Extra Outdoor Storage Through Garden Sheds

I absolutely love the garden sheds at Tigersheds.com! Seriously, they're stunning for a shed and how often have you heard the words stunning and shed in the same sentence? lol Additionally they're affordable. If you're an avid gardener or just have a lot of outdoor tools and supplies to store outside your home, this is a great option that will only add beauty to your property.

We have a real need for additional outdoor storage for our lawn care supplies. I think most homeowners are faced with storage shortages, especially those of us who do our own lawn work. If you're looking to buy garden sheds, and you're in the UK, be sure to take a look at what's available from Tiger Sheds. They have a variety of sizes and models to chose from all with a nice warm colored finish that actually matches our deck work.

I also love the log cabin style storage sheds, many of which offer larger windows and windowed doors. So, depending on what you're looking for, the log cabins might be a better fit for you. A couple of the log cabins would even make fun play houses for children. They are that nice! Who would have guessed that a storage unit could look so good?

By the way, gardening is an excellent homeschooling activity. Providing lessons in life sciences as well as the discipline and work required in producing a successful garden. Then there are the rewards that are produced from all the hard work in the form of fresh vegetables and/or flowers or shrubs... whatever you might be growing. I know many of my readers participate in gardening ventures with their kids. If you're one of those plant growing families, how do you deal with storage issues and how would one of these garden sheds or cabins solve a need you may have?

Homeschool Family Video

Just in case you haven't seen this yet... I've shared it before, but it's been awhile. :o) Enjoy!

Musical Instruments and Homeschooling

Do you incorporate music lessons into your homeschooling curriculum? If you're a musician yourself, it's probably a giant YES! If not, perhaps your children take music lessons outside the home? Either way, music is a very important educational element that will help your children flourish. There is even some evidence that music lessons improve a child's ability to achieve greater success in math!

Reverb is currently offering musicians in all shapes and sizes with great savings on high quality musical instruments. I'm currently taking a look at their musical instrument shop and thinking about my own children. My husband is a drummer and we currently have 3 drums sets in our basement. Fortunately only one is assembled! lol Our children are definitely interested in music, but we're in those early stages of knowing where to focus their attention. They currently seem equally interested in drums and guitar, so which way to go is the current question at hand.

If they opt for a guitar, there's a good chance they'll eventually want to buy electric guitar's as that's what they've been exposed to, but who knows! My daughter has also expressed an interest in learning keyboard, which would be my choice too, if I were so inclined.

This exciting online instrument shop is currently offering a Summer sale with savings up to 50% on select items. Just to clarify, this isn't a children's music store... it offers something for everyone. If you're a professional musician, you'll find great prices on essentials and those not so essential items that you've been dreaming of purchasing. What if that must have item is on sale? Maybe you should look!

Virtual Art Gallery

Visiting an art gallery makes for a wonderful field trip. I've always loved art, in a variety of mediums... I just love to see how people express feelings and share stories through tubes of paint and a handful of brushes.

Art is history, it's emotion, it's culture and opinion. It expresses the human condition and conveys hopes and fears and tells a story in a way the human voice cannot.

If you're looking for a virtual tour of European painting and sculpture, without traveling across Europe to do so, or purchasing an expensive art book, visit Web Gallery of Art and gain access to over 22,000 images for you to share with your children.

From this website, you're provided a convenient search tool, allowing you to find artists alphabetically. The search results display the artist's name, year of birth/death, school attended, and artistic period. Click on the artist and you'll have access to their work, click on an image and you'll view that image full screen. Trust me, it's fun!

Additionally, you're able to send picture postcards electronically via email to friends and family. A great way to share a favorite painting or sculpture with someone you love!

Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft

I've personally heard more than a few disturbing stories of identity theft. The situation is this... we live in a wonderful day and age of convenience when it comes to our ability to pay bills and make purchases online. We work hard to pay our bills on time and act responsibly with what we spend, insuring our financial future is secure. Through modern day technology we can pretty much acquire anything we might need on credit through the use of the Internet. Additionally, we can apply for credit with just a few clicks of a mouse... finance a dream, plan a vacation, start a new business venture, or even just subscribe to a magazine.

As wonderful as it all seems, there are cracks in the system... cracks that identity thieves know all too well. With that said, are you diligent about checking your credit rating on a regular basis? Do you even know how? Callcredit Check provides protection against identity fraud by notifying you via email anytime your credit report changes. All unusual activity will be brought to your immediate attention, allowing you ample time to act before all chances for recourse on your behalf have expired.

Visiting Callcredit Check today and viewing your online credit report is the first step to a more secure tomorrow. If you haven't examined your credit report recently, you should. Sometimes identity theft goes undetected for years before the victim is made aware there is a problem. I believe in taking a pro-active approach to everything, including protecting our credit standing. You may have learned about defensive driving when you first learned to drive a car... why not practice defensive finance? Keep yourself aware of what is going on with your credit by acquiring the services of an email alert system to do the detective work for you.

I hope you'll never be the victim of identity theft, but if you are... best case scenario would be to catch it the moment it happens!

An Update on My Family!

I’m loving the Summer, much more than I thought I would and at the risk of repeating my story to those who’ve heard it over and over again, I’ll make this super short and then promise to add it to my sidebar within the next few days! Lol
We were homeschooling, but upon a diagnosis of Aspergers (high functioning autism) in my 8 year old son, and many challenges that went unresolved, we made the difficult decision of placing both our kiddos in the local public school system in January. They did awesome! It was their first and only schooling experience outside of the home.

My conclusions are that we have an amazing school and that it stands out as one of the better school districts in the nation. This based on my own observations and the actual rankings of our district as compared to others across the country. At the same time, I have noticed some subtle changes in my children, not all of which are positive. I especially have noticed this in my 6 year old daughter who just completed Kindergarten.

Our Summer has been rich with outings (first Summer we’ve had a car), but it’s also been emotional… a lot of fighting between my kids, a lot more anger in my daughter… a lot of “it’s not fair!” and “I’m bored”. Things I never used to hear. I think that homeschooling had a pace that generally fit being home, while public school with all its structure, stimulation and activity somehow rewired their little brains! Lol Now they almost expect mom to have something planned every moment of the day and when I don’t, well… “I’m bored!” is inevitable.

As for the “it’s not fair”, I think that is something the school instilled in them as well. They are all so much about fairness these days that no one can loose a game or have their feelings hurt in any way whatsoever. Did you know that on field day, they no longer give out ribbons? There are no winners or losers, just games to play and then you walk away to the next game. Where’s the challenge? I guess they don’t believe in that. Lol

Anyhoo, I’m getting off subject here, but basically wanted to report that yes we’ve had to deal with a few changes in how are kids respond to things, including life at home, but generally speaking all else is good. My son made friends for the first time in his life, which is a huge deal for an Aspie. My daughter was much the social butterfly at school and I suspect her boredom is more a reflection of her loneliness that mom is inept at fixing to her liking.

We’re busy these days visiting the movies, usually once a week, a local farm open to the community, and meeting up at our church for play while mom goes to her Bible Study. It’s honestly been too hot to take them outside all that much, with a heat index of 110, it’s just not going to happen!

Well… more to come!

Unbeatable Prices on Household Products and Pest Control

Unbeatable because if you find the same item priced lower elsewhere Hygiene Supplies Direct (hsdonline) will match it! I'd never visited the UK's leading online retailer until today and I have to tell you... I really enjoyed navigating the site. I've never found so many options for kettles, beverage heaters, hand wash heaters, water filter kettles and even water coolers.

The water heaters are prevalent on the site... in a wide variety of models and all come with a 30 day money back guarantee. This site provides a very useful tool next to each product giving you a quick overview of where the unit featured is best suitable. For example, is the unit wall mounted or free standing? You'll know at a single glance of the blue checked boxes indicating which features to expect from the unit you're considering.

Then there's the pest control department which I'm particularly interested in. My kids have been coming home from Summer activities covered in bug bites. I can't always control what happens to them when they're not under my wing, but those itchy insect bites only serve as reminder to the fact that mom hasn't found a pest control solution at home. hsdonline has everything from fly swatters to a bed bug spray. Thankfully we don't have a need to control bed bugs in our home, but did you know such a product was even available? I didn't.

Our big issue is mosquitoes and the diseases they can carry is nothing to mess around with. This online retailer sells a variety of products specifically designed to repel and destroy these nasty insects. I'm also looking at the insect repellent which is advertised as the best to be found. Sounds good to me!

Hsdonline offers pest control for anything and everything you might find lurking in your garden, in your kitchen and as mentioned before, even under your mattress! I also wanted to mention their humane animal traps. My neighbor used to own one of those special cages to trap rabbits who wished to dine on his flower garden and shrubs. He was a good guy who believed in relocating these cute little critters to another side of town rather than sentencing them to a senseless death. I love rabbits... can you tell? : ) This despite the fact that they've been eating the leaves from my rose bush!

Studying the Significance of the Holocaust with Your Children

The Holocaust was a very real event in world history that cannot be ignored and left unaddressed by a homeschooling family. The age at which you introduce such lessons is entirely up to you, but I do believe countless ethical and historical lessons can be learned through studying the horrific fate of so many innocent victims not so very long ago.

There is a saying that history repeats itself. Let’s pray this type of history remains in our past, not forgotten, but remembered in such a way that we make a conscience effort to protect the world from such hatred again.

I recently found a very thorough website for those studying the Holocaust… it’s appropriately titled… “A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust”. This very well organized site serves as a directory and glossary, provides documents, maps, music, videography and more to enrich your curriculum and aid in your research and appreciation for the senseless elimination of so many Jewish families.

What I find the most moving are the short movies with survivor testimonies. I’m big on testimonies anyway… nothing speaks louder than hearing a story from the person who lived it.

Shopping for Home Insurance in the UK

Are you living in the UK without home insurance? Maybe you have insurance, but you're in the unfortunate spot of overpaying? Now is the time to visit Norwich & Peterborough Building Society for a no obligation, price comparison among UK's leading insurance companies. You'll save precious time by letting N&P collect the quotes for you! Shop and compare and discover how thoroughly N&P protects its customers.

Here's an idea... insure your structure and your contents together and save money! Did you know you can save 20% when you combine coverage? Additionally, you might not realize you can actually get coverage for legal expenses, accidental damage, and loss of things like money and credit cards... even due to theft.

I especially like what they call a 30% no claims discount that you'll be entitled for if you're a customer in good standing for 3 or more years without any filed claims. I wish my insurance company offered such an incentive.

What about identity theft? That is such a huge issue these days, and yes they have a provision for that too including 24-7 customer support providing much needed advice and information to stop the theft in it's tracks and further destroying your financial standing.

In addition to helping you land the best insurance protection possible, for the best price, N&P building society offers mortgages, investment plans, personal loans and credit cards.

Great Learning Video Site for Homeschooling Families

This week I’ll be sharing a variety of cool websites that you may wish to incorporate into your homeschooling lessons. This site in particular is cool as it features science and math, English, social studies and history, and health videos for a variety of ages. What is the name of the site you ask? NeoK12!

As the name of the website suggests, children from grades K-12 may benefit from this free online learning resource. Sometimes viewing, rather than just reading about such topics as the circulatory system, deserts and ocean, and Mayan civilizations prove to keep our children’s interest in learning alive.

If you ever find yourself losing track of all the great educational links you find online, here are a couple suggestions. Of course you can always bookmark those must find later links, but you may also want to consider creating your own directory in a blogspot blog. Which is also free to do by the way. I’ve done this with Links2Learnby which I’ve linked to in my left side bar. That blog was initially created for my own reference, but I later decided to share it with my readers. Funny huh? I haven't updated it in some time now, but that task is on my to-do list!

Another idea is to buy a phone directory, something many of us don’t use all that often these days, but you can list everything in alphabetical order. “N” is for neoK12! Lol Just an idea. :o)

Where to Find a Flat in Leeds

I love One-UK's property website. Even before I started looking at actual rental properties, I had a blast watching the floating box of cities that came up on the screen when I entered their website. Why shouldn't a property website be fun and flashy? lol If you're looking to rent a flat in Leeds visit One-UK and play with the floating box until you see the side that reads "Leeds", then click, Walla! You'll be transported to the beginning of your search for a flat in one of Britain's most fascinating cities.
Searching for properties is a snap when you visit the hot properties tab and select the location you're seeking residence, then to narrow your search to fit your budget, enter your minimum and maximum price of property sought after. Finally select the number of bedrooms you require.

As with any up to date property website, One-Uk features multiple full color photos for you to examine for each property viewed. Looking for flats to rent in Leeds couldn't be any simpler than this... or as much fun! In my humble opinion this is one of the better property sites I've found online, with it's clean layout, simple design with a flash of energy, and ease of use. You'll only find what you're looking for and nothing else, making the site easy to navigate and a pleasure to visit.

Summer is Expensive!

This is the first year with kids that I've had transportation and all I can say is WooHoo and ouch. Yes, it's exciting, yes we're having fun traveling to parks outside our own neighborhood, going to Summer movies, eating out with friends, taking part in church activities and going to the library, but this mom's checking account has almost bottomed out! lol

I know that Summer doesn't have to cost a lot of money and truth be known I'm probably not spending wildly, but I am spending and since I'm not able to work from home to the degree that I might if my kids weren't in tow with me 24/7, even spending $10... 4 or 5 times a week along with the gasoline it takes to get to all the everyday places we want to visit is adding up. On the upside I'm helping the economy... right? lol

It seems that everything costs money. Even having friends over... as I like to have fun munchies for the kiddos and if we meet at the park, what good mom doesn't come with juice boxes in hand? Oh, then there's the library which is of course free, but we can't get their without passing the Diary Queen and while I do have a lot of willpower as we pass the queen of dairy, by the time we get within a couple miles of our home, I have been known to break down at McDonald's for a $1 ice cream cone. Usually around that time I also realize that I could go for a nice cold Diet Coke with crushed ice, which is always available at Quick Trip. Oh... and while we're there anyway I better get some gasoline.

Then there's the fact that my son was given about 10 pairs of nice shorts this Summer by his cousin who'd outgrown them, but my daughter was left without, so mommy had to go shopping. And what great timing too... I was honored to have received the 30% off coupon through Kohls and so of course we made not one trip, but two to get 4 pairs of shorts and 2 super-cute Summer tops to match. This was a need and not want and yes I got each piece for right around $4, marked down from $12, plus the 30% off. What a deal, right?

What's the answer Lord? I guess all is good. He's managed to insure that I've made just enough month after month to not see red in my checking account, but the nice little cushion I'd had the privilege of knowing for nearly 2 years has been bitten into enough times that it's now the size of one of those things a seamstress sticks her pins and needles into. lol

So, how's your Summer going?

Registered My 8 Year Old with Math Whizz

Just a couple days ago I went ahead and registered my 8 year old son (diagnosed with Aspergers) with the Math Whizz website to help him build and maintain math skills. The poor little guy is very apprehensive about going to 3rd grade and his anxiety largely stems from his challenges in math.

I let him play the free version of the site for a couple days and he actually told me that he thought the Math Whizz site would give him more confidence going into the new school year. That's all I needed to hear! I figured for $20 a month, it was well worth it. Just that added confidence and seeing him happy are priceless. He only finds peace when his anxieties are managed and sometimes we can't figure out how to get that done! So, I'm really praying that this website will hold the key to this particular struggle.

He spent 1 hour yesterday and probably 45 minutes today on the site. As I watch him I can see where his struggles are. He doesn't do well with pencil and paper exercises, unless he's using them to calculate a solution to a problem. Giving him physical worksheets seems to overwhelm him, but with Math Whizz he's given one problem on the screen at a time... nothing else to distract him.

I'll keep my readers posted on my overall impressions of the site as we continue through the coming days and weeks, but will share that one of the highlights is that the parents have access to the students scores. You can actually visit the site at your leisure and determine you child's true math age based on the responses they've provided. My son's math age is about 6 months behind his physical age (something he doesn't need to know), so let's cheer him on and see where he is in August! I'd love to tell him in August that he's proven himself ready to meet the challenges before him!

Summer Fashion in Nursing Scrubs?

I wonder how many of my readers either work in the medical profession or are married to someone who does? If so, what do you think of medical scrubs? Have you ever been to a physician's office and actually liked the scrubs the nursing or physician's assistant were wearing? Even if just for the fact that they look so darn comfortable... much like a pair of pj's and who wouldn't want to go to work in their pajamas? lol Just a little confession, but being able to dress comfortably is also one of the reasons I chose my profession... that of a work at home mom... but I don't want to get off topic here. I just have to say that I've almost purchased scrubs on more than one occasion as I've seen some really cool Summer prints that I thought would be comfortable to wear around the house! lol Full of color and some sporting cute Summer prints, like flip flops and surfboards, just feel so playful.

Sometimes it's a challenge, regardless of who you are or what your profession is to dress comfortably while at the same time maintaining some degree of style. Have you noticed on television the nurses always make the scrubs somehow look stylish? My husband and I were talking about this a couple years back while watching the television show Scrubs. I think it's actually possible, even for those working off camera to look good in this ever so comfortable work attire, especially after reading the style section at Scrubs online magazine.

Scrubs is the online nurses guide to good living, containing countless articles especially written for this very hard working community. Find information on Summer style with expert fashion tips and while you're there check out the countless articles on everything from patient care to news and entertainment. It's the site that offers anything and everything a nurse might want to read about! Even if you're not a nurse, you'll find many good reads there.

So after reading this post... when you hear the word scrubs, you may thing of a television show, comfy (fashionable) garments, and now an online nurses magazine!

A Look Inside a Tornado

This video is really something to watch... actually they think this might be the only video ever taken of a sideways tornado, angled just perfectly to allow us to view it from the inside. Wow! Pretty cool.

If you're studying tornado formation at home... or just have a curiosity for this type of thing, take a look!



This tornado was shot in Wyoming just recently and from what I understand no one was hurt. Just an awesome display to learn from... one that hopefully none of us will ever witness first hand!

Summer Homeschooling... Yep, I'm back!

Out of respect for those who've not been long time readers of my blog, I'll first mention that we actually hung up our homeschooling hats in January to give our son the structure found in public school. He has been officially diagnosed with Aspergers and it was strongly recommended that he attend a classroom setting where he could experience peer modeling on a regular basis. It was definitely scary, but he did amazingly well! He finished his first semester at public school with all A's, just one B in math, and an award only given to a couple of students per classroom for being respectful. I was so proud! My daughter rec'd the same award and I think our family was the only one in the school with two siblings both honored that day! lol

My son is now officially a 3rd grader and my little girl will be starting 1st grade in August. I'm so relieved that our first and only experience in the public school system was a positive one. I really didn't know what to expect, but the challenges we faced at home were mounting to such a degree that we weren't learning and my son wasn't happy. Today he's so much more confident, smiles more and is acting more age appropriate. So, at least for the time being it's a success story. I'm still a firm believer in homeschooling, yet I realize there is a time and season for everything. This isn't my families season to be home... well, except for the fact that it's Summer and we can't take a break from learning!

So, we are homeschooling again! For the next 10 weeks we'll be sharing our Summer regimen, which will largely be spent outside the house. I finally have wheels during the day! Money has never been tighter for me, but that's because I'm spending what little I make buying gasoline. I'm praying the price of gas will hold off under $3. We have a large van and it is every bit the gas guzzler!

I need to start picking up the pace on my blogging again anyway. I'm somewhat ashamed of what this blog has become. There isn't a lot of useful content being added these days to my blogs and I'd like to change that it in a big way! I'm going to take advantage of Blogger's draft feature and try to create 5 new posts a week that will be set to publish each day, rather than all at once. One of the reasons for this is honestly that my advertisers prefer that I post on a regular basis. When I go a week or two, my income isn't nearly as nice. lol

So, I'm back! This post is just the start of Wendy's Summer journey. I must go for now to work on a birthday cake for someone who works with my mom. It's actually for the woman's daughter... so much fun to make cakes for little girls! Can't wait to get started! :o)