2013

See The Light Paper Jungle {Crew Review}

June 5, 2013 by Dana

See The Light: Drawing Children to Him is a video art curriculum like no other. See The Light makes Art easy, even for the most challenged artist. See The Light, truly brings Art to life.

See The Light is a Christian Art curriculum. It focuses on teaching the student art principles while also teaching them the to see the beauty of God’s creations. We chose to review See The Light Paper Jungle for this review. I chose this because I know my budding artist thoroughly enjoys working with paper in her artwork. Paper Jungle allowed her to do this, while learning new techniques to use on her own.

When this video program disk arrived in our mail box, I wasted no time handing it over to Emmalee. I knew she would get started right away and she wasted no time in rushing to the bedroom to watch this DVD on her PlayStation 2. It wasn’t long before she came running back to gather the necessary supplies to work on her project.

Paper Jungle requires the student to have various materials for completion: construction paper of a particular size in various colors, scrapbooking or similar paper, white glue or a heavy duty glue stick, scissors, a Sharpie marker, a pencil, a white eraser, leaves to study and a photo of a wild animal of the artists choosing. Through watching the video the project comes to life, along with learning about the specialties of God’s creation. Paper Jungle focuses upon the artistic styling of Henry Rousseau.

The video is broken down into four lessons, which a student would normally follow along with once a week or so for Art Class. My artist is not so patient and had viewed the entire video in one day! She also completed over 75% of her project on this first day. It took a few hours the next day for her to fine tune it to what she wanted her finished product to be.

Before the week was up, my artist had created several masterpieces. Over the review period, she watched our Paper Jungle lesson video as many times as possible until she basically has it memorized. It wasn’t long before she began pushing her brother and sister to watch it, too. She led lessons with them on how to do the things she had learned through See The Light Paper Jungle and before long we had a ton of Paper Jungle projects being posted around the house.

See The Light has quickly become a favorite around our house and we look forward to purchasing more of these wonderful videos to use at home. My artist already has her eye on See The Light’s Horsing Around, as horses are also a favorite of hers. At $14.99 a video, See The Light won’t break the budget and will bring Art fun home for any artist.

photo DisclaimerGraphic1_zpsf612f371.gif

Simply Imperfect {Thoughts From Me}

June 4, 2013 by Dana

I am imperfect.

There I said it. Some days I get nothing done. Kids need Momma. Friends need me. Life and procrastination get in my way.

There are more days like this than I would prefer there to be. But God calls me to be there for those I love. He calls me to be Momma to my babies, solace to my friends, and supportive to my love. He prepares me for each day and leads me where I travel, even when I don’t feel like He is.

Sometimes I think that I could do better but what is better than doing what God is calling me to in the moment. I stumble, I struggle, I fall but I don’t fail Him if I go where He is leading me.

Those are strong words: I am imperfect. We all are, yet we strive to be more, to be everything, even though we were not created to be. We strive to be like Jesus, yet none of us can be.

As long as I get up, do my best and keeping trying, then I am doing what is asked of me. Some days, I simply need that reminder. We are NONE perfect but we are ALL perfectly imperfect.

Seeking the Hidden {Thoughts From Me}

May 31, 2013 by Dana

I was sitting here looking at old blog posts and it got me thinking. No realizing really. I used to write a lot on here. I used to write about important things that truly mattered to me.

Then one day someone made a rude comment. And another time I realized I was putting myself out a little more than I was comfortable with. I was giving access to others that I didn’t want to have that access to me.

So I stopped writing. I held back telling my story and that of my kids. I stopped sharing photos as much. I hid myself and my heart unless I was called out to tell something.

All because of those people who made me realize they were watching. They saw. They knew more than I wanted them to.

It’s amazing how the little things do matter so much. Other’s opinions make us think. Make us aware that something may not be right.

I used to not care about how other’s perceived me. I used to not care if someone noticed things I didn’t want them to. But keeping my children hidden and safe became important to me. Keeping the bad away so they could be surrounded with the good.

I’ve come to realize, we are safe now. They are safe here with Mommy and Daddy, though maybe not the Daddy they began with but certainly one who loves them just as much as he would have had they been born unto him.

I always say that Mommy’s and Daddy’s aren’t always born to their children but they are given their children when God sees fit. And he has seen fit. Oh boy, has he ever. He’s provided something my children have always needed in life: a good, strong loving father to provide for them in more ways than just with money. To provide them with life, memories and opportunities even I could have never imagined for them.

Good things come to those who wait patiently and I think it’s time I stop hiding our life and start sharing it again so that it can reach out and touch beyond the closed walls I’ve erected. It’s time to come out of hiding and live again.

Simplified Pantry {Crew Review}

May 30, 2013 by Dana

Simplified Pantry helps make homemaking easy! Mystie Winckler took her love of cooking and home organization and created a project that everyone can benefit from. Simplified Pantry is a way of life for Mystie and she has chosen to share her lifestyle with us through her website and available e-books.

Mystie began tweaking recipes and cooking from scratch when she realized her son had a mild allergy to corn. Since most products and recipes are corn-based, Mystie had to adapt recipes and create her own so that her son, along with the rest of her family, could eat good tasting foods without stirring up his allergy.

Recently, I discovered my own youngest son has an allergy to sweet potatoes, which means I also must tweak recipes and check labels to see that he doesn’t intake any food containing them. It’s not as easy as you’d think since many pre-made foods contain sweet potatoes. This could trigger a violent reaction in my child that I long to avoid, much like Mystie wished to avoid with her own son.

Mystie’s recipe books, Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free have helped me to be able to make this transition to sweet potato free recipes a little easier by showing me how to create simple and easy meals from scratch with easy to use ingredients. Through Simplified Dinners, I have been able to provide wholesome foods for my baby that I know I can trust.

Another bonus of Simplified Dinners is that they are quick and easy to prep and plan for. Her Master Pantry List covers everything imaginable that you could need to make even the most unexpected meal. Her ideals on meal planning keep you on track so you don’t have to wonder what’s for dinner tonight.

Each section of the book is broken down into a main ingredient type that you can adjust to your dinner tastes for the night. So say you take out chicken but have no idea what to make, you can take a look at your Simplified Dinners e-book and whip up a meal in no time! The meals are full of flavor and absolutely delicious. They are also adaptable to your families flavor preferences. The ease of Simplified Dinners is something that everyone can appreciate!

Simplified Dinners is amazing alone but it’s even better when paired with Mystie’s other e-book, Paperless Home Organization. Paperless Home Organization teaches you how to better utilize your digital products to manage your day to day life. Paperless Home Organization does away with the pen and paper method, allowing you to track everything you do with your computer, phone and/or tablet if you have one.

Paperless Home Organization teaches you how to use simple free programs and apps so that you can have all your necessary information at your fingertips at all times. She covers everything from email to note taking to using your calendar and contacts to organize your life efficiently without having a ton of paper to keep up with.

I followed the program as suggested by Paperless Home Organization and found it to be very helpful in many aspects but not directly as the program was written. I had to adapt this program to better fit me, utilizing the email program that I already use and also using my personal calendar already in use. I did and still love using Evernote with this program and find that it works wonderfully for me for keeping up with snippets online that I need. The program also helped me to really get motivated to keep up with appointments and scheduling better than I had before using it. It has also helped me to get better control of my multiple emails.

Simplified Dinners, Simplified Dinners Gluten Free and Paperless Home Organization are available from Simplified Pantry. Simplified Dinners and Simplified Dinners Gluten Free are both available as a PDF for $12.99. Paperless Home Organization is available as PDF or on Kindle for $3.99.

Facing Atlantic Fears {Thoughts From Me}

May 28, 2013 by Dana

Yesterday, I did something I swore I never would that I found totally amazing, yet I will never ever do again. That’s right, y’all – friends talked me into going on a boat into the great Atlantic Ocean. And it was the most beautiful thing, yet it was the most terrifying experience I’ve had in a long time.

For me, it was akin to giving birth. I received the greatest gift in giving birth – my children. Yet because I had multiple c-sections, it was a terrifying experience even though I knew God was with me all along.

I don’t swim y’all. I can’t even doggie paddle. And floating – that’s a no go too! So for me, being out there in that tiny boat surrounded only by sunshine, water and fish was really scary beyond belief.

I’m proud to say I completely survived. I conquered a fear that day too. And it was nothing like I thought it would be.

The Atlantic Ocean is absolutely gorgeous. I can only imagine that all Oceans are but I’ve only seen this one. I saw my first Sand Shark up close and personal. It was beautiful. White with leathery, grey skin and tiny, sharp teeth.

We were 40 miles out in the ocean for a good part of the day. While the other’s fished, I just hung out around the boat praying it wouldn’t turn over with me in it. They caught lots of beautiful fish: Blue fish, Sea Bass, Sea Brim and three Sand Sharks. I’ve never seen such beautiful fish as they all were and certainly never that close up.

We were out on the water for 12 hours and 2 minutes. It’s a day I will never forget and one I will never experience again. It’s something I will forever tell my children and grandchildren about.

The best part of the day was watching the sun set over the Myrtle Beach coastline. I’ve always wanted to see the sun set on the coast and God surely made that happen for me. Something I thought would never happen came true. God’s simplest beauties shown to me from a completely different angle than I ever expected to experience.

It was something I never expected to do and it happened rather suddenly. It’s something I will choose to never do again but I can promise I will always remember the joyful experience over the fear of my day.

Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One {Crew Review}

May 24, 2013 by Dana

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational products. A dear friend began using the Scaredy Cat Reading System with her son this year and I thought to myself, “I wonder just how well it works”. I was excited to find that Mrs. Herzog was to be one of our review vendors with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine this year and my product choice was, of course, the Scaredy Cat Reading System.

I chose the Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One – Letter Names and Sounds for my review product simply because I wanted to start from the very beginning with it. This program is for both beginning and struggling readers, both of which I have at home. I can tell you, it works amazingly well for both types of readers.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is fun and not overwhelming for the student or the parent to use. Lots of fun game activities keep the child intrigued and involved in their lessons, instead of allowing them to become bored and ready to quit. It honestly reminds me a lot of school work when I was a child, before children were required to sit at a desk for most of the day.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System Level One comes fully equipped with an extensive teacher’s manual which explains how the program works, what is needed for the program and it’s exercises/activities/lessons, and printables which can be reproduced for use with the lessons throughout the program. This guide prepares the teacher for what’s to come and gives a good start to being prepared to use the Scaredy Cat Reading System the best way possible.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System also introduces the Story of the Letter Master, which children must know to understand the purpose of the system. The Story of the Letter Master is introduced in Comic Book style to the readers. Included as a bonus is a CD with the story and other important level one songs.

Other things included with this program are the ABC Reader which is written in an easy form for children to absorb and understand. Letters are introduced in fun fonts and styles. Song lyrics are included in this reader for the student to follow along. Stories and bible verses are also provided for the little readers to see the words in print.

The student activity book for this program is HUGE. It’s jam-packed full of activities and lessons. Much like the reader, the activities come in differing fonts and styles to keep the student intrigued. Stories are kept simple for early readers and many lessons focus on letter introduction, allowing the student to really grasp each letter they are learning. Lessons are easy to teach and follow along with, allowing the student a firmer understanding of what they are learning throughout the program.

Additional things included with this program are Reversal Prevention Charts which come in a clear page protector for your use. Letter charts to cut out and use with your student. The games needed to complete the program and a game spinner for needed activities.

The Scaredy Cat Reading System is extensive and thorough. It doesn’t take long to put it together and put it in place in your educational programming. It’s a complete program and well-worth it’s investment at $75. Additional student books can be purchased for $30 each which is a steal considering the size of the book and the extensiveness of the program. Sample downloads are available on JoyceHerzog.com.

This is a program that we have enjoyed. I worked with both my struggling and my new reader on this, which they really enjoyed doing together. Several times a week, we’d pull out the reader and student book but what they really loved was the games we played. Even my advanced reader enjoyed joining in with us on those. This is something we will definitely be continuing to use in our homeschool.

To learn more about Joyce Herzog and her amazing educational tools and programs, please visit www.joyceherzog.com.