Fall in love with HOMEMADE giveaway hop!

 

Welcome to the Fall in Love with Handmade Giveaway Hop, hosted by Going Green with the Grizls , The Vagabond Studio, and Eight Days a Week! As part of this great event, a group of bloggers are offering prizes valued at $15 or more and everything is handmade! You'll find the list of participating bloggers under the Rafflecopter form. Be sure to hop around and enter each of the giveaways. The more you enter, the more chances you’ll have to win the grand prize! The giveaway ends on September 15th, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. Good luck!

 

Our hosts have also put together an awesome grand prize valued at more than $300! The grand prize includes:

• AI2 Cloth diaper from Green Grizls
• Boogie Bear Creations Nighttime Cloth Diaper
• Lil Montner Mama Cloth Set
• AI2 Cloth diaper from 4oh5 Fluff
• Organic Bonnet from Bonnet Friend
• Set of Cloth Wipes & Detergent from Tender Bottoms
• Natural Deodorant from Live Beautifully
• Hybrid Fitted Cloth diaper from Silly Bear Handmade 
• Bar of Soap from Bmbyx
• Original Artwork from NJoyArt
• GPS Bracelet from Motherhood Journey
• Fabric Lowercase ABC's from The Crunchy Farm Baby Shop
• $30 Credit to Babycake Boutique

You can gain extra entries into the grand prize by entering all of the giveaways on blogs participating in the Fall in Love with Handmade Event. Click here to access the grand prize entry form!

A couple of months ago I started making beautiful handmade crocheted blankets for my children and my nieces and nephew. Everyone that sees them always begs me to made them one. I am giving a lucky reader the choice of a light and dark pink combination or a light and dark green combination,

 

This is the green one. measurements are aprox. 32 by 46!

 

This is the pink one!

measurements are aprox. 38 by 41

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Facebook is in no way affiliated with this contest. Please note that Going Green with the Grizls, The Vagabond Studio, Eight Days a Weeks and all other bloggers participating in the Fall in Love with Handmade Giveaway Hop are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. We will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 4-6 weeks for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.

BROKEN OVEN, THANK GOODNESS FOR OUR CROCKPOT

Boy oh boy was yesterday a lot of fun, not. Mommy was going to bake split chicken breasts for supper. The oven decided that it was going to break. So Auntie Lala, Auntie Icky http://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com and Uncle Mike came over and helped us clean out the cabinets. Mommy has a wall oven and a cook top. The cook top is on top of a big cabinet that is used for pots and pans. It tool all afternoon to empty out the cabinet.  Meanwhile how would we cook the chicken?
It was CROCKPOT to the rescue. I took the chicken breast, took out the bones  and took  off the skin.We put them into the pot and put a bag of frozen green beans in. Then we mixed a packet of seasoning that was supposed to be for pot roast. We put the seasoning in about 1 cup of water stirred it and poured it over the contents of the pot. Then we set it on medium and continued on with our task. When we took the chicken out to eat them they were delicious. Now, Mommy and Daddy have to decide whether to buy a double wall oven, or a regular oven. I guess they will be shopping around for awhile. It promises either way to be a lot of work. I  do not think that we will be able to ignore it for long.

ANOTHER WAY TO USE VELCRO IN THE SCHOOLROOM

We seem to be falling in love with velcro! This week Mommy, Auntie Icky http://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com  and Auntie Lala decided to put big maps of the United States on foam boards. Then they took another map and cut it up into the different states. Each state also has their capitals on it. Then we put pieces of velcro on the back of each state and on the map itself. When we took all of the states off  then we put then back one by one said the name and the capital of the state .
We certainly understand that they are probably a little young for this but we do believe that a lot of learning begins young and repeated enough and talked about enough children learn without knowing that they are actually doing just that. It is hard to understand why children no longer have weekly spelling bees, and learn about our important documents in our history. We cannot depend on spell checks in our computers to be the only way that we can spell. We need to get back to the basics. Our children will be much more rounded individuals and be more aware of their country and it's heritage.

REMEMBERING OUR LESSON ON RECYCLING

There comes a time in every teacher's life, even a homeschool parent teacher to wonder if your children/ students are really listening and understanding what you are saying. A few weeks ago we posted how we made a scarecrow for the garden out of newspaper and old clothes and how we talked about recycling. We talked about different items that we recycle.
Today, we were having our tag sale and Mommy was drinking a can of soda. Mommy had put it down so she asked Sissy to hand it to her. Sissy did, and as she did she said to Mommy , "here, but remember you have to recycle all cans." Now, you might say that this is not a big deal, but this just reaffirms to me that parents are the best teachers. Sissy has never gone to school, so whatever she learns is because of her family!  We then asked what other items we recycle and Bobo said "paper."   We try to use any opportunity to revisit a past lesson.
Yes, they are taught this in school, but this proves that Sissy and Bobo so far are listening. I still believe that parents are the best educators.

VISIT TO YANKEE CANDLE

We took a trip to YANKEE CANDLE

in Massachusetts to let Sissy and Bobo make their own candles and watch them make them. The one on the left is Bobo's and the one on the right is Sissy's. After they let the wax in layers by color and scent they were able to put a straw down on the inside of the glass to form the lines like Sissy did. Then they handed their candles to the person in charge and she put them under baking lights. We walked around the store and went back to get them before we left. You were also able to dip tapers of all sizes and plastic shapes. In their kitchen the kids wanted to get chocolate pancake mix and maple syrup. Mommy, Auntie Lala and Auntie Icky all wanted the fudge. It was a great learning experience to see how candles are made. I still remember when I was younger and we went on a field trip to STURBRIDGE VILLAGE and made our own candles.  

FRESH VEGETABLE PICKING!!!

Today we decided that we wanted to go vegetable picking. We called and they said that they were picking so we went. When we got there we realized that they were only picking on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I could not resist so I bought a basket of peppers, half bell and half frying peppers. I also bought squash and tomatoes. We came home and talked about these various vegetables and different recipes. Tomorrow we hope to try out some new recipes with Bobo and Sissy.
Now is the time that we like to cook ahead and freeze a lot of produce for the colder days. Last year we made a lot of fried peppers and onions, so that when we wanted to make sausage scallopini and other great Italian dishes we already had the bulk of the work done. Our family really loves the fall season. Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Bobo and various Aunts and Uncles have a ball picking apples. Maybe tomorrow we will go picking after all. I cannot wait.

We Are in Love with Gutzy Gear !!

Wow! The kids loved the Gutzy Gear party. Sissy was busy showing off her new straps. She was able to design them herself and could actually change the patches everyday. They are very easy to take off and put another on. She was very excited to be able to make it her own . They were a huge hit with everyone showing off their designs.

This is Bobo's. There are patches for a lot of different themes. he was also having a lot of fun changing them,too.
This is one of the patches that both kids really liked. The best thing of all is that it makes the straps on anything more comfortable, whether a backpack, a  seat belt or a baby car seat. Even the adults are the party loved them. One of the party goers was excited to talk about how these would be great to carry around a case that has a strap on it. These can be easily found at Walmart, Kmart, Target and Toys R Us among many others.  We were very lucky to be sent these items to try out from Mom Select in Home Party. All opinions are our own.

LEARNING ABOUT THE RAINFOREST WHILE HAVING FUN

Friday Mommy, Auntie Lala, Bobo, Sissy and myself decided to go to a Mall near our house. The original plan was to go to a store that had educational products. Guess what! No one thought of calling to see if they were still there and when we got there we were told they had gone out of business.
We thought that because we were there we should walk around. First we went into THE DISNEY STORE where the kids went wild. We used to have on a few miles from us but, they had closed awhile ago.
Then we went to THE RAINFOREST CAFE ! We had a ball, but it wasn't all fun. We watched as the fish swam on both sides of us and over our heads. We went inside and sat down to eat. Bobo and Sissy couldn't stop looking at the walls and animals all around and on top of us. Then the lights got dark and the animals started to move and yell!  Bobo loved it but Sissy said she was scared. We talked about the Rainforest and what animals lived there. We talked about how it was a beautiful place for them to live in.
There even was thunder and lightening. On the way out there were beautiful t-shirts with endangered species on them. There was even a talking tree that had a lot of kids mesmerized, even Bobo and Sissy.
We love turning everything into a learning  adventure!

MULTI EDUCATIONAL TABLE PRACTICALLY AT NO COST

Mommy and I were trying to think of a way that Bobo and Sissy could sit on the floor and work at waist level . Bobo loves to put out his THOMAS THE TRAIN mat and play with his trains. Sissy loves to make puzzles and she needed something to be able to start and then come back a little while later to finish one.  They both love to build with LEGOS and other fun activities. Mommy looked around and saw that she had 2 stackable shelves that had canvas storage containers in them. So we took them down and put them side by side. We could not believe that when put that way the mat fit perfectly! The next problem was that they did have corners so we then tried to think of a way to cover these. Auntie Lala thought of a round sort of table and Mommy and I decided to see if we had one that we could use.
We found a brand new cardboard dressmakers cardboard that fit onto a table and was used by someone to sew items. The 4 rectangles folded so that you could 1,2 3 or 4 rectangles at a time. We opened it to 2 rectangles and it fit perfectly over these 2 shelves with a little overhang that covered the corners.

Then we looked at it and really got excited ! What a bonus! The rectangles were imprinted with inch by inch measurements.  Bobo and Sissy could use these for math projects when working with rulers and measuring items. Mommy and Auntie Lala went another step and bought  clear contact paper to put on the 2 top rectangles . We are going to put velco on the bottom to hold it in place.
Auntie Lala also bought American Flag stickers, The Liberty Bell, The Constitution and more stickers. These will be put under the contact paper and will be used once a week to discuss what these mean to us and our history. We will use dry erase markers to measure draw etc. and then easily rub off.
So not only is this a great item for homeschooling it is also a practically no cost and shows when you take the time to think you will find a way to solve your problem. They couldn't wait to use it.

BOOK REVIEW FAITHFUL TO LAURA BY KATHLEEN FULLER

I was given a book from www.booksneeze.com called Faithful to Laura by Kathleen Fuller to review. All opinions are my own.
Laura realizes suddenly that she is in the midst of a horrible dream. A man named Mark who told her that he loved her, and that she was beautiful has just set fire to the barn and trapped her inside. She hysterically tries to get out but he laughs at her. She seems him take all of her parent's savings and figures out that this was what he really wanted all along not her. She runs to the window and tries to get out but she sees Mark with something on fire that he is getting ready to throw through the window at her. She tries to beg him but he still throws it through the window. She puts her hands up to her face but she can feel the pieces of glass all over her face. When she uncovered her face she was full of blood.
She is woken up and realizes that this was not a dream at all but a nightmare that she will never wake up from. She trusted him, she loved him and she was betrayed. All she wants now is revenge. When she looks in the mirror she cannot face herself. There is no way that she can even think of her future without getting her revenge.
She leaves her community for Middlefield with only one thought on her mind, to find Mark King and find out why he did this to her. She meets a man named Sawyer Thompson and begins to trust again. As soon as she does she fins out that Sawyer has a past. But he helps her find Mark and she is able to try to trust God again. the book was a good story, although a little sad.

GOING TO A DUPLO LEGO PARTY

Tomorrow Mommy, Sissy, Bobo and with Mommy's sister www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com are going to a Duplo Lego Party at Aunt Vicky's friend's house! This is given by The House Party!!
Every few months they hold different parties and if you are picked you host it in your house.
Legos are great educational tools for kids of all ages. They start out big and get smaller as the child gets more dexterity. It is another way for kids to play with other kids without the constraints of school.  One of the fears that most parents have especially parents that homeschool is that they will not have enough socialization. I personally believe, however that everyday is a social event. Whether going shopping, going to bank or just taking a walk , these are all kinds of social interacting. Everyone cannot wait. Maybe we can talk Daddy into going with us.

He really wants to mow the lawn, not!

ANOTHER GREAT REASON TO HOMESCHOOL OUR CHILDREN

Wow, all across the country parents are finally standing up against standardized testing. These tests are a waste of time and money. They do not show what a child really knows, but what they can memorize in the weeks before the testing. The teachers are being forced to teach to the tests. These tests are being used for placement for children, and issues with teachers  That is just another reason to homeschool our children. I am not sure who these people are exactly who make up these tests and who decides the correct answers, but,whoever they are they really do not think about a question before they ask it, and then believe that they have the right and only answer.
Speaking from experience when one of my children was being asked questions before going into kindergarten, one of the questions was how many wheels on a bicycle. My child answered 4 and was marked wrong. I had to explain that she had training wheels on her bike making it 4 wheels. Another great question was how many wheels on a wheelbarrow. What about the child who lives in the city. Maybe at 5 years old they have not seen one. The funny part is that even when you ask some adults they have to think for a minute and some say 3.
The point is that there is finally a growing movement to stop these tests without parent's being able to see these and their results. Children are being made upset and very nervous about these tests and it is time to stop. Another great reason to take control of your child's education.

TRIP TO SEE THE CLYDESDALE HORSES

The other day Mommy and Daddy and Bobo and Sissy with Nana sister went to New Hampshire. While they were there they went to see the CLYDESDALE HORSES. Bobo and Sissy loved them. Bobo told all of us that the horse sneezed near Sissy. This was a great way to see these beautiful horses and to talk about their history. They got tee shirts to remember them. They show the horses in the front looking at you and in the back as the kids walk away the backs of the horses. It is hysterical. Yesterday was Daddy's birthday. Sissy couldn't wait to decorate the cakes with Auntie Lala. Mommy make a yellow cake for Sissy and a chocolate cake for Bobo. Sissy wants to learn to cook and Bobo wants to eat. A great combination.