Here are the winners of my three Fall 2010 Curriculum Cleanout Giveaways!

1: Making Ordinary Days Extraordinary!

Winner #40 Rachel

2: HWOT Cursive Teacher's Guide

Winner #35 Gabreial

3: Creative Sciencing

Winner #17 Nicole

Congrats to the winners! They have already been contacted.  So fun to participate again this year!

I'm happy to be participating in this year's Fall 2010 Curriculum Cleanout!! I am giving away a copy of Creative Sciencing, Ideas and Activities for Teachers and Children for Grades K-8!

Click to learn more about this book!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, max of (3) entries per person. Giveaway open to Cont US only.

1st entry: Leave a comment telling me what science curriculum you are using this year.

2nd entry: Follow my blog! You can subscribe through email, RSS or Google Friend Connect (-----> Top Right) Leave a comment letting me know you follow me.

3rd entry: "Like" The Painters 5 on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.

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Giveaway ends on August 28th. Winner will be chosen via a random generator on August 29th! Please be sure I have a way to contact you, blog or email address.

Be sure to check out Homeschool Creations for links to more curriculum clean out giveaways!

Thanks for hosting Jolanthe

I'm happy to be participating in this year's Fall 2010 Curriculum Cleanout!! I am giving away a NEW Cursive Teacher's Guide for Grade 3 Cursive Handwriting & Grade 4 Cursive Success by Handwriting Without Tears.

This book is a combo of the 2 books shown above. Click to learn more about this book!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, max of (3) entries per person. Giveaway open to Cont US only.

1st entry: My daughter doesn't like to write in cursive, she prefers print. I prefer a bit of both. Leave a comment telling me whether your child prefers to write in print or cursive.

2nd entry: Follow my blog! You can subscribe through email, RSS or Google Friend Connect (-----> Top Right) Leave a comment letting me know you follow me.

3rd entry: "Like" The Painters 5 on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.

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Giveaway ends on August 28th. Winner will be chosen via a random generator on August 29th! Please be sure I have a way to contact you, blog or email address.

Be sure to check out Homeschool Creations for links to more curriculum clean out giveaways!

Thanks for hosting Jolanthe!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, max of (3) entries per person. Giveaway open to Cont US only.

1st entry: Leave a comment telling me how you make your ordinary days extraordinary. What do you and your family do on rainy days or those days when the kids say "I'm bored!"

2nd entry: Follow my blog! You can subscribe through email, RSS or Google Friend Connect (-----> Top Right) Leave a comment letting me know you follow me.

3rd entry: "Like" The Painters 5 on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.

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Giveaway ends on August 28th. Winner will be chosen via a random generator on August 29th! Please be sure I have a way to contact you, blog or email address.

Be sure to check out Homeschool Creations for links to more curriculum clean out giveaways!

Thanks for hosting Jolanthe!

Recently I was reading a few blogs like this one, talking to a knowledgeable friend and found out about all those dangerous and toxic chemicals that are in our hair and skin care products. Wow, my kids are using these too and they are TOXIC!!

There is a No Poo Challenge going on over at Feelin' Feminine, so what better time to try it out and I'm going "No Poo" starting this week!!

Here is how I made my No Poo solutions.

Ingredients:
Baking Soda
Water
Apple Cider Vinegar
Essential Oil (I am using Lavendar and plan to use Tangerine next time)

For the No Poo, I mix 1 part baking soda to 1 part water in an applicator bottle with a few drops of essential oil. I had bought some of these bottles for dying wool yarn and had a couple extra I hadn't used yet. Just give it a good shake before using.

For the conditioner, I added 1 part apple cider vinegar to 2 parts water and a drop or 2 of the oil.

So now I will be using this each day. I will post again in a week to let you know how it's working for my hair. I am also going to be using the Oil Cleansing Method for my face soon and will post more on that later.

Also visit A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling for lots more Homeschooling Humor!

August 21st, this upcoming Saturday, is National Honeybee Health Awareness Day! This year's theme is "Local Honey - Good for Bees, You, and the Environment!"

Also Burt's Bees will be posting more info on their FB page so be sure to "Like" them too!

If you homeschool, why not get the year started off with a Unit Study on honeybees or even a Lapbook!

Nikki's Zucchini Bread

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Tip: You can also add 1 cup chocolate chips, raisins or other dried fruit to make it more kid friendly.

This is our plan for at-home dinners for the next 2 weeks.

Baked Penne*
Tuna Casserole*
Cube steak, macNcheese
PW's Murphy's Hot Burger/Fries
Roast with potatoes, carrots *& white beans
Chicken quesadillas, Spanish rice, mexi corn
Pork bbq on bun
Beef & Broccoli over rice
Shepherds pie
Brown beans, smoked sausage, cornbread

*These will be doubled for freezer meals.