I have to say the most recent trip to Disney when we had the counter service food plan was great. It was nice not having to worry meals and snacks while we were there. It also gave us the chance to sample food we normally would not have had if we had to purchase food as we went along. We loved the churros, various desserts, the Chinese food we had at Yak n Yetis, Dole Whips and of course Mickey Bars. Mmmm.. We could spend time at Disney just sampling food…
The next best thing to being at Disney for food is to get a cookbook and make some of it at home. After I got back from our trip in September, I bought the Cooking with Mickey. I highly recommend this cookbook. I have already made several recipes form it and all of them have trned out fabulously.
If you are going to Disney anytime soon I highly recommend getting a dining plan. It takes out the stress of having to worry about paying for meals while you are there. I also suggest that you plan on what places you would like to eat at before you go to Disney because otherwise there are so many fantastic options that you may waste valuable Disney time trying to make food decisions.
I will add pictures soon of some of our food adventures while at Disney!
As I sit here getting ready to watch Polar Express with my family I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Christmas is all about families. God sent His Son to be born on earth so that we too could become part of God’s family through his gift of salvation.
If you do not know Him make it your priority to come to Him this year and be a part of the family of God. He is waiting to hear from you. If you already know Him then strive to know Him even better this coming year!
Merry Christmas and God Bless!
Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
My daughter read Cooper and Me and the Winter Adventure by Monique & Alexa Peters and just loved the story and the pictures in this book. The illustrations are just beautifully done. It is a fun and lovable story about two dogs, Cooper and Bella, and their adventure as they go out to sled and what happens to them as they go a little too far from home and a snowstorm happens. The book not only provides a great story for your kids but helps to teach them the importance of making good decisions and how to be prepared in the event they get lost. The text rhymes and is very lyrical which makes it ideal for both preschool and elementary kids. Even I enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. The illustrations by themselves tell the story well so young readers can easily get into the story even if they can not read every word. At the end of the book there is a page where your child can write in important information about themselves (their name, address , phone number and names and phone numbers of people that take care of them) A great way for them to help them learn the information they need to know in the event of an emergency or if they would get lost. Also included in this book is a section that helps you as the parent talk to your kids about the lessons learned though this book in the form of a brief life lesson synopsis with questions for discussion. You can also use this book to help your child learn how to read for comprehension as there are also questions you can ask your child to see how well they remember the story.
I really did love Cooper and Me and the Winter Adventure and think you and your child will too. I am providing you with a chance to win this book for your family. Just follow the entry options listed below and I will be selecting a winner randomly on Dec 17th.
As an added bonus I have been given a special discount code for you to use.
Make any purchase of $25 or more at CooperandMe.com and get FREE SHIPPING now through December 15.
MUST USE THIS CODE @ Check Out: COOPERBLOG
Please note that $1 of every Winter Adventure book sold will go to advance research & treatment of pancreatic cancer, via the Lustgarten Foundation (http://www.lustgarten.org/)
For additional information please consider going to the following links:
Close Encounters of the Moose Kind
By Linda Rondeau
I gasped as the gigantic mound stepped from the woods into our path, heads taller than our compact car. My husband swerved and we missed the animal by inches. “Was that a moose?” my husband asked.
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“My heroine’s life is changed when she runs into a moose.”
We both giggled over God’s sense of humor.
That we found ourselves on the back roads of Franklin County at four in the morning was in and of itself God’s doing. I hadn’t planned on attending the ACFW Writers Conference in Minneapolis. “If I final in the contest then I’ll go,” I told my husband.
I did final, and my words haunted me. And so once again God changed my plans to fit into His. In rural upstate New York, flight connections often require a pre-dawn departure, and we had taken the country road to save time.
I shared my moose tale with a writer friend who laughed her prophecy. “That moose was a smile from God. He has plans for this manuscript.”
As time went on, God continued to smile affirmation after affirmation even through a dramatic relocation to Florida. Then, eleven years from the day that I felt God’s call to write professionally, my agent called with the news—a publisher had offered a contract. “It’s for Dawn’s Hope, but the editor wants to change the title to The Other Side of Darkness,” she said.
I did agree the alternate title sounded better and trusted the editor’s choice.
Yet, it wasn’t until later that God revealed His hand had been in the making of the book long before the first words were typed, long before I imagined my character’s accident, long before He sent a moose to confirm He would soon fulfill a promise made to me over a decade ago.
During a speaking engagement at a local women’s meeting, I shared my journey from call to call, reading a poem I wrote that very day God pulled me from one life to set me on another, one undefined and uncertain. I had obeyed His leading and He immediately gave me a poem, “The Song of Peace.” As I shared the poem with the women’s group, my eyes misted when I read the line, “Praise the Lord when Hope seems foolish…There is light on the other side of darkness.”
Could it be that even then, God was smiling on a book not yet imagined? I believe He did.
Author Bio
Award-winning author, LINDA RONDEAU, writes for the reader who enjoys a little bit of everything. Her stories of redemption and God’s mercies include romance, suspense, the ethereal, and a little bit of history into the mix, always served with a slice of humor. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, mother of three and wife of one very patient man, Linda now resides in Florida where she is active in her church and community. Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com.
This article content was provided to me free of charge by the author through Kathy Carlton Willis Communications. I agreed to place this article on my site providing that 1) it’s used in its entirety, 2) the full bio is also used, and 3) I previously requested permission through KCWC at kathy@kathycarltonwillis.com. All other standard copyrights apply.
I received Laura Allen Nonemaker’s book Benny’s Angel and was provided the following information in order to be a part of the blog tour about Benny’s Angel. My youngest enjoyed reading this book and afterwards we discussed the book together. The book itself is wonderfully illustrated and teaches your child the importance of prayer and the value and place of joy and trusting God in a Christian’s life. After reading about Benny’s Angel, you can enter for a chance to be entered into a grand prize drawing being held by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications. Name of the winner from my blog entry will be sent to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications and entered into their Grand Prize drawing when a final winner will be chosen and announced on December 12th.
When Ella Eagle discovers that the flowers in God’s Secret Garden have wilted, she alerts Mayor Benny Bunny. The main suspect in the case is evil Count Slime, who is jealous of the joy the animals have in the garden. Mayor Benny calls in Oliver Owl, the captain of the Owl Force Wisdom Watchers, but the owls have not seen Count Slime during their patrols of the garden. Mayor Benny suggests the animals pray for an answer. God hears their prayer and sends Marietta the angel to help them solve the mystery.
This delightful tale uses animals, nature, and a visit from an angel to teach children the importance of prayer and the value of trusting God.
Author Bio
Laura Allen
Nonemaker
Laura Allen Nonemaker’s desire to write took root as a child in Bermuda. Since then, Laura has written in a variety of genres and her work has appeared in EssenceTreasury: Celebrating the Season, Alive! and Kentucky Monthly Magazine.
Laura has been involved in short-term missions, including trips to Russia, Poland, and the University of the Nations in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Three years ago, her interest in the arts motivated her to join the planning team for Artful Missions, which conducts juried art shows and donates to outreaches in the U.S. and India to rescue women and children from human trafficking.
Benny’s Angel was the result of an occurrence in my “secret garden.” While seated on my garden bench praying, I noticed a rabbit hopping through the garden. The Benny’s Angel scenario came to me. I sensed it was significant and in about ten minutes, I developed the basic storyline.
Why do you think reading is important for parents to emphasize with children, both by reading to them and fostering a healthy reading appetite as they develop their own reading skills?
I believe the time to instill a love for reading in children is when they are toddlers and beginning to experience the power of communication in their relationships. Children are ready to absorb whatever they see and hear going on around them, whether it is good or bad. It is important to read them stories that ignite their imagination and plant the seeds of sound moral principles.
What issues do you address in Benny’s Angel, and why do children need these sorts of stories to help them through life?
In the story of Benny’s Angel, the animals in God’s Secret Garden encounter a problem. They are unable to solve it themselves and pray to God for an answer. God answers their prayer by means of an angel. Benny’s Angel teaches the importance of prayer and of trusting God to answer our prayers. These principles filter naturally through the storyline and without the need for sermonizing. Children will face all kinds of problems and challenges as they grow up and stories based on sound biblical principles lay a strong foundation for their future.
Tell us about the next book you have coming out after Benny’s Angel.
The next book in the God’s Secret Garden Adventure Series is about a little frog. Through some misadventures, he learns the importance of obedience.
It Couldn’t Just Have Happened by Lawrence O. Williams is a book that provides facts about God’s world in order to offer Biblical answers to questions about creation, evolution, and our world. As a Christian, it is refreshing to see a book that is not clouded by biases of scientists who wish to only disproof God and creationism. Containing not only insights into facts about our world but activities as well, this book explores what God has intended for us, which is to learn more about the world He created.
While I have not looked at every detail of this book, I do know it is a book that will cause you to critically think through theories and facts that are taught in both the secular scientific world as well as by creation science. It allows the reader to see both sides presented and make a decision to look at things through pure science and logic. As a Christian I know that science was created by God and is not something that should be taught as separate from Him. While not everyone agrees with that, I challenge those who don’t agree to open their minds to the possibilities set forth with the book, It Couldn’t Just Have Happened, and make a decision for themselves rather than ones based on what others have told them to believe. This book is not only for children but also for adults and everyone who either want to further solidify what they already believe or for those who are open to discovering things for themselves.
The book explores questions like the following:
Did Earth Begin with a “Big Bang” Cosmic Explosion?
Does Science contradict the Bible?
What Happened to Dinosaurs?
Did We Evolve from Apes?
As a homeschooler, I have started using this book as a supplement to our own science curriculum because it teaches my kids to think and reason critically in addition to supporting their personal beliefs. If you are a parent who is looking for a resource that looks beyond what is taught in typical schools then this book may be for you.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://booksneeze.com/> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I have not been disappointed yet in any of the Family Movie Nights that I have been asked to review.
The upcoming one,’Game of Your Life’, is no exception. Everything about this movie impressed me. I have enjoyed other Family Movie Night movies but this one so far is my favorite. It was entertaining, totally family-oriented, had an actual decent plot, was thought-provoking and contained themes that taught good values. Without spoiling the movie, I will just enclose the movie’s synopsis that was given to me straight from the Family Movie Night’s movie page:
“When industrious high school gamer Zach Taylor lands a prized scholarship to the prestigious Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD), his future breaks wide open. The opportunity to study under gaming legend Marcus Bentton and alongside the country’s most creative minds will certainly propel him into a successful career as a video game designer. That is, if he can pass the infamous freshman project that eliminates more than half of the class within the first three months. Paired with brilliant yet socially awkward teammates Phillip and Donald, the trio persuades Sara Ramirez – a determined and striking team leader with whom Zach has a history (and possibly a future) – to join their team. Working off-campus in the teched-out Lincoln Alley loft, the four set out to involve the entire campus in a quirky new social interactive game. But as the group becomes entrenched in the project, Zach learns that his father Billy, a widower, is facing growing financial woes at home. To help out, Zach accepts an opportunity to work directly with Marcus Bentton on a secretive side project that seems too good to be true. The effort requires nearly all of Zach’s time and energy, which he should be devoting to the project. Struggling to keep it together, Zach is torn between his responsibility to his team, his admiration for Bentton and a chance to help his father. Everything comes to a breaking point when Zach’s team threatens to remove him from the group and the deceptive truth behind Bentton’s project comes to light. With the guidance of Professor Abbie Lambert, Zach must make a decision that not only affects his future, but the lives and livelihoods of the people around him as well. It’s a revealing story that recognizes the magnitude behind the choices we make and the importance loyalty plays in making good decisions.”
‘Game of Your Life’ is one movie I am sure you will not want to miss. I rarely am able to let my whole family sit down together to watch anything on television. This movie is not only one movie that I can let them watch, but I will enthusiastically have us watch it together when it airs on December 2nd. As a homeschooler and a parent, I feel the storyline has wonderful content that can be used to start up a great discussion with your kids.
Be sure to watch on NBC December 2nd at 8/7c.
Check out more information about “Game of Your Life’ from one of the following links:
“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for 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.”
I love Christmas music whether it is secular or Christian. I was delighted to find out I was to receive FFH’s first Christmas album, ‘One Silent Night’ as a review item for my readers. I have heard songs like ‘One of These Days’ from their I Want To Be Like You album and ‘Undone’ from their Wide Open Spaces album but had yet to hear any of the songs from ‘One Silent Night’ which is their first Christmas music album which was released on 10/18/11. This latest CD contains both original and classic Christmas songs for you to enjoy during the Christmas season. I am giving away to one lucky reader, a free download of the ‘One Silent Night’ album for you to enjoy this Christmas season. Be sure to read to the end of this post to enter this giveaway.
Included on this album are the following music titles:
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Jingle Bell Rock
One Silent Night
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
The Birthday Of The King
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Winter Wonderland
Glorious Impossible
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Heaven And Nature Sing
Each year our family has a sort of tradition to purchase a new Christmas CD for us to listen to and add to our Christmas music collection. In the past years we have included a wide selection from various artists and genres and are pleased to have ‘One Silent Night’ now added to our collection. Everyone in our family has enjoyed listening to the songs from this new album and know we will for years to come.
You can preview songs from the ‘One Silent Night’ album on ITunes as well as purchase a download of individual songs or the entire album there as well.
You can learn more about FFH and ‘One Silent Night’ by visiting the following links:
Read Naturally, Inc. is a company that specializes in improving reading fluency. They have several products and services to aid students in improving their reading skills. I will focus on their Read Live program since I have received a trial of it in order to provide a review for my blog readers. This is what Read Naturally’s website has to say about their Read Live program.
“This comprehensive, research-based program includes Benchmark Assessor Live for screening students for overall reading proficiency and our newest intervention program, Read Naturally Live, with curriculum that supports fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonics.”
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I received a trial membership for the Read Live program. My oldest daughter has always had some difficulty in reading and comprehension so I thought I would try the Read Live program for her. She does read well enough but it seems as if she has always had trouble when there were multi-syllable words as well as when she had to try to sound words out which means her reading suffers as does her reading comprehension.
Their Read Live program is designed to work with students from grade 1 through Adult. The concept behind the Read Live program is that each student develops the ability to read as well as they can speak and to retain the knowledge they learn from what they read without having to stop and focus on decoding the words in what they are reading. Not only is your child improving their reading skills but increasing their vocabulary and reading comprehension as well.
Rather than repeat what is already on the Read Naturally website, you can discover what they have to say about their program HERE on their website.
I will now tell you about our experience with Read Live. I started off watching the videos before attempting to set up my account with them. It seems to be set up for a school environment where a different person is in charge of administration and management of the overall school programs and where there are several teachers and various classrooms. For us, since I am basically the parent, the teacher and the administrator, it was a little less obvious how I needed to set up and distribute the licenses and manage the program to get started. Being homeschoolers, we do not deal with that typical”school” structure and that part of the program was a bit cumbersome but still is a minor problem when looking at the program as a whole. Since I know many folks that would be discouraged at this point and just walk away from a program before they use it, I thought I would bring it up right away so that they can know that it is a lot better once they get past the set up and start to actually use the program itself.
I started off by deciding a reading level I believed my daughter should be at and then had her read the story provided for assessment at that level. Your child reads the story out loud while you, as the parent or teacher, note any mistakes and tell your child to stop reading after one minute has passed. You compare your child’s results against a chart that tells you whether they have read within the acceptable score at that reading level. We read from two levels before deciding where my daughter best fit to begin the program.
Once my daughter was set up at her reading level, she signed into her own account and started the program.
Upon signing in for the first time, my daughter was given a choice of stories to select from for her first lesson. For each lesson, the program has the following steps that your child needs to complete before moving on to another lesson: key words, prediction of story, cold timing, read along, practice, quiz, retell, and a last step in which she had to pass all the requirements for her goal for the lesson. The following video shows exactly what your child does for each lesson and explains what is required to complete a lesson.
Now that you have watched a video showing how the program works, I can tell you what my daughter’s and my thoughts were after having gone through one lesson. I liked that the program doesn’t just focus on reading ability but included improvements for vocabulary and reader comprehension. I was not sure at first on having timed read aloud sessions but in the end I could see how it was improving my daughter’s reading fluency. I know my daughter hated having to repeat each reading section in order to meet a pre-determined words per minute goal but she was so excited when she finally met that goal. I could hear how she improved each time she completed another attempt. She also did not like that she had to listen to the read aloud step several times before moving on to another step in the lesson. Again she finally saw how she needed to do that in order to be able to meet her reading goal. We both liked how there were opportunities to click on a difficult word to hear its pronunciation as well as its meaning and use. I have seen some improvements in my daughter’s reading but we have not used it as long term as I feel is needed to see a major improvement. However I can see the benefits to using the Read Live program not only for students that need an intervention to improve reading skills but also for those who are on track as well. There is a good balance in the program for both independent work on the student’s part as well as needing to have a teacher’s assistance during the lessons. I feel this helps to not only ensure the student is doing what they need to be doing to complete each lesson but so the teacher can monitor the progress of the student as well. In addition, each story in the program is non-fiction so that my child also gets the benefit of actually learning something new. After having read through each story several times, the new information she learned was committed to her memory. I appreciated that it was something significant rather than just fiction she had read as part of a program.
You can visit the Read Naturally website to discover more about the Read Live program. The website has many videos you can view as well as information to read about this program.
You can purchase a 12-month subscription to Read Live for one child at $149.00 by calling 800.788.4085 and speak to a Read Naturally representative, or sending an e-mail to info@readnaturally.com. They have various pricing options depending upon how many students you would like to use their program.
In addition to reading about Read Live from the Read Naturally website you can visit the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog in order to read what my fellow crew members had to say about both the Read Live program as well as One Minute Reader (a home reading program).
I am familiar with Math Mammoth’s math curriculum offerings and have enjoyed utilizing them in the past. Some of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been using and reviewing different products from Math Mammoth. This time however, I received a product that is offered through Math Mammoth’s website but is written by Frank C. Wilson. Our family received several e-books from the Make It Real Learning series which are workbooks geared for grades 3-12. Each one answers the question of “When am I ever going to use this?” and focuses on a certain math theme such as decimals and percentages. The problems and activities in each workbook are based on real life situations and deal with real data. For example, we received the Fractions, Percents, and Decimals I workbook and one of the first sets of problems is centered around baking cakes. The objectives for this problem scenario all deal with multiplying fractions. The student is asked to consider what fraction of the cake recipe needs to be prepared in order to produce a certain number of servings and then how much of an ingredient is now needed to make that portion. Unlike some textbooks that just provide the final answer, the Make It Real Learning workbooks provide a step by step solution to each of the problems within the book. No need for you as the parent to sit down and try to figure out how to do the problem for yourself.
We received Fractions, Percents, and Decimals I, Fractions, Percents, and Decimals II, and Sets, Probability, Statistics I for this review. My oldest is not a math fan so we started using the workbooks from the Frank C. Wilson series in order to supplement our normal math curriculum and to help convince her that math is actually worth learning. Yes it is easy to say that you need math for many things but to actually work on problems that are realistic holds a little more sway than mere words. Each workbook is definitely more motivating than a normal textbook and more fun too. If you have kids who need to see to believe then the Frank C. Wilson Make it Real Learning series is worth the $4.99 cost per workbook. You can even purchase all 11 workbooks for a discounted price of $39.99.
The Make It Real Learning series is not meant to teach the math concepts but it does provide good supplemental material for your child.
Whether your student is wondering how they might ever use the quadratic equation or how they might use statistics in daily life, these workbooks are sure to make your student think critically as well as start thinking about how they might use math in everyday situations.
List of available workbooks in the Make It Real Learning series:
Arithmetic I – for grades 3-6
Fractions, Percents, and Decimals I – for grades 4-8.
Fractions, Percents, and Decimals II – for grades 6-11.
Sets, Probability, and Statistics I – for grades 6-10.
Linear Functions I – for algebra 1 and algebra 2.
Linear Functions II – for algebra 1 and algebra 2.
Quadratic Functions I – for algebra 1 and algebra 2/precalculus.
Exponential and Logarithmic Functions I – for algebra 2/precalculus.
Periodic and Piecewise Functions I – for algebra 2/precalculus.
Polynomial, Power, Logistic, and Rational Functions I – for algebra 2/precalculus.
Each buyer of the Make It Real Learning series are permitted to make copies for their students/children they are teaching, but not for other teachers’ usage.
You can purchase the Make It Real Learning workbooks from HERE.
You can check out all the reviews the TOS Homeschool Crew has done for Math Mammoth on our Crew Blog HERE.
Note: I received this product for free as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew in order to provide an honest review for my readers.
Award-winning author, LINDA RONDEAU, writes for the reader who enjoys a little bit of everything. Her stories of redemption and God’s mercies include romance, suspense, the ethereal, and a little bit of history into the mix, always served with a slice of humor. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, mother of three and wife of one very patient man, Linda now resides in Florida where she is active in her church and community. Readers may visit her web site at 
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