Hearts for Hearts Girls Pool Party!

I am so excited that I finally get to tell you about a fun Hearts for Hearts Girls party we had with some of our friends!!

Hearts For Hearts Girls is a charitable doll line that seeks to empower girls to become agents of change in their communities, their countries, and around the world.  The line features eight dolls inspired by real girls from real places all over the world.  Each authentically dressed and lifelike doll has her own story to share and is working to change her community in ways unique to her home country.  

Funny Bunny was so surprised when she came home and saw that we received two Hearts For Hearts Girls dolls {one for her and one to raffle off to a friend}.

We also received Hearts For Hearts Girls bracelets, party recipes and activities, and coupons to give out.

Funny Bunny had a hard time deciding which doll to keep for herself, but ultimately she choose Dell from USA.

Dell lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky.  She enjoys the sunshine, cooking, and music.  She also likes to help others.

The other doll that she received was Zelia from Brazil.  Zelia lives on a coffee farm in Sao Paulo.

In school she learned that the rainforests are disappearing and she would love to save rainforest animals one day.



We planned a pool party with some friends, talked about the dolls, passed out the bracelets and passports, and raffled off Zelia. The family who received her was very excited!

The best part is that these dolls teach young girls about the concept of giving back.  A portion of each doll sale is donated to World Vision, a non-profit organization that helps children from that doll's country.  

Thoughts of a 9-Year Old:  I like the Hearts4Hearts Girls dolls a lot. The ones I got were Dell and Zelia, and I chose to keep Dell!  I think they're great because they help out others by using their own skills and talents.  I like that because it encourages others that they can do just that.  The next doll I'm hoping to get is Consuelo. These dolls are wonderful!  

Find Out More:  You can find out more online where you can learn about each doll at Hearts For Hearts Girls.  You can also play games and activities and read stories from real girls from around the world.  

There are 8 dolls which include Dell (USA), Lauryce (USA), Lilian (Belarus), Rahel (Ethiopia), Nahji (India), Tipi (Laos), and Consuelo (Mexico), and Zelia (Brazil).  Each doll stands 14 inches high and has a poseable, smooth vinyl body, and high-quality rooted hair.  Hearts For Hearts Girls dolls sell for approximately $27.99 and can be purchased online or at local retailers like Target. 

Disclaimer:  This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor.  I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own.

Wordless Wednesday: Breakfast!

You can find more on my Menu Plan Monday post.

And the American Bible Challenge Winner Is...

Comment #19 - gail said...liked them on fb

I used Random.org to pick the winner and I have already notified her via email.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the American Bible Challenge Giveaway via Our Homeschool Reviews!  

Menu Plan Monday - September 3

Happy Labor Day!  I can't believe it's September already!  Well I mentioned in my Homeschool Mother's Journal post on Saturday that I watched several documentaries on food and am going to try to move toward a more plant based diet.  Funny Bunny and I pre-shopped the grocery store on Friday to research and pick out a few things but today we will be going on our regular shopping trip.

On Friday we picked up a few staples that include:

Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Steel Cut Oats
Shredded Wheat
Grape Nuts
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
Corn Kernels for making popcorn (these were B1G1 at Publix)
Vegetable Broth
Several cans of beans
Soy Milk

Today we'll be getting the following:

Tons of fruits and veggies
More cans of beans
Extra firm tofu
Brown Sugar

Looking at that list it doesn't seem like we can make many meals from it but we can.  Here is our menu for the week:

Breakfasts:

Slow Cooker Oats with Fruit {I did not add the butter} or a variation of Rip's Big Bowl from the Engine 2 Diet.  Mine includes a handful or Shredded Wheat, Old Fashioned Oatmeal, and Grape Nuts with whatever fruit we have.  Today I added raisins and peaches and Soy Milk.  YUM!!

Dinners:

Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (we already had this)
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
Minestrone Soup
Rainbow Stirfry
Homemade Pizza - I'm going to attempt to make this pizza crust

I am also going to make this Easy and Decadent No-Knead Wheat Bread today. 

Two websites that I have found extremely helpful are VegWeb and Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  The latter has a nice section named Ridiculously Easy Recipes, which is my kind of title!!  ;)

There is also The Engine 2 Diet, which is the movie Funny Bunny and I watched to get excited about eating more plant based.

I do want to add that we have not emptied the kitchen of all "bad" foods.  We still have some cheese and eggs, along with milk that I think FB will have a hard time giving up.  The freezer holds some shrimp and I'm sure we have some bad snacks hanging around.  This is our trial/test week to try new foods and see what we like.

So wish us luck and I will try to update you on how the recipes taste and on our progress.

Homeschool Mother's Journal 9-1-12

In my life this week…  
 
I watched several documentaries on food.  Forks over Knives, Engine 2, Food Inc., Fat, Tired, and Nearly Dead, Food Matters, and Food Fight to name a few.  I had seen Food Inc. a while ago so I decided to watch it again.  I'm glad I did...hoping to take meat out of my diet.  

My goals are simple: Cut down on dairy and meat and eat more fruits and vegetables.  

I am not throwing everything we have in the house that is bad away.  We are going to ease slowly into this while trying new things and discovering what we like.  I'll try to post our menu plans for the week on Monday.

In our homeschool this week…  

In science Funny Bunny learned about plants and flowers.

And she made a terrarium.

In history we learned about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt through the Greeks at the time of King David.

These are the three books we have been reading for the past few weeks.  I'm reading Tirzah aloud and the other two Funny Bunny has been reading to herself.

A very exciting part of the week was Funny Bunny taking her first Essentials Class through Classical Conversations.  Essentials is an intense grammar and writing class that includes math games for grades 4-6.  She was nervous about taking it but ended up loving the class.  She participated and had a great time!

Below is a poem Funny Bunny wrote for class which focuses on quality adjectives and alliteration.

My favorite thing this week was…

our TCBY field trip, which I have absolutely no pictures of, and signing up Funny Bunny for the American Heritage Girls!  Registration night was Monday and there were 40 children!  Wow!  We are both excited to get started!  She already has the oath memorized.

"I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country, and Serve in my community."  Below is the craft they completed.

 

Golden Prairie Press: Heroines of the Past Bible Study Review

I really enjoy being part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew because I am introduced to companies and products that I would have otherwise never known about.  The newest company I have discovered is called Golden Prairie Press, created by Amy Puetz.

Amy Puetz is a homeschool graduate, a self-taught historian, and a servant of Jesus Christ. As the owner of Golden Prairie Press she publishes books that show history at its best. 

History has been a passion for her since childhood.  Years of in-depth study have equipped her to write history-related books.  As a columnist for Home School Enrichment Magazine, she shares stories about historical events from a Christian worldview.  She especially loves to dig for little-known stories that show God's providential hand.

I was given the opportunity to read and review Heroines of the Past Bible Study.  

It is an Inspiring Thirteen-Week Virtue Study Celebrating the Noble Deeds of Women and Girls from History.  Each chapter has a story about a righteous lady from the past, and then a study that digs into God’s Word concerning the virtues demonstrated in the story.

I was extremely excited to receive this and start reading it with Funny Bunny.  After looking through the Table of Contents and List of Heroines included in the book, we decided to just start from the beginning with The Courage of Princess Edith.  Here you can see Sample Pages of both, along with the first two days of study.

Each week has five daily lessons followed by a Virtue Study that includes thought-provoking questions, a memory verse, and several Bible verses to look up and discuss.

Scattered throughout the book there is a section in the Virtue Study called Box of Visual Reminders.  It includes suggestions of what to put in a box that you have made at home, to remind you of the important truths found in God's word.  For instance, in The Courage of Princess Edith, Edith was charged with a crime she did not commit, and so she requested a champion to fight against her accuser by throwing her glove on the floor of the hall in the face if the king and all his barons.  By placing a glove in the box, it reminds the reader that Christ is our Champion.  I thought that was a neat idea and would make a great keepsake once the study is completed.

My Thoughts:  Funny Bunny and I have enjoyed working through these lessons.  The Courage of Princess Edith is written with Old English, so it was a bit challenging to read at times, but Funny Bunny understood it fine and was able to answer the questions with no problem.  The questions are thought-provoking and we continued some nice discussions afterwards.  I think this would be a great study for a mother and daughter to work through together.

Thoughts of a 9-Year Old:  I like Heroines of the Past because each story has different virtues.  For instance, Princess Edith showed bravery and Sarah Winnemucca showed peacefulness.  My favorite was the Bravery of Princess Edith. 

There are three parts to the story.  When Edith and her sister escaped from their hometown to the king's castle in another land, a man in the court falsely accused Edith of things she didn't say.  The king got so mad that he summoned her to court.  She gave her innocence by swearing to God and challenging the accuser to the high punishment.   If her 'knight' won, she would be set free.  If the man won, she would be killed.  Soon the duel began.  Who won?  Read it to find out!

I really like this book a lot!

Find Out More:  You can find out more online at Golden Prairie Press.  Heroines of the Past Bible Study is recommended for ages 8 and up and available as an e-book {PDF, MOBI, or EPUB} or printed with nearly 50 illustrations for just $21.60.  This sale price will last until September 1, 2012.
 

My Crewmates are also talking about Golden Prairie Press, so you can check out what they think about it HERE.

Disclaimer:  This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor.  I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own.

Wordless Wednesday: Zhu Zhu Pets Are Everywhere!

Smelling Flowers 

Reading 

Washing

In the Dishes

Trick or Treating

Knocking Over Shells

Receiving Valentine's

And Forming Pyramids

All pictures taken by Funny Bunny

And the Purex Winners Are...

Comment #49 - katychick said...i'd like to win, we do laundry every day and this would help cut cost- we are using purex with zout and love it

Comment #122 - JR911 said...i like you on fb

I used Random.org to pick the winners and I have already them via email.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Purex Giveaway via Our Homeschool Reviews and thanks again to Purex for allowing me to offer this great product!

The American Bible Challenge Giveaway

I was able to watch a video about the making of The American Bible Challenge that will be airing TONIGHT, Thursday, August 23rd on GSN and I am so excited about it!!  Read more about it below and enter to win a giveaway! 

The American Bible Challenge Description:

 

Comedian and author, Jeff Foxworthy hosts this studio-based game in which contestants compete based on their knowledge of the Bible. Utilizing current as well as historical references, questions will be drawn from the rich, dense narrative found in the world’s best-selling book. The contestants will share their compelling back-stories and each team will be playing for a charitable organization. The American Bible Challenge is produced by RelativityREAL for GSN, with RelativityREAL’s Tom Forman (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) and Embassy Row’s Michael Davies (“The Newlywed Game,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”) serving as Executive Producers on the project. Nick Stuart and Maura Dunbar of Odyssey Networks are Consulting Producers.

About the Host:

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy® Award nominee and the best-selling author of 11 books. Widely known for his redneck jokes, his act goes beyond that to explore the humor in everyday family interactions and human nature.

Find Out More:  The American Bible Challenge premiers TONIGHT, Thursday, August 23rd at 8/7c. You can find out more at GSN. 

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GIVEAWAY!!

So, here's how to enter to win one (1) The American Bible Challenge T-Shirt and one (1) Zondervan NIV Quest Study Bible.  For each comment, you will get one (1) entry.

  

1. Leave a comment telling me why you would like to win

2. Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

3. Like Our Homeschool Reviews on Facebook

4. Like The American Bible Challenge on Facebook

5. Follow OurHSReviews on Twitter

**Remember to please leave a separate comment for each entry**

Contest ends on Thursday, August 31, 2012 at 11:59 EST.  The winner will be chosen by Random.org.  This contest is open to U.S. residents who are 18 or older.  If I am unable to reach the winner by email within 48 hours, an alternate winner will be selected.  Your entry is only valid if you include a way for me to contact you (either an email address in your comment or on your profile).  The winner's name will be obtained and publicly announced.  The number of eligible entries determines the odds of winning.  No purchase is necessary to win and this contest is void where prohibited by law. 

Disclosure:  This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the products to the vendor.  I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own.

Where's the Background?

If you have noticed that my blog is loading slowly and the background and some of the graphics are not loading at all, it is just temporary. 

Over a year ago I was searching around for the perfect blog design and found the cute and free layout I now have from Leelou Blogs.  If you have never visited her site you should.  She has a ton of free blog layouts and can work with you to create a custom designs. 

Well, they recently switched servers and are aware of and working on the loading problem, so things should be back to normal in no time.

Thanks for your patience when visiting!  :)