Welcome, Shane Raymond Young!

On Sunday, January 29th at 11:47 AM, we welcomed Shane Raymond into our family. He is 8 pounds and 21” long.

 

After the circumstances under which Nathanael arrived (and Kahlen too, I’ll write down that story sometime), this was a completely normal, easy, home birth. I was in labor for 6 hours, pushed for 20 minutes, and then he was here.

Kahlen loves him, even if he’s not a girl. Nate is really not sure, he’s cranky that mommy and daddy aren’t giving him as much attention, but he seems to like “my baby Shane”. Daddy is already wrapped around his finger, this being the first baby with a perfectly normal postpartum (thus far anyway).

More pictures to come…(In fact, they might be daily again for awhile)

~S

Speak Up Saturday–Book Review- God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren

It’s Speak Up Saturday!

Now that Mama polar bear has another baby in her tummy, Little Cub is bursting with curiosity. “Why do we need a new baby?” she asks. “If we don’t like the new baby, can we send it back?”
“Will you forget me when the new baby comes?”
Gently and lovingly, Mama and Papa assure their firstborn that the new baby is a gift from God they want very much, just as Little Cub was–and still is.
“God gave us you. Now he’s given us two!”
The winsome sequel to God Gave Us You, God Gave Us Two playfully affirms a child’s uniqueness and place in the family and helps little ones accept, appreciate, and love their new siblings.

I initially got this book for Nate, who is 2.5 and doesn’t understand at. all. that there’s a baby in my tummy and it’s going to come out and then he’ll be a big brother. For him, though, this book was a little long and wordy.

Kahlen, however, *loves* it! And really, I like it a lot too. It focuses on how things will change but how things will still be the same too. The illustrations are sweet and the words are positive and affirming, but real too in the changes that will come with a new sibling.

I would recommend this book to anyone adding to their family!

~S

It would be a great help to me if you would please rate my review. I get the chance to review more books based on my rating, and there are cool contests and such. Thanks!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Speak Up Saturday - TOS Review–Kinderbach

It’s Speak Up Saturday! This time it’s actually on Saturday :)

KinderBach is a fun, creative, and interactive way for young children to enjoy introductory piano lessons. You don’t even need an expensive grand piano because a toy keyboard works well with this program. KinderBach is recommended for children ages 2-7. Each short lesson includes watching playful characters as they introduce music concepts such as rhythm, note reading, singing, and composition.

Some lessons include enjoyable printable worksheets. Within the first month of lessons, your child can be playing real songs like “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Happy Birthday!” You can choose the best way to view these lessons either online or by watching DVDs. There is no musical background required in order to effectively use this program with your children. If you own a television or computer, printer, and a toy keyboard your child can enjoy 22 hours of pure musical enjoyment.

We received a three month subscription to KinderBach from TOS, and I have to say, we have really been enjoying it. I feel like it has breathed new life into our piano lessons. I have been trying to go through another book program with Kahlen for well over a year, and we just haven’t made that much progress. Partly it’s because of a lack of time and partly because she just doesn’t seem to care for the book that I chose (which I love, by the way).

Anyway, KinderBach combines video, worksheets, and actual piano playing to provide a well-rounded course on playing the piano/keyboard and music theory. While I don’t think this takes the place of a good one-on-one tutor, it’s much cheaper ($95.88 per year or $19.99 per month) and we can do it whenever we have time. The online lessons are easy to follow and there are printable worksheets for many of the lessons. There is also a full downloadable book for each level, which includes many additional activities.

 

There are six levels, with 10 weeks of instruction in each. The lessons are short enough that you can do several in one day or just stick to one per day for four days per week. Some of the videos are interactive and some are just learning music theory. All the videos we watched were engaging and interesting. They were a good length for this age group too, less than 5 minutes each.

Overall, we enjoyed this program and I will consider purchasing additional months after life settles down a bit and we can devote more time to it, maybe in the fall.

See what the rest of the crew is saying here.

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Wordless Wednesday–January 25

Nate thinks brownie batter is the bomb!

~S

Linking up at:

TOS Review–We Choose Virtues

It’s Speak Up Saturday (or whatever day this is). I was really planning to get this done this weekend, but kids were sick, now I’m getting their coughing cold, blah.

I had the opportunity to review several products from We Choose Virtues

Why Choose Virtues

Let's be honest, instilling virtues in kids is hard work. But can it be fun too? We think so. In fact, there's no better way to learn. So We Choose Virtues brings memorable catchphrases, endearing characters, and just plain fun to simply inspire character that lasts. It's the best choice you can make for the kids in your life.

I received the Virtue Clue Cards,  Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Book, and Teacher’s Handbook. Unfortunately, though, due to a mixup with the post office, I just received the Virtue Clue Cards last week :( SO, I didn’t have as much time to work with these as I would have liked.

Anyway, I was really excited to review these products after reading about them on their website:

Tools for inspiring KIDS…Our Kids Set  is specifically for Early Education-Elementary kids (ages 3-11). The products are designed to use in a classroom or home setting, and can be used one-on-one.

We Choose Virtues is not unit study that you use once and then move on from. It is actually a character development tool that you use  every day, every year. You introduce the Virtues, then demonstrate them, memorize the catchphrases, then learn the antonyms, then capture teachable moments when they are being used…or aren’t. You will be amazed how fast you will all learn to obey (not just learn what obedience is, but actually learn to obey!)…and 11 other Virtues too!

The Virtue Clue Cards ($5.99) have the virtue, catch phrase, and antonym listed on one side along with a picture of the character. The back has a “You can do it!” challenge. These cards will be excellent in introducing the characters and the virtues as well as review and practical application.

The Teacher’s Handbook ($4.99 for download) is mostly geared toward classroom instruction, but it does have several good ideas and explanations about the program and how to use the materials.

The Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Book ($3.00) is a download only PDF, which is great because then I can print as many as I need. I’m hoping that I can use these with both kids while we learn about each virtue.

There’s also several products offered for free, like the Kids Memory Verses, Bible Heroes and Truths, Student's Character Assessment, and Family Character Assessment.

So while we haven’t been able to actually use the products as much as I would have liked by this point, I am still very impressed by these products and can’t wait to really dive in and teach my littles these virtues.

These products are designed for ages 3-18, but I think that even I will benefit from this study of virtues.

Check out their clearance section as well as their family, homeschool, classroom, and church packages and products.

See what the rest of the crew is saying here.

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Menu Plan Monday–January 24th

The Italian Wedding Soup was delicious, but I’ll need to make a few modifications if I expect hubs to eat the leftovers. He didn’t like the soggy noodles the next day, hmmm. The meatballs were delicious though, made a double batch and froze the extras after cooking them for an easy meal later.

No chicken pox, instead we all have a cold with a lovely cough. Nate is trying to get an ear infection, and I’m trying to prevent that. Went to doc yesterday so we have antibiotics on hand in case it gets worse.

Still plugging along. I’m 36 1/2 weeks now, so sticking to simpler foods. Standing in the kitchen for long amounts of time is not very appealing these days.

Mix-it up Monday (something new) ~ Food rom stepmom (Have I mentioned how much I really like having family close??)
Taco Tuesday (Mexican or Oriental) ~ Tacos
Wow Wednesday (Date night or something like restaurant food) ~Cheater Pot Pie – going to try again, found out that hubby doesn’t really like this recipe, so I’m going to modify a bit and see what he thinks. Again, it’s about soggy food, veggies this time.
Simple Thursday (Crockpot or less than 30 min prep) ~ Family night with fellowship team. We’re having a baked potato bar, I’m bringing steamed broccoli and cheese dip (found a recipe in my Food Network Magazine) 
Favorite Friday (A family favorite) ~ Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
Lazy Saturday (leftover buffet) ~ Leftovers
Saucy Sunday (Italian) ~ Spaghetti and Sauce and probably some leftover meatballs

I’m also making a batch of Breakfast Burritos this week, and hopefully some Crackers too.

So, what are you having for dinner this week?
Link up at Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie or leave me a comment!

I have a recipe index, just for recipes that you can find on my blog. You can also get to it by going to the food tab above.

~S

Wordless Wednesday–Washing Dishes–January 18

~S

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