Circling Through This Life

A large number of retail stores have announced that they will open on Thanksgiving. I think I read that Kmart plans to stay open for something like 41 hours straight for their Black Friday sales.  Really?  Seriously?  41 hours? I won’t be shopping on Thanksgiving .  I highly doubt that I’ll go shopping at all over the weekend.  I’ve never been a fan of Black Friday sales.  Maybe it’s because my first job was in retail?  Maybe it’s because I don’t really like shopping?  It isn’t because I don’t like saving money and it certainly isn’t because I don’t like buying gifts. I could blame it on not having any money to spend but some years I have had money to spend and still didn’t participate in Black Friday sales (and those were in the days when stores were actually closed on Thanksgiving and didn’t open until Friday morning, you know, after sunrise). But this post isn’t about Black Friday sales on Friday.  This post is about shopping on Thanksgiv...

Yes, I know it is Saturday but I wouldn’t let myself post this yesterday because I wanted to get my book review and giveaway posted for The First Christmas Night.  I don’t like posting twice in one day to my blog if I can avoid it. It just doesn’t feel right to not post for days in a row and then post multiple posts in one day. I just can’t do it. So here’s this week’s Randomness or Roundup or Random Thoughts 1. On Tuesday November 19th my husband and I celebrated 19 years of marriage. Tailorbear, Turtlegirl, and Supergirl created a romantic “restaurant” feel for our special dinner which the girls helped cooked. Tailorbear even provided classical dinner music through her Spotify account for us! 2. Because Boobear is a music student, we get free/discounted tickets to the different music concerts presented.  On our anniversary there just happened to be a Symphony Concert.  Guess what?  They did excerpts from Handel’s Messiah .  Two of the college choirs provid...

This giveaway has ended. Book Title: The First Christmas Author: Keith Christopher Illustrator: Christine Kornacki Publisher: Ideals Children’s Books Format: Hardcover, 32 pages Price: $16.99 Recommended Ages: Kids ages 4-8 but in my opinion enjoyable for all ages! As soon as I pulled the book out of the packaging, I was in love!  This beautiful, hardcover book, written in rhyme captures the attention of both adult and child. It can be a quick easy read or you can slow down and savor each page. About The First Christmas Night The First Christmas Night is a beautiful retelling of the birth of Jesus on that joyous night in Bethlehem so long ago. The poem begins with the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and winds though Christ’s birth, the angels’ appearance to the shepherds, and the visit by the Wise Men.  The simple, yet elegant, verses will appeal to little ones and are accompanied by the rich acrylic illustrations of Christine Kornacki. About the Aut...

Today in the van we started discussing our Thanksgiving menu. It seems like I make the same things every year. I thought maybe we could change things up a bit.  Try something new or different.  Nope.  There are certain food traditions that must be adhered to or else apparently it just isn’t Thanksgiving at our house. I guess I can relate to my children.  There were certain foods that my mom always served on Thanksgiving and if those foods were not on the table then it couldn’t really be Thanksgiving, right? Right! My mom always served turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, brown and serve rolls, this candied yam with marshmallow thing [it was so not my favorite but it was my sister’s favorite], cool whip with fruit cocktail salad thing [always a big hit with children] and pie, usually pumpkin.  Some years she baked the pie and some years she bought the pie but we always had pie. We also always had a “relish tray” with different kinds of pickles and olive...

It’s always a good idea to remember to be thankful any day or month of the year but there is something about Thanksgiving and the month of November that causes people to focus on being thankful. I’m joining with fellow crew members to participate in the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Cruise: on being thankful . Here’s my list (in no particularly order): Today, I focus on being thankful that as I celebrate 19 years of marriage (19 years on the 19th of November, isn’t that cool!) I still have my husband with me to celebrate. Regular readers of my blog may recall that my husband had a mild heart attack last June.  Next month he’ll have another heart catheterization to see how that artery is doing. I’m thankful that he was there in June, after the heart attack,  to celebrate our daughter’s 18th birthday and graduation from high school.  He was there for her first day of college. I’m thankful for home schooling.  It’s been an amazing journey to home school my oldest dau...

Wow, half way through November!  I missed last week.  1.  Today is November 15th.  For Orthodox Christians who follow the revised Julian Calendar the Nativity Fast begins today .  This is the least restrictive of the 4 fasting seasons with Fish being permissible more frequently. The Fast begins on November 15 for those who are on the Old Calendar but old or Julian Calendar is 13 days behind the Revised calendar so OC will start the fast on November 28th. 2. My Orthodox friends and I joke that on fasting days shrimp becomes a vegetable .  We’ll be eating shrimp at least once a week for the next 40 days.  The rest of my family loves shrimp.  I am still learning to tolerate it but I have found a few things I like.  3. Today marked the final due date for the final review for the 2013 Schoolhouse Review Crew.  The Crew Leadership will be tallying votes and announcing the winners of the Blue Ribbon Awards this coming week! 4. I may be fini...

When the girls were all young we discovered the Young Explorer’s Series of science books written by Jeannie Fulbright and published by Apologia Educational Ministries . Supergirl listened in while we read books about astronomy, anatomy or zoology but she wasn’t quite ready for them to be directed at her until recently. With my other two girls currently studying Physics and Chemistry, the timing seemed perfect to review Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Textbook and the accompanying Junior Notebooking Journal. This sturdy hardcover text contains 14 lessons.  In the notebooking journal you will find a suggested Daily schedule for using Chemistry and Physics two days a week. Following this plan you’ll complete the course in 28 weeks.  This gives you plenty of time to dig deeper or explore topics that grab your student’s attention. In the Introduction section of the textbook you’ll find How To Use This Book: A step-by-step Guide. Also included in the book: Suppl...

During a previous Schoolhouse Review Crew Year, we reviewed an online math resource from IXL.com .  Recently IXL has expanded the website and now in addition to Online Math Membership , they offer an Online Language Arts Membership . The Math Skills portion now covers topics from PreK through Algebra 2 instead of grades Pre-K through 8th grade when I reviewed it .  The Language Arts component currently only offers skill practice for grades 2-4.  Because Supergirl loved IXL and I loved what it did for her, I expressed high interest in reviewing the Online Language Arts Membership. IXL.com generously provided a year long subscription to both the Math and Language Arts sections.  This review will focus on Language Arts Practice but you can read my IXL Math review for more information about math.  Be sure to check out the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog for reviews for both Math and the Language Arts! What is it?  How does it work? IXL.com is a subscription ...

Some time ago some dear friends of ours hosted a Dramatic Skit and Reading activity.  Though I chose not to participate in a skit or do a reading, I very much enjoyed watching my family (and friends!) participate. I didn’t get as many pictures as I wanted.  I really wanted a picture of Honeybear reading There’s a Monster At the End Of this Book.   But here are a few that I did get:

I love using real books to teach history and geography. Carole P. Roman has a series of books that introduce children to cultures around the world. Currently there are four books available and Supergirl and I had the chance to read and review them! If You Were Me and Lived in France If You Were Me and Lived in Mexico If You Were Me and Lived in South Korea If You Were Me and Lived in Norway All the books are subtitled: A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World.   Each of these books are short, with colorful illustrations and large font text. They are fun to read aloud and full of information about the people and culture.  The books begin with a map of the country with the capital city marked. The first two page spread shows a globe with two children pointing to the country.  The text gives information about where in the world the country is located.  The next two page spread discusses the capital city. Somewhere on those two-page spreads will b...

I can’t wait to tell you about this book that Supergirl and I have been reading.  Can’t-Wait Willow! written by Christy Ziglar and illustrated by Luanne Marten tells the story of Willow and the lesson she learns about making choices and learning to wait. Sometimes you need to say no. It can be better to wait. Save yes for the super amazing, and end up with the truly great! Willow is a young girl who has been waiting and waiting for the day of the Big Top Circus.  The day has finally come and she is so excited.  She’s been dreaming of cotton candy and seeing the show in the Big Tent, but as she walks from home to the circus she encounters fun things like the ice cream truck or playing with friends at the park and by the time she gets to the circus she has no more money to buy cotton candy and to make it even worse, the circus show is over.  She missed it! She “couldn’t say no” to the ice cream truck, or the lemonade stand.  Those were good things but she mis...

I’m combing letters C and D this week because I just didn’t get a post written for the letter C.  I’ve been implementing the principles of Trim Healthy Mama and have discovered that cauliflower and chicken are my new best friends. It seems many of my dinners involve cauliflower or chicken or both! Years ago when Low-Carb really hit the market with books like South Beach Diet and Dr. Atkins’s diet, I knew that subbing cauliflower was possible, even recommended.  I have this vague recollection of trying to make fake mashed potatoes using cauliflower. And over the years I have added cauliflower to my potato soup to reduce the carb load, but things like cauliflower pizza crust?  I had heard of it but just couldn’t bring myself to actually try it.  Until recently.  Now?  Oh yes I’ll be making this one again! Cauliflower Crust! Completed Cauliflower Pizza! I did not create the recipe for the above crust but I will share the link so you can try it for yo...

November? November?!!! Yes, I’m a bit shocked that November is starting. Time may fly when you are having fun but it races even faster when you’re busy or stressed. I missed last’s week edition.  But here goes: 5 Random Thoughts for this first edition in November. 1.  Honeybear had a follow up cardiology appointment. Tomorrow will be 4 months since his heart attack. It was not a nice appointment. Honeybear needs another heart catherization and this time the team plans on putting in a stent. This procedure is tentatively scheduled for next week. 2. Supergirl had an endocrine appointment. It went very well.  Her thyroid levels are right smack in the middle and the doctor is pleased with growing progress. I am so glad the doctor put her on thyroid medication. We do not have to go back for a year. 3. Do you read my blog posts and wish that you could be part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew?  Well the Crew is now accepting applications for the 2014 Crew Run. You can go h...