Beeing Beeyoutiful!

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew, I was given two Beeyoutiful products to use and review.  I use Beeyoutiful's essential oils and diffuser already, and I've used some of their other products too, so I was really happy to be asked to review Ow!Ease and their orange-scented lip balm.                                                                                       



The lip balm pictured above comes in either peppermint or orange scents.  I received the orange one.   It goes on very smoothly and makes my lips feel soft.  I've used other natural lip balms before and was very disappointed because they were grainy instead of smooth.  I really liked this one a lot, though, and will definitely be ordering some more!  In fact, my sister took my tube from me because she didn't have any natural lip balm and wanted to try some.  Needless to say she didn't return it!  So I guess that means both of us will be ordering more.  ;)

The second product I received was Ow!Ease.  This product comes in a "stick" form almost like the lip balm, but it's larger.  If you or your hubby or children have a bruise or sore muscles, Ow!Ease is good for rubbing onto the sore area.  It is supposed to help sore muscles feel better and to help bruises heal faster.  During the review period, my family and I were fortunate enough not to have sore muscles or bruises, so I can't vouch for it.  I do know, though, that I've been pleased with the other products I've used from Beeyoutiful, so I'm going to try it out when the need arises. 

The all-natural lip balm sells for $3.  Ow! Ease is $15.  Beeyoutiful is a company that I use and trust, and I can confidently recommend their products.  I love to recommend products and companies that I already use and enjoy!  I hope you will enjoy them as much as my family and I do!

Do You Know Who You Are?

Have you or your children ever wondered who you really are and why God placed you here on earth at this particular time in history?  I suppose nearly everyone wonders about these things at one time or another.  Apologia Educational Ministries has a wonderful resource that can be helpful in answering questions like this one.  This resource is a book called Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here?  As a part of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew, I received a copy of the "textbook" as well as the notebooking journal, the book on MP3 CD, and even a coloring book to go along with the curriculum! 

Having used the first book in this series last year, I was really excited about using and reviewing this second book in the series as well.  (Although these books are part of a series, the individual books can easily be used on their own as well.)    My kids and I loved not only the book, but also the notebooking journal, CD, and coloring book!

My younger daughter, now age 9, loves notebooking journals.  She was thrilled to know that she would be able to use use the journal and the coloring books in particular.  I was thrilled to know that, since she was so excited about the additional resources, she would learn and remember so much more than if we simply went through the book together.  I absolutely believe the book is worth doing on its own, but the journal and coloring book really add to the experience in my opinion. 

Another thing I really enjoyed about the book is that it's set up so that the study can be done over a few months or over a much longer period of time--depending on how long you want to take to study it.  And if your child prefers to do the study more independently, she can use the MP3 CD, which reads the book out loud, so that she can feel more independent or can re-listen to the lessons as she wishes. 

The main purpose of this book is to explain that each of us is made with a purpose.  We are each created by God and given certain talents and strengths.  It also explains that we should love God and study His Word, and that our relationship with Him is the thing that will guide us as we live, make decisions, and so on throughout our lives. 

I absolutely recommend this book!  It sells for $39 and is a sturdy hardback book.  The notebooking journal is $24, the CD is $19, and the coloring book is $8.  The books are targeted toward students ages 6-14.  I think most students in the younger ages would need to have an adult either read the book aloud to them or would at least benefit from discussion after reading the book.  Older students could probably handle the study alone, but I like to go through these studies with my children even though my older children are 16 and 15. 

If you'd like to read more reviews of this product that were written by other Crew members, you can do that at http://homeschoolcrew.com/784551/ .


NOTE:  I received these materials in exchange for this review giving my honest opinion of the book and additional products.  I did not receive any other compensation. 

Valentine's Day Candy: YUM!

We don't usually go "all out" for Valentine's Day at my house, but we do like to do a little something for each other on that day.  My hubby and I usually exchange cards, and the kiddos often make cards for Scott and me.  Rather than cards, though, the kids would rather have something yummy to eat! 

Mary Grace (the only one who likes to help me cook) and I made some candy to share with the family and folks at church.  We don't really know what it's called, but it's definitely easy to make, and it's definitely yummy!

Here's how it looks when it's almost finished. 
The only thing left to do is let it cool and break it into pieces. 

Although you can't see it in this picture, there is a layer of milk chocolate on the bottom of the pan.  Then the milk chocolate layer is covered by a layer of white chocolate.  We sprinkled M&Ms over about 2/3 of the pan before the chocolate had time to set.  Then we sprinkled broken up bits of candy cane over the remaining 1/3.  The kids don't like the candy cane part very much, but I love it!  That's why we only covered a small part of it with the crushed candy canes.  Maybe I will eat less of it that way.  We'll see!  ;)

We simply melted a bag of milk chocolate chips and put it in a foil-lined pan.  We tilted the pan to make the milk chocolate spread around without tearing the foil.  We put the pan in the freezer for a few minutes while we melted the bag of white chocolate chips.  Once those were melted, we poured the melted white chocolate over the milk chocolate.  Be very sure to tilt the pan to make this layer cover the other one.  If you spread it with a spoon, it may cause the milk chocolate under the bottom to show through.  Of course it will still taste great, but it won't look as pretty. 

Then, as I stated earlier, we just sprinkled M&Ms over part of the pan and crushed up candy canes over the rest.  The last step is to break the candy apart into pieces. 

When I give away candy like this, I always choose the pretties pieces to give away.  That makes me feel much better about eating what's left.  After all, it wouldn't be nice to give away the pieces that didn't turn out as pretty, right?

Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, do you have any quick and simple recipes to share?  Or do you celebrate the day without candy?  I'd love to hear what you and your family do to make Valentine's Day special!

A Day in the Life of the Family Computer

My friend Carlie over at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler just started a new meme called "A Day in the Life."  It actually started last week, but I didn't get a post submitted.  (Shame on me!)  It will be held every Thursday, so if you'd like to participate, I'm sure she'd love to have you!  I get to tell about a day in the life of a person, animal, object, or whatever else I choose.  So here goes...........

Hello!  I am the "school" computer that belongs to the Hilton family.  I'm mostly used by Noah, my 14-year-old boy.  I like being his computer because, being a boy, he's always doing fun stuff with me.  Well, school isn't always so much fun (at least that's what he says.  I find it rather interesting.), but his mom says it's something that has to be done anyway.  And sometimes, when Noah's mom is busy doing school with one of the girls, Noah sneaks and plays a computer game instead of doing his work.  But please don't tell anyone that I told on him!  He'd get in big trouble if his mom found out! 

Noah used to spend lots of time making stop-motion videos on me.  He hasn't done that in a while.  I'll have to remind him about that because it was a lot of fun.  It was hard work, but it was worth it! 

Sometimes I get to help Noah look up cool new Legos that he wants to buy.  Other times, I help him do research for his speech & debate class or for his history class.  Occasionally his younger sister, Mary Grace, uses me to look up American Girl dolls or to play games on her mom's Facebook account.  (Honestly and truly.  Mary Grace is the one who plays all those games.  Mrs. Wendy is waaaaay too busy!) 

The other day, the family cat, Tabitha (Tabby for short), took a nap on me when the laptop was left open and unattended.  She likes to sleep on my keys because I'm cozy and warm.  I don't like it too much when she sleeps on me, though, because she's rather furry.  Makes me choke and do strange things.  That day was terrible because she accidentally (somehow!) pressed my keys and made the entire screen turn sideways!  Yep.  Totally sideways.  When Mrs. Wendy made Tabby move and tried to type on me, she had to hold the computer sideways.  It was very difficult and confusing.  Her friend, Mrs. Jennifer, who blogs over at A Glimpse of Our Life, helped her figure out how to fix it. 

I always have a good time here!  With 3 kids, 2 cats, 2 birds, and a fish inside along with 2 dogs outside, there's always something fun going on.  Mrs. Wendy says sometimes it's too much fun around here, but I don't know what she means..........

The Family Computer

Wordless Wednesday: Hide and Seek

Lilla Rose! I Love It!

A while back, my daughters and I cut our hair to donate to Locks of Love.  My hair has finally grown long again, so I decided to treat myself to some new things to help it look pretty.  :)  I have a wonderful friend who, along with her daughters, started a Lilla Rose business.  I decided they could help me decide what products I might enjoy.  I love my new Flexi clips from Lilla Rose!  When my friends, the Millers, came to visit recently, I asked to see their inventory while they were here visiting.  I bought this beautiful Flexi clip.  The picture isn't nearly as beautiful as the real thing, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like anyway.  You can get a much better look at this Flexi clip and the many others they offer on my friend's website at http://www.lillarose.biz/prettyhair/. 

They come in different sizes, so I bought several.  My younger daughter has short hair, so she needs a smaller clip.  I bought a smaller one for myself to use when I only want to put up part of my hair (like I did in the photo above).  I also bought some tiny little Flexi clips for my daughter to use for putting up her American Girl dolls' hair too.  She was thrilled!  She has spent hours styling her dolls' hair and making them look pretty with different hairstyles using different Flexi clips.  

One of Mary Grace's American Girl dolls with a beautiful new 'do.

The same doll from the front.  Isn't she pretty?

I also bought a set of You Pins.  The ones I bought have stars on them.  They are kind of like great big hair pins, but they have pretty designs on them. Take a look at the website under the category of "You Pins" and you'll see what they look like.   I thought these star ones were so beautiful that I knew as soon as I saw them that this was the design I wanted to buy.  I used two of the You Pins (They come 2 to a set.) to put my hair up in a bun.  Even with my fairly long hair, the two pins were all I needed to put up my hair, and it stayed all day.  I was surprised.  I was also pleased because I'm pretty tender-headed.  I worried that my head would hurt if I had to pin my hair too tightly.  I pinned it a bit more tightly than I like it at first, and within a few minutes it had loosened just enough to be comfy but not enough to make it fall down.  I love to wear my hair in a bun!  I don't really know why, but I think it's so pretty.  And when it's warm weather, it's so nice to have my hair out of my face and off of my neck too.  And these You Pins are so pretty that I'll actually enjoy putting my hair up in a bun and won't feel at all frumpy!

This photo shows my 9-year-old daughter's hair.  She bought this Flexi clip with her own money.  Since we bought the products on a Saturday, we were getting ready for church the next day and were trying out our new things.  Mary Grace put up her hair with her new Flexi clip and informed me that she was, "Very pleased with her purchase."  ;)    We got lots of compliments at church too! 

I know my friend Jennifer and her two girls would love for you to stop by and take a look at their products!  You can either click on the Lilla Rose button in my sidebar, or you can use this link:  http://www.lillarose.biz/prettyhair/ to take a look.  If you buy anything, be sure to tell them that I sent you!  I'd love to know that I sent them some business!  I hope you enjoy their products as much as I do! 

Wordless Wednesday: Snails!

Ok, this will be my almost-wordless-Wednesday post!  My daughter, Mary Grace, found tons of snails crawling all over the driveway one day last week after it had rained for several hours.  So, like any good homeschooling mom, we took the rest of the afternoon off and "studied" snails!  I found them yucky, but Mary Grace found them fascinating.  ;)