty laundry, so to speak.  8-)

 

By popular demand, 100+ homemaking bloggers are bringing back The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, and it's better than ever!

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is a complete library of great eBooks on homemaking—a truly valuable knowledge base you’ll use for many years to come.
Unlike a library, though, you don’t have to spend years building it up. The Ultimate Bundles team has done the hard work for you, searching the web to find the very best eBooks from top homemaking authors and combining them into one essential collection that you can buy in one simple purchase.

Act now to get the ultimate eBook collection on homemaking at a once-in-a-lifetime price.

I'm confident you won’t find a more comprehensive set of homemaking resources anywhere -- and certainly not at this price. Bought separately, they’d cost a total of $698 (not including $200+ in bonuses!). But you can have all of them for just $29.97!
Or, for just an extra $10, you not only get the full set of PDF files, but also a bonus set of Kindle editions, perfectly formatted for easy Kindle reading. This has been a popular request over the years and I'm excited to say it's now available!
I believe it’s the best deal on homemaking eBooks anywhere on the web. But it will only be available for six days. So grab yours before it's gone!

In this bundle, you will find 80+ eResources aimed to grow you in all aspects of homemaking, including:

• Homemaking
• Motherhood
• Marriage
• Food (recipes!)
• Self-care
• Faith (for you & for your kids)
• Work-from-home & blogging
• Pregnancy & babies
• Health & wellness
• Homeschooling
• Holidays & special events
• Financial stewardship

See the full list of 80+ eBooks, audio files, eCourses & printable packs included in the sale.

We've also included $200 of freebies from our 10 awesome partners!

In addition to all the amazing eResources, this bundle includes the best bonus offers it's ever had, including:

• A free 10-pack of greeting cards from Dayspring
• 3 free eye shadows from Redeeming Beauty Minerals
• Free art print plus $15 store credit to Hope Ink
• $15 store credit for fabric & patterns from Marie-Madeline Studio
• Sixty-four loads of eco-friendly laundry detergent from Dizolve

As well as five more incredible offers from:

• TriLight Health
• List Plan It
• Bulk Herb Store
• Once a Month Meals
• Fit2B Studio

These deals are worth over six times the price of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. So you’re up on the deal right away!
Learn more about the bonus offers.

This huge wealth of information and guidance will be right there on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or Kindle, whenever you need it.

Here's what you need to know about the sale:

When? 8 a.m. EST Wednesday, April 23 until 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, April 28
What? 78 eBooks, 2 eCourses, 2 audio files, and 2 printable packs PLUS over $200 worth of bonus products you'll really use!
Where? Purchase the bundle here
How much? Well now, that's the best part. The entire package is worth nearly $900, and it's selling for less than $30. Sweet deal, right?

Want to learn more? Read about what this amazing bundle offers—or just buy it now!



Remember, this bundle is available for 6 days only, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, April 23 to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, April 28th.

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle.

Our love for Classical Conversations

It's that time of year again when we homeschool families start questioning every curriculum choice we've ever made and looking at what everyone else is doing to see if perhaps they are doing something better.

At least, that was me.  And every year I would come to this point, or earlier, and know that what we were doing was clearly not working for us.  Or for me.

And it was in that spirit that this time 2 1/2 years ago I found myself sitting in an information meeting for parents about Classical Conversations.  I had some basic understanding of classical education and believed in it.   All I really knew about CC was that it involved a lot of memorization, there was a science experiment every week, and my friend Kristen loved it.    But I was desperate, so I went to the meeting (and for an introvert like me to do that at that stage of my life was huge).  To my horror, I was one of only two parents who came.  Thankfully the other mom carried the conversation, but unfortunately I came away with a catalog, a feeling like I would never be as smart as their kids were, and only a slightly deeper understanding of the program.

Yet God, and my friend Kristen, persisted, so I decided at the very least that we would visit a class and I could get it out of my system.  Then I'd be able to move on.  I took my girls with me, of course, so I could get their perspective as well.  Sarah went off with her potential age group, and Bethany and I went off with ours.  And I sat there the whole time watching Bethany and thinking, "I know they hate this.  This is awful.  It's boring; it's horrible; this was a total waste of time.  Ok God, this clearly wasn't the answer.  Next..."

At the end of the morning, Bethany and I thanked the tutor, went to pick up Sarah, and as the three of us were walking into the parking lot, I said, "So, what did you think?"  They both squealed, "I wish we could do this every week!  That was so much fun!!"  Talk about whiplash.  I was completely stunned.  Completely not what I was expecting.  But totally what God had planned for our family.

Since then, we have come to love CC and completely embrace it.  I often find myself thinking, "I wonder what would have been different if I had done this with John or if I had done this with Sarah earlier."  But I know that one can never know what might have been, to roughly quote our family's favorite Narnian Lion. So I have to content myself with the fact that we are doing this now and just go forward.

So, why do I love Classical Conversations?

So far, we've only worked in the Foundations stage, which is the elementary stage.  We move into the writing class next year, which I'm tutoring and I'm SOOOOOOO excited about (grammar nerd).  But, based on our experience, here's a short list:

* Accountability - every week, someone will be know if my kids have done anything the week before.  They may not be testing them on it or be expecting them to turn anything in, but I know in my heart that my girls' tutors will know if we went over our memory work and that helps to keep me on track.

* Science experiments ~ I am the worst at doing science.  Other than visits to the children's science museum, I am a total fail at science.

* Fine arts focus ~ See above only replace children's science museum with children's theater.

* The timeline - I have enjoyed putting historical events in perspective based on when they occurred.

* Presentations - Supposedly public speaking is the second most frightening thing for most people.  So I think it's a pretty effective way to prevent those fears from ever taking hold by making kids comfortable speaking in front of other people early on.

* And then there's all that memory work.  What Andrew Kern of the Circe Institute calls "memorizing by heart."  I'm looking forward to seeing how having those memory pegs in place helps as we move into the next stage of learning, the dialectic stage.

After 6 1/2 years of homeschooling, it is such a relief to have found that "thing" that fits our family.  Of course, I'm still looking for the perfect fit for our oldest, but that's another story.



Linked up with List it Tuesday at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Many Little Blessings

Spring has definitely spru... spru...sprun....ACHOOO!

1

It is definitely spring here in beautiful South Carolina.  You can tell because everything has a lovely green coat.  The trees. The plants.  The cars.  The porch.  You if you stay outside too long.  It's a terrible contrast.  The weather is finally warm enough to turn off the heat, but you can't open the windows because the pollen is so bad.  Two of my children walk around this time of year looking like they've spent time in a boxing ring.

2

This week we celebrated PAJAMA DAY at CC.  And this was truly cause for celebration because there is nothing better than wearing your comfy clothes when you  have work to do.  And since we homeschoolers are known for doing our school work in our pj's anyway....

3

This week the kids also did their presentations on the big stage using a microphone.  We wanted to give them a chance to know what it feels like to be up there looking down, as well as speaking into the mike.  I was really proud of each of them.  My own kiddos did a great job.  And my class was terrific as well.  Now, how they would do in front of an unknown or bigger audience.... that's anyone's guess.

4

John, my oldest child, gave me some food for thought and a bit of conviction when he asked me if I had ever read the book of Revelations.  When I responded that I had not ever read through the entire book on my own, he said, "Me either.  That's why I was going to start last night, but I got too tired.  So I decided to listen to it being read to me instead."  Oh Lord, thank you for that dedication in my son, and give it to me as well!

5

On that same note, I've been feeling a real burden to be a pray warrior for those around me.  Since I always say that I pray without ceasing because I feel like I'm always talking to God, this has felt a little strange.  When I picture my friends that I consider "prayer warriors", I don't imagine my prayer life to look anything like theirs.  (Always comparing, I know.)  Anyway, I was truly blessed at church on Wednesday to see several people whom I had been praying for and get a chance to speak to each of them.  It was a huge encouragement for me.

6

We kept our kids' bffs this weekend while their parents were off at the Teach Them Diligently conference.  It's always fun to see them together.  I took the girls to Discovery Place Science Center on Friday.  The boys pretty much vegged the whole time.  I believe fun was had by all.

7

Finally, spring soccer season has arrived!  Yay!  Time to spend all Saturday morning enjoying the beauty of God's creation while cheering on my two favorite soccer players and my favorite soccer coach!  (Did I sound convincing?)  Seriously, though, I do love soccer.  And I do love watching my girls play.  (And loved watching my boy play when he did.)  I just don't love the 7:30 wake ups on Saturday morning.  Sorry.  But don't they look awesome!!  Behold the mighty Pink Panther and Red Phoenix!

So, what's the news in your neck of the woods??

Linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Homegrown Learners, Conversion Diary

The labels we give ourselves

Image courtesy of Clare Bloomfield / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I've been thinking lately about what type of homeschool family we are.  What philosophy we mostly follow.  Because it does matter, you know.  Apparently you must choose a philosophy and stay there forever and ever and never lean or sway.

At least, that's the feeling I've been getting off of some folks lately.  And I know that people really just want you to validate their own decisions.  They just want you to tell them that what they are doing is right.  But what you are doing may not be right for me.

I had written before about who we are.  So I think I have finally figured out what we are.

We are a classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling family.

How do you like that?  I'm pretty sure I managed to swing from both ends of the pendulum with that one.   But I decided that I have to stop beating myself up for not neatly fitting into some preset mold that just doesn't work for us.  There are three very different children in my house.  We started out with a classical model with my oldest (though we didn't know that's what it was at the time), and  he really struggled with it.  In the past two years, we've participated in a Classical Conversations community, and my middle daughter is thriving.  The youngest goes through the motions, but enjoys the fine arts parts the best.

I was berating myself the other day about not being stricter with my oldest, not forcing a more classical model on him, when he walked into my room and announced, "Mom, I have a complaint about one of the CC history sentences."  He went on to tell me that he thought it was not sufficient for the battle of Midway to get a mere mention in a sentence because it played such an important role in the success of the US during World War II.  And he continued by giving me all the specifics I didn't want to know.  :-)  Hmmm, crazy thing but he's learning on his own because he's following up on his own interests.  A little unschooling if you please.

Then there's the youngest who is still struggling to learn to read on her own, but has an phenomenal comprehension and vocabulary because she loves nothing more than to sit and be read to.  It doesn't matter what the book is.  Charlotte Mason, anyone?

Isn't it a wonderful thing, though, that we don't have to fit into one mold.  I mean, sure it would be much easier if you could cookie cutter everything and make everything fit everyone, but I am so glad that my children are all so different.  Because it's their differences that make them who they are.  J with his wisdom and knowledge of self, S with her mercy and grace, B with her joy and flexibility.  They each play such an important role in our family and in my life.