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A blog-warming gift give away

Shocking!

I'm in a carnival

It's Me- Carnival of Homesteading

Aww, Shucks!
The ever so wonderful Jacque Dixon has mentioned little old me in her 18th Homesteading Carnival - Color Edition. The lovely lady has included my posts on training my young ladies in the trait of hospitality.
Thank you so much, Jacque. I am honored and blessed.
Please pop on over to the carnival and check out all the colorful links.

I'm in the Carnival

Homestead Type Book Review

I was able to sneak in an hour by myself at the library on Saturday and found a wonderful new series to bury my nose in. The Wortham Family Series by Leisha Kelly. I am a few chapters away from finishing the first book: Julia's Hope and am eager to dive into the next (Emma's Gift) and continue the story.
Last summer I enjoyed reading Karen Andreola's book, Pocketful of Pinecones, not just for the homeschool story but the setting and such. The book was set in the mid-1930s during the Depression. I loved the background storyline of a life of not just "making do" with what you had but finding joy in it. I loved how people reached out and helped each other- meeting each other's needs. When I finished Pocketful I couldn't help but wish the story continued.

Great Linkage

Just wanted to share some great linkage with those who drop in.
Meredith’s post on being a gracious guest
Scribbet’s ultra-cool (and cheap) nature bracelets

Check them out- very good stuff.

Too Cute & Sew Simple

Wow! I just found these adorable dressed-up onesies thru blog-hopping.
What a wonderful idea for vintage hankies!
Won't a baby girl just look ohsodarling in this!!!
And sew simple too!

Although I don't sew . . . . but Maiden is apprenticing with her Nana . . . .
I think I'll show Nan.
We're expecting a new niece in a few short weeks.
Now I've just got to hunt up where I stashed those ohtoocute hankies . . . .

Names Matter

NAMES MATTER
By Dr. Michael A. Halleen

Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called
Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter - or rock).
(John 1:42)

When our son was born these many years ago, we gave him my name (adding "Jr.").
To avoid having two "Mikes" to answer to, we called him "Mick,"
a name I had always wanted to be called—like Mickey Mantle, the great New York Yankee
outfielder and hero of my youth. Unfortunately, to the kids of our son's generation
the name was associated more with Mickey Mouse than with any baseball player, and
by the time Mick was in junior high school he was consistently being subjected to
that humiliation. He decided to use "Mike" instead.

We begin early to attach our name to a vision of our character and the self image
we project. All of us are encouraged and strengthened when our names are treated
with respect, but we hurt when they are used in derision. Parents who refer to their
children as "Klutz" or "Moron" (or worse!) do them a great disservice.
Punkie Nash might not have been the bad boy of our neighborhood if he had been given
something other than that unfortunate nickname. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Peter was no "Rock" when he was first called that, but he grew into it.
That can happen when a name conveys value. In the musical "Man of LaMancha,"
based on Cervantes' story of Don Quixote, the hero greets Aldonza, a crude woman
of the streets, as though she were a queen. He gives her a beautiful new name, Dulcinea.
Tough and cynical, she responds with skepticism, yet gradually starts to become
the good person he believes her to be. She sings,

Can't you see what your gentle insanities do to me?
Rob me of anger and give me despair.
Blows and abuse I can take and give back again;
Tenderness I cannot bear.

At the end of the play Don Quixote lies dying, confused and unaware. Aldonza pleads
with him to remember her name. Is it so important? he wonders. "Everything!"
she says. "My whole life! Once you found a girl and called her Dulcinea, and
when you spoke the name, the angels seemed to whisper, Dulcinea, Dulcinea."

Names matter. Call your children by names that angels can echo. Honor your spouse
with a title conveying only tenderness and love. Let students and colleagues and
neighbors and friends be mentioned in words that they would be pleased to hear whispered
across the heavens.

To laugh

Lemonade stand

I love my free Kraft's Food and Family Magazine.
I just received the latest issue yesterday and loved the little 2 page spread on kids having a lemonade stand. Just look at this picture from the magazine:

They're all so cute and coordinated and all that! I love the little Lemonade sign and the idea of selling a little snack mix too.
Check out the whole deal at Kraft Food's Kids Corner. They've got the recipes and ideas for putting together your own little lemonade stand. I know my  girls would just love to do this some time! 'Course I don't have a white picket fence for a back drop . . . .

Fast food vs Reality

Great Tip

In my blog reading here at HSB2 I just found a wonderful interesting tip for night time coughing.
Rub Vicks Vapor Rub on the feet and then cover with socks- the coughing will stop!
I will definitely be doing this the next time one of the kids develops a coughing fit.

Hat Tip to Titus 2 Woman! Thanks a bunch!

Stuff still not working

Ah, well, linking and inserting a photo etc. still aren't working yet.

Anyone know when this will be fixed?

To the Powers that Be- we trust you will get this all fixed soon!

Thanks for this great community

Ugh. Sigh. Moan. Whine.

??Confused??

Every time I try to set a link and click on it- it brings up a small box with Homesteadblogger's Home page- which it won't expand or let you click on or anything . . . . .
A tad exasperating . . . .
Are there still kinks being worked out?????
Or is this feature gone?
Just wondering if someone out there knows for sure . . . . ..

I have a request for help

I have a request. To all homeschooling families- do you have a name for your little homeschool?
I have some information on homeschool student ID cards and they ask for a name- plus when my children graduate from this little homeschool I’d like to have A School Name for their diplomas.
Please share in the comments the name of your little homeschool and perchance- offer up some ideas to me????
Thanks!

Giggles and grins

Here is a short little story to make you grin:
George was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window.

George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he said no. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be along when available.

George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now cause I've just shot them all." Then he hung up.

Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up at George's residence.

Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

REMINDER...This is only humor, not advice...

Found the article!

Thanks to Sweetie right here at homesteadblogger I have found the article I was referring to in my previous post and wonder of wonders- it was written by her husband!
The article is titled Song of Solomon: She Is What You Made Her by Les Berry and is printed in the Jan/Feb issue of Making It Home Magazine.[MIH]
Oh and by the way, I find MIH is worth pinching my pennies for.

The Nativity Story