An Easter Bonnet for Lily Blogger Signup

Looking for bloggers to host the following giveaway for children's author & illustrator Jodi Stone.

May 3

Prize Pack (a $60 value) includes:

$25 Visa giftcard

Paperback copy of An Easter Bonnet for Lily

Jodi Stone Illustrated Greeting Cards

Jodi Stone Illustrated Paper Dolls, Magnets, bookmarks, other swag

Easter is Savannah’s favorite holiday. She loves to dress up in her fanciest of dresses and bonnets, and enjoys all of the traditions her family continues year to year. Savannah finds herself struggling though on a day that she usually loves, and finds herself feeling discouraged. Across the land in Tulip, Easter Bunnies are preparing for the big day as well, all but one: Lily. Lily is the newest Easter Bunny recruit, but struggles with one major problem: her ears. Join both Savannah and Lily on this magical Easter adventure, where they will both realize that magic is held within your heart if you just believe.

Host this great giveaway on May 3

Every host receives a social media link on the Rafflecopter.

Sign up HERE

Celebrate Earth Day with a Conscious Box Giveaway, and Helping Boston with The One Fund

 This post may contain affiliate links.You can read more about affiliate links under my disclosure policy tab, or by clicking here.

 Educents & Conscious Box have teamed up to offer you a chance to win a free Conscious Box – delivered right to your door!


Conscious Box offers a monthly subscription service that delivers the purest, most natural products on the planet, right to your doorstep! You’ll be introduced to the purest, most ethical companies on the planet, every month!  So what are you waiting for, sign up below for your chance to win and teach your kids about being eco-friendly!
As you wait to find out if you’ve won the box, we encourage you to:

• Like Conscious Box (Facebook.com/ConsciousBox) and Educents (Facebook.com/Educents) on Facebook!
• Leave a comment and tell us why you want the box!
• Share the giveaway with your friends!

 

PLUS, if you aren’t the grand prize winner, you can still get a 3-month subscription to Conscious Box for less than $12/month by heading over to Educents.com. For one week only, Educents will be offering the Conscious Box for 40% off!  In addition, ALL profits from the sale of this box will be donated to The One Fund, which will provide funds to help those families most affected by the tragic events that unfolded during Monday’s Boston Marathon. So enter to win, and then head on over to buy the Conscious Box for yourself or a friend to celebrate earth day and support our fellow Americans in Boston!



This giveaway is sponsored by Educents.com. Conscious Box only ships within the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. They can also ship overseas to APO addresses, as well as US territories.

Educents, a flash-deal website, is an easy way to get huge discounts on the educational products you know and love (and maybe even some you’ve never heard of!)
In a world where education is becoming increasingly expensive, Educents is a company with a mission: to provide every family access to affordable educational materials. They focus exclusively on handpicked, unique educational materials including online curriculum, learning tools, educational toys, software, e-books, and more. With new deals added every day, Educents is quickly gaining popularity amongst parents, teachers, homeschoolers and learners of all ages.
 Come check out Educents.com to find your favorite brands at up to 90% off retail prices!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V Digital Camera ~ Blogger Signup

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP 30 x High Zoom GPS Digital Camera - BLACK

Blogger Opportunity

Giveaway from June 17 to  July 12

Come and be part of this awesome giveaway

We are giving away:

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 18.2 MP 30 x High Zoom GPS Digital Camera - BLACK. Value $479

18.2 megapixel resolution
Sony DSC-HX200V Cyber-Shot black digital camera delivers excellent picture quality

Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 29-870mm zoom lens
Offers f/2.8 to f/5.6 aperture and features a 30x optical zoom

3.0" TFT LCD display
Enjoy easy focus selection and photo viewing

AVC-HD movie file format
Record movies in 1080p Full HD format on this compact camera

33 scene modes
Provide creative options for taking eye-catching photos with accurate color

Optical SteadyShot Image Stabilization
Reduce image blur

GPS and compass
Record shot location and direction

We will have a max. of 200 bloggers for sign up, it will be a big giveaway.

The RC is not long because each co-host has there own RC with their links.

Here are the details to sign up:

-Free Link (Twitter or Pinterest)  

The first 50 bloggers to sign up will get a link free with announcement. 

Announcement is required or you have to pay a waiver fee of $5.00

Please get your announcement here.

(Please read the sign up form on the top to know if we still have free space available)

-Link/ or extra links $3.00 each (if the free spots are gone, to be part of this giveaway you will need to pay $3.00 for each link you want on the giveaway)

Announcement is required or you have to pay a waiver fee of $5.00.

Please get your announcement here.

-Co-Host $15.00

The co-host get 2 host page.  

10 links on the RC.

No announcement required.

Please send payment to melisurveys1978@gmail.com as a gift.

Any question please email me at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Sign up here

Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Tale of the Rabbit-less Stew) by Laurel Heger Children's Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links.You can read more about affiliate links under my disclosure policy tab, or by clicking here.

A few days ago I was given the chance to read author Laurel Heger's children's book Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Tale of the Rabbit-less Stew). Yesterday night after getting in from the lake, Yang and I sat down to do our nightly reading. As she sat in my lap, she was giggling as she read along! It brought such joy to my heart that she was enjoying the book, as well as reading along. Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Tale of the Rabbit-less Stew) has been beautifully illustrated by Monette Pangan. The illustrations are not distracting from the story, nor are they bland and boring. 

One spring day Rabbit is garden is beginning to sprout. Soon after a very hungry Fox stumbles upon Rabbit and his garden. He instantly begins to thinking of how tasty Rabbit would taste. Fox offers to help Rabbit with carry in his bounty from the garden, all while continuing to have thoughts of devouring Rabbit. Rabbit invites Fox to stay for dinner as a way to repay him for his help. Rabbit instructs Fox to fill the pot with water, wonderful herbs, mushrooms and tasty vegetables, before placing it upon the fire. All the while, Fox thinks of his tasty meal he has prepared. As a scrumptious aroma fills the air, Fox wonders how this is possible without adding the hare.

This wonderful tale of two animals who are meant to be foe's is filled with wonderful rhymes and a beautiful ending. I hope we get to read more tales of Fox and Rabbit, and soon! I do have to say that we really enjoyed the gardening tips at the end, and look to plant a few things in the weeks to come.

So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and purchase your copy today.

   

UPDATE:
Check out this awesome contest going on over at Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Tales of Rabbit-less Stew) facebook page now thru May 15, 3013

Be sure to check out Laurel Heger's website, http://adf.ly/MyvUf

You can find her on facebook at, Professor Lightfoot and Truffles the Hedgehog and Fox and Rabitt's Garden (A Tale of the Rabbit-less Stew)

  

DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a copy of the aforementioned book, Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Tale of the Rabbit-less Stew), for an open and honest review. All opinions are solely that of my family and myself.

Kidds arrived today, and on Yang's 8th birthday!

A very dear friend of mine has been expecting kidds any day now. Yesterday she sends me a picture showing signs of labor in the very near future. I start jumping up and down like a little kidd inside! An hour later she goes out to check on her but before she leaves tells me, "I'd hate for you to come out and nothing happen." 20 minutes later she calls me and says, "I don't know if you can get here in time!" I hurry and grab my stuff and head out the door, the entire time telling Abby to wait until I get there. Well she certainly waited for me to get there, like 4 hours after I got there she finally had a little bucking and a little doeling, and on Yang's 8th birthday! When I finally got home, close to 2am, Yang was still awake (I'd say someone was just a little to excited to sleep) and was happy to hear the news.

The doeling is next to the stool and the buckling it towards the top of the picture.

As I said, today is Yang's 8th birthday! I feels like yesterday she was a little baby, or even a toddler. All my babies are growing up on me! :( Owlet will be 15 next month, and frequently reminds me how long it is before she can start driving. Poppy just turned 13 earlier this year as well. Sheesh, if I could just slow down time.

Today we spent the afternoon out at the lake since Yang received a fishing pole for her birthday. She didn't catch anything but we had lots of fun!

We grilled out hotdogs and had cake. Yang picked out an aqua frosting with fish sprinkles since she knew we would be heading to the lake.

In addition to the arrival of 2 new kidds and Yang's 8th birthday, we reached 200 facebook "likes" today! Tomorrow I will be announcing a giveaway to celebrate, as well as sharing a review of a very cute children's book called Fox and Rabbit's Garden (A Rabbit-less Stew) by Laurel Heger.

A+ TutorSoft Interactive MATH Curriculum

This post may contain affiliate links.You can read more about affiliate links under my disclosure policy tab, or by clicking here.

It's that time of year again when we all being looking for our curriculum for next year. Sometimes this is very easy, as what we used last year worked perfectly for us. Other times it is not. It may be that what we used last year was not the perfect fit, or we may have been using a hodge podge of materials and we really want a full curriculum. Whatever the case may be, I have a great multi-sensory interactive MATH curriculum for you.

You may remember that I did a review of A+ TutorSoft back in February (you can read it here). During November and December they offer a giveaway totaling over $6,200 in product. 50 lucky families won a year of math curriculum, and you guessed it - we won!

I've been using the 2nd grade CD premium software with Yang now for a few months. School has been little to none for the last month but luckily with A+ TutorSoft you can pick up right were you left off, or review if need be. You start each day with a 5-7 minute lesson. The lesson can be paused, rewound or forwarded if need be. The entire lesson is completely audio so as well as great visuals. The lessons are thorough enough on the concept but short enough that the child will not get bored. Since the lesson has audio and visuals throughout you are free from teaching the lesson so grab your coffee cup and take a few minutes to relax!

After the students have listened to the lesson they will take an Interactive Q and A to reinforce the concepts they just learned in the lessons. The Q and A sections varies from 5 to 10 questions, depending on the lesson and grade. If the students gets the answer wrong, it will immediately go over the concept for that problem. Students can also view an explanation of the solution after each problem. At the end the students are able to print a certificate showing how well they did on the Q and A.

There are optional workbooks available for purchase, but really it is a must have! After the students have finished their lesson and Interactive Q and A, there is a worksheet to complete. All of the worksheets, answer keys, exams, and answer keys are in the optional workbook. Each workbook includes well over 400 pages. Ink & paper alone will cost you more than the workbook. Plus it is bound, so there is no searching for stay papers.

Remember I did say the workbooks are optional. You can print the all worksheets from the software and the online version if you wish.

In addition to the CD software premium edition that we use, there is also a standard edition. The standard edition does not include the features under the admin tab. In addition, there is also an online version available, as well as concept based programs available. 


So what are you waiting for? Go check out A+ TutorSoft for yourself. There is a 1 month free trail available. Use coupon code SOHO20 to receive 20% off your order.

Bouncing Polymer Balls

This post was actually scheduled for yesterday, however I forgot to hit publish so it is a day late.

We are half way through this weeks post of science related projects. Today we are actually redoing a project we attempted a few months ago that didn't work out so great, and you can read about it here. TIP: It actually helps if you read ALL of the directions BEFORE starting. Just saying :)

So today we will be making bouncing polymer balls. First you will need to gather all of your materials:

• borax (found in the laundry section of the store)
• cornstarch (found in the baking section of the store)
• white glue (e.g., Elmer's glue - makes an opaque ball) or blue or clear school glue (makes a translucent ball)
• warm water
• food coloring (optional)
• measuring spoons
• spoon or craft stick to stir the mixture
• 2 small plastic cups or other containers for mixing
• marking pen
• watch with a second hand
• metric ruler
• zip-lock plastic baggie

 I used 2 different types of cups so I knew which cup would have the borax solution in it and which one would have the ball mixture in it. It is best to use shorter cups with a wider mouth if possible. If you are doing this with multiple children, each child will need 2 cups. These instructions will only make one ball.

In the first cup add 2 tablespoons of warm water and 1/2 teaspoon borax. Stir until the borax has dissolved and add food coloring at this time if you wish.



In the second cup pour 1 tablespoon glue, 1/2 a teaspoon of the borax mixture from the first cup and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. DO NOT STIR THEM TOGETHER. Instead allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds before stirring. Make sure you stir the mixture well until it becomes impossible to stir it anymore. Take it out of the cup and start molding it into a ball in your hands. The ball will start out sticky but will solidify as you continue to work with it.

Once the ball is no longer sticky go ahead and bounce it! You can store the bag in the ziplock baggie to prevent it from drying out once you are done playing with it.

Egg Geodes

Thanks for joining us for day 2 of our science related projects. Recently in a homeschooling group a mother posted some pictures from a science experiment her children did using different ingredients to make egg geodes. Yang is science crazy so we took a stab (Get it? Crystals have sharp ends!) at it. We used Epsom Salts for one set and Borax for another. I asked Yang & Poppy before starting which one they thought would make more crystals. Yang said the Borax because we use it in our laundry soap so it has to make big bubbles. Poppy said the Epsom Salts since they are already sort of like crystals.

We began by lightly cracking open 4 eggs near the smaller end of the egg. We poured the eggs into a bowl to use later. We then cleaned the insides of the eggs out with warm water, making sure to get the all of the slimy membrane out to prevent molding. NOTE: you want to keep as much of the egg intact as possible for better growth of the crystals.

EPSOM SALT

Next we used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and filled it about 3/4 of the way full of hot water, not boiling. Then we began adding tablespoons of the Epsom Salts, stirring as we made each addition, until the salts no longer dissolved.

Place the eggs in an egg carton so they do not tip over and spill everything. Carefully spoon the mixture into the eggs making sure to distribute between the eggs evenly.

Add a few drops of food coloring to each egg. I would suggest leaving on egg without food coloring to show a more natural crystal.

Place the eggs in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

If there is any liquid still in the eggs after 3 hours CAREFULLY pour it out, making sure you don't pour out any of the crystals. If you do not have crystals then your water was not warm enough, try again.


DISCLAIMER: We did not develop this experiment. We used instructions from The Happy Scientist.

BORAX

Place 2 cups warm water in a pot and add food coloring.

Add Borax until the water is super saturated.

Once the water starts to boil remove from heat and add the solution to the egss.

As the water evaporates from the eggs, borax crystals will deposit on the sides of the egg crating a geode egg.