Our blog has been a bit slow lately, because Larry is working here at his parents, putting a roof on what used to be the greenhouse side of the second floor of their chicken house.  We were here last week, and it looks like we’ll be here for all of this week too.

Our second ultrasound to confirm our dates is this Friday, and I’m praying it will be accurate, as I want to avoid an induction at all costs!

While Larry was away at the mens leadership weekend (4 days away) our toddler totally regressed on her potty training skills!  She has been totally trained since around 20 months, and is turning 2 on Thursday, wow that  came fast!  But now she is refusing to potty for us, and making messes on the floor etc .  She has started going on the potty SOMETIMES since Larry came home, but she used to run to the potty and do everything all by herself!  Any helpful advice on this situation?  I’ve resorted to putting her back into disposable training pants, because she has gone on the floor so many times!

Just thought I’d better post in case you were wondering where I went to!

Our family has run and operated family businesses in the past – both in ‘real-life’ and an online store selling physical products that is no longer in operation due to a few different reasons 1. our conversion to Christ and 2. due to physical restrictions due to our move – lack of a workshop 3. lack of time, as DH had taken a contract away from home and we travelled with him so we just didn’t have the time to fill the physical orders.

For the past few months we have been looking for a way that we could make a family income online, without needing to fill physical orders, and have been led into the world of internet marketing and e-book production which we find quite fascinating. But we’ve never quite found the right course, as many of them seem to be produced by internet marketing guru’s who only make their money selling other people courses about making money!

But tomorrow there is a course coming out that is produced by regular people! A homeschooling mom and dad who have really made money selling products that are NOT related just to making money on the internet (though they have made money that way too). We were blessed to see the three free videos that they have produced detailing their different money making ventures, how they performed, what they sold etc. If you have ever been interested in generating an income on the internet, I definitely recommend you take a look at what the Beck’s have to offer! They love to help Christian families learn how to maximize their time and resources to earn a living to support their family. Kerry homeschools their children while Steve is in seminary full time, and their part-time online business earns then a six-figure income!

You can get access to their free videos, and learn more about the course at 8 Weeks to Profits.

My husband hasn’t yet had a chance to view the videos, but from what I’ve shared with him so far, he is pumped! We have read some materials and e-books on producing e-books, but NOTHING so comprehensive as this seems to be! It puts EVERYTHING together for you.

Here is some specifics for you to think about!

Some of you may not know it, the Becks, started their online adventure just 4 short years ago. They are just like you & me, the typical “couple next door” who accidently stumbled upon a way to create information products in a variety of niches.

That’s one of the criticisms I hear about Internet Marketing…

“You can’t make money on the Internet unless you teach other people about making money!”

“Any other topic…and you’ll fail!”

Well, that’s just not true and let me show you why.

Stephen Beck just released a video showing how his wife, Kerry, made $11,206.00 in the first 15 days with a $27 ebook about homeschool education!

Kerry also made $2,207.63 in the first 28 days with a $37 ebook about getting ready for Christmas – even with all the free Christmas stuff out there!

What is the moral of this story?

You do not have to be in the “make money” niche to make a great monthly income from information products. And finding a topic is not very hard – - -

Now, go watch Stephen’s video that shows the products they sold on the Internet…Be sure you have a pad of paper to keep notes. You’ll discover what they did right, what they did wrong and find out actual numbers as well. The good, the bad and the ugly!

Go check out the video here:
8 Weeks to Profits

One more thing… you need to enter your name & email to watch the video. I know it’s a hassle, but I promise it will be worth it. This full video is so inspirational.

Here’s the link again:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=2334702

P.S. One thing they talk about that you don’t want to miss are the mistakes you can avoid by starting right.

Robin Sampson from the Heart of Wisdom blog directed me to this free online homeschooling magazine that she is a regular contributor for. The March edition is up, and you can view it online, or download the pdf.

I’ve just had a chance to take a peek at it today, and it is meaty! I’m not sure what I was expecting, but sometimes free content can be a bit…ummm, freebie-ish? and not entirely worth the time reading. But this looks like a very professional publication from what I’ve read so far, useful articles, free downloadables, book reviews etc. We are in Canada, so not all of the content (like the elections lapbook) work for us, but there is always next time! And for those aspiring authors, as many blog-writers are, they also take submissions.

I promised book reviews, so here is my first! Safely Home by Tom Eldredge is a must read for all Christian families with any interest in discipling their children in the ways of the Lord. I previously published this review under my maiden name at Amazon.com, and I can’t seem to delete that side of my account after changing my last name, sigh, oh well!

One of my favourite homeschooling books, I thought I’d start off with sharing this review .

Safely Home By Tom Eldredge / The Vision Forum, Inc Offering practical and scriptural insights, Eldredge demonstrates how most modern institutions—even the family and church—have chosen educational attitudes based on the ancient Greeks’ empahsis on knowledge rather than that of the biblical Hebrews, who focused on relationship. Discover the reasons behind the confusion—and how you can help correct it in your homeschooling! 110 pages, softcover from Vision Forum.

*Start of Review*

I wasn’t entirely certain what this book was about based upon the blurb on the back cover, which is actually a quote from the foreword by Doug Phillips, nor was I certain after reading the synopsis and reviews here on Amazon. However, I did procure a title of it after reading an excerpt from the book on the internet regarding the differences between a Greek and a Hebrew, biblical education model based upon discipleship.

And, am I ever glad I did! Our family has planned on homeschooling since before our first daughter was born, but we are new Christians, only saved last year, which has led to our completely re-evaluating our goals for homeschooling, priorities for our family etc. As a result, we have been researching, reading, and learning about different approaches to Christian homeschooling. There are so many different approaches, philosophies, curriculums etc. available that it is easy to feel adrift amongst all of the options. This book sets our feet back on solid ground, examining the model for education that God has set out for families in his Word, while covering so much more. Not choosing an approach, or a philosophy of education, but focusing on teaching through relationships (rather than curriculums), the way that God shows us.

The author’s heart is set firstly and foremostly training our children in the way they should go, to know God, love Him and serve Him are our ultimate goals in homeschooling, and we cannot lose sight of that goal. ALL things are for His glory, and we must seek first the kingdom of God, then all other things will be added unto us.

This title also examines issues that are certain to be controversial amongst many Christian families, but that critically need to be examined if our families are to be led to honour Christ in ALL that we do; covering topics as diverse as: the suitability of competitive sports for Christian families, the servant leader role of husbands in the home, self-employment as it relates to the discipling of chilren, the role of grandparents in homeschooling families, the role of the local church in supporting and discipling homeschooling families, and so much more!

Ladies – I know that we often do much more reading and homeschooling research than our husbands do, as they are often busy outside of the home. However, this would be a key title to pull out of the stack for him to read, as it is very encouraging and strong in it’s message of calling father’s to turn their hearts to their children, placing the responsibility firmly on their shoulders.

I just can’t say enough about this book. If you are alone in your homeschooling convictions within your local church body, this would be an excellent title to share with others. A passionate call home, to re-establish the biblical model for families, just beautiful!

This offer is good until Friday, March 21st, so you’ll need to act first if you’d like to take advantage of it!

Tawra at Living on a Dime is offering a great deal this week on ALL of her money-saving e-books. They are worth $119 in total, and she has them on sale for ONLY $17.00! Normally she sells a package of 11 e-books for $45.00, so this is a great deal, you get 13 of her e-books, AND she is throwing in extra goodies too! $32.00 worth of bonus e-books, AND a couple of St. Patrick’s Day resources (we don’t celebrate today, but you might be able to use them!).

She has SO very many great money saving tips and tricks, that you may save the cost of the package in the first week, just from implementing SOME of these ideas.

I know many of us QF and homeschooling moms are living on a single income, that can be slim at times, so we need all the money saving techniques we can get, particularly when raising a large brood for the Lord! Head on over there, and take a look!

I was surprised to read in the local paper, the Westlock News, that local school boards are banning the use of 15 passenger vans to transport students in. The local school board here, is currently considering it, while other school boards in Northern Alberta have already implemented bans. This movement follows a tragic 15 passenger van accident in Newbrunswick, you can read the article here.

Here is the most relevant part, which I’ve excerpted.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued several advisories about the dangers of the 15-passenger vans. About 1,100 people in the U.S. were killed in single-vehicle rollovers in the vans between 1992 and 2002. Such vans were found to be three times more likely to roll over than any other vehicle.

The U.S has banned the vans for school districts, but other groups including daycares still have them in use.

It seems that these vehicles are very unstable when fully loaded, and are more prone to roll-overs than any other vehicle. And I thought Jeeps were bad for rollovers!

We only have 2 children on the ground in need of vehicle seating so far, so our 4 door, diesel guzzling truck will hold us through this baby being born and one more, but then we are looking for larger vehicles.

I do know there are Quiverfull families that drive and purchase 15 passenger vans, is your family driving one? You might want to read this pdf I found online if you are, it gives some tips to maximize safety of 15 passenger vans.

How many children do you currently have, and how do you fit them all into one vehicle? Or do you take two when you all head somewhere, like church? Let me know in the comments! Let’s brainstorm together!

We have 2 children and 1 in the womb, so we currently drive a truck with a full back seat, after that, we have a mini-van (7 passenger) that will fit one more if we can get it working. Beyond that, who knows?

I just had to share this with everyone! I have not subscribed to the Old Schoolhouse in the past due to the high price of a subscription to Canada. It was previously $40 or so to send to Canada, and has just recently dropped to $30 for a Canadian subscription. But I still thought that since I’m not officially homeschooling my oldest yet (I can’t register here in Alberta until next year), that I couldn’t justify the cost (and I couldn’t pass on the expense to the government either – if you register a child to homeschool in Alberta you receive some funding to cover homeschooling expenses from your non-resident school board).

But then, what did I find in my e-mailbox this week! A new digital edition of the Old Schoolhouse magazine – one of the most happening homeschooling magazines in the world, and with a Christ honouring focus! I subscribe to their e-zines, but don’t receive a hard copy of this, or any other homeschooling magazine as a matter of fact. But now I am going to subscribe! It looks great! The digital edition works online for me even with my super, duper slow dial-up, 28 kbps! It downloads to a Mac (which we have) as well as PC (which we don’t). The file size is a bit big, but it can be done! I’m still working on the sample magazine.

Check it out, there is a free online sample of the magazine, Summer 2007 that you can test drive!

And the subscription is only $10.95 until March 18th! AND it comes with free gifts! 19 free downloads that are sent from the publisher, and 5 free e-books!

But, let me give you a more detailed list of information that the Old Schoolhouse sent to me:

THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Goes Digital!
We are so excited to announce our newest project at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine!
With our new digital subscription, you will get to enjoy all the same great content from your favorite homeschool magazine, but in a new format – digital!
Want to know why you’ll want to subscribe – even if you already get the print edition?
• Instant delivery—no waiting for your mail carrier to come.
• Huge savings – take a break from mailing costs—a big bonus for our international subscribers.
• Click on links throughout the digital magazine to easily visit interesting websites.
• Enjoy the same high-quality content and beautiful design.
• Flip through a real online magazine, not a pdf file.
• Save all your TOS issues to your computer.
• Easily share articles with your friends.

Just take a look at a sampling from our Summer 2007 issue.
• Relax! How to De-stress Your Homeschool, page 92. Who couldn’t learn a few valuable lessons from this gem? PLUS, because it’s located on our front cover, just click on it and you’re there. Talk about saving time! Now you can read your favorite magazine AND have time to spare. Take this article’s advice – relax!
• Homeschooling a preschooler? With our digital magazine’s fantastic search tool, you’ll find 4 results for “preschool” in this issue alone AND each lists its own excerpt, article title, page number, and link. Practical, efficient, and informative. Get the most out of your digital magazine.
• What do you use to teach your child English? Did you know Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc. provides a Bible-based English series? See their ad on page 72. And since your friend just asked you that very same question yesterday, why not email her the advertisement with our handy share tool. You’ll bless your friend and knit your homeschooling hearts together.
• Get inspired in this issue’s Show and Tell featuring the Shaw Family sharing their experience homeschooling on the sea, page 46. You’ll want to read this one over and over again so make sure to use our ever-practical digital bookmark. Save digital issues to your computer, bookmark your favorite articles, and stay encouraged. It’s a smart resource available instantly at your fingertips.

For only $16.95, you get a whole year of digital TOS issues plus 19 FREE gifts! Our digital editions are created simultaneously with the print edition, but instead of having to wait weeks for delivery, you’ll have your digital magazine in days! And you’ll be automatically notified by email when each new issue is ready!

BUT, to inaugurate our Premier Edition, we’re running a month-long introductory promotion especially for charter digital subscribers. With our special graduated pricing, you’ll SAVE over 35% off the regular digital price, an exceptional value for new and international subscribers: The sooner you subscribe, the MORE YOU SAVE and the MORE BONUS GIFTS you’ll receive!!

THIS WEEK ONLY, subscribe for $10.95 and you’ll receive 5 FREE bonus gifts!
Now take a look at these FREE bonus gifts:
International Geography Quest Project Pack, by In the Hands of a Child – Retail Value $25.00 FREE
Geography tells you where you are, how you got there, and where you might be going. This 112-page Project Pack is jam-packed with information and activities! It includes a 21-page Research Guide about the Science of Geography, Five Themes of Geography, Studying the Geography of the Earth, People on Earth, wildlife, and so much more! With 22 hands-on activities your child can put to use what he or she has learned through this study! PLUS—Use the 21 additional hands-on activities to complete a lapbook on any country! Expand your horizons today with the International Geography Quest!

Breakfasts for Busy Moms, by Urban Homemaker, 50 pages – Retail Value $9.97 – FREE

This ebook is designed to make breakfast a treat while keeping it healthy. Learn how to cook a wide variety of nutritious breakfasts, including hot, kid-pleasing cereals using the nutrient packed two-stage process. Packed full of information on meal planning, do-ahead tips, ingredient information, egg breakfast recipes, company casseroles, and more. This book is sure to become a household favorite.

Organic Gifting, by Vintage Remedies – Retail Value $12.00 — FREE

Resource Guide for Educational Travel on a Shoestring, by Homeschooling on a Shoestring, 79 pages – Retail Value $5.98 – FREE
See The World. Teach your kids. Have a blast… AND come home with money to spare! This extensive resource guide includes hundreds of Web sites, books, magazines, and organizations. This resource book is your essential road map to family fun and learning–across the country or around your hometown. Discover ideas for memorable–and inexpensive–vacations and field trips, surprising sources for travel money, ways to build closer family ties with your children and teenagers, and more!
Quiet Times in Loud Households, by Joyful Mama – Retail Value $7.95, 111 pages — FREE
An exciting guide to diving into a devotional lifestyle with the Lord that will not only sustain you as you raise the next Generation for Christ, but a devotional lifestyle that you can pass along to them as they grow. If your devotional life needs some new life infused into it, this book is for you!
One-month Subscription to Classroom Zoom, by Teacher Created Resources – Retail Value $4.15 – FREE
ClassroomZoom is an all-new online source of over 10,000 lessons and activities gathered from the very best of what Teacher Created Resources has to offer. It’s easy to zoom right to the lesson you need. You can search by grade level, by subject, and/or by specific keyword. In addition to the lessons and activities, a subscription also allows you to access:
• Math Wizard software, so you can create your own math worksheets.
• Crossword & Word Search Generator, so you can create puzzles to supplement lessons in spelling, vocabulary, geography, history, science, and other subjects.
• Clip Art, so you can add pizzazz to all kinds of projects.
When you try ClassroomZoom, you’ll see how much fun it is to zoom!

Now who wouldn’t love to get ALL these FREE gifts? Think of the possibilites –
• Enrich the lives of you and your loved ones
• Invest in your child’s education and ensure his academic success
• Save time AND money shopping for birthday, shower, and holiday gifts – give these bonus gifts away or use the invaluable information inside to create unique and personalized gifts your friends and family will treasure always
• Pamper yourself – these gifts are our way to thank you for subscribing. Please, let us bless you!

BUT, to get ALL these fabulous gifts, you need to subscribe by midnight March 18, 2008. Next week the price will go up to $12.95, and subscribers will only get 3 bonus gifts. Still a great deal, but you don’t want to miss out on the extra savings and the 2 extra bonus gifts!
Your one-year subscription will include 4 digital issues AND immediate access to your first issue – the Premier Edition of our current Winter 07/08 in digital. You’ll ALSO receive our Fall 07 back issue FREE, when it becomes available in our digital archives. That’s five digital issues for the price of four! PLUS, you’ll love our FREE bonus gifts!
Hurry! This offer won’t last long. Prices will go up each week until we reach the regular digital subscription price. Enjoy HUGE savings and FREE bonus gifts, order early!

Go digital! Subscribe TODAY at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, or even faster, click on the image to the left!  Enjoy!

Camille is having a contest on her blog, Your Favourite Historical Figure and Why, and she is looking for more contestants, only two entries so far!

Here are the rules:
1. Describe in 50 words or less your favorite historical figure and explain why.
2. This person can be anyone, living or dead.
3. Please remember to sprinkle all your entries with love, choosing your words carefully.
4. Entries will be accepted starting today, February 22, and will continue through March 14th.
5. The winner will be announced the following week.

She is giving away TWO copies of the historical Elsie Dinsmore (one copy dating from 1896). If you are wondering what this book might be like as far as reading goes, there is a modern series of Elsie Dinsmore books, as well as the classic series. This book is the first title in the classic series, but it is a vintage edition. So enter while the entering is good! Only one day left!

Here is a link to the first title in the classic series in case you are interested in checking it out further:

Elsie Dinsmore #1, The Original Elsie Classics Series (Softcover) By Martha Finley

After taking part in a few contests online, I think it’s my turn to host one! I’m delighted to be able to give away a copy of 100 Important Things Your Boys Need to Know: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Boys & Manners A toolkit of 8 resources for helping you train up those boys.

Although we have only girls so far, they also need to be trained to have proper manners! We had purchased this set alone, then were able to purchase it again as part of a large package deal, so we are pleased to offer our extra copy to one of our blog-readers! Thanks to Jim Erskine from Little Homeschool Library for allowing us to offer this extra copy as a prize! This e-book package set is available as an instant download for $14.95 through the above links.

Please take a look at everything that is included in the package, it is jam-packed with a total of 11 e-books and 1 audio book. Our oldest daughter LOVES the Goops audio recording.

The rules for the contest are:

1. Join our list for blog updates in the upper right hand corner of our blog, they arrive via email when our blog is updated for those of us (like me) who are RSS impaired.
2. Leave a comment in this blog letting me know that you are entering the contest.
3. If you have a blog, and make a post describing and directing other blog readers to the contest you will receive two additional contest entries for a total of three entries. Place a link to your blog post describing the contest in your comment in this thread.

The contest will run until my birthday on April 09th, so that I can give away a gift to celebrate, and give people plenty of time to join in the fun!  And just to clarify, today is April 09th (I’m just editing/updating my post here), so you can enter all day today, and then I”ll have tomorrows birthday girl, my oldest daughter, turning 5 tomorrow, draw the winner!  Thanks for entering!

I know that this resource package will be a blessing to the family that receives it!

Wowzies! I’ve been tagged twice! I hope it’s okay for me to combine them both into one post! I was tagged by two great bloggers , there seems to be lots of first time tagging going around, this is my first for certain!:

Ashley from Helpmeet In Training
And TF from Too Many Blessings to Count

Thanks Mamma’s! I see there are two different sets of rules here, one including tagging 7 people, and one tagging 3 people! So I think I’ll have to tag…10 people! WOW! I’ll post the rules for the tagging 7 people set for those who are tagged by me to follow, because that was my first tag.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So let me see, 7 facts about myself, some random, some weird:

1. I had my appendix taken out while I was pregnant with baby #2, she’s now a cute and cuddly bundle of toddler energy, but, the scar gets itchy when I’m pregnant and it’s stretching.

2. There are mostly girls in my family, my birth family consists of 4 girls, I’m the oldest, and now we have 3 girls ourselves, including wee one in the womb, lots of female hormones going on!

3. I’m a head-covering mamma as per 1 Corinthians 11, and am working at growing my hair out LONG. I haven’t mentioned that in any of my posts or have any pictures of me out there in my covering, so I think it counts as a factoid.

4. The summer before I was saved in the fall of 2006 I had shaved ALL of my hair off, relating to the factoid above. Now it’s growing out as per 1 Corinthians 11 as well! Yes, I did get lots of funny looks.

5. Hmm, this is getting hard, ummm, I won the Latin book prize in Grade 11 for doing really well in my Latin studies in high school, of course, I remember almost nothing, and will be re-learning as I teach my kiddos classical languages, we’re aiming for Latin, Greek and Hebrew, whew, we’ll see if it all gets done.

6. I have a problem with picking my split ends , enough said, please pray for me!

7. I wear Crocs in the house – ALWAYS, I used to be a no shoes in the house person, very strictly, but since I’ve found Crocs, I almost can’t live without them!

And here’s who I’m tagging:
Penny Raine
Deanne Crawford
The Posthumous Papers of the Late Adlyn Morrison
Blissful Hours
Thursday Musings
Graham Family Ministries
Heart of Wisdom

Okay, that is my first seven! I’m of to tag, and I’ll be right back with another three…hopefully!

And here they are, the three tags for my second tag requirement:

Kimberly Eddy
Lisa at Me and My House
Mommy Musings

I hope everyone has fun playing!