Capture Your Grief 2015

Once again, CarlyMarie is hosting Capture Your Grief in honor of October's Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This month is so significant to many of us moms who have lost a child. We both participate in and cherish those of you who also join us and acknowledge this month and our children we are missing.

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This is the daily prompt of ideas for taking a photo. Feel free to share this on your own Facebook page, Instagram or you are welcome to even post it on my Facebook Page. I will be trying to participate as I can.

More info on Capture Your Grief

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Game Review from USAopoly-Tapple and Wonky

Ever since my kids were young, I knew I wanted to have a game closet, filled with all sorts of games! Every Christmas we add to our growing selection of games which include both fun & energetic games as well as educational & strategy thinking games. We recently had the opportunity to review 2 games from the company USAopoly. The games are Wonky: The Crazy Cube Card Game and Tapple: Fast Word Fun for Everyone.


USAopoly is licensed under Hasbro and has been producing board games and puzzles for over 20 years. Their goal is to bring friends and family together through their games to create memories.

As soon as our games arrived, my kids wanted to dive right into them. We opened Tapple first. This game is an exciting, quick moving word game to play with 2 or more players, ages 8 and above. After a quick glance at the directions, we realized this was a super easy game to play. We needed to put 2 AA batteries in the back for the timer and mix up the stack of cards that came with it. The cards have 2 sides to them with each side having 2 categories. The red side of the cards has more challenging topics while the blue side has easier topics.



Everyone sits in a circle or around a table. The player that goes first chooses a card then decides which topic they want. Some of the topics include words such as: "In this room" (where you'd name things you see in the room), "Candy" (name different kinds of candy or maybe even candy companies). "Leaders & Politicians" and "Computer Terms" are some of the more difficult topics.

To start, the first player hits the big red button in the middle of the board which starts the 10 second timer. The goal is for each player is to push down an available letter button, naming a word that starts with that letter that is relevant to the category on the card. Once the word is said the player then hits the red button that restarts the timer for the next player. Each player keeps going around doing the same thing. If a player doesn't name a word before the timer goes off, they are out that round. You keep playing until there is only 1 person left who then wins that round and collects the card. Once a player has collected 3 cards, the game is over and they are the winner.



We loved how fast paced this game was and how creative yet quick thinking you had to come up with a word. The less letters that remained, the harder it became to think of a word. I am impressed with the card storing feature on this game. On the underside of the plastic game board is a compartment that the cards fit in perfectly to store. No worries about cards getting bent or lost!

Wonky is a completely opposite game in that it is a slower paced, strategy game that uses fine motor skills. There are 9 blocks in 3 different sizes and colors that come in a nice storing pouch. There is also a deck of cards that accompany the blocks. This game is played with 2 or more players, ages 8 and up.


 To start, the blocks are laid in the middle of the table and each player receives 7 cards with the remaining stack of cards turned upside down in the center of the table. Each card has directions of what color and size cube to add to form a stack of cubes. What makes this game "Wonky" is that each cube has curvy sides to it so it takes some strategizing and careful placement to put one cube on top of another without making the tower fall. There are also some "fun" cards placed in the mix such as skipping a turn or reversing the order of players. If the tower falls over while you place a cube, you have to pick up 3 extra cards. To win, you need to be the first person to get rid of all the cards in your hand. 


Both of these games were not only a huge hit in our family but also with the kids friends as well. During this review, we took the games camping with us as well as to our co-op where the kids got to play with their friends. Everyone gave both games rave reviews and will be ones we will continue to play!

 USAopoly Review
Crew Disclaimer

Throwback Thursday-Anniversary & Birthday Style!

I know, you are scratching your head at the title of this post huh?

Well, today, exactly 17 years ago, literally on a Thursday evening, my husband and I got married. Now, I'm sure you are asking WHY a Thursday evening? Well, my husband and I have the same birthday (though he is 5 years old than I am) so we decided to make it one big day and get married on our birthdays. (I'm thinking it was an excuse for him to not forget the date! lol) We joke that we were each others birthday gift (and hey, not many people can say they had their guests sing Happy Birthday to them before cutting the wedding cake, HA!)




Excuse the quality of the photos as this was before digital cameras (ha!) and this is also a photo of the pictures. Hard to believe we've been married 17 years!!! Almost half my life! LOL

In these 17 years, we've been through more than most couples ever experience in a life time and by the grace of God, here we are!

Our biggest accomplishment as a couple has been our amazing children!!


This photo is from our cruise last year.

Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversary Dear!



YWAM Publishing- A Book About Milton Hershey


So often during the course of our history lessons, we just briefly get a glimpse of those who have shaped our past without really getting to know much in depth about them. YWAM Publishing has 2 neat series though that allows students to really get to know people from history. We recently had the chance to review the book Milton Hershey:More Than Chocolate from the Heroes of History series as well as the accompanying downloadable Unit Study Curriculum Guide.


YWAM Publishing is a Christian company that seeks to provide quality literature, study guides, audiobooks and even books in Spanish and other languages. The Schoolhouse Review Crew recently had the chance to choose from over 40 books in 2 series, Heroes of History and Christian Heroes:Then and Now. The biographies are all written by Janet and Geoff Benge, a wife and husband team who have a desire to bring history to life in interesting and engaging books with study guides to accompany the biographies.

The book about Milton Hershey is 192 pages long and contains 18 chapters.The first chapter talks about the failure of Milton's first business and lures you in to learning more about his life and experiences. Then the second chapter takes you back to when he was a child and moves forward from there.

I'll admit, we only live 45 minutes from Hershey, Pa and are quite familiar with Milton's general history but this book gave a more in depth look into his life and how the town came to be all because of one man and his chocolate creations! Did you know Hershey chocolate was making 1 million dollars by 1906 and that Milton Hershey came from a Mennonite family? Also, Milton and his wife were never able to have children and because they were so blessed with money, they felt they need to use it to bless others and wanted to establish a school for orphaned boys. Today the Milton Hershey School still exists to house boys in need.

Not only was the book interesting, the accompanying study guide provides even more in depth learning. 
A screen shot of the Unit Study Curriculum Guide main page (click on photos to enlarge)
  • The curriculum unit study provides a guide to be able to use for either a classroom, in the homeschool or a group like a co-op.
  • Provides ideas on how to tie in social studies, language arts, projects and even field trip suggestions.
  • Videos that allow you to "meet" the authors.
  • Worksheets for students to fill in such as a map, timeline, fact sheet, etc
  • Short biography on Milton Hershey.
  • Chapter Review Questions.
Before my daughter started the book, I printed out all the chapter study guide questions for her, hole punched them and placed them in a 3 ring binder along with lined notebook paper. The printed study questions did not provide enough room to write the answers on it, hence me adding the extra paper. As she completed each chapter, she answered the 6 questions.



One of the suggested field trips was to take a tour of Chocolate World at Hershey. It had been a number of years since I had last taken the kids here so we stopped by here one afternoon after our co-op to round out the book experience.


This book is ideal for a child around age 10 or older or read by a parent for a group unit study. Any of these biographies from the series can be stand alone readers to supplement your schooling or you could do the series for a whole history curriculum! We enjoy how engaging the book was and the variety of activities that were included in the Unit Study Curriculum Guide.

Connect with YWAM:

YWAM Publishing Review
Crew Disclaimer

Good Ole Southern Seafood Boil!

Some of you may remember several months ago when I shared about my trip to Alabama to visit my best friend. While there, I got to experience my first crawfish boil! Let me tell ya, you couldn't get seafood any fresher than what we did. Both the crawfish and shrimp were caught the same day we ate it (& the shrimp there come with the heads still on!) When I got home, I told the kids I would do a seafood boil for them sometime over summer when we could get corn on the cob and little red potatoes fresh from the farm (to make up for not being able to get fresh seafood lol).


One of my many servings I had in Alabama!

I went to Amazon to purchase my seafood boil seasoning, Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seafood Seasoning since it's hard to find this sort of thing around here.

Prepping the food, I cut the earns of corn in half and soaked the clams in salt water (it makes them spit out debris) 

The neat thing about making this meal is that everything gets cooked in one large pot together (though I forgot to take a photo of this part). You start out with the potatoes since they take the longest to cook, then you add things in one by one according to the length of time it takes to cook (smoked sausage or kielbasa is next, followed by the corn, clams then shrimp). I wasn't able to get crawfish so since my kids love clams, I used those in place of the crawfish.

Seafood boil
The finished product on the table! If we were eating outside, I could've just put some butcher paper down and laid it all out. I had melted butter to dip the clams into.

A close up of the food, yum!!

To give you a rough idea how much I made, we had 2lbs of shrimp, 50 clams, 2lbs of sausage, 1 dozen ear of corn and about 2-3lbs of little red potatoes. 

We all absolutely LOVED this meal and I'd like to start a tradition of making this once a summer for a special treat! 

Have you ever had a crawfish or seafood boil?


Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

As the gardening season is winding down, I feel like a squirrel frantically gathering nuts to store for winter time! I've been in freezing & canning mode again lately. I had a ton of peppers, zucchini, broccoli & cabbage to do up. While I've been freezing a lot of the veggies plain to use over winter time, I also wanted to try some new recipes.



I happen to have gotten some roast beef lunch meat in the marked down area of the deli. I love this section as I can often find the more expensive lunch meats that are either sliced too thin or are the chunked up ends for only $1.99lb (otherwise, roast beef is NOT a staple in our house! lol)

As I looked at the roast beef & peppers, I thought that a Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Pepper sounded like a good idea. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized this was going to turn into an awesome recipe so I quickly dug out my camera to snap some photos so I could share the recipe with y'all! Let me just say the photos don't do this recipe justice! The kids and I absolutely LOVED these and the next time I get some cheap roast beef, we will be making this again!! A bonus is that this is gluten free and low-carb!

I started off sauteing chopped up mushrooms, onions & garlic. Once they were nice and ccaramelized I added in the sliced roast beef.


I sliced 2 whole peppers in half and took out the seeds. You can use any kind of cheese you prefer but I used a slice of pepper jack and laid it in the bottom of the pepper half.


I divided up the meat mixture evenly between all 4 peppers then laid a piece of cheddar cheese on top.


I popped the peppers in the oven and baked them for about 15-20 minutes.


YUM!!!

If you are looking for another stuffed pepper recipe, check out my Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa & Black Beans!



Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
about 1/2lb of roast beef lunch meat sliced into strips
8 slices of cheese
2 whole peppers cut in half
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion sliced
6oz of mushrooms sliced
2 cloves of garlic minced
salt & pepper to taste

In a saute pan, saute the mushrooms,onions & garlic until caramelized. Add the strips of roast beef & toss with the veggies. Cook for about 5-10 minutes. Lay a piece of cheese inside each pepper then evenly divide up the meat between them. Cover the meat with another piece of cheese. Bake in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.


Yet Another School Year

So I am a week late posting this, what else is new! Even though we started our homeschooling year earlier in August, last Tuesday was the kids first day back to co-op. The kids were excited to go back, mainly to see their friends!

This year is a bittersweet year for me. If Noah were still here, he would be starting kindergarten. I admit I really broke down before co-op started. The realization that this is yet another major milestone we are missing out on really brought me to my knees. When your child dies, you not only miss them every day for the rest of your life, you are also left to face all the missed milestones, unfulfilled dreams and plans you had for that child. And this is NOT easy!

I am thankful for the friends that acknowledged this painful missed milestone with their notes, texts and prayers.

Of course, a first day back to co-op isn't complete without a 1st day photo. Since we homeschool, this is the closest we get to "first day photos" that everyone else posts and shares on social media.

Without further ado, we have:

2- 10th graders (say WHAT!)
a 9th grader
a 7th grader
a would-be Kindergartner who is already full of knowledge in Heaven
a pre-K4
and a goofy toddler full of life!