Free edition of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

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Guess what? The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is giving away a free edition of their magazine.  Take a look at the brand new Summer digital edition of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. TOS is offering this digital issue of the magazine totally free with no strings attached. Enjoy this free gift from TOS—no registration or email address required to view the magazine! Take a peek here. Then share the link with your friends by clicking on the share button at the top of the magazine pages.

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary my love

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When years are passing by like days,
and in my hand your hand is placed,
a knowing smile crosses your face,
a simple touch can still make my heart race.

When I can see my soul in your eyes,
and you see your soul in mine we realize,
that a love so deep can harbor no lies,
where our only tears shed were happy tears we've cried.

I love you as much now as I ever did before,
if possible, I may even love you more,
all starting from a feeling we did not ignore,
a feeling of connection we chose to explore.

I don't know what it is that you saw in me,
what I saw in you was the utmost happiness
that can ever be,
even more so on the day when you and I
became "We",
I can still smile and say with love and
truth

Honey, I love you...Happy 14th Anniversary!!!

anniversarypoems.net

Robert Pierre ~ I’m All In review & giveaway

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A new CD by an up and coming Christian artist arrived at our house a few days ago for me to review.  It is called “I’m All In” by Robert Pierre.  I was hoping that this CD would meet my expectations and it totally did and more!  The music is up beat and you can definitely feel Robert’s love of our God.  When I popped the CD in the player I felt like I have tuned into my favorite Christian Station on the radio, love that!

“All of the songs have something to do with things I was going through my senior year,” Robert said of I’m All In, “preparing to say goodbye to friends and not really knowing what would come next, but finding comfort and peace in the Lord’s plan for my life. The Bible talks about how the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro throughout the earth, searching for someone whose heart is wholly His, someone He can strongly support. This CD is me saying, ‘I’m all in.’”

Robert’s album releases on Tues, July 26 but I have an extra CD to give away with this review.  If you want to enter just leave a  comment below.  I will pick a winner on Tuesday evening.

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I received a free copy of Robert Pierre’s CD, I’m All In, in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

A great big cast for a little bitty toe

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So, it’s definitely broken right at the tip, ouch!  Did you know they now have waterproof casts?  Who knew!?! Thanks for the suggestion Amy but it wasn’t available at the Orthopedics we went to.  I am hoping she will be fine for the 4 weeks until recheck.  Madison is as happy as a clam with her light blue cast and already has it nearly filled with signatures. 

 

     

Her nickname now has greater meaning,  Heal up Toes!!!

Broken

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Our families 1st broken bone award goes to:

Madison!!!

We’re not too sure how it exactly happened, but we do know that she was vaulting on Tuesday at gymnastics camp and hit her toe on the springboard.  She says she felt like she stubbed her toe.  However, she did it, she also cut the cuticle area of toe pretty good that it was bleeding well enough to soak through several rounds of bandages. *I will spare you the un-bandaged photo*

*cute little fat sausage toe*

She has a fracture on the growth plate and  we have an emergency referral in so I hoping to get into the Orthopedics tomorrow.  Madison is hoping to get a blue cast but I am not sure they put casts on toes.  I will keep you updated.

Wordless Wednesday ~ my sister & I

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Timberdoodle review ~ First Hundred Words in English

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Recently we were able to review the book, First Hundred Words in English for Timberdoodle. 

 

It’s a great big book and both Montana and McKenzie enjoy looking through it.  I tried to just focus on McKenzie learning new words with this one but they had more fun sharing the book together.

McKenzie is in that sponge phase of development where she is learning so much daily.  With the help of this colorful book she was able to learn to recognize 2 colors, 3 different fruits, and all her body parts.

The drawings in the book where well drawn and included everything you would expect to see in your daily life and home, from the kitchen to the bathroom.

Included with this book Timberdoodle also sent me their planning folder for toddlers which comes with all of their Core Curriculum Kits.  This planning folder is included with all the Core Curriculum Kits and also includes a planning page to help track your learning as well as homeschooling articles and tips. 

I would recommend this book hands down to anyone with a toddler or young child.  It is a great way to expose them to new words and to help build their vocabulary.  The price is just right too at $5.75!  You can learn more about Timberdoodle’s Core Curriculum Kits here and check out what is included in the Toddler Core Curriculum, here.  Need a catalog? Request a free catalog and see what else this amazing company has to offer.

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As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of First Hundred Words in English, in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided .

Weekend recap

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one ~ we had visitors this weekend, my Aunt Joyce and little sister, Allie came in town for my baptism on Sunday. 

two ~ Aunt Joyce doesn’t like frogs…

three ~ but she can make delicious egg rolls!

four ~ McKenzie and Sebastian (Bash as she calls him) wore each other out.

 

five ~ Montana had her Daddy Daughter shopping day on Saturday and came back with lots of new clothes and pretty yellow nails.

 

six ~ wing nuts!

  

seven ~ we made caramel corn and nearly ate the whole bowl.

eight ~ just because

nine ~ now I am off to start planning our homeschool year, enjoy your day!

 

Wordless Wednesday

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Pen Pal Kids Club ~ review & giveaway

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Did you ever have a pen pal?  I did as a child and it was a great experience.  I used to love to get mail from my pen pal that lived on the East Coast.  Now your children can have that same experience in an online format from Pen Pal Kids Club.

Now, I know you are probably thinking that online activity is not safe.  But rest assure the author and founder of Pen Pal Kids Club, Shelley Aliotti, has made every attempt to make sure that this is a safe global, virtual community!  Parents are able to monitor their child’s account because they are hooked up directly to the parents account.  Communications, friend requests, video postings, and account settings are all in the control of the parent.  There is also a safe question version for younger kids that may have trouble figuring out what to write to their pen pals. 

Pen Pal Kids Club is geared children as young as 4 years old and up.  Economically priced at $4.99/month for up to 5 household members it’s a great way for kids to get connected.  Pen Pal Kids Club has no outside advertisers, members or hidden traps - this is a completely safe site.  None of your information is ever sold.

While I am not too keen on my girls spending hours on the computer or delving into social networks we did enjoy this site fully.  My girls enjoyed making their avatars and exploring the educational games, encyclopedia library, and postcards to send to new friends.  We have put out a few friend requests to different countries and are awaiting response.

Sound like something your child would be interested in?  If so, then I have great news for you!  During the month of July the site is completely free for everyone.  Plus one of my readers will be able to win a 3 month membership for free just for leaving a comment below.

Giveaway Information

Mandatory entry: Leave a comment

For extra entries:

***Please leave a separate comment for each entry***

~Like PenPal Kids Club on Facebook

~Like A Stable Beginning on Facebook ~ button to the right

Giveaway ends Friday, July 15th at Midnight EST.

 Winner will be announced Saturday, July 15th @ 8 A.M EST

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I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog in exchange for a thorough and honest review.  Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of cash for my reviews.  The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but are not influenced by the company or the free product provided. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Weekly Wrap Up ~ Ear infections & Cellulitis – week 3

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We had to visit our Pediatrician two times this week.  Wednesday morning, McKenzie was diagnosed with yet another ear infection.  Same left ear.  This is ear infection number 4 in less than 3 months.  So, we have a referral in for the ENT Dr.  Today, I had to take Montana in to the doctor because she was bitten by who knows what and she has 3 spots of red, swollen skin, Cellulitis.  So, I now have two girls on antibiotics.

 

The Dr. drew outlines around the marks so we can make sure they do not spread further.  No, she is not wearing a bathing suit, it’s a gymnastics leo…she wears one most everyday.

As far as schooling goes, not much happened this week.  Well, I take that back, we did read a few chapters from              Caddie Woodlawn aloud and the girls did read their books.  The majority of our TOG school books arrived mid-week.  I was pretty excited about it, now to get them entered into the book database and to start the “dotting” of them.  Most of all our curriculum has arrived, just waiting on the last stragglers then I will start putting pen to paper and get my planning done.

That was our week, how was yours?

I am linking this up with the Weekly Wrap Up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Moving on…

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I took the plunge this week and purchased our new History curriculum, Tapestry of Grace.  I have had my eye on this particular program since last school year when I figured out early on that teaching 3 different time periods just wasn’t going to cut it for our family.  I am excited for what this program has to offer our family and the fact that we will all be studying The Ancients, year 1 in the four year classical rotation. 

Now, I am just trying to avoid the “fog” as many people refer to.  I think once the training video’s come and I read a few more TOG blogs I should be good to go. I am excited for this new adventure, it’s going to be a great year!

Good Samaritan – week 2

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God had a plan for me today after dropping the girls off at gymnastics.  I was stuck for five minutes behind a Suburban with a trailer blocking two lanes of traffic.  I had no clue what was in store for me down the road a few miles.  As I was driving down the road talking with my Aunt (yes, I know you are not supposed to talk and drive) because I wanted to hear how the Wimbledon tennis match was going.  And I spotted her, a young girl in distress…running down the busy road.  As I kept driving towards my turning point, I kept thinking to myself, “why has know one stopped?”  All these cars were passing by, not so much as to slow down.  I made my U-turn and quickly got off the phone with my Aunt… Wimbledon could wait.
I called out to her and as she ran towards me I knew something was terribly wrong.  Breathlessly, she told me that her Mom accidently drove off without her from the gas station, 1.5 miles down the road!  She was trying to run to catch up with her…but knew she was already long gone.  I wasn’t sure what to think when she said her mom drove off and left, did she really leave her???
Miss C. was understandably so upset, that she couldn’t remember her Mom’s cellphone number, her home number, nor her Grandma’s name were she was heading.  To make things a bit stickier, they were on vacation from Georgia and in a rental car, so all she could remember was that it was reddish or burgundy mid-size SUV.  I knew we had to get help.  I told her that I would help her but she had to get into my van so we could go to the nearest business which was less than 500 feet away (I know that we teach our children not to get in cars with strangers but I knew that was the only way to get help).  She got in and we drove to the business, which was closed for lunch.  So we got back in the van and went to the next business next door.  Thankfully, Mr. Barry and the bystander were able to help us.  The Policeman who was sent to help, was unfriendly and accusatory towards me and Mr. Barry.  He didn’t even take our statements, just found out what happened and drove away. R-U-D-E!!!
The Lt. met up with me after the whole deal went down and we left for home.  He called up the local police station and left a message with the head Sergeant about the Officer’s behavior.  About an hour later the Sergeant called the Lt. back and apologized for the Officer’s behavior and said that all had turned out A-OK and Miss C. was reunited with her Mom (unfortunately she was near 30 miles down the road when she realized her daughter was missing).  He thanked me for my help.  Whew!!!  I was a nervous wreck for her as the policeman took her away.  I had bonded with Miss C. in those 45 minutes our paths crossed and I am so glad that God put that Suburban trailer in my way, even when I thought it was such a big inconvenience.  Someone else could have picked up Miss C. and things could have been different.
As, far as schooling goes, we didn’t get much math done at all, but a lot of reading happened this week.  This was the first full week of gymnastics schedule, on the 11th we throw cheerleading into the mix and then things will get interesting :-) 26.5 hours in the gym this week for the girls.  They are training hard and the long hours will show come meet time.  Check out this picture of Mikayla doing a full front split on the beam with her teammate, A. 

                                                         Ouch!

Tuesday, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob…yum!  Here is the turkey soaking in its brine. 

Wednesday my toner  printheads for the printer finally came and our neighbor brought us some cucumbers from the violin teacher’s garden.  These were so good!  I hope we get some kind of crop from our cucumbers this year.  We just noticed flowers on our plants, so that is a step in the right direction.  Next year we need to start our garden earlier.

Thursday we made our trip to the library and signed the girls up for the Summer Reading.  We were nearly kicked out of the library because McKenzie doesn’t like to wear her shoes.  Apparently, it’s a health code violation.  I knew things could turn sour quick so we wrapped things up and headed to the park. 

The mosquito’s love Montana, Montana not so much loving the mosquito’s.  I think I may have to take her back in to the doctors.  Every time she gets bit we have to play the is she going to swell up and have a reaction or not game.  It’s no fun.  We have to put Ice packs on her bites to make the swelling go down.  Have you heard of anything like this before?

So, that was our week, how was yours?

 

I am linking this is with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap up.  Head on over and link up your week.