Such a Time As This

Faith, Hope, & Love

Are you looking for a homeschool foreign language program?

Homeschool Foreign Language

Elementary French from

Middlebury Interactive Languages {Review}

 

Middlebury Interactive Languages makes learning French so much fun!  My daughter has been working through the Elementary French 1 (Grades 3-5).

Middlebury Interactive Languages offers a completely digital way to learn French!  My 4th grade daughter has thoroughly enjoyed studying Elementary French with this subscription. As you can see from the graphic below is that this course offers a wealth of French vocabulary through each unit.  It covers French greetings and numbers to names, clothing, food and even jobs and professions. It won’t give her the necessary skills to replace the translating company I use (Jonckers Translation), but at least she’s on her way to potentially building a career by doing translating.

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The Elementary French course is a great homeschool foreign language curriculum to teach French vocabulary to your student.  However, in addition to the amazing amount of vocabulary that they will come away with, they will also be exposed to the French language, the sentence structure and verbs.  This is because of how Middlebury Interactive Languages sets up their homeschool foreign language curriculum.homeschool foreign language

With each lesson the students are exposed to a video about the subject matter.  However, the video isn’t a “do this, say this” type of instruction.  It is a full language immersion video featuring sentences, the vocabulary and it is all done with a narrator who speaks French fluently.

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The students are given plenty of practice exercises to test their knowledge of the vocabulary.  Pictured above is one of the “numbers practice” pages.  The student is taught the spelling and the pronunciation of the French numbers.  They are then asked to identify them by matching the French number word to the digit on the right.

 

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One of the features my daughter liked best was the opportunity to use the computer’s microphone to record herself speaking in French.  This is part of the lessons.  When presented with new vocabulary the students will be given the opportunity to try out the French words for themselves.

 

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The lessons are very cute, as well.  They feature fun graphics, engaging little songs and videos about the subject matter.  My daughter has never once complained about completing her lessons and in fact she has enjoyed it very much.

 

I loved that it isn’t a dry homeschool foreign language curriculum but a very fun and creative one!  I was so excited to see that it isn’t something that seems boring and out of reach to the student but in fact it is quite the opposite.  Middlebury Interactive Languages is very interactive and immersive for young students and I feel that this is probably the best way to learn another language (short of going and living in a country which speaks it fluently.)

 

I asked my nine year old daughter to tell in her own words what she likes about this homeschool foreign language program.  Here is what she wrote, “At first I didn’t like that they show you a long video of someone speaking French and they expect you to understand it.  But I did like that they make it fun by adding Fairy Tales.  I also enjoy recording and learning French.  I like learning cool and interesting facts about French, too.”  

 

This program is meant to be completed a couple of times a week to be completed in a year’s time.  I definitely recommend this curriculum.  I think it provides a very unique experience for the student.

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Middlebury-Interactive-Languages-141015515949753/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiddInteractive   @middinteractive
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/middinteractive/

 

 

Spanish, French, German or Chinese {Middlebury Interactive Languages}
getting started with french

15 Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Are you looking for some fun activities to do with your kids to celebrate Thanksgiving?  Look no further!  We’ve compiled the top fifteen Thanksgiving Crafts to create with your children.  My kids love Thanksgiving…the time of year when we celebrate the blessings in our life, spending time with our families, and remembering what is important.  Spend some time with your kids creating special memories this Fall.

 

  1. Leaf Printed Autumn Banner from Happiness is Homemade
  2. Fall Leaf Streamer from The House That Lars Built
  3. Fall Leaf Watercolor Resist Art from Fun at Home with Kids
  4. Fall Leaf Prints from Meaningful Mama
  5. Fall Leaf Decoupaged Pumpkin Decorating from Club Chica Circle
  6. Felt Fall Leaf Garland from Cutesy Crafts
  7. Woodland Folk Toys for Thanksgiving from Tried & True
  8. DIY Bottle Cap Turkey Napkin Rings from The Country Chic Cottage
  9. Fall Leaf Wreath (a little late!) from Design Improvised
  10. Murphy the Thanksgiving Turkey from Stockade’s Blog
  11. Pilgrim Treat Boxes from A Pumpkin And A Princess
  12. How To: Pine Cone Turkey Centerpieces from Thanksgiving Craft
  13. DIY Gratitude Turkey from Modern Parents Messy Kids
  14. Cardboard Tube Pilgrims & Indians craft from Crafts by Amanda
  15. Watercolor Paper Leaf & Branch Mobile from Happiness is Homemade

30 Weeks Pregnancy Update + Baby Shower

30 Weeks Pregnancy Update

 

Wow.  Does time fly?  As I write this I’m already 31 weeks and it is hard to believe that it is has been a month since my last pregnancy update.  Hmmm…where did I leave off?

30 weeks

What happened between 26 and 30 weeks?

So here is a little of what has happened in the last month.

  • I’ve hit a new record in this pregnancy.  I’ve gained 40 pounds.  Normally, I wouldn’t talk about my weight on my blog but I’m not ashamed of this.  I was slightly low weight when I got pregnant this time.  I’m a little worried, however, because so much of this pregnancy is mimicking my 2nd pregnancy which ended up being an almost 10 pound baby boy.

 

  • I started swelling a few weeks ago.  It went away after a couple of days the last time, but since Sunday it has come back and I’m having trouble getting the swelling out of my feet and ankles.

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  • I’m feeling the need to rest more and I’m generally feeling close to being “done”.  In the back of my mind I realize that it is way too early to be feeling like this.

 

  • I went from measuring 5 weeks ahead to measuring at 25 weeks to measuring completely on-time this past week.  Not sure why this is and my midwife doesn’t seem at all concerned.  Hopefully, it has more to do with the position of the baby than anything else.

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  • Baby is definitely head down.  Still moving around but feeling little feet kicks in my side now.

 

  • In other happy news, I passed my glucose tolerance test.  Yay!

 

  • My blood pressure was still low at my last appointment.  I’ve only had issues with my blood pressure being high during two pregnancies = my first and my fifth.  I’m not sure about my first, but during my 5th I was told I was developing pre-e because of protein in my urine, swelling and elevated blood pressure.  This only happened during the last few weeks and I had her at 40 weeks + 5 days.

Baby Shower Time

30 weeks

This is me at 30 weeks + 6 days pregnant in my LulaRoe Amelia Dress!  I love this thing – so comfortable and it even fits me in my 3rd trimester!!!

 

My daughter was just a little bit excited about the decorations!

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My sweet mother-in-law and a good friend decided to host a baby shower in honor of this little guy.  It was such a blessing to us.  Last year my hubby lost his job and we ended up selling off all the baby stuff we weren’t still using.  We literally had nothing left except the crib that our one-year-old sleeps in and a few toys and cloth diapers.  I feel like I’m completely starting over from scratch.  This shower was such a blessing to our family. happy-4

 

I wanted to show off these sweet decorations that my friend, Tiffany, put together.

 

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Aren’t they cute?

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They had fun games that weren’t too overwhelming, too … like guess the price of the baby items and how many kisses are in the bottle. 30 weeks

I loved our cake.  We chose the name Philip based on the Philip of the New Testament. From Acts 8:26-27, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went.”  I pray that this baby has amount of faith and trust that Philip of Acts does.  To read to full story see Acts 8:26-40.  

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This might have been my favorite part of all … aren’t these the cutest thing ever?  Love it!  happy-12

 

So, that’s all for my 30 weeks update.  I’m hoping to update you a few more times before this baby makes his appearance!

 

To read more pregnancy updates:

Our 14 Week Update {pregnancy}

17 weeks {Baby Number 7}

21 Weeks Pregnant Update {Baby 7}

26 weeks pregnant {Baby number 7}

Did you hear our surprise?

For When You are Being Refined with Fire {Trials, Hope and Our Faith}

My First Baby Purchase from Mom’s Milk Boutique {plus coupon!}

 

The MyFreezEasy Make One, Freeze One Challenge

The MyFreezEasy Make One, Freeze One Challenge

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

 

You might have seen my recent post on my new love of freezer cooking.  I joined up with MyFreezEasy and haven’t looked back!

 

Is something holding YOU back from batch cooking and freezer meals?  I want to admit that when I first started, I was incredibly intimidated by the idea of the process.  If you caught my post last week, I shared with you how even though I don’t consider myself a cook it is now incredibly easy to make dinner now that I’ve found this new way of cooking.

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There is a brand new event happening next week that you might be interested in. This event is called the Make One, Freeze One Challenge.

 

If you are nervous about freezer cooking 10 or 20 meals at a time, this fun challenge is for you.  Erin Chase from MyFreezEasy has made a menu of food just for you.  Simply join us every night of the week and make the meal in a double batch to eat one for dinner and freeze one for later!  By the end of the week, you will have not only enjoyed a home cooked meal each night of the week – you will also have five extras to eat at another time.

Starting next week, October 24th join us for the Make One, Freeze One Challenge!

The Make One, Freeze One Challenge is so incredibly easy to join!

1. Go to the website above. Join via your e-mail.
2. Pick your meal plan. (4 options based on dietary preference, cooking method, type of meat.)
3. Download your meal plan.

This is 100% free!!!  Who’s joining me for the Make One, Freeze One Challenge???

 

 

Dyson 360 Eye Robotic Vacuum {Review}

Dyson 360 Eye Robotic Vacuum Review

 

I was recently given the opportunity to review a new Dyson Vacuum: Dyson 360 Eye™ robotic vacuum.  This little vacuum is amazing.  I was shocked when I took it out of the box to see how small it was but was ecstatic to see how well it cleaned my home.  I’m 30 weeks pregnant and I don’t look forward to vacuuming in the traditional way – but this little guy does the work for me.  

 

When I first took it out of the box, I quickly scanned the manual that came with it.  All the directions were so clearly printed out – it left no guesswork for me.  We were able to set it up and charge it in no time.

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I immediately set up the app that works with the Dyson 360 Eye.  It is so simple yet so efficient.  It is through this app that you can control when your vacuum starts up, find out when the vacuum needs to be cleaned out, or if your vacuum has a problem that needs to be solved.

 

We started out cleaning our bedroom and it did a fantastic job.  We then moved it to the Master Bedroom closet and later to the hardwood floor.  I was so happy to be able to put my feet up and watch it do the work that I would have been doing! such-a-38

 

What I love about the Dyson 360 Eye™ robotic vacuum:

 

It does all the work.  Seriously, you just push a button and it will clean your entire room and in some modes it will go back to recharge when it needs to.  This is awesome.  The only thing you ever have to do is clean it’s dust cup (and periodically the filters).

 

It features a 360 eye.  This vacuum has a small camera on top of it that helps it understand the layout of the room, including where furniture is.  It actually makes a copy of the floorplan of what it has cleaned and sends it to your phone app.  This way even if you are not home, you can see what exactly it cleaned.

 

It won’t fall down the stairs.  We tested this out when it cleaned our upstairs loft.  It has special sensors that allow it to detect depth and it will not accidently fall.  I’m thankful for that because are steps are hardwood and that would have been a bad fall.

 

It includes a free app for your phone.  This is outstanding.  The directions are simple to set it up.  I am not that tech savvy and I found it extremely easy.  Once set up you can program the robot for cleanings, you can check on what it has cleaned, you can even see if there is a problem through their alerts.  This leaves the guess work out of what is going on with our robot.  An added feature? You can name your little robot and the app will refer to them by name!  I, personally, thought that was fun.

 

It contains a lot of suction.  This is a strong, powerful, vacuum just like other Dysons which I have used.  You would not believe all the grit and dust it got off my floor and placed safely in its dust cup.  

 

It works on both carpet and hard floors.  We have used this in our foyer (hardwood), the master bath (ceramic flooring), and the bedrooms which are carpeted.  We have also used this in the dining room (thin carpet) and all of these places it worked extremely well to clean and pick up even specks of dust.  The only rug in our house it didn’t work well on was our shaggy carpet in the living room.  To be fair, I can’t use any vacuum with a rotating brush on this carpet because it has too much pile.  

 

The dust cup holds a good amount.  For being such a small vacuum, it holds a lot of dust.  The container, which is easy to empty, needed to be emptied after it cleaned our large master bedroom (which hadn’t been vacuumed in a while, so I expected that).  It can clean a few smaller bedrooms without having to be cleaned.  dyson 360 eye robotic vacuum

 

It is so easy to charge.  I mentioned above that it can charge itself.  If you are cleaning a room that is far from its base (or on a different floor of your house) then you will have to manually place it back either when it is out of power or when it is done cleaning.  There is no guesswork to how to charge this thing.  It is so simple – it just sits next to it’s charging station which is plugged into a wall outlet.  I was happy to see how easy this is.  

dyson 360 eye robotic vacuum

 

Grid pattern of cleaning: My husband and I both liked that it cleans in a grid pattern.  Because it has an “eye” it can see where it has been and where it needs to clean and it does so in straight lines.  This gives a very clean look to the room once it is finished.

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This machine has gotten my family excited about cleaning!  Ok – this might be the coolest part of all!  Not only has it helped me out tremendously as I await the due date of this baby…but my older kids are now racing to clean their rooms to see the little robot clean their floors.  I kid you not.  They all love it.

 

I absolutely love and recommend this little robot!  It does the work of a large powerful vacuum in a tiny vacuum body.

I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review.   All opinions are my own.