Enjoying the Chaos

I was excited to review another Amish book! I had read books by  Shelley Shepard Gray  before. This was was a fun read. There's a little love story and a gentle mystery going on. The story starts with Susana Schwartz hearing gun shots that cause her buggy to overturn, she is rescued by a single Amish guy (Neil Vance) with amazing eyes (of course). The story is full of miscommunication, jealousy, and of course Amish Christmas traditions. Other accidents happen; Susana's sister falls through the ice on what used to be a perfectly safe bridge, a barn burn down and then there is a disappearance on Christmas Eve.  Neil Vance has been heartbroken ever since his parents lost their family farm. He can't help feeling resentful; until he meets Susanna that is! He thinks the accidents are that - accidents. Will they be able to solve the mystery behind the accidents or will something more serious happen first! This is a fun read. I have read it and then passed it on to B

Last weekend I heard that our local Home Depot was offering an extra kids crafts clinic. These are quite a high priority in Captain's schedule as he LOVES them! It's so fun to collect the pins and add to his collection. This week it was a simple tree photo ornament, with a few nails and a bit if painting. They even let Boo do one. Captain got super excited for next week's craft! A Gingerbread House, even Boo want's to go back and do one! Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ©2011-2017 Chickensbunniesandhomeschool. All rights reserved.

You have all heard about "Switched at Birth" stories. What if, you switched with a completely different life. Raised with completely different values and beliefs.  That's what happened in the series by Cindy Woodsmall. Her latest book  The Gathering Threads . It's the third book in the Amish of Summer Grove series.  I was chosen to review the third book; however, one look at the back cover sent me searching for the other two in the series. I found the first on another review site and then paid full price for the second on Amazon kindle - yes they are that good! The stories are spellbinding. I love how the relationships play out between the characters. The two families that are caught in the middle of the 'switch' mess are so different. The girls are raised so differently but each have their own struggles they are dealing with. One raised with basically no boundaries. Parents who have been separate all her life. In fact, they were never even married

If you haven't tried any of the curriculum from Writing with Sharon Watson you are missing out! We have used Illuminating Literature - When Worlds Collide , and  The Power In Your Hands previously so Boo was super excited to receive  Illuminating Literature ~ Characters In Crisis to review. She is super impressed and will work on it for the rest of the school year! We received: Illuminating Literature : Characters in Crisis - Teacher's Guide Illuminating Literature : Quiz and Answer Manual Illuminating Literature: Text Book You can also download a Novel Notebook here. Boo loves this program. The first book covered is actually found in the text book and so it's really easy to get started with this program. We printed The Novel Notebook as it contains extra questions and ways to get the students involved in the book. Since we have used some of Sharon Watson's programs before I knew to do this straight away. The added questions in this notebook reall

Boo is trying hard to memorize scriptures. We heard that the  Forbrain  from Sound of Life LTD could help with concentration and memorization. Boo was really excited to be chosen for the review. Captain has gotten some use out of it too. We have found it very adaptable for different situations. So carry on reading to find out more! What is  Forbrain  I hear you ask. It's a device that helps you use you own voice to help your brain be more attentive. It is a little head set that has a microphone. You speak into the microphone and you can hear yourself very loudly. It is perfect for using daily when reading aloud. Captain has been using this when he has to read aloud for school. He hates reading school texts and finds it hard to stay on task. Of course it's a different story when he reads for fun! Although Captain doesn't suffer with ADD or ADHD I have noticed that it helps him stay focused, I can really see the benefit for a child suffering with these conditions. Ca

It's been a crazy few days. We have some exciting changes on the way. Let's talk about a few. 1. Boo had her piano recital this last weekend and she did an amazing job. I'll be posting a video on our YouTube  channel soon! 2. We are having some trees cute down today. We have lived in our current house for about 6 months and have a ton of trees. There are a couple of problems with two of them. After getting some advice from a couple of tree experts it was decided we would remove two of them. Although it wasn't the reason a nice bonus is that I get sunlight in my house now!!! This may seem like a little thing but we used to live in a super bright house so it was a shock to have no direct sunlight! 3. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT coming on Friday!!!! Have a great week everyone!!! Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

You know how much we love  Kwik Stix from The Pencil Grip, Inc so we were super excited to receive the Thin Stix Creativity Pack to review! We have used and reviewed these so many times on the blog. You can see some of our creations here , and here I am sure there are a lot more too! Captain is a little older now but I still don't want him getting regular paint out unattended. Sometimes you need to be doing things while your kids paint and relax. I have no issues with him getting the Kwik Stixs out while I'm giving lessons in the morning, as I know there will be no mess. The pack we received this time is amazing. It comes with 24 different thin stixs. Captain loves the thin sticks as it allows him to be a little more creative and detail oriented now he's getting older. The 24 stixs are made up of 12 classic, 6 metallics, and 6 neon. The company claims that these stixs are dry in 90 seconds - I think they are dry in about of 60 seconds. In fact as soon as you paint

We had such a fun time Saturday during our Home Depot kids craft morning. Captain was so excited to complete this craft. This kid loves cars and the fact he was going to make on out of wood had him intrigued. We arrived and picked up our kit, and Captain's pin. He remembered his apron this time! Sometimes he needs a little help understanding the kit but he had this one done before I remembered to grab my phone to take pictures. It took 4 nails and he decided not paint it as it came with some excellent stickers. This Humvee was chosen to represent Veteran's Day. My older children go to an online charter school now and they a great thing set up for Friday. They are having a ZOOM meeting with a Veteran from World War II. My kids are really excited to watch this video. They can also ask questions, so I already have them thinking about what they would like to ask. My Dad served in the British Military. However, we were very fortunate that he never had to serve during a war. Howe