Ipad mini Giveaway!

 

Christmas is such a special occasion that several other bloggers and myself have teamed up to offer an iPad mini to one fortunate individual. The iPad Mini Christmas Giveaway is presented in appreciation of you. We are so thankful for the time you spend with us, the thoughtful comments you share, and the encouragement you've given. We couldn't do it without you.
You can view the iPad mini features here.

Grab a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and send in as many entries as you like using the Raffle-copter form below. There are many blogs you can “like” or "follow" to gain entries, and you can take your time doing it. *Please note that comments left on this post are NOT counted as entries; you must enter through the Rafflecopter form below.*

This giveaway will run from today, Wednesday, November 28, until December 5. It’s open to everyone and one winner will receive an iPad mini, plus either an $80 iTunes gift card, or $80.00 cash to put towards accessories for the Mini iPad!

The winner’s name will be displayed on this post after the giveaway ends. Have fun!~~Katie

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Music Mondays: Make And Play Your Own Washboard

Music Mondays is an (almost) weekly series here at Brighton Park where we share great ways to add music to your home and homeschool. Today's Music Monday Series post is written by Award-winning children’s performer, DARIA. Daria Marmaluk-Hajioanno has seven cd’s that have won national honors. She has the most awesome job of traveling the world to sing for kids and peace. Her website; located at dariamusic.com, was given a 2009 Parents Choice Award for its rich variety of music and cultural content.

Musical Fun With A Household Object - Make And Play Your Own Washboard


There are lots of common items from around the house that can be used as part of your family’s musical fun. Many parents let their toddlers turn pots and pans into a makeshift drum kit. Two spoons can become a percussion instrument. Blowing across the tops of water bottles can create sounds like wind instruments. And then there’s the washboard. Whether you have one around your house or follow these easy instructions to make one, this simple instrument can have you singing a happy tune and exploring music in no time at all!








The Washboard As A Musical Instrument

Yes, a washboard is a real musical instrument. Also called a scrub board or a rub board, you can find washboards in several traditional types of American folk music such as cajun, zydeco, old timey and jug band music. Serious players usually rest the board against their chest and don a variety of thimbles on one or both hands to create some amazing rhythms by scratching back and forth over the ridges. When the washboard is played by a young child, it’s a good idea to replace the tiny thimbles with objects that are easier to hold such as plastic spoons and rest the washboard on their lap or on the floor in front of them.

Find Or Make A Washboard Many people have old-fashioned washboards around their house or garage - or have a grandparent or relative who can lend them one. You can often purchase a washboard for a small amount of money at yard sales, garage sales, hardware stores or online at the Red Hill General store. But if you can’t put your hands on an “actual” washboard, you can always create a homemade version that is equally fun for musical jams

A Crafty Homemade Washboard
Although you can find step-by-step instructions at the link below, making a homemade washboard is simple. Start with a sturdy piece of cardboard as the back and add some recycled manila folders. You’ll fold the file folders like a fan and use rubber bands to anchor them in place. Decorate any way you like and then it’s time to play.

Play A Washboard!

It’s a good idea to let a child play the washboard with one or two plastic spoons. They are easier to hold than the traditional thimbles and don’t pose a choking hazard. How do you play? Just rub the spoons back and forth over the ridges and see what sounds emerge. Rub up and down or create patterns such as “down, down up”. Or “down, up, down, up, down, down, up!” You get the idea!

Sing Along With A Washboard Song!

Once you begin playing patterns on your washboard, you’ll probably notice that some of the patterns sound like songs you know. For instance, the pattern: “down, down, up” fits perfectly to the song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Pick out favorite songs you know and see if you can come up with patterns to accompany them.


 


Jamming With Family and Friends

What other ways can you explore your new instrument? You can change the sound of your washboard by rubbing it with other objects such as a metal spoon, a plastic hair pick, a chopstick, an unsharpened pencil or Q-tips. Play along with your favorite recordings or get a group of your friends together to create music. If you like, you can check out my cd called Grandchildren’s Delight and hear a washboard playing as percussion in songs such as Oh Susannah and Liza Jane. And what about getting your family together for an old-fashioned sing–along? Or you can see if your parents or siblings could add their own musical talents to create a family jam. Although the washboard is a simple household object, it can be a great first instrument to encourage young children to make and play music with those they love!

Fun Resources

Hear a musical washboard or washboard song here: http://www.dariamusic.com/washboard.php Make a Cardboard Washboard instructions: http://www.dariamusic.com/make_Washboard.php Color a washboard online: http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Washboard.php DARIA’s Grandchildren’s Delight CD – Best Loved Song From the Good Old Days Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/grandchildrens-delight-best/id292915765 Amazon: http://amzn.com/B001EN3ZTA Check out 8 simple world music instruments – sounds, songs and coloring activities: http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php 20 easy world music crafts for kids: http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

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Blessed Traditions...

Oh, before I get going on this post...The HIP Holiday Ideas Party Link Up is still open and you can add your old or new posts of anything suitable for Christmas: recipes, crafts, gift idea posts, religious, inspirational, etc by clicking HERE. The linky will remain open through the end of December and this coming Friday Nov. 30th I will highlight another entry!

How was your Thanksgiving? Here is a little sample of ours:

My eldest daughter, age 8, Making her own pie...

She did a great job! (it was blueberry)...

My favorite...5 sets of little praying hands gathered around a table...

We had my husband, Mr. Darcy, to thank for the turkey. He raised it and killed/prepped it himself this year...

And thankful to the Lord for the bounty of our table...

Every year, we do a blessing cup for special events, birthdays, holidays, random meals just cause we want to. On Thanksgiving we say prayers with it, and everyone goes around the table sharing what they are thankful for. Mr. Darcy and I were married in Scotland. When we had a second ceremony stateside to validate our marriage within the Catholic Church, we received this cup and a blessing cup book as a gift. It is a favorite tradition of ours...

I will be sharing a "My Favorite Things" post with you shortly...If you are into cute, functional, saving money, and avoiding Super Saturday crowds then you won't want to miss it :-)  I hope your Thanksgiving was peaceful and blessed.

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Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was sharing a bedtime devotional with my kids. We were talking about how Thanksgiving is all about Giving Thanks. I challenged them to start naming all the things they were thankful for (family, food, house, jumpropes, gummy bears, and books were some of the things mentioned). Actually, in just a few minutes, we were able to come with so many things to be thankful for that I had to stop this activity for fear bedtime might never come (Mama needs her sleep!).

How fortunate we are to have so much to be thankful for that we can't even name them all. How blessed. Blessed be the name of the Lord.  This is one of my favorite songs. Blessed Be Your Name . Happy Thanksgiving, from our homeschool/homestead to yours. ~~Katie

Here's a version I wanted to share with you today..."you give and take away"...

May I always be thankful.

Blessed be the Name.

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Waldorf Wednesday: Fairy Garden Fall Furniture

The girls were excited to awaken a few weeks ago  to discovering that the fairies had acquired tables and little pumpkins...we were wondering when they were going to add furniture...they had a shell bathtub that we made for them, but that was all until the week of Halloween...

 

 Audrey's fairy garden. The fairies chose a  Mini Bistro Set, Rustic with a lovely painted stone below (the Patio Pad, Tulip) . 

 

 

                               Charlotte's fairy garden. The fairies chose a Picnic Table, Weathered .

The morning of the "table discovery", the girls had a grand time cleaning their gardens and Charlotte even put a little leaf under her fairies pumpkins~~ "a table wunner", she says.

The girls can't wait to see what the fairies do to decorate their homes/gardens for the holiday season coming up in December. I can't either :-)

 

Check  out our other Waldorf Wednesday posts, including our previous fairy garden posts here.

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Thanksgiving crafts and a popcorn filled turkey...

We have been busy doing some Thanksgiving projects this week...

How the Indians grew corn...

Cornucopia Collages... I love all the carrots Charlotte made for hers!

Mayflower Facts Booklets and tracing the Pilgrims journey from England, to Holland, back to England, then on to the New World...

Mayflower puppets, with a front and a back, made sturdy by using a wooden spatula in the middle instead of a tongue depressor style craft stick...

Today, after we  finished our projects, the boys Speech Therapist stopped by with this gift for the boys...This turkey made out of paper bags; filled with popcorn to be a surprise for the boys when we watch our Thanksgiving weekend movies.

But not just ANY popcorn, this sweet dear woman drove to the Movie theatre special and bought enough movie popcorn to fill the body of this paper bag bird.

The body is a large grocery bag. The legs are small paper bags, with white construction paper wrapped around and cut to look like a fringe for the end of the drumsticks. How cute is this? What a sweet surprise. I am so thankful for the boys therapists. Being a therapist myself I know what their job entails and I must say my boys have the three sweetest, dearest therapist in the whole world. I told Mr. Darcy early today, I feel just so blessed this Thanksgiving.

God's love is extravagant. My blessings are abundant.  These two statements have always been true but I think there have been years I have forgotten. I guess as I (gulp) age, I am just more aware, more thankful, more appreciative.

Thank you for stopping by today.

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Homeschool Mother's Journal November: Taking time for my kids

In my life this week…I was able to seek out the biggest blessings in the smallest spaces this past week by carving out extra one on one time with the kids. A watched movie here, a longer quiet bedtime conversation/devotional there, shared giggles over cups of tea. I want to give my kids so many moments of my time that when they grow up they don't even think about how I was a blogger. How great would that be?

In our homeschool this week…We did a few double days of the "basics" so that this coming Thanksgiving week we can spend M-W having some learning fun by making theme pockets on Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Colonial life. If you have never done theme pockets, they are a fun way to do a learning activity complete with crafts over multiple age groups. In the past 5 years I have managed to acquire all the months, Jan-Dec  in the Evan Moore line and a few others. The kids always love them. I am able to use them with my typical and special needs homeschoolers together (modifying the activities for the boys) which is great. Love! Love!Love!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… I will admit I am not the most consistent blogger. That's because I blog around my life and not the other way around. If I write a post, I'm writing it before the kids get up or after they go to bed (like I am doing now). It always makes me sad to see homeschools (or any family activity) taking second to well intentioned parents building their blog, cause, um, if you're kids education or childhood in general is taking second to your writing aspirations, maybe that is not so well intentioned.

If you feel you are being convicted about this, pray about it. And my personal experience is : if you think you are spending too much time online (blog, fb, other) then you probably are. If that is you, go to your family and ask them to forgive you. Pray for guidance to use your time in the way that serves your loved ones and your own life the best, and make tomorrow different that today. If that means you don't visit me here at Brighton Park for a few days (or weeks), don't worry...we will be here, happy to have you visit again, when you get back. Families come first.

My favorite thing this week was…watching the movie  Soul Surfer with my daughter. If you haven't seen it, WOW, is it full of some great life lessons for kids and adults alike. Use your judgement on your child's age if you decide to watch it. My very mature 8 year old was fine with it, but I would not let my 6 year old watch it, she would have found the one water scene too scary. What a great role model Bethany Hamilton is. My 8 year old has asked for her  Soul Surfer Devotions book for Christmas.

Things I’m working on…being a wife and mother that resembles Mary more than Martha. That is, not being so busy getting the essentials and busy work done that I don't take time to truly love, cherish and spend time with my kids or husband. I'm reading more stories, playing more games, taking more walks, and the like. My laundry may not be caught up and my house is a bit messier than usual, but if there was a happiness meter in my home it would show a far larger reading than last month when everything was clean and perfect but my time was more limited. I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF PERMISSION TO BE OKAY WITH EVERYTHING NOT BEING PERFECT. Those are powerful words!

I’m grateful for…my family and my ability to homeschool them. There are many countries in the world where homeschooling is not legal. I'm thankful today to get to teach my children at home.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

This post is being shared at the Homeschool Mother's Journal link up hosted each week by the iHomeschoolNetwork.


I have some fun posts planned this week, including sharing my daughter's Scottish themed Brave party with you that I threw for her on November 10th...(here's a sneak peak) and a fairy garden update!

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You may also enjoy...

Check out our HIP Holiday Ideas Party Link Up

5 ways to have Inspired Holidays

Thank you...ten times.

We had family company staying with us all this past week. The day they left (yesterday) I threw a birthday party for 20 people. Today, I turned in three papers for my French Revolution class. It has been crazy; the schedule that is...at this point, all I want for Christmas is a nap!

A friend reminded me that the Homeschool Post Blogs awards had been announced on the 4th and wrote me that Brighton Park  was a nominee in 9 categories. Nine? I thought she had a typo.

Today, I finally had a chance to peek at all the nominees. And my friend was mistaken...

You nominated Brighton Park in 10 categories.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for nominating Brighton Park in the following categories:

Best Homeschooling Mom Blog

Best Blog Design

Best Photos

 

Best Crafts, Plans and Projects Blog

 

Best Encourager

 

Best Homemaking/Recipes blog

 

 

Best Special Needs Homeschool Blog

 

 

Best Variety

 

 

Best Super Homeschooler

 

Best Homeschool Method Blogger (Waldorf)

 

I think I am most proud of being nominated this year in the Encourager category. When I blog, my intent is to encourage women~~ not just homeschoolers, not just special needs parents, but wives, singles, homemakers, mothers. Your worth is epic and I never grow tired of telling you that here; all the time.

If you wish to vote, you may vote once a day per category, per device, here until Nov. 16th. Just scroll down on this page until you see the list of categories and click.

 

Thank you, friends.

 

 

p.s. The Music Monday Series will return next week, Monday, November 19th!


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5 Tips to have an Inspired Holiday Season

It seems I  always have more ideas than time to do them, especially during the holidays.
One year, I had all these special crafts and projects planned to do at Christmas and before I knew it, the day had come and I barely had my Christmas cards sent out. Not anymore! Today, I want to share with you my tips for how I get my special holiday projects accomplished during life's busy schedule so that you can enjoy that Inspired holiday you are longing for.

Here's what I do...

 

5 TIPS TO AN INSPIRED HOLIDAY SEASON

1. I keep all my craft books and holiday themed magazines from year to year and they are categorized on my craft room shelves by holiday; so all the back issues of Martha Stewart Living Halloween, taste of home fall, etc are all together, in one place; Christmas/winter craft books together, etc...

2. I pull them out MINIMUM the month before (I've been known to pick our holiday projects several months in advance) and limit myself to picking out THREE-FIVE things (no more) I want to accomplish for that holiday. These go on one list. The ones that  in my heart and mind are "must do's" or "must cooks"...I make a second list of no more than three things that is my "if time allows" list.The lists include the name of the project, name of book/mag and page number. **Every year we send out Christmas cards and make gingerbread houses so these don't go on my list as in our house they are a given. But if you have a hard time getting these done and want to this year, put them on your list as 2 of your 3-5 "must do' items".

3. I make separate shopping lists for the ingredients or items needed to complete these projects or food stuffs. This way, if I'm walking out the door and think to myself "this would be a great week to make those (insert item here), I can grab that list and have it already for that grocery store trip. These lists are also marked grocery store or craft store (JoAnns or Michaels) and I keep my Craft store coupons clipped to these lists. I clip these shopping lists of needed items to my main list of the projects I have picked out.

4. The projects I pick out vary. Some are for kids some are for me. Some are easy, some are hard. I promise you if you put 5 uber time consuming complex projects on your list, no matter how enticing pinterest makes them look, you will most likely run out of time.

5.   (And to me this is the most important)...I do NOT tell my kids what projects I have planned for them or me. That way if life gets in the way and they don't happen, they aren't disappointed because they don't miss what they don't know about. This is important. We don't want our kids grown and saying "Mom always said she was going to make us stockings but she never did". Far better to hear "One year my Mom surprised us with homemade stockings".

Here are the five things I picked out for Halloween this year and I am happy to report we did them all.

1. Pumpkin Patch Trip
2. Make Jack 'o-Lanterns
3. Make Spider Pumpkins
4. Make a flock of geese out of gourds
5. Make Halloween Cookies

Yesterday, my 6yr old said to me, "Mom, this was the bestest Halloween ever". Hooray for systems that work!  I hope these tips help you to be able to have your most Inspired Holiday Season yet! Do you have other tips you can share? I would love to read them! leave me a comment with your ideas.

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