Free Christmas Advent Calendars and Printables

I've been homeschooling for a long, long time. Did I say long? And I've created a few worksheets and printables over the years to accommodate whatever need we had at the time. You can check out some of my printables over on scribd.com.

But this post is about the Advent Calendars and Printables for Christmas that I am offering. They are embedded here for your enjoyment! The links on the bottom of the printables are all wrong so disregard. But the copyright still stands. It's free to use just don't sell it please. And if you decide to pin it on pinterest I wouldn't be opposed :)

I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do.

This one is the activity calendar. We placed each in an envelope and we open them each day and do the activity.
Activities Advent Calendar

This is the Santa's beard calendar. Each day we glue a cotton ball on the picture till the final day when Santa's beard and hat will be fluffy and white. Our kids don't really "do" Santa but we've had fun with it.
santa countdown to christmas

And finally our family favorite which we've done for years now is the Countdown to Baby Jesus! It's pretty self explanatory. You glue/tape a star on each day until it's Jesus' birthday!
Christmas Advent Calendar

Gratitude Giveaway - And the winner is...

Jennifer M. was lucky number 16 and is the winner of a $5 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of Empyre Robotika by Brandon Lee Little! Thanks so much for entering the giveaway! And if you didn't win but would like to read Empyre Robotika (which I highly suggest) it is available for Kindle for only 99¢ and also available as a print on demand.

Book Review: This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano

I actually received the book entitled This Little Prayer of Mine :)

It is a beautifully illustrated book that reads like poetry. The brilliantly colored pictures are what makes the whole book come together. The colors are vivid and the images endearing. It's like getting to watch a child's dream unfold.

This would be an awesome gift for any child from 5-8 years old. Although I think the younger kids would appreciate it as well.

Very cute. I highly recommend it!

I got this book for free in exchange for my review. You can get free books too if you sign up for Blogging for Books!

It's Turkey Time!

It's time to bring out the Thanksgiving decor. I was at Walmart a couple days ago and they are already clearancing out their Thanksgiving stuff. Seriously? And some crazy person in our neighborhood has their Christmas tree up this week. Hello? It's only the second week of November. Around here we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Anyways, off the soapbox...Here is Tom Turkey once again making his annual appearance. I'm gonna be hosting a giveaway during the week leading up to Thanksgiving so I thought I'd let Tom have his minute of fame first. If you've been on here ever you may have seen Tom before. This is a repost of sorts. I hope you enjoy!



I love Thanksgiving! It's right in the middle of the holidays and also in fall which is my favorite season. So I thought I'd share a printable I created for my kids a few years ago.

This is Tom Turkey. He's not very happy. Do you know why? He knows that Thanksgiving is coming soon. lol. So feel free to print Tom and share him. Just link back if you post him on your blog. I'd love to see your pics! We've been doing this since I created it in 2005 and my kids look forward to it every year.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Book Review: A Whisper of Peace by Kim Vogel Sawyer

A Whisper of Peace is the story of a brother and step-sister who travel to Alaska to share the gospel with the native people. As they begin their ministry there they find an outcast, Lizzie, a native woman with bright blue eyes who has been sent to live outside of the village. Can Clay and Vivian bring peace to the native people?

A Whisper of Peace by Kim Vogel Sawyer was a quick enjoyable read. I've read books by Sawyer before and they never disappoint. If you are looking for a love story with a spiritual theme her books are what you want. However, I will say Sawyers books always leave me wanting a little more on the romantic side of the story.

As a fan of Christian fiction, especially edgier Christian historic fiction, I've become accustomed to the writing styles of Deeanne Gist, Julie Lessman and Tamara Alexander. While Kim Vogel Sawyer's writing style is not similar to the edgier Christian fiction I tend toward they are definitely among the books I'd pass on to a friend without a second thought as the the content. It's definitely clean and enjoyable. Check it out!

Recipe: Pumpkin Apple Butter

I got this recipe years ago from a friend and I honestly can't find the recipe. And I've googled it too. But I tried it again today from memory and it was totally yummy just the same :) I don't think it's very easy to mess up so spice it up however you like.

So here's my "off the cuff" recipe for Pumpkin Apple Butter

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 can unsweetened apple sauce (I used the pumpkin puree can to measure)
1/4 cup brown sugar
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (I did about 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon)

Mix all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Heat at medium to medium high (4-6 on my range) for about 5 minutes. Stir almost constantly. When it's thoroughly heated let it cool down a bit and serve. That's it!

How easy is that? It is so yummy on biscuits. And I'm tempted to try making fried pies with this as the filling. You might want to add more like 1/2 cup of brown sugar if you like it sweeter. I used unsweetened apple sauce so it didn't come out as sweet as the time I made it before. One time I tried apple sauce with cinnamon already in it. It's a very flexible recipe. The basic thing is equal parts pumpkin puree and apple sauce.

Makes a great little gift!

I linked this on:

Gratitude Giveaway

Coming November 17-27!

Book Review: The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo

I'll just start out by telling you that I'm a huge fan of Lori Wick. I know what you're thinking...This book is by Kathleen Y'Barbo. But honestly, this book takes the torch from Lori Wick who is sadly no longer writing.

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is by far one of the best books I've read lately. Does it matter that it is the last of a 3 book series? Absolutely not! In fact I had no clue the previous 2 books existed :)

The characters are really well developed and the plot was so familiar that it felt like coming home. A familiar plot does not however mean that it's overly predictable. The romance which develops whether the main characters want it or not is heartwarming.

And it's got just the right amount of edgy that I love from authors such as Deeanne Gist and Julie Lessman. All in all I couldn't put this book down. I got it on my Kindle and read it in less than 3 days!

If you are looking for a nice romance to read while sipping a chai latte :) this is the book for you.

I got this book free for my review! And you can get free books too just for signing up at Blogging for Books! Just click the link in the sidebar.

Also, if you're interested the previous 2 books in this series are Anna Finch and the Hired Gun and The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper.

A quick little "in the mood for Fall" craft

So, the summer is winding down and the kids are back to school. Our oldest started "real" school at a charter school this year. And the other 2 are still homeschooled and taking support classes 2 days per week for 3 hours each day. 

Which means I get free time! 

Which means I get to go to the dollar tree and put together new crafts for the fall! I love the fall. In Colorado, it's not quite the same thing as back in Georgia but it still gives me a chance to get crafty.

This craft idea came to me as I sat at the computer checking out the new fall crafts over on One Pretty Thing. I absolutely love love love this site! I have this cute little Ikea tray that has been with us for a few years. And when the seasons change so does the decor of the tray. It's my little piece of decoration in our rented place. It's easy to change and it's a great focal point.

So here's the deal, the dollar tree has these awesome little vinyl wall stickers and everytime I walk past them my crafty brain goes ga-ga. I have wanted to do something with them. I've thought of maybe Christmas gifts of signs with these. I'm gonna experiment and maybe that'll come in a later post. So anyways, I saw these 2 and had to buy them. One says "Everyday is a Gift" and the other says "Bless this home with Love and Laughter". Are you not loving the scrolling text?

 

So here's what you do...and it's super complicated. You peel it off and stick it on the tray. Taa Daa! I mean really how pretty is that? And the cool part is that it's suppose to resist moisture and it's re-stickable. So save the little paper it comes on and swap it out from time to time. By the way, the stuff on the tray (I just noticed) was all purchased at the dollar tree. Get out the glue guns and glitter and decorations. It's FALL!

Book Review: The Dragons of Chiril

I usually enjoy Donita K. Paul's books but this one took me a while. It's kind of a slow starter. The cover is what drew me to pick this book. It's beautiful.

I enjoyed the story and the characters but I wouldn't say it's a book I'd read again. (Sorry for such a short review.) I may at some point try the rest of the series but I'm actually not a huge fan of "dragon books". As far as the writing style, it's well written as you'd expect from such a seasoned writer.

If you've read any of Paul's other works you'll really enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I got this book for free to review for Blogging for Books. You can get some great books too! Check out blogging for books (Sidebar ad)--->