Thankful Thursday 8/9/07

Today, on this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for:

My husband--for his faithfulness to his family.

My children--I love them more than I can possibly ever say.

For trials the Lord has recently given our family--despite the great pain caused by these trials, the Lord has shown us how to work toward improving things for the better and how to depend on Him more.

For discernment the Holy Spirit provides and the ability to listen to it.

For the incredibly special hugs my 18-month old loves to give me and his siblings and daddy! :)

For the privilege of homeschooling and the closeness it brings to our family.

For my faith and the small amount of hope the Lord has given me regarding a very personal and delicate matter involving someone I love very much AND the fact that I'm clinging onto it with all of my being and depending completely on the Lord to carry all of us through this situation.

All American Soldiers/Military and the extreme sacrifices they have made and continue to make each and everyday so that I can live here in a free country with my family.

For the restored relationship with my husband's parents.

For time spent with my extended family and my husband's parents.

For computers and the web that allows me the opportunity to try to supplement my husband's income and communicate with other ladies at the same time.

For BLOGS and all the wonderful ladies who run them and all the help and support they provide to others through their blogs.

For our air conditioner and that it is STILL working properly despite it's age.

For this "Thankful Thursday" activity and the fact that it forces me to STOP and see the many blessings God gives me.

If you'd like to participate in "Thankful Thursday" or just read other lists, visit Sting My Heart.

Wordless Wednesday 8/8/07

I can't remember where exactly, but I found this somewhere on the internet one day and thought it was absolutely breathtaking!

To see other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

The Duggar's Welcome Baby #17!!!

Yes it is true--the Duggar family just welcomed baby #17 into their family. Isn't that wonderful? You can read more about it here.

I'm from a large family (9 children) and I've always wanted a large family (I have 6 so far), but I don't know that I could imagine having 17 children. I wonder if Michelle Duggar ever gets tired? I mean really, really tired. She must, don't ya think? How could she not?

It is amazing to think that she and I are the same age, but I only have 6 children. She must be the closest thing to a "supermom" that I can imagine. Oh, all of their children's names begin with a "J"...isn't that neat?

I also think it is so wonderful that they live debt-free. THAT is truly amazing, especially in today's day and age. That would be an AWESOME blessing to be able to live debt-free!

Homeschool Bloggy Giveaway

I saw this on another blog, and I thought it was a great idea! :)

Jen over at Ancora Imparo is hosting The Homeschool Bloggy Giveaway! There are a bunch of bloggers that will be GIVING AWAY great stuff this week! Make sure you check out the Mr. Linky links to see all the sites that are participating.

I'm giving away a set of 2 Usborne books. Titles are: Usborne Science & Nature ORNITHOLOGY and The Usborne History of The Twentieth Century. These books are in fabulous condition and sure to thrill anyone who is interested in birds and history!


I’ll be collecting comments until Thursday night (8/9) at midnight (EST) and the winner will be randomly chosen on Friday, August 10th, and notified. You MUST leave a working email address in order for me to contact you if you win. ***You do NOT need to have a blog to enter, but you DO need to live in the continental U.S. to receive my prize. Thanks so much and enjoy! :)

This Homeschool Bloggy Giveaway is open to both bloggers and non-bloggers. You can find more bloggy giveaways and/or sign up to host a giveaway here.

Preparing to Go Back to School

by Audrey Okaneko

By the beginning of August my kids are usually asking to go to Staples to start looking at and buying back to school supplies.

Each year we are always unsure what supplies any one teacher might want. We’ve had some teachers that wanted a different notebook for every subject. We’ve had some teachers that wanted 5 subject notebooks to take notes for class. It is always so hard to second guess what the teacher may want.

Of course if you wait until the first or second day of school to buy your supplies, then many of the stores have very little left. Especially items like compasses. These can be very hard to find that first or second day of school.

One trick we learned was to buy everything we thought the teacher might want. If the kids went to school and discovered they did not need the item, we would then return it. It was much easier to return a few items, versus driving all over town looking for sold out items.

When children enter junior high and high school, the size of the school and the thought of changing classes all day long can be overwhelming. Our local schools give both junior high school and senior high school students their schedules a week before school actually starts. We always walked the path many times. We walked from class to class so that my children felt comfortable the first day of school. We also found bathrooms, the gym and the cafeteria. This walkthrough can help eliminate some of the stress of starting a new school.

Prior to school starting, visit either the library or the book store, so your child has a book to read during free time. I found that in the older grades, teachers expected kids to have a book that first week of school. As the school year developed the teachers often assigned a specific genre but that first week, free choice was almost always acceptable.

The week before school starts, we changed our bedtime and wake up time to coincide with the school schedule. No more sleeping until 8 or 9 a.m. By making this change a week ahead of time, it causes much less stress that first week of school.

All of these preparations have helped make back to school run quite smoothly in our home.

Article Source: http://www.thewahmshack.com/articledirectory

About The Author: Audrey Okaneko is mom to two girls. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at www.recipe-barn.com

THIS ARTICLE is Free for reprint only if it remains in its entirety, the Author's Resource Box AND our Article Source Credit Url are included, and ALL links remain intact.

Back To School Giveaway With Gymboree

Love Shak, Baby is hosting a back to school giveaway. Gymboree is offering two of their readers each a $250 Gift Card to be used at the Gymboree store or Gymboree online. Their contest runs from July 27th through August 17th, so hurry up and get entered.

Ashwin's Blog Extravaganza, You Can Win $2,500

Aptly named Ashwin’s blog extravaganza, Ashwin is giving away $2,500.!!! You could win $2500 worth of cold, hard cash by entering alone! To do so, just post this on your blog:

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

Wow, I hope I win! :) We could really use the money.