Notebooking pages is a site chock full of free printable pages for notebooking anything you want, both blank and themed. If you choose to become a “Treasury Member” you have access to even more notebooking pages and also the forum (very cool) though if you really just want to get your feet wet and check it out you can totally just utilize the freebies and the notebooking articles that explain more about notebooking, how to do it, how to get started, etc.

I do want to add, though, that if you think you might be interested in buying access to the whole lot of pages, the price is reduced right now because they’re celebrating their anniversary! And members automatically get access to the Notebooking Publisher when it comes out — an online web application that allows you or your child to create your OWN notebooking pages with borders, clipart, pictures, TEXT, and then print them out completed! I really think my oldest will love that feature – though I do expect her to leave some blank illustration boxes because she loves to draw. =)

So really quick, run over and check out the site and the Publisher and read up about their celebration (because Y’ALL there are PRIZES.) And then head over to Facebook for the party at 7pm central time! See you soon!!

1. Free Homeschool Deals – a relatively new site from Jamerrill at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling. Many freebies posted every day!
2. Freely Educate – Another freebie (or very low cost) site with a good variety and lots of “good stuff.” I’ve been following this blog for YEARS. Plenty of good stuff (still free) in her archives for searching through!
3. Home Science Tools – My fave site for science supplies. We get our lab kits here and we’ve also ordered an owl pellet in the past and hope to order many animal dissection kits in the future!
4. Simply Charlotte Mason – I’m a big fan of the scripture memory method and this a great source for finding great books (living books, no “twaddle!”)
5. Notebooking Pages – A large selection of free notebooking pages  — AND — an even larger selection of notebooking pages for Treasury Members. There’s a discount on Treasury memberships right now and it’s double worth it because all members automatically receive access to the Notebooking Publisher when it comes out next month!
6. Homeschool Freebie of the Day – Yes, one freebie per day but they are quite often really good freebies! I like to hop in at the end of the week and scroll back through the week’s posts.
7. Online Homeschool Convention -  by Home Educating Family (love LOVE their wonderful “Well Planned Day” school/lesson planner!) What a very cool concept. Meet vendors, pick up goodies in your “gift bags,” read helpful articles. At your leisure. (Like we have much of that? Still, very cool!)
8. Donna Young – all manner of free printables and organizers! If you’ve never been over there you have to check it out.
9. Currclick – I have an addiction to Currclick freebies. They also have a very large selection of low cost items. Workbooks, worksheets, lapbooks, notebooking pages, you name it.
10. Project Gutenberg – Who doesn’t love free books?? Many public domain books for download in a variety of formats including Kindle format. For example, they’ve recently added Peter Pan to their site.

Of course there are many other great sites I could have easily added to my list. What would you have added??

Don’t forget to visit Angie and hop over to the iHomeschool Network for more Top Ten {Tuesday} posts!!

I let too many things compete for my attention: husband, kids, housework, homeschool, internet, tv, books, telephone, self-imposed deadlines… I spend too much time mult-tasking my attention-giving and not enough time giving my full attention to anything.

Many years ago, I felt convicted about being on the phone with friends – and staying on the phone – when my husband got home from work. Not that talking on the phone with my friends is BAD.. it ISN’T.. but I was missing an opportunity to show my husband that I was available to pay attention to him and be present with him. I developed a habit of hanging up when I heard him pull in – not to be deceitful but to be attentive and available. (Or, at the very least, acknowledging him and telling him I would be off the phone in a few minutes.) I don’t know if he ever realized it or ever thought “Wow, she’s getting off the phone for me,” but I do know that I wasn’t putting him in a position to feel neglected and ignored.

This is such a small piece of the puzzle, though, a drop in the bucket. When I first wrote my “list” at the beginning of the year I was thinking about both motherhood and wifery. I am so guilty of getting caught up in To Do lists, blogging schedules, chatting with online friends, even reading a book or reading my bible can pull my attention away from my children when they need me, have something to show me, or just need a minute of my time. I’ve been making more of an effort to put things down, stop what I’m doing and give my full attention to my family instead of making them share my attention with a tv show or a phone call or whatever.

But now I want to focus especially on marriage. My husband is not a needy attention kind of person. But that does not mean that I don’t need to make an effort to be attentive to his needs. Sometimes the ways that I can show him that I’m paying attention are indirect ways like making sure the sock drawer is full and the iced tea pitcher in the fridge doesn’t run empty. Other times, though, my husband DOES turn to me for attention, to share a funny story or share something on his heart — and then I especially need to put things down and listen up. My husband shouldn’t feel like he has to compete for my attention, right? In fact, next to God, he should have the biggest part of my attention.

Everyone is different, with different love languages and needs, but all of our husbands needs our attention in some way or another. I bet if you took a few minutes, you could come up with a list of some small ways that your husband feels like you’re paying attention to his needs and desires, and some small changes that you can make to meet them better. And if you thought for a few more minutes, you can probably list some big things, too.

If you’re not sure, ask him! No, really. It doesn’t have to be all weird. Just ask, “if you could pick three things that I could do to make you feel more loved, what would they be?” Yes, there’s a good chance that ONE of those three answers would be the same for all of our men. (There’s a reason for that! Paying attention to THOSE needs is a really good way to make our men feel loved and attended to.) And how do you think I learned that my husband wants his sock drawer and tea pitcher full? I asked for three things several years ago and was surprised at the simple answers I got in return. =)

So the question I pose to you today is this: are you paying attention to your husband? Does he FEEL like it? What are some small changes you can make to give him your full attention more often, and be more attentive to his needs overall?

I know that I need to put the laptop down more often, that I need to sit quietly more often (and listen if he talks and be quiet with him if not,) and that I still need to do a better job with the laundry and the tea. My prayer is that God will show me how to be more attentive and recognize opportunities to focus on my family instead of all the external stuff. I want to be a wife and mom that soaks it all in instead of letting it all pass by.

If you want to write a post for Marriage Monday, the guidelines are simple: Write a positive and encouraging post about marriage and link it here using your direct URL. Today’s word is “Attentive.” Next week’s word is “Bold.” God bless~

P.S. I’m also “guest posting” today over at my husband’s blog. =)

In my life this week…

This week has been full and busy! Not so much with running around, but there’s been a little bit of that, too… I’ve done some house cleaning, some uncleaning, some more cleaning (doesn’t it always work that way?) I’ve done a TON more work on the blog and some online stuff. Thursday brought a visit to the orthodontist for Princess, for which the other two tagged along. She’s had her braces for just over a year now! And the change is A-MAZ-ING. They don’t know how much longer exactly, but she won’t be wearing them for much longer. Maybe a few months? Maybe 6? Princess can’t wait!

In our homeschool this week…

This week has been weird. By weird I mean that each day didn’t FEEL like we had done much, but when I made a list of what we’d accomplished we’d done plenty! It finally occurred to me that was really happening was this: we were getting it done faster, with less whining. It didn’t feel like we were doing much because we were just casually sitting around and DOING it.

*THUMP*

That sound was me falling off my chair.

Now don’t get me wrong. I mean, there were moments. The one where Drama Queen asked if we could skip math, and the one where Little Prince didn’t want to finish his copywork, etc. But mostly school went pretty well. We didn’t do every subject every day we were supposed to, either. But then, we did a week’s worth of history on Thursday. So it all evened out. Instead we kind of “went where the interest led,” spent more time here and there on something interesting, unschooled a little bit if you will. And once Drama Queen surprised me by asking if she could do Times Talesand Little Prince asked to play Timez Attack Addition and Subtraction. I don’t plan on totally desconstructing and destructuring but I’ve been thinking lately that if we could knock bible, math & language arts out pretty quickly, the rest of the day until snack time can be labeled school “free time” to go where the interest leads. In addition, we’ve also been printing off and using some of our Notebooking Pages that I got with my Treasury Membership. (These are perfect for us.)

Anyway, this week has been full of bugs. No, this time I don’t mean glitches I mean REAL BUGS. It’s been all about caterpillars since the kids discovered a handful of Hackberry Emperor caterpillars on the “bush” by our front porch that turned out to be a small Hackberry tree.

We’ve held them.

Looked them up.

Found a Chrysalis.

Found one that looks like it will be making a chrysalis soon!

Notebooked about them.

All in the name of science!!

This week we also learned about Mt. St. Helens, one of our interest-led moments after the volcano was mentioned briefly in our bible lesson. We looked up the history, before and after pictures and watched this interesting youtube video. Speaking of volcanoes, Mt. St. Helens, and earthquakes — did you know that the ancient Chinese in the Han dynasty (about 200 AD to 200 BC) invented the first seismograph? We learned that in history, as well as embarking on a journey through the rise of the Roman Empire with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. History is REALLY getting exciting now!!

My favorite thing this week was…

Not one that has happened yet.. Tonight I have a mother/daughter date with Princess – one I owe her for her birthday and which we’re just now working out the details of. I’m very much looking forward to this!

What’s working/not working for us…

Working: Paying more attention to learning opportunities of “the moment.” You know, those opportunities like when your daughter asks if you can plant and grow avocado seeds? “Why YES. Yes, you can!” We now have two avocado seeds in dirt outside and an avocado seed in a water glass in our window sill. Next to the chrysalis. =)

It’s also why I said “yes” when my son asked if we could have Hot Dog Octopi for lunch. He helped me make them, which didn’t involve a lot of learning, necessarily, but gave us a moment of fun cooking together. Who says I don’t know how to lighten up and have fun??

Questions/thoughts I have…

Thought for the week: I will never ever stop growing and learning! I learn new things all the time. I become a better homeschool teacher and mom with every passing day (as long as I apply myself to grow and learn that is.) There’s no “arriving” on this, only continual growth! And I do so learn enjoying along with my children! And I still have so much to learn.

Things I’m working on…

The blog. You knew that was coming, right?

I’m reading…

I’m now in Isaiah 13! A little bit behind my schedule but plugging along. I haven’t yet read the chapter for our ladies’ bible study since it was postponed this week, oops!!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

A little bit of linky love for you:

• Maestro Classics Giveaway through Homegrown Learners
• Giveaway, “Lessons from the Tree House” from These Temporary Tents
• One Year Bloggiversary party with prizes at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler
• Two great blog posts: The Bad News.. and the Good News.. About Homeschooling
• Blog Post Organizer printables  – free for a time.
• A helpful site: “Copyright for Homeschoolers: What is Educational Fair Use?“
• Coloring Pages of famous artworks
• Online symphony/orchestra/composer games and music samples
• Online piano lessons
• >>NotebookingPages.com Launch Party celebrating their new web-app, The Notebooking Publisher!

Homeschool Mother’s Journal is hosted by the iHomeschool Network, check it out!