One Blessed Mamma

KinderBach Just Keeps Getting Better!

2012-02-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

As a member of the TOS Crew, I've had the chance to check out KinderBach twice before. The fact that I would check it out a third time speaks to how much I like it. I've thoroughly explained how their online piano lessons worked in my previous reviews HERE or HERE, so I give a brief review and then hit the changes.

KinderBach is an online or DVD based beginning piano program. Currently, it is 60 weeks long, with four 7ish minutes long lessons in each week. There will be 10 more lessons coming soon. We have reviewed the online version only, but my understanding is that they are the same as the DVD offerings. KinderBach is targeted toward children ages 2-7 and is available for home or classroom use. Included with the online version and on the DVDs are the workbooks that go with the videos and help reinforce the lessons. They are covered in the course of watching the video to ensure the student understands. You can view a video at this link about how KinderBach works.

The Pros: I've never, ever met someone who regretted learning to play piano and to read music. And KinderBach begins teaching these lessons in a way children can understand easily. My almost 7 year old LOVES KinderBach and will do a week's worth of lessons at a time because she can't get enough. Everything you need for these lessons is right there, and all the glitches I experienced in my past reviews were gone. I downloaded the entire workbook and printed it out first, so the pages were at hand, and I had NO problems with the videos loading in and running promptly. But the best "pro"? KinderBach keeps getting better. The largest stumbling block in the past to having KinderBach be really successful was the fact that you had to have a computer very close to your piano, or have a portable keyboard that you could move close to your computer. But the folks at KinderBach are working toward making their videos "smart device friendly" and you can already watch all the lessons via iPad. So now, you can just set the iPad on the piano and watch the lesson right there. It's brilliant!

The cons: I don't have any.

The Bottom Line: My daughter loves KinderBach. She runs around the house singing the songs and begs to do more lessons. In terms of value, KinderBach can't be beat. If you pay by the month, it is $19.99 a month. Paying by the year takes that down to $7.99 a month. As someone with an older child who took piano for years, I can tell you his lessons were $20 for 30 minutes and each book was about $8 (there were 4 books per level). So you can do the math, but you can't beat KinderBach's value. Will your child be a virtuoso when they are done? No. But they will have a great background in piano theory and they will know, by the end of the program, where the notes are on the keyboard and when the next set of lessons is out, they will even know where they are on the staff, (i.e. be able to read music). And the icing on the cake is a special discount code just for YOU, my readers. If you use "TOScrew2012" you will get 30% off any order! The code is good for a YEAR, and can be used for either the online or DVD versions!!!

To learn more about Kinderbach's piano program for young children follow the link. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received free online access to KinderBach so that I could provide this review. That limited time access was the only compensation I received.

We Choose Virtues Review

2012-01-22T23:37:00.000-05:00

We Choose Virtues is a company created by Heather McMillan out of her desire to help children reach their potential. She created a list of 12 character defining virtues and catchphrases to go with them. Each one also has an adorable character to go with it, such as Hat Matt or Cake Jake whose short stories help reinforce the virtue. Each virtue has an affirmative statement (i.e. I am Helpful) and the defining catchphrase (I find things that need to be done and I do them!). There is also a negative example provided (I am NOT...selfish, lazy, or unwilling to serve, and I don't have to be asked!). All this information is available in a variety of tools that help to reinforce the lessons. The system works like this: You introduce a virtue and demonstrate it, they memorize the catchphrase, they learn the antonyms, and you catch them demonstrating the virtue...or not. We Choose Virtues offers many, many tools to accomplish these goals. Below are some of the tools I received.
These cards are packaged in a small plastic pocket making them portable for use anywhere and anytime. Each card focuses on one virtue and contains the character, virtue, catchphrase and antonym on one side, and a challenge (For the "Helpful" card it is: Choose to find extra things that need to be done, and do them without needing to be asked!) on the other. They are currently on sale for 5.99, which is 25% off.
To me, this handbook is essential. Without it, I have cute little cards in a pocket. With it, I have ideas about HOW to use the cards to train my children up using the virtues I think are important to make them into people other people want to be around. But more importantly, I can use this virtue training to shape them into people whose behavior honors God. It is $4.99 for a downloadable version or $19.99 for a hardcopy.
The coloring book is downloadable and features one page for each virtue's character, as well as a few pages of activities. It is $3.00.
The assessment is free and can be used by each child to self-assess how they are doing with each virtue before training begins and then after using the system.

Because We Choose Virtues's products are not just geared toward homeschoolers, kits are available for schools, churches, families, parents, and homeschoolers. Most products are also available in two versions-one faith based containing scripture and one not.

The pros: These products are simple yet effective. As I said before, the Teacher's Manual is essential in my opinion. The catchphrases work, as do the negative examples. The illustrations of the characters are just darling.

The cons: I would not encourage you to take the cheap way out and order only the products I wrote about unless you are innately creative in coming up with the teaching process and application on your own. I think the parent or teacher cards have a more complete plan for implementation that, combined with the teacher's manual, would give you more "bang for the buck".

The bottom line: I don't think any one will argue the importance of things like helpfulness, kindness, diligence, persistence, gentleness, contentedness, etc. But knowing they are important and knowing how to train children to BE them are two different things. I think We Choose Virtues has a wonderful way to do just that.

To see all the products available from We Choose Virtues, go HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a hard copy of the virtue cards, as well as downloads of the coloring book, teacher's manual, and assessment for free. Those products were necessary to write this review, and are the only compensation I received.

Movie Review and Giveaway- A Mile in His Shoes

2012-01-17T23:06:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! My first ever blog giveaway! And boy, what a treat you are in for!

A Mile in His Shoes is an inspiring movie from gmc based on the book "The Legend of Mickey Tussler". It is brought to you by the director of "Angels in the Outfield" and is the story of an 18 year old boy Mickey with Aspergers Syndrome who has spent his whole life on his family's farm where he has had plenty of time to hone his apple throwing skills. But Mickey's life is about to change when minor league baseball manager Arthur Murphy's map reading mishap lands him in a ditch in front of the Tussler family farm. While "Murph" borrows the phone, he spies Mickey hurling apples with some serious "heat" and suddenly Mickey's future is looking very promising. An overbearing father, jealous teammate, autism related quirks, and an old rival add enough drama to this "feel good" movie to make it believable (my kids were convinced it must be based on a true story), and faith is a real, but definitely subtle, component. All in all, A Mile in His Shoes is a good, clean family movie that everyone will enjoy. And since everyone who knows me knows sports aren't really my thing, you know the movie must be good if I'm recommending it even though the story revolves around baseball! And if you watch it, I know you'll find yourself root, root, rooting for the home team too.

A Mile in His Shoes stars Dean Cain and Luke Schroder (son of Rick Schroder) and is available on DVD HERE. You can read a review by the Dove Foundation HERE. Or check out the Youtube click below:

Want to win a copy of A Mile in His Shoes? Just enter via the rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one of more of the products of services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Welcome to our four ring circus!

2012-01-15T23:22:00.000-05:00

This week, my fellow Crew members and I are inviting you along on a blog cruise and welcoming all of you into a day in our lives....

You know those homeschoolers who start their day before the sun rises, grinding wheat and making homemade bread while simultaneously doing 5 loads of laundry and walking 3 miles and spending an hour with the Lord...all before their precious children crack open an eyelid? Well, that's NOT me :-).

A typical day in our "academy" begins at different times for different kids. Sari, who is almost 7, wakes uncannily around the same time I do, no matter how quiet I am or what hour I wake. Most days, that's around 7ish. She ~~cons her daddy into making breakfast~~ spends some quality time with her father over waffles while I spend some quality time with God. Usually sometime during that process TJ wakes up and joins the craziness. Scott and Mimi would, given the chance, sleep the morning away, but I usually wake them before Sari and I head downstairs to our basement-turned-schoolroom and begin her day. We go down first because most of her work requires the two of us working together. We start with Leading Little Ones to God and then she does Reading Made Easy for reading and Right Start Level B for math. She is the slowest, most distractable student known to man and this can sometimes take us ALL MORNING. Sometime during all this, the older 3 join us.

We use workboxes, which have single-handedly changed our homeschooling. Because each year my kids get older, and the mantle of responsibility for their education gets heaver, I've found myself in a place this year where I feel like I spend my entire week-end planning for the school week coming up. See, I'm keeping it real. I'd love to tell you after 9 years of doing this I have it all figured out, but I just don't. I'm getting better at it all the time, but this year has really bogged me down planning wise! Anyway, I spend each week-end creating a schedule for each of them for the whole week and prepping their work into folders (organized by day/child) so that each morning when Sari and I go downstairs, I just fill their boxes with the paperwork or materials they need for each subject. Then they can begin work when they come down.

Once Sari and I are at some sort of stopping point and all 3 older kids are downstairs, we break to our Sentence of the Day challenge. It is the single BEST thing I have done this year! I'm using this book. I write one grammatically incorrect sentence on the white board and the older three (10, 12, and 14) commence with figuring out what is wrong with it. They have taken this to a highly competitive level. The prize? I do their "daily" chore. See they have daily upkeep chores every day in the room that is their responsibility, but each day has an extra chore too-and that's the one I do for the winner. After someone finds all the mistakes in the sentence, I teach the grammar behind it to all of them, and after that we pray for our day. Then, it's back to work.

Scott, who is 14 and on the Autism Spectrum and a little delayed, is doing Sonlight Core 100, Teaching Textbooks 7, Apologia General Science and lapbook, vocabulary from an SAT prep, Precept Discover 4 Yourself-2 Timothy, visual Latin, and a cursive writing drill book.

Mimi is 12 and is also doing Sonlight Core 100 and Apologia General Science and lapbook. She does Math Mammoth for math, Precept (the new study starts Tuesday, so I don't know what book yet), Visual Latin, cursive from Handwriting Without Tears, All About Spelling, First Language Lessons Level 3, and Read Live, which has single-handedly upped her reading pace by about 40 words per minute in just 3 months.

TJ is 10 and does Math Mammoth, cursive from HWOT, All About Spelling, First Language Lessons 3, Sonlight Core D+E, and Apologia Land Animals of the 6th day and lapbook. Oh, and Precept. He's finishing 2 Timothy also.

Each of them does what they can do independently while I am busy with whatever sibling is at a place where they need me. Just before lunch, I do FLL or AAS (we alternate days) with Mimi and TJ. Every other day, I read science aloud to TJ and Sari together. The day after that, TJ has lapbook work to do that goes with what we read. Mimi needs me to do parts of Read Live with her, so usually that's an after lunch activity. Beyond that, I check their work as they complete it, and have them correct it right away. We don't do "grades"-I want them to actually get the right answer! And between Core 100 and D+E, we always have some read-aloud going on that gets pigeon holed into the day. Oh, and of course any product we are using for the Crew has to squeeze in there somewhere!

And what is Sari doing during all this, since she's done with most of her work? Her current love is Reading Eggs-an online program that works on reading skills. She also has handwriting to do (HWOT printing), and usually some sort of worksheet type activities I can pull out for her when she clamors for more.

I'd love to say our school day ends at 2:30ish, but I'd be fibbing. We take a decent lunch "break" for chores and a little quiet time, but the trade off means our afternoons go long-usually 4:30ish. Sari's excused from the after lunch work, but she prefers to hang with us anyway. Our new schoolroom pet, a hamster named Rascal, may have something to do with that.

Of course, all of the above assumes that any day is "typical", which all homeschoolers know it not very likely! But it's what I aim for at least. Like any multi-ring circus, it's a juggling act, and there's never a dull moment. But I wouldn't have it any other way.Thanks for joining me for the cruise. Go HERE to see what a day is like for some of my other Crewmates.

Z-Guides to the Movies- Johnny Tremain

2012-01-10T21:39:00.001-05:00

Zeezok Publishing was established in 2003 and they strive to " to provide quality literature and educational books for use in training the next generation" because they "believe it is better to build children than to repair men". To that end, they have a series called Z-Guides which are meant to be used to incorporate media (specifically movies) into any curriculum. Currently, there are dozens of Z-Guides available for movies across the spectrum of topics and age ranges. Twenty five more Z-Guides are set to be released this spring.

Each Z Guide starts with a topic overview which gives historical insight and a movie summary that you read before watching the movie. The first time you watch the movie, there are questions to answer as you watch. After the movie, there are 9 other activities to complete. They are interdisciplinary, and vary according to each specific guide, but each one has some sort of hands on activity, a worldview activity that inspires critical thinking, a film maker's art activity that talks about how the techniques used in making the movie impact the viewer, and a family discussion section for everyone to have the chance to weigh in. Some guides ask the student to do some outside research, or feature memory work, or even public performance activities, and many of the activities cannot be answered by watching the movie, so the student is forced to research the topic for themselves and not just accept what they have seen as truth.

The guide we received was for Johnny Tremain, and is geared toward Middle School. It deals with topics like the events leading up to the American Revolution, dealing with false accusations, handling disappointment, and self-sacrificing for the greater good. There were lots of historically focused activities regarding some of the main characters in the movie, a memorization option, questions regarding where the events took place, and even some coloring sheets for artistic students (or for younger siblings). There are 10 main activities, and they are meant to be done 2 a day over the course of a week, but of course, that is entirely up to you.

The pros: We live in a day and age where media is part of our children's lives, and the Z-Guides allow you to incorporate many of the wonderful movies that are available in the way you always wanted to...if you only had the time to preview every movie and come up with all the activities yourself. But since you don't, the Z-Guides do it for you! These guides really bring out all the educational aspects of the movies. My kids especially enjoyed learning more about James Otis and some of the more thought provoking questions like discussing whether Johnny "deserved" his injury because of breaking the Sabbath.

The cons: There isn't one for every movie! Really. That would be my "con".

The bottom line: I really am thankful for Z-Guides. They are well written and researched so that they bring out the best educational opportunities in movies that supplement almost any course of study. They are $12.99 each, so I will have to add to my collection on an as-needed basis, but it's definitely worth it to me to have someone else do the work I wish I could do to make the most of these movie resources.

To check out all the different Z-Guides that are available, or to see other offerings from Zeezok Publishing, go HERE. To see what other members of the Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free download of the Z-Guide for Johnny Tremain so that I could provide my honest review. That e-product was the only compensation I received.

Legoland...and the last "catch up" post of 2011

2012-01-04T09:18:00.000-05:00

We had the chance to go with our homeschool group to the recently opened Legoland here in FL. It's not particularly close to us, but worth the drive to get in on a $5 a person school group rate! And best of all, the Hubs got to come with us.

Legoland is built on the old Cypress Gardens, and they left part of the gardens intact. This is an amazing Banyan tree that would really be worth the visit for that alone!

I promise Scott was there for more than the first picture and the last, but he was having "a day" and didn't prove to be very photogenic ;-). In all fairness, the park is really geared toward a slightly younger crowd, and it was the week between Christmas and New Year, which is the busiest week of the year for theme parks. The wait on many rides was 90 minutes or more, so there were some things we just chose not to do, but we were able to do enough to make it worth the drive.

Oh, since this is the last 2011 post, I should end with the fact that Mimi went to spend the weekend with RM the day after Legoland (for RM's b-day)...and she's still there! I pick her up today after lunch. Boy, do I miss that girl when she's not here!

Catching Up With Friends

2012-01-04T09:02:00.000-05:00

Before 2011 ended, we had the chance to get together with some friends who live out of state but were here for the holidays. We met them and Marie's family at what seems to be our favorite park :-).

Since we hadn't seen them in 2 years, and not all the kids are really "plugged in" to keep in touch electronically, it was good for the kids to catch up, and for the moms too!

The rest of Christmas 2011

2012-01-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

After church, we all gathered at my mom's house. By "we all", I mean, we ALL. This is a joint affair that includes my siblings and their families, my husband's parents, his sister and her family, my ex-step-father, and sometimes even my brother-in-law's dad, although not this year. Oh, and Plum-a friend of my brother's who is from Thailand. He comes to Christmas with us and is like a member of the family. Our traditional brunch was replaced this year with a real lunch since the Hubs's parents got a great deal on a beef tenderloin that would feed 20 :-).

After lunch, we do our gifts for the neices and nephews, and then a "Chinese" gift exchange (you know, where you draw numbers and can steal from others, etc.) for the adults, which greatly decreases the madness of trying to buy just the right thing for all those people!

I knew my kids were getting quite the blessing this year with their gifts, and it was a very HAPPY Christmas for them.

TJ got the Ninjago set he really wanted

And a 5 pound gummy bear!

Mimi got a Cake Pop maker

Scott got a Wave 360-his old Ripstick was stolen

And Sari got Kanani-the 2011 American Girl doll (who had already gone through a clothing change by the time I got this picture).

Sari's best gift though was time with Plum

And Aunt Sheila....

And Uncle Craig...

My mom got these cool sunglasses

My sister and her husband (and mom in the background)

Sari's gorgeous dress, princess hair, and a tree surrounded by promises and potential ;-)

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-04T08:21:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning is always just our family at our house. The kids get three gifts from us, and their stockings (which my little one believes comes from Santa despite us never having mentioned Santa to her intentionally). The kids also buy gifts for each other with the girls combining to buy for the boys this year, and vice versa. Oh, and Daddy always gets each child a little something just from him :-). After we opened our gifts (the rule was DO NOT come into my room before 7 AM. Ha! As if!), we had Skier's French Toast for breakfast and headed to church for a family worship service.

The OTHER thing I was doing Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T07:59:00.001-05:00

Was finishing these (adding the stick and ribbon to hang them by)...
We decided kind of last minute to make a gift for each family unit in our family. Mimi had made a batik banner in the fall at Kiwi's house, and I had everything on hand to do it, so I figured we would do the same thing on a smaller scale for everyone. The problem? I loved them all SO much, it was hard to give them away...and only making 6 meant not having even one left for us :-(. I think we'll be making more of these for each holiday...for us to keep! Below you can see what each of our creations looked like.

Sari's

Tyler's

Mine

Sari and I together

Scott

Mimi's

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-04T07:47:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve day was our day to spend with Aunt Sheila and Uncle Craig. In a remarkable turn of events, I had actually gotten all the gifts wrapped ahead of time, and so the day was free of last minute wrapping pressures. I'll have to make an earnest effort to have that happen every year! But back to Craig and Sheila. We spent the day playing games-or at least they did. I still had some cooking to do for Christmas. They played on the Mario Party on the game cube, and Star Wars ~~Monotony~~ , I mean Monopoly, in real life. Then we went to a local park in the afternoon, and the Hubs parents for dinner (they always host a Christmas Eve stew event).

Mimi decided to practice some Lyra skills

And once Mimi started...

Aunt Sheila joined in

The "royal" wave

Christmas Cookies

2012-01-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

Every year, my family gets together to make Christmas cookies. This year, my brother and his wife were in town too (they are here every other Christmas) so the kids especially enjoyed the day. Here are some pictures:

Molasses Cookies

White Velvet Cookies

Berliner Kranzes...YUM!

She LOVES her Aunt and Uncle

So while the cookies were baking, the boys enjoyed a little outdoor entertainment. The race consisted of running downhill, kicking off the house, and running back up hill as fast as you can. As you can see, Uncle Craig does not believe in throwing the race :-).

My mom also had several sticker plants growing in her yard. This one was Audrey's younger sister (from Little Shop of Horrors). VERY big and scary! Mom decided to dig them out while we were there and every time we removed one, we found 2 more.

After cookie making was done, we had some dinner and played some games. I caught the youngest cousins playing battleship, and everyone else played a cut throat game of Clue.

Christmas Pageant part 2

2012-01-02T20:03:00.000-05:00

The kids also had the chance to go to a local nursing home and perform the Christmas Pageant again. Aunt Sheila and Uncle Craig were in town, so they came to watch along with Aunt Laurie.

The kids sang Christmas songs to the residents before the pageant began, and had to really be flexible with their "stage" and backstage accomodations, but they did a great job. I stayed "backstage" to help Aunt Fanny as much as I could since she got hit by a CAR in a parking lot just before the holidays and has a broken leg. That's her leg above...oh, and the angels ;-).

Gingerbread Houses

2012-01-02T19:56:00.000-05:00

Our local library held gingerbread houses decorating for the kids every year for years and years. Then a series of circumstances meant that they had to stop offering it. Until this year. And we just happened to me at the library the day that the sign-ups opened, so we JUMPED at the chance to sign up. The houses are really graham crackers, but the results are just as satisfying to the kids. Since Mimi spent the night with a friend the night before, we took her along with us, and thanks to some "no-shows" she was able to decorate a house too, and even bring 2 home to her younger siblings.

Universal for the Holidays

2012-01-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

Having Universal passes this year has really confirmed for me that I'm a Disney girl at heart (except for the butterbeer at Universal...I could develop a serious addiction to the frozen butterbeer). But since we have these passes, we decided to head to Universal and check out their holiday stuff. We also wanted to checkout Jaws, since that ride is closing (today I think) for good. In all, we had a good day, and an impromptu trip to first aid (we needed a band-aid after Scott reopened a cut when he bumped it on the Mummy rollercoaster) meant we had front row seats for the Christmas parade featuring some of the Macy's balloons which made Sari very happy :-).

These are the BIGGEST acorns I've ever seen. Really. About 2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. CRAZY!

Christmas Pageant

2012-01-02T09:03:00.001-05:00

On the SAME day as Montley's Manor, our church also had it's first ever Christmas Pageant. Mimi was a narrator and sang a duet, TJ was a wise man, and Sari was an angel. Here are a few pictures from that:

We were trying to get ONE nice group shot...

Typical, isn't it?

Below is Mimi and her friend singing their duet the morning of the pageant for our servants' worship service (for all the folks who are serving in Children's ministry during the actual service).

The Treasure of Montley's Manor

2012-01-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

In the beginning of December, the CCYT (Christian Community Youth Theatre) presented The Treasure of Montley's Manor. The ladies who run CCYT have done a music camp for YEARS at a local church, and when a change in leadership meant a change in programming, they took their week-long camp and turned it into an ongoing theatre program. Miss Paula, one of the ladies in charge, wrote The Treasure of Montley's Manor, and it was fabulous. Poor old Montley is dead, his manor has been turned into an orphanage, and everyone is trying to find the treasure he was rumored to leave behind...and eventually they succeed, but the treasure is NOT what they expect. This one provides not monetary gain, but eternal life-it's his Bible. The show had a great message, and the kids did a wonderful job. Mimi (in the pink poodle skirt) had a much bigger part than I had realized, and sadly, I almost missed out on having any pictures as the batteries on one camera were dead and I didn't have a memory card for the other! Oiy! But a friend from church came to the rescue, so here are a few photos from the second half.

Not only does the show have a great message, but CCYT is such a positive group. They did the show for free, and the money collected as a love offering went to a local charity (after expenses for the show were covered-the ladies running it paid for everything up front out of their own pockets and don't charge anything for the kids to participate!). The kids who participate also volunteer at the same local charity. What a blessing!

Catch-Up, the Holiday Version

2012-01-02T07:48:00.000-05:00

Ready for some rapid-fire posts? I can't believe how much has gone by without me blogging about it over the past few weeks, but I guess it's because we were busy LIVING the past few weeks :-). Hopefully today, I'll get a whole bunch of pictures up of all our holiday events.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T00:18:00.000-05:00

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

On a night in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, as part of a plan of salvation that only the Creator of the world Himself could have thought of, Jesus, the Christ, was born that we might have hope and a future. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords took on a new name that night- Emmanuel. God with us. The hope He offers is for everyone who believes and the future He gives is eternal. As we celebrate this holiday season, let us remember the Babe whose birth was the greatest gift of all.

Merry CHRISTmas!

The World's Greatest Stories Review

2011-12-21T08:32:00.000-05:00

We are a family who LOVES audio books and dramatic stories. My children fall asleep each night listening to something. When we travel any distance in the car, we listen to stories. So you have to know I jumped at the chance to review The World's Greatest Stories!

The World's Greatest Stories are CDs or tapes that feature the storytelling talents of actor George W. Sarris. Using only his voice and some dramatic background sounds and music, Mr. Sarris brings the Word of God to life. The World's Greatest Stories aren't retellings of Bible stories. Rather, the stories' texts are taken word for word from the Bible (you have your choice as to translations-KJV or NIV). Each volume is roughly an hour long, and contains multiple stories. We received Volume 1: The Prophets (NIV) which contains Daniel 3-The Blazing Furnace, Daniel 5 The Handwriting on the Wall, Daniel 6- Daniel in the Lion's Den, 1 Kings 17-18-Eiljah and the Prophets of Baal, and the book of Jonah- the Prophecy of Jonah.

The pros: These stories are amazing to listen to! Mr. Sarris has a gift, that is certain. His use of different voices and dialects makes the stories come to life. He memorizes each story and knows it so well that all the subtle nuances come through. You actually feel like you are in the story. And yet he adds nothing to God's word that isn't already there. I especially appreciate that this is a ministry to Mr. Sarris and his family, and the cost is kept at an affordable $7.95 for each CD or tape.

The cons: None. This product is exactly what it says it is.

The bottom line: If you want to experience scripture that literally comes alive, you need to check out The World's Greatest Stories. If you go to this link HERE, you can see all the different volumes and the stories they contain. You can also listen to samples from each one. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received one copy of the Volume 1 CD for the purpose of giving my honest review. This CD is the only compensation I received.

Changed my header

2011-12-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

Or at least the frame and photo in it...what do you think? I miss the more ethereal openness of the other frame, but I like having each child in an independant picture that I can change out...

This is what happy looks like!

2011-12-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

For the past month or so, Sari had been talking nonstop about wanting to get her ears pierced. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we went shopping for the girls' Christmas clothes (with Nana and Pop Pop) and Sari got her wish.

Who knew little rhinestone blue flowers could make a girl so happy?

Finding a new normal

2011-12-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

Back in the middle of September, I received some news that no mother ever wants to get. The kind of news that turns your world upside down...like being washed overboard in a storm and trying to find your way back up to the surface only to find it rolling with 20 foot waves that crash over you and push you under over and over again. Some of you readers have known the details of this situation, some have known only that we were going through something and needed prayer, and some probably knew nothing at all-except that a personal post on my blog hasn't happened since before the day I got the news...

We've spent the past 3 months now trying to find a new "normal". And though our "Job-like" trials have been very hard, God has been very, very faithful. He will never leave us or forsake us. Through it all, I have sung His praises because He is worthy to be praised. He has been the only constant in my ever changing life during this trial. But He has used many people to help me through it, whether physically or prayerfully, and if you are one of those people I thank you for it from the bottom of my heart.

My life will never be the same again. That's just the reality. But I do still have a life, and I'm commanded to live it in a way that gives glory to God. So, I'm moving forward. And I'm reclaiming my blog as a place for not just product reviews but the chronicles of our life. It feels weird to do. It's been very hard because people, well they judge you. If you are too sad...you have no right to be that way. This tragedy impacted many people, and another family even harder than my own, so I have no right to be upset. But if you are too happy...you have no right to feel that way either. You are making light of the situation. Certainly not taking it seriously. But God's word tells us that we awake each morning because He sustained us. That He has a plan and purpose for our lives. And that we are to chose JOY in the trials. So I am trusting God. Taking Him at His word that He has a purpose for all this, and living my life holding fast to the Word of life. And I think that includes living victorious over these schemes of the devil and treating each day as a gift, and living it as someone who is blessed and rejoicing, and in all things trying to conduct myself in a manner worthy of the gospel- it's good news, and I want to live my life to reflect that!

I See Cards Fractazmic Review

2011-12-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

I first heard of I See Cards last year when some lucky Crew members got to review another game of theirs. Sadly, I wasn't one of those reviewers, but I See Cards had a generous offer to teachers last year, and I was able to get Pyramath and Prime Bomb, which are both great math related games that my kids love to play. So when the chance to review another game from them came up, I jumped at the opportunity!

Fractazmic is a card game that teaches students numbers, fractions, and measurements.

The cards are divided into 3 "families" that are color coded, as you can see above. The blue cards are fractions in the 12ths, 6ths, 4ths, 3rds, and halves. The green ones are 10ths, 5ths, and halves. And the red ones are 16ths, 8ths, 4ths, and halves. As in the classic card game, Rummy, the goal is to make "books" out of the cards you are dealt. However, in the case of Fractazmic, a book is a set of cards whose fractions add up to "1". Sound easy? Well, it's not, because the fraction card have mixed denominators and various numerators. That means one book could contain the cards 1/8, 1/4, 1/4, 3/16, and 3/8. There's an awful lot of computation involved in that- even for adults! Thankfully, the cards contain very helpful graphics on them to help students (and their teachers) figure out what the value of their card is in terms of the greatest common denominator. And it's because of those graphics that students can easily see the relationship between fractions and measuring in a "real world" way. So, as the folks at I See Cards like to say:

The Pros: The cards are well made, and my other, older decks from I See Cards have stood up to a lot of use, and even some abuse. The graphics are very cute and more importantly, very useful in the playability of the game. In fact, once my daughter figured out how to make use of them, she was finally able to start making books and even tied with me. My 10 year old son "got it" instantly and begs to play the game over and over. He says it makes him feel smart, and I know it's teaching him more about fractions than any worksheet ever could.

The cons: This game does have a learning curve- not for the rules, but for the development of the math skills to be able to easily see the "1" with so many options. So while it teaches fractions in a fun, in depth sort of way, my non-math-inclined daughter found the game discouraging, and I had to make separate fraction charts for her that plainly showed the comparisons of each fraction family. And my 6 year old, who generally insists on playing any game we play, was very sad to see that this game really is beyond her ability for now. On the flip side, I am sure the more we play it, the easier it will get for my oldest daughter, and she will understand fractions in a way that eludes her now. And my youngest will learn it through osmosis as the older kids begin to "get it" and see the "1s" more and more quickly. The only other con I have is that the graphic for the 16th family is a half inch, which in the end, really only illustrates HALF the solution. That confused my 12 year old more than once as she would think she had a book because the illustrations filled up the whole graphic, but forget that on those cards, the graphic is only showing half of the "1". (For example, look at the red-rimmed card above. The 1/4 is clearly covering HALF of the graphic, but that's not the WHOLE "1". It takes 4- 1/4s to make a "1", but the picture seems to indicate it only takes 2. Yet with the other two families, the graphic actually shows the whole "1" needing to be filled (a liter water bottle and an egg carton, each with 10 and 12 units respectively.)

The bottom line: We've been very happy with all the card games we've played from I See Cards. My kids have learned more about prime numbers from Prime Bomb than they ever knew before, and Pyramath is so versatile and gives them a math workout equal to their level of knowledge. Fractazmic is taking a little longer to catch on, I think because it is actually just harder for my children to see fractions with different denominators and know which ones add up to one. But I think that knowledge is important, and I can't imagine they'd rather learn it any other way.

You can order Fractazmic (or either of the other two games I mentioned) for $6.95 per deck HERE. To read what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received Fractazmic for free in order to be able to write this review. That card game was the only compensation I received.

Pitsco Seige Machines Review

2011-12-07T07:23:00.002-05:00

Pitsco is a company that has been around for over 40 years, and is focused on helping teachers and students succeed in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). They produce STEM related curriculum, kits, teacher guides, and classroom tools. And when they asked the TOS Crew to review the Medieval Machines Kit, you know I jumped at the chance!

The Medieval Machines Kit features everything you need to build a catapult and a trebuchet, as well as clay to use as your "ammunition", and a book filled with the history of the machines as well as science, technology, engineering, and math problems to work out that are related to each one. The kit arrives as shown above. The wood pieces have been cut through cleanly, and are easy to remove. Once glued together (using wood glue or super glue) according to the instructions provided, the machines are quite sturdy and strong. The finished catapult is about 6 inches long by 5 inches tall (with the arm fully released), and 2 1/2 inches wide. It's the perfect size to pack some punch, but still be manageable but students of any age. The trebuchet is about 10 inches long by almost 14 inches tall (with the arm fully released) by 2 1/2 inches wide. It too is quite powerful but still a manageable size even for younger students. The book contains activities such as comparing the mass of different sized ammunition verses the distance that ammunition is thrown by the catapult, or converting from English units (Imperial units) to Metric, or calculating averages, just to name a few.

The pros: The catapult was very easy to put together, and was my children's hands-down favorite. They immediately set about to create targets to land the ammunition in, an activity which delighted my 6 year old to no end. Of course, she also enjoyed the Klean Klay that Pitsco uses for the ammunition and made full use of its modeling capabilities to craft a tea pot and tea cups...which her brothers promptly launched across the room via the catapult. So, given that similar occurrences undoubtedly happened in history with anything that wasn't tied down becoming ammunition, I'd say we had success even before we opened the book! The trebuchet requires a little more finesse to load and launch, so it had a bit of a learning curve, but to be honest, I think it's a WAY cooler machine! Because you can vary the counter-weight and its placement, and the ammunition mass on the trebuchet, there are endless variables to try. And while Pitsco sternly warns against it, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that, with 2 boys in my house, more than a few lego men were launched in the testing of these machines ;-).

The cons: The only thing I'd have to relay is that my husband reported the trebuchet was much harder to put together, and he felt like the instructions weren't clear enough. I left assembly to him, but at one point when his frustration peaked, I did find myself wrapping string around the end of the trebuchet and gluing my fingers pretty nicely in the process. Thankfully, we were using wood glue so my fingers weren't permanently stuck, but at that point, a dot of superglue would actually have probably have saved us a good of time and frustration since it is much faster acting.

The bottom line: This kit is really, really cool. The timing couldn't have been better for us, as my daughter was just studying simple machines in science when our kit arrived. The experiments in the Seige Machines book are great and definitely enhance the educational value of the kit, as it suggests things I never would have thought of to do. And the kit is very reasonable- $21.95 for both machines and the book! Pitsco also sent us an extra box of Klean Klay, and that was very helpful as ammunition used outside tends to pick up dirt and grass, etc. And ammunition used inside, at least in my house, tends to pick up dog hair, cat hair, or be turned into teapots :-). I can't wait to check out some of Pitsco's other kits!

You can purchase the Medieval Machines Kit HERE for $21.95. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received one Medieval Machines Kit and one box of Klean Klay for free for the purpose of being able to give an honest review of these products. Those materials were the only compensation I received.

El Espanol Facil Review

2011-12-05T08:29:00.000-05:00

El Espanol Facil (The Easy Spanish) and Le Francais Facile are curriculums published by Great Commission Languages- a company owned by the Sherwood family who are homeschoolers with a passion for equipping Christians to be able to carry out the Great Commission (going out to the world and proclaiming the gospel).

The TOS Crew was offered our choice of which language we wanted to review, and I have to admit my gut was French. I studied French for 5 years, and I know the grammar, pronunciations, and sentence structure. But we live in Florida, and there is a large Hispanic population. So if ever a language was going to serve us-whether for the mission field or just for understanding the people at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Spanish was the way to go!

El Espanol Facil is written from a Christian perspective and includes scripture memorization in Spanish, although that is an optional component. Here are the specifics of the program taken from the Great Commission Languages website:

•Phonetic, incremental, conversational Spanish & high frequency words

•Spanish Scripture, songs, games and coloring pages

•Great for homeschool co-op groups

•Digitally mastered enhanced CD for audio and computer

•Printable activity sheets: no purchasing consumable activity books or photocopying.

•Teaches language and grammar through literature based entertaining storylines

•Does not require prior knowledge of Spanish

•Set outline of skills per quarter

•3 year program for younger students

•1 to 2 year program for older students and 1 year Fast track option for teens

•Cultural flavor of Mexico and South America with optional projects

•Use of Tomatis and SAMONAS sound theories to facilitate learning

•Follows Charlotte Mason Method, Bloom's Taxonomy and high order theories by Dr. Jeanne Chall

•Edited by and featuring the recorded voices of Native Spanish Speakers from Nicaragua and Venezuela

El Espanol Facil can be used by students as young as 3rd grade and all the way up through adults. It can even count as high school foreign language credit. For young learners, it is designed to be a 3 year course, and older students can do it in one year. Independent learners fall somewhere between the two timelines. Each lesson features a story told in a "Spanish weave"- a blend of Spanish and English. After the story is a vocabulary section that lists each vocabulary word introduced in the story and gives its masculine and feminine forms (if applicable). The stories and vocabulary, as well as songs, Bible verses, and other lesson components are all recorded by native speakers on CDs that are included in the curriculum. These CDs also contain printable materials for the course. Once your student listens to the CD lesson and vocabulary, there are activities that go along with that lesson for them to do depending on their age. These activities are presented in a Charlotte Mason style. For younger students they include easy pages based on the lesson as well as some additional materials about Spanish culture and idioms for the teacher to present. For independent learners, they are guided through their activities in a special section of each lesson.

The pros: The program is adaptable to many ages, and the materials are not consumable. Once purchased, the license is owned by the family, and can be used by all the students in it. The native speakers speak slowly and clearly, and the lessons are short but focused.

The cons: I want to love this program, but so far, I'm just not. I am all about Charlotte Mason, but this may be too Charlotte Mason-y for me...or at least for my child. The stories are told in a Spanish/English blend (with both being used even in the same sentence) so the child can derive meaning, and vocabulary given after the story does give definition, but very little of the "traditional" foreign language learning methods such as verb conjugations or practice exercises are given. Worksheets have asked for answers to vocabulary the student hasn't been introduced to yet-they are supposed to figure it out in context. Worse still, worksheets have been wrong-asking for the names of one hermano (brother) and two hermanas (sisters) for a character that actually has one sister and two hermanos. I caught that, but not knowing a word of Spanish besides what Dora the Explorer has taught me, I am wary of having to proofread a foreign language activity when I don't speak the language. (I do want to say that their customer service and the owners themselves have been GREAT about getting back to me with my questions.) I also found a mistake in the appendix. At least I assume it's a mistake, since I don't speak Spanish, but in Appendix B #4 says, "'J' is pronounced h [jaca (pony)], but h in Mexico." I THINK it should read, "'J' is pronounced k [jaca (pony)], but h in Mexico." Again, that sentence just seemed wrong to me, so I checked the pronunciation guide, but as a non-speaker of the language, I'm trusting the book to get it right! The biggest con to me is that so far, I haven't really seen my son (who I want to note is enjoying the program and doing all the work willingly) pick up anything. He seems unable to help me with pronunciations of his vocabulary words even after listening to them all week long. That means I have to learn it all first, and I wasn't planning on taking Spanish this year, which is why this program and its CDs appealed so much to me!
The bottom line: In four years on the Crew, very seldom have I ever said, "the jury is still out" on a product, but that's how I feel about El Espanol Facil. So far, it is Spanish, and it seems easy enough...but I don't think my child is actually learning anything, so it may just not be right for HIM. He is happy to do it though, and I am happy to let him continue, so we will see what the future holds. I have to say the wonderful customer service and the company's commitment toward the mission field went a LONG way toward influencing me to have my son continue on. That and the fact that he likes it. I just want to actually see the fruit!

El Espanol Facil is available from Great Commission language for $139.95. You can check out some sample lessons HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say about El Espanol Facil or El Espanol Facil Junior, or Le Francais Facile or Le Francais Facile Junior, go HERE.

Game of Your Life Movie Review

2011-11-23T08:01:00.000-05:00

I remember with great fondness the times in my youth when the whole family gathered around the TV to watch some movie "special". It seems like that hardly ever happens anymore. But kudos to Proctor and Gamble, Wal-mart, and NBC for committing the time and resources to bring a whole new generation back to the tradition of "Family Movie Night".

Their latest offering, "Game of Your Life", premieres December 2nd at 8/7 C on NBC, and I had the chance to watch it a few days ago so I could share about it with all of you. Here is the synopsis of the story:

When industrious high school gamer Zach Taylor lands a prized scholarship to the prestigious Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD), his future breaks wide open. The opportunity to study under gaming legend Marcus Bentton and alongside the country’s most creative minds will certainly propel him into a successful career as a video game designer. That is, if he can pass the infamous freshman project that eliminates more than half of the class within the first three months.

Paired with brilliant yet socially awkward teammates Phillip and Donald, the trio persuades Sara Ramirez – a determined and striking team leader with whom Zach has a history (and possibly a future) – to join their team. Working off-campus in the teched-out Lincoln Alley loft, the four set out to involve the entire campus in a quirky new social interactive game. But as the group becomes entrenched in the project, Zach learns that his father Billy, a widower, is facing growing financial woes at home. To help out, Zach accepts an opportunity to work directly with Marcus Bentton on a secretive side project that seems too good to be true. The effort requires nearly all of Zach’s time and energy, which he should be devoting to the project. Struggling to keep it together, Zach is torn between his responsibility to his team, his admiration for Bentton and a chance to help his father.

Everything comes to a breaking point when Zach’s team threatens to remove him from the group and the deceptive truth behind Bentton’s project comes to light. With the guidance of Professor Abbie Lambert, Zach must make a decision that not only affects his future, but the lives and livelihoods of the people around him as well. It’s a revealing story that recognizes the magnitude behind the choices we make and the importance loyalty plays in making good decisions.

And here's what I thought:

The pros: The movie has no foul language, no inappropriate boy-girl relationships, and no violence, outside of a virtual boxing match. Instead, it has a strong focus on the importance of family and the real cost of the choices we make. As Zach tries to save the day by saving his family business and home, he also violates the rules that he promised to follow. His courageous teammate makes the hard choice and turns him in for it, even when she really doesn't want to. That step, and his subsequent visit to home where his father reminds him that home isn't a place, but, "Home is love and loyalty.", turns his life around. Zach has to admit his mistake and be humble and apologize to his team for letting them down, and ask them to allow him to return. He also finds out an adult in the movie deceived him, and has to make a choice as to how to handle that. He seeks the guidance of other adults in this, which I think is a positive message.
The cons: I don't have any. This really is a movie I would feel good about my whole family watching.

The bottom line: I had heard good things about these "Family Movie Night" movies, and now I know why! "Game of Your Life" airs December 2nd on NBC and I'd highly encourage you to watch it with your family. Even my girls, who aren't gamers at all, enjoyed the story. It's rare when a movie, especially one made for TV, comes along that upholds positive values and really is safe for the whole family, and this is definitely one of those rare gems.

To visit the Family Movie Night website, and learn more about "Game of Your Life, go HERE. Or, if you like social media, you can check it out on Facebook HERE or Twitter HERE. Several different movie trailers are available for you to watch on Vimeo.

Legal Disclaimer: I was given a code to be able to watch this movie in advance with my family for the purpose of giving this review. Being able to screen the movie in advance was the only compensation I received for this review.

Read Live Program from Read Naturally Review

2011-11-20T23:40:00.000-05:00

Read Naturally is a company that helps students become better readers. Their programs focus on "five essential components of reading, identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension." They do this through "structured intervention programs (which) combine teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring — three strategies that research has shown are effective in improving students' reading proficiency."

The program which we received to review is called Read Live, and this is how it works. First, it's a web-based program, so I went to the login, and entered my account information. Because this is also used by entire schools, the process for first setting up your child is a little cumbersome, but detailed instructions were provided, and I managed to get it right the first time. If you know me, and my track record with technology, that should tell you it's not too hard! Next, your child takes an assessment of their reading (you chose the initial level for the assessment, and then go up or down from there depending on how they do- knowing my daughter's reading struggles well, I guessed her level right off and the assessment confirmed that). Then, after you have chosen the right reading level, your child begins the program.

When you child logs in, they are greeted with 12 stories that they can select from. They chose the one that they would like to work on and click on it. Before they are introduced to the story, they are given some vocabulary words and definitions that are read aloud for them, and which they are expected to read along with. After that, they are asked to write a prediction of what the story will be about based on the topic of the story, and the vocabulary words they were given. Next, the teacher/mom conducts a "cold timing" where the student reads the story aloud. Errors are clicked on by the teacher (or the student if they need assistance with a word), and the words per minute score is recorded. After that, the story is fluently and expressively read for the student a minimum of 3 times (although the teacher can change some of the programs presets), and the student is meant to read along with the story aloud. Then, the student does a practice read aloud without the readers voice reading with them. Once they complete the practice, they take a quiz designed to test their comprehension of what they have read. The quiz include a retelling of the story in their own words. Finally, the student does a "hot timing" again supervised by the teacher in which they seek to improve the words per minute score. The teacher also awards a score for expression. Following the hot timing, the teacher checks the retelling of the story, and can chose to have the student re-do any of the quiz questions they may have missed, and then, assuming they have met the words per minute goal, the student passes that story and chooses another story the next time.

The pros: I have my 12 year old daughter using this program. She has always enjoyed audio books, but has never been a strong reader. In fact, based on words per minute, she tested in the 4th grade level on her assessment. Her reading goal is 100 words per minute. Her first cold timing score was 83 wpm. Her hot timing for that story was 132 wpm. That's quite an improvement! And I'm watching her do a little better each time. Three times now, her cold timing score has exceeded her 100 wpm goal...and her hot timing score the last two times has been in the 150-160 range. Yes, 160! That's almost twice her original cold timing! She is learning to read more quickly, but most importantly, she is becoming a more expressive reader. Other things I really like about the program, besides the success we have personally experienced, is that when the student hits the a point where they need the teacher, the program gives them fun vocabulary quizzes to work on while they wait. And I love the reports that are available for the teacher to let them see exactly how the student is doing. Oh, and the stories. I love that, at least on my daughter's level, they are science based, and focus on different types of animals. So it's like reading and science rolled into one.

The cons: Let me start with a few petty ones. First, there is a bar that highlights the reading line for the student. It can be turned off, but my daughter likes to use it. However, to move it down as you read, you must use the mouse, and the bar does not extend very far to the left or right of the text, so the mouse cursor tends to block the text on the edge as you try to move the bar down. Second, my daughter doesn't love the person who does the reading, but that's probably a personal thing. Third, when you do the cold timing, the program pronounces any word that you click on so that it can offer prompts to the student if they are stuck on a word. But you also are meant to click on words they miss, and my daughter found it distracting that each word she missed the voice then felt it necessary to read for her. That slowed my daughter down. So we solved that by having her remove the headphones when she does the cold timing, so she doesn't hear the voice. The only have two major cons. The first would be the price of the program. I'm sure $149 a child for 12 months is not cost prohibitive for a school, but for homeschoolers, that's a lot of money! Schools get volume discounts that can actually drop the price per student to $15.38 each, but homeschoolers don't really have that option, because most families wouldn't ever even need the 6 student "seats" required for the first discount level. The second would be that my daughter becomes obsessed with reading quickly to increases her words per minute-sometimes to the point of sacrificing her expression and fluency. I have to actually tell her to slow down and read well, not just read fast.

The bottom line: So far, I'm very impressed with Read Live. And I intend to have my daughter use it every day until our subscription expires. Then I will have a tough decision to make. I wish- I really, truly wish- that there was homeschool pricing that made Read Live a more cost effective option. If it was $49 instead of $149, I know I'd continue it. But for now, I'll have to see what the next few weeks bring. For you, my readers, though, there is an opportunity to perhaps try Read Live for free for 60 days. If you go HERE, and you have a "recognized homeschool", you can try it out. I'd encourage you to do just that if you have a struggling reader in your home. You won't regret it!

To learn more about Read Naturally and the other programs they have to offer, go HERE. To see what the other members of the TOS Crew had to say about Read Live or about One Minute Readers, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free membership for Read Live until the end of the year. That membership was for the purpose of providing this review and was the only compensation I received.

Math Mammoth Review- Revisited

2011-11-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

I was introduced to Math Mammoth three years ago when the TOS Crew was asked to review a few of their offerings. My original review is HERE. I liked what I saw so much that I then bought the whole Blue Series to use as a supplement to our "regular" math curriculum.

Well, this year brought some unforeseen circumstances that meant that my "regular" math curriculum was just not going to work for us. At the same time, the TOS Crew was asked to once again take a look at Math Mammoth. So I happily volunteered, and when I explained my situation to Maria Miller, who wrote the Math Mammoth curriculum, she generously offered me the chance to review the whole Light Blue Series, which has been a huge blessing to our family.

So just in case you didn't follow the link above and check out my original review, let me give you a little information about how Math Mammoth works.

Math Mammoth has four different "series", all geared toward providing quality math worktexts and workbooks at affordable prices for grades 1-8.

The Blue Series features worktexts (worktexts contain instructions in each math concept as well as exercises for practice work) organized by TOPIC, such as clock, money, addition and subtraction, and the division book you see to the left

The Light Blue Series features worktexts also, but they are organized but GRADE level, not subject. Each level is a complete curriculum for that grade. In essence, the Blue and Light Blue Series offer the same instruction and practice, just organized differently.

The Gold Series features worksheets only for each GRADE level (grades 3-8). No instruction is given, just exercises that provide practice opportunities for review or reinforcement. They are helpful for teachers or tutors in particular, or also for homeschool moms who know their children need a little more work in a particular area :-).

The Green Series features worksheets organized by TOPIC instead of grade. In essence, the Yellow and Green Series feature the same worksheets, but organized differently.

But since the the Light Blue Series is what I received to review, that's what I'll focus on.

The pros: I love Math Mammoth. They are serious about the "affordable" part. For example, topical books from the Blue Series range from $2-7 each, and an entire year's curriculum in the Light Blue Series is about $34. I love that the instructions in the worktexts are written in such a way that (as long as they actually READ the text) my children were able to do the work on their own. I was available to answer their questions, but they were able to do the bulk of the work themselves. The Light Blue Series also includes a worksheet generator that parent can use, along with answer keys, tests, and cumulative reviews. I could not be more happy with it! I also want to say that the customer service at Math Mammoth is exemplary.

The cons: None. The Light Blue Series offers everything I loved about the Blue Series, only organized in grade levels.

The bottom line: Math Mammoth is great. Whether you are searching for an affordable, full math curriculum like the Light Blue Series offers, or just wanting to review math skills by topic for extra concept reinforcement, Math Mammoth has just the right product for you!

To check out all of what Math Mammoth has to offer, go HERE. They also have a Make it Real Learning series that covers real life applications for middle and high school math. Some members of the TOS Crew received those books to review. To see what other Crew members had to say about Math Mammoth, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received the Light Blue Series so that I could give my honest review. That download was my only compensation.

VocabCafe Books Review

2011-11-16T00:35:00.000-05:00

College Prep Genius is a company devoted to helping students improve their scores on the SAT. They offer SAT prep courses and a DVD course called "Master the SAT Class". Now, they have added a line of fictional books called the VocabCafe series.

Each VocabCafe book features 300 words "that are specifically chosen to encourage the development of language skills". The words are used in context in the stories, and the definitions and part of speech (and pronunciation guides) of each word are given on the bottom of the first page on which each word is used. The end of each chapter contains a review of the words covered, and the back of the book contains an index with all the words listed. The books are dedicated by the author "To my friend and Savior, Jesus Christ, without whom I could neither create nor be anything", and "these modern novellas contain no foul language, no illicit sexual themes, and no sorcery".

The pros: My son, who is 14 and a very choosy reader, enjoyed the two books that he read, and was asking to read them all. Although he has a few years before the SAT, we have been pulling spelling words from the lists contained within the books. The books are short, just about 150 pages, so they are not overwhelming. And even I have learned some words from these books- I'm fairly certain I've never come across the word "inveiglement" before in my life!

The cons: I'm going to start this with the acknowledgement that I am probably a bigger prude than most of my readers. But I made an assumption that the dedication to Jesus at the front of the book and the "no foul language" in the description meant that these books would meet my standards, so I let my son read them without my pre-reading them. That was a big mistake. As I started to read I.M. for Murder (which by its very title didn't make me crazy about it, but "Dial M for Murder" is a classic, so I figured the title was a clever take-off from that), I came across a few things that stopped me in my tracks.
Here are some examples:
First, one of the "screen names" used while the characters are chatting on a blog is "2Hot4U".
Second, that same character says, "It s*cks that your girl dissed you." Except they used the whole word.
Third, 12 pages later, another character says, "That was so freaking cool."
Remember I said that I am a prude, but in my opinion, "s*cks" and freaking both fall in the "foul language" category. Or at the very least, in the "totally avoidable and you could absolutely tell the story without those words" category. I feel like those words and that moniker are a sell-out, and I expected better. To be fair, it should be noted that the Crew was given this statement by the author,

***A WORD ABOUT CONTENT – These books were written with an intended audience of high school teenagers, although many parents find them appropriate for their middle school or younger students. As a family-based company, our goal is to make a quality product that can be enjoyed by everyone. Thus, these stories contain no magic, sorcery, swear words, illicit situations, nor do they encourage negative behaviors. However, we recommend that parents should read every book that they give their children (not just ours) to make sure the messages coincide with their beliefs and standards. The VocabCafé Book Series does contain boy-girl relationships (non-sexual), mild violence, and mature thematic elements.

Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere on the College Prep Genius site where the public is given the same information!

The bottom line: No one is more disappointed than I am that these books aren't every bit as wonderful as they could have been. A little less desire to meet the masses where they are, and a little more passion for integrity could have allowed the books to be great SAT vocab boosting tools that also don't compromise on values. But I also realize that there are far worse, totally NOT educational things out there for kid to read. And I get that I am very conservative, and others may have no trouble with the things I mentioned above that concerned me. So the best thing you can probably do is check the books out for yourself HERE.

The VocabCafe series retails for $51.80 for all four books, but is currently on special with all four books costing $38.85. You can order them by following the link above.

To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE. Some of them had the chance to review the "Master the SAT Class" DVDs instead of the books, so you will want to check that out!
Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received all 4 books in the VocabCafe series so that I could give my honest review. Those books are the only compensation I received.

Keyboard Town PALS Review

2011-11-14T07:08:00.000-05:00

If I have one regret from my high school days, it was that I never took a typing class. I just never thought it was that important. I wish I had known then how much my life would depend on computers and keyboarding now!

Keyboard Town PALS is a revolutionary way of teaching keyboarding skills to even the most reluctant learner. Designed for students ages 6-12 or special needs children, each "home" key on the keyboard becomes a puppet character (like "Amy" for "a") around whom a story is built. For example, Amy travels downtown to feed the zebras ("z" is the key that your pinkie strikes below the "a") and uptown to visit Qwert, who always asks questions ("q" is the letter your pinkie strikes above "a"). Each of these stories is told in 6-8 minute lessons, and the students practice typing during each lesson. The backspace and delete keys are disabled, and exercises are not timed, so the emphasis is on creating meaningful associations, not on creating stress to preform correctly or be penalized.

Above is Sunny, who guides the students through the lessons.

Here is a screen shot of Amy.

The pros: This is a very gentle, no stress way to introduce your children to the keyboard and to where are the letters and some special character keys are. While the puppets may seem juvenile, the stories really do build associations that help the students remember where each key is in relation to the home key typed with the same finger. I had 3 of my 4 students (ages 6, 10, and 12) give it a try, and none complained about having to do it as the lessons are very short and not tedious at all. And short lessons mean the main keys of the keyboard are all covered within an hour's time. I would say even I (with mediocre typing skills of about 40 wpm) benefited from the stories that help you remember which keys are where.

The cons: Because it is such a gentle approach, I'm not sure there is enough practice. Yes, the stories work, and help you build those associations. But to be able to truly type at a good pace, you have to develop the muscle memory in your fingers that only comes from practice. And I could quickly see my 6 year old revert back to hunting and pecking even when she completed the videos. She now knows where the keys are, but she doesn't have them down enough to feel comfortable having her fingers resting on the home keys and obscuring her view of the keys, so she prefers to hunt and peck if I don't directly supervise her. (They do recommend you creating a word document and having your child practice typing the ABC's, but that's not the same as having more practice work included in the program itself.) And because the program is designed to help students not get discouraged, there also is no self-checking to be sure the students actually are typing the right things when they are practicing with the videos. My older students typed the required letters, but also just messed around while they waited for the video to more on. Lastly, all the keyboard isn't taught. Students do learn 30 characters-all the letters and then the "," and "." and ";", etc. But no numbers are taught, and no shift key characters are taught.

The bottom line: I think this is amazingly innovative. And they have great research and testimonials to back it up. But I think the very young enjoy the puppets and learn the stories, but don't necessarily get enough practice to reinforce the learning. Older students may find the puppets "too young" for them, and they too would benefit from more practice than the program offers to build muscle memory. But I do like the program, and I intend to have each of my kids go through the whole thing again to cement the stories. I think this is a great "Introduction to Keyboarding" type program, but you will have to follow up either with intentional, supervised keyboard activities to be sure your students are incorporating what they learned, or another typing program that offers them more practice so those stories can be translated into natural hand positioning and innate keyboard knowledge.

Keyboard Town PALS is available HERE. The basic program is $30 for either the CD-Rom or the web-based version. It should be noted that supplemental materials such as coloring sheets, stickers, finger puppets, and a concentration game are all available to go with the program ,but I did not receive those to review. There is also meant to be a version of the program for even younger children called "Little Hands Can Type" and a follow up program that includes more practice called "Let's Lead", but neither of them seems to be available from the Keyboard Town PALS website currently.

To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received free access to Keyboard Town PALS for 6 weeks so that I could provide an honest review. That access is the only compensation I received.

The Person I Marry Review

2011-11-08T15:37:00.001-05:00

Some books are destined to be treasures...the kind you read to your children over and over, the kind that speak truth, faith, and encouragement into their lives, the kind you hold on to knowing that one day you will read the same books over and over to your grandchildren, and if you are lucky enough, your great grand children. The Person I Marry is one of those books.

The Person I Marry was written in verse by Gary Bower, and illustrated with gorgeous and touching illustrations by his wife Jan. The parents of 12 children, they have used their years of parenting and their faith in God and the truth of His word to glean the bits of wisdom they share in describing the characteristics a person should seek in the person they marry. Without giving away too much, here is just one example, "The person I marry will be the sort that's by my side to lend support, share the burden, help me stand by offering a helping hand." There are more examples in the video below.

The Person I Marry from Bower Books on Vimeo.

The pros: Honestly, I don't even know where to start. This is wisdom that everyone should have. It's not gender specific but applicable to both. And while the illustrations all feature younger children, there isn't an unwed person out there who couldn't benefit from reading this and embracing the concepts it shares. This book deftly puts into words all the characteristics I want my children to SEEK in a mate, and everything they should seek to BE for their mate. Proper emphasis is given to God being number one in the relationship, and character traits are not only expounded on in poetry, but they also provide the background for the text boxes on each page, so they are reinforced over and over. And the illustrations are amazing. Just darling!

The cons: NONE!

The bottom line: I really mean it when I say everyone who is single should read this book. Parents should read it over and over to their children. It will lay a foundation today that will serve your children well in the future-both in what they should look for and in what they should seek to be in marriage.

The Person I Marry is available for $11.99 from the Bower Books website. To learn more about this book or other books by the Bowers, go HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free digital version of The Person I Marry so that I could provide my honest review. That digital book is the only compensation I received.

Ooka Island Review

2011-11-07T00:03:00.001-05:00

Go on...say it. Ooka Island. Ooka Island. Ooka Island. How can you not love a product named Ooka Island? And in this case, the game is every bit as much fun to play as the name is to say.

Ooka Island Adventure is a downloadable reading program that includes "an e-reader with 85 leveled e-books, 24 levels in 15 learning activities, full 3D graphics, an original musical soundtracks, voice recognition, and much more." It's an amazing virtual world designed for children ages 3-7 to teach them the phonics skills necessary for reading comprehension and fluency. Ooka Island uses the "Ooka Method", which is explained below.

With the OokaMethodTM, children progress to the most sophisticated phonological level. First, they must understand that words are made up of individual sounds (or phonemes) that they can hear and manipulate. Second, they learn to associate these sounds with letters and blend them together to make words, thus breaking the code that speeds them through the foundational levels of reading development and beyond.

The OokaMethodTM includes the language-rich Ooka Island Book Series with comprehension and vocabulary activities. Children progress through a leveled and sequenced flow of books that follow recurring characters in familiar, every day activities. Children then bring their own language knowledge to the reading process and emerge into reading while developing vocabulary and reading comprehension.

The pros: Ooka Island is a truly amazing educational site. In fact, I'd say it's by far the coolest and most educational program my family has ever used. The game is really geared toward young children, and that is evident from the very beginning with your student having a password PICTURE and not a word. Brilliant! As they begin the game, your student creates an avatar to use and customizes it to their liking. Since we've been studying American History, my daughter was thrilled to make hers look like Pocahontas. Then Zobot- a robotic character who serves as their guide- leads them through 20 minutes of purposeful "games" designed to teach them phonics skills. After each 20 minutes of game directed instruction, the student gets 7 minutes of "free play" where they can revisit game activities or do other fun things like visit the "pencil playground" or shop for items for their avatar. My 6 year old has totally loved every minute of this game-free time OR game directed. She is a beginning reader for sure, and Ooka Island has definitely improved her reading skills. She would play Ooka Island for hours and hours if I would let her, and never once feel like it's work, whereas a simple 10 minute reading lesson leaves her squirming and begging to be done. In fact, right now the only begging going on is her 10 year old brother begging to be able to play because the game looks so cool!

The cons: The download is 2 GB. Really. That's big, and it takes a LONG time depending on how fast your internet speed is. But it's worth every minute. The only other real con I have is that in some of the games, words are said that I feel are difficult to understand, and sometimes, I think they are not even real words. My older kids picked up on it too, so I know it wasn't just me. I wish I had written down the examples, but none of it interfered with the playing of the game (because the target phoneme sounds themselves can be understood even if the entire word isn't clear). I just found it strange that in a reading program, everything wouldn't be exceedingly understandable. Another thing to be aware of is that there are "elves" in Ooka Island, and you help free them by earning points that you get from completing each activity. I personally had no issue with this, but I know some people aren't into elves and other similar creatures, so it's something you might want to consider.

The bottom line: Ooka Island is very, very cool. And from as I have seen so far, it's also effective. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's been a huge bonus for my youngest by giving her a way to learn her phonics sounds in a fun environment that doesn't feel at all like "work". And as a bonus for YOU, there is currently a 30% discount available to sign up, and you can try it free for 14 days!

Regular pricing is below:

To check out Ooka Island's website and learn more, go HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say about their experiences with Ooka Island, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received one 6 month subscription to Ooka Island in exchange for my honest review. This membership is the only compensation I received.

Christmas Lodge Movie Review

2011-11-03T12:08:00.001-04:00

The other night, my husband and I had the opportunity to curl up together and get a jump start on the holiday season while watching Christmas Lodge on DVD.

Here's a brief synopsis about the movie:

Thomas Kinkade presents Christmas Lodge: a place where a heart-warming past and loving future meet for one remarkable group of people. During a weekend trip to the mountains, Mary (Erin Karpluk) finds herself at the now- dilapidated lodge where she spent the holidays with her family growing up. She becomes determined to restore the building to its former glory. Inspired by her grandfather and guided by her grandmother in heaven, Mary throws herself into the project, and during the process finds herself drawn to Jack (Michael Shanks), a handsome man who loves the lodge as much as she does. Historically unlucky in love, this chance encounter allows Mary to renew her faith in life and discover her one true love. For an uplifting story about the importance of faith, family and the true holiday spirit, go to the Christmas Lodge.

The pros: The movie really is about love, faith, and family. The characters display a strong Christian faith, and that faith (with a little help sometimes from Grandpa's wise counsel) compells them to "do the right thing" even when that's not the easy thing to do. God blesses their faithfulness, and Mary's whole family is drawn closer because of it. It is impressive to me to see Grandpa reading from the Bible and scripture beingwoven into the storyline. The man/woman relationship scenes are chaste and pure, and I believe the only kiss is a short one at the end that is in the witness of the whole family and at a moment when you would expect such an event to happen. The movie opens with Mary and her beau going to the mountains for the weekend, but this romantic getaway features separate rooms and a very modest outdoor hike. What a breath of fresh air! I loved Grandpa's faith. His whole character was inspirational, as was the family's committment to attending him in his illness. Really, in my opinion, Christmas Lodge is almost everything a truly Christian movie should be.

The cons: You know how above I said "almost everything"? Well, there was one part of the movie that bothered me. Let me explain a bit. Mary, one of the main characters, has a deep connection to all her family, but an especially deep connection to her Grandpa, who is a widower. Several times in the movie, Grandma, whom everyone, but especially Mary and Grandpa, misses very much, was given credit for being able to communicate from beyond the grave. For example, Mary says, "Grandpa said the Lord and Grandma spoke to him every time he went hiking." Mary also tells a child in the movie, "God and my Grandma talked to me" and in another place she shares with her mom the conviction that God and Grandma had spoken to her in the woods the day of her hike saying, "they were telling me to repay Grandpa." Her mother replies, "Maybe they were...maybe they still are." Now I happen to know many people find comfort with the idea that loved ones somehow communicate with us from beyond the grave, and some denominations even support that idea. And I don't at all discount that when a loved one dies that we were especially close to, we are able, because we know their character so well, to discern what they would maybe say or advise in a certain situation...if they were still alive to do that. But scripturally, I don't think there is any evidence that deceased loved ones actually DO speak to us from beyond the grave, and certainly not that they share that voice with God himself. I think God doesn't need any help communicating with us, and the continual use of "they said" and "they were" as if God and Grandma were the same voice I find to be Biblically off base. It could have been said, " I feel like God was telling me (insert whatever God 's wisdom for her was)...and I'm pretty sure if Grandma was still alive, she would tell me that too."

The bottom line: I really liked this movie, and it has so many great things going for it. I don't think the above issue is a "deal buster", but if the concept of the dead communicating from heaven with the living does not line up with your theology, it would be a good thing to be aware of and to discuss with your family before or after you watch it.

If you want to learn more, you can watch a featurette of the movie HERE. You can also purchase the movie from many retailers. To find out where, go HERE.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Say Anything-Family Edition Review

2011-10-28T08:19:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember last year when I was fortunate enough to get to review a game called Wits and Wagers Family Edition by NorthStar Games. My family loved Wits and Wagers then, and we still love it now. It's one of those games that gets played very frequently in my house. Given how much we loved Wits and Wagers, it was natural for me to jump at the opportunity to review another NorthStar Game- Say Anything Family Edition.

Say Anything Family Edition is designed for 3-6 players, although you could probably play it with teams if you wanted to to include more people. Although it's a "family" edition, the target age range is 8 and up since reading, writing, and sometimes understanding of current events is required. The game starts with one player being the "judge". The judge draws a card and reads a question from the card for everyone else to answer. For example, "What would be the coolest thing to collect?" The catch is, you are trying to write the answer you think the judge would pick! You write your answer on a small dry-erase tablet, and place it face up in front of you. After everyone has an answer, the judge uses the "Select-o-Matic 6000" to pick the winning answer in their opinion, and then, much like Wits and Wagers, all the players get to wager on whose answer the judge chose. You have two tokens with which to wager, and points are awarded for choosing the "right" answer according to what the judge chose on the "Select-o-Matic 6000". After that round is finished, points are recorded, and play continues as the next person becomes the judge.

The pros: We LOVE this game-every bit as much as Wits and Wagers. Even my 6 year old plays, although she usually has to draw a picture of her answer and then explain it to everyone. My kids play this literally every day. It has never made it onto out "game shelf" in the 6 weeks we've had it! It's fun, it's fast (you only play to 12 points, and you can earn up to 3 points each round, so games go quickly), and it's really easy to play.

The cons: There are some questions that I think even an 8 year old wouldn't necessarily be able to weigh in on in the same way a teen or adult would, like "What's the most romantic movie?" (although my kids chose that question and all picked their favorite Disney prince/princess match up movie). There are other questions that just are, in my opinion, inappropriate for the family version, like "Who's the best looking actress?". But honestly, since each card has 6 question to chose from, you can just skip anything that is objectionable to you and still have plenty of playing fun, which is what we did.

The bottom line: We love this game. I can't say that enough. It's fun and easy to learn and play, so you can take it to gatherings of family and friends and NOT have to worry about getting bogged down in explaining the rules for half an hour before you ever get to play. With Say Anything, everything you need is in the box, you explain the simple rules, and the game begins. I would totally recommend this game to anyone looking for a chance to gather round the table and have some family fun! Say Anything Family Edition retails for $19.99, and can be found at places like Amazon.com and maybe even your local Target store or other retailers. Say Anything is also available in a non-family version as well.

To read what other members of the TOS Crew had to say about Say Anything, go HERE. Some people also received Wits and Wagers, and you can read about their thoughts HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free version of Say Anything Family Edition for the purpose of giving my honest review. That game is the only compensation I received.

The Mighty Macs- A Movie Preview

2011-10-21T00:22:00.001-04:00

Recently, I got the amazing opportunity to review to check out The Mighty Macs- a movie that is coming out in theaters on Friday the 21st.

Just in case you haven't seen the previews, here's what the movie is about:

It's 1971. Cathy Rush is a woman ahead of her time ... and she's about to embark on an adventure for the ages. A new era is dawning in the country and in collegiate athletics, where a national champion will be crowned for the first time in women's basketball.

In the lead up to this historical season, major universities are preparing their game plans to win that first title. Meanwhile a tiny all-women's Catholic college in Philadelphia has a more modest goal: find a coach before the season begins. Providentially, Cathy Rush is about to find Immaculata College.

Recently married, Cathy is dealing with the aftermath of a truncated playing career. While cultural norms would have her staying at home, she's willing to do the hard work necessary to help her new team reach their goals—or perhaps she's just trying to achieve her unfulfilled dreams through them.

From the beginning, her challenges are as imposing as the big-school teams Immaculata will face on the court. Cathy learns there is no gymnasium on campus, she receives little support from the school's Mother Superior, and the school is in dire financial straits. To top it off, she may not even have enough players to field a team!

While it appears the Macs don't have a prayer, all hope is not lost. With the help of Sister Sunday—a spunky assistant coach—and the support of a booster club of elderly nuns, Coach Rush creates a new game plan that just might bring the team—and the school—together.

Will this pioneer buck cultural norms and spur her rag-tag team to unexpected heights? Or will her hard-driving ways create a wedge between the coach and everyone around her? One thing's for certain: there's never been anyone like Cathy Rush at Immaculata!

The pros: My whole family liked this movie. I'm not even a big sports person, but the story is so well written, and the coach's inspiration is so amazing, that it was really a great story to watch. It's wonderful to watch what happens when the coach dreams big, and the players learn to believe that it's possible. And the fact that it's based on a true story was the icing on the cake for my kids.

The cons: The movie is rated "G", but apparently "G" allows for things I wouldn't think it did. I'm fairly certain at one point the coach mentions "a cold day in h*ll", but she says the real word. And as a Christian, I know h*ll is a real place, but not a word I expect to hear in a "G" movie. It also had some scenes and innuendo that made me cringe with my kids in the room, like when the coach and Sister Sunday stop off in a bar, and a man buys them drinks. Since the Sister is not in her habit, he hits on her (well, really he hits on them both), and she says she is in a relationship. He asks what her significant other does, and she says he's a carpenter. The guy then makes a comment about her significant other "being good with his hands then". Ummm, I know I'm prudish, but that's God we're talking about! And I don't appreciate the "good with his hands" reference in a G rated movie my kids are watching.

The bottom line: Despite what I said above, the movie is really very good. It has a very strong Christian message, as well as always emphasizing a focus on the "team" not the individual. It reminds us that where we come from and what we have (or don't have) is NOT what defines us. Nor are we limited by what other people believe us capable of. And it shows how the Lord really works in mysterious ways. I would definitely recommend it, but I'd keep in mind that it might not be suitable for some children (although I have to say the things I mentioned went right over my kids' heads- I was just disappointed they were even included in the movie).

For more information about The Mighty Macs, you can visit their website, or their Facebook page, or twitter, or watch this preview from YouTube:

Legal Disclaimer: As a reviewer for Propeller, I received the ability to screen The Mighty Macs at home for the purpose of writing this review. That viewing was the only compensation I received.

E-Mealz Review

2011-10-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

I'm in love. Completely, head-over-heels in love. With an internet meal plan service. That's the strange part, but it's completely true!

E-Mealz offers you a mealtime makeover. They put together the shopping list, tailored to specific stores around the country or "any store" if you don't want to be penned in. Then they also give you a meal plan for a week's worth of dinner meals. As a bonus, the plan takes advantage of whatever specials the store you are signed up for is offering, so your weekly shopping trip feeds a family of 4-6 dinner for a week for about $75. Oh, and specialty menus are available for gluten free, low fat, low carb, portion control and vegetarian. Plus, if your family size is smaller, there is an option for 1-2 people to accommodate you. And it really is as easy as the steps below:

You can't really read it well, but this is a good example of that the meal print out looks like. The shopping list is the one behind the meal plan.

The pros: This is an answer to a prayer I never knew to say! Every week, I get a menu tailored to the specials at Publix, my store of choice. The food has been great. My kids have loved every single meal. And we have been eating more complete, well balanced meals. As a family of 6, I have to say I wondered if the meals would really be enough, but they are plentiful- in fact we usually have left-overs. In fact, between left-overs and a busy schedule, we never need all 7 meals, which has allowed me to skip over the meals I was not sure would go over as well in favor of the meals I knew we would enjoy and still have my entire week or meals planned out for me.

The cons: Okay, so shopping does take me a little longer since I find myself looking for things I don't buy regularly. Luckily, the folks at Publix are happy to help. And there is almost always one meal that I know we wouldn't enjoy-mostly because there are almost always meatless meals, and I'm not big on veggies. And I have found that I've made some substitutions. For example, I may not eat veggies, but I'd rather feed my family frozen green beans than canned green beans any day. And I've skipped out on the Cajun seasoning in two recipes in favor of something less spicy.

The bottom line: Dave Ramsey endorses this program, but more than that, my husband is so enamored with me having a dinner plan for every evening, he's willing to pay for E-Mealz forever. As a homeschooling mom, it takes a HUGE burden off me to have a dinner plan and homeschool 4 kids and attend to all our comings and goings. It's worth $1.25 a week to save at least that in eliminating the need for fast food on evenings when school ran long and post-dinner activities leave us without enough time for me to come up with a last minute plan. E-Mealz is $15 for 3 months. To learn more, you can go HERE. As for me, I'm going shopping off my newest E-Mealz menu!

To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE. Some of them reviewed other stores or specialty menus that might be of interest to you!

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a FREE 3 month trial of E-Mealz. That trial is the only compensation I have received for this review.

Always Ice Cream Review

2011-10-17T20:40:00.001-04:00

What's not to love about ice cream? Especially when it comes in the "form" of a girls only internet based educational site called Always Icecream?

Always Icecream is a website designed for learning and play for girls ages 7-12. Girls create an avatar, their "mini-me", which they can customize. This mini-me is their public "face" on the site. Parents have complete control over the level of actual "chat" interaction their children can have, with the highest level being reserved for "real world friends" (RWF). Your daughter gets a special code she can give to any RWFs that might also be site members. Both girls must enter each other's codes to enable them to have the greatest freedom in chatting. But the folks at Always Icecream take your child's security seriously, and virtually all communication is moderated before it is posted as is all media that is available on the site. Once you daughter gets started, she is encouraged to go through some basic game that make her familiar with the features of the site and allow her to begin accruing "$coops" which are the in-game currency. These "games" are almost all educational in nature, and include the option of Christian content as well. As you daughter plays the games, she learns, and she wants to play the games because it gives her $coops to buy stuff that she uses in "Mini-World" where she has a house complete with furniture and accessories that she can decorate and even sell to other players. Oh, and there is also a virtual pet component with pets that require upkeep like feeding, playtime, and love.

Above, you can see the "Find the States" game, and below is a screen from the typing game.

Here is an example of what the Pet World looks like. Each pet can be named by your daughter, and it's needs attended to via $coops OR by asking another player to "babysit" your pet.

The pros: I love sooooo much about this site. It is the safest online site I have ever encountered. It's educational. Very educational. But the Mini-World area also allows for your daughter's creative side to shine. Aki, your in-game guide, is very helpful with prompts to get your daughter exploring the site and fully using all the options available to her. Beyond the games, there is a video area with videos that run the gamut from math quizzes to how to draw a cartoon cat, to Michelle Kwan winning in 2003, and everything in between. Parents get e-mail updates of their daughter's progress, and can view all the work she has done. You can also reward your daughter for real world performance by giving her some virtual $coops. But my favorite feature? The music for the site can be easily muted! I know, that seems petty to some of you, but I'm not big on noise, and I love that with one click the music is gone!

The cons: Well, it's not really a con, but when they say 7-12...they really mean it. My 6 year old tried a free membership, but most of the games, which is how you earn in-game spending money, were WAY beyond her. She's disappointed, but I'm glad to see a site that knows the target age and serves it well, even if my youngest daughter might have to wait a while for her chance to play.

The bottom line: You can check Always Icecream out for free yourself! Just click HERE. After your trial, Always Icecream is $4.99 a month, or $29.99 for a year....or buy a lifetime membership for $99.99. There is a whole section of info for parents HERE that can answer many of your questions and give you the chance to play some of the games for yourself. I appreciate that the site is designed by parents of girls who understand parents of girls, and I think you will too. My son is chomping at the bit for a BOY version of Always Icecream!

To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received one lifetime membership for my daughter. She is just turning 12, but she'll be playing this for some time to come I know! That is the only compensation I received for this review.

Visual Latin Review

2011-10-16T21:10:00.000-04:00

I have to confess, I never took Latin in school. And I never wanted to take Latin in school. But I did learn an awful lot of root words, and I also studied French for 5 years, so I would say I had a fair exposure to some of the Latin basics. But mention things like declensions, and that was all it took for me to run the other way...until now.

Visual Latin is the brain child of two homeschool dads-one a Latin teacher and the other a producer. So what you get is a professionally presented program totally designed for homeschoolers by homeschooling parents, and taught by a guy who really knows his stuff, which is way more than I can say for any attempt I would make at teaching Latin to my kids.

Visual Latin is available as a download or on DVD. Each lesson is broken into short video segments with corresponding worksheets. They begin with a grammar segment (which definitely helps reinforce English grammar too), then sentences, and then reading actual Latin. The program is Christian, and the worksheets support that. In fact many of the stories are taken from the Vulgate Bible, so they are familiar to the students, just presented in a different language. Visual Latin is comprised of 2 parts-Latin 1 and Latin 2, each intended to take one year to study. IT is geared for everyone ages 9 and up, and to count as a full year of high school credit, Visual Latin should be supplemented, and those recommendations can be found HERE. You can also go HERE to see the scope and sequence for Latin 1.

The pros: Someone else does the teaching of a language I don't know-do I need to say more? Plus, by the middle of the second lesson, my daughter was SPEAKING Latin. For real. And she wants to keep doing it. Plus, it has made her notice Latin words all around us. I love that each lesson is divided into shorter segments, and there are simple but effective worksheets that go with each one. And can I say again, I LOVE that someone else is teaching because I never took a minute of Latin in my life. And where I would be stressed out and questioning everything I was saying, he is witty and honest, and knows his stuff. And he makes mistakes and then corrects himself-he's a regular guy, not intimidating at all. Oh, and Visual Latin is portable-you can even do it on your "i" device!

The cons: My boys definitely didn't love it as much as their sister, although once she started walking around speaking Latin, my eldest took that as a challenge and began his lessons anew. He's the one who always wanted to study Latin, and I think he's going to stick with it now that his sister has made it a bit of a competition. My younger son has decided to sit Latin out for right now, but that's okay, because when he gets a little older, he can give it a try again.

The bottom line: You can check out the first 4 intro lessons and the first 2 full lessons for FREE yourself by going HERE. How can you not love that? But beyond that, I have to say this is the best Latin program we've ever looked at. At least, it's the one that has worked best for us, so that makes it the best because my daughter actually ASKS to do it-daily! The cost is $80 for the DVDs or $75 for the downloads- which are available to you forever. You can also buy Visual Latin to use in a small class setting. Click HERE for more pricing info. At this point, we plan to stick with Visual Latin for our family, and that's probably the best endorsement I can give!

To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received the first 10 lessons as a download for FREE. Those lessons were the only compensation I received for this review.

FIRST Wildcard Review- Weddings and Wasabi

2011-10-03T21:35:00.002-04:00

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Camy Tang

and the book:

Weddings and Wasabi

WinePress Publishing (June 7, 2011)

***Special thanks to Camy Tang for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Camy Tang grew up in Hawaii and now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious mutt, Snickers. She graduated from Stanford University and was a biologist researcher for 9 years, but now she writes full-time. She is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads one of the Sunday worship teams. On her blog, she ponders knitting, spinning wool, dogs, running, the Never Ending Diet, and other frivolous things. Visit her website at http://www.camytang.com/ to read short stories and subscribe to her quarterly newsletter.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

After finally graduating with a culinary degree, Jennifer Lim is pressured by her family to work for her control-freak aunty’s restaurant. But after a family blowout, Jenn is determined to no longer be a doormat and instead starts her own catering company. Her search for a wine merchant brings John into her life—a tall, dark, handsome biker, in form-fitting black leather, and Hispanic to boot. It would be wonderfully wild to snag a man like that!

Shy engineer Edward tentatively tries out his birthday present from his winery-owner uncle—a Harley Davidson complete with the trimmings. Jennifer seems attracted to the rough, aggressive image, but it isn’t his real self. Is she latching onto him just to spite her horrified family? And if this spark between them is real, will showing her the true guy underneath put it out?

And what’s with the goat in the backyard?

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: WinePress Publishing (June 7, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414120591
ISBN-13: 978-1414120591

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

The goat in the backyard had just eaten tonight’s dinner.

Jennifer Lim stood on her mother’s minuscule back porch and glared at the small brown and white creature polishing off her basil. She would have run shouting at it to leave off her herb garden, except it had already decimated the oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, and her precious basil, which had been slated for tonight’s pesto.

Besides, if it bit her, she was peeved enough to bite back.

“Mom!” She stomped back into the house. Thank goodness the pots of her special Malaysian basil were sectioned off in the large garden on the side of the house, protected by a wooden-framed wire gate. Jenn was growing it so that she could make her cousin Trish’s favorite chicken dish for her wedding, which Jenn was catering for her. But everything in her backyard garden was gone. The animal was welcome to the only thing left, the ragged juniper bushes. Were juniper bushes poison? If so, the animal was welcome to them.

“Mom!” Her voice had reached banshee range. “There is a goat—”

“You don’t need to yell.” Mom entered the kitchen, her lipstick bright red from a fresh application and her leather handbag over her arm, obviously ready to leave the house on some errand.

“Since when do we own a goat?”

“Since your cousin Larry brought him over.” She fished through her leather purse. “His name is Pookie.”

Jenn choked on her demand for an explanation, momentarily distracted. “He has a name?”

“He’s a living being. Of course he has a name.” Her mother fluttered eyelashes overloaded with mascara.

“Don’t give me that. You used to love to gross me out with stories of Great-Uncle Hao Chin eating goats back in China.”

Mom sniffed and found the refrigerator fascinating. “That’s your father’s side.”

Jenn swayed as the floor tilted. You are now entering … the Twilight Zone. Her parent had evoked that feeling quite often in the past few weeks. “Where did Larry get a goat and why do we have it now?”

“They were desperate.”

Actually, Jenn could have answered her own question. That goat was in their backyard right now because everyone knew that her mom couldn’t say no to a termite who knocked on the door and asked if it could spend the night.

And outside of physically dropping the goat off at someone’s house—and she didn’t have an animal trailer, so that was out of the question—Jenn wouldn’t be able to get anyone else in the family to agree to take the animal, now that it was here. That meant leaving a goat in a niece’s backyard because no one else wanted to go through the hassle of doing anything about it.

Mom said, “You wouldn’t have me turn away family, would you?”

“Uncle Percy knows, too?”

“No, not Percy.”

“Aunty Glenda?” No way. Even if Larry were thirty-one instead of twenty-one, Aunty would still dictate to her son the color underwear he wore that day—how much more his choice of pet?

“No.” Mom blinked as rapidly as she could with mascara making her short, stiff lashes stick together, almost gluing her eyes shut.

The tiger in Jenn’s ribcage growled. “Mother.” Her fist smacked onto her hip.

“Oh, all right.” Mom rolled her eyes as if she were still a teenager. “It belongs to Larry’s dormmate’s older brother, but really, he’s the nicest young man.” Burgundy lips pulled into what wanted to be a smile, but instead looked hideously desperate.

Jenn tried to count to ten but only got to two. “I know Larry’s a nice young man. If an abundance of immaturity counts as ‘nice’ points.”

“Jenn, really, you’re so intolerant. Just because you’re smart and went to Stanford for grad school …”

The name of her school—and the one dominant memory it brought up—made her neck jerk in a spasm. It had only been for two years, but that was enough. Desperately lonely after spending her undergrad years living with her cousins, Jenn had only formed a few friendships among the other grad students, none of them close. There was only one she’d never forget, although she vowed she would every morning when she got up and saw the scar in the mirror.

“Why. Do we have. A goat.”

“It’s only for a few days—”

“We don’t know a thing about how to take care of—”

“They’re easy—”

“Besides which, this is Cupertino. I’m sure there are city laws—”

“It’ll be gone before anyone notices—”

“Oh, ho, you’re right about that.” Jenn strode toward the phone on the wall. “I’m calling the Humane Society. They’ll take it.” Although they wouldn’t provide a trailer to transport it. How was she going to take the goat anywhere, much less to an animal shelter?

Mom plopped onto a stool and sighed. “That boy was so cute. His name was Brad.”

There went her neck spasming again. But Brad was a common name. She grabbed the phone.

“Such a nice Chinese boy. Related to the Yip family—you know, the ones in Mountain View?”

The phone slipped from her hand and bungee-jumped toward the floor, saved only by the curly cord. She bent to snatch it up, but dizziness shrouded her vision and she had to take a few breaths before straightening up.

“Oh, and he went to Stanford. You two have something in common.” Mom beamed.

No. He wouldn’t.

Yes, he would.

“Brad Yip?”

Mom’s eyes lighted up. “Do you know him?”

Sure, she knew him. Knew the next time he came for his goat she’d ram her chef’s knife, Michael Meyers style, right between his eyes.

OBM says: After the first chapter, the story starts to find it's groove, and offer a funny and interesting look into the world of Japanese food, and families, and honor, and Aunties and of a girl who delves within herself to find some "pluck" to stand up against tradition and pursue her own course. At 99 pages, it's enough of a story to draw you in for an afternoon without being a major time committment. I have enjoyed it!

Legal disclaimer: I received an e-version of this book in return for my honest review and posting with the FIRST blog tour.

Guidecraft Hideaway Country Kitchen Review

2011-09-27T22:36:00.000-04:00

By the time we had child number 4, we realized we had WAY too many toys, and serious purging occurred. And since we either already had it from another child or already had it from another child and got rid of it, my poor daughter seems to end up with way more practical gifts than her older siblings got at her age. So when I got the chance to review Guidecraft’s Hideaway Country Kitchen, I jumped at it. Knowing that such a cool thing was coming in the mail JUST FOR HER was sooooo much fun, it was like Christmas for both of us!

Guidecraft is a family owned business started in 1964. Their mission statement is to "stay true to the tradition of smart, beautifully crafted wood products, which allow children's minds and imaginations room to truly wonder and grow. " This commitment to quality products for children is evident in the Hideaway Country Kitchen with with features like a clock, sink, oven, stove top, dishwasher, turn-able knobs, and so much more.

The pros: This kitchen is gorgeous. It’s made of wood, and is very sturdy once assembled. It has wainscoting and hooks for pot holders, and plastic knobs that make a child-thrilling “clicking” noise when you turn them. It’s big enough to be a fun, realistic kitchen without being so large that you find your house is redecorated in early-childhood play things. And what make this kitchen unique is that it actually folds so that it can be stored under a bed when not in use.

I wondered if its short height would be a problem for my tall 6 year old, but she never batted an eye, and is happy to stoop a bit if it means she gets a treasure like this all for herself.

The cons: Let me start with a minor one first. You know how I said it folds up? Well, it does, but not easily. In order to make it “safe”, the kitchen has a locking bolt that ensures it doesn’t fold up accidentally. However, that bolt has to then be removed with a tool to be able to fold it. So, if you are thinking you will just fold it up and slide it out of sight every day, that’s not really so practical. If you just want the ability to stow it when extra room is needed or once your child outgrows it (until you next child grows into it or your grandchildren come along), then it will meet your needs brilliantly. The second con is the assembly. To quote my husband, “It was not fun.”

We have put together a lot of “assemble your own furniture”, but this was the most challenging by far. The pictorial directions were NOT easy to follow, and in many cases, the screw holes (pilot holes) were not drilled through enough to line up the pieces and screw one piece to another, meaning power tools were required. (See the picture above-there should be two holes under each of those icons.) By far the hardest part was putting the knobs on. You have to come from the backside of the wood through sometimes non-existent pilot holes and go through that piece and then into a small pilot hole in the plastic knob blindly. It was a source of great frustration!

For $200, I’d like to think it would be a little easier to put together-whether that means better instructions or more complete pilot hole drilling or preferably both.

The bottom line: This is the nicest child’s kitchen I’ve ever encountered. It’s stylish and clean, and it even has interesting “lines” for children’s furniture. This is no glorified box. Much thought was given to this design. We had a wooden kitchen a few years ago that was much cheaper and infinitely less good-looking, but it’s not around today because it did not stand the test of time. This one seems like it will be around for my grandchildren to enjoy someday. We have not needed to fold it up, but I appreciate that I have the option of doing just that if I ever need to. In an old house with not much storage, it’s nice that I’m not committed to that taking up floor space all the time if I need room for something else. And while $200 is more than we usually are able to spend on a single gift for one of our children, and given that I think the assembly guide needs some attention, I still think it is probably worth the money. In fact, the delight it has given my daughter is priceless!

To check out this Hideaway Country Kitchen or any of Guidecraft’s other offerings, go HERE. To see what the other members of the Crew lucky enough to review this product had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a FREE Hideaway Country Kitchen for the purpose of giving my honest review of this product. That was the only compensation I received.

Tri-Cross Review

2011-09-25T14:23:00.000-04:00

There is not a thing I don't love about games. In fact, for years, we had "game night" with friends...until we each ended up with so many kids that "game night" started requiring more logistical planning than any of us had the mental strength to tackle. But our family still plays games and my kids would rather play a game than almost anything else. And that is the reason I jumped at the chance to review Tri-Cross.

Tri-Cross is a strategy and critical thinking game along the lines of checkers and chess. It can be played by 2-4 players ages 8 and up (although of course my 6 year old had to try). Like any strategy game, there are rules to learn and follow, and the Games for Competitors folks (that make Tri-Cross) have even created a series of video tutorials that make learning those rules painless, thereby getting you understanding and playing the game very quickly. There are a few variations to the game that allow you to vary the difficulty of play and "change it up" a bit. It has won multiple awards, some of which you can see above. And for the eco-conscience OR those who like to take games on the road, there is a "Eco" version of the game featuring an organic cotton board and travel pouch as you can see in the photo below.

The pros: Proving that this game can be played across the ages, my 10 year old soundly trounced me in the first game we played! The game plays quickly, which is HUGE to me. It also requires a lot of planning and consideration, but it's not at all laborious like some strategy games are. Like chess and checkers, it reinforces the idea that sometimes you have to sacrifice a few pieces to win in the end. The variations available allow you flexibility to level the playing field if you have some kids who are stronger players than others.

The cons: None with the game, just with me. I'm going to admit a failing...I don't like to sacrifice pieces...I don't like to have my pieces removed by my competitor...and this game has really pushed me to "be okay" with watching my pieces dwindle but still stay in the game. Because as much as I don't like to have my pieces jumped, I do like Tri-Cross, and so does my 10 year old (in particular) and so I'm learning to "get over it". (Below is my brother-who does not share my "issues"- playing with my son.)

The Bottom Line: Tri-Cross is fun, educational, and challenging. It's one of those games that you can break out at family gatherings as something to bridge the generation gap, or take with you on vacation, or just play a few rounds whenever the spirit moves you. If it had been around when my grandfather was alive, I KNOW he would have loved it. He always valued games that brought people together and taught them to think critically while they were having fun. Tri-Cross fever is spreading. Who knows, as this game gains in popularity, maybe you or your children can play in a Tri-Cross tournament!

You can buy Tri-Cross from the Games for Competitors website for $24.95 for the regular version or $19.95 for the Eco-version. It's also available at some specialty toy stores across the country. Check that list HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received two copies of Tri-Cross to review- one classic board version and one eco-version. Those games were the only compensation I received for my review.

The Old Schoolhouse Birthday Bash

2011-09-22T14:52:00.000-04:00

TOS is having a Birthday Bash, and you are the one getting the presents! Read their blog post below for more information:

YOU are invited to the The Old Schoolhouse®Magazine’s Schoolhouse Birthday Bash – as we celebrate our tenth birthday and announce exciting developments coming in 2012!

Join us for the Schoolhouse Birthday Bash blog hop September 20-30th! Enjoy interviews with our Family of Columnists – your favorite homeschool experts! You’ll hear from homeschooling veterans, artists, Classical educators, special needs experts, and many more.

Visit the Homeschooling with Heart blog everyday to see who is being interviewed and to get to know our Family of Columnists! We’ll hear from Paul & Gena Suarez, Molly Green, Karen Andreola, Adam Andrews, Amy Barr, Ruth Beechick, Rea Berg, Leigh Bortins, Sheila Campbell, Kendra Fletcher, Mike Haplin, Amelia Harper, Andy Harris, Mary Hood, Jessica Hulcy, Pat Knepley, Denise Mira, Andrew Pudewa, Malia Russell, Zan Tyler, Diana Waring, Rebekah Wilson, and our wonderful blog hosts for this event!

Thursday, September 22nd – 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m (EST): Join us for our Schoolhouse Birthday Bash Facebook Party!

Just stop by the TOS Facebook page during the event for meaningful fellowship with featured columnists, TOS staff, and homeschooling friends. We will have lively chat, homeschooling tips, freebies, and of course some fabulous giveaways!

You can RSVP on our Facebook event page!

Thursday, September 29th – 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (EST): The excitement continues at our online Meet & Greet with the TOS Family of Columnists webinar event.

Hurry and register now for an evening filled with guest speakers, freebies, and more door prizes—this event is open only to the FIRST 1,000 registrants.

You can RSVP on our Facebook event page!

We have fabulous door prizes lined-up from our generous sponsors for these events including full curriculum programs. Keep watching this week as we release information on all of the door prizes and freebies that will be offered at each event!

We will post announcements here on the Homeschooling with Heart blog so bookmark this page so you can stay tuned! You can also read our announcements at the TOS Facebook page and on Twitter @TOSMag.

We look forward to sharing fellowship and encouragement with you during our Schoolhouse Birthday Bash!

Time4Learning Revisited-again!

2011-09-14T00:25:00.075-04:00

Anyone who has read my blog for a while (or who checks out the sidebar on the left) will know that I have taken a look at Time4Learning twice before. The first time was a review of the whole site HERE in 2008. The second time was just the preschool activities HERE last year. Since my kids had enjoyed it in the past, I offered to take another look at the full k-8th grade offerings again.

Just in case you aren't familiar with it, here's a little info from their site:
Time4Learning is a convenient, online homeschool curriculum that combines education with interactive fun. (It offers) animated lessons, interactive activities, printable worksheets and detailed reporting.

Beyond being a curriculum option for homeschoolers, Time4Learning also makes a fun way to supplement your child's learning or review important concepts, especially since the concepts correlate to state standards.

Since I've already written extensively about Time4Learning, let me focus on my experience from the past month-kid by kid.

My eldest, who is 8th grade, used it a little bit, but it didn't enthrall him, and since we already have a full curriculum, it really was more for concept review. Since I have 4 kids and finite access to computers, I didn't push him to use it. He wasn't the main reason I wanted to check it out again anyway. I do want to say that I did notice some positive changes in terms of overall tone and presentation, but I also found a vocabulary lesson on synonyms that still referred to classmates as "losers", and for my 8th grader, I'm not looking for anything that encourages him to think that speaking unkindly of others is okay.

My daughter, who is in 6th grade, also failed to be drawn in. However, it should be noted that there is a new Time4Art component that she would have LOVED to check out. Unfortunately, right now it is only available to people who have completed at least one month of membership, so she couldn't give it a try. She did check out the main 6th grade stuff, but only because I made her do it. She's not really computer oriented, and she doesn't really love to learn anyway, so this type of thing isn't the best fit for her either-but she's not really the one I wanted to try this out for either.

My 10 year old son thought Time4Learning was a hit. But even with him liking it a lot, he only managed to actually use it twice in our month subscription because of the logistics of our school set-up. I did alert him to my concerns from the previous review about inappropriate language, etc. (like above), but he did not find anything that he knew I would object to in his exploration of the site. I wish our day allowed for more Time4Learning time for him, but again, he wasn't the reason I wanted to give Time4Learning another go...

Which brings us to my 6 year old. SHE is the reason I wanted to check out Time4Learning again. She loved the preschool level, and still regularly asks to go on Time4Learning. And she is a reluctant reader, so I was hoping Time4Learning would encourage her along. She definitely is the one in my family who got the most use out of Time4Learning. She would get on there all day if I'd let her. One of the first lessons she did was on the water cycle, and she then proceeded to explain the whole thing to her daddy that night. It was amazing, because I was sure that was a little advanced for her "just starting 1st grade" self but she did great. I also liked that I could change her grade level on certain activities up or down on grade, so I could adjust her reading activities back to kindergarden, which is where she really needed to be, with just the push of a button. For her, Time4Learning was a total hit. Her school day is not so full yet with the more intense subject her siblings have, and I could allow her access to a separate computer where she contentedly clicked and learned while I focused on some of the more "book work" type stuff the other kids needed to do.

The pros: Time4Learning gets bigger and better all the time, but the price has remained constant. Each grade level includes language arts and math, and most also have history and science-all for the same price. And currently Time4Art is free also, but only after you have used Time4Learning for one month. Time4Learning is very parent friendly, offering lesson plans and detailed lesson overviews. Plus, you can actually do the activity yourself and exit out a different way so that your score is not recorded. And you can easily view your child's progress via the progress reports like you see above. Parents can assign work for the day by looking at the number of lessons for each subject and dividing that by the number of days of schooling you want to do. Or, you can just let your child's learning be interest driven. The sitemap is very detailed and is a great way to see exactly what Time4Learning has to offer.

The cons: If their amazing offerings have remained constant, so too have my two main cons. First, while it seemed a little better, I still think there is no need for an animated lesson to reflect the worst of what tween age behavior has to offer. Characters can get the meaning across without calling others "losers" for example. And second, while the sheer amount of content undoubtedly makes it a great value, I still wish there was more of a family pricing plan. The current pricing is $19.95 per month for your first student, and $14.95 a month for each student after that. But if you household would feature several users, the cost can add up quickly as it would in my house if all four kids used it.

The bottom line: You can view sample lessons online HERE. Time4Learning offers a 14 day money-back guarantee. I would honestly consider it for my youngest child, as at the younger levels I have not encountered any of the objectionable (to me) language. And I know lots of people who use Time4Learning and love it! While I don't see me ever using it as my full curriculum (even though it can function that way), I do think it is worth checking out. You can learn more about Time4Learning HERE on their website. You should also go HERE to check out what other members of the TOS Crew had to say.

Legal Disclaimer: I received a one month free trial for up to 4 users on Time4Learning in exchange for my honest review. That one month membership was the only compensation I received.

10 Years Ago Today

2011-09-11T23:58:00.001-04:00

I had a 4 day old baby. He literally did nothing but nurse all day long, so I literally did nothing but sit on my bottom and watch TV for a lot of my day. I had a 4 year old and a 2 year old also, and our MOMS Club had a field trip to Publix planned for that morning. My friend Marie agreed to take my other kids to tour the grocery store, and I settled myself in for another morning of the Today show and a non-stop nurse-fest. She will remember ALL the details perfectly...what event happened in which order in terms of when she picked up the kids, what events had already transpired, etc....but I know I watched the whole surreal thing unfold in real time. The Today show getting reports of a plane crashing into one Tower. Reports that it was a full sized plane, but the reporters' certainty that it was just a horribly off course private plane. TV Cameramen arriving on the scene...a gaping hole in the building...confirmation it was a full sized plane...and then there was another plane...another full sized, real plane, full of real people colliding with the second Tower. And a plane in the Pentagon, and another rogue plane and a crash in a field, and buildings collapsing, and a nation changing forever...right in front of my eyes.
But in all that tragedy were the amazing stories of everyday people doing extraordinary things. Of heros everywhere you look. Of selfless first responders who gave their own lives to save others. Of the worst of circumstances bringing out the best in people.
I'm grateful beyond anything I can express for all the people who gave their lives 10 years ago, and for all the families effected by that ultimate sacrifice.
I'm also grateful for a GOD who is sovereign-even when circumstances are beyond our understanding. He's never caught by surprise, and He sees the whole picture where we see just a small part. His ways are not our ways, and even when I don't get the "why", and a LOT of times I don't, I know that He is in control.

24 hours of Crazy

2011-09-11T00:02:00.000-04:00

People who think weekends are for relaxing don't have kids...I'm convinced of it!

Yesterday, my husband and eldest son went to Night of Joy at Disney with a local youth group that Scott has been going to on Wednesday nights (in addition to our church's group on Sunday nights). Several of our closest homeschool friends go to this group and I'm all for this child of ours who kicks against the goads of faith having all the opportunities he can get to be bathed in the Truth. Anyway, back to Night of Joy- it rained, and rained, and rained...the deluge (sorry, can't resist an old Living Seas reference). Fortunately, the rain ended early enough that the night was not lost, and they had a great time-even if they did get home at 2:45 AM. The other 3 kids and I got Thai food (complements of my secret stash of b'day money) and watched Rio. Fun, fun!

On Thursday, a friend e-mailed about an opportunity to go see Dolphin Tale (the movie we were extras in) for FREE. The movie isn't even out in theatres until the 23rd, so we were very excited to get this chance! The catch? The viewing was at 10 AM this morning about an hour from our house...and the seating was first come first served even though you have to RSVP. Plus, my oldest two children had a theatre practice from 10-1 today, so they would have to miss out on going to see the movie. Tough call! But I consulted the Hubs and we decided I'd take the littles and not tell them until we were actually in the car so the bigs wouldn't know what they were missing until after the fact. That was the safest way to play it with them since both needed to be at the practice today, and both would have wanted to go to the movie. And for good reason-the movie was awesome! And you can even see TJ and I in a few scenes. I can't wait until we own the movie and can watch it in freeze-frame to be nerdy and find ourselves in all the shots, LOL. My friend Aunt Fanny's daughter got a close-up for about a second, which was really exciting.

After the movie, the littles and I went to a frozen yogurt place called Menchies, and it was sooooo good! While we were there, we had a little entertainment watching someone parallel park their car. There is a LOT of parallel parking in this shopping complex, and this person should not have tried to use any of it, but especially not the spot he pulled into. In the end, he parked facing the wrong direction, and hit, yes HIT, the car in front of him TWICE. He must have pulled in and out of the space at least 5 times, and came SOOO close to hitting the car each time, but he actually really hit it twice! And then he finally got parked, left his car about 4 inches from their bumper, and went off with the 2 other guys in his car to have lunch...Unbelievable!

While we were watching all that, the big kids were off to their next activities. For Scott, that meant sailing from 1-4, and for Mimi, it meant shopping with her dad for a cell phone. I'm actually totally opposed to the whole idea of the kids having phones, but much like her older brother, she used her own money for it and it's a Trak Phone like Scott's, so if they can't pay for more minutes, it goes inactive. Speaking of Scott's phone, it had gone missing for a while. A LONG while. See, we took it away from him for some transgression, and because he tends to search the whole house to find things that are taken from him, my hiding places have to be creative. This time I was too creative, and couldn't find it after his restriction was over. Luckily, the Hubs came across it today, and it was still active with 4 minutes left on it. That was a God thing right there!

By the time we were finally all back under one roof, we had one extra-our nephew Bam-Bam. He's here for the night since his parents have an evening wedding tonight and it's about an hour and a half away. The kids watched some really lame-o movie (that was free since the copy of Rio I got last night had a bad scratch in it that made the VCR stop playing it until we skipped that scene) and then it was off to bed for everyone but me, and here I sit at my computer at almost midnight...I think it's time to go to BED!

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Small Boy

2011-09-07T22:16:00.000-04:00

TJ turned 10 today. As much as I have had fleeting thoughts about it in the past few weeks, I TOTALLY spaced on how close it was until he mentioned it yesterday! That should tell you how crazy busy we have been!

TJ is one child who knows he is loved because I tell him all the time. And I tell him all the time because he is soooo easy to love. He's funny, easy going, helpful, compliant, considerate, a good friend, and a child of God. Does it get better than that? (Don't get me wrong-I love ALL my children, but if you know my family dynamics, you understand that some are much easier to love at all times and in all circumstances than others ;-).

When I needed to do a photo shoot a few weeks ago, my compliant child said "sure", so here are a few pics of my favorite Small Boy.

A totally TJ sort of pose

This is the TJ I love- always jumping off something!

Do you know how many times he jumped for me so we could get this cool shadow just right?

Quiet and contemplative-checking out a black lady bug on his arm.

His amazing eyes. They are blue and green and gorgeous!

Happy birthday Small Boy! God has wonderful things planned for you, I just know it. I can't wait to see what He has in store, and I'm honored He chose me to be your mom!

Pig Pile Review

2011-09-01T22:44:00.000-04:00

We are a game loving, and game playing, family. So when one of the very first products for the TOS Crew to review this year turned out to be a game, you can bet I jumped at the opportunity to check it out!

Pig Pile, by R & R Games, is a card game for ages 7 and up. It can be played with 3-6 players. The cards are numbered 1-12, and the goal is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. But watch out! If you can't play a card that is the same number or higher than the one on the top of the pile, you have to pick up the WHOLE pig pile! And just when you think you're finally on the verge of winning, your "slop" cards may just do you in. And with special cards like "Hog Wild", "Ewe-Turn", and "Hog Wash", the play is never predictable.

The pros: This award winning game is really fun to play. And once they know how to play, children can even play by themselves without adult help. Some strategy is involved with choosing the best card to play, but enough is left to chance that the playing field is leveled even if you are playing with a vast range of ages. And the pigs are very, very cute, as are the cards themselves, and the packaging is very colorful and sturdy. And while the game says "Ages 7 and up", my 6 year old plays just fine.

The cons: For a children's game, this has a complicated set-up and some complicated rules! And because of all the variables, even after playing it many times, we still encounter situations where we aren't sure what the "rule" is because it is not specifically explained in the rule book. (For example, in this game you have cards in your hand, but also 3 cards face up in front of you and 3 cards face down that make your "slop". If you play the last card in your hand-say it's a 7, and there is NO more draw pile, the rules are unclear as to whether you can immediately play from your face up cards-if, in this case, you have say a 7 or a Hog Wild card, or if playing the last card in your hand ended your turn.) So we just make our own rule for that situation and move on. And really, I'm fine with that, except that if you were to play it with someone else who also owns Pig Pile, you may each have variations on how to play because of the unexplained scenarios. And my other con would be that the cute little pigs are not used enough! The pigs are meant to be used after you complete a "round" of play, with 3 going to the winner, 2 to 2nd place, and 1 to each player except the loser. Unfortunately, a "round" is really a whole game. In theory, you play one "round" for each player, up to 5 rounds. But in reality, we find that our "rounds" take so long that even though they really like the game, no one wants to play 4 more rounds, so we hardly use the pigs at all.

The bottom line: I wish they would rewrite the rules and make them clearer to cover all the different contingencies that the different piles of cards bring up. And I wish the game used the little piggies more. But it is a really fun game, and my kids do want to play it over and over. We just make up our own rules whenever we can't get clear direction from the real rule book.

Pig Pile is available for $15.95 HERE. But for readers of the TOS Crew blogs, R & R Games is offering a 20% discount. Just enter the coupon code CREW20 to receive the discount now through December 31st, 2011. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say about this game and another one also from R & R, go HERE.

Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free copy of Pig Pile for us to play and use for the purpose of being able to give an honest review. That game is the only compensation I received.

And Now...a guest post by Debbie Downer

2011-08-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

We're back to school and it stinks! We are doing a co-op this year, and it's with all the people I love most in the world. and the teachers are great, and I LOVE the curriculum...

BUT
it is kickin' my kids'

BUTTS!

It's 10:50, the older two still aren't done with today's work. Heck, they actually aren't done with YESTERDAY's work. They've had 48 questions to write the questions and answers for in ONE book alone. And this is 7-10th grade, so they require some hunting to find the answers.

Add that to the fact that my son is ~~dumb as a post~~ determined to not do ANYTHING I ask, and you have one frustrated Mamma.

TJ is loving it, so there is a positive. And he's totally caught up-ahead in the read aloud actually.

And Sari's co-op gets all the work done there, so she's fine, but up my craw for more "cool" work all morning long...but not math...and not reading...and not, well you get the idea. Can she please do "cool" that isn't school?

And she is the energizer bunny. It's almost 11, and she's still going strong. And she does this every night. She's usually the first kid up too. To misquote the Sound of Music...I must have had a wicked childhood to deserve a child who functions on so little sleep ;-).

And it's still hot in our school room. Like 88 degrees hot. So that's not helping anyone's mood.

Okay, enough venting. Tomorrow is another day. God's mercies are new every morning. Mine can be too :-).

Chirp, chirp

2011-08-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...crickets is all you get around here. Sorry! Here's a bullet point list of ramblings just to actually keep the cobwebs at bay.

I have been working on the basement for ~~one hundred years~~ weeks now, and it just never seems to get "done". I'm feeling a HUGE amount of pressure though because our school starts on Monday whether I'm "done" or not.
We are doing a co-op for the first time ever in our homeschooling journey. I am totally on board with the idea, but it makes planning really hard, as the co-op is new to us all and until they get going, I'm not sure anyone knows exactly what we need to cover at home vs. what will be done "in class". And since I abhor planning, but recognize it is a necessary evil, I'm a little stressed out about that.
I don't really get stressed out about much...at least not compared to my past...but the other day things really were weighing on me and my son picked up on it and said "Streeeessss", just like his Godmother used to say (but she lives in NC, and he never sees her, so he wouldn't know that). It made me smile.
All the local schools start on Monday, and I STILL have no idea what I'm doing with my oldest child. He went to school in February because it was either that or one of us was not going to live to see summer. I had assummed he would go back SOMEwhere this fall, but he says he wants to come home. I've spent weeks talking to God about the fact that I cried that he was leaving my home, and now I'm kicking and screaming about him coming back. I have NO peace about any of my choices, and my greatest hope was dashed this week when we met with the school administrator and found out that the 8th grade year is VERY cursive essay intensive. And let me stress again the VERY. Yeah, and my son doesn't write in cursive...nor does he willingly write essays or even short answer questions. So even though I wanted to still cling to that hope, my husband listened to me explain it and said, "Well, that's just not the place for him then." It sounds so simple when he says it...but then he's not the one who has to deal with said child when he's off the chain crazy.
The same child is on meds now. The first one is an anti-seizure drug to help control his moods. Since he hasn't grabbed a knife and threatened to kill us since mid-June, I'd say it's helping, but he's still not moderated enough (he still VERBALLY makes threats-we just haven't had the physical follow-up for a while). So now we are trying another drug with the first one. It's only day 2 of that, so we will see if it helps. IF all that works, maybe him being home again would work...if only there was a magic pill for compliance and obedience. I'd pay almost anything for that one. As it is, the first drug was $182 for a ONE MONTH supply, and apparently this second one is not cheap either (the Dr. had a coupon for a free 1 month supply, so we haven't had to buy it yet). God totally met our need for the first drug though. I had googled it online and came up with a dozen or so sites offering discount cards/prices for that drug. I clicked on one, and as I entered my address, etc., I thought, It would be just my luck that this is a SCAM to phish my info and I'll wake up tomorrow to find my identity stolen and checking account empty...and my husband the computer dude will KILL me. But I still did it anyway, and said a prayer that God would keep this from being a BAD thing. Well, the card came, I slipped in in my wallet, and thought nothing of it. I almost forgot about it, but couldn't find my insurance card when I dropped off the next month's script (drugs like these are one month supply at a time drugs) and stumbled upon the discount card in my wallet. The girl at the counter scoffed and said typically they save you about $10. I said $10 off $182 was good for me, so she ran it. Then she looked at me and said, "This is a really good card." I said, "How good." She said, "Like $28 for the WHOLE perscription good." Ummm Hmmm, God is good. ALL THE TIME.
Have I mentioned it is leaking in our basement every time it rains...right where the desks are supposed to go? The Hubs has patched the cement, and used expanding foam in the cracks, and caulked the cracks...and still a small trickle. SOOOO, more patching this weekend, and more waiting ~~not so~~ patiently to put the desks in place.
My back is KILLING me. Really. Like I could cry it hurts so bad. Gotta love auto-immune things. I know God can work all things for good, but I'm not feeling it physically right now. So I'll just keep smiling on the outside, and whine for a second here on my blog ;-).
From the "bad mom" files: I actually told my youngest daughter that I couldn't be her mom for one more minute tonight. Do you ever get like that? Like, You must go to bed...NOW....or better still, 5 minutes ago...because I just can't be the Mamma anymore. It reminded me of a certain ~~not really for~~ children's book whose title I can't even mention here. Some girlfriends and I saw it in a bookstore, and laughed and laughed as we read it. Sometimes you just feel that way. Of course, I felt HORRIBLE about 2 seconds after I told my sweet girl to not talk to me for the rest of the night. But on the plus side, she did finally pass out (on MY bed).
I really should be downstairs painting...but it's staying a constant 89 degrees down there and I just don't wanna go! I know there is a deadly drought in Africa...I know people are starving around the world...I know there are WAY worse things...but I dont' know how I'm going to homeschool 4 kids in a basement with no windows and no AC when it is 89 degrees down there all the time. And before you say "fans" stop and think about homeSCHOOLING...yeah...it's very hard to do anything PAPER related when fans are whirling. Not to mention impossible to hear...hey! I may be on to something...maybe I won't be able to hear the large boy argue if the fans are going...
Anyway, I'm off to reluctantly paint another coat on the conduit that my husband installed AFTER I painted the walls. Of course, since said conduit gives me power outlets on 2 walls that didn't have them before, I really should not complain. It's just that after painting hundreds of sq ft, I'm good with not touching another paint brush for a while.
I HATE IT when spell check isn't working. Just. Sayin'. Excuse any typos that I might have missed!

Destination Disney-The Letter F

2011-08-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

This week's Destination Disney theme over at Heidi's RRR is the letter F. Here's what she has to say about it:

As we move through the alphabet on our Destination Disney journey, we’re ready for the Letter F this week.

F
Use the Letter F as your inspiration. Some starter ideas --- Fairy Godmother, FASTPASS, Festival of the Lion King, Fireworks – and the list goes on and on and on . . .

So, without further ado...here are the pictures I came up with:

Five Fabulous kids in front of two members of the Fab Five at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. The Fab Five refers to the five original main Disney characters-Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. You may remember during "D" week I asked a trivia question about Donald Duck...he's the only member of the Fab Five with a middle name- What is it? Well, your answer comes this week...it's Fauntleroy- apparently revealed in the 1942 short "Donald Gets Drafted".

Here are those same five kids STUCK on the Figment ride with a very fuzzy Figment in the background. We must have sat there for 15 minutes! I love the Imagination song, but 15 minutes is a LONG time for any song to play over and over. Forgive the bad photo quality-it was taken with my iPhone.

Fireworks over the castle...with the Flagpole right in the way :-)

Watching a show on the castle Forecourt stage

Foxglove and

more flowers at the Flower and Garden Festival

A Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

A quaint Fairy home

Meeting Friends at the MK

Fish!

A really blurry picture of Fantasmic

Flower the skunk...made of Flowers, no less

Another Gulf Fritillary

Sari with Silvermist the Fairy

Still more Flowers, 'cause no one does them like Disney ;-)

Family- Me and Sari with my sister, Santa, my b-i-l, and my nephew- who was visiting Disney for his First time on his Fifth birthday.

The Farrier at Fort Wilderness. The glowing thing is a horseshoe.

Okay, that's all I have for the letter "F". I wish my passes weren't expired because I'm sure there's SO much more. Go HERE to see what others had to say about the letter "F"!

The Great Basement Makeover

2011-07-30T23:33:00.000-04:00

I have always been one who believed that summer is the time to take on projects (which probably also explains why I think VBS is God's gift to homeschooling moms). When my kids were little, the projects were things like filing papers and purging outgrown clothes and overabundant toys (ALL of which still need to be done regularly, but now the kids can help). Now, my projects are a little...ummm...larger.

The first project this summer was The Great Bedroom Swap, which I have already blogged about and is really wonderful now that it's done. It's amazing how our old room (the girls' new room) had 5 windows and our new one has 3, but it's SOOO much lighter...and the rooms are side by side! But I digress...

The second project has been The Great Basement Makeover. See, in FL people don't have basements because the aquifer (our source of drinking water) is very close to the surface, and if you dig a basement, it's likely to be underwater. But we are built into the side of a hill, and our basement is really at ground level on one side of the house. So we have a basement. A 1200 square foot basement. Yes, you read that right-it's actually larger than our first house. And when we moved in...Oh! The plans we had for it! But I was pregnant with baby #3, and my other kids were 3 and 1 at the time, so the reality was anything that got put down there (which was anything I did not have a definitive place for in the house) stayed down there, untouched for years. Ahem...like 10 years.

I mean, sure, we went down there. For a brief period, maybe even a year, part of it was actual usable space. But really, our trips down there were mostly to bring up Christmas decorations in December and put them down again in January. Or to put a box of outgrown clothes down there for the next sibling or retrieve one for a child in need. And the answer to ANYTHING that we were given didn't have a home? Put it in the basement.

But the rub is that we live in an old house, and there is no storage space. Each passing year saw more and more homeschool supplies and longer and longer school days meaning the dining "room" (really a large area outside the kitchen that you have to pass through to get to EVERY other room in the house) was constantly cluttered, sometimes the table was buried, and we were running out of places to put things like globes and microscopes, etc. And all of that is just crazy when you have 1200 sq ft sitting right below you being used for absolutely nothing important. And sooooo, this summer finally brought The Great Basement Makeover.

I have no true "before" pictures. See, when I first began my work down there about 2 weeks ago, I started in a small room I call "my room" because I used it to house all my craft supplies, and all the gifts I shop for year round for special occasions for others or for my own kids' holidays. Well, when I started moving things in "my room", I found (if you are eating right now, stop reading...really) 50,000 maggots. Okay, not really 50,000, but probably well over 100. And I popped every. Single. ONE. And they aer what they eat...trust me on this. The stench was indescribable. Combined with the subtle stench of something that had clearly died somewhere behind a wall (hence the maggots) and the high humidity (this is summer in FL after all) and the lack of air conditioning, and it has been one truly nasty experience. There just are not words...and I was a little to busy to take pictures- you wouldn't have wanted to see them anyway-trust me.

So I cleaned it all up, and mopped the floor with bleach water, and wiped the walls with bleach water, and we used expandable foam to plug the gap where we think the critter died, but wouldn't you know it...

About a week later, it was like Lord of the Flies. I mean, we went from no flies to flies thick enough that you didn't walk down there with your mouth open in one day flat. It was beyond description, except to say it was disgusting. They would land on you...in your hair...on your body...ewwwww....

So my son Scott and I went on a killing spree...and that night The Hubs brought home 10 fly tapes. We hung 7 downstairs and 2 upstairs (one broke right in the container). And I did take some before pictures then, so if you look close, you can probably see flies whizzing by. ( You can definitely see them on the fly strip!) And today, I took some "during" photos for comparison. Be very prepared to see a colossal mess.

You can't fully appreciate how many flies are on this strip...it is covered all the way around. And there are 6 more just like it.

Here is the far side of the basement in its "before" state.

And here is the "during". I have to paint the walls, so not much is actually in place yet, but all 3 desks and workbox shelves will go here.

This will be my "office" area- my desk, file cabinets, a bookshelf, etc. Plus my photography props.

Here's the "during". I'm painting the walls a "pumpkin" color, which is really looking more "Creamcicle". Unfortunately, we had some water seep in from the outside along the front wall (to the right), so I have to wait to finish painting until we paint on some "Dry Lock".

This will be the arts and crafts area. There are 2 sinks over here- one is the white thing you can see on the right and one is under all those suitcases. Can you believe we NEVER looked inside those cabinets? Ever? Not even once since we moved in? They have all sorts of outdated lighting fixtures we now have to purge.

Here's the "during", which isn't quite fair because it shows a different view of the space. From here, all that sink area is to the right. This corner DID house all my Christmas and holiday decorations, but now will have all the art and craft supplies AND science experiment stuff. The sink area is a mess right now with craft stuff that needs a home on these shelves (just haven't gotten that far-only one of me- although the Magician's wife, who has a great eye for what should go where, came over to day and helped me organize my space and my thoughts...she also did more than her fair share of heavy lifting ;-)

Above and below is "my little room" which will now just be the storage room. I have no before pics-this was the flies' favorite hangout spot- but it's relatively done now. I was going to paint the walls, but decided not to because the paint I was going to use (that we already had) went bad, and it's money and time I didn't need to spend to paint in there. This houses all our Christmas and holiday stuff, camping supplies, canning supplies, clothes that was waiting for the littles to grow into them, and on the wooden shelves, gifts waiting to be given, Easter baskets, pictures, mementos, and antique rocking chair in need of repair, and lots of other things to be gone through when I get the chance. We think the door to this room is in another part of the basement, and we may put it back on to keep inquiring minds out of the presents!

And above, this is the area you enter into when you first come down the stairs. It will be our reading area, but obviously the mess had to go.

Of course, to move the white plastic shelves, they had to be emptied, and so now the pool table is covered! I can move all that once I paint the walls so the bookshelf can actually be loaded with books. Below is a glimpse of what it will look like (minus the speaker, LOL).

Below is what my husband's project was all day long. Before we moved in, they had installed a drop ceiling down here. But the ceiling is LOW, and we are tall, and the drop ceiling was clausterphobic, not to mention it really meant if you were over 6 ft. you hit the ceililng. See the picture below this one? That's my fingers marking how tall I am, and the white metal bar shows how close the ceiling was to me. We got the ceiling tiles taken out months ago when we had electrical work done adn needed to access the wiring, but the grid came down today...I could not be more excited- I wish I had a picture. I'll get on though.

See all that junk below? That's all The Hub's stuff. It's 9 computers, 2 monitors, a printer, 2 BOXES of cables, several boxes of books, and tons of miscellaneous computer parts (he works on computers for a living). He has to go through all this, so I just put it all in one place for him :-).

Okay, that's it for now...I have to get to bed!

Destination Disney- The Letter E

2011-07-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

Heidi at RRR is continuing her alphabetical theme for Destination Disney. This week's letter is "E".
For as important as vowels are to our language, they aren't always easy when it comes to finding things that are Disney related that start with them :-) Here's what Heidi had to say:

Use the Letter E as your inspiration. Some starter ideas --- Epcot, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Electrical Water Pageant, ESPN Wide World of Sports, Expedition Everest – and the list goes on and on and on . . . E might sound like an intimidating letter, but I know you can come up with something for this week!
So go, get busy! Post those Letter E things on your blog (with pictures, if you can) – then come back here and link up! I’ll link up my post too!

So here is what I've come up with so far:

Egret at AK

Eagle at AK

Everest

Excalibur

The ELP returns, complete with Elliot

Eland

Elephant

Eeyore's Gloomy Place

Two "E" boys (If you know the real me, then you understand). You really must click on the picture, my son's face is pretty hysterical. Waiting on Everest riders and having to watch a 5 year old eat ice cream while you have none because your mom is too mean to buy you some was causing him some teenage angst.

Our Recent Audio Books

2011-07-29T00:12:00.000-04:00

Funny that my friend Marie just posted about what her family has been reading (and listening to), but I had already been planning on listing these, so I will, even if I look like a copy-cat :-).

On our trip we began with The Boy of Mt Rhigi, which is a Lamplight Audio Drama...but because we drove through the night, I slept through parts of it and the kids slept through all of it, and so we need to listen to it again.

Next up was The Mysterious Benedict Society, which was really good, and my kids really liked it, but it is not very fast paced, and the reader's voice is mellow enough that it wasn't the best choice for combating road fatigue when you are driving across the county.

Then we listened to Esperanza Rising, which was fantastic. I'd totally recommend it to everyone. What a great and interesting glimpse into migrant work camps all wrapped up in a very enjoyable fiction story.

While we were listening to that, Mimi and Sari listened to The Sherlock Files- The 100 year old secret. The boys have listened to it since we got home. They all said it was really good, but I still need to listen. It's about some kids who discover they are related to Sherlock Holmes and are drawn into solving a mystery from 100 years ago.

We also listened to Bread and Roses Too, which was about factory workers and their horrid conditions, and the different factions that worked in factories and what happens with a strike. It was very interesting and enjoyable, if not quite as masterfully written as Esperanza Rising.

We also took some Magic Tree House books (17-24) with us on CD and those filled in nicely when we had lulls.

The last book was the third in a series that we have read; The Penderwicks at Point Mouette. We love the Penderwicks :-). I must say, the preoccupation of one character with love was a little bit of a detractor, but otherwise, the story was great and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

So there you have it...books to cross the country on :-)

Who doesn't love FREE?

2011-07-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Old Schoolhouse magazine is giving away their Summer Digital Edition for FREE. All you have to do is click on THIS LINK. There are no strings attached-no registration required, no e-mail to input. Just click and start reading!

Destination Disney-The Letter D

2011-07-24T00:25:00.001-04:00

My friend Heidi at RRR hosts the Destination Disney Meme. She has been focusing on letters of the alphabet, and I've had the best intentions of participating, but haven't gotten around to it until now, and wouldn't you know it...I don't have many pictures for the letter D!

Here's Heidi's explanation:

As we move through the alphabet on our Destination Disney journey, we’re ready for the Letter D this week.

D

Use the Letter D as your inspiration. Some starter ideas --- DinoLand USA, Disney dining, DisneyQuest, DiVine, Downtown Disney – and the list goes on and on and on (especially considering that this whole meme is inspired by the biggest D of all – Walt DISNEY!). . .

So go, get busy! Post those Letter D things on your blog (with pictures, if you can) – then come back here and link up! I’ll link up my post too!

So, here are my thoughts on the letter D:
At the Magic Kingdom, we love the Dapper Dans. And we love them even more because our pastor Doug (really, how perfect is that for D week) is a sub with them. Come on, tell me you could resist the chance to take a picture of your tap dancing pastor??? (He's the one in light blue.)

At Epcot, the kids love to do the Kim Possible missions in the World Showcase. The one below took them to the Mexico pavilion where they learned about the Day of the Dead.

And we love the fountain with the Dancing Waters:

You couldn't do the letter D without a picture of Donald. While the picture below is of my youngest daughter, he is the first character I had MY picture taken with as a child, and I still have a Donald glass that I got at Disneyland as a child! And here's some trivia for you...Donald is the only one of the "Fab Five" to have a middle name...what is it? (Here's a clue...it will fit in with next week's DD theme.)

Here's the same daughter with our favorite Donkey...Eeyore!

And last but not least is this amazing Dragon that was in China for the Flower and Garden Festival. There was one animal for each sign in the Chinese Zodiac. I'm not sure if they are always there? I didn't remember seeing them before.

The first place we saw the new Doors on the trams was at Animal Kingdom.

And of course you have to mention Dinoland USA. Here's Mimi pretending to ride her dino as if it was a bucking bronco.

Oh, and you can't forget about Duffy (so forgive the hop back over to Epcot for this picture)...who doesn't love a bear that even a 13 year old boy will pose with!

At Hollywood Studios, on our last visit before our passes expired, we saw Fantasmic. It had been years since we'd seen it, and we had front row seats. All the Disney characters are in it...even the Dwarfs!

And in Animation, you can learn to draw different Disney characters. That evening, Donald was the one they were teaching. Here's TJ with his:

Below is a fun picture of TJ with Dinosaur Gertie :-)

At Downtown Disney, the kids really like to go to the World of Disney store and try on the hats. This is Mimi's friend with a Dwarf on her head.

Lastly, at the barn at Fort Wilderness, there is a horse named Dutch. We had the chance to take a field trip out there last year, and it was wonderful.

Anyway, those are just a few of the "D" things we enjoy at Disney. If you'd like to see some of the D things other people came up with, go HERE.

Destructo-dog

2011-07-23T20:54:00.000-04:00

So remember that dog that showed up on our doorstep...

She is sooooo good with the kids...

And soooo sweet...

But when it comes to our yard and to animals smaller than she is, she is destructo-dog, and I think she has to go, which makes me very sad. But she has attacked our chickens and eaten, yes EATEN, a hole in the coop. She also destroyed the net of our brand new trampoline :-(. And she's a runner. She escapes at every opportunity, and since our house's placement on our corner lot does not allow for the backdoor to open directly into the fenced yard, she has the opportunity to escape every time she goes in and out, which she does...and heaven forbid she spies a cat as she escapes because she can chase them for MILES, and jump half way up a tree to get them. And she's a digger. She dug out of the fence the first day, and our yard is one big dirt pile now. Oh, and she's desperate to be loose in the house, but our other dog can't be (at 3 years old, he still pees on the furniture) so she WHINES while she is inside, and going out and coming in, she searches without prejudice for our kitten and yanks your arm out of socket trying to get her if she sees her. But I still feel like a quitter, even though the dog wasn't even ours. And I hate that if I take her to the pound they will likely put her down because she has some bull terrier in her. Anyone local know of someone who lives on acreage who does not have small animals (although kids are okay) and is looking for a dog?

Here are some of the pictures of her destructive acts. Keep in mind that is 1/2 inch galvanized steel mesh that she ate through to get to the chickens.

The square board on the bottom of the coop is covering the hole she ate into it...the picture below this shows the hole from the inside.

The Great Bedroom Swap

2011-07-23T08:52:00.001-04:00

We have been plotting The Great Bedroom Swap for years now. We live in an older home (think 1883) surrounded by much newer homes (think 2002). When you compare home values, they pull comps based on the house's age, but when people LOOK at houses, they want them all to have the modern amenities they have grown accustomed to whether the house in question would have had those things at the time or not. And the reality is, a house built in 1883 did NOT have much :-). Now, to be fair, our house was added on to in the 50's, but even then, things were not well thought out from a "form" perspective...just a function one-the build out allowed for our county's first bomb shelter to be built (yeah, I know you're jealous,-LOL). What it did NOT allow for was a master bathroom, or even a master bedroom at all, and modern homeowners look for those things.
Soooo, we realized that if we swapped bedrooms with our girls, we could (someday when the money tree starts bearing fruit ;-) ) knock through the linen closet and into one of the two hall bathrooms to make a master bath off the room that was the girls'. Yes, we have two hall bathrooms across from each other-one has a toilet and sink...and the other has a shower and sink...I know, you grow more jealous by the minute ;-p

I don't have any "before pictures" because I was ~~too mortified by the mess~~ too busy working on getting the rooms packed up to take any. But here are some "after" pictures. For you local friends, you will notice the bed plans changed in the girls' room-we removed the loft bed from Scott's room, which was brown so it matched the new colors in the girls' room. And he wasn't ever sleeping in it anyway. Then we brought up the queen sized bed we had in the basement and put it under the loft. It works very well!

Here are the two wall colors. Mimi likes the fact that at the corners, it looks like Neapolitan ice cream.

Yes, there is still a mess since we are still trying to determine the best "home" for everything.

Our new bedroom-the walls in here had been sky blue, and the ceiling was midnight blue, so it's a major change.

And below is the mess throughout the rest of the house that the Great Bedroom Swap has caused. It is making me CRAZY, but it can't be totally resolved because we are also working on making the 1200 sq ft basement into usable space for the school stuff this year. If all goes well, we will be schooling down there in the fall.

To be fair, I've done some work since I took these, and that bed frame in the top picture is now set up in Scott's room in the bottom picture, which obviously means most of that stuff you see above has been moved. The hope chest went to the living room as a coffee table, the green dresser will go downstairs, and the bins will go downstairs too.

Vacation Day Fourteen and Fifteen

2011-07-16T21:59:00.000-04:00

It's sooooo hard to leave friends. I really, truly almost cried. And I know, God willing, we will see them again, but it was SO nice to be able to visit and so sad to say good-bye. Here are a few more pics from our visit that I forgot to share in my last post:

Goofy faces

Sooo cute!

You KNOW this will make an appearance at his wedding someday!!!

The kids had a hard time getting up, and we got on the road a little later than I had wanted. We had a schedule to follow as we made plans to meet up with friends who live outside of Nashville. We hadn't seen them in 2 years as last year they adopted two boys from Africa. We hit traffic driving there, and I was stressed out that we were going to be late. As I reached for the phone to call her, I noticed the time on my phone was an hour earlier than the time in my car-thank GOD for time zones! I forgot we'd go back an hour outside of Nashville! We got there right on time :-). I had planned to stay 2 hours tops so we could get to Chattanooga and do something tourist-y before the day was out...but 2 hours turned into 4 1/2 and the kids were having such a nice visit, and so were we moms, that I let out Chattanooga plans go. In the end, she was the one who had to leave to pick up her husband at work, or we may have visited even longer. I have NO pictures from our visit :-(. I knew one of her adopted sons is camera shy, and I also knew meeting total strangers, especially a large family of total strangers, especially a large family or total strangers who was invading THEIR house, might make the boys uncomfortable enough without having a camera in their face, but I do wish I had thought to at least bring in the point and shoot and gotten a picture of the girls. Her girls are so sweet, and Mimi really enjoyed the chance to reconnect.

We headed on down the road, and stayed outside of Chattanooga as I had an early morning meet-up planned with a fellow 4 year member of the TOS Crew who happens to have boys the same ages as mine. It turns out being frugal lead us to the scariest hotel I think I've ever stayed at, but on the plus side, the beds were VERY comfortable, and I got a great night's sleep. Ironically, the hotel we stayed at (an America's Best Value-note to self-never stay in one of those again) is the SAME hotel my Crewmate's MIL is LIVING in while she starves herself to death. Very sad! I'm sure it took a lot for her to come visit us there, but I was glad to have the brief chance to meet her. I was surprised my boys weren't more social, but I think sooo many days on the road and the fact that we were meeting in the hotel lobby made them less outgoing than usual.

After that we got on the road with home as our destination. It felt so good to know we'd be sleeping in our own beds that night! And everything was going fine. In fact, for the first time on the whole trip, the interstates were construction free, and 70MPH was norm, not the exception (okay, that's what the SIGNS said...my speedometer might have read a little higher...). Everything changed however at exit 109 in Georgia-south of Macon and north of Valdosta- and right in the middle of nowhere.

It should be noted that I was being VERY careful to watch for road debris. On our trip, we had encountered more semi tires in various states of shredded mess than I've ever seen in my life. In fact, if we want to stimulate the economy, they should put people to work cleaning up the roads-it's really, truly that bad. So anyway, I was driving along in the fast lane, probably going close to 80, but traveling with traffic, when suddenly WHAM! and the whole car started to shake in that way it does if you blow a tire. Ironically, the kids and I had just talked about blowing tires (inspired by the gazillionth blown semi tire we saw) the night before. We had talked about how bad it can be for a car to blow a tire because you need all 4 tires to drive on, and cars can go out of control very badly if a tire blows. So now, we were living it. We went from fully inflated to flat as flat can be in mere seconds, and that's no exaggeration. Had I been in the middle lane, we would have been in serious trouble, because it took all my strength to control the car and get it off the road from the left lane, and even then, we were only out of the travel lane, the fast travel lane, by about 1 1/2 feet. As I live and breath, to this moment, I still would swear there was NOTHING on the road...and as soon as I heard the noise I checked my rear view mirror, and there was NOTHING-no road hazard, no flying debris...nothing. I have no idea what happened, but whatever it was it did THIS:

See that line? That's a slash cut through the tire. And the wheel (the rim) was ruined too. Here's another picture of how flat flat really is:

So because Kia's come with roadside assistance, I didn't have AAA or anything...I called the number on my car window. And they were very helpful (once I walked along the side of the road back to the nearest exit to get the exit number because we were so in the middle of nowhere that the GPS based on my cell phone wasn't giving them an exact enough location). Then she said, I have the name of the tow company that we'll be sending out...it is a flat rate of $106 dollars. Me: Ummm, I thought I had free roadside assistance? (Them) Well, you DID, but it expired at 60,000...and you are at 61,925. (true story...and totally the way my life works). Me: Of COURSE it did! Alrighty then...I'm not going anywhere with help, so send them.

Now, lest you think I'm incapable of changing a tire, let me give you the run down. I was 1 1/2 off the FAST lane. I had 4 kids in the car. The shoulder was not very wide. A storm was coming. It was hotter than hades outside. My spare tire is a donut. The equipment to change the tire was buried under all our luggage, which would have meant having to unload it all with a storm coming right next to the fast lane. The spare donut tire is stored under the car. On the PASSENGER side (yes, the side closest to the road). To lower it down, you have to peel back the carpet inside the car, use the "x" shaped lug nut remover thingie to turn a bolt which lowers the tire under the car, (which would have required more moving of stuff because the seats would have needed to be moved to allow for the turning of the wrench), and then swing it out from under the car TOWARD the travel lane to get it off the rack the spare sits on.

Nope. NOT even going there. That's not "I can change a tire in a parking lot", that's suicide. Even the tow truck dude was scared, and the law requires cars to move over for vehicles with flashing lights (obviously not everyone did, but many did). Now he had power equipment, so there was no unloading of the car, no moving of the seat, and really a very short wait for him to arrive. Within half an hour the tire was changed. I had had him check the travel lanes behind me (he came from the other direction and had to turn around to get to me) and even he didn't see anything that I hit, so it's a mystery, but it's an expensive one. In addition to the tow truck charge, there will be about $181 for a new wheel, and $100 for a new tire. OIY!

At this point, I was about 270 miles from home. And the donut tire can go 50 MPH tops. So I had called the hubs and BEGGED him to find me a dealership that might have a new wheel and check for a Tires Plus since I had road hazard coverage on my tire. Of course, the closest dealership was in Valdosta, and it would take them 3 days to get a new wheel. Even at 50 MPG, I could get home before then! There was a Tires Plus, but without a wheel, it didn't matter.

Soooo, because I was desperate to get home...

And because there was no way to get it fixed on the road...

And because staying in a hotel for 3 days was NOT an option...

I drove home...almost 6 hours...like this:

Cruise control set at 50...hazards blinking for hours on end (and anyone who knows me knows repetitive sound drives me over the top)...and stops every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to let the donut tire cool down. I'm sure God had a lesson in patience for me...it was the equivalent of Chinese Water Torture, not to mention down right dangerous as trucks barreled down on me only to change lanes at the last second...but we made it. I've never been sooooo happy to be home!

Vacation Day Twelve and Thirteen

2011-07-16T20:33:00.000-04:00

We headed to Kentucky Sunday morning to see our good friends who moved there in the past year. This time there were only paved roads (and no Tom Tom). We got there just a little bit after they got home from church. (Boy, I sure was missing church myself. I never go 2 weeks without being at church somewhere, even on vacation.) K and I took her 7 kiddos and my 4 kiddos to the pool in her neighborhood (thankfully she has a HUGE van) and the kids swam all afternoon and into the evening.

This is Mimi's new bathing suit. It came from the ladies' section! I love it on her.

K's little girl is fearless and loved going off the diving board (as long as she had her suit with the built in floaties on).

Mimi and MJ enjoyed jumping in simultaneously.

Scott and J-they are the same height right now (and one month apart to the day)

Sari and C, whose suit was soooo cute-it looked like a ballerina's tutu

While we were at the pool, her husband made the BEST ribs I have ever had (no lie). YUM YUM YUM is all I can say. For dessert there were "make your own" sundaes. Her little guy poured the entire container of sprinkles on his :-).

Trying to get a picture of all three little girls was comical. I never did get one with all three looking the same way, and Mia kept being mid-blink.

The next day the kids all slept in late (they also went to bed really late, so that was to be expected...too much catching up to do). K made yummy pancakes for breakfast, and each child got a bit of computer time. Since I had my laptop (and Scott had his too), we were able to let some of them play on the same site at the same time, so they may do more virtual meet-ups to connect from far away now that we are home. They introduced my kids to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online game, and we showed the little girls Webkinz Jr. using Sari's account. While they were busy with that, K was generous enough to help me troll her book collection for books I need for our upcoming school year. She had several, and that was very helpful, especially since I was striking out with used bookstores.

Monday afternoon we headed back to the pool for a 4th of July hangout with some of K's neighborhood friends. Everyone brought something to share and there was a ton of food. The kids again swam until the pool closed and the adults got to hang out and talk.

J is very athletic, and oh, my, the height he got on his jumps off the diving board was amazing! This picture totally fails to show how impressive he was.

MJ doing a split jump

Sari even got up the courage to jump off the diving board, and K's eldest daughter was so sweet to be at the ready in case she needed help.

TJ mid-flip

After the pool, we headed back to K's house, but one of the ladies from the gathering had fireworks at her house, so the older kids changed and they headed over there. K and I stayed home-me because Sari hates fireworks, and K to get a break I think, and to get the chance to knit a little more on the sweater she was making from baby #8-a little boy. After the big kids got back, we did sparklers (the idea of which got some very passionate contrary responses from K's more conservative friends). Sari wasn't sure about them, but in the end she caved in to peer pressure and even did 3 before she started to freak out.

C isn't afraid-she did them two at a time

Sari even managed a smile for a minute...

The kids again stayed up pretty late, but we parents were tired ;-). I know I slept really, really well!

Vacation Day Eleven

2011-07-15T13:05:00.000-04:00

My super sister in law is WAYYYYY too energetic, LOL. She invited the girls and I to go to Zumba with her on Saturday morning. Not wanting to look like ~~a wuss~~ the couch potato that I am, I said "yes", and so did both girls. Let me just say Zumba kicked my BUTT! It was fast paced the whole way through, unlike Jazzercise which builds in a slow song every once in a while so you don't DIE. For the benefit of all who surf the world wide web, there are no pictures of me doing Zumba ;-). My girls did a pretty good job, although Sari quit about 3/4 of the way through.

After Zumba, we returned home for a rousing round of "conquer Mt. Washmore", and more Just Dance 2 for the kiddos.

Until it was time to head out for the evening...

Did I mention that my SIL is crazy energetic? Well, she clogs. Really clogs. Like Competitively. And her clogging group was putting on a performance for another town's 4th of July festivities. Satuurday night. After the Zumba class that had kicked my butt. But she still had PLENTY of energy left!

Sari and Uncle Craig smile for the camera

Sari joined the fun for A Tooty Ta

So there's this 80-something year old man (87 I think) who clogs with them, so to capitalize on that, their show routine was to a song about "younger men starting to catch my eye" so they all had to dress like old folks. That's my SIL on the right ;-).

Here their older gentleman breaks it down during the Cha-Cha Slide (Mimi joined them for that one too).

Here's a funny story: The performance was in KENTUCKY- the state I had to drive to the next day! And since my car was the only one that would hold us all, I drove to Kentucky that night too. Since we didn't know where we were going, Sheila programed her Tom Tom to get us there. It did fine until we got into Kentucky. Then it told me to "turn right in 500 feet" or something like that. The catch was we were on a divided road going up a hill with 2 lanes on the up side and one on the down to allow trucks to be in the slow lane...well, I couldn't see a road on the right before the top of the hill, so I stayed in the left lane figuring the lanes would merge before the turn...and promptly missed it! It was a GRAVEL road! I said, "Ummmm, there must be another way to this town" and sure enough Tom Tom was busy recalculating. Before long, it said "turn right 500 feet" again, and I was ready this time...

Only to have it tell me to turn on another GRAVEL road.

Really?

I know it's Kentucky, but still...

But I'm a direction follower, so we turned...onto a gravel road...a ONE LANE gravel road...with mobile homes...and wild dogs that chase cars...and a stream on one side of the road...and a culvert on the other....and did I mention it was ONE lane?

Yes, every voice in my head was screaming this was NOT right, but Tom Tom was insistent. Until the road ended at someone's driveway. THEN we turned around, and Tom Tom pointed us to the other side of a fork in the road that we had apparently chosen poorly at...

only to have that "road" completely end...

as in turn to grass...

a minute later.

SOOOOO, we turned around again (not easy in a mini-van on a one lane road-think 5 point turn) and headed back to the main, and very much PAVED road. We decided that no matter what Tom Tom said, there had to be another way to get there.

Know what the next exit was?

A paved road straight into the heart of "downtown".

I won't be buying a Tom Tom any time soon. Just Sayin'.