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

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©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:

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©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: IXL Math and Language Arts

All of October we had the opportunity to review the online learning opportunities at IXL.com. We were very blessed to be given a year's access to their Language Arts for grades 2-4 and Math from grades Pre-K through 12th.


Family Memberships, for up to 3 children, for Math or Language Arts are $13.95 each per month or $19.95 a month for both.  The best value is $119 a year for Math or Language Arts separately or $169 for both subjects. (Single Child Memberships for Math or Language Arts are $9.95 each per month or $15.95 a month for both.)




When I signed up for this review, I had seen a few ads for IXL, but didn't really know what it was. I thought maybe it was an online tutoring program for teaching math and language arts to kids. After using it with three of my children for several weeks, I can say I actually understand it now.

When we first began, I set up our online account. This was so simple and easy that I did it in mere minutes. The next day that the kids tried it out, they each had their own sign in name and password. This made it possible for their progress to be tracked, and for me to look at it in a special "mom" reporting area.

After logging in, my children would choose Math or Language Arts to work on, by the tabs on the top of the page. Along the left side of the page were the grade levels available in that subject. After choosing the grade level, they could choose an area of study on a full page of choices, arranged by Common Core Standards coding. I am not pro-common core, nor does my state require it, but this is how they were arranged. Another option for how to reach the right topic would be to go to the Standards tab and they could see the standards for their grade (see photo 1, top half), specifically according to our state. Under each major heading was a sub-topic to be mastered. If the kids weren't sure what kind of problems the sub-topic heading referred to, they could hover over the title and a box would pop up with a sample problem. (see photo 1, bottom half)

Photo 1

The main thing I wish I had known in advance was that there is no instruction given. These are practice problems to complement the instruction you are giving your children. So if their curriculum is not aligned to state standards, you will have to work harder at finding the categories for them to practice in. If you are, however, teaching curriculum that follows the state standard progression, then this program is an endless supply of practice problems and opportunities for practicing towards mastery.

Correction Illustrations Grades K and 5, Photo 3

That said, there is a minimal amount of instruction given as explanation when a question is answered incorrectly. (Please, click the image at the right to see two examples, enlarged.) This helped my kids to some degree, but not as much as I had hoped. For example, Wyatt, being a kindergartner and a non-fluent-reader, would utilize the audio feature on the Pre-K and K level math practices. It would read him the problem, and he would answer. But if it was wrong, it has no audio selection for the explanation (see photo 3, top half), so he had no idea what it was. I couldn't just set him up to practice and walk away. I would have to stay close to help him understand his problems and mistakes. So, even with the audio feature, I ended up doing this with Wyatt every day. Mayda and Emma were able to work with it a little more independently of me, but not completely.

How we used it:
Wyatt used it quite a bit for math practice. After working with him in his math instruction, I would sit with him and we would practice until he reached mastery. He was completely thrilled by the "prizes" earned by mastering a skill or by passing a time goal. He would hover over the next possibility on the prize board and plot how to earn it.

Photo 2

Mayda used the math parts, but I actually signed up for this one with the intention of really utilizing the Language Arts for her. Since the Language Arts area ranges from 2-4th grade, I thought it would be perfect. Unfortunately we ran into two issues. First, since they don't currently have 1st grade skills on there, she couldn't adjust to anything easier if the 2nd grade material wasn't working. Second, the Language Arts part of IXL doesn't offer progress prizes (see photo 2 above) like the math part. Mayda quickly figured this out and didn't want to work on anything but Math after that. The quality of the Language Arts program was excellent though, and really showed us what we needed to study on more to come up to state standards. Here's a great video demo of the Language Arts portion of the site:

Emma is in 5th grade, so while she used some of the 4th grade Language Arts, she mostly focused on the 5th grade Math. This worked well for her, since her current math curriculum doesn't use a mastery approach, this gave her much more opportunity to master a skill set. She did really well with it, and was able to understand the "wrong answer" explanations better than Mayda and of course, Wyatt. For her it really re-enforced what she was studying and gave her a traceable place to see progress.

For myself, as the Mom/administrator account, I was able to see all kinds of reports (see right) on the kids' work. It seemed neat, but really the reports gave me very little usable information. I imagine the data there will become more interesting and relevant when we've been using it for more than 4 weeks. But of course right now most of their numbers have no history, and they have all improved 100% over where they were last month. The most relevant part of the reports page was the list of skills mastered or attempted, where I could quickly track their work.

Bottom Line:
If you are looking to assure yourself of where you are hitting the mark on teaching state standards in Math and in 2-4th grade Language Arts, this is a great tool. If you are teaching Math or Language Arts and really need self-grading practice problems, this is a great tool. If you are looking for inexpensive online tutoring in Math or Language Arts, this is probably not the tool you need. Overall, I liked it. The kids liked it on an off, but not as much as some of the other programs we've used before. I had to assign it, or they'd skip it. They never asked to use it on their own. Although most real school-work is that way. This is an amazingly huge supply of practice material, more than you will need by far, but only in these two subjects. That is the main reason I felt the subscription rates were a bit out of my range.

Be sure to read all of the reviews of this online product by visiting the Crew Blog:

©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

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

I will lift up my hands!

Photo by Emma Leggott
Psalm 63
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.


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©2012-2014 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: Away We Go Media: If You Were Me (children's books)

This fall our school has been inadvertently themed towards missionaries and international studies. It's been a theme we have thoroughly enjoyed, so this review fit in quite perfectly. This series of children's books from Carole P. Roman focus on the experience of growing up in other countries around the world. We had the opportunity to receive and review these four books, geared to anyone under age 10 (but really my 11 and 12 year old enjoyed them too).

The books we received included:

• If You Were Me and Lived in Mexico $8.99
• If You Were Me and Lived in South Korea $8.99
• If You Were Me and Lived in France $8.99
• If You Were Me and Lived in Norway $8.63

All of the books are under 30 pages and the word counts (per two-page spread) ranged from 10 to 60 words.  The reading level is about 3rd to 4th grade, but it might not be meaty enough to hold their attention. We found it was a best fit as a read-aloud to my 6 and 7 year old children. Each book describes:

• The country capital and global location
  
• Major sight-seeing destinations near or in the capital region of that country
• Common children's names in that country
• Common family member names, and illustrations of the interiors of traditional homes
• Names of currency
• Major historical sites
• Local ethnic foods
• Recreational past-times
• Major holidays unique to that country
• The word for "school" is always the final detail
• Each book ends with the phrase "So now you see, if you were me, how life in _______ could really be."
• The last page is a list of words or phrases with their correct pronunciation

If You Were Me and Lived in Mexico is 24 pages long and has been awarded the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award. We read this book immediately after receiving it, since we were headed to a International Food night planned by our homeschool group, featuring Mexico! It was hosted by a family who had just returned from a missions trip to Mexico, so this really brought home for us what life in Mexico might really be like. We were so impressed to hear how our young friend had given a pair of his own shoes away while serving other children in an orphanage there. We all brought yummy Mexican dishes to share that helped bring alive the pages of the book where the author describes tamales. Our family brought Spanish rice and  empanadas to share.

Words defined and pronounced in the book include:

• Peso
• Fútbol
• Tamale
• Muñeca
• Descubrimiento
• Escuela
• and more...

If You Were Me and Lived in South Korea is 26 pages long and describes life in this eastern country. My kids found this one the most interesting, since the words seemed so different to them. We have friends who enjoy eating and making kimchee, so that was a familiar word. Other words defined and pronounced included:

• Min Sok Chon
• Youngin-si
• Taekwando
• Agi Inhyeaong
• Seol-nal
• Hanbok
• Haggya

If You Were Me and Lived in France is 22 pages long and gives a glimpse of central Europe. After reading it we talked about how many European countries touched the Mediterranean Sea and made a Mediterranean styled fennel and onion savory tart for supper. Some of the words defined and pronounced included:

• Boulangerie
• Eiffel
• Gustave
• Poupée
• Bastille Day
• école

If You Were Me and Lived in Norway is 28 pages long and explores this colder arctic country. The stories of the snow hotel experience and the strange and hard to pronounce words really captured my children's attention. This book was the one where I really relied on the pronunciation key in the back. As is true with all of the books, the words are used in a English context, so you easily know what they are talking about.

Some of the words that were defined and pronounced in this book included:

• Oslo
• Din velkommen
• Kirkenes
• Vafler
• Krem
• Skiis
• Sytten Mai
• Skole

Bottom Line:
These books were fun and just right for my younger kids. They would be a perfect addition to any unit study, and are quite affordable in their Kindle editions. I look forward to seeing what other countries Carole P. Roman publishes next.

To read all of the reviews of these four books, and for purchasing information, be sure to visit the Crew Blog:



©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

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