"Christmas" the Golden Retriever Puppy... Isn't She Lovely?

I'd forgotten just how much puppies sleep and that's exactly what our little princess is doing at this very moment! She's quite the heart breaker! I can't tell you how many quarrels the kids have had since Sunday about who gets to hold her next. They're even arguing about who gets to take her outside and who gets to give her the treat for going potty. lol I'm sure within a matter of weeks, possibly even days, the argument will look a bit different... once the excitement of caring for her wears off a bit.

This sweet photo was taken on my son's iPod and the quality isn't the sharpest, but she's the cutest thing we've got going on at our house at the moment. 

"Christmas" has been the best Christmas gift we could have hoped for! In addition to our new little friend, my kids were given laptop computers from their grandparents, giving me full reign of my own computer again! WOOHOO!!! That's an awesome gift!

Finally... one of my closest friends gave me the microwave her family was no longer using. This putting to an end my 7 year's without one! We've been popping a lot of popcorn this week and loving every bite!

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Google Friend Connect is Going Away... Well For Some Anyway

I recently read that for blogs not hosted by Blogger, Google Friend Connect will soon be history. I'm glad GFC will remain intact for those of us with Blogger blogs! Not that I have a tremendous following yet, but would hate to lose those followers I've accumulated over the years.

I've gone ahead and established a Google Circle page or as you may have heard it called Google+. I hope you'll follow me there too! The Google+ button sits in my left sidebar eagerly awaiting new follows. You'll find it just beneath my sponsor Vista Print.

Are you familiar with Google+? It really reminds me of Facebook... quite a lot in fact. I don't mind it, after all it has a nice clean look and is yet one more way to stay connected with other bloggers and blog readers... however, I wonder how many networking sites we really need? In addition to Google+, I've discovered two additional networking sites just this week. Maybe I'm getting old, but who has time? lol

I hope you're having a marvelous week! It's been very restful around my home. Well... except for the occasional puppy training mishap! lol Christmas is a doll by the way. I'll be posting another picture of her today. She's been such a little blessing to the children, and to her new mommy and daddy!

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Merry Christmas Day! Look What Santa Brought Us...

After 10 years of being parents, Santa decided to bring us a puppy! Our first family pet, and she was well worth the wait. Meet "Christmas" the golden retriever!  




Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Merry Christmas from The Homeschooling Blog!

  *°_██_*。,,*./ \ .˛* .˛.*.★* *★ 。*

   ˛. (´• ̮•)*˛°*/.♫.♫\*˛.* ˛_Π_____. * ˛*

  .°( . • . ) ˛°./• '♫ ' •\.˛*./______/~＼ *. ˛*.。

  *(...'•'.. ) *˛╬╬╬╬╬˛°.｜田田 ｜門｜╬╬╬╬ . 

 ¯˜"*°•♥•°*"˜¯`´¯˜"*°•♥•°*"˜¯` ´¯˜"*°´¯˜"*°•♥•° Merry Christmas!

Here's to wishing you and yours the very best this Christmas and throughout 2012. Thanks for frequenting my blog, entering my giveaways, and putting up with my oddities!

Blessings to all! Drive safely, eat sensibly, love unconditionally, and spend more time than money on the ones you love!

Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Free Online Piano Academy and a Giveaway! ~ CLOSED~

Recently I was approached by FreePianoLessons4Kids.com with a FREE online music academy for teaching children 5-10 to play piano. Talk about exciting! I've shared piano learning programs on The Homeschooling Blog before, but never a program like this one. I think "free" is what really caught my attention.

From the creator's own words: I provide "online video piano instruction for free. Every single video lesson on the website is free (there is a charge to download supplemental activity pages and an mp3 listening album which corresponds to the lessons, but the lessons work fine without these supplemental materials). I now have 36 lessons live, and I add a new one each week. The lessons are geared for ages 5 to 10, but I've also heard from many adults who have been enjoying using my lessons. The lessons are simple and fun, yet also thorough, covering all aspects of a solid musical training, including fluency in note and rhythm reading, technique, and music theory." ~Joseph Hoffman

If you've ever paid for piano lessons you know how expensive they are. There's nothing wrong with paying someone to teach you or your children how to play the piano... it's just that not all of us can afford the expense. I LOVE that there's a solution for those of us without the means to afford traditional piano lessons!

I've watched a few of Joseph's lessons and they are clear, professional, and easy to follow. I think you'll agree this academy is worth further examination. I've also had the pleasure of examining his supplemental downloads and activity pages which sell for just $14 (and like he stated above, they're completely optional and not mandatory for following his lesson plans).

The Giveaway!

FreePianoLessons4Kids.com is offering 10 random reader's from The Homeschooling Blog the supplemental materials for lessons 1-20 absolutely free! 

These supplemental materials, while not required, are awesome if you're looking for worksheets, games, and activities for furthering your child's understanding of how to read musical notes and understand rhythm. The lesson plans retail for $14 and are provided as convenient downloads to your computer. The $14 download also includes an mp3 album which cooresponds to these initial lessons. There are 33 songs for your child to listen to as they learn how the songs should sound when appropriately mastered. Very cool!

If you're not one of the fortunate 10 to win these downloads, remember you can purchase them together for only $14. In my opinion they're well worth the price. I was given the downloads free to examine and was impressed with the quality of everything I received.

How to Enter:

You're odds of winning are high and I'm going to make this giveaway as easy as pie to enter. All you have to do is use Rafflecopter. If you don't see it below... it's still loading, so be patient! Rafflecopter makes hosting a giveaway painless for you and for me! lol When the giveaway concludes, Rafflecopter will even randomly select the winners. I'll then notify each winner via email and you'll have 72 hours to respond before another winner is selected.

Giveaway begins tonight: December 23, 2011 and will conclude on January 6th at 12:01 AM.

Choose any or all entry methods below (to increase your odds of winning). Good luck!

If you don't see the Rafflecopter giveaway widget just below.... try clicking HERE. 

Enter to Win a $550 Kitchenaid Mixer... Today Only

I'm almost out of time to share this with you, but Mom Spotted is running a giveaway for this AWESOME Kitchenaid mixer valued at $550! The giveaway only runs through today (December 23rd), so don't delay!

I just entered and can't stand the suspense. I've ALWAYS wanted the larger Kitchenaid. I have had a smaller one now for years and it's been amazing, but it's not large enough to satisfy my cake baking/decorating hobby. lol I've made a few wedding cakes and could have really used the larger sized bowl! Would have saved me oooodles of time if nothing else.

Isn't this mixer a beauty? I'd love to have her sitting on my counter top! I bet you would too?

Head on over to Mom Spotted and enter now! I've even placed her button here for your added convenience. If you win after having learned about the giveaway here on The Homeschooling Blog, please let me know. If I don't have the pleasure of winning this myself, I'd at least like the pleasure of celebrating with you!

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

More Holiday Eyewear from Zenni!

I'm back with another cute pair of eyeglasses to share with you from Zenni. Once again they're CHEAP and CUTE! How often in life do these two adjectives run together? lol If you want to get a closer look, simply click on the image. :)

You likely remember my recent posts on Zenni which included photos of other awesome pairs of inexpensive eyeglasses, including those we bought my son a few months back. We've saved a small fortune ordering from Zenni optical and don't feel we've made any sacrifice in the name of quality.

When Zenni takes out the middleman and sells direct to the customer, they deliver excellent prescription eyeglasses at a fraction of the price. We only pay around $40 for our son's complete pair of prescription eyeglasses from Zenni Optical. That includes shipping! He has polycarbonate lenses and they're even anti-glare. Just as importantly (at least from a mom's perspective) they look awesome on his little face.

So... if you're like us and looking for cheap eyeglasses, look no further! While you're on Zenni's website, tell me what pair of eyeglasses you find the most fun.

If you have any doubts about the quality and legitimacy of this Zenni, do what I did before I ordered my son's first pair... do an Internet search! I found articles from mainstream publications raving about the value of Zenni. You could also take the experience of a mom (such as myself), who wouldn't steer you wrong. We've purchased 2 pairs of eyeglasses from Zenni in the past 20 months or so and have been more than satisfied. I think you will be too!

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Watch "It's a Wonderful Life" Online & Free!

Today I found a Kmart circular in my mailbox and was elated to see "It's a Wonderful Life" on sale!  So, I added Kmart to my list of afternoon errands, grabbed the kids and off we went. A couple hours later we were home again, but without my movie! lol

My guess is Kmart does carries it, but the movie had sold out before the circular ever reached the post office. After all, I'm not the only one who loves this movie and it is the week of Christmas.

What's a wanna-be "It's a Wonderful Life" watcher to do in this situation? I checked Amazon.com and of course the have it in stock, but I wanted to watch it today. What can I say? I guess I'm a product of the age in which we live... that being I gotta have it now! lol

After feeling sorry for myself for a few minutes one of my cousins informed me (via Facebook, isn't FB wonderful?) that "It's a Wonderful Life" is on YouTube in its entirety! I grabbed my 9 year-old daughter who was rather curious about mom's favorite Christmas movie and we started watching.

What a wonderful time we had watching "It's a Wonderful Life". My daughter was hooked right off the bat. I wasn't sure a 9 year-old would enjoy a black and white movie, made even before her mom's time, that wasn't about children or cute little animals, and didn't carry with it any animated characters or silly soundtracks, but she really impressed me! She told me she too LOVED this movie and "Mom, we have to buy it!", lol... how awesome is that?

If you too love this movie and have been itching to see it NOW, you're in luck! Here it is! Hopefully I've embedded it correctly, but if not, the link is here: It's a Wonderful Life. If you're not into watching movies on Youtube, I also found that it's supposed to air on television on Christmas Eve on NBC. I think at 8? Check your local listings to be sure... I didn't catch which time zone the listing was for.

The great thing about this Youtube video? The quality is excellent, (just like the DVD I'd hoped to find at Kmart) and the movie which has been loaded to Youtube as a series of lengthy clips is set to play each clip automatically and in perfect secession. No commercials, no need to click anything (upon starting the video), and it plays in it's entirety. Occasionally there are Google ads that pop up at the bottom of the video, but I didn't mind this at all. It's better than a commercial after all and I could still view the movie without interuption.



Have fun and happy viewing!! Gotta love technology!

 


Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Capture a Photo of Santa in Your Living Room! This is soooo cool

With Christmas just a few days away there's no better time than today for me to share ICaughtSanta.com with my readers.

Have you ever wished you could share a photo of Santa in the act of leaving gifts for the kids? That's not going to happen right? What if you could find a website that would provide you the tools to upload a photo of your living room and insert the Santa image of your choice into the photo? What if you could then download that photo to your computer and share via email, Facebook, or even have it printed at your favorite photo shop? Seriously?

It's just that easy! Look at these photos of Santa captured inside user's homes.  Do these photos look cheesy? lol No! They look legit. Almost scary legit! lol I'm loving this!

Technology is so much fun and the possibilities for entertaining ourselves is never ending. lol This idea is one that you'll not have to rush to do either. I mean ideally you'd want to do this Christmas Eve... right? When the photo will look fresh, with gifts freshly placed under the tree... perhaps even in the wee hours of Christmas morning, before the kids wake up? Take your photo, upload your Santa, print and leave the evidence behind. "Look what I caught on film kids!"

Excited much? I'm all over this!

Here are some of the awesome Santa poses you might want to consider for your own photo (click the image to get a larger view... or just visit the website! lol): 

I love the dangling legs! lol If you have a fireplace, you might want to consider two photos. One of Santa coming down the fireplace and another of Santa at the tree, eating cookies, or saluting the camera. lol Just don't forget to make your photo look as though it's been taken at night. For instance, if there's a window in view and the sun's out, you might raise some young eyebrows!

How might you use ICaughtSanta.com this year to fool your favorite someone special? Please share!

Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Swagbucks Saved Me $20 on My Last Amazon.com Purchase!

I'm here to brag a little, and to share a secret that I discovered back in February (or thereabouts). I've earned a total of 18 gift cards to Amazon.com each valued at $5 simply using the Swagbucks search engine. Seriously cool!

So, let's do the math. That's $5 X 18, which is $90 towards my Amazon.com purchases. Actually, I have more than enough in my account to redeem another $5 gift card. So... let's just say I'm now at $95!

Here are my "used" gift card codes to Amazon.com. The codes will do you no good, so I don't mind sharing them! lol You can click the image to get a better look!

There's no catch to this. Seriously. It's all on the up and up and it's completely free. I've experienced no problems in 10 months of swagging away... no computer problems, no viruses, no issues with the Swagbucks toolbar, no sacrifice in search quality or efficiency. I simply type my search into the Swagbucks toolbar rather than in Google, Bing, Yahoo, or whatever your standard search might be, and throughout the day I'm randomly rewarded with Swagbucks in my account.

I mention Amazon.com because I ALWAYS use my points for Amazon.com gift cards, but if Amazon isn't really your thing... there are hundreds of options for cashing in your points. Amazon.com just happens to be my favorite online retailer. So... that's where my points go!

Yesterday I ordered my husband's Christmas gifts (better late than never)... Season 7 of "The Office" and a Maglite. I would have spent around $55 for these purchases (even after the savings of shopping on Amazon.com), but only spent $35. Between the savings of shopping from a discounted retailer (at least they're usually cheaper than what I can find locally) and the Super-Saver Shipping Amazon.com offers for qualifying orders over $25, I ended up with what equates to a free flashlight. Had I bought "The Office" Season 7 here in town, I would have paid $34.95, plus tax, and who knows what for gasoline.What a deal!

Here's what the Swagbucks Homepage looks like from where I sit. I have my avatar, name, current uncashed points balance towards the right side of the screen and above that you'll see the toolbar. I can search from the toolbar on any Internet page I happen to be on, or I can search from Swagbucks homepage.

I've circled in red two of the places where I can find my current Swagbucks balance and highlighted my number of referrals and number of gift cards redeemed.

The referrals are a great way to generate even more points. For every person who signs up under you, you'll receive a percentage from what they generate. A commission if you will! I think it ends at 1000 points per referral, but I honestly can't remember. It's been awhile since I looked at that detail. I show 7 referrals, but none of them have been all that active. I think only 1 has generated any points lately, but I'm not complaining! I'm happy with what I'm earning all on my own... even without the help of people signing up under my name. :)

I find that if I log into my computer three times a day... which is fairly typical for me, I usually earn points each time. I've been online for a couple hours at a time and earned nothing. Other times I earn points in just a few minutes time. I've earned as many as 33 points in one search and as few as 7 with others. Fridays are considered super Swagbucks days and the payouts are generally higher.

Swagbucks also offers opportunities to earn additional points by taking part in surveys, watching videos, playing games, and even printing and redeeming manufacturer's coupons. I'll admit that I've not spent a lot of time trying to accumulate points outside of simply using the Swagbucks search engine. For me it's a time issue. I just don't have a lot of time to play. Some Swagbucks users really get into the game of earning points and even follow the Swagbucks blog and Facebook page for bonus points that are occasionally offered. Additionally, every hour someone is awarded 1000 Swagbucks from the Swagbucks Homepage, but that lucky winner must be online and aware they've been chosen. If you see yourself in the winner's box you're required to claim those points before the hour passes. Oh the pressure! lol 

So are you convinced yet? Let me know if you have questions. It's one of those things I recommend trying. If you don't like it you've lost nothing but a few minutes of your time. If you're like me, you'll wish you'd found it a long time ago. The extra Amazon.com credits are sure helping a lot with family birthdays and Christmas gifts. I've also used my cards to purchase gluten-free foods for my son's diet. Yes! They have that on Amazon.com too! lol

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Uncovering and Creating Your Christmas Traditions

Traditions are fun. Some of our traditions are intentional, others occur by nature, or by the process by which we've grown accustom. Since having had children my husband and I have fallen into a routine of tradition that I find rather interesting. These traditions don't necessarily represent any tradition we grew up with either.

For instance, every year we go and visit Santa on December 20th. Regardless of the day of week, it's December 20th when we head to the mall to get photos taken with the big guy. We always eat at the Olive Garden, Outback, and have pizza at our favorite pizza shop the week of Christmas. I have no idea why... but we always do. Despite being a family that doesn't eat out all that often, we make the time and set back the money to continue that tradition year after year. This year will be more difficult given our son is on a gluten free diet. However... my husband has already stated that where there's a will there's a way! lol Our favorite pizza restaurant has just introduced a gluten-free crust too.

We decorate the same way every year and my husband and I each have the same roles in the process... I decorate the tree and put out the nativity, he decorates the fireplace and stairs. Why? Again, I don't know! lol However, if it's repeated year after year, it counts as tradition in my book.

We ALWAYS attend Christmas Eve service and we never go anywhere else on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Not even to grandma and grandpa's house. We stay home and spend that time as a family of four. The days leading up to Christmas and following are reserved for family. I will confess that given Christmas is on a Sunday this year represents a bit of a problem. Hopefully grandma's and grandpa's, nieces, nephews, and cousins will be around on Friday and Monday!

I always send out a Christmas letter... even though most people don't reciprocate. It's too expensive and I get that, but when the kids were babies I decided I was going to write a letter every year until they were 18, then present them with a memory book of letters along with the photo that was sent with it. After 10 years, the memory books are beginning to read like a family history book. I love it and I know it's something they'll treasure as adults.

On Christmas morning my husband always bakes cinnamon rolls. This year we'll be buying premade cinnamon rolls for our son, so he can have his gluten-free. I could find a recipe, but not that ambitious right now. lol

What are some of your Christmas traditions? I'd love to hear your own stories. :)

 




Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Zenni Optical Offers Holiday Frames!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Where else can you find prescription holiday eyeglasses, but Zenni? Even if you could find holiday eyewear at your local eye care facility, would you be able to afford it? Or... should I say justify it? lol With Zenni, you'll find QUALITY and AFFORDABLE prescription eyeglasses. In other words, they're cheap eyeglasses.

I can vouch for them personally! As I've told you before my son has had 2 pairs of eyeglasses from Zenni and we've nothing negative to say, only positives. So... let's talk eyeglasses shall we?

They have Santa glasses! lol No, I don't mean Santa looking glasses, I mean frames with Santa images on them.

Aren't these cool? There are plenty more where these came from! Do yourself a favor and take a peak at the other Christmas frames. These frames are only $19! When we buy our son glasses from Zenni, we never pay more than $40 for EVERYTHING, including polycarbonate lenses, and anti-glare... even shipping puts us under $40.

If you order more than $50, Zenni is currently offering free shipping!

So, go visit Zenni's current holiday themed frames and tell me which are your favorite! Most are around $13. What a fun way to show off your holiday spirit! Your co-workers, friends, and family will never stop asking... "Where on earth did you find those?" Once you tell them they're prescription eyeglasses, they'll think you spent a small fortune! lol

Merry Christmas and happy seeing in style and affordability with Zenni!

Academic Testing in a Homeschooling Environment

Academic testing has been a long debated topic in the world of primary schooling. For decades, we have relied on standardized testing to determine the eligibility of our students to move up grade levels, attend college, and pass subjects. However, many individuals feel that standardized tests are not an accurate depiction of our students' abilities. While this may be true, standardized tests are still required in many states throughout the country and remain one of the weightiest criteria college admissions look into when accepting students. Aside from the prevalence of standardized testing in today's academia, testing also enables educators to gain insight into their students learning style and your own teaching abilities. For all of these reasons, it can be beneficial to administer tests in a homeschooling setting even when they are not required.

The fact is, while standardized testing seems to be obviously lacking in validity and usefulness in a lot of ways, it remains an integral part of our college admissions process. Universities around the country use college admissions essays, extracurricular activities, grade point average, and SAT or ACT scores to determine what students they will admit. For many students, becoming successful test takers is merely a matter of practice, rather than intelligence. As a regular part of your homeschooling routine, administering tests over the material that you cover can be a great way to provide your students with testing practice.

Getting students comfortable with a timed testing environment can have a huge impact on their success with college admissions tests in the future. Many students who struggle with testing do so not because they do not understand the material at hand, but rather because they are uncomfortable or confused by the actual testing process. Learning to manage test questions in a lengthy time period and gaining a grasp of testing language comes with practice. Conduct regular tests throughout your student's homeschooling years to better prepare them for college admission tests and testing once attending college.

Furthermore, testing can provide useful information for educators about what material their students understand and what areas they need to work more carefully on. Tests provide a snapshot view of how a student understands and processes learning materials. This can be useful for you as an educator to understand where both you and your students succeed and struggle. Do not rely on tests to provide all of the assessment you need of your students. However, students should gain a certain level of familiarity with test taking and educators can use these tests to gain a better understanding of their student's learning style and their own teaching strengths and weaknesses.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @ gmail (dot) com.

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Virtual Date Services Provider

Merrill DataSite offers a secure method for storing and sharing business data for electronic due diligence.

According to their website, Merrill Datasite offers multiple layers of security for industries employing a data room offering top-notch security for sharing in M&A advisory, banking M&A, mid market M&A review, transfer of small business ownership when a company is being sold, warehousing of documents, company mergers and acquisitions, business transfers, IPO and secondary offerings, purchases of assets, venture capital due diligence, bankruptcies, liquidations, restructuring and other transactions requiring a mass volume of document sharing.

Additionally, Merrill Brink International offers financial, legal, life sciences, and corporate translation services. To learn more about Merrill Brink document translation services visit their easy to navigate website today.

Finally, Merrill Datasite provides Professional legal document review services. Visit their site today and learn about this worldwide leader in virtual data room services. You'll find confidence in their impressive list of clients who use Merrill DataSite, such as Kraft, Honeywell, and Chrysler.

How Much Money Can You Save Attending an Online College?

I just learned that over 60% of all online colleges actually use the same curriculum. That's something to think about when shopping for an online school. Nothing necessarily wrong with nearly 2/3 of schools using the same curriculum, unless of course you've selected one of the more expensive schools to earn your online degree.

Searching out the best online degree to fit your financial situation and hopes for a career are worth the time you'll invest. I've considered going back to school and taking online courses as a convenience, but the more I learn about online degree programs the more convinced I am that the primary reason to attend college online, is to save some serious money.

Join the thousands of students joining accredited online degree programs and reduce the amount of money you'll potentially spend. Think of all the gasoline you'll save too!

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Updated My Christmas Header... and Blog Width, Again!

Thanks to the reader who confirmed that the blog width I had advanced to a couple days ago wasn't formatted well for certain computer monitors. I've scaled back the blog's width to 1050, which should produce better results. I really liked the broader look better, but not at the cost of my reader's needing to scroll back and forth to read my blog. Too much hassle and readers go elsewhere. I'd like to keep you around!

I'm home today baking a cake, blogging, and thinking about cleaning my room. My daughter is sick with one of those chest colds that makes you question whether it's time to call a doctor. No fever, but very croupy sounding. She's eating well and enjoying her second Christmas movie of the day. We started with "Home Alone" and now have "Micky's Once Upon a Christmas" playing in the DVD player.

Prayers for my family's health and continued feedback on my blog would be sincerely appreciated! Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful Friday. Don't let the stress of holiday shopping, housecleaning, or baking put a bit of grinch in your heart. I've been there. When I start to feel grumpy, I take a deep breath and try to remember what Christmas is all about. Why is it so easy to forget in the midst of our busyness?

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

A Wellness Drink to Treat Inflammation

Here's a new idea... a drink for wellness! lol Well, that may not sound like such a novel idea, but this particular wellness drink has been shown to treat body inflammation. Some adults, me included, suffer from inflammation. I actually have an auto-immune disease and have always suspected my inflammation is somehow connected. No doctor has ever confirmed this, but the inflammation started shortly after I was diagnosed. So who knows... but inflammation is uncomfortable and sometimes causes pain and discomfort.

My body inflammation is mostly in my digestive track. My son has similar problems and I wonder if Trivita might offer a solution. My skin also seems inflamed at times... or at least puffy, or bloated. I get body rashes and have bloating in my abdomen too. Aren't you glad I'm sharing all this with you? lol In general, I feel I should be in a better state of health than what I am. Perhaps my body isn't ridding itself naturally of toxins?

TriVita has a product called Nopalea that has been scientifically shown to reduce inflammation, using antioxidants not commonly found in other wellness products. According to their website, users have found a reduction in body inflammation and improved health. The product is said to cleanse the body of harmful toxins if taken on a daily basis. I'd love to try it.

Have you any experience with Nopalea? What about body inflammation? Do you suffer from pain associated with inflammation in your joints, digestive tract, or muscle?

PayPerPost is not affiliated with Trivita/Nopalea.

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Ever Wonder How Safe Your Prescription Drugs Are?

My son takes 3 prescription meds and I take 2. I've always been of the mindset that any medication has a touch of poison. Not that we shouldn't take them when needed, but we should know as much about what we're putting into our bodies as possible.

My son and I both take medications for anxiety. Psychiatric drugs are sort of scary. You really have to be careful, like so many medications... really pay attention to what you take them with... in order to avoid potential harmful side-effects. I still think of Heath Ledger who took the wrong combination of pills for anxiety and never woke up. One of the meds he took is the one I'm currently on.

As for my son... it was a huge decision to medicate him for anxiety, and to be quite honest we've seen little overall benefit.We see his doctor again this month. I have no clue what she'll suggest next.

What about birth control pills? I have to be real honest here... they've always freaked me out. I've never taken "the pill". No form of it. I'm not the expert and this shouldn't serve as anything more than my opinion, but I've always worried about Blood clots.

I'm on a site now called unsafedrugs.com looking for the medications my son and I take. I haven't found any of our medications on this unsafe list. However, I did find Tylenol. I sometimes forget that even an over-the-counter medication can cause organ damage if used excessively.

 



Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!