Busy little bees

Sorry for the lack of post lately. We have been busy these last few weeks! So I don't bombard everyone with too many photos I put everyone into a collage to talk about each part of our busy lives.

So Columbus Day came and we started working on a lapbook for the week. That was until I was trying to find good facts for my son to learn about Christopher Columbus and was learning things I never learned in school about that man. Needless to say we did not finish that lapbook. I am not sure I understand why we teach our children that he was the first man to discover America when that is not true. 

This was another one of our days. Monster is now learning about coin amounts, double addition and measuring in Math. So far he has taken two spelling test and gotten 100 on both. In Phonics he is also doing very well. He still is enjoying Science but not a huge fan of writing so much, which leaves me with Social Studies that he is not enjoying. We were using Cantering the Country but it was a ton of writing so I have put that aside and we will be doing more lapbooks which he really enjoys! 

So being as we are in Texas and live about 45 mins from Dallas we met my husband at his work and rode the Dart to the fair! Monster LOVED riding on the Dart and the fact that he could stand up while it was moving. Silly boy! So the picture of his making a face is because he was trying a Fletchers corn dog...which everyone says is the BEST! Monster clearly does not agree. lol 

October is a busy month. My husband is on the board of a HR conference they host in Forth Worth every year. It's for people who work in Human Resources. So he went down one Saturday this month and my mom came down for that weekend. Well Mom went back to Houston on Sunday and we drove to Forth Worth Monday. Monster loves it! For one it is a hotel, plus we were getting to see Daddy who he missed. But to me the best part was getting to walk around Downtown Forth Worth. I love it there. It is so clean in Forth Worth. I mean there were people on the streets/sidewalks cleaning them. In Downtown Dallas it just is not like that. Everyone in Forth Worth is so nice too. We were able to go walking around the water gardens, then we walked over to my favorite Barnes and Noble. We even did some homeschool work in the childrens area since there was no one around! The little tables they have I would love to have a set for Monster! They are the perfect size. Also while walking around they have a set up about the John F Kennedy murder. We read a little about it and Monster explored, but I am not sure he really understands it all just yet. We stayed at the Omni Hotel in Forth Worth and I just want to say they are AMAZING!!! They gave Monster this really cute back pack that had some fun little goodies in it! Plus the staff was just amazing. We were right across from the Water Gardens so the next morning we walked through them again and then back to the bookstore before heading back home. It was just an over night stay but it is always worth the trip out there! 

This was last Friday. Every year our church has a Fall Festival. We went with my niece and her mom. Monster and her had a blast! Monster did NOT like the little boats that went around... he said they went too fast... she loved it! BUT he did go down that huge slide all by himself! I was proud because I never thought he would do it! I love that our church does this because it is only $5 a kid and all rides and games are free! Plus before the festival we got to watch an amazing little dude! We have been going to church with his parents now for a little over two years. His mom and I actually went to high school together but we did not know each other and she was a grade below me. Over the last two years we have become friends with this amazing couple. They are great people and awesome parents to that cute little guy in the top left corner. 

You can read their blog and hear his story from mom and dad: HERE @ Filium Nostrum Miles est.

They are both truly amazing and such inspirational people.
Well that is my catch up post. I am also getting ready to post a awesome giveaway so stay tuned for that! Tomorrow is Halloween and we will be celebrating by going to dinner and a movie with Monster... his choice!!!

KidzCanDesign Review and GIVEAWAY!!!! (valued at $59.99)

A few weeks ago I was given the chance to review a really amazing product. I have always liked items that are personalized. I also love anything my son draws for me. This company,KidzCanDesign takes your kids drawings, writings, handprints, footprints, pretty much anything you can put on paper, or take a photo of and turns it into a masterpiece.

 Monster wrote " I love you Mom" on a piece of paper, I went online and picked out which necklace I wanted and the length size. I then sent in the picture along with my order and the rest was in their hands. A few weeks later when it arrived in the mail I was so excited! It came in a little white box with their logo on the front. When I opened the box it was perfect! Even Monster said " Mommy, it's so beautiful!"

I wore it to church and everywhere I went. I had people ask me where I got it and directed them to the site.

This product is great for birthday gifts, Christmas (which is right around the corner!!) and great to have the kids make a picture for Grandma and let her wear it! Have a new baby? Take their footprint/handprint and send it in and they can put it on a necklace for new mom to wear! If you are not into necklaces, they also have charms they can make to wear on a bracelet. Or if you have a big reader in the family you can make them a custom bookmark.

Go to KidsCanDesign to order today and use the coupon code: monstersmommy

Prices start at $49.99 and every item is made on sterling silver.

You can find KidzCanDesign on Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest

Ready for the best part!! They are giving one of my followers their very own custom made pendant! Enter to win a custom pendant valued at $59.99. Here is how to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY (this will be verified!): Sign up for their newsletters HERE (go to bottom of page)

*you must do this first before any other entry will be counted! Please leave a comment letting me know you did this FIRST. Please leave your name and email address in the first comment so I can reach you if you win!

Extra Entries:

- Follow KidzCanDesign on Facebook (+1)

- Follow KidzCanDesign on Twitter (+1)

- Follow my blog with bloglovin' (+1)

- Follow me on Twitter (+1)

- Follow my blog with Google+ (+1)

Please leave a separate comment for each one that you do. I will verify each entry so please be honest. If there are any issues with any of the links please let me know by emailing me at monstersmommy021207@gmail.com

Giveaway will end on November 8, 2013 at 12pm (Texas time ;) ) U.S entrants only (sorry). Must be 18+. 1 Winner will be chosen and emailed so please make sure you leave your email address. The winner will also be posted here on my site and will have 48 hours to contact me back or a new winner will be chosen!

* Disclosure: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.

* I know most people like using Rafflecopter or Giveaway tools but I could not get either to work today and I wanted to get this giveaway going. 

Day 28- Thursday

Today has been another beautiful day! We took our work outside again this morning. Instead of going to the big park, we went to the small water park by our house. Since the water park is turned off there is never anyone there, but it has tons of grass space to lay out a blanket and work! Today we went and laid our blanket under the shade and did all our homeschooling there. It was peaceful.

He is so cool!

Today was such an amazing day! Well we have our co-op on Friday and a busy weekend ahead! 

Day 27 Our Beautiful Day!

The weather here in Texas is FINALLY cooling off some. Today, I decided to use it to our advantage! We went to a park and enjoyed the weather. We explored some when we first got there and then did some work under the shade of a big tree.

Exploring with his magnifying glass.

Squirrels were EVERYWHERE!! They would run and get some acorns or some type of nuts, then they would run and put them somewhere, then run back and get more! There were at least 8 in just one small area of the park. We also saw some in the woods.

I guess I need to get my kid out more...lol.. he said " mommy look at this!" I said, " it's a bench...." He said, " Yeah, but look! It used to be blue and now the sun faded it and now it's not so blue anymore." Ok, I will give him the good observation! 

Part of the path. Yeah it is Fall and its all green still. Our leaves go from green to brown... Wish we had some color like up North! 

Some really neat roots we found.

Poor little creek is so dried up. Barely any water due to lack of rain. 

So at this point we got off the trail and went into the woods. They had all the golf disks stands set up. You could tell they haven't been used in a really long time. It was neat being in the woods and exploring, but I felt so nervous being in there alone with Monster. The city is a decent city but as a parent you worry about things happening. As I write this it amazes me that I could be so worried. Back when I was a kid (not 6 though more like 12-14) we lived in an area with woods behind our apartment and I would spend hours playing in the woods with my friends. We never even worried about what could be out there. Now it worries me thinking about Monster playing in the woods with friends when he gets older and what could happen! I don't want him to be sheltered though. I told him Daddy can go with us next time and we can explore deeper in the woods. We stayed pretty close to the trail this time. 

We thought this was neat. It looked like someone built a fort! 

Back on the trail.

Exploring some yellow leaves that he called golden leaves! He brought four home to put in a book. He said he wanted to collect some leaves.

Feeling a tree that was knocked over. 

Exploring a horse apple. 

Such a beautiful day! Just wish we had some more Fall colors in our leaves.

Ok, wasn't quite sure what this was. It is soft and kind of looks like Wheat. It was attached to what looks like a small stick. We brought it home with us to explore more. We found a bigger piece too farther down that we collected! 

He said it was so comfy! 

Working on his Math. 

These squirrels were awesome! 

Reading to me.

Working on his Phonics. 

Right before we left we went down to this pond. There were minnows in it and Monster stuck his fingers in to see if they would come to him. They actually swam around his fingers! 

If you click the picture to make it larger you can actually see the minnows swimming around his fingers! 

He had a blast. I have seen those telescopes that go in the water. Then you can look into the telescope and see whats under the water. I think he would really enjoy that so I may need to look into getting one! I found one at Fat Brain Toys

It is $27.95. It has pretty good reviews. I think Monster would find it fascinating to be able to look under water with it!