Building Our Chicken Coop {Finished Friday #53} Come link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Earlier this week our hens started leaving some of these little goodies for us to find in their chicken run.

Finding our long awaited eggs lying in the grass gave us a little extra motivation to get the chicken coop and nesting boxes finished.

Tim's put in long hours on the coop and nesting boxes this past week and thankfully, the kids and I have been able to help a little bit, too.

Amelia slept on my back right through the sawing :)

Tim's actually done a lot more to the coop, but since it's not at our house, I haven't taken a finished photo yet. It's now attached to the chicken run and the hens (and a few roosters) have been enjoying the extra room and shade. Now we just need to train the hens to lay in the nesting boxes.

Here are the four eggs Tim collected tonight (on the left). Hens typically start by laying small eggs, called pullet eggs. The eggs will continue to grow larger as the hens get older. For comparison the eggs on the right are Large eggs.

Today's Questions: What projects were you able to finish this week? What to you hope to complete next week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

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.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
<center> <a href="http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/search/label/Finished%20Friday"target="_blank" ><img border="0" src=" http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq160/aHeart4home/FinishedFridaybutton125px.jpg"/></a></center>

Where the linky says "Your Name" please enter the name of your project or the title of your post!

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Meet Our August Sponsors

We'd love to take a few minutes to introduce you to some of our blog sponsors for the month of August.

Hi! My name is Pamela and I am the lovely lady behind Pamela's Heavenly Treats, I must first say that without God none of this would be possible.  I am a wife, mother of 6, homeschool teacher and I have a small Healthy Cupcake & Cookie business. Everything that I make is made with 100% Whole Wheat Flour and my secret ingredients.  

I have a weekly link party that runs from Saturday to Wednesday for called Heavenly Treats Sunday, would love to have you.  I also have a Etsy shop where I sell my healthy mixes!  You can get $5.00 off order, use promo code FREESHIPPING, Come on over and visit!                                              

Etsy :: Twitter :: Pinterest 

Her Umbrella is just a collection of my life's little decorations – whether it's a love for sampling the world, empty candy wrappers, books filled with scribbled ideas or stupid people that keep showing up – they've all found a place underneath, adorning everyday with a little more sparkle.

It's style, it's food, it's an adventure, it's life, it's grace.  

A story every hour, every day or every week, is worth a listen, a read or a repeat.

 Twitter :: Facebook :: Pinterest :: Instagram :: Bloglovin'

My name is Myranda. I blog over at Pretty Living PDX. I am a mom of 3 and a wife to 1. I blog about our journey to healthy living and our daily life adventures and fun times. I started this blog so that I could be held accountable to my readers. Knowing that someone wants to see my weight loss updates helps motivate me. Come on over and let's be friends!

Facebook :: Twitter :: Pinterest

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Blogelina's Blog Makeover (or Set-Up) Package Only $79 ($285 value)

Today, August 29th, is the official launch day for Blogelina's brand new Blog Makeover & Set-Up Service.

Tanya @Blogelina is a wonderful resource for all your blogging needs. I can't even begin to tell you how many great tips I've gleaned from her site.

Now, Tanya wants to take the "stress, headache, and time investment (not to mention the cost) out of setting up or making over your site" by doing all of the hard work for you! 

This is what Blogelina will do to get your new blog look up and running:

• Set you up with a free year of Deluxe Web Hosting ($80 - included in this package, if you need it)
• Install WordPress on your domain (if you have already – domain purchase not included)
• Install your choice of Studiopress themes ($80 – included in this package!)
• Install 10 important plugins to keep your site running smoothly ($50 - included in this package!)
• BONUS! The Basics of WordPress e-book ($25 – included in this package!)
• BONUS! Access to 40+ WordPress video tutorials ($50 – included! We don’t leave you hanging when it comes to using your new site)

That's over $285 of value for only $79 for a limited time! (regular price will be $99) That means it would cost you more to do the makeover yourself than to allow Blogelina to do it for you!

This service is good for both established bloggers wanting to stand out from the crowd and take their blogs to the next level and those just getting started with blogging that want to begin on the right foot without all the guesswork. 

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

A Day-in-the-life of our Homeschool Routine

Check out Our (Practically) Free Kindergarten & Preschool Learning Plans.

Since we'll be homeschooling our Kindergartner this year as well as teaching, training, and taking care of three younger siblings, we know that we need to keep our learning plans simple and fun.

We've decided to focus on three to four subjects each day. Bible, Math, and Language Arts will be completed every day and the other subjects will be rotated throughout the week as shown below.

Monday ~ Bible, Math & Language Arts, History

Tuesday ~ Bible, Math, Language Arts, Science (we'll be reading about our subject of trees throughout the week, this is the time we have set aside for a tree activity)

Wednesday ~ Bible, Math, & Language Arts (Library Story Time)

Thursday ~ Bible, Math/Language Arts Review (This is our house cleaning day so this morning's schooling will be very light.)

Friday ~ Bible, Math, Language Arts, & Art

Music and Phys. Ed. get plenty of room in our daily schedules :)

As far as our typical routine goes, we all rise early. My husband, Tim, gets up for work at 3:30AM and is out the door by 4:40AM. The kids normally start waking up around 5:30AM. Many times the earliest riser will find me still in bed (as much as I want to get up early, I'm still waking throughout the night with the baby and find it hard to get up before 5:30). After a few minuted of cuddling I head downstairs with anyone else who is awake. Our latest sleeper usually stays in bed until 6:45 or 7:00AM. Until all the kids are awake, we're typically downstairs reading a book, catching up on folding laundry or just snuggling on the couch.

Once everyone is awake we head back upstairs for our morning chores. We all get dressed, put our PJs away, make our beds and brush our hair and teeth. Then I start a load of laundry as we settle into the kids' bedroom for our Bible time.

During the first part of our Bible time, I get to read the next chapter of the New Testament and write in my SOAP journal while the kids look at Bible storybooks. This only gives me about 15 minutes, but I am thankful to have a way to get into God's word early in my day. When I finish with my reading and journaling the kids join me as I read from their 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories book. We also want to do a spin-off of our Prayer Pail during this time. I think index cards with character traits and fruits of the Spirit would be a good place to start.

When we're finished with Bible, we move downstairs for breakfast. During breakfast we review the Bible verses we've memorized.

After the dishes are cleaned up, the kitchen is tidied, and the laundry is moved to the dryer, we begin our school time. During this hour to an hour and a half we complete activities for math and language arts. Most of our "work" is still considered play and is completed at our small kid's table or on the living room floor.

Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, also have an extra subject each. For History this means reading from our History for Little Pilgrims simple history overview book and completing an activity. Our Science day means we'll be completing an activity about trees to go along with the books we'll be reading throughout the week. Art is also an extra subject that will be completed once a week with other various craft projects falling under this subject as well.

Once we have finished our activities for the day (around 10:30), the rest of our morning is spent taking care of laundry and playing.

Occasionally, Emahry, our oldest, will also have an extra time in the afternoon to "work with mom" on certain skills. These are normally when she hasn't napped and everyone else is still asleep.

The majority of the time our kids don't even know they're doing school. We talk about colors while we fold laundry. We talk about letter sounds while loading the dishwasher. We talk about life cycles while raising baby chicks.

We learn hymns (and geometry) while playing with cars and building towers on the floor. We are learning all the time!

Today's Questions: What does your typical homeschool day look like? (Or are they so different that that is just a silly question?)

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Finished Friday #52 {Come link up your projects!}

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Finally, a week where I accomplished at least one project that has absolutely nothing to do with tomatoes!

This week we were able to nail down our learning plans for the year.

We're thrilled that we'll be spending almost nothing out of pocket for homeschooling our daughter through Kindergarten and our son through Preschool (as well as our other daughter through Pre-Pre-Preschool...and I guess that means the Baby's in Pre-Pre-Pre-PreSchool).

Click here to see what we'll be learning about together.

Of, course we did manage to squeeze in canning three more batches of Spaghetti Sauce. Our pantry is full!

Today's Questions: What projects were you able to finish this week? What to you hope to complete next week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

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.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
<center> <a href="http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/search/label/Finished%20Friday"target="_blank" ><img border="0" src=" http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq160/aHeart4home/FinishedFridaybutton125px.jpg"/></a></center>

Where the linky says "Your Name" please enter the name of your project or the title of your post!

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Our (Practically Free) Kindergarten & Preschool Learning Plans 2012-2013

This year, we're not planning on purchasing any official curriculum. Below is our pieced together, mostly from materials we already have on hand, curriculum. In a small way I feel like this helps to balance the fact that we're still paying off my Elementary Ed degree :)

Bible
Our children will be learning about God, his love for them, and what they can do to love him back. For our "official" Bible studies we'll be continuing with breakfast readings from 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories. We'll also be walking through the Bible with the What's in the Bible? DVDs and the My Bible Coloring Book.

We'll also be reading from The Jesus Storybook Bible as well as other Bible storybooks.

We'll continue to focus on prayer with our Prayer Pail and we'll keep memorizing scripture with this simple Scripture Memory Box system (which, by the way, we love). For more ideas check out our Raising Children for God Pinterest board.

Language Arts
Our family will be focusing on reading lots of great books together. We'll also be listening to some wonderful audio books (partly so I can get some work done and partly because we all enjoy them so much).

All of the kids will continue to utilize our growing collection of Alphabet books and Alphabet activity books. We will also interact through many Alphabet activities and games and continue to talk about letters, letter sounds and words in real life situations.

We will also be learning and reviewing with several Alphabet videos including Letter Factory, WordWorld (Rocket to the Moon, Lucky Duck, Flying Ant), and free online videos as well. We'll also be attending story time at our local library once a week.

Jonathan and Eliya will also be doing a very simply Letter of the Week focus with a two or three activities each week on a specific letter.

Emahry will continue with simple phonics work and will continue to learn sight words from the Dolch sight word list to help make reading easier. She'll keep reading with Set 1 of Bob Books, which my mom gave us, and will complete many of the activities we've pinned in our Teach Me to Read board. Emahry will also continue to write in real world situations, making to-do lists, writing letters to family and friends and writing labels and descriptions of drawings. She'll also work on writing her full name, address and phone number. We like this website for making handwriting printables.

History
For a general overview we'll be reading through the History for Little Pilgrims that I picked up at Goodwill for less than a dollar. This book has 15 short chapters, each with a simply activity and a handful of questions. We'll go through one chapter each week.

After that we plan on starting a history overview using children's books. We have not decided yet if we'll begin in the beginning with books on the Ancient World or if we'll start closer to present day with an overview of American History. Here's a list of children's books about the Ancient World divided by time period and civilization. My friend, Kristin, has a great list of American History books organized into time periods as well.

Math
We'll be spending the first 11 weeks teaching and reviewing numbers 0-10 with a number of the week for our three oldest children. We'll also be using numbers in real world counting and completing lots of the counting activities found here. We may also go back to the Funnix Beginning Math Program once Emahry becomes more consistent with recognizing written numbers.

Emahry will also be keeping a math journal for recording facts about numbers (or like this), counting, graphing, and pattern work. We'll also add some number activities like this to her journal. We have this Primary Journal with space for drawing at the top and lines for writing on the bottom half.

Emahry will also work on counting to 100 and will begin to work with money, skip counting, and simple addition and subtraction using a variety of books, workbooks and activities. She'll be using some of these free 20 question math practices at least once a week as well.

Science
This fall, we'll be focusing on a nature study of trees. We'll be reading lots of books about trees, starting with this list, and enjoying the autumn weather observing local trees and collecting lots of leaves. We'll also be completing some tree and leaf projects we've pinned here. In the spring we'll pick back up with our study of plants and gardening.

We'll also be studying the seasons through books and activities.

Art
We'll be starting the year with a simple study of shapes and how to draw them. We'll then begin combining different shapes to make pictures. We'll be following many of the How to Draw... activities pinned to our Art Activities board. We'll also have some fun making fingerprint art like this.

Music
We'll be using Songs for Sapling Questions with Answers CDs as part of our Music time this year. We will listen to these 4 CDs throughout the day. I'm sure the ABCs and 123s CDs will sneak into our rotation as well. We'll also focus on learning two different hymns, This is My Father's World and Take My Life, and Let it Be.

Physical Education
Our kids are all very active. We will continue to play at home and at local parks & playgrounds. We will also go on regular nature walks. During warmer weather, our children will regularly swim in their grandparent's pool.

We're counting finally nailing down this plan as our finished project for the week. Would you like to share what you've accomplished? Link up to our Finished Friday blog party.

We're sharing this post at Pin the Tail on the Bloggy Pinterest Party @ Fox Hollow Cottage.

Today's Question: We'd love to hear about your homeschool plans for this year. Feel free to leave a link if you've blogged about your plans.

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Teaching Kids to Read {TIPsters}

Make sure you visit Kristin & Christy for their thoughts on today’s topic. 

Okay, right off the bat, let me tell you that none of my children are full fledged readers. So today I'm simply going to share some ideas, tools, and posts that have been helpful for me as I help my children on their journey to reading.

In a nutshell, the journey to reading starts with learning to identify the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make. Be sure to check out all of our Alphabet Ideas. If you're looking for an easy way to help kids learn letters and sounds, you may also want to check out the Letter Factory DVD, all of our kids love it! Also follow our Alphabet Activities board to keep up with all the great ideas we come across on the web.

Once children know the letters and the sounds they make, they begin to work on combining letters to make different sounds and words. This is where our oldest, Emahry, is right now. She loves sounding out words and has started reading though Set 1 of the Bob Books.

We've also been working on the Pre-Primer and Primer sets of Dolch sight words to help her develop into a fluent reader. I've been making some fun printable pages for sight words that I hope to share soon.


Here are some other activities that we've tried and enjoyed:

:: Sight Word Cube and Magna Doodle from Life With My Giggly Girls

:: Phonics Flip Book from Kids Activities Blog

:: The You Can Read Program from 1+1+1=1


And here are a handful of posts that give lots of great ideas for teaching kids to read:

:: What to do After Kids Learn their ABC’s: Next Steps to Reading from Teach Mama

:: Teach Your Child to Read from A-Z from Playdough to Plato


:: 10 Ways to Learn Sight Words through Play from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

:: 10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Read from I Can Teach My Child



Also, be sure to follow our Teach Me To Read board for a lot more activities and inspiration.

Check out the blog parties we like to join

This Post is Sponsored by:

Learn Your Letters, Learn To Serve Complete Curriculum Kit

This 240+ page downloadable or hard copy kit includes thorough lesson plans, games, crafts, recipes, memory verses, Bible story suggestions, vocabulary stimulation and discussion, play, books to read and so much more…all while encouraging service to God!

Please visit my fellow TIPsters:

Kristin @ Bits & Pieces from my Life and 

Christy @ A Living Homeschool

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Interested in Advertising on A Heart for Home?

Are you looking to expand your reach and find new customers or readers?

Well, we're excited to announce that we're now offering advertising opportunities here at A Heart for Home. We love being able to promote family friendly businesses, Etsy shops, eBooks and other blogs. We've wanted to take this step for awhile, but I was overwhelmed by the time requirements to stay on top of it.

Thankfully, Passionfruit Ads has stepped in and saved the day. Now advertising on A Heart for Home is quick and easy for you (and me)!

Right now we're offering 2 different ad options, The High Life and Short & Sweet. Check out the description and awesome price of each ad below. Short & Sweet is also available for ad swapping for a limited time. Simply click the Buy Now button to get started.

And just in case you're wondering how many people your ad will reach, here are our current monthly averages and statistic. Look for each stat to grow as new readers find us daily!

Unique Visitors: 8,234
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Followers through Google Friends Connect: 888
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Google Page Rank: 3
Pinterest Followers: 1,531
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* as determined by Feedburner; does not include other subscription services

We're also offering the opportunity for Sponsored, In-post, Ads
Your link and button/banner will appear at the bottom of 2 posts saying "sponsored by:" This is a great option to advertise to those who read A Heart for Home in a "reader" or thorough e-mail {we currently have over 700 subscribers}. In-post ad spots also tend to get more attention from blog readers then items in the sidebar.

All of our blog posts are promoted through Twitter and Pinterest and links are shared on several blog link ups. Sponsors are only advertised on posts that we believe will be circulated by our readers. Sponsored Ads will also remain on the posts and continue to get exposure since past content does continue to circulate.

In order for us to approve your in-post ad, you'll need to send us a link and description of your blog or business along with the button or banner you'd like us to display. You can also add a one to two sentence description that you'd like to be included in your ad. Here's what a sponsored post looks like.

2 In-Post Ads for $25
3 In-Post Ads for $35
4 In -Post Ads for $40

(Blogs our size generally charge around $30 per sponsored post, but we're offering these special prices for a limited time.)

We also have sidebar ad spaces available for monthly sponsors. These are easily purchased through Passionfruit Ads below.

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Spaghetti Sauce for Canning {Finished Friday #51} Come and link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

I know you're probably getting tired of hearing about tomatoes, right?

But, then again, just think how I feel.

This week we finally got into canning tomato sauce. We've used this sauce recipe for a few years and we're very pleased with the simplicity and taste.

Spaghetti Sauce for Canning
adapted from this recipe at Cooks.com

yield: approximately 9 pints

1/4 bushel tomatoes, cored, blanched, & peeled, approximately 32 cups (we use a mixture of Roma and what ever other red tomatoes Tim decides to plant)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp salt
6 Tbsp sugar
24 oz. tomato paste

In an 8-Quart or larger pot, cook the onion and pepper in the oil over medium heat until soft. Add tomatoes and cook until very soft. (As you can see this recipe just barely fits in an 8-Quart pot.)

Add the tomato paste and mash until desired consistency. We use our immersion hand blender to make this really quick and easy.

Add seasonings and cook down until thick. We usually cook at a simmer for 8-10 hours. Process in a hot water bath for 50 minutes or in a pressure canner for 20 minutes at 10 lbs.

By the way, these are some of my best friends right now. Seriously, how did I ever can without them?!?

Today's Questions: What projects did you finish this week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

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.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
<center> <a href="http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/search/label/Finished%20Friday"target="_blank" ><img border="0" src=" http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq160/aHeart4home/FinishedFridaybutton125px.jpg"/></a></center>

Where the linky says "Your Name" please enter the name of your project or the title of your post!

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.

Easy Homemade: Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family eBook for only $0.99!

Today through August 21st you can get a copy of Easy. Homemade. for just $0.99! If you are interested in cooking from scratch then this eBook is for you. 

Easy Homemade features recipes for more than 60 homemade kitchen staples as well as kitchen tips, information about choosing various ingredients and more from Mandi, founder and editor of Life Your Way.

Check out Mandi's video introduction of Easy. Homemade. 

Our family was sent a copy of this eBook to review and I think it's a great collection of pantry staples for beginners, kitchen experts, and everyone in between.

View and download free sample pages.

In this eBook, Mandi shares quick and easy recipes you can make with basic ingredients. You'll find recipes for beverages, seasonings, condiments, pantry staples, dairy, snacks, and baking mixes. Mandi also includes several bonus pages with tips on the most useful kitchen tools, a helpful pantry list, and links to many free printables for recipes and menu planning.

This eBook also includes a set of printable recipe cards, the Nook & Kindle files to load to those devices and access to all of the recipes from the book on PlantoEat.com

Check out more about Easy. Homemade. or purchase your own copy for only $0.99! 

You can also purchase Easy. Homemade. on Amazon for only $0.99 through 8/21.

Be sure to click the link in the first email to activate your subscription.