It was an easy win. The completion wasn’t stiff. Not amazed by my Joseph Joseph Rocker? Sigh. It really is cool.
And the winner . . . .
Jenn L. (who happened to be comment #1 . . .that sure made it easy for me.) Jenn . . . you have 48 hours to respond to the email I sent you.
Stay tuned for the next giveaway. And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter!
And for those of you who know me in real life . . . you can sign up too. You can even try and win things. I use Random.org . . . he plays favorites, not me.
Welcome to the first and maybe only National Sharpen Your Pencil Day! I, and a few other crafty women, have been preparing for your arrival.
National Sharpen Your Pencil Day has become more than just an indulgence in my children’s silliness creativity.
I’m excited. No -- giddy. I can’t wait for them to see the activities that await them at the breakfast table, thanks to Spell Out Loud and Two Teaching Mommies.
I have been engaging. I mean . . . like talking with my children. Giggling with them. Making up stories. Creating games. Removing my eyes and fingers from this here computer . . . and creating a day that demonstrates mommy’s love written all over their hearts . . . and God displaying their names on His hand.
Asher and Ezra are quite certain that the whole world is participating tomorrow.
They have been acting like it is Christmas Eve . . . wondering how all of your children are even sleeping – knowing that National Sharpen Your Pencil Day is approaching . . . literally here as I type this.
Pictures will be arriving from you . . . like Christmas cards or Valentines. Perhaps they will accompany our breakfast, lunch, or dinner. {hint hint}
I really don’t want to let them down. Won’t you join us? After all, we are giving away a pencil sharpener!
How many pencils will be represented today?
Have you gathered your pencils? (My mom has, in some very unusual places I might add!))
Get those pencils ready to finish the Spring semester. End the frustrating moments throughout your week, sharpen those pencils!!!
I don’t know which I love more, Leigh’s pencils or the fabric under her pencils!
To add to your children’s fun . . . some dear IRL bloggy friends of mine have graciously helped me out.
You see . . . I am illiterate when it comes to making a “printable.” To my knowledge, I don’t have the software. Even if I did, I would have no idea how to create something cute.
Thankfully my friends do.
Maureen, from Spell Out Loud, has designed these nifty Robot Pencil Toppers . . . so easy. Print on cardstock and allow your child to color one or all. If possible, give those sticky fingers some scissors to chop cut their topper. If you are like me, try and find the tape dispenser before you start . . . (if the tape isn’t all used up), and tape your robot to the top of the sharpened pencils. Have a puppet show while you are at it.
And some precious gals, that were discovered at the Allume (Relevant) Conference last year, have whipped up this fantastic Pencil Pack . . . for you!!!! (They even wrote a little ditty!) Thanks Madonna and Amber (BTW you are on my reading list too!)
Since we love Granola Mom 4 God, we’ve decided to help her and her readers celebrate “National Sharpen Your Pencil Day” by putting together this little unit! So, check out our BRAND NEW PENCIL MINI UNIT!
All our printables are in one easy download. Just click the image above to download a single zip file of all the printables. (Can’t unzip it. Try Hamster Free Zip Archiver approved by Amber’s husband. Remember to download carefully.)
You will need to be able to view pop-ups to download the unit, as it will appear in a pop up window from this site!
Have fun sharpening the mind!
Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else. You MAY link people here. When leading others to these printables, please link to THIS page, not to the file page. Thanks! (See TOU)
If you want to continue your Pencil Day activities, here are some suggestions:
roll a pencil in play dough (aka play dough stamping)
have your child drop a pencil through a funnel or paper towel holder into a milk jug (it will make a delightful and smashing noise!) How many pencils can fit into the jug?
consider working on correct pencil grip and allow your little’s to watch this video from Handwriting Without Tears . . .
sort the pencils according to size, color, even sharpness
bundle them in groups 2, 5 or 10 to practice skip counting
use a pencil to trace another pencil
make a chart/graph . . . perhaps your data could include how long it takes to sharpen each pencil
hide pencils all over the house and play “find the pencil”
Warning All Pencils in School It’s not fair, It’s not fair, ALL PENCILS BEWARE! Pencil sharpeners Are in there, Biting teeth Beyond compare, Teachers sticking Us in hair, Erasers hiding Everywhere, Kids who do not Really care, Lots of work And tests to bear! It’s not fair, It’s not fair, ALL PENCILS BEWARE!
If you are joining us for National Pencil Day and you have a blog, please link up with us, which counts as an entry into the giveaway below.
If you have a photo to share, but not a blog, place your photo in our Flickr group. (You guessed it – another entry . . . leave a separate comment).
If you counted your pencils . . . please leave a comment telling us how many are in your house. I’m shooting for 100,000 pencils to be represented.
Enter the giveaway for a new pencil sharpener. Which one would you like? Tell me!
a manual pencil sharpener . . . one that ALWAYS gets the job done . . .
or an electric pencil sharpener . . . which is what is in our school room.
And be kind! Share about this giveaway on Facebook and Twitter! (These count as entries in the giveaway.)
The celebration will continue until next Thursday, March 8, 2012. Open only to US residents . . . since this is coming out of my pocketbook.
In a few weeks I am going to be moving. Actually all 700+ of you will be moving. Betcha’ didn’t know that.
Now you do.
At least, I sincerely hope that you will make the move with me.
Prepare yourself for the geek talk that is about to follow:
As I understand it, when I make my switch from Blogger to Wordpress that I will be able to transfer my Feedburner subscription . . . packing your email address with me, without having to hire a moving truck or stuff you and yours into a cardboard box.
However, I really want to cover my bases.
Enter my new newsletter. That thing I have been asking you to sign up for recently.
It looks like this:
Go ahead. Try it out. Nine brave people already have, as of this morning. Thank you, ladies.
Why sign up for my newsletter?
There are multiple reasons. I suppose the primary one and the reason that compelled me to seek out a newsletter subscription service, is to reward those of you who subscribe.
How will you be rewarded?
First, there will be newsletter subscriber only giveaways, which will be super easy for me to host once I switch to Wordpress.
For the companies that I am an affiliate for . . . I will pass on promo codes and discounts to you. Only the people in the newsletter will receive these coupons. The coupons and promo codes will remain relevant to the purpose of Granola Mom 4 God. They will reflect my values and likes! So, if you like my blog than you will like the potential freebies in my newsletter.
Second, I wanted to a newsletter in order to stay better connected with you. I have heard of people losing their entire feeds when they switch from Blogger to Wordpress.
Now . . . I have a kick-butt blog designer . . . who will soon be revealed . . . and I know that she knows her business. But if Murphy’s Law happens to be in effect on the day the transfer happens . . . I want to have done a . . . carbonite-like action on my feed.
(If only I had been using Carbonite when our laptop died. All those pictures lost.)
Here is an incentive. An incentive to sign up for my newsletter.
A giveaway.
My Google Analytics has informed me time and time again that the most frequented page on my blog is my recipe list. I have concluded that a large number of my readers must like to cook.
I would wager that the majority of my recipes contain garlic.
I prefer it over a traditional garlic press. It is easier to clean and contains . . . ZERO extra parts to lose. {Ahem}
I like the smell of garlic, but I suppose it doesn’t make good perfume. No worries! The stainless steel absorbs and removes the garlic fragrance from your hands.
To win this Joseph Joseph Rocker, enter your name to sign up for my newsletter. I won’t spam you and you can always unsubscribe (but I hope you never do).
Bonus entries (please leave a comment for each entry)
Subscribe to my blog posts via email or reader. (Tell me that you did so).
Tweet this! (I already have it filled out for you.)
Jump into my circle on Google+ (and plus something while you are there)
Giveaway ends Saturday, March 3, 2012 at Midnight. Open to US residents only, especially because yours truly is paying for this. Have no fear . . . I will find a giveaway for those of you outside of the US.
It has been said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Studying history is necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes.
While I largely agree that a working knowledge of our forefathers is a catalyst to improve the quality of our future, being able to understand how world history and Biblical history merge into one true timeline provide the only accurate account of historical events. . . . the development of mankind and society.
An organized timeline is a valuable resource to understand the course of mankind as it allows us observe how humankind chose to obey . . . and disobey the commands set before him by God. (See Deuteronomy 11)
Such a timeline exists, and I am so thankful for Grapevine Studies for creating it. I think it is Asher’s favorite Bible study thus far. Having this beautiful wall timeline will be an asset to future Grapevine Bible studies.
Last week, we began our journey of capturing the large picture of Biblical history. You might say that we are learning history thrice.
We briefly study each major biblical event and draw it in our three-hole punched bible timeline.
Later, Asher and Ezra have take our “class study” and transfer their stick figuring onto a 10-foot long timeline.
The third step is to place our world history onto our biblical timeline. Here we see how these normally separated facts really exist to fully develop an accurate worldview.
Win one Teacher and Student Wall Timeline in ebook format or a physical copy mailed to you directly. Enter on the blog by using the Rafflecopter giveaway.
Since once again my attempt at using Rafflecopter didn’t work on my site, please just leave a comment to win! (I don’t have the energy to re-type all of the requirements. But I sure would appreciate a follow, a tweet, a fan, or a subscriber. If you did any of those give yourself an extra comment!)
Do you have a hard time leaving comments on blogs from your phone? Several times the Engineer has desired to comment on my blog . . . just to stop me from desperately begging him to stroke my pride . . . but he can’t.
If it isn’t quick and easy . . . well, he won’t do it. I won’t for that matter either. He is a busy grad student, you know. (I’m so proud.)
There might be a reason you can’t leave a comment.
If you want to leave comments on my blog (or anyone’s blog who uses Disqus) with your phone, you need to install an app for that. Find it on the android market. Disqus for iPhone is coming soon!
Looking for a new cookbook? Sign up to receive The Homemakers Challenge in your inbox and receive an awesome cookbook . . . if I do say so myself. (I feel honored to be “in” the collection of kitchen secrets!
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Need a new Bible study to do with your kids? Check out what Grapevine Studies has recently released! I can’t wait to start it!!!
Introducing Old and New Testament Bible Timelines!
Beginning with Creation your students will stick figure chronologically through the Old Testament to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. Students will also count the generations from Adam to Jesus. Beginning with the Birth of John the Baptist students will stick figure to The Judgment. Your students will draw the major characters and events of the New Testament and learn how the books of the Bible relate to the timeline.
All the timelines will be on sale throughout January. To receiveFREE SHIPPING on any order until January 31,2012, use coupon code: JANFS
Stay tuned for a giveaway.
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And if you like points, money, and gift cards . . . gear up for the Superbowl and the Swagbucks Spirit Party!
I wonder if I can get some Swagbucks just by living in the Superbowl host city?
Get your pom-poms ready, my readers, because starting on Monday Swagbucks is holding Spirit Week! Every day next week they will be celebrating a different holiday.
Each day will be filled with fun, activities, and surprises. They'll be announcing every holiday the evening before in the Swagbucks blog. Make sure you keep track of each day's Swag Codes, as you will need them at the end of the week in order to earn a big, juicy reward.
We have a winner . . . a Dayspring winner . . . $35 to spend at the store. I told our winner that I wish I had won my own giveaway! But alas . . . that wouldn’t be very fair – and Dayspring already sent me the free goodies!
So Wendi knows . . . she found out on her anniversary “get-a-way” . . . but I also wanted to let you know that Dayspring is having a sale.
Several times this Christmas season, I heard or read the following verse:
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
(Luke 1:78)
Dayspring is defined as dawn, the coming of morning, or the return of the Messiah who will bring healing . . .
So . . . as you purchase your gifts or decorations for your home, whatever the season, I challenge you to make selections that remind you of the Messiah that has come . . . and is returning.
But only purchase . . . if . . . and only if . . . it is something that will promote a meaningful family tradition that causes you to ponder on Christ our Savior . . . or is a gift that will help the recipient reflect upon God’s love for them . . . and you actually have the money in your bank account.
As the sun approached the horizon, I found myself sidestepping a nervous dog, jumping over a rather inconvenient bean bag housing one Ezra traveling towards the sickness that had already overcome Asher, and a pile of dirty dishes lining up to enter the dishwasher.
Meanwhile, Gabe talked for attention and grabbed his fourth pair of pants for the day.
Thankfully, my little girl slept.
The kitchen? I wondered how . . . how would it get clean? The ladies were each bringing their favorite treat. And I had the counter covered in Christmas Spirit Sugar Scrub
Tonight was supposed to be a party. A Christmas party . . . and I with no cheer.
I was still stinky from my workout at the gym. My hair was two days old. Dinner hadn’t even made it to the checklist. There were supplements to be administered; herbals to be prepared; and essential oils that must be anointed upon ailing loved ones.
I still had to call someone and apologize.
Quite truthfully, I thought to myself, is this what Christmas is about this year?
Business? Sickness? Hosting? Cooking? Baking?
However, every morning for the past two weeks I am reminded that it is not.
My morning mug tells me otherwise. Love came down.
And my afternoon mug seeks to remind me. Love came down.
I desperately want to grasp this concept. A baby. A beating heart.
A living person. Not just a person . . . but God!
God! God . . . I shout.
But I’m struggling to hear.
Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones write in their book, Lady in Waiting,
Too many women have been involved in a form of religious worship, but have never had a vital, growing relationship with Jesus.
I am stuck right there. At some point . . . somewhere between summer and fall, my interaction with Jesus became religious, rather than a relationship. I became a Pharisee . . . bent on rules and doing the right thing.
Keeping up appearances.
But when you are FORCED to consider who Christ is . . . when you are surrounded by Him in your home and even on the radio . . . I consider those words this season.
Love came down.
Though one popular song artist has changed the lyrics to an old Christmas hymn, I know that there is power behind the real words.
The Word. It’s not just a book. It has the ability to know our hearts . . . transform our hearts.
So each morning, I am drawn to Him. This Jesus. This man that an ENTIRE day is celebrated. More than a day. A month. Though we see evidence of a morphed holiday . . . tinsel, presents, Santa and his elves, cute reindeer . . .
The fact remains.
Without Jesus . . . no one . . . no one would be celebrating Christmas. Black Friday wouldn’t exist, nor would Cyber Monday.
It is because of Him. Love came down.
People have tried to change how that Love is expressed. But when it comes down to it . . .
It is Jesus.
Lord Jesus . . . fill me with that wonder and awe of you. God, draw me back to you. Help me defy the pull at my apron strings, my mental to-do list, my tiredness, my lack of desire to serve . . . wake me up physically and spiritually of a morning. As you grew from a baby to a man . . . Lord God . . . grow my faith.
Lord, come down into my heart. I’m trying to build a crèche for you.
*****Let me invite you to enter to win a $35 gift certificate to be used at the Dayspring Store? *****
Mandatory (pick one):
Where is your heart this Christmas? (Besides in your chest.) or
DaySpring has sent me this product for free to review and that all opinions stated are my own. I will notify winner via email on December 26th. You will have 24 hours to respond. Coupon will be valid until the end of December for anything in the DaySpring Store.
FYI: There will be an “after Christmas” sale at the Dayspring Store.
During the month of December, the boys and I will be drawing stick figures depicting the Birth of Jesus. I haven’t decided if we will do the Beginner lessons (which contains 7 lessons),
Asher (7) and Ezra (5) would do well with the multi-level study . . . but Gabe (3) soooooooooo enjoys doodling with us, that I imagine we will use the beginner Birth of Jesus lesson plan. There is less drawing . . . and the student pages won’t be as overwhelming to my little guy.
Visit the Grapevine Studies website and tell me another study you would like to do.
Tweet about the giveaway.
Contest ends December 5rd!
Want to start sooner? Use the discount code Advent11 and your will receive 20% off on any item not already on sale from now until December 31! (By the way, all the curriculum from Grapevine Studies is ALREADY reasonably priced . . . so the additional 20% off is . . . fabulous!)
And . . . stay tuned for an interview from Dianna of Grapevine Studies and the release of their 10 foot Bible Timelines!!!!
Nitty Gritty
I was not paid for this post. All opinions are mine. When I post about it again . . . like when I share about using it in our school room . . . I’ll be posting because we are actually using it. Giveaway winners will be chosen by www.random.org. Giveaway winners of the ebook can live anywhere in the world. Giveaway winners who choose the print book will need to live in the United States or Canada.
Much of what I write is inspired by God. He gave me the idea and allows me to be a steward of it. Please respect my authorship and stewardship of all content on this blog. Do not copy pictures for yourself without permission from me or use the written text as your own. And always . . . link back to me should you refer to an idea you saw on Granola Mom 4 God.
