Wordless Wednesday- December 12

We were blessed yesterday to be able to visit the Adventure Aquarium.  It is homeschool week and our group was able to get a rate that was literally a fraction of the actual admission cost.  :-)  We had such a wonderful time!  There were no crowds, it was all decorated for Christmas, and the staff was so friendly and informative.  Everything from the scuba-diving Santa to the real snowfall indoors to the shark tunnel was a thrill for the kiddos and for I.  :-)

Linking up with: Judy H-J's Thoughts, Mama to 4 Blessings, Create with Joy, NOBH, Musings from a Stay at Home Mom, Tina's Wordless Wednesday,Judy @ CoffeeJitters and Wordless Wednesday at Wordless and  Living Well Wednesday, Favorite Things, Modest Mom,  Homemaking Wednesdays and Crafty Spices and Field Trip Friday.

Try a New Recipe Tuesday- December 11

It's time for another fun recipe party!  :-)  I really look forward to your submissions each week.

This week I am sharing my chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It is a staple this time of year and these never fail to please!

Lisa’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

¼ cup shortening

¼ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (I increase to 2)

1 egg

1 cup flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ cup rolled oats

½ cup coconut (optional)

½ cup chocolate chips

Cream shortening/butter and sugars.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Stir in dry ingredients, then oatmeal, then coconut and chips. 

10 minutes at 350 degrees

 Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday,NOBH, Judy H-J's Thoughts, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Melt in your Mouth Monday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is an awesome online resource associated with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  There are daily, weekly and monthly *complete* lesson plans, ideas and materials in many different subject areas from pre-K through high school.

Since my oldest is studying Chemistry this year, I was drawn to the Chemistry lesson plans written by Joey Hajda of Friendly Chemistry.  My son was SO engaged and interested.  What a difference these materials have made in having him look forward to a subject that can be dry and boring.  He is eager and enthusiastic now about a subject that he dreaded just a couple of weeks ago!  :-)

Kiddos 3 and 4 are studying Zoology this year and love lapbooking.  SchoolhouseTeachers.com has an entire lapbooking section with all of the information and templates that are needed to make them in a variety of subject areas.  The kiddos saw that there was one on rhinos, and since we just read about them in their science book, they were excited to get started!

The wonderful thing is that even the lapbook lessons are broken down into weeks, so the child is not overwhelmed with the entire assignment in front of them at once.  They are working on a rhino a day, lol, and loving it!  :-)

It is difficult to do such an amazing collection of resources justice.  If you are interested, there is a video tour that you can access here and sample pages here.  Membership costs $5.95 a month with the first month costing only $1.  Having all of these great ideas, resources and lessons will make curriculum "shopping" a breeze and certainly less expensive!  :-) With SchoolhouseTeachers.com, everything you could possibly want or need is right at your fingertips, with new lessons being added everyday.

To see what other homeschoolers thought of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, click on the button below:

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Review Crew, I received this product at no cost to me in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap-up December 7

Another week come and gone, but a very good week it was; one filled with much learning and fun.

In my life/homeschool this week: On Monday, we began with our focus on Advent doing some reading, making Jesse Tree ornaments and other fun activities.  You can read about them here.

Tuesday started with the kiddos getting their Christmas portraits taken at Sears, followed by bowling and their Italian lesson.

(these are just a few of the poses!)  :-)

I also posted my weekly recipe linkup.  I shared Chocolate Zucchini bread.  There are so many good recipes shared this week.  You can see them all here.  The link is open until Monday night if you would like to share, as well.  :-)

Wednesday had the kiddos working on various things, including a rhinoceros lapbook, the top-ten visited tourist sites in Alabama (Kiddo #2's state study) and Chemistry for Kiddo #1.  This all followed our Advent activities, which I posted about here.

Thursday was another good day.  Following our Advent studies, Kiddo #1 worked on a fun Chemistry experiment while the others worked on their lapbooks, history and math.

My Thankful Thursday post was about the attack on Pearl Harbor, which we remember today.  We must always remember and honor what was sacrificed.  You can see the post here.

What I'm reading: Lots of good Advent reading with the kiddos.  :-)

What I'm praying for: those who are sick and suffering, family and friends who have lost loved ones, our military, our nation, those who are unemployed....

A quote or photo to share:  Kiddo #1 grabbed a photo of this little fella, who looked like he was posing for the photograph!  :-)

Linking up today with:  Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, NOBH, Show-Off Friday, Learn and Link and It's a Wrap, Friendship Friday

Thankful Thursday- December 6

Tomorrow, December 7, is Pearl Harbor Day.  I wonder if the enormity of the day in our nation's history will be remembered in even 30 seconds on the evening news.  Perhaps it will make it into the daily paper?  We should never forget the sacrifice of that day and of the roughly 1,460 days that followed.  Never again or since has an entire generation, both home and on the battlefield, stepped up and answered its nation's call.  We owe everything to these brave men and women, our grandparents, who showed us the true meaning of sacrifice, determination, courage and strength.  If you have a member of that greatest generation still alive in your family, thank them on this day.  Remember and honor what they did so we all could be free.

What are you grateful for today?

I'm sharing with these lovely ladies: ,Lisa at The Army Chap's Wife, NOBH , A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings, Spilled Milkshake, Miscellany Monday, Raising Homemakers and Modest Mom and Raising Mighty Arrows

(not so) Wordless Wednesday- December 5

It is Advent, and our activities, prayers, and reading special books continue.

From a beautiful pamphlet we received at a Advent reflection service at church on Tuesday night:

"Advent-- 'the coming'-- refers to the four-week season of preparation for the coming of Jesus on Christmas Day and the anticipation of His coming again.  Advent begins the Sunday nearest November 30 and continues until December 24.

Advent is a time to pray, a time to wait, and a time to hope.  It is also a time to serve.  Advent is a time to prepare our hearts to become like little mangers, waiting to receive our Infant King.  With the Church, we observe this holy season with Advent wreaths, candles, calendars, and more!"

Our special Advent activities today included making our Advent calendar and continuing with our Jesse Tree ornaments.

I also posted about some things we have done for Advent in my Make Life Meaningful Monday post here.

Linking up with: Judy H-J's Thoughts, Mama to 4 Blessings, Create with Joy, NOBH, Musings from a Stay at Home Mom, Tina's Wordless Wednesday,Judy @ CoffeeJitters and Wordless Wednesday at Wordless and  Living Well Wednesday, Favorite Things, Modest Mom,  Homemaking Wednesdays andCrafty Spices

Try a New Recipe Tuesday- December 4

Happy December, everyone!  :-)

It is time for our weekly recipe party.

Here is a great recipe for getting your kiddos vegetables and they won't even know it!  :-)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
2/3 cup oil
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
optional- 1/2 cup chocolate chips  :-)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bake 50-60 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing.  Enjoy!

 Linking up with the Gathering Spot, Kids in the Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Mighty Arrows,Addicted to Recipes, Homemaking Wednesdays, Living Well Wednesday,NOBH, Judy H-J's Thoughts, Wisdom Wednesday , Favorite Things, Modest Mom, Full Plate Thursday and Melt in your Mouth Monday and Show Off Friday and Tuesday's Table and Look What We Did and Titus 2sday