Math Rider Review

When I received Math Rider to review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew, I wasn't really sure if my daughter would like it.  She's not particularly interested in horses, so I wondered if

that might cause her not to enjoy using the program.  I had nothing to worry about, though!  She really enjoys it! 

Math has never been her best subject, and I'm always looking for ways to make it easier or more fun for her to do.  There's not much way to make learning math facts easier except by making it more fun, and Math Rider does that!



The screen shot above shows one of the backgrounds that your student will see as she races to correctly answer her math facts.  There are other backgrounds that are used as well.  (You can see one of the other backgrounds below.)  The student sees a math problem (We started with addition facts since she's not quite ready to go on to multiplication facts yet).  and has to type in the correct answer before the horse jumps over the hurtle. 

Mary Grace (age 8) really likes the challenge of trying to answer each math problem before her horse jumps over the hurtle.  I like it too because it doesn't give her time to count up the answers if she doesn't already know them.  I remember learning to quickly count up the answers to the math facts instead of really learning them.  I don't want Mary Grace to learn to be a quick counter--I want her to actually learn the facts so she will always remember them.  With Math Rider, that is a necessity.

The screen shot above shows the student's progress.  The red line shows the student how far she has progressed, and its length increases each time she completes a new "lesson."  Mary Grace loves looking at this "progress report."  It makes her feel like she is accomplishing something.

The only thing I didn't care much for is that, at the beginning of the program, there is a story that tells where/why the horse needs to ride quickly and jump over all the hurtles.  The child's mother is deathly ill and the child is racing to get some medicine for her.  I would like to see the story be something less negative and maybe more inspiring or something like that.  I thought maybe the story would bother Mary Grace since she's a real "Mommy's girl," but she just ignored that part and went on with the math problems. 

One other thing that some folks may not like is that there are some references to magic or things being magical.  I don't prefer to stress magic, and my children know that things don't happen because of "magic" but instead because of God.  I would prefer that the magic parts not be in there at all, but it's pretty easy to skip over them. 

In short, I have to say that Mary Grace is really enjoying practicing her math facts using Math Rider.  This is certainly a program that I would recommend! 

You can visit the Math Rider website here.  Math Rider can be purchased for $37.  It comes with a 30-day money back guarantee too, so you can try it out out without worrying about wasting money if your child doesn't like it for some reason. 

If you'd like to see what some of the other Crew members have to say about Math Rider, click here. 

Wordless Wednesday: A Good Book and a Good Cat

Memoir Mondays Week 21

This week's Memoir Mondays questions are about family trips and grandparents.  When I was small (before I was in school), my dad was in the Army.  We lived in one other country and several different states from the time my sis and I were born until we started 1st grade.  For that reason, we didn't live near either set of grandparents.  We also didn't take many vacations when I was growing up.  This week's questions brought back some fond memories that I do have, though, of vacations and grandparents.  I hope you enjoy reading about them.

1. Do you recall any outstanding family trips or summer holidays you experienced as a child?


I do remember once (when we lived in Nashville, I think) when my parents and sister and I all got up really early one morning to head to Mississippi to see both sets of grandparents.  I remember being really excited about seeing them.  I also remember asking my parents to tell me about each set of grandparents and having them explain which set was which.  It was a little confusing to be up so early and traveling while it was still "night."  I honestly don't even remember getting to Mississippi and seeing my grandparents on that trip at all, but I do remember the anticipation and all those questions I asked! 

Oh, and here's a bit of "bonus" information just for fun.  When we lived in Nashville, my dad was the manager of the apartment building where we lived.  In the apartment right under us was Ronnie Milsap and his wife and son!  He was just beginning to really become known in the music industry, and he was gone most of the time.  His wife, though, knew my mom, and his son (Todd--if I remember correctly) played with my sister and me.  I sometimes wonder if they remember us at all.  Guess I'll never know!

2. Do you remember any of your four grandparents? Any greats? What were their names? Any memories that you have.

Both of my dad's parents have passed away.  Their names were Mae and James.  I absolutely adored my grandfather!!  He was always very active and talkative and happy.  He loved to talk about politics with my dad, and I remember Mamaw getting onto him because he would get so excited when they talked politics that he would end up getting really loud.  I always thought it was so funny the way she got onto him and the way he always ignored her and went right on with what he was doing.  They really loved each other, though, and we knew it. 

Mamaw was not a very outwardly affectionate person, but she loved us and we loved her too.  She always called my sis and me "Sugey."  (Like the word "sugar.")  She raised the biggest, yummiest tomatoes in the world!!  They were absolutely fantastic!!  She and Papaw had a garden every year, and they loved to show it to us when we visited.  Once we were school age, we lived pretty close, so we saw them pretty regularly.  Mamaw was a good cook, too, but she didn't use many spices or much salt.  We always had to add a bit of salt to whatever she cooked, but it was good. 

My mom's dad died when my sis and I were pretty young--maybe 7 or 8 years old.  I do remember him, though.  I particularly remember his bald spot and how we loved to use crayons (who knows why??) to poke his bald spot when he was sleeping in his recliner!  I also, for some weird reason, have a pretty vivid memory of one time when he was keeping my sis and me when we were sick and couldn't go to school.  My mom was a teacher, so he kept us sometimes when she needed to go to work but we were too sick to go to school.  He always took us in his old pickup truck to a little store nearby.  On this occasion, he took us to the store, bought us each some kind of candy, and then one of us threw up (sorry--gross!) in his truck on the way home.  (Because my sis and I are twins, our memories sometimes get mixed up and we can't remember which of us the memory actually happened to and which one was the bystander.  I'm not sure which of us actually was sick in his truck.)  I remember feeling really bad about it because he loved his truck.  He was always so calm and quiet, though, that I don't remember him getting upset about it or anything.

My mom's mother is still alive.  She lives next door to my mom, so I see her fairly often.  She makes the best, fluffiest, yummiest biscuits you've ever had!!  Honest!!  You should try them sometime.  I remember spending the night at her house when my dad had to go out of town sometimes (because my mom was afraid to stay at home when Daddy was gone).  She had a window unit air conditioner for the years we were small, and we slept in the living room on quilts and listened to that old air conditioner as we went to sleep.  Then in the morning she would quietly go into the kitchen and make coffee and biscuits and sausage.  When it was all ready, she'd yell out, "Breeeeeeeeakfaaaaaast!" 

Here's another little bit of extra free info for ya.  When we ate breakfast, we ate what we called "coffee and biscuits."  What that meant was that we ate biscuits crumbled up with black coffee poured over them and mixed all together.  I know it sounds gross (and DON'T try it with canned biscuits--nothing but homemade will do for this), but it's so yummy!!  I still love to eat it when I'm at her house if she has any biscuits left over since I'm never there at breakfast.  In fact, just typing this is making my mouth water (no kidding!).  I think I'm going to go call my grandmother right now and tell her to make me a big pan of biscuits! 

Do you have a memory of a trip or a grandparent that you'd like to share?  You can leave me a comment here, or you can post on your own blog and link up at Heartfelt Homeschooling.  I'd love to hear from you!

Times Alive!

Have you heard of City Creek Press?  The TOS Homeschool Crew got to use and review their Times Alive multiplication CD ROM.  I didn't actually get to review the product myself, but I think we would have enjoyed using it!  (One of the Crew members who was going to review this product was sick and unable to post, so I'm doing an informational review to tell you about it.  Now if I could only sneak over to that Crew member's house and creep in to snag that CD!) 

This program sounds really fun!  It's a way for your children to learn and review their multiplication facts.  Did you teach your kids their multiplication facts the way I did--using flashcards and endless drills?  Not much fun, huh?  Well, for those of you who haven't yet taught multiplication facts or those who need review (whether you homeschool or your kids go to school somewhere), this looks like a great way to do it! 

Times Alive! is a supplementary math program.  There are CDs that are for use in schools, others for homeschoolers, and even some that are specifically good for use in special education classrooms.  They have CDs for teaching addition facts and others for teaching multiplication facts.  The way it works is this:  The CDs contain fun little stories with cartoon-looking numbers and songs telling about a particular math fact.  There are also interactive games and quizzes and worksheets to be done on the computer.  There are  progress reports and quiz scores.  To see more about any of these features, you can take a look here.  In fact, as I was looking at screen shots and demos on the website, my 8-year-old and her cousin were looking with me, and they loved the multiplication songs!  The first thing my daughter wanted to know is if I will buy the CD for her! 

The Times Alive! CD is $48.95.  Or you can buy the instant download for $44.95.  I think this might be a good program to consider particularly for folks who have music-loving and story-loving kids.  I suppose there are a few kids who just want to get the basic information and be done with it (like my son).  Most kids, though, like my daughter, would probably really like this fun, animated way to learn math facts.

If you want to read more opinions from other Crew members who used the Times Alive! CD, you can do that here.

Do you remember how you learned your multiplication tables? 

Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution

We are a family of folks who love to read.  I have loved to read ever since I can remember.  My husband loves to read.  My kids have loved to read ever since they were old enough to be able to read.  When my son was learning to read, though, he didn't like the whole process at all!  He thought he should just "already" be able to read without all the work it took to learn!  Once he was able to read easily, though, he started to love it just like the rest of us.  One thing that would have been really great to have back when I was teaching him to read is a program like Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution! 

You see, the problem he had when he was learning to read was that it was hard to find reading material that was interesting to him but that wasn't too difficult.  If he had to struggle to read it, that took all the fun out of it.  Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution aims to provide reading material that is interesting and fun and makes the child want to read while enjoying reading.  Pretty neat, huh?

Although I was given this program free in order to use it and write this review, anybody can sign up (for free!) for one part of it.  Kid Scoop offers 30 days' worth of reading tips for parents of reluctant readers.  Each day for 30 days, you will get an email with a tip telling you a fun way to get your reluctant reader to want to read and to enjoy reading.  And you don't need any special materials either.  If you subscribe to your local newspaper, you can use it for the "assignments."  If not, I think you could use magazines just as well for most of the tips.

There are two other products included in the program if you decide to buy it.  First, I'll tell you about the digital newspaper subscription for your reluctant reader.  It is called Kid Scoop News, and it is read online.  My daughter thought it was really neat to have her own online newspaper to read.  The articles are pretty short and are, of course, written to be of interest to kids.  It is also colorful and fun-looking, which can be very important in motivating a child to want to read it.  Besides articles, there are things like crossword puzzles and mazes. 

The other part of the program is an ebook.  This book, called The Reluctant Reader Solution, includes 60 different topics along with activity sheets (365 individual activity sheets).  The topics all have 6 or 7 worksheets with fun activities for the reluctant reader to do.  There are topics that will appeal more to boys and topics geared toward girls as well.  Since you probably won't do a worksheet each and every day of the year, it looks to me like there should be enough worksheets to do 1 or 2 a day for the whole school year.  These activity sheets are simple black and white sheets so they can easily be printed out so the child can complete them.  If your child likes word searches and puzzles and cartoons and those kinds of fun things, then he or she will probably love these worksheets!  I think they are a great way to encourage any child to read--whether he or she already loves to read or is a reluctant reader. 

You can buy a one-year subscription to the Kid Scoop News along with the ebook for $97.00.  If you'd rather, you can also buy individual Reluctant Reader Solution topics for $2.99 each.  There are also ebooks with several topics which can be purchased for $14.99 each. 

Just keep in mind that this is not a program for the purpose of teaching a child to read.  This is to encourage kids who don't really enjoy reading to learn to enjoy it!  I personally think it could be quite useful for children who already like to read too, like my daughter.  She loves to read, and she loved this program! 

If you'd like to see examples of pages of the newspaper or worksheet pages, you can do that here.  You can also read more about the program and how it works.  If you want to see the topics available for purchase for $2.99 each, you can do that here.  Some of my favorites are Creative Outdoors, The Nutcracker, and Blooming Creative.  And finally, you can look  here to see the 3 ebooks (each with about 36 activity pages) that you can choose from.

If you want to read more opinions from other Crew members who received, used, and reviewed Kid Scoop's Reluctant Reader Solution, you can do that here. 

Wordless Wednesday: My Nephew, Silas

Memoir Mondays Week 20

This week on Memoir Mondays, the questions are about teachers I've had in the past.  Even though I homeschool my own children, I grew up attending publich school.  My mother taught at the school that my sis and I went to from the time we were in 1st grade (There was no public kindergarten at school back then.) through 7th grade.  (Back then there was no middle school either.  1st-7th grade was elementary school, and 8th-12th grade was high school.)

On to this week's questions!

1. Do you remember the name of the teacher who had the biggest impact on you? Who was it? Tell something about that person and that time in your life.

Yes, I do!  The teacher who had the biggest impact on me was probably Mrs. Simpson.  She taught me in 1st grade--which was my first year of school since there was no kindergarten at the elementary school.  I think 1st grade teachers are so important because they are some of the first teachers who influence students and help them begin to develop good (or bad) attitudes toward school.  Mrs. Simpson was pretty tough--even on us 1st graders--but I liked her just fine.  She motivated me and made me do my best. 

She taught me again when I was in 7th grade.  (She moved from teaching 1st grade to teaching 7th grade the year that I entered 7th grade.)  In 7th grade, she was really tough!  She didn't put up with students goofing around and not doing their best!  Some of the students didn't like her, but most of the students who were willing to work and do a good job did. 

And then, when I was in college, I did my student teaching under her!  I guess she thought she'd never get rid of me!  She trusted me with lots of responsibility when I student taught in her class, and I learned a lot.  She observed when I taught, gave me pointers, and was very supportive.  It was really kind of strange to be back in her class again but to be treated as an adult instead of a child.  I'll never forget that! 


2. Do you remember having a teacher that had a negative impact on you? If so, what happened? How did you get past it?


The funny thing about this question is that, when I first read it, I didn't think about any of my own teachers as I was going through school.  I thought again about another teacher (not Mrs. Simpson) that I student taught under.  As part of my student teaching, I had to do a kindergarten practicum for 9 weeks.  I did not care to do it because I don't particularly like teaching that age.  I did, of course, enjoy teaching my own children when they were that age.  When it comes to teaching other people's children, though, I prefer to teach junior high kids.

Here's a little aside:   I know!  I know!  I'm weird.  Junior high kids are obnoxious.  Junior high kids are all taller than me.  Junior high kids think they know everything.  It's all true!  And ya know what?  I still love teaching that age!!  Perhaps it's the challenge that draws me.  Who knows?  I guess God made some of us willing to teach them so that everyone else didn't have to!!  So here's where you say, "Better you than me, Sister!" 

Back to my answer:  While I was doing my kindergarten practicum, I spent the entire 9 weeks with the same teacher.  She was young and seemed very nice when I talked with her on the phone before beginning my time in her class.  I figured I would enjoy teaching with her even if I wasn't really thrilled about being in a kindergarten classroom.  Boy, did I get a surprise when I actually got to her classroom! 

Let me just be blunt.  I hated it.  It was awful.  It was terrible.  It was traumatic.  (And not just for me.  It was traumatic for all the poor kids in her class!)  This teacher was very unkind to her students.  She was nice to a few kids who were really smart and who tried really hard to please her.  Besides those few kids though, she wasn't very nice to the rest of the kids.  There was one little boy in particular who had some learning problems and some behavior problems too, and she was just plain mean to him!!  The poor kid hid under his desk almost every day, and the principal had to come get him out.  No wonder.  I wanted to hide under there with him! 

I felt terribly sorry for those kids.  Truth is--I felt pretty sorry for myself too--having to spend 9 weeks with that teacher.  I don't even remember her name, but I sure remember how miserable she made school for those little kindergarten kids.  Some of them probably hated school for the rest of their lives because of her.

I usually try to be thankful when folks help me (such as when this teacher allowed me to be in her classroom for 9 weeks), but in this case, it was a struggle!  I wasn't very thankful for the opportunity except that it may have helped me learn what not to do in my own classroom.  I also try not to be too critical of folks who are trying to do their best.  Please forgive me, because I know I was very critical of this poor lady. 

I think teachers are so very important in the lives of the children they teach!!  For good or bad, we make a big difference!  I am once again so thankful to teach my own children at home.  I'm certainly not perfect, and I have really goofed up at times, but I do love my kids and want what's best for them.  And that means a lot when you're a teacher.

Thanks to April at Heartfelt Homeschooling for hosting this meme!  If you'd like to see more answers to this week's questions, you can visit her blog. 

Oh, and don't forget to leave me a comment about your favorite (or most memorable) teacher!  I'd love to hear what you have to say!
 

Are You Curious about Puffer Fish?!

One thing I really like about the Curiosity Files unit studies is that they work for older students as well as younger.  So many unit studies are geared toward elementary students that it's pretty easy to find them for that age.  These unit studies, while great for younger students, are also wonderful for junior high and even high school students!  Adults will love them too!  I sure did. 

And there's such a wonderful variety of activities to go along with each one.  Besides the information about the topic of the unit study, in this case it was puffer fish, there is also a great variety of other kinds of related information.  There are math activities, writing ideas, spelling and vocabulary words, links to the Bible, science fair ideas, art projects, just-for-fun activities, and even music-related ideas! 

I agree with Professor Ana Lyze, the "writer" of the Curiosity Files unit studies, that I had no idea puffer fish were so fascinating!  I chose this topic because I thought my children would enjoy it since they like fish.  I really didn't realize how much we would all learn from it too!

My 8-year-old daughter really enjoys those books that show her how to draw animals, so she really liked the "Draw a Puffer Fish Step by Step" activity.  She also loves word finds and crossword puzzles, so she enjoyed those too.  The mini-book activity was fun, and she liked the additional books suggested in "Read All About It."   My older kids love to read too, and they love using the computer.  They had lots of fun checking out some of the many websites listed in "Wanna Learn More?"   I appreciated that an answer key is included at the end of the unit study!

There are already quite a few topics available with more coming soon!  Right now you can choose from:
blue diamond
dung beetle
MRSA
puffer fish
red tides
zombie fire ants
blue-footed booby
cicada killing wasp
quicksand

You can buy a CD including all 9 topics that are currently available for $49.  Or you can buy all 9 topics as downloadable e-books for $46.  Either way it works about to be just about $5 per unit study!  Or you can buy individual unit studies in this series for $6.95 each (at the time of this review).  Right now, though, several of these are on sale at the Schoolhouse Store for only $1 each!  Just go to The Old Schoolhouse Store and type "Curiosity Files" in the search box.

If you have a good idea for a future Curiosity Files unit study, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know!  We are always looking for wacky topics to add to our list.  What would you like to learn more about?

NOTE:  I received the Puffer Fish unit study for free in exchange for using the study and giving an honest review of my family's experiences and opinions on the product. 

I Was Awarded!

My friend April at Heartfelt Homeschooling awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award!  April and I have become friends since I started participating in her meme called Memoir Mondays.  Each Monday (we get a sneak peek of the topic on Sunday) she asks two questions related to something in the past that you might want to post telling about memories of a person or event, etc.  I have really enjoyed participating in Memoir Mondays for the last few months!  Thanks so much, April, for the award! 

The rules to follow for those receiving the Stylish Blogger Award are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

7 things about me:

1. I have a twin sister who lives nearby.  We talk on the phone every day (usually more than once) and see each other at least once a week (or more if possible).  We have children of similar ages, so it works out great!!
2. I have a "baby" sister who was born when my twin sister and I were 15 years old.  When our baby sis learned to talk, she called both of us and our mom all Mommy!  :)
3. I work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine part-time from home.  I work as Assistant to the Publishers and as the Social Media Coordinator for the Schoolhouse Expo.  I love my job!!  I'm also on the Homeschool Crew which I also love! 
4. I am the wife of the most wonderful husband in the world!  In May of this year, we will have been married for 20 years.  :) 
5. I have 3 great kiddos too!  Hannah is 15, Noah is 13, and Mary Grace is 8. 
6. I will be turning 40 years old on February 15--next week
7. I love reading (and reading and reading some more), quilting, blogging, playing the piano (although I don't play as often as I'd like to any more), and spending time with my husband and kids.  That's one reason why I love homeschooling so much.  I get to spend my kids' growing-up years really getting to know them. 

On to the 15 bloggers who are receiving the Stylish Blogger Award from me:

Jacqueline's Jabberings
A Higher Calling Christian Academy
A Life Better Than I Deserve
Homeschooling in Nova Scotia
For Such a Time as This
A Deuteronomy 6:7 Family
The Crafty Home
Crystal in Stitches
A Teaching Heart
Holey Stockings
Reflections in the Window
Live, Laugh, Learn
This Beautiful Mess
Serenades and Solace
Saved by Grace


I hope you will take the time to visit some of these blogs!  Some of them are brand new and are just getting started blogging.  Others of them have been around for a while.  All bloggers love visitors and comments, though! 

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

Memoir Mondays Week 19

1. What did your room look like when you were growing up?



I don't remember what our bedroom looked like when my twin sister and I were really little.  When we were about 1 1/2 or 2, Mother decided to let us try having our own rooms (2 separate rooms instead of sharing a room), but Melissa and I would get out of our beds at night and meet in the hall to see each other!  After that, we went back to sharing a room again, and we shared a room until we left the nest.

My most vivid memory of how our room looked growing up was from the time we were probably about 1st or 2nd grade.  Melissa and I had desperately wanted Bambi bedspreads, and our parents finally let us get them.  We were thrilled!  I wish I had a picture of those bedspreads.  Now the only picture I have is in my memory.  I haven't thought of those in a long time.  I'll have to ask Melissa if she remembers them.


The bedspreads were kind of sky blue with, of course, Bambi and Thumper (remember Thumper, the little rabbit?) and Flower (the skunk) on them.  Our room had white walls and real wood floors.  The room was so small that our twin beds took up most of the available space.  We did have a dresser and a chest of drawers too, but we could barely get the drawers open and get what we needed out of them!   The curtains were pink. 

The closet was one of those wide closets that wasn't very "deep."  It had sliding wooden doors.  On one of the sliding doors was a place in the wood grain that was darker than the rest of the door and looked like a face.  I remember that I never could go to sleep at night unless the sliding closet doors were completely closed. 


2. Did your family move when you were a child? If so, what do you remember most about it?


Our dad was in the Army when we were born and until we got to be school-age.  We were born in the Panama Canal Zone and moved back to the US when we were (I think) about 6 months old or so.  For our first several years, we moved a few times, but I don't remember any of the moves. 


For some reason, though, I do remember a time when we lived in Tennessee and we were getting ready to visit our grandparents who lived in Mississippi.  I remember that it was still dark when we got up that morning, and I was a little confused about getting up so early thinking it was still "sleeping time."  I remember being so excited about getting to go see both sets of grandparents.  I remember trying to remember which grandparents were which since we didn't see them often and I wasn't really sure.


Once Melissa and I started kindergarten, my parents decided that my dad should get out of the Army so we wouldn't have to move from place to place and from school to school.  Then we lived near our grandparents and got to know both sets very well.  Looking back, I'm so glad we lived near our grandparents while we were growing up!  So many kids don't have that chance now.


I suppose I strayed some from the original Memoir Mondays questions, but it sure was fun thinking of those memories that haven't come to me in a long time!  Thanks, April, for coming up with such great questions!


If you want to read more Memoir Mondays responses, visit April at her blog, Heartfelt Homeschooling. 

Monarchs & Milkweed

I have been visiting some homeschool blogs this week just to see what everyone else is up to.  What I've noticed in my visiting is that nearly everyone is sick of snow!!  To be honest, we don't have a chance to get sick of snow here in the South since we so rarely get any at all.  I'm not that crazy about it myself, though, since snow necessarily involves really cold weather!   And I'm not a fan of cold weather at all.  Which is great since we don't get a lot of that either most of the year. 


So what in the world could snow possibly have to do with monarchs and milkweed?  I'm glad you asked!  My younger daughter and I were doing her science lesson today.  We are using Exploring Creation with Zoology 1:  Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (Apologia Science Young Explorers) by Jeannie Fulbright.  Today's lesson told about monarch butterflies, their features and how they eat, and about their migration patterns.  The pictures were absolutely beautiful, and it was so nice to think about butterflies when all we see outside right now is brown grass and bare trees.  We do see some fat little chickadees and red birds most days because we have a bird feeder outside our window, and the poor birds are desperate for food in all this cold weather!  (You can tell by looking at those fat little birds that we are taking care of them very well until the weather is warm again.) 


So we were looking at these beautiful photos of the monarch butterflies and reading about what they eat and how to attract them to our yard.  We had never really thought about trying to attract them to our yard before (even though we did raise some Painted Lady butterflies in our house in a butterfly habitat earlier this school year).  We read that they like to get nectar from milkweed flowers, so we did a little research on milkweed to see how to grow it.


We found a website where we can order milkweed seeds, so we went there to check out their information.  It turns out that there are LOTS of different kinds of milkweed.  (We didn't know that!)  Different kinds like it better in different areas of the country.  I looked for several that might be happy to grow here in the South, and I'm planning to order some tomorrow.


We also didn't know that some kinds of milkweed seeds must be exposed to the cold, wet conditions of winter before they will germinate in the spring.  For other kinds, that's not necessary.  Now is the time, though, to start preparing the seeds that need the cold and wet, though, since they'll need it for 6 weeks before they can be planted.  Once our seeds arrive--hopefully pretty soon--we'll start getting them ready.  In the spring when we plant them, maybe I'll do a gardening post.  Then, of course, we'll have to show off our beautiful flowers once they bloom.  (I was so surprised to see all the different varieties of milkweed and the many very different and colorful flowers that they produce!)  Hopefully we'll attract those butterflies and be able to show off their pictures as well.


So instead of thinking about the cold, wet winter weather we're having right now, we're going to think about beautiful monarchs and milkweed!  Would you like to join us?

Wordless Wednesday: Making a Splash!

                                     

 

How Are Your New Year's Resolutions Going?

Did I tell you that I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions?  I don't.  It just stresses me out when I feel like I have to make some resolution and stick to it when it's obviously got to be something I don't want to do or I wouldn't need to resolve to do it!  So this year, when New Year's Day rolled around, I decided to do something different.  I decided to make a resolution to do something that I actually want to do! 

I did consider resolving to exercise more often.  I've been trying for several months now to make myself exercise.  Some weeks I actually get up before the kids are up and either walk on the treadmill or do an exercise video.  Occasionally I even do it 3 or 4 times that week.  Then, after a week or two, I get distracted or discouraged and don't keep it up.  So I'm planning to try to exercise more often this year.  Perhaps I'll even get into a good habit of doing it several times a week.  Who knows?!  But I'm not going to resolve to do it.  No pressure.

I also considered giving up carbonated drinks.  I gave up drinking caffeine 15 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child, so the caffeine isn't what I need.  I do, however, love to drink those wonderful fizzy carbonated drinks!!  I love a good Mug rootbeer (caffeine free!)  or a good Sprite.  I really love caffeine free Cokes, but it's harder to find them, and they don't make them in the little bottles with the lids that twist on and off.  I don't normally drink a whole drink at once.  I like to spread it out over a couple of days so I'm not drinking so many of them.  So anyway, I considered giving those up, but I decided not too.  Too much pressure.  Too much temptation to overcome. 

So what was my resolution?  Well, do you moms remember how when your kids were all little you stopped wearing all your pretty necklaces and earrings and bracelets because the babies or toddlers were always grabbing them and breaking them?  So, you guessed it, I resolved to start remembering to wear my jewelry again!  :)  Now that's a pretty painless resolution.  A resolution, in fact, that I have actually been enjoying keeping!  I don't try to wear it when I'm at home with the kids, but I have been remembering to wear it to church and even to the store or the doctor's office or wherever else I go.  I've gotten lots of compliments, too, which is really nice. 

So did you make a resolution?  Have you been sticking with it?  If not, you are certainly welcome to borrow mine.  Or, if you already wear your jewelry, perhaps you can be thinking of a suitable resolution for next year.  A resolution that will be fun to keep.  A resolution you can live with!  So it's confession time.  I'd love for you to share with me what your resolution was and if you've been keeping it.