Catching up - Week 7

In my life this week… 

Making memories :).  That's why I haven't had time to update here!  

In our homeschool this week… 

We finished up week 7 at home with Classical Conversations (CC) and week 6 with our local community.  

We also completed week 7 of our My Father's World curriculum.  We are skipping a lot of the science experiments right now due to time.  We cover enough science in CC for me.  :)

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Pumpkin Patch Field trip!

Shake, shake, shake - butter we will make!

My favorite thing this week was… 

The kids sharing their faith through dance at the local Festival of Faith.  They also enjoyed the other activities at the festival!

What’s working/not working for us… 

So far we are still enjoying everything that we are doing in our curriculum choices.  I'm second guessing myself again on Teaching Textbooks.  Honestly, I am not even sure why!  The kids love it, it gives me flexibility since it grades for me, and everyone is doing well with it.  So, what's my problem?  I don't know!!  I'm crazy like that - anyone else?!

Join the Schoolhouse Crew!

It's that time again!!  If you want to apply to be a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew here is your chance!

So what does it take to be a Schoolhouse Crew Review team member?

1. You must have a blog

2. You must have at least 22 public followers

3. You must homeschool

Those are the requirements but I'd also like to add a few from my experience.  

• You will need to be flexible in your curriculum.  It is not always each to switch gears midstream especially something you are really enjoying.
• You will need extra time worked in your schedule to use the items and then to write your review.
• Your children will need to be willing to review the items.

The Crew has been a blessing to our family but I will say that it is not for everyone.  I would encourage you to pray before applying and discuss it with your husband and children.

 2013 Schoolhouse Review Crew Application

Crew Review: Beeyoutiful

I would not really consider myself a girly girl but I do love to wear makeup.  I have some red patches to my skin so I wear foundation pretty much every day.  My skin is extra sensitive and extra dry so I have to be careful what products I try.  I usually find one and stick with it but recently I was given the opportunity to review mineral make-up by Beeyoutiful.  I researched the product before accepting the review and found that their make-up is made from 100% minerals with no fillers or additives.  It is also gluten free.  With that in mind, I felt I would be safe to give it a try.

This is the package I received.  You can never get back a first impression and I was impressed and excited just from seeing the presentation of the make-up.  

Included in this adorable little package were the colors I had chosen for myself and 2 brushes.   It included foundation and eye mineral makeup that could be used interchangeably as eye shadow or lipstick. 

So the fun began! I must admit that I have never used mineral makeup before so it was all very new to me. Thankfully, Beeyoutiful also sent along a DVD of how to apply the products I had chosen. You can also watch them online here.

First up was the foundation.  I chose the color Fiona.  It came in powder form and I used the same process given in the video.  I generously applied moisturizer to my skin and then tapped out a small amount of the powder into the foundation lid.  Since my skin is extremely dry, I added moisturizer to the powder and mixed it together with the foundation brush provided.  After mixing completely, I applied the foundation to my face using the foundation brush.  The feel of the make-up is really light and airy and doesn't feel like you have on makeup at all.  It also took a very small amount to get the coverage I wanted.  There are over 20 foundation colors available in 4 gram weight for $25 each.  Go here to find your perfect foundation shade.  Samples of each shade are also available for $1 each.

The foundation brush is so soft!  It sells for $11.

Next up came the eye shadow/lipstick shade.  The beauty of the powder is that is can work in either area.  I chose the apricot shimmer and a sample shade of the pink rose dust.  There are over 45 shades available in .45 gram weight for $10 each.  You can also purchase samples for $1 each.

I applied these using the combo brush also known as the multi use brush.  It sells for $6.50.

I applied apricot shimmer to my lips using some lip balm mixed in with the minerals.  Again, it only takes a very small amount to cover the area. This is all I used.

Then I used the other end of the combo brush to add a little of the pink rose dust as eye shadow.  

And here is the ta-da! I even timed myself - 15 minutes later and that was stopping to take pictures!  The foundation lasts well but I have a tendency to eat lipstick so I would need to reapply by noon I'm sure.  :) 

Sorry no super models were available.  Ha ha.

I would highly recommend this makeup.  It feels so wonderful and light, goes on quickly, and a little goes a long way!  There are also many other products available by Beeyoutiful including moisturizer, lip balm, and so much more!  

Some of my fellow crew mates tried out other shades of the mineral makeup and other products so be sure to see what they thought!

**Disclaimer: As a member of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received free products for my review. The opinions here are my honest and true evaluation.

 

Important Message - Must Read!!

Saw this on Mary Roberts facebook page and just had to share!

Just in case for some strange reason, you think that I am "put-together" then I need to bring you my dear friend a little bit of reality! :)  We ALL have those kinda days!

Week 6 - The One With The Sinus Gunk and NO pictures!

Monday and Tuesday went well and as planned but when Wednesday morning rolled around three of us were majorly D-R-A-G-G-I-N-G.  We did finish our school work for the rest of the week but other than that not a whole lot was finished.  I spent a lot of time just lying around doing nothing.  Today, I am climbing atop Mt. Laundry and Mt. Hot Spot times a million to prove it!!

Yesterday, we were all pretty much on the mend - thank you Lord!  Stephen still has a lingering cough so we skipped all of his activities for this week.  He really wanted to go to his game this morning but it was sprinkling and cool and I didn't want a relapse so I made the call for him to stay home.  

High School - MFW - AHL (9th grade)
Jonathan is doing so well with this curriculum!  I am very pleased with his progress.  It is a lot of reading for him but the use of audio books is really helping in that area.  He still probably wouldn't tell you he likes it but he's getting -er done. Isn't that a lesson in itself?  I will never forget a quote from a fellow homeschool mom along those line.  "It doesn't have to be fun, it just has to be done!"  One of his weekly subjects that I love most is the service project.  Here are some that he has done so far...

• grass cutting for grandmother
• volunteered at food bank
• volunteered at church with food ministry project
• volunteered at church to sharpen pew pencils and fill envelopes (this is a bi-weekly project that we do as a family)
• our homeschool group teen club also meets once a month with a service project in mind - this month it was cleaning the local pregnancy center.

MFW-CTG Week 5 (6th and 4th grades)
We are studying Ancient Egypt right now and learning a lot about pyramids.  The Bible memory work is the books of the Old Testament which my children already know very well so we've used it more as review time.  Sometimes, we don't complete everything given in the lesson plan but that is the beauty of the curriculum.  You can easily pick and choose what works best for you!

Classical Conversations
Our community is on week 3 but we are on week 5 at home.  I know it isn't recommended to go ahead but it works for us and gives my memory master plenty of time for review and learning.  We enjoy coming up with our own songs and motions so it works for us.  It also helps me to learn the memory work in case I have to sub which is coming up next week!  Again, another curriculum giving flexibility to homeschoolers. 

We have now officially added in all our subjects for the year!  Both Stephen and Sarah started Rosetta Stone Latin this week.  We are doing it informally and they only practice for 15 minutes a day. 

On the home front...
I recently won 2 gorgeous Tabletop Truth place mats in a giveaway over at Mom's Toolbox.  I picked these two and my children have enjoyed being "the special" person for the day who gets to use the placement.  

The backs of all of them look like this which I love too!

I really want to add to our set now.  I just love them!

I'm linking up with The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, MFW Highlights, and Homeschool High. I love looking at other homeschoolers weeks!

Weekly Wrap-Up - The One With The Break!

This week was our scheduled break week and it just so happened the county fair was in town.  :)

We stayed for 5 1/2 hours!!  The kids had a blast while Shawn and I decided the county fair is nothing like it use to be.  However, when you are seeing it through the eyes of a child - it doesn't matter!  They all 3 had a blast!

Since our CC community just began, we did complete Week 2 with them.  I stayed with Stephen's class this week so here are a few of his pictures from CC Day.

Tracing the world map - oh yeah in his Memory Master shirt from last week. :)

 Fine Arts - Mirror Image

Presentation Time - He presented a drawing of an ancient Egyptian boat.

I'm linking up with The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weekly Wrap-Up, and Collage Friday.  I love looking at other homeschoolers weeks!

Are you interested in joining The Schoolhouse Review Crew?

My 3rd year with the crew has really ended.  Although I have a few review items left, I resigned from taking on any more.  After second thought, I probably shouldn't have signed up through the summer months since we really like to take those off and reviewing during the summer didn't really feel like a break.  I found myself dreading the reviews instead of excited to use them.  So, with mixed emotions - I resigned several months ago. 

I love the crew and it has been hard seeing all the new products going out and not receiving them but I prayed over my decision for months.  The current crew year is about to end and I thought some of my readers might be interested in this wonderful opportunity for their homeschool! I'm trying to look at my resignation as an opportunity for a new family to receive the same blessings that our family did when we first joined the crew!

See if any of the following requirements sounds like you!

Have you been wondering what it would be like to serve on the Schoolhouse Review Crew? Do you have a blog? Do you enjoy using new products and telling your friends about them?

Very soon, The Schoolhouse Review Crew will be taking applications for the new Crew year, beginning in January. If you are interested, I'll give you a couple of hints now about how to get your blog ready!

1. Make sure you are blogging frequently (at least a couple of times a week). If you don't have a blog yet, start one now and get busy!). 
2. Make sure you have a way for folks to follow your blog, and then work on getting some followers! You will need at least 22.   Let me know and I'll follow you!  :)
3. Of course, you must homeschool :)
4. If you have written reviews in the past, revisit them. Make sure they are fun and interesting. You readers should really be able to get a clear picture of how you used the product in your homeschool, add pictures of your kids using it, tell why you liked it, or why you didn't (in a tactful way, of course). 
5. If you've never written reviews before, start with something that you use now and write about it. (same instructions as #4)

The expectations for the Crew are high. They want homeschool moms who really love to blog and write and are willing to commit to using the products we review. In fact, you are required to use the products and every review is reviewed for content. Watch the blog over the next couple of weeks for more information. But start getting ready NOW!

You can also friend The Schoolhouse Crew on twitter and facebook for upcoming details.