Honoring Our Commitments

I put this together based on a sermon we heard yesterday. So true...

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Book Nook :: October 31st

I love the simplicity of this adorable print.

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which I discovered on...

wait for it...

Pinterest.

Not a bit surprised are you?

Me neither.

Books we enjoyed reading (and rereading) last week:

See all of the books in our Book Nook

:: 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories

:: Raindrop Plop

:: The Beginning Reader's Bible

:: How Many Hippos?

:: Barnyard Dance
:: Smudge Bunny

:: Winnie the Pooh: A Sense of Fun

:: F is for Farm
:: A Garden Alphabet

What are some current favorites in your home?

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Good Reads ~ October 29th

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: The 31 Days Series are wrapping up. Here are some of my favorites.

:: I loved Kristin's post about Discipline and the Heart.

:: I also appreciated Sandy's thoughts on how Opening our Homes Means Risk.

:: Another favorite was Tsh's reflections on the quote, "The grass is always greener where you water it."

Some of This Week's Favorite Pins:
(Are you following us on Pinterest? Need an invitation? Leave a comment with your email address and we'll send you an invite.)

:: I've made my own bias tape for years by feeding my bias strips under a sewing needle attached to my ironing board, but this looks easier and I'm sure I'll steam burn my fingers less.

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:: I love this bookshelf doll house. How beautiful is that! I'm not sure if it's for books or to play with, but I'm thinking it might very well be on my DIY list once we're in a larger home.

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:: I'm also contemplating how large the shadow box would need to be in order to fund our dream trip to Italy. 

linked to Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles 

Have you come across any good reads this week? We'd love for you to leave a link in our comments section.

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Finished Friday: DIY Pine Cone Door Decor

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed. For the most part these projects aren't part of my daily or weekly household chores, although some weeks finishing those items is a challenge all in its own.

When I pinned this pine cones and ribbons decoration a couple of days ago I knew it would be a fun craft for the kids and I to do together.

On a walk through the park earlier this week we gathered fallen pine cones. Then yesterday afternoon we had some time to whip up our own version to spruce up our front door.

We rummaged through my ribbon box and found a spool of brown satin ribbon and well as a spool of orange, green, and purple argyle print gross grain ribbon.

We simply glued various lengths of ribbon to the top of the pine cones with a glue gun. Then we tied the top ends of the ribbons together into a knot.

I wanted to have small ribbon at the top of each pine cone with the ends hanging down, but my spool of ribbon wasn't long enough so I made simply bows that I then glued onto the brown ribbon at the top of each pine cone. I used the last of the ribbon spool to tie a bow at the top of the ribbons.

Cost Breakdown
pine cones = free
ribbon (from craft stash) = free
glue sticks for glue gun (from craft stash) = free

Total Cost = FREE
(That's my kind of craft project!)

Linking up to Frugal Friday.

What do you think of our new front door decoration? What things have you crossed off of your list recently?

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Eversave: $50 to Abe's Market for ONLY $20!

Through the end of today you can get a $50 voucher to Abe's Market for only $20!

Abe's Market carries natural home, baby & kids, food, beauty, bath & body, health, home, fashion and even pet products.

Here's how to get this deal for only $20. 

1. Add the Abe's Market Deal to your cart.

2. Add the promo code SPOOKY to get an additional $5 off. (This even works if you have previous credit.)

Your total should now be $20 (unless you had a previous credit, then it'll be even lower) for the $50 voucher. Shipping from Abe's Market is free for orders over $49.

We'll be stocking up on laundry detergent with our voucher. What will you use yours for?

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SaveMore: First Time Buyers Get $10 CVS Gift Card for $5!

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If you haven't made a purchase from SaveMore yet you can get a $10 CVS Gift Card today for only $5! 

Unfortunately, you cannot use SaveMore's sign-up credit to purchase this deal, but 50% off is a great price nonetheless.

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Book Nook :: October 24th

Simply add a cushioned seat to turn a bookcase into a cozy child-sized reading nook. (This one is actually a revamped gun rack!)

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Books we enjoyed reading (and rereading) last week:

See all the books in our Book Nook

:: 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories

:: Curious George Learns to Count from 1 to 100

:: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

:: Big Book of the Berenstain Bears

:: Curious George and the Puppies

:: Hide and Seek Colors

:: What Makes the Seasons

We'd love to know the current favorites in your home?

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Free Printables: Tt is for Turkey Multi-Age Pack

Just in time for the fall season, we've added a new Turkey Printables Pack to our Letter/Theme Printables Page. 

This pack has printables for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and even a little something for older kids, too. Here are a few pages:

Have you found any other great turkey activities to use with your kids? Leave us a link in your comment and we may add it to the list of additional activities provided in our printables pack.

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Good Reads ~ October 22nd

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: Again, I've been reading a handful of the 31 Days Series. Here are some of my favorite.

:: As a mom of many little ones, I appreciated this reminder of how to give Grace in the Moment.

:: I also appreciated Kristin's posts on Fitting in Quiet Time and Knowing Your Trigger.

Some of This Week's Favorite Pins:
(Are you following us on Pinterest? Need an invitation? Leave a comment with your email address and we'll send you an invite.)

:: This quote:

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:: These Baked Apple Donuts:

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:: and these Hanging Storage Bags (with a tutorial):

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linked to Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles 

Have you come across any good reads this week? We'd love for you to leave a link in our comments section.

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The Mighty Macs: Opening In Select Theaters Tonight

We recently had the opportunity to view a screening of The Mighty Macs movie. 

Here's a little bit about the movie:

It's 1971. Cathy Rush is a woman ahead of her time ... and she's about to embark on an adventure for the ages. A new era is dawning in the country and in collegiate athletics, where a national champion will be crowned for the first time in women's basketball.In the lead up to this historical season, major universities are preparing their game plans to win that first title. Meanwhile a tiny all-women's Catholic college in Philadelphia has a more modest goal: find a coach before the season begins. Providentially, Cathy Rush is about to find Immaculata College. 

Recently married, Cathy is dealing with the aftermath of a truncated playing career. While cultural norms would have her staying at home, she's willing to do the hard work necessary to help her new team reach their goals—or perhaps she's just trying to achieve her unfulfilled dreams through them. 

From the beginning, her challenges are as imposing as the big-school teams Immaculata will face on the court. Cathy learns there is no gymnasium on campus, she receives little support from the school's Mother Superior, and the school is in dire financial straits. To top it off, she may not even have enough players to field a team!While it appears the Macs don't have a prayer, all hope is not lost. With the help of Sister Sunday—a spunky assistant coach—and the support of a booster club of elderly nuns, Coach Rush creates a new game plan that just might bring the team—and the school—together. 

Will this pioneer buck cultural norms and spur her rag-tag team to unexpected heights? Or will her hard-driving ways create a wedge between the coach and everyone around her? One thing's for certain: there's never been anyone like Cathy Rush at Immaculata!

I love that this movie is based on a true story. Another big hit in my book is that with its G rating, The Mighty Macs is appropriate for all audiences. 

Some of the story is a little cliche, but I don't think a good sports underdog story ever gets old, especially when it can be enjoyed as a family.

For more information, check out the following links: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube.

Does this look like a movie you or your family would enjoy? What other good movies have you seen recently?

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SaveMore: $30 Worth of Organic Peeled (real fruit) Snacks for as low as $3!

Today SaveMore is offering a $30 voucher for Organic & Natural Fruit Snacks at Peeled Snacks for only $13!  You can also choose to spend a little more and get a $49 voucher for only $19. If you're just joining SaveMore or still have your $10 sign-up bonus, then your cost would be as low as $3 for the $30 voucher.  There is a limit of 3 vouchers per account.  Shipping is a flat rate fee of $7 or free shipping on all orders over $65.  

Here’s a little about the Peeled Snacks:

:: Made from the highest quality organic & natural ingredients

:: Full serving of fruit

:: Great source of vitamins & minerals

:: No added sugar

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8Moms: $15 for $30 KidKraft and Anatex Toys

Today, you can purchase a $30 voucher to Trendy Toy Boutique for only $15. Many of their products are rather large, but here are several options you could choose for under $30.

If you're looking to purchase wooden toys for Christmas, this deal might be perfect for you.

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Finished Friday: Family Photo

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed. For the most part these projects aren't part of my daily or weekly household chores, although some weeks finishing those items is a challenge all in its own.

This week has been packed full of getting loose ends tidied up around the house. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of our many projects, like sorting through and reorganizing all of our stock of extra toiletries or sorting through the kids' shoes to see which shoes fit now and putting away what they've outgrown.

I do however have a picture of something I've been meaning to do for quite some time. I realized a couple weeks ago that we hadn't taken a picture of our whole family since Amelia was born. So here we all are. We took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch this week and my mom snapped this picture for us.

What things have you crossed off of your list recently?

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Tri-Moms: Traveling with Young Children

Today the Tri-Moms are tackling the topic of traveling with young children.

When Emahry, our oldest, was only five days old we moved across several states, traveling over 12 hours. And so our traveling with children began.

In our short time as parents we have traveled that same road at least four times. When we just had Emahry, we drove over 24 hours (in a straight shot) to visit Tim's mom and step-dad. We have also visited family several hours away numerous times. This Christmas we will be traveling another 12 hours back to Tennessee.

While we don't typically give up opportunities to see far off family because of the drive, but we also are under no disillusion that traveling with small children is as easy as staying home. However, we've found that the difficulties of traveling with children are generally outweighed by the joy of experiencing new things together.

We've had our share of whining, crying, and just plain unhappiness, and that's just from me :) We've also pulled the van over for emergency potty breaks more times than I can remember (usually shortly after having just stopped for gas).

However, there are ways to make traveling with children a little easier.

:: Bring along some new books and small toys. We usually visit the dollar store and get a couple of new items for each child or save away some thrift store or yard sale finds for the trip.

:: Make of buy some magnetic toys. Kids love magnets and I love that all the pieces are more likely to stay in one place. We recently made two sets of magnetic dress up dolls, one for Emahry and one for Jonathan. They both love these and they'll definitely be traveling with us in December. Eliya will probably join in the magnetic fun with these magnetic pom-poms and a small cookie sheet. For older kids magnetic words would be fun to play with. You can find one set here and another here. This story maker magnetic set looks like fun, too.

:: Dry erase activities are also great for trips. You don't have to get fancy here. Simply print out coloring pages, word searches, or seek and find activities and place them in page protectors. Your kids can use dry erase markers, dry erase crayons, or even regular crayons and then wipe them off with a small rag, washcloth, or paper towel.

:: Don't give them everything at once. Spread out what you give your kids. Let them have time with each new item before you give them something else.

:: Feed them healthy snacks. It's amazing how hungry kids get in the car. Sure they ate breakfast only two hours ago, but sitting in their car seat is hard work :) Don't worry they'll burn up all the extra calories whenever you get where you're going. Just make sure you don't stuff them full of sugar or they'll get cranky...fast.

Most of all, remember that your attitude influences them. Look on the traveling as a fun part of the trip, a time to make memories together and that is most likely how they will view it as well.

What are your tips for traveling with young children?

: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :

Visit my fellow Tri-Moms, Kristin @ Bits and Pieces From My Life and Christy @ A Living Homeschool and read how they make traveling with young children work for them. 

Up next: November 1

 Thanksgiving crafts and recipes

Fall Schedule of Topics

November 15: Teaching the meaning of Thanksgiving

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Book Nook :: October 17th

I love how many books can fit on the shallow shelves of this little book nook. The fact that all the books are grouped by color is just icing on the cake.

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Books we enjoyed reading (and rereading) last week:

See all of the books in our Book Nook

:: 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories

:: A Treasury of Curious George

:: Firefighters to the Rescue

:: Angels in the Dust

:: The Napping House

:: T is for Touchdown

:: Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy

We're always looking for book recommendations. What books are current favorites in your home?

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Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Reads ~ October 15th

May all your wanderings be blessed!

:: Again, I've been reading a handful of the 31 Days Series. Here are some of my favorite.

:: Your list may seem too long, but simply Do the Next Thing.

:: Battling Discontent with Thankfulness...why is this so hard sometimes?

Some of This Week's Favorite Pins:
(Are you following us on Pinterest? Need an invitation? Leave a comment with your email address and we'll send you an invite.)

:: can't wait to make these muffins:

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:: also looking forward to trying this tip on pizza night:

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:: I also love this idea for fine motor practice...practicing letters is an added bonus.

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linked to Simply Staci's Saturday Stumbles 

Have you come across any good reads this week? We'd love for you to leave a link in our comments section.

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Welcome to A Heart for Home! We'd love for you to subscribe

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Thanks for visiting and we hope you'll be back often! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Winners

Lots of winners to announce...

The Shunning DVD :: Kristin @Bits and Pieces from My Life 

Theo Presents DVD :: Missy L

Ginny Owen's Get In I'm Driving CD :: Attila & Tamara

Jeremy Riddle's Furious CD :: jakeremom

All winners have been emailed. If you do not receive an email from us, please let us know.

Thanks to everyone who entered! You help make it possible for us to offer these giveaways.

* Be sure to enter our current giveaway for Pick and Draw. Players learn to draw cartoon faces while having fun with family and friends. This game is perfect for families with children or for kids of any age. Pick and Draw also makes a great gift for Christmas.

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Welcome to A Heart for Home! We'd love for you to subscribe

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Finished Friday: DIY Boy Magnetic Dress Up Dolls

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed. For the most part these projects aren't part of my daily or weekly household chores, although some weeks finishing those items is a challenge all in its own.

When I finished Emahry's magnetic paper dolls I knew that a set of boys for Jonathan was in order. But, as it seems to go quite often, other things kept getting in the way of me actually finishing them.

Well, I've finally completed them and they are a huge hit!

These little guys took a little more time since I decided to resize all the images to fit them on one page and since all of the clothing and accessories had to be colored in before being cut out.

I found the free boy paper doll download here and used the same magnetic paper I used with Emahry's dolls to print them out.

Here are "our boys" with some funny faces (drawn with a Sharpie on the magnetic paper) inspired by the Rich Davis' Pick & Draw Game. (You can enter to win a copy of the game here.)

What things have you crossed off of your list recently?

linking up to Frugal Friday

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Mamasource: Ranger Rick, Big backyard, or Wild Animal Baby for $10 per year

Today you can get a one-year subscription to Ranger Rick, Big Backyard, or Wild Animal Baby for $10 per year from Mamasource. 

Plus if this is your first purchase through Mamasource, you can also use the coupon code OCT10 to get an additional 10% off.

These magazines are $24 to $27 per year on Amazon, so this is a great deal!

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$5 Magazine Sale on Amazon

Today, Amazon has magazines on sale for $5 for a year subscription. Magazines are great gifts that keep giving the whole year long.

Some of the magazines on sale for $5 are:

• Country Living 
• House Beautiful 
• Good Housekeeping 
• House Beautiful
• Woman’s Day
• Elle DECOR
• Popular Mechanics 
• Car and Driver

The sale ends today, so visit Amazon.com to see all the $5 magazines and pick up a few inexpensive Christmas gifts.

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