Today I’m guest posting at Preggy Mum on my first homebirth experience. Come join the conversation.

Also, you’ve heard me talk about my favorite curriculum with Veritas Press.  For a few days they are giving away $5 gift certificates.  You can order anything from their online store or catalog, including some wonderful books, most of which we have. And my favorite Comprehension Guides, most of which we have.  I may like books or something. The bonus for me, is that for each person who requests a gift certificate, they add to my total.  It’s a win win.  For us.  But not for them.  Go sign up!!

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

Last year, when we set our long-term yearly goals (aka resolutions, bleck) I said I would read one classic a month.  Here are the classics that I read:

Anna Karenina (Don’t waste your time.  Unless, of course, you have an entire month to dedicate to one of the most boring and ill ending books ever written.  And if you LIKE Russian literature.  In that case, do waste your time.  It will still be a waste of time.)

Middlemarch  (See above; except it’s not Russian.)

Pride and Prejudice (Now we are talking.  I loved the book more than the movie.  Sorry, friends.)

Tom Sawyer and Huck (Do words need to be written?  Well, just in case. FANTASTIC.)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (I couldn’t stop at just one.  I read about six of these.)

Oliver Twist (YES.)

Wuthering Heights (It’s another good one.)

The Great Gatsby (The great book!)

The Princess Bride (Before you judge my classic, let me just say that it was Christmas and I was busy and I wanted something fun and lighthearted.  And who’s the judge of whether or not it’s a classic.  It’s a classic. “I am Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die.”  What’s not classic about that?)

So this year, I decided to do a similar goal but not be boxed in by the months.  I’m going to read twelve classics, whenever I feel like it.  I sure hope I feel like it soon because January is about over…and unless you are willing to call Lonesome Dove a classic (and come on, isn’t it?) I’m getting behind.

Currently I’m reading Unbearable Lightness, by Portia de Rossi and it’s SO GOOD.

I just finished Ellen’s new book; laugh out loud funny.

Right before that I read a sad, sad book called Silent Tears and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

I keep up with the books I read on Goodreads.  You can assign one to five stars and give it a review, plus read other reviews.

The reviews were mixed for Anna…I don’t know what kind of person enjoys books of that nature.

Lonesome Dove had ALL five stars…doesn’t that alone make it more of a classic than Anna???

And Ellen was mixed. But, listen, if you love Ellen, you’ll love her book.

Just to brag on my mad reading skills, I read 79 books in 2011.  I know!

So what are you reading?  And what would you recommend for my next book? I think I’ll read Jane Eyre next, but I need a list, people.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

What a fun, creative way to teach character values.  I absolutely love this and want to get everything.

The Old Schoolhouse sent me We Choose Virtue cards to try out.

By themselves the cards are hardy, colorful, and come in a nice pouch. They will probably sustain a lot of holding and bending.  Plus, they are cheap enough that they can easily be replaced.

However, the heart of the program is what really interests me.  I want the teachers manual and the posters.

This is geared for families with children between the ages of 3 to 11.  The older siblings can actually help the younger siblings with remembering that days character trait.  They also have an older journal for them to do with their parents/mentor.

They have geared their program to Christians, but they also have it for secular classes in public schools. You could use this for a church program with the kids.

Please visit TOS to read more about We Choose Virtues and the links to some free downloads.  And don’t forget to mosey on over because they are having a big clearance sale, which I plan to utilize.

While I was sent the Virtue cards to try for free, the opinions are my own.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

I’m an avid reader, and birth books are no different.

I think my all time favorite birth book is the Bradley Way.  I have read and reread that book so many times it’s falling apart.  I had to buy a second copy.

It really goes into the physiology of birth in a way I had never encountered before.  But it does it in such laymen terms that it’s easy to understand.

It is a great start on natural childbirth.  While I don’t agree with everything in the book, it’s a must read for me before every pregnancy.

I do more of my own thing in labor. I don’t follow any formula.  But when labor gets to be hard work, that’s when knowing how to relax completely really becomes important.  If you work with the contractions, it doesn’t hurt AS much.  It hurts.  Don’t let anyone tell you different.  Read the book, you’ll be glad you did.

Emergency Childbirth: A manual is another must read for us.  We have homebirths and feel like we should be prepared for an emergency. BIRTH is NOT an emergency. But emergencies do happen.  According to the author of this book, any seven-year old could deliver a baby.  Hmmm, maybe Mill will get to hand me the baby this time.

Just kidding.

Active Birth is another really good book to read for natural labor.  I take this approach, where I just feel free to do whatever feels “right” in labor. If that means laying down to take a nap, walking around the neighbor, or sitting on a birth ball, I just go with it.

There are lots of other books I have on my to read list:

What Every Pregnant Woman Should Know (The Brewer Diet)

What are your favorite pregnancy and birth books?

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

(Clicking on the pictures will take you straight to Amazon through my affiliate link.)

When I was pregnant with Millicent, Kati and Kori had a lot of questions about the how’s of getting a baby out.  I didn’t really know how to answer.  Okay, I KNEW how to answer, I just didn’t know how to answer FOR them.

So one day at the bookstore I ran across Baby on the Way, by Dr. Sears.  (Before I even knew who he was.)  It talked about everything in a down to earth, easy to understand way.  Perfectly clear, yet not TOO much.

That book is so dearly loved.

It’s gone through three pregnancies and Kati has asked us to read it to her every time.

Now Millicent brings it to me faithfully, every night.

I love Dr. Sears and all he believes in.  So when I found another book by him, What Baby Needs, I knew I needed to add it to my collection.

In both of these books, there is extra reading (for the very curious and what about me).  The only thing didn’t like about What Baby Needs is it talks about sometimes wishing the baby would live somewhere else or being angry at it.  While I understand that sometimes people may feel that way, we don’t even want to introduce those feelings to our children.  They have NEVER felt that way.  (And most of my friends from large families would agree that siblings are genuinely excited for a new sibling.)  So we just skip that square.

What I love is that it shows breastfeeding as normal, co sleeping as expected and baby wearing as part of life.  LOVE THIS BOOK.

Another book I recently bought, but had my eye on for years is Hello Baby.

The pictures are beautiful.

The story is about a brother who is about to welcome home a baby.  Only, it’s a homebirth.

There is one funny scene where mom is yelling through a contraction and he answers the phone but can’t hear anything.  So he just yells back, “Mummy is having a baby, RIGHT NOW.”  And they hang up, which doesn’t surprise him.  It makes me laugh every time.

I love that it shows birth as natural and normal and beautiful.  They do NOT have graphic pictures, however the baby is shown coming out from between the mothers’ legs, but nothing can be seen but the head.

Another scene you can see the mothers’ breast and it’s slightly shaded, but still rather discreet.

I hardily recommend these three books for the curious.

What do you recommend?  I would love to have more birth and new baby books for the kids.  We are rotating these three for bedtime reading.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

Our days begin at 7:00 AM with breakfast.  However, the older girls usually get up earlier and get dressed and do their private Bible studies before coming down.

After breakfast everyone is to clean their rooms.  Hey, it does happen sometimes.

During this time I have my private Bible study, while Kori takes Jerusha up to her room to play.  I check my emails and Facebook.  My internet usually doesn’t work in the mornings so mostly I’m practicing what my Bible study taught me.  Probably patience or forgiveness.

Very soon after this, Asa begins begging me to do school with him stating that Bible study and Geography are too long. And though we’ve used this exact schedule for over a year, he still begs me every day.

8:00 Girls Bible study with Mom.  We are currently reading Raising Maidens of Virtue.  LOVELY Bible study.

8:30 Geography M,W,F and Writing Tu, Th.  We are currently doing World Geography which usually includes a meal from the area. Living in Singapore and seeing all the different cultures and people from all parts of the world really changes Geography for us.

9:00 I work with Asa.  We go through one letter of the alphabet each week.  Once he learns most of the sounds of the letters, we’ll move on to Phonics.  For now, he’s not ready.  As you can see in the above picture, it’s IPad day.  On Friday’s, everyone who finished all their work gets to play on the Ipad during their time with me.

Kori has centers each day with Millicent during my time with Asa.  Things like day care, doctors office and weather.

Kati plays with Jerusha during this time.  Mostly Kati reads to her.

9:30 I have my time Jerusha for about ten minutes, while the others have a snack.  She almost always picks the hammer board and the shapes.  She knows it’s her turn.  She’ll say, “School, you?”

9:40 ish.  I work with Mill till 10:30. We do Spelling and Math.  Meanwhile, Kati and Kori alternate free time, with playing with Jerusha and Asa.  During their free time they can do their typing class or play the piano, catch up on school work or even go for a walk.

10:30 Time with Kati.  We work on Spelling.  Go over some Grammar.  I try to check her school work in the afternoon so we have more time for school work together.

During this time Kori has a planned activity for the kids, like read aloud (Story time, ala Darby from the Duncan Library–Hi Ms. Darby, we all miss you very, very much!!), show and tell and chalk activities.

11:00 My time with Kori as we verbally answer questions using the Omnibus curriculum we have.

11:30 We do a read aloud, ask questions and do activities that go along with it. The little ones will usually play on the floor or with the sensory bin.  (Especially Jerusha…she LOVES it.)

If a child finishes with me before our time is up, they can pick something out of the closet to do.  Things like puzzles, games and beads.

We eat lunch at noon and then have a two-hour rest time.  During this time the children do all their assigned school work.  Little ones take naps or play quietly.

After rest time I usually break up fights and squabbles.  And that’s pretty much what I do all morning too.  But when we have planned activities, like art or Keepers, the fights are less.

I love homeschooling.  And though it seems like a lot of work (don’t get me wrong, it’s  a LOT of work) it’s the good kind of work.  The kind of work that blesses you.

The sweetness of siblings getting along and playing, the payment of kisses and hugs and laughter, seeing the lightbulb go on after a few days or weeks of trying to teach something, a child sitting on my lap just to be close to me.  That’s why I do it.

It’s loud.  It can get crazy.  Sometimes I want to change my name to anything but Mom.  But I never want anything but this!

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

Okay, here is something you probably don’t know about me.  I don’t like music.

Well, that may be a little too harsh.  I don’t care about music.

That’s closer.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy a song here or there.  Or worship. I LOVE worship music.  It’s just that music is noise.  And I can’t take the noise.  (My kids’ chattering is not noise.  But music and my kids’ chattering is more than I can take.)

Again, there are a lot of songs I like.  (Thanks to the Ellen Show.)  And I have over 100 songs (GASP!) on my Itunes.  But mostly those are to play a music game with Jeff.  (Ask me and I’ll do a post.)

But other than the occasional run, I don’t really listen to them.

At the same time, I DO want my children to have a love and appreciation of music.  Especially classical music, which interests me even less than the rest of the music.  I’m ducking now.

Hey, just because chocolate is one my basic food groups, doesn’t mean I want it to be one of the children’s.  Am I right?

When The Old Schoolhouse offered to send me Maestro Classics, The Story of Swan Lake, I was pumped.  Yes, I’m easy to please.

First of all, it has a beautiful case with artwork on it.  Included with the CD, for $16.98, is a booklet with some activities and information about the composer.  You can also download it as an MP3 for $9.98.  But really, the CD (artwork) and booklet are worth the extra cost.

The music, of course, is beautiful.  My only problem is that I still don’t know how to incorporate the music into our school day.  I mean, do you just listen?  I searched the website but couldn’t find any guidance.  I need music guidance.

The neat, neat thing about this CD is the story is included and the narrator is great.  The kids actually enjoyed it, a LOT.  Some of them were dancing.  Asa told them to dance like girls.  Whatever that means.

The Maestro Classics website has a unit study for each of the CD’s.  And that is super cool.  I found some links to a ballet, Chinese ballet (HOLY COW go watch that) and some ice skating.  I had three daughters GLUED to the screen.

When we stopped the music, I had some booing going on.  They actually liked it.  I was as surprised as anyone.

The music is geared to 6-12 year olds, but obviously all ages can enjoy this.  Our ages are 5-14 and were thoroughly engrossed in the CD.

Do check out their website for their other CD’s.  I can see myself ordering some more from them and enriching our day with this.  AND Kati can’t wait to listen to it by herself.

To read more, do visit the Homeschool Crew Blog.

Also, Maestro Classics has a Facebook page where they have coupons and giveaways, so you’ll want to like them.

And keep up with the chatter on their Twitter page.

While I was given the CD free for my review, all opinions are my own.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

Zeezok is a family company focusing on the homeschooling community.  But the ZGuides could easily be used by anyone wanting to enrich movie time with their family.

ZGuides are like comprehension guides, only for movies.  Genius, is what I thought it was.

I almost always have a read aloud going with the kids, if not two.  I LOVE finding comprehension guides for them that help us to study it in more depth and think critically about it.  Not to mention finding fun activities that go along with it.

So doing the same thing for a movie sounded wonderful.

The guide had your normal comprehension questions like where was the secret room built and why was Betsie grateful for the lice.

But I LOVED that it gave such fun ideas as building a hiding place in our house.  It had a great discussion topic about why you would or wouldn’t hide the Jews. Things we naturally discussed as we went along anyway. But it suggested using the topic as a Persuasive paper.

It also included a crossword puzzle, some mapping and some photos, as well as going into some of the artistic views of the film.

I just really loved it.

They have the guides grouped into elementary and high school.  I received the high school guide but saw no problem with younger kids doing it.

I have to admit though, that I don’t think I would buy any ZGuides from Zeezok.  The prices are a little higher than I would usually pay for a comprehension guide.  I prefer to pay from $5-10 per guide…with the occasional $12 guide when I KNOW it will be good.  These guides are $12.99.  I would love to see the prices drop just a little.

Zeezok also sells other cirriculum like Government and music.  Do check out their website.

To read more about Zeezok be sure and visit the TOS Crew Blog.

While I did receive this product as a free download, all opinions are my own.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

Look at my outfit; obviously I need this.

The thing is, I just don’t have any style.  Ashlea always goes shopping with me.  She helps me pick out my clothes. And Ashlea is in America, so she can’t take me shopping.

But this is FREE and someone to style me.  BOTH.

I gotta win.

And I’m not above begging.  Let the begging commence.

The terrible, bad, horrible thing, is that there is a lady who is beating me by over 100 votes.  I don’t know how I can get another 100 votes.

I’m still going to try.

So here’s where you come in.  Vote for me.  It’s easy.  You will have to like the facebook page, but you can easily unlike it after I win.  Then you have to like my picture.  The very picture from above.

But I don’t think that will be enough.  Cause that lady is getting 10 votes a day.  You have to help me spread the word so I can win.  PLEASE!  I’ll owe you. Just twitter it.  Or put it on your facebook page.  You know, pimp me out.  In return, if you ever, ever need votes, I’m your gal!  Seriously.

That’s enough begging.

Go here:  Preggy Mum

Vote for me:  Michelle Johnson

I’ll post pictures if I win.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.

But I’ve been tired. So tired.

Tired, like I’m making a baby, tired.

Yep, you heard it here first.  I’m making a baby.  I’m due on August 10, the day before Kati’s birthday.  And if you know my doctor (Jeff), he has been right two out of two times.  (We can’t put Asa in those stats because the “real” doctor decided he was coming out, like it or not.)

So every day during my blogging time, I’ve been napping. Which is what I’m about to do after telling you all hi.

So hi.  And good night.

©2012 Blessed Quiver. All Rights Reserved.