Park Day!

My kids wanted to get some of their friends together to play at the park today. We were supposed to go last Friday but I was sick and stayed in bed all day. We thought it would be too wet today because it rained in the middle of the night but the wind helped to dry it up. It was a little chilly but not too bad. I thought this pic of the kids (minus the 2 teenage girls) surrounding Samantha while eating their lunch was too cute. Enjoy!

Time To Play!

You all know about my passion for playtime so when I saw this amazing site, I knew that I had to be a part of it! There is a site warming party happening tomorrow night on Twitter. You can read all about it here: http://resourcefulmommy.blogspot.com/2009/02/bringing-back-family-game-night.html
Join us!

Wow...it's ONLY Wednesday!

This has been a LONG week and it is only half way over. Oh wow.

Monday was my youngest child's birthday. He is now 9....just 9 more years and I am done!! Yeah right! LOL Anyway, since he and middle child's birthdays are only 1 month apart, I usually make their well child check up appointments in February so I can get them both done at once. So bright and early Monday morning, we went to the Dr. They were both healthy and good. Everything was going well.

We left there and went to the bank, grocery store & gas station and then my sister called....she needed me to pick up her 13 year old daughter from school because she wasn't feeling well. We made a quick visit to Game Stop so birthday boy could spend his money and then headed to the school.

After we dropped my sick niece off at home, we came home and had lunch. I was still feeling blah from the sinus problem/cold that I have been dealing with so decided to take a nap. I slept about an hour and then got up and listened to youngest child (AKA birthday boy) whine about how horrible his life was while his siblings went outside. In walks oldest child announcing that her brother (middle child) had just cut his hand. I turn away from birthday boy to check the damage....WHOA! Call daddy and tell him that we are heading to the ER. The child had sliced his thumb in half! Ok, not really, but it was pretty bad. He ended up getting 13 stitches and 2 of those are actually through the thumb nail. It is pretty gross! I have to say though that the PA @ Baptist Tipton was amazing! Her name is Stephanie Miller and she did a great job with him.

On to Tuesday.....I am still feeling blah and do not really want to do anything but get the kids through school. While the little girls I watch are napping, I tried to rest on the couch. Didn't really happen. By the time they go home, I just want to hide in my room. While fixing dinner, I actually told my kids that I didn't want to talk or listen to anyone and to please let me cook in peace....they did! After dinner, I retreated to my room and watched TV.

Today is Wednesday.....I started the day by putting on the armour. I figured if the other 2 days had already been so bad, I better equip myself a little better! I kept a stinking sinus headache ALL day long! No matter what I took, how many times I did the saline wash or what I did, my head hurt! By 5, I knew that I would not be going to church because it was developing into a migraine.....oh boy!
Now I am in bed trying to rest and hoping that tomorrow will be better. Please pray for me!
I know this was long but I hope you enjoyed hearing about my troubled week. Don't worry though, I am climbing out of that valley and gonna be on top of the mountain before ya know it!! Greater things are yet to come!!
Have a blessed night!

Piggly Wiggly TRIPLE Coupon Friday

This Friday (2/27) Piggly Wiggly is offering TRIPLE COUPONS! The closest PW to me is near my inlaws house....I haven't visited them in awhile so maybe I should take a little trip down there this week :). Go to http://www.pigglywiggly.com/ and see if there is a store near you, check out their ad online and plan your shopping trip! Enjoy saving some $!!

Free pancakes at IHOP

Click on the picture for more information!

Speaking of spelling / Scrabble Contest

While we are still on the topic of spelling, (see last post)I decided that this contest will have a spelling focus!

Amy and I watched Akeelah and the Bee yesterday and we saw how the spelling bee contestants used Scrabble to practice. We have used the game ourselves to work on spelling. Today as I was rearranging things in my office, I came across a box and guess what was inside??

An extra Deluxe Edition Scrabble game! So what better than to give it away in my Playing To Learn Contest!




Here is what you have to do to win:

* Post the link to this contest on your blog and then leave a comment here with your blog link.

I will hold a drawing from all of the entries on Saturday Feb 28th.

Good Luck!!

Spelling City

My friend Tina gave me a link last week for an online spelling review program that she uses for her kids. I registered (It's FREE!) and started using with my kids.....they LOVE it! I have been entering their spelling words and they get to play games that teach them their words and then test on them! You can even print out a report of their test to add to their school file! If you have children, you need to register and use this free tool!

My princess and me

Last night our church had the annual Princess Ball for the girls in youth. They dress up and get to be treated like princesses for the evening. The youth leaders talk to them about how they are daughters of the king, therefore, they are princesses and tell them about the responsibilities of being a princess by taking care of themselves and honoring their Father. Each of the girls is prayed over, given a rose and a tiara. It is truly a special night.
This is a picture of my daughter and me when we were leaving to go to the Princess Ball.

Levite Vocal School

Click on the image below to read the outside of the flier.

Click on the image below to read the inside of the flier.

Multiplication Game

Two years ago, my older children played a demo of Timez Attack at a curriculum fair in Memphis and they loved it! I came home and downloaded the FREE version from their website. Yes, I said FREE! The free version teaches the 2's - 12's multiplication facts. It really helped my older children and now we are using it for the youngest. I just wanted to share the info with you so that you too can take advantage of this great way to teach multiplication!

Mid South Home Educators Prom

Winter Jam

Amy, Alex and I went to the Winter Jam 2009 in Southaven, MS. It was a great night of worship through music. To see all of those people there lifting their hands and praising the Lord was phenomenal! We enjoyed the music of Hawk Nelson, Toby Mac, Newsong, Francesca Battistelli and Stephanie Smith. The speaker, Tony Nolan, really was inspirational and made ya think! It was truly amazing!

Enjoy the slideshow and be sure to see if Winter Jam is coming to an area near you! If they are .....GO!

Listen to this & win a Sound Bingo Game!

This week, we took part in the Say What You Mean Convention and were completely blessed!
Wednesday was "Kids Day" and the sessions were all geared to the children. JoJo Tabares did a "Listening Seminar" where she taught the kids the importance of listening and not just hearing. She also played a game with them called the "Name that Sound Game" where her son played a sound and the kids had to say what it was. Amy was listening on the computer so she had to type her answers in. Alex was listening on the phone and could shout his response. They both did very well but Alex guess more than she did and he won the game! The prizes are great!











The convention is over now but you can still listen to the sessions because they were recorded. Simply go to the Say What You Mean Conference on Talk Shoe and click on the topic that interests you.


I know that I use a LOT of "play things" to teach my children. One of my online names is PlayToLearnHome because I truly believe that children learn best through play. I have seen the results! So, I want to have a little contest and give away a "Sound Bingo" game. This is a fun little game that is from Do-Re-Me & You/Discovery Toys. My kids love it!

Here is how you can win:

1) Post a comment to this blog post about "Learning Through Play".

2) Write a blog post about this contest on your blog and link it to this one.

3) Update your Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc status to tell your friends to visit here too! If I am your "friend" on these sites, I will see the update. If not, you can either add me or send me an email with the screen shot.



There ya go! I will draw a name on Friday the 13th.



Good luck!

We won the Little Debbie Prize!

We won one of the 3 Little Debbie prize boxes that Little Debbie was giving away through StretchingABuck.com! Our box arrived today via UPS and the kiddos were super excited!
Thanks Little Debbie and Stretching A Buck!