PrincipledMom™

I am so excited to let you know that I have complied all my favorite posts from the last 3 years into one handy file. 

A Mother's Joy: The Best of PrincipledMom Volume 1 is 40 pages of blogging goodness available as an instant download. Click the cover below to download and enjoy.

Thanks to all of your who have encouraged me to keep on writing all this time. And even more good news is on its way!

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If you know me at all, you know I love the Christmas season. There's nothing like it. I love the music, the gift of Christ, the decorations, the food, the family traditions, all of it. It's great stuff.

Since we have school all year long we can take time to stop and smell the roses evergreen. We usually follow a loose plan for the month of December which includes the following, in no particular order:

• Advent inductive study 
• decorating the house
• cooking
• crafts/art
• games
• shopping
• making gifts for family and friends
• going to parties
• participating in our church's children's Christmas production
• Decorating our Jesse Tree

The list is big but I set aside one day each week of December for an activity. For example, Mondays are craft day, Tuesdays are for special games, Fridays are for baking, etc. This gives us a good variety and the kids know what they can look forward to. It also helps us to pace ourselves so we don't get overly busy.

Also we have started reading Lynne Cheney's book about Washington on Christmas Eve as a new tradition. It's good to teach our children to be mindful of the sacrifices made for our liberty.

The pace is relaxed and we do a sort of unschooling thing because we are always learning, just not is a formal way. I also have tons of printables, Christmas-themed books and more for those bored moments and read-alouds. We can snuggle and talk about the true meaning of Christmas as we enjoy the tree, Christmas music and some hot cocoa. Hurry up December!

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I love the Christmas season and always enjoy trying new things to inspire our spiritual focus of the holiday. Click on the titles for more info.

Advent Inductive Bible Study

This f*r*e*e printable study takes you through the Christmas season with daily Bible readings and activities. The coloring and marking of the text is something my kids really enjoy. Thanks to Eleanor Zweigle for writing it and thanks to Miiko for hosting it on her Web site this year.

Artful Advent e-book

 Michelle Geffken has written a lovely book for the advent season that I had the privilege to review last spring. It is art-focused (so you know I love it already!) but it's not your typical homeschool resource. She has given you tons of ideas and concepts but leaves the planning to you. This frees you up to do all sorts of things your family will enjoy without the crafty stuff you may not want to do. The excitement of the Christmas story unfolds through projects your family does together, even when your days are filled to the brim with other Christmas activities. If you have time to look at a picture or tear off a postage stamp, you can do the activities in this book! She even broke it down into ages groups so the whole family can enjoy art on their level. And the book is also full of clickable links to make things even easier during this busy time.

The ideas are simple and use things you already have around the house (including the internet), so you won't have to make time (and invest more cash) to enjoy art lessons during Advent. It's not just for Catholics either. The Christmas Story is for every Christian.

Order now and you get 4 free gifts!

Advent Bible Study

This is another study, but for teens and adults. I like the way it is laid out. It is weekly with a theme and lots of Bible study activities.

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This was a fun exercise in, well, nothing really. It's just fun.  My Bible tells me I am royalty, now I have the title to prove it.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Reverend Countess Anna-marie the Vehement of Brompton Underfoot Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Now you see why I am not available for you as often as I'd like to be. My duties as Countess, while rewarding, are simply unending. There is very little time for my public after meeting the spiritual, physical and material needs of my small subjects. For more insight into my life, I refer you to Proverbs 31 (because as the Countess I have absolutely no trouble at all meeting these ideals). I hope now you understand why I needs be so busy around the castle...

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I enjoyed Cindy Rushton's last seminar so much I wanted to tell you about her seminar coming up this weekend. It's called "Does Homeschooling Through High School Scare You?" Her workshops are live chats and a web site with links to articles and lots of info that you can have access to in the future. Here's what she says about it:

Want to homeschool--but wonder about what to do about High School? Do you want practical, real-life, proven ideas for teaching throughout the high school years? Or, maybe you could just use a big dose of encouragement? Real help is available from real homeschool moms who guarantee to help you to homeschool the easy way through the high school years. 

 There are two ways to enjoy it. You can attend live for F*R*E*E. That's right. It's free to attend live and get in on all the great door prizes and goodies she gives away. Or you can buy a ticket. This will give you access to the recorded audio, chat transcriptions, spacial giveaways and lots more from the membership site.

It would be a good thing to attend even if you don't have kids in high school yet. We are all looking to the future and her seminar may be just what you need to hear.

Click here to read all about it and to sign up. Hope you will consider going. Her semiars are always lots of fun and chock full of great information.

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