Our Homeschool Reviews: December 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone and their families and safe and Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

I'll be adding more freebies and samples throughout the day to Our Homeschool Reviews, so please check back, or better yet, follow along with Google Friend Connect on the right or "like" me on Facebook! If you find any good freebies or deals, let me know by commenting below!

And don't forget to enter my Pick and Draw Giveaway!!

Swagbucks
If you haven't heard yet, Swagbucks allows web users to earn virtual currency by doing the things they do every day, like searching the web and shopping at their favorite retailers. I use Swagbucks for all my searching and you can too! Join now!

Wireless Sensor Bar for Wii
Amazon has a Wireless Sensor Bar for Wii for only $4.99 with FREE shipping with Amazon Prime!

Blu-Ray Deals
Amazon has The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth for only $7.99, both with FREE shipping with Amazon Prime!

4 GB Memory Card
Amazon has the Kingston 4 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card SD4/4GB for only $6.88 (down from $26.99) with FREE shipping with Amazon Prime!

Amazon Deal of the Day
Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player only $79.99 (down from $189.99) with FREE shipping with Amazon Prime!

FREE Coffee and Poppers at Einstein
Einstein Bros Bagels on Facebook is giving free coffee and poppers when you buy a breakfast sandwich. Coupon expires 1/7.

FREE Arby's Shake
Get a FREE Arby’s Junior Shake with this coupon. Expires 1/2.

FREE Sample of Purina One
Go HERE, wait for banner #3 and click on the “Get a Free Sample” link.

FREE Emergen-C Sample
Get a FREE sample Emergen-C HERE.

FREE Sample Roundup
Don't forget to check out the FREE Sample Roundup at Deal Seeking Mom!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Ice Skating

Look - No Help!!!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway for Pick and Draw!!!

Reed, Party of 6
Amber @ The Mom Road
Angelica's Awesome Adventures (w/ linky)
julie @ A day in the life
julie @ A teaching Heart
A Lot of Loves *linky*
Ask Ms Recipe-w/linky

Get your own FREE Linky Tools

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Pick and Draw Review and Giveaway!

Pick and Draw is a really creative and fun way to engage family and friends in drawing fun and easy cartoon faces! I gave this card game to my daughter for Christmas, and other than the DSi (which is hard to beat btw), this is her favorite game and she wants to play it all the time! We have played it several times as a family and it is so much fun to see the faces that everyone comes up with.

Game play is simple. The object of the game is to draw a cartoon face. You start by flipping over a Face card and drawing what you see, any way you would like.

Flip over a Nose card next. You can draw it big, small, high, or low.

Now draw the eyes, along with eyebrows. There isn't a card for ears, so you can just place those on your own.

Then the mouth.

Last is the hair. This one is sometimes tricky but fun to play around with. Then you can add anything extra to your character, like a bow tie, freckles, glasses, or a moustache.

Now, give your character a name and hobby! They even suggest writing a story about your character.

My Thoughts: This is a great game and a lot of fun for the whole family. We hide our pictures until everyone is done drawing and reveal them at the end to see the differences.

Thoughts of a 7-Year Old: It is fun because Mommy and Daddy both play it and it turns out so different! It also helps you draw if you usually doodle stick figures. If you want to do all of the above, Pick and Draw is the thing for you! Love it!

Find Out More: You can purchase Pick and Draw from their website for only $10! You can also check out their blog for more drawing ideas, tips, and FREE lessons!

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So, here's how to enter to win Pick and Draw! For each comment, you will get one (1) entry. Only the first comment is mandatory, all others will just increase your chance at winning.

1. Check out the Pick and Draw website and let me know why you would like to win this card game. Leave me a comment and this will give you 1 entry.

Additional Entries:

2. Like the Pick and Draw Facebook Page. Leave me a comment and this will give you 1 entry.

3. Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect (on the right side of my page) or let me know you are already a follower. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

4. Follow my blog using Networked Blogs (on the right side of my page) or let me know you are already a follower. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

5. Subscribe to my blog by email though feedburner HERE. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

6. Like my Facebook page HERE. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

7. Follow me on Twitter @OurHSReviews. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

8. Share this giveaway on your blog or twitter. Leave me a comment sharing your link and this will give you two (2) entries (leave separate comments for both).

9. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page. Leave me a comment and this will give you another entry.

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

One random winner will be selected using Random.org on Monday, January 10, 2011. (U.S. Entries only.) If I am unable to reach the winner 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).

Disclosure: 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.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Break Time

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! My posts will be light this week as we are enjoying our family time together!

And the See the Light: The Gift of Love DVD Winner Is...

Comment #17: Our Village is a Little Different said... I like your facebook page.

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

Thanks to everyone who participated in the See the Light: The Gift of Love DVD Giveaway via Our Homeschool Reviews and thanks again to See the Light for allowing me to offer this great product!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Holiday Bliss 2010 - December 24

For the month of December Our Homeschool Reviews will be participating in "Holiday Bliss" hosted by Brenda at Garden of Learning.

Today we...

Made Gingerbread Cookies

Found Magic Pajamas

Enjoyed a Homemade Christmas Eve Dinner

And Left Out Cookies, Carrots, and Milk

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry CHRISTmas!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Holiday Bliss 2010 - December 23

For the month of December Our Homeschool Reviews will be participating in "Holiday Bliss" hosted by Brenda at Garden of Learning.

To participate, I'll be sharing favorite holiday recipes, crafts, traditions, things we do during the month, thoughts on Christmas, pictures of our family during December, or just anything that has something to do with this blessed holiday season.

To summarize this week (because I am running out of time)...Christmas lights, the zoo, elf village, ice slide, shopping, party, presents, family, eating out, soap snow, birthday party, the MOSH, and daddy!!

Tomorrow we will be going to the Christmas Eve service at our church and eating a wonderfully homemade meal planned and made by hubby! :o)

Unstuff Book Review

Unstuff, by bestselling authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco, is about God...and stuff, and making room in your life for what really matters.

So what is "stuff"? For some it may be overflowing closets or junk piles. For others it may be cell phones and iPods. And for others, it may be {cough} time spent on the computer, watching TV, or playing video games.

But what is really most important to us? Our time with our family? Time with God? Our spouse, friends, home, community, church? Is all of this stuff taking us away from what matters most?

This book was a quick read and very insightful. As soon as I read it and told my dh about it, we were ready to "Unstuff" our lives! The next afternoon we started with our bedroom closets. We filled up enough bags and boxes for the both of us to make three trips into our local Clothes Closet to deliver them! That was just the start though...next was the kitchen pantry and still to come are the kitchen cabinets. I'll be going through the house, room by room, getting rid of "stuff", and giving it to those in need.

But that is just one part of the equation. "Unstuffing teaches us to stop living for ourselves and to love others the way Christ loves them. If we want more Christ in our lives, more of his love, then we must be willing to Unstuff the areas that are overstuffed...When we give, we get more than we ever imagined."

So how can I take the lessons that are taught in this book and apply it to my life (our lives)? I think that Unstuffing our home of extras will be pretty easy. What will be a challenge is refocusing our time from electronics and other luxuries, to more of each other and God. Baby steps, right?

Find Out More: I just think this is a wonderful book and well worth your time and money to check it out! Unstuff will be available in softcover in January 2011 for $14.99 at Tyndale House Publishers or right now on Amazon.

Disclosure: This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes by Tyndale House Publishers, 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.

Thrifty Thursday

And don't forget to enter my Gift of Love DVD Giveaway!!

FREE Sample HydroPeptide Serum

Go to the HydroPeptide Facebook page, “like” them, and then click on the “Free Samples” tab and complete the form.

Cheap Starbucks Coffee

Purchase Starbucks Natural Fusions Ground Coffee, 11-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)priced at $13 (choose from Vanilla, Caramel, and Cinnamon). Use code FUSIONC5, which takes off $5 at check out, along with code STARBUK3, which takes off another $1.50. Total for two 11-oz packages will be $6.50 and FREE shipping with Amazon Prime!! YUM!!

FREE Amazon Video on Demand $5 Credit

Through January 1, 2011, if you have a twitter account, you can get a FREE $5 Amazon Video on Demand credit!

FREE $2 Amazon MP3 Credit

Go HERE and enter code GIVEMP3S to get a FREE $2 MP3 credit.

FREE Zapzyt Sample

Go HERE to the ZAPZYT Facebook page, “like” them, and then click on the “Free Sample” tab and fill out the form.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Does Your Family Need To Go On A Media Diet?

The following information was recently passed to me so I'm passing it along to my readers!

New Free Media Diet Calculator Planned to Launch Dec. 26

Aims to Bring Awareness of Family Media Intake Versus Real Life Interaction

Nashville, Tenn. Dec. 15, 2010… After a season filled with record-setting cell phone and gaming gifts to teens and tweens, iShine is announcing the upcoming Dec. 26 release of the Family Media Diet Calculator. The calculator is a new tool providing customized awareness to families in regards to how much time they spend connected to media in comparison to the amount of hours they spend plugged in with real life interaction and content consumption.

By visiting http://www.familymediadiet.com, parents nationwide will be able to plug in amounts of time their families spend texting, browsing online, consuming television and more. They will then be able to print a free custom analysis of where their families are spending their time in comparison to their involvement in recreational and faith-based activities along with family time and reading. The campaign is not an anti-technology movement. It is about use awareness and being intentional about the content.

It is estimated that the 20 million tweens in this country spend 25 hours a week watching television and playing video games and only one hour in church. George Barna (The Barna Group), a pioneer in research on Christian culture, recently noted that kids spend more time absorbing media than anything else in their lives, except sleeping. A recent article in The New York Times titled “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction” also discussed the effects of technology compared to focusing and learning.

“We as parents must be deliberate of what media our kids consume, understanding that it is forming the way our kids look at everything – self image, friends, parents, leaders, themselves,” remarks iShine Founder and Chief Creative Officer Robert Beeson. “If we as parents aren’t actively forming the person our kid’s are becoming – make no mistake – someone else is.”

iShine, known for bringing family-friendly media options through tours, music, television and radio mediums, is sponsoring the free Media Diet Calculator. The organization will also be releasing a new interactive Bible for tweens with Tyndale House Publishers in Feb. of 2011.