Elvish impersonator with 2 halflings "Bandicoot Boy" (9 yob) & "Braveheart" (6 yob) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:24:00 -0500 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:24:00 -0500 I remember seeing this originally air and laughed so hard about it.  I was tickled to find this on another blog and be able to see again.  I know there are many not laughing now about how far in debt they have become.  But the ideal is sound - "If you don't have the money for it, then don't buy it".    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/672486/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/672486/ So I had a birthday and I was feeling pretty old UNTIL I came upon this test that another blogger had failed. I was pleased to discover that I still have the hearing of a teenager. woohoo And even if I had failed it was still funny to see the dog tilting its head back and forth while the youngins holler "What is that noise?" Created by Train Horns http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/670223/ Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/670223/ From: http://www.homeschool.com/articles/top100-2009/default.asp The Top 100 Educational Websites of 2009 Selected by: Homeschool.com Sponsored by: Time4 Learning Homeschool.com’s Product Testers have done it again! They have selected the Top 100 Educational Websites of 2009. We asked our 7,000 Product Testers to send us a list of the educational sites that they like the best and use the most often. The three sites mentioned most often were: The Top Sites for 2009 1) www.starfall.com 2) www.edhelper.com 3) www.time4learning.com Note: Normally we would not include a commercial site on this list. However, so many people nominated Time4Learning, it seemed unfair to leave them off the list.   Click on a site name Explore their site for awhile If you love it, add it to your bookmarks Then use the back button to come back to the main Top 100 list All of these sites are safe, proven and used by thousands of parents just like you. So grab a cup of coffee, put your kids on your lap, and have fun exploring these wonderful sites. Reference Ed Helper http://www.edhelper.com School Express http://www.schoolexpress.com/ Learning Page http://www.learningpage.com Tools for Educators http://www.toolsforeducators.com Britannica http://www.britannica.com Discovery School http://school.discovery.com Homeschoolers Reference Desk http://www.geocities.com/homeschooldesk/ Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org New York Times Learning Network http://www.nytimes.com/learning Enchanted Learning www.EnchantedLearning.com   Miscellaneous Autism Today http://www.autismtoday.com Ideal Lives http://www.ideallives.com Study Stack http://www.studystack.com Study Spanish http://www.studyspanish.com How Stuff Works http://www.howstuffworks.com/ Living Spanish http://www.livingspanish.com/ To Learn English http://www.tolearnenglish.com/ Songs for Teaching http://www.songsforteaching.com/ Education Creations http://www.educationcreations.com/freestuff.htm Lesson Plan Central http://www.lessonplancentral.com/ Time Savers for Teachers http://www.timesaversforteachers.com/ Great Resource for K-8 http://www.kids.gov/ Time4Learning http://www.time4learning.com   Math The Math Worksheet Site http://www.TheMathWorksheetSite.com Math Goodies.com http://www.mathgoodies.com Math Playground http://www.mathplayground.com Math Drills http://www.math-drills.com/ Math.com http://www.math.com/ Algebra Help http://www.algebrahelp.com WebMath http://www.webmath.com Cool Math Games http://www.coolmath-games.com   High School High School Ace http://highschoolace.com/ace/ace.cfm Homework Spot http://www.homeworkspot.com Explore Learning http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm Best Colleges http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college Preparing Your Child for College http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Prepare/index.html   Science BrainPOP http://www.brainpop.com Chem4Kids http://www.chem4kids.com Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu InnerBody http://www.InnerBody.com Science for High School http://www.scienceforhighschool.com/ Cosmeo http://cosmeo.com NASA for Students http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html Astronomy for Kids http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=127 Nine Planets http://www.nineplanets.org StarChild http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov The Electronic Zoo http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm Smith Life Science http://www.smithlifescience.com/ The MAD Scientist Network http://www.madsci.org Try Science http://www.tryscience.org Science & Technology Education http://www.ftexploring.com/   Arts & Crafts Art Lessons for All Grades http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/lessons.html Kinder Art http://www.kinderart.com Crayola http://www.crayola.com Draw Space http://www.drawspace.com/ Draw Your World http://www.drawyourworld.com/index.html Drawing/Sketching Lessons http://drawsketch.about.com/ Kids Art http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/kidsart.htm   Reading Starfall http://www.starfall.com Reading A-Z http://www.readinga-z.com/samples/preview.html TLS-Books http://www.tlsbooks.com/ Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.net Wowio.com http://www.wowio.com   Writing ABC Teach http://www.abcteach.com Scholastic – Student Activities http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp Online Writing Guide http://oswego.org/staff/tcaswell/wg/para.htm The Write Site http://www.writesite.org Spelling City http://www.spellingcity.com/ Teacher’s Lab http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/   Geography, History and Virtual Travel Colonial Williamsburg: Electronic Field Trips http://www.history.org/trips Natural Wonders of the World http://www.field-guides.com/sci/natwon/index.htm Teacher’s Guide Virtual Field Trips http://www.theteachersguide.com/virtualtours.html CyberBee http://www.cyberbee.com Global Online Adventure Learning Site http://www.goals.com/Index.htm The Jason Project http://www.jasonproject.org Virtual Field Trips http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours Xpeditions @ National Geographic http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions K-12 Africa Guide http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/AFR_GIDE.html States and Capitals http://www.50states.com Life in the Middle Ages http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/mahome.htm New Perspectives on the West http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest The American Civil War Homepage http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war The Civil War Homepage http://www.civil-war.net The Oregon Trail http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html Geography Worksheets http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/qt/geogprintables.htm White House for Kids http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids Lewis and Clark http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark   Homeschooling Homeschool.com http://www.homeschool.com Homeschool Reviews http://www.homeschoolreviews.com Homeschool Blogger http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/home.php Homeschool Buyers Co-Op http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/ Homeschool Freebie of the Day http://www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com Homeschool Classifieds http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com The Well Trained Mind http://www.welltrainedmind.com/   Educational Games Family Fun http://www.familyfun.com Teach With Movies http://www.teachwithmovies.org Fun Brain http://www.funbrain.com Discovery Kids http://kids.discovery.com/games/games.html I Know That http://www.iknowthat.com http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/645526/ Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/645526/ The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List From Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1 1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it? 2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts. 3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize. 4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know. 5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double. 6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away. 7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling. 8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious. 9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons. 10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions. 11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school. 12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind. 13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky. 14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator. 15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else. 16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then. 17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more. 18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one. 19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else. 20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood. 21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled. 22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids. 23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids. 24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school. 25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up! from http://www.secular-homeschooling.com...eschooler.html http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/425675/ Thu, 8 Nov 2007 15:36:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/425675/ This is a music video from Acappella.  This song is wonderful.  Actually their newest album "Radiance" is one of their recent best in my opinion.  I hope you enjoy this video.  Are you ready to meet Jesus? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/328817/ Tue, 15 May 2007 12:36:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/328817/ I guess I better blog or they might think this place is abandoned. Well, I've had quite a bit of excitement the last couple of months.  Let's start with my birthday.  My husband gave me an incredible birthday vacation in Jamaica.  I was soooooooo very nervous but it all turned out fabulous.  The munchkins went with Granny & Papa.  It was the most relaxing vacation ever.  Laying on the beach under palm trees, not caring what time it is.  Swimming in the ocean for the first time.  Wow! Then we came home and the next day my purse was stolen.  I still have trouble thinking and writing about that.  It is not like they ripped it off my shoulder and ran away with it.  I had hung it on the back of a chair in a fast food restaurant.  We left and I forgot it until we got home.  I quickly turned around (15 mins.) and drove back to where I knew it was but it was gone.  I was frantic.  An hour later someone called and said that my purse was at the library (several miles away from where it was stolen).  Of course several things were missing - my camera, memory cards, gift cards, cash.  But they left my bible!  I haven't carried a purse since. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/319392/ Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/319392/ Let me tell you about my day! I'll begin with pestilence, which is more suited to disease but I like the word and am using it in regards to insects.  We have a problem with box elder beetles.  They appear inside our house.  The boys take great joy and finding them and helping to dispose of them.  Today was such a day. Let's move on to flood.  Braveheart (4) comes running to me crying and saying "bad problem".  He quickly leads me to the bathroom where the hot faucet is on full and running over the sink and onto the floor.  He gets confused with the faucet knobs, the whole righty-tighty thing.  I get things under control (including myself).  He tells his brother that there was a bug (box elder) in the sink and he was going to kill it with hot water but the sink kept filling up and he couldn't shut it off.  No major damage done.  I told him how glad I was that he came and got me quickly.  It could've been much worse. Next is famine.  Tonight's Cub Scout pack meeting required that I make something to feed a small army and of course I had to go to the grocery.  I had forgotten (got busy)  to eat lunch and was feeling the shakes.  So between running to the grocery and mopping up the bathroom floor I found time to eat something before my headache got any worse. It's been a day.  I will look back and smile at it ........................................................... maybe next week. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/289488/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:16:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/289488/ Cell Phones vs. Bible (author unknown) I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones. What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets? What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it? What if we gave it to kids as gifts? What if we used it as we traveled? What if we used it in case of an emergency? This is something to make you go ...hmm...where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't ever have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/281803/ Wed, 7 Feb 2007 15:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/281803/ First Corinthians 13 Christmas Version If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime: I'm just another cook. If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity; but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love does not envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love does not give only to those who are able to give in return; but rejoices in giving to those who cannot. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure. --Author Unknown http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/257039/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:35:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/257039/ What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. The West   The South   The Inland North   Philadelphia   Boston   North Central   The Northeast   What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/256397/ Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:26:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blessdmommy/256397/