Give Away On Our Homeschool Blog

So, the girls and I made some homemade soap the other day for school. (I posted about on our homeschool blog)

Head on over there and enter for a chance to win one of our creations!!!

Giveaway

I thought that this was a super cute idea to keep my crafty spirit going!

Caitlin did this on her blog, and I won (I think, I'm number 3 to comment) so here goes....The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me!

My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your own blog (eventually) and offer the same deal to 5 of your own lucky blog readers.

Read The Peacegiver Free Online

Jim Ferrell has written an excellent book for the LDS audience called The Peacegiver. I can't recommend it enough. It deals with relationships that may be stained by hard feelings, blame, or resentment.

You can buy it, of course, but it's also available online, free, at Meridian Magazine.

There's not a real easy way to navigate it on the Meridian website, though, so I thought I'd put a clear, chapter by chapter breakdown here. Then you can bookmark this page and come back to it as you read through the book.

It's by one of the guys responsible for the books Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace, but it takes those ideas all the way, and puts them in their true context: our relationship with the Savior.

The chapters are short--you could read one every couple of days pretty quickly.

Preface and Chapter One: A Storm in the Soul
Chapter Two: Memories
Chapter Three: Marching to Carmel
Chapter Four: Souls at War
Chapter Five: A Peace Offering
Chapter Six: Atonement
Chapter Seven: Forgiveness
Chapter Eight: The Storm Continues
Chapter Nine: The Cause of the Storm
Chapter Ten: Who We Are
Chapter Eleven: What We Deserve
Chapter Twelve: A Merciful Question
Chapter Thirteen: Mercy in the Balance
Chapter Fourteen: Waiting for an Answer
Chapter Fifteen: The Chains of Sin
Chapter Sixteen: The Storm Renewed
Chapter Seventeen: A Beam of Light
Chapter Eighteen: Chains
Chapter Nineteen: Agency in the Balance
Chapter Twenty: Of Sin
Chapter Twenty-One: Of Repentance
Chapter Twenty-Two: Light in the Darkness
Chapter Twenty-Three: An Agony
Chapter Twenty-Four: Recovery
Chapter Twenty-Five: Covenants
And finally, the Epilogue is here.

Go Ducks!

While eating at Red Robin last week, I filled out a couple of forms for the girls to be entered into a couple drawings. A couple days after our visit we get a call, Miriam's name had been drawn and she had won FREE tickets to an Anaheim Ducks Hockey Game!

We had never been to a hockey game, so we decided to give it a shot. It was a blast! Watching it on TV doesn't come close to being there in person. And even though we were up way high, we were still able to see everything and follow the game well enough.

Mia had won four tickets, so we all got to go for FREE. We only had to pay for gas and parking. Not bad at all!

We got to go out on the ice and sit in the penalty box to watch the players warm up. We got to see and talk to the guys that run the sound effects, countdown, scoreboard, etc. They showed the girls how it all worked and even let them push the button to test the horn! They even got to see a Stanley Cup ring, Emma even got to wear it!

Family Pic in the Penalty Box

Watching the players warm up

Emma wearing the Stanley Cup Ring, working the equipment

Mia working the equipment.

After we left the ice we had to wait to meet Wild Wing--whoever was in that suit was great! He did a great job playing and communicating with the girls. The girls got to be on the big screen Honda Vision with Wild Wing. They were famous for about a minute!

The girls and Wild Wing!

The girls on the Honda Vision

After their shot at fame, we went up to our seats to enjoy the rest of the game. The girls even got FREE Gatorade and Kettle Corn! The Kettle Corn was really addictive.

The girls sitting in their seats

The girls even got real pucks that were signed by a couple of the players. They also got a Ducks pencil case with some school supplies in it. As home schoolers we can always use school supplies!

The only thing that could have made the night better was if the Ducks had won. They lost by 1 point, but we had a great time!

The rink from our seats

Girls in front of the players seats

Fun Day At The Fair

Wow, it's been awhile since we updated the blog! Things have been super crazy busy here!

Anyway, on the 19th of September we went to the LA County Fair with Greg, Beronica, and their kids. Erik was even able to take the day off and come with us! Yay!!! The girls love doing anything, but they love it even more when dad is able to be part of it.

I was able to get us FREE parking passes and FREE admission to the fair through one of the home school groups we belong to. We were able to cover Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, PE, we even managed to squeeze in some Math! I love homeschooling!

We had a great day at the fair walking around with Greg, Beronica and the kids. We visited so many things. I think that the kids favorite part was the the Big Red Barn, not a favorite for the dads who were busy fighting allergies. But they were troopers, there wasn't even any whining!

Dads watching on while the moms and kids play in the petting area!

Petting the goats. . .

and the sheep!

There was even a dress up place at the fair! Of course the kids loved it! What kids don't love to dress up and pretend to be something?

Emma cooking dinner for Daddy.

Notice that she has broccoli and chicken, her favorites!

Cowgirl Mia!

Chase and Savannah playing with the cars.

There were so many fun things for the kids to do and see and touch! They even got to pet a horse at the 4-H booth and pet a snake! The girls love animals so this was quite a treat for them. They would love to live on a farm, though I don't think Erik could handle it with his allergies. I'm sure the girls would rather keep Daddy around than live on a farm!

Petting the snake. The girls have no fear!

The girls petting the horse!

Cousins "riding the range"

New this year for school aged kids was a chance to get FREE ride tickets. They had to read 6 books and do a short book report on each book read and they would get 9 FREE tickets! The girls worked hard and diligently reading and writing! They got their tickets and were so excited. We bought a couple extra tickets so they could each ride two ride. They chose. . .

The carousel and. . .

the tilt a whirl!

All in all we had a great day with tons of fun! But the fun did not end there, the girls went to a friends house for a sleepover and Erik and I had a night to ourselves.

FREE Summer Movies At Select Regal Theaters

We LOVE movies at our house! And what can possibly be better than FREE movies? The Regal theaters are once again having their FREE Family Summer Film Festival. All movies start at 10 am. If you live close to me here is the schedule for the theater in Ontario:

Ontario Palace Stadium 22 & Imax

4900 East 4th Street

Ontario ,CA 91764

909-476-1525

06/17/2008-06/18/2008
Charlotte's Web (G)
Surf's Up (PG)

06/24/2008-06/25/2008
Clifford's Really Big Movie (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

07/01/2008-07/02/2008
Jonah: A Veggie Tale Movie (G)
The Martian Child (PG)

07/08/2008-07/09/2008
Adventure Of Elm In Grouchland (G)
Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep (PG)

07/15/2008-07/16/2008
Doogal (G)
Shrek The Third (PG)

07/22/2008-07/23/2008
Everyone's Hero (G)
Open Season (PG)

07/29/2008-07/30/2008
Carebears 2 (G)
Bratz (PG)

08/05/2008-08/06/2008
Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Veggie Tales (G)
Monster House (PG)

08/12/2008-08/13/2008
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Bee Movie (PG)

If you want to check and see if a theater near you is having this event check out the website.

Maybe we will see some of you there this summer!

Free LDS Books Online

I first heard about the book Bonds That Make Us Free from my dad. Apparently, it started as a manuscript by C Terry Warner that was floating around Utah but had never been published. Called "Bonds of Anguish, Bonds of Love," it became so popular that copy shops would keep copies on hand to let people photocopy.

He finally published it under the name Bonds That Make Us Free: Healing Our Relationships, Coming To Ourselves.

Dad had found the whole book online, formatted it for the PDA, and shared it with me. So I first read the book on my Palm Pilot a couple years after I was married.

Who should read this book? Anyone who has ever had feelings like those described int he first chapter:

We have felt hurt or provoked or upset by the people around us-angry, for instance. Or resentful. Or envious. Or intimidated. Or fearful. Or humiliated. Or disgusted by something done to us. We feel helpless to rid ourselves of these feelings.

We don't rid ourselves of this sense of helplessness by trying to ignore the supposed offenses of others or attempting to distract ourselves from our feelings. The unfairness, indifference, disrespect, rudeness, or cruelty troubles us through and through-sometimes only faintly but always unmistakably. The pain, which is real, seeps into and taints every sector of life. Unclouded happiness seems impossible.

Everyone who has ever been stuck in such troubled thoughts and feelings knows how they make a shambles of our inner lives. A "gas law" of emotional disturbance operates here, which might be formulated as follows: "Any inner space, no matter how large, will be filled by any agitation, no matter how small." The feelings that we blame on others, and that seem to ruin everything, rudely refuse to be evicted once they take up residence in us. Even though we retreat to the bedroom and lock the door, figuratively speaking, we sleep in terror, knowing those feelings are somewhere wandering about in the house. Families who live on strained terms discover that their impatience and frustration contaminate every project they undertake, whatever the setting- cooking in the kitchen, repairing something in the workshop, reading in the bedroom, even trying to play a game together. It is difficult to overestimate the corrosive power of agitated feelings.

The book deals with these issues in beautiful and unexpected ways. I think it's vital reading.

The book is still online. You can start reading it here at Chapter One.

It's not the only book that deals with these issues. They're also discussed in the book The Anatomy of Peace, a book Marci likes even better than Bonds That Make Us Free.

The Anatomy of Peace is also online: Here's the Prologue and Chapter One.

There's also Leadership and Self Deception, a business book based on the same ideas, which is online here.

Now one of the men who worked on those books, James Ferrell, started publishing books for the LDS audience. His first book was called The Peacegiver, about how the Savior can bring peace into our lives. Chapter One and the Prologue are here.

After publishing that book, he's come out with another one about the love we need to have for holy things. It's called The Holy Secret, and DeseretBook.com is serializing it over the next few weeks. So far, they're up to chapter 5, but you can start reading from Chapter One here.

And while Stephen R Covey's Six Events is not online, they do have a printable version of the calender at the Deseret Book website.

Anyways, all of that ought to give you something to do online for a while.

(Note: If the pages I linked to at Meridian Magazine don't link to the other chapters of the book, you can find the other chapters on Meridian Magazine's Book Archive page.)

FREE Comic Book Day

We went to FREE Comic Book Day on Saturday. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, select comic book stores across the nation on the first Saturday in May giveaway a few select FREE comic books! Well, for those of you who know us, you know that Erik is a BIG comic book fan, and Mia and Emma are too.

Anyway, last year on of the local comic book stores had this big celebration that the girls, Erik and my dad went to. (My mom and I stayed home--I had just been released from the hospital the day before from my open heart surgery) Well, the same store had another celebration that we had to go to.

They have a bounce house, face painting, demonstrations, FREE hot dogs, and people dressed up as different superheros and villains that you can get your pictures taken with. They also have a couple of the people from the show Who Wants To Be A Superhero?, Feedback and Hygena. Yes, we watched every single episode both seasons. Did you really expect anything less?

The girls and Erik think that FREE comic book day should be made a national holiday!

This year the girls wanted to dress up as superheros, too! Last Halloween Mia was Supergirl--thanks Mammy for the costume--Emma ended up wanting to go as Batgirl. So, guess what Mommy spent Friday night and early Saturday morning doing, you guessed it, making the Batgirl costume. It was definitely worth it!

Here are some pictures from our fun-filled super hero day! Erik will be posting some videos later!

Last year the bounce house got unplugged and started to collapse, and this is the guy that saved our little Emma from total destruction. His name is Kirk Kushin, and he's the creator of Super Teen*Topia. She had to get her picture taken with her own hero!

At the first comic book store we went to, yes we do go to more than one, they had two girls dressed up as Supergirl and Batgirl. So, we had to get a picture taken with our Supergirl and Batgirl.

Darth Vader and the girls!

The girls with the Stormtrooper, another bad guy!

R2D2 and the girls! R2D2 was remote controlled and even beeped and whirled like he does in the movies!

The girls with Princess Leia, from Star Wars and Ironman. Erik and I will be seeing the Ironman movie soon!

Huntress and the girls!

Wolverine, Joker, and Mia. Emma was too scared of Joker to get in the picture. I think she knows about the bad blood between Batgirl and the Joker!

We had a great time! Greg, Veronica, Chase, and Savannah met up with us there as well. Maybe next year we'll see you there!

Doughnut Math

So, I found a coupon for buy one dozen of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, get one dozen of their original glazed FREE! Anyone who knows me knows that I can't pass up a deal like this. The girls and I made a quick stop at Krispy Kreme yesterday to get our doughnuts!!

And to make it more educational, I found a worksheet with math questions dealing with doughnuts! So we came home last night and got straight to work filling out the worksheets so we could then fill our bellies with the doughnuts.

For someone who is trying to lose weight, I definitely ate too many doughnuts, but boy did they taste good!

We LOVE Krispy Kreme!!!!

Bloggy Giveaway

Okay, this is my first time participating in the bloggy giveaways! I actually won something last time, me who never wins anything! So , I thought that I would go ahead and give some stuff away myself.

How it works is really simple, you leave a comment about your favorite thing about home schooling and I will randomly select a winner on April 27th, and you win the book The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. I somehow ended up with two copies so I thought I'd share, it's a great resource book.

Not home schooling yet? Just thinking about home schooling? That's okay, you can still win, just leave a nice comment about homeschooling, I reserve the right to delete any comments made.

You don't have to be a blogger to win, just make sure that you leave an email address so I can contact you if you win! Because of the cost of shipping I am going to have to limit this to giveaway to U.S. participants only.

That's it, pretty simple! Just don't forget to leave a comment about homeschooling (no "please enter me," or "I want to win," etc.)--if you don't you won't be entered to win.

Also don't forget to check out my other blogs for more chances to win more FREE stuff!

Fun Things To Do

I found out some fun things to do coming up in the next few months and only two of the three are going to hurt my diet! Where did I find these things out, well I can't tell you. Well, I could but then I'd have to kill you! Just kidding! I got them off some of my homeschooling groups and thought that I would pass them on to you!

FREE Ben and Jerry's Cone Day on April 29th. Click on the link to find the one closest to you. For those of you who live near us the closest place is in Rancho Cucamonga. But hey, it's FREE Ben and Jerry's--it's worth a little drive!

$.31 cent scoops of ice cream at Baskin Robbins on April 30th from 5-10pm. Again click on the link to find the store closest to you. We have one just a couple blocks away from our house! I LOVE ice cream--hence why I need to shed a few pounds!

And now the third and final--select AMC Theaters are going to start their summer movie extravaganza in June. Again click on the link to find a participating theater near you. The closet one to us is the AMC Tyler Galleria 16 in Riverside. This year they will be charging $1 per person--it might be worth it if they are showing a movie that your kids love. The movies start at 10:00am each Wednesday.

Here is the lineup:

June 25--Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

July2--The Waterhorse

July9--Alvin and the Chipmunks

July 16--Shrek the Third

July 23--Bee Movie

July 30--Surf's Up

August6--TMNT

That's all the fun stuff that I know of right now, if I hear of anything else I will keep you posted!

FREE Sample

Okay, I had to post this offer here. You can get a sample of Sani Hands For Kids, by just calling this toll-free number: 1-877-SANIKID (1-877-726-4543). It is all automated so you don't even have to talk to a live person, you give them you name and address, answer a few questions about sanihands for kids and then they will wend you out your FREE sample.

Now if any of you guys are on a strict budget like I am, you know that every little bit helps. So, if you use hand sanitizers and you want to save some money then give them a call. It will only take a couple of minutes, I already did it!