Mid America Science Museum

Nick and I both had birthdays in the last week, so my mom and dad came down for the week-end to celebrate.  Since we had to miss out on Homeschool days at the Mid America Science Museum since Christian was sick, we decided to surprise the children and go on Saturday.  We had a wonderful time!  A few things had changed since we were there 4 years ago.  The Tessla experiment has been moved into a separate room and costs extra (we skipped it.)  Where it used to be are stations with different building materials that you can build things with.  The aquarium is gone (disappointing.)  The children's favorite parts were the Underground Arkansas which is a cave where you go across, up, and under things.  I think they went through that like 10 times (even Lily wasn't scared and went through several times with Chelsea holding her of course.)  Their other favorite was the worm tunnel (I lost track of how many times they went through that.)  It was a great time and they already want to go back.  If you are ever in the Hot Springs Arkansas area and are looking for something fun and educational to do, you should stop by the Mid America Science Museum.

Christian 1/14/12

Christian 2/8/08 (last time we went in front of the same mirror)

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Beef Stew Recipe

I have always made Beef Stew in the Crock pot using beef gravy, carrots, potatoes, and onion.  But, I was looking for some new recipes that I could use our deer meat in and came across this beef stew recipe.  It was delicious and so easy to make!  The leftovers were great too.

I doubled everything except the meat

2 lb boneless roast cut into one inch chunks (I used venison tenderloin steaks)
2 cups water
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
6 carrots peeled and cut unto 1 in pieces (I used baby carrots)
3 baking potatoes peeled and sliced
1 onion chopped
1/4 cup steak sauce

Bring meat, water, barbecue sauce to a boil in a dutch oven or large skillet.  Cover and simmer for one hour on med low heat.  Stir in all of your vegetables cover and simmer for another hour til veggies are tender stirring occasionally.  Add in steak sauce, cook 2 minutes, and serve.

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Review: Learn Our History

Learn Our History desires to teach American History in a fun and unbiased way.  It is important for children o understand, appreciate, and remember the history of our great country.  They have developed a series of videos that follow the TimeCycle  Academy, a group of school kids who develop a time machine and learn history by traveling back in time to watch it happen.  Five videos are currently available with several more planned to be released this year.  Available titles include:  Columbus and the Great Discovery, The Birth of A Revolution, 9/11 & The War on Terror, Origins of WW II,  and The Reagan Revolution.  Click here for more information on these titles and future titles and their release dates.


At the time of this writing, the current offer is as follows:

Order Columbus and the Great Discovery for $9.95 (plus $3.95 shipping) and get the Birth of A Revolution Free plus free streaming to all of your online devices.  If you are not satisfied, you have 30 days to return it for a full refund.  Then once a month you will get an email telling you the next DVD that is scheduled to ship for $11.95 plus $3.95 shipping.  You have 10 days to call in and let them know you don't want that selection.  If you don't call in, the title will be shipped and your credit card billed.  You will continue to receive your monthly mailing unless you decide to call in and cancel your subscription.

I was very excited to be able to review Learn Our History.  I thought that the concept of teaching American History using animated DVD's with characters going back in time to see the actual events would be something that my children would enjoy.  That kind of product would be a great supplement for homeschoolers, private, or public school children to go along with their American History curriculum.  But, I have to admit that I was very disappointed in the product.  The animation was not very well done.  When the children travel back in time, the interactions with the people in the past are very strange.  They don't notice that the kids are "strangers" and do not speak appropriately or wear correct clothing.  The conversations do not seem natural and are a little forced.  I could look past most of those things and still see the educational value in the DVD's, but the biggest problem I have with this series is the way the characters talk and interact with each other.  They are rude and nasty to each other.  Every time Connor opened his mouth, I cringed.  He is a bully and the way he treats the others is just awful.  There is a very strange scene at the beginning of the Birth of A Revolution DVD where one of the boys comes running in and the other characters make fun of him for what he is wearing and that he smells bad from working outside.  One of the girls actually sniffs him and tells him he should have taken a bath.  These characters are not something I would want any of my children to imitate and if this is stereotypical of "normal" teenagers today, it just makes me very glad to have abnormal children.


I think Learn Our History has great potential and could be a wonderful learning tool if there are a few changes made to the videos.

I received a complimentary DVD copy of Birth of A Revolution and access to stream 9/11 & The War on Terror for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation.

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Review: World of Science

Science is not one of my favorite subjects, but I am very impressed with World of Science.  From the back cover, " World of Science explores God's creation all around us from the furthest star in the Universe to the smallest atom under our feet."  This hard cover book contains over 800 illustrations and photographs and includes over 60 science experiments.  The book contains an introduction, 7 sections, glossary, scientific units, and an Index within its 240 pages.  The sections are:

• Matter and Chemicals
• Energy, Motion, and Machines
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Light and Sound
• Earth and Life
• Space and Time
• Science Experiments

I thought the introduction answered the question Why Do Science? so well.  It states, " Science can help us see the intricacies of God's creation allowing for enormous advancements in our world."  Later it says, "Without restraint or godly wisdom, science can become a tool of devastation."  There have been many scientists who have seen God's handiwork in the world around them.  That's why I think it is important to teach science to our children, to show them God's handiwork is in all things and to raise up a generation that will come at science from a Christian perspective in whatever field they are working in.


The layout of World of Science is very easy to read through or find exactly what you are looking for. Each page Each page is full of illustrations, photographs, charts, and a science discovery on the topic.  The book is engaging and interesting for children to read.  Younger siblings who cannot yet read can enjoy looking at the pictures.  My children love studying space and the planets.  Here's a peek inside what we were looking at:

One of the best things about this book is the experiments included in the back of the book.  There are over 60 experiments listed.  Each one is written out in an easy to understand format with pictures to show you what it should look like.  Each experiment has a list of what you will need and anything you need to be cautious of like, "Be careful with the mold.  If you touch it wash your hands afterwards."  Here is a picture of one of the experiment pages (which by the way my boys want to do all of them)

The World of Science would make a wonderful elementary science curriculum or great addition to your homeschool library.

I received a complimentary copy of World of Science from New Leaf Publications for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation.

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Breastfeeding In Public

A few months ago, we were out having lunch at the Olive Garden.  We were sitting at a table off to the side of the rest of the room, and my back was to the rest of the restaurant.  Before our entrees were served, Emelia decided that she needed her lunch too.  I flipped her blanket up over my shoulder, settled her in and started nursing her.  The only thing you could see was one part of her foot sticking out of the blanket that she was kicking up and down.  The woman behind us (who again could only see my back and the baby's foot) started talking very loudly to the other woman at her table and just couldn't believe that I  had the nerve to be nursing my baby in the middle of a restaurant.  She kept going on about it loud enough for me to hear.  After I finished feeding Emelia and handed her back to her daddy, I had to take one of the children to the restroom.  I had to walk past the lady that was so outraged at me feeding my baby discreetly under a blanket, and she was wearing a very tight fitting low cut shirt that showed more of her breasts than I have ever bared feeding any of my children in public.

I have been seeing and reading more and more lately about the "controversy" of breast feeding in public, and I have to say, I really don't understand why this is such a "controversy."  It is a well known and proven fact.  Breastfeeding is absolutely best for babies.  Breastfed babies are healthier and happier than formula fed babies.  There is absolutely NO formula that can even compare to breast milk.  God made women so we could feed our babies, and man will never be able to copy that formula.  Why then does this have to be such an issue?  The world has no problem with string bikinis or low cut revealing clothing, but we are going to look down upon and embarrass woman who are providing nutrition for their babies?  What is wrong with this picture?

For the last 10 years, I have been either pregnant, breastfeeding, or both.  I have nursed my babies just about every place you can possibly imagine.  I don't think that because I am nursing a baby that I should stay at home, or be separated from the rest of my family when we are out in public.  Not that the "nursing rooms" are a bad idea.  It can be convenient when there is no other place to sit down, but I am not going to go out of my way to walk halfway across the mall without the rest of my family with a screaming baby that could have been fed and happy by the time I got there.  Breastfeeding can be done in a very discreet manner and if you don't want to see a woman breastfeeding her baby in public, all you have to do is look away.  If seeing a baby's feet sticking out of her blanket or even a nursing baby not covered by a blanket so upsets your sensibilities, don't look at them.  

Instead of making nursing moms feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about nursing in public, we should be going out of our way to educate women on the benefits of breastfeeding and encourage them to nurse their babies.  Breastfeeding is a healthy and natural way to feed your baby and whether or not people want to admit it, that's what breasts were made for.


Read my blog post here for more information on why breastfeeding is the right choice.

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A Little Disappointment

Today we were supposed to be heading to Mid America Science Museum in Hot Springs AR for Homeschool Days.  We have visited the museum once before (4 years ago) and it is wonderful!  It has over 100  hands on exhibits to see, touch, and explore.  My older children remember it from before and have been asking to go back.    For Homeschool Days, the admission was almost half of what it normally is and they were going to have special demonstrations and experiments set up.  My children have been looking forward to it for weeks.  Last night we even got on the website again so they could see the kind of things we would be able to do.  Well, in the middle of the night last night. Christian got sick.  It seems he has the stomach bug that has been going around.  So needless to say we were unable to go and had to miss out on the museum today.  The children were very disappointed!  I hate that we missed it, but sometimes you don't have any choice.  Instead, we dove into our regular ordinary schoolwork and had a normal day.  I told the children that we will still get to go to the museum. We may just get up in the morning one day and I will surprise them and tell them we are going.

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Menu Plan Monday

I did not write out a menu plan last week.  Can you believe it?  I had an idea of what I had on hand and what I would/could  probably make.  Last Wednesday rolled around and I lost track of time, forgot to take meat out of the freezer, and soon it was 4:45, hubby would be home in 15 minutes and I had no idea what was for dinner!  I ended up making homemade mac n cheese, but didn't get in on the table until 5:30.  I write all this to say that I could've avoided the stress of figuring out what was for supper and had it ready on time if I would've made out a menu plan. 

This week's plan:

Friday 1/6- pizza
Saturday 1/7- beef stew (I used a new recipe and it was delicious!  Will be posted later this week) dinner rolls
Sunday 1/8- grilled cheese, chips
Monday 1/9- burgers, french fries, applesause
Tuesday 1/10- ham pot pie
Wednesday 1/11 taco pasta, biscuits
Thursday 1/12- breakfast


For great menu inspiration visit www.orgjunkie.com.

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