Easter baskets and traditions ....

What are your Easter traditions with your children and family? Do you meet up for big family gatherings and have dinners? Do you hunt for Easter eggs in the yard? Does the Easter bunny visit your home and leave goodies behind in baskets filled with Easter grass and eggs? Once upon a time I knew 2 little girls that were so excited that the Easter bunny was coming here for a visit. Well, that tradition has long since past and this will be the first year that tails of the Easter bunny will be a thing of the past :( Now, they still want an Easter basket filled with goodies and gifts, lol, but as far as who delivered them, that is questionable. So I decided to do gifts this year instead. Gifts that would be useful for school or educational minded. For starters, I picked out something fun. The girls love mad libs and I found the cutest mad lib (click on images to be redirected) books on Amazon that are right up their alley for my pug and cat lover in mind.

Next, I found adult coloring books that were of interest for my tweenagers : Sherlock for my Sherlock fan and Pugs once more for my Pug-fanatic fan ... and gel pens for coloring.

 

Then I picked up Science Experiment kits for Science class and of course kitchen (Mess) fun. :)

 

Last but not least, I chose to go with science experiment books.

 

I will also fill a few eggs with jellybeans, because what's Easter without jellybeans. LOL. But this year I decided to go with gifts because it's also Ella's birthday that day too. Ella will also receive her few Birthday gifts on her birthday but I wanted to do something a bit different this year and do something a bit fun too as the girls are older now. 

We will also go to my parent's house for dinner and Ella has requested a coconut cheesecake and chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. Yum. 

So what are your plans for Easter? 

 

 

Otis !

Meet the newest addition to our family, Otis, the basset hound. I just wanted to share with you all because I am so very proud of our newest addition . We just adopted him 3 days ago and he is the sweetest, cutest most gentle dog in the world. Six months ago, we lost our beloved Snickers. He passed away and we were all very heart broken and needed to fill that missing void in our lives. And we it was just luck that we came across the post for Otis. So we called up and it was like fate brought us to him. So we quickly drove the hour and a half to Mississippi and met with his owner and that was that, he was then ours. So here he is, Otis. Isn't he just a doll? We think so :) .

Winner of the Mom's Fun-Schooling Handbook !

We have a WINNER !

 

CONGRATULATIONS to ..... Kirsten DeWitt. 

Thank you to all that participated in my first ever giveaway. Your comments were  all very interesting and endearing. Keep following the blog and the facebook group as I will be having another Thinking Tree Book giveaway in the upcoming week. :) 

 

Thinking Tree Mom's Night Books Have arrived and a GIVEAWAY on the blog !!

The Thinking Tree books for my Mom's Night Out have arrived !! YAY !! I am totally excited. Now to plan for the homeschool Mom's Night Out. I have a few ideas floating around but I haven't put my finger on one yet.

But now for what I really came here to post. For all of you that follow me and and then some. I would like to give  one lucky person a copy of the :

Mom's Fun-Schooling Handbook: Flip to Fun-Schooling - An Idea Book & Coloring Journal for Homeschooling Moms

It is currently on SALE right now on Amazon for a super super low price while the family is out of the country traveling and visiting the Homeschool Convention in South Carolina. So You can purchase a copy or two or three :) or try your hand at wining your very own here.  All you have to do is leave a comment below by answering the following question and fill out a few other things on the rafflecopter:

What is your favorite fun thing to in your homeschool? 

 A winner will be announced on Friday, March 4th. via the blog and the Facebook Group.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our Thinking Tree books delivery today .... so exciting !

I love to hear the roar of the UPS truck coming down my street ... especially when it stops in front of my driveway :) Today was the best delivery of them all ... our Thinking Tree books delivery from Sarah Janisse Brown. Oh the glory. I could not wait to open the box (I mean tear in to it, lol) and see all of the goodies it held inside , deep within the brown corners of cardboard. Once inside, it was packed full of Thinking Tree goodies. If you aren't familiar with The Thinking Tree books and journals yet, you are missing out on a great opportunity to change your homeschooling experience forever. Sarah's books are phenomenal and will change the way your kids think and learn.

  Let me show you all we received :

We received  the following Thinking Tree books/journals:

• Spelling Time - Master the Top 150 Misspelled Words: Do-It-Yourself Homeschooling
•  The Four Seasons ~ Spelling Time ~ Master 150 Spelling Words Through Art & Logic: Do-It-Yourself Spelling Games For Elementary Students
•  The Thinking Tree - 10 Subject Portfolio: 1 Year Plan - Illustrated For All Ages - Home, Library & Internet Based Curriculum Handbook & Study Guide
•  Mom's First Year Of Homeschooling - Handbook: For Teaching Children ages 4 to 17 - A Workbook, Coloring Book & Learning Guide that Teaches Moms How to Plan, Organize & Teach by Being an Example!
•  Bible Games - Math, Spelling and Creativity: Christian Family Homeschooling (Christian Family Homeshooling) (Volume 3)
•  The Thinking Tree ~ 12 Subject Portfolio - Home, Library & Internet Based Curriculum Handbook & Study Guide: A High Level Learning Plan for Organized Home Education
•  Film Study - 180 day Journal: Do-It-Yourself Homeschooling
•  The Busy Mom's Homeschooling Handbook: Over 180 Delightful Activities to Help You Organize Your Day and Inspire a Passion for Learning in Your ... to Impart a Passion for Learning) (Volume 1)
•  How to Make Money - A Handbook for Teens, Kids & Young Adults: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? What do You Want to Be Now? Dishwashers, ... Books for Teens, Kids and Adults) (Volume 1)
•  All About Horses - Homeschooling Journal - Horse Lovers Handbook: The Perfect Method for Homeschooling Horse Lovers! A Delight Directed Learning Guide - A SIX Week Unit Study on Horses!
•  Horses, Ponies & Donkeys: Learn How to Draw Realistic Horses (Christian Homeschooling Family) (Volume 5)
•  Horses, Ponies and Donkeys - Research Handbook: Art, Science and Creative Writing Workbook (Teach Yourself to Draw - Series 3) (Volume 7)
  
  
  When I get a chance this week, I will dive in to each book and post a few photos of the inside of each book so you can see what each book offers. You can also check out the Thinking Tree Blog Roll for a weekly review of Thinking Tree books by other bloggers too. My girls are tickled pink to get started using their new books so I see a library trip to pick up horse books this week. So be sure to check out the books on Amazon. The links are provided above for you to do so. And you can visit the Thinking Tree Facebook page as well.  Drop by there and tell them I sent you. Also check back here often. I plan to do a Thinking Tree book giveaway in March :). I hope you will give these books a try. They will change your homeschool experience for the better.
  
  
  
  

The BEST Pencil Sharpener Ever !

I have found it ! Yes, I have ! The BEST Pencil Sharpener ever. It's by the company Classroom Friendly Supplies and it's Superior, Quiet, User Friendly and Super Easy to manipulate. It sharpens the pencils perfectly every time without any breakage. It also sharpens evenly and with a perfect fine point tip. I wish I would have found this baby years ago. It's really simple to operate. My girls found it very simple to use, with no trouble at all. .... So how do you use the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener you ask? You just pull the silver face/plate on the front of the sharpener forward until it clicks. Then, pinch the the black knobs on top of the pencil sharpener to insert the pencil.  Next, begin sharpening your pencil, turning the handle clockwise until the handle spins loose once the pencil has completed sharpening. Finally, pinch the black knobs on top to release your pencil and you are done. To watch a demonstration of the pencil sharpener in action click here for the video. The official sharpener instructions can also be found on the same page.

The pencil sharpener comes in an array of colors: *

Groovy Green
* Popular Purple (We have Popular Purple) *
Cool Blue
Midnight Black
Firehouse Red
Precious Pink

Your purchase of the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener is also not only benefiting your own home or homeschool but $1 from every sale of the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener goes toward to the building of a school in a developing country. And if you are a blogger, you can sign up to possibly receive your own pencil sharpener to review. You can sign up by clicking on the following link. 

All About Horses Homeschooling Journal

My girls absolutely adore horses and so this book is right up their alley. So you can imagine their excitement when this book arrived in our mailbox. This is the perfect journal for any and all horse lovers, your children will absolutely adore this journal/workbook. It is full of the most beautiful horse illustrations and images I have ever seen. Images that will take you on a horse driven learning adventure both near and far. But first you will want to go to the library or bookstore (or Amazon if you choose to own your books ) and collect 6 interesting books about Horses. Choose books that have diagrams, instructions and illustrations and you are ready for an adventure. Next, have your child(ren) read their books and complete 10 pages each day in their journal/workbook. This journal features the following type pages:

• Spelling
• Drawing
• Creative Writing Skills 
• Coloring Pages
• Reading
• Journaling
• Film Study
• Nature Study
• Menu Planning
• Copy-work
• Listening Time
• Beautiful Illustrations and awesome Fun-Schooling adventures ready for your child to discover.

After your children have chosen their 6 books and have begun to read them, they fill out the pages in the journal daily.  We are choosing to supplement our normal curriculum with All About Horses Homeschooling and have the girls utilize their horse journals 2x a week at least, unless the girls choose to do more, they can. I leave that up to them. :)  As long as they are learning and having fun, then that is what it is all about, Fun Schooling Homeschooling.

Take a peek inside the journal 

 

Read the description here, taken from Amazon

All About Horses Homeschooling is:

" The Perfect Method for Homeschooling Horse Lovers! 

Read, write, spell, draw, color, doodle and study horses!
(We use color pencils, crayons and gel pens in our journals so that the colors do not bleed through the pages when coloring).

Your child can color the cover! (I would have them use colorful permanent markers on the cover).

A Delight Directed Learning Guide to inspire your child to take learning seriously, and develop reading, writing, spelling, and drawing skills. A SIX Week Unit Study on Horses! For Age 8 to 14

Study anything and everything that relates to horses! Your child will pick out 6 library books to use along with this Journal. If ten pages are used each day the book will last 6 weeks. Expect your child to spend 2 to 3 hours daily with this Journal. You will need to add math in order to create a well rounded learning experience, everything else your child need to study for the next 6 weeks is included in this book, and the library books and documentaries he or she chooses!"

You can pick up your All About Horses Homeschooling Journal here

To view more books by the talented Sarah Janisse Brown or to link up with the Learning Tree blog roll, visit my friend Linda's blog here