Tomorrow Starts the Expo- Don’t Miss It!

  Tomorrow begins the Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2009!   Time to Get Your Ticket!   Online Seminars with With 35+ Speakers! Virtual Vendor Hall! Free Gifts--ebooks, audios, downloads! Special offers from your favorite Online Vendors! Mp3 Downloads for all audios (over $

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Restoring Balance To Completely Overloaded Lives!

  Restoring Balance To Completely Overloaded Lives! By Cindy Rushton      Ever had an “unbalanced tire?”  Recently, I had a tire that was driving me crazy! It made the ride horribly rough.  I was wore-out just from trying to drive to town b

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Bread in the Kitchen Aid

  HERE is a great little video clip on how to make bread in a Kitchenaid. You just use your favorite recipe. Soft White Bread Recipe Makes 2 loaves   Ingredients * 4 cups bread flour * 1/2 cup shortening (melted) * 1/2 cup buttermilk * 1 cup lukewarm

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From Seeds to Harvest Weekly Update-Freebie

  This looks like a fantastic freebie for those of you gardening with your children. Make the most of all the work! Skip past the advertisements and go to the free printables. Don't you just love FREE?! You do have to sign up for their website, but that is free too!   Lapbook Lesson f

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How to Make a Photo Quilt

    This is a quilt I made for a friend at church, Beata. She is giving it to her grandmother for her 90th birthday. She e-mailed me 20 pictures in sepia tone, spanning five generations. She also bought the fabrics.   Here is a brief tutorial. I did not follow a pattern,

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Soap Day

  Emma Today a few of us got together to make soap, we learned from a real EXPERT!   Is there anyone that lives near you that you can learn something new this summer? I'll be there is, people LOVE to share their passions!   Don't forget to check out our Summer Domestic Classes

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Quilted Pillow Slipcover

    Choose a pillow front. Here I have chosen 2 Nine Patch blocks to match THIS quilt. If you are going to quilt a top you will need to layer it, top, batting and backing, (note that the batting and backing are slightly larger than the top) then stitch as desired. Here I am

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The Most Important Practical Skill for Kids

Money Management! Managing money is one of the most important skills you can teach your children. Is that not the most prevalent problem in our nation on ALL levels?  Perhaps with the exception of salvation.   Resourcefulness is all about managing what you have, and that is t

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Our 2009 Domestic Class Schedule is posted!

    I finally finished the 2009 schedule...so much to do, so little time! ;o) There may be a couple more added, so stay tuned.    

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May’s Giveaway winner is… Stephenie!!!

  May's From Seeds to Harvest Gardening Giveaway winner is... Stephenie Pyles !!!   She wins the basket of skin care products from Southern Belle Bath.   Be sure to hop on over to Stephenie's blog and read how she is gardening with her children.   ***  

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From Seeds to Harvest- Gardening Freebies!

  Ya gotta love the free stuff! Even if you don't want these for yourself, think how your kids can use them to make their gardening lapbooks and science notebooks! They can cut the pictures apart and make puzzles or memory games with them.   Free subscription to Organic Gardening Magaz

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Making Bibs and Burpcloths

      At our church we LOVE families and we LOVE BABIES! Babies are viewed as blessings, not burdens. So very rarely do we have times with no new babies being born, Praise the Lord! I wish I could make a quilt or crochet a blanket for every baby born at our church and circle

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2009 Homeschool Expo

2009 Homeschool Expo

      We are so excited to be a part of the 2009 Ultimate Homeschool Expo again this year! We made a lot of new friends last year and hope for even a better time this year!   This convention NEVER ends. You can listen to it at your convenience. You can listen again and aga

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Show and Tell- Saturday Sewing

  Here is a stack of projects we finished Saturday. 18 Hanging Dishtowels and 15 cloth napkins. Olivia also made a new apron for herself.   Handmade By Us items for sale HERE.      

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Death is Not Dying

  Need some perspective on life? Please take 55 minutes this weekend to watch this video, you won't regret it. Death is Not Dying      

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The Seventh Day

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work

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Crochet DVD Review

  A Review from 5 Kids, My Husband and Me   I actually got to sit yesterday and watch the new video I ordered from Kathy Brodock. Learn to crochet. It's really good!! I have already made a dish cloth! I just love it! I won't be wasting any time ordering the cake decorating video e

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Quick Receiving Blankets

  You can make really nice receiving blankets for just a couple dollars. I found this fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby (my FAVORITE store), although the clearance price wasn't as cheap as I wanted it, but I just LOVED the fabric, so I bought a couple of yards! We have FIVE babies due at our

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A Serious Ironing Board

Jeff helped me make this ironing board for my quilting. When you are pressing yards of fabric at a time a regular ironing board just doesn't do the job. It's really pretty simple to make one. Cut and screw a piece of plywood to an ironing board, be sure to center it. You can get the olde

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EASY Hanging Towel

      Cut a piece of fabric about 16 inches wide. Fold it in half, right sides together.   If you fold it as shown into thirds you can get three toppers made.   Cut your towel in half, across the width.   Fold each half into thirds at th

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From Seeds to Harvest Weekly Update

  Our garden is doing very well, we've had a good bit of rain and sunshine! Emma planted some okra our friend Missy gave her. A neighbor gave her some extra tomato plants so she planted those too.  T We have two big blueberry bushes that are doing GREAT! They are loaded with green berri

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Window Quilts

  As part of our cutting the spending at home and becoming more self-sufficient  we are keeping the air off until June 1st..at least!          One way to help keep the house cooled off some is to block the sun and heat. I looked at some window quilts on

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From Dust Ruffle to Apron

            We spotted a beautiful crib size dust ruffle at the thrift store! Olivia and I immediately thought APRON! All I really had to do was add the bib, straps and a pocket. I used the surger which saves a lot of time.   When you see a

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Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them

  As I said yesterday, sometimes we need to return to the old paths to learn how to do some things for ourselves, after all there is nothing new under the sun. Here is an old book with TONS of neat stuff in it! Let your kids look through it and find something to build that would be useful

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Resourcefulness- Becoming Self Sufficient

I am all for new and improved ways of doing things but there are times we need to return to the old paths, sometimes we need to *experience* some foundational ways of doing things.   Being frugal has always been a way of life for us, well at least I thought it had. Only recently have we c

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Rabbit Hutch

Rabbit Hutch

 This is a 4 stall rabbit hutch Jeff made for some friends of ours.     They will be raising meat rabbits.        Carpentry is a skill that is so needful in manhood.  I'm so proud of my man!   On our  Tools Page there ar

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Portable Chicken Coops

I've had a few e-mails since my Buying Lumber for Pennies post and my Eggs post about chicken coops. I had planned on posting about this later but this seems like a good time! Jeff built these incredible, PORTABLE chicken coops for some friends of ours, he built two of them.    The si

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Taco Salad

  Taco Salad Place your tortilla chips on top of the lettuce. Add ground beef; browned and seasoned with taco flavoring. Add grated cheese, black olives, chopped onions, refried beans, salsa, and sour cream...give and take what you like. This is a meal that you can stretch fo

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Honeysuckle Jelly

    There are so many things I LOVE about living in the south. I love going on my walk and smelling the honeysuckle...nothing like it! I LOVE being able to stop at a local house to buy fresh, free range eggs. I love that you can pay on the honor system. Last week whe

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Do You Have Weeds Yet?

We have had rain just about everyday the past week which has caused the gardens to really thrive! The only thing is with all that thriving comes WEEDS! Hopefully today we will get out there and pull the unwanted roots that will choke out what is intended to be used for US to thrive! The las

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Basic Canning Supplies

  If you do not have any canning supplies yet now is the time to start buying them. If you buy one or two items a week when you shop it will only take a few weeks to gather all your supplies. Of course keep your eyes open at yard sales and thrift stores, or just order from Amazon and have them

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A Rainy Day Update

Here is a rainy day update from our family.   I think we experienced a 'FIRST' in our 23 years of marriage. Due to the pouring rain all day, hubby and son are rained out of work, combined with a late night last night (unusual for us), and a movie from Netflix to be watched, ALL of us sat

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Review: Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy

  The current situation in our nation is so far away from the Constitution that we are heading for disaster.  We have got to be educated in the law, in the Constitution. We NEED to teach these things to our children. We have got to know our history and know how to DEFEND what

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Resourcefulness- Buying Lumber for Pennies on the Dollar

    My husband is very tight resourceful. He hates to pay full price for anything, he says it is because he works hard for his money, which I have to agree! Because he is so resourceful he knows how to get a good deal on just about anything! That combined with his carpentry

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Organic Gardens in Jeopardy

  It seems like everyday I hear something on the news that just leaves me shaking my head and wondering what will come of us as a nation.    Most of you have probably already heard about HR 875. This is ANOTHER piece of legislation that is just CRAZY! ANOTHER case of the governmen

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From Seeds to Harvest- Seeds

  Leslie, of Journey to Simplicity posted about the importance of what kind of seeds to buy.   Do not purchase seeds that will yield hybrid produce. Hybrids have been genetically modified. Although they are generally less expensive, they have a huge drawback; the seeds from the fruit yi

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From Seeds to Harvest- What to Do with Slugs

  Valerie asked: I have slugs eating my herbs, I have been putting out salt, but I now have an ocean full of salt water instead of a lake full of freshwater in my yard. Someone suggested an open can of beer, I have forgotten that old remody, guess I am gonna have to buy some cheap beer and se

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Confessions of a Busy Mom

  OK...I am going to be extremely REAL with all of you.    In my quest of being productive and always wanting to learn new things, I have a tendency...OK, more than a tendency, to be too busy. It is very hard for me to just play or just hang out with my teens. I am try to take tim

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Crochet Name

  Another fillet name finished and shipped this week! $10 base rate, plus $5 per letter; free shipping in the US. I'm always willing to barter. :o) ~~~ These are made with basic crochet stitches and cotton thread. Learn How to Crochet      

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A Great Family Movie

  Last night we watched The Astronaut Farmer, from Netflix. It does have a little language in it, but overall it is a great family movie. I love how the wife stood by her husband and the kids were so supportive. Yes, the story line is fiction, but that's OK! They encouraged Dad to follow his d

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From Seeds to Harvest Weekly Update

This week we planted 9 bell pepper plants and 2 cherry tomato plants. We've had rain just about every day so things are growing like crazy! It's time to get out and weed.   Here are the 2 new cherry tomato plants on the back deck... and you can see the laundry hanging...just being real f

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Our Iris Garden

The Iris is a symbol of the undefeatable believer, survives great dryness and thrives in water,   and will not be shaken.    We have yellow and purple irises. They are so pretty!  About 7 years ago a neighbor let us dig up a bunch of hers, since then we have given aw

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National Day of Prayer- Repentance and Reformation

    Christians are to pray every day, but as a nation  we should also set aside a time/days to pray and acknowledge our dependence on our Creator.  Our nation is in need of repentance and reformation.   "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the

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Bean Storage and Bean Recipes

These are plastic Maxwell House coffee containers. When I buy large bags of dry beans these are good to store them in. I just label them with a piece of paper and tape. They stack easily. A good place to store  long shelf-life foods is in the far corners under the kitchen counters.  

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Grinding with a Vita Mix

  Amy from Joyfully Home ask: This is awesome. I didn’t know that you could use a vitamix to grind wheat…would you be willing to elaborate on how to do it? The pictures are all wonderful…helps w/ a visual learner. Many blessings, Amy B.     In orde

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Questions from Our Inbox- Food Storage

  Yesterday's post brought some good questions from our readers.   Jean asks: On your blog you said you cut up and cook your potatoes for potato salad ahead of time. I could save a lot of time by doing this, but I am not sure how to store them. How do you store yours? I am just now l

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Sewing Tutorials- Little Girl’s Dresses

  Here are a few easy tutorials for little girl dresses/skirt. Twirly Skirt   Sunny Day Dresses   The Shirt Dress (Made from a man's dress shirt) Button Shirt Toddler Dress (Also made from a man's shirt.)   Pick up some dress shirts from a yard sale or the t

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Plants in a Bottle

  Karen from Blue Barn Bulletin posted about how her husband planted his seeds... HOW COOL IS THIS? Great Idea Plants in a Bottle!       Go HERE to read what you need to do to be part of the From Seeds to Harvest Gardening Challenge and get in on the giveaways! It&rsqu

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Mega-Grilling and Super-Size It!

  When cooking, SUPER SIZE IT!   Another way to save time and money in the kitchen is to grill a bunch of meat at one time. This way you are not heating up the kitchen and making a pile of dirty pans.   Once it is grilled and cooled I package it in freezer bags and freeze, leavin

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Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich.

    Be studious in your profession, and you will be learned. Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy. At least, you will, by such conduct, stand the best chance for such conseq

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