Printable Thanksgiving Activities

Working today on finding some activities for my oldest son, he's in the 9th grade this year.  It's always super easy to find activities, crafts, worksheets, etc for the younger kids.  A friend passed along some websites she had used, so today I'm looking at them to find things that we can use.  Some of them I might use also for my 6th grader and may even use with some help for my 1st grader :) This is a neat fill-them-in-tale.  Spoonful  Here is a list of some different things to do than we might normally do.  There is a great article though about Thanksgiving from the Native American point of view.  Christina Pilkington Here is a cute idea for an edible log cabin.  I'm just not sure how to do it without milk cartons :( (LOL) Spoonful  Still on the hunt for more items, so hopefully I'll find more and come back to post them. 

Christmas Crafts for Kids-Giveaway

I was reading emails and ran across a neat giveaway that I thought I'd share.  Head over to The Measured Mom and check out this giveaway for a book full of Christmas craft ideas.  I love the holiday times and doing neat activities with the kids.  This looks like a book that would have something for everyone and give you and idea for every day.

Using games for teaching

I've always like the idea of using games for teaching, but I've found that as the years have gone on I've used them less.  I'm trying to get back more to using them with Issac.  Today I ran across two great games that I think we'll start using.  One is a math game that will work on addition facts.  It's from Frugal Family Home and they show how you can use it either with paper or with felt.  I'm thinking of using it with the felt on our board that we have.  The other game I ran across today is for learning or practicing sight words.  This would also help Issac to work on his jumping as well :)  It's from Creative Family Fun I would love to get my oldest involved in more games, but sadly the only game he wants to play is his X-box (LOL)

How to use your mason jars

I was reading a blog today and ran across a great article about 31 ways to use a mason jar.  Here is the link Keeper of the Home.  It got me thinking about whether or not I use my jars for anything special.  I just recently had a birthday and got a neat gift from my mom.  I had recently seen on Pinterest about how you could drill a hole in a lid and turn your mason jar into a drinking cup. I thought it was a neat idea and was hoping I could get my husband or son to do this project for me.  About a week or so later I saw somewhere online where you could buy a set of these lids already made for you. I sent the link to my mom and she surprised me with them for my birthday. The set included paper straws and 5 lids.  I like the idea, but have already realized the straws will be used up quickly and I'll have to figure out something else to do.  Pretty much I use my jars for leftovers and sometimes pen storage and that's about it.  There are some great ideas here that I'm going to have to start trying.

Prayers for Kadie

I'm writing today because my cousin's daughter was in a serious accident on Friday.  She was riding a scooter that had been modified to go faster.  She ended up with a serious head injury and many broken bones.  She doesn't have a hand or leg that isn't injured.  She is currently in a medical induced coma and is woken up every 2 hours.  She is able to move her hands/feet when told and nods when asked if she is in pain.  The doctors and nurses feel that is a very positive sign.  Every time she is woken and moved the pressure in her head increases. Her breaks were all very severe and her pain level is beyond anything I think most of us can imagine. My aunt told me there are about 20 churches praying for her in her local area alone.  I'd appreciate all that read this to pray for her and pass it alone for others to read and pray for her as well.

Do you use legos to teach school?

I have found that my kids really haven't gotten too much into legos.  When my oldest was little he played with the mega blocks, but after that he really didn't get into them that much.  We bought him a few sets and it seemed that he only liked to follow the directions and put them together exactly like the pictures (LOL) If one piece got lost that was the end of the world :) Today I was reading a blog and ran across a great post about using legos for teaching school. I know many of us have at least one child that needs to be doing some type of activity while learning.  Over at Teachers of Good Things she's got a great post with tons of ideas.  I'm going to be checking out some of these ideas and hopefully they'll be helpful to some of you as well. 

Check out this fantastic giveaway that Homeschooling Adventurez is offering!

Go check out this great review and giveaway.  I recently ran across this blog and I've really enjoyed reading it.  Kelli has a great review and giveaway going on right now, so check it out and share it with all your friends.

Homeschooling Adventurez: Not Just Tacos: a review and a YUMMY giveaway: I'm so excited to share this special giveaway with you! For the last couple of months, we've been enjoying the  not just tacos   aw...

Let's Talk Sugar.....

I was raised in the south and love sweet tea! Over the years I have gotten away from drinking it on a regular basis. In the winter time I love to drink hot tea and that is where I tend to have problems.  I have used sweeteners over the years, Splenda for many, and 2 packs is just perfect for my cup of tea. When I think about going away from using those type of sweeteners I struggle on what to use. When I use regular sugar I feel like I have to put more in than I'd like. I've tried honey and I just don't get that sweet taste that I'm looking for.  I've looked at many of the items on the sugar aisle and they all seem to me to have similiar ingredients, but try to say they are different. When it's winter time I could easily drink 6-8 cups of hot tea in a day, so I really don't want to be adding extra weight to my body with lots of sugar. Yet I don't want the issues that come with sweeteners.  Would love to hear your thoughts.

Quick Ways To Fill Your Freezer

I've had several bad migraines this week and it makes me not even think about dinners:( One night I threw together breakfast and the kids loved that and last night I had some frozen soup and made some quick biscuits.  The other day Issac asked could we have pizza and I thought we have everything to make it so why not.  This morning I was thinking how nice it would be to have some dough already in the freezer. I did a quick search and came up with this site.  Money Saving Mom I was only looking for the pizza dough, but she's got a great little plan for ways to fill up your freezer with lots of yummy stuff.  I think I'm going to work on making some of these items with the kids to help on our busy days or if/when the migraines hit.  I thought this would be a site that many of you would enjoy checking out as well.

Scripture Typer

I was reading a blog about teaching character.  There is tons of great information there,   Teaching Character.  One thing that jumped out at me for myself and the two older children was Scripture Typer.  I think this will help the kids work on their verses each week in a whole new way.  I'm really excited to try it out myself this weekend and get the kids started using it Monday.

New Facebook Page

Some friends and I were chatting today about blogs and getting in touch with others.  It was suggested that I make a Facebook page and link it with my blog.  The link to the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/LivingLifeHourByHour I spent a little time doing that tonight and only had to pull a little hair out as I tried to figure our a few of the answers.  I want to be able to write my thoughts simply, be able to post any random post that I find interesting on the internet and do it in an easy fashion. I've been so inspired this last week by some of the blogs I've been reading. There are a few things that I really need to refocus on in my life. Maybe this huge push from my friend to get back into the blog will get me headed into the right direction:)

A September to Remember – $200 Giveaway

I was checking my emails today and what do I see, but a fantastic giveaway!  Teachers of Good Things Blog has a fantastic giveaway that you should check out.  Here is the link, so head over there today :)  http://teachersofgoodthings.com/september-to-remember/#comment-7926

So excited to try Time4Learning.com!!

I've heard about www.time4learning.com from several people. Today I was looking to see if there were free codes or something similiar to try out the program and found out you can write a review and try out the program.  I decided to give it a try:) I'm really excited to try out this program.  Issac was loving Reading Made Easy, but after a break at Christmas he just couldn't get back into it. I decided to look for some computer programs that we could work on his reading that seemed more fun and like he was playing games, so I think this will be great for him.  They also now have things for high school and I watched a little bit of that today and I think it would be great for my 9th grader.  I think the new addition of items for 9th-12th will be very popular!

• I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. This online curriculum can be useful for those wanting homeschool materials or for those seeking help with topics such as homeschool record keeping. Find out how to write your own review!

Home School Enrichment - Free Goodies - ALL Issues of HSE Magazine from 2012!

I was so excited to see this freebie today and wanted to share it with everyone.  Run and get it before it's gone.  Home School Enrichment - Free Goodies - ALL Issues of HSE Magazine from 2012!

It's that time of year again!

I have to admit that when I was young I always looked forward to going back to school.  There is something about shopping for new supplies, even now that is my favorite part:) Things have been a little different this year and so my planning hasn't been quite what it has in the past. That being said I'm trying to go with the flow:) This year we delve into those scary high school years as my oldest is starting 9th grade.  Not much makes my oldest smile when it comes to school, but my daughter loves to smile for the camera.  She is 6th grade this year and my youngest is in 1st. We have completed our first week and there is always a learning curve.  My husband has been home and doing a few odd jobs for family, so he's taken our oldest with him to help.  He explained to Zachary that years ago the older boys didn't start school when the others did because they had to finish helping get the crops in.  He's getting some good training in to either help him in life if he decides to do this job or maybe help him make the choice the go another way:)

Crazy Week

This week has been a crazy and emotional week:( I knew going into the week that it would be super busy b/c we were going to be receiving our Girl Scout cookies on Tuesday. We were also going to start our booths on Friday.  I had scheduled 3 booths this first weekend! I knew it was crazy and would also be harder this year with Carl's work schedule! The beginning of the week was going ok until we got home from karate on Wednesday night. We had run a few errands after class, so were a little later than normal arriving home.  Zachary had stopped to get some points to purchase a new game on his X-box, so went straight to his room to do that and came out and asked me had I taken his X-box. I told him no and thought to myself that I'd been with him. My next thought was that Carl left before us, so he couldn't have taken it. I immediately looked to the back door and saw that the glass from the window was not there. I realized right away that someone had been in the house:( Zachary was so upset b/c they took his X-box, his brand new game that he'd purchased in November, his controller, cords and his expensive headset he purchased.  Issac started crying and I immediately started looking around to see if they took anything else. They didn't, only Zachary's stuff. I called 911 and while we were waiting I counted my cookies b/c I knew it was the kids across the street and I figued they'd take my cookies, but they didn't. While we were waiting I realized that we were missing some food as well.  The police arrived, we talked, he looked around and knew instantly who I was talking about when I told him. He has been over them multiple times and told me he's not surprised they took food because they never have anything. He found the glass in one piece and said he'd send someone to fingerprint and hopefully we'd get lucky.  He is also the same officer that came here back in December when we reported Zachary's bike missing because he saw a kid riding it up the street.  I actually caught the kid across the street on Brianna's bike about 2 hours after that and then another kid rode up to us on Zachary's bike. I ended up calling 911 right then and there on both of them.  When the other officer came out he couldn't get any prints, he said they had been wearing gloves. When I told him who I thought it was he said it didn't surprise him that he didn't get a print because they had already been caught once before by leaving their prints, so they would know to wear gloves now:( Issac has been terrified ever since.  He's afraid once it gets dark, won't leave my side and any noise he thinks is someone trying to break in.  I actually went to the animal shelter the next morning and adopted a dog. We had been discussing it for a while, but this made the decision clear for me. I was out Friday night for 2 hours with Brianna selling Girl Scout cookies, out yesterday for 4 hours and then out for another 3 hours doing errands and not tonight I have a 3 hour booth. I'm so thankful we have great neighbors on one side of me. They were already trying to help watch out for us with Carl's new schedule, but are even more now.  They said from now on text then any time I leave and they came home and checked the boys several times Friday night while I was gone before Carl made it home.  I've still got to somehow get prepared for the week. Plus, Zachary's 14th birthday is Thursday and my mom is arriving on Wednesday! Talk about crazy! :)

Weekly Menu

I'm trying to get myself back in the habit of planning my meals for the week.  We are heading into Girl Scout Cookie Season and I definately need to be on top of things or we might not be eating (LOL) We get our cookies on Tuesday of this week. I have to head over to our leader's house right after Issac's therapy and help unload.  Next weekend we have a 3 booths, so I'm trying to plan my meals from today through next Sunday at least.  Here is what I have planned:

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and frozen veggies
Hot Dogs, Tator Tots and frozen veggies
Beef Stroganoff Casserole with either frozen veggies or salad.  The recipe I'm using is from www.familycircle.com
Squash & Lentil Stew with salad.  This recip is also from www.familycircle.com
Baked chicken & potatoes with veggies
Spaghetti and either frozen veggies or salad
Chef John's Turkey Sloppy Joes, Fries and veggies.  I got this recipe off www.allrecipe.com
**I wanted to stretch mine a little further than the beef I used that night, so I added cooked lentils to it and nobody noticed:)

I just realized I'm short one meal here (LOL) My brain isn't coming up with anything else at this point. More than likely I'll make homeade soup one day. Maybe on the weekend because after standing outside Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon/evening homeade soup would feel great!

Winter Weather

I grew up loving winter weather, especially the snow.  When we lived in California that is one of the things that I truly missed about North Carolina.  When we moved back I was really excited about being around snow again. We have lived here over 3 years now and I think we've had snow twice. Where we live just doesn't really get much winter weather.  A week or so ago they called for 100% chance of snow for several hours and we got nothing :( Today they were calling for some snow, sleet, ice accumulation, etc.  This is what my back looks like right now, this is all ice. 

Issac and I decided this was a perfect night to roast marshmallows in the fire, so just he and I did that.  He decided that we were marshmallow buddies and that we should make our own song (LOL)

We are having homeade soup for dinner and planning to just enjoy the evening.  I'm going to watch a movie on Netflix and probably read or knit.  I would love to see something outside in the morning, but they are saying no accumulation.  I keep telling Carl that I think I would like to live in Alaska, but he doesn't think that would be a good place to live (LOL)

Saving Money

I recently read a post from a dear friend's blog about saving money. I always seem to have the thought that I need to put away a certain amount each week or month to really be saving.  When I saw this chart I realized that anything truly is better than nothing! I talked to dh and he was onboard.  We are only going into week 4, but it feels good to know that we are doing something.