Homeschool Library Builder

Through this last year of being on the TOS Crew I have been introduced to many companies I had never heard of before.  Homeschool Library Builder is one that I just found out about recently.

Homeschool Library Builder is co-owned by two veteran homeschool families dedicated to Christ-centered education. Their desire is to help homeschool families affordably collect books for their literary-based educational needs. They stock both new and used books found in popular literature-based homeschool curricula, as well as select titles to supplement  unit studies. They are committed to providing wholesome materials that will enrich the entire family.

(adapted from a statement on the website)

• New and used literature

Whether a book is hard- or softcover, like new or ex-library, in good or fair condition, our items are clearly rated by condition and priced accordingly.

• Guidance for selecting worthwhile books

Items are organized by categories and age level, so you can easily locate what you need!

• Amazingly low prices

We love bargain shopping and delight in sharing our savings with you! We want to help you stretch those dollars as you build your special home library!

Homeschool Library Builder offers a  free membership program that includes:

Monthly Newsletters: Be informed about sales, special event promos and featured products

Book Rewards Program:  Earn one Book Point for each dollar you spend.  (15 book points=$1 in your account) Earn more Book Points by referring others or promoting HSLB through your blog.

Book Search:  Let them look for a hard to find book for you.

HSLB Marketplace: (read more here)

Helping Hand:  Sales from books purchased from this section go to a sponsored child from Compassion International.

Become a member here.

I have not yet ordered from Homeschool Library Builder but I did some price checking and the prices are great! There are lots of great titles.  Remember that they deal with new and used books so the stock changes frequently.

 In addition to their already great prices, during the month of May everything is 25% off!  They even offer a 30 money back guarantee.  Complete shipping information can be found here.

Homeschool Library Builder is also on Facebook.

See what others are saying about Homeschool Library Builder on the TOS crew blog.

disclaimer:  As a TOS crew member I was asked to review this website with no compensation.  I was offered a 10% discount if I wish to order.

Menu Plan Monday

I am so thankful to be back to meal planning. Last week went much more smoothly since I started doing  Menu Plan Monday again.

Last week I tried 3 new recipes and all were a hit.  Spinach Lasagna, Chicken Orzo Skillet, Slow Cooker Italian Style Turkey Meatloaf (not exactly new...I made it once before but I hadn't tried it in the crock pot)

Monday: hamburgers, chips (grilled portobello mushrooms for me) 

Tuesday: Mary Lu's cheesy tomato soup

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Honey Glazed Ham, potatoes, beans

Thursday:  Zesty Hamburger Soup

Friday: Veggie Cheese Stuffed Shells, bread

Saturday: Grilled Chicken, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Green Beans

Sunday: Makeover One Pot Spaghetti from Healthy Cooking magazine

 alternate meal: Chicken Noodle Casserole



Link up your own menu plan at orgjunkie.com. This week is found here. (Or just find great ideas from other bloggers that share their menus.)

J is for Jesus

As I was thinking about blogging for "J", I was having a hard time thinking of something until all of a sudden it dawned on me to blog about the best "J" of all.  Jesus.   I thought I would blog through the alphabet about Jesus.

A-Alpha
B-Blessed and Only Potentate
C-Creator
D-Day Star
E-Emmanuel
F-Faithful and True
G-Gift of God
H-Holy One
I-I Am
J-Just
K-King of Kings
L-Lord of Lords
M-Master
N-Never Sinned
O-Omega
P-Prince of Peace
Q-Quickening Spirit
R-Redeemer
S-Savior
T-Trustworthy
U-Umpire (modern word for daysman)
V-Vine
W-Worthy to be Praised
Y-Yeshua



"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. " Revelation 5:12

Lift up His name.  He IS worthy!

(I skipped X and Z but please make a suggestion for those if you have any!)

Visit Marcy at the Ben and Me blog and join us by blogging through the alphabet.

Knitting with Craftsy

For years, I didn't think I could knit.  I did try in the winter of 2009 and even though I thought it was fun, it was SO slow going and I just wasn't that good at it.  Sadie was born in the fall of 2009 and I completely set is aside until last fall when I decided to try again (read the background here).

I started out by knitting dishcloth after dishcloth...then scarves and then I learned to knit hats in the round on circular needles and I was in LOVE with knitting.  I made a lot of hats....so easy just knit, knit, knit and then decrease and you're done.  I found that I really don't like knitting on straight needles and knit everything using circular needles.  I just love them.

a cowl scarf I knit

one of many dishcloths I made
I think this might be the last thing I knit on straight needles.

 For Christmas, my parents got me two knitting classes from Craftsy.com.  I had asked for a gift certificate to get a Craftsy class.  Right after my mother ordered it they came out with a buy one get one free deal and they let her add a course to her order so I got two knitting classes. I got Knit Lab and Knit Lab: Hats Four Ways.  Both courses are taught by Stefanie Japel and I think they are fantastic.  In the Knit Lab, course I learned many of the basics of knitting and did my first lace project which was a keyhole scarf which I just love.  I have made several of them now.  I also made a long scarf with a variety of stitches mostly different basket weave patterns.  I wore this scarf so much this winter and I am so glad that I made this one too.

2 of the keyhole scarves I made.  Love this pattern!

This scarf pattern is called Cambridge.

 A feather and fan lace dishcloth.

Taking this course helped me so much.  I really became confident in my knitting and learned so much by making these scarves. (The dishcloth wasn't part of the course but I did get a link to the pattern through the course.  I think it is on Ravelry though.)

Here is a course overview where Stefanie Japel tells about the course and how the courses work at Craftsy.

With the Craftsy courses you get patterns and course materials to download (they are pdf documents). Access to the courses never expire.  You also can ask question in a message board format and get answers from the teacher and/or from others taking the course.  It's really a lot of fun.  You can also post pictures of your projects (in progress or finished.) You can go here to see sample previews and a break down of what is included in the course.

After I finished the Knit Lab course it was getting closer to the end of winter so I didn't really want to make any more hats.  So I haven't knit the hats in the Hats Four Ways class yet but I have watched the whole course.  Stefanie is a lot of fun to learn from. :)

 I get the Craftsy newsletter in my email and one week Laura Nelkin's Mastering Lace Shawls class was on sale so I bought that.  I L.O.V.E knitting lace.  Here is the shawl I made in just 3 weeks while taking the Mastering Lace Shawls class.

The shawl being blocked

Me wearing the shawl

The back of the shawl.

 You can get this pattern by taking Mastering Lace Shawls (watch the previews and see what is included too) or you can just purchase this pattern from Laura Nelkin. (The name of it is Skywalker.) I am definitely going to make another one of these in a lace weight yarn.  I love it.


I am currently working on the second lace shawl in this course called Clarus.  I am enjoying making this as well.  One thing I have learned in taking this course is that I love to knit with a charted pattern rather than one that is written out.  At first I didn't think I would like it but now I just think it is so much easier to read a chart than try to keep track of stitches that are written out.  Laura is a great teacher and it's great to be able to interact with her through the Craftsy platform.

I am signed up for her new course, Knitting with Beads.  I haven't made anything from it yet but I have watched it.  I will start on the projects in that class either when I finish Clarus or when I get supplies for it.  I like to have more than one project going at a time anyway.  (I'm working on a worsted weight shawl that is very simple and I can work on it in the car or on the go without have to think about it.)

This is a quick preview of the course:



Craftsy.com has all kinds of craft classes....crochet, knit, quilting, sewing, baking and more. Check them all out here.  I would recommend signing up for the newsletter and watching for a sale. I've never paid more than $30 for a course.  If you'd like to see what the classes are like you can sign up for the Block a Month course which is free right now.

Menu Plan Monday

It has been a long time since I've posted for Menu Plan Monday.  I really dislike when I don't have a plan.  So here goes:

Monday: Spinach Lasagna and bread

Tuesday: Chicken Orzo Skillet

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Italian Style Turkey Meatloaf, Rice, Vegetable

Thursday: Chicken Noodle Casserole

Friday: Date night...kid friendly meal...not decided yet

Saturday: Grilled Chicken, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Green Beans

Sunday: Slow Cooker Honey Glazed Ham,  potatoes, vegetable

Spinach Lasagna, Chicken Orzo Skillet and Honey Glazed Ham recipes are from Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.  The Slow Cooker Italian Style Turkey Meatloaf is from The The 400 Calorie Fix Cookbook.

Link up your own menu plan at orgjunkie.com. This week is found here. (Or just find great ideas from other bloggers that share their menus.)

I is for Apple

What? How can "i" be for Apple?  I guess we all know that products made by Apple start with "i".  I am late joining in but have decided to blog through the alphabet with Marcy from Ben and Me.

Late last year, my husband's friend gave him his used 2nd generation iPod touch.   My husband already had a 4th generation iPod touch so I was fortunate enough to get the used one.  As soon as I started using it, I was hooked, but since it was a 2nd generation I couldn't get all the apps I wanted.  For my 44th birthday last month, my husband got me a 4th generation iPod Touch.  I just love it!

I thought I would share some of my favorite apps with you:

Bible Apps:

YouVersion: free  I love this Bible app that is loaded with multiple Bible versions including audio and loads of reading plans and devotionals.  I used it to read the Bible in 90 days and I'm currently reading the Essential Jesus plan as well as the Chronological Bible.

Touch Bible: free  Another Bible app that I like to use especially when I am not at home with wi-fi.

Bible.is: free  I only just recently downloaded this one.  It has Bible, audio and video as well.

Pocket Sword: free  This Bible app has Bible, commentary, dictionary and devotionals.

Granny's Bible Dojo: $1.99  This app is sort of for kids but I like it too.  It teaches the Bible books in order. you can try a demo here. (This is one of the apps that I couldn't get for my 2nd gen.)


Calendars and Social Media:

CalenGoo $6.99 This one is a little expensive but I LOVE it.  I can use it offline and I have switched over from a paper calendar in my pocketbook to just using my iPod touch.  I was already dependent on my Google calendar so this just made sense for me.  It took me a long time to decide to get this but I'm very happy with it.

G-Whizz $2.99 This is my main app for G-mail, Facebook, Twitter, News and reading blogs through my RSS feed.  There is a free version available as well that I used for a while before buying it.  This one did not work very good with my 2nd generation iPod but works great on the new one.  I really love this app.

Other handy apps I love


iBooks free This one is great for reading your pdf documents.  I haven't used it for downloading e-books yet but I know you can do that too.

Evernote free If you don't know about Evernote you can read about it here.  I have used this for taking notes at meetings and even sermon notes. It's a very handy app for saving all kinds of information.

TOS magazine free When I first heard that The Old Schoolhouse Magazine was going digital I think I probably groaned.  I disliked reading on my computer.  I still dislike reading on my computer but I love reading TOS on my iPod.  I have read more in the digital magazine than I ever made time for when I was getting the paper version.

My FitnessPal free This app keeps track of calories, water, exercise and just helps you if you're tracking any of that.  Very handy.

Games for the Kids (and Mom)

Stack the States $.99 Fun game for learning about the states.  There is a free "lite" version too. (Also look for Stack the Countries.)

Presidents Vs. Aliens $.99 Fun game for learning about the presidents.  (Also available in a free "lite" version.)

Word Bingo $.99 and Math Bingo $.99 are fun, educational games for younger kids.  My kids like these.

Scramble with Friends $.99 My current favorite word game.  I LOVE to play this.  It's a fast paced word game like Boggle.  (A free version is available.)  I also like Words with Friends.

Chicktionary free Another fun word game where you make as many words as you can with the letters provided.

I have other apps that I like too but I think I've shared enough for now.  Do you have something you love that you want to share?  Please do.  I love to try new apps.

Free Creation Notebooking Pages

I am going to be reviewing a Bible curriculum soon and needed some notebooking pages.  I couldn't find what I wanted online so I made these up for our use and thought others might want to use them too.  This is what they look like:

In the real file there is no dark line on the bottom of this.

I just added these to Google documents.  Use this link to download them.  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6K66QlnNYxaNFd0U3lOTEFUTTQ They are free for your personal use.  If you have trouble with the link you can send me an e-mail  kgouvin@hotmail.com and I will forward these to you in pdf format.