Fleecy Sheets and Undershirts

The top bunk belongs to Farm Boy. My boys do not use a flat sheet to cover with, but each have a quilt my mother made them and topped with their comforters. They always got tangled in the topsheet and they were a pain to straighten every morning.

Without HVAC it gets chilly 'round these parts. Once the temps drop below 50F at night, the boys wear undershirts under their jammies to give them an extra layer of warmth.  It also combats the whineys ("I'm coooold!!!" in the mornings when it is time to dress for the day.

I have always loved the idea of flannel sheets since I am so very cold-natured. Hubby on the other hand scoffs at the idea. I've pondered whether I could make up some fitted sheets with flannel on my side and regular material on the other, but I have gotten that ambitious yet. If we ever move north, I may have to. He is a great sport though and often warms my side of the best so I don't have to get into it and shiver until it warms up. The boys are not so lucky. One of the best things we came up with last year was having topping their fitted sheet with a fleece blanket. My sister gave them some yummy fleece blankets one year for Christmas (embroidered with their names on them 'cause she's cool like that!) They worked perfectly! 

You can see the fitted sheet peeking through. We got the bunk beds from Craigslist back in the summer. They were originally in a college dorm and they look it. But they were very inexpensive - $50 for the set!! They will be refinished in the spring.

Yummy cozyness. I'll be making them some flannel pillowcases as well.

The boys don't have to get in a blustery bed and they stay warm and cozy throughout the night.

Linking with The Nester's 31 days to a better dressed nest. 

TOS Review: Buckets O' Fun

It is almost certain that if you have boys, you anticipate dirty things, creepy-crawly things or yucky things. It is just part of their life and what makes them boys. There are exceptions to the rule, my Music Man for instance, but for the most part, moms deal with these things and just blame it on "boys will be boys."


Buckets-O-Fun makes clean yucky fun! Made from polymers, this non-toxic substance takes on several forms depending on which Yuck is being played with.

Sticky Yuck

Saucy Yuck

Snowy Yuck

Chunky Yuck

Marketed originally for youth groups, Buckets-O-Fun would be great for science class! I would have loved to try out some of the suggestions mentioned such as Saucy on a Slip N Slide or in a water balloon but being it is fall here, it was a bit too cool outside to try those. :) Other suggestions include Pirate's Treasure (hiding toys in it), Saucy on a Slip-N-Slide, Yuck Wrestling, and a Yuck Balloon Toss! Can you imagine the mess when it breaks?


My first thought when I received my samples was the sensory input. Music Man has never liked getting dirty and usually takes a while to warm up to a new texture. (The kid still hates the feel of grass or sand under his feet.) Yucks could be very useful for occupational and speech therapists who are treating kids with tactile aversions.


Want to see it in action? Check out these YouTube videos!

Buckets O' Fun

http://www.buckets-o-fun.com/
Prices range from $16-20 for one pound of Yuck
Ages 5-95

** Due to chemical allergies in my boys, I was the sole reviewer for these products. 

Music Man and Farm Boy did not actually play with the Yucks. **

I received several samples free of charge from Buckets-O-Fun for the purpose of review. 

No other compensation was received.

Join THE BLACKOUT at the Athens Area Humane Society

Come Meet Your Match during THE BLACKOUT at the Athens Area Humane Society! Black animals take much longer to adopt than their more colorful counterparts. This event is helping to find forever homes for loving black cat and dogs in the Athens, GA area.

THE BLACKOUT runs through this Sunday, October 31, 2010.


http://www.athenshumanesociety.org/

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day '10

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day - October 15th. This is the ninth one that I have experienced since I had reason to know what it was. In July 2001, I lost my middle son, Samuel. Below is Sammie's Story, taken from the Remembering Your Baby website, an organization I founded to help parents experiencing the loss of a child at or before birth. 

In December 2000, my husband accepted a position as Minister to Youth and Recreation at the First Baptist Church in Belle Glade, Florida and we made preparations to move. With the holidays and moving we weren't paying much attention to my cycle dates and I got pregnant, though at the time I didn't know it. It took until early February to realize it and not too long after that, our oldest son ended up in the hospital with respiratory distress (related to low muscle tone and severe gastro reflux.) Since we resided in the hospital for most of February, I didn't get to an OB until I was 12 weeks along. At my initial appointment, we were told that my amniotic fluid was low. No one was terribly concerned knowing the schedule I had been following while living in the hospital. We blamed it on not eating right and very little sleep. The doctor told me to take better care of myself and he would see me next month. At the next appointment, there was not enough improvement so I was sent to a perinatologist (maternal specialist) who confirmed that my amniotic fluid was indeed low and that the reason was that there were cysts on the baby's kidneys. There were actually no kidney on one side and very little tissue except for cysts on the other. We were told that the prognosis was not good and that we needed to get over to the genetic counselor right away to discuss our options. My husband looked straight at the perinatologist and told him there were no options; we were not aborting regardless of outcome. I was 18 weeks pregnant at the time. The next day we saw a urologist (kidney specialist) who confirmed what we were told the day before. We were devastated beyond description. We were told I would not carry the baby to term and that the defects were incompatible with life. The actual problem was not the cystic kidneys, but the fact that a baby's lungs cannot develop in the womb without amniotic fluid. The cysts on the baby's kidneys were preventing the amniotic fluid from replenishing in my womb.

I was just over eight months pregnant with Sammie when I went into labor. He was born by cesarean section and his heart beat for about an hour. He was a beautiful, precious gift - one I wouldn't trade for anything else. He looked exactly like our oldest son, except his hair was wispy, strawberry blond and very curly, whereas his brother's was full, black and wavy. We kept him with us for several hours creating precious memories, taking pictures and just holding him.

Please join the wave of light by lighting a candle at 7:00PM in your time zone. If you are local to me, we will be at the Courthouse in Monroe.

TOS Review: Soli Deo Gloria Map Skills Unit Study

Farm Boy is a geography nut. He began studying the US map when he was a mere four years old. Now, at almost seven, he can place all the states in an unlined US map and can almost match up all the capitals. The boy loves his geography! When we received word of this review, he was stoked!

Map Skills came to me as a 31-page eBook. It is a three-week unit study that includes day-by-day lesson plans for a four-day school week for grades K-6. The overview of the unit gives Recommended Resources to use in addition to this plan. Following the lesson plans are optional activities for older students or those who want or need additional practice. 


From the overview:

The only thing you will need in addition to this unit will be your standard math curriculum and your phonics program for young learners. The above skills are taught through a variety of methods including; workbooks, hands-on activities, crafts, kinesthetic activities and map work. When you are planning your day, keep in mind that hands-on activities and crafts always take longer than you expect!

I love unit studies for this reason! It is a nice change from our day-to-day schooling to just take a break and focus fully on a particular subject. The appendix holds a reading list, four Bible worksheets related to the study and answer keys for them. A sample page from the lesson plans is available on the website and happens to be one of our favorite days. My boys got a kick out of the game variations such as using a the directional spin on Simon Says!

Soli Deo Gloria resources are created by a down-to-earth homeschool family with a heart for missions. We used Kindergarten Basics in our homeschool last year and loved it. I love the Charlotte Mason style in her resources as my boys love to create and do things rather than have me talk all the time. (Who would!?) There is a wealth of information in the Free Resources section of the website as well! Go check them out! You won't be disappointed!

Soli Deo Gloria

Map Skills

$14 printed
$11.50 ebook
Free Resources

As a member of the TOS Crew I received the Map Skills eBook  free of charge from Soli Deo Gloria for the purpose of review. Opinions expressed are my own and no other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Lanschool Makes School Cool

This is the coolest. I mean, really. When my boys started playing on the computer - supervised on specific websites - I worried they might accidentally click over to a website they shouldn't be on. Like some of those scary teenager games - or worse. And then it happened. They were happily playing an age-appropriate phonics games and suddenly I hear a shriek from my office where the computer is. Then there were creatures fighting and guns blasting. "Mamaaaaaaaa!!!!!" they yelled. Inadvertently they had found themselves somewhere they shouldn't be with only one click of the mouse.

Then there was the time Farm Boy asked to work on his Capitals (a map program where he places the name of the capital city on a map of the US.) He has them all learned now but is trying to beat his best time and this particular instance he got a little behind. Instead of continuing on, he decided then quit and just play chess. Not that playing chess is a bad thing. He was just supposed to be doing schoolwork and well, I don't consider chess part of school. 

If Lanschool had been on our network, I could have avoided both of these situations. Marketed as a "Classroom Management Software," I found it to be so much more! Lanschool is designed to alleviate the distractions of technology in a classroom while using that technology to teach. But knowing my kids can only go where I say they can go online or only use certain programs during schooltime is so worth the investment in and of itself.

There is a message feature where the student can ask a question of the teacher (through chat.) The boys and I loved playing with that - it was their first glimpse at true technology, not just playing a game or gathering info for a project on the web. You can also send a private message to one student or the entire class (or homeschool.) I loved the "clear screen" option where you can personalize a message that disables the student computer(s.) It really got my boys' attention! 
 
We had the National Geographic Kids website up and they were watching animal videos as we demo-ed the software. I loved watching what my boys were doing and how long they stayed on a particular video. You can monitor what they are doing on their computer by viewing their desktop or just looking at the history log at a later time.  You can even designate things they can't do such during schooltime such as email or IM or social networking! We aren't there yet, thank goodness. But the option was there.

Another neat feature (and one probably used most often by school districts) is being able to show the teacher's desktop to the student and teach them through it.

Now don't just take my word for it - head over and get a guided tour. Then sign up for the 30-day free trial. The cost of the software is only $99 for a home license (up to three computers) and tech support/upgrades for three years! It is invaluable for a homeschool with kids who understand how to navigate the internet. Mine do not - yet. If purchased when the kids start surfing (or using online curriculum,) it could work out to be just a few dollars per year throughout the entire school career. For me, Lanschool is peace of mind. It is a must-have for any family whose children are online either using the internet for school, research or fun.

I received a trial of Lanschool free of charge for the purpose of review, no other compensation was received.

Pictures ARE Worth A Thousand Words (Or At Least 210 Words!)

I seriously wish I had had Vocabulary Cartoons as a kid. I am such a visual person that mnemonics have always been something I relied on to help me through daily life. I learned early that by making up a silly rhyme or using one already thought up would help me remember something for a test. 


Or someone's name. 


Or how to make my kids' favorite breakfast. 


Oh yes, now the truth comes out about the way I memorize recipes. Well, anyway. That's another post.


The tag line, "Kids Learn a Word a Minute and Never Forget It" is true in our house. Designed for elementary aged kids, my second-ish graders loved the book! There are 210 cute cartoons that create a visual, giving the student an edge in remembering what the word means. Definitions and pronunciation guides are also listed with a separate page dedicated to each single word.

  

I am a big fan of online samples. Many a time, samples are the deal maker for me purchasing a curriculum helper for our homeschool since it gives me a chance to see if something is really a good fit for us. Vocabulary Cartoon's fourteen (!!) pages of samples are straight from the book! One of my favorites is actually the first one in the book and the first one we learned. 

Farm Boy, my youngest, loved Vocabulary Cartoons so much and will still laugh about "abducting a duck!"


This book is great for independent learners who need some extra work to do or for students who struggle in vocabulary. And for public schoolteachers, there are blackline masters, PDF formatted discs, and overhead transparencies, in addition to the books. 


Still not convinced? Here is a word list in its entirety!


In short, we loved this book and cannot wait until we are ready for the SAT Prep volumes!  


The Details

Vocabulary Cartoons from New Monic Books (Love it - even the company name is a play on words!) 

$12.95 each

Age: 3rd-6th grade

------

I received Vocabulary Cartoons from New Monic Books for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received and these opinions are my own.

New-To-Me Living Room and Color Palette Help Needed

So you may remember a month ago when I posted my couch for sale. I bought it after we moved to GA since my beloved crushed green velvet suffered an untimely death to a cat over Christmas break before we moved. I begged hubby to let me keep the couch and recover it. I LOVED that couch. But that is another post. *sigh*

My other couch did get sold, but not before the one I wanted was also sold out from under me. Dang those Craigslist sellers! Anyway, I held out and waited. And waited. And waited. And then ....

I bought the loveseat for the same price I sold my couch for! The couch was a bonus FREE!! (It needs a little work and has a rip in the middle back cushion close to the seam which is now hidden by that pillow. But it is from Ashley Furniture and is oh so comfy!!

Please excuse those awful wrinkles. They are only stuck up over the rod and are being held in place with a safety pin or two for this pic. The curtains divide the family room from my office which is now on the other side. I will be getting some some clips to hang the drop cloths properly so have a while "wall" there where entertaining or push them back when we need circulation into my office room (where we watch Hulu!)

I had in mind to make slipcovers for them using Lazy's Girl's Guide to Slipcovers. I'm thinking of using the drop cloths like what are on my windows. My issue is this: it is going to be a good while before I have the time and energy to make the slipcovers. What should I do in the meantime? I would really like to bring lighter colors in to the living room since the paneling is so dark. I would love to find a beautiful fabric to recover the pillows and add some *umph* to the drop-cloth curtains on the other side of the room.

I have my curtains from my old house up right now just trying to decide if I want to use them. They would have to be altered the at both the top and the bottom if I used them. The have tab tops which look weird with the drop cloth tops and well, capris are not a good look for curtains! I think I have decided I don' t love them in this house since they just blend into the wall and certainly don't help with lightening it up in there.

The curio cabinet will be finding a new home (at an aunt's house.) The side table is not quite right either - would love to paint it, but we will see. The lamp is not even plugged in - shopped the house for it! It has never been used. Bought it for $5 last summer at Wally World. Love it, but it has been shadeless until now and I'm thinking it needs a bigger/longer one anyway. And I think it longs for a coat of paint! But what color? The paneling is very dark but will not be painted as this is my husband's grandparent's house - the old homestead. Since we are temporary residents I will not even ask to paint.

I have a large mirror for the spot over the loveseat and some other decorating things planned, but it is hard to get into it not having a color scheme decided on. 

On one hand I am thinking add a cooler color to help offset the overpowering warm tones in there. I want white, camel/khaki and a shade of light blue eventually. But right now I am thinking khaki with persimmon.....not sure the blue would work with the olive? The piping on the couch and loveseat is khaki so that would work nicely.

So what would you do with this room?What colors would you use?

I'm in Checkmate!

photo by e.phelps

Farm Boy has taking a real liking to chess. He asked his daddy to teach him since he inquired about the checkerboard table after we moved in to our current house. (In our last house, it was covered with a cloth and he didn't notice it as much.) After several inquiries, Farm Boy was able to convince his daddy to teach him. They have playing about two months now and Farm Boy is getting really good at it. He even loves to play on the computer!

Well, a few nights ago as he was getting ready for bed, Farm Boy was told to make his way to the back and brush his teeth. He, at a mere six years old, still gets uneasy in the dark and did not want to go into the back part of the house to his room.He complained a bit about the dark and I told him to go the other way (through our bedroom.) He opened the door and lamented about the dark in there as well.


"I can't go that way," he said, pointing at the dining room. "And I can't go that way, " pointing at my room. "I'm in checkmate!"


Well, that was it. Hubby and I both lost it. We consented and got up to turn a light on for him. After we composed ourselves.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day Service Scheduled

photo by natalicek

Please join us for a candlelight service remembering those babies who never had a chance to live ....

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Friday, October 15, 2010

Historic Courthouse

Monroe, GA

7:00PM

RAIN or SHINE

TOS Review: I See Cards - Pyramath

I did not need another game to get addicted to. Really, I didn't.

I See Card's Pyramath is a solitaire with learning power. But it isn't just for learning. It is great for staying fresh in your math facts and for building speed. The idea is simple allowing anyone with knowledge of basic math facts to play. Pyramath can be played alone or against another player. And for $6.95, they are a great addition to our Fun Fridays or even Family Game Night!

from the instructions:

Fundamentals of the Game
The basic concept of any Pyramath game is that a single card is played on 2 side-by-side cards using math operations. For example if a 4 and 7 are side-by-side, the legal plays are 3 (7-4=3), 1 (7+4=11), and 8 (7x4=28)

There is even a Pyramath Wiki to learn how to use Pyramath in the classroom (and I am all about Wikis!!) 

The main challenge using Pyramath in our homeschool since we have just begun working on our addition facts. Farm Boy was super interested in it and cannot wait to try it! He is looking forward to challenging me very soon! (Mom had lots of fun playing the game though!) 

Ready to try it for yourself? You can try it online playing the  5 Card Version or the 7 Card Version! But don't say I didn't warn you. Make sure you let the kids play once in a while! 

I received Pyramath free of charge from I See Cards for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Math Essentials

I hated math growing up.  HATED IT. 

My mom was an English teacher, and though there was a time I could barely speak a sentence without being corrected for my grammar, I loved English, reading and everything related to it. Math ... well ... not so much. That continued throughout my life and I struggled with my college courses in Math. I would get through it eventually (albeit sometimes taking a class more than once!) but it was like part of my brain never computed it. (Sorry, I just couldn't help it!) 

Had there been something like America's Math Teacher when I was growing up, I think I would have "gotten" math. America's Math Teacher is an online tutor, a complete curriculum or math teacher- whatever you need. It is video-based instruction complete with white board demonstrations. Beginning with basic math on the 4th or 5th grade level and working all the way through pre-algebra, students learn at their pace, repeating lessons (via video instruction) as often as necessary. Students are encouraged to copy the problems into a notebook and "work along side" the teacher so that they actually have the examples in front of them when they go back to look at the notes again. I really like that multiple colors are used when demonstrating something like regrouping in subtraction. It helps to really see what you are doing and for me and my audio-visual learning crew, it was easy to understand the lesson.

Rick Fisher, the creator of America's Math Teacher, is a seasoned math instructor from California. The success of his program shows "each year approximately one-half of his students bypass the seventh grade math program and move directly to a high-powered eighth grade algebra program."

A one-year subscription to America's Math Teacher is $195 per family. It covers all the lessons in the program and can be used for any student from 4th/5th grade to algebra. There are actually four courses: Basic Math,  Advanced Math, Pre-Algebra and Algebra. I feel it is quite a bargain for those families whose parent-teacher may not have the strongest math background (like, say, moi.) Since you have access to all levels of instruction on the website, it is great for large families who are studying at different math levels!

One thing we personally enjoyed most was the Speed Drills. America's Math Teacher has a very unique way to practice math facts that was a lot of fun too! As an adult it is easy to forget how stressful it is to be timed on math facts, but the Speed Drills lightened the stress a bit. Set up with the feel of a game, the kids had to quickly process the fact in their head, press the correct number on the key pad and press enter. I think it is great for practicing their use of the 9-digit keypad as well. You could not move on to the next problem until you correctly answered the one in front of you.

Printed materials in PDF format are also available to reinforce and review what was learned in the videos. If you would like to see the program in action, there are resources available in the free section of the website. You may take a look at a nice overview of the program including some videos and review sheets. With a subscription, many more review sheets per section are available.

I received a two-month subscription to AmericasMathTeacher.com free of charge from Math Essentials for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

TOS Review: Time 4 Learning

I first heard about Time4Learning when I met a group of moms who were forming a group for homeschoolers with special needs. Several of the families in the group were using Time4Learning as their sole curriculum and I was curious about it. Upon investigation of it, I was very interested in the program and liked the features but decided that we needed to focus on the basics last year. I wanted the experience of hands-on schooling rather than my child working at a computer for his lessons. Now that I have reviewed it as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I can see the benefits of using it along side of our regular curriculum.

Since before they could manipulate a mouse, my boys have gravitated to the computer. They love to watch me while I work on the computer, viewing pictures and videos or even checking the weather. As they have gotten older and begun to understand how to do things on their own, I would allow them to play (educational) games, view science videos for school and work on language arts skills on various sites online.

From the website:  

"Time4Learning is a student-paced online educational system covering preschool through middle school. It is popular as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment, for remediation, and for summer study."

One of the features in Time4Learning that I noticed (and loved) immediately was the timer function. Parents decide how much work (or Lesson Time) must be done before their kids enjoy a visit to the Playground. The Playground is what my kids looked forward to the most because as it implies - it is playtime!! The Playground is an area of the program where kids can click carefully chosen links to places on the web. There are educational sites and totally fun sites listed in the Playgrounds and kids can chose what they want to do in their Playground time. Parents set the timer for the Playground as well. We usually did 30 minutes of lessons and then 20-30 minutes of Playground time. Once the Playground time was up, they could either quit the program or go back to Lesson Time and complete the time requirement again in order to gain access to the Playground again. This was great for going to grandma's during the week and me having peace of mind about what they were doing on the computer.

The graphics are entertaining and very appropriate for elementary kids. There is a lot of music incorporated into the program for is great for Music Man.There were several modules they they wanted to watch over and over such as the science unit on thunderstorms.

This program can be used as a stand-alone curriculum for homeschooling and even provides free lesson plans! I love that my students can work at their own pace, going back to master a concept if they need more practice in an area. Time4Learning is very affordable, too, at $19.95 per month for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child. In the parent area, you can track what lessons your child is doing and what still needs to be completed.

Still not sure? Check out the screenshots! Then slip over to the free demo area.You may learn a thing or two yourself! I did!

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge  for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

2010-2011 Curriculum

Here is our curriculum plan for this school year. It is always subject to additions and subtractions. :) 


Since I am on the TOS Homeschool Crew we also get a variety of things to "play" with throughout the year! 


Farm Boy  

Handwriting copywork

Language Arts 

First Language Lessons

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading

Math

Math Mammoth (Money,Addition and Subtraction B, Clock)

Math on the Level Math Adventures   

Music Man  

Handwriting

 Peterson Directed Handwriting

Language Arts 

First Language Lessons

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading

Explode the CodeOnline 

Math

Math Mammoth

Math on the Level Math Adventures  

Social Studies
Story of the World Vol. 1 Ancient Times  


Science
various unit studies


Extra Curricular
Hey, Andrew, Teach Us Some Greek
 

Homeschool PE through local recreation department and homeschool group

TOS Review: Peterson Directed Handwriting

Hypotonia is a state of low muscle tone (the amount of tension or resistance to movement in a muscle), often involving reduced muscle strength. (from Wikipedia)

Hypotonia was not something I had ever heard of before I had Music Man. It is something he has struggled with every single day of his life. From eating issues to walking and everything in between, Music Man has had to work at it. Hard. We have to train his muscles to do the things that most people take for granted. Handwriting is probably one of the most difficult challenges he faces.

If you know anything about Music Man, you know he loves to sing and dance - anything with rhythm gets him excited, hence his pseudonym. Any time I need him to really learn something (say my cell phone number, for instance) I put it to music. Sometime we make up a rhyme or a little chant. We have even added on to songs/chants/rhymes we already know.

Peterson Directed Handwriting seems to be written just for Music Man. There is rhythm. There is movement. There is repetition and routine - all things Music Man likes and thrives with. Peterson Directed Handwriting is a program much unlike any other handwriting program I have ever seen. It is unique in that it utilizes several senses at once incorporating hearing, moving, and speaking. It stresses mastery of basic strokes, a concept I have not found in other programs. The first day using it, just implementing a different way of holding the pencil and paper, made a huge difference in how Music Man made a basic stroke. Each basic stroke has a name and the name is what is chanted while actually making the stroke. We've all heard the cliche' it's just like riding a bike. Using multiple senses, the rhythm of this program trains the brain to do something (write) without having to think about forming the letters. He even chants the cute rhyme included to remind you how to hold the pencil.

Over and over you will see in the curriculum notes to the teacher NOT to allow the student to trace the letters with a pencil. In addition to the curriculum there are many items related to teaching handwriting on the website that are available free of charge to anyone who is interested. One I found particularly helpful was a presentation about why we as teachers should not allow children to trace letters with a pencil or crayon.

Peterson's 15-minutes-a-day philosophy also keeps my highly distracted ready to conquer the world and get on with it kids engaged just long enough they don't get bored. It is an easy program to implement once you understand the method for teaching. The entire program and lesson plans are even available online for viewing so you can see for yourself the benefits of the program!

There are several eBooks in the series available on the website as well as printed material. Materials are available for all ages ranges including Pre-K and Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade and Fourth Grade and Up. There are many additional resources available including online training sessions, pencils, wall charts, fonts and complete Homeschool Handwriting Kits! We specifically used the Grade One Print eBook which retails for $19.99 and allows you to print indefinitely from your computer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this review and plan to continue using Peterson as our curriculum this year. Music Man has made some great progress over the last month and I am confident he will continue to!

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge  for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Bathtime with the Daddy-Long-Legs

Farm Boy: There's a spider!!! A Daddy-Long-Legs!
Music Man: That's okay, (Farm Boy) Daddy will get it.
Farm Boy: No, it is a Granddaddy-Long-Legs!
Music Man: Well, then Granddaddy can get it!

RECIPE: Dawn's Very Best Buttermilk Waffles Recipe

When we moved to Georgia in February 2009, one of the traditions we picked up while staying with Jason's parents was Saturday morning waffles. They made them every Saturday morning while we were there and my boys loved them! After we got into our house, we were saddened that the tradition was ending since we did not have a waffle iron. After hearing the boys lament about not having waffles anymore (oh yes, it was that bad,) Jason's dad presented us with a waffle iron he had gotten off eBay and never used. The boys started jumping up and down and screaming - how had I deprived them for so long ..... lol! We went home that very night and made waffles and the boys were so excited! They wanted them "evvvvv-er-y day."


Then enters the cook in me.


I like waffles and enjoyed eating them with my family, but not to the extent that my boys did. Maybe it was because I grew up on Buttermilk Eggos and these just weren't them (not that I would eat them now since we don't eat processed foods with artificial flavors, colors and preservatives in them.) So began my hunt for the perfect waffle recipe. After a full year of hunting and experimenting, I finally came up with one we all LOVE!!! And it is better than Eggo® in my opinion! Serve up these babies with some pure maple syrup or my recipe for a simple frugal version and you are in business!!!


PS For those of you wishing you had a waffle iron so you could try them out, try Craigslist, Freecycle, yard sales and thrift stores. People sell them cheap!! I had stuff taking up room in my kitchen, but a waffle iron is just one of those appliances I will always make room for (at least as long as we carry out the Saturday morning waffle tradition!)


Dawn's Very Best Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash cinnamon (I use Penzey's!)
• 2 eggs , separated
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk (I use 1-1/2 c whole milk with a splash of white vinegar.)

Directions

1. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Separate the eggs, add the yolks to the dry and placing the whites in a small mixing bowl.
3. Beat egg whites until moderately stiff, set aside. (This makes very fluffy waffles! Do not skip this step!)
4. Add milk and oil to mixed dry ingredients and blend.
5. Pour stiff egg whites into mixture and fold gently.
6. Ladle mixture into hot waffle iron as directed by your model and bake.

 Enjoy!!!

Couch for Sale $50-SOLD!

Yes, you read that right. I really am selling my couch. I figured this is as good as an outlet as Craigslist and Facebook (which are both hosting my ads as well!) It is cute and looks great with those hot pink pillows!!! I have found something else I like better but have to get rid of this one to make room. (And I'm hoping this one goes before the one I want gets sold!)

TOS Review: Travel Kits

We are right smack dab in the middle of travel season. I am so thankful that I no longer have to trek seven hours one way (ALONE most years) with my boys to see our family in Georgia during the summer break. After moving back home to Georgia last year, those trips were shortened to less than 30 seconds to see my husband's parents and less than three hours to get to my mom's. We did, however, make the trip this year back to Mississippi to attend a wedding and visit friends. I am happy to report the trip was much more bearable than years past. Enter:The Travel Kit.

Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others from The Old Schoolhouse is a concept that allows both the giver and receiver to really have fun! The giver creates a travel kit to keep the kids happy with small trinkets (think DOLLAR STORE!!) snacks, books, games - the sky is the limit. It can cover all ages, all budgets and does not have to be super fancy! There were list upon list in this full-color eBook to spark ideas and get you going. I could not get over how many pictures were in the eBook showing samples of different kits! And if you know me at all, you know I love pictures! I was in heaven! :) I love the themed travel kits, too, such as a family traveling to the beach!

Traveling is often very stressful for parents (at least in my household!) since the kids are confined in a very small area without much to do.Travel Kits offer fun before the fun of the actual destination.

I had only a little time to prepare our travel kit before we left for Mississippi. We were also in a much smaller vehicle than what we were used to on a daily basis. I chose to keep the "happy bag" (as I called it) in the front with me and gave one item out every 60 miles. Usually when we stopped, I would get back to the car a few minutes before my boys and then place it in their booster seats. They never knew when I was going to put something in or hand them something as I did not present the Travel Kit to them before we left.

The Travel Kit allows for a lot of creativity and it turned out to be the best thing we ever did! I don't know that it would have been something I would have thought to purchase from The Old Schoolhouse Store, mainly because the pricetag of $12.45. However, I can tell you that it would have been worth every penny for my sanity years ago!! I had read on several occasions about putting together a bag with new fun items for a roadtrip, however, this takes that one step further in laying out how to present the items, when to give them and oh there are so many ideas I never would have thought of on my own!(Sometime one needs a little more direction than "get a few new toys for the road!")

In the future, I will definitely wrap the items as that would add to the excitement (I meant to for this trip but ran out of time!) In our kit for this trip from GA to MS: Rand McNally's Road Atlas for Kids, paint-your-own-pirate puppet with markers, yummy snacks, wooden shape bender, plastic snake, car bingo (printed from a travel website.)  I also had a list of kid games like BUZZ and I'm Going on a Bear Hunt - things I had not yet done with my kids since they are only at the age to enjoy those things now. I hit the jack-pot at a local craft store and found many of the items 50% off on the $1 table! Look for those kind of sales! You can also add library books or books on CD. Maybe even go in with another homeschool family and purchase some nicer things to share - things that are just for trips!


I received this product free of charge from The Old Schoolhouse  for the purpose of review, no other compensation was received.

Doorposts: Free If-Then Chart with any order! (EXPIRED)

Doorposts - Bible-Based Parenting and Character Training Material
As part of their ongoing 20th anniversary celebration, Doorposts is giving away their If-Then Charts for free with any size order! This offer ends July 31st!

From their website:

We wanted to be more consistent and more Biblical in the way we disciplined our children, and this was the solution. Three columns list ten common misbehaviors, relevant Bible verses, and space to write in agreed-upon consequences. With this tool, you'll know what to do, and your children will know what to expect!

To get your free chart, just use the coupon code FREECHART at checkout, and place your order by July 31st!

Doorposts - Bible-Based Parenting and Character Training Material