Blessings on the GO!

The E-book : Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others, is FULL of excellent information.  It is written by Donna Rees, and Published by The Old Schoolhouse.  It sells for $12.95 and is 91 pages that you can read  immediately after purchase.... no waiting for shipping on that 'jungle' site....no going to the mall and trying to guess what section the book will be in.  With E-books, it is click, click and read!

I will admit that when I had seen the blurb about this book many months previous to being able to review it; I thought, "Well, there is a book that is going to just encourage me to go out and spend money I don't have." I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the content of this book.  Yes, there are ideas in here for purchasing items and there are others that just take time and some imagination.  The whole idea is to be creative, and figure out how you can bless another family, or even your OWN as you travel.  I can think of countless trips we have taken as a family where a kit like the ones mentioned in the book, would have been a blessing beyond imagination.

This book couldn't have come at a better time, we were about to take a very long trip to Mexico.  We went for a missions trip with about 20 people two of which were in the 5-12 age bracket.  I decided my spending limit was $10.  I headed off to a local craft store where I knew they have many things to keep little hands occupied.  For $9.76 I was able to purchase quite a bit of stuff.  Since you can't take wrapped items on a plane.....  I kept the items in MY back pack, and to pull out as I saw that bored look.... you know the one,  the one that says " HELP ME!!!  I MUST RUN DOWN THE ISLES, I MUST JUMP IN MY SEAT!!"  Yeah, so that is when the paint cards, memory games, and bead crafts came in handy.  Our group got very sick three days into our trip;  all except our little travelers.  Having this travel kit with us was the biggest blessing during that time.  They were able to paint, braid, color, and play card games..... instead of being restless that they were cooped up with a bunch of sick teens.

The Bonus Section contains car friendly snack recipes, tips from fellow traveling moms ( the ideas in this part alone are worth the cost of the book), and a book list by age to keep them entertained on the road.

This book is great for any person who has ever been in a car, or even a plane, with kids, or knows someone who will be in a car or plane with kids.  Order it, and let your imagination run wild!


****DISCLAIMER****this review was done as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. I received this book for free, in exchange for my honest opinion of it.  No other compensation was provided.**

Teotihuacan Pyramids

Today is the 16th and final day of our Field trip of a lifetime.  Today is the day my inner history geek gets to be happy and learn.  We will be visiting these ancient pyramids, that are ziggurat style.  I can't wait to see what we will learn, and what the kids can recall from our study of these very pyramids a few years ago, when we did The Mystery of History.

Here is a picture of where we will be....  I am excited to tell you all about it!

Xochimilco Canal

Today is day 12 on our Field Trip of a lifetime.  We have spent the last 12 days working with kids, and sharing the gospel with them through some great skits, and working to meet the physical needs of the people with a doctor, helping him with a free medical clinic.

Today is our first tourist day.  We will be at Xochimilco Canal.  In Aztecs it means "garden of flowers". I can't wait to show you more pictures when I get home, but for now, here is a taste of what we will be seeing.

Blog Walk Week 4

Another week of reading.  Everyone visit.... comment..... and learn much.

1. King Alfred Academy

2. Confessions of An Organized Homeschool Mom
3. Curriculum Reviews from Oak Creek Farmhouse
4. I Can't Decide
5. My Life on A Taffy Pull
6. Losing My Tale
7. Made in His Image
8. Serenades and Solace
9. Our Village is a Little Different
10. SisterTipster's Tell'n It!

Spiders and Such

Back in May we came outside one morning and found this extraordinary web/nest of little yellow spiders.  They were  clinging in a ball, not anxious to move or scatter to the ends of the earth.  They slowly migrated from one lavender stalk, to another one about 6 inches away, re-grouped, and moved back, all in the course of about 2 days.

This of course was a great time of observation by all the kids.  They sat there for quite awhile each day, discussing the type of spider they were, why they would be moving their cluster, but not leaving it.  How many days they would be there, where they came from in the first place since we never saw an egg bundle.  It was a great nature study for them for a few days.  Another small reason why we love to homeschool. Learning is all around us, we only need to stop and look at the Lavender to see it.

more blogs to check out

These blogs were from the very first week we were given a blog list to look through.  ( you can tell I was not hip to this whole process then)

1. Reaping a Harvest


2.  Pink & Orange Coffee

3.  Live, Laugh, Learn!

4.  Mrs. Mandy's Musings

5. The Fantastic Five

6.  Refined Metals Academy

7.  Just A Moment in Time

8. Providence Farm ~ not a blog, but a family business site.  They own a farm, and have field trip options.

9. My Journey

10.  Petra School

I just love some of the titles to these blogs.  I hope you find them informative and exciting to read.  I will say this... the Petra School........ it is where I would LOVE to live someday.... sigh.....

Field Trip of a Lifetime

I am on the way to Mexico, for a Mission Trip with my two oldest kids. It is bound to be a field trip of a lifetime.
Please pray for us, that we will have travel mercies, and that we will be able to bless the people we are going to work with.
I have scheduled some posts while I am gone. I look forward to sharing when we return.