Monday, December 30, 2013

Savings Plan for the New Year!

Have you seen this image floating around facebook/blog/pinterest?  I saw it and knew I wanted to share it with you!  It is a fantastic idea!  Starting with baby steps will help with greater success in the New Year. 

So what is the premises?  Just like in the graphic you deposit a certain amount each calendar week.  Starting with just $1 the first week. 

If you start with just one dollar you won't feel the pinch! 

I've seen other people mention they might start with the higher money and work backwards!  That is a decent plan too because around Christmas time you'll be depositing just a tiny bit each week. 

At the end of the 52 weeks there will be a  BIG reward!  $1378! 

If you noticed you are depositing exactly the amount of the week so week 7 is $7 and week 30 is $30 so you won't get confused either!!

So who is joining along with me!!

*Disclaimer:  I did not create this image but found it floating around the internet.  No idea the original origins.  *

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Budget Friendly Meal!

When I was growing up we ate a lot of pasta.  I loved it so I didn't realize it was because we didn't have a lot of money and my parents needed easy, cheap meals to feed our family of 5.  One of the most famous meals was called "concoction".  I have such sweet memories of this meal even though really it is just my parents way of using up what we had and making it all stretch! 

Now I don't know about you but I like to spend all of my grocery budget on extra holiday fun.  That means I might make a less expensive meal to save up for the better ingredients to make fudge, cookies, and other delectable things!

Tonight I made concoction to keep cost low!

It is so easy!

Ingredients:
1 box of elbow macoroni (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce - heated
1 cup of mozzerella cheese
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese ( or if you have Romano, locettelli those work great too!)
1 pound of ground beef.

Directions:

brown the beef, cook pasta according to directions - then toss all ingredients together!  If you have other things in your fridge toss them in too!  leftover chicken, steak or pork would be good.  Leftover veggies work well like string beans, spinach.  Just toss it all in! 

Friday, December 27, 2013

L is for Love #abcblogging

http://benandme.com/2013/12/l-is-for-language-arts-for-unit-study-homeschoolers.html 


I recently decided to join BenandMe.com on a blogging through the alphabet adventure.  They are about half-way through but this weeks Letter L is perfect for where I want to start.

You see I also planned on writing a post about the word I plan on picking for my personal 'theme' in 2014.  That word is LOVE!



Why Love?  I feel like the basis for everything in my life starts with those four little letters.

John 3:16 says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.


the Bible also says: 


Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  1 John 4:7-9


When I married my husband I promised to love, honor, cherish and obey.   

When I had my three kids I finally understood what love really was... and it made me understand my relationship with Jesus so much more too!


So this year with my theme being LOVE - I hope to show others how much I love them and to learn to love even more!  


Do you have a theme for 2014, if so please share in the comments!  I'd love to see!




Word for 2014

Friday, December 20, 2013

Have You Seen The Naked Collection Volume Kit from Herbal Essences? #WIN

I have received a gift for in exchange for this post.  “The Walmart gift card and information have been provided by Herbal Essences.” 


I was recently asked if I would like to try the The Naked Collection Volume Kit from Herbal Essences.  I'm a total product -junkie so of course I said YES!


I made a little video to share with you:




As I said in my video it is super easy to order.  In my next post I'll have a review of the actual products and my thoughts so be on the look out the first week of January!


About:
Naked Collection Volume Kit
- Kit includes Naked Volume Shampoo, Conditioner, Volumizing Soufflé, Flexible Hold Spritzer and Dry Shampoo.
- Everything you need for irresistible volume!
- Online-only offer.
- Limited-edition kit, available while supplies last.
- Your chance to be the first to try Herbal Essences Naked!

Naked Volume Shampoo & Conditioner
- Restores hair’s natural body.
- Made with zero heavy residues, dyes, and parabens.
- Light weight shampoo provides a clean luscious bounce.
- Conditioner keeps hair detangled, nourished, and maintains full volume.

Naked Volume Dry Shampoo
- Great for days when you don’t have time to wash your hair.
- Refreshes your look for lightweight, clean hair — even on days when you don’t wash.
- The natural tapioca formula absorbs excess oil and transforms lifeless, oily hair into fresh hair.
- Delights senses with the crisp essence of citrus and mint.
- How to use: Gently spray on and work into roots, brush out as desired.

Naked Volumizing Souffle
- Weightless, volumizing styler gives you a lift for fullness that lasts.
- Delights the senses with a boost of grapefruit and mint.
- How to use: Gently work mousse through wet hair for volume.

The Volume collection lets you bare your softest hair! It has an invigorating blend of white grapefruit and mint extracts. It contains zero dyes to leave your hair naturally clean and full of irresistible volume.

In the meantime I have an AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!

One lucky reader will win a $50 gift card to Walmart which you can use to purchase your own  Naked Collection Volume Kit from Herbal Essences!!!!!


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Make Your Own Laundry Soap!

I love to be frugal!  I've been a DIY girl for many years!  I think the crafter in me likes making all kinds of things like spray cleaners, bath/body products and yes laundry soap!  I've made my own soap for almost 5 years!!! I honestly can't stand store bought soap any more because unless you spend the big money your not getting quality.  I used to use that big orange bottled stuff that is pretty pricey and I can honestly say my version works just as well and smells great too!  Only difference is I'm only paying pennies a load!!!  Also this stuff is great for sensitive skin so no more specialty baby laundry products it was great for our whole family!

Here is what you will need:

A bar of Fels Naptha soap grated
*TIP* I put my bar through the food processor and do about 6 bars at at time then store them until needed.
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup of borax
water
5 gallon bucket with lid
empty laundry containers


Steps:
1.  put grated bar of soap in a saucepan and add about 3 cups of water (I just eyeball so the soap is covered).  Cook slowly until melted about 15 mins.  Stir occasionally and watch it will spill over if you don't watch!

2.  Put borax and arm and hammer in the bucket and put about 2 inches of HOT water.  Stir to incorporate.

3.  Mix cooked soap mixture into the bucket and stir. 

4.  Fill the bucket to the top with HOT water and put lid on.  Let sit overnight. 

5.  Next day stir well.  Get your empty laundry containers (clean them by rinsing)  and fill halfway with soap mixture and half with water. 

6.  Shake well before using.  Use approx 1 cup for each load (this is 4 caps of the orange bottle!).  In HE washers you can use 1/4-1/2 of this. 



Additional information:

The initial investment is larger because you need a 5 gallon bucket ($6 at Walmart!) a bar of fels naptha soap ($1.09), Arm & hammer Washing soda (around $4) and Borax ($8) however the next bucket you will have the two powder ingredients and only need the bar soap.  I believe it works out to about 9c a load vs big orange at 25c a load (if using a full cup - I don't do that on all loads you'll have to see how much you actually need for your own laundry). 

1. Save up your old laundry containers so you have a few vessels to put it in.
2.  For local NJ friends:   I've found the ingredients at Perks in Pine Hill, Shoprite and Walmart in Magnolia.

Monday, December 16, 2013

The Mystery of History - Finished, Timeline and Final Thoughts!

When I first realized that homeschooling was going to be a reality in our lives I knew I would want something other than workbooks.  A friend who has homeschooled for years invited my husband and I over to give us an overview of what it was really like.  She brought out several curriculum and two really stood out as things I wanted to own right then and there.  Apologia Young Explorers Science and Mystery of History.  Both were the type of learning I knew I would like (and thankfully my kids too!)

We started Mystery of History Volume 1 last August (2012) and just finished now in December of 2013.  Yes we took a long time.  When sickness came or holidays history tended to go by the way side.  I'm not proud but I am keeping it real.  When we studied Greece we stopped a bit to learn all about Greek Gods and read the entire Percy Jackson series.  We took our time and enjoyed ourselves.  I felt safe doing it this year (and last) because both my kids are not in high school - I feel a bit different about years with transcripts so next year will be a little different...

When I first purchased MOH (Mystery of History), I bought the text book, printable cd-rom and recommended atlases.  This worked great because I was able to keep my book intact.  I should have splurged for the Supplemental Cd collection because I ended up making my own notebooking pages.  In the beginning when we didn't have them I found my kids were not retaining.  They did better when taking notes.  (I eventually ended up with that supplemental cd which saved me tons of time creating my own!)

How I set everything up:

Each week has a manilla  file folder with the week written on it.  Inside is each lesson's notebooking pages, pretest, activities, quizzes/test.  On the outside I write anything additional I need (a book from our shelf, map pages, craft supplies).  I pull each folder out when we start that week and I'm good to go.  I don't get tied down to physical weeks but just keep trodding along.  So we may do two folders in a single week or just finish one.  It really helped me to have everything printed for the whole year so I wasn't looking for supplies.  (same with supplemental readings - I just ended up buying the few I wanted so I didn't have to make a trip to the library for a book on Egyptians or Greek gods. 

One other thing we bought was timeline figures from Confessions of a Homeschooler - they were $5 and it was a inexpensive purchase.

Here is the timeline we completed:



My final thoughts:

I really loved this program.  In the afternoon we would sit around the living room (kids with tv trays and notebooks) and I would read the lesson.  Then we would talk about it and do an activity.  We all learned so much and it was amazing to see how it related to what we were learning about in church.  Our Pastor would mention someone in the bible and my kids would say on the ride home about how we learned about that person!  I loved that they were connecting the two!  We used the pretest as quizzes and did the quizzes that came along with the curriculum as well.  This was just extra for them to catch on to the key persons/dates.  Overall I was 100% pleased with the program!  We start Mystery of History Volume II in January and I can't wait! 


You can read more about this program at TheMysteryofHistory.info! They have 3 volumes covering creation to the renaissance with a fourth volume due out next year!

Friday, December 13, 2013

TOS Crew Review: SchoolHouseTeachers.com

 photo ST-new-lg_zps196ba746.jpg




I was recently selected to be part of the TOS Crew Review team.  This means I will be bringing some amazing products for review to you all to read!  This is my maiden voyage and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! For this first  review  SchoolhouseTeachers.com  graciously provided their yearly membership option.   Honestly I had heard of this site mentioned but I had no idea what it was all about.  I'm fairly new to homeschooling and it can easily become overwhelming with all the wonderful resources and curriculum out there.  After receiving the membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com I honestly think this would have made my first year much easier.  It has everything you need in one site. 

About:

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a website filled with everyday subjects like history, science and math to more exciting courses such as videomaking, mock trial and Photography. They have options to fit every homeschooling age from preschool through High school!  It is designed that it can be your whole curriculum or used as a supplement. A one stop site for the whole family at one low cost!

Pricing:

two options:
1 year membership:  $139
or month to month for $3 the first month and $12.95 each additional



My Thoughts:

This is a pretty amazing site.  I love that it has so many options for curriculum.  I have been struggling along in my 8th graders spelling curriculum so I was very excited to see a full spelling resource  that looks like it will be a great fit for him!  The "Dailies" Tab at the top is a great place to start because it has all the work for that day (if you choose to do a subject that has daily work).  Another wonderful feature is at the end of the lessons there is a link to ask a question (to the writer of the curriculum - and there is a nice bank of answers there as well.) This is such a helpful feature!

For my family we are almost on winter break (test on Monday then done for the year!) So I decided to look for the next big thing to do starting in January.  I stumbled upon Everyday Epistles which included a course called Philippians in 28 weeks!  This was so interesting to me.  I've been neglecting our scripture memorization this past year and I want to jump start that again.  My kids are pretty ambitious so I told them they would be memorizing the whole book of Philipians they were both pretty enthused!  This particular course is already posted up in completion so all I had to do was print away!  There was information for the teacher (me) and the necessary papers for the kids to be successful in this course (copywork/ flash cards/ chart).  This course has an activitiy for each day to keep building on. Students also have a nice chart to keep track of their work and progress.  It look easy to implement but the results will be impressive!   I'm so excited to start!

One of the other things I've already done is a class for myself!  Photography!  See, when you have your membership it doesn't just have to be the kids doing the learning.  You have access to great classes for yourself too!  My sweet husband bought me my dream camera last year for Christmas.  I've been fiddling around with it for the last year but honestly I need some help.  This photography class starts at the basics and then moves to more advance skills.  I can't wait to finish all the lessons and see my pictures go from okay to WOW!  As a mom I'm very busy but since this course is all laid out online I can easily pop on to see the lesson at my leisure.  I most likely will commit to picking it up once a week so I can really learn what I personally want from the course.  I've completed the first two lessons and will pick up again come January.  

The Philipians in 28 weeks and photography class are just a sampling of the many amazing resources on this site.  There is a complete preschool curriculum (week to week) that has activities, suggested readings and more! Then there are  planners which  are totally worth the whole cost because you can fill them in then print!! They really have thought of everything!!


 Be sure to visit The SchoolHouse Review Crew to see additional reviews for SchoolHouseTeachers.com!





Crew Disclaimer

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Elf Fun - What will Colby do next?



When Colby arrived we found him in our Christmas reef.  This year his antics might not be as exciting because it is only our three old really searching for him.  He tends to hide in things like the play kitchen, on the book shelf, or by the tv.  This way a little person can easily find him!




Sometimes he does do some silly things like pretend he is Peter Pan and fight Captain Hook! 



What fun things has your elf been up to this week?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Ideas for Celebrating Christ on Christmas!

When we first became parents we were some of the first ones to take that plunge.  Everyone I knew had babies or young children.  What I'm saying is not many of us had formed our family traditions we were just starting out - all of us.  My husband and I were saved and we knew we wanted to keep Christ as the focus of our celebration but we often wondered how!

I decided to write this post to share with you some of the things we've done through the years!

1.) We always talk about Jesus, His birth and how He died - all year not just at Christmas!

2.)  We bought some books that show his birth and this year I even have a cute dvd!

Here are two examples we have new this year:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824956532/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0824956532&linkCode=as2&tag=asthgrup-20





http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FURKOMM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FURKOMM&linkCode=as2&tag=asthgrup-20


3.)  Before presents on Christmas morning we have bible time!  When the big boys were little my husband would read the story from Luke 2:1-21.  Then we would talk about the chapter and pray.  Now that they are older they have memorized the chapter and the boys recite it!   Then we still talk about the chapter and pray.

4.) We have a birthday cake for Jesus!  We sing Happy Birthday to Him!


These are a few of the traditions our family does.  I know my cousin has a manager and Jesus doesn't come until Christmas morning.  So that is another idea for the month long celebration!  I hope this post encourages you to come up with some Christ-centered traditions for Christmas Day! Please leave a comment telling me how you keep  Christ on Christmas!

This post does contain affiliate links. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Preschool Homeschool - Tot School



Preschool Homeschool

My youngest turned 3 in November.  Last year when his big brothers were homeschooling he talked about his school too, so I knew I was going to have to come up with something.  I looked at a bunch of curriculum for 3s and 4s and wasn't sold on any particular set.  I knew there were several things I wanted addressed for him.  He already has a pretty good foundation of ABCs by sight and sound - so I'm just going to keep reinforcing those.  Same with colors and shapes.

Things I wanted to accomplish:

Numbers by sight up to 10
counting objects to 10
gross motor skills
fine motor skills
drawing shapes
coloring
scissor skills
puzzle skills
singing & music time
following directions
learning to sit be still for 5 minutes
Reading time

That is a pretty big list but I had one additional requirement - FUN!  He is only three and has many years ahead of him!  I want school to be associated with fun!  That is the most important part of learning.

So what did I end up with?


sticker books, flash cards, lots of classic books

tons of lauri toys:
Lauri Toys Primer Pak
Lauri Toys shape and color sorter
Lauri Toys Tall Stacker Peg Set 
Lauri Toys Number Express

For music time:
Wee Sing Bible 

 scissors & tweezers:



 additional art books:
Abeka Art Books for 2 & 3s


I hope this post helps you all come up with something that works for you!  I plan on hanging up printout of letters and changing them each week.  Possibly letters too.

Daily schedule:

  • rotation of learning toy (basically a different one each day)  10 minutes guided play - depending on Jace's attention span, then free play.
  • read 2 books
  • weekly some sort of art project (coloring, sticker work, play dough, seasonal craft)  

So as you can see it won't be much I'm thinking it might be 20  minutes total each day.  I'll space it all out too.  Reading will be before nap and early evening.  Crafts work well in the mornings when he is fresh from waking up.


Are you doing Tot School?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Disclaimer: This post does have affiliate links.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Are you part of the Elf craze? We are!






Our Elf Colby is a Elf Magic Elf.  His rules are a little different.  He is supposed to be played with and become part of the family.  He is soft and cuddly!  He is a bit mischievous too!  I'm going to share some of his antics on here this month - maybe they will inspire some antics for your own elf as well! 


Here is a few from last year to get you started... hopefully he comes up with some new ideas this year! haha!



This post does not contain affiliate links.

Friday, December 6, 2013

GiftCardRescue.com - A Great Place to Buy or Sell Gift Cards!

GiftCardrescue.com is a unique site that is designed for buying or selling gift cards.  Have you ever received a gift card you just don't want, perhaps for a store your never going to shop at?  Well you can sell your gift cards to them and they will send you a check!  Pretty awesome idea!  They make it easy to just plug your gift card info and then mail to them.  You will receive a check after they receive the card.

Another great thing the site offers is buying gift cards!  What is awesome about this is you get a savings off the amount of the gift card!  So if you wanted to buy a Target gift card for $25 - you might only pay $22.50!  Awesome right?  Every little bit counts when we are trying to be good stewards of our money!

You can find additional information on the following sites and social media locations:


Information about GiftCardRescue.com -  http://www.giftcardrescue.com/about and http://www.giftcardrescue.com/why
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Rup Life was provided a sample to help facilitate this post. The post may contain affiliate links. 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

New Science is a Hit!

I mentioned a few post back that we switched sciences to Apologia Astronomy.  We are currently on chapter 3 - already.  This is good and bad.  My kid loves this curriculum because of the activities and experiments.  I love that part too.  I don't like how easy it is and how I have to add to it.  So overall I would say this is a 1-2 grade class and should be used first (I haven't seen botany that might be easy too.)  I have a feeling come February we will be buying yet another book in the series.  I'm not sure but I'm leaning towards Anatomy.  What I think will happen is he will do half of anatomy this year and half in the fall.  Then he will pick up with Chemistry and Physics.

So hopefully my thoughts will help you with your decisions.

Now some pictures!


This was the planet activity from lesson 1.  What I did was I turned our whiteboard backwards and we just taped rather than have them hanging from the ceiling.  (We have popcorn on our ceiling and I was not going to make a huge mess with that!)  I couldn't get a full picture since the board was so big!  X had fun doing all the blowing up and picking the right balloons.  (We bought science kit our from Nature's Workshop Plus and it came with a selection of colored balloons.)



Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Snowman and the Snowdog DVD Review & Giveaway! #WIN

A Rup Life received a copy of this dvd for review purposes.  This post may contain affiliate links. 


We love to sit and watch movies as a family.  Especially my bigger kids!  They are my willing product testers - particularly with movies!  This month we had the opportunity to review The Snowman and the Snowdog DVD!  This is perfect for the cold weather we have been having!

About:
When a young boy and his mother move to a new home, the boy discovers a secret box hidden under the floorboards of his bedroom.  In the box, he finds a hat, scarf, some lumps of coal and a shriveled tangerine – it’s a snowman-making kit! Later that day it starts to snow.  The boy builds a snowman, and with a little spare snow left over, a Snowdog.  That night they come to life and take him on a wonderful adventure.  As dawn breaks they fly home, but before the boy returns to bed a magical surprise awaits him…

Raymond Briggs’ iconic children’s book The Snowman follows the wonderful adventures of a young boy and the remarkable Snowman he creates.  Adapted for the screen in 1982, the Oscar-nominated film has enchanted generations of children.  On the 30th anniversary of the original film, Briggs has given his blessing to this brand-new sequel.  The magic is about to begin all over again, this time with a new set of friends.


This DVD is available at a Barnes and Noble retailer near you and Amazon. 


My Thoughts:

This movie is based off the book The Snowman.  This was an interesting movie.  There are no words but it is still pretty amazing!  The really tells the story.  An amazing score takes you through the emotions of the little boy and his adventures.  I thought my big kids wouldn't enjoy this because it isn't your regular cartoon story but they both sat and watched.  I guess the only difference is they discussed a lot of what was happening through out the movie.  Truly a unique experience!  A great holiday edition!