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March 4, 2016April 9, 2016

Pure Goodness Protein Powder – Review

About the Product

New Pure Goodness Proteins are made from a powerful plant-based formula that contains 15 grams of plant based protein per serving and all amino acids essential for human dietary needs.

Pure Goodness products are Non-GMO verified, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, 100% Vegan and Paleo Friendly!

They have two different variations, Hemp Seed Protein and Pumpkin Seed Protein which are available in three different flavors, Unflavoured, Chocolate and Vanilla.

All seeds are gently cold pressed and minimally processed to ensure maximum nutrient preservation and digestibility.

Pure Goodness also believes in taking care of each other. This is why they give back, by donating 1% of sales to help provide nutritious food to communities in need across the US!

Aside from my pink backpack, which is awesome on the go. I also like to bring along my favorite shaker bottle with Pure Goodness Hemp Seed Protein. If I’m not going to be drinking it right away, I just carry it with the powder in it and then add water from a water fountain or water bottle when I’m ready to drink.

I received the Hemp Seed Protein, Chocolate Protein Powder to review. It has 4 ingredients! Hemp seed protein, fair trade cocoa powder, natural chocolate flavor, stevia leaf extract. For more nutritional info, check out the Pure Goodness website.

This Pure Goodness Hemp Seed Protein is awesome for taking with me to so many places! When I’m teaching, it’s great to sip on during the day or drink all at once at snack time. When it’s a busy day and I’m on the go, it’s great for having along for a mid-morning energy boost, or a tide-over until lunch. Days when I’m home and getting caught up on the housework it great for a mid-afternoon snack. And it makes a great post-workout drink. So many times throughout my week that a little extra protein is so helpful – and by little, I mean 15 grams.

I prefer it mixed in milk. The flavor is great (even in just water) but I’ve never been really good with the gritty texture of a protein drink and milk is a bit thicker than water so it masks the grit just a bit. Just heat up a cup of milk, add the powder, mix, and you have a Protein Hot Chocolate! Perfect for an afternoon snack or pick-me-up at home.

If you prefer to mix your protein powder with water, you’ll still like this product. It does mix in quite well. No chunks. It doesn’t settle too badly, but I do still shake my drink up every so often just in case.

What I like best is the taste. Because there’s so few ingredients, I don’t have to taste a bunch of added vitamins and such, it’s just whatever is naturally occurring in hemp seed, cocoa, chocolate flavor, and stevia. Really, with all that cocoa, it’s the best protein powder I’ve ever had in milk. So chocolaty! I can definitely taste the sweetness of the stevia, but I don’t eat a lot of foods with stevia in it so I tend to notice it when it’s there. It’s not a bad taste just a tad sweeter – in my opinion – than cane sugar.

This is a great protein powder, it tastes great, and mixes well.

Check out Pure Goodness on Social Media!

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I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

March 4, 2016March 4, 2016

Colored Eggs

Ingredients
1. Eggs
2. Water
3. White Vinegar
4. Food coloring
5. Lemon juice

First step is to hard boil your eggs. Place the desired number of eggs in a pan (I usually throw in a few extra because one or two usually crack), fill the pan with cold water just to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil on the stove and boil for 5 minutes. Turn off stove and let cool. If you’re in a hurry you can drain off the hot water, fill the pan with cold water, and repeat until the water is no longer pouring out hot – I always find that this method will crack an egg or two so I try to just wait if I can.

Fun with the Eggs

Egg coloring (per color)
2/3 cup hot water
2 Tbsp white vinegar
Food coloring

Combine the water and vinegar in a small bowl – make sure it’s big enough to put your egg in it – then add food coloring until you reach your desired shade. The vinegar helps set the color so you get a much more vibrant color.

After all your colors are mixed gently place the egg in a color and let it soak until your egg reaches the desired shade.

Be creative, there’s lots of ways to make speckled or designed eggs.

1. Wrap a rubberband around your egg before soak it for a crazy striped egg
2. Wrap a small piece of lace around your egg before soaking for a fancy design – this method also gives you a little “handle” for your egg so it’s a lot easier for kids to dip and soak the eggs
3. Dip half the egg in one color and half the egg in another color
4. Dye one color and then paint with another – the kids love this too! You can make special egg “paint” with less water and vinegar and more food coloring.

I like to dry my eggs on my cookie racks set over a stack of newspapers or paper towels. Remember, food coloring stains, so don’t get it on anything you don’t want colored.

Cleanup

Now, for the lemon juice. If your kids are like mine, their hands are now multi-colored. Lemon juice is great for removing color from little fingers! I just gave mine a small bowl and they pre-washed their hands with lemon juice before actually washing their hands with soap and water. Didn’t remove all the color but it got way more off than just soap and water.

March 2, 2016April 9, 2016

8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids – Review

8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids by Dr. Todd Cartmell with a foreword by Jill Savage. This book has super short chapters. Each chapter is a couple of pages long. And each chapter ends with an action item.

Each of the 8 tools is broken into smaller action points. This book is so easy to read. And because the chapters are so short it’s easy to pick up and read a chapter here and there around whatever the kids are doing.

The topics are simple and to the point. They are also very practical. You don’t have to go out and do anything grand to raise great kids. This book is all about how to engage your kids, speak into their lives in a way that they will listen, and build a lasting relationship with your children.

One of my favorite sections was the chapter on learning together with your kids. His points really hit home, because I spend a lot of time teaching my children or watching them learn, but very little time learning with them. And there’s this perception they get that I’m doing everything perfect. When I’m really not, I’m just doing the things I’m good at. And that’s all they see. They never see me learn.

It’s a great challenge and one that I’m going to have to find a way to implement in my family. Plus, learning something new is always fun!

If you’re looking for simple, practical ways to engage and encourage your children, this is a great book! And, it’s only $10 at Amazon!

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

February 29, 2016February 24, 2016

H is for Why Homeschool?

For me, the decision to homeschool was easy. I and my husband were both homeschooled and both greatly benefited from being educated this way. So the decision to homeschool our children was easy, or, assumed. There was no discussion, I just had to figure out which umbrella school, what curriculums, state requirements, etc.

A couple years in and I love homeschooling my children. So, why homeschool? Or, why continue homeschooling? Here’s some benefits I’m already seeing.

Child lead learning – I love my curriculum and it’s important for my children to be at least at grade level, but, their learning is tailored to their needs. My 2nd grader loves science, so she does lots of science. Extra science classes at the local museum, etc. She also loves to grow things, so this spring I told her she can have her own garden, choose what goes in it, and be responsible (with some help from me) for taking care of it. And for reading this month, my 2nd grader has selected a Nancy Drew. As the kids get older, they’ll have more say about what curriculum we’re using and what subjects or direction we want to go with which subjects (like do they want to learn algebra or geometry first).
I can “sneak” in extra learning – My 2nd grader just realized the other day that when she helps me in the kitchen I’m making her do math. She’s struggling with understanding fractions so I was walking her through combining 2 1/2 cups to equal 1 cup. She loves to cook and really wants to read and follow her own recipe without assistance, but getting all her measurements right is still a bit tricky. When she realized she was doing math she wasn’t all upset about it, it was more the realization that some math is super useful and that she needs it to be able to accomplish something fun (like making her own batch of banana muffins). Guess who’s suddenly more interested in fractions!
I know what needs more work – With reading, she’s a good reader, but often drops connecting words or skips lines. And when reading out loud she tends to be very quiet and hard to hear. I’ve been teaching her to read recipes to me in the kitchen and she’s realizing the importance of every line on the page. She doesn’t realize it, but it’s definitely helping with focusing on every word. (I know, back to cooking, but she loves cooking, and there’s so many other skills I can slip in while we’re at it) Also, she’s able to read devotions to us in the evenings instead of me doing all the reading. She thinks it’s awesome and I think it’s great to hear her read aloud. She wanted me to record her reading the other day so I told her that she had to talk really loud so the camera could pick up her voice. I’ve been wanting to work on presentation when reading but finding a way to emphasize it has been a challenge. Telling her to “read louder” just doesn’t work. It was her best reading yet, because who doesn’t love to be on camera!
More Free time – We have time to spend all day browsing a museum, do a crafting day, or not start school until 10. When we’re done for the day, we’re done. No homework in the evening. The weather has been beautiful this week (finally warming up a bit) so lots of time has been spent outside. Our neighbor friend doesn’t get home from school until 3 or so and my kids are usually well into their outside play by that time.
More Flexible Schedule – We vacation in the off season, meaning we get the beach to ourselves! We do school through snow days and get out early in the spring when the weather is just gorgeous! Some holidays we take and some we don’t, but we’ll throw in a bonus free day whenever we want to do something fun. It lets us have our schedule the way that works best for our family.
More Sleep – My kids usually get up around 8. On those rare mornings when we have to be somewhere before then, I see all the kids waiting on the corner for the school bus to pick them up. I really can’t imagine waking my kids up before the sun every morning to get them to school. You shouldn’t have to do that until you get your first job. As a result, my kids get up fully rested and we have the flexibility to stay up late a night or two a week and do something fun as a family. Very rarely are my kids short on sleep and I think that their attitudes and mental ability is better because they’re getting enough rest.

For my family, homeschooling is just awesome, and we love it. If you homeschool I’d love to hear about some things that benefit your family.

February 23, 2016April 9, 2016

Healthy Baby Home Party Opportunity

What is a Healthy Baby Home Party?

Seventh Generation’s home parties are powered by people like you who are focused on creating a healthy environment for the next generation. Developed with input from non-profit partner, Healthy Child Healthy World, they are a great way to get together with friends, share helpful information, and make an impact!

Healthy Baby Home Party kits are provided to all selected hosts and are filled with educational info about our environment, helpful tips, a fun game, and samples and coupons from Seventh Generation and other favorite family-friendly brands like bobble, Plum Organics and Zarbee’s Naturals.

What is the Application Process?

Sign up at generationgood.net to join the Generation Good community, or log in if already a member.
Accept the Healthy Baby Home Party Application offer on your Generation Good dashboard and complete the application.
Applicants will be notified by end of March if they have been selected to host a party, via an email to the email address assigned to their Generation Good member profile.
All selected applicants will then need to confirm their participation by accepting the Healthy Baby Home Party Mission in Generation Good and confirming their shipping address.
1,900 FREE Party Kits will be distributed in this round.
Hosting spots are open to US residents only at this time. Canadian parties are planned for later in 2016!
Full terms and conditions are available within Generation Good in the “Healthy Baby Home Party Application” offer.

This is a sponsored post.

February 16, 2016

F is for Friends

One thing I’ve never understood is why homeschooling gets a bad rap for socialization. I think for my generation (when I was a kid) this was a big concern for people. And I’m happy to see that as much less of a concern for my kids. I almost never get asked “do your kids have friends?”. And I remember my mom being asked that many, many times. Or maybe it’s just the “bubble” that I’m in. I know a LOT of homeschoolers these days!

Or maybe no one asks me about my kids socialization because my kids are doing all the talking. They like to talk. To everyone.

So, how do my kids make friends? Well, first of all I live in a city that I would describe as very homeschool friendly. You either homeschool, or many of your friends homeschool. Because there are so many homeschoolers, my kids have lots of friends (both homeschooled and non-homeschooled) and no one expected kids to act different based on where they’re going to school.

Church – We live in the Bible Belt and while religion is an integral part of our lives, Church is also a major socialization group in this area of the country. It’s totally normal and acceptable for people to attend one church and participate in activities (such as preschool, AWANA, women’s groups, sports, etc. in another church). And there are a lot of Churches that host a lot of different events. So, not only do my kids get to see their friends Sundays, they’re also meeting other kids during the week.

Homeschool Groups – And there are lots of these in my town. There are groups that meet just for parental support. Groups for kids classes. Educational groups. Facebook groups – used for forming your own sub-groups for activities and such. You name it, there’s probably a homeschool group for it. We’re in a Classical Conversations group so my kids see the same group of kids on a weekly basis.

My Friends – No surprises here, but my friends have kids around my kid’s ages. So, playdates, museum trips, etc. are a fun way to catch up and let the kids have fun.

Extras – And then there’s the extracurricular activities like dance and sports. It’s not uncommon to keep running into the same people at these activities. My kids have friends that they know from church, dance, and the museum class. We just keep running into them. It’s always fun to sit with someone that you already know.

My kids have lots of friends. And because I also know most of their friends parents, we get to hang out and have fun with friends way more than we would if my children were not homeschooled.

February 14, 2016April 9, 2016

Valentia Eye Cream and Mask – Review

Valentia is a modern cosmetic brand that uses natural and organic ingredients in their products. Their products are made in the USA, cruelty free, and are vegan friendly. I don’t know about you, but when I’m using a product daily on my face it’s nice to know that it’s made of high quality, natural ingredients.

I got to try out two of Valentia’s products. Their True Glow Eye Cream and their Ultra Plumping Hydration Mask.

TRUE GLOW EYE CREAM
– Astaxanthin: A powerful antioxidant that increases moisture levels, smooths fine line and wrinkles, and restores elasticity to the skin.

– Resistem: Natural Plant Stem Cells repair and protect the skin from harsh environmental pollutants and stress related aging.

– Vitamin C: Leaves the skin smooth and visibly brighter for a well-rested and bright eyed look.

– Organic Rosehip Oil: Provides intense hydration to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

– Arnica: A key anti-inflammatory agent to the restorative process that works to diminish the appearance of dark circles.

ULTRA PLUMPING HYDRATION MASK
– Silk Protein Amino Acid Blend:These natural miracles increase moisture content and help in the production of collagen and elastin which decreases the appearance of visible lines.

– Botanical Hyaluronic Acid:Penetrates deep into the skin to secure moisture and plump skin from within.

– Organic Sea Buckthorn Oil:An anti-aging wonder berry that results in fewer fine lines, diminished sun spots, more even skin tone, and firmer more supple skin.

– Japanese Green Tea:Contains catechins that provide anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and anti-irritant effects to the skin.

– Aloe Vera:This botanical moisturizers skin and fight aging by improving skin firmness.

REVIEW

Let’s start with the eye cream. The instructions say to use it twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. It’s gentle on my skin and has really done a great job of reducing dark circles and brightening the skin under my eyes.

With 3 kids there are many night I don’t get enough sleep so I need all the help I can get to keep away the under eye dark circles.

I’m very happy with the results I get from this eye cream.

Next, the Ultra Plumping Hydration Mask. It’s a little gooey when you put it on but it rubs on well. It smells so good, and the great scent lasts even after you’ve washed off the mask.

I like to use a mask about twice a week. Just rub this one on, leave on for 15 to 20 minutes, and wash off. My skin tingles a tad during the 15 minutes but it’s not uncomfortable.

After washing off the mask my skin is soft and well hydrated. And my face smells so good!

These two products are both terrific. They’re both gentle on my skin and do a great job of hydrating and smoothing.

I received this product free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

February 12, 2016February 12, 2016

Tuna Casserole

I don’t know about you, but this time of year, with school activities, extra activities for the kids, and work, I’m super busy and just don’t have a lot of time to make dinner.

This is one of my favorite quick meals. I can mix it up quickly then get my kitchen clean and a load or two of laundry folded while it’s in the oven. Because it’s always nice to clean up before dinner!

This recipe is also easy to personalize. If your kids don’t like peas, use broccoli, or carrots, or any vegetable you want.

Tuna Casserole
1/2 package egg noodles (or if you don’t have egg noodles, 1/2 package of any noodle will do)
1 can tuna, drained
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (or other creamy soup that you prefer)
1 cup frozen peas (or any other vegetable)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk

1. Turn oven to 350

2. Cook noodles following the package directions

3. After your noodles are cooked, drain, mix noodles, tuna, parmesan cheese, soup, peas, and milk together in a baking pan.

4. Top with grated cheese

5. Cook at 350 for 20 – 25 minutes or until cheese is beginning to brown and casserole is heated through.

February 8, 2016

E is for Extra-Curricular Activities

One of the things I love about homeschooling is the extra flexibility we have for Extra-Curricular Activities. And in my town, there’s plenty of homseschoolers, which means, that there are even special Homeschool classes or earlier lesson hours for Extra-Curricular activities!

For example, our local Zoo has a homeschool class (which we have not taken because my 2nd grader is not at all interested in it, but it’s available should she or any of the other kids ever express interest).

What I love about Extra-Curricular is it lets my kids pick something they’re interested in and learn more about it. And, because our school day is pretty relaxed, they aren’t tired by the time we get to our activities.

I have a 2nd grader and a Pre-K so we don’t have a ton of Extra-Curricular yet, but here’s what we’re up to.

Piano Lessons – I also play the piano but lessons for the kids help me keep them on track. Our teacher was homeschooled herself and usually has hours during school hours available for homeschoolers. My 2nd grader wants to play the guitar but I’m holding out on that until she’s big enough to handle a full size electric. We have a very pretty white electric guitar that I want her to learn on. I even have a teacher picked out! So, I’ve told her to work hard on piano for another couple of years and when her hands are big enough we can switch instruments.

Piano is a great first instrument and so much of what she learns will carry over to a second instrument when she’s ready.

Dance Lessons – There are actually no homeschool hours for the school that the girls go to, but I like how much they’re learning and all their lessons are back to back one night a week. I can deal with one night a week. They love dance. It’s a great art form and also good exercise. Really, an awesome activity for them.

Sports – My pre-K daughter hasn’t been old enough for any sport that she’s interested in yet. But, next year, there’s a few she can try. My 2nd grader is trying out basketball. She’s in a training league and hated it at first but she’s come around and thinks she might want to try again next year.

At this age, I’m not at all upset if they don’t like something, and I’ve made that clear to them. The goal right now is to try out different sports and see what they like. When they’re old enough to try out for sports (5th grade or so depend on the sport at our umbrella school) we should have a general idea of what we want to do.

Though, my pre-K daughter has informed me that she really wants to play Ice Hockey. I’m really not so sure about it, but I have another year before she’s even old enough to start hockey skate lessons at the local ice rink.

Local Education Classes – We have a once a week lego STEM class that both girls get to go to. And the teacher is actually quite impressed with my 2nd grader’s ability to follow a diagram and assemble her legos into the right item. The girls love legos, and their teacher is awesome, so this is a great fit.

We recently discovered that our local science museum has homeschool classes and since that is my 2nd grader’s favorite subject I’ve enrolled her and she’s loving it. Plus we get to explore the museum again after each class. This past week, we went to class, went out for lunch, and then returned to the museum and explored for another couple of hours. Talk about a fun day! Also, I’m loving that she’s retaining so much from the class. Weeks later something we’re doing in school will remind her of something she learned and she’ll tell me all about it. It’s awesome! – and as a side note, I am very much encouraging her interest in science. It’s a great field should she decide that’s the direction she wants to go come College time. And what I love about homeschooling is that I’m able to encourage this interest so much.

Local Museums – At the elementary age especially, it’s nice to take a field day and basically have a museum to ourselves. We’ve got the science musuem and zoo well covered. There’s a children’s musuem we have plans for and an Aquarium we’re going to go to this week. The best thing about a museum during the school week, we pretty much have it to ourselves and we can spend as much time as we like on each exhibit.

When they get older there’s some great local history museums and such. But I’m saving the “can’t touch anything” museums for when they’re actually old enough to enjoy reading and learning about the objects without having to touch them.

Homeschool or not, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite Extra-Curricular activities. Let me know in the comments below, what do your kids love to do?

February 8, 2016March 7, 2015

Valentine Hearts

Valentine crafting with kids is always fun. For this project, I decided to keep it simple. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some felt hearts and some felt heart stickers and the girls made their own valentine creations.

I just dumped all the stickers out on the table and let the girls create whatever they wanted. They got pretty creative, even making a smiley face heart!

These are such cute little hearts, perfect for including in teachers valentine gifts or giving to friends instead of paper valentine cards!

A tad more expensive than paper valentine cards but by the time you buy candy to go with the cards, these end up costing about the same.

I will admit though, we did still end up giving paper cards and candy to friends – because the girls just had to give candy – and special friends and teachers were given the felt hearts.