Circling Through This Life

Christmas is right around the corner and now is the perfect time to be thinking about a special personalized gift for the loved ones on your list! Members of the Homeschool Review Crew have had the opportunity to choose from a variety of name meaning gifts including a Personalized Framed Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse from CrossTimber . I want to share my experience with all of you. Before I could order, I had to choose. I was torn. We were given the opportunity to review ONE gift. How was I going to choose? I could not make up my mind. I started by emailing John at CrossTimber.  I shared with him that I was having a difficult time making up my mind. I have four daughters so I didn't want to pick one of them and not pick the others so I went in a different direction. I gave John my husband's name and my name. A couple's name plaque would be nice! My niece had gotten married only a few weeks before so I asked about her name and her new husband. Maybe I wo...

My friend Karen from Tots and Me is celebrating both back to school and her 5 year Blogiversary. I am so excited to co-host this giveaway with her! She’s giving away a set of Supergirl’s favorite DVDs! Fascinating World of Series from Brain Food Learning . I think this giveaway is worth entering just for a chance to win those!  And we co-hosts are offering your choice of a $30 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal!  You know you want to enter!  I almost wish I wasn’t participating so I could win a copy of The Well Planned Day. I reviewed an earlier edition of The Reading Game. How cool that they have a 2nd edition now.  So check out the great products that Tots and Me put together! Have you used any of these products before?   Welcome to the Back to School/5 Year Blogiversary Giveaway Hosted by: Tots and Me Co-Hosted by: Chestnut Grove Academy , Circling Through This Life , and The Shady Lane Back to school time is here!     The summer, once again, just...

**Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!** I love planners.  A couple of weekends ago I was on a date with Honeybear and we stopped in an office supply store. He left me behind in the planner and office supply section.  He wandered over someplace else because he knew I had found a bit of my heaven. When I say planners I don’t just mean lesson planners or homeschool planners. I love home management planners and meal planners and plain calendar collections. I have digital planners, paper planners, planning software and even a planner based in Excel! Just last week I received the 7 Minute Life Daily Planner to review. (Look for the review Mid-September!) On Monday I talked about Planning: The School Calendar .  I use the School Year Calendar tool in Homeschool Tracker Plus (HST + )to create the school calendar. This is a downloadable software. Unfortunately, it is no longer being offered but Homeschool Tracker does offer Homeschool Tr...

My friend Karen from Tots and Me is celebrating her Blogiversary! She is offering fellow bloggers the opportunity to join with her in a Blogiversary Celebration Giveaway! What a neat idea and great timing with Back To School! Do you have a blog?  Do you homeschool?  Do you blog about homeshooling?  Maybe you would like to join in the celebration?     Back to School/5 Year Blogiversary Celebration Organized by Karen @ Tots and Me     There will be 1 Winner. Prize Package is valued at approximately $340 (there may still be some additions).   You can see the full list of prizes here .   Signups Close August 14th, 2014 Giveaway Dates: August 17th-31st Open to US residents   You will get a free Facebook link for participating. You must post the giveaway on August 17th and promote 3 times a week. You can opt to get your choice of second link (Twitter or Pinterest) for posting the announcement post on your blog.   Co-...

I’m participating in the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop next week. Join me each day as I write about planning and planners, sharing some of my favorite products and discussing 1st Day of School Traditions! Check out the products we’re giving away.  I’ve used many of these in my homeschool so feel free to post a question on my Facebook page , leave a question in the comments or just shoot me an email. I’d be happy to share my experience!   Several members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have joined forces during our August Back to Homeschool Blog Hop to bring you these incredible giveaways, totaling more than $1300 in homeschool curriculum and PayPal cash!    Grand Prize Giveaway In the Grand Prize  Giveaway , someone will win $765 in curriculum , plus $150 in PayPal cash to help you finish up your homeschool shopping! You could win all of the following. Please click on the prize links to learn more about each product.  From Home School Adventure Co . -- ...

This giveaway has ended. Book Title: The First Christmas Author: Keith Christopher Illustrator: Christine Kornacki Publisher: Ideals Children’s Books Format: Hardcover, 32 pages Price: $16.99 Recommended Ages: Kids ages 4-8 but in my opinion enjoyable for all ages! As soon as I pulled the book out of the packaging, I was in love!  This beautiful, hardcover book, written in rhyme captures the attention of both adult and child. It can be a quick easy read or you can slow down and savor each page. About The First Christmas Night The First Christmas Night is a beautiful retelling of the birth of Jesus on that joyous night in Bethlehem so long ago. The poem begins with the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and winds though Christ’s birth, the angels’ appearance to the shepherds, and the visit by the Wise Men.  The simple, yet elegant, verses will appeal to little ones and are accompanied by the rich acrylic illustrations of Christine Kornacki. About the Aut...

I can’t wait to tell you about this book that Supergirl and I have been reading.  Can’t-Wait Willow! written by Christy Ziglar and illustrated by Luanne Marten tells the story of Willow and the lesson she learns about making choices and learning to wait. Sometimes you need to say no. It can be better to wait. Save yes for the super amazing, and end up with the truly great! Willow is a young girl who has been waiting and waiting for the day of the Big Top Circus.  The day has finally come and she is so excited.  She’s been dreaming of cotton candy and seeing the show in the Big Tent, but as she walks from home to the circus she encounters fun things like the ice cream truck or playing with friends at the park and by the time she gets to the circus she has no more money to buy cotton candy and to make it even worse, the circus show is over.  She missed it! She “couldn’t say no” to the ice cream truck, or the lemonade stand.  Those were good things but she mis...

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” My family loves history. We love books. We love reading books about history. I have always loved hearing and reading stories of the colonists and pioneers who built our country. When I saw that Alone Yet Not Alone was a novelization of real event in the family history of the author, I was eager to read it and share it with my family. Alone Yet Not Alone tells the story of Barbara and her sister Regina; how they were kidnapped yet did not lose faith.  Barbara draws her courage and her strength from her Christian Faith and does not lose sight of her goal...

"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned below for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   I love baseball.  I love the music of Casting Crowns.  I love a "feel good” family movie.  It was a “no-brainer” to respond the email to say “Yes, I would like to review the movie Ring the Bell.” Rob Decker isn’t just any sports agent.  He’s also the President and CEO of his own agency. He’s at the top of his game and he’s picked out the next baseball superstar. There’s just one small problem. Shawn wants to go college. He doesn’t want to go straight to the big leagues. Other agents from other agencies have tried to sign Shawn but faile...

Last February I had the opportunity to read and review The Guardian Duke   by Jamie Carie.  The Guardian Duke is the first book in the Forgotten Castle series.   I very much enjoyed the adventure part of the story and two of my daughters loved the book.  So I had to jump at the chance to read and review The Forgiven Duke.  We received confirmation that I would be receiving an advanced reader copy on Tailorbear’s 13th birthday. She was so excited.  She declared the book her birthday present!   This book releases July 12, 2012. Here’s some websites you may be interested in: http://jamiecarie.com/books/the-forgiven-duke http://www.amazon.com/Forgiven-Duke-Forgotten-Castles-Novel/dp/1433673231   http://jamiecarie.com/books/the-forgiven-duke About the Book: Tethered by her impulsive promise to marry Lord John Lemon - the path of least resistance - Alexandria Featherstone sets off toward Iceland in search of her parents with a leaden hear...

Can you feel the excitement vibrate off this post?  I loved this book and I get to give away a certificate for a free copy of this book courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers.  You’ll find the giveaway information at the end of this post. I think the best way to introduce this book is to let author Randy Singer introduce it and tell where the story came from: Here’s my view: The protagonist, Jamie Brock, is a prosecutor who describes herself as more of an Old Testament type of gal.  She believes in justice “eye for an eye” style.  As an assistant DA she has a strict no plea bargain policy.  She works hard and believes in justice.  Now the defense attorney who represented the man convicted of murdering her mother and shooting her father is the primary and only suspect in the murder of his wife.  Will Jamie take a plea?  Will she be able to see justice served or will she put revenge first? As a former lawyer wanna be, I enjoy a gripping legal thrill...