Updates on Baby Mason are Posted

I just posted an update about our sweet baby Mason over on his Spina Bifida Journal so click here to read what’s happening now.

As always prayers are appreciated.

Opinions Wanted: What Toys are Worth Holding on To?

With Christmas approaching and all of our shopping done the only thing left to do at my house is weed out toys we no longer need or want.  We do this each year and things fall into a number of groups as we sort:

• Broken/Lost pieces (trash)
• Outgrown and Unloved (pass along to others)
• Outgrown - Pack Away for Younger Children
• Keepers (currently being loved and played with)

In my marriage we have one person who loves to let things go to new homes and one who would rather keep everything.  It’s hard to see the other person’s perspective, even after 11 years of marriage, but we keep trying.  When you add the children’s opinions into the mix it can be overwhelming, to say the least.  Again, we have a child or two who will happily let toys move to new homes and a few who cling to every toy – including ones they’ve not played with in months or a year.  And stuffed animals?  Don’t even get me started! 

So here’s where you come in dear readers:

• I want you to leave a comment sharing what toys are keepers to you.  For example, even when I have no children in the right age range for Little People sets I keep them tucked away in the attic.  Little People are durable, classic toys that every one of my children has loved at some point in their lives.  Be it the castle set my oldest son loved, the farm set my animal lover treasured, or the pirate ship my current 2 year old adores.  We don’t give away Little People.
• I want to know what toys you think every family should have for a certain age, if they can.
• I want to know the toys you don’t think need to enter a home too – and why!  (Barbie tops our list.)
• Do you have a limit on the number of toys a child can have?  What about a limit on stuffed animals?
• I want to know how you choose toys for your family.  Do you have any rules or guidelines?  (We won’t buy dolls that are immodestly dressed, for example, and we like to invest in toys that will last through more than one child, as well as toys that invite a child to use their imagination.)
• Are there any toys on your mental wishlist – ones you w0uld love to invest in if the price were right?

Basically, I want to know all your thoughts on toys for your children, so get sharing!

Homeschool Plans for the Week

December begins this week and I’m just not quite ready to admit that.  Where has the year gone?  We have rain and snow in the forecast this week.  I’m sharing our homeschool plans for the week today because lists are motivating.  I have two doctor’s appointments this week that will throw off the schedule a bit (one ultrasound and one midwife appointment) but this is the goal for each day.

Family Memory Work
We are still memorizing The Family: A Proclamation to the World and have dived into our Christmas songs for this year.  I have some flashcards coming from Signing Time that will be added to the binder for ASL and Spanish.  The front of each card shows a picture of what you’re to sign, the back shows how to sign it.  We’ll use the front to have younger children practice the signs and older children to practice the Spanish word for that item.  Now to wait patiently for the flashcards to arrive…  You can learn more about our memory work binder here.

Math
Makayla is working on division by 4 and after that will tackle averages.  Joseph and Emma need some more review of the addition facts they’ve learned up to now.  I think I’ll pull out the math songs from Math U See to introduce a new way to remember them.

Reading to Mom
Joseph and Emma read to me from a book each day.  We’re just practicing and practicing.  One of these days fluency will happen.  Daniel is also reading to me most days because he wants to. 

Writing
The older three children continue their WriteShop levels.  Makayla is writing a humorous story this week.  She did her brainstorming today and it’s going to be about a girl studying kangaroo rats in Australia.  One of the rats is going to grow to the size of a real kangaroo and cause mischief.

Greek Myths or History
As long as interest continues I’ll read a Greek myth to the kids each day, or we’ll study whatever historical subject they’re interested in.  This is pretty free-form for now.  Last week was pilgrims and Wampanoag indians with Greek myths.  Who knows what will catch their fancy this week on our history book shelf?!

Succulents Science
We have a pot of succulent plants and discovered this morning that two are flowering, so we’ll do some plant observations and study.  I’ll pull out our botany book so we can learn more about the differences and similarities between succulents and other plants.  The girls have been sprouting bean seeds too.

Read Aloud
We really need to start Ozma of Oz if we’re going to have any hope of finishing it before our next book club meeting.  Last week I didn’t do any extra reading aloud because my mouth still hurt from dental surgery but today it’s feeling pretty good.  I’ll try to get started on this today.

Delight Directed Studies
Pretty much anything else is led by the children’s interests, and history and science are pretty interest driven as well.  Emma is usually doing some art project whereas Joseph is building or designing things.  He has K’nex out this week.  I have no idea how he builds with those things!  They’re just out of my league…LOL.  Give me plain old blocks any day. 

What are your learning plans for the week?

Foreign Language Habits–Plus 40% off Signing Time

I’ve been thinking about our foreign language studies again.  We work on two languages:

1. American Sign Language
2. Spanish

We’ve fallen out of the habit of regular practice (gasp!), though I have been working on ASL with Caleb the last two weeks.  Before my children lose what they know I’m going to get our practice habits rolling again.  I’m working on a way to incorporate our vocabulary for each into our Memory Work binder, with a plan for watching the various DVDs we use as well.  I thought I would share what we currently use for each language (with information on the 40% off special happening Sunday and Monday for the ASL materials), as well as some free resources on the internet.

American Sign Language

We began learning ASL years ago when Joseph, who was 2, was completely non-verbal.  He didn’t even say DaDa.  While he ultimately had other issues that needed resolved through surgery, ASL is what saved our sanity.  He had begun having frequent tantrums because he was frustrated by being unable to communicate.  Since that time we have used ASL with each child to some degree, especially in the early baby/toddler years before they’re speaking well.  Here are some of the reasons we still love learning ASL:

1. We can communicate with our babies and toddlers.
2. It lessens frustration and tantrums.
3. We can discipline and correct quietly in public.
4. It has become our family's "Secret Language", a bond the kids will remember as they grow up.
5. It is a hands-on language, it works great for those children who can't sit still and need to move.

We use the DVDs from Signing Time for a fun, interactive way to learn ASL.  Over the last 5 years we’ve taken advantage of special sales and generous grandparents to purchase to buy nearly every DVD they offer.  I have my own opinions on which are my favorite DVDs from the different series’ and so do my children.  I’ve got my own preferences for which DVDs to start with based on the age of the children in a family too. 

I wanted to pass along their special sale this weekend, and no, I’m not affiliated with them in any way.  I’m planning to use the sale to buy some of their board books and flashcards.  You won’t get a better price than this sale.  Sunday and Monday Signing Time is offering 40% off orders over $40.00 with only a couple exceptions (gift cards, digital downloads, and a special potty watch they sell).

Spanish

Our Spanish studies are done with the Speekee.  A dear grandma bought the DVDs for us after her grandchildren loved the online version.  (We did need to pick up a region-free DVD player to handle the European coding format, got it on Amazon.)  Originally our family tried out Speekee online as a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, so you can read my review for that here.  A few things we love about Speekee:

• It uses language immersion – every word you hear is in Spanish.  There are optional english subtitles for parents.
• It uses native Spanish speakers – the best people to learn a language from are those who have spoken it from birth. 
• It is young-child friendly.  It fits best my children under age 8, and once Mason is born I’ll have 6 of those.  Even Makayla can learn a ton of Spanish from Speekee at age 10.  She just notices it’s more ‘little kid’ with the puppet segments and lots of songs. 

FREE Resources Around the Web

Please be aware that I’ve not explored every corner of each of these sites.  You’ll have to use your own best judgement, and remember, some may also sell products – feel free to ignore that!

• ASL University – free online curriculum
•  iCANsign – some free baby sign resources
• Video sign dictionary – from Baby Hands Productions, free video clips for each sign.
• The Signing Time website offers free resources your family may enjoy:
• Coloring Pages
• Crafts
• Games
• Articles to read
• Video Clips
• Progress Charts
• SpanishTown.ca has a large Spanish for Kids section on their site. It has materials for grades 1-4 and when you click on the sections for each grade on the page I linked to you’ll find lots more sections divided up into the months of the school year. There are audio tracks with pronunciations, worksheets, and more.
• Byki Express is a free software download in many languages including Spanish.  They have a paid deluxe version too.
• 123 Teach Me has a large Spanish for Kids area with videos, flashcards, games, worksheets and more.

Does your family study any foreign languages or want to?  How do you fit it into your daily routine so it gets done regularly?

Five Things for Friday: Scripture Journals and More

We survived another week folks!  It’s Friday and that means it’s time to link up to Five Things for Friday.  Here are my five things:

{1}

I’ve made it through the week and so far I’m healing well from my dental surgery.  I was even able to eat Thanksgiving dinner, which was a good thing because I’m tired of yogurt and other soft foods.  I have to say that I just don’t see what’s so hard about making a big meal like Thanksgiving.  I saw posts all week about the days and days of baking, cooking, and decorating preparations.  We just did everything on Thursday morning and ate a yummy meal at lunch.  We even had time that morning to read a bunch of books on Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Wampanoag Indians and let the kids do some crafts. 

I’ve also managed to stay healthy even with several of my children cycling through little colds, which I’m grateful for.  Some have had runny noses, one had a sore throat.  Most are on the mend and should be good to go by church on Sunday.

{2}

I started making my scripture journal yesterday!  This is something I’m very excited about.  I’ve read posts here, here, and here plus watched a video about it here.  I’ve thought about how I want to approach it (bound journal, 3 ring binder, chapter by chapter or by topics).  I chose to use a bound journal and arrange it by topics.  Mine is a Markings by C.R. Gibson European Bonded Leather Journal with a flexible cover.  I found mine at WalMart for $10.97.  The cover measures 7.5" x 10.25" and it has 190 pages (85 sheets).  I like the size, I like the flexible cover instead of a hardcover.  The pages are a nice thick paper and the lines are not too dark.To set up my journal I used Shannon from The Redheaded Hostess’s instructions, which you can download free at the very bottom of this post.  I tweaked it a bit, of course.  I skipped one page front and back for my table of contents, then numbered the rest of the pages.  On the table of contents page I divided each side into columns and wrote out every page number. 

In Shannon’s download she has a list of 80+ topics to use for your first 80+ pages.  I used her list as a starting point but crossed off some and added others.  One neat resource for ideas was the Study by Topic section of the Church website.  I did not include all of those either, and ended up with 111 topic pages.  I wrote the topics in my table of contents and each topic on it’s assigned page as well.  That leaves pages 112 through 190 empty.  As I fill up a page for a topic and need more room to write I’ll simply note “continued on page ___” and use the next empty page after 111.  That page will then get it’s topic recorded in the table of contents, with a note on the page where the beginning of the topic is. (That’s another idea from Shannon, by the way).

{3}

I have a book review and giveaway coming next week.  I’ll be sharing my thoughts on The No-Cry Picky Eater Solution: Gentle Ways to Encourage Your Child to Eat—and Eat Healthy by Elizabeth Pantley and one of you will win your own copy! Do you have any picky eaters at your house?  Our kids are a mix.  Each has at least one item they hate (no big deal), but two are a bit more choosy.  I’m not one to make separate meals for the picky child – they eat or they don’t – that’s their choice.

{4}

I have officially reached 32 weeks in this pregnancy.  Yay!  Next Wednesday I have another high level ultrasound to check on baby Mason.  We’re praying he still shows no signs of hydrocephalus and that his growth continues to be right where it should.   I’ll be talking with the OB who will most likely be delivering me that day too.  I’m hoping to get a better idea of when they want to deliver, assuming Mason has no issues crop up that call for early delivery.  My guess is around 38 weeks along, which means in less than 7 weeks I’ll be holding my little man! 

{5}

It’s quiet time at my house and I’m off to eat some ice cream and read my scriptures.  It’s the little things that brighten my day – and quiet time is certainly one of them!

My ABC’s of Thanks

I’ve decided to join The ABC’s of Thanks today!

{A-E}

• Abraham, who we’ve been reading about in family scripture study this week.  What a faithful, patient man! 
• Books.  I love reading them for me, reading them for the kids, listening to each child begin to read books. 
• Caleb, my 6th child and sweet snuggler.  He’s curious about the world around him and into comforting from mommy.
• Daniel, my 4th child.  He’s a bright little boy who keeps me laughing at the things he says.
• Emma, my 3rd child.  She’s the artist in residence and loves to create. 

{F-J}

• Freshly ground flour to bake with.  I love baking wholesome, homemade treats for my loved ones.
• Glue sticks.  Really, they’ve saved my sanity with children who always want to make something – no puddles of liquid glue at my house!
• Heavenly Father, who has a plan for my life and is working for my good.
• Instruction books because I’m just not great at figuring things out without them.
• Jason, my husband.  I love him more every day and learn so much from him.  God gave me my opposite and we rub off each others rough edges making a nice smooth family.
• Joseph, my 2nd child.  The first boy.  His interests lie in building things, outer space, robots, and all those areas I never wanted to learn about, but get to now.

{K-O}

• Kids.  They bring me joy and keep me humble.
• Living in a house – we’re blessed with a roof over our heads.
• Mason, my 7th child, who comes in less than 8 weeks.  His pregnancy has reminded me that every life is precious, that God’s plan is always the right one, even if it is not the one we would have chosen.
• Makayla, my 1st child.  Caught on the edge of child and young woman, she’s growing into a delightful helper and second in command.  She’s passionate and challenging, but a joy.
• Novels.  Losing myself in a book is a wonderful way to relax.
• Oliver, my 5th child.  He’s serious and silly by turns, still willing to snuggle.

{P-T}

• Prayer.  I know Heavenly Father listens, answers, and comforts me.  Prayer gets me through so much.
• Quilts to snuggle under.  With the cold weather arriving I love seeing all my family bringing quilts downstairs to snuggle up in the evenings.
• Reading my scriptures, it’s like a daily injection of the spirit to get through the day.
• Savior.  Without Jesus I would be lost, life would be miserable. 
• Temples, the place to make sacred covenants that make it possible for families to be together eternally.

{U-Z}

• Unlined paper.  It’s so versatile.  It can hold lists or letters, or it can become a masterpiece, craft, or paper doll to keep the kids enthralled.
• Vehicles, especially a van that seats our whole family.
• Weather.  Be it mild or wild it all puts me in awe of the Creator.
• Xylophones.  You know, the little kid ones that toddlers can drag around and ‘play’.  Sure, I get a headache, but they bring such simple joy to little ones.
• YOU!  Thanks for reading my blog, commenting, and sharing a part of my family’s life.
• Zippers.  They’re faster than buttons!

FHE Idea: Thankful Hunt

I have a quick and easy Family Home Evening idea to share today for the Thanksgiving season with extra resources to go deeper linked at the bottom.

Go on a “thankful hunt.”

On a piece of paper write the following words:

1. See
2. Hear
3. Taste
4. Touch
5. Smell

Take your family around your house or yard and find at least 3 things for each category that you are thankful for.  Write the ideas down and then gather everyone with paper and art materials to draw a picture of some things they are thankful for from your thankful hunt. 

To take it deeper visit the Gratitude page from the Church.  There are many multimedia resources including videos to watch, audio to listen to, and a whole section of study resources.  You’ll find coloring pages and games, scriptures, articles, and more!

Resisting the Shopping Mania

Thanksgiving is this Thursday.  Time seems to move faster some months than others and November has been that way for me.  My husband and I finished up our Christmas shopping Saturday morning.  We’ve found it makes the big shopping mania of Black Friday through Christmas very easy to resist when we’ve done all our buying before Thanksgiving. 

We made a few purchases through the year when we found items on clearance or sale that would be perfect for a child, hiding them away in the attic.    Saturday we finished up our shopping by ordering the rest online.  Our children know that all shopping is done so no telling us what they want is allowed now. 

We stayed right in our budget.  There are no credit cards in our house because we learned a long time ago to flee temptation by just not having it available.  We’re also right in the middle of birthday season at our house.  Between October and February we have 6 birthdays – filling up every month.  Needless to say we’ve got a birthday budget too – it’s the only way to survive financially.  A budget sets us free!

Do you budget money for Christmas or birthdays?  Do you stick to your budget or are you swayed by the glitzy advertizments and ‘deals’ around every corner?

Five Things for Friday

I’m linking up with Five Things for Friday this week.

{1}

Homeschool spins along beautifully and it’s all God’s doing.  We’ve found our groove and we’re enjoying it.  Our core subjects get done regularly, all the extras are more interest driven.  Everyone is making progress.  I love it!

{2}

Caleb’s birthday is Sunday and he’s turning 1.  I cannot believe it has been a whole year.  He’s a sweet little light in our family.  He’ll be a big brother in less than 2 months which also seems amazing to me.  When baby Mason is born I will have 3 children under age 3.  Again.  Life’s never dull!   

{3}

My husband was able to fix the dryer for under $20.00.  I don’t know how long it will stay fixed but I’m grateful for every load that comes out dry.  It’s the little things in life that brighten our day.

{4}

I’m trying to find time to watch this video on scripture journaling.  I’m 10 minutes in and hopefully will get to finish it sometime this weekend.  I’ve read several posts about scripture journaling and hope to make time to do dive in and begin my own.  Right now I’m working on re-reading the Book of Mormon.  I’m still on track to be done by the end of December and the spirit has been teaching and testifying of truth every time I read.  It’s a wonderful experience as always.

{5}

I’m going out on a date tonight with my husband!  Even better, dinner is free – time for the yearly work Christmas party/business meeting.  Several hours spent remembering we’re husband and wife and not just mom and dad – yay!

Random Links I’ve Visited This Week

Today’s moving along and I wanted to share just a few links I’ve come across or revisited this week.  There is no theme, so just browse through and check out the ones that sound interesting to you!

• How to draw a Thanksgiving turkey – I saw this cute tutorial over on Draw with Rich. 
• The LDS Media Library’s Image Section – More than 2000 images divided into topics and ready to use for lessons at home and church.  I think this will be really handy.
• Simplified Primary Music Here and Here – Makayla loves playing piano and is just about to begin level 2A of Alfred’s Premier Piano Course.  While the church hymn book is available in easier versions, the Children’s Songbook is not.  I found two separate websites full of simplified sheet music of the Primary songs.  Makayla is thrilled!
• Simply Charlotte Mason’s Blog Series Index – This page is an index to the different series’ of posts that have appeared over the years on Simply Charlotte Mason.  I enjoy reading through these!
• Free Ancient Greece Unit and Lapbook – Homeschool Share comes through for me again!  While I’ve not officially decided to dive into a full-fledged unit on ancient Greece, the booklist gave me some ideas of what to look for.
• Amazon.com – It’s a rare week that I don’t check out something on Amazon.  This week I’ve been checking out Christmas ideas for the kids, downloading free Kindle books, as well as ordering Makayla’s next set of piano books.  Remember that I’m an affiliate for Amazon and if you shop through my link I’ll get a credit for any purchases you make.  My budget thanks you! 

That’s all for now folks!  I’m off to write a grocery list while the kids are busy playing. 

We had a Greek Mythology Day

My children have been enamored with Greek myths after listening to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  I knew they would enjoy a short mythology study and today was the day.  I gathered a few resources and we were ready to go. From the Ancient Greece History Pocket book I printed out two activities about the main Greek gods and goddesses.  Then we combined the activities into creating their own books!  There were 12 pictures to color and cut out.  The younger children simply focused on this part of the activity and made picture books from these. As you can see from the pictures I’ve included the second half of the activity was an information box about each god or goddess.  The older children were to read it and draw a symbol for that character.  They then cut out these pieces and matched them up with the colored figures they had glued in their books earlier.As an extension of the day we started listening to the second Percy Jackson book during quiet time (The Sea of Monsters).  It kept the attention of my four oldest children and they begged to stay in bed and keep listening when quiet time was over.  Daddy and I said no.  Instead we all gathered on the couch with a snack and I read some of D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, a library book.  It was so fun to see and hear the children making connections between the book they made earlier in the day, the stories we were reading, and the Percy Jackson book they had been listening to. 

I have two other books on Greek mythology from the library right now and Makayla has been reading from those both on her own and to her siblings.  They are: Favorite Greek Myths retold by Mary Pope Osbourne and The McElderry Book of Greek Myths retold by Eric A Kimmel.  Each book tells stories in their own way, with varying styles of art.  I like having the variety to pull from and I imagine over the next week or two we’ll read some more from each of these books.

Have you taken a current interest from your children and made a fun learning day from it lately?  If you haven’t then I encourage you to do it – they remember so much more when it’s something they’re already interested in!

Morphology game – A Timberdoodle Review

My family loves playing games, and some of our favorite games are those that require creativity to play.  When Timberdoodle asked if we wanted to review something from their 2011 Gift Collection we were happy receive Morphology to play.  Now, I’ll be honest, according to the box Morphology is for ages 13 and up.  None of my 6 children have reached that age but I still thought we could make it work – and I was right! Morphology’s box is filled with a variety of materials, more than 60 pieces in all:

• Glass beads
• Mini popsicle sticks
• Small colorful wooden blocks
• A thick string
• Wooden pawns
• and more!

Players divide into teams and choose a colored frog to place on the game board.  On your team’s turn the Morphologist of the round draws a card from the 600 possibilities.  This card tells them what image they need to create using the materials in the box like a puppeteer would, trying to get your team to guess the word before the timer runs out. 

Words range from easy to hard, and here are some examples we created: spider

street light

windmill

The game has a few twists.  You see, when a team answers correctly they move their frog to the next lily pad on the board.  Some of these lily pads have the word “Roll”.  When you are on those you must roll a die and use the chart on the board to determine changes.  Possible consequences include:

• Building the word with your eyes closed.
• Building only with your non-dominant hand.
• Building with limited materials, such as only 5 pieces or even only the string.

Remember that I said the game is meant for ages 13 and up?   The only real challenges we found when playing with younger children are the short time given for each turn (easy to fix, use the timer twice in a row if needed) and having non-readers (we sent them out of the room with a reading helper to read them the word from their card).  We divided into two teams and split the ages evenly with one adult and a mix of younger and older children on each team.  Everyone had fun even when there were lots of laughs at our attempts to communicate through building. 

The only other thing I noticed that many of the building materials are very small, a choking hazard, so we made sure to watch closely that no materials found their way into little mouths.

All in all, Morphology was a hit at our house!

{Disclaimer: We received this game free to review from Timberdoodle.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Counting Blessings Instead of Trials

Well, I’m better off than the pioneers but did my clothes dryer have to break down last night too?  I mean, really, it was one of those rotten days yesterday that just kept getting worse.  Not only did all this happen yesterday(read #4), plus the dryer quitting with cloth diapers still needing to dry, we spent part of the night in the basement (no, it’s not a nice finished one) listening to the tornado sirens.  And yet ----

I am blessed.  There is no denying it.  In the midst of my pity party I decided to count my blessings, so here we go:

• Not only do I live in a free country, I live in a house.  During the storms we were dry, relatively warm in the basement, and together.  We had no storm damage from wind, lightning, or rain, and no tornado.
• I have electricity and running water.  I’m not washing clothing by hand and we have heat when it’s cold out.
• I have a clothes drying rack that I popped up yesterday evening and hung those cloth diapers on.  They’re finally dry now and another batch of laundry is hanging to dry.  It’s slow, but it works.
• There is money to buy a dryer, and we’ve already finished most of the Christmas shopping, so that won’t be impacted too much.  Hubby gets his yearly bonus on Friday.  The timing couldn’t be better!
• Did I mention the washer is mostly broken too?  Yeah, it’s only got one cycle (hot wash/hot rinse), most of the dials are broken.  However, that is the one cycle we absolutely have to have with cloth diapers so they get clean and disinfected.  Another blessing!
• While I’ve got an infected tooth that needs removed I do have access to medical care and medicine.  Antibiotics? Check!  Painkillers? Check!
• My children don’t go to bed hungry.  There is plenty of food in the house.
• I know that God loves me and He’s taking care of my family’s needs. 

There is so much more but right now I have other things to do.  I think next up is picking up the toys and blankets strewn across the living room, which are there because my children are healthy enough to play and make messes – another blessing!

What are some blessings you’re grateful for today?

Random Monday–Giveaway winners, potty updates, and more

Well, this post will be a mishmash of things, including winners for two giveaways. 

{1}

The winner of the We Choose Virtues giveaway had to be redrawn as the original winner did not contact me within 48 hours, so the new winner is:

Kristi said...

I think my kiddos (7, 5, 3) struggle equally with being gentle and kind. They are not purposefully mean (most of the time) but have a hard time remembering that teasing is not fun to those being teased and if it's not fun for everyone it's not a considerate and kind activity.

I’ve sent you an email Kristi!

{2}

The winner of the Pick and Draw giveaway is:

Holly said...

I have Our Busy Homeschool in my reader wiegersmama at yahoo dot com

I’ve sent you an email Holly!

In case you didn’t win:

Now through December you can buy one deck of Pick and Draw for $10.00 and get $2.00 off each additional deck. It makes a great gift! Just add as many decks to your cart as you want, there is no special code needed.  Click on the button below to go there and shop:

{3}

A Potty Training Update!
I posted here about Oliver’s first day of potty training last week.  Day 2 he had a 50% success rate, and by day 3 it was a 90% success rate.  At the moment he still needs reminded to stop playing and go potty, but I know in a few weeks that will be a thing of the past too.  He gets on there, does his business, and goes back to playing.  I’m thrilled.  I only have one child in cloth diapers during the daytime now (yes, I realize that will only last until January, but hey, it’s something).

{4}

I’ve got a toothache.  It’s a very long story that begins with a filling coming out, a root getting infected, and visits to several dentists and oral surgeons in one day (today).  I’m in pain, on antibiotics, and waiting for next week when we can pull the tooth and move on. 

With feeling miserable the last few days I’ve spent a lot of time reading.  Don’t ask how much, but I’ll just say that I’ve read Crossed and Inheritance both from beginning to end, kept up with my scripture reading, and I’m a good ways into Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief today.  All have been read on my Kindle.  I love my Kindle (and that all 3 books were free through the library loan system Amazon has with my library).

{5}

My children, however, have been rather miffed that my mouth hurts too much to read aloud to them.  I got some child-friendly books on Greek mythology because they listened to the Percy Jackson book I’m currently reading on audio (also free from the library).  Makayla has taken it upon herself to do the reading aloud so everyone can enjoy those books.  I love that.  I think I’m going to capitalize on everyone’s interest and print out some activity pages on ancient Greece and Greek myths tonight for a surprise.

So what randomness is going on in your life right now?

Our Memory Work Binder

One thing we try to consistently work on in our home is filling our minds with inspiring words from scriptures and hymns.  We have gone about this in many ways and find that different things work well for different children.  One tool we use is a simple binder filled with page protectors.  Inside this binder I place current memory work, printed out from various free places around the internet or from my word processing program. 

When it’s time for memory work we gather everyone in the living room and start turning pages as we recite.  Then we turn on the music, and start flipping pages as everyone sings.  When songs have been learned well we’ve branched out to singing a capella.  It is so sweet to hear my children’s voices, though a bit funny to hear the ones who are never quite on the right beat of the song as the rest of us.

Our current memory work is The Family: A Proclamation to the World.  Below you see the first two week’s pages:

This weekend it was time to update the songs that are in our binder.  With Christmas approaching I’m placing pages for some of the songs we worked on learning last year.  For many of my younger children these will seem like entirely new songs.  My husband and I narrowed down the list to the following this year:

• When Joseph Went to Bethlehem
• Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus
• Away in a Manger
• Silent Night
• The Shepherd’s Carol
• Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful
• Angels We Have Heard on High

I get the song printables free from JollyJenn.com in the flipcharts section if she has them and print my own if she doesn’t.

I have also decided it’s time to edit the binder and add some sections.  You see, it is easy to lose what we don’t use regularly.  At one point most of my children knew the 13 Articles of Faith thanks to the songs in the Primary Songbook.  Now they probably only remember half of those.  We’ve learned many scripture verses in the last two years but without regular practice those are fading from memory as well.  I adapted the scripture memory box idea I’ve played with in the past to my binder.   There are two sections labeled Daily, one for things we recite, one for songs.  There are sections labeled Odd days and Even days, and ultimately I’ll add sections for each day of the week (Sun-Sat).  Into these sections will go things we’ve learned previously.  Every day we will do our current memory work plus the sections that correspond to that day.  So today we would sing and recite everything under “Daily”, as well as the song or scripture under “Even Days” because today is the 12th.  As we cement things better and increase what we know I will add in a few more sections just like the scripture memory box I linked above. 

I really love using a binder because flipping the page protectors while trying to recite or sing is pretty easy.  I don’t drop pages and have everything get mixed up.  I also don’t have to waste time between each song grabbing the right picture pages.  Even my children can take turns leading our memory work time thanks to the binder!

Do you have regular memory work time at your house?  Have you found anything that helps you stay organized?

Who’s Your Idol? Talk CD–A Review and Giveaway

As a teen one of the things my parents were wonderful about sharing with my sister and I was inspirational talks on cassette tape.  While cassettes are pretty much a thing of the past inspirational talks are still around on CD and even to download in MP3 format.  Deseret Book sent my family Who’s Your Idol? by Carmen Rasmusen to review. Just who is Carmen Rasmusen?  She’s an LDS singer who got her start on season 2 of American Idol at age 17.  She’s walked red carpets, been in major magazine photo shoots, and walked through all the temptations and worldly pressures that face youth today all while striving to stay true to her gospel foundations of modesty, chastity, and obedience to the Word of Wisdom.  Today she is a wife and mother and loving every minute of it.
In this talk aimed at young women Carmen shares stories of how she stuck to her goal of living the gospel standards through her immersion in the entertainment business.  She’s honest, funny, and open about the challenges she’s faced, telling just how awkward she sometimes felt, but how obedience brought blessings to her life.  I found myself alternately laughing and nodding as I listened to her story.
Carmen asks youth to look at who their role models are. She reminds us that you try to become like those you admire, so it is important to make sure your role models are worthwhile and will help you live the gospel standards.  I really enjoyed Who’s Your Idol? and look forward to sharing it with my children as they approach the bumpy waters of adolescence. 
Deseret Book is giving away a copy of Who’s Your Idol? right here at Our Busy Homeschool. 

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED.  Congratulations to Melissa's Life!

There are a few easy ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling me you want to win!  Be sure to include your email address in this first entry so I can contact you if you win.
• Visit Deseret Book and tell me another product you would love to have in your family.
• Follow Our Busy Homeschool and tell me that you do.

Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on Saturday November 19, 2011 at 6:00am.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org.
{Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Who’s Your Idol? to review and one to give away.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Nephi and the Brass Plates DVD–Review and Giveaway

Families have many different rules for watching television or movies.  One of our family’s rules for Sunday is that we will only watch uplifting, gospel-related shows on that day.  We’ve got a small variety but are always open to having more in our collection of DVDs.  My children were excited when Deseret Book sent us the 25th Anniversary Edition of Nephi and the Brass Plates by Living Scriptures.  Not only would they have a new show to watch, it was about one of their favorite scripture heroes, Nephi. 
Little did we know that this DVD is part of their Complete Learning System and included some fun extras on the disc:

• Adventure Quiz with 3 skill levels – Working as a team my children navigated the quiz, which integrated movie clips from the show they had just watched.
• Optional Scripture reference subtitles – This gave us an easy way to explore the story more in depth, as well as to see if we agreed with the presentation by Living Scriptures.
• Sing-Along activity – sometimes the best way to learn something is with music, which the Living Scriptures makes full use of.
• FHE Lessons and extra content online – The DVD-Rom also gives you access to a whole website of extension activities and coloring books to print and use in your family.

While Deseret Book currently offers this DVD in combination with another here, I’ve got a better offer for you!  One reader will win Nephi and the Brass Plates for free! 

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED!  Congratulations to Shirley!

My friends at Deseret Book are hosting a giveaway here on Our Busy Homeschool and here are the ways you can enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me one of your favorite scripture stories.  Please include your email address in this first comment as contact information in case you win.
2. Visit Deseret Book online and tell me one other item you would love to have.
3. Tell me one of your family’s favorite uplifting shows to watch.
4. Follow Our Busy Homeschool and tell me you do.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on Wednesday November 16, 2011 at 6:00am.  Winner will be selected using Random.org and notified by email.
{Disclaimer: I received one free DVD to review and one to give away.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Potty Time Again

Potty Training.  Today I started working with my 5th learner, Oliver.  I fully believe he is ready to leave diapers behind for the daytime, but he’s not decided if he agrees with me yet. 

Yesterday I re-read The No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.  It was a wonderful reminder that this is a process, not a one day event, and that my attitude and responses will be of utmost importance for the duration.  There are chapters full of information for setting up and many options for your potty learning time. 

Last night I set up the downstairs ahead of time because I plan to keep Oliver downstairs with me all day to focus on this new activity.  Here are the preparations I made:

• I put several changes of clothing, wash cloths, and underwear beside the bathroom downstairs. 
• I put 1 or two towels in each room downstairs to make cleaning up accidents easy.
• I put a towel on the couch that is his “spot to sit” so furniture stays dry. 
• I put a stack of books beside the bathroom so we have lots of reading options when he’s sitting on the potty.

I also took the time to go back in my blog archives to re-read the post about Daniel’s first day of potty training because he was the last child through this stage.  That was just a year and 3 months ago!  I had forgotten how many accidents he had that first day and got a chuckle remembering that one was while he was standing on the back of my couch.  It was also a good reminder that each child is different, and so learning to use the potty will be different each time. 

Our morning began with an excited Oliver, happy to sit on the potty (we use a cushioned seat that fits on the regular toilet, with a footstool to climb up).  He had me read Brown Bear, Brown Bear 5 times in a row, then a few other books. 

As the day has progressed he’s not as excited about sitting, so we make it through 1-2 stories before he’s ready to move on.  One of the stories is always Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?  He’s happy to be wearing underwear, which is great.  He’s thrilled with all the focused attention from mommy.  He’s only slightly miffed that I won’t let him go play upstairs. 

Oliver accidents today: 6
Successes today: 1

Oh, and I have Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? memorized already.  Completely.

Jacob T. Marley–A Deseret Book Review

There are few classic Christmas stories more well-known than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  Many people the world over know just what you mean when you say someone is ‘a scrooge’, a phrase that reminds us of the selfish, miserly main character of A Christmas Carol.  Some have certainly wondered about his mentor, Jacob Marley, who is introduced with the first sentence of A Christmas Carol in the following words: “Marley was dead, to begin with . . .”  However no one has taken the time to explore the story of this essential character, until now. R. William Bennett has created what is sure to become a favorite book for those who love A Christmas Carol, titled simply: Jacob T. Marley.  In just over 200 pages readers are taken on a journey to learn what this man was like in life, what hand he played in the development of Scrooge’s miserly self, and how Marley came to be a wandering spirit.  It explores those seven years between Jacob’s death and his visit to Ebenezer and so much more.

I began reading Jacob T. Marley with high hopes, but wondered just how this book could live up to the expectations laid by Charles Dickens’ original writing.  Without spoiling anything let me just say that I truly enjoyed this book!  It is quite a little gem, one I will enjoy re-reading during holiday seasons to come.  I believe that R. William Bennett has written a story that would make Charles Dickens proud.

{Disclaimer: I received this book free from Deseret Book to review.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Pick and Draw–Review and Giveaway!

Finding a game that most of my children can play at the same time can be a bit challenging with the wide age range (11 months – 10 years).  Honestly, the youngest doesn’t insist he get to play just yet, but his 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10 year old siblings all do.  I was excited to receive Pick and Draw because it really is a game they all can play together.  The premise is simple.  Using the card deck, paper, and pencils you all draw a cartoon face, one feature at a time.  The card deck is divided into the following categories:

• Face
• Nose
• Eyes
• Mouth
• Hair

Everyone in the group uses the same card to determine what to draw, with creative license given to make each feature as large or small, straight or crooked, sideways or upside down as they wish.  The end result are totally unique creations that all came from the same set of 5 cards. 
The game gets very silly along the way at my house because you find family members trying to make their face move the way the cards show, like this: The game can even be done with just one player, much to my artistic Emma’s delight.  She spent nearly an hour one afternoon mixing up the card decks and creating masterpieces.  No two pictures ended up the same.
Want to try Pick and Draw yourself?  Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and go here.  Click on each card on the page to reveal the feature you need to draw.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Wasn’t that fun and easy?  Now imagine doing it with your whole family over Thanksgiving – not only is it great for the children but the whole extended family can get in on this game as well.  Some of the best family memories are the simplest to create, and I plan to introduce this one to our extended family this year. 

Would You Like to Win Your Own?

Owner Rich Davis is offering a giveaway of one Pick and Draw game right here on Our Busy Homeschool for one of my readers.  There are several ways to enter, be sure to leave your email address in your first entry so I can contact you if you win:

• Go visit Pick and Draw’s website and tell me what color the “How to Order” button is at the top of the screen.
• Visit Rich’s drawing blog and tell me you did.
• Follow Our Busy Homeschool and tell me you do.
• Try out the game here and tell me you did.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends Monday Nov. 14th at 6:00am.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org and contacted by email.

In case you don’t win:

Now through December you can buy one deck of Pick and Draw for $10.00 and get $2.00 off each additional deck.  It makes a great gift!  Just add as many decks to your cart as you want, there is no special code needed.

{Disclaimer: I received one deck of Pick and Draw free to review and one to give away.  All opinions presented herein are my own.  Links in this post include affiliate links.}

Pictures from Table Time Today

I wanted to share a few quick pictures from today because it was one of those mornings where everyone was productively engaged at the table simultaneously.  It reminds me just how much I appreciate the training we’ve done with the little ones on having ‘table time’.  Caleb contented himself with this puzzle for about 15 minutes.  He can’t actually put the pieces together, but he loves taking them apart, chewing on them, and stacking them in a pile.  Throwing them on the floor is pretty fun too, though he’s learned we won’t pick them up for him if he does, so he saves that for the end of puzzle time.  Then we move to another activity at the table, and so on.  He’s usually happy there for an hour – not bad for an 11 month old!Oliver seems to have lost his interest in coloring, sadly enough.  That means I’m pulling out activities with pieces, like these stacking pegs.  He has developed an interest in colors at long last, so he spent a good portion of time telling me the color of every peg he used.  I’ve tried to convince him to stack matching colors but he’s much more interested in filling every single hole on the board instead. In this picture Daniel is working on a page from Math U See Primer.  He likes ‘worksheets’ right now and so he’s always asking for more to do.  Underneath is the first page he did about the letter Ii.  Emma had a project she wanted to work on this morning first thing.  She made cards for various people and we were all expected to be surprised when she gave us our cards.  Joseph is working on Math U See Alpha in this picture.  The assignment had him solving math problems and then writing the answers in word format in the crossword puzzle.  He likes math a lot and so far it seems to come pretty easily to him.  I hope that stays true for years to come! Makayla has been reading a book series called Pendragon for a few weeks.  Today she started book 6 and one of the things she decided to do is start a notebook of Pendragon Art.  Her plan is to draw the different characters and creatures from the many worlds in the Pendragon series. 

Lots of school work got done over the morning, as usual.   The favorite school part didn’t happen during table time though – it happened on the couch.  We practiced our memory work, sang a few songs together, and then read a few more chapters of Peter and the Starcatchers.  We are really having fun with this book and I have to admit the kids are not the only ones wanting to find out what happens next. 

Don’t forget I’m guest posting about faith over at The More the Merrier today and you can still enter the We Choose Virtues giveaway for a few more days!