Happy Kids Review

We LOVE music in our home.  Harmony, the resident nine-year-old is almost literally ALWAYS singing.  With our plan to include character and virtue studies in our 2014-15 school year the three Happy Kids Songs digital album downloads are a natural fit.  The decades of experience brought to this project with Dr. Mac and Brian Mann is instantly evident.  The songs are amazing!



Each album is true to its title in the most literal sense.  Happiness & Attitude, Friends & Sharing, and Manners & Character are all fun to listen to and teach exactly what the title says.  The entire family enjoys listening to them over an over again.  For me they have a kind of fun, Broadway musical feel to them that makes listening to the songs with the kids even more enjoyable.  Each song is written in its own unique style making each one fun and interesting all on its own.  The songs touch on tough topics that kids face frequently as a normal part of growing up.  The sweet thing is there is always a solution given which models kind and upstanding behavior.  Listening to the songs provides a wonderful platform for discussing possible challenges our children may face before they actually happen.  The music also creates a peaceful atmosphere to discuss a challenge our child may be dealing with in the present.  Listening to the music is a fun way to introduce our children to making decisions and problem solving with respect for others and ourselves.


The Happy Kids Songs Workbook in softcover has already taken its rightful place on our bookshelf that holds all the materials we will be using in our homeschool this year.  The workbook provides complimentary materials for all eight of the albums available.  I love that the words to all the songs are printed in the workbook.  It's helpful to look at while learning to sing the songs with the kids.  I would love to have the actual sheet music just to aid in learning to sing the songs, but the words in and of themselves are helpful.  There are reproducible activity sheets, allowing you to make copies for each child in your homeschool, or even a co-op, to go along with each individual song as well as multiple learning activities to compliment each album.

Downloading the songs is relatively simple, especially if you are familiar with doing this sort of thing.  For me it was a bit of a learning curve.  My first lesson was that all burnable CD's are NOT created equal.  You simply MUST have the appropriate burnable CD for the playing medium you plan to use.  It also is possible to listen to the songs directly from you computer without having to play them individually.  It took me a little more effort to figure out how to create a playlist, but once I did that listening to the songs was a snap.  The kids can have them playing in the background while they do their math on my laptop.  We love to have them playing in the background while we work on projects, especially learning activities from the Happy Kids Songs Workbook.

The Happy Kids Songs Workbook is available to purchase for $12.56, and you can choose how you purchase the songs.  If you would like to just get a few individual songs they can be downloaded for $.99 a piece.  Alternatively, you can purchase each five-song CD for download for $4.95 which includes FREE downloads of the corresponding lyrics, coloring, and activity pages.  Samples of the songs are available on the website so you can listen before you decide on your purchase.

The songs and materials are geared for ages three through eight years old.  However, children outside of that age range are likely to enjoy them as well.  Mine are three, four, and nine, and it was an absolute perfect fit.  With our age gap it is so nice when we find products like this that appeal to such a wide age span.

All three of the kids enjoyed making the name mobile from page 91 of the workbook.  It corresponds with the song Bye, Bye Bully which is NOT a song from one of the albums in our review, but the lesson was applicable enough.  It helps children reflect on what it's like to be a new kid in the neighborhood and helps them think about positive things they can do to make someone new feel welcome.  We discussed this together, and then we made the mobile together.  The little ones, with a little help from me, got to cut, glue, and use glitter.  Bonus!  Harmony was able to create hers 100% on her own.

Happy Kids Songs and the Happy Kids Songs Workbook has a secure place on our curriculum bookshelf.  We will be learning about character and virtues for years to come.  Having this as a resource will provide the element of fun that we are always looking to incorporate in our adventures in learning.

To learn more about Happy Kids Songs you can check them out on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  Also, be sure to check out the other Crew Reviews to see how other homeschool families are using Happy Kids Songs in their homes.

Cooking with Kids

I love to cook, and I love to cook with kids.  There is a small, in stature and number, audience watching me almost anytime I do anything in the kitchen, especially cook.  My oldest granddaughter was parked on the kitchen counter beside the stove just as soon as she could sit upright.  Everyone thought I was crazy, but she loved it.  She could stir a pot.  They understand so much more than we generally give them credit for, and she never did burn herself.

Harmony at 3 years in her rightful spot on the counter.

Now that she and her sister live with us, and we reentered the homeschooling circle, there is plenty of time spent in the kitchen together.  Recently she learned how to make her own egg over medium just like Papa likes it.  She is very proud!  Her younger sister is a constant presence and has no fear of anything cooking related.  I do have to watch her a little more closely, though.  She is much more bold and is the type of person that cannot just take your word for something, like a hot stove; she has to find out for herself.  So, I cannot say that she's never been burned, but she has survived just fine.

This is where you find Annabella when I'm cooking now.

I love the layout of the kitchen in our new home.  The open counter with the built-in oven allows for me to be on one side of the counter or stove with the kids on the other.  It's like our own little hands on cooking school.  It really works well for including them in all aspects of the process without interfering with my cooking space.

So much can be learned in the kitchen.  A lot happens in cooking.  Math is the most obvious, but there is science, art, history, and creativity as well as character building aspects like self-confidence and hospitality.  Then, there's the opportunity to learn good health, preparedness, and self-sufficiency.  Not to mention meal planning and learning what is and is not a good deal in the grocery store.

Over the next year we will be doing a lot of learning in the kitchen.  There's the whole wheat free adventure we're stepping out on, and we plan to add learning to exist without sugar in our cooking as well.  Then there's the gardening we will be doing which will hopefully produce enough produce for opportunities in drying, freezing, and canning.

Harmony in the kitchen today.

I'm great one on one in the kitchen.  My new goal is to learn how to work with three kids in the kitchen at once since that's my new audience participation number.  I lack experience in that department despite the fact that we are currently raising kids number 8, 9, and 10.  I managed to potty train two at once this time around, so one would think I could figure out how to cook with three at once.

Avery gets in the kitchen now and then as well.

First Step Taken

It appears that the fast was successful for both hubby and myself.  I am glad that we ended up doing it together.  The desired outcome was achieved.  We both did lose a little weight, but it truly was the first step toward eating healthfully and more consciously.  An entire week passed by with no eating out and no grain consumption.  It's a miracle!  Well, maybe not a miracle, but it is a humongous accomplishment for the both of us to be sure.

We both have developed some terrible habits over the last several years.  The worst, by far in my opinion, is regularly dining out.  Back in the day dining out was a special treat and something in which we rarely indulged.  Then, the kids got older.  Before you knew it we went from having seven children living at home to just three.  Eating out picked up a bit.  Then, we were down to two at home.  Then, we went from two teens to one young adult and a new baby.  Holy cow did we ever start eating out a lot!  It wasn't like we woke up one day and decided that we'd rather eat out than eat at home.  There was no conscious decision made by anyone.  It just kind of crept into our lifestyle.

Eventually, hubby eased into eating carry out in one form or another EVERY DAY at work.  Not to mention the occasional breakfast at the restaurant before work and the occasional dinner out with me after work.  On top of all of his eating out I started eating out with the remaining boys as well.  It was nothing for me to grab some Mexican food for lunch while running errands or to allow myself to be 'conned' into the occasional stop at Coney Island.  Basically my average became about two or three times per week eating out.  For someone that has to be super particular about what she consumes in order to be fit and healthy eating out is not a good thing.  At least it wasn't with my previous attitude about it.

See, even though eating out had become regular and normal and expected I was treating it like it was still a special treat.  With it being a 'special treat' I was still of the mindset to indulge in items that I would not normally eat or prepare at home.  Things that are not so friendly to my waist line.  I have to be careful with the carbs.  Bread and pasta, even whole grain, are terrible for me.  They pack on the pounds.  Not to mention my meal out was almost always meat based.  This fast allowed me to take a break from grain completely, and I did okay without it.  Even though our fast is over I do plan to continue with no grains for this week as well.  It seems to make a tremendous difference.

This past week of fasting has allowed me the time necessary to dig a little deeper into researching food and how it effects our health and weight.  Why does it have to be so complicated?  It's a wonder more people are not obese or deceased with the corruption in our food system.  I seriously feel like I need to be a detective in order to figure out what to eat and be healthy.  I mean, certain things are obvious.  Don't eat fast food.  Don't eat processed food.  Stay away from sugar.  Caffeine really isn't good for you.  Meat and dairy may not be a good idea either.  Vegetables are important.  Fruit is good for you.  I'd say that's about where the beginner knowledge level stops.

Then, you get into the more complicated stuff like Monsanto, GMO's, pesticides, food additives, the corruption of the food system, wheat (or is it?) and other grains, good and bad oils, and on, and on, and on. Somewhere along the way I discovered information about eating for your blood type as well.  That is pretty compelling and definitely got my attention.  When I read about it it was completely like it had been written just for me in describing my blood type, and wouldn't you know it that I have the most complicated one of all; AB.  Oh, yippee!

Oh, then I learned about the Paleo Diet.  It seems all the rage right now and really does make some sense.  It's about eating foods that do not require additional processing to be consumed.  So, things like grains and dry beans and dairy would be out.  It's mostly fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats.  Not too bad, really.

My bottom line, at the moment, is eat mostly vegetables, some fruit, no sugar, no grains, and little meat.  The vegetables and fruits are no big deal.  Sugar is a little challenging.  Grains will get added in slowly starting with rice next week.  I also plan to switch all my flour to rice flour for a while and experiment with baking some of my own things like tortilla shells, bread, and healthy baked goods from scratch.  Meat really isn't a big deal either.  We only eat venison that we procure and process ourselves and beef from our friend's farm. I plan to add lamb and turkey when I manage to find a good, local source.  The hubby also eats fish, but I am allergic.  Since I don't purchase what I call 'grocery store meat' we are a little more conservative on our consumption already.  My current goal is to not consume meat more than once per week.

I have spent hours on Pinterest researching foods that fit my new requirements, and I have even been taking mine and the hubby's blood type recommendations into consideration as well.  I absolutely LOVE Pepperplate and have been using that to collect all the recipes I plan or desire to actually cook at some point.  It's awesome, because I can use Pepperplate to create menus, create a meal planner, and print a grocery list.  It really is an awesome tool, and it's FREE!  I originally discovered it as a free download on my Kindle Fire. It sat there for a while without me realizing what an awesome tool I had at my fingertips.  I use it all the time now.  We are even using it to catalog and edit our recipes for the cookbook I am co-writing.  If you've been around here regularly you know that this is an on-going project of many years.  We are finally ready to start wrapping it up and hope to have it completed within a year.  So excited to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel on that one!

It has been hitting me lately just how much time actually goes into food in our lives.  Some of us grow it, so we have to plan our gardens, procure our seeds, plant and tend our gardens, and preserve the spoils.  Even if you don't do all that there's still learning to cook, planning the meals, shopping for the food, loading and unloading the food, preparing the food, and cleaning up afterward.  Plus, we have to stay educated on food prices, availability, and quality.  It's a cycle that can never end.  We all have to eat and feed our families.

No wonder I was dining out so much!

Bird Tales

As mentioned in a previous post, I am coordinating the VBS program at our church, Warren SDA, this year. We are currently on day three, and it is such a blessing! Our attendance is lower than we anticipated with four other churches hosting VBS programs at the very same time in our neighborhood, and it doesn't matter. What matters is that we are serving the Lord, planting seeds, and blessing others.

This is the second year that our church has hosted a VBS program with several years previous having gone without. My, what we have been missing! This year's theme is Bird Tales, and it is amazing. We have a cockatiel in residence for the week, and a macaw visited yesterday. The kids are learning about the blessings of God through His creatures. They are enjoying classes, outdoor games, crafts, and Bird Center festivities. It is wonderful!

So, my apologies for no new posts. My energy is directed elsewhere. I will be back next week with pictures and plenty to share.