25+ Links to Encourage, Equip & Educate You Today

As this month quickly passes by, I thought I’d do a post containing LOTS of links to encourage you as a mom, home educator and wife.  In this post you will find practical ideas to improve you home keeping, encouragement for your Christian walk, motherhood and marriage, links to aide in home educating and LOTS of ideas to do this week to celebrate Jesus and His resurrection.  I pray the days ahead afford you joy, peace and hope!

2 FREE Events: Fee Free Day at National Parks & Musuem Day Live! Event

You and your family have an opportunity to attend two FREE events on Saturday, September 29, 2012...a great time of family togetherness, learning and fun!

 Details I found have found at the different websites, with links for more information, a comprehensive list and individual participating museums links for you to have contact information, are below.

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FEE FREE DAYS AT NATIONAL PARKS ACROSS THE NATION

 

If you would like to learn more about Fee Free Days you can read an article written by the Secretary of Interior here. Here is an excerpt providing the dates determined for the Fee Free Days:

"The fee free dates for 2012 are January 14 to 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend), April 21 to 29 (National Park Week), June 9 (Get Outdoors Day), September 29 (National Public Lands Day), and November 10 to 12 (Veterans Day weekend). More information is available at http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm."

For a comprehensive list of the National Parks participating in the Fee Free Days, click here, although I would contact them to confirm prior to packing up the family and heading that way. :D

 

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MUSEUM DAY LIVE! hosted by Smithsonian magazine

In conjunction with this Fee Free Day to the National Parks, will be Museum Day Live! On September 29th, free admission is being offered to various museums across the country. Read here for the details about this event here. Locally, on the list, your family could attend: The Florida Ag Museum, The Lightner Museum, Museum of Arts and Sciences, Museum of Science and History, World Golf Hall of Fame, and many others in DeLand, Jacksonville, Sanford, and Orlando.

 

Visit here for a comprehensive list of participating museums and to check to see if a museum near you is offering free admission. {SIDENOTE:  If you have season membership to the MOAS, MOSH or another museum, don't forget that some of these may be on your "reciprocal list" so my suggestion would be to compare your list to the list online and visit a museum that is NOT on the reciprocal list, since any museum on the reciprocal list could be visited for free during your membership year anyway.}

 

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What a great day of family togetherness and learning this could be...we are definitely planning to take advantage of it! Hope you can too! 

 

Blessings,

 

P.S.  You are invited to participate in a GIVEAWAY I am having.  Click here to read my post about this great gift I received and join in the chance to win the same gift...you're going to LOVE it!  What a blessing!

 

Linked to:

 

Visit Life as Mom to read other Frugal Friday posts

 

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Outside my window...{if you look out the front window, spring green everywhere ~ trees, grass, flowers ~ jasmine in bloom, rose bush offering large red fragrance, magnolias fill the air BUT out the back…oh my, still a construction zone ~ DIRT (can’t wait until trees are down, fence is finished and sod can be laid!), both sides of the fencing done…lovely white border, garden boxes are really filling out with fruits and veggies, orange blossoms fading into tiny green round oranges, BUT oh that back yard! Holding on to the vision of final results…}

I am thinking...I seem to lose motivation around this time of year regarding current year school and want to always jump into the next year’s planning; watching how the children are drawn toward the beautiful weather and need prodding to keep focused...but knowing this is their tendency, I do fit in lunches at the park or additional outside time during the day to help provide more focused afternoons {last week we met my husband for lunch at a quiet park and witnessed several learning opportunities...a hummingbird, a Carolina wren's nest, and the icing on the cake was a raccoon scavenging a dumpster for lunch}
I am thankful for...a week off from normal school schedules as Resurrection Day marks the first day of our Easter break.

I am praying for…a friend and her family's soon departure to minister to her oldest daughter across the ocean opposite, another friend...in marking the end to one season of life while embracing a new opportunity to assist her husband with business, my mom…changes and that each day would be one she embraces as a gift, endurance for myself and new energy to work on tasks that have been pushed to the side

From the learning rooms...Easter break! {although this week will be a break from ‘normal’ routine, we will still work on preparing for portfolios…yearbook scrapbooks, gathering samples, finishing up writing assignments, etc.}

From the kitchen...leftovers from dinner last night: smoked ham, baked macaroni n’ cheese, salad, corn-on-the-cob, cranberry sauce and bread {Resurrection Sunday dinner was postponed to Monday which coincided with Austin’s 15th birthday…so we enjoyed a nice sit-down meal with friends after Orchestra and embraced the two days together}

What is a party without cake & ice-cream?  He wanted to make his own cake...so lots of vanilla icing and candy sprinkles it was!  {Notice the two candle blowers...K & Graham blew as soon as we stopped singing and Austin was the accommodating big brother...}

I am creating...notes of gratitude and encouragement to send to a few friends and loved ones today

I am going...to take one to football practice this evening {will provide me an hour or so to catch up on some grading…as well as, watch him practice and prepare for the championship game this Saturday!}

Last playoff game, this past Saturday...Logan was so excited to intercept this pass and return for a touchdown...the team was cheering him on all the way & they won a nail-biting game...now for the Championship Game this Saturday!

I continue reading...the Bible, Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening and My Utmost for His Highest

I am hearing...the washer spinning, pages turning in a workbook, the hum of a fan…what’s missing? I need to put on some Christian music ~ maybe one of my favorites to set the tone of today.

Around the house...order in some areas, disorder in others…a few paper piles to tackle that has been pushed off for quite some time.

One of my favorite things…seeing anticipation in my children

Anticipating the empty tomb...Resurrection Rolls baking after all the children prepared them Resurrection Day morning ~ Zach did our reading as each child helped in preparing the "body" {marshmallow}, click here for the recipe.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

Sunrise Birthday Tradition...15 years ~ a beautiful array of light beginning another day of life

Blessings this week ~

For other daybooks or to learn how to participate click here.

List Making

I find that making lists (like To-Do Lists for example), helps to keep me focused and on track. When I write things down that I hope to do or that need to be done, not only does that list serve to channel my energy one task after another, but I actually accomplish more. Lists can save you time…save you money…save you energy…save your voice…save you brain cells (in my season of “mother to many”, that’s a precious commodity).

I make list for so many things…

• Daily tasks (each day I make a to-do list of things needing to be done)
• Grocery & home purchase needs (I try to keep an ongoing list so when shopping day comes I am ready with a quick final scan before heading out the door)
• Extra home tasks for the children (each day I try to jot down a few extra tasks that need to be done around the home – some may be chores while others may be paying “jobs” – for the children to do)
• Checklists for school work, chores, etc. (during the school year our schedule serves as a guide for what should be done each day and when…sometimes it helps to make a checklist for the children to “check off” as they complete each item…a friend put her child’s school checklist in a sheet protector to be checked of as they completed each item, reviewed by her when all items were “complete” and erased to be used again the next day…great IDEA!)
• Inventory of pantry, freezer, curriculum, etc. (this helps to reduce duplicate purchases and/or to take advantage of sales at the store…knowing what you have is key to saving money)
• Good books to read (this is a list of books broken down by genre that can be referred to when going to the library…serves to point children in a good direction when needed and/or for reading assignments)
• Family activities (this is a list our family compiled for days when we want to do a fun spontaneous activity…a guide of ideas)

Making lists for your children serves a two-fold purpose. For example, regarding chores…when you make a list for each child of jobs needing to be done, specific to them, writing it down on paper allows them to have something tangible to refer to for keeping them on track and for you to be able to follow-up with to make sure they complete the tasks. How many times have you given your child something to do (told them verbally) and then you became distracted and never followed-up on that assignment…the task, let’s say you assigned them to take the dirty laundry to the laundry room and sort it. Instead of following up, you go about your business and forget to check back. When you go to do the laundry later, you remember/discover that the clothes never made it there or maybe they made it to the laundry room but not sorted…only left in this stinking heap! Well, a list may have helped you to hold them accountable before it got to this point. Now, this becomes another issue..a need for training or possibly a character (laziness) issue or maybe it’s a different character issue (lack of diligence)…they didn’t follow through because they got side-tracked. Is that dear mother, not the same example you have set? Distraction has caused you not to follow-up or follow-through and your child has just imitated the same behavior. Ouch. Don’t I know it!

I know I am stretched to the point that some days I feel like Stretch Armstong.  Having things down on paper helps all of us stay on track. I know when I am being pulled in many directions, I can easily forget what I assigned, forget to follow-up and then become stressed. Making verbal demands under pressure, spatting off 5, 6, 7 items as I see them becomes stressful for everyone and no one remembers and nothing gets done. It is so much better to write it down, then check it off. Everyone knows what is expected and has a paper guide to keep them focused.

I have run across some great resources on line for using list. Check out some of these sites and start your list making today.

http://organizedhome.com/printable (love this site for creating an “Organized Home” notebook…calendars, party planning, lined paper, checklists, etc.)

http://donnayoung.org/index.htm  (love this site for homeschool forms, lessons, printables, etc.)

http://highland.hitcho.com.au/Forms.htm  (other fun homeschool forms, charts, and journals for many subjects)

http://www.paperprintout.com/templates/check-list/index.php  (free printable paper, signs, templates)

http://www.chartjungle.com/printables.html  (free printable charts & calendars)

http://www.allfreeprintables.com/checklists/index.shtml  (free printable checklists for to-do’s, grocery, math, spelling, etc….color graphics)

http://www.teas2dine4.com/4printable.html  (a site containing hundreds of printable forms, charts, lists, party planning pages, coloring sheets, crafts, etc.)

If you have a treasured resource to share for free printable lists, charts, schedules or home organizing/home schooling forms, please share it with us by leaving a comment.

Blessings as you check off you way to completion ~