Lisa Cottrell-Bentley kept looking for book for her home schooled kids to read that had home schooled kids as characters. She never could find any, so she decided to write some herself. Wright on Time, Book 1: Arizona is the first of a series of books which features the Wright family. The Wrights are your typical home school family - that is if your typical family has a dad who is fluent in several languages and writes magazine articles, a mom who is a software engineer, and the whole family sells their home to buy an RV in which they travel the country. During their travels, they plan on learning about history and science as they visit each state in the country, though I read that the RV will not be making it to Hawaii.
In Arizona, the family rents a cave for the day. The daughter, Nadia, is a bit of a science nut and can't wait to mine out some minerals. The younger son, Aidan, just wants to find bats. Lots and lots of bats. Bats are "freaky cool" - unlike the stale-egg-mites his sister keeps talking about. But the Wright family's adventure is a learning experience for all four members, especially when they find a mysterious object embedded in the cave wall.
Wright on Time, Book 1 was a fun, light-hearted book with fun science facts thrown in, much in the same vein as the Magic Tree house books. My 8 year old enjoyed the book and is already wondering what the family will be doing in Utah, the setting for book 2. It's well-written, and it is fun to have books with home schoolers as the lead characters. Another thing I appreciated is that the parents are important characters in the lives of the kids. The author is also looking for ideas for the series. If you check out the website http://www.wrightontimebooks.com/ you can suggest places for the Wright family to visit when they arrive in your state!
The age recommendation for this book is 5-12, but I think it should be more like 5-10.
We are looking forward to further installments in the Wright on Time series!
This was a review for Mama Buzz. I received a free copy of this book, valued at $12.99, from the publisher, Do Life Right, in exchange for writing this review.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
the Ultimate Cloth - Chemical Free Cleaning
This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Ultimate Cloth America for this review."
Now, the down side.
Though I LOVE reusable, non-disposable cleaning products, there were some things I was wary about using the Ultimate Cloth on. The company claims that it will pull up germs and bacteria into it, but even so I did not use it to clean my toilet. The instructions say to wash it in bleach after cleaning a bathroom or kitchen area but I just don't wash many things in bleach at all. Most everything I have is not bleach-able. After using it on ordinary surfaces you can just machine wash it with detergent, but it needs bleach to disinfect it. Most things in my house that are already white are towels and other cleaning rags, but the instructions also say to only wash with lint-free laundry. And it has to be air dried - no dryer. And no fabric softener. So the care instructions are a little high maintenance for me.
And, call me a product of my era, but without some sort of lab test, I was not willing to trust that it was soaking up all the germs from really icky surfaces. This was another reason I wouldn't use it on my toilets. I wanted to KNOW that the toilet was clean. Spraying something on it, even if it is just vinegar and water, does that for me. I did try it on the metal in my shower, and it does not get the water spots off that, though it did great on the glass on the shower, though it was pretty clean to start with.
The other thing is that in my larger-than-normal house with my larger-than-normal family, I would need many, MANY of these cloths to be able to replace all paper towels and cleaning rags. I have not yet decided if that's an investment I'm willing to make yet. At the time I received my free sample, 2 of the standard size are $10 but if you buy 15, it is $45.
Don't get me wrong, I think they are quite good at what they do. I think they would be a great investment for you if:
Media Blurb:
All you need to do is follow Ultimate Cloth America on Twitter or become a fan on facebook:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ultimate_Cloth
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ultimate-Cloth-America/209222110335?v=wall&ref=ts
Product/Book Name: The Ultimate Cloth
Price: $6
Links: http://www.ultimateclothamerica.com/index.html
The Ultimate cloth surprised me in some ways. It really has a different feel from most fabric I've ever felt. It claims an "exclusive MiraFiber technology that cleans with just water." The company says the cloths will save you money on chemical cleaners, paper towels, and Swiffer refills, cut your cleaning time in half, and of course reduce the amount of chemicals used in your home.
Now, the down side.
Though I LOVE reusable, non-disposable cleaning products, there were some things I was wary about using the Ultimate Cloth on. The company claims that it will pull up germs and bacteria into it, but even so I did not use it to clean my toilet. The instructions say to wash it in bleach after cleaning a bathroom or kitchen area but I just don't wash many things in bleach at all. Most everything I have is not bleach-able. After using it on ordinary surfaces you can just machine wash it with detergent, but it needs bleach to disinfect it. Most things in my house that are already white are towels and other cleaning rags, but the instructions also say to only wash with lint-free laundry. And it has to be air dried - no dryer. And no fabric softener. So the care instructions are a little high maintenance for me.
And, call me a product of my era, but without some sort of lab test, I was not willing to trust that it was soaking up all the germs from really icky surfaces. This was another reason I wouldn't use it on my toilets. I wanted to KNOW that the toilet was clean. Spraying something on it, even if it is just vinegar and water, does that for me. I did try it on the metal in my shower, and it does not get the water spots off that, though it did great on the glass on the shower, though it was pretty clean to start with.
The other thing is that in my larger-than-normal house with my larger-than-normal family, I would need many, MANY of these cloths to be able to replace all paper towels and cleaning rags. I have not yet decided if that's an investment I'm willing to make yet. At the time I received my free sample, 2 of the standard size are $10 but if you buy 15, it is $45.
Don't get me wrong, I think they are quite good at what they do. I think they would be a great investment for you if:
- you refuse to use chemicals or want to use as few as possible.
- you are addicted to Lysol cleaning wipes - this would be a much cheaper alternative.
- you use a wet Swiffer - these would make great washable alternatives to the disposable cloths.
- want to keep one in each bathroom for quick touch-up cleaning or for young children to use.
- you have granite or other specialty surfaces with limit what you can use on them.
Media Blurb:
The Ultimate Cloth is eco-friendly solution for homes as well as a money and time saver. The Ultimate Cloth is a brand new technology – in fact, it is the only cloth to receive a new patent in the last 25 years. The Ultimate Cloth is a simple, green and effective one-step cleaning process. The Ultimate Cloth cleans any hard surface – glass, wood, granite, stainless steel and many more – with just water! No longer do you have to use harsh chemicals in your home, nor do you need spend hundreds of dollars per year buying them. The Ultimate Cloth has been lab tested to remove 96% of bacteria, without the use of chemicals. And, can cut 50% off your cleaning time. The Ultimate Cloth is truly the ultimate in green cleaning.
All you need to do is follow Ultimate Cloth America on Twitter or become a fan on facebook:
Twitter: http://twitter.
facebook: http://www.facebook
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Happy Birthday, Aubrey!
I can't believe my little Aubrey is 11 today. I may have told this before but here's a funny story about her birth:
I had a nurse practitioner/midwife deliver Aubrey in a civilian hospital in Oklahoma City when Kelly was stationed there. Like all of our babies, we did not find out via ultrasound the gender of the baby, so when she was born we were, of course, looking forward to finding out if Kora had a sister or a brother.
But the first thing I noticed after she was born and lain on my stomach was her HAIR. "It's got red hair!" I declared in that euphoric, rather stupid post-birth haze.
"She sure does," Ann, my midwife, agreed.
"So it's a girl?" Don't ask me to be grammatically correct after just delivering a 9 pound baby.
Ann split the legs like a chicken wishbone. "Yep!"
And so our second daughter, and first of two redheads, was born. And we have been thanking the Lord ever since. She's funny, got a very sharp wit, is great at math, and loves horses. She's also very mature for her age, I think. She's very responsible about getting her school work and chores done and has been a tremendous help to me in the last few months. She's the only one who hasn't been constantly sick or have a bum leg around here. She also makes us laugh at her wit and wonderful one liners.
Love you, Aubrey!
I had a nurse practitioner/midwife deliver Aubrey in a civilian hospital in Oklahoma City when Kelly was stationed there. Like all of our babies, we did not find out via ultrasound the gender of the baby, so when she was born we were, of course, looking forward to finding out if Kora had a sister or a brother.
But the first thing I noticed after she was born and lain on my stomach was her HAIR. "It's got red hair!" I declared in that euphoric, rather stupid post-birth haze.
"She sure does," Ann, my midwife, agreed.
"So it's a girl?" Don't ask me to be grammatically correct after just delivering a 9 pound baby.
Ann split the legs like a chicken wishbone. "Yep!"
And so our second daughter, and first of two redheads, was born. And we have been thanking the Lord ever since. She's funny, got a very sharp wit, is great at math, and loves horses. She's also very mature for her age, I think. She's very responsible about getting her school work and chores done and has been a tremendous help to me in the last few months. She's the only one who hasn't been constantly sick or have a bum leg around here. She also makes us laugh at her wit and wonderful one liners.
Love you, Aubrey!Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Conversations with a Four Year Old - The Last Installment
Lauryn asked me today, "Mama, do you have a boyfriend?"
**********************************************************
Lauryn told me about a dream she had the other day:
I had a dream and you were in it but you weren't my mom. You know who was my mom? That lady who at the first was the Queen of Genovia, she was my mom and we lived in Genovia (which she pronounces Genobia) and I was the princess. And you know who was my dad? Daddy! And he was at work.
[Note: She's referring to the Princess Diaries movies, which means in her dream, Daddy was married to Julie Andrews!]
*********************************************************
Aubrey was playing Christmas carols the other day, and asked Lauryn which one she would like to hear.
Lauryn: I want you to play "What is That Child."
["What Child is This" - man, I hope that she doesn't grow out of this now that she's about to turn 5!
**********************************************************
Lauryn told me about a dream she had the other day:
I had a dream and you were in it but you weren't my mom. You know who was my mom? That lady who at the first was the Queen of Genovia, she was my mom and we lived in Genovia (which she pronounces Genobia) and I was the princess. And you know who was my dad? Daddy! And he was at work.
[Note: She's referring to the Princess Diaries movies, which means in her dream, Daddy was married to Julie Andrews!]
*********************************************************
Aubrey was playing Christmas carols the other day, and asked Lauryn which one she would like to hear.
Lauryn: I want you to play "What is That Child."
["What Child is This" - man, I hope that she doesn't grow out of this now that she's about to turn 5!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Mmmmmm
I have decided that heaven on earth is homemade bread. The smell, the taste ... yum! I've made bread for years, but usually in a bread machine. I've gone through three different machines in my married life. Eventually I just used it as a dough machine and would bake the loaves in the oven so that they would have a proper shape. But of course, with 6 kids, this was a rather inefficient use of my time.
Then my husband developed some health issues which could be helped by homemade bread, which I could custom make to what he needed. But I still usually bought bread from the outlet bakery for the rest of us.
Finally in the last several months, I've let go of the bread machine and started baking all our bread. I don't do it all "by hand" but use my 1000-watt motor Viking mixer to help with the mixing and kneading. But now I bake 3-5 loaves at a time, slicing and freezing what we won't use in the next couple of days. I've been combining and tweaking some basic recipes to find some that we like.
Now that I'm comfortable doing this, I'm ready to experiment. I've been reading about soaking the grains first, different grains to use, and all sorts of good stuff. I even went to a mini-seminar on bread baking today hosted by some friends cause I just love learning new tips on it. I think it's fascinating all different ways to make bread and how healthy it can be while being yummy at the same time. Since I have several in my family with baaaaad allergies and there's my husband's digestive conditions, I am interested to see if some of these things could help them.
Contrary to what I always thought, bread making isn't hard, even without the bread machine! It's actually quite satisfying. And of course, now that my family is used to it, if we eat store bought bread now we all think "yuck!"
Too bad we don't have smell-o-blogs. This stuff smells so good!
Then my husband developed some health issues which could be helped by homemade bread, which I could custom make to what he needed. But I still usually bought bread from the outlet bakery for the rest of us.
Finally in the last several months, I've let go of the bread machine and started baking all our bread. I don't do it all "by hand" but use my 1000-watt motor Viking mixer to help with the mixing and kneading. But now I bake 3-5 loaves at a time, slicing and freezing what we won't use in the next couple of days. I've been combining and tweaking some basic recipes to find some that we like.
Now that I'm comfortable doing this, I'm ready to experiment. I've been reading about soaking the grains first, different grains to use, and all sorts of good stuff. I even went to a mini-seminar on bread baking today hosted by some friends cause I just love learning new tips on it. I think it's fascinating all different ways to make bread and how healthy it can be while being yummy at the same time. Since I have several in my family with baaaaad allergies and there's my husband's digestive conditions, I am interested to see if some of these things could help them.Contrary to what I always thought, bread making isn't hard, even without the bread machine! It's actually quite satisfying. And of course, now that my family is used to it, if we eat store bought bread now we all think "yuck!"
Too bad we don't have smell-o-blogs. This stuff smells so good!
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Hits Just Keep on Coming
Sick kids. Again.
I don't know what the reason is, but this fall seems to be the sickest we have ever had. Every week, one or more of the kids gets sick. More than that, it seems as if it is the same bug with the same symptoms. I've had it at least once, and Kelly seems to be constantly fighting it off as well. Sore throat, low grade fever, runny nose, typical cold stuff. But over and over again? Come on, give a poor mom a break.
And it's not like I haven't been cleaning. I know theoretically you aren't supposed to catch the exact same virus again. If that's so, then our house seems to be a virus mutating ground.
Somebody make it stop!
I don't know what the reason is, but this fall seems to be the sickest we have ever had. Every week, one or more of the kids gets sick. More than that, it seems as if it is the same bug with the same symptoms. I've had it at least once, and Kelly seems to be constantly fighting it off as well. Sore throat, low grade fever, runny nose, typical cold stuff. But over and over again? Come on, give a poor mom a break.
And it's not like I haven't been cleaning. I know theoretically you aren't supposed to catch the exact same virus again. If that's so, then our house seems to be a virus mutating ground.
Somebody make it stop!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I hate it when that happens!
Have you ever been watching a show, and one of the actors looks so familiar, but you just can't place him? This happens to me a lot. I'm much better at faces than I am names. (This is not a great attribute for someone getting a history degree, as I did in my pre-children days. History is stocked with many, many more names than it has faces to go with them.)
This used to drive me crazy. What had I seen her in before? It would haunt me for days, like something left undone on my to-do list. Clean the bathroom: check! Go grocery shopping: check! Figure out who that gal was on the movie we rented the other night: ARG!
But a few years ago I discovered this site: The Internet Movie Database. The name is misleading, because they also have television shows and actors on there as well. In this database, movies (or shows) and actors, producers, directors, etc. are cross-referenced. This has saved me from the perpetual state of what-have-I-seen-him-in-before-ness.
Let's say you've seen the guy in the latest Star Trek movie before but can't place him (I haven't seen this movie yet, but am trying to figure out when I can before I leave town for Thanksgiving!). You can look up "Star Trek" on the imdb site, and click on the 2009 movie. This will take you to the page for that movie. If you scroll down to the characters, you can find the list of actors and the characters they portrayed. Click on the actor you are trying to place and you'll see the list of everything he's been in. The guy that plays the young James T. Kirk? His name is Chris Pine, and he starred in... Princess Diaries 2! Aha!
Don't you just love the internet? Anything that helps relieve my mental anguish over puzzles I can't solve is tops in my book. So next time you are stumped, you know where to look.
This used to drive me crazy. What had I seen her in before? It would haunt me for days, like something left undone on my to-do list. Clean the bathroom: check! Go grocery shopping: check! Figure out who that gal was on the movie we rented the other night: ARG!
But a few years ago I discovered this site: The Internet Movie Database. The name is misleading, because they also have television shows and actors on there as well. In this database, movies (or shows) and actors, producers, directors, etc. are cross-referenced. This has saved me from the perpetual state of what-have-I-seen-him-in-before-ness.
Let's say you've seen the guy in the latest Star Trek movie before but can't place him (I haven't seen this movie yet, but am trying to figure out when I can before I leave town for Thanksgiving!). You can look up "Star Trek" on the imdb site, and click on the 2009 movie. This will take you to the page for that movie. If you scroll down to the characters, you can find the list of actors and the characters they portrayed. Click on the actor you are trying to place and you'll see the list of everything he's been in. The guy that plays the young James T. Kirk? His name is Chris Pine, and he starred in... Princess Diaries 2! Aha!
Don't you just love the internet? Anything that helps relieve my mental anguish over puzzles I can't solve is tops in my book. So next time you are stumped, you know where to look.
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