Review: Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com

My boys love history, and we use a literature rich approach to teaching it, so the "If You Were Me and Lived in...." series Brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com. We received copies of four books:

If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient China I was super excited about this book for my 10 year old because he's studying the Eastern Hemisphere in History this year, which I never studied much in school, and so I've been learning a lot along with him.  His curriculum started with China, so this book fit right in.  The book is focused on the Han Dynasty, which was a sort of renaissance period in China.  Paper, porcelain, and organized government all started during the Han Dynasty.  We ended up reading this book after my 10 year old had finished the study in his textbook about it, which was really great because he was able to reinforce some of the historical study he did with a cultural understanding of how that would translate into a life in a home during the Han period. He wasn't a fan of the pixelated drawings (you'll notice this is a theme for us) but the story is well told and easy to read.  We did do some extra internet research to look at things like images of the Spring Festival and Chinese New Year so we could see the dragon dancers and lion dance. We'd never talked a lot about numerology before, and the book talks about how certain numbers and colors are considered lucky or unlucky, so we had a good conversation about how that's true in a lot of cultures (in Judaism, for example, giving money in increments of 18 because the word "life" has a value of 10 and 8, so it's considered good life or good luck.)  If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece My 8 year old does not like history.  Her brothers live for it, but she does not.  So, the real test was how she'd do with these books! She's studying ancient history this year (which I happen to think is the best!! Egypt! Greece! All the places I want to go!) and If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece fit in perfectly with her unit of study. This book took us about a week to finish, reading a few pages a day depending on the content.  My 8 year old reads just at grade level, and doesn't really like reading, but she did like the content, and was happy to read a few pages if I read the same number afterwards (a trick we use often).  She appreciated that the unfamiliar words were written in parenthesis so that she could say them easily (words like Artemis (Ar-tim-es) or lyre (ly-er).  

If You Were Me and Lived in...Viking Europe

If You Were Me and Lived in Viking Europe is about a family in 870 AD.  The story follows Knut Ericson.  Vikings take long voyages to distant lands, drank from horns, and wrote in Runic, which you actually get to learn in the book.  The book explains to you what a town would have looked like, names that you might have been given, social classes, and the roles each member of the family would have played.  My boys especially liked the fun activities that Vikings participated in- which they decided they needed to go do as "enrichment"- things like throwing spears, shooting bows and arrows, and throwing stones as far as they could.  The book also includes a little bit about the various gods that Vikings believed in, but they didn't include any details and since my boys are into mythology we did a little library research to find some of the actual stories. The book was a done in a day for us, I know some younger children did these over weeks as a unit study, but for my 10 and 12 year old, it was a fun, quick read- even when they went outside to launch rocks.  We weren't huge fans of the pictures, which look a lot like something from MS Paint, but I think maybe the intention was for them to look like they'd been hand-drawn by the child in the story, so I get why they did them that way. 

if you were me and lived in...Colonial America This was our last book and we read it just for fun in the car on our way to an away game.  The kids preferred this style of illustration- it reminded them of a cartoon they like to watch.  Strangely, my younger two didn't like that most of the pages were white type on black- they said it was "confusing their eyes" but I didn't have an issue. This book focuses on a family that has immigrated to Colonial America and must survive the harsh winter, build a home, and start a life in a very different place than England. The first Thanksgiving makes an appearance, so it might be a fun book to read over the upcoming holiday either in your school, class, coop, or home.   These were fun to read books, and reminded me of another series based on if you lived through a particular experience- but with less focus on the gross aspects and more focus on actual lifestyle.  We enjoyed them, and think you would, too. 

Find Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com on Social Media:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/caroleproman/

Good Reads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5854108.Carole_P_Roman

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/caroleproman

Giveaway: Disney on Ice 2016

We are so excited to see Disney On Ice presents Follow Your Heart which is bringing Disney-Pixar’s record-breaking Finding Dory to the ice for the first time! The ice-skating extravaganza, brought to you by Feld Entertainment, features Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out, Disney’s Frozen and other beloved Disney stories!!  We're giving away tickets to the OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE (yes, that's a Wednesday- please note that when you enter!!) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Date and Time of Performances:
Wednesday, October 19th @ 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 20th @ 7:00 p.m.
Friday, October 21st @ 10:30 a.m., and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 22nd @ 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 23rd @ 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com, by calling 800-745-3000, or at the arena box office. Tickets prices start at $20. 

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Disclaimer: Please be sure to read our giveaway rules, which you agree to by entering!! PwcMoms is not responsible for show content or any cancellations. 

I Finished a Half Marathon, And Only Died A Little

Guys, guys, guys.

I finished a half marathon.

(Note: I did not say "ran" a half marathon, because I totally walked a few hills, and I did not say "killed" a half marathon because it took me 2:57:17 and the guy that won finished in 1:13:19.  BUT I FINISHED!!)

(Yes, that is me in my car. I didn't even stay for free Moe's or Duck Donuts, because my shower was at HOME and that was all I really wanted.  That and a blue Gatorade.) 

How did this come to pass, you may ask?

Well, I decided in January that I wanted to work on being healthy.  You may remember this from my post (and if you don't, you can read it here).  So, what had happened was I went along with my happy happy goal of "doing some 5ks" because:

"...you rock just the way you are, the goal for me this year is not to think my self-worth is defined by my scale, and we're gonna do some 5ks. Come if you want, I'd love to see you there."

(This is me putting in earbuds at a 5K in March)

And then one night, roughly 12 weeks ago, I was up at 2am (as I frequently am because I own a business, work for a delegate and homeschool my kids, so I never sleep) and I saw that some of my friends had signed up for the Prince William Half. 

"Self," I said to myself, "I wonder how long it takes to train for one of those half marathons?"

So, self and I looked it up on Google and it turns out that you can train for a half marathon in 12 weeks! And then, when I looked at the date, I realized that if I started running the next day (it was a Monday night, and Mondays are rest days) that I could be ready to run this sucker! 

So I did what any crazy lady under the influence of caffeine and insomnia rational person would do, and I surrendered $80 of my hard earned blogger money to the PWHalf Marathon people, and decided that this was a good idea. 

And then I ran.  

A Lot.

Not quite as much as Forrest Gump or anything, or even as much as my inspirational friend Stacey who runs full marathons LIKE A FREAKING BOSS, but for me, I ran a lot. 

I ran on Saturdays with the Running Store at Manassas Battlefield. 

I ran on Sundays with my friends. 

I ran on weekdays at the Freedom Center when it was too dark outside to run alone. 

I ran early mornings with my Moms Run This Town Manassas/Gainesville buddies (I made new running friends!) 

I even ran in the ran with my oncologist.  How's that for random?

Incidentally, I also started taking a lot of pictures featuring my shoes.  (This appears to be a thing that women do to commemorate that we just finished a run.  I don't mind at all, I paid good money for these shoes.)

Week before last, I ran to my momma's house, which is 12 miles.  It was up route 234 and it was the dumbest decision I've ever made because that sucker is hilly. (Except that in retrospect, I should've done more hills- the Prince William Half is definitely hilly.) 

And then on Saturday I was SICK.  Curled up in a ball felt like I was going to throw up s-i-c-k.  But I paid $80 had finished by training and I was not about to lose out on my money going to quit on myself, so I forced myself to eat some dinner and went to sleep.  Sleep did not go well (It turns out this was all NERVES!! Why in the heck would I be nervous?? I knew I wasn't going to win this thing!) Anyway, I realized around mile 8 that not eating was a horrible idea the day before.  If you ever decide to do something like this, please eat the day before your run so you don't turn into a living Snickers commercial. 

But I showed up on Sunday morning (at 6:15am, bless it.) and finished the race.  And that was the goal.  I finished, I wasn't last (and even if I had been, I would not care because I still beat all the people who were still asleep....so there).  I had fun with my running friends:

On the left is Claire.  Claire literally saved my life by pointing out "Um, you're running 11:30 miles right now" when I took off out of the gate following a pacer who was going a little too fast.  Thank you Claire!! My 12:30 pace and I both appreciate you saving us from dying in mile 3!! On the right is Rachel who is always encouraging and somehow magically makes me run faster than I want to.  Yay for running buddies!! These two got me through the first half of the half (as well as many training runs)

And....a point.  I feel like this post should have a conclusion of some kind.  Something meaningful like "You Can Do It!!" or "You're only as strong as you let yourself be!!" 

But honestly, you guys? The only thing I feel like is this: Just do whatever it is for you.  Is it running? Are you worried about the fast people? You know what? I've met them, they come in two varieties.  

One variety of fast people are jerks and know they're better than you.  We don't like them anyway.  

The other variety of fast people? They're in my running group, and they would love to cheer you on while you walk/crawl/barrel roll through your first race.  They're so proud of you for trying.  And no matter what you're doing, there's someone proud of you for giving it a go. 

Everybody starts somewhere.  Maybe I'll get better, and maybe I won't.  But I started, and I finished.  And you can, too.  Pick a thing and get working.  

And if you need somebody to cheer you on in whatever it is, let me know.  I'm excellent at yelling loud, encouraging things- just ask Claire and Rachel about me yelling supportive things at random strangers as I got more and more tired. 

Review: The Cat of Bubastes

Heirloom Audio Productions has done it again with their newest CD: The Cat of Bubastes!  That's right- if you're like me, you spend a lot of your life in the car.  This is due to both the number of activities that your children are enrolled in AND the fact that we live in the DMV and so our traffic is like everyone else's traffic on steroids.  Really bad steroids that make it hulk out.  For example, on Tuesdays we have classes at a "local" coop.  And by local I mean "also in Northern Virginia."  In the morning we leave at 8am to ensure 9:15am arrival, which gives us a small buffer before our 9:30am start time. Sometimes I use this buffer for coffee stops, but mostly I use it for traffic. In the afternoons on Tuesday, my son stays at coop for speech and debate.  We're there until 4:00, if I don't end up talking, which never happens, so we're there until 4:30.  Then we get on 495 express lanes (no problem!) and then we get onto I-66 towards Manassas during the 5:00pm rush hour madness.  You guys, I-66 is officially the place where your dreams of getting home go to die.  I don't care that there's an HOV lane, it's full, the speed limit signs have been changed to 35mph and we're all just going to sit here together on these lanes until such time as the gods decide we're actually allowed to arrive. Speaking of ye gods, that brings me back to my original point (oh! there it is!).  As you may remember from our last G.A. Henty review we love audio books as a way to pass the time, and The Cat of Bubastes is a fun and exciting Egyptian adventure featuring the family of one of the priests of Ancient Egypt, a captured prince turned slave, a fat cat that might just be sacred, and an arrow gone awry.  Will the family be able to survive an unfortunate turn of events? Find out by listening!!  This audio book, much like the others in the series, is an audio drama, which is different from a regular audio book.  You'll notice that each character is portrayed by its own actor so that your child can follow the voices, and there are lots of sound effects, as well.  There is Judeo-Christian bent to this story, as the family meets Ruth, a Hebrew who worships the one God of her people, as well as a chance run-in with Moses, so if your family is adverse to that, this is not your book. 
Here's what my kids enjoyed:
Riley (12)- "I enjoyed the historical elements of the story.  It was historical fiction, so many of the parts were true, even though the story itself was not.  My favorite part was in the end when Jethro explained how everything happens for a reason and that God set the course for their fate from the very beginning.  I didn't really not like anything." 
Logan (10)- "The Cat of Bubastes was a wonderful production.  I support it very much.  However, the ending was very corny.  Why have an ending where not even one of the important characters is lost? May I also point out that in the end the explained the entire story, but I like to explain it for myself or have a book club, and they just told you exactly everything so you don't even have to think.  I am Logan Kotlus and I approve this message."   Savannah (8)- "I really liked it because I liked the characters and the background music.  I didn't know some of the words and I didn't like that. That's it."
Now, we just listen to the audio adventures.  For us, that's really what we're in it for, but if you would like to go a little further, there is a study guide available!  Find out more about The Cat of Bubastes and all the other G.A. Henry books by visiting:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories
Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/114534826166314080647/114534826166314080647 
Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial 

Review: Ultimate Phonics Reading Program

I love that we have been able to use the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program from Spencer Learning on any computer we have in our house!  The license also allows us to use this with everyone in our household! You can find more info on them on social media at:

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/spencerlearning

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/spencerlearning @spencerlearning

This program works for children who struggle with reading, children with dyslexia, beginning readers, and helps anyone that you put on it to improve comprehension, spelling, and fluent reading.  It also tackles one of my personal pet peeves, which is word guessing.  Two of my three children will just randomly announce a word that starts with the same first letter as the word they're reading.  Does it make sense? Nope.  Does it go with the sentence? Nuh-uh. Does it end with the same sound as the word you just said? Didn't read that far.

Drives me absolutely bonkers!!

Anyway, this is an online program that works on both Windows and Macs (this is a big deal in my house since we prefer apple products and frequently software is wonky on our computers). You can actually try it before you buy it, too, by using the link here.  If you want to decide if your child will benefit from this program, you can check out their Ultimate Phonics Reading Test.

What you'll see when you try the program is 262 lessons to help your reader succeed. Each lesson has six types of pages included: patterns, sight words, word lists, words, sight words, and sentences.  

I did this program with my 8 year old, who is my struggling reader.  She's actually improved greatly over the past year, but of my three, she was the one I decided to focus on.  She felt like the program was slow and not super fun.  I think it would definitely work better to engage a child who doesn't have access to a lot of more interactive/animated online learning resources. However, she did improve her reading skills during the program, and that's really all that matters!  If you're looking for a simple, non-subscription program (this is a one-time purchase) than this program could definitely be the one for you! I don't know much (anything) about dyslexia, but I know that this program is also supposed to assist children with that issue, so be sure to check out the link below for other Homeschool Review Crew moms who might be able to tell you more about it! 

New Healthier Breakfast Items at Chick-Fil-A

You guys know that I love CFA.  I love the unsweet tea with lemon, I love the home office, I love the cows, I love the Chick Fil A Sauce....pretty much everything! So, I was super excited when I got an invitation to come out and try some new menu items!

 Here's a tray of the new options- there's the hash brown scramble burrito and bowl, the egg white grill bowl, and the egg white grill muffin.  I know what you're thinking- I also wanted to sprinkle some parsley on the plate ;) There's salsa available for any of these to add a little color!

 Here's the Berry Protein Blend.  Several of the women at my table ordered full size drinks of this.
Berry Protein Blend:  This “on-the-go” beverage is packed with protein and vitamins. It’s made with ancient grains, chia, mixed berries and yogurt (with live & active cultures). It’s hand-spun with a portion of Icedream® for a thick and creamy texture and topped with a crunchy, honey brown sugar granola.

There's the hash brown scramble, this time in burrito form.  I really like the jalapeño salsa that they offer as a condiment here.
Hash Brown Scramble Burrito or Bowl (with Chicken or Sausage):  Made fresh each morning, these are a hearty morning meal of sliced Chick-fil-A nuggets or sausage, crispy hash browns, scrambled eggs and a blend of Monterey jack and cheddar cheeses. It’s all rolled in a warm flour tortilla or served in a convenient bowl and served with jalapeño salsa.

I cannot lie to you guys, this egg white muffin was the thing I was most excited about because it meets my eating plan guidelines for breakfast...but I didn't love it.  However, I do love that it's a healthy option and I have it available to me, even if it's not my new favorite thing on earth.

This isn't new, it's the greek yogurt parfait, which  I've actually never had before.  I think this was my favorite thing I had all day.  It's 230 calories, 12 grams of protein for a full-sized serving.

Chilli Amar from WashFM was our hostess for the day, and she was super sweet.  We were up at the 7 Corners CFA location, which I hadn't been to before.  The location and staff were all exactly what I expect from Chick-Fil-A, clean location, friendly, attentive staff, and a good time had by all.  After we tried the new breakfast items they brought out some old favorites- 

 If this isn't what you're serving as an appetizer this football season, you need to get your hors d'oeuvres game back on point. 

 Kale Superfood Salad!! I love this stuff!! 

This is Chilli Amar talking to us, but what I really like this picture for his the back of my head.  My curls look really good from the back.  This has nothing to do with food, but....I mean, I couldn't leave it off....so focus on Chilli and just pretend my vanity had nothing to do with this picture.  Okay, fine...here's what it looked like from the front so you can appreciate me loving the back so much.

#NotAsCute (But these ladies are!) 

Thanks to the CFA 7 Corners for having us out, Khoury PR for putting the whole group together and, to the photographer who got much better shots than me :) Check out the new CFA Breakfast items at a store near you and enjoy a fast, ready-to-go breakfast that's still healthier for you (or order sausage and hash browns, I'm not here to tell you how you want to live!)
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This post was sponsored by #ChickFilADC, all opinions are my own.

Disney on Ice Presents: Follow Your Heart! Eagle Bank Arena October 19-23, 2016!!

Disney On Ice presents Follow Your Heart is bringing Disney•Pixar’s record-breaking animated feature Finding Dory to the ice for the first time in this live production produced by Feld Entertainment. The ice-skating extravaganza featuring Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out, Disney’s Frozen and other beloved Disney stories visits EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA on October 19 – 23, for 9 performances. Tickets are on sale now. 

Just keep swimming with Dory, Nemo, Marlin and new pal Hank from Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory as they embark on a life-changing excursion to find her parents and discover the true meaning of family. Cheer with the Emotions from Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out –Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust– as they help Riley find the confidence to win the hockey championship and experience the emotional rollercoaster of growing up. Venture to wintery world of Arendelle where Olaf and Kristoff help reunite royal sisters Anna and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen and learn love is the most powerful magic of all. See Cinderella, Rapunzel, Tiana and the Disney Princesses make their dreams come true through their virtues of bravery, kindness and perseverance. And celebrate true friendship with Buzz Lightyear, Woody and The Toy Story gang. Make unforgettable memories with Mickey, Minnie and all your Disney friends when Disney On Ice presents Follow Your Heart skates into Fairfax, VA! 

There’s something for everyone in a show that features 60 characters. The wintery world of Arendelle sets the stage for Olaf and Kristoff as they help reunite royal sisters Anna and Elsa and learn love is the most powerful magic of all. Audiences will celebrate friendship with Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and more pals from Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story. With Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse leading the way, this new Disney On Ice production will excite and amaze fans of all ages.

 

 

Date and Time of Performances:

• Wednesday, October 19^th @ 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 20^th @ 7:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 21^st @ 10:30 a.m., and 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 22^nd @ 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, October 23^rd @ 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

 

Stay current on the latest developments through social media, including instructions on how to access presale codes for future Disney On Ice productions:

                                                                                                                 

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/DisneyOnIce

Twitter: @DisneyOnIce #DisneyOnIce #FollowYourHeart @NicoleFeld (Show Producer)

YouTube: www.youtube.com/DisneyOnIce

Instagram: @DisneyOnIce

 

Tickets for Disney On Ice presents Follow Your Heart are on sale now and start at $20. Tickets are subject to availability, and VIP and Front Row seating is limited.  Market pricing applies to all tickets.  All seats are reserved, and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, via www.ticketmaster.com, and the EagleBank Arena box office.  For group rates and information, contact 202-661-5061.