The Dragon and the Turtle

So I forgot to tell you that I have signed up on the blogging for books website. I am very excited about this opportunity and cant wait to see what books are in store to choose from next. Here is my review for my first book.

One day as Roger the turtle is playing pirate he realizes he has gotten lost. Padraig the dragon sees Roger and wonders why Roger looks so sad. When Padraig finds out Roger can't find his home he offers to help him. After checking several houses they finally find Roger's home. Through their journey Roger and Padraig become friends.

I think this book is great. I really like how the book shows that the dragon and turtle have differences but in the end become great friends. I also liked that at the end of the book the author included a bible verse to reference with the kids about friendship. There was also a recipe included that the kids are very excited about trying. After reading this book my son was so excited about it he made sure he was going to be able to keep it. 

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Christmas Tree

I know I am late getting these pictures up. We have had our trees up since the weekend after Thanksgiving but I wanted to share them with you.



Our new tree in the kitchen...my snowman tree!



Our living room tree





Snowman Craft

When we remodled our living room and I was thinking of what I wanted to hang on the walls I thought what would be better than to display our childrens artwork. Last week I decided to let the kids make snowmen for their frames. I gave them lots of supplies, even told them to get twigs from outside. The idea was this was their masterpiece and to make it the way they wanted to. I think they turned out great and wanted to share them with you!




Bryanna's is on the left, BW's on the right. If you look carefully at Bryanna's she even added a Charlie Brown Tree.



I Love Christmas

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and now we are on to the Christmas Holiday. I love Christmas...my favorite holiday! Not only is it the time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior but I love the time spent with family and friends. The decorations, smells of candles and the baking. I miss having my dad around to spend it with but I know where he is and that makes it so much easier.

The other night BW told us that we didnt have to buy him any presents he just wanted us to celebrate Christmas. We asked him how he wanted to celebrate and this is what he said "singing, dancing, decorating or anything like that". That of course melted my heart. But of course when we started wrapping presents last night and there was some for him that excited him. I love to hear the kids try to guess what is in the box when they put a present under the tree....so funny!

We are also adding in some fun things each day by doing crafts or baking something together. Tonight I have a little surprise for them we are going to meet some family and friends and go see a movie.

What kinds of special things do you do during this holiday season?

He is 6 years old...

BW turned 6 years old on Monday. Where did all that time go....it went by way to fast for me. We had his birthday party Saturday and he had so much fun. He had a lego cake and a lego pinata both made by me that he was just so excited about. Of course he had presents too. He ended up with some money so I decided I would let him go do some shopping. So our first stop was Toys R Us, they sent him a 3 dollar gift card in the mail for his birthday (he is part of the kids club they have). We went in and he picked out what he wanted, went up to the register to pay for it and he got a birthday hat and balloon. I thought that was so nice of them to recognize him that way. So after a day of shopping we went to the kids draft night for basketball and got to meet their coaches and team players. I let the kids decide what they want for their birthday dinner and BW decided he wanted corn dogs, chips and dip. He had a wonderful day.

I love this picture of Sissy reading him his birthday card....so sweet!

One of his lego creations he got for his birthday! And dont he look cute in his glasses!

What we have been doing

We have had so much going on and I guess it will be this way till the holidays are over.

I have signed the kids up for upward basketball and they are super excited about getting to play. We have had our evaluations and now we are just waiting on practices to start. They are having a draft night in 2 weeks and we are excited to meet their coaches and have some fun.

In 2 weeks it will be my BW's 6th birthday, wow, where did that time go. He of course is very excited and wants everything. I think he has decided he wants to have a lego party. He has really gotten into legos recently. I love to watch him build these because he gets so into it and serious about it.

On the otherhand we had to go to the eye doctor last week and I was shocked at the results. We knew there was a chance he would need glasses but I wasnt really prepared for the diagnosis. The doctor said he was 3 times as farsighted as he should be at this age and has astigmatism in both eyes. I was so shocked, and after that wore off I could just cry. I thought how could he have had such a hard time seeing and I the mom not know it. So doing my research of course found out that he was probably born with this so the blurry vision is all that he has known. I felt a little better about it and now I just want to get him his glasses so he will see better. He was so excited he got to pick out his frames, some light blue ones (his favorite color) and he looks so cute in them. I cant wait to pick them up and you know I will have to post a picture of him. He has just been worried that people will laugh at him so we are having to really encourage him.

Hope you are all having a good week!

Wordless Wednesday

Busy, Busy, Busy....

We are still here, just been very busy. Just last week we had 2 field trips with our homeschool group and my niece, who is a senior this year, was on the homecoming court at her school. We went to Battleground Alamance, Transportation Museum, homecoming parade and the homecoming football game. We had a lot of fun though and enjoyed everything so much. Today I am posting picutres from our Battleground Alamance trip, hope you enjoy. There were some other stations but my camera battery died. Other things were blacksmith, making apple cider with an apple cider press, chair weaving, and writing with a feather pen.



The Allen House

Telling about the inside of the Allen House

  

I love how the herbs are hanging on the wall.



I really like this picture!

School is in Session, This is a hornbook.

What do you think about this way of cooking?

Can you guess what that pan is called?

Making candles.

Time for music!

The Doctor is in....not a favorite to hear about!

And of course game time....BW playing with Jacobs Ladder.

Bryanna playing shut the box.



Telling us about the cannon demonstration.



Cannon....

A New Addition

We have a new addition to our family. Her name is Kira. She is doing really good, we just got to get her adjusted to our little dog. She wants to play and well, she can stand overtop of our other dog so right now she is a little rough. Hopefully they both will adjust soon.

CSN Review

Ok everyone it is that time, remember I told you I was going to do a review for CSN stores. Well the product I chose was the..........

Rachael Ray Hard-Anodized 5.5-Quart Covered Casserole in Orange

This casserole is designed to perform flawlessly on the stovetop or in the oven. It features a large cooking surface to brown or sear meats with ample room to add additional ingredients to complete a one-dish meal that may be finished on the stovetop or in the oven. The casserole's lid fits snugly to lock in moisture and flavors, making this pan perfect for the long, slow braising of a tender stew or pot roast.

Features:

•Professional hard-anodized aluminum material provides even heating throughout the pan

•Exceptional strength and durable construction

•Comfortable contemporary silicone handles

•Durable nonstick interior releases food effortlessly and is easy to clean

•Glass Lid allows you to monitor foods
 
MY EXPERIENCE: After using this pot several times I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this pot. Everything I have cooked in it cooks great and the handles are a really nice as feature as well. I have put it to the test by using it several ways. I fixed a homemade mac and cheese in it and nothing stuck to the bottom as in other pots, I fixed things using a wire wisk and so far there are no scratches in the pot. I even cooked a roast in the oven in this pot and the pot stood up to this task. Let me also say I decided after the roast I would let this pot sit for a day to see if it would be hard to clean. Guess what it didnt even have to soak, it washed right up for me. I really like this pot and I am thinking of buying other pieces like this. I would definitely recommend this piece.

Muffin Tin Monday

Today I decided to link up with muffin tin mom and do my first muffin tin meal. This weeks theme was shapes. First let me say my son was so excited about his lunch. I will most definitely be doing this again.

So here you have it, heart shaped bread, triangle chips, triangle candy corn for dessert, oval cheese, circle ketchup and star chicken. After doing this I realized oh no I forgot fruit and noticed there was a lot of yellow. If you would like to join in head on over to muffin tin mom and link up.

Wordless Wednesday

A Few Beach Trip Pictures

As most of you know when we were on vacation we were evacuated due to hurricane Earl. Although our trip was cut short and we were not able to spend any time at the ocean due to rip tides I did manage to get a couple of pictures out on the beach. These were all taken the day before Earl was supposed to hit. The waves were rougher and the wind had picked up a bit. Oh and there was a black flag out...no swimming and if you look there were people out in the water. I couldnt believe it.

Hope everyone has a great day today!

Cherry on Top Award

The Cherry on Top Award Rules are:


1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
2. Pick 6 people to share this award with.
3. THANK the person who gave you the award!

First of all I want to thank Robin at Adventures of Arbor Creek for giving me this award. I enjoy reading her blog as well as chatting with her. I was so excited to see she had given this to me. 

Question Answer: This is kind of tough one, I say there are things I would change but in reality would I? I think about them and wonder if my life would be as it is now if I changed them. Would I be as close to the Lord as I am now, would I lean on him, have as much faith in him had I not went through all the things I did. Would I be so blessed to be a stay at home mom and get to enjoy all the precious moments with my children. There is no way to know so would I change anything, really not sure.

I am going to pass this award onto 6 ladies whose blogs I enjoy reading and are encouraged by:
Michelle at Raising Little Women
Katrina at Craig Family Chronicles
Jenny at Our Nifty Notebook
Rebecca at Moms Mustard Seeds
Stephanie at Because of Love
Kelly at Joyful Adorations

Rambling

I bet you thought I had disappeared, no just had a lot going on.

Last week hubby was on vacation, we headed out to the beach for a week. But Hurricane Earl had other plans for us, we were evacuated on Thursday morning. So beach trip was cut short, but we said no matter where we were we still had that family time together. So Friday we went on a shopping trip, you know shopping seems to be good for everyone. Had a lot of fun this past week, and I am really missing my hubby already this morning.

The kids both have doctors appointments this afternoon and I am a little stressed about it. Both kids have to get their vaccinations and I hope they do well. I hate to see my kids go through any kind of pain, especially when I cant do anything for them.

In other news I think I am going to give Sonlight a try for history and science for Bryanna. We like HOD but I really want to try this too. Starting this week we really start to get into school more. BW is really eager to learn how to read, I am excited about that but a little sad. My baby is growing up.

Oh yeah, my item arrived last week for my CSN review. Cant wait to use it this week and tell you about it, I am very excited.

Hoping to get some pictures posted this week I took of the kids at the beach. Wishing you all a great week!

CSN Review

I have been in contact with a lovely lady from CSN Stores about doing a product review. I didnt realize that they have over 200 stores. Upon my looking at the stores, I seen they have a little bit of everything from shoes, to dinnerware, to furniture and even pressure washers!

Wow...what do I choose to do a review on? There are so many things that I would like to do this review on, it is just so hard to decide. But people that know me know that I like to be in the kitchen. So what shall I choose, new kitchen tools, a new pot or pan, or even bakeware.

Stay tuned to find out what I choose!

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

This weeks topic for the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop is Student Photo Week. If you want to join in go over to heartofthematteronline.com.  These kids really know how to make me smile and they bless my heart so much.

First Week of School

This week marked our first week of school. We had a great first week. The kids did really well and I am pleased with how everything went. Last Friday we had a play day with some friends before getting back into the school routine. We went to a church that has an inside play center and had lunch, the kids had a lot of fun.

This year I did something different for our first day of school. I fixed a little goody bag for both kids that they were so excited about. Bryanna kept telling me "mom you really didnt have to do this". I enjoyed seeing there surprised faces.

Looking forward to another great week! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Not Back- to- School Blog Hop

This weeks Not Back-to-School Blog Hop topic is Schoolroom. I am very excited about this because I get to take a sneak into other schoolrooms and maybe come away with some ideas for our family. We have been schooling in our living room and when we remodeled in the spring we had to move to the kitchen.

This is where we do all our schooling at. I really like sitting at the kitchen table with the 3 windows, gives such great light.

This is something new we are trying this year. Since both kids are doing school work this year I thought I would give each of them a color, Bryanna gets pink and BW gets the green cart. In these are there pencils, scissors, glue, crayons, markers, notebooks and current books they are using. And of course my lovely whiteboard  that really comes in handy.

These cabinets are in our laundry room which is right beside of the kitchen/dining area and as you can see from the pictures below these house anything from teachers manuals, books not currently using, to craft supplies. Please excuse the mess, still working on getting everything organized.

One thing I didnt take a picture of was a bookcase we have in our living room that has additional books and our paint on it. This is our schoolroom, hope you enjoyed your visit. If you homeschool and would like to join in, please do it is so much fun and you meet other homeschoolers as well.