Arranged Marraiges

Chad and I have been best friends with another couple since we were in high school. They married about the same time we did, became Christians around the same time, and God has just led us on similar paths. Their firstborn is the same age as E3 and they are best friends.

They love on one another.


They fight with one another.


And E3 pushes her around the house for hours in a baby stroller when they come over. They are the perfect pair.

So we each decided to do it again...


Our friend had their 2nd daughter just three days before Baby L was born. This is the newest pair at about 1 month.


And at 4 months.


They're already fighting too.

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More Christmas Memories

I know that posting Christmas pictures on my blog in February is sort of like leaving up Christmas lights just as long...but I'm just getting around to it and since I haven't scrapbooked in so long, I really need to record these memories somewhere.

It's absolutely forbidden to take early Christmas morning pics of Mama, but this picture of L1 is pretty much exactly what I looked like. We all got up before 6:30 am...no, I'm not kidding...to open presents at home.

(Insert picture of Chad reading Luke 2.) I actually took this picture, but I'm afraid that Chad would be really upset with me for posting it as it was a rather close-up picture of his morning face. So you'll just have to trust me that we're not heathens.

Just a joke. :o)

This is why I love Christmas morning. It doesn't matter what the gift was, L1 looked exactly the same every time she opened a present.


Ahhhh....Nerf guns, a present for daddy...I mean, from Daddy.


Notice the shirt? 'Nuff said.


I love our homeschool group. I got a great deal on two gameboys with games and accessories from another mom for a really great price. Our kids could care less if they were new or not. We gave one to A7.


And one to G9.


H4 has inherited my inability to show any emotion while receiving a gift. This is what I will look like if someone ever shows up on my doorstep with a million dollar check.


Step over Partridge family!


E2 is ridiculous handsome.


My big sis and my nephew.


My little sis in the headsock I crocheted for her. I got the pattern here.


And because Christmas is not complete without 104 family group photos...above is my mom and stepdad and the 5 siblings.


A horrible group shot where most of us have our eyes closed, or are unintentionally making a silly face, or are hiding behind someone else.


This picture represents the Christmas party we hosted for Chad's family. Hey, only half of the kids are mine.


And this picture represents the Christmas party we hosted for my Dad's family.

We visited just two places on Christmas Eve. Two on Christmas Day. Hosted a party the day after Christmas and hosted another party the day after that.

And then I slept.

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Kinderbach

As a 2nd year member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. The only compensation that I receive for my review is the free product. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out more products and giving you my honest opinion.

This is the second year that our family has gotten the chance to review Kinderbach. Kinderbach is an online music curriculum for preschool or early elementary students. Your children can learn to play the piano, read notes, and learn rythem and music patterns through colorful and engaging videos. A membership subscription to Kinderbach will give you access to over 240 sessions for $19.99 a month OR only $7.99 a month if you sign up for a year subscription. Kinderbach also offers DVDs.

Our children have really enjoyed the Kinderbach lessons and I would reccommend it to any family who wants to educate their young children in the basics of piano, but has no prior experience with it.

You can read my full review from last year here.

Click over to the TOS Crew blog for more Kinderbach reviews. Pin It Now!

Dreaming of Sugarplums

A couple of weeks ago I laid L1 down for a nap only to check on her an hour later to find this...

Apparently we left a Christmas stocking full of candy on the dresser a little too close to her crib.

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Annual Snow Day

Well, we certainly don't get a lot of snow days around here...or very much snow when it does happen, but we sure do have fun when it happens.


Here's the whole gang (plus our neighbor, minus the baby) taking a group shot in the snow....what can I say? It's tradition.


How do you know you're a homeschool family? ...When you're 1st grader announces, "Look, Mom, I built the Great Wall of China out of snow!"


E3 makes a grass angel...er, snow angel.


The princess L1 can't decide if she likes the snow or not.


Scary woman without makeup in a pretty hooded scarf! I actually made this for my friend, but snatched it when I couldn't find my own...I needed to "test it out". Here's the basic pattern, in case you're interested.

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Christian Keyboarding

As a 2nd year member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. The only compensation that I receive for my review is the free product. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out more products and giving you my honest opinion.

I never quite learned correct typing skills when I was in school and have often thought that I wish I had. I'm certain that I don't need to tell you how valuable such a skill will be to our children. In today's society, there is virtually no job field where computers are not being used. My husband often laments over this very fact. Even while managing a tire store, he would complain about how his "hunting and pecking" while attempting to enter in customer's information into the computer would slow him down.

Christian Keyboarding is a company creating products to help homeschools and private schools teach typing skills to their students. The most unique aspect to their curriculum is that they use Scripture to accomplish the task.

Keyboarding for the Christian School - Elementary Version is for grades K-5 and offers "the basics of learning the keyboard with the help of Miss Mable the Ladybug." I've been surprised at how much my 3rd and 2nd grader look forward to these lessons. They first learned the correct sitting position and placement of their hands. Then they have begun to memorize the alphabet keys and numeric keys. Other lessons will include "centering", "enumerated lists", and "timed writings" in which they will type several chapters from the book of Psalms.




Keyboarding for the Christian School is geared towards older students who need beginner lessons in typing. It covers the same lessons as the Elementary version, but also includes how to type APA and MLA reports, letters, tables, and more.

Both of these Keyboarding curriculum are offered in ebook format and can be purchased at the Christian Keyboarding website. Keyboarding for the Christian School is only $15.95 and the Elementary Version just $12.95. You can also receive $5 off your order when you enter in the discount code: NewYear5 before Feb. 28th. Pin It Now!

Mathscore

As a 2nd year member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. The only compensation that I receive for my review is the free product. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out more products and giving you my honest opinion.

We were recently given a free two week trial of Mathscore.com. We've actually been given quite a few online math programs to try recently and its always interesting to see the differences in each program we try.

From the Mathscore website:

"MathScore is a no-nonsense, non-fluffy system that enables students to learn and practice traditional math concepts efficiently and easily. Developed by MIT graduates, MathScore is proven to increase test scores, and is used by a wide variety of homeschoolers and K-12 public and private schools. MathScore fully supports 2nd grade through Algebra I, and is often used by 1st graders. "

I think the first sentence in the above statement describes exactly how I feel about this program: no-nonsense and non-fluffy. I also think that this it what makes it stand out among other online math programs. There are no creating avatars or watching animated math lessons and I am sure that is a big benefit to students who are easily distracted.


As stated before, math subjects range from grade 2 to Algebra 1. Your student can choose to move through the program in order or pick and choose subjects that they are already learning in regular math studies for additional practice. Students will work through an "unlimited" supply of math problems to achieve mastery of the subject by getting all the problems correct and beating the clock. Once they have mastered a subject they receive a trophy under the awards tab.

Personally, I didn't find that this program was a great fit for our family right now. Our kids are still pretty young for Mathscore. I could tell that even our oldest (third grade) began to tire about halfway through the drill as there are many problems to complete. Our 2nd grader was very tense about trying to beat the timer and didn't enjoy it at all. Plus, I guess we've been a little influenced by our "more is better" culture, because....well, we like the fluff.

Nonetheless, Mathscore very generously offers a free trial so even you can "try before you buy"! After that it is $14.95 a month for one student and keeps getting cheaper per student that you add. Check Mathscore out and more reviews by homeschool moms at the TOS Crew blog! Pin It Now!