I posted recently on my Facebook page asking you all for reading suggestions and thought that opening it up here would be fun to see what other great ideas you all have!

Laurianna has been reading unbelievably {don’t know where she gets that from ~ grins}. Her reading is in turn motivating McKenna to read more…which is fun to watch. We’ve read books/series together as a family and she has read some independently, but I’m wondering what books your 3rd/4th graders enjoy reading ~ especially books that have a little more ‘substance’ to them.

Here are a few books/series that we’ve read and loved:

~ Chronicles of Narnia

~ Boxcar Children

~ Little House on the Prairie {reading this again soon!}

Some suggestions that I received from readers were the original Nancy Drew books, Peter and the Starcatcher series…

What books do YOUR kids devour?

I had grand plans and posts in mind for this week, but life has a funny way of throwing a curve every now and then. I managed to get all the Christmas paraphernalia down, put away and the house organized and then my hubby had Monday off.

And decided it would be a great time to paint our house. Sigh.

And then Kaleb got sick. Sigh.

Add to that some other ideas that I had and my overactive brain has now gone into overdrive and I’m just exhausted.

See? I can {and do} get tired. I will be back soon and sharing some lovely new things if I can keep up with myself, but for now I’m trying to keep up with the mess in my house, keep everyone healthy, and sleep.

For the next little bit, I’ll be part of the guest panel at the Homeschool Village and chiming in on different questions that are being asked. This week the question is: “Do you encourage your homeschoolers to set new year goals?”

Truthfully, I’ve never thought about encouraging our kids to set goals in this sense {although I do for myself all the time ~ ahem}.

Six other moms chimed in their answers on this question today, so be sure to head over to the Homeschool Village today and gather some ideas {which I apparently need to do also!}.

I’ll be scarce over the last little bit on my blog while I take a bit of time off  to have fun with my family and enjoy Christmas! Preschool Corner will still be posted on Fridays for you to link up and there may be a post here and there, but I’ll be back for sure on December 31st.

Hope a WONDERFUL Christmas with your family and kids!

You all know I love to laminate, and the Scotch Thermal Laminator that I have two of {yes, I’m crazy like that} is on sale right now for $16.99 at Amazon!!!

I don’t know how long this will last, so if you are wanting to get one, it might be a good idea to do it soon. :)  Also, I recently signed up for a 30 day FREE trial of Amazon Prime and I am in love! Get 2 day shipping for FREE – perfect for all of your holiday shopping. Get more info on Amazon Prime here.

Just wanted to share the deals with you!!

In case you are looking for a few last minute stocking stuffers or gifts for your kiddos {or yourself}, here are a few of our favorite things…$10 and under!! These are all products that we have used personally ~ and many are from people that we know {and love}.

The Pick and Draw drawing game is pulled out frequently at our house and is something that our entire family enjoys playing! Our girls love it when Rich posts new drawing ideas on his blog too ~ it always results in hours of drawing time!

Seeds Family Worship is a constant on my itouch and plays every day in our house. The great part about these CDs is that they come with TWO cds in a pack so you get double for your money and can share with a friend. Use the coupon code homeschoolcreations for 20% off your order.

Sara at Happy Brown House has an Etsy shop called Stiches by Sara and right now she and her hubby are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia!! All of her earnings are going toward funding the adoption and she has some CUTE coffee cozies for you or some of your friends! I had the chance to meet Sara at the Relevant Conference and she is the sweetest thing!!

Tell Your Time What to Do is an ebook that has helped me prioritize and plan out my time much more efficiently. The last few weeks have been crazy, but having a great ‘base’ schedule has been very helpful to me and Amy offers some great tips for negotiable vs. non-negotiable tasks.

The kids have each been using devotionals from The Good Book Company that we are really enjoying. The preschool devotionals they have are based on The Beginner’s Bible {LOVE them!} ~ and if you use the code hscreations10 you can take 25% off your first order until December 31st!!

I also have listed our favorite preschool toys, games, manipulatives and more if you are looking for ideas for your younger ones. These are all ones that have been kid-tested {and survived}. :)

Just wanted to give you a few ideas in case you were still looking for ideas. :)