Winner!!!

I learned something new about myself.  I should never say I’m going to post something on my blog during the busiest weekend of the year for my family!  We were co-ver-ed last weekend, so I didn’t post the winner for My Memories Suite v2.0 Digital Scrapbooking Software.

Drumroll please………….

The winner is:  Evah!!!

Evah, you should have an email in your inbox.

Chloe helped me pick a winner.  Here are the pictures:

Congratulations, Evah!!!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Dear Math, Please Solve Your Own Problems.

Last week (school wise) was rough.  I’m so glad it’s over.  She struggles with two of her subjects.  Since starting Teaching Textbooks three years ago, she has encountered her first real roadblock in understanding the material as it was presented to her.  I’m so thankful for Kahn Academy!  A four-minute video helped her finish her lesson.  Saturday, my husband spent sometime reviewing the material presented.  She documented her feelings with the following photos:

History is a challenge too.  I’m thinking that she’s just not enjoying learning about early explorers.  Currently, she is studying the 1500-1600’s.  I hope, hope, hope that she will enjoy it more when we start learning about the Revolutionary War & Colonial America. 

The week wasn’t a total loss.  A friend of mine and I from church swapped kiddos for a couple of hours Tuesday.  Rosie went with our friends to a field trip in the Great Smoky Mountains. Their daughter hung out with us for the afternoon.  Our first stop was at our favorite coffee house.  Then it was on to our house to finish school stuff and play “hang out”.  

Earlier in the week, Rosie decided to paint a picture for her art teacher.  I don’t have a picture of the final painting, but she had fun.  There’s a certain amount of whimsy to this project & she enjoyed the process. 

I was glad to see the end of last week.  I’m so thankful for the new week!  After church, we had some new friends over to eat lunch with us.  We had a lovely time.  All of the troubles of the previous week melted away as we enjoyed a meal together, wonderful weather (dined on our screened in back porch!), fire in the fire pit, smores, and Spikeball!  

Just wanted to share our week!  It gets hectic and frustrating at times.  I don’t always see homeschool unicorns and rainbows.  No link ups this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Abby~

Have You Ever Won Anything?

Twice in my life, I’ve won something.  The first time I won something during my senior year of high school. I won a large color tv at the senior prom after party.  A consolation prize, I suppose, as my boyfriend dumped me a few weeks before the dance. Oh, he was still my date.  However, he asked me to meet him at McDonald’s (I insisted he pick me up at my house.).  I paid for my own dinner and flowers.  Later on, I had to call his mom to be reimbursed & she drove to my house & paid me. She didn’t even make him do it. At the end of the evening, I had to find a ride to the after party & ask a friend if I could spend the night at her house.  My mom had to come pick me up.  Yup, he was a real prince charming. 

Two years ago I won an All About Spelling curriculum from a contest Jolanthe hosted at her blog, HomeschoolCreations.  I was so thankful to win that curriculum!  The curriculum I owned wasn’t working, and I had already spent the budget for the school year.  Perfect timing!

Well, I can add a blog award to my very short list of things I’ve won.  Nikki over at Joy in the Journey awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award!  I admire how Nikki and her husband intentionally disciple & mentor their three kiddos.  She’s also a rockin’ momma!  Her son recently decided to sport a Mohawk & she was happy to oblige!  Thanks Nikki!  It was so unexpected & made my day. J

Here are the rules:

1.    Thank the person who gave you the award & link back to them.

2.   Give this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers. 

1.    Contact those bloggers & let them in on the news.

2.   Tell your readers 7things about yourself.

It was hard for me to come up with 15 names!  I did, however, think of 10.  Grace please?

Seven things you may or may not know about me:

·       It’s a secret desire of mine to study & become a foley artist. 

·       I’m a night owl.

·       Even though I live in the South, I can’t stand sweet potatoes or grits.  I literally gag when I eat sweet potatoes.  No amount of maple syrup, marshmallows, or brown sugar will ever make me change my mind.  Grits are different.  I can eat them, but I never choose too.

·       My annuals that I planted in the spring are still alive.  Usually they die midsummer.   

·       I worked as a hairstylist for several years before transitioning to be a sahm. 

·       I love sports & my husband couldn’t care less.

I’ve recently started reading the following blogs & I would like to share this award with them.

Simply Necessary

Life with my Giggly Girls

Journey to Excellence

ByHisDesign5

Hope is the Word

Home with Us

In everything

{slightly}nerdy {sometimes} cool

A Stable Beginning

M3rh

~Abby~

My Memories Giveaway Ends Tomorrow!

Hey friends! This post is just a little reminder to let you know that my giveaway ends tomorrow at 10:00pm.  Don’t forget!  See my original post on how to enter.  

Like the page I created?  I love the chevron design and the funky colors! 

Good Luck!   

~Abby~

Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 10

In my life this week…
I’m enjoying the weather!  We took our books to the screened in porch as well as the swing set.

I’m also preparing for our youngest daughter’s tenth birthday (note to self: put out the Happy Birthday tablecloth).  The double digits birthday is by far my favorite birthday milestone to celebrate with the girls.  You only turn double digits once & she is the last one in our family to experience this rite of passage.

I’m also hosting my veryfirst giveaway!  You can find all the details here.  I hope you enter & win! J 

In our homeschool this week…

We continued with our study of the human body.  This week the girls studied the skeletal system.  Rosie added several bone stickers to her human body poster.  She completed a simple experiment to demonstrate why we need synovial fluid in our joints.  A ping-pong ball acted as the patella (knee cap).  Placed in a plastic socket, the ball’s movements were squeaky and awkward.  Then she added canola oil to ball and it moved effortlessly with ease.  We discussed how painful and irritated our joints would be without the cushions that God designed for us! 

In a similar experiment, Chloe learned the function of the cranium & cerebrospinal fluid and their role in protecting the brain.  She placed an uncracked egg in a small container w/a lid & then proceeded to run around our living room & shake the container for a minute or so.  It came as no surprise to learn that the egg cracked.  She repeated the activity, this time adding water to her container.  Again, she ran around our living room while jostling the container.  When her time was up, she examined the egg.  It remained unbroken.

The girls have now learned all of their Greek root words from our English from the Roots Up curriculum.  Next week we will begin our study of Latin root words, so this week was review.  I had the idea for the girls to play root word bingo (from Easy Grammar, no less).  They filled out a blank bingo card with the Greek Roots.  I read the meaning of each random root choosen & they had to determine if they had a match.  Chloe called Bingo first, but then lost the win b/c she incorrectly translated a root.  Her sister had a bingo at the same time & won the first round.  However, Chloe went on to claim a victory in the blackout round.  It was fun & we’ll definitely play again!

Speaking of Easy Grammar, I’m teaching irregular verbs to Rosie.  This is my one beef with Easy Grammar.  I don’t like how the material is presented.  I think more information is needed in the teacher’s manual.  Otherwise, I love everything else about it.  Teaching the prepositions first really clicks in Chloe’s mind b/c it eliminates phrases & makes deciphering the subject and verb easier.  I think it’s going to have to be one of those things that I tweak and teach the way it makes sense in my brain.  Now that both girls have used it for a year, I can make it work when we cover the material again.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week the girls resumed their painting lessons.  During the last session, they painted a landscape.  This session they will learn how to create a still life painting.  They have the sweetest teacher & take class with their 2 best friends.

Questions/thoughts I have…

I’m uncertain about All American History.  I love it & it came highly recommended from several friends.  It may be that Chloe just doesn’t enjoy learning about the early explorers.  Maybe I need to add more to what we are already doing.  I think videos & documentaries would be a good start.  We haven’t had much opportunity to do the For Further Study.  I hoped that we could cover history 3 days a week, but maybe she needs the additional two days to aid in retention and comprehension.  If you are using AAH I with a middle schooler, I would love to hear how you make it work for your family.  I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet; I would love to see if things improve once she is past the Age of Exploration. 

Things I’m working on…

I’m slowly working on our scripture memory boxes from Simply Charlotte Mason.  Our system utilizes binders instead of boxes.  I found 2 ring index card binders at the Dollar Tree.  I’ve printed out the divider tabs from the SCM website but that’s about as far as I’ve planned.  I won’t be able to work on it this weekend as I’ll be busy with birthday celebrations.

I’m cooking…

Birthday cupcakes!  The birthday girl requested chocolate cupcakes, vanilla frosting & chocolate sprinkles.

I’m grateful for…

Our church family.  Tomorrow we celebrate not one but 2 double-digit birthdays.  Rosie’s & our church!  I love our faith family.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The girls enjoyed the following videos during their science lessons.  We read the book Dem Bones & then viewed the video on YouTube. 
 

We also enjoyed this fun video of the Animanics singing about the different bones of the body.  In fact, we watched it twice!  In the video, the Animanics clearly sing that our bodies are formed from years of evolution and no one really knows how it came to be.  The first time we watched, the girls were laughing so hard they didn’t hear it.  But the second time we watched, they clearly heard what was said.  We discussed what we know to be true, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, God has a perfect plan for our lives, and he spoke this world and human beings into existence.  I don’t shy away from or seek to shelter the girls from beliefs that our different than our own.  However, it is of the utmost importance that they know what scripture says & have a firm foundation the Word.

I'm linking up to The Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homerschoolers & The Homeschool Mother's Journal at The Homeschool Chick.

Enjoy the weekend!  I know I will.  I’m looking forward to celebrating how blessed we are to parent & live life with our youngest daughter!

~Abby~

Four Year Blogiversary & A Giveaway!

Four years ago, I began writing this blog.  My concept of time must be diminishing because to me, it just doesn’t seem like it’s been four years.  September 27 (my blogiversary) came and went with absolutely no fanfare from yours truly.

Several bloggers host giveaways on their first blogiversary.  Me?  I host my first giveaway on two weeks after my fourth blogiversary.  Always the element of surprise…

I was recently contacted by MyMemories & asked if I would review their product, My Memories Suite v2.0 DigitalScrapbooking Software.  For an entire week I debated whether or not I would accept this request.  I don’t scrapbook, however I wanted to see if I could incorporate design elements with my blog (like the new look?), create photo books for Christmas gifts, and design a Christmas card.  I was not disappointed.

Once you download My Memories, getting started is pretty simple.  There are three choices:  create from a ready-made designer template, design your own template, or browse additional content online.  I’ll share how I used each option.

I started with a ready-made template.  There are several to choose from and each template design offers 5 to 14 pages.  Photo only templates offer more pages (this option is similar to design your own template).  The theme choice is quite varied.  I could choose from categories such as vintage, funky, contemporary, or seasons.  It’s quite easy to use.  I uploaded my photos and then was able to drag & drop them into the template. If I wanted too, I could add text.  Here’s what I created:

Last night as I was playing around with a layout, I discovered that I could eliminate any embellishment on a ready-made template.  Score!  There’s a lovely chevron design with fall colors as one of the options.  However, it has a misplaced (in my opinion anyway) branch with green leaves.  I didn’t care for it, but I soon discovered that I could highlight & delete the embellishment.

I made the following two pages utilizing the design your own template feature.  This option was just as easy to use as the first.  You can start with a blank page or choose one of their numerous photo layouts.  Adding the pictures works the same as the first option.  Once the pictures are uploaded, you can add background papers, text, word art (I didn’t experiment with this option), embellishments, shapes, and multimedia.  I loved this tool and after making the pages below, I’ve decided to make a book for each of my trips to Africa.  If I could pin point a con with this option, it would be that some of the photo layouts were too rectangular to work with my photos. However, once I figured out what layouts what worked best with my photos & I felt like I had plenty to chose from.  A minor con, really. 

Hope 2.2.1. photos by Tina Wilson Photography

My blog facelift uses elements of the design your own template as well.  I uploaded my pictures, and then added a shadow and clip embellishment to each photo.  So easy!  I think it maybe took 5 minutes (if that) to create.  There’s a feature that allows the user to convert all pages into jpegs.

My experience with additional online content is limited, but I’d like to share what thoughts I do have.  The company offers several free designs within the software.  By clicking on the link, you are directed to their website, where you can download the page(s).  In addition to freebies, additional pages, word art, and paper packs are available for purchase.  The prices range from $.99 to $5.99+.  I have my eye on a few of the packs & plan to add to my wishlist. J

Other advantages worth mentioning are the excellent tutorials provided.  As I was creating new pages, I could access an online tutorial.  My Memories offered detailed instructions for using every element of the download.  If you are a visual learner like me, you can take advantage of the YouTube tutorials found at My Memories blog.  Other helps include forums, inspiration pages, and additional support/help should you need it.

The only con worth mentioning is the time to download.  The download time came at no surprise to me, but is something to consider (especially if you have a slow/older computer!).  Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to download the software & plenty of time to create & experiment before you actually need to print.  In addition, I would not recommend this product to users with dial-up or limited internet access.  In my opinion, I would not purchase if I had limited internet capabilities.

Years ago, I didn’t get into the scrap booking trend because I simply didn’t have the space.  If you have a similar ircumstance, digital scrapbooking is a perfect solution.  Based on my experience, I would definitely recommend My Memories Suite v2.0 Digital Software.  I’m still not a scrapbooker but I’m looking forward to creating many Christmas gifts such as calendars, books, and embellished photos for mugs, and our Christmas card photo.

Time for my very first giveaway!!!

I have one My Memories Suite v2.0Digital Scrapbooking Software download that I would like to give to one of my readers!  You can enter up to three times.  Here’s how:

1.     Visit www.MyMemories.com and choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then comment on my blog telling me which one you like best.  My favorite?  The Queen of Teen template.  I plan on using this template to help my teen with her very own blog design!

2.    Like My Memorieson Facebook and/or follow on Twitter and let me know in my comments section.  This is ONE entry.  It would look like this:  I liked My Memories on Facebook and/or followed them on Twitter. 

3.    Follow my blog with Google Connect.  Shameless plug! Make sure you let me know in the comments section.

The contest will end at 10:00 pm EST on Thursday, October 20, 2011.  I’ll randomly select one winner to receive a free download of My Memories Suite v2.0 Digital Scrapbooking Software (value of $40).  I will announce the winner Friday morning, October 21^st. 

I must have a valid email address to contact the winner.  If you win, you have 48 hours to respond to my email.  If I don’t receive your response within 48 hours, I will randomly select a new winner.

As a special for my readers, I would like to give you your very own Share the Memories code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value! Just copy and paste this code, STMMMS73553, when you check out.

Disclosure:  At no cost to me, I received a digital download of My Memories Suite v2.0 Digital Scrapbooking Software in exchange for my honest review of the product. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Birthday Week

It’s birthday week here at our casa!  A certain blonde haired, blue-eyed girl turns 10 this week!  Double digits baby!  

I’m a cosmetologist by trade & normally I cut her hair.  However, she wanted my sister-in-law to cut it at the salon.  So it was a girls’ afternoon for just the two of us!  There isn't any major change to the length, but she is thrilled to have bangs!  Every time my girls get the slightest change to their hair, they age by a couple of years!  Crazy! 

We have other birthday plans in store for the weekend.  When Chloe turned double digits, we had a girls’ trip to Atlanta.  I’m hoping to repeat that tradition with Rosie, but she knows it may be a little while before we can go.

I’m so blessed to parent this girl!  Thank you Jesus for her life!

~Abby~