Memory Books were something I made back when I was teaching in a classroom, and it’s something I keep thinking I need to do for our own children now that we’re homeschooling.

I probably won’t be able to assemble one until this summer, but I thought I’d at least present the idea to you now in case you wanted to get started on one, yourself! I think School Memory Books are something you can do whether you homeschool or not, because it’s a nice way to save the extra special projects your child does during the school year.

When I taught in the classroom, I did one book per year. However, I think what I might with our children as they are homeschooled is continue to add to one large book with possibly a divider between the school years.

How to Make a School Memory Book

School Memory Books are easy to make! As you can see from the first picture, I make a cover page for my large 3 ring binder. I then use sheet protectors throughout the book because it keeps everything nice and neat, and you can utilize both sides of the sheet protector. Plus, they’re great for containing things that might have little pieces to it or that need to be folded up due to size like this story below.

When I was a teacher, I typed up a little synopsis of what we learned in particular units. But, if you’re doing this as a parent using what your child has brought home from school, then you can just pick your favorite things to add.

I would also include some of my favorite stories that my students would tell, and I would also type up what some of our favorite days were from the year (e.g. Camping Day, Cowboy Day, etc.)

I loved including pictures of my students enjoying Theme Days as well. It has been nice to show this Memory Book to former students. They love seeing the pictures of when they were little.

I plan to put this on my Summer To-Do List because I know our own children will love looking back on their Memory Book some day.

What are some inexpensive things you do to preserve memories?

Becky Zale is a simple girl who is passionate about making a home for her family. She realizes that having a husband and children are a blessing, and she wants to be purposeful in making life beautiful for them. You can find her blogging at Purposeful Homemaking where she shares recipes, homeschooling tips, money-saving tips, and healthy living inspiration.

Memory Books: Preserving Your Children’s School Memories is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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I have loved graphic design ever since I can remember.  I love playing with fonts, colors, and different looks.  When I started this blog, I had my first attempt at actually designing a website..and I fell in love with it!

Since then, I’ve designed several ebooks, blogs, websites, banners, graphics, and more for myself and some close friends.  (You can check out my portfolio here!)  It has become my passion.  I believe that graphic designing is my sweet spot – it’s where my talents and my passions collide.

From all of this, my friends encouraged me and gave me the courage to do what I am doing today – launching a graphic design business!

So it is with great excitement that I am announcing the official launch of Simply Designs.

I hope you will come check it out!  I am having three awesome giveaways to kick it off.  Come enter to win any or all of them!

1. Kindle Fire Giveaway! (Yay! Super excited about this one!)

2. Ultimate Blog Design Giveaway

3. eBook Design Ultimate Package Giveaway

I also have some great discounts I’m offering if you are looking for somebody to do some graphic design work for you, as well as some free printables for you to grab from the blog.

So come check it out, enter the giveaways, and let me know what you think!

My New Adventure {and a Kindle Fire Giveaway!} is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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Do you remember the Puffy Fruit Pancakes that I shared with you a few weeks ago?  I’ve been making them like crazy lately!  They are so good!  We’ve tried banana nut, mixed berry, and blueberry.  Mixed berry has been our favorite so far.  Mmm!  So good!

Today, I want to share a twist on the Puffy Pancake recipe.  It’s the same exact recipe, I just took out the sugar and the fruit.  Then after it is finished cooking, you top it with whatever pizza ingredients you want and throw it back in the oven for a few minutes.  It’s such an easy way to make pizza for a quick lunch.

This doesn’t taste exactly like a traditional pizza.  The crust is definitely different, but it is so good!  You could top it with whatever you have around too.  Try cheese, salsa, beans, and sour cream.  Or try cheese, leftover chicken, ranch and shredded lettuce.  There are tons of options, so just use what you have!

 What are some of your favorite pizza toppings?

This post has been shared with Fight Back Friday.

Puffy Pizza: A Twist on an Easy Recipe is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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My family isn’t picky. When it comes to food, we’ll eat pretty much anything. There are exceptions…like liver.  I just can’t do liver – or chicken gizzards – yuck!

But most everything else, we’ll eat with a smile on our faces, including our veggies.

I’ve always liked most vegetable, but there have always been a few that rarely, if ever, earned a spot on my menu.  One of those veggies were brussel sprouts.  I tried many times to develop a taste for them, but just couldn’t.

Until…

I tried roasting them!

When you roast vegetables, amazing things happen.  Natural sweetness and flavor that you didn’t even know was there, start to come out.  And even vegetable that you don’t think you like just might taste amazing!  Even brussel sprouts!

 Photo Credit

Do you like roasting vegetables?  What are your favorite veggies to roast?

This post has been shared with Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy’s Recipes and Fight Back Friday.

How to Make Any Vegetable Taste Amazing is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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For those who entered, but did not win, I am hosting a Flexi-clip party, if you are interested in ordering anything from Lilla Rose.  Feel free to register for the party here and place an order.  The party will last until Friday, April 20.

Simplify Your Family Life eBook Sale

In other news, there is an ebook sale going on right now that I just had to share with you!

Corey from Simple Marriage and Mandi from Life…Your Way have brought together some of the top authors in the family life space with 38 ebooks covering a variety of topics related to family life.

When purchased separately, these ebooks are worth $375, but for four days only, you can purchase the entire collection for just $29!

I bought this package for myself Monday evening, and I can tell you that this is an amazing deal.  There are so many great books in here, and all for $29 - you just can’t beat that price!

Click here to purchase your collection today!

When you purchase the Simplify Family Life collection, you get instant access to each of the 38 ebooks listed below:

(I put asterisks by the books that I’m especially excited about or have already read and highly recommend!  It’s quite a few of them. )

Entrepreneurship & Blogging

Blogger Behave by Laura @ 10 Million Miles ($4.99)

How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Mandi @ Life Your Way ($12.00)*

Make Money Blogging by Tara @ Feels Like Home ($4.99)

Tap Into Your Unique Creativity and Self Expression Webinar by Lisa @ WellGrounded Life ($39.00)*

Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy ($4.99)*

Your Blogging Business: Tax Talk & Tips from a Bookkeeper Turned Blogger by Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger ($4.99)*

Food & Cooking

Get Lean Recipe for Success by Nisha @ Healthy Mom’s Kitchen ($37.00)

Got Dinner? by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($4.00)

How To Cook For Yourself: A Complete Beginner’s Guide by Rachael @ Kitchen Courses ($35.00)

Plan It, Don’t Panic by Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home ($4.99)*

Real Food Basics by Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama ($6.95)*

Real Food, Real Easy by Erin @ The Humbled Homemaker ($9.95)*

Smart Sweets by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship ($9.95)*

The Everything Beans Book by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship ($9.95)*

Homemaking

2012 Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($9.00)*

Clean Start: Your Guide to Natural Home Cleaning by Michelle @ Open Eye Health ($4.95)*

Complete Printables Download Pack by Mandi @ Life Your Way ($7.00)*

Food on Your Face for Acne & Oily Skin by Leslie @ Crunchy Betty ($7.99)*

From Debtor to Better by Barry @ Debtor to Better ($15.00)*

My Buttered Life {Summer + Gift Giving Editions} by Renee @ MadeOn Hard Lotion ($10.00)*

Not a DIY Diva by Melissa @ The Inspired Room ($3.99)

One Bite at a Time by Tsh @ Simple Mom ($5.00)*

That Works for Me by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family ($8.00)

Marriage & Relationships

A Simple Marriage by Corey @ Simple Marriage ($4.99)*

Buck Naked Marriage by Corey @ Simple Marriage ($2.99)*

Entangled by Amy @ Permission to Peruse ($4.99)

The A to Z Guide: 26 Ways in 26 Days to a Happier, Healthier Marriage by The Dating Divas ($9.97)*

Minimalism for Families

101 Ways to Simplify Your Life by Laura @ Journey to a Simple Life ($9.95)

321-Stop by Lori @ Loving Simple Living ($9.97)*

Inside Out Simplicity by Joshua @ Becoming Minimalist ($11.99)

Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney @ Be More with Less ($9.97)*

The Minimalist Mom’s Guide to Baby’s First Year by Rachel @ The Minimalist Mom ($9.95)

Parenting & Kids

4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions by the Moms @ 4 Moms, 35+ Kids ($7.99)*

Flourishing Spring by Michele @ Frugal Granola ($5.95)

Mindset for Moms by Jamie @ Steady Mom ($4.99)*

Nurturing Creativity by Renee @ FIMBY ($3.00)*

Parenting with Positive Guidance by Amanda @ Not Just Cute ($9.00)*

Truth in the Tinsel by Amanda @ Impress Your Kids ($6.99)

The Simplify Your Family Life Sale is brought to you in part by Plan to Eat, an online meal planner that makes eating at home simple. Receive an exclusive coupon code on a one-year membership with your purchase!

Click here to purchase your collection today!

The sale ends at 9 a.m. ET on April 20th, and there will be no late sales offered, so don’t wait.

Lilla Rose Winner and a Huge Ebook Sale is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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Breakfast at our house has fallen into a predictable, boring rut!  At least the weekday breakfast.  Our weekends usually have a much more leisurely pace, and we usually enjoy a bigger late breakfast every Saturday. 

But every weekday morning we have scrambled eggs, toast, and maybe a smoothie.  It’s been like this for several, several months now, and the eggs were starting to get just a little old for me!

So this week I just started rebelling against breakfast altogether.  Well, sort of.  I’ve been eating a handful of walnuts, dried cherries, and…wait for it…chocolate chips all week long as my breakfast.   Hey, at least I’m getting some healthy fat in me from the walnuts, right?

Well, this morning I decided I probably should stop the candy breakfast I’d been having all week and actually put some effort into making something.  So this is what we had. Puffy pancakes!

These puffy pancakes are just about as simple as it gets.  They are customizable, easy, and just plain delicious.  We loved them with blueberries, but you can try adding whatever your favorite fruit is or even a variety of different fruits.  (I say “we” as in “my son and I”.  My poor husband was at work while we were enjoying this yummy breakfast!)

And in case you’re wondering about how many this serves, I will not lie and tell you 4-6 people, because my son (18 months) and I finished this puppy off all by ourselves.  Now, I will say that my son eats more than the average 18 month old, and I probably wouldn’t have had to eat as much as I did either.

So a fair estimate of how many this pancake would normally serve?  I would say 2-4 people, depending on if one of those people are either of the men in my house.  Because I’m actually pretty sure that my husband could finish off one these all by himself.

What about you?  Have you ever been in a breakfast rut?  What are some of your easy and yummy breakfast ideas?

This post has been shared with Simple Lives Thursday.

Photo Credit

Puffy Fruit Pancakes: An Easy Breakfast Idea is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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Do you have areas in your marriage that you wish could be improved?  Do you and your spouse have any issues that you just can’t seem to work out on your own?

Well, I am certainly no marriage expert; but I am certain of one thing – every marriage could be improved by the simple habit of prayer.

This is something that has been brought to my attention time and time again lately, but it’s still something that I personally feel I need to work on.  Sure, I pray for my husband, but I could do it with so much more intentional direction and focus.

That’s why I’m joining the Surrendered Marriage Challenge being led by Leigh Ann at Intentional by Grace.

What is the Surrendered Marriage Challenge?

Leigh Ann is teaming up with her husband Mark from Chasing Leadership, Nikki from Christian Mommy Blogger, and Jami from Young Wife’s Guide to bring us this challenge.

According to Leigh Ann:

The Surrendered Marriage Challenge will be a community event that will hopefully gather men and women from all over the world together in praying for their marriages. The Surrendered Marriage Challenge exists to encourage one another and keep one another accountable as we work to develop the habit of praying scripture for our marriages.

This challenge begins April 16 and runs through June 1.  Once you register for the challenge, you will receive a FREE prayer prompt ebook that contains daily scripture and sample prayers for you to pray each day of the challenge.

Why I’m Excited About This Challenge

I am much more likely to stick with a decision or a goal if I’m accountable to somebody else for being faithful.  That’s what I love about this challenge to pray for my husband – I’m going to be in a group that I’m accountable to for sticking with it for seven weeks.  After these seven weeks, I hope that praying intentionally for my husband has become a habit!

How You Can Join Me in the Surrendered Marriage Challenge

I would love to have you join me in this challenge to pray daily for our spouses!  What an exciting opportunity we have to lift our spouses up in prayer every day – an opportunity that I don’t want to miss out on!

If you are interested in joining me, you can read more details about the Surrendered Marriage Challenge from Leigh Ann here.  Also be sure to check out the Surrendered Marriage FAQ page to answer any further questions that you might have.  And, of course, don’t forget to register for the challenge here. The last day for registering is this Friday, April 13, so be sure to register soon!

This challenge is open for both women and men, so if you feel like this is something that you would like to do with your spouse, why not ask them to join too?  There will be men specific prayer groups where your husband can join if he is interested.

So how about it then? Won’t you join me in this seven week challenge to pray for your spouse?

A Surrendered Marriage Challenge is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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When I first started seeing Lilla Rose Flexi-Clips popping up on different blogs about a year or so ago, I’ve got to be 100% honest with you…I didn’t want one! I didn’t think I really would use it, and I was perfectly happy with just my regular old pony tail holders.

So when Sue Ellen contacted me a few months ago about reviewing a Flexi-Clip for her, I thought, “Sure, why not?”.  But I didn’t have high hope that I would exactly fall in love with the thing.

Fast forward several months, and I’ve done exactly that…I’ve fallen in love with it!

This is the clip I chose. It's called "Simple Band"

Why I Didn’t Think I Would Like the Flexi-Clip

• I thought it was just a glorified barrette.
• I thought it would sit in my drawer never to be used.
• I didn’t think they were my style.
• I thought they would be hard to use.
• Why do I need one, when I have several pony tail holders that do the job just fine?
• I thought they looked uncomfortable.

But wow, was I proved wrong…

Why I DO Indeed Like the Flexi-Clip

• You can do SO many different hairstyles with this one simple clip.
• I find myself using it ALL the time!
• After looking through the online catalog, I realized that they actually have several clips that are just my style.  They really are beautiful!
• They are so easy to use.  For real.  If I can use them effortlessly, than anyone can!
• They make a simple “pony-tail” look so pretty!
• They’re actually more comfortable that a pony tail holder.  They really do “flex” around you’re hair and don’t pull or pinch at all.  I find myself wearing mine even on days when I’m just cleaning and working around the house because it is SO comfortable to wear.

My hair in my beloved Flexi-Clip. (By the way, it's not the easiest thing to take a picture of the back of your own head! Haha! Try it sometime!)

So, all that to say that I would recommend Flexi-Clips to anyone.  Even if you don’t think that it’s you’re thing, I bet that you will be surprised how much you end up using it and loving it!  I wear mine all the time and can’t wait to purchase some more!

Some More Cute Flexi-Clip Hairstyles

Here are some pictures of some other hairstyles that you can do with the Flexi-Clip.  To learn how to do these hairstyles, watch the styling videos here.

Low Ponytail

Half Up

Up and Down

Messy (but cute!) Bun

Another Half Up

Win a Flexi-Clip!

Sue Ellen has offered to give away a Flexi-Clip to a lucky reader – how exciting!

To enter the giveaway, please visit Sue Ellen’s Lilla Rose website, then simply leave a comment on this blog post stating which style of Flexi-Clip you would choose.  While you’re there be sure to look around at all of the gorgeous hair accessories that are offered by Lilla Rose!

If you would like an additional entry, you may “like” Sue Ellen’s Lilla Rose facebook page and leave an additional comment stating that you did so.

This giveaway will end at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2012.  Open to US residents age 18 and older.

The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be contacted by email.  The winner must respond with a shipping address within 48 hours.  If the winner does not respond, another winner will be chosen.

(Psst!  Be sure to watch this sizing video also to determine what size of Flexi-Clip your cute new hairstyle will need!)

New Hair Clip, Anyone? {A Flexi-Clip Review and Giveaway} is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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Have you ever tried chia seeds before?  Yes, these are the same chia seeds that everyone has heard about from the Chia Pets!

Well, it turns out that not only are they good for making your very own Shrek head houseplant (haha!), but they also happen to be a powerhouse of nutrition and contain more Omega-3 fatty acids than salmon!  If you’ve never tried them before, I highly recommend them as a great, easy, way to get some more nutrition in your diet.

Not sure what to do with the chia seeds once you have them?  Join me at Keeper of the Home today as I share a delicious recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding!  Yum!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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Sometimes life isn’t easy.  Sometimes “life” hands us more lemons than we can handle on our own.

We are always told that when “life hands us lemons, make lemonade”, right?  Well what happens when you don’t have the strength to make lemonade.  What happens when life hands you so many lemons that all you can do is sit and cry.  At times like these, it’s time to hand your lemons over to God.  It’s time to let Him take the lemons and make something far better than lemonade.

When we are overwhelmed…when our minds can’t comprehend what we’re facing…when nothing makes sense and crying our eyes out seems like the only available option…let God have your lemons.  Let God make something beautiful.  Because that’s what He does.

My Story

In January of this year, my husband and I learned that we were expecting our second child, due to arrive in early September. We were so excited and thankful for this blessing that God had given us!  We visited the birthing center where we were planning on delivering the baby and had a great first visit with our midwife.

Everything was going very well, but at thirteen weeks along I started having some signs that indicated a possible miscarriage.  Because of this, we went in for an unplanned ultrasound to make sure everything was okay.

As soon as I saw the screen from the ultrasound, I knew.  I knew that I should have been able to see more than what appeared on the screen.  I knew that I should be able to see something that resembled a baby.  I knew that I should see some movement going on.

But instead I saw no movement, nothing that resembled a baby, and nothing that resembled life.  My baby was already in the arms of the Heavenly Father.  Safe, sound, happy, and forever protected from the pain of this world – the very real pain that I was feeling so vividly at that very moment.

The tears started flowing as I tried to accept the reality that I would never get to meet our little baby this side of heaven.  They’ve flowed many times since that moment and they are flowing very freely now as I type these words.

As my husband and I have been grieving over the past month, I’ve realized, sadly, that nothing I or anybody else can do will ease the pain that we feel.  The only comfort that we can receive is from above.

As hard as it is to understand, I know that this is part of God’s plan.  As hard as it is to believe sometimes, I know in the bottom of my heart that God is in control.  As hard as it is to let go and let God do His thing, I know that He is making something beautiful. Out of my life.  Out of your life.  And out of all the hard things we just don’t get.

We may not understand what God is doing at times.  I admit that this is one of those times in my life.  If I had my way, my sweet baby would still be growing and thriving inside me right now.  But His ways are not my ways.  So I choose to believe.  I choose to have faith.

Because when life is hard and difficult to understand…when we feel like we’ve been dealt more lemons than we can handle…He’s at work…He’s busy making something beautiful.  Because that’s what He does.

(If you can’t see the video, please click here to view.  This is a beautiful song that encourages my heart every time I hear it.)

When Life Hands you Lemons…God’s Making Something Beautiful is a post from: The Purposed Heart
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