Training Children to Sit Still

We have been blessed with four children close together in ages. Our oldest will be seven soon, and our youngest is 9 months. I'm sure many people think we are crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lord keeps sending more little blessings our way, as I'm still in my twenties! While having children close together can be a joyful and exciting time, it is without question an extremely difficult job.

One thing that I see many families struggle with, my own included, is church time. Thankfully we go to a very family friendly church where you will see parents working with their children training them to sit still. We don't send our children off to a Children's church, and our church even has a Sunday School Class together as a family, so that is a lot of time for our little ones to sit.

We have tried various things, bringing a whole bag full of books, little activities, coloring pages, etc. but it ended up feeling like it was play time at church. The children constantly would get up and ask for another book, a crayon would drop, the children would start fighting over a book (please tell me I'm not the only one whose children do that?!) and the list could go on. So we took most of those things away, and only allowed occasional drawing on a piece of paper. But the goal, especially for our two oldest children, is that they sit still in church.

Several weeks ago I finally got so frustrated over constant commotion in church, that I came home and declared war. :-) My husband was thrilled to see my determination to conquer this problem. For several weeks now, we have been practicing sit time at home, every day before our school starts. We do this right after breakfast and chore time, before we begin our actual Scripture devotion time.

I have found that the couch does not work very well for sit time. They lounge around on it, and either get all sleepy sitting there, or they start pillow fights (with two boys most of the time it is the latter!). So I use a wooden bench I have sitting in my entry way for the two boys, and for my two year old I use her little booster seat and just put it on the floor beside the bench.

The rules are that they are to sit quietly, hands folded in their laps, legs are not to be swinging all around, for twenty minutes. During that time I am sitting on the couch facing them, a lot of the time holding my baby in my lap trying to teach her to sit also! I turn on a CD of someone talking. If they have been really good I will turn on "Uncle Rick reads the Proverbs" from The Learning Parent Company, but to start out I turned on a CD from Vision Forum that was way over their heads! I wanted to give them the feel of a sermon being preached.

If they are good during those twenty minutes, then they get a few chocolate chips. :-) If they sit really good during church, then I tell them they get a little bit extra dessert if we are having potluck together at church, or they would get a little treat at home. I'm not going to keep that up forever, but I want them to be rewarded for doing a good job, and I want to give them something to work towards.

Be forewarned. The first day we did this my 6 and 2 year old screamed for 18 of the 20 minutes. The first week was just terrible. But it has gotten a lot better now, and while church time is far from perfect still, we are seeing progress on Sunday mornings also.

So, pull out the earplugs, turn on a lecture and the timer, and sit! You will be glad you did in the weeks to come!

Review & Giveaway of Canning & Preserving by Ashley English

When I opened the book Canning & Preserving by Ashley English from Lark Books I knew I was in for a treat. This book was made well; in the writing, pictures, and the quality of the book itself. For this visual learner I greatly enjoyed the refresher course in this book. There is a complete explanation of the science of canning, chemistry, acidity, and altitude; knowledge which I sorely lacked in. This makes me more confident to head into more varied home canning and not fear I will poison my husband. I want him around for a good long time!

There are charts throughout the book about food safety (fruits/veggies with high and low pesticide traces), seasonality of ingredients, pectin, ideas for gift baskets, and definitions of everything from jam to curd.

For those beginner’s and seasoned pro’s you can’t do without the step by step instructions and photos for boiling water bath processing and pressure canning. Ms. English has a thorough overview of all the steps from cleaning the jars, lids, and screw bands, heating the jars, prepping the lids, checking head space, processing the jars, cooling and checking the seals, reprocessing if needed, and storing. If your unsure of yourself in home canning this section alone would be worth the price of the book.

Sprinkled throughout the book are profiles of seasoned canners who share their canning background and give tidbits of canning wisdom. I thought this was a brilliant idea. Two other awesome ideas are hosting a at-home canning party and setting up a canning swap. For those who you who have friends, family, or neighbors who preserve food or are interested in learning how this would be fun.

Most of the recipes do seem to be the standard line of food preservation. If you’re looking for some really different or interesting canning recipes this may not suite your taste in the recipe department. Despite this, I would highly recommend this book as a canning reference book that needs to be read and used in canning season.

From Jennifer Allen

Buy It!
You can buy Canning & Preserving for $19.99 from Lark Books.

Win It!
Win the Canning & Preserving Book!! To enter, go to Lark, and pick out another book they publish that you would be interested in. Come back here and leave me a comment.

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NOTE: THERE ARE NEW WAYS TO EARN EXTRA ENTRIES!!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

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2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!

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4. Share about this giveaway on your Facebook page, and leave a comment with the link.-earn 2 entries!

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6. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

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PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Wednesday, October 6th at midnight, and a winner will be posted the following morning. We will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond! Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to Lark Publishing who supplied the product for the review and giveaway.

Squeak squeak, EEEK!!

Saturday I spent the day cleaning and scrubbing as a couple wanted to see our house that is up for sale. After spending all day doing that, it took them about 5 minutes to tell me they were not interested as they wanted a basement. Oh well. 

All the children went outside to play on the trampoline after that, and I was in our office on the computer. My 2 year old comes inside and says, "Mama, what is that?" I come out and look in our entry way. 

There was a dead mouse lying there.

Up above our coat closet is a big hole that leads to the attic (still a house project that needs finished up). The mouse apparently ate some poison, and fell out of the attic hole. I try to stay calm, while inside I want to scream! My boys come inside, and I calmly ask my oldest son if he will go and sweep up the mouse with the dustpan and throw it away. Being the brave boy he was, he agreed. 

As he went over to scoop it up, the mouse started rolling around as if it was having a seizure. 

We all scream and jump on chairs on the dining room table. I grab my phone, and out the back door we went. We could watch that poor mouse, laying there still rolling around, trying to die. The dilema was what to do? I thought about just leaving the house, but my keys was in the closet right where the mouse was! There was no way I was going to scoop that mouse up and take it out. 

By now it had started sprinkling. I walk over to our garage, and see our next door neighbor outside, a very nice man who is a pastor of a local church. I call him over and ask if he would mind getting the mouse out of my house. 

There are still gallant men in this earth! Shovel in hand, he went inside the house, carried the mouse out and threw it in the trash. We all carefully go back inside, and my six year old cleaned up the mess from the attic for me. 

I didn't walk under that entry way without being skittish the rest of the day! It is now top on my sweetheart to do list to have the hole covered up! 

Tick Tock!

I need more time. How many of us have said that? I need more time to finish up a project, I need more time to keep my house clean, I need more time to get all the homeschooling in.

I listened to a talk last night by Susan Bradrick entitled "Twenty-Four Hours Is All You Get." I had listened to it a while back, but this time I turned it on with a heart that was willing to listen to all she had to say. I knew what she was going to say, she was going to call me out. I'm one of the guilty ones that she talks about, the ladies who say they don't like schedules, or they can never make them work for their family. Listening to the talk made me realize that the only job you can get away with NOT being on a schedule is if you are a homemaker, or run your own business. If you work for someone else, you have to stay by their schedule or you will lose your job. The guy who cooks the hamburgers at McDonald's listens to his boss, and his boss listens to the higher up guy over other McDonald's. If someone doesn't do their job, things get chaotic quick!

Some might say, "all we do is cook and clean and teach our children. It's not that important to be on a schedule."

I'm here to tell you that I very painfully feel the affects in our family life from the lack of scheduling. If you don't tell time what to do, it will just slip through your fingers, and you can never get it back again. Every minute counts for something eternal. At every tick of the clock, our children are growing. I don't think one of us would look back and regret having organized our day to where our home ran smoothly, and we had more time to spend with our children.

What to do about it? A schedule must be made! But it all to quickly is made, and then forgotten about. I realized last night that what keeps me motivated is to listen to talks from women who have been where I'm at, and hear how they picked themselves up and made their time count. So I'm resolved not just to make a schedule (yet again) for our family, but also to keep encouraging myself along the way to stick with it. Just like going to church each week encourages us in our christian walk, reading or listening to someone encouraging us to stick with the discipline of managing our time would be very helpful in the start of this journey.

So, does anyone have suggestions on other books I should read or talks I should listen to? I'd love to have any tips you can pass along!

Review and Giveaway: Organic Cotton Nursing Nightgown

Since I have 4 children, I have spent probably 5 years of my life nursing a little one. I quickly realized that while you don't need to rush out and buy every nursing shirt available, some clothes make it much easier to nurse in than others. My standard wardrobe at this point is a skirt and shirt. Something easy to pull up and nurse. I had always wanted to try a crossover nursing nightgown, and so I was delighted when I was given the chance to review the Milk crossover nightgown.

This nightgown is made with 100% organic cotton, and also uses organic dyes! The cotton is really soft, making the nightgown very comfortable to wear. I found the gown to be true to size. It was easy to nurse in, as you simply pull down the wrap front and nurse. I did find that when I would take it on and off, sometimes I would hear a ripping sound, but I could never find a spot where it ripped, so maybe I was just stretching it out? The cotton is not quite as thick as I would like, but so far it has held up just fine.

My only hesitation in recommending this gown is that I found it hard to nurse in it and be modest. I'm used to just wearing a two piece type nightgown, where I can easily lift up and nurse during family devotions, etc. and be modest in front of my little boys. I woke up one morning in bed to find my four year old at my bed (quite a common scene!) and he was just staring at me. The gown was still pulled down, and I was totally exposed. I was *not* a happy mama about that!

Overall I have been really pleased with the gown, I just know when I wear it I need to keep a nursing cover handy to use when I nurse around my little guys.

Buy It!
You can buy a crossover maternity and nursing nightgown for $42.00.

Win It!

Milk nursing wear has generously offered to give one of our readers a crossover nursing nightgown in the cerulean blue color! To enter, visit the milk website and pick out a different item that interests you, and leave me a comment letting me know what it is!

EXTRA ENTRIES!

NOTE: THERE ARE NEW WAYS TO EARN EXTRA ENTRIES!!

You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- Subscribe to our blog via email.

2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!

3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.

4. Share about this giveaway on your facebook page, and leave a comment with the link.-earn 2 entries!

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6. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

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PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Thursday, September 30th at midnight, and a winner will be posted the following morning.We will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond! Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to Milk who supplied the products for the review and giveaway.

Three New Winners!

Our last three giveaways ended last week, and it is high time to announce the winners! All of these winners were picked using random.org

The Winner of the Inchimals is: April (April@)

The winner of the Proverbs Parenting Set is: Amanda (Amanda.corley@)

The winner of the Chopin Set is: Geri (Ger_hicks@)

Congratulations! You will be sent an email shortly!

Review and giveaway of.....AN ERGO BABY CARRIER!!!

OK, can you tell by the title I'm just a wee bit excited about this review and giveaway?! I can not even begin to tell you how many times the ergo baby carrier has helped me get through my day. As a Mother to four children six and under, I have had many l-0-n-g days with the baby crying, the toddler begging to be held, the older children restless, and I want to go to bed and take a nap! But as we all know, that isn't possible. I knew about the concept of wearing your baby with my first child, and I tried. And tried, and tried again. All I had was a ring sling, and I just couldn't figure it out without being in a lot of pain trying to carry him around. As he got older, wasn't easy to wash dishes with him right there in front!

Along comes my second son, almost exactly two years later. I was exhausted, and would collapse in bed every night hoping for a good night's sleep, but knowing I had to be up several times to nurse my little boy. My baby was like most babies, he wanted to be held a lot. And if he wasn't being held, he would fuss until he was picked up! When he was around 3 months, I received an Above Rubies magazine in the mail, and there was an article in there sharing about the Ergo Baby Carrier. After reading it, I asked my husband if I could buy a carrier to try. There was a place online where they gave a 30 day back money guarantee, so I knew I could return it if I didn't like it. After trying it, the ergo was never returned. :-) I have since used an ergo baby carrier for my other two children, and during my last pregnancy tried carrying my little girl in it while pregnant. NOT suggested, I was just desperate! I can't imagine living without an ergo, and my husband and I agree that if needed, we would buy an ergo baby carrier brand new for each and every baby if needed. I use it *that* much.

What is so special you might ask about this carrier? It doesn't hurt my back. Or my shoulders. I have found the trick is to have the carrier straps adjusted just perfect, and then I can carry my babies for a long time without being uncomfortable. My babies love the carrier, and many is the time that I will put a fussy baby in the carrier and they will go to sleep!

So down to the technical items of the carrier:

Standard Baby Carrier Features

• Ergonomic design
• 400 threads per inch cotton poplin lining and hood
• 100% cotton batting in body of carrier to soften edges
• One inch, high density foam in shoulder straps
• Quarter inch high density neoprene foam in waist belt
• High Quality buckles tested by SGS
• Waist belt circumference from 25" to 43"
• Fits from 5' to 6'5" body height with adjustable shoulder and chest straps
• Sleeping hood with elastic, adjusts in length to growth of baby
• High quality webbing, matched to carrier color
• Reinforcement stitching used at all fabric intersections
• Interior rip-stop reinforcements at critical intersections
• Durability/strength tested up to 90 pounds
• Machine washable - cold, gentle cycles, mild detergent, no bleach. Dry in low heat

This baby carrier has an ergonomic design which supports the baby's hip, pelvis, and spine growth. It disperses most of the weight between the baby's hips and thighs. The ergo baby carrier also distributes the baby's weight to parents hips and shoulders, and does a nice job of evenly distributing the weight!

I was sent a tan baby carrier to review, and the fabric is of such high quality, that it looks like it will hold up for a very long time! I have washed the ergo a few times, and they always come out still in great condition, and the dirt washes out nicely!

If you have limited funds for baby items, I would honestly advise someone picking out what to buy to purchase an Ergo baby carrier over a exersaucer, baby walker, and possibly even over a baby swing! It is so good for your babies to be held by you. They have been in your womb for 9 months, they still need lots of snuggling from their mama especially.

Buy It!
You can buy an ERGO baby carrier for $105.00.

Win It!

I am THRILLED that ERGO baby carrier is giving an original carrier to one blessed reader!! To enter, go to the ERGO baby site, and pick out what color you would like in the original line of carriers priced at $105.00. Come back here and leave me a comment.

EXTRA ENTRIES!

NOTE: THERE ARE NEW WAYS TO EARN EXTRA ENTRIES!!

You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- Subscribe to our blog via email.

2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!

3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.

4. Share about this giveaway on your facebook page, and leave a comment with the link.-earn 2 entries!

5. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!

6. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

7. Place our NEW Modest Mom button on your blog (please replace the old one you might have) and earn TWO extra entries for doing so!

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Thursday, September 30th at midnight, and a winner will be posted the following morning.We will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond! Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to ERGO baby carrier who supplied the product for the review and giveaway.

The Holidays are coming!

I can hardly believe that we are at the middle of September! October is a busy month for us, as it is our anniversary month, both of our boys were born in October, and my Brother-in-law's birthday is in October. Then comes Thanksgiving, and then comes Christmas! By the time Christmas comes, I can be exhausted if I'm not careful.

Growing up, the focus on Christmas was most definitely on Jesus, and celebrating His birth. We were never raised to believe in Santa Clause, and until I was in high school we didn't even have a Christmas tree. Stockings were never hung up on the fireplace, but we did have little red booties that my Grandma had made us that had each of our children's names on it. Some years my Mom would fill the little booties with some candy, and that made us excited. :-) Every year we would turn on Christmas music and fill the air with yummy scents from cookies. We still continue to do that to this day.

My Mom was always really diligent about starting devotionals at the first of December, and bringing our thoughts to the birth of our Lord the whole month. Almost every day we could be found singing at the piano the wonderful Christmas hymns, and creating many special memories.

While I'm looking forward to Christmas this year, I know it will be dramatically different for me as my Mom won't be here to share in it with us. I need to pay even closer attention this year to actively doing things with my family to enjoy the whole month, or I will get caught up in being depressed. My Mom always made the holidays so special, and her enthusiasm over the joy of the month was catching!

One thing I'm looking forward to using is The 12 week holiday planner. I have already looked through my copy, and it looks excellent! This is a planner that starts the first week in October, and goes through the new year. It is 171 pages long, and it walks you through every step in getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and your New Years Eve party in a calm, organized way. Plus the e-book includes lots of yummy recipes, crafts you can make as gifts, coloring pages, journaling pages, and more! This e-book was created by Sheri Graham, and Marilyn Moll of Urban Homemaker. I grew up with the Urban Homemaker catalog coming to our home, and I love to support anything that has her name on it!

You can order your copy for $12.95, and once you print it off, this is an investment you can use over and over again each year! My Mom always had a Christmas notebook, and a Thanksgiving Notebook to use each year, and I plan on doing the same thing. Time has a way of slipping away, and before you know it the new year will be here again. Don't look back with regret on how you spent your holiday season! Grab hold of it, and purpose in your heart to spend this time with your family, your friends, and building memories with your children. And most importantly, plant in your children's heart the meanings of the holidays, and who we are most thankful to during the holiday season, Jesus Christ. He has done so much for us, the least we can do is stop and celebrate His birth, his death and his Resurrection. Yes, we tend to celebrate all of those things during the Christmas month. The wonderful life of our Lord started with His birth, but we love to continue the story with our children and remind them of the other marvelous things that go with the rest of the story!

How do you celebrate Christmas? Do you have any special traditions you do year after year?

Guest Post-A peak into the average day of homeschooling little ones!

My homeschooling years

There are many things which I am grateful that my parents did right. One was the choice to educate their children at home. They are part of wonderful childhood memories!

I must confess that I loved being home all day, learning by my mother and having fun with my siblings. The world outside was too big, very complicated, and as I discovered later, very unfair. My character was being formed on a solid foundation as I was under the care, protection and love of the two people who loved me most. When I failed, I was corrected with love and with the principle of making me a better person. I do not recall having been teased, criticized or humiliated at home. Was life perfect? No! But I will forever be thankful for such a godly upbringing.

Why did we choose homeschooling?

You can guess that I am thrilled to homeschool our own children! If there is one reason I am homeschooling is to make my children better disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, I want our whole lives to revolve around this. Needless to say, just like any other disciple of Christ, choosing to do what God says is not usually a popular choice in the eyes of the world.

I want to make sure my children are taught the truths of life according to the Bible alone. I want them to be able to easily identify and reject any idea contrary to that of the Bible and joyfully choose God’s ways as their own. This is my prayer, goal and earnest desire.

A peek into our day

No day in our home is the same! But I do have a structure in place. I use it as a guide and reference and it makes a big difference in the productivity in our day.

We start our day with a good hearty breakfast, because mommy and kids need energy for the day ahead! Then we do a devotional (because my first language is Spanish, I am reading through a children’s Bible in Spanish; 95% of our reading is in English though.)

After devotional time, we do a quick clean up which may include laundry, setting their bedroom or bathroom straight, etc. Then we do ‘homeschool time’. I picked up a preschool book at BJ’s which my daughter (4) loves. She even homeschools herself on Saturday and Sundays, as I insist I rest on those days. I am just glad she has a hunger for learning! We do our school work in our dining table. I set a bucket of crayons for both children. While my daughter is doing her workbook, my son (2) is enthusiastically working on his coloring books or construction paper with both with crayons and scissors (he loves scissors!). I sit the entire time with them, about 20-30 minutes.

When school work is complete, I let them play outside. We live in an apartment complex, so we don’t have a backyard of our own. I will do some reading for myself as they play ball or with chalks, or I will just open up the kitchen door and watch them from there as I fix lunch.

After lunch, together we do a quick clean up of the dining area and kitchen. Then we sit for reading aloud time for about 15 minutes. When I am done reading, I let my 2-yr old take a nap. My daughter will just sit quietly in my bed with books to ‘read’ or with a notebook and pen. I try to have this nap/quit time last as long as possible, as they need to rest and mommy needs ‘me time’, about 1-2 hrs.

When nap/quite time is complete, I let them either go outside to play, or we’ll take a walk together, or I’ll just let them watch a DVD about 30 minutes and. After that is free time!

We will have yet another read aloud time before bedtime. Daddy usually does this reading. So although they only complete assignments on workbooks for less than half an hour a day, they are learning as I read to them, play outside, and help mommy with household chores.

Again, no two days are alike. There are rainy days, there are errands to run, and there are sick days. But, this is the basic structure to my days with toddlers.

Each day I thank God for the privilege and blessing to serve Him as I serve my family, honor my husband and nurture our children.

Karisa was born and raised in Central America. She is the oldest of 6. She currently lives in Sunny South Florida, and is married to her beloved, Abe Rivera. Together they have two precious children, Madison Esther and Jordan Caleb and are expecting a third bundle of joy. God is the center of their family. They live to fulfill the Great Commission.

Karisa enjoys encouraging woman from all walks of life to radiate God’s powerful love through her websites, www.KarisaRivera.com and www.MujerRadiante.com

Review: The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving Food At Home by Janet Chadwick

The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving Food At Home by Janet Chadwick

From Jennifer Allen

From the time I was 12 my family had a large garden most years. We would be enthusiastic as we planted and if things went well we had a large harvest of garden fresh vegetables on our hands. As you stare at the harvest before you there is one thing on your mind, what will I do with all of this? You have a few choices. Begin eating a great deal of produce, give away produce to every family member and friend you can find, or begin preserving the food for future use. Many times our plan was to preserve the food. I am most familiar with canning and freezing, while dehydrating has been few and far between.

With these past experiences in mind I began taking a look at this book. This is hands down easily one of the most informative book on food preservation I’ve read! I think for those who are new to food preservation it could be the best book to start with. For those who have years of experience behind them I’m sure you will find some new tips. I know I did!

From the beginning chapter on choosing equipment Ms. Chadwick goes through a detailed explanation of basic equipment needed for root cellars, freezing, drying, and canning. She gives extensive information on the best equipment for each way of food preservation. There is an awesome chapter on tips and shortcuts for your food preservation plan. Ms. Chadwick tells readers the easiest way to preserve various foods, as well as the best way to plant your garden. From experience I think the best tip is to stagger planting your garden. You put in your seeds/plants every few weeks throughout the season so they don't all ripen at the same time. That is a very smart idea I'm here to tell you!

I’m a step by step person and Ms. Chadwick found a fan in me for her writing style. In her Basic Techniques for Preserving Foods she gives simple but clear illustrations and step by step instructions for each process she is describing. One process I will point out is her instructions for the boilable freezer method. I would want to study up a bit on the virtues of boiling my vegetables in a plastic bag. Time may be saved as she points out, but I would be concerned about the plastic leaching into the food at high heat.

In the Preserving Vegetables and Preserving Fruits and Preserving Herbs chapters Ms.Chadwick shares what would be the fastest way of preserving that food item, and what would be the healthiest way to preserve that food. When you are standing in the garden you can decide how much time you have to get the job done and follow which method you chose.

In Pickles, Relishes, Sauerkraut, and Sauces and Jams, Jellies, Preserves, and Marmalades Ms.Chadwick gives you the recipe to use then the step by step instructions for preserving with the recipe.

For the beginner gardener/preserver the book would easily be worth the purchase price for her Troubleshooting chapter. All the basic problems you could run into are addressed. I love the harvest meals chapter where she gives recipes for foods that are commonly preserved such as tomato sauce, green beans, squash and more. It’s a book well worth investing in for those concerned about the quality of their food and economic aspects of the home food preservation.

You may go to Storey Publishing to purchase the book for $14.95.

A special thanks to Storey Publishing for sending the book for review.

Review of Snap-EZ Training Diaper

If you are wanting to cloth diaper your baby, the options are endless these days. But when you get to the potty training age, the choices seriously start to narrow down. I started looking for cloth potty training pants made from diaper companies, and I was surprised to see how few choices there are. That's why when I came across the Snap-EZ All In One Trainer I was thrilled!

The Snap-EZ company makes cloth diapers, training pants, nursing pads, feminine pads, wet bags, and wipes! I was sent a All In One trainer to try out, and I was super impressed with it! The trainer has 11 different color options, which makes it fun for your child to pick out their favorite color! Custom milled cotton velour is found inside. The velour fabric helps your child feel wet, without a soaked feeling. It is also really soft! There are sewn in soakers which help absorb more liquid for the accidents. The trainer snaps on the sides, but it is really easy to pull up and down to go the bathroom.

I have to say, these trainers hold a lot. One of my boys still has trouble wetting the bed at night, so I put this on him to wear one night. He didn't leak at all, even though he soaked it!

If you are looking for trainers, these would be great to try. I thought they ran on the large size, so be aware of that when ordering. The trainers retail for $19.95, but during the month of September they are on sale for $18.95.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to Snap-EZ who supplied the product for the review.

Who can't use a new apron?

I just love aprons! I have made several of them, and I find them not only fun to wear, but very practical as they help keep my clothes clean! You can go here to enter to win a mother/daughter set of matching aprons!

Review and Giveaway: Great Musician Series-Frederic Chopin

My Mom was very good about instilling in me a love of classical music growing up. Many are the times I remember sitting around the table, listening to classical music for school. It didn't stop there though. We would have classical music on in the car, while we cooked, cleaned the house, while we fell asleep, and sometimes if I was very good, in the background while I was doing school! Naturally I wanted to pass that love of classical music along to my children.

I play the piano, and sometimes I will pick out fun little pieces that I know the boys will like, and will play the piano for them while they twirl, dance, and march around the living room!

This year we are studying Bach in school. I have been using the book Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler to read out loud to them. It is part of the Great Musician Series. Both of my boys (ages 4 and 6) are listening intently to every chapter, and they can't wait to get to today's reading! Scattered throughout the book is found sheet music of songs Bach has written. Normally I would have stopped and played the songs on the piano, but both girls were sleeping, so we went to YouTube (I always have the boys turn around until I find the right song, because you never know what will pop up on YouTube!) and we listened and watched different pianists playing the music. They just loved it!

I was sent the Frederic Chopin set to review. There must be more information on Frederic Chopin than there is on Bach, because there are actually two books on Chopin, The Early Years, and the Later Years. The books are full of pictures on almost every page, helping to keep the little ones attention. The stories are interesting, it is not just dry facts.

Also included in this set is a study guide, which is an amazing help! The study guide shows maps of all the major cities Chopin visited, and has a timeline placing his life in history. Then it goes through each of the books chapter by chapter, providing questions for you to ask your child, character qualities that are found in the life of Chopin, and also gives you tidbits of interest, going into depth explaining the reasoning behind some of the things you read about. For example, it explains what a Mazurka is-a Polish country dance. I personally would not have remembered what a mazurka is, so this book would be very helpful!

A companion CD can also be purchased to go along with this set. It includes all the music found in the books, so you can just pop in the CD and play the song when you get to it in the book. All the sheet music found in the book can also be printed off of the CD. What I like the best about it, are the coloring sheets that you can print off for your child.

This set of books is what I would consider a living book, something that can be hard to find. We home school using the Charlotte Mason method, so I was thrilled to discover these books!

Buy It!
You can buy all of these items grouped together as a package deal for $30.90.

Win It!

Zeezok publishing is giving away Chopin set to one of our readers! To enter, go to Zeezok publishing and find a different item of interest to you and leave a comment telling me what it would be.

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- Subscribe to our blog via email.

2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!

3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.

4. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!

5. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

6- Place our Modest Mom button on your blog.

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Tuesday, September 14th at midnight, and a winner will be posted the following morning.We will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond! Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to Zeezok publishing who supplied the product for the review and giveaway.

Review and Giveaway: Proverbs Parenting Toolkit!

Large families always inspire me. Partly because I hope to have one someday (call me strange, but I still don't consider 4 children as large, it is definitely a growing family, but 6 and up are what I always think of as a large family). And partly because I honestly do not know how they do it all. But I've come to realize something.

God gives us the strength to accomplish something when we need it.

I think that is part of trusting the Lord, we desire to do different things, (like homeschool our children, or have large families) but we have no clue how to go about doing so! But if we only wait and trust the Lord, HE WILL give us the strength at the moments we need them. Frankly, I thought I would fall apart when my Mother died. The peace that has been given me at times is sweet and only from my gracious God. Yes, the grief is there. The tears do flow. But the Lord is upholding me in His arms, and walking before me in these days of trials.

One large family that I have always admired from a distance is the Rick and Marilyn Boyer family. They seem to be a family with smiles always on their faces, and the joy of the Lord in their hearts. What is their secret in raising their family? Well, it appears that one thing they do consistently is get the word of God in their children's hearts.

They have a great company called The Learning Parent. I love the name, because I think if we as parents will just keep learning (or in cases relearn some things) then we can pass it on to our children.

One great item that they sell is the Proverbs Parenting Toolkit. This is an awesome kit they have put together, to help parents like me! I had the desire on my heart to start studying out the Proverbs with my children, but I really need study guides to help me get the most out of what we are reading.

The main part of the Proverbs Toolkit is the Proverbs People book. This is a practical workbook of character studies from the Book of Proverbs. You will study out the character qualities of:

Slothful vs. Diligent

Righteous vs. Wicked

The Five Fools

The Wise Man

The Prudent Man

Liar vs. Faithful Witness

Let me tell you, I have seen results using just this one book! We dived right into the slothful vs. diligent study, because who doesn't deal with that when you have little ones around? I was astounded at the results. My oldest, who is 6 listened intently to everything we read. At the end of the scripture study, there is a story that includes the example of the character quality you are reading about. After finishing up the story, we went on in our day to do various things, when I looked around and didn't see Mosiah anywhere. I called for him, and he said he was upstairs cleaning his room because he didn't want to be a sluggard! Talk about quick results! I was thrilled, and I still have seen him work harder at keeping his room clean weeks later.

In the kit are:

two Proverbs People books,

Pictures from Proverbs Set 1 and 2-In each set are 18 large flashcards which deal with a different topic from Proverbs. The front side shows an illustration and asks a question. The back side gives the answer, and an explanation of the verse.

Daily Wisdom from Proverbs-This set has 82 verses ready for you and your children to memorize!

Proverbs Flashcards-These flashcards are not fancy at all, but they really work in helping your child learn the Proverbs!

Uncle Rick reads the proverbs-I really liked this and so did my children! Uncle Rick reads through several verses of the proverbs at a time, then stops and explains it, just like he does to his own children!

Proverbs Memory Cd-This is the book of proverbs read straight through, King James Version.

Pictures in Proverbs Coloring Book-This coloring book has pictures that go along with Proverbs people 1 and 2 books. Your children will color pictures that match the character quality they are learning.

Proverbs for Preschoolers-This is a really neat workbook that you can use to teach your preschool age children their ABC's while presenting God's word at the same time!

Proverbs, God's Character Curriculum-A talk from Rick Boyer that is a practical application for teaching the Book of Proverbs to your own children.

If you are struggling with your child's character, I would strongly suggest getting this program and using it! I think you will be surprised with the results!

Buy It!
You can buy the Proverbs Parenting Toolkit for $137.00 normally, but right now it is on sale for $89.95! I would grab it at this price!

Win It!
The Learning Parent is giving away a Proverbs Parenting Toolkit to one of our readers! To enter, go to The Learning Parent and tell me one other product (Besides The Proverbs set) that looks interesting to you!

EXTRA ENTRIES!
You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- Subscribe to our blog via email.

2. Follow us on our blog using Google Friend connect!

3. Follow us on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know.

4. Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment letting us know you follow!

5. Blog about this giveaway and leave the link.-2 extra entries (leave two comments saying you did this).

6- Place our Modest Mom button on your blog.

PLEASE leave a separate comment each time you do one of the above. The comments are closed on this post, just use the form below to enter. We never share your email addresses with anyone, which is why we use the form to keep them private!

This giveaway will end Monday, September 13 at midnight, and a winner will be posted the following morning.We will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond! Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and my honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own. Thank you to The Learning Parent who supplied the product for the review and giveaway.

We have some winners!

How exciting! Every time I get to pick winners, I always hope that the people who really need these items will win! I use random.org, so there isn't much I can do about who wins, but I really enjoy getting to bless people with good quality items, thanks to our sponsors!

The winners of the Mystery of History sets are:

For set # 1 the winner is Cara (carralenee@).

For set #2 the winner is Patricia (pnldwyer@).

The winner of Aarons Thinking Putty is:

Darcy (memoriesmama).

The winner of A Child's Geography, Explore His World is:

Cheryl (scottmjca).

I hope all of our winners enjoy their new prizes!