Seven Quick Takes on Laundry Bags, Advent Selections, Another PRIZE, and More!

:: 1 ::

Have I ever mentioned how important it is to own laundry zipper bags? I was reminded of this last weekend when I forgot to put my daughter’s jacket, which has velcro on it, into a bag, and it destroyed one of my son’s socks. I love velcro for toddler shoes, but I hate it on clothing. Invariably, it gets stuck to something else, which is then ruined when I try to separate the two.

I use laundry bags two ways. The first is to put the delicate items in the bag — that is the obvious way. But it also works in reverse. What if there is a single item you want to protect everything else from {such as a pair of boy’s shorts with velcro on the pockets}? Put it in a bag. Same difference.

Just one note on laundry bags: make sure you buy zipper and not drawstring bags. I once bought the drawstring type on accident — didn’t work well at all.

 

:: 2 ::

If you’ve not been following the Afterthoughts facebook page, head on over and follow it! Better yet, hover over that “like” button and adjust your settings to make sure you see the posts in your news feed. Besides making sarcastic comments about my children, I’m also sharing Christmas gift ideas, Advent and Christmas books suggestions, and articles and other resources that don’t always make it onto the blog. Come join us!

 

:: 3 ::

This week’s links collection:

• Why You Should Stay in Your Hometown from The Imaginative Conservative.
  • Technically, I don’t live in my hometown, but it’s basically the same general area. I loved this article.
• THINK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE from Well Fed.
  • Charlotte Mason’s 17th Principle of Education in action!
• Charlotte Mason for Children with Special Needs, Part 1 from North by Northwest.
  • The text version of that talk I told you I liked so much.

 

:: 4 ::

One Year Ago:

It took me for.ev.er. to put this post together. And you know what? It was so much fun! I could totally get into catalog creation, if this is any indication. If you’re looking for a gift list you can send to your husband, this post is for you!

 

:: 5 ::

Today, I’m announcing prize number THREE of my 10th anniversary celebration {for which I’m giving away ten prizes to ten separate readers}. This one is courtesy of Jennifer Dow over at Expanding Wisdom, and I’m pretty darn excited about it. I’ve just started her classical teacher training program, called The Five Elements of Classical Homeschooling, and it’s giving me a lot to chew on.

Jennifer’s course is what I’d call 401 level — it’s for those of you who are ready to dig deeply into the classical tradition. It’s amazing. ♥

 

:: 6 ::

The price has since gone back up, but for a very quick time, it was low and I was able to snag this book, which I’ve had my eye on for years and years. Needless to say, this will be our Circle Time Advent/composer study all wrapped into one. The book even came with the CD, which was still in fantastic condition. Too bad it is out of print.

If you’re wanting to do a Messiah study, but on the cheaper side, you can still use just this CD set, along with Cindy’s free Advent reading guide. That’s what I did last year and it worked really well.

 

:: 7 ::

Answering Your Questions:

This one requires group effort. Because my children have Kindle readers, rather than Fires, they don’t use apps — which means I don’t know an answer to this question. {I will say that I’ve used the Duolingo app on my Fire to brush up on my Spanish, and I definitely recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing.} So, I’ll put the question here, and I’m asking you all to please give us some answers in the comments, okay? 🙂

• Question: Do most or all of the free apps have ads? Can you share your favorite apps {both free and not free}?