Blossoms and Blessings

Monday, April 8, 2013

Kids Clothes Week

I was recently made aware of "Kids Clothes Week" where for a week, you sew clothes for your kids for an hour each day. I have projects planned for "when I get to it" that will be perfect for this! I'm looking forward to spending an hour a day to sew. If you want to sign up, too, head over here.

dates for spring 2013 kcw

Sunday, April 7, 2013

This Month in the Civil War: First Battle of Charleston Harbor

150th Anniversary
(1863–2013)
This Month in the Civil War: First Battle of Charleston Harbor

Over the course of the Civil War, ironclad ships were used with varying degrees of success in attacking fortresses on land from the sea. These newest ships in the Union Navy were not nimble, but they had large and effective guns which were engaged in many attacks throughout the war.
On April 7, 1863, Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont led nine ironclad ships into Charleston Harbor. The flotilla included seven monitors, the USS New Ironsides, and the experimental USS Keokuk, a heavily plated ironclad which proved completely inadequate in the battle. Her hull was pierced by ninety projectiles causing the ship to take on water and sink off Morris Island.
Weather originally delayed the attack. Torpedoes and obstructions in the harbor were difficult to negotiate, and a strong tide adversely affected navigation and ultimately the success of the offensive. The Confederate guns at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie fired shots and shells outnumbering those from the ships nearly thirteen to one. The ironclads spent much of the two-hour battle simply trying to navigate the currents and obstructions in the harbor.
The armor of the ironclads protected the men aboard. While all ships suffered some damage, casualties on both sides were light. The battle was seen as a Confederate victory as the Union Navy, despite high hopes of a tremendous victory, suffered the failure of not even making it past the first defenses in Charleston Harbor.

(taken from email from http://www.fold3.com )

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Needle Keeper (Tutorial)

I was at Walmart the other day and I saw a "Needle Nest".

Since my "travel" sewing needle usually goes in with my straight pins, I thought it looked like a neat idea but simple enough to make myself.

I dug around and found a cute little container and one of the magnetic sports calendars I'd gotten from the kids' doctor office.

Since my magnet had writing on the back, I cut a piece of colored paper to cover it.

All done! I may put something on the pink paper at some point, but it's nice this way, too.

And it's functional for keeping the needles in place ☺

I didn't glue or tape the magnet in place, it's just a tight enough fit that it stays in place.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Review: "The Ultimate Homeschool Planner" and "The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students"

I knew that being in a review group would mean I would sometimes review products that weren't as applicable to me and my family. This was one of those products.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Apologia

ISBN: 978-1-935495-65-9

Retail Price: $28.00

Available in two cover designs: the one I received (Photo above) and the one below (from their website)

While I do not homeschool my children, as a former Kindergarten teacher, I can appreciate the value of this product. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner has a very nice sturdy plastic cover with pockets in both the front and the back. The very first page has school year calendars for 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, and 2015/16 so it would be easy to plan out long term type things.

I liked how The Ultimate Homeschool Planner begins with a 12 page user's guide on how to use the planning system. I thought that would be very helpful to homeschool families to see how the system fits together. Following the user's guide are pages to plan out the whole year, list goals for your students (up to 6), family priorities, and resource lists.

There are 2 types of calendar pages:

Monthly:

and weekly:

I personally prefer pre-dated calendars as they are less work for me, but I can see how having an undated planner is better since not everyone follows the same starting/stopping times for their homeschool year. I liked how you can customize how you use the weekly planning pages listing students on the left and subjects on the top, or days on the left and students on the top (or a different arrangement altogether to suit your own needs)

One part that I really liked (and could use even as a non homeschooler) was the first page of the weekly planner that lists: Bible Plan, Battle Plan, Prayers, Hospitality/Outreach, This Week's Memorable Moments, Achievements, and Evidences of Grace. I especially liked the Memorable Moments and Evidences of Grace. It is nice to have a spot (and the reminder) to keep track of those things.

The back of The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is full of helpful tips and record keeping areas such as grades, reading lists, activity lists, year in review, and high school planning guide.

One thing I thought it would be helpful to have was a bookmark like the student planner had. I think that The Ultimate Homeschool Planner be great help to families who homeschool. I used it as a master to-do list, which seemed like a "put down" for such a great planner!

Along with The Ultimate Homeschool Planner I also received The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students.
ISBN: 978-1-935495-67-3
Retail price: $19.00

Sarah was excited to get The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students even though she doesn't use anything like it for school. She used it to write down books she's read, things she wants to do, and even a note that said, "William popped Andy's balloon" ! And it has a glow in the dark spiral which all the kids loved!

The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students has weekly assignment pages with areas to mark when they are done, got it approved, and did their Quiet Time.

The back has really cool information like the USA state capitals, Timeline of US and world history, world map, conversion chart...

Guide to punctuation, italics, and capitalization, Greek/Latin roots, multiplication chart, and more!

It also has areas to keep track of grades, reading lists, and an activity log. The cover of The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students does not have pockets, but the page that has the school year calendars on it does have one. There was a handy bookmark/ruler that can easily be moved from week to week to keep track of what week they are on. There are also a bunch of stickers to go with the undated monthly calendar pages. Sarah really liked filling in the dates and information for important days in our family. I think that The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students would be useful for homeschool children to keep track of what they need to do and to gain independence in their learning process.

There is going to be a Facebook party April 9th at 9 pm Eastern for the Apologia Homeschool Planners and they are even going to be giving away some planners!

I received the above products in exchange for my honest opinion. I did not receive any other type of compensation. Your experience and opinion of the product may differ from mine.

Jean Top Skirts

I have been wanting to make the girls skirts using the tops of jeans for the top. I didn't see any of their jeans that had holes in the knees and it just seemed wrong to take perfectly good jeans just to cut the tops off for skirts! But then I found a stash of mending hidden away (gasp!) and among it were cut off jeans in both girls' sizes! So I packed up my new sewing machine (yay!), supplies, and the kids and headed to my mom's so we could figure on them. The girls picked out the fabric they wanted and we set to work measuring and pinning. This was the result...