Feature Friday

I have decided that I want to share the blog love with the world!  I am going to start picking blogs that I know and love and share them with you on Friday's for you to check out.  Make sure you check out the Pinterest Board where the features will be pinned.

The very first blog I want to feature is A Nest in the Rocks.  I am choosing this blog because Amy has become a dear friend and supporter of mine.  I enjoy working with her on Wednesdays for our Inspired Wednesdays Blog Hop.

A Nest in the Rocks is a great place to find homeschool resources, book reviews, recipes and so much more.  I urge you to check out her blog and follow along with her and her homeschool journey.

Wishing on Willows - GIVEAWAY!

You can find my full review of the book HERE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given this advanced reading copy to giveaway as I chose.  

Time for Learning

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. This online curriculum can be useful for those wanting homeschool materials or for those seeking help with topics such as homeschool record keeping. Find out how to write your own review!

Inspired Wednesday 3/6

Welcome back to Washed Up Inspired Wednesday!  If you missed last week find it HERE and HERE.

Let me inspire you:

My daughter is 7.  When she was big enough to pick up a pencil she started drawing.  She hasn't put that pencil down since.  She is very creative and has a great eye for detail.  To keep her love of art and the creative juices flowing I try to keep a few things handy.

Some of her paint supplies.

1. Paper - lots and lots of paper -  spiral notebooks, white paper, colored paper, paper in different sizes and shapes.
2. Scissors - regular scissors and fancy scissors
3. Crayons, Marker, Colored Pencils
4. Paints - acrylic, water color, and tempera
5. Extras - oil pastels, sharp pencils, colored ink pens, highlighters

I keep most of these items down low on shelves and in bins for her to be able to use when she wants.  She usually just uses a spiral notebook and mechanical pencil. We have a few instructional books on drawing but she loves to come up with her own thing.  Usually it is horses and barns.

Her drawing of a horse.  She is learning how to shade.

I think that encouraging her love of art and creativity will spark her love of life and living.  I want to keep that spark alive for her and inspire her to achieve anything she wants.  So for now we are encouraging art.

Painting a fish for her daddy's birthday.

Featured post from 2/27:

Hands-On Homeschool: How Important is it to memorize basic math facts?

I chose this link as my feature because we are starting to memorize our addition facts 1-10 and this post hit the nail on the head for me.  I was debating whether or not I felt it was important.  Go read it for yourself and see what you think!  I would love to hear  your thoughts!

Giveaway this week:

A copy of Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Facebook Fan Freebie

I have created a fun freebie for all of my Facebook Fans!  Want to snag it?  Click on the image below to be linked to my page and get it there!  Thanks for being a fan!!!

Reading Eggs

I wrote last week that we were changing up the way we do school around here and that I had purchased something new for S for reading.  She was struggling with some words and blends that I *thought* we had covered.  She was very unhappy with the way we were doing reading and asked me to purchase Reading Eggs for her.  We had a trial version of it last year and it was a hit.  So the hubby and I discussed and decided that it would be a good purchase for her.  I contacted the company and they extended a discount to me!  I was able to get it for 25% off (then noticed it was 50% off on Zulily a week later! ha!).


Reading Eggs is an online reading curriculum.  It offers one-on-one lessons that allow children to progress at their own pace.  It was developed by teachers and focuses on core concepts including phonics and sight words.  It even helps with spelling and some grammar.  As of now there are 120 lessons in Reading Eggs and it is growing!

Reading Eggs offers a FREE 14 Day trial.  You may then purchase your subscription or cancel.  I think it is wise to take advantage of that offer before plunging into this purchase.  Make sure your child will enjoy working on the computer each day.


S and I talked about how she wanted to start the program and we both decided to retest her in.  She didn't test in as well as I had hoped but it was where I had figured she would be *sigh*.  She has not looked back!  Not once!!  Each day she completes a new lesson and is excited to see what is inside of the "egg" that she is working to hatch in that lesson.  The other day it was a horse.  I am sure you can imagine the level of excitement!!!

This is not all that she does for reading each day but it is the bulk of the learning that she does.  We also do read alouds and she has unit study work that includes reading, vocabulary, etc...  I think her reading is improving each day.

I am in no way shape or form affiliated with Reading Eggs.  This review was just for inquiring minds.  I was not compensated or asked to do this review.  I just find this program to be beneficial to my family and wanted to share it with YOU!

3in30 - March 2013

I have been seeing the 3in30 Challenege all over the internet.  So I decided that it would be a great place for me to start some new goals and maybe stick to them.  (You know I am not very good at sticking with it.)

So, here is are my goals for March, 2013

1. Get up with the Hubby each morning and start my day.

2. Keep the kitchen clean (aka wash the dishes!!!)

3. Read at least 2 NEW books this month.

So, those may sound a bit silly but I am starting with those to start small and here is why...
 I do not get up early enough each day and I am hoping that I can start getting up earlier each day to get things going and stay on task, get my vitamins in, and get work done before Hubby comes home in the evening.

I am NOT a fan of doing the dishes.  I don't have a dishwasher so I have to wash by hand.  But I have found that I don't mind doing them so much when I keep them washed and wash them as I go.  I have also found that I LOVE my new dish drying mat.  I threw out the old dish drainer that took up all of my counter space (no joke I only have about a foot and a half) and laid the mat down.  I am able to get the dishes dried faster on the mat, therefor I can put them away faster and have access to my counter top.  That my friends, is a beautiful thing! ;)

I have received a couple of books in the mail recently and I have been hoarding some up on my Kindle app. I want to go through them and get them read. -- So that I can justify buying more! HA!

So, what are your goals for March?

This post is linked up at #3in30 Link Up!