The World's Story 1 review

 

 

The World's Story 1



 

 

 

 

The first thing I would like to say is I am a huge fan of Masterbooks!  The books give us a solid Biblical World View to teach our children.

 

First off, let me say the pictures and illustration in this book are amazing! This is the one thing that makes this book stand out for me and my bugs (my children). They love looking at all of the pictures in this book. Young and old alike!

 

In this book, each chapter begins with a "Start Here" section. It tells us what will be discussed in the chapter we are about to read and scripture to go along with it. It lets the reader kinda get an idea of what's coming up next!

 

The book also has what is called "Narration Breaks". This gives the reader time to discuss what has been previously talked about. I think this is a fabulous thing to have. I am able to see just how much my bugs are retaining and learning from the reading we are doing. It gives us a time to talk and ask questions. I really like this part of the book.

 

There are also little sections that are labeled "Read" where it gives us scripture to read and discuss. Another nice section is called "Connect". This section gives us a detailed look into history across the ages. All of these sections, in my opinion, are wonderful. I really like having places to stop and discuss things together instead of just reading to the end and not able to take out time to discuss or stop while reading and forgetting where to start back up. Maybe thats just me but it really helps having a designated place to stop and discuss things. I really feel like it helps everyone to learn and understand things better.

 

Lastly, I would highly recommend this book!!! We are still reading this, taking our time enjoying this fabulous book! From what we have read and studied and discussed, we are loving it! This is one of many excelllent resources from Masterbooks and New Leaf Publishing Group.  We have numerous titles and so far, they are all loved.

 

Go check all of the fabulous books, you won't be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer:  I received a digital copy of this book free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Curriculum Review: History Revealed: True Tales Set- Volume 1-3

History Revealed: True Tales Set is a multi-cd set that teaches the truth about history from the creation point of view. It was written by Diana Waring, a "history evangelist" that has been teaching history and education since 1990.

This multi-cd set spans the time from the Genesis account of creation through the ancient cultures and even reveals recent discoveries on these amazing times. These cd's are told in a storyteller's enthusiastic manner and is very entertaining to listen to.

This set was originally developed for use with the History Revealed curriculum. We haven't used it in that way as we don't own the History revealed homeschool curriculum.

There are three volumes in this set.

Volume 1: Ancient Civilizations & The Bible contains captivating events and biographies from Creation to Christ

Volume 2: Romans, Reformers, Revolutionaries contain captivating events and biographies from Resurrection to Revolution.

Volume 3: World Empires, World Missions, World Wars contain captivating events and biographies from Napoleon to Korea.

We used these CD's for road-schooling. When we had errands to run, groceries to buy and eye appointments to go to, we would pop a cd into our cd player in our van and listen to these as long as we were riding! I really enjoyed them and really liked the fact that we could still be learning away from home.

I highly recommend this audio series!!! If this is something that interests you and would like to try it in your homeschool, CLICK HERE. 


I received this History Revealed: True Tales Set by Diana Waring from Masterbooks in exchange for my honest review.

Rocky Top Country Christmas CD

This CD is filled with 44 minutes of the most beautiful blue grass music I think I have ever heard. Country, Instrumental, and Holiday all come together with instrumentation from Fiddle, String Bass, Hammered Dulcimer, Dobro,  Autoharp and Mandolin. It is such a joy to listen to.

My kids and I love to listen to all different kinds of music while we are riding in our van, so when this came up for review from Family Christian, I jumped at the opportunity! I am so thankful I was chosen to do this review. As soon as it came in the mail, we popped it into our cd player and took a drive. We enjoyed this so much! We listened to the whole thing and decided to not listen to anymore until Christmas. We don't like to listen to Christmas music until the month of December. So you can imagine how anxious we are to get to listen to this wonderful cd again in about another week. We can't wait!!!

Here is the list of songs on the cd:

JOY TO THE WORLD

GOOD KING WENCESLAS

IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR

MARY'S LITTLE BOY CHILD

WHITE CHRISTMAS

WINTER WONDERLAND

JINGLE BELLS

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

THE WASSAIL SONG

THE FIRST NOEL

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

O CHRISTMAS TREE

Doesn't that sound like an awesome line up of songs to listen to the whole month of December!

If you love this kind of music, then head over to Family Christian and grab you a copy of this fabulous CD, Rocky Top Country Christmas. You won't be disappointed!

Also, Like Family Christian on Facebook.

Disclaimer: As a Family Christian blogger, I had the opportunity to review this CD in exchange for an honest review and a gift certificate.

Housekeeping - Day 24

I have an all time favorite book for Housekeeping among other things. 

I highly recommend this book. She gives so many good tips on this subject.

For the past two weeks, I promised myself to never leave dirty dishes in the sink, at anytime. I am, so far, doing good with this. 

What kind of good housekeeping secrets do you have?

Garden - Day 22

Well, our garden this year wasn't to spectacular. I killed everything except the cucumbers. I usually put hay around all the plants and this year, I decided to use some store bought wood mulch. It killed all my plants. I used hay around my cucumbers and they flourished! Here are some things we have been enjoying.

These squash and zucchini were the only nice ones we got this year.

Blueberries, I think we put up about 25 quarts of these beautiful things.

Lots of corn!

Cucumbers! Canned into sweet pickles and sweet pickle relish.

Okra

Figs!

What have you been growing in your garden?

Garden - Day 22

Well, our garden this year wasn't to spectacular. I killed everything except the cucumbers. I usually put hay around all the plants and this year, I decided to use some store bought wood mulch. It killed all my plants. I used hay around my cucumbers and they flourished! Here are some things we have been enjoying.

These squash and zucchini were the only nice ones we got this year.

Blueberries, I think we put up about 25 quarts of these beautiful things.

Lots of corn!

Cucumbers! Canned into sweet pickles and sweet pickle relish.

Okra

Figs!

What have you been growing in your garden?

July Blogging Challenge

My friend Jennifer invited me to join a blogging challenge for the whole month of July with her and our friend Lynn. I am not one that is to good at keeping up with my blogging but this sounded like to much fun to pass up. I am going to do my best to keep up with this. Each day you can share and link-up to either one of their blogs.

Let's have some fun!

God Bless!

camping for the first time........

We had a blast! Looking forward to many more camping trips!

soup and a muffin recipe....

Here are two recipes from my menu plan this week. The first one is The All- American Cheeseburger soup I made for Monday night. The second one is my Banana Bread recipe that I turned into muffins instead of a loaf. These two are very easy.

 

Little Ruthie Bug, as her daddy calls her with her bowl of All-American Cheeseburger Soup.

 

Not the best picture of the soup but you get the idea! I accidently deleted the other picture of it. Sorry! To lazy to go and find it!

All -American Cheeseburger Soup

 

1 pound of ground meat

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk of celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons flour

28 ounces of beef broth

2 potatoes, scrubbed and coarsely chopped

1 can petite diced tomatoes

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 small can tomato sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 cup whole milk

Toasted buns or rolls, we used croutons

Cheeseburger Toppings:

pickles, onions, mayo, mustard, ketchup

 

In a 6 quart Dutch oven, cook beef, onions, garlic and celery until tender. Sprinkle the flour on the meat mixture and cook for 2 minutes.

 

Stir in the broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and cook about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

 

Stir in tomatoes, cheese, tomato sauce, ketchup and Dijon mustard. Cook on low until cheese is melted. Stir in the milk. Heat through. Serve with toasted buns and cheeseburger toppings.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

The next pictures are of the banana bread muffins I made this morning.

 

 

 

As you can see, the batter is very thick. That's ok.

 

Just scoop it into muffin tins.

 

This is the streusel topping I made for the muffins.

 

Just take little pieces of the topping and place on top of the batter.

 

Here is the finished muffin ready to eat!

Banana Bread Muffins

 

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1- 1/2 cups (about 2) mashed ripe bananas

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

 

Streusel Topping:

 

2 Tablespoons softened butter

3 Tablespoons flour

1/4 cup brown sugar or sucanat

 

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your muffin pans. Beat oil and sugar together. Add your vanilla, eggs and mashed bananas. Gradually  beat in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in your chopped pecans.

 

Scoop your batter into the muffin tins and sprinkle your streusel topping on top of the batter. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Cool on baking racks for 5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the meals I am cooking this week for my family. Stay tuned for the Chicken Skillet Lasagna I cooked tonight, it was a hit!!!

 

God Bless!

 



Processing and working together.......

 

 

As you can see, our Macy bug killed her first deer last Friday, December 26th. Here are a few pictures of all the bugs and their dad processing it.

We ended up with 12 pounds of ground meat and 8 pounds of breakfast sausage.

 

 

Happy Happy Bugs!!!!!

Yummy Homemade Chili for the New Year....

 

Well, I decided to use my new Lodge Dutch oven to cook our chili in for our New Year's Eve party tonight. My sweet family got this awesome gift for me for Christmas! I love those guys so much.

 

 

I thought I would share this really good homemade chili recipe with you just in case you would like to make some of this yummy, hot, goodness on an upcoming cold night.

 

 

 

Homemade Chili Recipe



 

 

2 pounds of ground meat, I used ground vension

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 can no salt added petite diced tomatoes

1 15 ounce can of chili beans

1 cup water

1/3 cup chili powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 - 1 Tablespoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup ketchup

 

In a large Dutch oven, saute your onions and garlic until translucent. Add your ground meat and cook until done. Add your remaining ingredients and cook on low for about an hour.

 

ENJOY!!!!!

 

 

GOD BLESS!

 

 

Day 2 - easiest peanut butter fudge ever.....

Today, my little Sadie bug wanted to help me make this peanut butter fudge. She is always the one that wants to help me cook. She has been wanting to fill the little plates on this Christmas tree stand I sat out on our table a few days ago. I have to say, we had fun making it but it didn't quite turn out like smooth, chewy fudge. It was very crumbly and brittle. I think I would change it up a little and add more milk or maybe a little cream.  I can't remember where I ran across this recipe. Anyway, here is the recipe!

EASIEST PEANUT BUTTER EVER

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add the sugar and milk to a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove it from the heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix well. Pour into a shallow dish and , your done! Let it cool and cut into squares!

Looking forward to Day 3! More cooking and hopefully decorate our Christmas tree!

God Bless!

2014 December Fun Days and Holidays....

December is here! We can't hardly wait for this time of year. Twinkling lights, baking cookies, singing and listening to Christmas hymns, wrapping gifts, drinking hot cocoa.

We love so many things about December and have so many fun things planned this month. Maybe you could join in on some of the fun.

Stay tuned because we will have lots of pictures to share, great recipes, crafts and more! We are also doing Christmas reading in our bibles. I know I am a little late posting all of this but I will post our scripture we are reading soon.

Here are the holidays and fun days for the 1st 25 days of December.....


Day 1 -  Decorate the inside of our home for Christmas.

Day 2 -  More decorating, putting up the Christmas tree and making No-Bake Fudge. Will share the recipe.

Day 3 -  Make some yummy microwave caramels. Not to fond of cooking in the microwave but my stove is out of commission right now.

Day 4 -  National Cookie Day! We will be making No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal cookies. Will share the recipe.

Day 5 -  We will be making No Bake Pecan Coconut Cookies.

Day 6 -  Make balls out of chicken wire and Christmas lights for outdoor decorations and go see a Live Nativity.

Day 7 -  Cotton Candy Day!

Day 8 -  National Brownie Day! We are going to make Nutella ones.

Day 9 -  Christmas Card Day!

Day 10 - Make some No Bake Oreo Truffles and if we have enough time, maybe some chocolate covered oreos.

Day 11 - Celebrate National Hot Cocoa Day. Its really this coming Saturday.

Day 12 - Make a Christmas Tree Hand Canvas and some fingerpaint canvases.

Day 13 - Ice Cream Day!

Day 14 - Make homemade wrapping paper.

Day 15 - National Cupcake Day!

Day 16 - National Chocolate covered anything day!

Day 17 - Make photo ornaments for the grands!

Day 18 - Make cookie baskets for our Christmas cookies and our annual Van Express Ticket Day!

Day 19 - Christmas Party with friends!

Day 20 - Bake lots of Christmas cookies!

Day 21 - Winter Soltice!

Day 22 - Deliver gifts to the local hospital to the children that are sick.

Day 23 - National Chocolate Day tomorrow! Make something yummy!

Day 24 - Christmas Eve Boxes and bake Jesus a birthday cake!

Day 25 - Celebrate Jesus' birthday and drink some homemade eggnog. Yesterday was National Eggnog Day.




As you can see, we are planning on having some fun this month. Maybe you can check back and see some of the fun things we will be doing!

God Bless!

Rat Killing.......

RAT KILLING! Just another fun day around our homestead. When our summer garden is done, we always bush hog our gardens down. Well as you know, these little rodents we call RATS, like living in tall grass. So, a couple of our bugs got their "weapons" and got ready! Here are few pics I snapped during this scary time! Just ask the little bugs! 

Even these guys enjoyed it. The bugs that is! They were jumping sky high!