Ladybug Daydreams

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SchoolhouseTeachers.com Sale!

Posted by Wendy on December 19, 2014 Leave a Comment

This post contains affiliate links. By clicking through using my link, your purchase will help support this site at no additional cost to you.

Hey guys! I just wanted to put up a note to let you all know that SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the homeschool curriculum site of The Old Schoolhouse magazine, is having a fabulous sale right now.

Here’s how it works: You can sign up for an account and choose to pay either monthly or yearly. The normal price for the monthly membership is $12.95. If you sign up by Christmas (at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time), you’ll get a 40% discount, making your monthly membership $7.77.

The normal annual rate is $139, which is 10% off of the normal monthly rate. If you sign up for an annual account by the Christmas night deadline, you’ll get a 50% discount, making your fee $64.26.

Now, here’s the best part: If you sign up during this sale, you will be locked in at this discounted rate until you cancel your membership. That’s right: whether you keep it for three days, three months, three years, or more, you will never pay more than the discounted rate. How cool is that?!

In case you’re still not sure if this is a good site for you to invest in, you can read my review from a year ago. Additionally, there’s a whole new crop of Schoolhouse Crew Reviewers doing reviews of the site this week, so you can get an idea of what other homeschool moms think of this valuable resource.

Just click on the above banner to take you to the sale page if you’re interested in buying, or just want more information.

Blessings,

ladybug signature 2

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Posted in: homeschooling | Tagged: homeschool, homeschooling, kids, schoolhouseteachers.com

Product Review: Happy Kids Songs

Posted by Wendy on August 20, 2014 2 Comments

Happy Kids Songs ReviewDo your kids love music? Do you want to use their love of music in a productive way? Then Happy Kids Songs might be right up your alley. These delightful songs are all about teaching kids character, one song at a time.

For the purposes of this review, I received three of the Happy Kids Songs albums:

  • Friends and Sharing (Set 1)
  • Manners and Character (Set 6)
  • Happiness and Attitude (Set 7)

Each digital album sells for $4.95 through iTunes or Amazon and contains 5 songs. You can also buy the songs individually for 99 cents each. [Read more…]

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Posted in: reviews | Tagged: attitude, bullying, character, friends, happiness, kids, manners, music, respect, responsibility, social and emotional

Simplicity: One Base Baseball

Posted by Wendy on March 24, 2014 3 Comments

simplicity

 

Spring is here! It’s been so sunny and warm here on the west coast the past week or so. (Although I hear it’s supposed to rain starting tomorrow, so don’t be too jealous.) In our family, warmer weather means playing outside. The kids have been doing this all winter long, of course – we have pretty mild winters here – but now it’s not too cold for Mom and Dad to join in! Since our family isn’t huge, we’ve had to make up games to play together; we can’t just start up a game of basketball, for instance. The game I’m going to share with you today is one of those modifications. Will made it up about three years ago, and we’ve played it every year since then.

The game is very simple. All you need is a ball (we use a tee-ball, not a true baseball – it’s a little softer) and two markers to use as “bases.” If you have baseball mitts, they’re a nice addition, but not required.

How to Play

The parents are essentially playing “Catch.” The kids’ goal is to make it from the place where the first parent is to the outer base and back before the ball moves from Parent A to Parent B and back. I realize this sounds a little confusing, so allow me to try to make it clearer using specific examples from our family.

I start with the ball. Munchkin stands next to me, ready to run.

I say, “Ready?”

He replies, “Yes!”

“Go!!”

After the kids have taken 3 or 4 steps, I throw the ball to Will, who is across the field, somewhere near the base. He catches the ball (usually) and throws it back to me. I catch the ball (slightly less often than Will) and touch the base with my foot. If Munchkin has reached the base before I do with the ball, he gets a “run.” If I get there first, he gets an “out.” The children are allowed 3 runs or 3 outs, whichever comes first. Then it’s their brother’s turn.

It’s so simple, and yet so fun. The kids absolutely love this game. It’s become a staple in our summer activity list (along with our Bocce ball set and our Frisbee). I hope you give it try with your little ones!

What’s your favorite spring/summer activity?

Blessings,

Wendy

 

 

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Posted in: simplicity | Tagged: baseball, game, kids, outdoor game, youth sports

New Quilts

Posted by Wendy on March 7, 2014 2 Comments

I haven’t done a crafting post in a while, so the time seems ripe. Actually, it’s because I hadn’t done much crafting, but now I have. A little bit, anyway. And since I’ve been really bad at taking pictures this week, I don’t have a Picture of the Week, either… So today’s all about quilts!

The older boys were both drastically outgrowing their quilts. Because they don’t have standard size beds, I make their quilts more to fit them than to fit the beds. (They have Ikea beds that are essentially extra-long toddler beds. They’ve had them for two years, and we love them!)

When I went to JoAnn’s a couple of weeks ago, I had a bit of money but no idea what to make or who to make it for. I found these flannel rolls for really cheap

quilt fabric

so I got three of them. When I got home, Munchkin loved the fabric prints, and since I’d been noticing that his quilts were much smaller than Seahawk’s (he is three years  younger, after all), he got a quilt first. I didn’t give him any choices in the fabric (since I bought it with no one in mind) or the design (as soon as I decided to make a quilt from these prints, I had the design in my head). But he loves it all the same.

quilt munchkin

After Munchkin’s quilt was done, I started noticing that Seahawk was way too big for his blankets too! I thought his blanket that I’d made him a couple of years ago (actually, it’s been about 4 now that I think about it… where does the time go?!) was still okay, but seeing him trying to huddle underneath it while Munchkin was stretched out nice and warm under his flannel quilt made me see the old quilt for what it was… So the kids and I all went to the fabric store and Seahawk got to choose his own fabrics. And his own design. It might be a little unfair to Munchkin that Seahawk got to have his way with his new quilt, but Munchkin got his first, so it all evens out.

The day we went to get Seahawk’s fabric, the flannel was on sale for 60% off, so that was a huge win. It took him a long time to find exactly what he wanted, but as soon as he spotted these dinosaurs, he knew that they were it. I talked him into getting a plain color for the contrast so as not to take away from the dinosaurs, and he agreed. The brown was just perfect. (Have I ever mentioned that brown is one of my favorite colors? It is.) He had a blue picked out for the back that would have been awesome; it matched the blue dinosaurs perfectly, but there didn’t end up being enough of it, so we picked a grassy green instead. It worked out great.

quilt seahawk

I got the quilt all done and quilted, ready for binding, and then horror of horrors, realized that it was too narrow. I should’ve figured it out before I quilted it – adding borders to make it bigger then would’ve been a snap – but I didn’t. So I had to do some intense research to figure out how to add quilted borders to a quilted-but-not-bound quilt. I found a YouTube video tutorial for a Quilt-As-You-Go quilt that turned out to be just perfect. Using her technique, I was able to make the quilt several inches wider before I put the binding on, and now the quilt is actually a good size for my son.

Both boys are in love with their new quilts. And because both are made of flannel, they’re crazy warm – which is good since my children are anti-pajamas.

I’ll have another quilt to show you guys in a couple of weeks. I’m having some trouble getting it just perfect, but once I do, it’s going to be gorgeous. I can’t wait to have it done and ready to show off!

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Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: homemade, kids, quilt, quilts

Picture of the Week: New Glasses

Posted by Wendy on February 14, 2014 2 Comments

new glasses

Two weeks ago, Munchkin’s glasses broke. The arm broke off. Fortunately he qualified for a new eye exam (and subsequently new glasses) on Tuesday the 4th, which was only four days after the break. I was able to get him an appointment on Wednesday the 5th, and by this past Tuesday, he could see again 🙂 .

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Blessings,

Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: glasses, kids, picture of the week

Picture of the Week: At the Park

Posted by Wendy on January 31, 2014 1 Comment

At the Park

We surprised the kids with a picnic in the park last week. It was super fun! Don’t let the sunshiney look of the pictures fool you; it was crazy cold! But it’s important to get out and do something each day anyway. It’s good for the body and soul.

Have a great weekend! Get out and do something :).

Blessings,

Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: kids, park, play

Picture of the Week: Teamwork

Posted by Wendy on January 17, 2014 2 Comments

image

Seahawk and Munchkin have alternating chores. On even days, Seahawk empties the dishwasher and Munchkin takes out the compost; on odd days, they switch. (Neither minds emptying the dishwasher, but both hate taking out the compost. This way both chores get done but the kids don’t fight … as much.) Small Fry just likes to play near the open dishwasher. I mean, “help” empty it.

Have a great weekend! And make sure to join me for a series/blog hop next week: Homeschooling Essentials. Should be fun!

–Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: chores, kids

Picture of the Week: Handstand

Posted by Wendy on November 23, 2013 Leave a Comment

image

I was in the kids’ bathroom this week, and I noticed this Lego man doing a handstand on the shampoo caddy. I don’t know which kid did that to him (probably Seahawk), but I thought it was too funny not to snap a photo of.

Here’s another view:

image

Have a great weekend!

–Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: kids, Lego

Pumpkin Carving

Posted by Wendy on October 30, 2013 Leave a Comment

I hate carving pumpkins. There. I’ve said it. But my kids love it, and I forget year to year how much I dislike it. Hubby has a skin allergy to pumpkin flesh (he can eat it, just can’t touch it raw), so carving duties fall to me.

image

image

We bought one of the kits with a book of patterns and the carving tools. Munchkin chose a headless guy, which ended up being more difficult than expected to complete. But he liked it, so that’s all that matters.

image

I think it ended up looking like Batman’s logo. But look carefully and you can tell that the top part is actually a top hat, and the bottom is a coat.

Seahawk decided he wanted a spider on his, so I just freehanded a basic spider shape. There was more cutting on his, but less details, so it was easier overall.

image

image

Happy (almost) Halloween!

–Wendy

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Posted in: Other | Tagged: Halloween, kids, pumpkin carving

K5 Learning

Posted by Wendy on October 9, 2013 Leave a Comment

K5 Logo 400 px

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I’ve been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

I haven’t tried this with my kids yet, but I plan to start it tomorrow. I’ll let you know in six weeks what I think!

–Wendy

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Posted in: homeschooling | Tagged: homeschool, K5 Learning, kids, math, reading
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Welcome!

Welcome to Ladybug Daydreams! My name is Wendy, and I’m glad you’re here. I am a homeschooling mom to 5 boys. I write about homeschooling, homeschool curriculum, yarn (both knitting and crochet), and more! I hope you enjoy what you read.

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