Attn: Music lovers and Princess Zelda fans everywhere!

STL Ocarina will be holding a live online launch concert for the new Echoes of Gerudo Valley CD release. Fans can help plan the concert play list by voting on their favorite Legend of Zelda songs, and the three most popular Zelda songs will be played by professional flutist and ocarina player, Heather Scott at the concert!

There’s fun prizes to be won too. Multiple winners will be chosen at random and announced at the end of the concert. Each winner will get an autographed copy of the Echoes of Gerudo Valley CD, as well as a Zelda instructional DVD.

Check it out here!

The concert will be held on Saturday, May 7th at 6pm (Central) and will feature songs from the new CD as well as songs from Final Fantasy, and some great Anime music. It celebrates the new CD and an instructional DVD, allowing viewers to follow along and learn to play their favorite songs from the video game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the ocarina.

To see the concert, fans need to visit here.

To vote: Go to here, sign up for a free account and look for the voting poll under the News and Updates thread. The voting deadline is Wednesday, May 4, 2011.

~I was not paid or compensated for this post, just passing on information.

Win A $250 Gift Card from SkinCareRx!

image

Win a $250 SkinCareRx Gift Card and give your mom the products she's been wishing for (and get a little something for yourself as well). All you have to do to enter is post a comment on this page explaining why your mom deserves the $250 Gift Card.

Ok girls, how easy is that! Don’t forget to tell SkinCareRx about your Beautiful Mom Submissions close May 5th - so hurry!

~I am posting this as information, but I also have the chance to win a gift certificate.

Linguine Alfredo

P4080172

Chauncey loves pasta, especially Linguine Alfredo. I’ve bought jars of Alfredo sauce and dry mixes but the other night we decided to make it ourselves. This is the recipe we came up with and it is super easy and tastes great!

Linguine Alfredo

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons minced parsley

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cold water

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups cooked linguine or spaghetti

In a large saucepan, sauté garlic in butter. Stir in the cream and parsley. Combine the cornstarch and water and whisk into the cream mixture. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Toss with the linguine and serve. You can sprinkle it with a little more parsley too.

Saturday on the Farm

We've had so much rain this week that we hear squish squash when we walk across the yard. Thankfully, though, all the storms that we had were mild compared to what others had, especially south of here. Although Western Kentucky had tornados, too.

Here's what I saw on my walk today.

The Chives are blooming in the herb garden behind the house. I should find out if I'm supposed to let them bloom or not.


But the flowers are so pretty!


To the left of the Chives, is the Echinacea. They are getting big.


To the left of that are some wild strawberries. They have small berries on them!



This is Lamb's Ear in the Bible Garden.


The Lily of the Valley in the Bible Garden are so pretty. The flowers are starting to fade, and I'm sure they'll be gone by next week.


I found itty bitty apples on the apple trees by the driveway!


The Iris's in the a/c garden are blooming! There are two open. I don't know what kind these are, as we transplanted them here, but these yellow ones smell like lemonade!



So pretty!

The tomato seedlings are getting big. On sunny days, I put them outside on the porch.


This is a Wild Rose Bush behind the house by the clothesline. I always love it when these are blooming. It's just heavenly to smell them while I"m  hanging clothes on the line.


I found buds on the Blackberries!


Hope you enjoyed this weeks tour! Link up below so I can visit you, too!

Here are some links:

Best Planting Dates for Seeds - You put in your zip code, and get the dates for your area.
Medicinal Uses for Horehound
Must Have Herbs - 5 Culinary Herbs to Grow in Your Garden





Grab The Saturday on the Farm Button!




Saturday on the Farm is a blog carnival that lets us share links to our blog post. It's fun to visit each others farms.

To participate in Saturday on the Farm, just write a post about your homestead, farm, farmette, or the tomato plant on your deck. Your cows, goats, chicken, or your favorite kitty cat. Add the link to your post (not your main page) below. Please link back to me so others can join the fun, too.










For more Farm & Garden posts, please visit:
Homestead Barn Hop
Bloomin' Tuesday
Frugal Gardening 101
Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers

OutdoorWednesdaybutton54333333333332


Sunny Saturday

SunnySaturdayButton

Welcome to Linda's Lunacy Sunny Saturday!

Sunny Saturday is a fun way to find new friends and followers for your blog, Facebook page, Twitter, and Networked Blog.

Joining Sunny Saturday is as easy as 1, 2, 3!


1. Follow me, Linda's Lunacy, your hostess.

2. Leave a comment, letting me know your a new follower, and I will follow you back.

3. Include the Sunny Saturday button in a post, and link that post in the linky below. Also link up your blog's Facebook page, Twitter and Networked Blog in the linkys below.


Have fun, and please help spread the word about Linda's Lunacy Sunny Saturday!
































Saturday Hops I'm participating in:

 Between the Lines


Sunday Blog Hops I'm participating in:

Photobucket BWS tips button Sunday Strolling Blog HopPhotobucket

Our Homeschool Week in Review

The kids have been very busy this week. They have cousins visiting from out of state. They even started their school work on Sunday night, so they would have more play time on Monday! The rest of the days, they have been getting up early to get their work done. Their cousins are homeschooled, so most days they had work to do in the mornings also.

Game time!


 The kids have been spending lots and lots of time playing outside. They even played out in the rain.


I found this picture on the sd card. They are training the kitten to walk through a hoop. There are other pictures before and after this one, and the kitten really walks through on its own. Too funny.


They have all spent a lot of time playing the story game together. This is a great game for groups to play, as all ages can play equally. One person starts and says one word. Then they go around the circle with everyone saying one word. You end up with some really funny stories! It's nice to have someone who writes fast write down the story as it's told. Great memories! My oldest daughter used to play this when she was younger on instant messenger with a cousin who lived in another state. They would take turns typing the next word. It's a really fun game that all ages love to play.

We also worked on The Curiosity Files e-book Dung Beetles. We really liked the format and tons of information included. I learned a lot about dung beetles, also. Did you know that Dung Beetles were depicted in womens jewelry? Ever heard of a Scarab? It makes me wonder why they would choose the Dung Beetle for jewelry! lol You can go here to read my review of  The Curiosity Files e-book Dung Beetles.

Next Friday is Abby & Zachs State Bible Drill Competition. So next week will find them studying hard!





Please visit:
Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Wrapping Up The Week
Weekly Homeschool Highlights

This Weeks Favorites

The 'Other' Sweetener That's Made From Sugar, But is Closer to DDT

LED Bulbs No Better Than  CFLs

Easy Homeopathic Remedy for Headaches, Menstrual Cramps & Insomnia

Crocheted Ankle Socks

Topsy Turvy Planter



How to ID Genetically Modified Food

Homemade Apple Pie Poptarts

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

Raw Carrot Cake Cookies - made in the dehydrator

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins -  wheat free, egg free, vegan

Funnel Cakes


Hope you find some new favorites, too!





Please visit:
Saturday's Stumbles
Share Your Faves.

An Adventure and A Couple Of Gashes!

I went out for a wonderful run with a friend yesterday. The sun came up as we got up the mountain to the second bench level, it felt glorious! We ran up to a new trail we’ve been wanting to take for a while (we’ve been waiting for the snow to melt!). The trail was beautiful! It wound into a little canyon and there was a wonderful little bridge that crossed over a little creek. I was in the lead and I called back to my friend to be careful because the bridge looked wet! I slowed down and cautiously took a few steps. My foot started to slip, but I caught myself! Yay me! Then I took another step and my foot hit ice and Wham! Down I went, crosswise to the bridge with my feet in the creek! My chin and my right hand it the bridge, but I kept my left hand (the one I broke and just got the final stiches out the day before) from getting hurt. So, I got myself up and yelled I’m ok! I looked back and my friend was crawling over the bridge, that’s right, she didn’t want to fall! She looked down and said there’s blood! I said I don’t see any blood on my hands. The she looked at me and said, oh my gosh, your chin is bleeding! I grabbed my rolled up gloves out of my pocket and dunked them in the cold, cold creek and pressed them onto my chin. Then we started off up the trail. I happended to look down at my right hand and noticed that I had a big gash in the top of my thumb. I yelled that I needed to go back to the creek, so I washed off my hand and held my thumb in the creek for a minute.

We then  took off up the trail and headed down the mountain so I could get some stitches or something. So I’m running along with my left hand pressing the gloves to my chin and holding my right thumb up to slow the bleeding and we’re running along chatting about running injures!

I got myself home and started looking for my sweet hubby so he could doctor me up, but he was an hour away on his way to work. I really didn’t want to go to the doctor for stitches (it was the idea of a shot in my chin to numb it). I called a friend and she told me to come right over. My friend got to work on my and was able to pull the gash on my chin shut with some steri strips. She made me sit with ice on it for half and hour while she went to work on my thumb.

I went home and spent most of the day watching tv with an ice pack held up to my chin. I’m a little stiff and sore today, but some Motrin will take care of that.

So, if you were wondering why the lack of posts yesterday, that was why. I’m still a little sore this morning, but I’m heading out for a run, lunch with friends and then I have to work.

Camelbak Water Bottle Review!

image

image

Water is essential for a healthy life, but most of us just don’t get enough of it. However, when we take along Camelbak water bottles filled with fresh water, we’re much more likely to drink, which means a more hydrated body that's ready to perform. Whether it's at work, at home, or in sports, your body needs water to do its job.


If you're looking for an eco-friendly way to stay hydrated while running, hiking, biking, or even at the office, be sure to check out the selection of Camelbak BPA free water bottles at Heart Rate Monitors USA. These reusable water bottles are free of harsh chemicals, like BPA, and are built to last so that they can be taken just about anywhere. Plus, having a Camelbak bottle nearby means that you’re more likely to stay hydrated when you need it most.

                        image

Camelbak BPA-Free Better Bottle

Material: 100% BPA Free - Capacity: 16 oz. 
Imprinting Available!
This spill proof, BPA free bottle, makes it easy to stay hydrated on the go.

I gave this water bottle to Chauncey to try out for me, and he just loves it! He says it is just the right size to keep in his backpack to take to school. He has found that if he drinks enough water during the afternoon he doesn’t fall asleep in class!

Be sure to stop by Heart Rate Monitors USA and check out the large selection of water bottles!

If you want to get your own Camelbak Waterbottle, just use "CLBK" at the checkout for 5% off all Camelbak products!

~I received a product sample in order to write my review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are mine.

Dora The Explorer~Food With Friends~Available on DVD May 17!

 

                                    image

Available on DVD May 17, 2011

The beloved characters from the hit Nickelodeon series Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets!, Blue’s Clues, Yo Gabba Gabba! and Ni Hao, Kai-lan explore and celebrate different types of food in the brand new DVD, Nickelodeon Favorites: Food with Friends. Created by Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, the Nickelodeon Favorites: Food with Friends DVD, which also features Team Umizoomi music videos, will be available on May 17, 2011.

Nickelodeon Favorites: Food with Friends Synopses:


Dora the Explorer - El Día de las Madres
It’s Mother’s Day and Dora wants to help Papi bake Mamá a special cake. Three key ingredients are missing: bananas, nuts and chocolate, so with Boots’ help, Dora sets out to gather them. Then it’s time for a big Mother’s Day party with all of Dora’s friends and their mommies!

Go, Diego, Go! – Green Iguana Helps Abuelito Plant a New Strawberry Farm
It’s time for Abuelito’s Strawberry Festival, but when a strong wind blows all the strawberries away, Alicia must ask Diego for help. Green Iguana can save the day by transporting strawberry seeds in her belly and putting them into the soil so more strawberries can grow. They have to climb up trees to get to the top of the cliff, use stilts to get through the grass, swim through the lily pads and help iguana camouflage to hide from a scary animal. Most importantly, Iguana must get to Abuelito’s farm!


The Wonder Pets! - Save the Bee/Save the Squirrel
The Wonder Pets shrink down to bee-size to help a baby bee collect nectar for her first hive. Later on, a piglet comes to live in the classroom and the Wonder Pets each want to take care of it on their own. Eventually, they realize they need to work together to take care of the rather large piglet.


Blue’s Clues - The Grow Show
To find out what Blue wants to do outside, come help look for clues to learn the process of where orange juice comes from with Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper; investigate the elements of length and volume by comparing inchworms and puddles with Shovel and Pail; and categorize fruits and vegetables by where they grow with the felt friends.


Yo Gabba Gabba! – Eat
The characters learn the fun of eating vegetables and healthy meals. During “Party in My Tummy” and “Snacky Snack Snack” the vegetables beg to participate; and then the characters learn to try new things in “Try It You’ll Like It.” And finally, everyone learns that cleaning up their mess is just as fun as having a party in “Clean It Up”.


Ni Hao, Kai-lan – Happy Chinese New Year
It’s Chinese New Year, which means a big feast and red envelopes with friends and family! Kai-lan and her friends are thrilled because this year, they’re old enough to carry the huge dragon costume. Rintoo is assigned to march in the middle of the dragon but he doesn’t think the middle is important so he walks away. Without Rintoo, they can’t carry the dragon so Kai-lan must find a way to show Rintoo that every job on a team is important. In the end, the Dragon Team comes together to make the dragon dance and Yeye ends the day by giving a special red envelope to everyone.

I put this movie in for the kiddo’s to watch and they loved it! They loved the party in your tummy and strawberry seeds in your tummy with Diego and Yo Gabba Gabba best! This will definitely get kids excited about new foods!

~I received a product sample in order to write my review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are mine.

Ham Potato Puffs

 

P4270297

This is such an fast easy dinner when you have leftover ham and mashed potatoes. But if you don’t have leftover potatoes just mix up some instant. My family loves these!

Ham Potato Puffs

1 tube refrigerated biscuits (12 oz)

1 cup fully cooked ham, cubed

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup grated cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam.

Press biscuits in and up the sides of each cup on the muffin tin.

In a bowl mix the mashed potatoes, ham, parsley, garlic powder and half of the cheese. Spoon into each muffin tin. Pat the tops down a little and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

The Curiosity Files - The Dung Beetle

I received a copy of The Curiosity Files - The Dung Beetle e-book from The Old Schoolhouse Store to review. I had never used one of The Curiosity Files e-books before. I was pleasantly surprised.

The quality of this e-book is exceptional. 78 pages of fun and learning, all on the computer. Included along with all the information about the Dung Beetle are:


Bible study and memory verses
Math, history, and geography investigations
Literature and suggested book list
Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
Beautiful copywork pages (manuscript and cursive)
Science observations, projects, and experiments
Discussion questions
Art, crafts, drawing, and coloring pages
Lapbook and notebook pages
A physical education activity
Internet resources and video links
Complete answer key

The answer key even includes the answers for the puzzles. No trying to look through the word search to help your child find the word.

If you wanted to, you could print out the whole book. But the beauty of an e-book is you only print what you need. You can customize it to your needs. The Curiosity Files e-books say they are for ages 8-13. I used this one with my 10 and 12 year olds. I think it could also easily be adapted for the under 8 crowd. They wouldn't be able to do all of the puzzles and activities, but they would certainly learn a lot. These e-books are great for families with multiple ages.

One of the activities that we did from the e-book involved labeling a drawing of the dung beetle. Instead of printing out the sheet, I had them draw the beetle, then label it.


Here's what they came up with:
The 10 year olds drawing

The 12 year olds drawing - She wants me to say that she was rushing to finish so she could go play with her cousins!
The e-books even included links for websites about the subject. While I had the e-book open, I clicked on the video we wanted to watch, and it opened the webpage. No stopping what were we doing to type in the web address in the browser. We were able to watch a video of dung beetles rolling their dung balls back to their homes. Yes, dung beetles make balls out of dung. Your welcome for that little tidbit of information. In case you want to witness that activity up close, the e-book has directions for building a dung beetle farm in an old ant farm. My son wants to find an old ant farm so he can do that. Let's just say I'm not as excited as he is to try it.

Did you know that the dung beetles roll the balls by pushing it with their back legs while crawling backwards? One of the activities included was for having the kids use a ball of some sort and roll it with their legs while crawling backwards. My son had fun trying that. He would not let me take any pictures of him doing it, however. lol

I really loved this The Curiosity File e-book. I think these e-books would make a great, fun supplement to your curriculum. These would be awesome for the summer months when you could take your time going through them. I would say there's enough material and activities to last for 2-3 weeks (or more), depending on how much you do every day. And the best part? Everything is planned out for you! No lessons plans involved! Just pick want to do that day, and go for it.

Keeping the kids entertained and learning during the summer, with very little prep work on your part (just printing the activity pages) is a win-win situation!

You can purchase The Curiosity Files at The Old Schoolhouse Store. I counted 11 different titles at $6.95 each. As of this writing, there are several for $1. each. They are a bargain at $6.95 each. But a $1? What a deal!








Disclosure: I received this e-book for free for the purpose of reviewing it. I received no other compensation. My opinion is my own.

Thursday's Giveaways

ThursdayGiveaways

I love entering giveaways, and have even won a few things. I really love hosting giveaways on Linda's Lunacy. It's so much fun to give stuff away!

So I thought I'd start a giveaway linky to make it easier to find lots of giveaways.


Linda's Lunacy



The posting of my button is not required, but help in spreading the word that Linda's Lunacy has a giveaway linky is greatly appreciated! So thank you!

Adding your giveaway to Linda's Lunacy Thursday's Giveaways is very easy! Just use this format, please.

Blog name - name of item being given away - ending date

See? Easy!

Please, only link family friendly giveaways. My kids read here, and anything not family friendly, will be promptly deleted. Sorry, but it's for my kids. :)

Have fun, and I hope you win something!







Followers

Blog Archive

Pageviews