Looking for some good (and inexpensive!) summertime reading? Want to learn something new? Here’s a bunch of ebooks that are free today on Amazon. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free app
13 Chicken Coop Plans and Designs – Small and Large Coops – Portable Chicken Coops
Let’s Talk About Feeling Angry
Nifty Fifty State Facts for Fun! Book 2
I’ve released a new edition of my ebook Thoughts on Ministering to Someone with Chronic Illness. It is a practical ebook that will show you simple ways to make a difference in the life of someone around you.
Who do you know with a chronic illness? Chances are you know several people. Approximately twenty-five percent of Americans suffer with a chronic health problem that disrupts their lives. The problem is that chronic illness is often invisible and so people suffer alone and in silence.
There are simple and practical ways to minister to people with chronic illness. This ebook offers an overview of chronic illness to help you understand what people are facing each day. You will then learn real ways you can make a difference in the life of someone who is suffering.
The ideas in this ebook include those that involve time, those that involve money, and those that involve both. There is something simple and practical you can do today to bless someone around you. This ebook will help you move forward in this very important ministry.
Ministering to Someone with Chronic Illness is available right here in PDF format. My ebook is also available on Amazon in ereader format at Thoughts on Ministering to Someone with Chronic Illness
Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends
From the aesthetic standpoint, the book is simply top notch. The book is beautiful to look at and hold. The book feels like a quality book. It is beautifully printed. The design is lovely. The photography is gorgeous. It is a book that is simply a pleasure to behold.
One of the criticisms by the “experts” is that the book doesn’t offer anything new and exciting. The experts complained that the ideas in the book are too safe and ordinary. I didn’t look at it that way at all. For me, the ideas are very accessible. I don’t want to read a Martha Stewart type book that is full of ingredients I don’t buy and lengthy recipes and crafts that require a great deal of time and money. I’m looking for ideas that are quality but doable. This book is full of such ideas.
It’s ironic that people criticized Middleton for writing a book that is too accessible. If she had written the book toward the other end of the spectrum, she would have been excoriated for being out of touch with the common folks. The poor girl really couldn’t win. She would have been criticized either way. I think she erred in the right direction and provided a lovely book for people like me.
I thoroughly enjoy reading about the different British traditions, recipes, etc. I have more than a passing familiarity with British culture (even though I haven’t had the opportunity to travel there) so things like Burns Night, Cullen Skink and haggis weren’t new to me. But I enjoyed reading her take on them as a British citizen. I told David we would should host a small Burns Night since it falls on our anniversary each year (January 25). (Minus the real haggis. I simply could not do that. We’d have to try the vegetarian version, I think!)
I’m very glad I ignored the experts and checked out the book for myself. It’s a book I’m going to enjoy for many years. I look forward to trying out the recipes and doing some of the fun things with Caroline. If you like to explore the lovely, I think you would enjoy this book very much.
Some good freebies today from Amazon…
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Spot the difference – Festive Season Fun
Well, I confess that I’m about thiiiiiiiis close to wanting a Kindle. The primary reason? Space. I cannot in good conscience bring too many more books into this house and yet I love books! And when I can satisfy my thirst for new books with so many good free books? I’ve really started thinking about it. In the meantime, I use my computer with the Free Kindle Apps for your computer
Here’s some freebies for today…
Growing Herbs Indoors : Your Guide To Growing Herbs In Containers For A Vibrant Indoor Herb Garden
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From the Farm to Fast Food: My Adventures During the Great Depression and Beyond
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Quick and Easy Gardens: A Beginner’s Guide to Container Gardening
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Luxury of Less: The Five Rings of Minimalism
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Connected: 101 Ways to Be of Service and Create Community
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Widow of Larkspur Inn, The (The Gresham Chronicles Book #1)
Am I the only one who is slightly in shock that it is already a week before Christmas? The past few weeks have been such a blur I’ve even forgot to check out the free Christmas music on Amazon this year!
There is some good stuff available. This is a gem. FREE jazzy Christmas album. Definitely worth downloading as it has several good tracks on it. I’m enjoying it now!
And in the free books department we have…
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When Calls the Heart (Canadian West Book #1)
(This is my favorite Jeanette Oke series. I still have this series in the basement, but haven’t read it in years. Apparently I have always had a thing for Mounties
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There are many more Christian fiction books for free download in the Freebies in Christianity
Thanksgiving is a special time of enjoying family, friends and giving thanks for many blessings. In keeping with the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving, here are some easy and fun holiday activities for families and children using things probably already around the house. These creative ideas will keep the celebration simple and meaningful.
Cranberries in a Jar Idea
Fill a canning jar or other glass container with fresh cranberries. Guess how many cranberries are in there. When it is time to count, take the opportunity to practice estimation. Take out a half a cup of cranberries and use that information to determine if the first guess was a good one or if it is possible to make a more accurate prediction. Then count to find out who came closest.
Graph Paper Indian Corn Craft
Using graph paper, cut out corn shapes. Use crayons or colored pencils to color in the squares and make Indian corn. Use light brown paper to make shucks and connect them together into a cluster and hang.
Thanksgiving Dinner ABC
Make a list of what to eat for Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, etc.). Then put the words in ABC order and draw a little picture of each item.
Thank You Note Project
Write a thank you note to someone who has blessed you in some way this year. Illustrate the card with either a Thanksgiving theme or a picture to match the reason for the thank you.
Thanksgiving Bingo Game
Make a list of Thanksgiving words such as turkey, cranberry, Pilgrims, Mayflower, pumpkin, etc. Have each child fill in a bingo sheet drawn on a plain piece of paper, putting the words wherever they choose. Then play bingo using candy corn or candy pumpkins for the cover pieces.
Turkey Feather Thanks
Cut out a turkey body from construction paper and hang on the wall or door. Each day write something for which you are thankful on a feather cut out of construction paper and add it to the turkey.
Thankful Art Collage
Make a collage of things for which you are thankful. Use magazines, newspapers, catalogs, stickers or your own drawings in the collage.
Creative Sticker Story Writing
Use Thanksgiving stickers for some of the words in a Thanksgiving story you write. For example, if you use the word “pilgrim” instead of writing the word, put a pilgrim sticker there.
Thanksgiving Story Sequence Chart
Read a favorite Thanksgiving story or select a new one. After reading the story, take a large sheet of paper and divide it into four sections by drawing a vertical line and a horizontal line. In the four sections, retell the highlights of the story by writing a sentence and drawing a picture. This is also a great way to practice sequence (first, next, next, last).
Enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday should be focused on meaningful activities with family and friends. By using simple crafts and projects, children can enjoy doing special things that don’t cost a lot of money or take a lot of prep time.
This post originally appeared on Suite101 dot com
Here are a few freebies from Amazon today…
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You can get Free Reading Apps
Here are three freebies today and one that looks really good for $1.99.
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and one that seems especially appropriate for today…
You can see the entire list of today’s Top 100 Free Kindle Books
Happy reading! 
I am just young enough that I “missed out” on learning to read using Dick and Jane books. (Poor me, I had to learn with phonics!) A few years ago I found three of the newly published Dick and Jane readers (like the one in the picture) in a book sale so I decided to pick them up for a few cents each.
This past summer Caroline found them on my bookshelf and asked me to read one to her. So we sat down and I started reading. She gave me the most quizzical look when I started reading the stilted sentences. She clearly thought I was teasing her or making a joke or something. She had never heard a story that was so contrived or had such awkward language. Caroline quickly lost interest and we didn’t even finish reading one of the readers.
Caroline has heard us read literally hundreds of different books to her over the past six years. She knew this was not the quality literature she was used to hearing. It was a striking moment for me as a mom and home educator. When you fill your child’s mind with quality, the other stuff is readily apparent even at a young age.
