Bloggy Holiday

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I'm hoping everyone has a wonderful Christmas season and remembers the reason we have Christmas in the first place.

I'm going on a Bloggy Holiday for the month of December so I can enjoy the holidays with my sweet family.  I'll still be sharing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook so be sure to come visit me there. I also plan to to do more vlogging since I won't be blogging, so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don't miss anything.

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Karen W

Wordless Thanksgiving

Random Saturdays

Ting has a dog that is a purse (or a purse that is a dog). Little brother took puppy for a swim in the potty, so I hung the dog/purse outside on our carport. It is still there. That was three weeks ago. Ting asked if the puppy would still be hanging there when she turns six!

Ting is reading! It is very slowly of course, but it is reading.

We are having a holiday weight loss challenge at work. We weighed in this week and weigh out the second week of January. I've gained about 10 lbs in recent months, so I'm determined to win this challenge. Of course, the day we started is the day 27 lb of Hershey Kisses was delivered to my office.

My mom is teaching Ting to sew and they made a shirt for Bug. Head over to my Facebook page to see the finished product. It's not bad. (Although Ting did tell me not to wash because it might fall apart, lol!)

It's a short week so I'm making this a short post. It's my last for the year. I'm taking a Bloggy Holiday during December (more about that on the blog tomorrow). I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll be back in January!



Karen W

Wordless Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2013

For the first 25 years of my life Thanksgiving was always the same. We went to my grandparents house, my grandma cooked the entire meal, we stuffed our faces, and enjoyed visiting with each other.  It was the way it had always been, and the way it would always be.

And then 2005 happened.

I got married in July that year. Getting married brings on a whole host of decisions like where will you spend the holidays and which family will get your time.

And then my brother died. We buried him just two weeks prior to Thanksgiving that year. No one wanted the traditional Thanksgiving. No one wanted to sit at my grandma's table with the glaring reminder that Michael was not there.

And that's how the new Thanksgiving tradition began. We celebrate at my house. My family comes. Hubby's family comes. Everyone brings their own specialty. The only thing that hasn't changed is the fact that we stuff our faces full!

This new tradition has made Thanksgiving my favorite holiday of them all. This year was no different.  We had 12 adults plus five kids - age five and under!

We had tons of amazing food. Enough for two or three meals plus some.  The kids got to play and spend the day together.

And of course we tried to get a picture of all the cousins. This is the best we could do!

Thanksgiving was another fun holiday. Hope your family enjoyed the day as well.

Karen W

Happy Thanksgiving

Wordless Thanksgiving

Wordless Thanksgiving

Another Mulerider Season

If you know me, you know that I love football. College, professional, big, small - it doesn't matter. I just love football.

We are fortunate to live in a college town. It's a small college, the same one that Hubby and I both graduated from. They have a football team, and for several years now my dad and I have made almost every single home game.

Ting LOVES going to cheer for the Muleriders. This is her fourth season and she has a blast. She actually watches the game and cheers on the guys. I think she's going to be a football fan like her mommy! She also loves halftime and always gets in the aisle and helps direct the band.

We took Bug to the first game this year. He did great - for about three minutes! I called Hubby half way through the first quarter and had him come take Bug home. The rest of the season my grandparents have been nice enough to keep Bug so we could enjoy the games.

Our team has had a rough couple of years, but they looked good this year. I'm proud to be a Mulerider fan and already looking forward to next year!

Karen W

Wordless Thanksgiving

K5 Learning Review

I was given a six week trial at K5 Learning for Ting to use in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ting loves to do anything that involves learning. Any time she can complete a workbook, finish a game on her tablet, or watch something educational, she is all in. When I was approached by K5 Learning to do a review I was both excited and skeptical.

I had previously looked at another online program that is supposed to teach kids to read. Ting hasn't spent much time on computers or electronics in her lifetime, and this other program was too difficult for her to navigate and she got mad and gave up.

That has NOT been the case with K5 Learning. The first day I visited the site and got both Ting and myself signed up with accounts. I looked around myself and watched a few sample lessons. They looked both simple and fun.

I got Ting set up on my computer the next day and showed her how to navigate the site. Within five minutes she was pushing me out of the way and had figured out all she needed to start learning. That first day she played for nearly an hour - a great feat for a four year old that typically does not use a computer.

Every day since Ting has asked me if she can do her "learning program". I typically set it up and let her play around while I am cooking dinner each night. I have to admit that I don't really get involved with what she is doing on there.  But tonight I logged in as the parent and looked at her progress reports. I am impressed to say the least!

The reports show that in about four weeks time, Ting has masted four reading sections and six math sections. She is on a kindergarten level in both math and reading. The reports also show how long she spent on each lesson, how many times she repeated something in the lesson, and her overall progress in the program as a whole.

I have to tell you, I'm impressed with K5 Learning. Ting has fun doing it, and I like that she is doing something educational and getting something out of it.

Want to try K5 Learning for your kids? You can sign up on their site at any time for a 14-day trial. After that it is $25 per month. You can also get discounted pricing for additional children, or for yearly subscriptions.  Really, you need to go check it out.

Karen W