Monday, May 24, 2010

The Cleaning War!! Will It Ever End??

This is the story of Private I Do Not Like to Work, Private I Demolish It, and Private They Did It Mom. If you know my boys and can put the name with the personality......you know our household very well.

Sergeant Homeschool Princess left the house on a Girl Time Mission and left the three privates and General What Is Going On at home for the day. General What Is Going On got an important phone call from President I Got the Answer. They had important business to discuss and the two young privates were actively engaged in a televised Spongebob Training Mission. Private They Did It Mom was working hard on his Achievement Medal by working on a electronic virtual training mission.

Private I Demolish It was looking for a specific toy weapon in the Edwards armory (i.e. playroom). Said weapon was at the bottom of the box, so over it went piling the toys on the floor. Private I Do Not Like to Work was in the middle of his latest and greatest creations and had K-Nex from one end of the living room to the next. Private I Demolish It got bored with his first toy and wanted to build a great fort with his blocks. He created a masterpiece that any proud momma would want to display to the world, unfortunately this great masterpiece was karate kicked by a soldier guy and pummeled to the ground. The rubble remained as Private I Demolish It looked for his next project.

Private I Demolish It and Private I Do Not Like to Work decided that they wanted a snack. They ran down to the Edwards Camp Mess Hall and found microwave popcorn rations. One ration was not enough so they prepared two bags and ran up to the living room. Unfortunately for the boys the popcorn bags had grenades in them as they exploded all over the living room floor. Not an inch was spared in the Edwards Living Room as popcorn pieces and seeds were found everywhere.

Sergeant Homeschool Princess arrived at the war zone and engaged Operation Cleanup. Unfortunately for the Sergeant, the three privates had formed the Non-Cleaning Coalition and were not going to clean up the war zone at any cost.

The first battle was lost as Sergeant Homeschool Princess nicely asked (well actually yelled at) the three privates to clean up the mess. Private They Did it Mom insisted that it was not his mess as he was actively working on his electronic mission to conquer the Electronic Enemy Forces and he did not see them make the mess. He was sent downstairs to work on his Written Mission Work (homework). Private I Do Not Like to Work suddenly had to go to the bathroom, was hungry, and was thirsty. Private I Demolish It told Sergeant Homeschool Princess that he would work, but when she left the room he found a box of toy bugs and snakes and hurled them unto the floor.

Sergeant Homeschool Princess asked for a special meeting with General What Is Going On. She explained the details of the situation and showed him ground zero. General What Is Going on ordered that the privates lose computer and electronic game station privileges until the living room and armory (toy room) were back in order. TV privileges were not revoked yet as the Non-Cleaning Coalition had made a treaty with the Sergeant and General that they would clean as they watched TV. The young privates broke the treaty and were told that new sanctions would begin in the morning.

The privates were then told the next morning that their television privileges were now revoked. This didn't phase the young privates as it was nice outside so they made a covert operation and snuck outside to play. General What Is Going On caught the young privates and ordered them back to ground zero to clean. Sergeant Homeschool Princess then supervised every move of the young privates refusing to back down Parental Forces and eventually the Non-Cleaning Coalition surrendered to Parental Forces and ground zero was cleaned. However in a retaliatory mission the Non-Cleaning Coalition rejoined forces and again attacked the Edwards Household again!!!

Lobster Network - Share your stuff!!!

The Crew was asked to review Lobster Network, a site that allows you to share your items for sale, trade or borrowing. Homeschool networks and friends can set up networks to easily exchange items between each other.





I think this site has a lot of potential to be a great place for families to exchange their homeschool and other items. I think that once there are more users on this site and more of us list their items for sale that the benefits to this site will be absolutely incredible. I do wish that within the communities that there were chat boards or a main chat board to interact with each other.
Today when I was searching on the site, I was able to find a few items that would work for my two boys and I believe that as the word spreads about this site that I will be able to find even more great buys!!

Go to http://www.lobsternetwork.com/ to sign up for your FREE account.
There are more videos about this site here.

Kregel Publications - Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure



Author: Susan K. Marlow Binding: Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8254-3352-8 Price: $7.99
When innocent horseplay temporarily lands Andi and her friends in jail, they decide that a trip into the mountains will leave their troubles far behind. Accompanied by big brother Mitch and armed with a map showing old gold diggings, they can’t wait to strike it rich. What could be better than two weeks of camping and horseback riding? But instead of gold they find heaps of trouble—trouble that leaves Mitch gravely wounded. Andi needs help fast. But who can she trust? And what good is a bag of gold when her beloved brother lies near death in the middle of nowhere?




The Crew had the privilege to review Andrea Carter and the Trouble With Treasure. It was fun to join Andi and her friends in all their misadventures and to see how they would get themselves out of trouble in whatever situation they found themselves in. I was especially excited about how they handled things when they were held captive by the mean deputy Hugh Baker.

I think any young girl would love this book and probably the entire series. I find myself wanting to read the other books in the series because this was such a fun book to read. I also loved the character Jenny in this book. She reminded me of a childhood friend of mine that was always wanting to do wild and crazy things that most girls wouldn't even think of doing. It's perfect for the girl that is not into all the typical girly girl fiction books.

Visit the Kregel Publications to get your copy of this fun novel as well as other amazing books that this publisher has to offer.

This book was provided free to me by the publisher as part of my membership in the TOS Homeschool Review team, the opinions are mine after I have reviewed this product with my family.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Beeyoutiful - Review of Berry Well




Our Crew was asked to review various products from Beeyoutiful. Our family was asked to review Berry Well.

Berry Well is a pleasant fruit-flavored syrup designed to boost an individual’s immune system function through elderberry juice, raw honey, bee propolis, echinacea and raw apple cider vinegar.


I had used elderberry with my middle child Jonathan when he was around 9 months old and was having colds/fevers every time he was getting a new tooth. She suggested I try the extract and I was actually surpised how well it worked in relieving the symptoms. I haven't been able to find it anywhere and was thrilled when this bottle arrived in the mail.


The taste is absolutely amazing and it's perfect for little ones that do not like the harsh taste of over-the-counter cough syrups. While I still am an advocate of going to the doctor if you have a sick child who isn't responding to normal at home remedies and medicines, I highly recommend trying Berry Well.


You can purchase Berry Well on the Beeyoutiful website for $18.00.

This product was provided to me as part of my membership in the TOS Homeschool Review team, the opinions are mine after I have reviewed it with my family.

Ideal Curriculum

I was asked as part of my membership in the TOS Homeschool Crew to review a kit the first unit - Transportation from Ideal Curriculum. This site has created a preschool curriculum that covers Literacy, Math/Calendar, and Science/Social Studies.

I absolutely love this curriculum and wish I would have had something like this when Josiah was in preschool. The books are absolutely amazing filled with gorgeous colorful photographs that capture your child's attention. I'm a photographer and found myself going through each of the pages admiring the photographs and know that any parent or preschooler would love them too.
I especially loved the printouts and was thrilled with the assessment sheets. It's a perfect way to see where your child is and what they still need to learn. Even though my youngest is a Kindergartner, I plan to incorporate some of these items into his lessons next year.
I highly recommend this for any parent that is looking for something for their preschooler. Preschoolers love unit studies and this curriculum does an excellent job of incorporating everything so that learning is not only effective but fun for your preschooler!

Units are available for $30 (download) or $55 (print version), and it is also possible to purchase portions of the curriculum. In May, Ideal Curriculum is offering TOS Homeschool Crew followers a 10% discount on a first purchase by using the code: welovekids Visit the Ideal Curriculum website to purchase your kit and get started today!! Your Preschooler Will Thank You!!

This item was provided to me as part of my membership in the TOS Homeschool Review team, the opinions are mine after I have reviewed this product with my family.

Cerebellum Corporation/Standard Deviants - Chemistry



Crew members were asked to review Advanced Placement Program DVDs from their Light Speed video learning program. Each video includes a digital workbook with a course outline, notes, practice questions, games, and quizzes. Our family was asked to review the Chemistry DVD from this series.

Even though my oldest homeschool student is only in the 3rd grade, I immediately saw the benefits that this DVD has for them in the future. All three of my boys including my oldest who is in 8th grade public school are very scientifically and mathematically oriented and will probably need to take the AP tests in the future. The video was very detailed and informative on how to prepare for the AP Test as well as going through the various elements of Chemistry. I would also recommend it for your high school student who is not taking the AP exam and is taking Chemistry in a public school or at home. It's a great way to review the various concepts to prepare for a final exam.


These Advanced Placement DVDs are available for the regular price for $14.98 each.

This DVD was provided to me as part of my membership in the TOS Homeschool Review team, the opinions are mine after I have reviewed this product with my family.