CurrClick Dollar Days Sale

Just spreading the word!!  Enjoy your deals!

Galacto Kids

I was asked to check out and review a new game site for kiddos – GalactoKids. Here is a bit of information and background about the site.

I’ve been busy working and playing with Galacto Kidz to keep kids learning over the summer! Based on a lot of feedback, we’ve just improved the registration process making it easier than ever to sign-up.

I have a very special gift for you and your readers! There are no hoops for you or your readers to jump through. We really are giving away complimentary summer memberships to our favorite bloggers! All you have to do is share the code. No strings attached!! We’d love for you and your readers to join us! 

You (and ALL of your followers) can play for free all summer long at www.GalactoKidz.com using the code HS605 .

Here’s a little background about Galacto Kids:

· Galacto Kidz was founded by fellow blogger and mother of twins, Elizabeth Loennborn.

· Galacto Kidz is an interactive virtual world for children 6-13 set on board a cool spaceship.

· Galacto Kidz provides a safe, fun and ad-free environment for gaming and informal education.

· The site includes a variety of games that teach math, logic, typing, spelling, and vocabulary, as well as arcade style games and an integrated social networking platform.

· Players choose an alien avatar that lives in a Pico Pod on a spaceship that is searching for new galaxies.

· Players can interact with other players, travel about the spaceship and visit other pods.

· Space dollars, called Gazingos, can be earned by successfully completing tasks or by winning games and can be used to purchase items in the Galacto Kidz virtual world.

· Kids can chat with their buddies and they can submit user reviews and user generated content in creative writing, art, and video formats.

· Arcade play includes battle and matching games, among others.

· Galacto Kidz is designed with high-level safety features that address the security concerns of parents.

· The virtual world goes beyond the requirements of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act.

· A Parent’s Portal allows monitoring of everything a child does.

· Parents can see which games their children are playing, view friends and buddies, and can even block specific buddies if they feel it necessary.

· The site logs and archives all chats and correspondence.

· If a parent ever has questions about a child’s activity, all chats are available for review.

· Everyone in a room for any chat at any time can be identified.

So, I get the email this morning and head over to check things out.  I did have to set up an account, and will have the kiddos set up one as well.   It took me a bit to get in (kinda my fault, I didn’t check the junk folder for the confirmation!).  I did get a chance to peek in and look around, but not a chance to play just yet.  So, I am sharing this with you now & will be back - probably sometime next week (after the holiday & we get some time to play on it) - and let you know what we think about it!

Wednesday runnings…

Today was nothing like a normal Wednesday!  We hit the floor running this morning, getting ready to head to the movies.  We had to go pick up Chunk – were waiting on Marl and Em to get here and Ry was wanting to take a friend.  Friend wasn’t able to join us, Marl and Em arrived just in time for us to go grab Chunk.  We walked in the movies at just. the. right. time!  And it was DARK in there!  Had a bit of trouble getting all seated and adjusted, but worked out fine!

Went to see Percy Jackson & the Olympians- the Lightening Thief.  I had no idea what it was about.  I liked it fine… pretty good story.  It was a story about Mythological gods, so please check it out for your family before you take my word for it.  If you’re into that kind of stuff (which I am really not…) it was a good movie!

We headed to Firehouse Subs for lunch (two kids meals FREE with an adult purchase).  The lady did even better than that for us! She gave me all three kids meal free & upsized their drinks!!  Off to the park to eat – kiddos preferred to play.  The adults ate – in the shade – in the breeze – until they were hot and sweaty. 

Marl helped me package the ton of books that had been mooched from my BookMooch account so I can get them to the mail and she grabbed a happy hour for us!  Ry went to G’ma’s to swim before church and then ended up going over there for the night.  I have Sam and one of her GScouty friends for the night- it is late and they are still up watching movies.  Not worried, they will sleep in! (I’m going to spend a few minutes updating my blog and then I am off to bed!)

TOS Scavenger Hunt Where's Edna?

My blog is participating in the TOS Where's Edna? Scavenger Hunt!  This is for Crewbies, as well as my other readers!!

All my Crewbie followers kinda know what's going on, but for the rest of my readers, here's a little bit about it!
HERE! is where you need to start off!  It is a list of blog links of all the Crew Members who have an Edna tag hidden on their blog (this is a picture of what you are looking for, but it will have a keyword underneath it - I have another with the key word hidden somewhere amongst my pages!).  

• Visit these blogs, find Edna and take note of the different key word from each blog!
• After you have visited all of the blogs, found the key words, head back to that link and fill it in.  Don't forget to leave your contact information!
• Winner will be chosen randomly from everyone who correctly enters the information!

Crew members - works the same way, just be sure to get your list from the forum and use the links that are provided for you from there!  Enjoy ~ 
--now I'm off to find where all that silly Edna is hiding out--

My Week at a Glance

Well, I thought if I have to list my to do list of things that are not as fun, then I could list my week at a glance, with all of the fun things I/we hope to do!! Well, I know that my to do list could {should} also include fun things, and I may include a few this next week, but if I do that, then where's the fun in participating in both of these fun memes?
1. Game and Fish Turtle exhibit - perfect timing, since we have a new turtle friend residing on my sofa table!
2. Charlotte's Web at the movies!
3.  Mr. Brian!! If you are anywhere, even semi-located to AR, please make plans to go see Mr. Brian and Miss Terry! They are traveling a little out of state now as well!  He also has a FB fan page.  
4. Swim Team team party @ Splash Zone!
5. Percy Jackson at the movie!
At this time, I am unsure what the holiday weekend has in store for us.  I know there is some talks about a family get together on Saturday and I plan on attending that, UNLESS, I have to meet Rog's cousin Z outside of Memphis so he can come visit us for a couple of weeks!

Goal Plan Monday

Since this is my first round of Goal Planning Monday, I can't share what was accomplished from my last weeks list.  I did have a small list, but it wasn't very *accomplished* so we will just start fresh!
The things I am hoping to get marked off this week are:
1.) Computer desk cleaned- completely - drawers cleaned out and organized
2.) NRA Shooting Sports Event set up
3.) Finish patches on Sam's GS vest
4.) Turtle tank cleaned out
5.) Fridge/Freezer & big  freezer, all three cleaned out & maybe an inventory list
These are my main ones for this week - there are tons of other little things on my page - and these all have several steps to them- so let's see what we can get done this week!!

Wrapping up the long weekend...

Been a long three days....

Friday~ Marla and I left out about 10am and headed to Camp Cahinnio to pick up 4 tired, dirty, full of energy girls!  It was a 3 hour drive there, we were there about an hour and then a 3 hour drive home... LONG DAY!  They did have a GREAT time and learned many new songs - that they sung almost all the way home!! Well, until this happened:

Roger and Riley went and played golf, then out for lunch.  Once they got home, they pulled the boat out and worked on it to get it ready for a trip to the lake!

Dinner was Crock-pot Chicken (that I put on before we left), rice and green beans - it was ready when I got home with the girls.  We ate dinner, then Sam and I were ready for bed!

Saturday~ We were up and out the door by 8:30am , headed to the lake! Meet some friends down there and hung out on an island (we named this area Deer Scare - due to our camping incident last year) with some friends...

Dinner was Chic fil a on the way home - got the kiddos through the shower and I settled in to watch Shrek-Forever After and fell asleep... only to be awoken by the FD pager with a medical for an infant. Roger went on the call and I finished watching Shrek (best I know, infant is ok).  Didn't take me too long to fall back asleep...

Sunday ~ Roger was at the station today, kiddos woke up on their own (I was going to let them sleep as long as they wanted).  Church, kiddos went with mom & I had a GS Leader's Meeting -planning meeting for the year - lasted until 7pm!  We did get a lot accomplished today - but boy, it is a hard meeting... So, kiddos are in bed and asleep already, talked to Roger already & I think I am headed to bed as well!

(friday) favorite THINGS @ Finding Joy

So, this is my first week participating in (friday) Favorite Things & I like where she is going with this, being able to share the things that have really stood out to us this week!  Here goes my first attempt at this!
Seeing as how Riley was gone all last week to Boy Scout Camp, my favorite thing this week has been having him home!  Sam has been gone all week, so we got some good one-on-one Momma/Son time!  Here are a few shots of him from last week (that I am super thankful his scout leaders took & shared!)

Visit #7 -drug study

Most of you know I have been doing this drug study since the end of February.  I have to go in for a check-up once a month for paperwork and to give myself an injection.  I also give myself an injection two weeks after the appointment - which puts an injection every two weeks.  I have been able to give these to myself without any issue.

I am thinking that I am not getting the placebo - I have truly been feeling better lately.  I know that many of you are more for natural cures and I am not saying that I have anything against them, but I have been on meds for Lupus many years longer than I ever knew anything about natural cures.  When your as sick as I have been and have been through what I have been through, it's a scary to take that step from meds to nothing... so, I haven't made that transition to natural - completely - I am working on it.  Anyways, wouldn't it be awesome if this was something that could help those with Lupus?  Think about all of those who know nothing more than medical helps or cures - who won't/can't try the natural items!  Are we on the road to a cure?

On another note, the doc was none too happy about the lack of help I have received from the latest pulmanologist.  He called and fussed at the office and apparently didn't care what they had to say, so, I am going to see yet another NEW lung doctor... please keep prayers for that coming!

I go back Monday for a lab draw - and it's kinda a good thing, there has been a reaction in the area that I gave the injection and I think that doc needs to see it!

ALL ABOARD!!

Back in May (I think?) I tried out again to be part of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  I was on the 2nd tour of the Crew, 2009/10 and really enjoyed it and I am so terribly excited to be returning again for another cruise with them!

For this year's cruise, I am not only going to be doing reviews for the Crew, I am also considered a Deck Hand ~ which means I will be helping out moderating the forum and helping our fearless Crew Leaders, Heidi & Brenda, with some things behind the scene, to make their jobs go smoother (at least that is the idea!)





Ship has set sail, so be looking and see what kind of goodies we end up with!  The banner across the top of this post will connect you straight to the Homeschool Crew Review Blog, that will allow you to see other's opinions of what I am reviewing, plus other items that are being reviewed, but were not considered a good fit for my kiddos (like items for younger or older kiddos)!
Come aboard and enjoy your personal review show!

Braces - again!

Riley had an orthodontist appointment this morning and all of his baby teeth are gone & we are waiting on the 12 year molars to come in!  He still has a bit of a protrusion, so he is going to need a full set of braces.  Can we say $cha-ching$!  The good thing is- it is not an emergency- so, he wants to see Ry again in 6 months and if we haven't gone forward with it at that point, we will talk.

We headed to the theater to watch Alpha & Omega.  There was an issue with the movie, so we watch Diary of Wimpy Kid... kinda a cute, boy movie!

He had a Scout meeting tonight, for book signing.  He accomplished SO MUCH while they were at Scout Camp last week! He is only a few small items away from being able to work towards his Star Scout!

Busy weekend....

Whew... we were busy this weekend!

Saturday morning, Sam had her second swim meet - she did better this time and actually got a time to work with - no DQ!!! Now we have something to work towards - a better time! I worked the first part of the meet, and was able to see her swim...up close!

We had lunch out and then went to the dreaded WalMart store for Father's Day gifts.. Roger got an alarm clock - because he needed one! His is on the last leg, and mine fell at one point and the snooze doesn't work...we needed a new one!

Got Samantha all packed for her week at camp - I think she is pretty excited about going!

Ry got home late Saturday afternoon - filthy, tired and full of excitement from camp.  I am fb friends with one of the troop leaders - that took pictures - I just have to tag myself in all of them - but there is about 500 total...dreading that task - but, there were some good ones of Ry in there!

Went to Olive Garden with Gramma Sherrie, Rob and the 3 boys to celebrate Gramma's birthday... then it was home and bed!

Missed church on Sunday morning so we could head out to camp for Sam... Her BFF's mom went with us, because we were meeting her BFF halfway to pick her up from her dad - they had been at Father/Daughter camp over the weekend.  What a L-O-N-G drive!!  With a couple of stops, 4 hours!  We were there for 2 hours getting them checked in and then another 4 hours on the way home (because there were 2 cars and DQ was calling our name, so we had to stop and sit and visit!).

After such a long day, I am outta here!  Gotta do it all again on Friday!

Last day for only child Sam...

What a way to wake up this morning... to the dogs next door fighting - I think there was another dog up visiting also - along with a couple of kiddos - right below mine and Sam's window!  I threw the window open and yelled for the kids that were out there to turn the water hose on them.  Someone came out and separated them...

We headed to swim practice - I read my book for a while, then moved over to where some homeschool mom's were discussing the Rainbow Resources book... I am scared to look in it... I kinda know what I am wanting to do this next year (post to come soon) and I don't wanna make me doubt what I have in mind!

Ran into the scrapbook store and picked up a few things - found some cute baseball paper and some really neat-o swim team paper!! And I always find something for camping.... Now, if I can find time for scrapbooking!

Sam went with Mom and Em to see Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer - said it was cute.  Ice cream afterwards...then Em hung out here for a while.

Leftovers for dinner and just when I thought we were going to shower and head to bed extra early - Gramma calls - Chunky wants her to swim... so, off she goes again!  While she was gone, Ry called!  He sounded tired, but said he was having fun & is ready to come home tomorrow!

I think she is out - swim meet number 2 tomorrow- I am headed out as well!

Da-do/Daughter Day

Roger took the day off to spend with Samantha.  He thought that the three of us may be hanging out together, but that was not what she was thinking!

They both slept in, which means I got some quiet Bible Study time, and he loaded her up and took her to swim practice.  From there, they had lunch at Fire House Subs together and then headed to see Soul Surfer. They also picked her up a new swim cap & had snow cones.

While they were out doing their thing, I went to a friends house and picked up a new member to the family... we have yet to give a name... any suggestions?

Her day apparently wasn't complete, because she took off with him to watch his final ball game. I headed to the ball park for closing ceremonies for Riley...

They tied for 3rd place and I guess since there were so many rain-outs and reschedules that they just allowed ties?  Ry is going to be excited when he gets home and sees this...

Rog and Sam are walking in the door, so I am off here for the night...

wore-SLAP-out!!

I told you yesterday she was tired... she slept until 11am!!  Needless to say, we completely missed morning swim!   She wasn't hungry when she woke up, so we headed out and ran by the Girl Scout office and one of the libraries to return Riley's book on cd and then we grabbed some Chic-fil-A for lunch... she was certainly hungry at this point - 12 piece and fries!

We had talked about doing Water-Only-Wednesday (which is hard because it is usually our errand day and we grab lunch out) and we did ok...not perfect though!  We did have lemonade with lunch - which was not water, but it wasn't soda either.  Other than that cup of lemonade, we both drank water all day! (I will admit that I am wanting a Dr. Pepper - just a small drink....)

Church & bible study was good... the lesson was What the Bible Says About.. Hypocrisy. Brother Paul said he searched and found 77+ verses on hypocrisy.  Sadly, that is one of the main reasons people who are not Christians- are not.  Does that make sense?  There was some good discussion over this topic...

We picked Roger up and headed to swim practice.  She is tired... and sometimes struggles with keeping up.  We spoke with the coach about some private lessons and may check into that for her.

She has crashed for the night and is looking forward to spending the day with her da-do tomorrow...

In the water will wear ya out...

Samantha barely got up in time for swim practice this morning - she got about an hour in the water, when practice is an hour & half.

We left swim practice and headed to Splash Zone... the water park fairly close to us.. with some friends for a while.  I didn't get in the water and it was H-O-T sitting out in the sun.

A nap was in order after that! She wasn't hungry at dinner time, but I convinced her to eat some yogurt before practice... she did make the full hour and half practice tonight, but I could tell she was wore-slap-out!  She came in and went straight to bed!

Marmaduke!

So, yesterday, Samantha had a friend come home from church with her and stay the night.  They got up and moving and I asked them if they were up to the movies... well, DUH! yes, of course they were!  We headed north to a small town & got in line for the $1 showing of Marmaduke!  I hadn't seen it, the girls had.  Turns out it is such a cute movie!  Made me wanna go home and hug on my Hershey!!

Lunch, then an eye doctor appointment for Sam- all clear!- for now... she is starting to show nearsightedness and astigmatism (not sure where she gets that... yeah, right... poor child is cursed with my eye issues!).

Home for homemade burritos & then we headed to Conway to watch Roger play softball.  They did ok in the beginning, then got down and couldn't get back in the lead... Roger did catch two popflys and had two smoke straight through his glove... It was a nice night out, not to hot.  Took Sam's friend home and it's time for bed!

Who's bright idea was swim team?

We had to get up at 5:45- yes, that would be AM! in order to make it to swim meet on time.  It was in a town a bit north of us.  It was just Riley and I who went with her... and I had to work in a volunteer position - so I had to just dump her and leave her in the mob... which, it was CHAOS!  Fortunately, we found her Daisy leader and daughter, so she hung with them and they helped her wrangle her swimcap and get her where she needed to be! Thanks Turners!!

She competed in Freestyle and Backstroke and for some reason she was disqualified in both races.. results are not up on the webpage yet, so I am not sure why - I mean, she did have a minor run-in with the lane ropes in one of the races, but other than that, I am not sure.  Maybe her positioning is not quite right? I hope they can tell us what the issue was so we will know what to work on!  She was very nervous after the first one, but came up smiling after the second.  Riley had my phone, so he took these pictures of her...

After the meet, we met the BFF's at Taco Bell for some lunch and MB came home with us.  The plans were to hang out here and spend the night, but she didn't feel well, so they played for a while, then MB crawled up on the couch and slept while Sam and Ry played Wii.  MB went home and we got Ry almost all packed up for tomorrow and got the house picked up and they headed to bed - Sam crashed before 8 and Ry wasn't far behind her. Semi-busy day tomorrow, so I lights out for me also!

When we will be normal again???

How you like the way I asked that?  Like we have normal? Anyways, I feel like we are finally at a place where things can start feeling back on track!  Ball is over, scouting is over, school- well, we gotta do some work on that one.  We are excited about Swim Team - Sam's first meet is tomorrow - we have NO IDEA what to expect!!

She went to swim practice this morning and then we came home and napped... Ry came to me upset because he wasn't sure that he wants to go to summer camp (on Sunday!) I think he is just spent and really needed more of a nap.

Nothing like a last minute shopping trip to Wal-Mart to round off a crazy week! We got some groceries for the week and the rest of the items they both needed for camps... and McDonalds for dinner... I am tired and headed to bed!

Destination Disney: Water Parks

Sorry - once again, we have never been to the water parks, so I can't help anyone looking for info on this set of parks...

Camping trip 2011 - Thursday

Well, time for us to load up and go home today... the kiddos and I anyways!  Riley has his final ballgame tonight, so we are headed home to go to the game.  For the most part, the morning was non-eventful.  Chelle and I stayed at the camper and packed up things getting us ready to go - the rest of them headed back down to the cold hole again.  (pictures to follow again). We got things up and ready to go, then she crashed on the couch and I headed out to the docked boat with my bible.  

Feeling pretty good about where I am in my reading ahead with the study.  Now I am trying to formulate emails in my head without losing them - something I cannot do on my phone - save an email draft!

We packed the kiddos up some lunch and then loaded them up and we headed out - Ry slept most of the way home (which was a good thing), but the girls played DS games.  We were home long enough to jump through the shower and get ready to head to the ball game - mom and Em came over and went with us.

They lost their final game - 10-6 - however, Riley made two of those 6 runs! It was HOT and I was glad it was over!!  They placed 3rd in their age division! Go WHITE SOX!!

Camping Trip 2011 - Wednesday

While Chelle was home for school, she picked up Franklin - our cousin (15).  He was eager to get going this morning, so I didn't have so much quiet time, but that's ok as well - it was great to visit with him!

When the guys got back from pulling in more empty jugs, we filled up on breakfast casserole and headed out in the barge for some more jumping and swim time ... oh, and some tubing!

We didn't get to play for long - we had to get ready to head back to town.  Riley's ball team participated in Field of Dreams at Dickey Stephens Ball Park - they got to go out on the field with the players at the beginning, during the National Anthem- to the position they normally play!

We only stayed at the game thru the first half, we only went because he was able to go out there!  Leaving, we noticed that the UP Steam Engine was in town.  We noticed it, and decided to backtrack and go see it.

Sunset over the river & Pinnacle Mountain

OK, and when we were getting ready to leave, the camp host came up and Rog said something to him about the bones.  Rog told him we were leaving, but Ralphie (friend who was with us) would be there and he knew where they were and all.  Camp host came back and picked him up, Ralphie took him to where they found the bones and two park rangers met them up there.  Ralphie took their camera (*you had to wade thru the water to get to the place) and he took several pictures - even one with his flip-flop, to compare size.  They took him back to camp and said they were going to get those developed.  A while later, two County Sheriff's came and picked Ralphie up and he took them up there where they found it and they picked it up to send to the lab.  They told him it looked like a coon leg bone.  Rog and Ralphie said no way - even Chelle, who saw the pictures- didn't think it was coon.  It will be interesting to see if anything comes from it!