Archives for July 2013

If your family is like many, you don’t get to spend a lot of time together. Even lots of homeschool families don’t do a lot of work or group things together at home. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day, as I’ve gotten older. I’ve also had people ask me “What do you do with your youngest while you homeschool the oldest kids?” My best answer was something like “Find him his own age appropriate thing to do and hope he sticks to it for a bit.” Well, I was given a copy of the e-book Circle Time from Preschoolers and Peace to review, and it’s full of ideas and tips on getting your family to spend some extra time together!

The Facts

 Circle Time is a PDF format e-book, which of course you could also add to your Kindle, available for $4.99, and is 33 pages long. It’s written by Kendra Fletcher of Preschoolers and Peace It has some example pictures throughout, and the back of the book contains wonderful printables for you to utilize with your family.

My Review

  While the book is short, there is lots of great information and ideas for you to include Circle Time in your day. These are the topics discussed:

• Planning a Circle Time that Works for You
• Strategies for a Peaceful Time Together
• How to Get Your Kids on Board
• Questions from Moms Like You
• Words of Wisdom from Other Moms
• Resources
• Printables

 My ages of my children is a bit of a range, although not extreme at all. They are 12, 10, 8, and 4. However, last year Lucas really expressed an interest in “doing school” with the bigger kids, so I really needed to come up with things he could do while I worked with the older kids as needed. Circle Time, for us, is a great way for us to all work together and learn new things in a group setting and spend a little extra time “together.” As homeschoolers, we’re generally always together, but that doesn’t mean we’re spending all of our time together. Kendra, the author, is a mother of 8, so I’d say she’s quite the pro at Circle Time use! Judging by the title, you’d think that the book is written just for those with preschool-aged children, but that’s not the case at all. ALL of your children can participate in Circle Time, and you don’t even have to call it that if you don’t want to. Although, I’ve had a hard time trying to think up another name for Circle Time. Group Time, perhaps? I’ll continue to think on it. Kendra even includes a couple of Circle Time schedules as examples for you to pull from. I like this because I tend to be a visual learner. If you just tell me how to do something and I have to sit/stand there and listen, I’m going to zone out. Not because I don’t care, but because I just don’t work that way. The beauty of Circle Time is that you can do whatever you want, and take however much or little time that you want. We don’t have a kitchen table right now (it’s in storage because we don’t have room for one), but when we have more space I plan to incorporate Circle Time a lot more into our day. I just really love the idea of it and can’t wait!

My Thoughts

  I loved reading this book and all the ideas in it. Even if you’re not a homeschooler, you can have Circle Time in the evenings when you eat dinner as a family. I recommend it to all families, even if you do not homeschool. Be sure to click below and read reviews from other Crew Members!

  I am SO excited about the big, once-yearly Expo from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! It’s a week-long event, from August 19-23. Daily sessions run from 1pm-8pm EDT. If you are a homeschooling family or are considering becoming one, you do not want to miss out on this opportunity to hear lots of wonderful speakers. The one I’m most excited about listening to is Dean Butler. You recognize his name, don’t you? He played Almanzo Wilder, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband on the wildly popular Little House on the Prairie series! We are huge Little House fans here.
  Tickets for the event cost just $24, which is well worth it. However, you can get a FREE ticket when you purchase a year-long membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I have a membership and love it. This is our primary source for homeschool material besides the products that I review for The Schoolhouse Review Crew. When you purchase a year-long membership, in addition to the free EXPO ticket, you’ll receive access to The Schoolhouse Library, which includes over 175 e-books, AND a copy of the yearly print of The Homeschool Magazine. Guess what?! You can enter to win a FREE ticket to the EXPO! Please see the Rafflecopter below to enter.

 Disclaimer: This is a promotional post, and I am receiving a free ticket to the Expo in exchange for posting. This post also contains affiliate links, which help our family greatly. 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  I was given the e-book version of Couponing Made Simple from Christi the Coupon Coach to read and review for the past month. Christi is a homeschooling mama to 4 children (Like me!) and has a desire to help families save their hard-earned money on groceries and household purchases by teaching them how to maximize use of coupons. The physical book can be purchased for the sale price of $18 from Amazon (it’s normally $20), or the Kindle version can be purchased for $4.99, and is 133 pages.
 The book covers where and how to get your coupons, different ways to organize them,  how to stack them following store rules, and even coupon ethics. There are 10 chapters. They are:

• Chapter One: Success Stories
• Chapter Two: A New Way to Shop
• Chapter Three: The Language of Couponing
• Chapter Four: Organization System
• Chapter Five: Step by Step Process
• Chapter Six: Tips and Tools
• Chapter Seven: Couponing Ethics
• Chapter Eight: Networking and Communicating
• Chapter Nine: Bonus Section
• Chapter Ten: Beyond Couponing

 Her website also has a page, called Christi’s Favorite Websites, where you can search coupon matches, and there are also instructions for searching according to any special needs your family may have. This information is NOT in the book, however, since information can become outdated so quickly.

  As I said earlier, and have mentioned in the past, we have 4 children, ranging in ages from 12-4. These kids eat. A LOT. Our grocery bill can be ridiculous, in my opinion, although it may be closer to the norm for our family size, even with me making most foods from scratch. I tried using coupons in the past, but I usually buy generic when I can, and even with a coupon, things can be expensive. This book is not about extreme couponing, which I definitely wouldn’t have time to mess around with. Christi is very thorough in how to use coupons to maximize saving on your purchases. One thing mentioned in the book is stacking your coupons to match sales, which is something I knew about already and was already utilizing in my shopping as needed. Most of the things I use coupons for are things like K-Cups, an occasional candy treat for the family, and Zyrtec (I can only take the liquid gels because the pills have lactose and just don’t work that well for me, so I buy OTC). I also do a lot of shopping at Sam’s, and they do not accept coupons, although if you’re a Plus member they offer extra savings from time to time, so I always use those when I can.

What I Think
  Couponing Made Simple is a quick and easy read, and her system is not complicated at all, but it’s also not for everyone. It really depends on the products that you use for your family. I tend to gravitate more towards bulk shopping to save our family money, so buying extra newspapers and actually organizing my coupons in a binder does not work for me. If you are a more mainstream product shopper who has never really used coupons or doesn’t use them because you don’t think they’re worth it, then check out this book. I do think it’s well-written, and I appreciate Christi’s heart to help families save money on groceries and household items. I know that  I would not pay $18 for the paperback version. I would, however, likely pay $4.99 for the Kindle version if I did not already have access to information like this. Click below to see what other Crew Members had to say about Couponing Made Simple.

  Just about the only thing I missed about not sending our kids to public school was the yearbook. I loved getting yearbooks when I was in school, in fact, it was pretty much the only thing I liked about school. I was excited to learn about Picaboo Yearbooks, and as part of the TOS Review Crew I was given the opportunity to review a 20 page softcover yearbook, 8.5″ x 11″ in size. A 20-page softcover yearbook is just $8.49, the hardcover is $18.99. You can add additional pages for .99 cents each. You can also get a FREE eYearbook, which is available 48 hours after your order is placed, and there is no printing obligation! The turnaround time for physical books is 3 weeks.

  Picaboo Yearbooks allows you to create customizable yearbooks for your homeschool, but you aren’t limited to just homeschool yearbooks. You could make a church directory, a personal scrapbook,  your co-op could make a yearbook, or if you’re a photographer, you could make a portfolio book of sorts. I think it would also be fun to make a cookbook as a family heirloom! I chose to make mine as a general family photo album, combining family photos, field trips, co-op pictures, and scenery shots. I am already thinking about what other kinds of books I could make!

 How it Works

  First things first, you create an account at Picaboo, which of course is free to do. Next, a good idea would be to watch the tutorial videos, because I didn’t initially, and did have some frustrations putting my yearbook together. Just trust me on this. You’ll then click “New Yearbook.” A page will pop up asking about your yearbook information, such as the yearbook name, organization name (I used our homeschool name), address, phone number, yearbook type (homeschool, middle school, elementary, church, camp, etc), and the yearbook ending year. Then you’ll estimate the number of pages your books will have, number of books ordered, and order date. You can also choose your book size, either 8.5″ x 11″, or 9″ x 12″. Once you pick your book size, you cannot change this later.  On a side note, previously created yearbooks will be in your library, so if you need to remake one because, say, your kids got yours wet and some pages stuck together and a magazine got stuck to the cover and you didn’t find out until it dried, well, you’re in luck. Sort of. *cough* As you’re creating your yearbook, there will be little pop up windows giving you tips on how to make the best yearbook possible. You can edit your book cover to add text, or not, and your cover can be any color.  You can create sections for your book, and those sections can either be a free-form style, or portrait, which will automatically flow portrait photos into grid layouts. I chose to do mine free-form and just do 1 “section” to make things a little easier this time around. You’ll want to go through your eleventy million pictures and try to decide which ones to use. I feel like that’s how many I have, anyway, then I remember how much my mother-in-love enjoys taking pictures, then I don’t feel so overwhelmed. 🙂 To add images, you can click Images at the top of the page, then on the left are 3 sections listed (for mine anyway, since I only had 1 section inside the book.) Choose the section you want to upload photos for, then add photos. You can upload photos from your computer, Facebook, Flickr, or from web content. I used some from Facebook, my computer, and Flickr. I used a combination of photos I had take with my iPhone, my Nikon D3100, and from my mother-in-love’s Canon. Note that the inside front and back covers are not editable. To add photos to a page, simply click the page you want to edit, and drag the photo(s) you want on the page. OR, you can use some pre-made page layouts. The right side of the page includes page layouts you can use, background images and colors, photo editing tools, and stickers. You can make your photos larger or smaller, but when it gets too large, the page will tell you if the photo will be cropped because of being too close to the page edges, or if the photo quality will be poor during printing. Once you place a photo on a page, the photo in the photo stream on the bottom of the page will show a green check mark. Once you’re done editing each section, click the Sections button on the top left of the page. You’ll be shown each section, including the cover. There is a gear for each section, and you will need to click either “Mark as ready for review” or if you’ve reviewed them, click Lock, and no more changes will be made unless you unlock them. You will not be able to order your yearbook until all sections are locked. Once you make sure everything is in order, all you need to do is check out!

  Here are a few shots of mine.

 The full page photos were fun. Make sure you have great quality photos to use for these, though.

  I am SO happy with how my yearbook turned out, and definitely plan to make more in the future. Click below to read more reviews from Crew Members!

  For the past month, we’ve been reading 25 Truths: Life Principles of the Happiest and Most Successful Among Us. This book, written by Ed Douglas, is  150 pages that started out as a 3 page list that Mr. Douglas shared with friends, acquaintances, and high school students that he coached in tennis. The book can be purchased for $12.50 plus tax and shipping, and is a good read for adults and teens alike.

  In today’s world, morals and values are declining at a rapid pace. It’s scary to me, really. One of the first things I noticed when I received my book and skimmed through it, was the Prayer of Salvation in the back. No, I didn’t read the back first like I sometimes do with a fiction book (don’t tell me YOU never have!), but I did read little bits here and there before I dove in. I love that this prayer is in the book. What a great opportunity to share Christ with others! The 25 Truths (Plus One) in this book are motivational AND inspirational. Each truth is its own chapter, and begins with a scripture or quote relevant to the chapter. Mr. Douglas then goes on to discuss the truth, and gives examples of events that happened to him that pertain to the chapter.   These are my favorite truths in the book:

• Truth 1: Protect Your Reputation
• Truth 7: Don’t Hate-Instead Forgive
• Truth 8: Be Quick to Apologize
• Truth 14: Commit to Love One Person Forever

 The recommended ages for children is grades 6-12. I recommend reading the book yourself, first. Chapter 3 does mention an extramarital affair. I do think some truths could be discussed somewhat with younger children, they just won’t grasp the concepts the way an older child or adult would. The chapters are fairly short and quick to read, and end with a short summary and workshop questions to work through and answer. Did you see the “Plus One” I mentioned earlier? Mr. Douglas was repeatedly asked if he wanted to add to his list of truths, and his answer was always “no,” because he felt the list was complete for him and that 25 was the perfect number. Later, he realized he was missing one, and instead of calling the book “26 Truths” he added the last one as a Plus One. It’s one of the most important things in our lives: love. I imagine it’s pretty hard to live without the love from at least one person. I cannot imagine living life without knowing the love that Christ shows us.
  Rachelle and Issac were old enough for this review, and were able to read and grasp most of the content. I love reading books that are uplifting to me in my Christian walk, and 25 Truths is definitely an uplifting book.
  I’m really happy with this book, and definitely recommend it to anyone looking to improve themselves and their families.  Click below to see what other Crew Members thought!

  This is my first year that I’ve really gotten into canning food, and I must say, it’s a little bit addicting. I love it! I love preparing and putting away foods for my family that are healthier than processed foods, and foods that I have grown myself. I’m usually a plant killer, so this is especially exciting for me.
  I purchased a 23 QT. Presto Pressure Canner used on Craigslist, because I knew I would be putting away
low acid foods, such as green beans and carrots. Low acid foods MUST be pressure canned to ensure safety. It is the only way to kill any botulism that may be present. I have a smaller 8 quart pressure cooker, so I was already a  little familiar with how they work. I did need to replace the gasket and overpressure plug, they were a bit dry rotted, but it felt good to be able to help someone get rid of their “Junk” and get a “new” treasure for myself. Here is Kitt in all her glory!

 Don’t mind the dirty backsplash. *cough* At first the dial gauge was a little daunting to me since I wasn’t familiar with them, but they’re easy. You just need to keep an eye on how many pounds of pressure it’s at, and adjust your heat up or down as needed. Don’t forget about it and wander off somewhere, though, even if there’s an overpressure plug (and there is)! Oh, and yes, I named her Kitt. I polled my friends on Facebook and this name had the most votes. Of course, I took pictures of everything I’ve canned so far. 🙂

 SO far I’ve done 13 pints of beets. This is all of the beets I grew, minus a few I picked to roast.

I see you’ve noticed that some lids are white and plastic. Those are reusable Tattler lids. I’ll be reviewing those soon. 🙂

 Next I did peaches. No, we do not have a peach tree. I bought these from a local fruit stand. I love supporting local folks!

The half gallon jar is juice that I got from boiling the skins and pit meat. I did not process it, just stuck it in the fridge to add to tea (after I strained it, of course).
Next we have green beans. I think I did 14 quarts and 12 pints (I ran out of quart jars).

Now we have various pickles. I mostly did cucumber, but I also processed some dilly carrots and zucchini.

Then I decided to do something a little different. Recently I reviewed The Untrained Housewife’s Guide to Getting Prepared. That book inspired me to can meat! I processed chicken with celery (organic from Kroger) and some of my carrots. I also canned some glazed carrots.

Last, but certainly not least, I made Cowboy Candy. I got the recipe from a canning group that I’m in on Facebook. It’s basically candied jalapeno peppers.

Lastly, this is my canning shelf. It has all of my canned goods that I’ve processed so far. I love these shelves. I got 2 of them last year. They each have 5 large shelves. I use 1 for food and the other for small appliances.

I apologize for the fuzziness of some of the pictures. I took them with my phone to share on Facebook. I promise I can normally take better ones. 🙂

I talked a little bit about pressure canning. Foods that are higher in acid such as tomatoes, pickles, and jams can be water bath canned. This is simply boiling the foods in jars in a large pot fitted with a rack to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot to prevent breakage. Boiling time is usually shorter than pressure canning as well. Meats are processed for about 90 minutes in a canner, while some veggies go for 20. Usually in a water bath canner, you can process for 5-10 minutes, depending on what you’re processing and the jar size.

I wanna know! Does your family do any canning? What do you usually put up? I’m planning to do more canning. I’ve canned all of my beets and beans, so if the ground will hurry and dry out, I plan to till those rows and plant more green beans and beets so that we can have another harvest before it’s too cold. I also need to purchase more jars. I’ve been scouring Craigslist.

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