Our reader participation giveaway is over! Actually it ended at the stroke of midnight in the wee hours of Tuesday, but we had to do something exciting yesterday -which we’ll talk about in a little bit – and couldn’t get to the results until this morning.

Being the nature of things on the Internet, we received just 7 comments, but what great comments they were! Our new email subscribers don’t line up with the comments that were made, though. In fact, some of the comments left have email addresses that don’t match any of our email subscribers. I’m scratching my head. Perhaps I didn’t clearly explain what the rules should be when Shelly was writing the original post. We received more subscribers than comments, and since getting folks to comment and share their ideas was the more important part of the drawing, we are focusing on those.

Each of the 7 very helpful people that left a comment will be receiving our PDF “Thank-You Notes” via email. What they get is a lesson on how to write a proper Thank-You Letter, which includes stationary, inspirational quotes, and links to other resources. We hope that they enjoy this product. There are several styles of stationary included that can be used for almost any occasion: Birthdays, Christmas (it’s not too late to send Thank-You letters!), and general all-purpose occasions when a simple letter of “Thanks” will bless the reader and writer alike. We want to express our gratitude to each of you that left comments!

Yesterday we drove up to the Nashville Int’l Airport to pick up Shelly’s parents Grammy Sheryl and Big Den! They are going to spend the next three weeks with us. Right now the house is a-buzz with school lessons. As you’ve read Grammy Sheryl’s posts on our blog you’ll know that she has a background in Home Economics. She came prepared with lesson plans on cooking, sewing, and other wonderful things. We’ll document and post them here – complete with pictures. We may even interview her on our 1st episode of The Famtasticast for the debut of the HMHS Podcast Network! Likewise, Big Den, as you know is an English Major with a career in editing, so the kids are going to get some great lessons in the proper use of English.

If you have any questions about Home Economics, or Grammar please post them here, or send us an email and we’ll have Grammy Sheryl or Big Den give an answer.

Thank you all, and we’ll see you next time!

P.S. Perhaps I should have had Big Den proof-read this post.

All this relaxing being done now, I hit a bump when it comes to getting back to daily “normal” life.  It is a difficult thing for me to return to a proper schedule or routine  (Not to mention getting back into blogging and the daily operation of this website)!  Being about halfway through the school year should be a good time to reevaluate our educational plans and what has been working or not working.  But, for some reason this is difficult for me to do.  I need advice.  Sooo, that being said, we have a little contest for our homeschooling friends.  In return for your help and advice, we are having a giveaway of our “Thank You Notes” lesson and stationary.  Here’s what you do before January 13:

• Leave a comment here on this post sharing your experiences and sage advice on how to make the best transition from holiday mode to school mode!  How do you plan, how far in advance to you prepare, how do you prepare the kids to start, or do you even allow your kids time off?  Let us know!
• Sign up for our email subscription in the sidebar.

Any new email addresses added within that week, will be entered into a drawing to receive our “Thank You Notes” set for free.  We will put all the email addresses in a hat and have the kids draw a winner!  We will contact the winner Wednesday, January 14 with your free download!  So, leave those comments to help me and the community as a whole.  There’s plenty of others in the same conundrum!  Tell all your friends!

Happy New Year from Homemade Homeschoolers!