Friday, April 29, 2016

2016 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle {One Week Only}

Hi everyone!!

It's finally here!! The 2016 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle!! :)



I absolutely love all the bundles Ryan and Stephanie from Ultimate Bundles create, and this one is no different!!

This Homemaking Bundle is jam packed with such amazing resources that i believe all wife's and mother's will truly love!

Included in this bundle:


  • 70 eBooks
  • 14 printables
  • 9 e-courses and audio files
  • + 9 bonuses (worth $250 alone)


Can you believe you get all that for under $30?!!!

Here are all the different categories included in this bundle:


  • Budgeting
  • DIY & Homemade
  • Faith
  • Holidays and Traditions
  • In the kitchen
  • Marriage
  • Motherhood
  • Organization and routines 
  • Recipes
  • Self care
  • Working from home
  • plus all the bonuses
So what are you waiting for?! This deal is only here for this week (ends Monday -May 2nd) and then POOF it's gone!!  Go order your bundle today!! 



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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Usborne Books & More Giveaway

I'm so excited for this giveaway!

As you all know by now, I've been an Usborne Books & More independent consultant for 6 months now! Well, i just love their books! They have such a great selection and are constantly adding new titles.

Anyways, to celebrate my  milestone of 6 months with them (and my love of their books) i thought i'd have a giveaway!



One lucky winner will receive the 4 awesome Usborne Books & More books pictured above.

Here is a little bit of info on each book:

1. See Inside Your Body by Katie Daynes & Colin King - "Follow your food as it travels through your body. Take a deep breath and explore your lungs. Let your mind boggle at what your brain can do. This exciting book, packed with lively illustrations and fascinating flaps, is bursting to reveal your body's amazing secrets." - Description taken from website.

2. That's Not My Monkey by Fiona Watt & Rachel Wells - "This delightful series of board books is aimed at very young children. The bright pictures, with their patches of different textures, are designed to develop sensory and language awareness. Babies and toddlers will love turning the pages and touching the feely patches." - Description taken from website.


3. Magic Painting Book - "Simply dip the magic water brush into water, brush it over the black and white patterns and you’ll be amazed at the colors that magically appear." - Description taken from website.

4. The Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book by Jez Alborough - "While Farmer Dougal sleeps, Sheep and his friends board the tractor and take turns making engine sounds. But what if their loud honks, moos and squeaks wake the farmer!? Children will love copying animal noises in this joyful story. A wonderfully noisy picture book, featuring brand new characters, from the bestselling creator of Duck in the Truck." - Description taken from website.

This prize has a retail value of over $50!!


You can enter to win below. Good Luck!!


Usborne Books Giveaway

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 **Rules: Giveaway ends April 26th, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Legal Residents (18 years of age or older) of the US only. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Usborne Books & More, Facebook, and Pinterest are in no way associated with this giveaway. By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.** (Disclosure: All items in this giveaway were purchased by myself.)

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Make Money At Home

A few months ago i shared how i'm saving my family money every month, today i thought it would be a great time to share how i'm making my family some money at home every month.

What i'm about to share with you, isn't going to make you rich. However, it will put a little bit of extra cash in your pocket every month, and who doesn't like that?!

1. Swagbucks - Oh how i love Swagbucks!! They give you SB (swagbucks) for; searching the internet, buying stuff online, filling out surveys, watching videos, and more. I signed up for it back in January and already I've made over $30.00. You can make more (or less), it's totally up to you and how much time you want to put into it.



2. InboxDollars - I just signed up for this last night and i've already made $7.44. It's super easy! They pay you money (just like Swagbucks) for; searching the internet, filling out surveys, watching videos, and more. I'm not sure how the payout goes with them, because you have to make $30 before they pay you, but i will update once I've completed one.



3. Amazon Mechanical Turk - I signed up for this years ago, but haven't put much effort into it at all. Mostly because the pay isn't that great. You complete one "job" and get paid like $0.02*actual prices vary*! It's definitely not a fast way to make some extra money, but what you make goes directly into your Amazon account, so you can use the money right away!



4. Usborne Books & More - If you don't mind having to pay a start up cost of $75 + tax, this is a great option to make some extra income. Especially if you love books as much as i do!



5. Young Living Essential Oils - Once again, this comes with a start up cost of $45 + tax for the basic kit. However, there is never a better time to get involved with Essential Oils, as they are becoming increasing popular!




Those are just a few of my ways to make a little bit of extra money each month. I hope they bless your family, as much as they have blessed mine.

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Monday, April 11, 2016

Keeping a toddler entertained while homeschooling

Admittedly this has been really hard for me, and I've let him watch way more Curious George throughout the day (so we can get our school work done) ,then i would care to admit.

However, i recently have found some very good ways to keep the little guy entertained, that don't make me feel like the worlds worst/laziest parent.

I thought i would share them with you all today.

1. Straws - I seriously just gave him a whole box of plastic straws and let him go crazy with them. He loved it.

2. Counting Bears - I bought these on Amazon awhile ago and he really enjoys putting them into a cup (or having me put them in the cup for him) and then dumping them all out. Then we do it all over again. It's a fun little game we play.



3. Geometric Stacker - I got this last year mostly with Jelly Bean in mind, but it turns out Baby Boy just absolutely loves to play with this.


4. Spoons & Bowls - What kid doesn't like to play with these?! I know all of mine did!


5. Board Books - Really my son loves to get into any books, he especially loves to destroy our carefully organized bookshelf. But board books are best for him to play with, as he can't easily rip them.

6. Magnets & cookie sheet - I bought some cookie sheets at the dollar store and they work great for my son to stick magnets to.



7. Curious George - of course there is George as a back up plan!

And if all else fails, there is always nap time...



They always look so cute and innocent sleeping, huh?!

Hopefully some of these ideas might help you, to keep your sanity, while homeschooling your other children.


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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Homeschooling In... {New Mexico}

Hi Everyone!

Today i'm continuing with my "Homeschooling In..." Series. I've already talked about IdahoAlaskaOregonWashingtonMontanaArizona, and South Dakota; so today i'm going to be talking about New Mexico.



Here are some things you should know about homeschooling in New Mexico.

1. All children are required to be educated once they are 5 years old (by September 1) and up until the age of 18 (or until graduation). Anything before 5 years old or after 18 years old is not required.

2. Required Subjects are: language arts, reading, math, social studies, and science.

3. No testing is required.  

4. You must notify the state superintendent of your intent to homeschool on or before August 1st of each year. 

5. You must maintain immunization records.

6. You can use any curriculum you like.

7. You have to have at least a high school diploma or it's equivalent to homeschool your child.

8. You are required to teach them the same amount of days as public schools, which is a minimum of 180 days.


Here are some great resources for homeschooling in New Mexico:

1. https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoHomeSchoolCommunity/  – New Mexico Homeschool Community


3. https://www.home-school.com/groups/NM.html – New Mexico Homeschool Groups


Once you have decided to homeschool your child and you have looked into all the laws/rules, what comes next is picking out what curriculum you are going to use.

Best place to start with that is by checking out what curriculum other homeschoolers are using (and loving). In other words Google search “homeschooling blogs” and start reading what all the other homeschooling families out there use. You can also check out my homeschool curriculum picks.

Another place you could go is HomeSchoolReviews, they offer reviews on all the curriculum out there and those reviews are written by other homeschoolers.

Keep in mind, when picking out curriculum, your child’s learning style!

After you have the curriculum all picked out, all that’s left to do is start planning your school year.
A lot of homeschoolers like to keep with the same school year outline as our public schools, (start at the end of August and go until the end of May), but you can do whatever you would like.  It’s really up to you to decide what will work best for your family.

Now all that’s left to do is dive right on into it. The first year is going to be full of bumps. You’ll make some mistakes, you’ll have some rough days/weeks, but *hopefully* you will learn from your mistakes and in the end it will all be worth it.

Good luck with the journey ahead of you!!


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****None of this is intended to be legal advice (i'm not a lawyer), it's purely informational. So make sure you check out your states laws beforehand.****



Monday, April 4, 2016

Preschool Update

Hi Everyone!

I've done an update on Super Guy and Boogie Man, so now it's time to give an update on Jelly Bean.

Let's take a look at how her Preschool year has been going so far.



She has been doing so awesome!

She can write the alphabet and her name.

She loves all art projects, especially ones that involve painting!

We've mainly been focusing on the alphabet, colors and counting objects.

I tried starting her out on This Reading Mama's reading curriculum (which is how i started out teaching Boogie Man to read), but she wasn't fully ready yet, so i've just been reading books to her instead. We will start over with teaching her to read next school year.

It's been a pretty good year so far! :)

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Saturday, April 2, 2016

Homeschooling In... {South Dakota}

Hi Everyone!

Today i'm continuing with my "Homeschooling In..." Series. I've already talked about IdahoAlaskaOregonWashingtonMontana, and Arizona; so today i'm going to be talking about South Dakota.



Here are some things you should know about homeschooling in South Dakota.

1. All children are required to be educated once they are 5 years old (by September 1) and up until the age of 18 (or until graduation). Anything before 5 years old or after 18 years old is not required.

2. Required Subjects are: language arts and math.

3. You must give them standardized tests in grades 4, 8, and 11. 

4. You must annually submit an application for an excuse to a local school official and it must be notarized. You have to include the child's birth certificate when you file your application.

5. You must have your records (attendance & child's work) available for inspection anytime. 

6. You can use any curriculum you like.

7. You do Not have to have any special teacher qualifications.

8. You are required to teach them the same amount of days as public schools.


Here are some great resources for homeschooling in South Dakota:

1. https://www.homeschool-life.com/sd/sdche/  – South Dakota Christian Home Educators


3. http://www.homeschoolinginsouthdakota.com/ – Homeschooling In South Dakota


Once you have decided to homeschool your child and you have looked into all the laws/rules, what comes next is picking out what curriculum you are going to use.

Best place to start with that is by checking out what curriculum other homeschoolers are using (and loving). In other words Google search “homeschooling blogs” and start reading what all the other homeschooling families out there use. You can also check out my homeschool curriculum picks.

Another place you could go is HomeSchoolReviews, they offer reviews on all the curriculum out there and those reviews are written by other homeschoolers.

Keep in mind, when picking out curriculum, your child’s learning style!

After you have the curriculum all picked out, all that’s left to do is start planning your school year.
A lot of homeschoolers like to keep with the same school year outline as our public schools, (start at the end of August and go until the end of May), but you can do whatever you would like.  It’s really up to you to decide what will work best for your family.

Now all that’s left to do is dive right on into it. The first year is going to be full of bumps. You’ll make some mistakes, you’ll have some rough days/weeks, but *hopefully* you will learn from your mistakes and in the end it will all be worth it.

Good luck with the journey ahead of you!!


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****None of this is intended to be legal advice (i'm not a lawyer), it's purely informational. So make sure you check out your states laws beforehand.****