Round 1: Impatient Mom vs Coupons

 

I love a deal…I mean LOVE a REAL deal! So four years ago (almost exactly) after my husband lost his job I decided I needed to try something different for my grocery budget. I had always believed Wal-Mart was a good deal and coupons just couldn’t get me the product as cheaply as Wal-Mart's generic price so why bother with the hassle.  But a fellow homeschooler mentioned all the deals she was getting by using The Grocery Game website and I decided to give it a shot.

I signed up for my free trial, picked up a newspaper (this is a story in and of itself!) and Monday morning I went to clipping. By early evening I had all my coupons clipped and had fixed up my grocery lists for Food Lion and CVS.

At that time I had a 7 yr. old, 5yr old, almost 2 yr. old, and a 6 month old (what.was.I.thinking?) so I loaded them up and headed to the nearest town, about 25 minutes away. We went through CVS with no trouble but by the time we got to Food Lion the kids were a little restless (already!). I made it through Food Lion, checked out, and as I pulled the buggy towards me to turn it towards the door, my 2 year old, who was standing in the buggy (one of those high buggy’s…not a deep one like Wal-Mart…this is a big no-no! Don’t let your kids stand in the buggy) fell out backwards on to his head on the cement floor. He started crying(screaming) and I started crying…things just really went downhill from there. We didn’t have insurance, couldn’t call my husband because we no longer had a cell phone, I was still a bit emotional over the job loss, all my groceries were going bad as I waited for the ice pack a bag boy was supposed to be getting…it was a bad evening.

At that moment I decided this just wasn’t worth the trouble. I laid my coupons aside and didn’t think twice about it. Until…

(Check back for Round 2)

TOS Review: Marshall Publishing’s Lots & Lots of Fire Trucks (book) and Fire Songs and Safety Tips (DVD)

We received a huge, color-filled book on Fire Trucks and a DVD on Fire Safety from Marshall Publishing. Both the book and DVD covered much more than just trucks and fire safety.

The DVD was basically several songs with footage of trucks, fires (nothing graphic), and firefighters. Included were tips on fire safety and what to do in case of an emergency (call 911, stop drop & roll, etc.). We used this as a reinforcement for what they had already learned when visiting the smoke house, where the firefighters taught fire safety.

The real treat came when we opened the book. It was about fire trucks for sure but not only that it included tons of history, science, pictures, illustrations, tips, websites, interesting facts about fire and firefighters and so much more. This book was amazing.

There was a section on major fires in history starting with the burning of Rome in 64 A.D. all the way through to 9/11/01. Another section teaches which fire extinguisher works best for each type of fire, and what to do if you don’t have a fire extinguisher. This book was FULL of useful information. I highly recommend it. The DVD was okay, but the book is the best part of the program, in my opinion.

The DVD was perfect for my younger elementary kids and the book was nice for them to look at but was actually best suited for my upper elementary and middle school children.

The cost of the Book & DVD combo is usually $49.90 but if you enter coupon code TOSF1 you can get it for $19.95 (plus S&H). To order call 1-888-300-3455 or visit Marshall Publishing or Fire Safety Songs.

Marshall Publishing offers more than just fire safety videos and books, they offer tons of other products from Rockets and Race Cars to Game Shows and Comedians. They also offer a great selection of historical videos such as The Oregon Trail & Pony Express and Lincoln at Gettysburg.

 

I was delighted to receive a bonus DVD of George Washington Carver. This is a 30 minute video that features an informative look into the life one of our nations great Scientist. This video is $19.95 plus S&H but if you enter the code TOSC1 you can get an additional 15% off.

Check out their site for more educational and entertaining products and for more Marshall Publishing reviews, head on over to the Crew Site.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

TOS Review E-Mealz

What’s an e-meal?
That’s the question I had when I first heard the name. Well it’s not a ‘thing’ it’s a program designed to make mealtime easy for mom. They do this by creating a weeks worth of easy to prepare meals. They also include the shopping list for these meals, to help you get in and out of the store of your choice, quickly and efficiently.
They have several plans to choose from. You can choose by store and family size, or by special dietary needs. The chart below will make it very clear.

After choosing your plan, print out the menu and shopping list, then head to the store. It’s pretty simple. You can check out a sample menu and list on the e-mealz site. The cost of e-mealz is $15 for 3 months, that’s just $5 per month. Not bad for the amount of work and stress it will save you.
e-mealz and me
I was so excited to be asked to review e-mealz, the ‘mental-maid’ program for busy mom’s who enjoy having a sit down meal with their family. Meal planning is one of my biggest challenges. When I take the time to do it, which is very rare, it makes a HUGE difference in my afternoon and evening. Life just runs smoother when we know what’s happening next. I plan and schedule all the different ‘times’ in my day (wake time, school time, lunch time, bedtime) why do I fail to plan my meals? Lazy I guess. At any rate, e-mealz has made it very easy for me.
When I first started out with e-mealz I signed up to use the Wal Mart plan because I do did most of my shopping there. Since then, I’ve begun couponing (I’m trying! Boy it’s confusing at times) and one of the main reasons for my couponing is to keep me out of Wal Mart. I do not like going in there! So, in my learning to coupon, my dear sister-in-law convinced me to give Aldi’s a try. It wasn’t my first time going in there, but it was my first time actually looking at the prices. When I did my comparisons, Aldi’s was cheaper than Wal Mart on 9 out of 10 items. So I decided to switch my e-mealz plan to Aldi’s.
I have several lists from both Wal Mart and Aldi’s and they each have quick and easy recipes. I did not try ALL of the recipes but I did try several on my very.very.picky family and they didn’t object to any except the chicken pot pie. I took it to a pot luck and they didn’t even try it because of the veggies mixed in. They just don’t like their foods mixed together. I tried it though, and it was so good and super easy to fix.

GETTING STARTED IS AS EASY AS 1-2-3

Head on over to e-mealz to give it a try, I bet you’ll be glad you did!
Want to read more e-mealz reviews first? CLICK HERE


**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

TOS Review: Visual Latin

 

My 11 year old, 9 year old and I, are taking Latin. Shocked? Well, what’s even more shocking is…we’re actually enjoying it! The program is called Visual Latin and it’s a DVD program taught by Dwane Thomas. He has 15 years teaching experience, is fluent in four languages, and is the homeschooling father to five children. He’s actually kind of funny at times but the more impressive thing to me is the simplicity in which he teaches.

WHY LATIN?

Good question. I wanted to know the same thing. These are the reasons given by Mr. Thomas during the introduction lessons.

1. Learning Latin makes understanding your language and other languages easier.
2. Latin opens the door to other Romance languages.  There are 25 Romance languages, including Spanish, French, and Portuguese. These languages are about 90% Latin.
3. English is influenced by Latin. 90% of our multi-syllable words are derivatives of Latin.
4. Understanding Latin can change the way you think. You will better understand the meanings of the words your saying, hearing, and writing.

 

In high school I took French and Spanish (I did horribly in both). My eight grade French teacher started us off the very first day speaking in French the ENTIRE class period, except the last 5 minutes. So basically we walked into class with this strange looking (sorry but she was) woman speaking to us in a strange language and we had no idea why she wasn’t stopping to explain what she was doing. The end of class she explained to us that we would only be allowed to speak English during the last 5 minutes and after the second semester there would be NO ENGLISH in her class.She deducted points from our grade for disobedience. About 95% of the students in my class failed.  My Spanish teacher did a lot better, unfortunately I didn’t.  I’m really hoping learning a foreign language will be easier for my boys. My oldest really wants to master Spanish so he can travel with my husband on mission trips.

WHY VISUAL LATIN?

With Visual Latin the lessons are short and informative without a lot of in- depth explaining of things that we don’t need to know right now. Each lesson has 3 videos and 3 worksheets. We watch one per day. The video lasts about 10-15 minutes and the worksheet is super easy. What am I saying?  Baby steps. That’s what we’re taking. That’s what we need. If it started out difficult we would probably be discouraged and give up. With the prior experience I’ve had with foreign languages I’m excited about this programs method.

 

MORE ABOUT VISUAL LATIN

Visual Latin is for ages 9 and up. There are two parts, 30 lessons each, and ideally each part would be completed in a year, making it a two year program. The Scope and Sequence for Part 1 is below:

1.     Being Verbs Basics | To Be and Not to Be
2.     Being Verbs Basics | Predicate Nominatives and Adjectives
3.     Gender | Boy Words and Girl Words
4.     Singular and Plural | E Pluribus Unum
5.     Declensions | Meet the Cases
6.     Adjectives Learn to Agree with Nouns
7.     The Case Files | Nominative and Genitive
8.     Counting to 10 in Latin
9.     Active Verb Basics | Indicative Mood
10.   The Case Files | Accusative
11.    The Case Files | Vocative
12.    Changing Your Moods | Imperative & Indicative
13.    The Case Files | Ablative
14.    Meet the Pronouns & Question Words
15.    Pronouns | Relative
16.    Accusing Prepositions of Accusative Case
17.    Verbs | Active & Passive
18.    The Case Files | Dative
19.    Pronouns | 1st & 2nd Person Personal
20.   Pronouns | 3rd Person Personal
21.   Pronouns | Demonstratives: this, these
22.   Pronouns | Demonstratives: that, those
23.   Pronouns | Relative and Interrogative
24.   Pronouns | Possessive
25.   Nouns | 3rd Declension – Regular and i-stem
26.   Verbs | Infinitives – Active and Passive
27.   Verbs | Infinities – Ability, Negation & Indirect
28.   Nouns | 3rd Declension – Neuter
29.   Nouns | 4th Declension
30.   Adjectives | Positive & Comparative

You can purchase Visual Latin as a DVD or a download. You have the option of purchasing a family license or a class license. The class license is for co-op groups and the family license covers everyone in the household. The family option is $80 for the DVD’s.  That includes all 30 lessons. There are other options to explore as well and you can see those here.  If you would like to try before you buy you can download the first six lessons free just by visiting their store.

If you are the least bit interested in learning Latin but maybe a little intimidated at the thought of it, PLEASE check out Visual Latin. Dwane Thomas really makes it seem simple and takes the scary out of it .

To learn more about Visual Latin from other TOS Crew members, click here.

    **Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

 

Review: Ginny Owens CD

 

I recently received a new cd by contemporary Christian artist, Ginny Owens. Ginny Owens is a gifted musician who began learning music about the same time she began to lose her vision. She has a degenerative eye condition that left her blind early in life. It is clear that she has been given a special talent and she is desiring to use it to praise the one who gave it to her.

She has won several awards during her career, including Dove, GMA, and ASCAP awards. Some of her more popular songs in the past were “Free,” I Wanna Be Moved,” and “If You Want Me To.

Her latest album is called “Get in, I’m Driving!”  There are 11 tracks on this, somewhat jazzy sounding album. This particular cd sounds a bit different, to me, than her earlier music. If you would like to hear for yourself, head on over to iTunes.

If you are a fan of Ginny you can follow her online:

Her Personal Website

Facebook

Twitter

 

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

TOS Review: Games for Competitors, Tri-Cross

 

The boys and I have a new game to love. We are a game playing family so we were very excited when we received Tri-Cross to review. This is the perfect type game for us because it’s quick and challenging. Some of the games we play take hours (or even days) to complete, so we don’t play them often. Tri-Cross is one of those games that you can sit down at the spur of the moment and play. In fact we do just that, quiet often.

The first time we played we spent the afternoon learning how. We read the directions and watched the video that was sent to us.  All of that was helpful but the best way to learn is to just jump in and play.

Basically you have a certain amount of tiles, depending on the number of players (2, 3, or 4), and you place them around the board face down. As you begin to play the tiles will be forced to show their face and certain ones will beat others. For example: the 6 tile beats everything except the Tri-Cross tile. The Tri-Cross however will only beat the 6. So you have to think ahead and use some strategy.

As part of our review we were blessed with TWO Tri-Cross games. We received the board game which is shown in the picture above and also the travel eco game, seen below.

This eco version is made entirely of cloth, except the tiles. It was this particular version of the game that won Games for Competitors (makers of Tri-Cross) the Dr.Toy Best Green Toy Award in 2010.

2010 was a big year for Games for Competitors because they also won the Mom’s Choice Award that year.

Some history on Games for Competitors:

• Family owned out of Atlanta, GA
• Tri-Cross debut in 1986 but due to financial difficulties the family wasn’t able to properly market it
• 2007 the Burns family reintroduced Tri-Cross and it began to thrive

Tri-Cross offers 3 different versions of the same game. The basic board game is $24.95, the cloth travel game is $19.95, and the wooden game board is $35.95. Click here to order now.

If you would like to see what other homeschoolers thought of Tri-Cross, click here.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

 

TOS Review: How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids

My first review product for the year is from APOLOGIA  I was very excited about this because I love the products those folks publish.  
  The book I received was written by Rachael Carman who, along with her husband, are owners of Apologia. Her new book is called How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids. This book was part of a presentation Rachael shared during previous homeschool conferences and was so well received and relevant for all homeschooling moms, she decided to turn it into a book.
You can purchase a copy of the book on their website, for $13 and be sure to read a sample chapter while you’re there. This is a small, hardbound book, with approximately 200 pages.
Mrs.Carman uses the word HEART to give the reader step by step ideas on what we can do to help our children have a heart for the Lord. After all, isn’t that every Christian mom’s ultimate goal?
Here’s a short overview to help you understand the content:
H= Have a Heart for the Things of God (how can we expect our kids to if we don’t?)
E= Enrich your Marriage (loving one another helps your children see what a healthy marriage relationship is supposed to look like )
A= Accept your Kids (God used this one to convict me. He also used two other (random) sources to show me THE SAME THING. You know it’s from God when you get it from different sources…He never stops pursuing us!)
R= Release Them to God (I had a very difficult week and the last thing I felt like doing was reading this book but I knew I had fallen behind and needed to finish it. Boy, God must have had His hand in it because as I read I felt Him telling me “everything’s going to be okay, trust ME!” I really, really needed to hear from Him, and I did! His timing was prefect! Isn’t it always?)
T= Teach Them Truth (My husband happened to read this chapter and loved the illustration she used to show how God’s truth is ALWAYS TRUTH! In fact, he loved it so much he decided to use it during his Saturday night chapel at the youth center where he works. He’s also planning to use it during his Sunday morning children's sermon. Good stuff!)
Would I recommend this book? Oh yeah! God blessed me in and through it! I have some pages dog eared and I will be revisiting them. If you would like to see what others thought of this book, visit the crew website.

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.