We would like to take this time to send out a warm Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas greeting. This is such a busy time of the year. Our family sometimes has a hard time slowing down and prioritizing. There are so many good things to do that sometimes we get worn out and can't even enjoy the activities we are supposed to be having fun doing!!! I have found that if I ask each child what is their favorite thing to do this time of year then it helps me to plan better. When I put these things into our calendar first then I don't feel so bad about the things we can't get to because the most important are being done. With eight children still at home I can guarantee you there will be eight different special activities that we will not miss out on this year.

When our oldest son Jonathan was in Iraq for Christmas I asked him, "What is one of your favorite parts about Christmas?" He said that he loved opening up his stocking. I would have never guessed that. You better believe that we stuffed and wrapped a stocking and sent it to him right away! No, I could not give him an "at home Christmas" with all the special traditions we do but I could give him one of his favorite memories.

In our family every night we read the book "One Wintry Night", written by Ruth Bell Graham. We start reading the first chapter on December first and then keep reading the book, a chapter a night, until Christmas. Some years we only read "One Wintry Night" through once and then pick up another wonderful Christmas book and then another until we reach Christmas Eve. I always try to add some of my favorite Christmas traditions from my childhood and some from Chris' family too.

We also try to limit our activities to one major event per day. No, we can't always stick to this rule but we try to. I hope this helps a little to minimize your holiday stress. When it all is said and done Jesus really is the Reason for the Season!

Warm wishes and Blessings from all of the VHE Steering Committee and the Guy Family, Chris and Elizabeth and Jonathan, Christopher, Nicholas, Katherine, Joshua, Anthony, Brianna, Rebekah and Joseph

 

 

December 8 - Craft Fair, 1:00 - 5:00 PM, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Mosby Road

December 14 - Talent Show, 7:00 - 9:30 PM, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Mosby Rd

January 11 - Support Group Meeting, 7:00 - 9:30 PM, Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene

February 8 - Science Fair, 6:00 PM / Spelling Bee, 7:00 PM

March 14 - Support Group Meeting, 7:00 - 9:30 PM, Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene

April 11 - Support Group Meeting, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene

April or early May - Achievement testing

May 30 - End-of-the-year Picnic

June, Virginia Home Educators Annual Convention and High School Graduation

 

The VHE library will be present at each VHE event this year.  Please remember to bring back the books you've been enjoying.  Thank you!

Cancellations due to weather, etc. will be announced on WLTK Light 103 radio and WSVA, or check your emails

 

VHE provides a monthly newsletter to members. The focus of this newsletter is communications within and about our local homeschooling community. At times we will include information from the state and national level, but we do not attempt to duplicate the communications efforts of organizations which operate at those levels.

All VHE members are invited to make submissions for the following sections of this newsletter. Please keep submissions under 200 words unless you have made other arrangements in communication with us. It is helpful if submissions are ready for publication with minimal editing. Please provide a contact telephone number, e-mail address, and/or website when possible. Send all submissions tonewsletter@vheweb.org

On Your Own
Events not sponsored by VHE but potentially of interest to homeschooling families. Event announcements are repeated in each issue of the newsletter until the event date has passed.

Resources
Organizations, museums, websites, and other resources of interest to homeschooling families. These are included in one issue of the newsletter, but may be collected into a resource directory on the website in the future.

Student Spotlight
Significant accomplishments of VHE students. Recognize your children for special achievements they have made, awards they have earned, contests they have won, and so forth. Share their successes with the VHE community.

Classified Ads
Items for sale, items to give away, items wanted to buy, job opportunities, and potentially other categories. We do not require that these advertisements be directly related to homeschooling, but keep in mind the target audience of the newsletter. There is no charge for classified ads submitted by VHE members. Ads will normally be run in one issue of the newsletter, but will be included in additional issues upon request.

Announcements
Announcements which do not easily fall into other categories.

We will endeavor to get another VHE Newsletter published in late December / early January. Deadline for articles, announcements, classified ads, etc. will be December 14th. Please send all submissions to WandMClark@aim.com.

There are many expenses involved with all we do at VHE that are not met by your membership dollars. One easy way you can help is to SAVE BOXTOPS from certain grocery items.  Bring them to the picnics and monthly events! Find out more at www.boxtops4education.com. And start collecting!

There is a current list of members ready for purchase. If you would like a paper copy, Ruth Suter will have them at the Talent Night for $1.00. If you will not be there or would like a copy sooner than that she can mail them for $2.00. You may send a payment to Ruth Suter, 2355 Maple Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Please write check to VHE. Thank you.

Please bring your used ink cartridges to VHE meetings! There will be a collection box available at each meeting, and the cartridges will be donated to HEAV at the next convention. Staples offers HEAV a generous refund and prizes for certain amounts of cartridges collected. You can pass them to members of our family at different events, as well: co-op, church, soccer, or wherever you might see a Keplinger! HEAV is grateful for your support, and every ink cartridge counts!

 

Dawn Keplinger 438-9530

 

The VHE Pampered Chef fundraiser is over for this year. We will receive $150.00 from Pampered Chef and Zoe Hansen for the VHE library. Thank you to Zoe for doing the fundraiser for us and thank you to everyone who ordered products. Orders can be picked up at the December Talent Show, Friday 14, at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

 

President, Chris and Elizabeth Guy, Elizabethguy@juno.com
Vice-President--VACANCY
Secretary - Linda Bradley, 879-2894
Treasurer - Ruth Suter, 574-3044, ruthsuter@juno.com
Advisory Committee - Terry & Lani Koons, 289-9863 / Will & Prudy Maldonado, 833-4568

Newsletter - Miriam Clark, 433-6183, WandMClark@aim.com

 

 

Deadline to enter: Saturday, December 1
Friday, December 14
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Covenant Presbyterian Church, 564 Mosby Road

Please sign up now for the annual Steven & Birdie Clark Talent Show!!!  This event is a lot of fun for the family and a great opportunity to bless others with your talents.  Invite your non-homeschooling friends and family, as well.  We will be having it at Covenant Presbyterian Church this year due to scheduling conflicts.  

Bring:  Finger food or two to share (No popcorn, please!)

To enter:  Please contact Oriana Good:  433-1714; orianargood@comcast.net  
Deadline:  Friday, Dec 1 Snow Date:  Friday, Jan 11   For those who would like to enter the talent show, please note that there is a 5 minute time limit for individuals and 10 minutes for a family or group.  There is no end to the creative possibilities. 

When you register, please answer the following questions:  

Names of performers:
Name of piece:
Any instruments to be used:
Do you need to practice beforehand in the church?
Do you need anything besides a microphone or piano?
Phone #:
Email Address:

 

Saturday, December 8, 2007
1:00 - 5:00 PM
Covenant Presbyterian Church

Our craft fair is almost here!  Remember to mark Saturday, Dec. 8th, from 1-5 pm on your calendars.  The fair will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church on W. Mosby Road in Harrisonburg.  There will be lots for children to do: shop for inexpensive gifts, a craft table to make some gifts, and a gift wrap table for them to decorate their own gift bags or just wrap their own presents.  There will be coffee, hot chocolate, and warm cider for everyone, plus some cookies to enjoy.  Some of the many crafts are: handmade scarves, beaded jewelry, soaps, aromatherapy eye pillows, holiday pins, corn and other sacks (to warm in the microwave), cards, and ornaments.  Also there will be beginner sewing kits, recipes in a jar, freshly baked bread made with freshly milled flour, cookies, candies and other breads.  Please pass the word around to everyone you know . . .we'd like this to be a great success and an annual tradition!  

 

 

Friday and Saturday, February 29 - March 1
Highland Retreat

Ladies and Daughters of Destiny that God has given each of you!   Our 2nd annual Mother and Daughter retreat will be at Highland Retreat on Feb. 29-Mar 1st.  We had a wonderful time last year and are looking forward to another time of building memories again this year.  The cost will be 22.00/night per person (bed)--we may have some "young campers" that we don't charge for.  We will arrive Friday evening and be leaving on Sunday.  The fathers and brothers will be invited for a meal, fellowship, and games on Sunday. 

In order to plan for 1/2 or all of the Red Oak Lodge, We need to have ladies signing up and sending your half deposits of 22.00 (per person per night) you are registering.  (The other half will be due at the retreat).  This year we are welcoming young ladies of all ages.     I know it is a huge temptation to not register for an event until last minute, but we really have to have pre-registration so we know if we are renting 1/2 or all of the building.  At this point, the option is open to us.  If you wait, there may not be room for you and we would really miss you!   Last year we had a great time of fun and learning.  We expect this year to be a great blessing as well.  

Please send deposits to Faith Schlabach, 15906 Lairs Run Rd, Fulks Run, Va 22830.  If you have questions, you can call Faith at 540-901-9695 or email at adamsch@cfaith.com 

VHE SKATE: Arrangements are presently being made for a VHE skate. Please look for a separate email in the near future for specific details.

Rosetta Stone is looking for men, women, children and families to appear in our educational software. We are currently photographing in the Harrisonburg, Staunton and Charlottesville areas and need people of all ages, sizes and backgrounds. We especially need men, women, children and families with Asian (including the Middle East) and African heritage for culturally themed photography.
 
Rosetta Stone photography portrays scenarios from everyday life. Models are photographed in household, occupational, retail and social settings. The style of photography captures people in a natural environment. The majority of our photos are used directly in our software, rather than for marketing purposes. As our product is distributed and used internationally, we use models of all ages and backgrounds.
 
The work is part-time, infrequent and your availability partially determines your involvement.

To set up an audition or receive more information, contact Steve Witmer at (540) 236-5426 or email switmer@rosettastone.com.

Valley Homeschoolers Quizzing, a first through sixth grade Bible quizzing program, participated in our first quiz meet of the season on Saturday, November 17, 2007.  We are studying the book of Genesis this year, and we had twenty-four quizzers compete in this meet.  Their diligence in hiding the Word of God in their hearts is the greatest reward of quizzing, but we also seek to encourage all the quizzers in their commitment to study
and memorize Scripture.

Congratulations to all our quizzers for all their hard work.  Our Red Level quizzers (1st-3rd graders) did a great job and received the following awards:

Gold All-Star with 2 perfect rounds     Josiah Pace

Gold with 1 perfect round           Victor Brunk
                    Ananiah Clark
                    Valerie Pearl Clark
                    Charlotte Henson
                    Nathan Long
                    McKenzie Showalter
                    Seth Showalter

Gold                    Georgia Good

Copper                  Joseph Guy


Our Blue Level quizzers (3rd-6th graders) also did a terrific job and received the following awards:

Gold All-Star with 2 perfect rounds     Jesse Brunk
                    Heidi Burkholder
                    Ingrid Burkholder
                    Anthony Guy
                    Justin Long

Gold with 1 perfect round           Maria Clark
                    Garrett Henson
                    Nathan Lam
                    Morgan Showalter

Gold            Cordelia Clark
                    Jonah Jones

Silver           Mikael Good
                    Brianna Guy
                    Rebekah Guy


We have three Blue Level teams this year, and they did exceptionally well for their first meet of  the year, winning first and second place and tying for third place.

First Place with 820/840 points     Team C:  Nathan Lam, Heidi Burkholder, Maria Clark, & Cordelia Clark

Second Place with 805/840 points        Team A:   Mikael Good, Morgan Showalter, Justin Long, & Garrett Henson

Tied for Third Place with 795/840 points    Team B:   Ingrid Burkholder, Rebekah Guy, Jonah Jones, & Jesse Brunk

Thank you to all of our parents for volunteering their time to make this meet an enjoyable experience for all the children participating in this quiz.  We look forward to our next meet on Saturday, February 2, 2008, in Roanoke, VA.

II Timothy
Thirteen-week class beginning January 6, 2008 through April 13, 2008
Sunday Evening, 4:00 - 6:00pm
Leader:  Lynette Long; Cost: $23.00

If ever there were a day that fulfilled Paul's warning that "evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived," it is the day in which we live.  Every authority is being challenged, including the authority of God's Word.  If ever there were a day when the true disciple must know and believe that the Word of God is inspired and inerrant, it is the day in which we live.

God tells us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, and to encourage one another....even more so as we see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).  We need to learn how to do these things and then put them into practice that those with a sincere faith might "fulfill the
ministry" God has for them, that they might "suffer hardship," that they might "run according to the rules," and that they might not "be quarrelsome, but be kind to all."

If you desire to be a disciple of the Word, to run your race of the Christian life with righteousness and holiness, and to persevere in your faith while enduring hardship, then come and join us for this incredible study of Paul's final instructions to his faithful student, Timothy.  Many times people have referred to Precept as a college course because of all the digging and mind stretching that is involved, but it will earn
you a degree with eternal value, an A.U.G. Degree--Approved Unto God degree!

Dates of Class:         January 6, 13, 20, & 27
                February 3, 10, & 24
                March 2, 9, 16, & 30
                April 6 & 13

Location: the Longs'
                Battlefield Estates
                3966 Cavalry Lane

To Register:            Contact Lynette at 540-564-0872 or lklonginva@juno.com
                by Friday, December 28, 2007


Young ladies 12 and older are welcome to come and share in this Bible study.
Childcare will not be provided.

 

Family Life Weekend to Remember conferences are coming up . . . there are many locations all around us . . . Reston, Arlington, Lansdowne, Roanoke, Norfolk, PA, NC, to name a few . . . we do not all have to go to the same conference to get the group discount!  Read on . . .
 
We can all save $80 off the cost if only five couples sign up (the regular price is $258 per couple . . . so it will be $178 with the $80 discount).   You MUST use this group code when you register:  13495  We all need to register by Jan 25, to meet the deadline of 18 days before the first local conference.  
 
At the conference, you will: explore God's purpose for bringing you together in the first place . . . understand the role hardship plays in making every marriage stronger . . . make meaningful progress toward resolving past hurts . . . learn to recognize hidden strengths of your marriage that disguise themselves as obstacles . . . discover a brand new appreciation for your spouse . . . create an individualized plan for a lasting, healthy marriage . . .develop an exciting new outlook for your life together . . . work on creating a memorable marriage.  
 
Info will be at the meetings, and at 1-800-FL-Today    www.familylife.com/weekend  
 
Questions?   Dawn Keplinger   kepcrew@comcast.net   540-438-9530  .

HEAV - Serving the homeschoolers of Virginia through information, legislation, and resources since 1983! Be sure to sign up to receive the FREE Virginia Home Educator magazine at http://www.heav.org

To learn the benefits of becoming a member of HEAV contact them below:
($25/year is well worth it for all they do!)

HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia)
2248G Dabney Road
Richmond, VA 23230-0745

Phone: 804-278-9200
Fax: 804-278-9202
E-mail: info@heav.org

Web site: http://www.heav.org.

 

For those who may not know, (or those who have been procrastinating!) your membership $$ to HSLDA are put to imperative use. We pray we will never need specific legal services, but we all need the legal work that HSLDA is constantly doing to insure that our homeschool rights are preserved. They are at work every day within our legal system...FOR YOU!!

Find out how you can become a member:

HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association)
P.O. Box 3000
Purcellville, Virginia 20134

Phone: (540) 338-5600
Fax: (540) 338-2733
Email: info@hslda.org
Web: http://www.hslda.org

 

 

Little Tykes Kitchenette - Excellent condition, stove makes frying and boiling sounds.  Includes teapot, sugar bowl, 2 saucers, 2 cups and 2 spoons, 1 pink chair for child and one detachable booster seat for a doll baby.   $25.00

Radio Flyer Lightning Spring Horse - This is a LARGE like new spring horse. In EXCELLENT condition (translation, grandparents bought it and kids don't play with it). It is already assembled (be glad of this). It will hold a child up to 125lbs, recommended for ages 2-6.   New price is $150 plus shipping.  Asking $100.

Please call 434-6286 or email me at tjohuffman4jc@wmconnect.com if you would like to see either.

For sale:
5- 6 bedroom, 2 bath c. 1880's home on 7.7 acres.
15 min from H'bg, 10 min from Broadway  in Lacey Springs
beautiful old stairway, floors & trim, 4 mantles
new huge dining room, deck, & family room
new double  garage & driveway
empty and ready to move into
asking $450,000  bring an offer!
markandjuliesmith@gmail.com
h= 433-9177
c= 820-9211

 

 

To those who played homeschool baseball this year, PLEASE look through your gloves and balls and bats carefully!  The Keplingers are missing two gloves (both marked, although light) - one has been Chuck's since before he married me and was stationed in Guam, and the other is Christie's from years ago. Both are well used, but still useful and we'd like to have them back!  The Moore family is missing a glove, and a ball, and a bat, also.  I believe their glove is a different color, like rust.  Please email or call and let us know if you find them!  Thanks so much, Dawn Keplinger and Gina Moore
kepcrew@comcast.net  jgjijfam@comcast.net 

If you borrowed a modesty book last spring at the Mom's night out, please give me a call and return it.  Hope it's been a blessing! Thanks, Julie Smith, 433-9177

 

Deadline for articles, announcements, classified ads, etc. for the next newsletter will be December 14th. Please send all submissions to WandMClark@aim.com