Wreaths of Maine

 We arrived home from playing at the skate park and found this box just waiting for us!  Don't you love the big red bow and Seasons Greetings on the box? We were very excited to open this package from Wreaths of Maine.

I opened the box and found some cheery red wrapping paper inside BUT that wasn't all, we instantly smelled this aromatic smell like pine trees or Balsam fir.  Don't you wish computers had scratch and sniff? 

Packed inside was this beauty!

We LOVE this double faced wreath!  It looks so inviting hanging on our front door.  Would you like to know where you can get a wreath just like this one?  Well, let me tell you about Wreaths of Maine.  Wreaths of Maine is a mail order Christmas wreath company that was started by a home schooling family in the 1990's.  Since we homeschool this is the perfect fundraiser for our family!  My sweet daughter Makenzie started Punky Monkey Missions a couple of years ago to help those in need like missionaries, orphans and the homeless.  This is going to be one of her biggest fundraisers for the year.  If you would like to help Punky Monkey Missions make a difference please pop over to the Wreaths of Maine website and purchase a beautiful double faced wreath which will be shipped directly to your front door just in time for Christmas please be sure when you checkout  to enter Just Wedeminute's seller id which is #5061 so Punky Monkey will receive her commission check.  Prices range from $31.00-$47.00 and shipping is $3.95 per item.

You can also sell these beautiful wreaths.  It's simple by going door to door, selling to friends and family and even online like we are.  Earning commissions from Wreaths of Maine can help with homeschool costs, dance, cheer or sports teams or just extra money for the holidays.  For more info on selling wreaths click here.

If you would like to see what my fellow crew mates from TOS have to say about Wreaths of Maine click here.

Contact info:

Wreaths of Maine website

Facebook for Wreaths of Maine

Twitter for Wreaths of Maine

You Tube for Wreaths of Maine

information@wreathsofmaine.com

1-800-676-1132

Just Wedeminute Reviews

I've started a new blog called Just Wedeminute Reviews, I would love for all of my readers to take a look if you get a chance.  I would eventually like to post all of my product reviews and giveaways on the new blog and keep this as a family blog for all of the fun exciting things that we do with our family and friends because that is what it started out as.  I'm sure that everyone has growing pains on their blog just like we do in life and this is one of the much needed changes for Just Wedeminute.  I hope you will follow me on this new journey of Just Wedeminute Reviews and Giveaways.

Thanks for reading,

 

Destination Disney-Letter V

Join me in looking for anything Disney that starts with the letter V, this is a tough one for me!

Heidi's Head has some great ideas

Vines (The Land at Epcot)

Villain with his Victims

Vultures (Snow White's Scary Adventures ride)

Thanks for reading,

Chick-Fil-A Calendar Giveaway

The Cow Watches are coming to Chick-fil-A Kid’s Meals! During the holidays Chick-fil-A Kid’s Meals are featuring the never before seen Cow Watches to reach families with a simple and fun message: In your busy holiday season make sure to stop and take a few moments together as a family to spend quality “time” with one another. The Chick-fil-A Cow Watch widget is available now with fun and enriching activities, worksheets and quizzes so that your family (and readers!) can share in the holiday fun!

My family and I love to eat at Chick Fil A because they have such great food and wonderful customer service plus as Christian we love to support other Christians in our community. I remember one time I got to Chick Fil A ordered and realized that I didn't have enough cash with my (so embarrassing) but they just told me to keep the food and pay for the rest of it next time! I was SHOCKED, I've never had that happen at any other fast food restaurant and it was so nice because both of my kids were little so I just let them play on the playground after we ate, I didn't have to load them back up and haul them home all upset about not getting their Chick Fil A.

I have a giveaway for one of my super duper readers on here, another giveaway! WOO HOO!!! This time it's a Chick Fil A calendar with all of those wonderful coupons attached to it. All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter info below.

The Reading Game-TOS Review

For ages 4 and up

Price $24.95

My son Kylan struggles with reading so I was really excited when The Reading Game arrived on our front porch.  We pulled it out of the box and started playing it right away, it's very easy to understand the rules and set up is simple.  Kylan already knew most of the words but this game is geared more for early readers and/or special needs learners but it was a fun game and he enjoyed it.  He really liked that all the books revolved around the following animals: Skunk, Snake, Bear, Penguin, Unicorn and Zebra.  All of the books come color coded with matching card games.

The Reading Game is a fast action memory card game that includes 6 illustrated books and 6 sets of cards that go with each book.  Here's a description of the game taken from the website,

"Frequent exposure through play hard-wires these words into long-term memory. The card game requires two players, the student and a tutor. When used in classrooms and reading centers, parent volunteers or student “reading buddies” can easily be shown how to play the matching card game. By transforming rote learning into a fast paced game where there is a winner every few seconds, learning to read becomes fun".

After completing the entire game your student should be able to read the 180 words in the game with ease and almost half of these words are 100 of the most common words used in the English language.  You can also go to The Reading Game website and find the pre and post sight word assessment and test sentence worksheets for each of the six card games.  Be sure to click on the "Educators" page where they are free and available for download.

Click here if you would like to see what my fellow crew mates have to say about The Reading Game.

Visions of Sugar Plums

Be on the look out for a blog Christmas party called Visions of Sugar Plums by my wonderful friend Mika from Mika's Pantry and her friend Lori from Choux-Choux.  They will be sharing recipes, traditions, Christmas creations and how to's.  Don't miss it it's going to be fun!

Thanks for reading,
 

Time Timer

I was really excited for my son Kylan when we received the Time Timer in the mail because he has Asperger's Syndrome and has a lot of issues with time and understand the importance of time (example) 5 minutes vs. 35 minutes.  When he's working on a math page it might take him an hour because he sits and day dreams or imagines other things and doesn't realize that time is slipping away BUT with the Time Timer her can glance at it and have a visual reminder that he only has 5 minutes left to complete his page and that has helped keep him on track.  There is no ticking to irritate him and has a alarm that you can turn on or off depending on what you are using the timer for.
They offer several different sizes like:
~12" timer which would be perfect for a classroom setting is $40.00

~8" timer is also available and the cost is $35.00,

~3" personal timer is the timer we received is the perfect size to sit on my desk or on Kylan's desk and we are able to take it with us to activities by just popping it in my purse or a backpack and is $30.00

~ wrist time timer that looks similar to a watch the youth size is $40 and adult size is $40

~CD for your computer it has the ability to change from minutes to seconds, offers a lock-down feature, and the on-screen size can be altered. Time Timer CD can be set for longer than one hour. Each CD comes with a five seat license (can be installed on five different computers) and is $24


~Phone app which is $1.99

~Time timer puzzle is $15.00


Additional Information about Time Timers:

Time Timers feature an ultra-quiet Quartz Movement.

Time Timers can be set at any point from 0 to 60 minutes.
Exceptions: Time Timer CD can be set for more than an hour.
Likewise, the Watch Plus can be set for more than an hour.



Jan Rogers Interview: Inventing the Time Timer from Time Timer on Vimeo.


Time Timers are made of a high-grade polycarbonate material for ultimate durability and reliability.

Time Timers use one AA battery [not included].
Exceptions: Time Timer CD does not need a battery.

The Wrist Timer and Watch Plus use watch batteries [included].

If you would like to see what my fellow TOS crew mates have to say about the Time Timer click here.

Thanks for reading,

 

Destination Disney-Letter U

Join me for Destination Disney letter U over at Heidi's Head.

Under a dinosaur

 Umbrellas 

Upside down

Unique

Thanks for reading,

 

Pinterest Party Hop

I don't know if you are like me or not but I LOVE Pinterest!  I find some great ideas on Pinterest and I could just spend the day going from one new pin to the next but I haven't been showing these ideas to anyone because they have already been pinned.  I decided to host a Pinterest Party blog hop.  The only are rules are
1. Link up and show us what you've made this week from Pinterest
2. Leave me a comment so I know you linked up
3. Go to the person's blog in front of you and leave them a comment, everyone loves comments!
4. Have fun and make new friends.
(I'd love for you to take my button and put it on your blog but it's not required)

A couple of things that I've found from pinterest are 

Pizza Monkey Bread (I cooked mine a little too long)

Here's the link that it was pinned to Confections of a Foodie Bride

My family loved it and asked for it again!

Once a month we have a science day in our homeschool class and it's just a fun day to do all kinds of different science experiments that I have found.  This one was so fun and I found it on Pinterest.

Have your DNA and eat it too!  This link takes you to a webpage that explains everything!

Have  your DNA and eat it to was so fun, the kids loved eating an edible model of a DNA structure.

Thanks for reading,
 

The Grace Effect-a book review and giveaway

The Grace Effect

How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief

In The Grace Effect, author Larry Taunton shares his and his family’s journey to Ukraine to adopt their daughter, Sasha. He exposes the exploitation of children and corruption of government of a society that has made atheism the state religion, if unofficially and details about their adoption journey. Taunton coins the phrase “The Grace Effect” to show what happens when Christians influence their world individually, publicly and privately, to the benefit of everyone, even unbelievers.  It's a fantastic book and serves as a reminder that Christians are definitely the salt of the earth.
Almost everyone that reads my blog knows that I have adopted both of my precious children so this book was very interesting to me because it shows a different side of adoption that I have never seen, Korean adoption is VERY friendly and the Korean orphanages are very nice unlike the orphanages that are described in this book.  I don't know if you know all about the struggles, mountain of paperwork, tears, crying out to God and heartache we went through during the adoption process but of course my kids are well worth it in the end and I would do it all over again.  This book gives you a peek into the world of Ukrainian adoption and into the heart and mind of a young Ukrainian girl and her new family.


I'm excited to giveaway a copy of the Grace Effect for one of my readers.  Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.  The giveaway ends on November 18th and winner will be contacted on November 19th, 2011.




The Grace Effect can be purchased at Amazon by clicking here.

Thanks for reading,
 

Happy 11th Gotcha Day Makenzie

Gotcha day, family day, adoption day no matter what you call it's all the same, it's a special time for celebrating the day that you received your adopted child.  In our house we celebrate it by having a special meal and they receive a small gift from Korea.  It's a happy time of reflection and to remind them about their special story and just how blessed we are that God brought us all together to be a happy family.  For more info about international adoption click here.

To read more about our "Gotcha Days" in the past click on the year
2010
2008
2007
2006
2005

 Here we are arriving in Tulsa with our little bundle of joy!

 LAX airport

Our hotel in LA

Thanks for reading,
 

Keyboard Town Pals-TOS review

“Learn to type in one hour!”

866-200-8881 ▪ www.keyboardtownpals.com

Recommended for Ages 6-12 and those with learning difficulties

CD-Rom or Web-based 

Base price:$30-40; A complete line of other typing products available 

This program claims to that all you need is "a kid, a computer and an hour".  I was a bit skeptical when I heard this claim and didn't see how they would be able to accomplish this in just one hour BUT my 11 year old daughter had amazing results.  She did learn to type without looking at the keyboard in less than 1 hour.  My son's speed has improved but he does still tend to look down at the keyboard but I'm certain that with more practice he will be able to type without looking.  I HIGHLY recommend this product for children and believe it will help their typing skills.

Keyboard Town Pals is a professionally developed typing program that is perfect for elementary school aged children.  It's easy and very effective with the music and puppets that are used throughout the program.  A puppet named Sunny is your guide and leads your through the 3 streeets of Keyboard Town.  

Keyboard Town Pals took about 5 years to develop and is presented as an enjoyable activity with no timed tests, competitions or pressure and this seems to make the children excel.  Another interesting thing to note is that the delete key doesn't work in this program because they wanted the children to focus on practicing typing not correcting mistakes.  This builds confidence and then the typing just seems to steadily flow and fewer mistakes are made.  Go ahead and research this program and I'm sure you will agree that this is a fun and innovative typing program.

Click here for more reviews from the TOS homeschool crew!

Thanks for reading,