Mother's Day Giveaway 2008 Winner

We are thrilled to announce that we have chosen a winner for our 2008 Mother’s Day Giveaway.

Our core team and sponsors shed many tears as we read through all of the entries we received but in the end it was a unanimous decision that the Lord was leading us to Christina Barricks and her family.

Nominated by her sister, Tristan Rowlee, here is the official nomination:

I want to nominate Christina Barrick. She is an amazing young homeschooling mom, and my sister. She and her husband Justin have 3 children so far, Isaiah is 6, Justin is 3 and Hannah is 6 mos.

Her husband serves our country in the Army and has already been deployed for a year to Kuwait when Justin was just 1. He will be deploying again, this time to Iraq, during the next school year. They have moved recently to the Fort Lewis base in Washington state, far from any family.

My sister is so good at teaching her boys in the way they learn best, following their interests, and making learning fun. I know that being chosen for this gift could make the next year of homeschooling easier and more manageable for her, and free up a lot of her preparation time to spend every possible minute with Daddy before he leaves. Homeschooling helps their family to BE a family. It gives them the time to make memories for the times they aren't together.

I know having things ready to use would also make homeschooling doable once daddy deploys. I have watched her be a single parent, doing all the teaching, shopping, and caring for a young family the last time he had to deploy. There are no breaks or time off for her. No one else can stay up with a sick child. No one else will be there to watch the kids while she gets groceries or library books, or gets the car fixed. She will have to take three young children with her everywhere. No one will be able to help with baths. She'll shower as quick as she can and hope the kids don't take apart the house while she's in there.

She will have to comfort three little children who miss their daddy every day, all the while not knowing if he will make it home safely or become another soldier lost in action. Every time the news says another soldier was injured or killed she will have to wonder if it was her husband, and wait for his next phone call or letter.

And when those letters or calls come she will have to comfort and strengthen her sweetheart who is seeing humanity at it's worst. She will have to help the little ones hold the phone so they can talk to daddy, and try not to cry when they ask how soon he's coming home. Every time there is a knock at the door she will be afraid to answer it, because there might be a uniformed officer on the other side with news no wife wants to hear, that her husband gave his life so others can live free. She is so far from family(we are in Ohio) that there will be no one to share the burden with.

I don't know how she does it. She amazes me with her trust in God to provide for her family and watch over her husband. She humbles me on the days when I feel like complaining that my husband got home late from work or I'm needing a break from the kids. She won't see her husband for a year or more, she won't have any breaks to regain peace. She will keep going, day after day, because she is the mommy, and that is what moms do. They keep the family together even when they are half a world away.

We will have a list of all the nominations, and excerpts from the emails we recieved nomintating them, in the near future.

A special thank you goes to all of our wonderful sponsors:

Castle Heights Press - One unit study of choice ($12.95 value)
Math Facts NOW! - Math Facts NOW! cd ($13.95 value)
Share HIS Story - Family Story Bracelet ($65.00 value)
The Mystery of History - Volume I: Creation to the Resurrection CD Audio Set ($42.95 value)
Homeschool in the Woods - The Old Testament Hands-On History Activity Pak ($18.95 value)
Treasure Box Press - Gift certificate ($40.00 value)
Notebook Learning - One notebooking set of choice ($5.95 value)
CurrClick - Gift certificate ($50.00 value)
Darlene Schacht - The Mom Complex book ($14.95 value)
Blue Thistle Books - Gift certificate ($30.00 value)
Heart of Wisdom - The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach ($34.94)
Steward Ship - Everything You Need to Know About Homeschool Unit Studies ($19.95 value)
Split Decisionz - Custom Blogger Blog Template ($75.00 value)
If you don’t already have a blog then I can personally help you to set one up on Blogger.
Whole Heart Ministries - Seasons of a Mother’s Heart (2nd edition) by Sally Clarkson ($13.95 value)
Vision Forum - Gift certificate ($50.00 value)
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - One-year subscription to the print edition magazine, 3 audio books on homeschooling and a $25 certificate to the Schoolhouse Store ($104.00 value)
Heart of the Matter Online Virtual Conference - Free admission to the 2008 conference ($29.95 value) - this will be given to you and your sister since she nominated you.
The Foil Hat - The Gee Gift Box. Contains: a GIANT scrub, a generous 4 oz. tub of whipped shea butter, 3 soaps, 8 oz body or linen spray, a poufy scrubby, cushy spa socks, a soap deck AND a pumice stone. ($50.00 value)
Homemaking 911 - Chaos to Order, 25 Tools Bringing Organization to Your Home, as well as the accompanying audio CD of the workshop with the same title. ($15.00 value)

Congratulations, Christina!
The Team at Heart of the Matter

Menu Help For Busy Moms

Even though we tend to be home a lot home schooling and taking care of our own, I find it hard sometimes to find time to prepare and make healthy meals for my family. For me,I need to make a plan and if I don’t have one, we tend to eat things that are not so healthy.

We are a busy family. Making healthy meals the kids want to eat has been a challenge for us over the years. Not only that, but fast simple meals everyone will like! We do have the favorite few recipes already in place, but it gets a little boring. I also enjoy cooking when I have the chance, but most of the time the recipes I want to use take a lot of prep work and its just to much for a busy home getting close to the end of the day. Not only that, but the recipes tend to be expensive to make. So recently I began a search to find something easy to make, and that won’t cost me an arm and a leg to buy the ingredients.

One of my favorite finds recently has been a gem of a book I found at my local library. It’s called " Daily Meal Planner: A busy homemakers answer to simplified menu planning" by Joan Day Brady.



What a blessing this book has been! It is broken down by months with recipes to follow, with ingredients that are in season. They are simple recipes and have few ingredients making them not only easy but inexpensive. The book also offers blank monthly schedules so you can use any of the recipes on any given day of the week. You don’t have to follow what’s already printed. Its versatile and has an easy to follow format.

I have maxed my 3 times to re-check out this book and resorted to checking it out under my daughters name so I wouldn’t have to wait again. I should have remembered my 3 check out rule. If I check it out 3 times and really use it, I should consider buying it. *Ü*

Meals are such an important time of the day for us. In our busy home sitting down to enjoy a meal can be absent some nights. When we do, its our time to reconnect as a family. It’s also fun if you can make a meal special. Maybe placing a pretty table cloth out with candles lit, or flowers. It doesn’t have to be fancy. The most important ingredients are food, family, and great conversation. Those ingredients add flavor to any meal.

Proverbs 15:17
Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred.

Bad, Bad Cup!

Big Daddy comes in and interrupts me while I am in class (on-line). He seems to be really upset about what he has just discovered. In comes a nearly naked Pretty Pink Princess.

I ask her, "What happened to your clothes?"

Big Daddy- "You need to come see this and do something with the Princess before I sentence her to the tower for eternity."

I walk into the bathroom to see a trail of water from the toilet to PPP's potty. On the side of the tub is a coffee mug. (Are you ready for this?) I dared to ask, "Princess, who made this mess?"

Princess- "What mess? Somebody did that? "
Me - "Really, Well who was playing in the toilet?"
Princess- "Somebody did that. I don't know who!"
(Ahh, she looks soo sweet and innocent)

Me - "WHO WAS PLAYING IN THE TOILET?" (dumb question)
Princess- "Somebody, maybe brother."
Me -"YOUR BROTHER WAS NOT IN THE BATHROOM"
Princess- "Oh yeah, he has been in the chair."
Me -"YES, he has."
Princess- "Well, somebody did that. Maybe me? That was not me."
Me -"It wasn't?" (another dumb question)

Princess- "No. That was my hand that did that."

Me - *eyes rolling and concealing laughter* "So, not you, but your hand made all this mess by itself?"
Princess- "Yeah. My hand did that. And the cup too!"
Me -"GET A TOWEL, CLEAN UP YOUR HAND MESS AND STAY OUT OF THE BATHROOM UNLESS YOU HAVE HAVE A REASON TO BE IN HERE!"
Princess- "The cup made this mess too. It help me clean too? Come on cup, we clean this mess."

She gets a towel and gives the cup a ride on it as she wipes up her mess. How do you correct that?

Seriously... whoever said we weren't born with a sin nature is kidding themselves. No one ever taught this child to lie but it is our job as parents to teach them why they shouldn't. So what kind doozies have your kids tried to pull on you? How did you teach them better?

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Psalms 34:11

The Middle Ages by Hip2Homeschool / Review

Excerpts from Amy Bayliss' Review:

"I had the pleasure of reviewing this unit study with my boys. I was happy to see everything laid out so nicely, and in order with a table of contents to guide through each day. The activities and links were plentiful and relevant. Heather insured that every subject was covered within the study and it is complete with vocabulary, book list, video recording links, and 26 days of lessons all planned out for you. "

Excerpts from Dana Hanley's Review:

"The Middle Ages is a unit study by Heather E. Langston which brings together the study of history, literature, geography, art and government as young learners explore what life was like in Europe during the middle ages. It comes with an extensive resources list which includes both a variety of Internet resources as well as books of varying reading levels, most of which were readily available at in our library system.

The resource list was both the most valuable part of the study, and perhaps my only criticism. The different sites provide resources for every learning style, presenting written descriptions, drawings, examples of artwork, time lines and even a model castle to construct from paper. The books also present different aspects of life in this time, as well as a variety of reading levels. The study has enough to engage any child from kindergarten to probably fifth or sixth grade, with the ability to adapt for older children.

With the amount of resources, however, it took some time to go through the sites and books to evaluate which would be most appropriate for my family. Once you get through the initial resource list, however, it is laid out very clearly, with only a few sites to look at each day of the study.

My children were most excited by the coloring sheets, which were better than most of the free coloring sheets I have printed off in the past, and the prospect of making a model castle. Although they have only done a couple of the activities, they are looking forward to learning more."

Giveaway!

Hip 2 Homeschool is giving away to one lucky winner their Rocks and Minerals Unit Study. All you have to do to enter is go to Hip 2 Homeschool's website , find a unit study that you like, come back here and leave a comment telling us which unit study is most appealing to you and why.

More about the Rocks and Mineral Unit Study: Through this unit study, you will discover the world of rocks and minerals. Topics explored in this unit are the three types of rocks, plus minerals, volcanoes, metals, and the layers of the earth. Also you will learn about natural wonders made of rock, such as the Grand Canyon, and man made structures in the rock, such as Mount Rushmore. This is a 3 week study; 60 pages. Value: $17.50

Featured Homeschooler

Please welcome this week's featured homeschooler The Nester!!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and why you call yourself The Nester.

I have a very unusual name. My name is so unusual that I am the only one who has it. I googled just my first name once and all my tax records came up and my previous addresses and all kinds of helpful information that any respectable robber or killer would love to have. I have had a staging and redesign business for a few years and also sold junk that I make and my business name has always been "Nesting Place". When I started my blog in November, it asked me what my name was and I panicked and tried to think of something that would go with Nesting Place {my blog title} and genius that I am, The Nester just worked.

2. Tell us about your adorable children.

I have three boys. My oldest is 10 and is a huge Jeff Gordon {NASCAR driver} fan. We live about 2 miles from a huge speedway so you can imagine the fun he's had with that. He is like his daddy and is big hearted and sensitive. The middle child, poor thing, is soon to be 8 and is curious, mischievous, a lover of people and has such a zest for life. He's in charge of public relations for the family. My baby, even poorer thing, is soon to be 7 {13 months younger than the middle} and has my personality. He loves math, legos and reminds me that it's time to start school. He keeps me in line.

3. What led to your decision to homeschool your children?

My husband has a master's degree in eduction with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction. He's always been opinionated and had high standard for our boys and their education. I on the other hand, really liked any school where they had to wear a uniform. The two oldest attended a classical Christian school until last year. I had felt a small, easy to ignore nudging from the Lord to consider homeshooling a few years ago. I totally passed the thought and reasoned that I was not cut out for that because I did not drive a mini van. Over time the thoughts persisted. I still had my SUV but, the Lord kept putting the idea of homeschooling in my head. It seemed like everywhere I went I would run into these great families that homeschooled. They were normal and seemed to truly enjoy the time spent educating their children. That was very appealing. To make a long story a little shorter, through a series of unfortunate events, we had a job change and homeshooling was not only a great option but almost a necessity.

4. What type of homeschooler do you consider yourself to be?

I consider myself to be a slack homeshooler this year. I struggle with feeling like I'm the worst homeschool mom in the world. I'm sure I'm too hard on myself but anything is slack compared to the fact that they had been learning latin. Our goal was to get to the end of the year and to have enjoyed the process. I wanted to make sure that I was in a position to want to homeshool again. We focused on reading this year. We keep on schedule with math and grammar but we want our boys to love to read. I am happy to report that my oldest read more books in this one year than in all his previous years combined! I really enjoyed reading all types of books to them and cherish the time we had together. And guess what? We are homeschooling next year, mission accomplished!

5. What is your most favorite room in your house?

My favorite room in our house is our family room. We spend lots of time in there. I am lucky enough to have an actual homeshool room. I hate to say that we only use it to store our supplies. 75% of our schooling is done in our family room snuggling on the sofa or sitting on the floor at the coffee table. Our family room is the heart of our home right now. It's got lots of comfy seating and opens to the kitchen which makes me so happy. We can watch a NASCAR race, sit by the fire and eat our BBQ chicken nachos all in one room!

6. Can you remember the very first “crafty” creation that you made for your home?
I have always moved around furniture and tried to use what I have to beautify our home. When I was in high school my parents when out of town. Because I was not cool like the other kids I didn't have a big bad party but rearranged all furniture to use the space better. I am happy to report that my mom loved it! I can remember in 9th grade pressing flowers in my Bible and when they were dry I would use hairspray and "glue" them to my door frame. I'm sure my parents thought that was a swell idea. I played with Barbies until I was 13. But, I wasn't really playing {to my younger sister's displeasure} I was designing their lavish homes.

7. If you had $1000 to spend in a store like Joann’s, what would you buy?

$1000? I would really want to use it to pay down debt. We are totally gazelle about getting our big gnarly business debt completely wiped out. But, I do love me some ribbon, toile, trim, fringe, sharp scissors and Joann's has some fantastic home accessories. Oh, and I would also get me a Hershey's bar of course.

8. You recently opened an Etsy store, tell us about some of the items you have for sale.

I'm completely blushing that you asked me about my etsy shop. I still cannot believe that I haven't single handedly wrecked up the entire internet. I hate computers. I have been making tassels--you know what people hang on their armoire and such? Anyhow, I've been making them for years now and had some left over and thought I'd try out etsy. The next thing I knew, people were buying them up, putting in their requests for rooster toppers, boot toppers and nest toppers. I even had a shop in Savannah solicit me to sell my wares. I'm still in shock that people are actually willing to spend their hard earned cash on junk that I make. I have added some quirky items and arrangements to the store too. Then, when I sell each item I go through a mourning process for each thing. It's really quite sad. I love everything I make and am just as happy that I get to keep something if it doesn't sell! I would definitely encourage anyone who's ever thought about crafting to try etsy.

9. What piece of advice would you give to a homemaker who had no clue where to start when it comes to making their house feel like a home?

My advice for someone who was longing for that homey feeling but didn't know where to start? I would tell them to scrape up $3, have your honey keep the kids and spend a few hours at your local bookstore pouring through magazines. You could even take your camera and take photos of the homes/rooms that you like. I have actually done this because I am too cheap to buy 15 magazines. Once you get a feel of what you want start looking at how it was accomplished in the photos that you like. For years I was afraid of committing to fabric or color--afraid that I would spend the money and hate it! Well, I finally sat down with my husband, made a plan for what we needed, what each room's purpose was, and how we could pay cash for every purchase for the home. It took about a year but, we furnished our home and got married to some fabric and the difference in our home was amazing. I like to buy with my heart. Any fabric that I feel drawn to is something I will consider. Fabric on the windows, paint on the walls, and a family friendly furniture arrangement goes a long way!

I think the idea that we have to have the perfect home or the perfect choice for a sofa can hold us back when it comes time to make decisions about the decor in our homes. Really, the best advice I can give is to not be afraid to take that risk. If you think you would love a yellow family room, go out and buy the paint and paint that room yourself! Take that chance, see if it works! What's the worst that can happen? I have learned so much from living in different house but, the underlying truth that those magazine people don't want you to know is: It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful! Now, I just need to apply that to my homeschool ideals and all will be well.

10. You have moved around a lot over the years, where was your favorite place to live?

We have moved lots of times. Growing up, my dad was, and still is a DJ on the radio. We moved around so much. Even now, as an adult, my husband is an entrepreneur at heart. The man is not afraid to take a risk and work hard to accomplish a goal. I love that about him. Usually, the risks pay off big but, every now and then, the risk taken results in a lower income or a move. So we have moved many times. I have honestly loved every place we have lived. We have lived in home that were 4000 square feet down to 600 square feet. We have lived in $500,000 homes and $15,000 homes. My boys have all shared a room {twice, one time just a year ago} and all had there own room and more to spare.

Each of these places felt like home to us. Even the few places we lived temporarily. I decided long ago that I was not gonna be afraid to make nail holes in the wall, paint, or move my furniture around. It's amazing what can be accomplished with a $25 can of paint and some furniture rearranging. However, hitting a few yard sales never hurt anyone!