Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 109
June 11, 2013
It’s…a…BOY! {Gender Reveal Photos}
source: Krystal Griffin
I’ve already let the cat out of the bag here on the blog and on pretty much every social media site, but in case you missed it,yes, we found out that we’re expecting a BOY this fall! Who woulda guessed it?!
After our (very early in the morning) ultrasound, we headed out for breakfast with my little sister and then met Krystal (who is a fellow homeschooling mom from our church as a well as a contributor here at Life Your Way) to let the cat — er, balloon — out of the bag.
During our ultrasound, baby boy was facedown the entire time, so it was hard to get any good shots of his little profile or face, and I was afraid it would be hard to check for gender as well, but thankfully it wasn’t.
I’d asked the tech to write down the gender in a little card for us, but she didn’t tell me to turn away, so I was able to see the little boy parts very clearly. Once we headed to the car, I handed the card to Sean to share the news and we enjoyed having that little secret for a couple of hours.
Instead of telling the girls right away, we packed blue balloons inside gift bags for them to open together. I love this sequence of shots that Krystal captured:
source: Krystal Griffin
After spending days telling us how they would react when they saw the balloons, they all just kind of looked at them for a few seconds while the rest of us hooped and hollered, but the smiles on our big girls’ faces were genuine, and the news has definitely grown on all of us!
source: Krystal Griffin
Krystal had scouted out a few places in the walking mall in Downtown Winchester for our mini session, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures with blue balloons!
source: Krystal Griffin
Since I know someone will ask, we didn’t purposely wear blue; I just happened to like the outfit and Sean chose one to coordinate. But I guess it worked out!
source: Krystal Griffin
We’re big on naming our babies after our ultrasound (all of their names have been chosen on that same day except for Sidney’s), and because we’ve been talking about baby boy names for 9 years, we already had a pretty good start. In the end, we settled on Jackson Jeremiah!
Like our girls’ first names, Jackson is just a name we really like — a name we can picture on a tiny baby boy or a grown man and one that definitely isn’t gender neutral, which was important to me since our girls all have unisex names.
The girls all have biblical traits as their middle names — Joy, Grace, Faith and Hope — and I really wanted Jackson to have a biblical middle name as well. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” and the prophet Jeremiah was a man who struggled with the call of God on his life but remained faithful anyway, and so we decided on Jeremiah for his middle name.
And we love nicknames, so we love that this name combination gives us options like Jack, Jax and JJ.
P.S. Just in case your mama never shared this little tip with you, here’s a basic rule on opinions about baby names: If someone asks you if you like the name they’ve chosen, feel free to be honest. Otherwise, please just smile and nod and pretend you like it anyway. 
source: Krystal Griffin
In all honesty, I was looking forward to dressing another tiny baby in pink, but choosing Jackson’s name has made this whole “having a baby boy” thing feel so real, in a good way, and I am pretty excited about this new adventure!
source: Krystal Griffin
And I’m so excited to see Sean with his little boy after all these years of raising girls!
source: Krystal Griffin
We took a few more pictures and even though I’m not quite 20 weeks pregnant yet, my belly was big enough that I feel like we finally have professional maternity shots, something we’ve never had done with any of our pregnancies!
source: Krystal Griffin
Tiny baby, big belly!
So now I want to know…what’s your best “boy” advice?!
Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.
It’s…a…BOY! {Gender Reveal Photos}
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
Support a Local Small Business with GoDaddy’s No WebSitis Contest!
source: John Loo
As a business owner myself, I love to support women-owned businesses locally and around the world — by buying handmade jewelry from artisans like Lisa Leonard and 31 Bits rather than factory-made accessories, choosing local businesses over big box stores and so on.
According to the 2013 State of Women-Owned Businesses report, the number of women-owned business in the United States is growing at 1.5 times the national average and have added an estimated 175,000 jobs to the economy since 2007.
With blogging friends who are providing income for 3-5 employees and contractors each, I can believe those numbers and that women who pursue their own passions and start a business really are making a difference in the economy!
A local company I love to support is Naturally Yours, a small health store that opened in Winchester a few years ago, perfectly timed with the start of my own natural and green living journey. Because it’s convenient and the owners — a mother-daughter duo — are extremely friendly and helpful, it’s always been my go-to for herbs, supplements, hard to find ingredients and natural bath care products.
They don’t currently have a website, and I can’t help but think that it would be easier for locals to learn more about the store, see samples of their product offerings and get to know the owners if they did!
During GoDaddy’s No WebSitis Contest, nominate your favorite small business to win a free website between now and June 24th. Then, vote for your favorite between 6/25-7/15, and the ten companies that stand out the most will each win a 1-year .COM, .NET or .ORG domain registration and a 1-year Premium Website Builder plan, plus special assistance building their site. Plus you could win a $50 Visa gift card for nominating the winner!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Go Daddy. The opinions and text are all mine.
Support a Local Small Business with GoDaddy’s No WebSitis Contest!
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
June 10, 2013
Weekly Reads + The Worst Book You’ve Ever Read {6/10/13}
What’s on your summer reading list? I’m so enjoying reading the summer reading guides from people like Anne and Tsh, whose book recommendations I always appreciate! I, however, am currently on a book buying hiatus as I make my way (sloooooooowly) through the ones already on my Kindle. With weeks when I’m not reading any books at all (ahem, like last week!), I just can’t justify buying anymore until I make it through that virtual pile, no matter how highly they’re recommended.
Head here to see Katie’s post for this week. We also want to know what you’re reading! Add your blog post to the linky below or leave a comment with your favorite reads from this week.
With the Girls
Dylan is rereading A New Home for Lily, this time on her own, which she’s enjoying. She’s still at the point in her reading development where she switches between chapter books regularly because she’s not a fast enough reader for a single book to hold her attention over the course of a week or two, so she has set aside her Little House books for now.
Peyton, on the other hand, has gotten to the point where she can finish a decent-size chapter book in a day or two, so she’s much more likely to finish a book before moving on to the next. Last week’s top choice was Tales of Robin Hood by Tony Allan, which led to recreating lots of adventures outside on the playground!
This week, she’s finishing Justin Morgan Had a Horse (which she did start last week), and she’s packed a bag full of 8-10 books that she wants to read next.
A Question for You
I really, really disliked Maze Runner, which I read at the beginning of this year. I couldn’t put it down because I needed to figure out what was going on and get to the end, but I really hated it. Most of the time, however, I’m getting better about putting a book down before it reaches that point (which may result in missed opportunities!), so I can’t think of too many others I’ve disliked to that degree!
What was the worst book you ever read? Did you finish it? What did you dislike about it?
Share Your Reading List
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Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.
Weekly Reads + The Worst Book You’ve Ever Read {6/10/13}
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
Inexpensive Ways to Add Outdoor Lighting
The following post is from Lisa of The Pennington Point:
source: The Pennington Point
It can get expensive to buy lights that are made for outdoors. But with some creativity and resourcefulness, you can light up your evenings in style for very little money.
If you have a porch area where you can sit and relax, then soft lighting can enhance those lovely summer nights. On my front porch, I used Christmas lights with white cords along the edge of the ceiling to give it that soft candlelight glow.
source: The Pennington Point
In the front of my house, I have an outdoor eating area. To light it up at night without stark task lighting, I strung inexpensive bulb lights along rope that is attached at each end to eye screws.
source: The Pennington Point
A classic outdoor lighting ideas is wrapping your trees in strings of lights. It’s not just for Christmas!
source: Apron Revival
This solar light idea is genius! I never knew you could make you own!
source: The Shabby Creek Cottage
And while we’re talking solar, how about one on a stake down in cement? You could put these anywhere!
We could, of course, go even simpler. And nothing says simply life like a mason jar. Battery operated candles or real tea lights both look great down in them.
source: Shop 24
Another simple idea is to take used food cans and make them into lamps. So simple, so cute.
source: Grow Creative
Do you have a place that could use some outdoor lighting?
Lisa winds through her little Texas farm house every night, tucking in her nine homeschooled children and turning off lights. Then she scans the rooms & makes a mental list of what she wants to rearrange, restore or paint. Her husband of 27 years hangs on for the ride while she blogs about it over at The Pennington Point.
Inexpensive Ways to Add Outdoor Lighting
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
5 Paleo/Primal eBooks for Less Than the Price of 1! {BundleoftheWeek.com}
This week’s bundle is the perfect companion for a paleo or primal lifestyle! Whether you’re just dipping your toes in or looking for more recipes to add to your rotation, this collection of ebooks is both inspiring and practical, with more than 200 recipes plus inspirational stories from people who have transformed their health through a paleo diet and tips for eating out without cheating.
Paleo ebooks can be expensive, but this week only you’ll get all 5 at a savings of more than 85% off, less than the cost of any one of the ebooks by itself!
With your purchase, you’ll get all five of the following ebooks:
The Paleo Miracle by Joe Salama and Christina Lianos
The Paleo Snack Recipe Book by Suzanne Crawt
Eating Out and Traveling on the Paleo Diet by Aglaée Jacobs
Toadally Primal Smoothies by Primal Toad
Paleo Ice Cream by Ben Hirshberg
Even if you’re not interested in this week’s bundle, be sure to sign up for the BundleoftheWeek.com weekly newsletter so you can be the first to know about the latest bundle:
5 Paleo/Primal eBooks for Less Than the Price of 1! {BundleoftheWeek.com}
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
June 8, 2013
Giveaway: Set of 3 Channellock Pliers for Father’s Day
Channellock is truly a family business, run by generations of the DeArment family in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where they manufacturer more than 120 high-quality pliers and assorted hand tools, like these:
Xtreme High Leverage technology means considerably less force required to cut.
Longer, streamlined design for precision handling.
Crosshatched jaws for maximum grip.
Knife and anvil cutting edges ensure proper cutting alignment.
E336 XLT Diagonal Cutting Pliers
Xtreme High Leverage technology means considerably less force required to cut.
Strong lap joint construction.
Durable, diagonal cutting edge design that easily cuts hard and soft wire.
Knife and anvil cutting edges ensure proper cutting alignment.
Patented reinforcing edge minimizes stress breakage
Undercut tongue & groove design won’t slip
Right-angle, laser-heat treated teeth grip better and last longer
PermaLock fastener eliminates nut and bolt failure
Each tool is made from high-carbon C1080 steel for durability, with laser-heat treated edges and Channellock Blue grips for comfort.
We received a set of these pliers to review, and my husband, who has a mishmash of tools that have been handed down to him, was excited to add these to the Channellock tool roll he already has and expand his Channellock collection!
Like Channellock on Facebook or follow @Channellock on Twitter or Channellock on Pinterest for gift ideas, giveaways, news, tips and more!
Enter to Win
This week, Channellock is giving one lucky Life Your Way reader a set of Channellock pliers as described above!
To enter, fill out the form below (if you’re reading this by email, click here to enter):
This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 6/12. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Open to U.S. residents 18 years old and above.
Giveaway: Set of 3 Channellock Pliers for Father’s Day
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
Weekend Reading: June 8, 2013
source: Krystal Griffin Photography
Yep…blue balloons!
On Tuesday we had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound, and we were thrilled to discover that Baby Ehman is a boy! Okay, shocked and terrified might have crossed our minds too. What do we do with a baby boy?! This all new territory for us, so we’ll definitely be learning as we go.
Afterward we met Krystal Griffin, a Life Your Way contributor and friend, for a gender reveal photo shoot with the girls, and I can’t wait to share the story and some more pictures with you (watch for those early next week!).
We’re definitely enjoying knowing a little more about our newest addition, and it’s fun to think of the baby as “he” instead of “it”! It also turns out that having the first boy grandchild is as big a deal as having the first grandchild was, and our collection of blue clothing is growing quickly!
Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading to see the other posts that make me stop and think. You’ll find new posts all week long!
Family {Summer of Learning}
Practical Ideas for a Summer of Learning | Simple Homeschool
Introducing: Se7en+1′s Drawing a Day Project… | se7en
56 Things to do on Rainy Days with Kids | Finding Joy
Life {Be Intentional}
Don’t Chase Happiness. Recognize It. | Becoming Minimalist
How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems | Zen Habits
Food {Summer Bounty}
10 Ultimate Summer Popsicle Recipes! | Weed ‘em and Reap
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp | The Finer Things in Life
Asian Salad Wonton Cups | Good {Life} Eats
And because it never hurts to share this again, be sure to read this post before your next to the beach or pool: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. And our story of experiencing this last year, exactly as he described: What Drowning Really Looks Like.
Have a great weekend!
Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.
Weekend Reading: June 8, 2013
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
CommentsCongrats!! What do you do with a boy? Spoil him, of course! You ... by DianaCongratulations! We have four girls and a new baby boy (born ... by Karen @ Candid DiversionsCongratulations! how wonderful by Victoria HuizingaSooo happy for you Mandi and for the whole family ) , a little ... by Estelle
June 7, 2013
Homeschool Curriculum Sale {First Come, First Serve}
We’re in homeschool planning mode around here, and I’ve shared my 2013-2014 curriculum plans as well as why we school year-round. I still have a few more things to share with you in the coming weeks, but I also have a few things to sell!
All of the following curriculum is in like-new condition. We either decided not to use the consumable workbooks or switched curriculum before using it.
If you’re interested in any of these items, please fill out the form at the bottom of the post. I will contact interested buyers on a first come, first serve basis and send Paypal invoices for claimed items (you don’t have to have a Paypal account to pay with Paypal, though!). I will also update this post as items are claimed. {All prices below include media mail shipping.}
BOB Books {Set 3, Set 4 & Set 5}, $30 {pending sale}
Singapore Primary Mathematics 2A Workbook, Textbook & Home Instructor’s Guide, $28
**Does not include gram cubes
Singapore Primary Mathematics 2B Workbook, Textbook & Home Instructor’s Guide, $28
**Does not include gram cubes
Singapore Mathematics 2B Workbook, $7
**Does not include Textbook or Home Instructor’s Guide
The Logic of English Essentials Manuscript Workbook, $18
**Workbook only, does not include Teacher’s Manual
Teaching Textbooks 3 Workbook & Answer Key, $18
**Does not include Level 3 CDs
Thanks to Joy at FiveJs.com for the post idea. Check out her curriculum and book sale here.
Homeschool Curriculum Sale {First Come, First Serve}
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
How *I* Blog {My Interview at HowTheyBlog.com}
A few months ago, Kat emailed me to see if I’d be willing to submit an interview for her brand new site, HowTheyBlog.com, a behind the scenes look at the lives of popular bloggers. I’m not quite sure how I made it onto her list with people like Tsh Oxenreider and Emily Freeman, but it was an honor to be included, so of course I said yes!
My interview is up this week in three parts, and we’re talking about how I blog, my gadget and app recommendations and my thoughts on social media and writing.
Kat referred to my interviews as “thorough”, which I think may be a polite word for wordy, so grab a cup of coffee and c’mon over! (I’m checking the comments too, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask over there!)
How *I* Blog {My Interview at HowTheyBlog.com}
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
June 6, 2013
5 Benefits of Homeschooling Through the Summer
source: Mandi Ehman
We really found our homeschooling groove this year, and while I’ve felt like we had to keep going through the summer in year’s past, this year I actually feel more like we get to. Yep, for real!
The truth is that while most of our friends are winding down and counting the days they have left, we’re all feeling pretty excited and energized about school right now, so I thought I’d share a little bit more about what that looks like and why it works for us.
First, to define what homeschooling year-round means for us, this year we’ll be doing everything from our 2013-2014 curriculum plans except Classical Conversations memory work, history and science. The big girls have actually started on this geography book (which is a fun way to teach the grammar and mechanics of maps, etc.), and we’ll be adding Latin next month as well. We’ll also be testing out a few ideas for history and science to get us ready for the fall. So almost a full schedule.
source: Mandi Ehman
In general, I look at our year as broken into trimesters (lopsided trimesters, but three parts nonetheless): early fall-Christmas, January-May and June-August. We often make changes to our curriculum around those trimester breaks — although I’ll share more about adjusting along the way later — and spreading our breaks out keeps me from getting burnt out during the year!
Here are the 5 main benefits of homeschooling through the summer for our family:
1. We can take off throughout the year.
This is probably the most obvious benefit and also the reason we started schooling through the summer in the first place! We usually take off completely for 3 weeks or so at Christmas plus another 3-4 weeks in late spring for vacation.
Although our new focus on independent learning has added a lot of consistency to our routine (because they’re not dependent on mom for most of their subjects), we also took off this past year when a family in our CC group was hit by tragedy, when I was laid out on the couch with the worst of my morning sickness and for almost a month around our recent trip to Florida. And while it happens less now, there are still days or weeks when I have a work deadline looming and we decide to take a break from school altogether.
Doing that is no longer stressful or guilt-inducing to me, though, because I know we’ll make up all of that time over the summer!
source: Mandi Ehman
2. The girls don’t get as bored.
On days without any structure, our girls tend to be whiny and lazy, and while I’m a fan of boredom during childhood, I think there is a delicate balance between healthy boredom that inspires creativity and debilitating boredom that results in whiny, lethargic children (at least there is for my children!). Doing school in the morning gives us some basic structure to our day so that the girls are more likely to use their free time for imaginative play.
3. There’s no pressure for big starts or endings.
With a traditional school-year calendar, the beginning of the school year is a big deal (everything is new!) and the end of the school year is a big deal (we need to finish strong!).
For us, however, the “first day of school” is an arbitrary date when we actually do very little school and instead make a special breakfast, take pictures and have ice cream sundaes for dinner, and there just isn’t a last day at all. That means I’m not cramming to get things done at the end or feeling pressured to have all of my curriculum choices together by the first day of the next year.
Which brings me to my next point:
4. It’s easy to adjust as we go.
Because there is no beginning or end to our year, we adjust parts of our curriculum and schedule as we need to rather than feeling like we just need to hold on until the next year. This year I really learned to embrace this aspect of schooling, and it gave us the freedom to experiment and try new things without worrying about whether it was the “right” time to adjust (a pretty big accomplishment for a type-A, perfectionist mama!).
source: Mandi Ehman
5. There’s no need to review or adjust in the fall.
And finally, we don’t spend the first week (or three!) reviewing math and language arts material from the previous year or trying to readjust to the rhythm of our homeschool day, and we’re not hanging on by a thread during the last few weeks either. I think that gives us more flexibility to take time off throughout the year (WV doesn’t have a mandatory number of days that we need to “do school”) because we can cover more material in less time.
Homeschooling year-round is obviously not for everyone, and I can think of plenty of reasons why it might not work for other families – families that travel more during the summer or participate in extended camps or summer sports or whatever. But for us, it’s been the perfect compliment to our lifestyle and schedule!
What does your homeschooling calendar look like? Have you ever done school through the summer?
Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.
5 Benefits of Homeschooling Through the Summer
© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved
