School Days: My response

I almost always respond to homeschool questions with grace, kindness, and honesty.

It's the right thing to do, and it's what I genuinely want to do.

 I try not to go too far into detail, because I've learned that most people don't want the details. 

There are times though that I feel hurt by the never ending questions that seem more like accusations that I'm somehow hindering my child by even considering educating them at home.  I keep a smile on my face, respond kindly, and in my mind, feel like a total failure.  Sometimes I even have a good cry when I think about how rude people can be. 

People, I do NOT know everything there is to know.  But I do enjoy learning, and I know how to learn.  I want to teach my children how to learn as well.  I feel led to do this, and I have nothing against anyone else who doesn't feel that way. 
My homeschool choices do have a whole lot to do with God, as do all decisions I make, the decision is not based on religious reasons alone.  And it's not an easy decision. 

I'm sure you aren't able to read this from the snapshot, but please do click here to read this post, and if you homeschool and face the same struggles that I do, I hope you can find humor and some comfort in words.

What I heard: Birthday Party Plans

The little 5 year old boy, who is also the house comedian, just came to tell me all about his plans for his birthday party.  And although he's a funny boy, and it is April fools day, he's not kidding!
He often refuses to eat candy, and even throws fits if it's offered to him twice.  I suppose this is a good thing... sort of, I mean it wouldn't be so bad if he would simply say "no thank you".  But he thinks everyone is plotting to make him unhealthy or something.  Weird, huh?  Yeah.. I'm trying not to over think it, as I'm sure it's just a phase.  So, I'm documenting this here so I can show it to him when he's older, and wondering why we never got him a birthday cake. 

He says:
"My birthday party is only going to be about healthy food.  No sugary stuff, no cake.  Just meat, and peas and rice, and no milk. 
And no marshmallows, and yes fireworks.  Just remember to bring fireworks."

School Days: Lapbooks

The Boy, The Baby & I went to our local library for story time yesterday.  We met up with two other great moms & their kids.  The topic of homeschool was brought up and one of the moms said she found the greatest homeschooling blog "Confessions of a Homeschooler".  I've heard of it, I've followed it for a while, and refer back to it often.  But It's always while I'm on my phone and I'm just quickly scanning through the material.  Well this morning I found the Confessions of a Homeschooler Facebook Page & was guided to Lapbooks!

I've heard of lapbooks often in the blogger world and Pinterest.  The idea seemed great, but I never fully understood them.  Quite frankly, the process seemed overwhelming (I guess a lot of things seem that way, at first).  I thought these were for "smarter" more experienced homeschoolin' momma's.  That is, until I watched this video this morning.  I realized how easy they are, and that I am fully capable of making these and teaching my children with them.

So-  Enough from me, check out the video:


You can also go directly to her blogpost by clicking HERE.  Lots of good info there, so check it out!

Product Review & Rambles: Graco snugride carseat

Up for review today is the Graco Snugride carseat. 

First some rambling.  If you only want the pros and cons, just scroll to the bottom of this post. 

I kind of love this seat.  And really, I'm not sure why I *LOVE* it, and not just like it.  I suppose at one point I read about the great safety ratings, and decided it was the only seat for us.  There are other seats on the market with even better safety ratings, and great features, but this one works well for us.
  We used a Snugride for my son, 5 years ago.  I first bought a used one from eBay.  It was blue, and ugly and dirty....  And that's what we brought our baby home from the hospital in and used for a couple weeks (should've saved the money and bought a nice one in the first place!).
  Then we bought a Travel System.  This was one of our biggest mistake baby-type purchases.  I hate the strollers that come with travel systems.  So the travel system we bought in a neutral print, because we knew we wanted to have more children, and it would be cost effective to just use the same one for the next kid that came along.  That would be mistake #2.  It ended up taking us a while for baby #3.... Actually, it took us so long that our gender neutral money saving seat expired.  I grew sick of the neutral colored stroller, that hardly got any use, and eventually worn out badly and sold cheap on a garage sale.

So, You live and learn right?  Now we're on baby number 3 and I feel like I'm pretty smart with our baby purchases.  So this time........... I did buy another travel system.  No, I'm not a slow learner, I'm a frugal gal.  You see, I had my eye on an adorable print that I wanted, but of course, it only came in a travel system. 
I prayed on it, and God delivered!  Wal-Mart had the travel system on clearance for like cheap! I actually found lots of baby items we needed while I was shopping that day.  He's SO good like that.  ;) 
 I kept the car seat and base that came with it, and sold the stroller as new. I would've gladly paid the clearance price for just the seat alone, but the fact that I could sell the stroller made it an even better deal.  I knew that for our life style, I just wouldn't use that stroller enough, if ever.

Ummm, oh yeah-  About the seat!

PROS:
Light weight
Not bulky
Adorable prints
Good safety ratings
Easy to install
The base stays secure in the car
If your baby falls asleep in the car you can bring the seat in the house and keep them sleeping

CONS:
You have to adjust the straps from behind/under the seat.  I put the seat on the table to do this.  It's a bit of a hassle, but doesn't have to be done often.


Graco makes a swing and a stroller that the car seat can snap right on to.  We have both and I think they're both super convenient.

I'd recommend this to a friend.  And if we are ever blessed with another baby, this will again be the seat we use.

DIY: Diaper sprayer shield

This post contains affiliate links to what I purchased to make this set up.

You can read all about my affiliate links through my disclosure tab- but it's basically this:  Amazon pays me a percentage of each sale that is made through clicking my links.  I use that money towards homeschooling my children, running this blog, glorifying God, and hosting giveaways. 
I would never EVER post a link to a product I didn’t believe in- Promise!

 

We are a cloth diapering family.  I catch a lot of crap for that.  Get it? crap.   Yep... Not as funny as I thought it might be. 
There is a product on the market similar to this and it is only about 20 dollars. However I wasn't able to find one to purchase as they are all out of stock everywhere I looked.  & I'm a DIY  kind of gal anyway.
So I made a quick run to the dollar store and picked up a plastic clip board and a plastic folder. We already had duct tape on hand.
I attached the folder inside out so when I sprayed the water the junk would not get stuck inside the pocket of the folder.
After I made this I anxiously waited for the baby to give me a poopy diaper to work with.  {Insert your own corny "you know you're a mom when" joke.}
The verdict:
It's definitely an eyesore but it works amazing and for under 4 dollars, it was definitely worth it. 

 

If you're not a DIY'er, check out the Spray Pal - Cloth Diaper Sprayer Splatter Shield on Amazon.  The reviews look excellent, and it'd be to your door in about 2 days with Amazon Prime.