Enjoying the Chaos

I have been thinking about the letter 'F' all week since I am participate with Ben and Me in the Blogging around the Alphabet. Today one of the kids said  "That's our FAVORITE game" so I decided that's what my 'F' post should be about. ALONG time ago when we still lived in England my husband and I went to stay for a week with my in-laws in their holiday home. We were having a lovely spell of English weather (namely rain) and were quite desperate for some fun. My in-laws suggested we go to a local flea market and wander around. My husband and I found a game called 'Mandarin' it was still sealed and cost three pounds - so we decided it was worth the risk. It was an immediate hit with everyone I think we played it continuously for the rest of the rainy week. We have played this game for about 15 years. The animals depicted on the tiles and cards are of the Chinese Zodiac - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster...

Here we go again...I am linking up with The Pebble Pond for Random 5 Friday. Hopefully I can think of five things that don't bore you all so much you never come back. 1. I LOVE Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds - The Dark Chocolate flavor. (I just ate a handful). I buy them in bulk from Sam's Club.     2. We have had A LOT of rain this week. I took Little J out with me to walk the dog. I let him jump in the puddles so much we had to go back and change his clothes - it was worth it to see him have fun. (The big kids were SO jealous). 3. I took Little J for his check up at the Ophthalmologist Wednesday and his eyes have improved another 10% YEAH! When we started this journey with his Amblyopia his eye site was 20/100 he is now between 20/50 and 20/60 our original goal (well the Ophthalmologist's goal) was to get him to 20/40. 4. Grandma and the kids had a great time gardening last weekend. The older kids learned a lot about weeding and had great fun...

We have been homeschooling for nearly two years. I can't believe how time has flown. Jam would be finishing up 6th grade if he was still in Public School and Boo would be finishing up 4th. I have spent a lot of time drooling over the 'school rooms' found all over the Internet on various home school blogs and part of me wishes we had one. However I don't think ours would look like a lot of the others. Here is a list of some of the things I would love in a school room. 1. A window seat - big and soft with lots of cushions. 2. A table for art projects 3. Bookshelves 4. Sofa - with recliners 5. bean bags 6. Computers, printer, scanner After looking through this list I realized the only thing I don't have is my longed for window seat. (I have ALWAYS wanted one of those. Like the one Jane Eyre was hidden behind at the beginning of the story. The only thing we need more of is bookshelves and I have yet to meet a home school that doesn't. As for a special...

Random 5 Friday 1. We have a crazy dog. We love him but he won't fetch a ball. In fact he doesn't really play at all. However he does like his rubber duck. He also spends a lot of time sat perched on the top of the sofa like a cat staring out of the window. 2. My husband and I met when I was 2 our parents were friends. He was 4 and threw-up on my Mom's sofa. 3. After moving away we met again when I was 15 I noticed the T shirt he was wearing (It was awesome). I told my friend I would get the T shirt in two weeks (My husband came with it lol) We have been inseparable ever since. The T shirt is now framed on our living room wall. It is an excellent conversation starter. 4. We love the beach. If we could move anywhere it would be near the beach...or the mountains...in the middle of no-where. OK so I love solitude. I am definitely not a city person. Little J spent our week at the beach last summer killing waves.    5. We ...

  My kids LOVE computer games. They don't love math facts. We were given the chance to review Math Rider a computer game that manages to blend both wonderfully. Math Rider is a game that helps children (or adults if you want to brush up on your math facts) master the core foundation math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It is designed for children 6-12 but if they know enough math facts (addition) and can use a computer then it could be used for younger children. Jam and Boo are 12 and 10 they are pretty good at math however like most children I know they could do with brushing up on their math facts. They love playing on a website that comes with soft furry animals (I am sure you know the one). So I really hoped this program would be a good fit. Guess what...I know my kids pretty well they LOVED it. The day we got the program it was too late for them to test it out. We have pretty strict parental controls on their laptop's and so I ...

E is for Elephant Paintings Our zoo has this really fun fundraiser. The Elephants paint pictures - while you watch. It is very fun. Of course we couldn't resist. The zookeeper gives the elephants a couple of treats and then he hands her a paintbrush (already coated with paint.) The elephant swipes the canvas with the brush. If more than one color is used then this is repeated a couple of times. Then you end up with something like this... We have ours in the dining room. It always attracts attention.  There are two kinds of elephants Asian and African. Our zoo has African elephants. The way you can tell the difference between them is by looking at their ears. The African elephant has bigger ears. Their ears also look a little like the continent of Africa. Asian elephants have very small ears. Check out what other people are blogging about for the letter E over at  Ben and Me . ©2011-2013 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All tex...

  Boo loves to read.  So when we were given the chance to review a book about Sacagawea from Knowledge Quest I jumped at the chance. My son Jam had read a book about Lewis and Clark last year and so we were quite familiar with the general story. However we didn't realize how much we didn't know about Sacagawea. To say we loved this book is an understatement. Boo and I read it separately and discussed it as we went along. There are words in the text that are hyper- linked to help you with understanding. I don't want to give away too much of the story line... but did you know that Sacagawea was stolen from her family and then sold as a slave. Did you know she was only 16 when she played such a vital role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with a new-born son. I asked Boo what she thought "I really loved it. It was really interesting." This book really sparked an interest in Boo. A couple of nights after finishing the book. Boo and I were at home...

We don't watch a lot of TV in our house. In fact we don't subscribed to any channels. We have an antenna but our TV is normally tuned to the Internet for educational programs. However I was reading over at  Latter-Day Homeschooling and her post about the fact that the FTC are trying to decide whether or not to LOWER decency standards.Check out her post here . You can go  here to find out how you can take action against television indecency.   "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke) ©2011-2013 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author Chickensbunniesandhomeschool.blogspot.com

Last week I found it very hard to write five random things. I am hoping that it will be easier this week. I have found myself thinking about it all week. 1. I am a self confessed over protective Mom. After losing my oldest daughter some say it is not surprising. I often call my sister for advice to find out if I am being over-protective or just being a normal protective Mom. 2. I don't do well with gray skies...they make me sad. 3. We are having our Easter egg hunt tomorrow. We waited for Grandma and Grandpa to come home. 4. I am fortunate to be able to work from home. 5. I LOVE FRIDAYS. Check out other people's random five here . ©2011-2013 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author Chickensbunniesandhomeschool.blogspot.com

  When the opportunity came up to review Leadership Garden Legacy I was quite excited.  Leadership is a skill that is very important to our family. During our lives my husband and I have had a lot of experience being leaders and also being led by others. Some people seem to develop this skill naturally, some work on it and achieve it, and some I am afraid never seem to be able to gain the skills to lead people effectively. We received a selection of items to help us use this program. The following products are for children 5-12. U.N.I.Q.U.E Kids: Growing My Leadership book  priced at $18.95 U.N.I.Q.U.E Kids MP3 Audiobook Download priced at $8.95 U.N.I.Q.U.E Kinds Activity Guide Journal download priced at $8.95 These products are suitable for high school students or adults. UNIQUE Grow the Leader Within book priced at $18.95     UNIQUE Grow the Leader Within Book Mp3 Download priced at $14.95   The Leadersh...

Since I have started this linky of blogging through the alphabet I end up thinking about the next letter all week. This week I was still hadn't thought of anything I wanted to write about until Saturday afternoon. Little J has a 'Superhero' 25 piece puzzle that he got for Christmas. We have worked on it together quite often however he has never completed it on his own. Anyway Saturday he decided that he wanted to complete it all by himself. This was quite an experience to watch. When he first started he was VERY grumpy. He couldn't figure out how the pieces stayed together. mainly because he wanted to pick it up and show me whenever he attached any pieces. Finally I told him if he wanted to complete the puzzle he would have to keep his temper, not get grumpy and relax. I told him that if he wanted me to see how he was progressing he just needed to ask and I would come and look. After that he calmed down and said that he wanted it to be a surprise and he would tell me w...

This is my first time participating in this blog party so I am kind of nervous... You know the walk into a room and not knowing any one kind. I am originally from England and have lived in the States for the last 14 years. My husband is also from England and so although out children were all born here. They still have some strange British quirks, eat British food, and pronounce things in different ways - yes my boys are cowboy boot wearing Americans through and through. The hats normally only come out for Halloween though. We starting homeschooling about two years ago when Jam was starting 5th grade and Boo 3rd. We love it. At the time we had chickens and bunnies - however we recently gave them to a friend who has a farm since we are trying to relocate closer to my husbands work. (He commutes an hour each way.) So my blog name makes me chuckle it should now be Homeschool but NO chickens and bunnies. I am excited to meet new friends. Leave me a comment to say Hi. ...