La Clase Divertida

Today I am learning or should I say trying to learn how to set up affiliate links. Our Homeschool group is an affiliate of Christian Book Distributors and  I need to let everyone know what Spanish curriculum our co-op's are using. I know how to set up for Amazon. I know how to set up for a blog. But can I get a link set up to put in an email..NO WAY   So I am just putting them here on the blog because I know how and the learning will have to wait for another day because I have learned how to tell when I am out of patience.

So if you are in the middle school co-op this is what you need to order. If you have one child get the kit with cd so they can have the audio practice. if you have two in the co-op you will need both kits. 

And if you want FREE shipping I got an e-mail this week:

Free Standard Shipping until August 27th at Christianbook.com!  Just place an order of $35 or more before 11:59 PM ET on August 27, 2012, enter promotion code 388473, and choose standard shipping. Plus, save up to 97%! Shop Sale Away through August 27th > Sincerely, Your friends at Christianbook.com Terms and conditions: Cannot be combined with any other offers. Applies to U.S. delivery addresses only. Applies to standard shipping only. Cannot be used on orders already placed, or on backorders. Order must total at least $35.00, excluding shipping fees or taxes, in order to qualify for this offer. Offer expires at 11:59 PM ET on 8/27/12. I LOVE CBD. I order from them all the time. They have great service,good prices and a huge selection of homeschooling materials.

La Clase Divertida, Extra Student Kit, Level 1 (with CD) By Dale Gamache / La Clase Divertida Introduce your whole family to the basics of a foreign language when you join Seqor and Seqora Gamache's friendly Spanish class! Games, songs, storytelling, cooking, and handcrafts are used to teach letters, numbers, greetings, animals, colors, and more.! Kit includes a CD-ROM with craft supplies. Ages 5 and up.

La Clase Divertida, Extra Student Kit, Level 1 By Dale Gamache / La Clase Divertida An extra student kit for La Clase Divertida Level 1. Includes 1 student workbook, 1 set of worksheets, and craft materials.

Real Advice from Real Moms

Click here to visit 4 Moms 35 Kids.

   

  Now this is the kind of book I wish I had when I was a new mom. When my first child was born I read all the parenting and baby magazines that were popular at that time. Some of the time I tried the advice and sometimes I would just shake my head and wonder "who wrote this article!!".

     Then one day after reading an article with what I considered to be some of the stupidest advice I ever heard.. I checked out the author and her credentials. Surprise, Surprise, She had no children. After that I would always look at the author's bio before I bought the book or read the article. I was shocked by how many childless experts there were writing books and article in such an authoritative tone that you assumed they knew what they were talking about.

     While I was preggo with number 1. I read stacks of childbirth and parenting books that I checked out from the local library. Most of them had the same tone. This is the new way of doing things,this is not your mother's parenting. Even though you turned out fine she did it all wrong and now we know better. They had lots of advice on what to say to mom or the MIL when they tried to tell you what to do. After all you had them childless experts to tell you the new way to do things. Your mom and MIL they were old school behemoths.

     I am still amazed at the way my mom went from being the dumbest women when my first child was born to a genius by time I had my third.

    My children are 13,16 and 19 so  I hardly ever buy parenting books but I could not resist this one. It's an e-book. I had a coupon code ( FOURDOLLARS) so I was able to get the book for $4.00. I downloaded it; transfer it to my Kindle Fire easily since it is in a pdf format and started reading. And all I can say is WOW. This is REAL! Real advice from real moms with lots of kids.

     If you would like real practical advice from experienced moms. If you would like answers to these questions: 

• how to handle daily nap time
• how to get to church on time
• how to get through the grocery store with little ones
• how to teach kids to be attentive (and quiet!) in church
• how to teach children to be around unbelieving family
• how do you deal with sibling squabbles
• how to teach kids to do chores (PLUS a master chore list!)
• how to talk to kids about sex
• and MORE

This is the book for you

                                                       Click here to visit 4 Moms 35 Kids.

New Level, New Devil

       My homeschool group, Arundel Homeschoolers, is hosting a National Day of Prayer event on May 3 2012. I am on the planning committee for this and several other events. While sitting at the table and discussing my ideas for this event the thought new level,new devil kept coming to mind.


     New Level, New Devil is a concept I learned while reading books by my favorite author, Joyce Meyer. This is what she has to say:


          "Anytime we step out to do something new, especially something new for God we will almost always       
           and almost imediately- face a negative circumstance that will try to discourage us or convince us we
           cannot do what God ask of us" 
           Joyce Meyer p. 31 Never Give Up!: Relentless Determination to Overcome Life's Challenges


     Months ago, I wrote this on an index card and put it in the pile of cards with things I want to remember on them. I put these cards on photo holder on my desk so I have a visual reminders. I used to write it all down in a bible study notebook but I never seems to remember those things. I need to have it right in front of my face.

     With all the new things I am doing I need this reminder so that when I begin to experience all the frustrations  and inconvences of life that I remember it's just satan jumping on my back and trying to stop me from doing good. It's never fun to deal with clogged toilets,sick kids,car accidents with uninsured drivers, traffic camera tickets,unexpected bills,surgury,strikes but it is a how lot eaiser when you realize you must be doing something right or satan would see no reason to bother with you.

  ,

Taste of Home

     I love to read magazines. Over the years I have subscribed to quite a few. But the only one my husband ever told me I needed to subscribe to is  Taste of Home  Of course he said that after I made some of their recipes. 


     I have been a subscriber for over 10 years  and I can honestly say I have never had a bad recipe from this magazine. I started subscribing way back when their motto was still "The Magazine Edited by 1000 County Cooks". Now days it is "From Families Just Like Yours"  Not sure why they think that is a better slogan. I'm sure lots of fast food families look at TOH and want to eat just like the families in the magazine but they know they are not just like them.


     I just got the February/March 2012 issues and it is drool worthy! I can't decide what to try first. Hmm... May-be the Buffalo- Style Chicken Chili Dip or the Chipotle Focaccia with Garlic Onion Topping. Either one would be great for Super Bowl Sunday. The Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola looks so good I can taste it. The Key Lime Bars will definitely make the try list however I don't think the Orecchiette with Roasted Brussel Sprouts will be gracing my dinner table any time soon


     My family loves the recipes from Taste of Home. Below is a list of ten of our all time favorites.


What's for dinner tonight at your house?




Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast  A diabetic recipe

Apple Streusel Muffins  The bookworm request this for every birthday

Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

BLT-Egg-Bake

Cantaloupe Chicken Salad   My DH loves to find this in his lunch box

Bavarian Meatballs   Another diabetic recipe

Blueberry Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake  When I donated one for the dessert auction it sold for $75

Chocolate-Zucchini-Cupcakes  I can't believe my kids ate these.

Shipwreck  An all time family favorite except for the Lego King who will not touch it

How to Find Free Books and Convert them for your device

     I downloaded a free book from Amazon ,Free Books For Kindle: Your Guide to Free Kindle Books Online. It's .99 today but it's well worth it if you are a new Kindle owner. 


     The book was clear and concise. It explained how to convert books to the correct format for Kindle and where to find free books. I already had a good idea of where to get free books.  What I didn't know was how to convert the books I have so they can be read on my Kindle. I follow his directions . It was quick and easy. 


     You need two things. The first is Kindle for PC which is a free download from Amazon. I already had it because I have been reading free books from Amazon for over 6 months. If you don't have it you can get it Here and you need to have access to the website http://www.online-convert.com/. At this site you follow the directions and quickly convert your pdf or ebook files into mobi format and then you download the file and Kindle for PC opens it. Then when you sync your Kindle you'll have the book on your device to read.


 Since there is a free nook for pc I am assuming you can do the same thing but I don't have a nook to try it on


Sites to get free books: Most of the books on these site are Classics.


Project Gutenberg


Open Library


Many Books.


Ink Mesh


Sites to facilitate book lending


Lendle


Book Lending


Free books sites that have classics and current books


Google Bookstore: Best of Free


Free Nook Books


Top 100 Paid and Free  
This is a list of Kindle books at Amazon. At their book kindle book page if you click on any genre to the left and then on the next page look to the left and there will be a top 100 free list by genre 
                                                         
eReaderIQ


This is a great site that tells you all the latest free Kindle books. If you signing up for their e-mail you will get two e-mails updates a day.


Happy Reading!

Trying to Be a Positive Thinker

     Yesterday, I blogged about Joyce Meyer. One of the things I have learned from reading her books and watching her tv program online is the importance of being positive. This was not an easy lesson and it is a lesson that I constantly strive to apply to my life.


     I first read her book  Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind in 2002. I kept a journal of what I was learning. I was going to be positive if it killed me and there were times it felt like it did. What happened next is a perfect example of  "New Level New Devil".


      In her book  Never Give Up!: Relentless Determination to Overcome Life's Challenges Joyce Meyer writes "Anytime we step out to do something new for God we will almost always and almost  immediately face a negative circumstance that will try to discourage us or convince us we cannot do what God ask of us" (p.31 Never Give Up) In other words,"New Level New Devil"


     I had vowed that I was going to be positive. I would not be like one those Israelites with their desert mentalities that Joyce Meyer describes in Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind . The first few weeks went well I was just starting to feel proud of myself and WHAM!! I got a nasty,messy tummy bug.


     This bug was not the kind that lasted 24 hours or even 48 . It lasted for days and then it went away for a few days and then it was back. This went on for 3 weeks. I was getting so aggrvated. I would sit in the bathroom and have a pity party. "Oh poor me, poor, poor me I have a nasty bug! There is nothing to be postive about this. Why is God doing this to me?? Why?? Why?? Poor , poor me." and on and on it went. "I was feeling so sorry for myself. Didn't God realize I wanted to be a positive person! Why would he let me get sick when I was trying so hard." 


     Finally, it dawned on me the Bible said in Philippians 4:6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  BUT IN EVERYTHING Not just when the getting is good ,not just when you are healthy but in everthing.


      I regained my determination and from then on when I was in the bathroom being sick. I would say "Thank you Lord for indoor plumbing." "Thank You Lord I can't imagine how awful it would be to be sick in this nasty weather and have to go to an outhouse." I also said Thank you for the inventor of toilet paper, thank you for my central heat. I finally got it. God wants me to praise him and thank him all the time not just when I feel he is blessing me


     Now you would think after that kind of lesson that I would become a positively postive person. Nope! that's not what happened. I was more positive than I had been but nowhere near where I needed to be. 


     Fast forward to the year 2010. I decided that I need a refresher so I ordered myself my very own copy ofBattlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind . I pulled my old journal out and started reading. It was really sad to read my journal and see how little progress I had made in 9 years. I had learned so much and written good notes but I had not followed through on the life application.


     I knew I needed to make some changes in my life and my way of thinking. How could I apply the lessons I learned and not forget them. I got out a package of 3 by 5 index cards. Instead of keeping a journal I wrote down various quotes and other things that I thought were important. Some of the cards I taped above my desk,some I taped on the bathroom mirror and others I displayed on my desk. I was determined that this time I would be successful at applying the lessons I had learned. I carried my cards in my purse and pulled them out to read when I sitting in waiting rooms. Gradually the way I was thinking began to change. Now when a situation occurs I feel myself responding to it differently then in the past, the lessons,quotes and verses I want to recall now come to mind quicker.


     When the 2010 school year began I decided that I needed to create a more positive learning enviroment for my children. I wanted to share some of the lessons I had learned. I had a wonderful educational catalog full of motivational posters and charts to hang in the classroom. Since all of the items were designed for a schoolroom most were to big for what I wanted and being the frugal person that I need to be I didn't want to spend the money. I did a quick internet search for free motivational quotes and free printable posters . I was able to find some really good sites. I plastered the walls of the house with posters and quotes. I downloaded motivational screen savers. Having the reminders all over the house has been such a blessing


Some of the sites I use:


...and Spiritually Thinking.


Positively Positive


Motivational-quotes-for-women.


Crosscards


These sites all have facebook pages so if you "like" them you will get the latest quotes, posters etc in your feed.

                                          My desk with photo holders holding index cards.

                                          My desk with Bible Verses on the wall.

                      The snowman photo holder holding an index card. I switch them by seasons

                                                       

Joyce Meyer Freebie

     I have never met Joyce Meyer but she has touched my life in so many ways. I have learned so much from her teachings. I love her books. Two of the best books I have ever read are:
Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind and Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind  One of my favorite devotionals is 
Battlefield of the Mind Devotional: 100 Insights That Will Change the Way You Think

     I have read  these books several times each but each time I have learned something new. When I am reading I keep a pile of index cards and a pen handy. When I come across something that really hits me between the eyes I jot it down on the card. I have a pile of these cards. I keep several of them displayed on my desk and I change them regularly. I review the cards all the time because it helps me to remember what I am learning.

      I was so excited to see a message in my facebook feed from the Joyce Meyer facebook page  about a Free devotional on you version. I had downloaded the Free Bible App from You Version  shortly after I got my Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi  but had not used it yet. I'll definitely  be using it now.