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Book Review: The Wackiest, Wildest, and Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna

June 6, 2009 by Tracey 3 Comments

What is the fastest two-legged animal? Which animal weighs less than a paper clip when born? The answers to these questions and other fascinating animal facts can be found in this exciting book by Jack Hanna.

Jungle Jack’s Wackiest, Wildest, and Weirdest Animals in the World showcases one animal per page and includes vibrant, close-up pictures. Key information is given about each of the animals including what they eat, where they live and how big they get. Jack Hanna shares some of his own experiences of his interaction with many of these animals. A helpful glossary is included at the end of the book.

I appreciate that the book is written from a Christian perspective with several references to God’s creation of animals and no mention of evolution. The book is written in an easy-to-read style and is specifically geared toward children with information they would find exciting. The colorful photos add a wonderful dimension of interest to the pages.

If your child is at all interested in animals, he/she would thoroughly enjoy this book. It would be great as a read-aloud for younger children and a read-alone for older ones. This book opens the door to understanding the diversity and uniqueness of some of God’s creations.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small percentage from any sales.  This does not affect your price in any way.

Filed Under: Read

Setting Up Our Daily Schedule for Summer

June 2, 2009 by Tracey 7 Comments

Last week I posted a schedule of weekly themes and activities that I’m hoping to do with the girls this summer. Since then, I have been trying to work out a daily schedule for us to follow. Here is what I’ve put together for my girls so far.

7:30 A.M. Breakfast
8:00-9:00 A.M. Make beds, get dressed, complete any other chores
9:00-10:00 A.M. Independent work: read books on theme, do writing activity, study memory verse, practice piano
[This is the time in which I would hope to be able to get any of my daily blogging activities accomplished.]
10:00–10:30 A.M. Go over independent work with me, research together on the Internet any questions they may have from their reading
10:30-11:30 A.M. Play outside (weather permitting)
11:30 A.M. Lunch (Girls to help me prepare it)
12:30–1:00 P.M. Work on Spanish or watch video/dvd on that week’s theme 1:00–2:00 P.M. Play inside
2:00-2:40 P.M. Computer time (each girl gets twenty minutes to play games on the computer)
2:45 P.M. Snack
3:00 P.M. Complete any chores left to be done, then free time
I want to get my daughters more involved in helping out in the kitchen this summer, so I hope to have them helping me prepare lunch daily and supper at least several times a week. I like to have the girls in bed no later than 9:00 P.M. even during the summer.
 
My goal is to be able to keep this schedule consistently at least 3–4 days a week. Monday will be our grocery shopping and library day. I am sure I will have to go out at least one other day each week to complete other errands, but am hoping to combine them all into one trip. We will also want to have friends over here and there, but this is at least a basic outline to get us started and we’ll adjust as needed.
 
On another topic, as I noted above, I would like to have the girls, especially my older daughter, begin learning Spanish (other then the few words she’s picked up from Dora the Explorer!) I’m going to see what’s available at our library, but if you can recommend any language learning programs, I’d love to hear about them!
 
linked to Tackle It Tuesday, Talk About Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday.
 

Filed Under: Parent

Good-Bye, Second Grade

May 29, 2009 by Tracey 5 Comments

Today marks the last day of my oldest daughter’s career as a second grader.

Is it because, in a sense, she’s a firstborn that she is like me (also a firstborn) in her perfectionistic tendencies, her desire to please those in authority, her love of order and organization? The old “nature versus nurture” debate rages on.

Yet as much of myself as I see in her, there are parts of her daddy present, too. For starters, she looks much more like him. She can run fast and tans beautifully – two traits she unquestionably inherited from father!

She has handled well the pressures of being the oldest, having parents who want to do their best expecting much from her, while perhaps unconsciously relaxing a little more with the younger one.

I am overwhelmingly thankful for this long-awaited child, the answer to years of prayers, the entry to parenthood we desired. The door to parenthood had been barely nudged ajar by the brief life of our Angel; this daughter flung it wide open.

The days and weeks seem to be going by faster now. May I treasure the moments to be with her, to grow to know and understand her better as we journey together into uncharted waters.

After all, I’ve never been the mom of a third grader before.

  • Finer Things Friday
  • Family Friday

Filed Under: Parent

Thirteen Things That Make Our Vacation Fun

May 28, 2009 by Tracey 15 Comments

Okay, are you tired of hearing me talk about the family vacation we’re going on next week?? Since I haven’t yet tired of talking about it, here are thirteen things that will make this vacation fun.

  1. Anticipation. Thinking about and planning for our vacation is lots of fun in and of itself.
  2. Watching the girls play in the hotel pool. Finding a hotel with an indoor pool is pretty much top priority for any trip these days. That way we know that they can be entertained no matter what the weather. They don’t have a lot of opportunities to swim in a pool here at home, so they thoroughly enjoy all-day access to a pool.
  3. Spending time together as a family.
  4. No cooking (although I am definitely ready for a home-cooked meal by the time we get back)
  5. No cleaning
  6. Being in the mountains. For whatever reason, I seem to feel more calm and peaceful when I see mountains around me.
  7. Reading. Without laundry to do and meals to prepare, I have more time for reading books and magazines.
  8. Amusement parks. The girls are at the age where they’re able to ride more rides (and want to ride the same ones over and over again!)
  9. Shopping.
  10. Relaxing. No schedule or bedtimes to keep…..
  11. Water. I love seeing waterfalls or even just the little streams that run alongside the road.
  12. Pictures. I like taking pictures of the girls in the different places we visit, to record the fun times we have together.
  13. Getting home. As much fun as it is to go away, it’s also pretty sweet to sleep in your own bed after several nights away!

Filed Under: Live

Packing Made Easy

May 27, 2009 by Tracey 9 Comments

In case you missed my many references this week to our upcoming vacation (ha!), I thought I’d share one of my favorite packing tips. Not to confuse things, though – I really dislike packing. I must say, however, that it is so much easier at this stage of life when we’re past carting all the baby gear along!

I first tried this tip several years ago when we took a trip to Disney World and it worked out great. When it comes time to pack clothes for the girls, I gather an entire outfit for one day. When I say “entire outfit” that includes top, bottom, socks, underwear and even matching hair accessory, if we have one. On the outside of a gallon size Ziploc bag, I write the name of the girl the outfit belongs to and the day she will wear it. I place the whole outfit inside the bag and zip it up. Now, when we get up at the hotel on Monday morning, each girl finds the bag with her name and “Monday” written on it and knows exactly what to put on for the day.
 
Not only does this process make it easy for the girls to get dressed, it also keeps the suitcase looking neat and organized since there’s no rifling through it to find stray socks. Being prepared and organized while on vacation works for me!
 
This post is linked to Tuesday Tip Jar and Works for Me Wednesday.
 

Filed Under: Live

Summer Learning Schedule

May 26, 2009 by Tracey 7 Comments

Since this is the last week of school here, I decided it was time to get myself in gear for the summer. While I like to take it easy during these months, I also know that the girls still need a bit of structure to their days. When we have at least a general plan of things to do, it keeps both them and myself more focused and under control. Since swimming lessons aren’t being offered at our normal location this summer, the next few months are pretty low-key as far as activities go.

I wanted to do a theme for each week of the summer and plan our reading and other activities around it. Monday will be our library day. I plan to go online and reserve some titles ahead of time, but will also browse through the shelves while we’re there to get a good selection of books. If there is a related video or dvd to go along with our theme, we’ll check that out as well. Since my girls are six and eight, we will choose materials that they can mostly read by themselves.

The outings I’ve chosen each week are free or relatively inexpensive. For the few that cost a bit more, we will use the money we had set aside for those swimming lessons to cover the expense. I also have included a Bible verse for them to memorize each week that goes along with the theme we’ll be discussing. Again, they are old enough to read through the verse on their own and can practice it together.

The order of the weeks may change as we go along, depending on what other items are added to our schedule. Here’s the plan I’m starting with for now.

Week 1 Theme – Countries
Books: Each girl can choose five countries to read about
Outing: Grocery store (Since we will have just returned from our vacation, our outing will be to the grocery store where the girls can help me choose ingredients to make meals from some of the countries they choose to read about.)
Bible verse: Acts 1:8

Week 2 Theme – Ocean
Books: Ocean/Ocean Life/Sea Animals
Outing: Beach
Verse: Psalm 139:9-10

Week 3 Theme – Animals
Books: Each girl chooses five animals to read about
Outing: Zoo
Verse: Psalm 104:24

Week 4 Theme – History
Books: Each girl will choose one time period from world history and one from American history to read about
Outing: Fort Moultrie, SC
Verse: Psalm 77:11-12

Week 5 Theme – Flowers & Trees
Books: Encyclopedia or overview books about various types of flowers and trees
Outing: Middleton Place Gardens
Verse: Matthew 6:28-29

Week 6 Theme – Sports
Books: Three sports each
Outing: Bowling and/or minor league baseball game
Verse: 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Week 7 Theme – Famous Americans
Books: Five for each girl – biographies or autobiographies (to include one native South Carolinian each)
Outing: Downtown Charleston, SC
Verse: Hebrews 12:1

Week 8 Theme – Missionaries
Books: Three for each girl – biographies or autobiographies
Outing: Service project (I would like to find some service project we can do as a family)
Verse: Matthew 28:19-20

Week 9 Theme – Health/Our Bodies
Books: Anatomy/Exercise/Healthy Eating
Outing: Local park (hiking trail) and/or farmers market to choose new fruit or vegetable to try
Verse: Psalm 139:14

Next week I plan to share what our daily schedule will look like. I will update throughout the summer as to what is (and what isn’t!) working for us!

This post is linked to Tackle It Tuesday and Talk About Tuesday.

photo courtesy Public Domain Pictures

Filed Under: Parent

Book Review: She Still Calls Me Daddy

May 25, 2009 by Tracey 2 Comments

A close, loving relationship between a father and daughter can be especially meaningful and rewarding. I readily admit that my latest read, She Still Calls Me Daddy: Building a New Relationship with Your Daughter After You Walk Her Down the Aisle by Robert Wolgemuth, is geared toward dads who have recently had a daughter get married. However, I was curious what the author’s take might be on giving his two daughters away in marriage. After all, I figured I could read it from the perspective of a daughter who has had a wonderful relationship with her father, not to mention seeing what might be in the future for my husband and our two girls.

Wolgemuth uses the idea of remodeling a house as he delves into the building of a relationship with a married daughter and her husband. Chapters are devoted to the areas of protection, conversation, affection, discipline, laughter, faith and conduct. He includes lots of stories from his own experience, which make the information personal and interesting. I would have enjoyed seeing a few more practical tips on ways to develop and strengthen family connections in each of the areas he covered.

My favorite chapter was the one on faith. The author uses the analogy of stirring ingredients together when following a recipe; in the same way, we as parents are to stir up the gifts that God has given to our children. God gives them “ingredients” or gifts; I, as a parent, am to do the stirring, “ those things that intentionally nurture and blend faith with everyday life.” He also includes great advice on praying for our children once they have left home and are married.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I am guessing it will mean even more to my husband and myself when we reach this stage in our lives. From all that is detailed in the book, it certainly sounds like the author has built great relationships with his married daughters and sons-in-law.

Filed Under: Read

Congratulations to Our Graduate!!

May 22, 2009 by Tracey 5 Comments

Today marks a special occasion in our family.

My “baby” is graduating from kindergarten.
 
She of the long blonde hair, brown eyes, fair skin, tall, slim figure and giant snaggle-tooth smile will walk across the stage in her little cap and gown to receive a diploma that allows her entrance into first grade.
 
Because she aims to please, she will follow directions exactly – sitting, standing and singing on cue. She will appear to be focused on the events at hand, but those of us who know her best realize that her thoughts could be a million miles away.
 
My dad, one of those people tremendously gifted with words, said of this granddaughter, “If her outside looked like her inside, she would always be in dress-up clothes.”
 
This is one of those many moments in life where happiness and sadness, exhilaration and melancholy coincide.
 
Happiness for her, for the excitement surrounding the evening, for all she’s accomplished in her little life so far; sadness for the years fleeing so quickly, taking her slowly but surely away from us one day.
 
With smiles on our faces, much love in our hearts and tears in our eyes, we watch her take these steps today.
 
This post is linked to Amy’s Finer Things and Family Friday.

Filed Under: Parent

Frugal Fashion

May 15, 2009 by Tracey 12 Comments

Jen over at Beauty and Bedlam is hosting a Frugal Fashionista Fashion Show today. She has been doing a series on putting together a fabulous wardrobe inexpensively by shopping for clothes at yard sales and thrift stores.

Over the past several years, I have been able to find items at thrift stores and consignment stores for the girls, pieces that usually look new or still have the original store price tags on them. As my daughters have gotten older, I have not found quite as much in their sizes at yard sales and what is available is usually in a more worn condition.

When I shop at Good Will or another thrift or consignment store, I look for quality name brand items. I find that I am usually able to get store brand items just as cheaply by watching for sales or hitting the clearance racks. I do believe that it takes a little more time to shop at resale stores since many times clothes are only divided by gender or color. You often have to look through a lot of “junk” to find a “jewel,” but to me that’s part of the hunt – finding a really great deal on an item you can use.

Here are some of the clothes I’ve been able to get for my daughters.

I found this dress for my six-year-old at a consignment store. It was new with the tags still on it and I paid $3.50.

This cherry skirt, which my six-year-old has been able to wear for two seasons, was 50 cents at a yard sale. I usually have her wear it with a white or pink top.

These two Children’s Place skirts were at my favorite Good Will and look nearly new. Most importantly, they have the adjustable waist which I need for both my girls. Picked these up for my eight-year-old for around $2.69 each. They are a nice cotton twill so can be worn for summer or winter.

My older daughter loves long, flowy skirts, even for play. I got the brown one at Goodwill for $2.69 and the blue one at a consignment store for $1.50.


Lest you think I never buy tops, I found this Limited Too spring hoodie with the tags still on it at a consignment store for around $3.

I also love buying clothes for the girls in larger sizes when I can and putting them in the back of the closet until the appropriate season. I picked up this dress, which will fit one or the other of them this fall, for $2.69 at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago. It’s so much fun (and cheaper!) at the end of the summer to pull out these finds rather than run to the store to replenish their wardrobe.

I typically don’t find as much for myself at resale stores (although Jen’s series has inspired me to spend a bit more time looking!) I usually try on a variety of things, but don’t walk out with much. Occasionally, however it’s worth it. I recently found this great classic Gap dark brown skirt which is great for church and can be worn with a variety of tops. It looks new and I paid just over $4 for it.

Clothing can take up a huge chunk of your budget, so by shopping wisely for quality items at a good price you can really keep costs down. I still watch for store sales, regularly check the clearance racks at my favorite stores, and sign up to receive retailer coupons, but I also make it part of my routine to stop by a couple of thrift and consignment stores once or twice a month. You never know what treasure you may find!

See the great deals others have found on their clothing by visiting Jen’s Fashion Show. Read other great frugal tips at Frugal Friday hosted by Life as Mom.

Filed Under: Live

Gross Motor Skills

May 12, 2009 by Tracey 2 Comments

I thought for today’s Teaching Tuesday, I would list some of the gross (large) motor skills that our young children develop over the years. Most of these come naturally and are fun to acquire because they’re practiced outside with mom and dad as well as other children.

In our family, my husband is in charge of helping the girls with any athletic skills as I am somewhat deficient in that area! He also ruled the “riding a bike without training wheels” process that our six-year-old just mastered (as I am sure he will one day lead in their driver’s training!)

Children are able to master these skills at various ages and with differing degrees of success. A large open area for play and an encouraging attitude is all that is needed to practice most of these activities.

  • running
  • throwing
  • kicking
  • jumping
  • climbing
  • catching
  • skipping
  • sweeping
  • swinging
  • rolling out dough
  • jump roping
  • bike riding
  • skating
  • hitting a ball with a bat or racket

If you have any ideas for helping a child learn these skills, please let us know in the comments section.

Homeschoolers may want to check out the Carnival of Homeschooling, hosted this week at Walking Therein.

Filed Under: Parent

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Welcome! I'm Tracey, wife and mom to two teenage girls. I seek to help Christian moms raise children who know, love, and serve God by sharing Biblical wisdom, helpful tips, and practical advice. Read More…

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