Culture Shock (Or The Kids Visit a High School)

On Friday night, we took Sierra to a local high school basketball game. This excursion was facilitated through her Youth Group, which was partnering with another ministry team.

She and her fellow "groupies" decorated T-shirts to wear while they cheered the home team on to victory, and were highly encouraged to wear as much blue/white (the school colors) as possible. Sierra, who's never one to miss an opportunity to get extra funky, streaked part of her hair with Atomic Turquoise Blue dye for the occasion. ;)

We arrived at the high school just after 7pm. The parking lot was already pretty full, and we really had no clue where we were. All we knew for sure was that we were meeting in the gym, and this school was/is HUGE--over 1,500 students on a sprawling campus.

Found the gym--yeah! (Note to self: follow the noise!) As we headed in, I turned to Ethan and Abby and said, "You know, I think this might be the high school you guys would go to if you went to public school."

Abby stopped cold, mid-stride and asked in a panicky voice, "Do I have to?!"

Man, that was great. :)  I laughingly replied, "No, silly! Sheesh!" At that moment, we were enveloped by a throng of students and parents. We could hear wild cheering and yelling already coming from the gym. The band was tuning up. It was your typical high school game! :) It really brought back all sorts of memories for me...some good, some less than stellar. But all of it made me think to myself, "Man I'm glad that time in my life is over!" :)

As we dropped Sierra off and made our way out of the building, Abby mumbled "Get me outta here!"

Oh, and Ethan and Sierra's reaction? Well, Ethan kinda liked the whole crowd vibe. (He's like his father.) Sierra on the other hand said, "Umm...it was really big. And really loud. And yeah. Really loud!"

Okay, so 2 out of 3 ain't bad. ;)

Review: Christian Keyboarding

As everyone who happens to either own or use a computer knows, typing is an extremely useful skill. Sure you could hunt 'n peck your way around, but to really get your thoughts out fast, you need to know how to type.

Somehow my youngest picked up on typing very rapidly and only partially utilized the "hunt 'n peck" strategy. (Figured she must've picked it up via osmosis.) My older two children didn't use any correct finger placement, nor did they desire to.

Then of course, there's me...I write all the time and live through my keyboard. I naturally wanted my children to learn how to type, but I hadn't found the right program. I didn't want "fluff" and I didn't want "boring". I just wanted something simple and straight to the point.

Enter the following review product, Keyboarding for the Christian School by Leanne Beitel. This program arrived just in time to satisfy my pickiness every requirement. (I love it when that happens!)

Keyboarding for the Christian School is an e-book program that teaches the touch typing technique. The lessons and drills are reminiscent of my old high school keyboarding classes, which I always enjoyed. There isn't anything "fluffy" or "silly" about these e-books at all; just straightforward, honest typing. Perfect!

The e-books come in two versions: K-5th grade and 6th grade and up. However, there is little difference between the two as far as learning the basics and practice drills. In fact, the only difference (at least through lesson 32) was that the elementary version contained color-coded home row keys and the upper level did not.

Now as the title suggests, this program was originally designed for Christian schools. Therefore, you'll find various verses and Psalms included throughout each volume for typing practice.

Both versions contain timed drills (which we really liked!), formatting and enumerated lists. The upper grade version also covers topics such as:

• Writing a bibliography
• Personal and business letters
• Proofreader's marks
• MLA and APA academic reports and more

Keyboarding for the Christian School--Elementary Version contains 87 pages and is available for $12.95. The upper grade version contains 107 pages and is available for $15.95.

However from now until February 28th, the publisher is offering a great package deal: Purchase BOTH e-books for only $22.00! Not too shabby, I say! :)

Try Before You Buy

Take advantage of the free sample lessons by clicking here. (Don't you just love freebies? *Wink*)

Final Thoughts:

We used both e-books over the past several weeks and really enjoyed them. Granted, my oldest still isn't too keen on the whole "keep your fingers on the home keys" but I know it's helping her in the long run. :) Also, my younger two have noticed that their fingers naturally gravitate toward the home row keys without even thinking about it.

For additional practice, I had the children update their blogs each week using the correct finger placement. (Sneaky, eh?)

While I personally would have never even thought to cover such things as a properly formatted bibliography, I was glad to see that at least *someone* was!

Thank you, Leanne Beitel for creating such an easy to use program. :)

We give both versions of Keyboarding for the Christian School two delighted thumbs up!


To read what my fellow TOS Crew Members had to say, please click here. :)

*As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a copy of both e-books for free. No additional compensation was given and my opinions are strictly my own.*

Review: Virginia Soaps & Scents

Some folks are just oh-so crafty. I personally have a hard time creating anything but a tidy sense of order. I used to fail art class back in school (no joke), and I can't stand getting my hands dirty for the purpose of creativity and artful expression.

I have a few uber-crafty friends who sew, knit, make candles, and are familiar with the inner workings of Michael's and JoAnn fabrics. You'd think that being a homeschooling mom, this would just somehow magically transfer over to me. But you'd be wrong.

So when I heard that as part of the TOS Crew, I'd be receiving a package from Virginia Soaps & Scents for review, my first thought was "Uh oh! I have to make soap?!"

But contrary to my initial thought, Virginia Soaps & Scents does not force the consumer to "make" their own soap but rather, they make it for you.

Owned and operated by the Spargur family, a fellow homeschooling clan located in (where else?) Virginia, Virginia Soaps & Scents produces a number of homemade "gourmet" soaps, plus lip balm, laundry soap, pet shampoo and more.

For the purpose of this review, I received one each of the following products:

• Oatmeal, milk & honey soap
• Fresh orange soap
• Coconut Lemongrass soap
• Ginger Lime Shampoo Bar
• Laundry Soap Kit

Each of the soaps I received were the 1.75 oz "Bed & Breakfast" size samplers. Their regular sized bars are 4.75 ounces for the soap, and 5.5 oz for the Shampoo Bar.

Our Thoughts:

When I first opened my package, the family was greeted with a lovely combination of pleasing aromas. Everything smelled so good, that all five of us inhaled each bar and sighed, "Ahh....!"

Shortly thereafter, Dean and I walked outside in the backyard with the dogs. Suddenly we both paused and sniffed the air. Dean said, "Something smells good out here." I sniffed again. "Yeah, you're right. Hmm...Do you think it could be the soap?"

Since we couldn't tell if it was that or just some kind neighbor baking a fruit pie, we decided to have the kids sniff the soap and walk outside, too. You know, for scientific confirmation.

Yep. It was the soap! (Bummer about the pie though...) Moving on!

The next morning, the children and I put everything to the test, starting with the bar soap and shampoo bar.

The Soap: $4.50/each, 3/$12 or Buy 4/Get 1 Free

The soap lathers up quite nicely, and again, had a nice fragrance to it. The Fresh Orange smelled almost good enough to eat! The Oatmeal, Milk & Honey bar has a slightly rough texture that was great for exfoliation. Sierra used this one and really liked it. She said it didn't make her skin feel itchy at all, which was great.

Abby used the Fresh Orange bar and liked how it made her skin feel "soft" and "smell nice". Ethan used the Coconut Lemongrass and said it smelled "like summer time". This didn't make him break out in itchiness, either. (We all have very sensitive, eczema-riddled skin.) The only thing we didn't like was that the fragrance didn't last all day long. But that's really minor compared to not itching all day!

Shampoo Bar: $5.50

According to Mrs. Spargur, this product works so well for her that she no longer uses conditioner. Hmm...I had to test that theory out for myself.

Now with the Shampoo Bar, you have to actually RUB it on your hair. You don't lather it up in your hands. It only took a few rubs before I had a luxurious lather going on. It smelled great, rinsed well, and I skipped the conditioner as planned.

Once my hair was dry, my hair felt incredibly clean--like really, super-duper clean. Perhaps "too clean". And it didn't brush out well, either. Note to self: I'm definitely not a "skip the conditioner" kind of girl!

So the next day, I used the Shampoo Bar again, only this time adding my usual conditioning rinse.

My hair felt even worse.

I don't know what it was, but it was just not clean looking or feeling that second time around. Maybe it was the conditioner not playing well with the Shampoo bar or something. I'm not sure. All I knew was that it was definitely a ponytail day after that. (Ahem)

My daughter, Sierra also had the same results with the Shampoo Bar. In the end, we decided it was good to use maybe a once a week, to really deep-clean our hair. More than that was simply too much for our hair type.

However! All was not lost with the Shampoo Bar. It's also recommended as an all-over body bar (hair, skin, shaving), which we again, put to the test. This time? We absolutely LOVED it!

Our skin felt great; no itchiness, no redness. In fact, I think it actually improved the look of my facial skin during the few weeks I used it! My face just felt nicer after each use. Never dry or tight, nor did it break me out (a common issue with many facial products). And anything that doesn't give me a zit is worth it's weight in gold in my book!

Laundry Soap Kit: $4.95

Now, this was the product I was most looking forward to! I've been making my own laundry soap for a few months now, and had actually just ran out when this Kit arrived. (Perfect timing, eh?)

The Kit contains pre-measured amounts of grated lard soap, Borax and Washing Soda, which make a 1/2 gallon of laundry soap. All you need is a bucket and hot water!

I actually liked the way this soap turned out more than my current recipe. It turned to a nice gel consistency, whereas my current recipe didn't. ('Twas supposed to but...?). As there's no fragrance to this product, your clothes won't smell "Tide fresh", but they will indeed be clean. The cost per use comes out to about 5 cents per load, which makes this an incredibly economical option.

This Kit is perfect for those curious types who aren't ready to make a full commitment to the Homemade Laundry Soap Club.

Virginia Soaps & Scents has a variety of Samplers and Gift Baskets available, which would be perfect for your holiday shopping needs! I'm considering purchasing a few samplers to give as gifts myself. :) (Friends and family: You did NOT read that last line. Ahem.)

Their customer service is impeccable and their products are terrific. I loved how everything was so sweetly packaged, smelled great, and didn't involve me actually making soap. (Well, aside from the laundry detergent, but that's different.) Their prices are reasonable, and I am very pleased with everything I tried.

To learn more about Virginia Soaps & Scents, please visit their website by clicking here.

We're pleased to award Virginia Soaps & Scents two very happy thumbs up!