Spotted: Baylor Pride

Spotted this at the HEB on Hewitt Drive (in Hewitt, of course).

Gotta love that Baylor Pride 

(and the creativity and skill to make this!)

Shipwrecks and Pirates

Pirate Pic from Graphics Fairy

If you haven't been to see the Shipwreck Exhibit at the Mayborn,you still have until September 16th to take it in (alas...by "Talk Like a Pirate Day it will be gone."    If this exhibit has sparked an interest in pirates, sailing, shipwrecks and the like, here are some free resources you can use to incorporate this into homeschool or do some afterschool research on the subject.

MULTI-SUBJECT or MISC

History of Navigation Video

How Pirates Navigated - And a List of Pirate Resources

Editable Pirate Game (All Ages)

Pirate Coloring Pages and Printable



HISTORY

Webpage on How Columbus and Apollo Spacecraft Navigated
 
Titanic Shipwreck(KG, 1st, 2nd, 3rd)


MATH

Pirate Math Printables (PreK)

Pirate Themed Number/Word Match (PreK) 

Pirate Measurement (KG, 1st)

Pirate Place Value (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

Pirate Cut and Glue Math (2nd)

Pirate Multiplication Color By Number (2nd, 3rd,4th, 5th)

Pirate Themed Word Problems (3rd,4th)

Pirate Geometry (3rd,4th, 5th)

How Math Is Used in Navigation - Video (Middle/High School)



LANGUAGE ARTS

Pirate Questions (All Ages)

On the Deep Blue Sea - Emergent Reader Book (PreK, KG, 1st)

Master of the Ship - Sight Words, Alphabet Game (PreK, KG, 1st)

Sailing Into Summer Journaling Pages and Craftivity (KG, 1st, 2nd, 3rd)

Shipwrecked Pirates(KG, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th)
An activity for using descriptive language.

Talk Like a Pirate - Context Clues Game (3rd,4th, 5th)

Pirate Research Project (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)


SCIENCE

Rubber Ducky Ocean Currents  (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th)


SPEECH

Pirate ARRR-ticulation (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)

Hewitt Park - Dry River

Here was the Hewitt Park river in April...

And here it is now...

Below is a poor crawdad we found...all dried up.  I wish we could have seen this little guy alive, when the river was full.

When did this river dry up?  We hadn't been down
to it in a while but it doesn't seem that long.

Even the recent rains didn't seem to have moistened the ground.

But there was a mosquito pond a little ways up,
all stagnant but buzzing with dragonflies.

I hope we get the river all the way back soon.








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Throwback Thursday

A+ Card Fundraiser

It's that time of year again!  The one fundraiser I absolutely love:  The A+ Card sales supporting Woodgate Intermediate School.  I love them, because the cards (and the extra coupon book you can buy with them) ALWAYS save me money.

Here are the deals you can get in Waco area (click to see full size)...

CLICK TO SEE FULL SIZED

 There are more deals for McGregor, Marlin, Clifton, Temple, Belton, Salado, Killen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove and Lampasas....but I didn't feel like scanning all those.

So, look for kids knocking on your door soon...and if none come by before Sept 8th (orders are due Sept 9th), please e-mail me at ecarian@yahoo.com and I will gladly hook you up.  :-)

DINING DEALS - WACO

I love eating out and love a good deal.  Below are some great daily dining deals and "kids eat free" deals around town).    I have started to include some senior discounts also, though I'm not as familiar with these.  Printable version here.


KIDS EAT FREE - EVERY DAY

Ace Buffet and Grill (Waco)
Kids 3 and under eat free.
 
Applebees  (Waco)
1/2 Price Appetizers Late Afternoons and Late Evenings. - Limited time, added 8/21/15

Cici's Pizza (Bellmead, Waco)
Kids 2 and under eat free.

Soup'r Salad (Waco)
Kids 2 and under eat free.

Sonic
2 - 4 pm - 1/2 Off Drinks and Slushies

Taco Bell
2 - 4 pm - 1/2 Off Drinks and Freezes


SENIOR DISCOUNT 

Ace Buffet and Grill (Waco)
10% off over 60+


WEEKLY

TUESDAY

Ace Buffet and Grill (Waco)
Lunch and dinner $1 less

Applebees  (Waco)
Kids eat free (one child free with each adult entry)

Casa Ole (Waco)
$0.99 kids entry with purchase of adult entry

Clay Pot (Waco)
Buy 1 Spring Roll, Get One Free

Denny's (Waco)
Tuesdays kids 12 and under eat free from 4-10 pm, with adult meal purchase.



THURSDAY

El Chico Cafe (Waco)
$0.99 kids entry with purchase of adult entry

Taco Bueno (Hewitt) 
$0.49 cent party tacos just on Thursdays. - Limited time, added 8/21/15



SUNDAY

Dickey's BBQ (Waco)
1 free kids meal for each adult meal purchased.

Double Dave's Pizza Works (Waco)
Kids eat free (one child free with each adult entry)

Firehouse Subs (Waco)
Kids eat free with purchase of adult combo)

If you know of any other deals which should be added to this list, 

or if you know of any of these deals being discontinued, 

please leave a comment and let us know so we can 

keep this updated.  Thanks!

School Supplies: Finding the Elusive Yellow Folder....

Why does it seem like the YELLOW folders always seem to run out (the plastic ones with brads on the school supply list)?  Every year I do this, it's always the yellow ones.  This year I started extra late.  Had the red and blue from last year but could not find the yellow and orange (GRRR).  Went to Walmart and all they have left are PINK folders.  And so the hunt began.

Here's the status on the other places I've visited:

• Office Depot:  Has all colors!  Woo Hoo! (Only $1 each)
• Walmart on Hewitt Dr (as of last night):   Has pink and purple folders only
• Staples:  No plastic folders with brads at all, that I can tell.
• Target:  Has some lime green ones with birds that could pass for yellow, and I think had some other colors, but I forgot which type.  No orange.
• HEB (on Bosque):  Had blue and green but no orange and yellow.  Not much of the blue and green.

OTHER TIPS:
Target has striped composition books (college ruled) for $1 with coupons inside that are worth more than $1!

Found any great deals?  Have an update on the colored folder fiasco?

Please share in a a comment below!

Yeah, that folder above links to amazon.  I really just wanted a picture of a yellow folder to use for this, and was too lazy to take a pic myself...but, full disclosure, it is an affiliate link which I could earn commission from.

GIVEAWAY: A+ Coupons

Every year in September in Hewitt kids start to show up at your door selling the A+ Card and Coupon fundraiser book.  This is one promotion I actually LOOK FORWARD TO.  The card and coupons always pay off for me.   But, this year, I I still have a lot of the coupons left over, so I thought I'd give them away here on the blog.   They don't expire until the end of September.

COUPON GIVEAWAY 

I'm giving away some coupons from last year's A+ Book listed below.

They all expire 9/30/2014

B1G1 = Buy 1 Get 1 Free

SET 1:  Waco/Hewitt Area Coupons
El Chico - Free Queso with purchase of Adult Entry
El Chico - $5 OFF with purchase of $15+
Cotton Patfch - $5 OFF 2 Entries
Dennys - $5 OFF any purchase of $20+
Free Appetizer With Purchase of 2 Dinner Entries and Beverages
Burger King - B1GI Whopper
Burger King - B1G1 Orginal Chicken Sandwhich
Burger King - B1G1Breakfast Sandwhich
Arbys - B1G1 Beef n' Cheddar Sandwhich
Arbys - B1G1 Classic Combo
And a few extras if I don't use them this week.



SET 2: Temple, Belton, Killeen and Lampasas Area Coupons
Free Stormz Small Ice Cream (no purchase necessary)
Dynasty Chinese Restaurant - Buy Two Buffets, Get One Free
El Chico - Free Queso with purchase of Adult Entry
El Chico - $5 OFF with purchase of $15
Cotton Patfch - $5 OFF 2 Entries 
Arbys - B1G1 Beef n' Cheddar Sandwhich
Arbys - B1G1 Classic Combo
Gatti's Pizza - Two Adult Buffets $11.99
Schlotzsky's - Free Chip& Drink With Purchase of Med. Sandwhich
Cinnabon - B1G1 Cinnabon
Cinnabon - B1G1 Minibon
And a few extras if I don't use them this week.


I may throw in some other coupons too from other sources too.  Enter below.  Texas residents only!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

FREE Minecraft Math Worksheets and Piano Practice logs!

Do your kids love minecraft?  Are you trying to keep up your kids math skills during the summer?   Multi Taskin' Mom has some cute FREE Minecraft Themed Addition Workshe ets are currently FREE on Educents!  They include single digit to double digit addition.

They also have some "free for now" Piano Practice Logs!

 Here's more ways to use your child's interest in Minecraft for learning:

• 10 Exciting Lessons for your Kindergartener Using Minecraft
• Math Lessons Using Minecraft - Show You r Work
• How Minecraft Taught my Daughter to Read

Looking for more ways to turn gaming time into learnin g time? Check out all the Minecraft-themed educational products offered on Educents at a discount.

This post contains affiliate links to educents.  

Homeschool Giveaway Linky

This is an ongoing link up for HOMESCHOOL GIVEAWAYS which will be bumped to the top of the blog periodically.  This link up is ONLY for giveaways related to homeschooling, for items such as....

• Homeschool curriculum
• Educational Toys
• Kids books
• Parenting or Homeschooling Books
• Art Supplies
• Printers or Printing Supplies
• Educational Subscription Boxes
• Educational Programs/Kids Camps

PLEASE ADD  AN END DATE TO YOUR TITLE!!!!!

If you have space please also put what countries your giveaway is open too.

For a Permalink to This Giveaway Linky, Click Here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Clouds and Caterpillars

I love wandering around my yard, watching the clouds, the tame and the wild growing things.

The clouds below looked like cute Japanese Anime creatures...

Below were creatures of another kind...

My dill plant had several of these Swallowtail caterpillars
munching on it's green stems and sunny yellow flowers.

Beautiful day.


Sky Watch Friday

Camera Critters

Throwback Thursday


.

THIS WEEKEND - Austin Mini Maker Faire

This weekend down in Austin one of my favorite events of the year is happening--The Austin Mini-Maker Fair.  This is a chance for you and your kids to get hands on creating everything from stuffed animals to Lego Robotics.   Don't let the "mini" fool you...there is more than enough to do to fill a whole day.

There was so much to do last year.   Here's a sampling...

They always have some amazing mechanical creatures, like this bird who

moved his head, claws, and beak.



There were fun robots to play with.

And a lobster car (all those lobsters dance).

But the best stuff is the hands on stuff, like this marshmellow shooter.

We didn't get to keep it, but we did get to try it out.

But there was lots of other stuff we made and did get to keep.

My son worked diligently to finish a stuffed rocket that, because it used conductive thread, could be used as a pen for an iPad or iPhone!  How cool is that!  We still have it but not sure where it is now, so unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished piece.  This is why we didn't get to all the exhibits.  There's just a lot of them that you could sit at and create for a long time.  If you have several kids you'll want to either split up or agree beforehand which projects everyone wants to do. 

This was a nice touch.  When you have young kids that have been walking around for a while, the Happy Hut is a nice quiet place to sit and cool off with a book and just chill for a while.  Whoever thought of this...thank you!

I didn't even get pictures inside...where my husband spent most of the day with our older too kids.  We  get in there in time to enjoy the planetarium, and to do some building with lego mindstorms. 

It was a fun, fun day....well worth the price ($15 for adults, $10 for kids).  This is going on THIS Saturday and Sunday, May 16 - 17.  

Click Here for More Info

Waco Vacation Bible School Guide - 2015

JUNE

Meadowbrook Baptist Church  
Theme: Everest
Ages:  3 yrs - Grade 6
Dates: June 7 - 11
Time: 6:15 - 8:30 pm
Location: Waco, TX,
More Info Here

Lorena United Methodist Church 
Theme: G-Force
Ages:  4 yrs - Grade 6
Dates: June 15 - 19
Time: 9 am - 12 noon
Location: Lorena, TX,
More Info Here

First Baptist Church of Waco  
Theme: Everest
Dates: June 14 - 18
Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Waco, TX,
More Info Here

First Baptist Church Woodway
Theme:  Backstage With the Bible
Ages:  Age 4 - 6th Grade
Dates:  June 15 -19
Time: 9:00 am - noon
Location: Woodway
More Info Here 

St. Albans Episcopal Church
Theme: Camp Discovery
Ages:  Age 3 - 5th Grade
Dates: June 15 - 19
Time: 9 am - 12 noon
Location: Waco, TX,
More Info Here


Highland Baptist Church
Theme: Camp Kilimanjaro (Journey through Proverbs)
Ages:  K - 5th Grade
Dates:  June 15 - 19
Time: 9:30 am - 12:15 pm
Location: Waco
More Info Here 



Trinity Lutheran Church at Badger Ranch
Ages:  3 yrs - Grade 5
Dates: June 21 - 25
Times:  (Light supper served before VBS each night at 5:45 pm)
VBS Times: 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Location: Woodway
More Info Here 



St. Jerome Catholic Church
Theme: Everest
Ages: 5 yrs - Grade 6
Dates:  June 21 - June 26
Times:  6 - 9 pm 
Location:  Waco
Cost: $20 per student + $5 for a T-Shirt
More Info Here



Woodway 1st United Methodist Church
Theme:  Wilderness Escape
Ages: Age 4  - entering 6th Grade
Dates: June 28 - July 1
Time:  6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Location:  Woodway
More Info Here



JULY



Brazos Meadows Baptist Church
Theme: Thailand Trek
Ages:   Completed KG - 6th Grade
Dates:  July 6 - 9
Times:  6:30 - 8:30 pm
Location:  Hewitt
More Info Here 




Western Heights Baptist Church
Theme: Jouney Off the Map
Ages:  Age 4 - 6th
Dates:  July 6 - 10
Times:  9 am - Noon
Location:  Waco
More Info Here



First United Methodist Church of Waco
Dates:  July 10 - 23
Location:  Waco
More Info Here



Peace Lutheran Church
Theme:  Journey Off the Map
Location:  Hewitt
They have a Water Festival Kick-Off With Inflatables, carnival games, face painting, and prizes the first day, and Dinner before each VBS session.
Ages: Pre-K — 6th grade 
Dates: July 12 - 16
Times:     6 -  8:30 pm each night
            Water Festival Kick-Off: 3:00 pm, July 13th only
More Info Here 


Central Christian Church
Theme: LOVE - A Groovy Kind of VBS
Ages: 4 - 5th grade
Dates:  July 20 - 24
Times:     9 am - Noon
Location:  Waco
More Info Here


Columbus Avenue Baptist Church
Dates:  July 20 - 24
Location:  Waco
More Info Here 

Evergreen Baptist Church
Theme: Camp Kilimanjaro 
Ages: 4 - 12
Dates:  July 20 - 24
Times:     6:15 pm - ?
Location:  Waco
More Info Here

If you would like your Church VBS info added to this list, please leave me a message with the details in the comments below.

Thanks to pixabay for the bead pic used for the header.

Homeschool Giveaway Link-up

This is an ongoing link up for Homeschool giveaways.  This link up is ONLY for giveaways related to homeschooling, for items such as....

• Homeschool curriculum
• Educational Toys (Ok, pretty much ANY toy)
• Kids books
• Parenting or Homeschooling Books
• Art Supplies
• Printers or Printing Supplies
• Educational Subscription Boxes
• Educational Programs/Kids Camps

PLEASE ADD  AN END DATE TO YOUR TITLE!!!!!

If you have space please also put what countries your giveaway is open too.

An InLinkz Link-up

Introducing the NEW Educents Marketplace

Post Sponsored by Educents

I just received an email from the founders of Educents, Kate and Kaitlyn, with some really exciting news. Until today, Educents was a website for parents and educators to take advantage of daily deals. But those deals expired...and there were only 50 deals available at once.  I wanted saving money to be even EASIER.  Kate and Kaitlyn agreed. So they created the new Educents Marketplace. It’s even easier to discover affordable educational resources that make learning FUN!

   

Thousands of new products - Educents Sellers can now offer ALL of their bestsellers on the new Educents Marketplace. There's a wide variety of worksheets, lesson plans, educational apps and toys. Shop The Young Scientists Club, Scholastic, Workman Publishing, Alpha Omega Publishing, Life of Fred books, hundreds of printable units created by educators, and more!

Offers that NEVER expire - Sellers can offer our favorite educational products year-round. Once a deeply discounted Daily Deal expires, you can still find that product available on Educents at the lowest price.

  Discovery - It's easier to search on Educents. Search for your kiddos' interests like Minecraft or Frozen-inspired resources, and then sort by grade level, subject, brand, and more!

   

Follow your favorite brands and Sellers - The “Follow Me” feature lets me add my favorite Sellers to a list. Click the heart on the Seller Storefront. You can also see which Sellers are the most popular with other shoppers!

 

The Educents Marketplace is exactly what I want it to be -- a place for parents and educators like me to find the resources I NEED at an affordable price ALL THE TIME.


(Yes, this post is a sponsored post, with Educents written copy.  But I only post copy which I agreed with.  I've been a fan of Educents for a long time, and am glad to see them offering a permanent marketplace, but keeping their great deals too. )

Tips for Saving at HEB (and a recipe)

ALL the main ingredients to my favorite fruit salad were on sale today at HEB (the one on Hewitt Dr)...

Strawberries:  $0.99 a lb or $1.98 for two lbs.
Kiwi:  3 for $1
Pineapple:  Small ones 2 for $1!!!  (Large ones were $1.50)

I weighed the pineapple and the small ones were still a better price, though, really, once you remove core and fronds it might be about equal.  (That wasn't the only thing I found where bigger wasn't better/cheaper at HEB today...more about that in a bit, but first, the recipe).

My Favorite Fruit Salad

2 small pineapple or one large one.
1 lb (more or less) of strawberries, minus a few to munch on.
1 - 3 Kiwis
(Optional) 1 Banana
(Optional) 1 Orange

Start with the strawberries so they have time to create a syrup.  Slice strawberries into pieces (whatever size you like).  Stir roughly with a spoon to start the syruping process.  Chop pineapple into slices or squares.  Remove peel from kiwi and slice (I find the best way to peel a kiwi  is to chop off both rounded ends so you can slice the skin off straight down the sides of the kiwi).  Add kiwi and pineapple.  (You can slice up oranges and bannas too to add.  If I include bananas I always add them last so they don't get too mushy).


Savings Tip:  Bulk Isn't Always Better

I mentioned another deal where bulk wasn't better:  today a 3 lb bag of Gala apples was $2.98.  If you buy two that's $6 lb of apples for under $6 while the larger 5 lb bag of Gala apples was $6.47.  Yep, bulk is not always best.


After Easter Sales (Great for Birthday Party Favors Too)!

Also, today is a great day to pick up some after Easter deals (wherever you shop:  Walmart, HEB, Target, etc.)  At HEB all their easter items were 50% off.   You can stock up on things like plastic easter eggs and Easter basket fillers for next year, and,  if you have any kids birthday's coming up, this is a good place to find party favors.  Some of the toys, as well as the specialty shaped "eggs" (like the Doc McStuffins Flower Shaped "Eggs", Iron Man "Eggs", and Basketball "Eggs" pictured above), could absolutely work for other events.  Stuff those "eggs" with candy and stickers and you have yourself a great birthday party favor!

Egg Fillers at the Mayborn Museum Giftstore.

I always have trouble finding things for boys that fill fit in Easter eggs for our Easter egg hunts (other than candy...which I prefer to not go overboard on, since there's already some in their baskets).  I was excited to find some great fillers at the museum the other day...

Rocks!

These little bags, if I remember right, cost $2 or less (or there's a larger bag for $3).  Putting one of these pretty rocks or crystals in each egg I can fill 13 eggs with this!


Mini Subs
I didn't get these, but really considered it.  They had a package of three baking soda propelled submarines for $5 (so, less than $2 per sub...perfect if you have three kids, like me).


Tiny Animals
They had a number of little plastic animals, dinosaurs, and bugs for 50 cents each.  There were larger (but still egg size) ones in their clear bins next to the wind-up toys...but I went for the super tiny ones by the register.

The museum giftshop has lots of other stuff that would be sweet in an Easter basket (even if it wouldn't fit in an egg), like the "hatchable" eggs I mentioned in a previous post.

----

My opinions are my own.  I was not payed for this post.

Magic School Bus at the Mayborn

The Magic School Bus Special Exhibit has been at the Mayborn for a few months now, and is only around for a few weeks more (til April 12).   It's all about weather!

There's the bus!  (One of them).

What you see up there are clouds that you could shoot with air
cannons to make them move.

There was a lot of great things to learn from, but unfortunately, a lot of what's there to learn requires reading the little signs next to the exhibits to really get it.  And would my child stay long enough for me to read ANY of them to him?  Nope.  Oh well.

The snowflakes needed no description though.  They used mirrors to
turn one section into a beautiful snowflake.  You could change up the
way the pieces looked.  (I enjoyed this one too!)

My cool weather man, dressed for sun AND snow.

It was a fun exhibit..  If your kids like Magic School Bus they will probably enjoy this.

Learn more here.

5 Alternative Easter Egg Ideas

Here are some egg shaped items to fill an Easter basket, or add some spice to an Easter Egg Hunt.


Hatch an Egg



I saw some of these (or similar) egg hatching kits at the Mayborn Museum Giftshop recently. You can also find lots of types of these on Amazon which will "hatch" into all sorts of animals.  If you have several baskets to fill with these, you can try some of the egg sets I found on Amazon below....

• 12 Dino Eggs for $13.10
• Various Mixed Sets of 3 Animal Planet Grow Eggs for $12.99
• Mixed Set with A Baby Chick, Duck, or Rabbit, Kitten, Frog and Robin for $24.99

Dinosaur Fossil Eggs

We've done dinosaur bone excavation kits before and they are great!  I've been amazed to see my child who doesn't like to play alone for 5 minutes spend HOURS working to unearth a dinosaur bone from a kit similar to this one.  I've seen the kit above in local stores (either HEB or Walmart...can't remember), and they were much cheaper than you can get them on Amazon.  But if you're buying eggs for a bunch, these I found a 6 pack set of dinosaur eggs for under $10 which might be a better deal.

 Egg Shaped Chalk




Walmart has these locally, and though I can't remember the price, it's a lot cheaper than the ones on Amazon (pictured above) which were ridiculously expensive (they're under $5 at Walmart...maybe as low as $2, can't remember).

Egg Shaped Soap

The colorful soap eggs above is made by an Etsy crafter right here in Waco!  (She doesn't allow pick-ups, but at least you know that it will ship quick since it doesn't have far to travel). 

Egg Shaped Bath Fizzies

Powered By Toastie Studio - Etsy Tools

I haven't seen egg shaped bath fizzies locally this year, but there are some cute ones on Etsy.   My kids love watching them bubble and fizz.