Book Review: Dragons- Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs

New Leaf Publishing Group sent me a copy of Dragons:  Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs to review.

I have to say, I've never been into dragons or dinosaurs.  However, this book was very neat.  I might be the only one here, but I never thought about the biblical connection with dragons and dinosaurs.  The book really did a great job of presenting this information.

Here's an excerpt from New Leaf Publishing Group:

Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs is a juvenile nonfiction title enjoyable for all ages! It takes you back to the days of these amazing creatures and their presence in various cultures including Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Read of thrilling historical battles between dragons, and saints, and their ability to terrorize medieval castles. Mystical fantasies brought to life, as the truth is revealed.

The book is very interactive and includes envelopes, fold-outs and wonderful illustrations to provide evidence of creation, names of cultural dinosaurs, accounts of famous dragon slayers, eyewitness accounts of dragons, biblical commentary about dragons and an explanations of the dragon's connection to the last living dinosaurs.

Dragons:  Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs retails for only $17.99 and would be a great educational resource for your dragon and dinosaur lovers.  At first, Abby wanted nothing to do with the book, but then she saw all of the fold outs and envelopes and she wanted me to read them to her.

Here she is checking it out:

One warning:  Do not try to read a book for review in the wee hours of the morning.  You may find editing mistakes that don't exist and email the company about them.  Not that this happened to me or anything (cough, cough).

Disclaimer:  New Leaf Publishing Group provided this book for my honest review.  No compensation was received.

Wordless Wednesday: 6 Years Ago Today

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Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a full house

Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo

This past weekend, my sister and I attended the Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo.  You may remember that we made it our Spring Getaway for the weekend.


While it was nice to have a weekend to ourselves to stay up late laughing and talking, it ended up being a kind of a blah weekend.  Heather and I decided that next year, we will not make the convention part of our weekend away.  We had no time to do things we really wanted to do:  highlight each others hair, go to stores we can't go to with the kids, sleep in late, etc.

As far as the convention goes, there weren't that many speakers or workshops we were interested in.  We did still enjoy the vending hall and bought a few things.

For Abby, I got:

Math U See Alpha

I have been interested in Math U See for 3 years now, but never bought the program.  We do have the blocks that Abby uses with our other math worksheets.  I am really hoping Math U See will help Abby.  She says she hates math and she doesn't have her addition or subtraction facts down yet.  That is why I went with the Alpha.

100 Words Kids Need to Read by 2nd Grade



We finished the 1st grade book several weeks ago, so I will start with this book now.

Kids Love Missouri

Heather and I both bought this book.  It is filled with places we didn't even know existed.  We are looking for some fun trips to take with the kids.  It's amazing how many activities and places you can't find on the internet.  I was able to talk to the author and her and her family traveled to all of these places to write the book.  It is very in depth and written in a homeschool perspective, giving great tips on how to get educational resources.  

Check out the link above, because they have other states available too.

Artistic Pursuits, An Introduction to the Visual Arts

Heather and I plan to share this book.  We would like to get the kids together once per week to do a lesson.  It is for grades K-3.  Abby loves to draw, paint and to do crafts, so I thought this would be really fun for her.  Matthew isn't really into art, but we think he'll like the art history that is included.  Hopefully, it will be a win with both kids!

That is all I purchased at the convention.  However, I am on the lookout for a science curriculum for next year.  I will also order the Heritage Studies, Grade 2 Notebook for Abby.  My very kind sister will let me use her textbook and teacher's manual from this year!

I did find a few products that I found interesting and may look into later.  The first is Truth In Science.  It starts at grade 3 and teaches Worldview.  I looked at it and it was very well written.  Here's an excerpt from their site:

Every day our students are being bombarded from all aspects of the American culture with influences that minimize the authority of the Bible in their thinking. Christian education must make every effort to reconnect true scientific thought with the Biblical worldview. The Truth in Science curriculum provides a fascinating exposure to scientific concepts that also honor our Creator.

Heather and I really thought the concept was awesome.  It is the only curriculum like that available for younger grades.  

Science Shepherd was another cool find.  It's for high school.  The text book has very nice quality pictures and there is also a lab DVD option available.

A Reason For Handwriting, I've heard of this before and was happy to see it in person.  I wanted to purchase it for Abby, but my sister pointed out how tight the letters are.  They are much tighter than other handwriting programs.  Also, Abby doesn't want anything to do with handwriting, so I have to put it into other subjects without making it it's on thing.

Have you been to a homeschool convention?  I'd like to go to one of the bigger conventions next year.  We'll see if that actually happens.

Homeschool Weekly Review

First of all, I think Missouri missed the memo that it is Spring now.  This past weekend, my sister and I attended the Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo.  When we came out to our car on Saturday, it was covered with 2 inches of snow.  Our drive back to the hotel was a short one, but the roads were so bad.  The snow continued to come down until midnight Saturday night and we have almost 5 inches!  What's the deal with that?

Anyway, onto our review of the week.  Since Heather and I left Thursday, Abby and I only did homeschooling on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Math

Abby did a time worksheet about 1/2 hour and 1/2 past the hour.

We took my sister Holly to the dentist on Tuesday, so I brought along a few Mailbox Teacher's Helper worksheets.  Abby loved these!  I totally forgot I had one of these books and now I plan to purchase a subscription.

Reading

Abby did a match and write worksheet from Explode The Code, book 3.

Science

This past week we did How and Why Birds Build Nests:

We read the book and then she answered several questions from the book in her science journal.  Then I got out several magazines to have Abby make a collage of bird's nests.  However, Abby wanted to just find birds, so that was fine too.  Here's her collage:

I love the body she drew for the eagle, LOL!  Here's my collage:

Abby did find a few nests with eggs, but wouldn't put them on her collage.  She decided to make a bird's nest of her own with a few Littlest Pet Shops, the basket from Build A Bear and the grass that came in it:

Social Studies

This past week was Lesson 41 in Heritage Studies, which was about goods in the New World.  She also did a notebook page where she sorted flowers, crops and animal skins.

Misc.

Monday evening my sister Heather and I took the kids to a local curriculum sale.  It was nothing like we thought it would be.  It was in a really small room and it was really hot in there.  No A/C at all apparently.  Plus, Andy's stroller did not fit through the aisles and we didn't know we had to have cash.  It turned out to be like a garage sale really.  Oh well.

On Wednesday, we took my younger sister Holly to Build A Bear for her upcoming birthday and out to lunch.  Abby was so happy to get a Smallfry and the new Easter lamb.

Exercise

I didn't do well with that last week.  I felt kind of down and decided to get a haircut instead of exercising on Tuesday.  Well, I should have exercised, because the haircut did not turn out how I had wanted.  URGH!  I'm hoping I can do better this week.  I just saw a picture of myself from last year and I can't believe how much weight I've gained.  What's up with that and why can't I get myself to take care of it?!


Tomorrow, I will have a post about how the Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo went.

Links I Like: Edition 37

My sister and I left yesterday evening for our 6th Annual Spring Getaway!  Like last year, we are attending the Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo as part of our weekend away.  We live really close, but are staying in a hotel just for fun!  We love the Drury Inn:  clean, free breakfast, free evening snacks and beverages and more.  We look forward to this long weekend away all year.  It's our chance to rest, hang out (kid free) and this year highlight each others hair.

First, I have to share a few cool products.  I found a sample of Listerine Whitening Dissolving Strips in my bathroom cabinet and tried it.  I am shocked at how fast it worked and it made my teeth seriously white!  I am going to have to buy a package of these!

The next product, I found over at Go Graham Go.  It's the Dymo LabelManager Plug N Play.  Apparently, it plugs right into your USB port and you can make labels right from your computer.  Awesome idea!

Next up are a few Spring crafts.  These Candle Stick Rabbits featured on Be Different...Act Normal are so fun!

 Also from Be Different...Act Normal:   

Spring Flower Garland by A Glimpse Inside

Awhile back, I had read that they are making toilet paper without cardboard tubes inside.  I guess it's more environmentally friendly, but what will we do without toilet paper tubes?  The crafts will be so limited!

I love this Spring Garland from Jo-Anna and featured on I Heart Naptime.

These are my favorite colors, I love pastels and could look at them all year.  Can we change Halloween from black and orange to a pastel sherbet orange and purple?  Wouldn't that be cool?

Speaking of colors, Mama Jenn has a new Color Wheel Printable available and it includes tertiary colors.  I can't wait to do this with Abby.  It reminds me of a project we did in art class in 7th grade.  I wish I could remember how exactly it was made, but we had a circle the was divided into sections.  Then we made a design on it and each section represented a color on the color wheel and included the tint and shade.  Did anyone else do something like this?  Now I'm going to have to go searching for this project so I can recreate it with Abby!

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I'll post next week with how the homeschool expo went and what we bought.  I'm looking forward to the convention hall and have a list of items to look into.



Reminder:  These are just links I've found to share for fun.  None of them are paid links or links to affiliate sites.

Wordless Wednesday: My Favorite Spring Wreath

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:

Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Family Room Built-Ins & Easter Decor

Update: I'm linking up to The Stories of A to Z's Spring Mantle Party




This past week ended up being our Spring Break.  It wasn't planned, but on Monday I just felt we needed a little break.  So I have no homeschool weekly review post.

Instead, I wanted to share the before and after pictures of a wall in our family room.  Ever since we first stepped into this house, almost 7 years ago, I knew it needed built-ins.  Here's what it looked like before we moved in:

The house was empty, so I guess the patio chairs were for open houses.  LOL!

Dave had a huge projection tv at our old house and surprisingly it fit in the hole to the right of the fireplace perfectly!  The tower we had at the old house for receivers and stuff.  Here's how that wall looked until last week:



Please excuse the picture.  When I went back through all of my pictures, I could only find this one taken by Abby.  I think she was taking a picture of the tv for some reason.  It looks like Sunny Spider Patch was on.

And now:



I love it!  Dave would have liked a bigger tv, but the 47" is the biggest that would fit in the hole.  Trust me, it's plenty big enough.  LOL!

Under the tv, Dave has his video systems and a computer in the right side door.  There is nothing in the rest of the cabinets yet.

Here's a close up of the mantle:



I made this basket with some fake grass I found on clearance at Target.  They were 48 cents each!  There are 3 bundles in the basket.  I found the flowers at Michael's for under $2 per bunch, again 3 of them.  My Mom and Dad went on an anniversary weekend trip and went to several antique stores.  I had her look out for some bunnies for me to spray paint.  One is hiding below:



Another bunny:



More bunnies:



This is on a cabinet that is to the right of the fireplace wall.  The above grass bundles are from Pier 1, as well as the carrot bundles.  Surprisingly, Abby has left the Easter baskets alone.  The baskets in front of the fireplace are for her, along with a basket of Easter and Spring related books.

I'm linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Moss Bunny Topiaries

 I'm linking up to Tatertots and Jello's 2011 Favorites:

After seeing so many posts with the cute Pier 1 moss bunnies, I decided I needed some too!  I then came up with an idea to tie together my pastel eggs with the greenery. 

I took this idea from JC's Loft:

And made these:



I love them and I'm excited that I had an original idea!  LOL!

These cost me under $10:
*  2 Pier 1 moss bunnies, $2.95 each
*  2 metal pails (I've had these for years, but you can find them at Target in the $1 spot usually)
*  7 plastic Easter eggs, I have tons of these.
*  Spanish moss, $2 something with coupon at JoAnn's
*  Floral foam (I had a Styrofoam tree not being used, so I cut it down to fit in the pails)

I just took a drill and drill bit and made large holes in the eggs to thread them onto the bunnies.  I stuffed Styrofoam in the pails, pushed in the bunnies and then put some moss on top to cover up the foam.  However, it looks like I need to even out the moss a bit.

I need to finish decorating the rest of the mantle and the built-ins and will post some pics soon!

I'm linking this up to:












Thanks for visiting!

Links I Like: Spring & Easter Theme

I'm so happy that the first day of Spring is on Sunday!  We got a bit of snow on Monday, but by Thursday the temperature was 75 degrees.

I have found some really fun Spring/Easter crafts this past week.  The first are these adorable Easter Candle Holders from JC's Loft and featured on The CSI Project.

 I just love them!

These Spring Time Rattan Balls featured on Women Who Do It All are fun:

I actually have some of these balls that I bought last year and never did anything with.  I love pastel colors, so I might have to paint mine!

Have  you seen the cute mossy bunnies at Pier 1?  Look what A Pretty Life In The Suburbs made with them:

Aren't they cute?!

For another carrot tutorial, check out Homework's Spring Time Baby Carrots: 

I think Abby would enjoy making some of those.  I actually went looking for orange yarn the other day and JoAnn's was completely out.

Speaking of Abby, I know she'd love if I made these Marshmallow Bunny Plushies from Dandelions and Lace.

And lastly, just because I'm hungry and could use a treat:

Nutter Butter Cookie Balls from Simply Designing.  YUM!

Ok, now I think I need to make a run to get some Nutter Butters!  Have a great weekend and feel free to leave links to your favorite Spring finds in the comments.

Wordless Wednesday: I Think She Likes Cats

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, head to:


Go Graham Go
Mom Spotted
Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Homeschool Weekly Review

Firstly, I can't believe the pictures and videos from Japan.  Total devastation.  I still can't get the video and pictures out of my head from the 2004 tsunami.  They are all heartbreaking.  The people in Japan are in my thoughts and prayers.


This past week, we did not do school on Thursday and Friday.  Thursday, we had built-ins installed on either side of our fireplace.  It looks so awesome!

Yes, I know my mantle decor needs to be tweaked now.  The clock is way too high and everything seems off.  However, I'm working on that.  Stay tuned for updated pics of that wall.

Now here's the funny part.  We could have done school.  We were home all day, while the man installed them.  BUT the man brought his wife along to help him and they are homeschoolers also.  I didn't want them to see how we do school.  LOL!  So, we just talked the whole time and Abby kept them very entertained.  I had found this guy on a homeschooler's business list and he is so nice.  He really did great work on the built-ins too!

Friday, we picked up my younger sister for her to spend the weekend with us.  We ran errands and had lunch out with my sister, Heather and her boys.  That was a long day!

Math

The worksheets last week covered:  measuring with inches and centimeters and time by the half hour and by 5 minutes.  Some of this was review, as we've gone over time and measuring before.  On Wednesday, I got out some dominoes and decided to do domino addition.  I had Abby write out addition problems from each piece. I also printed a Domino Addition worksheet for us to use this week.  Abby really enjoyed this.  She needs lots of help with the addition and subtraction facts, so I figured the more ways I could find to work on it, the better!

Reading

Abby continued reading several Brand New Readers books.  These are fairly simple, but it helps her confidence, knowing she can read them.  We also played paint chip phonics several times.

Science

Last week's topic of choice for Abby was How and Why Seeds Travel.



Abby learned the 3 ways seeds travel:   humans, wind and animals. She answered questions about the book in her science journal and also made a booklet (homeschool share link).

Social Studies

Abby did lessons 36, 37 and 39 in Heritage Studies last week.  Lesson 36 was about early trading between the settlers and the Indians.  Abby completed a cut & paste notebook page about the items they traded.  Lesson 37 was animal furs.  The notebook page activity was to put the events in order:  The Indians trapping the animals, the Indian women preparing the fur, the settlers loading the furs onto ships and then people in England wearing the furs.  Abby drew a picture for each. 

I'm not sure why the two birds are so interested in the fur coat.  LOL!

Lesson 39 was also about trading.  These lessons must have stuck, because when my sister Holly came over this weekend, she brought along her Littlest Pet Shop toys.  Abby and her were playing and Abby called out to me, "Mom! Holly and I are trading Pet Shops, just like the settlers and Indians!" 

Exercise

Monday night was my first boot camp class.  What a workout that was!  My thighs hurt for 3 days after that and I could barely walk.  LOL!  I continued exercising at home on Tuesday and Wednesday and did another boot camp class on Thursday.  What a sweaty pig I was, but that means it was working, right?  I did another Leslie Sansone DVD on Friday.  Saturday and Sunday were very busy, so I didn't get any exercise in.  I plan to exercise every day and do boot camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We made plans to go to Florida to see Dave's parents in April and I have NO clothes that will fit.  I hate buying new clothes, especially since I have some from our trip last year that really should fit me.  So, I'm going to see if I can lose any weight by exercising every day!  LOL!  We'll see.  They do weigh ins at boot camp, so I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope everyone has a good week.  Today they are calling for rain and snow flurries, but by Thursday it's going to be 74 degrees.  I'll believe it when I see it!

Links I Like: St. Patrick's Day Edition

I've said before that we don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but I have found so many awesome crafts, recipes and activities.  My sister and I have decided to get the kids together next week for a day of St. Patrick's themed fun!

I love handprint crafts and these Handprint Shamrocks from Meet the Dubiens are so cute.

Check out her Handprint Leprechauns too:

I also found some great printables.  First Grade Best has a few fun downloads.

  Leprechaun Word Work

St. Patrick's Day Sight Word Hat Game

I love Chalk in My Pocket's St. Patrick's Day Lacing Cards!

Just remember to put card stock in the printer, I forgot.  LOL!

Abby would really love making these St. Patrick's Day Bouquets from Silly Eagle Books.

Lastly, I think a St. Patrick's Day treat is in order.  I haven't had rice crispy treats in awhile and these Rainbow Rice Crispy Treats from Thirty Handmade Days look yummy and festive!

Did you get your Girl Scout Cookies?  I must have been on a diet the day I ordered mine, because I did not get Thin Mints!  GASP!  Those are my favorite.  My cousin told me she'd find a box for me, thank goodness.  I think I might need two boxes though:

These Thin Mint Truffles from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen are so beautiful that I'd feel bad eating them.  However, I've tried cake balls/truffles before and mine never look that nice.  Mine are the kind you eat right away, so no one can see them.  LOL!

Do you have an St. Patrick Day posts to share?  If so, link them up in the comments.  I'd love to see them!

Have a great weekend.