Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 5

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE
Part 3 HERE
Part 4 HERE

Ben's Cowboy Poetry Corner:
The yearly letter. Can't say I remember sitting down to write one of these.
This year was a long yet short year, as they all are, kids growin like weeds,
weeds to pull, lawn to mow, wood to cut, and engines to pull.
Buryin minivans, savin chevettes, fixin suburbs while fightin off tourettes!*%#
Goin campin, shootin some deer, boy am I glad my wife is still here!
She holds me and hugs me, puts up with my beard, loves me and kisses me even when I'm wierd.
I'm blessed much more than many can say, although sometimes I grumble anyway.
God help me be thankful this coming year, and to all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a happy new year!  

Blessings to All

Ben & Laura Leggott

Tyler, Emma, Mayda & Wyatt

Jessica King

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 4

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE
Part 3 HERE

Wyatt giving the Christmas Report: Christmas is all about Jesus's birthday and it's all about giving too. At Awana I helped wrap Christmas Shoeboxes to send all around the world. Yesterday I went Christmas shopping. I helped make some ornaments at the Scottsbluff National Monument. My favorite part about Christmas is that giving is better than receiving. I hope that everybody had a great holiday.

Mayda, giving the barn report: This year our new calico kitty, Sophia, joined our family in February. She had 3 kittens in May and 4 kittens in September. Fluffy is is two years old now; she is a very fluffy calico. I took her to the county fair and she got a green ribbon. She had two litters of kittens also, one with 4, and one with 5 kittens. We still have 3 kittens from all of those litters: Lioness is gray, Flakes is black with white frost, and Hampster is a long haired calico. Our dog, Buck, is 4 years old. He got a his hair cut in the summer, but now he has a thick coat. He greets our guests. He is very very snuggly. In the spring I convinced my mom to buy two new chickens, a black cochin bantam and a sicilian buttercup. They were very good to show at the fair. Emma still has her pet rabbit, Dan, but she sold her other 3 rabbits. Dan is 3 years old. My favorite thing about living on the farm is that we love to raise animals.

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 3

Part 1 HERE 
Part 2 HERE

Jessica King, with the school report: 

I am happy to report that we have had a brilliant school year so far. Wyatt has been taking on Kindergarten with fervor and has particularly been excelling in memorizing Bible verses for AWANA. It's almost as if he's heard these verses rehearsed 3 times before ;)
Mayda has been enjoying 2nd grade and she is a whizz at geography. She'll be the one that puts us on the map one day.
Emma is in 5th grade and is our resident scientist. She reports her favorite subject at present is science because she loves to do the experiments. Her late science-teaching grandfather would be quite proud.
Tyler is a 6th grader and is the history buff of the crew. He loves the activities included in his history curriculum and enjoys the stories even better than fiction.
I've enjoyed watching and assisting these bright pupils in their studies before I head out the door in the morning to my own studies. I've just finished one semester at WNCC and still have one more to go and then Lord willing it's off to UNMC's College of Nursing!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 2

Part 1 HERE

Tyler reporting on sports:

This year Wyatt played t-ball and got a medal. It was his first year and he played for the Gering McDonald's A's with green jerseys. Mayda played softball for the Bytes Computer Repair team. The girls called their team "lightning" and had black t-shirts. One of her games was actually snowed out. Emma wore an orange jersey and played for the U-Save Pharmacy team. Her team took 1st for league games and 3rd for their league championship. I had a red t-shirt and played for the Doc-U-Shred Braves. We traveled to Scottsbluff and Bayard and took 3rd in the league Championship. I learned how to conquer my fears and swing at the ball instead of worrying about getting hurt. Towards the end of the s
eason I hit many balls. One fun fact was that most of our coaches knew our dad, since they played baseball together when they were kids. We really liked playing ball in Gering this year.

Emma giving the County Fair report:

This spring we ordered in 10 cornish cross chicks. They were my own special project. We lost one chicken, but the rest lived. I picked the biggest one to show and won grand champion. Tyler got third place. Mayda showed her cat and Wyatt watched. It was so much fun! The fair had lots of games. One game was a jar that had water in it and at the bottom of the jar was a cup. You had to drop a coin into it, and if you got the coin to go into the cup, then you won some candy. We had lots of fun!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Christmas Report Pt. 1

I know there hasn't been much posted here for a few weeks. We have been thoroughly enjoying our family time during the Christmas season. :) The usual hustle and bustle, but we enjoy every moment.

This week we've all been down with virus, so I've had time to work on our Christmas letter. This year we did it newspaper style with each family member doing their own article. I'll be sharing it here with you in installments each day, enjoy!

Current Events by Laura:

• In January I was able to fly to Pennsylvania to welcome my new neice, Charis.
• This spring we were able to spend a week in Kansas City while Ben attended more railroad training. We really enjoyed taking in the museums. We were also blessed to visit Ben's grandma, Beth Leggott, on our way home.
• This year we were able to use and review 39 new homeschool curriculum through The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. 
• This spring I attened a record number of births as a Doula (birth coach). Each was beautiful and precious.
• This summer included many trips to Eastern Nebraska while helping Ben's folks move out of their lake house. 
• In September we enjoyed a short vacation camping at the lake.
• In the fall we were blessed to have Jessica, my sister, move in with us while attending college locally. 
• In October I started a job with the USPS, just working 2 hours per morning at our little village PO. 
• We are still homeschooling; Jessica teaches the first two hours, and I teach the rest of the school day.
• Ben got a nice buck this rifle season, and Tyler shot a tender doe (beause he knows that's what I like!).
• We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving at home with my grandma, Bettie King, here with us.
• The most blessed events always surround our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we are blessed to celebrate His birth. Merry Christmas!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Review: Easy Canvas Prints!

This past couple of weeks I've been whittling down my Christmas gift list for extended family. My husband's folks are always a challenge to shop for. I always want to give them something memorable and unique, as well as something they will like and keep around. They've moved to a new place and I haven't seen it yet, so I knew it would be really hard to find the right thing... until I hit on this. :) Pictures match everything. But framed prints are too simple and easy to really take the Christmas spotlight. Doing a canvas print stepped up my game in just the right ways.

I had the opportunity to review a canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints .Com. I was thrilled! I wanted to do it way back this summer, but alas, I have a terrible time getting everyone together for a picture. Finally, my dad was here visiting, so I "put upon" him to spend part of an afternoon photographing our family. So fun! It was hard to get a serious pose, but we finally did it. Hard part finished, on to make the canvas!

When I say getting the picture was the hard part, I really wasn't kidding. The website made creating my print a snap, and I was done in minutes. I actually played with it for a while so I could see all the features for this review, but really was amazed I could create a simple canvas print so quickly and easily.

I opened up the website and followed these simple steps:

• Choose the size: I went with 8x10"
• Choose the thickness: 3/4" is included, but you can choose 1 1/2" wrapped edge, or a frame, for an extra fee
• Upload your image: making sure the quality is up to par with the size you choose. 
• Zoom and center your photo: especially since the ratio on the canvas might be different than what your camera takes
• Choose your border options: I went with mirror image, since I didn't want to zoom in any more
• Choose your final color and touch-ups: black and white and sepia options are available
• Add to cart! All through the process, there is a project total price in the upper right corner so you know how the choices you made effect the bottom line. The shipping was free too!

Final product:
I ended up getting two prints for my review, and they came in separate boxes and well packed. The shiping was quite quick! Overall I was VERY happy with the ease of ordering, and with the quality. I would truly recommend you check them out. Also be watching for good coupon deals, as they offer them frequently. (Who doesn't love that?!?!)

Disclaimer: I received two free canvas prints in exchange for my honest review. This review reflects my real thoughts on this product. Feel free to find out more by visiting my Disclosure Page above! ©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

30 Days of Thankfulness in November

I've been counting my blessings for a while. My gratitude journal is numbered up through #764. For November I tried to post one blessing each day (or more) on my facebook account. Are you counting your blessings?

My Novemeber 2013 thankfulness count (#765-794)

November 1, thankful for His mercies, new every morning.

Day 2, thankful for a friendly phone call yesterday, lifting my spirits.

Day 3, thankful for the body of Christ, which doesn't even fit in a building.

Day 4, thankful for rain on my windows... winter rain is never so fun as summer rain. Lighting up the pellet stove. #warmlyblessed

Day 5: Today's thankful from Wyatt: "I'm thankful we get more light in the morning!"

Day 6, thankful for my lovely husband. I adore that guy.

Day 7: Thankful that God is in control of it all. He's much better at it.

Day 8: today I'm thankful for unsung heroes, people who move mountains behind the scenes, go above and beyond what is asked of them, put in hours and hours of effort after the lights are out and the doors are locked. You do more than the minimum, you show up when others skip out, lift up others instead of trying to "get ahead". You know who you are, and just because most of the people you serve have no idea, it's ok, because your treasures are being laid up in heaven.  (praising God for each of you by name this morning)

Day 9, thankful for my family. Many hands make light work. Glad this crew knows how to work it!

Day 10: Today I'm thankful for the sane thoughtful people God put in my life to help me talk it through and figure it all out. Many people, but specifically Benjamin Leggott and Jessica King.

Day 11, thankful for all of our veterans, including my grandpa Virgil King. I Was missing him yesterday. He always loved celebrating veterans day. Thankful for the wonderful living veterans and soldiers in my life too. David King, Joel King, Nicholas Wohlers, Stephanie Merrifield, Gary Thomalla, Michael Blue, just to name a few... Thank you all for serving.

Day 12, thankful for the support of family, so I could run off and Doula one more time. So thankful God made the birth process so perfectly and amazing.

Day 12 part 2, thankful for God knowing needs and meeting them before we even ask. Also, thankful for the privilege of knowing and living near my grandparents. Got to paint my grandma's nails today.

Day 13, thankful for friends who step in and help, and for the children getting to meet the author, Jan Brett.

Day 14, thankful for my little post office job and the sweet people I meet there. Also for my hubby fixing my washing machine. And for the fact that my mom taught me what a gerund is, making 6th grade English not too scary for me to teach this morning. Also, thankful to enjoy a house full of friends tonight. Love and appreciate each one of you!  (and chocolate cake) Thanks for helping me have a great party Patina McKeehan!

Day 15: Thankful for my spunky wonderful Grandma Bettie King, who is 87 today! The angelfood cake is in the oven! (since we ate devilsfood cake last night, lol!) Thankful for CAKE. Love that stuff. (Yes, you can tell by looking at me, heheheheh)

Day 16: thankful that my son and hubby enjoy the sport of hunting together. Praising God that our whole family loves venison.  (hope we get some)

Day 17: Thankful for the deer that Ben was able to harvest, and the privilege of cutting it up just the way I like it to put in the freezer for this winter. I'm pretty picky about my wild game.  Also, thankful for my Sunday school class this morning, so many young men Tyler's age sitting in an adult class with their parents. (6 boys all-together). Awesome.

Day 18, thankful for our Awana kids and their generosity! It's looks like the club will be packing at least 85 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child on Wednesday! (they raised $785 in total!)

Day 19: thankful for the beautiful weather today. It was a gift.

Day 20 tonight I'm thankful for friends who give and serve beyond measure. But if you could measure it, it would probably fill 111 shoe-boxes.

Day 21, thankful for the nice people I am getting to know through my job, and for the warm house and family to come home to.

Day 22, thankful for a warm house, and that Tyler *just* got his deer!

Day 23, thankful for my hubby: kid chauffeur-ing, bountiful basket collecting, car fixing, tag teaming, wonderful guy!

Day 24, thankful for fellowship! Hanging out at the church from 7:30am till 3:45 (two services/cooking all morning for the college age thanksgiving meal/ loading up the 111 shoeboxes the awana kids packed/ decorating the church for Christmas), chapel with my grandma after that. It was a great day.

Day 25, Thankful for my sister Jessica King, her voice is is a gift from God, she rocked her voice recital today. More than that, her kind and encouraging words lift me up. We are so blessed to have her here!

Day 26, thankful for 3,719 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes packed by our local community.

Day 27, thankful for a well equipped kitchen and the food that fills it. Thankful for Bountiful Baskets and the fun things we get there. Thankful for coconut cream pie (from scratch), pumpkin pie, shoofly pie, and pumpkin cream cheese muffins.

Day 28, thankful for family, near and far. For memories of Thanksgivings with my cousins, grandparents (some who are no longer with us), Thanksgiving birthday parties, and pecan pie and hiking adventures. Thankful that God blessed us with so many loved ones to love, and friends old and new to fill out the table.

Thankful for small town hospitality! Got a phone call from the Safeway meat department because they were worried I didn't get my Thanksgiving turkey.  I had called and reserved one on Saturday and picked it up Monday, but evidently the meat guy that day didn't give me the one with my name on it. So thoughtful!

Day 29 Thankful today for my morning date shopping and breakfast with Emma.

Day 30 thankful for preparing my home for Christmas, my favorite time of the year. The whole world celebrating the coming of my Lord and Savior.

Other posts counting blessings:

Joy Dare from A Holy Experience:

May Joy Dare Week 1

May Joy Dare Week 2

May Joy Dare Week 3

May Joy Dare Week 4

31 days to Crazy Joy in October 2012:

Counting Gifts in October

October Blessings Pt. 2

October Blessings Pt. 3

October Blessings Pt. 4

October Blessings Pt. 5

October Blessings Pt. 6, and Solomon's Prayer

30 Days of Thankfulness in November 2012

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Laura's Lemon Bars

A while back I had to put together a dessert on short notice, but didn't have time to run to the store. It was then that I happened upon this recipe for Easy Lemon Bars, but I was missing a few of the ingredients, so I changed it... quite a bit. :)

They were a hit! So here's the recipe for you:

Laura's Lemon Bars

• One lemon cake mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 egg

Mix these three items and reserve one cup of this dough before pressing in a 9x13 baking dish and baking at 350 until puffed for a crust. Don't quite let it brown, since it will bake again.

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup yogurt (I used home-made)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 egg
• and 1/2 cup of reserved dough (save the last 1/2 cup for topping)

Blend this and pour over par-baked crust. 

• 1/2 cup reserved dough
• 1/4 cup flour

Mix until crumbly and sprinkle over as a top layer. Bake until golden brown around the edges, cool and cut into squares; drizzle with vanilla almond bark.

Today I'm joining a blog hop over at:

I hope you get over to see all the fun recipes!

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Philippians 3:7-11

7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

by Mayda

Linked:



©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Review: Apologia Science -Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics

We were very excited to be given the chance to review Apologia Educational Ministries homeschool science curriculum for grades K-6, specifically:

• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (Book) $39
• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Notebooking Journal $24
• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal $24

Part of why this was such an exciting review was because of the age range. All my children together happen to range from grades K through 6th. How often can one curriculum work for ALL 4 of your children? I worried that this would be over the younger ones heads, but figured the junior notebooking journal would really help.

Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (Book) is the main textbook and can be used again and again. It is 253 pages, plus a supply list (for experiments), and an answer key. Written by Jeannie Fulbright, this is part of the Apologia Young Explorer Series (grades K-6), which also includes:

• Astronomy
• Botany
• Human Anatomy and Physiology
• Zoology 1, 2, and 3

This hardbound text is broken into 14 lessons, and can be easily done in one school year at a pace of 1 lesson per two weeks. The lessons cover:

1. Chemistry and Physics Matter
2. Moving Matter
3. Building Blocks of Creation (atoms)
4. Compound Chemistry
5. Multitude of Mixtures
6. Mechanics in Motion
7. Dynamics of Motion
8. Work in the World
9. Sound of Energy
10. Light of the World
11. Thermal Energy
12. Electrifying Our World
13. Mysterious Magnetism
14. Simple Machines

The lessons range from 14-18 pages each and include many pictures and as many as 10 "Try this" experiments each. This means you could do a "Try This" nearly every day if you were following the two weeks per lesson pacing. Most of the experiments were using everyday household materials, so I didn't have to purchase any expensive kits. The lesson ends with a summary page, including questions and follow up activities.

One of the best parts of this text is the Christian worldview, but the conversational style is a close second. Jeannie Fulbright has a gift for writing in a way that kids want to listen to. She often explains complex processes in simple but entertaining narratives. For example: in the second Lesson, speaking of the states of matter and the energy of the molecules, she relates it to children with energy and wiggles, bouncing about a room. My 6-year-old really grabbed onto that concept and talks about it often. 

The Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Notebooking Journal is a supplemental notebook to help with absorbing the text though hands on note taking and project building. Going a step beyond the "Try This" sections in the text, the notebooking journals include activities such as:

• Vocabulary Crosswords
• Fascinating Facts
• Flap Books
• Copywork
• Test It Out
• Fact Wheels
• Tuck-in Envelopes
• Various Projects and Experiments
• Layered Books
• Field Trip Sheets
• Review section of narrative questions titled "What Do You Remember?"
• And a Final Review consisting of 50 review questions.

Of course my favorite feature in the notebooking journal would have to be the lesson plans in the front of the book. This gives reading assignments for the text as well as matches up the Notebooking Journal pages to those same concepts. It breaks each lesson down into two weeks with two days of assignments per week. This homeschool science journal really expands on the text and helps with my more tactile students. This journal is ideal for upper elementary, grades 4-6.

The Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Junior Notebooking Journal is just like the regular notebooking journal, except geared for younger children who have not mastered handwriting. Ideal for grades K through 3rd (lower elementary grades), it has all of the same hands on projects as the regular journal, but exchanges coloring pages for some of the more intensive journaling pages. The writing lines are larger, and the copywork is shorter. It worked really well for my two youngest to be working in this journal, while my two oldest used the regular journal. 

How we used this:

Because we have a 4 day school week, we chose to do science every day. I opened up the lesson plans in the front of the notebooking journals and divided the "Day 1" and "Day 2" assignments into two parts, and made the same week into 4 smaller assignments. We would gather together, and my two oldest took turns using the regular notebooking journal, while my two youngest shared the junior notebooking journal. After reading the assigned pages and filling in the journals, we took the time to try out and discuss some of the "Try This!" experiments. They were easy to do, and often used supplies we already had on hand.

Jeannie Fulbright's writing style was in a conversational upbeat tone, so was easy to read aloud to my children. Often my youngest (age 6) wasn't as interested in the journal, so would sit with me as I read and looked at the colorful pictures in the text. My oldest struggles with writing, but excelled at the crosswords. My second-born LOVES writing, so took her turn with the copywork pages. My third child, the 7 year old, liked the junior notebooking journal the best, so would color or cut and paste while I was reading. Gathered around like that, everyone had something to keep their attention. It was easy to get through the lesson, and to stop and discuss the concepts. 

Throughout the text in the chapter, the vocabulary words were bolded, so when the kids needed to define them for the vocabulary crosswords, they could find them used in context. We also used the vocabulary word lists as spelling lists, as a way to re-enforce them. 

One of the things I noticed about this text, vs. the other Apologia science curriculum we had tried, was that there are quite a few more pictures, engaging graphics, and "Try This!" boxes. As I mentioned before, you could do one of them every day and not run out. The engaging pictures made it easier to keep the kids interested in the text as we read. This was a big improvement over our previous course. 

Also, I had said I couldn't possibly use the Zoology book without the notebooking journal, but this one was different. The text alone had enough engaging and entertaining activities, that I think the notebookig journal could be completely optional, if you don't have a real need for your tactile child to have busy hands while you read.

Bottom Line:

We loved this, probably more than any science we've yet tried. I would probably buy the text alone, although the course schedule in the front of the notebooking journal was super helpful. Doing science as a family was a wonderful experience, and I could tell this program was designed with homeschool families at the forefront of the author's intentions. Everyone from grades K thought 6th at our house learned a lot (and also the teacher!) from this curriculum, and it was not difficult to adapt to all ages. The journals go very well with the text, and worked very well for us to keep everyone involved. We were blessed to try it out.

Be sure you check out all the other reviews of this homeschool science resource, by visiting the crew blog:

*Prices and links are accurate at the time this is published, and are subject to change






©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

WW: my sweet child's photography

Emma took ALL of these photos:

Linked:

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com