Contest ends today!

Have you heard about the contest to guess the number of new products in the Vision Forum Catalog??? Well check it out over at the Life in A Shoe blog. But you have to hurry because the contest ends at midnight tonight! You could win up $700 in Vision Forum products or one of two $50 gift certificates. The Vision Forum catalog is a most praiseworthy catalog full of wonderful, classic toys and books for your family. I suggest you check it out too by following the link on the same blog. Let me know if you win!

And now for something completely different...

A dear friend taught me to knit three years ago. It has been a tremendous blessing to me as a creative outlet. I find it relaxing, fun and something to do with my hands. I also love animation. If you enjoy those things, you will love this piece which I found on one of my favorite blogs Craftzine:

Praiseworthy words: Charlotte Mason on Education and the Christian

Charlotte Mason was an educational reformer in the late 1800's and early 1900's. She wrote a six volume series on education that can be read here or check out the blog below for daily postings of excerpts. This particular excerpt struck me today:

Antagonism to Law shown by some Religious Persons.––These last blessings are so unspeakably satisfying, that often enough the believer who enjoys them wants no more. He opens his mouth and draws in his breath for the delight he has in the law, it is true; but it is the law of the spiritual life only. Towards the other laws of God which govern the universe he sometimes takes up an attitude of antagonism, almost of resistance, worthy of an infidel. It is nothing to him that he is fearfully and wonderfully made; he does not care to know how the brain works, nor how the more subtle essence we call mind evolves and develops in obedience to laws. There are pious minds to which a desire to look into these things savours of unbelief, as if it were to dishonour the Almighty to perceive that He carries on His glorious works by means of glorious Laws. They will have to do with no laws excepting the laws of the kingdom of grace. In the meantime, the non-believer, who looks for no supernatural aids, lays himself out to discover and conform to all the laws which regulate natural life––physical, mental, moral; all the laws of God, in fact, excepting those of the spiritual life which the believer appropriates as his peculiar inheritance. But these laws which are left to Esau are laws of God also, and the observance of them is attended with such blessings, that the children of the believers say, Look, how is it that these who do not acknowledge the Law as of God are better than we who do?

via: A Full Life blog

Kids Craft Weekly and Craftzine!!!

Crafts are much loved at this house. I was raised by the queen of crafts, have always loved to do crafts myself, and when my daughter was about three she looked up at me one day and said, "could we do crafts everyday, please?" And believe me, she does. She frequently comes up with her own ideas for a craft or she draws from the many craft kits she receives for birthdays or Christmas. But I have found a great source if that well runs dry.

It's called Kids Craft Weekly and I discovered it on one of my favorite online zines, Craftzine. First a bit about Craftzine. The Craftzine site features a blog that keeps you abreast of all the latest in the online crafting world. Recently, the blog featured several knitting and felting projects such as that knitted Princess Leia wig you've always wanted! But the whole world of crafting is covered.

The Craftzine blog is where I discovered Kids Craft Weekly. Kids Craft Weekly bills itself as "a weekly dose of crafty goodness for toddlers and preschoolers" but really my 8 year old would enjoy many of these projects as well. This week is featuring transportation as a theme.

So I urge you to check out two praiseworthy sites, one for you and one for the kids. Let me know what you think!

Praiseworthy Recipe: Zucchini Squash Cake

I love zucchini breads and cakes. My mother has a wonderful assortment of recipes for zucchini as a result of having large gardens with lots of zucchini. Fortunately for her all of her children love it. I'm not sure why it goes so well with sweets and especially chocolate, but it's an excellent partnering. And the best part is that zucchini breads and cakes are perfect for those gigantic zucchini that everyone seems to have this time of year that don't taste good in other recipes. I've been known to shred those and freeze them to use all year round.

When I was very young we lived in the teeny, tiny town of Newburg, Missouri. If you've heard of it, I'm amazed. We had an acre garden at that time and most of our days in the summer were spent in that garden. My parents worked and weeded every free minute it seemed. And we always had a lot of zucchini. One year my step-grandfather and grandmother came to visit us. He was from Virginia and he taught us how to make flutes from the stalk of a zucchini plant. Sorry I don't remember how, but it can be done!!

Fortunately, I do have lots of my mother's recipes for using zucchini. Recently I made my children this recipe. It is straight out of my childhood because according to my mother the recipe was given to her by a women she knew in Newburg. My children loved it and wondered over the tiny pieces of green stuff in their cake. But they begged to eat it until it was gone. Try it with your family and let me know what they think.

Martha Schmidt’s Zucchini Squash Cake
2 cups grated zucchini squash
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
Combine squash, sugar , oil, eggs. Combine with dry ingredients. Beat no more than 1 minute. Bake 30 - 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Yes, 300.

Icing
Cream one 3 ounce package cream cheese
1 stick oleo (I use butter - you know a recipe is old when it calls for oleo!)
2 cups powder sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup nuts (I made it without the nuts in the icing)
Spread over cake.
Enjoy!

I haven't seen the cookbook pictured above, but as so many seem to be looking for Zucchini recipes this time of year I thought someone might like to try it.

Praiseworthy Blog: Cajun Cottage

Cay Gibson writes one of my favorite blogs, Cajun Cottage and today she has a great post about being the kind of mother whose life is wrapped up in her children. Cay is a homeschooling mother of 5 and the author of A Catholic Mosaic. She describes her blog as "...about life in a Catholic, Cajun family: our lifestyle, our faith, our culture, our learning experiences, and our interests. It will also include my writing and reading material."

If you like reading about homeschoolers, mothering, or like me you are always looking for good books for your children to read I urge you to check out her lively, witty and often poignant blog Cajun Cottage.

Praiseworthy Book: Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew

I have reviewed Teaching the Trivium in the past and I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Bluedorn's. You may not know that their daughter is also a published author and illustrator.

Here is some information about the author from the Bluedorn's website Trivium Pursuit:

Johannah Bluedorn , a self-taught homeschooled artist, won her first art prize at age 14 and published her first book at age 17. She has illustrated several children’s books, including Alphabet for Biblical Greek, Become a Civil War Reenactor, The Lord Builds the House, The Story of Mr. Pippin, My Mommy My Teacher (all published by Trivium Pursuit), and Raising Maidens of Virtue and From Dark to Dawn: A Tale of Martin Luther and the Reformation (published by Books on the Path). She also designs and sews 19th and early 20th century costumes and raises Jersey cows and Quarter horses on her family farm. Johannah lives with her family in New Boston, Illinois.

Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew is such a wonderful way to introduce children to a foreign language. The illustrations are sweet and beautifully rendered. The text is simple and straightforward in the style of traditional ABC books. Each page features a letter of the Hebrew alphabet with a guide word, the steps to write the letter and a small drawing to help remember the sound. For example one page features the letter He. The texts states, "He sounds like the h in hat. He is written in 2 steps." Then the two steps are shown. There is a large picture of the symbol for He on the left hand side of the page and a drawing of a boy with a large hat with the symbol for He on the hat. At the back of the book is a chart of the biblical Hebrew alphabet containing the characters, name of the letter and prompts for pronunciation. Especially helpful for mom!

The book is a small 7 X 5 inch board book. The pages are sturdy and laminated in the style of most board books today. The pages are in full color and the illustrations are very colorful and detailed. There are 26 pages in the book. This book is an excellent resource for any age really. My children are 5 and 8 and they enjoy looking at it and can read it themselves as well. It is modestly priced and an excellent value for the money as it can be used for years to come. To purchase Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew or the newer Little Bitty Baby Learns Greek check the website at www.triviumpursuit.com. The website itself is interesting with several resources and free downloads.

Bloglines

Once upon a time in a land far, far away I worked in a book store. One of my fellow employees left for the summer to work at a camp in a beautiful, isolated location. When he returned we asked him how it was living in such beauty and tranquility. He told us that he had discovered something about himself. "I am an info-junkie, " he said. He had become so used to reading the latest books, magazines and newspapers while on the job in the bookstore that when he no longer had this infusion of information, he just about lost his mind!

Well, I'll have to admit that I'm the same way. I love to read and I like my reading to be informative and thought provoking. In the last year I have discovered blogs as a wonderful, cheaper alternative to magazine subscriptions. The problem was that I found so many lovely blogs that it was difficult and time consuming to keep track of them! So they were often neglected.

Then a wonderful friend introduced me to Bloglines. With Bloglines you can subscribe to your blogs and they will kindly keep track of all of them and let you know when someone has posted something new. No more flipping through all the addresses looking at each one to see if something new is there. In just a few minutes I can open my Bloglines account and see if anything new has been posted and take a minute to read it. My reading time has become much more efficient which is important to a homeschooling mom! So hop over there yourself and check it out!

Praiseworthy Blog: Kiddley!

I love this blog. The author endeavors to post a new activity for kids almost everyday. She is about to have a baby any day, so that might slow down. Don't worry, there are plenty of things in the archives to keep you busy. The posts include ideas, activities, tips, and web resources. The illustrations are bright and fun. Take a look at Kiddley!

Win $100 Shopping Spree at Old Schoolhouse Store!

The Old Schoolhouse is one of my favorite Homeschooling Magazines, but that is a post for another time! I wanted to let you know that right now they are having a drawing to win a $100 Shopping Spree at their site. The shipping is also free for winners! What an awesome deal!!

All you have to do is browse the store for a favorite product and leave an honest review letting other customers know what exactly you liked or didn’t like about it and what makes it special. For each completed review you will be entered into our random drawing for a $100 Schoolhouse Store gift certificate!

For more information please visit the publisher's blog here.