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Showing posts from June, 2013

{Crew Review} Moving Beyond the Page

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One of the best things about being a part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew is discovering new vendors and new curriculum. I prefer to educate using a literature based approach to learning so I was delighted to get to try two units from Moving Beyond the Page . Each crew member selected for this review got to choose a Language Arts Unit and could then choose either a social studies unit or a science unit. Tailorbear loves studying Greek Mythology so her first choice for a language arts unit was Greek Myths which uses D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths . She also loves all things ancient, especially ancient Egypt! Her face lit up at the thought of choosing Egypt and Mesopotamia , a semester 1 unit for social studies. This unit uses the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World . Moving Beyond the Page (MBTP) is a literature based curriculum that integrates language arts, social studies and science.  Yes, each unit is labeled Language Arts or Social Studies or Science but

Random 5 on Friday (June 28 edition)

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It’s been so long since I’ve posted a Random 5 on Friday that I can’t remember when I did. 1. Our life has been far more affected by my husband’s heart attack on June 2nd than I could ever have imagined. I can’t seem to stop saying how grateful I am that it was such a mild heart attack and that I am so grateful he is still around with minimal heart damage and normal heart function. Sometimes I just have to hear his voice or give him a hug. It doesn’t stop me from still getting angry, irritated, and annoyed with him, but it does cause me to be quicker to stop, forgive and work it out. 2. This is an oxymoron thought to above.  Sometimes I forget he had a heart attack because he is doing so well.  Sometimes he forgets.  We both think “hey he’s doing great he should be able to do all the things he was doing before.”  Nope. He gets worn out if he does too much.  He still has to take it easy.  I think that frustrates him more than me, though. 3. Did you know that different canned tomato p

Different Types of Fears

My husband’s recent heart attack taught me something.  A life lesson that I think I could have done without learning.  The fear you feel as a parent when your child is facing a life threatening situation is completely different then the fear of losing a spouse. Twice in my life I have seen a family member hooked up to a crash cart. Twice overwhelming fear has gripped my heart as I watched someone I love hooked up to a machine because their blood pressure is crashing.  Thankfully neither time was the machine actually used. I have no words to describe the emotions that course through me when I see doctors, nurses and assistants gathering around the hospital bed with a scary looking machine. But, although fear held me tight in its embrace, it was different. I would not have believed how different.  For some reason, I thought I could relate to others who have experienced a near loss of a spouse because I have nearly lost a daughter. Both are family members right? Both are loved so it sho

Little Steps to Eating Better

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My husband’s recent heart attack serves as a clattering, clanging, wake up call. Lifestyle matters. I’m not necessarily learning anything new with my research but rather I’m confirming and affirming things I already knew but chose to ignore. This alarm bell doesn’t have a snooze button anymore. Honeybear and I are fully awake now. This isn’t just his health.  It isn’t just my health.  It affects my children. I wasn’t motived to start taking the little steps to eating better for me but now, realizing the impact on my husband and children, it’s time. One Little Step at time. These Little Steps must be small and manageable because otherwise I’ll give up before we even start.  Just thinking of how far backwards we’ve gone overwhelms me.  How far backwards?  What does that mean?  It means that I used to do these things: grind my own grains (mostly white whole wheat berries but also some kamut and spelt) bake my own whole grain breads made whole grain from scratch biscuits, pancake

{Crew Review} Baker Publishing Group ~ Lily Lapp

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We love books here.  Books allow us to take a virtual adventure or peek at a world new to us. The Adventures of Lily Lapp from Baker Publishing Group is a perfect series for exploring a new to us culture. Lily is an Amish girl, but in so many ways she’s just like any other young American girl. Intended for ages 8-12 we found that Life with Lily (book one) and A New Home for Lily (book two) make for a fantastic family read aloud for all ages. These chapter books read almost like a collection of short stories with each chapter being a self contained independent story, yet at the same time each chapter is linked chronologically and the reader experiences the passing of time. You can read a summary of book one, Life with Lily ($12.99), here or download an excerpt here .   You can read a summary of book two, A New Home for Lily ($12.99), here or download an excerpt here . Initially, I wanted to review these books because I intended to read them aloud to Supergirl. When they arrived,

Blog Tour! Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales {Book Review}

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I love legal thrillers and after reading just one Randy Singer book several years ago, I quickly decided that Randy Singer ranks as one of my most favorite authors. I am pleased to review another great book from Mr. Singer. From the Publisher: Landon Reed is an ex-quarterback convicted of organizing a points-shaving scheme. During his time in prison, he found forgiveness and faith and earned his law degree. Now he longs for an opportunity to prove his loyalty and worth. Be careful what you ask for. Harry McNaughton is one of the founding partners of McNaughton & Clay—and the only lawyer willing to take a chance employing an ex-con-turned-lawyer. Though Landon initially questions Harry’s ethics and methods, it’s clear the crusty old lawyer has one of the most brilliant legal minds Landon has ever encountered. The two dive into preparing a defense for one of the highest-profile murder trials Virginia Beach has seen in decades when Harry is gunned down in what appears to be a ran

18 Years Ago Today!

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Do you remember what you were doing 18 years ago? Admittedly, I have trouble remembering what I was doing last week let alone a year ago.  Forget multiple years ago! But I do have some recollection of 18 years ago. It was a Sunday.  Unusually hot for Duluth, MN.  And it was Father’s day.  I was waiting for my husband to get in from Fort Lewis where he was Cadre for the ROTC Camp.  He was flying in on leave in anticipation of the birth of our first born daughter.  She wouldn’t make her appearance though until the next day. My doctor had scheduled an induction for June 19 which allowed us to contact the Red Cross and arrange for my husband to be home.  He had a well meaning Captain try to comfort us by telling us that his wife was in labor for something like 32 hours and that he had plenty of time to fly around the world and make it back in time for the birth.  The thought of a 32 hour labor was most emphatically not comforting especially not the thought of going through that without

{Crew Review} Birdcage Press: Go Fish for Ancient Egypt

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If you have ever been to my house, you might have noticed that we have a lot of games. We enjoy having a family game day or a family game night every so often. I like sneaking a bit of education in with our games. If a game is fun enough, the girls don’t seem to notice if it’s school.   Go Fish for Ancient Egypt from Birdcage Press is just one such game.  With two levels of playing our whole family can play. Well, we can take turns playing but no one is too young or too old! This “go fish” style card game comes with 36 cards and a little booklet of information.  There are 6 sets of 6 cards. You need all six cards in your hand to lay down the set.  The object of the game is to collect the most sets. The cards are 2 3/3” x 4 3/4” and made of sturdy laminated card stock.  Each card has a picture, depicting something from one of 6 categories: Gods, Goddesses, Symbols, Pharaohs, Mummies, Afterlife. So a “God” card would have a picture representing the god, a “definition” and a bri

Our Backyard Visitor

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Earlier this afternoon, I peeked out the window and noticed an unexpected visitor.  I don’t know if this is the creature who visited last year . The type of creature isn’t really strange or unusual.  No, rather it is the animal’s timing. Daytime is sleep time and nighttime is hunt time.     Last year I did a little bit of blogging about some our backyard wildlife .  I think I’ll have to keep the camera close by and see who else comes to visit this summer!

{Crew Review} Math Mammoth ~ Make It Real Learning

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I think I read somewhere that the purpose of math is to be able to use it in real life. We should be able to apply mathematical solutions when necessary to every day tasks like deciding which cell phone company has the best deal, or how much flour do I need if I 4 1/2 times that recipe. Because I want my daughters to be able to make connections between the math they are learning as part of school, and the math they sometimes unknowingly use as part of every day life, I jumped at the chance to review  Math Mammoth with 3 e-books in the Make It Real Learning math series . We chose Graphing and Other Algebra Skills for grades 7,8 and high school ($4.99), Linear Functions 1 for Algebra I and Algebra II ($4.99 ) and Quadratic Equations 1 for Algebra I and Algebra II ($4.99). Each of these eBooks explores math skills using real life situations. A situation is described such as comparing portable music players. A series of questions related to the real life data follows. These questio

{Crew Review} Motherboard Books: Let’s Make a Webpage

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Since you are reading this blog, you must be at least a little bit familiar with the internet and the idea of web pages. Maybe you are a web designer and you know more than just a little bit or maybe you’re like me and you can toddle around using blogger or wordpress, but that’s about all. What about your children? Or your teens?  I am certain that my oldest daughter, a fellow blogger, knows more about creating and editing blog pages than I do or ever will! And my 14 and 15 year old daughters are certainly eager to learn programing and want to design web pages. Phyllis Wheeler of Motherboard Books has several resources to help you teach your children computer science skills. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review their choice of Logo Adventures or Let’s Make a Webpage . We reviewed Let's Make a Webpage . This program uses Visual Site Designer (available in a free trial version)which writes the HTML code in the background, so you do not need to know HTML to c

Post Number 500!!!!!

I know that is such an original, creative and superior title to any other title I have done, right?  Oh well, this is my 500th post on my blog.  I wanted to have a HUGE celebration.  Maybe even a giveaway to celebrate how talkative I have been in the 5 years (give or take) that I’ve had this blog but in the blink of an eye or rather the beating of a heart, everything changed and my 500th post plan didn’t happen. This past Sunday, June 2nd specifically, my husband had a heart attack. So this 500th post is to celebrate the many praises we have related this life changing event.  I’m using my “Random 5 on Friday” format but these aren’t really random thoughts since they are all related. The Praises: 1. The heart attack was mild. Most likely caused by a clot. There’s a name for the type of the heart attack he had: NSTEMI.  Ok that’s not a name it’s a list of initials. The MI stands for myocardial infarction the medical name for heart attack. 2. Our pastor had perfect timing.  He arrived

{Book Review} Fortress of Mist

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** I received a copy of the book Fortress of Mist in exchange from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group’s Blogging For Books program in exchange for my honest review** Do you like historical or period fiction?  Do you like series?  Adventure? Science? Intrigue? If you answer yes to those questions then I have a book series that you’ll want to check out.  A while back I had the opportunity to review The Orphan King , book 1 of the Immortal Series by Sigmund Brouwer.  We loved it.  I didn’t even hesitate to request book 2, Fortress of Mist . If you have not yet read The Orphan King, stop right now and go read that one. This review may contain spoilers because Fortress of Mist is the second book. Can you read Fortress of Mist without having read The Orphan King? Yes.  Yes, I do think you could still get enough from the book to have an enjoyable read but you don’t want to read them out of order! In this gripping fantasy novel set in 14th century England, Thomas, who has reclaimed his