tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32159646644795746862024-03-21T22:12:54.055-04:00Life With the RaffsThis is just the five of us living life the best way we can and with our luck always going astray there are definitely chances to grow.Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-48837117714544663072018-11-21T01:36:00.001-05:002018-11-21T01:45:08.394-05:00It's Been Awhile and Brain Dump<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman</td></tr>
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It's been awhile. I've thought about this blog from time to time but only in a small way time has been passing so quickly there really hasn't been time to sit and think of what I'd want to say and really the years have been unkind to me. I never wrote on the blog to be anything but open about our life and share it with friends and family. Later I started reviewing homeschool curriculum to see if there were any others I'd be interested in using but now I'm really comfortable with the method we use and don't need to do that any longer. We found out that Pumpkin now on here as Beany has autism and that's been an interesting road. My little guy Zman is now 5 just this month wow! So much. Yet it really is just a blink of an eye.....<br />
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Really at this point I want to just dump here on this blog. I want to just think out things even if it doesn't make a lot of sense to others and I still want to share about my family from this point on. I don't mind if you want to come along with me or really if you aren't even here any more that's ok as well. I'm going to journal. So here it goes..<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monkey now called Mr. O</td></tr>
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In my bullet journal this is what I'd call my brain dump page. It's what I use when my brain gets filled up and I feel chaotic. I just start jotting things down and it frees up my mind again. Right now I really need a brain dump. I've experienced so much lately and its exhausting to constantly be thinking about it. I don't know what you're supposed to do with feelings related to a hurricane though. We had hurricane florence come through our area and months later we are still struggling in our towns and communities. I help distribute items to the people that others have donated. Sometimes I just drive through the hard hit areas and hand out food, blankets, coats, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and so much more. There's soaps for cleaning the mold and cheap mops so they can be tossed without guilt as the mold spreads. I drive and hurt. It's almost like survivors guilt. Our home remains intake with just a bit of shingle damage and a few pieces of siding that needed popped back on and aside from that our shed looks like a can open peeled it open and laid it out there is no hope for it. While the storm raged we were first in tents in another state but as the rain and heat got us there with our four kids, two dogs, a cat, and a turtle we left for a camp in another state where they fed us like we were at church picnics every day and the beds were nice and dry. The wind wasn't howling at our doors in the cabins and we slept well. We were there with my extended family and a couple other families. As the days went on we found out two homes were damaged one being completely flooded of the other families. There were tears and hugs. As emotions grew so did a bit of bickering in the camp and my mother ended up in the hospital for a few days suffering some sort of attack. 19 days after leaving home we returned. It was surreal. Tree limbs blocked my driveway and branches mounded up in my driveway a limb hung from the lines out front and power had been restored only a few days prior to my return. I looked around at the mess and the sea of blue tarps on the houses all over town and wanted to cry. I am not a crier I think it has something to do with being bullied for crying on the playground over my baby sister who passed just 15 hours after birth when I was 11. I can't stand out of control emotions so although I felt like crying I couldn't. What I could do is step up and help and so our organization got busy. We took in supplies and delivered supplies we coordinated rescues and more. I think of a few weeks ago as I brought my friend a coat for her daughter and some clothes I still had a few supplies from driving around handing them out and I gave them to her and we both were tearing up I tried to wave the tears down but couldn't her needs being so simple and her fight to get her home livable again after flooding half of the first floor is so huge that it breaks my heart. You just think why did it happen? Why not my house? Why am I struggling even though my house is ok? Why don't I have more to give? I need to do more. These are my thoughts and I haven't even shifted to Floridas horror yet. The more after a hurricane problems you hear about the more heartbreaking it is. If you haven't been through one yet believe me there is so much going on and so many messed up things that it's hard not to want to run away but you have to keep going. You have to fix your home you're still paying for while trying to find somewhere elses to live and afford. You have to find clothes and necessary items while paying for both places. You argue with insurances, FEMA, and counties. You try to get payments deferred with companies some nice some not so nice. There is so much going on....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplNRln_-eyLacZyE5ctMUwW1HscDjUZnLY8enxlA3i6V4k7CevEW7fesJo_f0NSrhsvUh2IurhoBD9UHXkQASpcW7U5sfrAx0ACffqvgnK5rE4DhnGJpv8-GKywmn2wEiCmnDM0PfMNw/s1600/20180921_163906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplNRln_-eyLacZyE5ctMUwW1HscDjUZnLY8enxlA3i6V4k7CevEW7fesJo_f0NSrhsvUh2IurhoBD9UHXkQASpcW7U5sfrAx0ACffqvgnK5rE4DhnGJpv8-GKywmn2wEiCmnDM0PfMNw/s320/20180921_163906.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our evacuation camp kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evacuation camp hall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evacuation camp hall with donations</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDPE70sjEtpbWOUswO9vpJPCRpSwTN0NZFkYld5xWV3O6ZGutTu9md5foulNS7DMAqNAzo90Qf3GH78XbHEiEjF7urINdH-7g92rmIuLo5W7SedD90vGuODdKyCrcdJuJZiH36J2nVSA/s1600/20180921_163933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDPE70sjEtpbWOUswO9vpJPCRpSwTN0NZFkYld5xWV3O6ZGutTu9md5foulNS7DMAqNAzo90Qf3GH78XbHEiEjF7urINdH-7g92rmIuLo5W7SedD90vGuODdKyCrcdJuJZiH36J2nVSA/s320/20180921_163933.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out the camp kitchens window so peaceful while inside I felt like a mess. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpADohaITiZ0tneF0iiQHjR7vOGoagk5yBi4xeEBTgvizq_duTpwwgmJQAMm8slnYLCrDNZ2F2oD0dHOaykH1pv8Znl56g7q2qWOLzDiLyK9WtZ2CslFVVtPTdCGSt7ngUqs4LeE-ch5c/s1600/20180914_080819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpADohaITiZ0tneF0iiQHjR7vOGoagk5yBi4xeEBTgvizq_duTpwwgmJQAMm8slnYLCrDNZ2F2oD0dHOaykH1pv8Znl56g7q2qWOLzDiLyK9WtZ2CslFVVtPTdCGSt7ngUqs4LeE-ch5c/s320/20180914_080819.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman at the campgrounds when we were in the tent </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My brother playing guitar a guy from the local church loaned him</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAeu4kMd4FnhPd1WoVdmzF8vWI8SPV4N28PN0oo_QWeHKy9JzgnPZgkT2Pio2scQGo0qVT-yqABPjSMEAv-lN0UTq2QGx2gi3Z2zsrvEH4JnyadcBtboWezQiF4_BEDew0lNeTCA-uxsM/s1600/20180925_194536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAeu4kMd4FnhPd1WoVdmzF8vWI8SPV4N28PN0oo_QWeHKy9JzgnPZgkT2Pio2scQGo0qVT-yqABPjSMEAv-lN0UTq2QGx2gi3Z2zsrvEH4JnyadcBtboWezQiF4_BEDew0lNeTCA-uxsM/s320/20180925_194536.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local school to our camp made us this delicious stew </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2W-FWt9y6zaVPUi6KZxYaK8DkRLqNkVV3X9BUwOihBcy5TNi2K_TXu5bjxE0tUnXi86Mr2Y6omXiLxLpuxjlP2MgBztOrbYiBLihXeuvpOETpHcBqtWotTsTYVnC0lty3FsUg9FxLO0/s1600/20180926_102413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2W-FWt9y6zaVPUi6KZxYaK8DkRLqNkVV3X9BUwOihBcy5TNi2K_TXu5bjxE0tUnXi86Mr2Y6omXiLxLpuxjlP2MgBztOrbYiBLihXeuvpOETpHcBqtWotTsTYVnC0lty3FsUg9FxLO0/s320/20180926_102413.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman found an umbrella</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the fall colors popping here and there </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce5Lwo39DkjFrWLJfnyfbOcIjDN0toPfUZBSHWReLlKKWM699sseNcB87X1XC_PkB2MqCvZVxAAZwGRUW6ZK7jH8x8J36xKzC-lni_WApsqi_rCY_R6A17K2zqkYkJkvoYJ0oxjzqq74/s1600/20180926_131307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce5Lwo39DkjFrWLJfnyfbOcIjDN0toPfUZBSHWReLlKKWM699sseNcB87X1XC_PkB2MqCvZVxAAZwGRUW6ZK7jH8x8J36xKzC-lni_WApsqi_rCY_R6A17K2zqkYkJkvoYJ0oxjzqq74/s320/20180926_131307.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman helped me peel apples for a camp lunch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBBqz7kFD11HZyqPCAf7UtNYzKFE5ssso8ZWwH1NEyM2oG0kWuX3OD0LG8sQoqViTY-p_cftH1Alg5ip6H0nKRJfoYy2CxR8v0JhZw2ESdMnQtfJQnpzTnmKpTgz61OA_RpLSJ_Zp6Zc/s1600/20180926_135004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBBqz7kFD11HZyqPCAf7UtNYzKFE5ssso8ZWwH1NEyM2oG0kWuX3OD0LG8sQoqViTY-p_cftH1Alg5ip6H0nKRJfoYy2CxR8v0JhZw2ESdMnQtfJQnpzTnmKpTgz61OA_RpLSJ_Zp6Zc/s320/20180926_135004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone donated a ton of tomatoes to the camp aren't they pretty?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman was given this umbrella and he was pretty happy</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zman</td></tr>
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I went to California to say goodbye to my husbands cousin who passed away at 39 by colon cancer. My cousin also passed away because of colon cancer at 32. It's so sad. Quick insert to say get your butt scoped it's not to early. While there I began to get sick and I am still sick. I think when I sat on the plane that was it my body relaxed and the sickness settled in. I didn't do much while gone because my in laws live off the grid down a mountain dirt road on the side of a cliff off the grid. The smoke from the fires over there got to me as well. I kept thinking of all the people I should be helping right then as I sat there and as I continue to try to rest and get back to health. How many needed me? How many need food or a coat? Here I sit.... but I remind myself that I can't do anything If I continue to decline and so here I am. I've watched holiday movies and soaked in more baths than I have maybe ever in my life before but it's felt good. It's felt good reconnecting to me. I finally feel today as though I'm on the mend. A few more days and I might be back out there of course Thanksgiving I'm supposed to be giving a brief speech to open a race and then hosting Thanksgiving for friends some new from the hurricane and some long time friends as well as family. It'll be a great day but I'll be thinking of those without and those alone. I'll be thinking of those in tents and campers who couldn't have a Turkey cooked and I'll want to be saving them I already am wanting to but I have to remember the ones coming to my house already need me and I'm doing what I can.<br />
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It's late and I'm tired. I feel a bit better getting a few things off my chest and now I'm thinking about all the work that needs done in the next day to prep for Thanksgiving and my speech and my project for Saturday yikes..... tomorrow I pray I wake with good health and lots of energy and I pray the same for you as well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pumpkin now called Beany and I.</td></tr>
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Mommaraff<br />
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-87802061538276621962013-06-17T10:54:00.000-04:002013-06-17T10:54:11.846-04:00Review: Memoria Press Prima Latina <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/Memoria%20Press/mp_header_zps9aa8d9dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="38" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/Memoria%20Press/mp_header_zps9aa8d9dc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have wanted to teach my boys Latin since I began homeschooling but I didn't know where to start. Then I found the review from <a href="http://www.memoriapress.com/">Memoria Press</a> for the curriculum called <a href="http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/prima-latina">Prima Latina</a> and quickly signed up for it. When I received the package in the mail I was actually quite surprised at how much comes with it. There's a soft cover teachers manual, a soft cover student work book, an instructional DVD, pronunciation CD, and a ton of flashcards. <br />
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I began by looking through the teachers manual and just reading it for myself then I watched some lessons on the DVD and was quite impressed with how much they covered in just the first few lessons. I only had my oldest, Mr. A, do the lessons and it was a little tough since he hasn't done any grammar work yet but not enough to cause a problem. We have also started Classical Conversations and as we went through the book we found some similar things to our memory work like what a preposition does and the declensions. It's so easy to use a lot of the words your learning in your everyday since they all watched the videos and thought it was fun they could all say some of the words. With the flashcards I loved that they were the same size as our Classical Conversation memory work cards and so I could just add them to their memory rings (book binder rings) after hole punching them. </div>
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I would have to say that the easiest part of the the program is the fact that with the DVD I don't have to try to read all the words and guess what they say or try to get my son to sit there listening to me dryly talk. Leigh Lowe is the teacher in the DVDs and she was actually very interesting and easy to listen to. She also repeated the words several times and gave the boys time to say it with her those times and then alone.</div>
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I loved that the curriculum is Christian and the boys learned some Latin prayers along with just the normal vocabulary. It was quite a fun time to say are your ready to learn your Latin? I will be looking for more of their books to extend the learning we have done. I also want to get some new student workbooks for my other two boys so when they get ready they can go back over the books and video again. </div>
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One thing that I didn't like is that the vocabulary for the day didn't have their own flashcards I'd really have liked to have flashcards for it all so that I could quickly refer to what we learned. I would have liked the hellos to have one (hello to one person is salve and hello to more than one person in salvete.) they would have been easy reference for me and the boys.</div>
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If you couldn't tell I would definitely purchase this product and like I said I will be getting some more workbooks for the other two boys. I think for the quality and productivity of the learning we received it would be well worth the price. </div>
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The Prima Latina student book is $14.00</div>
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The teacher manual is $14.00</div>
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The Pronounciation CD is $4.95</div>
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The Instructional DVDS are $45.00</div>
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The copybook is $14.95</div>
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The flashcards are $14.95</div>
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The only thing in that list that I did not receive is the copybook.</div>
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Sincerely,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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If you'd like to see what others are saying about Memoria Press click <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/memoria-press-review/">here</a>. </div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-89416647544232165222013-05-15T11:25:00.002-04:002013-05-15T11:25:55.491-04:00Another Sad TripI've been talking for awhile about my family and how we are losing so many of them. The first was my Grandpa on my mother's side. It was just after Mr. A turned two weeks old so it was in 2004. The second was my Uncle who was killed while on his motorcycle that was in 2007. The third was my uncle who passed in 2010 and then was followed the next year by his daughter who passed of colon cancer she was 30. This year my grandpa passed in fact it was just last Tuesday. That's three deaths in three years alone. It was my dad's father, brother, brother in-law, and niece.<br />
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My grandpa.</div>
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The hardest part has been the fact that we moved far from them when I was 15 almost 16 and could never afford to go back and visit so the only time we got to see any of them was when the came out to see us which we only ever saw my grandparents and a few of my aunts and uncles. I didn't get to see my first uncle that passed since we left. I saw my second uncle that passed when my first grandpa passed and then not again until he passed. At that point I saw my cousin a couple of times and made a special run up to see her while she was in the hospital. I got to play with her little ones and I thought she still had time. I think I live in denial when it comes to my family but I really thought she'd be there. Then I didn't go back for her funeral. I got to see her before and that was enough for me. I spent many days sobbing though. I kept thinking of my aunt and all that she had lost, I thought about my cousins and how they just lost their dad and sister, I thought about my cousins children and how they would not have their mother around and all the things she'd miss out on with her children that she should have had. I thought about her husband and now doing it all alone and what the future might hold for him. Maybe I should have gone but I was a mess and I could only imagine the mess that they were all feeling.</div>
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I wasn't ready for my grandpa to pass either. I know he had been sick off and on with infections and other issues but I thought that this year was going to be a good one. My great grandma is turning one hundred this July and we were all going to meet up for her birthday and have a family reunion. Yes this year was going to be a good one and then I got the call. I didn't cry just hung up the phone and then the questions came</div>
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I really thought maybe they could still save him and maybe he wasn't really gone but then I did cry and as the information of his passing reached me I realized that there hadn't been a way. It was his time.</div>
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Time. </div>
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That's an interesting word. </div>
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There never seems to be enough of it. </div>
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We always fool ourselves into thinking there will be.</div>
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We put off things until tomorrow because there will be more time tomorrow but there isn't.</div>
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Sometimes tomorrow doesn't come.</div>
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I'll always wish that I had more tomorrows with each of my family members. </div>
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I'll always wish I had done more or contacted them more.</div>
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Saved more, traveled more, and just said more.</div>
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I didn't and I can't.</div>
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Can I change it all now?</div>
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I need to stop lying to myself and start changing it all.</div>
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There might not be a tomorrow and it can be that way for the youngest of us.</div>
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I can't wrap this all up in a neat bow and make everyone feel the way I feel</div>
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which is this desperate need for connectedness with my family</div>
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but I hope you at least think of all the family</div>
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you have and maybe the ones you've already said good bye to and maybe you'll want to forgive,</div>
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reach out, comfort, or just drop a note or flowers off to one of them.</div>
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Just remember your family forever no matter what and one day your</div>
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time with them will be over one way or the other</div>
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and what do you want your last memories of them to be? </div>
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When do you want that last conversation to have been?</div>
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I want mine to have been recently. </div>
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I want mine to have been in a happier or at least a time where I'm loving on them even in their struggles.</div>
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I want to be there even if it's just in a note or phone call.</div>
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And that's as neat as I can tie this all up</div>
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go out and live today.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff. </div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-60902036669415157532013-05-15T11:01:00.002-04:002013-05-15T11:01:37.965-04:00Review: Spanish For You! Estaciones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I reviewed<a href="http://www.spanish-for-you.net/"> Spanish for You!</a> <a href="http://www.spanish-for-you.net/uploads/8/0/1/6/8016814/estaciones_sample_pages.pdf">Estaciones</a>. (if you click on Estaciones it will take you to a sample page) It's for third through eighth grade and an easy introduction to </div>
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Spanish. I received a paperback teachers book and then downloadable audio files and pdf's. </div>
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I am so thankful for the audio files since I know nothing about Spanish at all. </div>
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One problem I noticed with the downloads is that they come in a jumble and I had to search through them to find what I needed for the lessons but the author has assured us that it's all taken care of now and easier to download too.</div>
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I actually used the audio with all three of my boys Pumpkin being only four had a little bit of a hard time but it was fun to hear him try to say them. As for the writing and flashcards I used those primarily with my nine year old Mr. A. We are actually going to go back over the book and start all over and I plan on making smaller flashcards and putting them on a book ring so I can throw them my bag and take them with me so we can review them on the go.</div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spanish%20for%20You/spanishforyou-estaciones_zps3adcc14c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Spanish%20for%20You/spanishforyou-estaciones_zps3adcc14c.jpg" /></a></div>
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There is a ton of information in the book and the audio. I would play the audio for the common phrases and read from the book what they meant and have the boys repeat them back to me. We tried to use them through out the day but I had a hard time remembering them so when we go through the book again I'm going to use some little cards and stick the words around the house so we can remember to use them having the flashcards on the rings to bring with us will really help with that activity too.</div>
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Speaking of activities there are actually three pages in the teacher book with ideas of games and activities you can do. A lot of the games need two or more players but that was okay because I played with my son and I needed the practice anyways. I love being able to learn along side my children it's one of the joys of homeschooling. Can I really speak Spanish right now? Not really but it's more my fault than the books so that's the reason we are going through it yet again. </div>
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There are five lessons for the third and fourth grades I focused on it lasts for about 27 weeks. Each day takes about 10-30 minutes I think we took 15-20 minutes. You can also just go at your own pace. I really liked that the company was there for me if I had any questions or concerns which I actually didn't. I would recommend it to my friends if they want a nice, easy, and affordable approach to Spanish.</div>
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The teacher book costs $64.95 for grades 3-8</div>
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and only $39.95 for just two grades like the 3-4 one.</div>
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Extra books are $12.95 each</div>
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There are teacher lesson plans you can buy the Estaciones one is coming soon but Feistas is already up and the cost from $14.95 to $12.95 and are only needed for classroom use.</div>
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You can purchase this and other products from Spanish for You! <a href="http://www.spanish-for-you.net/purchase-curriculum.html">here</a>.</div>
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Read other reviews from The Review Crew <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/spanish-for-you-review">here</a></div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-37641810948123802082013-05-04T11:15:00.001-04:002013-05-04T11:15:25.826-04:00Surprise!<div style="text-align: center;">
I've announced it every where but here now so here it goes We are Expecting!!!!</div>
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So I've known now for about a little over two weeks and we are</div>
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thinking that I am two months along</div>
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and we are in a </div>
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state of shock. </div>
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Yes we know how babies are made and such but we really didn't </div>
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plan for this or expect it.</div>
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This will be our fourth baby and I'm honestly hoping for a girl because I have three boys</div>
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already and I'm a little over run lol. Have you seen all</div>
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the cute girl clothes and the little headbands and bows not to mention the shoes.</div>
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The truth though is that I would take another boy willingly.</div>
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I have saved my sons clothing just in case and while looking through</div>
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it the other day I was imagining another little boy in them and I got a little excited.</div>
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You see with the shock it's been really hard to get on board with it</div>
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I've taken to talking about being a pregnant person more</div>
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often than I have before because I'm trying to get the idea of it all to stick.</div>
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'Hey the pregnant mom gets all the pickles off the burgers so lay off' was what the</div>
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joke was yesterday as my two youngest handed up their pickles and Mr. A tried to eat them lol. </div>
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The morning sickness right now is kicking my butt. I hate feeling this way all day.</div>
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I've also started watching a one year old which I get between six thirty and seven in the morning until two thirty when we pick his five year old sister up from preschool</div>
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and then I take them home for about an hour and a half to two hours when their mom gets out of work </div>
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and picks them up.</div>
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This along with the pregnancy tiredness is making me extra tired. By the time the kids go home</div>
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I just crash out for a bit on the couch resting or I take a shower to recoup.</div>
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It's gotten easier since I started and I can't </div>
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wait for the first trimester to be over so I can have my energy back.</div>
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The great thing is that the one year old is a really good kid.</div>
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He's so sweet and honestly quiet.</div>
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He does like me to hold him a lot so my cleaning really doesn't get done until weird random times </div>
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but that's ok it's all a season right?</div>
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Well there you go now you know what's been going on with us here :)</div>
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after my first doctor's appointment I'll let you </div>
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all know my due date and other information. </div>
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Have a great day!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff.</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-50085366184857428852013-04-24T11:25:00.002-04:002013-04-24T11:25:14.429-04:00Review: Math Rider a Learning Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/MathRider/mathriderlogo_zps7d664106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/MathRider/mathriderlogo_zps7d664106.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I got a chance this month to review a learning game from <a href="http://mathrider.com/">Math Rider</a>. Mr A is still working on his addition and subtraction because he really needs to work on his speed. When I saw this review come up I really thought it would help him pick up his speed and it worked! <br />
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Let me tell you more about the game. You can actually sign up more than one user up to 8 on one license. I have three signed up which is just myself, Mr. A, and Monkey but Monkey didn't try the game out because once I tried it I realized that he's just not ready for it. The game works on the basic operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division for number 0-12. <br />
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We worked through the addition so that we could improve his speed in that. Math Riders starts off with a story of a young boy who's mother is sick with the addition flu. The only way to cure his mother is to go off to the math lands and get a flower that will make her better. You go off on your horse to save your mother. The math problems are actually jumps for the horse and each jump has a new problem on it. You quickly type in the answer and hit enter (which is a little harder on a laptop than I thought it would be for a nine year old oops) It took Mr. A a little while to get used to the number locations so at first I thought it wouldn't work out but then the more he tried it the better he got and his speed increased. After you finish the first round of questions you get to see the map progression. After several rounds you get to the flower and pop back to your own home where you heal your mother but wait that's not it. You didn't get the master flower so you need to go back or she could get sick again. The point is to get to the mastery level of addition with your timing and practice then your mother will be healed for good.<br />
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/MathRider/mathrider-product-box-v5-200x209_zpsf141caec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/MathRider/mathrider-product-box-v5-200x209_zpsf141caec.jpg" /></a></div>
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Aside from the fact that I love the fact that it increases speed my favorite part of the game is that it tracks the information. So I signed into Mr. A's account and I clicked on statistics at the top you click with operation you want to look under so I click on addition and right there it shows me how well he knows the different problems. It really was good information for me. It also shows me where he was when he started out and where he is now. There is also a colored area where it shows me his mastery level. </div>
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Okay so this is where I have to admit that I also played the game (bet you guessed that since I said I made myself an account lol) anyways I tried it out and honestly I started out with addition too and I really needed to work on my timing. It was fun though and much better than going through flashcards for sure!</div>
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The age group for the game is second through sixth or 6-12 years old. It does not require an Internet connection for playing.</div>
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Here is the <a href="http://mathrider.com/game-play/system-requirements">link</a> where you can see if you have the system requirements.</div>
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Click<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/math-rider-review/"> here</a> to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-10945876308383560792013-04-17T14:32:00.000-04:002013-04-17T14:32:53.657-04:00Review: Leadership Garden Legacy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadershipgardenlogo_zpsf3754c7a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="58" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadershipgardenlogo_zpsf3754c7a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I got a chance to review for <a href="http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/">Leadership Garden Legacy</a> I was given two sets to look through</div>
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but I primarily used the childrens' book called <a href="http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/store/unique-kids-growing-my-leadership-garden-paperback">U.N.I.Q.U.E. Kids: Growing My Leadership Garden</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-uniquekidsbook_zps3822722c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-uniquekidsbook_zps3822722c.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-kids-activity-guide_zps54f3f800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-kids-activity-guide_zps54f3f800.jpg" /></a></div>
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With it came a book, pdf download of the accompanying activity guide and two audio files of the book being </div>
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read to the children. I didn't actually use the audio files while working through </div>
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the book with my children but I did listen to it afterwards so I could tell you about it.</div>
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During the review period I actually read the book aloud to the three boys which made it easy</div>
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for me to stop and explain the new concepts and answer any questions that came up as we read.</div>
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I also didn't use the writing pages in the children's activity guide because I only have one child old enough to write and he hates it. I really wanted him to enjoy the book and focus on the lessons not on the </div>
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fact that he'd have to write afterwards so we answered all the questions out loud together. I must say though</div>
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that the voice on the audio is very pleasant and I really enjoyed listening to it and will</div>
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probably play it for the kids during quiet time since they enjoy the story so much.</div>
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<br /><a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-kids-cdmp3_zpsaf402d56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Leadership%20Garden/leadership-kids-cdmp3_zpsaf402d56.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Well now that I have given you all that information let me tell you what the actual product is all about!</div>
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The book is written for ages 5-12 but I read it to all three of my sons the youngest being 4 and they all </div>
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enjoyed it. I could see that my youngest didn't get as much from it but I think he did still learn some and he</div>
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really enjoyed listening to the story. The story is about a sheep named Hugh that wanders onto a farm that just happens to be the Leadership Garden. He meets the farmers and lots of different animals that all help him on his way to growing his leader within and to take out all the weeds in his life. </div>
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He learns that he gets to choose how he responds to things and to pick what kinds of things he wants to</div>
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grow in his Leadership Garden. There was so much information given that you really need to take </div>
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the time to go over it so that your children really have the time to let it sink in and </div>
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really help them learn it.</div>
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The activities in the activity book really went along well with the book. You even make the same graph as Hugh does in the book to learn if you are balanced or out of balance in your life. When you fill it</div>
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out you color code it and it's very obvious where you are out of sync.</div>
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The questions really made me think and my children gave some really good answers sometimes the questions</div>
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were a bit much and they didn't know how to answer but after I would do some more explaining</div>
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or give them an example myself they would then be able to answer most of them.</div>
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I did use the adult book too. It's called U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did reading the children's one to them but I did work through the workbook that came with it. </div>
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It had a lot more questions and things to work out then the children had (as it should since it's for adults!). </div>
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This is also something that you really needed time to work through. The questions</div>
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were so involved that I had to sometimes take a few days to think through the answer.</div>
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It really pushes you to realize what you think of yourself and what are the leadership seeds your growing and what weeds your allowing to grow. It also empowers you to realize that you are in charge of how you react to things in life and how you see yourself and others see you.</div>
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I really appreciated the prologue to the adult book where the author Debra J. Slover, tells us about herself and the struggles she went through in her life. It really makes her a real person to me and not</div>
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just someone who has it all together and is trying to tell me how to be her. </div>
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Okay so now some more information on the books namely the prices and a special offer!</div>
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U.N.I.Q.U.E Kids: Growing my Leadership Garden costs $18.95 but you could also download </div>
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it for $.8.95</div>
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U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within also costs $18.95</div>
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The kids activity guide is $8.95</div>
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The mp3 dowload is $8.95 but you can also get them on cd's for $18.95</div>
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This is the special offer! Make sure you see that the offer ends on May 31, 2013!</div>
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<span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">Leadership Garden Legacy is offering the TOS Community a “Spring Special Discount” of 20% on all our Empowerment Tools. This is in addition to our already discounted Tool Kit bundles.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;"> </span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">To receive your discount, enter the discount code: TOS-SS20D upon checkout. This is a limited time offer and the code will expire on May 31, 2013.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">Preview the bundled Tool Kit Discount options at:</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><a class="bbc_link" href="http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/catalog/tool-bundle" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(168, 182, 207); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #334466; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/catalog/tool-bundle</a><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;"> </span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">Preview all product tools at:</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><a class="bbc_link" href="http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/store" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(168, 182, 207); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #334466; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/store</a><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;"> </span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">Visit the Leadership Garden Legacy to learn more at:</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><a class="bbc_link" href="http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(168, 182, 207); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #334466; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com</a><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;"> </span><br style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: #d7daec; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: start;">With the bundle price of the Family Empowerment Tool Kit and the TOS extra 20% discount this is a $28.70 TOS savings off the retail price of the products. </span></div>
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I hope you've enjoyed reading this review! If you'd like to read more please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/leadership-garden-legacy-review/"> here</a></div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-61760203992503986102013-04-15T11:34:00.000-04:002013-04-15T11:59:11.318-04:00Review: Supercharged Science!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/science_zps3636642f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/science_zps3636642f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mr. A has a favorite subject I'm sure I've talked about it before but if you don't remember what it is</div>
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it's science! A review for an online science program came up called <a href="http://www.sciencelearningspace.com/">Supercharged Science</a> and I </div>
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got it. To start off you really need to watch the start up video and do some reading and looking around on the website to understand how to use it. I don't want that to sound daunting but it really does help because there is a lot on the site.</div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/escience-full-600px_zps738b5d59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/escience-full-600px_zps738b5d59.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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I keep saying it for all my reviews this month but again we had the flu so pictures are not included.</div>
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The good news is even I am just about well again yay! </div>
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So right away on the home page for e-Science before you even get to the lessons there's a latest news section where you will find a couple of articles that have experiments in them. Next to the news section is the parent resources and right now there's a game available on there called Space-opoly. Space-opoly is a game about space that is just like Monopoly and looks like a lot of fun. Below that there are two more sections one is where you'll find the syllabus and schedule and the outreach program where you can earn e-science for free by telling others about the program you'll have to go there to read more about that. You can see those sections in the picture up above.</div>
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At the top of the page there are tabs for the different pages if you click on Topics it takes you to the study units. There are up to 19 units available right now with the 20th coming soon. There is also a section for the Scientific Method, award winning science projects, mathemagic, and a section where you can learn about their science e-camp. I did tell you there was a lot on here!</div>
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So how did we use the program? Well I had all three boys sit down at my computer and played the video from the unit we were learning and then we listened in to the teleclass. My boys heard about the science notebooks so they ran off and got some notebooks off our shelves and started drawing from what Aurora (the owner of Supercharged Science and teacher) talked about. Even Pumpkin got involved...for a time.</div>
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He didn't last very long honestly during the second unit he just didn't want to participate any more and if I tried he just distracted his brothers (hey he's four right?)</div>
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Mr A and Monkey loved to listen in though and yell out answers when Aurora asked questions and do the little 'experiments' that she had them do during their teleclass. Checking out gravity on how it pulls us and every thing back down to the earth was quite fun for them. What boy doesn't like dropping things? The boys were also really excited about magnetic cereal! How cool we did not know that! There were several more experiments and some pages to read like the one on Newton's laws. After you do the reading and the experiments there are exercise pages where you and your child can see what and how much they learned from the unit. If you need the answers though there is a button for the answers so you can check your answers.</div>
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I would pick out a favorite part but honestly my boys really enjoyed listening to Aurora teach when she talks it feels like she is right there and she talks well but on their level so it's not to complicated. They really enjoyed the experiments and even journaling which I thought they would never do since Mr. A hates writing but he mostly used it to draw out what he liked from the lessons.</div>
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Another bonus to the site is the tab at the top of the screen that says shopping lists and you can pick what unit your on and see what you'll need or what you have already on hand. I had a lot on hand but there was also a lot that we needed to get with some of the experiments.</div>
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My overall opinion is that it's really a worthwhile program it's $37 a month for the K-8 and $57 for the K-12 program. You do need a good internet connection to watch the videos. It starts out with a limited number of units and you get one or two more a month as you go through the lessons. Click on this link to go see the pricing for yourself and get some of your questions answered that you might have about the program and what's included <a href="http://www.sciencelearningspace.com/information/22063-2/">Get started </a>. One more thing I love how accessible Aurora is. She will answer any of your questions and she's there commenting with you on the site. I just love that she's really involved. She also really seems to care and love to teach the children. (Ok that was more than one thing lol)</div>
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To read some more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew click <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/supercharged-science-review/">here</a>.</div>
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I hope you enjoyed this review I really enjoyed the program and the chance to use it!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8U2ZJNbkW6AXQ8baNK4bLLsEg26Z5z0bcYBwoRjaTToefrOKQ0rmxn5jCwHDYCnopvBV1EH1mJesh24S58RPyQJgy_qD9uTq70u-JF0gwnNadfUMMvvPPE_Run3Ik5ScfR4LakK0KTQQ/s1600/DisclaimerGraphic1_zpsf612f371.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8U2ZJNbkW6AXQ8baNK4bLLsEg26Z5z0bcYBwoRjaTToefrOKQ0rmxn5jCwHDYCnopvBV1EH1mJesh24S58RPyQJgy_qD9uTq70u-JF0gwnNadfUMMvvPPE_Run3Ik5ScfR4LakK0KTQQ/s320/DisclaimerGraphic1_zpsf612f371.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-21673126162995528512013-04-12T11:47:00.002-04:002013-04-12T12:01:09.943-04:00Review: Through Stress and Strain<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGFjd7KFK56IleRibo0PRJFqXdA-qTtGs2LzGnOsMW2xFkc72Rkj6D8-l8NWuqpdWYdkoVyFEPii4_x9zPMJoBS5LUIC9fI0dAKXWLfMe5c9PgWhcVov1S869EOa1pA6IRsm81m63JU8/s1600/IMG_4659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGFjd7KFK56IleRibo0PRJFqXdA-qTtGs2LzGnOsMW2xFkc72Rkj6D8-l8NWuqpdWYdkoVyFEPii4_x9zPMJoBS5LUIC9fI0dAKXWLfMe5c9PgWhcVov1S869EOa1pA6IRsm81m63JU8/s320/IMG_4659.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>A picture of the book we read.</i></div>
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<a href="http://salemridgepress.com/">Salem Ridge Press</a> offered up a few books for review and I chose one called <a href="http://salemridgepress.com/throughstressandstrain.html">Through Stress and Strain</a> A Story of the Huguenot Persecution. The book is for ages 8-adult but I read it aloud to my three boys</div>
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and although it was hard at times for them to understand since it is an older Victorian book first published in 1887, they really enjoyed it. It starts in the year 1666 when a family of Huguenot's (which are French Christians) finds out that their oldest son has been taken away to live in a convent where he will</div>
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be taught the King's religion which is Roman Catholicism. To the Huguenots this </div>
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seemed worse then the news of their sons death would have been. I don't want to give away to much</div>
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but I will say that the books goes on to show the persecution that the Huguenots had to </div>
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endure under the King's laws including and maybe mostly the loss of their children to the convents if they even so much as seemed interested to hear what the King's religion was. Once they said they wanted to know what the religion was they were considered Catholic and not allowed to ever leave the faith. Some families lost their only child and some lost several of their children. This was very disheartening to the people of the simple faith who wanted nothing more than to worship God as they saw fit. My boys were so sad when the son was taken away and to hear of the trials that they were facing. </div>
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Every now and again I'd have to stop and reiterate what I had just read to make sure that they were</div>
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understanding what had just happened since it had political talk and a lot of bigger words in it.</div>
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I really loved that at the bottom of the pages there was a definition for a lot of the bigger words sometimes it was a French word or term that was described and it really helped even me understand what somethings were. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cF-IvDfl1NSF9w2xSOxbAsYJvtJfjtT3rG4z_LXBGoKnqcbmNp6_5FmaPTK_03hAgvqeLnno7UrYT_x9Eb4mP1U-tHW0jTCCSbcsFTBQd9Ycxx7t8qkQKg2WTG62tNd1F3tQWFBtQhE/s1600/IMG_4658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cF-IvDfl1NSF9w2xSOxbAsYJvtJfjtT3rG4z_LXBGoKnqcbmNp6_5FmaPTK_03hAgvqeLnno7UrYT_x9Eb4mP1U-tHW0jTCCSbcsFTBQd9Ycxx7t8qkQKg2WTG62tNd1F3tQWFBtQhE/s320/IMG_4658.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>Here is a picture of the pages the print is larger and you can see at the bottom where they put the definitions</i></div>
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My favorite part of the book is the talk about God and their love for him.<br />
At times I was a more than put off by the Roman Catholic church and I wondered how<br />
Catholic people might feel about the book but it is a part of their history and so must<br />
understand that. My second favorite part of it is that there wasn't anything that I had to<br />
keep out. It was very clean and tasteful, free from any twaddle (Charlotte Mason word for books<br />
that are just full of junk and are not good reading I'm sure there's a better description out there for it).<br />
I felt while reading it that I was really reading something worthwhile to my boys and that they<br />
could really learn a lot not only about religions and our history but better vocabulary and honestly a better way of writing in general. People back then were not dumbed down as they are today and<br />
they could read books with this type of language without it being a problem. I love that we can<br />
revisit that type of writing. I think we might even revisit the vocabulary words<br />
and add them to our list to learn. Some of the French ones we probably won't go<br />
back over but the other's would be fun to hear my children say in normal conversations. We read the book a chapter a day sometimes a bit less if their attention spans were not with it that day. It was perfect<br />
because having the flu was so tough on us and we had something good to read together but that was short enough that we didn't have to rush through it.<br />
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I really want to read some of the other books that were offered up. After reading this one it<br />
really gives me hope in the others. When I finished reading this book with my boys<br />
they all agreed that they really liked it. You can purchase this book for $12.95 in softcover or $22.95 in hardcover. There was 149 pages and the print was a nice size not huge but not small either making it easy for my 8 year old to read it on his own which he did several times. We are going to be finishing up this lesson on Huguenots with a search of more information on the internet. I plan to use this book as a launch into history during this time period how<br />
useful to have this story and see into their lives before we dive in.<br />
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You can read more review from the Schoolhouse Crew of either this book or the others one that were offered up, <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/salem-ridge-press-review/">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjilBTbsh9RcmNkvVhOPTqLvPhMtqHioFUEZuhyphenhyphenV2-eDscUT76ZdvhyUs1ALkzUCDMq4I-WWZ_K1NRB1mSbZqR3AH4xynPij-QtKR7EL7KMvnUTpLMjFSTOuJ2KTlnA3hba1f7hmDJTeOC6Nu_clN-IIRSKTkzAhocZVINmxJrOsGQD7dnIDl0xXiGFeCm5HhxT=" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjilBTbsh9RcmNkvVhOPTqLvPhMtqHioFUEZuhyphenhyphenV2-eDscUT76ZdvhyUs1ALkzUCDMq4I-WWZ_K1NRB1mSbZqR3AH4xynPij-QtKR7EL7KMvnUTpLMjFSTOuJ2KTlnA3hba1f7hmDJTeOC6Nu_clN-IIRSKTkzAhocZVINmxJrOsGQD7dnIDl0xXiGFeCm5HhxT=" /></a></div>
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Since we have been down with Influenza for the last month and</div>
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haven't even really left the house, it's been really nice to have </div>
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the great weather the last few days. </div>
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The boys have been outside so much and at first it took me a bit to </div>
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push them out there but now they beg to go out</div>
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so I'm very happy with that.</div>
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I think we need a bigger sandbox lol!</div>
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Pumpkin's favorite thing is his sandbox in the backyard. </div>
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The other two will swing for the whole time and there's Pumpkin in the sandbox.</div>
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He's also the one that gets the most excited when we go</div>
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to the beach.</div>
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Just before we got sick Mr A had a Scout camp that we attended and here are </div>
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some pictures from that.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fjhX9ZDxDV90WDwUBjLi4P-BGD0-LmFdkE19K7WJyCfr0-P9-D4InlkypgYTA9lERcHGNxSqZQlEMK1c4CqJM3tEf7t3-FWNN2u452n-OrlkoBflGmJDj-CbxNnyX7f_41Phset6b7k/s1600/IMG_4557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fjhX9ZDxDV90WDwUBjLi4P-BGD0-LmFdkE19K7WJyCfr0-P9-D4InlkypgYTA9lERcHGNxSqZQlEMK1c4CqJM3tEf7t3-FWNN2u452n-OrlkoBflGmJDj-CbxNnyX7f_41Phset6b7k/s320/IMG_4557.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Monkey watching the fire</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEAi9YWob_Jru5_wf0lwp4g9WhmZtXam37XR5V0Y45xMzsNIvCXFG7jcAV_tnaPkQrMufHjHyR4FDSMpYBAr-aVFyj4WGufzpnJEJBvo1oJE-uieXjT8aJFBYsSDbdvCptmVCKVGBIwQ/s1600/IMG_4558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEAi9YWob_Jru5_wf0lwp4g9WhmZtXam37XR5V0Y45xMzsNIvCXFG7jcAV_tnaPkQrMufHjHyR4FDSMpYBAr-aVFyj4WGufzpnJEJBvo1oJE-uieXjT8aJFBYsSDbdvCptmVCKVGBIwQ/s320/IMG_4558.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Pumpkin getting Kool-Aid</div>
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Monkey still by the fire</div>
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I'm being beckoned over.</div>
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Some camp sites.</div>
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Pumpkin really wants to go into the tents</div>
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They are over there cooking</div>
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Mr. A making pancakes an a tin can</div>
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The pancakes are looking good.</div>
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Now for the taste test yum!</div>
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Mr A by the fire.</div>
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Some of the boys crossed over into Boy Scouts.</div>
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The moon</div>
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and then I zoomed in on it so beautiful</div>
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And now for some photos of my parents house all finished. </div>
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My mom's curtains.</div>
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The flooring to the back wall. I don't know why the wall looks dark yellow or tan</div>
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It's actually so pale of a yellow it almost looks white so that's a weird trick there.</div>
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The wood looking tiles. We really love these. The grout is actually black I think this </div>
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is just another light trick.</div>
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The kitchen floor and the family dog.</div>
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The wood tiles again</div>
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My mom's boat she bought of Craigslist and loves.</div>
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The counter tops we made and the back splash</div>
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The downstairs bathroom.</div>
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Downstairs bathroom still</div>
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The stuff in the bathroom lol.</div>
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That's all I have for you now which is pretty much all I just need</div>
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to take some pictures of the upstairs bathrooms.</div>
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Yesterday we went to the park and stayed there for two hours</div>
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it was a lot of fun.</div>
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I have only one picture though because the park we went to isn't really picture friendly</div>
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unless your standing on top of your child so I leave you with</div>
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Monkey swinging dirty feet and all :) I guess his flip flops don't work on the swing</div>
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Mr A and Monkey kept kicking them off every time</div>
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they got on the swings.</div>
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Well the kids really want to start their school so they can head outside so have a beautiful day!</div>
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Love, </div>
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Mommaraff.</div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-91975851925004879322013-04-09T23:30:00.001-04:002013-04-09T23:33:14.892-04:00ABeCeDarian Review!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/abecedarianlogo_zps0ce11eae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="52" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/abecedarianlogo_zps0ce11eae.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Okay so this review is one I'm actually excited about more so than the others </div>
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and it's not because the other </div>
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products were less than this one but this is one subject that I really have been dreading! </div>
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Mr. A was so hard to teach to read that the mere thought of teaching </div>
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another child sent me into a fearful pit.</div>
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I could have stayed just working on letters forever and been happy or so I thought<br />
enter in my review for <a href="http://www.abcdrp.com/">ABeCeDarian.</a> </div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/studentworkbookA1_zps65d68892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/studentworkbookA1_zps65d68892.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>This is the first workbook in the series.</i></div>
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I wanted this review for Monkey he has really wanted to read and I thought a new program</div>
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would be perfect. </div>
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For Monkey we started out with <a href="http://shopabcdrp.com/content/student-workbook-a1">Student Workbook A-1</a> and there's a <a href="http://shopabcdrp.com/content/teacher-manual-a1">Teachers Manual A-1</a> to </div>
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go with it. Level A is for Kindergarten through mid-1st grade reading levels. </div>
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The books come which come in a plastic spiral bound set with a clear plastic front cover and black plastic backing. When I got the program I actually had to spend quite some time reading the </div>
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manual because there is a lot of information in it</div>
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about how to teach reading, how to use the program, and how children learn to read. There</div>
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was really a lot of helpful information. </div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/teachersmanualA-1_zps89a4a53d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/teachersmanualA-1_zps89a4a53d.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After reading that the book takes you into the lessons and each one is scripted out for you.</div>
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I did notice that for Monkey and I we didn't need all the script and </div>
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he kept jumping ahead until I figured out that he didn't need</div>
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me to say all the things it wanted me to</div>
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so I just began shortening it a little.</div>
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This is where I have to let you know that Monkey begs to do this program.</div>
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If I seem to be getting up and leaving and we haven't done his reading yet</div>
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he gets upset and starts following me around</div>
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letting me know that we haven't done it yet and he needs to.</div>
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I also feel like I need to tell you that there is a lot of writing. </div>
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Monkey writes letters and words out. There are</div>
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spelling type tests where he's supposed to use the letter sounds </div>
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and his memory to write out words. </div>
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Monkey still needs some practice with this part of the program.</div>
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I was really excited to find out that ABeCeDarian has a game type lesson set in it</div>
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I as the teacher tell Monkey a word to make and he </div>
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takes the letter tiles (free download with the program you just print them out)</div>
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and makes the word and then changes one letter to make the new word that I say.</div>
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This was in the remedial program that Mr. A had to go through and </div>
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it was so much fun for him that his reading just took off</div>
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so to see it right away with Monkey's reading program just got me all excited and Monkey loves the game</div>
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just like big brother did. With the program came ten little paper readers and<br />
Aesop reader Monkey can't wait to read them and drags</div>
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them all over with him.</div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/storybooks_zpsd70a2e5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/storybooks_zpsd70a2e5a.jpg" width="204" /></a><a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/aesop_zpse1629279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/aesop_zpse1629279.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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There's a second part called <a href="http://shopabcdrp.com/content/student-workbook-a2">Student Workbook A-2</a> that also comes with a</div>
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<a href="http://shopabcdrp.com/content/teacher-manual-a2">Teacher Manual A-2</a></div>
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/StudentworkbookA2_zps49b232e4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/StudentworkbookA2_zps49b232e4.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/teachermanualA2_zpsd2f59266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/ABeCeDarian/teachermanualA2_zpsd2f59266.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We were trying to get to that set too but with the Influenza here we were wiped out and didn't make it. </div>
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I did look through it though and is a lot like A-1</div>
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only it has the child reading sentences and paragraphs which Monkey will be so excited to see.</div>
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We used this as our sole reading program</div>
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Monkey only knowing his letter sounds some of the time to now</div>
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where he can read some words and make the words that I say.</div>
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This is so far beyond where Mr. A was that I am so happy with this program and will be using</div>
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the same one for Pumpkin when he starts learning next year!</div>
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I won't even be afraid to think of teaching a third child not with this as my guide.</div>
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If that sounds over done then you really don't know about all the tears, fights, and more that</div>
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went on trying to teach Mr. A to read. I wanted to hire a private tutor for him</div>
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or send him to public school until he learned to read just</div>
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so we didn't have to do it any more.</div>
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This program is so easy and it's been well received by the littles in my life!</div>
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Okay so the prices are next </div>
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Student Workbook A-1 costs $12.25</div>
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Teacher Manual A-1 costs $28.50</div>
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Set of Ten Storybooks costs $21.50</div>
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Aesop's costs $2.50</div>
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On their website they also have a link to free supporting materials which is where you'll find the letter</div>
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tiles, placement tests since their program goes all the way</div>
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up to the sixth grade level, and so much more.</div>
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You can read more of the Schoolhouse Crew Reviews for this product <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/abecedarian-review/">Here</a>!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-56310624860163971742013-04-05T00:01:00.000-04:002013-04-05T00:01:01.205-04:00Review: A Journey Through Learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Journey%20through%20Learning/journeythroughlearninglogo_zps21c38856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Journey%20through%20Learning/journeythroughlearninglogo_zps21c38856.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I tried a lapbook once and I didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing. My son and I did finish it but it took a lot of work on my part and so I never did one again....until now. A review offer came up and I decided to give it a try again after all so many people claim to love them so I needed to see what the hype was about. <a href="http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/" target="_blank">A Journey Through Learning</a> sent me four free lapbooks to pick from for the review. Monkey and Pumpkin worked on one together called <a href="http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/lenuandshprl1.html" target="_blank">Letters, Numbers, and Shapes</a> while Mr A. worked on one called<a href="http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/asandspunstw.html" target="_blank"> Astronomy and Space</a>. The other titles that I was offered were <a href="http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/kncaandmiagl.html" target="_blank">Knights and Castles</a> and <a href="http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/ealawistgu1.html" target="_blank">The Earth</a> which I look forward to doing with my sons in the future. <br />
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Let me start by saying there are a lot of pages to print off. My printer has been out of ink and so I sent hubby to the store and printing both books out cost $13.00 in black and white eep. However for a book that they are going to put together, learn from, have to refer back to, and have fun making, it was worth it. Mr A. didn't take as well to his book but not because he didn't like what he was reading but because he hates to write. It took him forever to write out a couple of sentences. Now this could be because of his hate for writing or because we have been down with the stomach flu for three weeks you guess. Anyways he didn't get as much done of his lapbook so I will be focusing on the Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook that was completed. <br />
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Journey%20through%20Learning/Lettersnumbersandshapes_zps1d7d968f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/Journey%20through%20Learning/Lettersnumbersandshapes_zps1d7d968f.jpeg" width="238" /></a></div>
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This lapbook was really cute. I did a lot of the cutting out of the actual things in the lapbook while my two sons aged 6 and 4 did the rest of the work. There really is a lot of cutting and some things have some really small areas and my sons are just not that into cutting unless it's just to make confetti. They had some coloring pages where you colored the shapes, matching of the upper and lower case letters, drawing of animals, and more. My sons had some magazines and cut out pictures to go along with the little letter flaps. You could either draw in them or glue in something and my boys liked the idea of cutting up magazines (I have magazine confetti under their work table still lol). My boys are so excited that they created this 'book' and they get to keep it in their room and use it whenever. A fun part to the book is that there's a little game in there where you count the number of objects and match it to the correct number. </div>
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The amount of instructions in this lapbook was perfect. It even came with a little diagram of where to put everything and then the instructions were also on the top of each page making this so easy to do and so much better than going it alone. I like that with both this lapbook and Mr. A's there is no going to look up the information because it all comes within the lapbooks. They also come with ideas for ways to further the learning and you could look up more information all you want if it's what your child wants to do but it's so nice to have it all at your fingertips without much prep work to do at all. </div>
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The Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook is for preschool aged children and the instant download cost $13.00 to have it come printed out it's $20 which I would really do next time! The Astronomy and Space one costs $13.00 for the instant download and $21 for it to come printed. They also have a CD option which seems to run about $14. The Astronomy and Space lapbook is for grades 2-7.</div>
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All in all I now love lapbooks and think they would be a good addition to our schooling. I think I'll stick with this company since they have it all laid out so nicely for me I really appreciated it. </div>
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You can read what others are saying in their Schoolhouse Crew reviews <a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/a-journey-through-learning-review/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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<br />Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-28265345657971689322013-03-30T11:29:00.001-04:002013-03-30T11:29:46.407-04:00Sick and Lots to Catch up on<div style="text-align: center;">
We've had influenza type b and that's all in the stomach. Ugh</div>
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Today I am starting to feel better and so are</div>
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the little guys.</div>
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Hubby avoided it lucky him.</div>
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It's been a bit crazy we got sick just before my family left for their home.</div>
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Yes they finally got all the floors done woohoo.</div>
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I am a bit behind in several things that</div>
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I really need to catch up on</div>
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and will be spending the next few days catching up with it all.</div>
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Today I am working in the office</div>
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which will now be Mr. A's bedroom.</div>
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He's excited but his brothers are not so sure about it.</div>
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Pumpkin wants to know how he'll talk to him.</div>
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I reminded him that in the morning we are all together he's not leaving us!</div>
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I'm sure they'll adjust.</div>
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Pumpkin slept in his new bed (Monkey's bottom of the bunk bed)</div>
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while the other two slept in the office still since there's a bathroom in there and they are</div>
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still sick.</div>
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I think tonight though they should all return to their own beds.</div>
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Well I suppose that's if I get the bed rails found so</div>
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they don't fall off the bunk beds.</div>
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Mr. A will be in the office tonight either way.</div>
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Well I am off to get some work done have a great day guys.</div>
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I'll post some pic's</div>
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of my mom's house and other things that have been going on as</div>
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soon as I feel up to it and get the work I'm catching up on done.</div>
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See you soon!</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-68632657323655836192013-03-19T12:04:00.000-04:002013-03-19T12:04:01.779-04:00Yesterday was Not Fun but Fun is Coming<div style="text-align: center;">
Yesterday was just plain awful. I wanted to get so much done</div>
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and yet all I could do was lay in bed.</div>
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I drifted in and out of</div>
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sleep.</div>
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My stomach kept cramping so much I </div>
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was just moaning and</div>
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groaning.</div>
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I had the stomach flu.</div>
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Today my stomach is still not up to par but is so much better</div>
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that I'm up and working again.</div>
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The laundry is running, school is getting done, dishes are being washed,</div>
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and things organized. </div>
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It's a slow process still but I'm thinking tomorrow</div>
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I'll be back all the way.</div>
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In other news Monkey lost his first tooth! </div>
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He was so surprised when it came out and just sat looking at it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ah3dT3D4hij0L8hYqz4DaYZ8H-rVd9VvVL4gjMQoQtqHzt1frhZMdXCiIcclAfaqyvnWky1nt6YrD1vHQI2soZOIjfVGlsSpsu1eP_auM9Quxc8hS85nLCn3Hp24nOwsOeJdVpkQ-Ao/s1600/IMG_4549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ah3dT3D4hij0L8hYqz4DaYZ8H-rVd9VvVL4gjMQoQtqHzt1frhZMdXCiIcclAfaqyvnWky1nt6YrD1vHQI2soZOIjfVGlsSpsu1eP_auM9Quxc8hS85nLCn3Hp24nOwsOeJdVpkQ-Ao/s320/IMG_4549.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Today is Mr. A's 9th birthday. He's excited to be 9 I'm still wondering what</div>
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we are going to do for his party.</div>
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Since I was sick yesterday I didn't even paint his birthday shirt yikes.</div>
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Going to really have to get moving.</div>
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He's saying he wants a robot theme party and I think we can pull that off in a shirt tonight </div>
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when his dad gets home.</div>
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Alright off to get caught up I hope your day is going well and everyone</div>
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is healthy at your home!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-55037011147671041822013-03-10T19:35:00.000-04:002013-03-10T20:45:24.056-04:00Picture updates of the work that's going on here.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I've been talking a lot lately about the projects going on at my parent's rental house.</div>
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We've been really busy over there and I'll have a lot</div>
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more pictures to show you coming up soon.</div>
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For now I thought we should just have a little picture fest of things going on recently</div>
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so here we go :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0gnfcNGCFEhv1brsQ3rIuPTlfdr9P5ZIPJYnOfg8TBYEt-8FIgQv_CMZw088tNPNLcqRhVtlD2F0Q2h7YgTziV8P8uWHqgxMNoMKGhXk474bI9uVsn7FWgfbnUUtNj1jJk4LHTaa6zYI/s1600/IMG_4494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0gnfcNGCFEhv1brsQ3rIuPTlfdr9P5ZIPJYnOfg8TBYEt-8FIgQv_CMZw088tNPNLcqRhVtlD2F0Q2h7YgTziV8P8uWHqgxMNoMKGhXk474bI9uVsn7FWgfbnUUtNj1jJk4LHTaa6zYI/s320/IMG_4494.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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This is my mom's living room side table that was dark red. They painted it white and tiled the top. </div>
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We found these cute little knobs (close up below) and they </div>
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look kind of like shells which is perfect </div>
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for their beach theme.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxA6EcV3bfPfU_hmQrsTOmtDRgP66O5yRYWwLFCN6l2nFisc-3g2lh_cStWR2fSAYVYfls66iGKADPBHxa8ZJRQuY_txzjwJGqjVAy5PN7FAey2O2DsBNy9K9877O2Ij9WblWWAbzAqc/s1600/IMG_4495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxA6EcV3bfPfU_hmQrsTOmtDRgP66O5yRYWwLFCN6l2nFisc-3g2lh_cStWR2fSAYVYfls66iGKADPBHxa8ZJRQuY_txzjwJGqjVAy5PN7FAey2O2DsBNy9K9877O2Ij9WblWWAbzAqc/s320/IMG_4495.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Close up of the knobs.</div>
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Here is my parents' faux fireplace.</div>
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It used to be a hole with a built in tv stand and shelves. It went all the way up above the tv in this picture.</div>
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My hubby dry walled it and my family built this and put in the electric fireplace. My mom found this mantle</div>
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at an antiques store and restored the wood. </div>
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These are my mom's new curtains.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TLRVUik9xVi1VnjdAhnev14aRoCPeZagn2jgZvijaBrSdcHEGmhvhfttn_B7rhOKdsQdGizbB2XnULdAvTKNs6XPkzc2294G0i6fNR1-BOc1HH264LK3pyMRNfNWxZlQfaT-WDEnhYw/s1600/IMG_4497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TLRVUik9xVi1VnjdAhnev14aRoCPeZagn2jgZvijaBrSdcHEGmhvhfttn_B7rhOKdsQdGizbB2XnULdAvTKNs6XPkzc2294G0i6fNR1-BOc1HH264LK3pyMRNfNWxZlQfaT-WDEnhYw/s320/IMG_4497.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Here's a close up of them.</div>
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Here is the tile work that is in both of the upper bathrooms.</div>
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Here it is farther away.</div>
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We made a counter top and this is a close up of it. Before we did this the counter was a </div>
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tanish formica.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFWYAEs044ZQTlYxYwybRu1sT6zCI-QpokvVJPtu5ATydFzlODM4AXbtMJZOnnVgAuTKPAWPA4sUc71WsJvjIV0H7KN3GzcrkVz7dVvtfi-jDKgyynaulmdaI_84J8hUNeoqiylaYztk/s1600/IMG_4503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFWYAEs044ZQTlYxYwybRu1sT6zCI-QpokvVJPtu5ATydFzlODM4AXbtMJZOnnVgAuTKPAWPA4sUc71WsJvjIV0H7KN3GzcrkVz7dVvtfi-jDKgyynaulmdaI_84J8hUNeoqiylaYztk/s320/IMG_4503.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Cute picture on the side of the door in the kitchen.</div>
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Hallway paint color....it's not as blue as it looks here.</div>
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My hubby put up the backsplash.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2GZpRsoestZRFYPoDjn4PuQoPOSiuPAN_tdSh60-CFPA28OEFPfPHJyVhjayZg1uyYJoo31TI8lFUEmYNiAaUj2t8vJSO86PRaxq50s8TdNRkS_YhqLZ56pU4FwyLPeIeKUfDOX-0Z8/s1600/IMG_4515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2GZpRsoestZRFYPoDjn4PuQoPOSiuPAN_tdSh60-CFPA28OEFPfPHJyVhjayZg1uyYJoo31TI8lFUEmYNiAaUj2t8vJSO86PRaxq50s8TdNRkS_YhqLZ56pU4FwyLPeIeKUfDOX-0Z8/s320/IMG_4515.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Here's the back splash again.</div>
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Here it is at the window along with the new sink faucet.</div>
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Ok this is my house we have these weird tiles in my bathroom and the grout was looking all yucky so I found a grout pen and the below picture is the result.</div>
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Nice and pretty.</div>
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We did this to my mom's stairs and then it got messed up so we did this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJWbs_35SHZS0gFWcFsaGJJ1-BwIrRX3Bj01b2vaoi8YkhDOkoVuePMmmbYjqNXAnIZH_3Z692BnuUfGP8INUEzHsiC0v1NsrJU7GeAsmFrbmCC8lUO1fdWJf9HDhUqT4ot_P4ihDE50/s1600/IMG_4535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJWbs_35SHZS0gFWcFsaGJJ1-BwIrRX3Bj01b2vaoi8YkhDOkoVuePMmmbYjqNXAnIZH_3Z692BnuUfGP8INUEzHsiC0v1NsrJU7GeAsmFrbmCC8lUO1fdWJf9HDhUqT4ot_P4ihDE50/s320/IMG_4535.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now it's a beach theme like the rest of the house :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIx0GTGVLaLZ7hMDsUZ7xOIPEq3h3NlAdeN_9ZWZfXDgfJLCb6mYLAj-aoa66uucFaWpychDrSB_bK01d9hY1UYKqYSx8t0O_bcbVaJmuWXBTi60cUZ75WBneoGt1IcpCBoEM0527C_Q/s1600/IMG_4527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIx0GTGVLaLZ7hMDsUZ7xOIPEq3h3NlAdeN_9ZWZfXDgfJLCb6mYLAj-aoa66uucFaWpychDrSB_bK01d9hY1UYKqYSx8t0O_bcbVaJmuWXBTi60cUZ75WBneoGt1IcpCBoEM0527C_Q/s320/IMG_4527.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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This is my new shower curtain and hooks. We have a bird theme going on at our house in honor</div>
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of my hubby's grandma who liked birds specifically hummingbirds but we have</div>
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all kinds of birds.</div>
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My matching towels.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvGrvvvNqbN4LztjmD6L_tDRlN30aT4bwfkK5kMMyO3f2kAZkUSFdhUklLyxzBnk3MSXGrWm7_oxiuF8xBTWo-qquJdG7vxGWjVtIdCcPAjn9zxQFyytqnQ0fA8Ec38vEU7_4GWjOud4/s1600/IMG_4531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvGrvvvNqbN4LztjmD6L_tDRlN30aT4bwfkK5kMMyO3f2kAZkUSFdhUklLyxzBnk3MSXGrWm7_oxiuF8xBTWo-qquJdG7vxGWjVtIdCcPAjn9zxQFyytqnQ0fA8Ec38vEU7_4GWjOud4/s320/IMG_4531.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
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Pumpkin and Monkey made thes at our homeschool Co-op group I love it.</div>
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It has the working lungs he's blowing in, an esophagus that you drop a little candy in</div>
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and it goes into the bag labeled stomach. The yarn at the</div>
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bottom is the intestines. Love, love, love this. P.S. so does Monkey and Pumpkin.</div>
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My new van :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UQlwTgHf7P3TROnn4O6DP79_UKfX89AGyLS4YGVm8Ux5Z87gWMXaTbdDn4bt_HxATL3GcSCGJvPOLYD8Bjjb52QBLLOz-wxzp6h46Sz5iQWA4S1uTZW8-NQLXKaUDAIwObctLSrk7QM/s1600/IMG_4539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UQlwTgHf7P3TROnn4O6DP79_UKfX89AGyLS4YGVm8Ux5Z87gWMXaTbdDn4bt_HxATL3GcSCGJvPOLYD8Bjjb52QBLLOz-wxzp6h46Sz5iQWA4S1uTZW8-NQLXKaUDAIwObctLSrk7QM/s320/IMG_4539.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Monkeys ant's finally came in and we just love to watch them!</div>
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Hubby's scooter! Saves us a lot of gas money!</div>
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Monkey all ready for his birthday ride on the motorcycle.</div>
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Hubby and Monkey headed out for the birthday ride to the beach :D</div>
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I bought the boys some trains and a train table which they love!</div>
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And that's all that has been going on here. Next up is the kitchen tiles and all the wood like tiles in the rest of the house.</div>
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It's really coming along nicely.</div>
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Meanwhile all of my family is staying at my house. That means we have 11 people and five dogs here right now.</div>
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So I gotta go have a great day guys!</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-82195459117129420772013-03-06T13:57:00.003-05:002013-03-08T00:27:54.445-05:00Lone Star Learning Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/LoneStar/lonestar_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TOSCrew2011/2013TOSCrew/LoneStar/lonestar_logo.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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Normally I'm not much of a flashcard girl. I have ideas of using them but I never find what I want and I never want to buy something that I don't like. Insert me doing reviews here at this moment. I saw a review for flashcards and I thought why not? I looked on <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Lone Star Learning's</span></a> website and really liked what I saw. I had a choice between a few different sets and I chose my sons' favorite subject so we went with these <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/sciencevocabularypictures/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set One</span></a><span style="color: blue;">.</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbob6VZ59rgk7XxLarDqKT_rsY5boXE0nXS9kiD_85g-Tq3pdAv6Z6kMTce7KVj2fxS7vLO8qv9E36k-V39uRZ49ArHvpdWQocyc8rVk_F1z8cWH1ppGC1N6CL1S0Kt6vRtMMXR6AACzc/s400/IMG_4545.JPG" width="238" /></div>
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Do you see them? They are full color, cleverly done picture flashcards! They are intended for grades 3-8 but I used them with my four year old, kinder, and first grader and they really like them. I was so excited when I got them in that I began looking through them on my own. I started the kids using them the next day. My personal favorite is deciduous. I love hearing my 8, 6, and 4 year old saying 'deciduous, shedding its leaves annually' back at me. My 8 year old's favorite is friction. We learned a few cards a day but took one a day to focus on. Mr. A, my 8 year old, loved when we watched a video on friction and they showed us how it works now he loves to tell other people. Some of the other words are herbivore, igneous, pulley, symmetry, and taproot. I am making a flashcard wall. I'm going to put a thin strip of wood on the wall and attach a few metal clips on it so that we can put our cards we are focusing on that week up there. The kids can then pull them down and review them through out the day. (Yes I am making a wall for flashcards....see how things can change? Flashcard girl coming right up Lol)</div>
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Due to a mix up with the shipping I received another set of flashcards and instead of having us mail them back or just review those the company took the time to mail us out the ones we ordered and they let us keep the wrong ones! I think that says a lot about a company and their customer service. It's a company I would order from again.</div>
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These are the cards that were sent to me the first time they are just as nice and sturdy as the science cards. Since we just started a new memory work based curriculum I didn't start these yet but we will be using them I just wanted them to get used to all the memorizing before I gave them more to do. </div>
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Okay so I do have two things I would change. It would be that they gave us a piece of paper the size of the cards that had the definitions on it and I really wish they were on the back of the cards to make it a little easier to locate them and read them. The second thing would be to rename the second set of cards I received. They are called <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/targetvocabularypictures/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Target Vocabulary Pictures, Set One</span></a> which is alright but they are about math and the name doesn't really tell you that. That's really all I would change. They are worth the price of $29.99 and we all really enjoyed them and plan to continue on with them.</div>
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I looked over their website and already have some things picked out for my next shopping spree! I love these<a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/greekandlatinroots/"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Greek and Latin Roots</span></a>, <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/wordoftheday/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Word of the Day,</span></a> and their online program called <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/target-reading-digital/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Target Reading Digital</span></a>. If you hop over to the other reviews from the link at the bottom of this post you'll find <a href="http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/targetthequestiondigital/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Target the Question Digital</span></a><span style="color: blue;">,</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span>which I also think looks really good, and many other reviews I hope you enjoy them! </div>
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<b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Disclaimer</span></u></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">: I received a free copy of this product
through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not
required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All
opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing
this in accordance with the FTC Regulations</span></i></div>
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Much Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
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<a href="http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/lone-star-learning-review/"><span style="color: blue;">Click here to see more reviews.</span></a></div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-8524301712100617862013-02-26T16:55:00.001-05:002013-02-26T16:55:44.883-05:00Woohoo<div style="text-align: center;">
So I have a new van now :D I'm so excited I can't wait to </div>
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show you all some pictures! </div>
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It's going to have to wait a bit though</div>
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because it's raining </div>
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cats and dogs out there and that camera</div>
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I was dreaming of</div>
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is not getting wet okay? Lol</div>
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Anyways</div>
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I just spent time cleaning out my old van because</div>
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someone is coming to look at it tonight and might be buying it yay.</div>
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Why so yay? Because</div>
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I over spent on the new car so </div>
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I'm hoping to get closer to my budgeted amount by selling this one.</div>
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Crossing my fingers.</div>
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Hoping your day goes well and as </div>
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soon as the weather improves I'll post some pictures up here.</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-4292284669106042092013-02-21T00:58:00.001-05:002013-02-21T00:58:25.030-05:00My Monkey's 6th Birthday<div style="text-align: center;">
So I completely failed this year at Monkeys Birthday. </div>
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It's tomorrow and I never did decide on a theme. </div>
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The party would have been this weekend so I have time to just</div>
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throw something together and see if anyone comes. </div>
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I'm a bit sad that I didn't plan anything though. </div>
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Things just got so busy and a bit out of control.</div>
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OK so I didn't finish that post up above....</div>
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Monkey's birthday was today!</div>
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Last night before bed hubby sketched out Monkey's birthday shirt</div>
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and then I buzzed hubby's hair on the sides since</div>
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he's got this curly, thick, Mohawk thing going on and then</div>
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he dyed my hair while I painted Monkey's shirt.</div>
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So when he woke up this morning this is what he found waiting for him: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqCvND5VwSIrhUSz9sdgJL6QmrQO0-fDUjViihapnmrPYRV92JbgKIYu6Oji3NdyL1nPZ1LclJBRjdPUWa4jeGj5nxW1dhiwhxhM3AVT57VTAnmDndxUfV5YG5SWZp2BTLaHpSN25n-U/s1600/IMG_4487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqCvND5VwSIrhUSz9sdgJL6QmrQO0-fDUjViihapnmrPYRV92JbgKIYu6Oji3NdyL1nPZ1LclJBRjdPUWa4jeGj5nxW1dhiwhxhM3AVT57VTAnmDndxUfV5YG5SWZp2BTLaHpSN25n-U/s320/IMG_4487.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
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Monkey on the phone with his Aunt who lives in WA.</div>
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My hair looks good just not the brighter red I was hoping for and it </div>
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showed on the box...no pic of me yet I've been busy</div>
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lol.</div>
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Hubby's hair was cut a little to closely</div>
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but he likes it so </div>
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that's a win right?</div>
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(he'll grow out of this right? LOL really I'm fine</div>
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with him trying it out)</div>
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So we started out with MOPS in the morning then we went</div>
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to McDonald's for lunch with some friends</div>
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and then off to our </div>
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new friends house for a</div>
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bit more play time</div>
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after that we met my hubby</div>
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at my families and we left our two other boys there </div>
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and took Monkey out for his</div>
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alone time with</div>
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his parents on his birthday....plus one.</div>
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Hubby invited my mom.</div>
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Not a big deal though</div>
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I thought Monkey would object but </div>
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he was for it and it turned out to be a nice dinner.</div>
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What kid doesn't want three</div>
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people focusing on him right?</div>
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Plus all the different</div>
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pizza he could want,</div>
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desserts, soda,</div>
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and no questions asked...well one </div>
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asked like the one</div>
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I kept saying every time he went up for more which was</div>
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'where are you putting that all?'</div>
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followed by</div>
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'your going to burst!'</div>
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Needless to say he did not burst but I still have no idea</div>
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how he is still up and walking around</div>
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sigh growing boys</div>
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what can you say?</div>
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After that we went to the Dollar Tree and let him pick out a present and</div>
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out of a store full of fun things</div>
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you know what this boy of mine picked?</div>
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A kite, a retro game you know the one where you have to get the rings on the </div>
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stakes and the rings are floating in water</div>
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with only the two buttons to push that move them around?</div>
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Hmm that's harder to describe than I thought it would be.</div>
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Anyways and then one more thing</div>
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it's not normal....</div>
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a monkey decal for his bedroom wall....</div>
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he was even willing to put the game back to get it </div>
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so how could I say no?</div>
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I'll have to post a picture of it later because it is cute :)</div>
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So there was one happy birthday boy today and I didn't totally fail right? Right!</div>
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Now on to the party planning even if there's</div>
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no time left to invite friends</div>
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we're used to family get-together's </div>
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anyways and while at the </div>
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dollar tree I found some perfect party supplies without a little </div>
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someone noticing woot.</div>
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:)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-84750454690317023272013-02-07T22:08:00.003-05:002013-02-07T22:08:42.158-05:00Screamed Like a Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A cell phone picture of the workers </div>
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Okay so it's not surprising at all</div>
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I am a girl</div>
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after all right?</div>
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What would you do?</div>
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So here's the story</div>
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I went to my mom's house</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
which is pretty much the only place I can go since I'm sick</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and we were painting her dining room when suddenly there was a loud BOOOM</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Everything went out in the house</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
at the same time and the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
house filled with a blue light and then</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the power came back on. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The kids came pounding down the stairs</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
scared out of their minds.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I went into the living room to look out the front window </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to see what was going on</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
when it happened again.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The second boom wasn't as loud and yet it still caused</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
me to duck like I am used to being </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
bombed our something </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(it really was that loud)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and I saw blue sparks and a bright blue light coming </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
from behind the tree in my parents yard.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I called the power company</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and while I was on the phone with them a </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
fire truck arrived.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I directed them to the tree where we saw a branch on the power lines.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I was still on the porch away from the tree and to worried to go any closer but my hubby did</div>
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and they didn't seem to worried until the next minute when it </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
sparked again and expletives came out of their mouths.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A simple branch is really</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
what caused this all.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We were all standing on the porch (not the kids just adults)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
while this happened and my</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
mother and I screamed like little</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
girls and I did my slight duck again</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(seriously have I been in a war zone or what?)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I had been looking directly at the branch showing my mom how it was on fire a little</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
when it had gone off and now </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
my vision had a huge black blob in it and it was hard to see.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Several minutes later my vision came back but</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
not until after </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pumpkin came running at me as I came in the door he had short bursts of screaming and </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
grasped at me while climbing up me</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and clinging for dear life.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Every noise it made he screams and little tears came down his </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
cheeks.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The firefighters eventually got together with the police and power company and got the branch down.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As we came back in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
we heard some barking.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My mom's little dog was under the couch and not coming out.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A little coaxing later and she stopped barking and crawled out to us.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It was more than a little scary the kids are all sleeping together and it's taking awhile.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They are scared and don't </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
want to go into the dark alone.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Seriously all because of a little branch that got in the wrong place.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just thought I'd share this with you tonight. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I hope your day went well and no power arcings at your home!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.S. Pumpkins appointment with his allergy shots went well and he was brave just cried a little. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-4308944780764713592013-02-07T11:07:00.001-05:002013-02-07T11:13:01.319-05:00What? Another Birthday? <div style="text-align: center;">
Wow this month is just flying by already. I just realized Monkey's birthday is a little less than two weeks away! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He's turning six where does the time go? I need to get into planning mode. I have no idea what the theme will be usually I plan it out way ahead of time but just forget to invite people until last minute but this year I didn't even remember that much. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hmmm going to have to spend some time today working on this. So what's some of your favorite birthday party themes? </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We've had a Ponyo, monkeys, drive-in movie theater, halloween, trains,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
pirate, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
super heroes, and more. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I was thinking of having a circus birthday for one of the boys</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
but it just hasn't happened yet. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I think it might be a bit much to throw together for Monkey's birthday.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I just found this site and it has some good replies</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.circleofmoms.com/moms-with-school-age-kids/anyone-have-any-suggestions-for-a-birthday-party-for-a-6-yr-old-466021#_" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Circle of Moms</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That page led me to this page with even more ideas,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://birthdaypartyideas.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Birthdaypartyideas.com</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I could be on this page for quite awhile so I'm going to head off</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of here. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pumpkin has his second set of allergy shots today</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and an asthma plan appointment</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
so aside from helping my mom out </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
today, schooling, and party planning I </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
will be there.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hope you all have a great day and I'll be seeing you soon. Don't forget</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to leave your party ideas here!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Love,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mommaraff</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Song I'm listening to now:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/13349419" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">How He Loves Us</span></a></div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-80548194259470553052013-01-22T11:15:00.000-05:002013-01-22T11:15:07.998-05:00Behavior and Painting They go Together Right?<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm going a bit mad.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The kids recently have been acting up and </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
not obeying then talking back.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They are also overly hyper.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The only thing we've been doing differently is </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
eating more gluten.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I know I said we weren't but when you </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
get low on money, bread is a cheap buy and and </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
easy fix.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm thinking we need to back out of it now</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to save us all lol.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A bit dramatic I know but honestly if you could</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
see their behavior changes you'd understand.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Today is an early nap time kind of day and I'm going to practice</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
some breathing before we start over again.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My fingers are crossed for better</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
behavior! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Ok now that's out of the way </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I really want</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to paint our porch.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's red.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's to much.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I walk out on it and began to feel a bit </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
strained.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Did you know they link the color red to anger? </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It reminds me of when I lived with some friends and her wall was red in her living room</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and we would stare at it just wanting to paint it.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It took her awhile to get up the nerve to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
paint it and I never got to see the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
after effect but</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm sure it was great.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I feel the same way now looking at that porch.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofIq6gXQ-wGrpJgO6N_WiEIQ_QBrbQ8k5mNXVwPCNOkD4deVnopFPqWHqXDFNCcLFDI18iKFWSfJl7j30I-UWlCENG4gHSnomtb5qerxASpi-9_APQvRWzeWtTcufdsslczBEbMpVhEo/s1600/IMG_4458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofIq6gXQ-wGrpJgO6N_WiEIQ_QBrbQ8k5mNXVwPCNOkD4deVnopFPqWHqXDFNCcLFDI18iKFWSfJl7j30I-UWlCENG4gHSnomtb5qerxASpi-9_APQvRWzeWtTcufdsslczBEbMpVhEo/s320/IMG_4458.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This is the color palette I'd like to use.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
What do you think? </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I need to talk to my landlord and see if he'll let me do it but I think he will.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I also want to redo</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
the counters.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'll have a post here soon showing you what we did at my parents house.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I hope you'll like it :)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Mommaraff</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-49631379983210831212013-01-09T12:39:00.001-05:002013-01-09T12:39:50.217-05:00Shaving Cream and Thank You's<div style="text-align: center;">
Yesterday the boys were really good</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
so after school</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
just before lunch</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I got out the shaving cream and food coloring.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TssHNDL4ZeLo3fU_PXPpxyavvi39pRpu4per34KUFyDfwLrbqUOrtQwO3B1zAMjuKjnRKzE-7U6hT68_gGxR-gL_rbErEWS5-Z-EyAC_XXDqqgwfEnmj1zE09rUCFCXQ_vb9iw118gw/s1600/IMG_4455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TssHNDL4ZeLo3fU_PXPpxyavvi39pRpu4per34KUFyDfwLrbqUOrtQwO3B1zAMjuKjnRKzE-7U6hT68_gGxR-gL_rbErEWS5-Z-EyAC_XXDqqgwfEnmj1zE09rUCFCXQ_vb9iw118gw/s320/IMG_4455.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The resulting mess was worth it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The boys had so much fun.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Another plus to the day is when Pumpkin told me "Thank you for teaching us mom"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Wow. Really that's what he said.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'm feeling an aha moment</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and I'm going to cling to that.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sometimes they know just what you need to hear.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Mommaraff</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-43717882105308132932013-01-08T11:28:00.001-05:002013-01-08T11:28:50.743-05:00Purge and Clean<div style="text-align: center;">
Pumpkin is healing up nicely. We are fully back into school.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I have been going though my homeschool books and thinning them down</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I have a good collection but they are </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
all older books that were either handed down to me,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I purchased them at thrift stores,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of got off of free tables</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
at our group meetings.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's really hard to get rid of them though</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
because with the two boys coming behind Mr. A</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I don't know what they will like yet or what will work with them</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and so I find myself keeping things just in case.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I don't have to much room for just in case</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
so I think I'll need to go through them again.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The boys are excited to have some new books to work through though since I</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
found some that I want to add to their daily routine.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We are now going to be working through</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
a science book,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
doing our bible time, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
a history book,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and Mr. A is going to be doing grammar and sentence work.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I also found Mr. A some </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
creative writing work books that I hope he enjoys and</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
that they really help him work out writing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
for himself.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Today we are going to be doing our school work, finishing up going through the books so I can</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
bring some to give away at tonights meeting, folding laundry mounds,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
mopping, and general cleaning because we have</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
our first book club meeting here </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
on the 10th! We have four or five families coming</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and we are really excited.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Even if one shows up I think it will be worth it.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We read How to Eat Fried Worms for </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
our first book</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and I have some fun things to go along with it!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is our first attempt at starting a book club in my whole life I've never even been to one before</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
so I'm hoping it goes well!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What have you been up to?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-75838018530522453882013-01-04T12:10:00.002-05:002013-01-04T12:16:10.431-05:00Art Boxes and Paint Lickers<div style="text-align: center;">
Trying to pare down on books is not an easy job.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
How can homeschooling book lovers</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
get rid of books?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Well I have a bit to many </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and would love to bring my left overs to </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
our homeschool group meeting</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to place in</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
our free piles that I have </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
frequented so much.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I love </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
free.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So that's what I'm doing today while my boys</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
are working on their school work </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
which by the way must all be done with the art </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
boxes they got for Christmas.<br />
I didn't know they would like them that much<br />
but I'm glad.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(P.S. as I'm writing this Mr. A is tattling that Monkey and Pumpkin just licked</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
their paints....sigh)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2z3yzrvxZvhOYlPw00tj2VosMLWAqs_kuKYhrLJPkTbfWL1dr7gz7sw785CQKokReR7Eg1G2GUB7FFolauQ0KEI9_qgaFjJG4scPSFIxnfcHbFMZFx4mRb9NOxXlLDMR7uTOA0-hsi34/s1600/IMG_4367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2z3yzrvxZvhOYlPw00tj2VosMLWAqs_kuKYhrLJPkTbfWL1dr7gz7sw785CQKokReR7Eg1G2GUB7FFolauQ0KEI9_qgaFjJG4scPSFIxnfcHbFMZFx4mRb9NOxXlLDMR7uTOA0-hsi34/s320/IMG_4367.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Mr. A with my brother in-law in the background.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtGuYXaqO23OdJtGDImlMlkZlV6u5wZeGtLdJnaSvwZQnhZfyyE-ghSjTw0IO-PXusiquOopp2Fc4yVp0MujRef-QDqHzJt7uC9IKQsgJAVbgEcEJpDhsCxzLNLthK7OotoXFhWj94Q0/s1600/IMG_4374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtGuYXaqO23OdJtGDImlMlkZlV6u5wZeGtLdJnaSvwZQnhZfyyE-ghSjTw0IO-PXusiquOopp2Fc4yVp0MujRef-QDqHzJt7uC9IKQsgJAVbgEcEJpDhsCxzLNLthK7OotoXFhWj94Q0/s320/IMG_4374.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
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Monkey with my other sister's boyfriend in the background.</div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BYsW00oxYrCqHuYc1x_l06oRKnfLy_qxIVV2bfNfN353MI0z0MhAbokN6tZZuM9Csj6PLsPoOGbXwk3DUkWSbhvXjUjIV5d2qwoaIHhL08vPTjEBixXZdLhJAhwf0rEktVIkoKw_cbc/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BYsW00oxYrCqHuYc1x_l06oRKnfLy_qxIVV2bfNfN353MI0z0MhAbokN6tZZuM9Csj6PLsPoOGbXwk3DUkWSbhvXjUjIV5d2qwoaIHhL08vPTjEBixXZdLhJAhwf0rEktVIkoKw_cbc/s320/IMG_4381.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pumpkin.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
One tradition in my family is every Christmas Eve we open some new Christmas jammies these are the boys from this year. </div>
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We don't usually match but it's what they had in their sizes and they are so cute!</div>
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Christmas update coming soon :) I know I'm going a bit backwards but hey Christmas is a huge update!</div>
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Mommaraff.</div>
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Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215964664479574686.post-61062027787220926322013-01-03T12:57:00.004-05:002013-01-03T13:00:09.933-05:00Pumpkin's Surgery <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9-jEbCc4LvAVEco9UIHUrCa-NtlIXkDfeis9LB9QVsnEApbG2hrzqYBD6QsCCzPXdKnglzQFkcT6K8sDhP0kPf3-IaON2yeii4VZxTIYDmcKLenHqxbCH1fnHCsd5ny_QKY6gTzGhSc/s1600/IMG_4416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9-jEbCc4LvAVEco9UIHUrCa-NtlIXkDfeis9LB9QVsnEApbG2hrzqYBD6QsCCzPXdKnglzQFkcT6K8sDhP0kPf3-IaON2yeii4VZxTIYDmcKLenHqxbCH1fnHCsd5ny_QKY6gTzGhSc/s320/IMG_4416.JPG" width="178" /></a></div>
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Pumpkin one day after surgery.</div>
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Wow last month was a busy month. </div>
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Like usual Pumpkin got sick and we spent time in the ER where he hyperventilated because</div>
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he couldn't breathe and they were busy with a trauma</div>
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and have only one respiratory worker.</div>
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One?</div>
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I think they need to hire more.</div>
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Anyways they then sent us home after one treatment even though</div>
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I couldn't get his breathing under control with two albuterol</div>
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treatments and steroids. I really think he needed to stay</div>
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but after the long night and the next long day he </div>
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began to improve. </div>
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One good thing is this ER visit got me a referral to </div>
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an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor that put Pumpkin on some antibiotics for the </div>
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next four weeks and then he'll have a CAT scan of his sinuses </div>
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to see what's up with them.</div>
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Since he's been on this medicine he's cleared up a lot.</div>
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I went to the eye doctor where we scheduled Pumpkins eye surgery and just before the </div>
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surgery we took him in to his regular doctor who was</div>
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surprised to see that Pumpkin was in the </div>
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best health he's seen him in </div>
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yet.</div>
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Pumpkin one day after surgery</div>
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The surgery happened on the 28th of December with me being quite nervous </div>
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but comforted with the knowledge that so many were praying for him. The Doctor<br />
moved his eye muscles back so they would stop<br />
swinging his eye up into the corner when he looked<br />
to either side. He also<br />
straightened his lazy eye so when his glasses are one his eye is looking straight.</div>
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Pumpkin came out of the operating room screaming bloody</div>
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murder.</div>
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I got in the hospital bed and they passed him to me.</div>
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It took awhile for him to get control of</div>
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himself enough to</div>
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want to rub his eyes.</div>
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He wanted to rub them on everything it was like watching an animal</div>
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who has an itch they can't satisfy but</div>
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won't stop until they do.</div>
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I held his arms as I cuddle him and then he began</div>
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rubbing his eyes on my chest and arms so </div>
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I had to turn him over and he </div>
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tried rubbing in the switch</div>
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meanwhile he was still screaming.</div>
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I had my husband get my mom and sister from the waiting room</div>
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as they were coming he finally got enough</div>
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control that he yelled out, 'MY EYES', before trying to rub again.</div>
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My mom came in then and held him.</div>
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He ended up throwing up once and almost an hour after surgery </div>
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he wasn't ready yet but we were <strike>pretty much kicked out</strike> sent home.</div>
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The next few days were filled with swollen eyes, literally blood red eyes, light purple under the eyes,</div>
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ointment for the eyes four times a day which made him cry he said they hurt,</div>
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and cold washcloths when they hurt.</div>
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He really did take it well though.</div>
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Pumpkin day two after surgery</div>
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Yesterday we went back to see the eye doctor who liked what he saw and we have to finish</div>
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out the eye ointment through tomorrow and then he's released from those.</div>
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I'll be so glad to stop putting them in and having him cry at me.</div>
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Pumpkin's favorite animal, Hooey, got ready for the surgery.</div>
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Today so shortly after surgery he's going in for another appointment so that he can get his shots and</div>
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we can set up his allergy shots and talk about getting some eczema cream. </div>
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I feel like his health is finally getting somewhere. </div>
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Maybe he'll finally be a healthy child.</div>
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Either way I love him.</div>
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I'm here for him.</div>
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I'm holding him when he can't breathe, when he's getting more shots, when he's on all</div>
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his meds even the ones that make him a bit crazy,</div>
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when he's throwing up,</div>
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when he's screaming,</div>
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when he needs me to hold his hand because he's afraid when the doctors</div>
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talking to him, I'm here until my times up</div>
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and that's not going to change.</div>
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I tell him I love him and he asked me why. </div>
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"I love you because your you."</div>
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"Why?"</div>
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"Just because your Pumpkin and I love Pumpkin."</div>
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He gets a shy grin and hugs me, </div>
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"I love you mom."</div>
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We go through these same words a lot.</div>
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He wants to know if I love him when he's in trouble.</div>
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Of course I love him when he's in trouble because he's still Pumpkin.</div>
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"Why?"</div>
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"Because your still you that's why Pumpkin."</div>
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It's a tender moment as I watch him feel the love.</div>
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It's interesting how much</div>
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he feels it every time we have this talk.</div>
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He never feels it less.</div>
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He soaks it in and I soak in the look on his face.</div>
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Pumpkin today.</div>
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Having a sickly child is a strain</div>
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it's not easy it's hard </div>
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and it's hard a lot of the time.</div>
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I wouldn't trade him</div>
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in for all </div>
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the </div>
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peace </div>
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a healthy child could bring.</div>
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He's special</div>
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and he's being prepped for bigger things in his life.</div>
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He's growing me along the way.</div>
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A teacher to his mother.</div>
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All children are.</div>
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Mr. A and Monkey see him differently too.</div>
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They are more patient with him.</div>
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They laugh when the meds make him crazy even though he may be </div>
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making them crazy and they cry and cringe when he's hurting.</div>
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We are all on this ride together.</div>
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We are all</div>
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learning together.</div>
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Pumpkin today.</div>
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Hug your child(ren) today and remind them that you love them</div>
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not because they are good,</div>
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or healthy, </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">or good at something</span></div>
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and not only when they are all that and more,</div>
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but you love them always even in the muck.</div>
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You may think they know</div>
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and you may</div>
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just think you say it without words</div>
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but they need the words.</div>
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They need the reminders.</div>
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They'll soak it in </div>
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even if you can't tell they are.</div>
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Mommaraff</div>
Mommaraffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07894363422909954594noreply@blogger.com1