Homeschool Crew: Maverick Books ~ Hank the Cowdog

 Hank the Cowdog ~ your relationship with Hank is truly love/hate - you either love Hank the Cowdog and he is a common character around your house OR you don't like him and he is not allowed.  Around here, we LOVE Hank, but I do know some folks that don't care for him.  Hank is, well, he is a cowdog, on a ranch, and let's just say Miss Manners has NO competition with Hank.  Wait, I know the best way to describe Hank - do you have a 9 year old boy?  That pretty much covers that!!  The reason that dome folks don't care for Hank is because he is a little rough around the edges.  He has been know to call the word Dummy or maybe even say stupid, and some folks don't go for that.  Now, before you get me wrong - stupid is NOT allowed to come from mouths at my house, along with many other things that Hank comes up with, but my kiddos know that those words are not allowed, and we can read, listen to and play Hank games without any issue.

NOW, onto all the goodies that came in this box from Maverick Books:
Tornado: really cool game!  Bonus*  It is self contained and travel size* This game plays similar to TROUBLE or SORRY, but has it's on special spaces that are not on the others.  We have played this several times as a family, the kiddos played it a few times on their own, and we even took it to a semi-adult party that I knew a few kiddos were going to be at and this game entertained the 5 of them the entire 3 hours!!!  WOW!!  This one will go down in the books as a favorite family game!  Oh, and did I mention it was self contained ~ and travel size!?!  There was also a cassette with the game that has some excerpts from the book The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado.  The kiddos have listened to it, but it is not as big of a hit as the CD. (ADD ON: This is a bonus from me to you: There was a one page of directions that came with this game.  Once we started playing, it may not really be necessary, but JUST IN CASE, what I did was copy the main points into the game.  It is in a plastic case that holds the pieces.  When it opens up, there is a colored side and then what is actually on the inside of the case, was blank, so that was where I copied the highlights of the rules.)

Tales and Tunes from Hank CD: Kiddos LOVE it; me, not so much.  They each have a CD player in their room and I have had to put this CD on odd/even restriction - meaning that one child can listen to it in their room on the odd days and the other on the even (we do this with many things and it always works).  Not to say they can't go in the other's room when it is playing, but they get the TOTAL CONTROL for the day.  For me, the songs are all really cute, but I am not crazy about the way that it is set up - it sings a song or two and then reads a quip from one of the stories.  I don't care for the back and forth.
And lastly, our very own Hank book!  We have read a few, but we have just checked them all out at the library, we have never purchased them.  This is book number 8 The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse.  They have requested that we take that book with us on vacation and read it at bed time while we are out of town, so we haven't read it yet... but I bet it will be a good one!!

 To see what other members of the crew have to say about Hand and Maverick Books, please click the banner at the top of the page to visit the Crew Blog.

Homeschool Crew: Web Design For Kids

Alright ~ I am not sure how to approach this one.  I truly have mixed reviews about this product.  I guess just spilling my honesty will be the best way to approach it. 
Web Design for Kids....And Curious Grown Ups
I have to admit, I was pretty excited about this.  I have played around with HTML coding a little - enough to make my blog look like this.  However, with the blog, it was one of those things that once I got it where I was satisfied with it, I walked away and left it alone. Why, you ask?  Because it was really confusing and there was A LOT of time spent trying codes here, then checking it, not liking it and starting over.  Truthfully, I am scared to try to change anything with it, because I am not sure I could get it to a point I liked it, or back to where it was.  My philosophy with this has been - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  Besides, this blog look really tells it like it is with our family, and I truly am happy with it.


Anyways, I watched the DVD, took notes (had to, the DVD player and the computer are in 2 different rooms) and then spent some time playing around with it.  I do feel like I learned some things.  The kiddos, on the other hand...even at 9, didn't interest them!  They watched a few minutes with me, thought it was neat that they could do that 'cool stuff' on the computer, and that was about it.  They do not spend much time on the computer, so much of the DVD was over their head.
So, my final opinion on this DVD ~ great for those starting out and wanting to learn, kids or adults!  For my kiddos? It is going up for a few years, when they are older and a little more computer savvy, we will pull it back out and see!

L-O-N-G Drive Home

Most of  today was spent on the road.  However, before we headed out, we stopped for one more fun!  If you ever get a chance, this was so fun and very funny, please take the time and spend the money to go thru a house of mirrors!! Here are a couple of photos from Ripley's Mirror House:

Thursday ~ up in the air ~ literally

Today ~ the sky was the limit!!  Seriously!
First, we went and rode the air tram up to Ober Gatlinburg.
Once at the top, we decided to go further...we rode the scenic sky-lift to Mt. Harrison (little to much for me, but I managed to make it up and back down!)
Once back on the lowlands...we decided to see how much further up we could go.  Our first stop was New Found Gap.  It was on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

This was pretty high up, and the scenery was beautiful...but we got to go higher! Clingman's Dome is the highest peak in TN and the 3rd highest in the eastern US.  I didn't make it up to the lookout tower, but Rog and the kiddos trekked up there!

Just as they came down the trail, we ended up in the middle of a MAJOR downpour!!  It was rough going down the side of the mountain in the pouring rain!  It let up for a few minutes, and we stopped and waded in the creek - it was very cold!! But it was also pretty!

Homeschool Crew: Quarter Mile Math

(Side note~ this is the 3rd time I have tried posting this review.  For some reason, every time I have sat down to work on this, my computer goes wacko-o and I lose it...)
One of the goodies that has come In our mail the past month is Quarter Mile Math. This is a computer program that *can* be used without Internet access, but is really preferred with.  The actual game can be played without, but to get the full benefit of the program, you really must have it on a computer that is online. The *full effect* I am talking about is the fact that it keeps up with the child's progress, AND (bonus) they can race against others!  They can race against siblings across the house, or they can race against Grandparents that are across the country!

The kiddos have been really enjoying this, as part of what they think is Free Time, however, it is a great math review for them!  The version I have is Levels 1, 2, 3 Deluxe.  It covers math facts from simple number recognition (and placement on the keyboard) all the way up.  The box says 9th grade, but I passed 9th grade math and some of these skills or reviews are more advanced than I learned, so I am going to say from K all the way thru High School.
This cover shows why my kiddos were so excited: she loves horses, he is all about race cars.  With Quarter Mile, it is either a drag-strip with a race car or a green field for the horse.  In the beginning, you race against 5 computer cars/horses.  After a few races (well, 5) then you start racing against your best times.

There is a progress form that shows the topics they have 'raced', when, their scores/progress that can be used for keeping up with in their school work.  This page is very easy to read and understand.
If you are looking for something to reinforce math facts, this may be what you are looking for!  To hear what other members of the Crew have to say, you can click on the banner at the top of this post.

Wednesday ~ out seein the sites

Today, we had to go do a silly owner update thing with our time share points.  I say we had to, we do those updates for the prizes and goodies!  Today's update was attached to a 4 pack of Ripley's Aquarium, so we stuck it out for those!
Before we went to the owner update, we had time to go on a quick tour of The Old Mill.  It was cheap and simple, as well as pretty neat!



After that, we surprised the kiddos with a ride in Big Jim - something else that was fairly cheap compared to other things there (plus we had a 4 for the price of 3 coupon, so that made it even better). It was simple, but the kiddos thought it was cool! Well, so did I, heehee...
Finally it was time to visit the aquarium.  We have been there before, but we all still think it is really cool.  Plus, when you have FREE tickets...what more could you ask for? The kiddos wouldn't touch the horseshoe crab, and try as we may, the rays never got close enough for us to get our hands on either.  We did get to see a dive show, it was pretty neat!

Dinner was nothing fancy ~ Pizza Hut, then we headed to check out some scenic views in the park. While driving around, we also made notes of some other things we wanted to do/check out while we were visiting!
This is a pic that Rog took at the aquarium.  I was standing beside him as he snapped it, and we thought my reflection from the galss showing up in the picture was neat.

Tuesday ~ finally made it to our destination

after a long day of driving!  Well, I guess it wasn't a really long day full of driving.  We meet with Rog's uncle in Estill for breakfast and it was actually almost 11am when we really headed to Pigeon Forge.  We stopped on the road at a look out, very pretty! 

And, we also stopped and waded in a really COLD creek, also very pretty!


When we finally got there, here was the view from our room:
After unloading the car, we went for a game of Black Light Putt Putt and followed that up with some Laser Tag.  Dinner was at a place called Happy Days, it was pretty yummy!  Then back to the room for the night - well, after swimming it was back to the room!

Monday ~ headed to Tennessee

We headed out this morning for east Tennessee.  We are not supposed to check into our place in Pigeon Forge until tomorrow, but we are starting our trek over there.  We are going to Rog's grandparents and staying there for the night.  Today was a lot of driving.  We didn't leave out until after 9am.  We got to Estill Springs, grabbed a bite to eat and then spent the rest of the day in the pool.  Here are some pool shots:



Rog spent some time working with Samantha, trying to get her to go all the way over in a flip.  She got close:
Everyone was ready for showers and bed!  Another partial day of driving Tuesday.

Sunday ~

I am lovin the cooler weather, but it is causing me some pain.  I woke up not feeling all that great, lots to do and was thinking about skipping church ~ just so I could get thru the day.  Both kiddos woke up and were ready to go to church before I could even talk about it with them...so we went.  And I am glad we did.  Service gave me something to read on and think about.
We came home and had some lunch, and did a quick clean on the house.  The kiddos went to hang out with my dad while mom, Chelle and I went to the hospital to visit my cousin who just had a preemie baby girl. Her shower was supposed to be today, and even though she was in the hospital still, they were given permission to go ahead with it.
Back at home, we finished up all of the laundry so we can pack ~ then it was off to my sisters for taco soup and games!  Had a great time ~ kiddos are in bed now and I think I have done all I care to do for the day, so I am headed there myself.

Super Saturday

My gang - Rog, Samantha and Riley - all took off to the lake this morning to spend the day hanging on the boat.  As of right now (almost 8pm) they are not home.  I am expecting them soon though.
I didn't go because I had a GS thing this morning.  We helped out at the church wrapping shoe boxes for the Christmas project that the missions are doing.  They wrapped almost 30 boxes.  Very helpful to the ladies who were organizing this.  It is similar to the Samaritan's Purse deal.  All of the boxes they wrapped were STUFFED!  There was even some leftover goodies, so we are hoping that more shoe boxes come in. My co-leader and I are counting this towards some of their service hours toward one of their awards they can earn at this age.
After our wrapping session I met up with two of the girls and their mom's at JoJo's BBQ and had me a YUMMY BBQ sandwich and some AWESOME fries (thanks Marie and Pebbles!).  From there, I ran thru Walgreen's and grabbed a few things and came home.
I spent the afternoon typing up some reviews on here, organizing my pictures folders (they were out of control!) doing laundry and chatting with some friends on Facebook.  Kinda boring, but was nice and quiet!  The only thing that I didn't accomplish (yet) that I wanted to today was get the kiddos folders ready for school next week.  We will be having an unusual week next week, so I have to be completely prepared!  I think I may still can get that done tonight - while they are rotating thru the shower.  I think I hear them now!  Be blessed!

Finally Friday

Sorry there was no up date from Thursday ~ it was a rainy day and we did NOTHING exciting ~ school and then they worked on their rooms ~ they got them MOMMY CLEAN ~ as they like to say!  That was ALL!!
Friday was a bit more fun!  We got up at a decent time, jumped in and got our schoolwork taken care of right off the bat!  We had to run get our tires checked, Rog was a little concerned about them, then after lunch, we headed to the pool with some friends.  I did get some really cute pics, but they do have other children in them, and they are in the pool, so I will not be adding them here.  If you know me, you know my website that you can go visit to see our homeschool photos!
The kiddos went to gramma and granpa's for the night and we headed out to the River Market with some friends!  Spent the evening at the Piano Bar, had a blast!  It was almost midnight when we got home, and then we got a fire call, so we ran down there.  We are both finally home, tired and ready for bed ~ bust day tomorrow!

What a busy day

In honor of NOT having to go back to school today (like the rest of the county), we met some friends at Shipley's  Donuts for a small celebration.  Had a nice time - 7 families, totaling 21 children - on a sugar high!  Gotta love that - and if that is not enough ~ there was a customer in there that they ended up calling 911 for.  Fire trucks and police coming in with lights and sirens was a great way to end that adventure.  Thankfully we had cleared all of the kiddos out before the FF all piled in!
We left there and headed to the library to pick up some more bird books - Riley is really into flipping through the field guides and letting me know he has seen one or the other.  Samantha got into reading about Purple Martens on the way to the doc!  She is interested in those because my Pepaw has Martin boxes at his house.  We learned they probably won't like our yard because we have too many trees and they like to swoop!
Samantha had another bloody nose last night, so I called the ENT first thing this morning and SHOCKER!  they called me back within the hour.  He even made time for her to come in today so he could check out a fresh bleed. 
We ran a few errands, had some lunch, then off to music lessons.  After that, we headed over the river for Samantha's appointment.  He did find the source of the bleeding, just a vessel inside her nose.  She will have a minor out-patient surgery to have it cauterized to see if that will stop the bleeding.  One issue solved (hopefully) only about a dozen more with her ENT area to go!  She is nervous about sleeping and shots.  Please keep her in your prayers until after this is done.
We rushed home, had a yummy chicken fried rice dinner, then off to church.  Great lesson tonight!  Couple of the verses really spoke to me! 
Everyone is in bed, and I am headed there myself.  School and house work tomorrow!

Homeschool Crew: Grapevine Studies ~ Old and New Testament Overviews

After trying to decide what I wanted to use and how I wanted to teach the kiddos Bible, an opportunity came to the Crew to review Grapevine Studies Bible Curriculum.  Talk about excited!!!

I spent a little time checking out the Grapevine site, but pretty much new from the start that I wanted to go with the Old Testament or New Testament Overviews.  Imagine my THRILL when I was able to receive them both and do a review on each of them!!!  Each program is designed to be a year long, So, in order to give an honest review on each selection, the kiddos and I got a jump start on schooling!  Since they are pretty similar in the way they are set up, both being overviews, I am including all the information about each of them in this one post. 
I was very excited when I finally got my email with my downloads!  There were a Teacher Manual and a Student Workbook for each Testament.  I opened the OT Student book first and started scrolling through it.  I felt very overwhelmed ~ at first!  Then, the more I looked thru it, I realized how simple, yet how informative these studies were going to be.

The very first Lesson in each overview is a time line.  We spent a couple weeks on the Old Testament Timeline, paused with the Old Testament and kept on going with the New Testament Timeline.  Once we finish it, we will pick back up with the next lesson in the Old Testament and use this study for 4th and 5th grade Bible!

We finished Lesson 1 in each of the Overviews just in time for us to start school.  When we started, we picked up with Lesson 2 in the Old Testament Review.  At first, I thought the stick figures were a little silly.  Come to find out, they really are fun!  I think the kiddos are committing it to memory when the do the little drawings with each lesson.
This program is great for home-school students, would be great for a co-op type class, and would be a really fun Sunday School Class. For more reviews on this product, please click on the crew banner at the top of the post.

Early Monday Morning

Who makes appointments for 8:30 in the morning? Seriously?  Apparently it is people that don't have to wake my child and deal with her!!
So, Samantha had an appointment with a speech therapist this morning, and we found out there are some minor issues that involve a 'team' of specialist that only meet once a month and we are going to be referred to them to see what can be done.
They were very cooperative with me this afternoon!  We came home from the appointment and school went smoothly and we just hung out for the night!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my special niece ~
EMILY!!

Happy 12th sweetheart ~ I love you!!

Bicycle Safety Course

The kiddos got to participate in a 4H/OMK Bicycle Safety Course today.  They weren't crazy about getting up earlier than normal so we could get to River Trail Rentals in NLR on time, but they had a blast!  I dropped them off and they learned some safety things, then took off over the Junction Bridge and rode their bikes in downtown Little Rock (insert shocked smiley here) and had lunch.  They rode around a bit, then came back across the bridge and were ready to go home.
While they were playing bicycle ~ i ran a few errands.  We got home, did some of our school lessons for the day ( I had lessons penciled before this opportunity came up, but I did make it lighter). 
Dinner was hot subs and then while Rog was at a meeting, the kiddos and I cleaned in our rooms. He is home now, and I think we are all headed to bed.

Happy Birthday Meme!!

Happy Birthday Meme!  I love you!

Wednesday

Today was pretty normal.  Kiddos are doing really good about taking thier school books with us when we are out and working on things 'on the road'.  We did visit the library and they helped find the books for our next couple of weeks in history.
We went by to visit with my Meme ~ today is her birthday and it has been a while since we have visited with her.
The kiddos asked if they could go to Gramma's this evening, so they missed church.  I missed church as well because of a GS meeting.  Girl Scouts has some fun things coming up!  Gonna be a great year!  Can't wait!!

First Day of School!

Well, even though I wasn't quite ready, we started school today! 
We don't really do anything special for our first day each year, however, we do go out for breakfast on the first day of public school.  In the past, we have gone by ourselves to IHOP.  This year, several of our moms in my  homeschool group decided to join in, and we are going easy on the budget and heading to a donut shop instead.  I will be glad when they decide on which one!!
We started our day really late!  None of us woke up until 10am!!  I was worried that that would be the wrong foot to start the day on - turns out, it was the best thing that happened all day!  They were GREAT! today and I think it was because everyone was well rested.  They were hesitant about starting, but our day went really smooth and they had fun, so they are ready for it!
After breakfast, our school started with our Bible Study lesson.  I have the chance to review Grapevine Studies from the Crew, so we are doing the Old Testament Overview.  They didn't know we were doing it as part of school so they were excited to see the pages.  We started with Creation and did about half of that lesson - they both took turns reading from their Bible.
Our Language Arts was a new curriculum - we are using LLATL. After Bible, I read the first chapter of The Boxcar Children (Please, no stones or tomatoes - but I have never read ANY of these!!) and had a little discussion about it.  There was no grammar lesson for the day, so we did a page or two of MadLibs - they were FUNNY!  Kiddos loved that!
Spelling lists came from some random web site - I am needing ideas to help them with their spelling words -some fun ways to review and learn them - besides the boring drill.  I have a few things up my sleeve to try , but would love to hear ideas that really work for you!
I was worried about math - that seemed to be the least favorite last year.  For some reason, they jumped right into it and LOVED it.  They *almost* have all of their multiplication facts, so I think they may actually enjoy division - using Math U See is fun because they get to *see* what they are dividing!  Looking forward to a great year in math!
Science is a new thing this year - Flying Creatures of the 5th Day.  I don't remember learning much about the classification system - Kingdom Phylum Class - that was as far as I could get.  Not after today - kiddos thought that was great - I searched the library to see if there were more books showing charts - I will go sometime next week and see if I can find a poster or something -that really struck a direction for both of them - anyone know of some good sites that we can look at that deal with classification of animals?
We wrapped up the day with History - we are on Volume 4 of Story of the World.  They have really learned so much about maps and such - Riley is excited that we are getting to the part where the wars that we are really familiar with happen.  He can't wait until we start the Civil War (just 2 weeks away!)  He is already checking out books about it and asking questions - he may be able to teach me by the time we get there!
All in all it was a great school day.  I even managed to get dinner cooked on time.  Kiddos went over to gramma's house and Rog and I went to the Fire Station.  He is teaching a class on extrication and I worked on data entry  - that I wish I was more caught up on. Been a long day, another one tomorrow - night all!