Thrift Schooling

Do you ever wash your clothes only to take them out of the dryer, fold them and go to put them away only to find out that they smell musty and unpleasant? Well, I just recently tried Purex Crystals in my laundry and was pleased with the results! The scent I received was Fresh Mountain Breeze and let me tell you, it was not overwhelmingly strong, just a hint of freshness! The crystals keep your linens, towels or baby clothes with a long-lasting freshness! It is a natural formula that is safe for your family and the environment. Located in the fabric softener aisle, this enhancer goes directly into your washer, top or front loader, with your clothes. It's not a tablet, or ball but simple crystals that look similar to bath salts. If you want to add an extra touch of freshness to each load, Purex has provided you with a great natural product! Try it out yourself!  Purex has provided Thrift Schooling with 3 coupons for me to give to you! Enter in the Rafflecopter form...

The Blacksmith Meet Noah.   "I live in Virginia on a small farmish piece of land with my wife and children. We are trying to live completely off this piece of God's creation. So we live here, grow our food here, teach our children here and now work here. The Items we create here are aesthetically pleasing and intentionally useful. A picture is nice but it is even better when it covers a hole in your wall. I enjoy reworking things considered worthless, making them beautiful and useful again!" ~ Noah V.   NV Able Items Noah creates all of his beautiful creations by hand, in his shop, located in Southwestern Virginia. Blacksmithing has always been a passion of his. Developing work from discarded materials continue to provide him with new challenges and a sense of adventure. Whether it's a knife made from an old railroad spike, or a rustic spoon from old rebar, Noah delights in making something beautiful, creative and useful, from old materials! ...

So what do you think? Like it? The new site that is. I know that if you've visited here in the past you might have wondered for a minute if you were even in the right place. I'm still Thrift Schooling, just trying a new look for the time being! When you first entered the site since the "remodel," you probably saw the screen asking you if you'd like to subscribe. Please do! If you haven't already, there is a place to do so on the upper right sidebar. I appreciate my subscribers and would love it if you'd join. So my giveaway page has been awfully quiet recently, but that is about to change. Two region specific giveaways are listed now if you want to check that out, and more are in the works! Tomorrow, I'll be giving away an Etsy item valued at $100 and some laundry coupons are coming up within the week! Feel free to check back often over the next week or so. And, on Monday, the winner of my Lego Kidsfest giveaway will be announced! That's all th...

 ENTER TO WIN  A FAMILY FOUR PASS TO SAHARA SAM'S OASIS!!! Sahara Sam's is making a splash with families in West Berlin, NJ! Offering state of the art indoor and outdoor water and ropes course activities, the whole family will have a blast throughout your visit! Read My Review  HERE ! a Rafflecopter giveaway Saraha Sam's has recently announced  a brand new theme park opening soon....  Diggerland !!! Ride in the bucket of a tractor, dig with a real, full sized excavator, fun for everyone!

This question may have an obvious answer. Yes, of course my resources line up with my vision! But sometimes the agenda of the world can creep into our lives without us even knowing it. Which I think is why so many youth that are raised in good, Christian homes end up turning from the faith as soon as they move out on their own. What went wrong? We all have a vision or reason to why we homeschool. We all have specific morals, attitudes, principles and beliefs about themselves and the world around them that we hope to instill in their little hearts. But we can teach, and teach and teach, to no avail if we allow the little foxes to come in and spoil the vines! The best way to ensure that our vision is made clear is to be aggressive and proactive about what we allow to enter our home and come into the hearts and minds of our children. Then, when we go out and about participating in the activities outside the home, it will be clear and concise as to what is clearly expect...

Emeals  A wonderful online  subscription  based company  created to help alleviate the stress of meal planning!  When our little girl was a newborn, we had three children ages three and under!! Yeah, I was that mom. Little ones in tow, heading out to the grocery store, I was determined to make it happen. But honestly, the problem was not so much tackling the shopping, but preparing the list ahead of time! And being sure that it was complete, too. Nothing is more annoying than returning home from a shopping run only to realize you forgot something. Not because you missed it on your list, but because it never made it to your list in the first place! Trying to find time in the day to sit down and think about what to plan, with three little ones, is not that easy. And yes, I would try to do it at night when all the kids were... wait... I nursed my newborn every three hours, never mind. If only I could have used Emeals in that stage of my life. It...

(Entry Link at Bottom of Post....) The award-winning LEGO®  KidsFest returns to the Raleigh Convention Center Feb. 28 – Mar. 2, 2014! And.... the kids and I are going!   Something fun and exciting will be available for children of all ages!  A three-acre show floor will provide hours of entertaining for young and old alike! If your kids are anything like mine, then heading to an  event like this is like entering a gold mine! Hoping to  find inspiration from the LEGO®  brick creations they  see, they are already counting down the days!    Bring Your Family and Enjoy:  LEGO®  Star  Wars™  LEGO®  Chima LEGO®   Friends The  LEGO®  Model  Museum   The  LEGO®  Master Builder Academy   Race Ramps  Creation Nation Construction Zone LEGO DUPLO® LEGO®   Retail Store LEGO®  KidsFest Marketplace The Big Brick Pil...

If you've taken the step to homeschool, whether one child or all, then you've probably stood out from the rest of the crowd, at least a little. There will be skeptics, critics and those who are "concerned" about the welfare of your children. So what do we do? Certainly we don't completely separate ourselves and tell our dear friends and family members to hit the road. What will that teach our kids?  Fortunately, my skeptics are few, (that I know of, haha). Actually, I have some wonderful friends who, even though we have different educational preferences we can still enjoy a nice girl's night out together or have an occasional play date with our kids. But, if you really think about it, once you begin to go down the homeschooling road, your schedules usually won't match up and honestly, you probably won't be seeing as much of them anyway. Not that there is anything wrong with them as people, it's just your lives are taking you different directi...

STAYING FOCUSED I'm in the store with all three of my kids hanging off my grocery cart. They were fairly well behaved. That day, anyway. When a random empty nester proclaims; "bet you can't wait till they're old enough to start school!" A line that I've become quite familiar with and I'm sure many of you have too.  It's her reaction to my  response, "I homeschool," that I wasn't prepared for. "Well, that's your first mistake," she said while rolling her eyes. I tried so hard not to laugh as I continued my shopping. I'm almost certain others could see a smirk on my face because the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't stop laughing on the inside. I mean, really. If any of us were to ever respond to someone who sends their child to public school, "well, that's your first mistake," we would never hear the end of it. Ever. I didn't respond. I couldn't. Not because I was upset or anyth...