Now on to the See The Light May and June special and giveaway!

In God’s Runaway the children will engage and learn how God told his prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah was determined to disobey … The shocking consequence got Jonah’s attention! This always exciting story is artfully brought to life, and demonstrates God’s love and mercy to Jonah, to the people of Nineveh, and to each one of us.

Included:

• DVD w/ 268 minutes of content
• black light
• fluorescent pencils,
• fluorescent chalkuary

The regular price: $29.99.

During the months of May and June Special, you can purchase God’s Runaway $25.00 + FREE SHIPPING in the USA.

Coupon Code to use: STL

See the Light wants (1) family to have their very own God’s Runaway Deluxe Gift Set. We will be picking a random winner on May 24th at 12a. All entries will be verified.

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this Facebook page and not to Facebook.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has wonderful programs and Imax movies that they play.  The one we saw yesterday was the Journey to the South Pacific. It is a beautiful story of a boy growing up in the islands of the South Pacific, discovering and learning all about the sea life that surrounds him.  We are looking forward to seeing the other Imax movies they have showing at this time.

Kids at the Shuttle docking game.

Another favorite area of the museum, is the Space Odyssey section.  This area covers anything and everything that you want to learn about Space.  My kids love to sit at the Shuttle docking game and try to park the space shuttle.  I also love the many workers and volunteers that talk with the kids and let them ask any question.

Sarah and Claire checking out the seals.

I think my favorite area is the Wildlife section.  They have different animals from around the local area, to the whole United States and even animals from around the world.  The kids can read about these animals, look at what their habitat looks like and see what all they eat.

Sarah and Samuel talking about the Walrus’.

While we haven’t seen some of these animals alive, like the walrus and sea lion,

Claire reading about the Bison.

in the area we live in, we have seen live bison,

Samuel reading about the Elk.

elk and deer.  In fact, we see these often when we ride through the Rocky Mountains.

Kids reading about animal scat.

We enjoyed this little impromptu field trip.  I love going places with the kids like this.  There is so much hands on learning and it really does bring education and learning to life.  If you ever do get out to Denver, CO, I highly recommend going to this museum.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this aquarium so much, is the way they have everything split up.  They have several different exhibits split up into North America, In the Desert, Under the Sea, At the Wharf, The Rainforest, Coral Lagoon, Sunken Temple, Shipwrecked and At the Beach.

The kids and I had a wonderful time and can not wait to go back.  I took almost 700 pictures.  It was so hard to choose which ones to share with y’all.  I hope you enjoy the ones I chose.

The snapping turtle they have, is one of the largest I have ever seen.  He was HUGE.  I loved watching him, as he swam in the tank.

snapping tutle

They also have soft shell turtles.  This one just looked so peaceful as he swam.  He just glided through the water.

soft shell turtle

Obviously, since it is an aquarium, they have an abundance of fish.  The colors of some of the fish are so vibrant. They are just beautiful.

fish

I have always been fascinated with sea horses. They are very unique creatures.

sea horses

the aquarium also had a lot of different stingrays.  They would swim up to the glass and it looked like they watched you as you walked by.  We saw one that looked like he was smiling at us.

stingray

The tank with the starfish and sea cucumbers was pretty cool.  I didn’t know that the starfish came in so many different colors.

starfish

It was fun to look around at all the different exhibits.  Some of the fish liked to hide and keep sheltered by the plants and coral.

fish

My oldest daughter was fascinated with the ones that were hidden.  She had fun trying to locate them in the exhibits.

Sarah looking at fish

The younger kids couldn’t get over that the piranha tank didn’t have a lid on it.  They were certain that the piranha’s could jump put of the tank.  They also noticed how thick the glass was for the tank.  They were happy that the fish wouldn’t be jumping out.

Samuel and Claire looking at Piranhas

I think we were all surprised to see the tiger at the aquarium.  They actually have several tigers on display, but we only saw one. He was just hanging out, watching everyone walk by.

tiger

Ever since the movie “Nemo”, my kids always enjoy looking for the Nemo and Dory fishes.

clown fish

A highlight of the was the shark tank.  I was surprised by the amount of sharks they had AND the size of some of the sharks.  They have a few sharks that are up to 10 feet long.  The aquarium doesn’t look that big on the outside, but it is fairly large.  We were able to watch them feed the sharks.  You would think the sharks would have plenty to eat with all the other fish that are in the tanks, but they do feed the sharks with fish that they bring in.

shark

We enjoyed watching the sharks and watching all the other fish.  It is really neat to see and learn about the different types of sharks and fish that live together and don’t bother each other.

shark

The jelly fish had tanks of their own.  They were beautiful to watch, just floating around.

jelly fish

I am so glad that we were able to go to the Denver Aquarium. I am looking forward to going back again, soon.  We have talked about getting a membership, so that we can go as often as we want to.  My oldest daughter, also saw that she will be able to volunteer when she turns 17.  She is counting down the days, until her next birthday.  Yes, I do think this will be a place we will visit often, together, as a family.

Have you been to an aquarium before?  What sea creature do you like the best?

I watched my mom and dad make this recipe often. They would make it for the holidays, for a potluck dinner at church, or for any meal that they knew would have a large crowd. This recipe doesn’t hold back the calories or the fat. So I definitely don’t recommend this on a daily menu, but every now and then, maybe for a special occasion, would be alright. Remember, all in moderation when it comes to those foods that have a few more calories and fat.

Homemade Baked Macaroni-n-Cheese

1 pound of elbow noodles (we use different shapes of noodles, it just depends what we have in the pantry. I have even used gluten free noodles.)

1 stick of butter

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup of milk

2 pounds of cheese (my moms recipe just calls for 1lb, but I have always added more cheese.)

salt and pepper to taste

Boil the noodles to al dente or almost done.  You don’t want to cook it all the way, because the oven will finish cooking the noodles.  The time it takes for the noodle to cook, will vary on the type of noodle that you are using.  Once you boil your noodles, strain the water off of the noodles.  In a bowl, pour the noodles in it, add the butter, milk and the slightly beaten eggs.  Then add your shredded cheese and mix it well. Save a cup of cheese to spread on top of the noodle mixture.  Lastly, pour the noodle mixture in a casserole dish.  Bake the macaroni-n-cheese in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 45 minutes or until firm and the cheese on top is melted and slightly golden.

Mac-N-Cheese

Are there any comfort foods that you just crave on occasion?

When I made the cake on Sunday for practice, for my daughter’s birthday coming up in February, it was a disaster. It overflowed, all onto the bottom of the oven and then collapsed to almost nothing in the bottom of the pan.  I put a plea on Facebook and had a couple of people to send me websites that give help on higher altitude baking.  My husband and I started reading and going through what we have tired and what we haven’t tried on this cake.  We finally decided on what changes we would make when I tried baking this cake again.

Pound Cake just taken out of the oven.

As you can tell by the picture, the change we made this time, was perfect!  I was so excited!  Below is the original recipe.  It is the one that my dad and grandma baked, all the time.  I am going to make the changes next to the ingredients that we changed.  They will be highlighted with an * and be in bold.

Moist Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened

2 cups sugar

6 eggs (room temperature) *I added an extra egg, so the total is now 7

2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted 4 times, you have to sift it. This is what makes the cake rise.) *I added an extra 1/2 cup of sifted flour

1 TBSP vanilla extract

Preheat over to 300 degrees(*I upped the temperature to 350). Grease and flour a bundt pan. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add 1 egg, at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flour, beating until creamy. Add vanilla and mix well. Spoon into greased/floured bundt pan. Bake at 300 (350) degrees for 1 hour (50 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 So the changes that I made were adding an extra egg, adding another 1/2 cup of flour, baking it at a higher temp at 350 and only baking it for 50 minutes, instead of an hour.  It is very simple changes that took a lot of trial and error to figure out.

Pound cake taken out of pan too soon!

I was so excited about the cake baking perfectly, that I didn’t let the cake sit long enough to cool.  When I tried turning it out on to a plate, the top of the cake stuck to the pan!  So a little advice about the cake, let it sit long enough to cool.  Don’t be inpatient like I was!

This cake really is an easy cake to make.  It takes no time at all to mix up.  You can even change the flavoring extracts for different flavors.  I have used Lemon, Almond, and Rum extracts in place of the Vanilla.  You can even mix up your favorite frosting and pour it over the top.

Now that I have finally figured out how to bake this properly, I plan on making these often and give them away, just like my dad did.  Nothing better than giving away something that you love making, or in this case, baking!

What is your favorite cake? Have you ever had a recipe to give you a hard time when cooking for baking?

P.S. One of these days, I will remember to get our good camera out, instead of using my phone camera.

We started the 2013-2014 school year trying out a new history curriculum.  I was wanting to do American history with my kids and was having a hard time locating one I thought would work.  The two previous years, we had used Mystery of History from Bright Ideas Press.  Bright Ideas Press history, All American History, looked a little too challenging for my younger kids, so I choose My Father’s World: Adventures in U.S. History.

The first few weeks, we struggled and had a lot of tears.  The kids did not like the change.  It was TOUGH.  They cried, then I cried.  I was determined to give the new curriculum a chance, though.  I know that sometimes change can be hard, but that if you give things a chance, it could work out.  I told myself that we would give the new history until the end of the year.   I wanted to make sure that we gave it our all, before we switched curriculums.  The kids like the time period that we were studying.  They just did not like how it was presented, they did not like that there wasn’t daily activities or projects.  With this curriculum, there was a lot more copywork, than anything.

The end of 2013 came and I knew the time had come.  We were going to change history curriculums.  The problem was, which one do I choose now?  I had wanted to teach the kids American history.  I have just had a hard time trying to find one that I liked.  I knew we needed to go back to something that we were familiar with.  One of the joys of homeschooling, is using curriculum that fits the needs and learning style of your children.

So what will we do now?  One thing we will do is continue to read the books that I picked up on American history.  They are short readers that the kids can read on their own.  We also have the Little House on the Prairie books that we will read together.

{Disclaimer: This post has affiliate links.}

My kids have asked to go back to Bright Ideas Press, Mystery of History.  Since we finished with Mystery of History: Volume 1, last year, we will begin Mystery of History: Volume 2, this next week.  I already had this Volume on our book shelf, so it will save us money for the time being.  In the mean time, I will be saving to purchase their All American History Jr.  I would love to be able to look at the books and see what all the Jr. section covers.  Hopefully, we will be able to start this in the fall.

After 11 years of homeschooling, I am learning it is okay to change curriculums, even during the middle of the school year. One of the joys of homeschooling, is being able to meet the needs of your children if something isn’t working.  So mom, don’t give up if you are having a rough time.  If you feel like you have given the curriculum a fair chance, and it still isn’t working, then change!    You will eventually find something that will work, or a curriculum that you can tweak enough to make it work for your family.

Have you ever had any curriculum that made your kids break down in tears?  Have you had to change curriculums in the middle of a school year?  I would love for you to share your experience with us! 

Peace&Calming, Frankincense, Balsam Fir (Idaho), Eucalyptus Blue, Ginger, Valor, Nutmeg

I ordered the Starter Kit with the Everyday Oils Collection.  The starter kits have changed since then.  They have 3 different ones you can choose from. When I first ordered the kit, everyone had colds and I started using the Thieves right away.  I would rub it on their feet and I would diffuse it in the air.  It really did help our colds.  It cut the length of our cold in half.  I would also rub Peace&Calming on my children’s feet, it helped them relax enough to where they would sleep through the night.

Grapefruit, Lemon, Wintergreen, Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree Oil), Citronella, Lime, Thieves, Progessence Plus

For really bad colds, I had been told that R.C., Raven and Eucalyptus Radiata would be good to have on hand.  I ordered those next and I am so glad I did. The following month, in February, I truly do believe having those oils on hand and using them on my son, saved us a trip to the emergency room.  By alternating the Raven and R.C on his chest, peppermint for the fever, we were able to cut his illness time in half.  I had taken our son to the doctor, just to make sure it wasn’t turning into pneumonia and the doctor told me that this cold/cough was taking people up to 3-4 weeks to get rid of.  My son was 100% in about a week and a half.  He never did have to go on an antibiotic.

Orange, Aroma Seiz, Oregano, R.C., Raven, Melrose, Bergamot, Purification, Cypress, Deep Relief Roll-On.

Like I  mentioned at the beginning, I had ordered these oils to see if it would help bring relief with my pain from Fibromyalgia and migraines.  When I begin to have flare-ups, I use Ortho-Ease oil, Panaway, Aroma Siez to help with the muscle pain.  It ALL helps bring relief.  I could not believe it.  I don’t use them all together, but depending on the pain and where it is, will depend on what oil I use.

For my migraines, depending on how bad they are, I will use Peppermint and Deep Relief. It works for me.  Does it work ALL the time?  No, on occasion I have had to use it a few times in a day.  There has only been a handful of times that I have had to use my prescription migraine medicine.

Essential Oil Reference and Guide books.

Yes, I was a skeptic to begin with, but I am a believer in using oils now.  My husband was a huge skeptic and now will turn to use the oils before grabbing any of the OTC medicines. Do I think this will get rid of the doctors for us?  No, I feel that there are times to go see a doctor.  However, if I can help our family in a more natural way, to get over a sickness, I am going to do it.

If you have any questions about essential oils, I would love to answer them for you. You can email me at jumpforjoy@gmail.com.   If you would like to place an order or even sign up to be a distributor, visit my Young Living Website.  My member is 1410497 and I would love to have you on my team!

What is so amazing about this book?  To begin with, it is a hardback book, with those thick pages that are very easy for small hands to turn.  The pages are also very easy to clean little sticky hands off.  The book is 10″x8″ in size and has 104 pages.

Then there are the pictures. Oh my goodness, they are absolutely breathtaking.  The photographers did a wonderful job, capturing all that God created.  The colors of every page bring the animals and land to life.  You can just imagine, as you are looking at the pages, that you are right there with them, on the island.

I think the best part of the book is how Dr. Georgia Purdom, the editor, with the help of 30 other Christian authors give a different view than what Charles Darwin did.  They are using a biblical account, when talking about the Galapagos Islands.  I am very thankful for this.

In the book, Dr. Georgia Purdom has broken it up into different sections, starting with the Beginning.  The beginning being when God first created the world.   The book then moves on to Stones and Stars, Climate, Currents and Colonization, Life and Legacy, Fora and Fauna, Reflections on the Galapagos and the Conclusion.  There is also a section in the back that talks about each author that contributed to the book.

Just watch this video that talks about the book.

You can purchase Galapagos Island: a different view for $18.99 or buy the download for $9.99 from New Leaf Publishing Group.

If I still don’t have you convinced that this is a great book, be sure to stop by and visit the other bloggers at New Leaf Publishing Group, who have also reviewed the book.

Be sure to join us for our monthly Facebook Party, on the Master Books Facebook page, January 28th, 8pm CST. There will be several prizes, including this book! You just might win it!

disclaimer: I received this book for free, in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received.

I recently shared some of the fiction books that I will be reading to help me towards my reading goal in 2014. So I thought I would also share the non-fiction books that I am reading throughout the 2014 year.

Some of these books, I mentioned last year and never did get very far in.  So I have added them back to this year.  Two of the books have workbooks that go along with them.

I have several books by Sally Clarkson on the list, one of those was co-authored by Sarah Mae.

Seasons of a Mother’s Heart

The Mom Walk

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

Three of the books that are on my list, are written by Susan Hunt, with one of those books being co-authored by J. Ligon Duncan.

Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women

The True Woman

Women’s Ministry in the Local Church

Susan Hunt has several more books that I have added to my wish list.  She seems to be an excellent author with topics that are close to my heart.

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Disire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst

Loving God with All Your Mind by Elizabeth George

A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

15 Minutes Alone with God by Emilie Barnes

As you can tell, by the titles of some of these books, my heart is really focusing on a few specific topics; Motherhood, Prayer, Mentoring and Loving God.   While I know I am not perfect, I am a sinner saved by grace, I want to read and learn as much as I can, to help better myself, so that I can glorify God in all that I do.  I want to be able to help, nurture and encourage others, including young wives and mothers.

Which do you like to read, fiction or non-fiction? Do you have any books you would recommend for me to read?  I am always looking for new books to learn from!

I will read fiction or non-fiction, but fiction is my favorite, especially the Christian fiction books.  My favorite ear to read is the 1800’s, especially the settling of the Old West.

I always try to set aside time and a goal for me to read.  On Goodreads.com, they have a book reading challenge.  I joined it last year with a goal of 52 books. While I didn’t keep very good track of all the books or ebooks that I read, I do know that I passed that goal, because of all the free ebooks and books that I had ordered. This year, I set my goal of 100 books.  Since I passed 100 last year, I know I can meet that goal this year.  I just need to remember to add them to my profile!

January Fiction Books for 2014

I have already read several books this year that I need to add.  The picture above also shows some books that I just received that will be used towards my goal.  I also need to add the books that I have on my Kindle. I have a list of non-fiction books, I will be sharing those in another post.

So what books am I starting the challenge with?  Here they are with the author and a link to where you can purchase them.  {This is an affiliate link. Any purchase you make, helps to support this blog and our homeschool journey}

Love in the Balance by Regina Jennings

The Sheriff’s Surrender by Susan Page Davis – Book #1 in the Ladies Shooting Club Series

The Gunsmith’s Gallantry by Susan Page Davis – Book #2 in the Ladies Shooting Club Series

Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa by Melanie Dobson

Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas by Janice Hanna

I am also reading a series by Mona Hodgson.  It is the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek. There are 4 books in this series.  I only have two of the books in the picture above; Too Rich for a Bride and The Bride Wore Blue.  The books I am waiting to arrive are, Two Brides Too Many and Twice a Bride.

Do you love to read?  Have you made any goals for how many books you would like to try and read? I would love if you would join me at Goodreads.com and join in the reading challenge with me!