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Newsletter Issue 1
December 2005
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This is the first SERIOUS MOMS newsletter!! Please note
that I am sending this first newsletter out to many e-mail addresses,
and I will only send future newsletters to you
if
you request it. So in other words, if I don't get a response
that you'd like to subscribe after this one, I won't send you any more.
So
please subscribe to this newsletter!
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A Question for Y'all
Last year I asked ladies
for some good gift ideas for children (and now you can find them
under
Christmas Ideas). This year I'd like to know how you're
teaching your little ones about Jesus during the holiday
season? How do you turn the focus back on Him? What
traditions, tools, games, stories, or songs do you use?
Share your thoughts and experiences, and I'll post them on
the site! |
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What I'm Reading...
I'm a reader, but I don't always
finish the books I read. After all, like you, I'm a busy mom!
When I've soaked up enough information on one topic, I set the
book down and move on to other books that pertain to my life
more at the moment (and usually go back to those old books
someday when I need them again!). I usually have a pile of books
stacked beside my bed, and some on the bookshelf in the family
room as well. I grab interesting tidbits and awesome information
from different books, and I will point out 1 or 2 of my favorite
books in each newsletter!
Lately, I have been focused on 2
particular subjects: 1. Child Training, and 2. Homeschooling.
Regarding child training, I have been reading Michael and Debi
Pearl's book
No Greater Joy, Volume One
and have seen a tremendous improvement in my children's
attitudes (and in mine!) since using their techniques. If you're
finding yourself frustrated in your role as a mom, some good
training (of your children & of yourself!) might cure your
frustration. I recommend
No Greater Joy, because it is an easy read (it has tiny
sections, so you can read little bits at a time), and it is full
of great ideas for training your children.
Regarding homeschooling, I have
been looking through Rebecca Rupp's book
Home Learning Year by Year : How to Design a Homeschool
Curriculum from Preschool Through High School .
Like William J. Bennett's
The Educated Child ,
Rebecca points out what children should be learning in each
topic, by grade level. My kids are only 2, almost 3 and 4, but
I've gone over her list of good books for preschoolers and have
found it to be useful. I borrowed this book from the library,
but it's so full of great information (for preschool through
12th grade!) that I think I am going to need to buy a copy of
this one to hold on to for future reference!
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| Little House on the Prairie Fan
Page
Do you love Little House on the
Prairie as much as I do? Well if you do, you'll enjoy my
new
Little House on the Prairie Fan Page!!
I spent hours on this page (it could literally be it's own
site!), and I loved every minute of it! In this section, you
will find: links to all of the Little House on the Prairie
books, videos, CDs, craft books, cookbooks, books about Laura,
and other Little House on the Prairie goods. I have reviewed
several Little House episodes, but I still have many, many more
to go! Please check out this section of Serious Moms if you
enjoy Laura's books and her story!
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| Christmas is
Coming!
I don't know about you, but I dread even going
near the mall this time of year. And it's so much work to make my
lists, find a parking spot, walk (what feels like) a mile or 2 to get
into the mall, then walk from store to store and from department to
department just to find the perfect gift for every single person on my
list. And since there aren't shopping carts at the mall, how many
trips, realistically, do we have to make?
A couple of years ago (when I was on bed rest
with our son Kaleb), I bagged the idea of going to the mall! I decided
to do all of my Christmas shopping online instead. Now that's all I do
any more. It is so much easier to type in a different store name, or to
click on a different online department than it is to go trekking through
the mall with 5 zillion bags of goodies. It's much easier to decide on
a gift when I can read reviews about it (like on
Amazon.com).
It's so nice to do my Christmas shopping during naptime or in the
evening, and from the comfort of my own home. No more hiring a sitter
to go shopping. No more leaving my husband alone with the kids and
ditching my family for the evening. No more awful parking and walking
miles in the cold just to get some awesome gifts. And best of all: when
I shop online, I can compare prices and find the best deals. No impulse
buying. No overspending. I shop with a calculator and my budget in
front of me.
So my trick? I watch for deals. I go to
Amazon.com
several times throughout the months of October and November, and I watch
for their free shipping deals. Often, they have free shipping deals on
toys, and on kitchen tools & gadgets. And of course, they always have
free shipping on books, if you spend $25 or more. I watch for deals
like these, and then I make my order. I keep a word document running
with my gift ideas for each individual, and then I highlight it once
it's been purchased. Then I wait. And I love the "ding dong" of the
UPS person, the package on the doorstep, and the anticipation of "whose
gift came today??" See? Shopping can be fun! Why dread it, when it
can be so much more enjoyable! And you can be finished early. Today is
November 21st, and as I write this letter, I am awaiting the last of my
packages. I ordered everything last week, and I am finished with
my Christmas shopping. Now you know my trick, and you can be finished
too! |
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I have recently created
an entire
Christmas section on
Serious Moms, including a
large gift giving guide.
Please
check it out if you are
stumped on what to get your loved ones!
If you click
on my links to
Amazon.com
and purchase an item, about 5% of your purchase (at
no additional cost to you) will go towards supporting
Serious Moms. Please keep this in mind anytime you want to
make a purchase through
Amazon.com! |
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Can You Test For Bugs? :)
My husband is a software tester,
and he "tests for bugs" in programs all day long. Well, I don't have a
full-time (or even part time) bug tester for Serious Moms, and there are
certainly enough bugs to keep me busy! I usually spend Monday evenings
on Serious Moms--and I could either spend the entire time searching for
bugs, or adding more content. So many times, I am torn--do I fix what
is broken, or add more wonderful content to the site? I was wondering
if you all could be my bug testers. I'm not asking you to do a lot of
work. I'm just asking that, if you're searching through the site and
you find a broken link, a misspelled word, or something that looks kind
of funny, you
e-mail me about it. It's easy for me
to fix bugs--it's just a tedious process to search for them! So please
let me know if you see any problems with the site,
and then I'll label you an official "bug tester!" |
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A Challenge for Wives
I don't know about you, but when I'm
stressed, I struggle to control the words that come out of my
mouth. Unfortunately, those around me (the ones I love the
most) are the ones that have to hear the poison that can
sometimes seep from my tongue.
James 3:7-9 says:
"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and
creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed
by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise
our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have
been made in God's likeness." (NIV)
No man
can tame the tongue. No man can, but Jesus can. My
challenge for all of us is that we begin praying about
our tongue and the words we will speak this Christmas
season. Will we bless our family and make this holiday
wonderful? Or will we make it bittersweet, filling
their mouths with delightful treats and their ears with
ugliness?
Let us
pray this prayer together:
LORD in the midst of this busy season, let my tongue
speak your praises, and let my family hear from me only
"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable," and whatever is excellent or praiseworthy.
Please LORD, keep the ugliness from my heart and from my
tongue. Control it LORD, I know you can, and I cannot.
Amen.
Note: in your quiet times, try doing a study on the words
"tongue," "lips," or "words." Use
www.BibleGateway.com
and do keyword searches. |
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Please remember, you will not
receive any more Serious Moms newsletters unless I get an
e-mail from you saying that you
would like me to send them to you! Each person who signs up for
the newsletter will be eligible to win goods from our
Serious Moms Store. |
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I
hope that this newsletter has been useful to you and fun to read!
Please
let
me know if you want to receive this newsletter in the future. Feel
free to pass this newsletter along to anyone you think might enjoy it.
Have a Merry Christmas, Ladies!
In
Christ's Name,
Brenda Scott
www.SeriousMoms.com
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