Taking the Challenge

Apr. 28, 2006 - ~* Friday's Focus - Claim Jumper Restaurants *~

Friday's Focus

What: Claim Jumper Restaurants

Where: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Washington

Price Range: More than Denney's, less than Ruth's Chriss Steak House

Fork Rating (with five being best): 5

Web site for more info: Claim Jumper Restaurants

   Recently my sister took me to a Claim Jumper Restaurant in Southern California in celebration of my birthday. I was so impressed with their food, atmosphere, and service that I looked online and found the closest one to where we lived and treated the family. We all enjoyed the hunting-lodge style atmosphere, the friendly efficient service, and the delicious food (even though we had to drive an hour to get there).
   I can hear you saying, ok...sounds good, but what makes them special?
   I'm glad you asked ;) First, if you have a larger than average family or want to go out with a group of friends, many restaurants act like accommodating a large group is an inconvenience. Not so, with Claim Jumper Restaurants! They are truly family friendly, even larger-than-average family friendly. We sat at a booth that could easily have accommodated 8 people! Yes! A booth I for E I G H T! Quite unusual these days. Additionally, they have large tables ready to go ffor E or larger groups. Large groups don't fluster them at all.
   Another thing that sets Claim Jumper apart is their menu. It is H U G E! Soups alone consist of 5-6 choices as opposed to the usual 2 - 3 of your average restaurants.
    Their "Little and Junior Jumper" menus are some of the most extensive kids menus I've seen.
   They offer homestyle goodies, like fried chicken with biscuits that truly taste homemade, meatloaf (huge portions served here, off one order we had three individual meals), and country fried steak. They have pasta dishes, seafood, and steaks. They also have a large salad selection in addition to a salad bar.
   If that isn't enough, their dessert menu is amazing. Their chocolate motherlode cake is six-layers and enough for the table of eight to share. We had their berry cobbler and it was mmm-mmm good...again, homemade quality that was enough for our family to share twice!
   Another few things we personally appreciated was - the modest dress of the wait staff, the lack of televisions (there might have been one/some in the bar, but since we didn't actually see the bar, we didn't notice), and the bar being totally separate from the dining.
One last kudo for Claim Jumper: we took a friend for her birthday to Claim Jumper's last night and they were hosting "Tip-A-Cop" night. ( I had seen an ad for this in the Southern Cal restaurant when my sister took me there, so evidently it's at least all over CA and maybe the other states' restaurants do this too.) Claim Jumper and the police depts (at least throughout CA) joined together to raise funds for the Special Olympics. The police were there to greet customers and at the end of the meal drop by to explain the program and leave an envelope for those who chose to participate.
      I love a restaurant that is family friendly, community-minded, supportive of our police force and serves great food to boot! Can you ask for more from a restaurant??
If you live near a Claim Jumper Restaurant or will be visiting an area soon that has one, give them a try!
I'd love to hear back from you after you do.

~*Sheryl*~

****For my friends who don't belong to Homeschoolblogger, please be sure and leave your blog address so I can come visit you! (If you don't have a blog and want to comment and receive a reply from me, please leave your e-mail address.) THANKS! :)****

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Mar. 17, 2006 - ~* Friday's Focus: A Closer Look at the Evidence *~

Posted in Fridays Focus

Friday's Focus: I. A Closer Look at the Evidence by Richard & Tina Kleiss

WHAT: A Closer Look at the Evidence by Richard & Tina Kleiss
WHERE: Preview

Purchase
COST: $11.95 for one with discounts on 2 or more
AGES: Varied (upper grades would be able to use this on their own, but if read with the family, there's plenty for the younger ones)

My son and I have been using this devotional book since Jan. 1st of this year and we are thoroughly enjoying it. If your family is doing creation studies, this will tie in very nicely.

This book over and over shares the wonders of creation and how they always point to a Creator. Each day's devotional includes a portion from one of many books that are used for their resources with a scripture that ties in to the lesson. Each lesson comes under one of the following topics: Anatomy, Anthropology, Archeology, Astronomy, Biblical Accuracy, Biblical Uniqueness, Biology, Botony, Changed Nature, Chemistry, Common Sense, Comparing Religions, Creation Foundation, Earth's Ecology, Fossil Record, Genetics, Geology, Great Scientists, History, Language, Mathematics, Microbiology, Physics, Prophecy, Psychology, and Worldwide Flood. One nice thing the authors have done, is mix the topics up so you don't have biology every day, then chemistry for the next however many days, etc.

We have learned so much using this book. Some has been a review of studies we've done in the past, some is brand new, but all are interesting.

The author's give permission for reproduction for non-profit educational purposes. So since I don't profit from my reviews, and since I'm sharing with those whose lives are dedicated to educating their children. I'm including two samples from the book.

January 4

"Evidence from Botony"

On a hot summer day one large tree can pump over a thousand gallons - that's four tons- of water from the ground to its leaves. The water is collected from the soil through the roots. But the real work of pumping tons of water, often 100 feet into the air, occurs at the top of the tree. The water is suctioned toward the tree top by three remarkably efficient mechanisms -capillary flow, osmosis, and vacuum pressure. Osmosis and capillary action act in concert to move the water partway to the top of the tree, but the real driving force is a pressure differential created by the leaves within the vessels of the tree. This pressure differential is a result of water evaporating from the leaves of the tree, creating a suction throughout the vessels. This suction (measured as low as 1/20 of atospheric pressure) helps to draw water from the roots all the way to the top of the tree. If you were to cut one of these vessels you could actually hear a hissing sound as air rushed back in.

The engineering excellence of this silent pumping system, which efficiently delivers moisture to the very top of trees, is a not-so-silent witness against the idea that chance evolutionary processes (such as mutations) could have developed it.

LETTING GOD CREATE YOUR DAY,

Vol. 4, p. 79

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:28

January 15

"Evidence form the Worldwide Flood"

How could the Ark have survived a year long water catastrophe without sinking? The study of hydrodynamics (the branch of physics having to do with the motion and action of water) has demonstrated that a giant boxlike vessel, the size and shape described in the Bible would be almost unsinkable. Even in a sea of gigantic waves, the Ark could be tilted to almost a 90 degree angle and would always tend to right itself again. A vessel of this shape also aligns itself with the waves so that it experiences the least amount of pitching.

In 1604 a Dutchman, Peter Jansz, built two smaller ships with the same proportions as the Ark. These small "arks" could carry one-third more cargo than regular ships without requiring any additional crew and quickly became a popular cargo carrier.

The perfect engineering of the Ark, with the exact characteristics necessary to survive the flood, points to God as characteristics necessary to survive the flood, points to God as the ultimate designer. Every detail of the Bible confirms its accuracy and supernatural origin.

THE CREATION, p. 150-151

THE GENESIS RECORD, p. 181

"...This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high..."

Genesis 6:15

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Mar. 10, 2006 - ~* And the Winner is...*~

Posted in Fridays Focus

Janne of Janne's Jabberwocky! Congratulations Janne, I'll be sending you an e-mail to get your address so I can get this subscription right out to you!

Thanks to everyone who read the review and commented. I'm sure I'll be having more Friday's Focus contests, so visit often!

Have a blessed weekend!

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Mar. 3, 2006 - ~* Friday's Focus: Family Fun Magazine *~

Posted in Fridays Focus

WHAT: Family Fun Magazine
WHERE: Family Fun Magazine Home
COST: If you sign up now, it's $10 for a one year subscription (10 issues)
AGES: Varied

NOTE: Be sure and enter the drawing at the end of my review for a free one year subscription (10 issues)to Family Fun.

You probably already know that my favorite homeschool magazine is The Old Schoolhouse. What you may not know is that my favorite "fun stuff resources" magazine is Family Fun .

I've received this subscription for years and have gotten some really great ideas from crafts and recipes to birthday themes and family vacations. This is a bittersweet review for me, as I'm now letting my subscription lapse. Now that our "baby" is in high school, (the ideas are generally geared to elementary ages), we've "outgrown" this wonderful magazine. Until the grandkids come along. Then I will be re-starting my subscription.

This is one of the few magazines from which I've given subscriptions as gifts. You'll find each issue chock-full of crafts, recipes, and ideas for the month it is published. From New Year's through Christmas, every holiday is featured as well as the seasons of the year. Most of the crafts and recipes call for ingredients you already have on hand and most are easy to do. And there's always a recipe specifically written (including step-by-step pictures) for the young cook in your family.

Family Fun is produced by the Disney Company, and you will see their books, media, and vacation places plugged, but not so overwhelmingly or overtly as to take away from the usefulness and enjoyment of the magazine.

It's been hard to let my subscription lapse, but the time has arrived. So, to help me say goodbye to an old friend, I thought I'd have a drawing and let a new family enjoy the benefits of this magazine. If you think your family would benefit from and enjoy a subscription to Family Fun, then leave a comment and you'll be entered in the drawing which will be held Friday, March 10, 2006.

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Mar. 3, 2006 - ~* Quick post about a drawing and Friday's Focus *~

Posted in Fridays Focus

I'm flying out of here to help finish the final touch-ups for our final appraisal...but I wanted to give my Friday's Focus reader's a heads-up: There will be a drawing for a one year's subscription to the magazine that I review later tonight. So be sure and drop back by, read the review, and leave a comment.

Ok...I'm skedaddling ;)

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