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Showing posts from September, 2013

{Crew Review} The Presidential Game

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If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know that we are a board game loving family. Recently the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to play and review The Presidential Game .  I wasn’t too sure about such a political sounding game but since we love board games, I checked out The Presidential Game and read the FAQ and decided that I needed to beg to be allowed to review this game!   About the Game:  The game is listed as “for 2+” players, specifically it is a game for two teams: Republicans and Democrats. There is no limit listed for how large a team can be but you must have at least 1 player for each team.  Players determine how much time, in number of weeks, until the election.  We found that 15 weeks would take us around 1 hour to play. In this game players “fundraise” or “campaign” to secure voters.  Electoral votes are tallied at the end of each player’s turn.  The winner is the player/team who secures 270 (or more) electoral votes at the end of the elect

Random 5 on Friday {September 20 Edition}

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We’ve been so busy here with trying to adjust to a college student, getting in the groove of a new school year and just living life that I’ve missed a couple of weeks or so of Random 5 on Friday.  1. Only 10 more days of September left. I love September. I don’t want September to end. We don’t have much fall foliage here but I still love the fall colors and enjoy what I do see. 2. Remember last Random 5 I talked about the Tomato Canning Extravaganza? Well, we’ve used two pints so far.  Honeybear used a pint to make homemade pizza sauce.  Sorry we ate all the pizza and I didn’t take any pictures.  He poured the tomatoes with their juices into the Vitamix, added seasonings and blended until smooth.  It made an excellent pizza sauce!  I used a pint of tomatoes to stretch out a store bought can of pasta sauce for our cheese ravioli this week.  I’ll be using one of the quart jars to make some homemade spaghetti sauce.  I’m planning spaghetti and meatballs (Grandpa Larry style sauce) for T

Thankful Thursday!

I don’t know how regularly I’ll post a Thankful post but I love the sound of Thankful Thursday. I know I often need to focus on being grateful.  It’s much too easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for myself or feeling resentful. So here’s a short list of things I am thankful for today: My husband.  I haven’t forgotten his heart attack last June or the roller coaster of emotions. Speaking of heart attacks, I’m grateful that my cousin’s recent heart attack was even more minor than my husband’s.  But scary.  Very scary.  She’s young.  Even younger than my husband. Her heart attack is a reminder of just how rampant heart issues are on my side of the family.  I’m thankful for the Schoolhouse Review Crew especially for reviewing VideoText Algebra (look for that review in a couple of weeks.)  This is working so well for my family. I’m thankful that my oldest was accepted, enrolled and now attending her first choice college. It isn’t an easy transition. But I’m thankful that we we

This College Thing Is Hard!

No not me.  I’m not taking college classes; Boobear is.  It’s hard for us as a family to adjust to this new season in life.  I know that with every new chapter of life it is hard at the beginning and I know that it gets easier as we get used to it but I found myself laughing at the advice given by one mom to another “it gets easier”.  This was mom with teenagers reassuring a mom with only elementary ages.  I laughed because for me the reality is no it doesn’t get easier.  It just gets differenter.  Oh sure some things are easier.  I don’t have to take them to the bathroom anymore.  I don’t have to wipe their noses or tie their shoes.  Nope. Now, I get to worry about other things and help them make the right choices without actually making those decisions myself. We’re used to having all four girls at home. I mean really at home.  Not just living at home but gone all day.  Supergirl really misses having Boobear around.  Everyday she asks me if Boobear will be home for dinner and will s

{Crew Review} PeopleKeys: StudentKeys Student Binder

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I need to start with a confession: When I first saw PeopleKeys on the upcoming vendor list for the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I thought “Um, no.  That doesn’t interest me at all. Why would I want to review that?”  I had Turtlegirl take a look at the website and she read through the descriptions of the different DISC test options we could choose.  She was more than a little interested; she wanted me to choose the “Pick me, Pick me!” option. She said “I need this, Mom.  This will help me understand my strengths and weaknesses.  It will even give me some tips to improve my social skills!”  I really didn’t understand what they were offering or how it would be useful or helpful for home school students. I was wrong.   Turtlegirl wanted ~ and we received ~ The StudentKeys Student Binder . What is PeopleKeys : PeopleKeys is an organization that provides assessments to help unlock human potential.  What does that mean? For students, it means providing tests such as The Personality Style Wo

{Crew Review} Time4Learning

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One of things I love about home schooling my children is the experience of being “hands-on” with their education, of being directly involved. It’s also one of things I like least about it. There is one of me and currently there are 3 of them. The younger the  student, the more mom is needed. With the crazy summer we had full of health issues, graduations, weddings, and life, I found myself appreciating the opportunity to review Time4Learning with Supergirl. Time4Learning can be a great tool for moms like me who really want to be involved in the education of her children but need to step back and let someone else do the teaching. Time4Learning is an interactive online program that   begins as early as Pre-K. What is Time4Learning?   Time4Learning is a web-based curriculum.  This technology based program requires no software, no CD and can be accessed from any computer at any time with an internet connection.  As a teaching tool, Time4Learning can be used for students in PreK thr

Random 5 on Friday {September 6th Edition}

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I know, I know it’s been a couple of weeks since I did a Random 5 on Friday.  This will be the first one for September!  September? What happened to August? It’s only September 6 but it feels like September is flying away as well! 1. In mid-August the three “big girls” went camping at Mt Rainer with our church. They went hiking on the mountain.  They came out exhausted but happy and excited to tell us all about it.   2.  We started back to school on August 26th.  We eased into our new school year by only scheduling 5 days of school over two weeks.  It will be very strange to only have 3 girls instead of 4 in our home school, but I’m really excited about the things we’ll be studying! This week we’re really back it ! 3.  I finally learned how to can tomatoes and there is no way I could have canned them without the Tomato Canning Extravaganza that my dear friend Mimi organized. BooBear and I helped process about 100 lbs. of tomatoes (that was 5!!! 20lb boxes!) into 72 pints and 5 qua

Where Did my Summer Go??!!

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The days are getting shorter.  The air has a subtle but distinct “differentness” to it. I posted a few days about New Beginnings .  Today the public school kids in our neighborhood started classes. Officially we started back last Monday but we eased back and I only scheduled 3 days of school work. And then I scheduled two days of school for this week.  We took Monday off and Tuesday off.  So today really feels like the first real day of school.  Today we “jumped in with both feet.” I didn’t take pictures today but I did take pictures last week: Supergirl Tailorbear Turtlegirl

New Beginnings

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~Happy New Year~ Yes,  I said Happy New Year.  Yes, I know today is September 1st.  Today *is* the beginning of a new year: a new liturgical year.  Today we begin anew the liturgical cycle.  (Ok, yes, you’re right, only the Orthodox who follow the “new” or “revised” calendar celebrated today.  Those on the Julian or “old” calendar will celebrate in 13 days but that is a post topic for another time.) We sang this special hymn for the new year this morning (for those interested it was New Year tone 4 common chant) Creator and Master of time and the ages, triune and merciful God of all: Grant blessing for the course of this year and in Thy boundless mercy save those who worship Thee and cry out in fear: O Savior, grant blessings to all mankind! I love how the start of our new school year coincides with the start of a new liturgical cycle. And as we start our new school year we’ll be reading about the Feasts in the book The Incarnate God .  The book has the feasts arranged in liturgic