my blessed life

The Weekly Wrap-up: Co-op, Dissection & the Weinermobile

2012-01-28T09:15:00.000-06:00

Another week in the books! Overall, it's been a good one. I can't say that I haven't had some of the usual struggles with my son, but we're working on it.

A couple of weeks ago when I talked with you all about how I was doubting myself I was amazed at your response. It truly overwhelmed me--and encouraged me--that I am not alone in my struggles. Thank you, all of you who commented, for being honest about your own daily trials with homeschooling. Your words really lifted my spirits! Often when you are at home alone with your kiddos a lot, you can feel as though you are the only one having a rough day (or week!). It helps so much to know that I have kindred spirits who can empathize with me. It really does mean so much!

So this week we marched on!

Our week kicked off bright and early on Monday with our co-op classes. The kids are really loving them! I have fun, too. Once again my kids did me proud in their Bible Trivia classes!

Mr. B was pretty excited to take home some "noise putty" as his prize:)

The cooking class made French onion soup and, oh my, was it yummy (yes, I sneaked a bowl). I was proud of my kiddos for even trying something with the word "onion" in the name. The Princess really liked it and even Mr. B said it was "okay". Guess I'll get to start making one of my fave soups again!

I was very proud of The Princess for trying out for a solo in choir, too. She was SO nervous, but she did it anyway. I'm proud of her for facing those fears!

In our regular school work, we had some fun at home, too.

We wrapped up our Character Sketch study on *Alertness* for the month. The kiddos and I really enjoy reading the Character Sketch books. They are just full of wisdom!

The Princess really picked up the pace with her math this week. I was really proud of her! She just tackled it head on every day and really did well. Mr. B began multiplication this week! I can hardly believe it. Singapore math seems to have done a good job of introducing it, even if it seems fast. And he seems to be keeping up so far--proud of him, too!

This week The Princess began her second Language Arts study with Total Language Plus: The Sign of the Beaver. The book is really good (I'm reading along, too). So far, I am still very pleased with TLP. Mr. B is still doing very well with First Language Lessons. I like the short lessons, they hold his attention well and he is retaining what he's learned.

Our Apologia botany study is moving right along. This week we also dissected a flower as part of our lessons. To be honest, I didn't get quite the right kind of flower to dissect, but between it and some great book illustrations, it worked out fine. The kids had a great time dissecting!

They also added to their Botany Journals. I am amazed at the lovely pencil drawings they do! Such lovely work!

We are just about to wrap up our study of Ancient Rome. This week we read about the life of Jesus, the early Christians, Nero and Constantine. Such a fascinating time in history! I'm so glad the kids love to hear about it.

They colored and cut out their own puzzles this week:

I am so glad that my children love to create art. I think they could draw, color, paint or craft all day long! I enjoy those things, too, but they get their real gift for them from their daddy:) He is so talented in the ways of art! Look at them all painting on different projects around the kitchen table. I love it!

I just had to add in this cute photo, too! We happened to see the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile on Friday while running some errands. The kids hadn't seen one before and got a real kick out of it.

Well, gotta run...we're off to try out one of Lowe's Build & Grow workshops this morning! Hope you have a great weekend!

Baked Egg Boats=Yummy!

2012-01-27T18:45:00.000-06:00

I found a version of these on Pinterest (LOVE that site!) and just had to try them! They turned out really great and really weren't hard at all--perfect for a weekend breakfast.

Baked Egg Boats

1 sourdough baguette, cut into 4 sections

5 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream

4 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby-Jack)

2 green onions, thinly sliced (or onion powder if you've got picky kiddos)

Salt & Pepper, to taste

*****

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut a deep "V" through the tops of the baguette pieces until about a 1/2" to the bottom. Partially unstuff the baguettes. Set aside.

Place the eggs and cream into a mixing bowl and lightly beat together. Whisk in the bacon, cheese, onions, salt and pepper.
Divide and pour the mixture into each baguette "boat" and place onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and set in the center. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

Butternut Squash Soup

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

I tried butternut squash for the first time ever this week and I really did like it! It's kind of a lot of work peeling, seeding and cutting one up, but it was worth it--and they're super good for you, too. I really enjoyed this soup recipe that I adapted from one I found on Pinterest.

Butternut Squash Soup

3 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp. dried sage

2 to 2-1/2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
4 cups chicken broth
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 slices of bacon
1/3 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

*****
Melt the butter and olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and sage and saute one minute. Add squash cubes and saute 5 minutes. Add the broth and cayenne pepper. Cover and simmer on low for about 25 minutes.

In the meantime, fry the bacon crisp and drain on a paper towel; set aside.

Puree the soup, either with an immersion blender (I recommend this) right in the pot or transfer to a food processor or blender in batches. Return to pot and stir in cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve in bowls with crumbled bacon on top.

Serves 4-6

The Weekly Plan {Jan 23rd}

2012-01-23T22:20:00.000-06:00

If you make a weekly plan, how did yours go last week? I was just looking over my weekly plan from last week (which I made and promptly forgot..just keeping it real, folks) and I think I got about 50% of mine accomplished. I guess that's not too bad, especially since I forgot to look at it once I made it.

How things really went: we didn't make it to the library until today, I didn't get the sheets changed, I took The Princess to sell Girl Scout cookies on Wednesday instead of Thursday because I found out at her meeting on Wednesday that her orders were due THAT day (oops!), Wednesday's dinner never happened (thank goodness for those Christmas gift cards for Subway), I blew my special Saturday morning breakfast because I ran out of eggs and working in the garage or cleaning my car never even entered my mind after I typed those words. Oh, and I did get caught up on the laundry and the kitchen got cleaned...but of course that all needs to happen again now. {sigh}

But this week is off to a good start and I'm determined to just keep building on that! {thinking positive thoughts, thinking positive thoughts}

Monday:

-Co-op classes with our homeschool group

-Lunch at home

-Trip to the library

-Dinner: Pinto Beans & Cornbread

Tuesday:

-School

-Lunch: Butternut Squash Soup (didn't get made last week..ahem..)

-Hang valances on windows

-Work at the church

-Dinner: Hamburgers Diane, Roasted Carrots, Baked Potatoes

Wednesday:

-School

-Finish preparing for church class

-Housework

-Dinner: French Dips (crockpot)

-Church (teaching children's class)

Thursday:

-School

-Sit around eating bon bons (haha...just seeing if you're still reading this!)

-Dinner: Tacos

Friday:

-School

-Something fun in the afternoon, to be decided

-Dinner: Stromboli

Saturday:

-Breakfast: Baked Egg Boats (this week I have plenty of eggs!)

-Family time!

-Dinner: probably leftover buffet

I would imagine that this plan may morph and change a bit, but it's a good start!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

We Choose Virtues: A Review

2012-01-23T00:30:00.000-06:00

We've recently been enjoying the products we received from We Choose Virtues. They graciously sent us their Virtue Clue Cards, Teacher's Handbook, Family Character Assessment and Kids of Virtueville coloring book.

We Choose Virtues is not a short-term study but rather continuing lessons in positive character traits that are reinforced throughout each day. You introduce the virtues one at a time and then reinforce them through catch-phrases, capturing teachable moments and demonstrating them.

I was immediately impressed with the Virtue Clue Cards. They are about the size of a business card and come in a set of 12. Each card shares about a virtue, for example: *I am Attentive*, then it tells you what that means and what that does not mean. On the back of each card is a challenge, for example on the *Attentive* card it says "choose to go the whole day without someone needing to remind you "Listen!" or "Don't forget!". These are colorful, cute little cards which my children really enjoyed--and so did I. We have been using them each day in our homeschool.

There is an abundance of tools available from We Choose Virtues with which to help you teach these important character traits to your children (or class). We received a sampling of these: The Teacher's Handbook is a 48-page, full-color book (available as a download or a hard copy) full of simple steps and ideas for teaching these virtues. The Family Character Assessment is designed to help you determine how you are doing on developing these traits in your family and to motivate you to reach goals to improve. The Kids of Virtueville Coloring Book is also a downloadable book that features each of the kids in Virtueville.

We Choose Virtues has a many different classroom kits, homeschool kits and church kits available. They also have posters, flash cards, sticker charts and more on their site.

My favorite thing about We Choose Virtues is their list of *The 3 Rules*: 1. Obey 2. Be Kind 3. Be a Helper. Each of the virtues falls under one of these rules:

1. Obey
-I am obedient
-I am attentive
-I am self-controlled
-I am honest

2. Be Kind
-I am kind
-I am forgiving
-I am patient
-I am gentle

3. Be a Helper
-I am helpful
-I am perseverant
-I am diligent
-I am content

I love way that list works!

If you are looking for a way to teach your children these "vital civil responsibilities" We Choose Virtues would be a great place to start. I encourage you to head over to their website and see what they have to assist you in your endeavor.

You can read all about their products here. They even have some great products on clearance . There are even some free downloads!

They also have some specials on for January and February: The 100 Days of Virtue Poster and Stickers will be included for FREE with any purchase of a Homeschool Kit.

And you may also use these codes each one time only:
-VIRTUE15 for 15% off your shopping cart
-FAMILY to get the Kids Virtue Poster for only $3.00
-SHIPFREE for free worldwide shipping

Disclaimer: I received these products through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and We Choose Virtues free of charge in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinions.

Check out what other homeschool parents had to say about We Choose Virtues here.

The Weekly Wrap-up: Sprouts, Romans and Country Ham

2012-01-20T22:30:00.000-06:00

This week has had its moments, but it's really been a good week! I like those!

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, of course, and was a school holiday for us. I hadn't intended to take the whole day off, but I was still getting the house back in order after a weekend of company so it was a laid-back day. We did watch Dr. King's speech on Youtube and did a couple of fun printables about him.

Tuesday brought back our regular schedule (whatever that is, right?). We got every thing done on my lesson plan, so that is always a successful day! One highlight from this day was the conclusion of our *bean seed project*. In science we are studying botany with Apologia's Exploring Creation with Botany and are really enjoying it. For the 12 previous days we had been charting three bean seeds, each in a ziploc bag with a wet paper towel. However, one was placed in the refrigerator, one was hung in the window and one was placed in the closet.

It has been a fun experiment! We confirmed what we had been studying: that seeds don't need sunlight to begin growing. Our seed from the closet was *off the chart* in growth. The one in the window had barely started to sprout and the one in the fridge had done nothing (or so it seemed).

It was fun to open up the sprouted seed and compare it to our drawings of the parts of a seed--a great visual lesson! Oh--and the kiddos promptly bagged back up the other seeds and put them both in the closet:)

Our light box with our herbs is doing very well, too. Well, I should say the basil and cilantro are doing well. The dill not so much. It was fun this week to pick basil right out of our box with which to make a fresh batch of bruschetta for dinner!

We have been studying Julius Caesar this week in history--so interesting! The kids would beg for me to continue reading (I love that!). They really enjoy coloring pages or doing activities from the SOTW activity book while I read to them.

Wednesday wasn't too eventful. We got all of our work done, made it to The Princess' Girl Scout meeting, hit the neighborhood to sell some GS cookies and had an awesome night at church (I teach a kids' class on Wednesday nights). I go to bed exhausted on Wednesdays-ha!

Thursday brought us another busy day. The Princess wrapped up her first Total Language Plus study. We really are liking those and can't wait till next week to start the new one. I have to brag a bit on Mr. B, too, he's doing so well in Language Arts as well. He also started a new reader this week. We continued to read about Rome and made Roman-style mosaic art work during history. (Can you tell Mr. B loves FlyGuy?).

Friday was Field Trip Day! Whoo hoo!! While I hated to lose two days of schooling at home this week, we hadn't had a field trip in a while and those are so educational and fun that I wasn't about to pass it up. We toured Broadbent Hams in a nearby town. They specialize in Kentucky country ham. We were able to learn about the curing process and even see it in progress. It was really fun!

I have to say I splurged on some amazing bacon in their gift shop:) They had these awesome different flavors like sun-dried tomato and apple wood! Plus they had nitrite-free and I just couldn't pass that up, it's hard to find here. Besides I like to support local businesses.

This was such a productive week! I am actually looking forward to sitting down this weekend and lesson planning for next week, I'm anticipating a great week.

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

So I Finally Roasted My Pumpkins From Last Fall

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Remember these Fall beauties from my front porch? Well, I'd almost forgotten about them myself! I bought them with the intention to roast them in the fall, but never had the time. So I stuck them in my pantry and promptly forgot them...until this week.

I was browsing through my Pinterest boards and suddenly saw the blog post I had pinned on how to cook a pumpkin in a crockpot. "Hmm.." I say to myself, "I should really roast those pumpkins before they rot!"

So that's what I did this week. I only had two of the above three left (I guess the other one got carved): the Long Island cheese wheel pumpkin and the neck pumpkin.

So I followed the instructions from here and roasted the cheese wheel pumpkin in the crockpot and put the neck pumpkin in the oven (because it was huge!), following these instructions. Both recipes are super basic: just cutting up the pumpkin, being sure to remove the seeds and pulp, placing the pieces cut-side-down with a little water and roasting until tender. Boy, did my house smell good all day!

After they were roasted, I let them cool a bit. Then I scraped the flesh from the skin, pureed the flesh with a hand blender and bagged it up in 2-cup portions (basically the same amount as what comes in a can of pumpkin).

I got 14 cups of pumpkin to put in my freezer!! I am already looking forward to pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie.....

Yummy Italian Appetizers

2012-01-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight we enjoyed cheese-stuffed pasta shells for dinner and while those were yummy, it was the two accompaniments that were the stars of the night!

Pesto Bites
(inspired by Pinterest)

1 can of crescent rolls
basil pesto

***
Roll out the rolls into one piece of dough, pinching the seams together.
Spread just a light covering of pesto onto the dough.
Roll up the dough from one of the long sides and then slice it,

cinnamon roll-style. I baked mine in a mini muffin pan--it was just

the right size. You could also bake them in a pie dish or cake pan.

Bake @ 350F for 15 min or until browned.

Tomato Bruschetta

2-3 medium-sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 Tbls. fresh basil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
***
Place all in a bowl and refrigerate for an hour or so to let the flavors blend.

Serve with Italian bread or garlic toast.

My Reading List for 2012 {so far}

2012-01-17T15:45:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking lately about all the books I want to read this year and there are always too many to count, it seems! I LOVE to read! In recent years though I have to let something go--at least temporarily--in order to get some reading done (usually it's a basket laundry waiting to be folded).

I got quite a few new books for Christmas and now my stack of waiting books is getting pretty tall! I thought I'd share with you what I'm working on reading right now.

{in no particular order}

Experiencing God the daily journal, by Henry Blackaby (a re-read)
Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster (a re-read)
The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie Omartin (a re-read)
The Charlotte Mason Companion, by Karen Andreola (currently reading)
The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Romance, by Heidi St. John
The Distant Beacon, by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
The Solitary Envoy, by T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn
The Innocent Libertine, by T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn
The Night Angel, by T. Davis Bunn
Falconer's Quest, by T. Davis Bunn
The Acts of Faith trilogy, by Davis Bunn adn Janette Oke
Unlocked, by Karen Kingsbury
Rome and Jerusalem, by Martin Goodman
The King's General, by Daphne DuMaurier
The House on the Strand, by Daphne DuMaurier
The Glass Blowers, by Daphne DuMaurier
Crazy Love, by Francis Chan

Do you have a current reading list? Do you have any really amazing books that you want to recommend to me? I'd love to know!

The Weekly Plan {Jan 16th}

2012-01-16T11:15:00.000-06:00

Sitting here on Sunday night, eating a bowl of beef & noodles, catching up on some blog reading, I was inspired by my friend Kathy to not just think about my weekly meal plan, but my actual plan for the week. I am an obsessive calendar freak and love to have the lesson plans all done for my kiddos. I also always plan out the week's dinners. Last week I got really crazy and made myself a list of lunch ideas. A few (very few) times I've even followed a cleaning schedule throughout the week.

Now I've heard it said that "life is what happens while we're making plans" and that definitely rings true with me. However, life always seems to go smoother when you have a guideline {aka: a plan} to follow, right? And I certainly need a plan this week! I'm buried in dirty laundry, there's a sink full of dirty dishes, the pantry is nearly bare and we have lots to accomplish in school this week. Not to mention that church kitchen I'm wanting to wallpaper and decorate, a desk full of mail/paper/whathaveyou to unbury and a mountain of ironing that is waiting on me. Yes, I would definitely say that I need a plan.

So here goes...at least this is the beginning. I may add to this throughout the week.

Monday:

Have a partial day of school doing fun, extracurricular subjects
Finish lesson planning for the rest of the week
Catch up on laundry
Clean the kitchen
Make grocery list & go grocery shopping
Dinner: Leftover Buffet (spaghetti, beef & noodles, loaded bbq potatoes, baked beans, potatoes w/sausages)

Tuesday:

Full day of school
Visit the library & PO
Finish preparing for Wednesday night childrens' class
Take The Princess to sell Girl Scout cookies
Dinner: Stuffed Shells with Bruschetta & Pesto Bites

Wednesday:

School
Change all bed linens
Girl Scout meeting
Teach childrens' class at church
Dinner: Chicken Tacos

Thursday:

School
Take The Princess to sell Girl Scout cookies
Pick up around the house for Small Group
Dinner: Egg Rolls & Teryaki Pork Tenderloin

Friday:

Homeschool Group field trip
Dinner: Chicken & Dumplings

Saturday:

Breakfast: Baked Egg Boats
Work in the garage
Clean out my car
Dinner: Stromboli

Sunday:

Church
Lunch: Out to eat!

I'm not planning out my lunches for each day, but I am planning to make these for lunches and snacks:

Butternut Squash Soup (I have a couple of butternut squashes that really need to be eaten!)
Roasted Garlic & Sriracha Hummus (absolutely can't wait to try this!)

So...what do you have planned for this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: The One Where I Doubt Myself

2012-01-14T00:00:00.002-06:00

I'm thankful to wrap up yet another week of homeschooling. I have to be honest, this week had some great moments, but it also had some very rough moments, too. I mean it when I say I have really been doubting myself.

Even though we had started back to school last week it seemed like the kids still had *holiday brain drain* this week. I am thinking of what we might be able to switch and change up in order to break out of a possible rut. I was all lesson-planned out and ready to go, but when the kids bog down it is so frustrating.

I am still searching for that motivator for my son, too. He isn't always motivated by reward, nor he is really motivated by the threat of punishment. He's pretty stubborn--much like myself. That's why we go head-to-head so often, I think. Neither one wants to give in or compromise. But that's unproductive, right?

I found myself having to apologize to my children several times this week: for losing my temper, for yelling, for acting like I tell them not to act (wonder where they get it, huh?). And that's when I begin to doubt myself. Making stupid mistakes over and over again does tend to make one feel like a loser and a failure.

But that's when I have to humble myself, apologize, ask their forgiveness and start fresh. Thank God that my children are very quick to apologize in return and give their forgiveness--along with hugs and kisses. What precious gifts from God I have been blessed with; what treasures! I am so grateful for them every day, even when they're driving me crazy:)

Oh--and have I mentioned just how challenging it is trying to do school work while a puppy is chewing on your feet or peeing on the carpet or chewing up the computer cords or whining to go out?!? I do love the little fur ball, but she is a huge distraction at this stage. I keep telling myself: "she'll grow out of it soon", "she'll grow out of it soon"...;) Good thing she's so cute!

Here are the highlights from our week:

This week kicked off the very first co-op classes that our new homeschool group has ever had! There are four classes offered: Bible Trivia, Sign Language, Cooking and Choir. My kiddos couldn't have been more excited! We have really missed our co-op with our previous homeschool group back in AR. The main thing that has thrown me for a loop with our new co-op is that we are meeting on Mondays. Have you ever known a homeschool mom who liked to go somewhere on a Monday morning?! I sure haven't!! At least not before now--ha! Needless to say this is a great challenge for me since Mondays are usually my *ease into the week, don't leave the house* day. The classes were a lot of fun and my kids loved them--and I did, too! I am assisting in the Bible Trivia class and couldn't have been prouder of how well my kiddos did in there. I'm their mom, so I can brag a little, right?

(Mr. B in his sign language class)

(The Princess in choir)

Back at home in other schooling...

All subjects are progressing nicely--at least the basic ones. I've slacked a bit on a few of our extra-curricular subjects such as French and Art. But it was just our second week back into the swing of things since the holidays so I'm feeling pretty good about what's been accomplished.

(the kiddos wearing their Roman laurel wreaths for history)

On Friday our monthly homeschool group meeting was cancelled due to snow, even though we didn't really get too much. However, my kids made the absolute most of what we did get. They got our their new snow saucers, built a mini snowman, had snowball fights, made {grassy} snow angels and more! Holly, our new puppy, wasn't so impressed with the snow though. It was funny to see her try to rush back inside to get away from it.

After all the snow play we took the kids to see Beauty and the Beast in the theater. They've seen it before, but I remember seeing it in the theater and how wonderful it was (Belle is my favorite Disney princess:). It was fun to watch it again on the big screen! Made me flashback to my college days.

Now I'm ready for the weekend! Vince's sister and her family are coming from OK to visit for a couple of days so that will be fun. The kiddos can't wait to play with their cousin:) And, of course, company coming always ensures that the house is {mostly} clean and the laundry is caught up, right? That's a great way to start the weekend! I hope you enjoy yours!

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Maestro Classics {Swan Lake}: A Review

2012-01-12T22:40:00.000-06:00

We love to study the composers at our house! We try to study a composer each month, listening to their music, reading about their life and time that they lived. Tchaikovsky is one of our favorites because we are big fans of The Nutcracker here. So we were happy to receive Maestro Classics The Story of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky to review.

Maestro Classics is a company committed to sharing the great composers and classic music of our world with children and their families. Their website is chock-full of great resources, links, free downloads, home projects and more--even a Kids' Club your child can join. They also offer homeschool music curriculum guides to go along with their cd's which are essentially a complete unit study! I really enjoyed browsing through it and seeing what they have available.

The cd that we received tells The Story of Swan Lake featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The first track is the actual composition in abbreviated form, complete with some narration so that you can follow the story in the music. It was very beautiful! We all enjoyed listening to it very much.

There are other tracks which tell about Tchaikovsky's life, about the music, an original little song and sing-along about the story and also a performance by guitarist Joe Stump called Speed Metal Swan. The speed metal performance was really amazing (I love the guitar anyway) and inspired some impressive air guitar at our house.

Also included in with the cd is a 24-page booklet that has activities, facts about Tchaikovsky, sheet music, information on acoustic and electric guitars and more. The kiddos had fun doing the puzzles and activities!

While I would absolutely love to be able to take my family to the orchestra in person and often, living in small-town America doesn't always allow for that. We jump at the opportunities we find, but more often than not we are listening to the music at home. So I am thrilled when I find great resources such as Maestro Classics that help me share classic composers and their music with my children.

Maestro Classics has a selection of nine cds in English and also one in Spanish. They are available in the cd form ($16.98) or also as mp3 downloads ($9.98). You can listen to bits of each cd and even browse through the included activity booklets on their website.
I would encourage you to look and see what they offer. If you are looking for a way to introduce some music appreciation into your homeschool (or classroom) this would be a wonderful way to do that.

See what other homeschool parents thought about Maestro Classics here.

Disclaimer: I received this cd and activity booklet through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Maestro Classics free of charge in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Pepperoni Cheese Bread for Your Bread Machine

2012-01-11T09:25:00.000-06:00

I have not had a bread machine for very long. This past summer when a friend and I were preparing for a yard sale she had one she was putting in. When I mentioned that I might buy it, she graciously just gave it to me! She's a very sweet friend--one that I miss a lot now that I'm a few states away.

Up until last week I had only made plain white bread in my machine, but I thought it might be fun to try something new. Since we were having homemade pizza rolls for dinner that night I decided to try an Italian-sort-of-bread and found this one. It was a huge hit, we all loved it!

Pepperoni Cheese Bread

(for your bread machine)

Add these ingredients to your bread pan in this order:

1 tsp dry yeast

2-1/3 cups bread flour
1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. dry milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup pepperoni, chopped (I just used the minis)
1 tsp. olive oil

3/4 cup water

Pop your bread pan in your machine and follow the baking instructions.

This was wonderful dipped into seasoned olive oil!!

Ben Hur: a Z-Guide Review

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

Until just recently I have never before used a movie guide myself, nor incorporated one into our homeschool studies. However, I am hooked! What an awesome way to bring your history lessons to life. I've always thought it was fun to watch a movie that corresponded to a school lesson, but a movie guide adds a whole other dynamic.

We had the opportunity to review the Z-Guide for Ben Hur from Zeezok Publishing. It was a perfect fit since we are currently studying Ancient Rome (I love it when things work out like that!). And I was really excited because I had never watched Ben Hur before and neither had my husband. So we were all able to enjoy it for the first time together as a family.

First of all I downloaded the Z-Guide from Zeezok. All of their guides (which do not include the actual movies) are available as an e-book (pdf) or on cd. Next we began our guide. It's very simple to use. It had a 5-day plan with 2 activities per day. It's always nice when something is all planned out for you!

Before we watched the movie (which I borrowed from my parents) we read the topic overview, movie synopsis and the movie review questions. It was a good exercise for the kids to pay attention closely to the dialog in order to be able to answer the review questions. The rest of the guide is full of related activities such as puzzles, crafts, creative writing exercises, research projects, reading comprehension, critical thinking summary and more.

I really like the *For Family Discussion* section which gives some great questions. Our family would often pause the movie to talk about what was happening or why a decision was a bad choice in the storyline. There's a lot to talk about in the story of Ben Hur and the kids really got a lot out of it. I wondered if my 6-year-old son would get into it much--besides the chariot race--but he was zoned in! Occasionally he would turn and say things like "This is a really sad story" or "This is very interesting!". It took us three nights to watch it, but the kiddos couldn't wait to watch the movie and then answer the guide questions about it. We are thoroughly enjoying the additional activities as well.

Having the guide was very beneficial to making the movie more of an education experience and not just one for pleasure. Of course, it helped that we reviewed a movie that brought to life our current history lessons.

I have been browsing Zeezok's other movie guides and absolutely love that they have them categorized by times in history. They also offer more than one guide for some movies, so that there is a guide for younger ages and high school as well. I look forward to including more of these guides into our lesson plans. They are a great addition to history books! You can look at a sample Z-Guide here.

They're also very affordable at $12.99 each. You can also purchase the movies on dvd through Zeezok, but of course you can rent them or borrow from the library just as easily.

This has been one of my favorite items to review this year and I definitely recommend checking them out!

Disclaimer: I received this Z-Guide through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Zeezok Publishing free of charge in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

See what other homeschool parents had to say about their Z-Guides here.

One Thousand Gifts: Still Counting

2012-01-09T16:45:00.000-06:00

With this New Year, the gifts just keep on coming.

I don't mean Christmas gifts, but instead those sweet precious daily gifts that God gives continually. The things that we often just forget about or take for granted.

I'm so thankful for these things!

0499. a fresh new year, full of possibilities

0500. homemade bread

0501. snow flurries

0502. puppy love

0503. the satisfied feeling of a productive day

0504. the sweet bond between a boy and his dog

0505. watching the excitement of my kiddos over the success of a science project

0506. the absolute sweetness of tucking my kiddos in at night

0507. my very favorite chocolate

0508. packages from the mailman

0509. black raspberry & chocolate chip ice cream

0510. a day gone better than you could have hoped

Menu Plan Monday {January 9th}

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

It was good to get back into the swing of everyday meals this past week. We're doing a good job of cleaning out the pantry around here. It's even starting to look sort of bare. I'm glad that some things we've had for a while are getting eaten up. Plus I like the challenge of having to get creative with what's left in there.

This week I'm also making myself a *lunch ideas* list. I am not very creative with lunches, but it's mostly because I'm busy with the day and just don't stop to think of good ideas (I think of them much later). But I'm making a *lunches* master list from now on to help with the creativity.

Lunches (in no particular order):
{leftovers}
Sandwiches
Pasta Salad
Taco Salad
Homemade Lunchables

Dinners:
Monday: Beef & Noodles with rolls (we had lots of leftovers from last week)
Tuesday: Scalloped Potatoes with Sausages and a veggie
Wednesday: Chicken Soup Au Gratin (carry-over from last week)
Thursday: Cheeseburger Meatloaf with Onion Strings
Friday: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas with Rice
Sunday: Loaded BBQ Potatoes

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Getting Back Into the School Groove

2012-01-08T16:45:00.000-06:00

I realize the weekend is pretty much over, but I'm posting my weekly wrap-up anyway. Just because I like to do it. It's always fun to look back over the week and see what we've been up to and what's been accomplished.

It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago when we welcomed 2012! This week has been so busy for me that seems like a month ago-ha!

On New Year's Eve we celebrated with the kiddos at home with some pizza and games. New Year's Eve is definitely different after children come along, isn't it? ;) Different is good though!

We played several games, but a new favorite is a little one that I put in Mr. B's stocking for Christmas called Story Cubes. What a fun little game! It's all about telling a story and using your imagination. I plan to use this for school writing exercises.

We started back to school on Tuesday. (I needed Monday to regroup from the weekend and do some lesson planning and organization in our Learning Room). It has been a very productive week school-wise, too.

Now the first couple of days were a bit rough for The Princess who just wasn't ready to do school work again. She took for-ev-er to do her math the first day back and then almost forever to do her grammar on the second day back. However, when she found that I would not let her roll any work over to the next day and that what was on the schedule MUST be completed that day, she did her work in a much more timely manner the rest of the week.

In the past I've allowed her occasionally (when the day was getting rough) to simply finish "later", generally the next day. Well, no more Mr. Nice Guy, so to speak. I know, I'm so mean. Oh, well. I'm okay with that. It looks like this rule is going to work out well though.

We stayed the course in Bible, Math, Grammar, Reading, Handwriting and Science. In History, we've been enjoying a break from our books with a movie guide on Ben Hur. It actually fits in with the period of history we are studying so it's been perfect. I also introduced our composer and artist for January: Mozart and Rembrandt.

It's been a very good week of homeschool!

(our herb light box--coming a long nicely!)

This week has also included LOTS of puppy time! I have to say homeschooling with a puppy is a bit of a challenge. I'd forgotten just how much work puppies are--and how distracting they are--but they're so worth it. We all adore her, she is just a little furry ball of sweetness!

And now I'm looking forward to another great week of homeschooling! Our new Co-op begins this week and we are excited about that.

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish: A Review

2012-01-05T23:30:00.000-06:00

I haven't studied Spanish since my college days and what I learned hasn't really stuck with me, sadly. I know a tiny bit of conversational Spanish, but was reminded of just how little I know on our last trip to Mexico a couple of years ago. (Here's a tip: try not to wait until college to start learning a second language!).

I've always wished that I knew a second language and I think Spanish is probably the best second language to know. And I really, really want my children to learn a second language--or at least be familiar enough with one that they could converse some.

So I was very happy to be able to review R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish. This curriculum was developed by Dr. Williamson-Corria, a homeschool mom herself, because she was unable to find another curriculum that would work well with her family. This program is built on the conversational Spanish foundation.

Each unit in this program has a theme such as: greetings, food, family, clothes,etc. It's a very practical program, I think.

There are ten units in this program. Each one includes a vocabulary list, phrases incorporating the vocabulary, grammar, lists of various ideas for you to add to your lessons, plus great tips specifically for the home educator. There is also an activity book to correspond with the lessons that has all kinds of games, puzzles and other activities to reinforce the lessons.

We have been reviewing their *Book Bundle* with the Daily Curriculum Guide and I would definitely recommend getting the guide. It is incredibly helpful! It has 48 weeks of weekly prep guides to help you plan out your lessons and show you ways to immerse your children in the language and culture. Also included in this Book Bundle are audio files: all the units on audio and the activities on audio. Very handy!

Another fun feature on their website is the *free culture links* tab. Check it out! It has all kinds of links to many different ways to immerse yourself in learning Spanish and about the culture of the Spanish-speaking people of our world. So much fun!

While we've only just started trying this program, I really think it's going to be a good fit for our family and our homeschool. I am so impressed with the practicality of it and the way it's laid out perfectly for homeschooling.

I would definitely recommend you go over to their website and look over what they have to offer. It's a great program!

Their Book Bundles start at $49.95. This is a downloadable program; however, they also offer it in a hard copy starting at $89.95. You can see all of their options here.

Disclaimer: I received a free downloadable Book Bundle with the Daily Curriculum Guide through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

You can read what other homeschool parents had to say about this product at the Homeschool Crew blog.

Some New Year Encouragement

2012-01-05T08:15:00.000-06:00

Wow! The first week of the New Year is almost over!

It's been a busy one here. I would have to say it's gone fairly well, but it's had its challenges, too.

A new year always brings that feeling of excitement, new beginnings and clean slates with it--at least for me it does. But life isn't really like that, is it? You still have some of the same problems, same issues and, yes, the same people in the new year that you had in the old year, right?

I guess I've been feeling some negativity floating around this week and it has wearied me. And worried me.

Last night I decided to remind myself what God's Word says about *worry* and some of my very favorite verses jumped out at me. I actually have these verses matted and framed, but have failed to remember them lately. Isn't that typical of us? Well, I remembered them last night and they refreshed my spirit!

Just have to share them with you this morning:

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,

letting God know your concerns.

Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness,

everything coming together for good,

will come and settle you down.

It's wonderful what happens when

Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say

you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true,

noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—

the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly;

things to praise, not things to curse.

Philippians 4:6-8 (The Message)

How's that for encouragement?! I plan to put this verse into action today. I hope you will, too!

Most Popular Posts of 2011

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Looking through the stats on my blog, I found it very interesting which posts had the most views. You just never know what's going to catch someone's eye! Sometimes I'll write a post that I'm just sure will be a hit and it will hardly even get any views..ha

So today I'm posting the Top 11 Posts of 2011.

11. Great Ideas for Inexpensive Vacation Souvenirs

10. Menu Plan Monday: May 30th

9. Our New Learning Room

8. Saying *Goodbye* to Caffeine

7. Broccoli Cornbread

6. Boy, Do I Have News For You!

5. Creating a Target Knock-Off

4. *Merry Christmas* From Our House

3. Our Homeschool Curriculum for 2011-2012

2. The Wall of Photos

And...

{drumroll}

the most read blog post of 2011 (also the most read post on my blog ever!) is:

1. The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

I'm hoping that it's homeschool moms or teachers who are reading that Egyptian Death Mask post and not some weirdos...ha

Now just because these were the most read posts, doesn't mean that they were necessarily my personal faves. I think I'll share that list with you tomorrow.

Menu Plan Monday {January 2nd}

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

The beginning of a new year always makes me want to organize, organize, organize!! And I've been busy around here packing away the holiday decor, redecorating with the everyday decor, cleaning, organizing and, of course, meal planning.

The month of January will be mostly an *Eat From the Pantry* kind of month. It's time to buckle down and eat more simply after all of the rich foods of Christmas. It's also a time to reign in extra spending and save a bit by eating up what's accumulated in the pantry. I'll be purchasing fresh produce, dairy and some meat here and there (although I nearly choked at the price of beef this past week--won't be buying much of that!), but I'm going to do my best to clean out the pantry. It's always good to do that periodically anyway, so that foods don't expire and go to waste.

This little plan should also be very helpful in the re-organization of my pantry, too!

Here's what we're having for dinner this week:

Monday: Black-eyed Peas with Fried Potatoes (& Spinach for me!) I know I was supposed to fix this yesterday, but it just didn't work out that way. So I'm having my black-eyed peas on Jan. 2nd instead:)

Tuesday: Baked Potato Bar

Wednesday: Chicken Soup Au Gratin

Thursday: Beef & Noodles with Popovers

Friday: Homemade Pizza Rolls with Salad

Saturday: {leftovers/snacks}

What's on your menu plan for the week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Ringing in 2012

2011-12-31T22:43:00.000-06:00

(image from Pinterest)

Well, hello!

I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays as much as I have! My family--me included--just keeps saying how this was our best Christmas yet. It was just really wonderful!

My parents and sister came from Arkansas for a week and a half to celebrate Christmas with us and I can't remember when we've had more fun! We wore ourselves out with all of the holiday fun, but it was so worth it.

I just have to share some of my fave holiday shots with you:

window shopping in downtown Paducah, KY

Hamming it up with the whole family at Patti's 1880's Settlement

making gingerbread houses with our friends

visiting the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

decorating gingerbread cookies while waiting to see Santa at Bass Pro in Nashville

refocusing our souls at our church's candlelight communion service

the joy of a new puppy (my kiddos' first!)

enjoying good food galore

new Christmas Eve pj's and house shoes

the total fun and excitement of Christmas morning

I could share tons more, but I'll spare you;) We just had such a great time together this year. Besides our days shopping and seeing the sights, there were nights at the house watching Christmas movies, playing games and just hanging out.

Best.Christmas.Ever.

And now I am focused and looking forward to the New Year! I believe it's going to bring some great things!

Happy New Year to you!

Elf Food

2011-12-24T09:15:00.000-06:00

If you need an easy and yummy snack to whip up at the last minute, here's a good one for you. It's definitely been a hit at our house!

Elf Food

4 cups Frosted Cherrios

3 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup yogurt-covered raisins

1 cup "toasted marshmallow" Jelly-Belly's

1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 (10 oz.) box white fudge-covered mini pretzels

*****

Mix all together in a large bowl and serve!

See how easy that was?

Gotta love it:)

From Our Family to Yours

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

May you have a wonderful
and blessed Christmas
season this year!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: The One With Holiday Fun

2011-12-15T21:36:00.003-06:00

It's been another week of holiday fun around here and I must admit that there was no *formal* schooling done. Just lots of fun!

We visited our downtown's tree lighting ceremony--isn't it a lovely tree?

I whipped up some snowman pancakes for the kiddos (actually super easy!), they were a huge hit!

We went to a production of The Christmas Elves and the Shoemaker at a local theater. The kiddos loved the performance, it was really cute!

We enjoyed our first fire in our fireplace--whoo hoo!

The Princess had her Girl Scout troop Christmas party. She had a blast making an angel candy holder, an ornament and peppermint bark.

And now...Nana and Papi and Aunt Kari have arrived!! The long-awaited day is finally here!!

We have lots of Christmas fun planned for this next week while they are visiting, so I won't be posting regularly. I'm sure I'll pop in now and then, but we'll be out having fun most of the time. I hope you will be, too.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Treats: A Few Of My Favorite Things

2011-12-15T06:00:00.001-06:00

Are you busy baking up some goodies for Christmas yet? So far I've only made one batch of cookies, for our homeschool group party last week. But this weekend I'll be starting to make more! My family will be arriving soon and there must be treats to eat, right?

I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you today:

1. Buttery Spritz Cookies (works well for a cookie press as well as thumbprint cookies!)

2. Amish Sugar Cookies (Ahh...Mazing!!)

3. Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

4. Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

5. Praline Bars (LOVE!)

6. Buckeyes (a personal fave!)

7. Sand Tarts

What's a favorite holiday treat that you like to make?

The World's Greatest Stories: A Review

2011-12-14T09:50:00.001-06:00

Lately my kiddos have really been enjoying listening to Bible stories on cd from The World's Greatest Stories. They have always enjoyed audio stories and what better thing to listen to than God's Word?

The World's Greatest Stories are a series of cd's made by George W. Sarris. Sarris is an amazing voice actor and has quite the impressive resume. He also has a passion for the Bible and has recorded quite a bit of it on cd.

There are six different cd's: The Prophets, The Life of Christ, Beginnings, Joshua & Esther, Joseph & His Brothers and Defeating Giants.

Each cd contains actual Scripture passages, not an abridged retelling of the Bible, and you can order them in either KJV or NIV versions.

Our family got to review The Prophets, which includes passages from Daniel, I Kings and Jonah. It includes the stories of:

The Blazing Furnace
The Handwriting On the Wall
Daniel in the Lion's Den
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
The Prophecy of Jonah

The dramatization is amazing! It's hard to believe that one person is doing all of the voices. My kiddos really have enjoyed listening to it--actually we all did. It was perfect for our Thanksgiving road trip!

The cd's are 7.95 each and can be purchased on The World's Greatest Stories website. They would be a wonderful investment for your children to encourage them to hide God's Word in their hearts.

These would make great stocking stuffers, too, if you're still Christmas shopping. So head over to The World's Greatest Stories and check them out!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of The Prophets through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and The World's Greatest Stories in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

You can read about what other homeschool parents thought about this product here.

Merry Christmas From Our House

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to our house at Christmastime! As it's a new house for us, I am still changing things and learning where I like things best. So it's been fun decorating for the holidays with a fresh perspective.

I was so happy to have a fireplace and mantel to decorate again! I realized this year that I haven't been able to use all of my mantel decor since 2005! So glad I saved all of that stuff because it was so fun to be able to pull it all out this year.

Here is our family room tree. For the second time ever I decided to put up two trees. Our little 7' tree is just so FULL of ornaments :) This year it holds all of the ornaments except my vintage glass ones and other blown glass ornaments. It's still VERY full, but I love it that way!

Rather than show you all of my nativities this year, I'm just highlighting a couple of them. This one is my favorite, made for me by a family friend.

This is another one I just love. I bought it in Mexico City. If you would like to see more of my nativity collection, you can take a peek here.

In our front room (technically known as the formal living room, but in our family it's the library/reading room) I created this sweet grouping of some of my favorite things: pretty Christmas boxes, my Christmas journals/scrapbooks and my vintage Santa.

The front room window is draped in garland and bubble lights (I adore bubble lights!).

This is also where the second tree is. I thought I would show you a few of my favorite ornaments from this tree.

My Dickens' Village is also in the library room, on top of the bookcases. It's a lot of work to put up, but I love to hear my kiddos *oohh and aahhh* over it:)

Of course, one of my favorite things about the holidays is what the mailman brings: Christmas cards! I love displaying them on my card wreath.

And now for some of the holiday touches in the kitchen/dining area. Here is my only pair of Byers Choice carolers. I thought they looked sweet on my china cabinet.

My *Frosty* cookie jar is on another hutch alongside my fruit and veggie tree.

The nutcrackers are standing guard over my cookbooks this year.

Even the hall bath gets some touches of Christmas.

I tucked my tiniest nativity set on a shelf in here.

I always put my little *vintage* tree and *vintage* village in the master bedroom. I love the soft colors of it all.

I hung my glittery *peace* banner over our headboard of antique doors. I added a little extra touch to the doorknob on my side of the bed:)

Here's a closeup of Mr. B's tree (the kiddos each have a small one in their rooms).

And here's The Princess' tree...along with her cute Junie B. Jones wall calendar.

We didn't forget the learning room either! There are a couple more nativities...

...my childhood elf...

...and our Jesse tree.

And now we continue counting down the days 'till Christmas!

May you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

Check out more beautiful Christmas decorations at

The Inspired Room's Christmas Home Tour party!

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 12th

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

It's going to be a busy week in the kitchen! My parents and sister will be arriving this weekend to spend the rest of the Christmas holidays with us. We are all SO excited and have lots of fun things planned. And in order for us not to spend too much time in the kitchen--nor too much $$ grabbing food out--I thought I would prepare a few casseroles to have tucked in the freezer for their visit, plus a few more super easy recipes ready to go.

So this week I'll be making Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Spaghetti and Loaded BBQ Potatoes for the freezer. I'll also be browning up some ground beef to have ready to pop into recipes such as Longhorn Soup or Chili.

I'm also busy planning our special holiday menus. How about you? Are you thinking about that yet?

Now here's what's cooking this week:

Monday: Red Beans & Rice

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Stuffed Chicken Rolls

Wednesday: Quiche Lorraine

Thursday: Tuna Cornbread Cakes
Friday: Stromboli
Saturday: Red Hot Chili

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

The Weekly Wrap-up: The Week Where We Can't Focus On Anything But Christmas

2011-12-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

Did I already say we're having trouble focusing on school around here? Yep, it happens every year about this time.

Each year I tell myself we're going to do school until the week before Christmas and then December hits and it's just c.r.a.z.y. There's all of the decorations and the music and the holiday movies and nobody wants to think about schoolwork. Not even me:) And for some reason we've all just been so tired and moving slowly in the mornings this week, it's like our bodies are trying to go into hibernation or something.

So I very wisely didn't try to fight it. We sort of *unschooled* this week instead. I was kind of subversive about their learning..heehee

Some of the things we did were:

1. have a *Toss & Tally* tournament

2. do some math drill sheet using our cool new dry erase crayons (they love any excuse to use these!). My daughter actually proclaimed one day "I just love school, especially math!" WHAAA??? Where was my voice recorder when I needed it?!? I would so love to play that back to her day after day:)

3. begin our Jesse tree devotionals--those are just SO good! I tear up nearly every day reading them.

4. tend to our herbs in our light box for our botany study. They are really coming along! Although I want to know if you can tell what is wrong with this picture--leave me a comment if you can!

5. practice kitchen math by making our first batch of Christmas cookies. Yum-O!

6. reading, lots of reading! We are, of course, enjoying our nightly readings in The Advent Book. That is one of our favorite traditions around here. We're also currently reading through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

7. did a little science experiment using Mr. B's Ultimate Crystal Growing Kit. The results are still in the process, I'll keep you posted:)

8. hung out with our homeschool group for a holiday movie, cookies and cocoa.

So you can see it was a very laid-back week around here. You know how hectic this time of the year gets, so I was glad to have a little extra time to get caught up around the house.

More unschooling is planned for next week!

P.S. Check out the giveaway for Math Blaster going on this week!!

Math Blaster: A Review & A Giveaway!

2011-12-08T21:45:00.001-06:00

Updated 12/17/2011: The giveaway is now closed.
Congrats to the winner, Sara at Embracing Destiny!

{Make sure you read all the way through to check out the giveaway!!}

Lately my kiddos have had the chance to enjoy honing their math skills on Math Blaster, a site for kids ages 6-12 created by Knowledge Adventure. Math Blaster is a futuristic-themed online adventure where they create their own space-age avatar, meet aliens, raise their very own alien pet mutt and play all sorts of arcade-style math games.

Mr. B and The Princess are both really enjoying Math Blaster! They love playing the games, checking on their pet mutts and exploring the site in general. I really like how the games help them learn strategy, which is an important life skill. I like games that help my kids to develop critical thinking and these are great for that.

They both wanted me to tell you, my readers, that they "really like Math Blaster a lot, especially their pet mutts and the games".

At first I was a little worried that this site was all fun and no education, although this didn't seem to worry my kiddos--ha! However, Math Blaster is fun AND educational! It has math games for Preschool through 6th grade and also topic-based games for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There is also *cool math*, which includes math puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. There are also math worksheets for all of the above mentioned grade levels and topics.

Math Blaster is continually improving and updating their site. You can read all about the newest additions on their blog.

They also have apps available for purchase and console games for your Nintendo DS. Or you can simply play online like we do. It's great fun either way!

You can play lots on Math Blaster for free--and I encourage you to go and check them out--however, you can also purchase a membership upgrade for a monthly charge of 7.99. They also have annual plans or even a lifetime plan. Membership includes not just online exploring and playing with friends, but also access to members-only lessons and games, advanced math concepts practice, 4 JumpStart PC game downloads and the ability to unlock members-only features and avatar pieces! Membership on Math Blaster also includes full access to their sister site, Jump Start, completely free of charge.

I know that as a homeschooling parent I am constantly looking for ways to make math *fun* for my kiddos. Math was one of my least favorite subjects in school and I certainly don't want to portray a bad attitude toward it now that I am teaching my children. So I really enjoy sites such as this which will create a positive and fun attitude toward math for them. And it means a lot to me as a parent to know that my children are on a site that is safe and secure.

Now...

for that giveaway I mentioned (I'm SO excited to share this):

Math Blaster has offered to giveaway a 3-month membership to one of my readers!

Here's how to enter:

1. Leave a comment sharing how you *make math fun* for your kiddos.

2. Follow my blog--and tell me in a separate comment--for an extra entry.

**Even if you don't blog, you're welcome to enter; however, please make sure you leave an email address through which you may be contacted. Thank you!

I'll be taking entries/comments until 11:59 pm December 16th and I'll announce the winner on December 17th.

So hop over to Math Blaster and see what fun your kiddos can have learning on this site!

Disclaimer: I was given two memberships for my children to Math Blaster in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Artistic Pursuits: A Review

2011-12-06T19:45:00.001-06:00

If there's one thing my family loves to do, it's creating art. All you have to do is say the words "draw" or "color" or "paint" or "craft" and my kiddos come alive! However, I have never purchased any art curriculum before. I have always found individual projects for us to do. So when the opportunity came for us to review Artistic Pursuits, I was very curious about it.

We were excited to receive Book One for grades K-3 (I love multi-grade level books!). To get started we did need to purchase a few art supplies that we didn't already have, such as Ebony pencils, watercolor crayons, #8 watercolor brush and watercolor paper pads. I probably spent about $20 on these supplies after using coupons at Hobby Lobby. I didn't mind the purchases though since we really do enjoy learning about art and doing art projects. I know these things will be well-used.

This book is divided into three main sections: *What Artists Do*, *What Artists See* and *Where We Find Art*.

The first section, *What Artists Do*, discusses the many ways that artists create art: composing, imagining, looking, communicating, etc. It encourages your students to use these techniques to create their own art. I love that it teaches them to be observant of their surroundings, even the rooms of their own home. Throughout this section--and the entire book--are printed examples of all types of artists' work: paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and more.

The second section talks about *What Artists See*: shapes, forms, lines, colors, etc. More observation skills are taught and there are many projects for your students to create.

The last section shows your student many different places *Where We Find Art*: caves, pyramids, pots, churches, castles and many other places. Lots of art history is taught in this section as your students learn about many ancient art techniques and also tries re-creating them.

We are really enjoying this book. It brings more structure to our art lessons and give me a great guide to go by. I was always skeptical about purchasing an art curriculum because the ones I had previously looked at always seemed rather dull and flat in their approach. Not so with Artistic Pursuits! There is nothing dull about this book--my kiddos can attest to that. We are off to a wonderful start with this book and I know we'll enjoy using it throughout our school year.

If you are lacking in area of art in your homeschool, I would encourage you to look at Artistic Pursuits to see what they offer. They have books that are for preschool ages all the way to 12th grade. All of their books are $42.95 and can be ordered right through their website.

Disclaimer: I received this book through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Artistic Pursuits in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Head over to the Crew Blog to see what other homeschool parents had to say about this curriculum.

New Family Photos

2011-12-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

We recently had new family photos taken by our good friend, Becky. I think she did a wonderful job--considering what she had to work with..ha! And for those who've had photos taken with your young children recently, I am sure you can just imagine the *story behind the photos*. If ever your children (ahem...my son) are going to be ornery and misbehave, it's going to be during the family photo session. But in spite of all that, we were still able to get some really good ones. Here area a few of my faves:

And now I'm off to finish my Christmas cards...

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 5th

2011-12-05T10:30:00.000-06:00

Ahh...'tis the season, isn't it? Lots of hustling and bustling going on around here!

I'm busy menu planning for the month. We have family that will be visiting for several days over the holidays and I will be making some dinners ahead to freeze in preparation. That way we won't be so worried about making dinner while they're here.

Of course, there's those special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus, too, and I'm also working on those. We're pretty traditional on Christmas Day, but I think I'm going to shake up the Christmas Eve menu a bit this year. I'm thinking a *Finger Foods Buffet* for that evening--sounds like fun, huh?!

This week, however, I'm keeping it fairly simple:

Monday: {leftovers}
Tuesday: Pan-Seared Talapia, Red Beans & Rice and a veggie
Wednesday: Tostadas
Thursday: Spaghetti Pie
Friday: Chicken Fingers, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy & a veggie
Saturday: {out on a Christmas adventure}

What have you got cooking this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Great Commission Languages {the easy French}: A Reveiw

2011-12-04T23:30:00.000-06:00

Recently my daughter has been asking to learn French so when the opportunity came about to review Great Commission Languages Jr. Level French I was pretty excited! And so was she!

The book we received, The Jr. Level, is for Kindergarten through 3rd grade--perfect for us. The non-consumable guidebook has 34 lessons in it and also includes 2 audio cd's. On the cd's are the lessons read beautifully in French and English plus lots of great printable activity sheets for your student(s).

The Easy French Junior Level is designed so that it works very well with large families and families with multi-aged children. There are different levels of activities throughout the guide which make it easy to assign something appropriate to your students in different grades. This feature has been very beneficial to my family.

I have to admit that while I have been wanting my children to begin learning a second language, I have also been apprehensive about teaching them one. I didn't attempt to learn a second language until college and it was incredibly difficult for me by then. I know they are at the perfect ages to begin this challenge. I really like this curriculum because it is a gentle introduction to French using "literature based entertaining storylines". So rather than becoming bogged down in the grammar of the language it's teaching them how to use it conversationally and to enjoy the process. You can view sample lessons here.

The storyline in this particular book is based a little French girl, her pet kitten and her family. My daughter loves learning about Marie and Cherie! Even my son does, because he likes cats:)

I also love that Great Commission Languages is Bible-based and includes (in French) Scripture memory verses.

We are off to a great start to learning a second language with this program and I am excited to see how much my children can learn though it. With such fun lessons, I can't imagine anything but success. No wonder it has earned the Practical Homeschooling Reader Award!

Did I mention how affordable it is (especially in comparison with other foreign language products)? The Easy French Junior Level is only $69.95. If you have priced other programs, then you know what a bargain this is. And considering you can use it with multiple grade-levels for several years, it's an amazing deal!

Oh, and they also have this wonderful program in Spanish, too!

So if you have been looking for the right curriculum to use for a second language, I encourage you to check out Great Commission Languages.

Disclaimer: I received this The Easy French Jr. Level free of charge through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Great Commission Languages in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

See what other homeschool parents have to say about this program here.

The Weekly Wrap-up: the One In Which I Come Up For Air

2011-12-02T22:30:00.001-06:00

Oh.My.Word. Where did November go?!? I feel as though my life has been in super-fast-forward for a couple of months now. And this week just about did me in ..ha I feel like I'm finally getting to breathe this weekend. It feels good!

Rather than going into detail on school lately, I'm simply sharing some of our highlights...

playing with tanagram puzzles while learning about ancient China

trying green tea (with honey), also during our China studies

studying about our current artist, Mary Cassett

enjoy Thanksgiving at Nana and Papi's house

(and a few good books with Papi)

delivering goodies & caroling with The Princess' Girl Scout troop

sorting magnetic poetry into the parts of speech for a fun grammar lesson

checking out some great local Christmas lights

It was really tough getting back into our routine this week after being out of town last week for Thanksgiving. I have been completely overwhelmed. However, I have high hopes for this upcoming week! It won't be long before we break for Christmas and I don't want December to go by in a blur. I want to enjoy it and savor it. It's my favorite time of the year!

Busy as Elves

2011-11-30T12:16:00.002-06:00

You know how it is the week you get back home from a trip... Well, it's definitely been that way around here this week! I'm busy playing catch-up on, well, everything!

Plus we've been working on getting our house all festive for the Christmas season. This year has been a bit crazier for me in that regard, since I'm not only decorating our home, but also our church. Thankfully, I've got *elves* to help with it all:)

Christmas home tour coming soon!!

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 28th

2011-11-28T16:00:00.000-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our was simply delicious--so much yummy food!

My new recipe for this Thanksgiving turned out amazingly well. It was probably the BEST pumpkin pie I've ever eaten! And you know it's good when all of your relatives line up to take a picture with their phone to share with their friends...heehee You should check out this recipe!

Now that we're back from our holiday trip, I've made my weekly meal plan and have already been to the store. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded, even though our area is expecting a little snow tonight and tomorrow. (I hope we get some!!)

Monday: Tomato-Tortellini Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
Wednesday: Tostadas
Thursday: {small group night--theme: comfort foods} Mashed Potatoes & Rolls
Friday: Potato Soup w/Rolls
Saturday: {leftovers}

Happy Cooking to you this week!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

One Thousand Gifts: Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T23:00:00.000-06:00

Our Thanksgiving week was so wonderful and I have so many blessings in my life. Still counting them...

0481. sisters...'nuff said

0482. hang time with his Papi

0483. hang time with cousins

0484. silly boy cousins

0485. reading with Papi

0486. visiting grandparents

0487. those cheesy family photos...that we always love to look at later

0488. a Thanksgiving day walk with my sweet daughter

0489. the most amazing pumpkin pie ever

0490. sharing a meal with family and friends

0491. an wonderfully blessed meal

0492. teaching my daughter tricks in the kitchen

0493. a hubby who loves my cooking

0494. surrounded by simple beauty

0495. did I already mention my amazing husband? I love him so much!

0496. and I love my adorable (onery, silly, sweet....) kiddos, too

0497. preparing those memorable family meals with my mom and sister

0498. playdates with *old* friends

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T04:00:00.001-06:00

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I do each and every year, but especially this year. There are just so many blessings in my life and God must have the glory for them all.

After two years of renting and enduring three moves in this year alone, we are once again homeowners and have a lovely, cozy place to call home.

After three years of self-employment and seeking God's will for our life, we have been abundantly blessed with the amazing opportunity to pastor and do life with a wonderful church family.

I have two really incredible children, who are each little miracles and have amazing gifts and talents. They challenge me every day with my task of raising them in godly character and training them up in the way they should go and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to teach them at home and spend so much quality time with them. They are truly gifts from God!

I could go on and on with my *list* of things that I'm thankful for, but I want to share this little story with you. I hope that it will encourage you somehow.

Recently I had a miracle--I am continually giving thanks for this. My car, a 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada, has been my faithful ride since 2004 and I love it. I'm not one for wanting to constantly upgrade on cars, as long as it's working fine I'm good. A couple of weeks ago though, the rear air compressor pump-thingy (which is my shock system) when out. I knew this because the rear end of my car was seriously low-riding. It was one bumpy ride. This had happened once before about 5 years ago, so we knew exactly what the problem was. Well, those things are a tad expensive, especially at Christmastime...if you know what I mean. We explored several options: a rebuilt compressor, a new compressor, conversion to traditional shocks... Everything added up to a lot of money though.

One day we were out grabbing a quick burger for lunch, discussing what our options were and how much it was going to cost. And as we are walking back out to my car, I suddenly noticed something. My car was no longer low-riding, in fact it was normal height! Vince and I couldn't believe it, it seemed so weird that the compressor had suddenly started working again after being out for something like a week and a half. But it had! Our ride was smooth once again!

I have to be honest, I hadn't been praying for my car. I was guilty of just worrying. But Vince had been praying about it. He knew that all of those repairs were not in our budget and didn't know what we should do. So like the godly man he is, he took it to the Master Mechanic.

So it's been over a week later and my car is still up and riding smoothly, the air compressor has been restored! And I have been sharing this with everyone and I just had to share it with you here.

I am so thankful to have a personal relationship with a God who cares about the seemingly small details of my life, who knows my needs and provides for them. He is truly amazing!

On this Thanksgiving Day I pray that you will take the time to stop and thank Him for the gifts you have been given in this life.

Our Thanksgiving Menu

2011-11-23T04:00:00.000-06:00

My mom and I have just finalized our Thanksgiving Menu. Holy Mole!!
It's going to be a feast. And I am very grateful for that.

Fruit Salad with Fruit Salad Topping
Red, White & Blue Salad

***
Roasted Turkey Breast
Crock Pot Dressing

Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Giblet Gravy
Corn Casserole

Green Been Casserole
Macaroni & Cheese
Baked Beans

***

Rolls

***
Deep Dish Pumpkin Meringue Pie
Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Italian Creme Cake

...and a nap!

Thanksgiving: Are You Strictly Traditional or Not So Much?

2011-11-22T04:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure how it is in other countries where they also celebrate a day of thanksgiving, but here in America Thanksgiving is by and large very traditional. Wouldn't you agree?

Most of us tend to eat with the same people (our families) and eat the same foods every year, right? At least that's how it is with me and my family.

Obviously, places and times change throughout the years, but my family has a long-standing tradition of having Thanksgiving dinner together--even if we have to travel hundreds of miles to do so.

This year is no exception either. I have just spent all of yesterday traveling with my husband and children across several states to be with our families this week. And we will celebrate by eating all of our favorite *Thanksgivingish* foods on Thursday.

I do like to try out a new recipe or two every year though. Last year I made several new ones. This year I am repeating a couple of those since they are now new favorites and I am trying out one brand new recipe: Deep Dish Pumpkin Meringue Pie!

And when we get together with Vince's side of the family on Friday we're skipping the traditional foods all together (since we'll have all eaten so much of them already). This year we're having bbq brisket with all the fixings! That will be yummy and it'll be nice to try different recipes for that.

So I guess I'm a little of both this year: traditional and non-traditional. It's fun to mix things up once in a while, dontcha think?

How about you? I'd love to hear about your plans--leave me a comment and tell me all about them!

The Reading Game: A Review

2011-11-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

I was excited to receive this review product recently, thinking my 1st-grade-son could really benefit and enjoy it a lot. And I was right! He is having so much fun with this game.

The Reading Game is a fast-paced memory card game using words. The game comes with 6 sets of memory cards with 6 corresponding readers.

The idea is for you and your student to play memory with each set of cards (playing 6 rounds with each set), after every 2 rounds your student then reads 2 test sentences to see how he is retaining the new words he is learning. After the whole set has been played, he is then ready to read the corresponding reader...and has learned 30 new words!

By the time your student has played every set of cards and read every reader, he will have learned 180 words. Of the 25 most common English words, 23 are on that list; of the 50 most common words, 42 are on that list. So this little game of reading really does prepare your student well.

The readers are illustrated with cute black and white drawings and are each about a different kind of animal: skunk, snake, bear, penguin, unicorn and zebra. The books are written in rhyming form and there is no punctuation for the sentences. This gives you a wonderful opportunity for your student to learn to punctuate the sentences properly.

The author of The Reading Game is Kenneth Hodkinson. You may be familiar with him, he is also the author of the Wordly Wise series.

The Reading Game meets the Common Core State Standards. You can also download free individual student assessment forms for this game here.

This has probably been one of the most fun reviews we've done this year! Mr. B loves it which makes me love it, too. It's always such a blessing to find fun ways to reinforce good reading skills that children enjoy.

The Reading Game is available here for $24.95. It would make a great educational Christmas gift! I encourage you to read through their site and learn more about this product for your early reader.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of The Reading Game through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and The Reading Game in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Read what other Homeschool Crew members had to say about this product.

Our New Learning Room

2011-11-17T09:50:00.000-06:00

We've been using our new Learning Room since the beginning of September, but all this time we've been finishing things up in there. I finally have decided that it's probably never going to be *perfect* so I took some *real life* pics of it.

So here it is in all of its everyday glory:)

First a *BEFORE* shot for you:

This room is actually the formal dining room of the house, but the former owners had an office in here and it is working out well as a learning room for us. It's not a large room (would have been a small dining room anyway), but with built-in's it's working nicely.

Vince (with the help of Mr. B) created a great built-in bookcase for us with inspiration from some HGTV shows.

It turned out GREAT! I have crammed that sucker as full as possible, too! :) I thought I would never stop finding boxes of books to unpack, but I think we've finally found homes for them all.

Vince also created this desktop area for me. It houses our computer (the one w/all of my homeschool files!), printer, our new workbox station and all of the random miscellany...you know that stuff.

I've also added in another bookcase on the other side of the room. This one is completely full, too! (I've got to learn to purge a bit better).

This is one of my very favorite features in the room: a window seat for reading! I wanted one of these SO VERY BADLY when I was a little girl. Something about a window seat and a good book just sounded like a piece of heaven to me (still does!).

I made that cushion from a piece of eggshell foam and extra stuffing, then covered it with fun fabric from Hobby Lobby. Even though I don't want anyone to look at the bottom stitches on it, I love the way it looks all tucked into the seat. It's comfy, too!

Around the room I have various things on the walls:

Our * Composer of the Month* and *Artist of the Month*, maps, artwork,

our morning board activities, Character Trait of the Month chart and more.

We use our Learning Room ALL of the time! With the central location in the house and having a great table for all types of use, it's truly a functional room for us.

Math Mammoth: A Review

2011-11-15T22:30:00.000-06:00

The kiddos and I recently had the opportunity to review Math Mammoth. I'd heard about this curriculum from several friends before and have been curious about it, but have never tried it. I was glad for the chance to check it out.

We had the option to choose which of their series would fit best for us and, at the suggestion of Maria Miller (the author and also a homeschool parent), we chose the Light Blue Series for Grades 2 and 3. I thought these would be great to try for my 1st and 3rd grader. Maria was very helpful in guiding me through the process of choosing since I was so unfamiliar with her books.

Math Mammoth uses a lot of mental math and I liked that as it corresponds well with the math we have already been doing. The style of the worksheets and teaching methods were somewhat different though. However, with a little instruction both of my children were able to easily adjust.

I liked very much the practical math that is included in Math Mammoth's worktexts. Maria has added things like mileage charts, calendars, money math and more. She even offers entire topical worktext and worksheet series on her site.

The complete curriculum is available as a download and comes with TONS of great files! Besides the worktext/sheets for the A & B portion of each grade there is a whole file of supportive material such as reviews, cutouts, printable play currency (foreign currency, too!), tests, answer keys and more. The curriculum is also available in book form as well. The downloads and hard copies are available through different companies and there are links within Math Mammoth's site.

The complete curriculum starts at grade 1 and is priced at $34 for the downloadable version. You can also purchase only parts of that if you wish for a lesser price. It is also available on CD.

They also offer a FREE downloadable package of 300 worksheets and sample pages! You can also take a 7-day virtual email tour of their site.

Even if you are not looking for a whole curriculum for your child, this would be a wonderful resource for supplemental math materials to help in areas that may need extra focus or areas that you would like extra emphasis. I would encourage you to browse Math Mammoth's site and see what is available. They have so much more than I realized at first and I am excited to have found them.

Disclaimer: I received a free downloadable version of the grade 2 and grade 3 complete curriculum through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Math Mammoth in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

See what more homeschool parents have to say about Math Mammoth here.

Accepting the Help {a much-needed re-post!}

2011-11-15T15:45:00.001-06:00

Today has been one of those days when I'd just really like a do-over. {sigh} And I was reminded of this post from a couple of years ago. God's Word is always right on and even though the events in this post happened a while back, the principles in The Word are timeless and true. Since I needed to pull this post up for a re-read myself, I thought there might be other weary moms out there who could use the encouragement, too. So I'm re-posting it:)

**********

(October 2009)

If I ever had any delusions about earning the mother-of-the-year award or if I ever thought my children were going to earn the perfect-children-of-the-year award, I now have my feet firmly planted back in that fun little thing we like to call: reality.

I just returned from picking up my son at my parents' house. He was supposed to spend the afternoon, along with my daughter. I had agreed to this in spite of my better judgement. There's just something about Sunday having a different schedule than the rest of the week (earlier morning, lots of morning activity, etc.) that just desperately begs for a nap all afternoon. That's why at our house even if you aren't taking a nap (ahem....The Princess), then you are still required to have quiet time in your room. Frankly, Mama & Daddy just need it that way.

However, since the kiddos have just gotten over being sick all week and were so ready for a change of scenery outside of our house walls, I thought it would be okay for the kiddos to spend the afternoon with Nana & Papi. Boy, was I wrong.

Mr. B just had one of the biggest meltdowns of his life. S o much so, that when my mom called to ask my thoughts, I just said I'd come pick him up and bring him home for a nap. Of course, I had time to really get steamed up all the way there and then he proceeded to carry his meltdown on into the car~crying so much that he made himself start coughing which made him eventually gag. I think we finally got home after 2 or 3 stops...I can't remember. And all this followed what was a totally stressful lunch scene at the restaurant after church. Just the icing on the cake.

I hate it when I completely lose my temper and yell (gasp!) at my kids. I feel like a total loser afterwards. And I've been very short of patience this week. I know that's partly due to being sick and also having *cabin fever* from being home so much more than usual. And it hasn't helped that I've been single-parenting it since Wednesday. I really miss my hubby when he's on a trip~I can't imagine doing this alone full-time.

But after I've finished beating myself up with condemnation...Grace comes in. Thank God for His grace. I couldn't live without it. I need it so much each and every day. I don't know how anyone can live without it.

There are no perfect lives. I know sometimes I feel like some people have perfect lives when I'm reading their blogs. But we all know that blogland only gives a tiny glimpse into some one's life~and that's only the glimpse that we want you to see:)

In real life we can't spell check, edit or redo everything. We just roll with the punches, and sometimes we don't roll the right way. So often I feel like I roll the wrong way. But God's grace is always there...loving us, waiting for us, never judging us.

God's Word says in Hebrews 4:16, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (NIV)

The Message Bible puts it this way: "So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help."

So right now I'm declaring, *I accept the help!* I sure can't do this on my own. I need what God is so ready to give me, His mercy and grace...His help.

Thank you, God, for loving me in spite of the fact that I'll never win the mom-of-the-year award. Thank you for blessing me with the two most amazing gifts imaginable: my precious children. Forgive me for trying to do things in my own strength, when you are waiting and so willing to be that strength for me.

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 14th

2011-11-14T16:30:00.001-06:00

Yes, I know I'm a little late getting this posted. I have to say, I'm all cooked-out from the weekend.

It was a great weekend, but I stayed super busy in the kitchen. Saturday night we had friends over and I made homemade pizza and apple dumplings (we also had a Phase 10 throw-down, which was awesome!). On Sunday our church had its Thanksgiving meal together and I whipped up a couple of pans of turkey and dressing (this recipe x4!).

And now I've got Thanksgiving family meals on the brain and am having a hard time switching gears to this week. I'm trying to keep it very simple this week here at home and mostly eat out of the pantry.

Monday: {leftovers} Not exciting, I know, but gotta get the fridge cleaned out!
Tuesday: {Thanksgiving potluck with homeschool group} Corn Casserole & rolls
Wednesday: Tostadas
Thursday: {small group at our house} Dinner on the fire pit--I'm making Hot Dogs and Baked Beans
Friday: Pan-Seared Tilapia with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Veggies
Saturday: tba

What have you got cooking this week? Are you busy thinking of holiday cooking, too?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Keyboard Town PALS: A Review

2011-11-14T00:30:00.001-06:00

Isn't it amazing how young children learn to type now? I didn't learn to type until high school and I can clearly remember those tedious typing drills. Of course, I now use those skills at my computer keyboard and on my phone every single day. Knowing how my children enjoy being on the computer as well, I had been thinking of giving them some typing lessons, old school-style.

Lucky for them, this awesome review came along! They don't know it, but Keyboard Town PALS saved their little fingers from long and boring typing drills.

Keyboard Town PALS is a wonderful typing program for children that literally teaches them basic typing skills in just one hour! I must admit that I was skeptical when my 8-yr-old daughter declared she could now type after watching the first video; however, I have been very impressed with her use of basic typing skills. She is really doing very well! My 6-yr-old son has also begun this program and is also doing great.

Their program, Learn to Type in an Hour is for children ages 6-12 and uses videos with puppets and music to help teach your child how to type. There are no timed tests, no boring drills and the *delete* and *backspace* keys are deactivated so as to eliminate the worry of mistakes. Any mistakes made are rolled off the screen and not counted. I like this option especially for my son, who tends to obsess about mistakes.

Keyboard Town PALS uses new and proven techniques in teaching typing. You can read more about that here.

My kiddos have enjoyed the videos (even the funny puppets) and I am so happy that they are learning a skill that will serve them the rest of their lives. This really has been a great program for us to review.

Learn to Type in an Hour is available on CD Rom in several bundles, starting at $30. You can see all of their products here.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this program through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Keyboard Town PALS in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

See what other homeschool parents had to say about this product here.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: Initiative, Light Boxes & Jupiter

2011-11-11T22:20:00.003-06:00

Ahh...the weekly wrap-up. I love these because it makes me take the time to reflect on our week and remember all of those good moments. You know, the ones that sometimes get crowded out of our thoughts because we often focus on all of the fails and frustrations.

And I had plenty of fails and frustrations this week, as usual. I am only human. And so are my children. Often they act just like me, unfortunately. This motivates me to seek to follow Christ even more earnestly.

It was a good week though, another full one!

We began learning about *initiative* in our Character Sketch studies. We really do enjoy learning how even the animals that God created show such remarkable character traits.

We are also learning Psalm 136:1-9 this month; a psalm of thanksgiving.

In math we are still waiting on our last backordered Singapore book to come in (I was notified that it shipped today--yea!), so we have been exploring some Math Mammoth in the meantime.

In language arts, The Princess is almost finished with her unit with Charlotte's Web and Mr. B is nearly finished with his first reader.

I mentioned last week that we have begun our study on Botany with Apologia's Exploring Creation series. That's going well! We got our light box finished and our seeds planted this week! We are dutifully watering them daily as instructed.

I am looking forward to having some fresh herbs here at home through the winter--I can almost taste the pico de gallo!

We also enjoyed the beautiful view of Jupiter in the nighttime sky mid-week--did you get to see it? I am so glad that we did that astronomy study last year, it's amazing what the kids have retained from that.

(Jupiter is that small white dot to our right of the moon)

We continued our study of ancient history with India this week. I had planned to prepare an Indian-style dinner one night (with recipes from my sweet friend in South Africa), but it just didn't work out that way. We'll plan to have Indian food one night next week though.

I introduced our newest composer and artist for our appreciation studies: Haydn and Mary Cassett. Thus far we have simply listened to some of Haydn's music and looked at a few of Mary's paintings. We're looking forward to a library trip next week to get more resources.

We did begin two new subjects this week. Well, one is actually an extension of our art appreciation studies. We have begun using Artistic Pursuits to learn more about how to create art.

We have also begun learning some French using Great Commission Languages. The Princess is very excited about this since she has been asking to learn French recently.

Today we concluded our week with our homeschool group. We had a short Veteran's Day ceremony and then the kiddos enjoyed some game and craft time while the parents met and made plans for upcoming events.

We're looking forward to a great weekend with friends from out-of-town and an early Thanksgiving meal with our church family this Sunday!

Enjoy your weekend!

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Vivaldi & Picasso: Music & Art Appreciation

2011-11-10T05:00:00.002-06:00

Last week we finally wrapped up our studies on Vivaldi and Picasso. We were supposed to be studying them only through the month of September, but our studies actually went through October. Homeschooling is flexible, right?

I was glad we extended the study on these two since our library was closed until mid-October so we weren't able to check out any books on them until then. While it's nice to gather information online, I do love to have a few books on our artists and composers around.

For our composers' studies we are primarily using A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers, along with some printables from Practical Pages. We enjoyed reading about Vivaldi's life, coloring some pages with drawings from his story, notebooking about him and, of course, listening to his music. I usually will pop in a cd of our current composer to play while we're doing school work. It's a great background and the kids love it!

Even though I couldn't find anything on Vivaldi at our library, I did find a couple of good books on Picasso. He was interesting to read about. Of course, these books were appropriate for a child. Sometimes the stories of great artists do need to be censored a bit.

We enjoyed learning more about his work and the cubist movement. We found a couple of coloring pages online for his paintings and the kids did some great notebook pages about him. I also used some of the printables from Practical Pages for this.

Our composer and artist appreciation studies are one of our favorite things. We began these last year and the kids (and me, too!) really enjoy them. And I have to say it's so rewarding to hear my 6-yr-old son request Beethoven's 9th Symphony because he likes it so much.

Do you do music and art appreciation studies in your home? I would love to hear some of your methods of teaching these things to your children.

I'm linking up today with Study of the Composers at ~a teaching heart~.

The Person I Marry: A Review

2011-11-08T22:30:00.001-06:00

This adorable book was recently shared with me by Bower Books to review and I must admit that I cringed just a little when I read the title and saw the cover. I just knew I was not going to make it through a reading with my children without crying. I'm such a bawl baby, you know.

However, I am happy to say that I made it through without breaking down (ahem...barely) and we all enjoyed it very much.

The Person I Marry is a book written from a child's point of view about their thoughts on what kind of person they want to marry one day. It is very sweetly written, in a rhyming form, and has beautiful illustrations.

It stresses the importance of good character qualities, purity and loving God above having the most perfect wedding and good looks. It's definitely a great conversation starter with your children--a great way to help them think about what they should look for in a mate when they grow up. And even though it's written from a younger child's view, it could easily be shared with a teen to open the door of conversation concerning this topic.

I really enjoyed reading it to my daughter and son. They loved the illustrations and liked the book and even though our reading didn't open up into a deep conversation on their future mates (they're only eight and six) the thoughts were planted in their little heads and hearts concerning the qualities they should be keeping in mind for the future. I love that the book also suggests to begin praying for their future spouse now.

This book can be purchased through Bower Books for $11.99. It's a lovely, 32-page, hardcover book and has received endorsements from such people as Gary Smalley and the Duggar Family.

I hope you will visit Bower Books and see what they have to offer. They have quite a few other lovely children's books as well as posters, jewelry and even custom portraits available. Bower Books is a family ministry for Gary and Jan and you can read more about them here.

Take two minutes of your time and watch this video with excerpts from the book and also some personal words from the author and artist.

The Person I Marry from Bower Books on Vimeo.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital version of this book through The Old Schoolhouse magazine and Bower Books in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Read what other homeschool parents had to say about this book here.

Visiting Superman

2011-11-08T12:00:00.000-06:00

This past Friday we took a family fun day and headed to Metropolis to visit Superman! Now, if you're a fan like my hubby is (I didn't really know much about Superman until Smallville came along), then you may want to know that there really is a Metropolis in Illinois and it is apparently the *home* of Superman.

He stands tall and proud in their not-exactly-a-real-metropolis-of-a-city. But every little town needs a claim to fame, right?

I even got to imagine myself as Supergirl for a few minutes:) We definitely had fun taking photos !

And of course the kiddos got in on the action!

They keepers of Superman's legacy--whomever they may be--have created quite the ode to our all-American superhero with their store and museum. We had fun browsing around. Even the store was pretty much a museum of all things Superman and Justice League.

And of course, there was the famous phone booth!

Lois Lane was also represented, although not is as grand a way as the main man. I thought she got a little ripped off since Superman's fame rose greatly due to her awesome reporting, right?

So if you're passing by Metropolis, Illinois, make the time to stop and say *hi* to this incredible guy!

Traditions

2011-11-07T06:00:00.001-06:00

Today I am honored to be guest posting about *Traditions* over at Hope Filled Living Magazine. Mary's blog is lovely and encouraging to all who visit. I hope you'll take some time to hope over there and visit her (and me!).

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 7th

2011-11-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

OK...deep breath...I think I'm ready to hit this week head-on! It's going to be one busy week around here.

That's why I take the time to sit down and make these menu plans. If I didn't have a plan, I'd probably lose it..ha

Monday: Spaghetti Pie with Salad & Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Cheese & Onion Chicken with Curried Rice--we're having an Indian-style dinner in honor of our ancient India history this week
Wednesday: Red Hot Chili
Thursday: Chicken & Dumplings (didn't make it to this one last week)
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: {probably out & about with our guest for the weekend!}

Whew...I feel better now, just knowing there's a meal plan to refer to when things get crazy;)

I hope you have a great week of dinners!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: Pumpkins, Botany & Superman

2011-11-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I've done a *weekly wrap-up*, it has been crazy-busy here! But school is still clicking right along.

We are loving these beautiful Fall days here in Kentucky and have also enjoyed a couple of visits from family. My sister has been here twice from Arkansas to visit lately, once on her own and this last time she also brought my mom. We had a great time together, antiquing, sightseeing, shopping, eating out, playing games (those Northstar games were a big hit!) and just hanging out together.

With Aunt Kari

Mr. B reading to Nana and his sister

There has also been lots of dress-up play around here, too. My kids don't just dress-up for Halloween, any time of the year will do for them. They're very imaginative;)

recreating The Mayflower (if not quite historically accurate)

We also had fun decorating and carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. You can read more about that in this post.

In school things have been progressing nicely.

We just wrapped up our Character Sketch on *Orderliness* for the month of October and have begun studying *Initiative* for the month of November.

The kiddos learned Psalm 1 for their Scripture memory for October. It is such a blessing to hear my children hiding God's Word in their hearts!

Both of the kiddos finished their first workbooks for the year with Singapore Math. I thought the book was for the whole semester, but it barely lasted them 8 weeks. I guess that's a good thing since they seem to be doing so well with it. They will start their second set of books in a couple of weeks (when the one on backorder comes in!). In the meantime, we'll be using some products that we are reviewing for math. That worked out very well!

Language Arts are also going very well. The Princess is right on track with her Charlotte's Web unit study. I just love reading the short stories she writes for each section--I'm glad she enjoys writing!

Mr. B is doing great with First Language Lessons and has just taken off with reading. He's nearly finished with his first reader (I am using different ones I already had that are on his grade level) and spends the rest of the time reading and re-reading his Fly Guy books. He LOVES those and they are just perfect for a little boy:) He has also been enjoying an online reading program that I recently reviewed, Ooka Island.

We have begun our newest study with Apologia's Discovering Creation series: Botany! The kiddos are very excited about it! This year, rather than buying the notebooking journal that goes with this series, I made them their own journals using plain notebooks using this technique.

They're already busy filling up their journals, whether on the ground...

...or in a tree.

We also enjoyed doing a little experiment in taxonomy (the classification of plants) using shoes. I couldn't believe the delight on their little faces when I told them to drag all of their shoes out for this..."ALL of our shoes?! OK!!!" ha!

We have been studying ancient India this week in History. I'm even planning an Indian-style dinner for one night next week (thanks to some recipes from a friend!). We'll see how that goes. I haven't had Indian food in a very long time.

We wrapped up our week with Family Fun Friday and headed to Metropolis to visit Superman! More on that soon;)

And that's a wrap on our week!

You can read more about other homeschoolers' weeks here at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Saying Goodbye to Caffeine

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it was officially a month since I gave up caffeine.

Yikes! Did I really just say that? It seems so unreal. I mean, Coca Cola is my drug of choice, people!

Now, to be completely honest, I still have my 1-2 cups of coffee in the mornings. I bought some decaf coffee and just mixed it with the regular coffee that I had left (I'm too frugal to just dump it), so technically my coffee has been half-caf for this past month.

I think that's probably a very good thing though since it seems to have kept me from having any headaches from withdrawal. But I'm well on my way to being totally caffeine-free.

Why am I doing this to myself? Well, for reasons I may go into later. Right now let's just say "for health reasons". Isn't it amazing what we can give up when our health is really threatened?

I never thought I could or would give up caffeine. And even though there have a been a few moments this past month when I would have given my left arm for a Route 44 Vanilla Coke from Sonic (like I said, my drug of choice), I really haven't thought twice about giving it up. It was something that needed to be done. And now it's done.

The immediate benefits of this are 1) I've improved my health already 2) it's cheaper to drink water when you're out to eat 3) it's easier to convince your kids they also want water when you're drinking it yourself.

The long-term benefits have yet to be realized, but I hope they will be many.

How about you? Are you addicted to caffeine or have you said "goodbye" to it?

Ooka Island: A Review

2011-11-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

Have you been to Ooka Island yet? Or, more importantly, have the early readers in your home been there? They will absolutely LOVE it! It's a downloadable hero mission-based reading program that will help your early reader read fluently and well.

Ooka Island is a site geared just toward Pre-K through 2nd grade to help improve their reading skills. I have been reviewing their site recently with my 1st grade son, Mr. B, and it is just really amazing! He has just loved it--and, frankly, I've been pretty impressed. The graphics and animation on the site are really top notch. The characters are cute and fun and the games are a blast, too.

Each time my son logs on he follows Zobot, an adorable robot, through about 20 minutes of reading activities. This includes earning prizes which are collected in each child's personal *trophy room*. Then he reads a new virtual book from the *popcorn l

ibrary*. And for his final 8 minutes there are all of the awesome games to play while exploring *the island*: the cave of sounds, word ball, the cake factory and bubbly trubbly...just to name a few of them. Each of them are literacy-based and help reinforce letter sounds and reading skills. You can read more about the Ooka Island Innovative Reading Strategy here.

Mr. B could seriously play all day long, if I would let him:) He has certainly done more than one lesson a day at times. He has really taken off with reading this year and this program has been a great encouragement for him.

Head over to Ooka Island's site and check them out. Read about what they have to offer, look at their FAQ's page and don't forget to visit their YouTube channel for some awesome videos and songs!

Ooka Island has a couple of different pricing options for families which you can read more about here. Plus, there is an exclusive launch special code: LAUNCHSPECIAL30 for 30% off on a monthly subscription.

All in all, this program has been a huge hit with my family. I know Mr. B will continue to enjoy learning through this site's game based learning and I look forward to his increased reading skills--and watching him have fun doing all of that!

I definitely recommend this site for your early readers, especially those who need a little encouragement in that area.

Disclaimer: I received a free short-term subscription to this site through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Ooka Island in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Head over to see what more TOS Homeschool Crew parents had to say about this program!

Fall Fun

2011-10-31T23:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a fun, fall-ish couple of days around our house.
Carving pumpkins together, some requiring fancier tools than others:)

Working while the pumpkin seeds roasted and filled the house with their yummy aroma.

Posing on the porch with their pumpkins
(try to ignore The Princess' completely eclectic outfit..heehee).

I chose not to carve my pumpkin this year--

I was too excited to find one of those

gorgeous cheese wheel pumpkins again.

And it's just to pretty to carve.

I want to enjoy looking at it for another month!

Oh--and that *neck* pumpkin...

I was told it makes wonderful pumpkin pies.
So now I just need to figure out the best way to cook it up:)

Suggestions???

We're also enjoying beautiful weather and this lovely view from our back deck.

Tonight the kiddos donned their Star Wars costumes,

Captain Rex and Boba Fett,

and headed out for some candy.

I think I'll be sneaking a few pieces!

(I think The Princess is in a growth spurt; the difference in their height has grown lately:)

(Didn't their costumes turn out cute? It's amazing what you can do with a few rolls of colored tape, a couple of shirts from the Goodwill store and some items from their own closets!)

Raising Real Men: A Review

2011-10-31T09:45:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful book for the parents of boys! I have recently been blessed with this book through Timberdoodle in order to review it and I'm so glad that I've had the chance.

Raising Real Men, by Hal and Melanie Young, is a biblically-sound guidebook for raising boys. Written in an easy-to-read conversational tone, it covers all kinds of topics from why boys need heroes to teaching boys how to manage their money.

Hal and Melanie have six boys of their own (and two girls as well!) so they have lots of personal experience to share in this little nugget of wisdom! I really enjoyed their down-to-earth, practical steps for training your sons in the ways of God. Having a very active 6-year-old son myself, I am constantly needing more wisdom in how to raise him! He keeps me on my toes daily and having a resource like this to refer to on different topics is a blessing. It is a transparent and honest book about these challenges and how to handle them.

This book has been endorsed by such men of God as Dr. Tedd Tripp, Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr. and many within the homeschooling community as well. Hal and Melanie are homeschool parents and it's nice to have a resource like this written from that perspective.

Raising Real Men has also won the 2011 Book of the Year award from the Christian Small Publishers Association.

You can read more about this book on Timberdoodle's website. It is available there for the great price of $12.75...and is worth every penny! You can also purchase it in audio book format on cd for $21.00--perfect for all that time in the car.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Menu Plan Monday: Oct 31st

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am SO loving this cooler weather we're having! I love waking up in the mornings, kicking on the heat and enjoying a nice hot cup of hazelnut coffee...pure bliss!

This is really my favorite time of year for cooking--I love making casseroles, soups, all those good, hearty foods!

This week will be no exception. I can hardly wait to dig in!

Monday: Beef Veggie Soup (in the slow cooker) with Cornbread
Tuesday: Alfredo Tuna Bake
Wednesday: Broccoli & Cheddar Soup (as found on Pinterest)
Thursday: {small group} Taco Braid
Friday: Chicken & Dumplings
Saturday: to-be-determined

I would also like to roast up one of these this week in order to put the meat in the freezer and have some wonderful, fresh broth, too. It'll be perfect for all those soups and casseroles coming up!

Happy Cooking to you this week!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers: A Review

2011-10-29T22:00:00.002-05:00

As you may know, at our house we really enjoy music appreciation. Last year was our first year to begin composer studies and they were such a big hit--the kids LOVE studying about them and learning their music.

Because of this I was very excited to have the opportunity from Timberdoodle to review A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers! What a wonderful resource for our studies!

This book is 329 pages FULL of 32 lessons, bios of 26 composers and 6 eras of music. It also includes a timeline, maps, composer info cards & game instructions, quizzes & answer keys, coloring pages, listening suggestions and more.

This book is recommended for ages 9-13 or grades 4th-8th; however, I've been using it with my 1st and 3rd graders. My 3rd grader is doing great with it and I simply adapt it for use with my 1st grader. He can listen to me read the composer bios, do the coloring pages and obviously listen to the music while learning.

I am especially liking the printable timeline. I am printing it off as we study and we're hanging it in our learning room. The composer cards are also a lot of fun, as are the games.

Music appreciation can be a wonderful addition to your homeschool studies--or to a classroom setting as well. A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers is perfect for introducing your children to the history of music and composers from the Renaissance period through the Contemporary period.

You can find this great book on Timberdoodle's site here for $31.50. Go check it out!

I highly recommend this book--and Timberdoodle in general! They have amazing products and are so helpful there! If you haven't checked them out before, I know you'll love them.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Click here to see what other homeschool moms thought about this book!

Pumpkin Cookies

2011-10-26T23:50:00.001-05:00

This is a yummy little recipe that I made this past weekend. If you haven't tried these, you really should! They're the perfect Fall treat.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting

(from Martha Stewart)

For The Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For The Icing

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
*****
Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar into bowl of electric mixer and blend on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add in pumpkin, evaporated milk and vanilla. Mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add in flour mixture and mix until well blended.

Drop spoonfuls of batter (I used a small scoop for uniform cookies) about 1" apart on cookie sheets. Bake until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to cookie racks to cool completely.

For the icing, put the confectioners sugar into a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners sugar, scraping pan well. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread icing onto cookies, adding more evaporated milk to icing mixture as needed (the icing is very stiff).

Say Anything Family: A Review

2011-10-26T23:20:00.000-05:00

I am back today to share with you about another awesome game from North Star Games: Say Anything Family. When North Star says their's are "games with personality" they mean it.

Say Anything Family is for ages 8 and up and accommodates 3-6 players--the more the merrier, I say. And it truly is a game about saying anything, it's all about your opinion!

This game has a selection of cards that asks your own opinion on all sorts of random, family-friendly topics. Another player, deemed The Judge gets to choose which answer is best and in the meantime you try to score points by guess which answer the judge will pick. It's very fast-paced, fun and can bring a lot of laughs with your family!

I really enjoyed playing this one with my kiddos--they loved it--and I know it will be even more fun with a larger group of family members during the holidays. This is a game where the more players, the more fun...in my opinion (since this game is all about opinions, right?).

If you need something fun to add to your family gatherings during the upcoming holidays or a great game for a family, this would be it! Head over to North Star Games and read more about it.

Say Anything Family can be purchased on Amazon for $13.85 right now--what a great deal! So head on over and pick one up so you'll be read for some great family game nights.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this game through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and North Star Games in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Check out what other members of The Old Schoolhouse Crew had to say about this game!

my blessed life

The Weekly Wrap-up: Co-op, Dissection & the Weinermobile

Baked Egg Boats=Yummy!

Butternut Squash Soup

The Weekly Plan {Jan 23rd}

We Choose Virtues: A Review

The Weekly Wrap-up: Sprouts, Romans and Country Ham

So I Finally Roasted My Pumpkins From Last Fall

Yummy Italian Appetizers

My Reading List for 2012 {so far}

The Weekly Plan {Jan 16th}

The Weekly Wrap-Up: The One Where I Doubt Myself

Maestro Classics {Swan Lake}: A Review

Pepperoni Cheese Bread for Your Bread Machine

Ben Hur: a Z-Guide Review

One Thousand Gifts: Still Counting

Menu Plan Monday {January 9th}

Weekly Wrap-Up: Getting Back Into the School Groove

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish: A Review

Some New Year Encouragement

Most Popular Posts of 2011

Menu Plan Monday {January 2nd}

Ringing in 2012

Elf Food

From Our Family to Yours

The Weekly Wrap-Up: The One With Holiday Fun

Christmas Treats: A Few Of My Favorite Things

The World's Greatest Stories: A Review

*Merry Christmas* From Our House

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 12th

The Weekly Wrap-up: The Week Where We Can't Focus On Anything But Christmas

Math Blaster: A Review & A Giveaway!

Artistic Pursuits: A Review

New Family Photos

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 5th

Great Commission Languages {the easy French}: A Reveiw

The Weekly Wrap-up: the One In Which I Come Up For Air

Busy as Elves

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 28th

One Thousand Gifts: Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks

Our Thanksgiving Menu

Thanksgiving: Are You Strictly Traditional or Not So Much?

The Reading Game: A Review

Our New Learning Room

Math Mammoth: A Review

Accepting the Help {a much-needed re-post!}

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 14th

Keyboard Town PALS: A Review

The Weekly Wrap-Up: *Initiative*, Light Boxes & Jupiter

Vivaldi & Picasso: Music & Art Appreciation

*The Person I Marry*: A Review

Visiting Superman

Traditions

Menu Plan Monday: Nov 7th

The Weekly Wrap-Up: Pumpkins, Botany & Superman

Saying *Goodbye* to Caffeine

Ooka Island: A Review

Fall Fun

Raising Real Men: A Review

Menu Plan Monday: Oct 31st

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers: A Review

Pumpkin Cookies

For The Cookies

For The Icing

Say Anything Family: A Review

Merry Christmas From Our House

The Weekly Wrap-Up: Initiative, Light Boxes & Jupiter

The Person I Marry: A Review

Saying Goodbye to Caffeine