Enjoying the Chaos

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

This week has been so much fun. 1. Last Saturday Jam and Boo had a swim meet in Kansas.  It was especially fun because their cousins were swimming too. Out of the four age groups between the boys and girls races we had swimmers in 3 the afternoon went really fast! All of them did really well. 2. The kids have bought and wrapped all of their presents! 3. Captain played his first song! Jingle Bells! He felt so proud of himself. 4. I found all of the ingredients to make some iced cherry bakeswells - I will share the recipe if they taste like the ones from home. (Hubby wants Mr Kipling). 5. I love this time of year. We even had snow this week - but I hate the mess after it!

Chestnut Grove Academy has recently hit there 1000th blog post and their 150th Field Trip post! That's a lot of blogging and field trips. She wanted to celebrate in a BIG way and to Thank ALL of her readers for, well, reading! She has over $500 in prizes set up for you guys!  There will be 3 winners!  So the odds of winning are even greater!  She has amazing donors and so keep reading to learn a little bit about what you can win!  Then use the Rafflecopter form to enter!  There are over 45 ways to enter, with some daily entries, so make sure you come back!! A HUGE Thank you to our sponsors: A+ Interactive Math , Veritas Press , SchoolhouseTeachers.com , Building Brilliant Minds Online , Skrafy Minecraft , Classical Composers Monthly , Educents , Classroom Friendly Supplies , Our Time to Learn , and A Virtuous Woman Now for the Prizes: A+ Interactive Math – 1 year family math package for 2 students ($199.99 value) You can see my review of A+ Interac...

WOW December is going fast! 1. Ordering Christmas presents online is awesome. Except when someone else gets the mail from the box and then can't remember where they put it. I did find it - luckily as it contained the only present that Captain America asked Santa for. 2. Times have changed and Captain was the only one to be taken to Santa this year. It was a fun just to have some one on one time with him. He was a pretty good Santa wasn't he! 3. We had an Etiquette dinner at church with the youth I work with this week. It was really good but I didn't get any pictures. I managed to take one just before it started. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. 4. I introduced my kids to Marti McFly this week! 5. The kids had great fun with our little homeschool group today. We all got together and made 'graham cracker' houses, pizza, games and a story. It was such fun! ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, pho...

First ever Temple Trip

As an adult that doesn't want to read books written for adults, unless of course they were written by Charlotte Bronte or Charles Dickens. I am forever in search of books written for teens that are not completely childish. I was given the opportunity to read  The Princess Spy  by Melanie Dickerson and I was impressed. I had never read any of her work before and so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, the other reviews seemed rather good so I thought I would see for myself. The book itself is listed as a #1 Best Seller in Teen and Young Adult Action & Adventure on Amazon. The story is told alternatively from the view point of two protagonists Margartha and Colin. Colin has come to Germany from England to revenge the death of his friend. However when he is attacked with his best friend John and is left for dead he is brought to the castle of Margartha's father. He can't speak German and is in a bit of a state when Margartha steps in to help. In the meantime ...

I was recently offered a chance to review a really interesting movie called  Susie's Hope .  This movie is based on the true story that successfully passed 'Susie's Law' in North Carolina, which seeks stricter punishment for animal abusers. Susie's Hope brings to life the inspirational relationship between pit bull attack survivor Donna Lawrence and Susie, a pit bull-mix puppy found beaten, burnt, and left for dead. Recognizing abuse and neglect were to blame for the tragic attack that nearly claimed her life just 10 months before, Donna rescues the half dead animal, starts a huge fundraising campaign, fights for, and eventually accepts her as family. Together they learn to heal, love, and forgive as they lead a historic effort to seek justice and protection, not only for Susie, but all animals. This movie stars Emmanuelle Vaguer (40 Days and 40 Nights), Burgess Jenkins (Remember the Titans) and Andrea Powell (Ender's Game, Twilight, Breaking Dawn Saga...

I really can't believe we are now to December 5th! However I really do like to share some of the cool blog posts I have found over the last month. 1. Is a really cool way to record a USA state unit study.  Marine Corps Nomads has this really cool printable passport with stamps to use when studying the individual States. 2. Today it has been raining ALL day. This idea from Artistic Junkie for rainy day activities would have been awesome! 3.  My third blog post another Christmas craft that I have been meaning to do with the kids. From the blog Gift of Curiosity   4.  OK I can't help but share this from Fun at Home With Kids . It's a Magic Foaming Snowman... What's not to love. 5. Captain America has just started his piano journey. I found this over at Year Round Homeschooling I will be definitely be printing these off! ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other...

I can't believe its December already. I just realized this post was still sat in my draft folder... hum...well better late than never right!

I love to read period books, but  Love Without End - Robin Lee Hatcher  caught my attention and I thought it sounded worth a read. I was right I was immediately drawn into the story. I think it took me about 24 hours to read. The main female in the story Kimberly Welch lost her husband to a heart attack. He had been hiding financial problems from here and he left her and her daughter penniless. Chet Leonard is the other main character in the story. A few years ago Chet lost his teenage son in a car accident, then his wife walked out him and his two other sons. Chet breeds horses, and Kimberley's daughter was just given a bit of a wild horse. She has always loved horses but has no experience with them at all. If you can imagine the loss of a father coupled with the loss of everything you are used to, and being a teenager all rolled into one. You can start to imagine the situation that Kimberley was dealing with. However with no money it seemed impossible. Chet saved the...

FOUR GOSPELS. FOUR FILMS. ONE JESUS STORY. FOR EVERYONE. I recently had the opportunity to watch a really unique project.  The Lumo Project  taken straight from The Gospel of John. A ground breaking, multi-language biblical film resource transforming the way we discover, study and engage with the life of Jesus through the four New Testament Gospels. The Lumo Project is a ground breaking, multi-language biblical film resource transforming the way we discover, study and engage with the life of Jesus through the four New Testament Gospels: redefining the standard of visual Biblical media.  The Lumo Project presents four films – one for each Gospel account – that will revolutionize the way we all experience the story of Jesus and the world of First Century Palestine in which he lived. I was able to choice between NIV, King James Version, or a Spanish version. I chose King James Version.   This full-length feature film about the life of Jesus takes the ...

I was sent a copy of  Katie's London Christmas   ($16.99)to read with Captain America. It is written by James Mayhew is a children's author and illustrator whose books include on of our favorites 'Can You See a Little Bear?' In 1994 he received the New York Times Award for one of the best illustrated books of the year for 'The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams'. Hubby read this Captain America first, he comment to me afterwards was that he loved all of the London sights as he was reading. Of course hubby and I are from England so this book with definitely have a place close to our hearts. The book starts out with Katie and her brother sleeping at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. They are awakened by a sneeze and go downstairs to investigate. They walk in the living room to find Father Christmas putting presents under their Christmas Tree. They realize Father Christmas had a cold and offer to help. Father Christmas accepts their offer and they go of on hi...

Happy Thanksgiving!!! 1. I had a great Thanksgiving. Last year it was just the five of us. This year although we weren't all together there was at least a few more of us gathered at my parents house. 2. Captain America had his first piano lesson last week and has been doing really well practicing his musical alphabet. He has it down now and really looking forward to his next lesson! 3. We have finished the changes in the basement and the kids new school area is back up and running. I will do a post on it soon. However, it is great to have our space back upstairs. We now have a reading/piano room. It's so nice Captain America keeps his library books in a basket next to the chair. He can often be found curled up on the chair. 4. My husband loves hot turkey sandwiches. In fact I think he likes them almost as much as Thanksgiving dinner. 5. The weather was amazing today. Hubby took the chance to put up our outside Christmas lights. We always put up our tree the...

We have been swimming for about 18 months and this we winter starting competing in USA Swimming events. The kids love it and for all three of them it's great exercise. All three kids swim four days a week. Jam and Boo of course swim a lot more than Captain America who is the youngest on the swim team (and has a lot of cute factor). We always love to try new things and so when I was given the chance to try a new line of goggles I thought it sounded a good opportunity. So we were sent a pair of  GoggIX  $19.22 (free shipping with Amazon Prime). When we started swimming we had a certain brand recommended to us and we have been happy with them. However, we recently tried a new kind of goggles for Captain American because of his prescription needs. But we are always willing to try new things. Jam shouted the loudest and asked him he could try them out at swim practice. It worked out really well as it was time trials last night. Once a month the kids run through all of their...

  The Old Schoolhouse is hosting a cool giveaway and I agreed to share it with all of you today. The company  Blue Orange Games is giving away some really cool Disney games. As you can see in the above picture there are some really good one's there. Toy Story is a favorite in my house and I know a lot of little girls that LOVE frozen. These will be a huge hit on Christmas morning in one lucky winners house! There are also some really cool free apps that you can find on the link. However they are all from the apple store and I have android so I wanted to share some free android apps. A friend of mine introduced me Frozen Free Fall, for those of you that like Candy Crush she tells me its a lot better - I haven't had chance to try it yet! I know Captain America will like it.   Disney Hidden Worlds      Frozen Free Fall Click here to enter the giveaway - GOOD LUCK!!! ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photogra...

We have been homeschooling for about three years. When my older two children learned to read they were in public school and so I helped but never had to teach them all by myself. Captain America however has been all me, having never gone to public school at all (in fact this year would have seen him in Kindergarten) the buck stops here, so to speak. I have been collecting level one and two readers. So when I was offered a copy of  I Can Read - God's Great Creation . Although this book is a level two, Captain America did an excellent job reading it. I only had to assist him with the hard words. This books tells the story of the creation. It goes through all the days of creation and ends up with Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and being cast out from the Garden of Eden. Captain America really enjoyed the story, it's told in quite simplistic vocabulary, which is suitable for level 2. There are a couple of parts in the story that don't quite fit in with my King...

We recently received a copy of  Surprise at Yorktown  by The Imagination Station. Captain America was really excited to see another on of these books. He really loved the other one we read in the series. I like that they combined a children adventure book with historical facts and information. This time the cousins Beth and Patrick go on an adventure to help George Washington. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Captain America is starting to memorize a poem about George Washington. He loves it when he can learn about the same subject in different ways, and a story book is perfect.  Captain America loves that the characters travel through time and help out where ever needed. This little book is full of adventure and excitement. Definitely got two thumbs up at our house! Although I read this to Captain America this time round, it will have a place on our bookcase because I will definitely encourage him to read it again by himself in a year or t...

It's been a great week. I can't believe it's Thanksgiving next week. 1. Boo turned 12. In our church that means she moves up from the primary (children) to the youth (12-18 year old) It's a big step for her and she's very excited. The girls came around the night before her birthday and put balloons all over our front door. 2. I think I have Christmas organized. Shhhh don't tell the kids. 3. The Review Crew is all over for another year. I have a couple of book reviews that I need to post other than that I am think I am in withdrawals. Roll on December 1st! 4. We normally take the kids out for dinner on their birthday. This year Boo asked if we could take her to the movies instead. I thought that was a great idea - so tonight we are off to the movies! I didn't tell her it actually saves us money. Since I was going to suggest a date night with the hubby to see the same movie. 5. I am sat watching  A Knight's Tale  I think besides  The Princess Bri...

With more than 3575 activities,  iTooch 5th Grade Math  is a fun way of practicing and learning Math for fifth graders. Used by more than 2,000,000 users, iTooch apps provide comprehensive learning solutions which help parents, teachers and students to identify and address learning needs in a fun and motivating way.  Unique features: A clear, simple and engaging interface so that children learn with fun Speech synthesis option to help users in reading and text comprehension Multi-player managment An embedded scientific calculator A virtual blackboard A lesson summary attached to each chapter In-app feedback to send suggestions to the author Font size adjustment to suit everyone's needs Try iTooch for FREE today! iTooch Giveaway!  8 readers will win a full 5th Grade Math App ($5.99) a Rafflecopter giveaway ©2011-2014 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may n...

Fire up the romance this holiday with Robin Lee Hatcher 's latest offering in the King's Meadow Romance series, Love Without End .  For two single parents with bruised hearts, it’ll take more than a little courage to get back on the horse when it comes to love. Celebrate love rising from the ashes of tragedy with Robin by entering her Kindle Fire giveaway. One grand prize winner will receive: A Kindle Fire Love Without End  and the rest of the King's Meadow Romance series from Robin Lee Hatcher Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 14th.  Winner will be announced December 15th on Robin's blog . {NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE .} ©2011-2014 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