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I actually took this on our zoo trip, but since it's Valentine's Day and this is my love, I'm sharing.

5QFriday

1. Would you rather be on ABC's Extreme Home MakeOver or TLC's What not to Wear? 

Well, since we just moved out of our house into a townhome, I'll probably have to say WNTW.  I am just not that interested in what I wear, never have been, so my closet would probably be tragic to a fashionista.  It would be exciting to have fun clothes, but someone else would definitely have to pick them out.

2. Do you have any tattoos?

No, but I've always wanted one.  Fortunately or unfortunately, as I get older I see the gift of not having gotten one.  Skin sags, not pretty!!

3. Do you tell your kids about things you did growing up?

As they become older, yes, if they ask I tell them.  If my kids can learn from the choices I made, or if they can feel smarter by not being as stupid as I was; all the better.

4. If the traffic signal turns yellow, do you stop or speed up?

I would have to say speed up, everytime!  I also have to clarify that I have a 16 year old boy that I am demanding do nothing of the kind, as I sail through the light.  Definitely a 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of moment.

5. What's your preference: chocolate or chips?

This is why I love trail mixes, I want sweet and salty at the same time.  But, barring that, chocolate first, then the chips.  Well, maybe the salty first (I love salt) and then the chocolate.  Do I really have to decide?

Want to participate in 5QF, head over here and get going! 

Project 365/41

The kids have developed a new passion, they are in love with "Go Fish!"  They ask to play it all the time.  Upside, I can bribe them to finish their school work by saying we'll play after they are finished.  Yes, I admit, I'm not above bribing my kids!!!

 Their other new passion is homemade blueberry and banana muffins, their dad is diabetic so I have to make them with Splenda, but they really don't seem to notice the difference.

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Project 365/40

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Project 365/38-39

We decided to head out to the zoo yesterday.  Yes, I know it's winter, my kids don't care.  They had heard that our new polar bear, Nikita, was being very active and they had to go see for themselves.  I can count on one hand the number of people, other than us, that we saw wandering around.  Oh well, we had fun and I got some great pics.

We wandered around a lot of the indoor places, Discovery Barn, Tropics and of course the Polar Bear overlook.  The animals were real active and interacted with the kids, it's hard to see but the monkey was being a mimic and 'playing' with Sissy.

I'm not sure what kind of flower this is but it was growing in the tropics and was absolutely gorgeous.  Sissy wanted one, it's pink, 'nuff said!

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Daddy helping Sissy do a rubbing in the Tropics building, aren't their hands beautiful together.  I love how big his hands are and how gentle he is capable of being.

These Squirrel Monkeys(I think?)  were so excited to see people, they kept jumping at the glass and interacting with Chris and the kids.  Aren't the hands on this animal cool, they look like miniature human hands.

Finally, out for a walk before another dusting of snow.  Winter, I love you but you really need to GO!

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VocabAhead-TOS Review

I recently got the opportunity to review another product that helps develop your childs vocabulary in preparation for the ACT/SAT tests.

I received the VocabAhead DVD, that contained videos and MP3's for over 1000 words.  The DVD is $24.99, they also offer a book($19.99) and an iPhone app($9.99).

The product works by introducing the word with a cartoon.  While the picture is on the screen it narrates the word definition and then uses it in a sentence.  You can also download the videos in MP3 format to your iPod, iPhone and iPad, enabling you to learn on the go.

VocabAhead also has a very comprehensive website that lets you create wordlists, flashcards and quizzes, to test and reinforce vocabulary words.  It is definitely worth checking out, it offers a lot of free resources that you can customize to your childs needs.

I wish I could say that I loved VocabAhead, but I really didn't.  There are so many unfortunate definitions, definitions that have an underlying negative tone.  You can definitely work around the definitions that don't necessarily align with your beliefs or comfort level, but for my family it just didn't work out.  Don't just take my word for it, head over here to see what other crew members thought about it.

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{I received this product free of charge for the purpose of review.  I received no other compensation and was not required to write a positive review.}

Project 365/35-37

We're experiencing a short warm-up around here, in preparation of another storm this weekend.  There is definitely hope that it will miss us, but they are talking about 6+" of more snow on Tuesday. UGH!!  I usually love winter, but I think I may be getting old; I'm finding myself in a bit of a funk.  Difficulty focusing, irritability, depression; I'm experiencing them all.  Who knows, it could be the hysterectomy and not the weather at all; but I'm going to blame winter and move on!

Now, on to the subject of a lot of my irritability.  Is it frustrating for anyone else to cook for your family and then have the majority complain that they don't like it.  I am not in love with cooking, really, I'm not!  I have developed some ability over the last couple of decades, but not a love affair.  It frustrates me to no end to have tons of leftovers that no one will eat.  Case in point, I make home made chicken noodle soup for my family frequently.  Couple of weeks ago, I was in a hurry and bought some of the freezer egg noodles to use in my soup instead of making my own.  They noticed!! How could they notice??  None of them went back for seconds (except for the ever loyal and hungry hubby), I asked what was up and they said they weren't sure but something was wrong with the noodles and they just didn't like it.  Seriously!?  Suffice it to say, I don't buy freezer noodles anymore, ever.

I have learned over the last 16 years to "keep it simple, stupid!" when it comes to cooking for my family, go with what I know and don't prepare too much, leftovers never seem to leave.  I can't really complain about the leftovers, I personally don't eat much of anything reheated, soup and stew are the exceptions.  How do other families deal with this, I hate short order cooking because someone is being difficult and refusing to eat what I made, but struggle in letting them go without.  I am really struggling with this right now, seems shallow, but it is wearing on me.

The other thing wearing me out is the video games and tech.  Yeah, I know, I'm typing this on a computer.  I'm a hypocrite, sue me!  The kids got a PS3 for Christmas, they play it incessantly, to the point of not getting school work and chores done.  I'm seriously considering a tech hiatus for the kids, they are becoming difficult and contrary.

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On a different note, something that I am having fun with is learning more about my camera and photography in general.  The next to pics were taken with aperture priority, a spot focus and the second I adjusted the white balance. (Didn't I sound all official there???)

The spot focus is on the left hand side of the pic, where the pile of noodles, flat noodles and rolling pin all meet.  The white balance adjustment made the second pic look exactly like what I was seeing with the naked eye.  I really like how it turned out.

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This one I used the scene settings on my camera and set it for snow, it automatically adjusted the white balance and probably a bunch of other stuff that I haven't figured out yet.

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Roman Town from Dig It! Games-TOS Review

Do you have a budding Archaeologist or a history buff? This might be the game for you. Roman Town by Dig It!Games is a very fun and engaging computer game for kids from 8 and up.

The basic premise of the game is that your student will be invited to join an archaeological dig, where they will uncover artifacts by directing their diggers to use either a pick, trowel, shovel or hoe; of course, the decision of digging tool will define what artifact is uncovered.  Then as each artifact is uncovered, they are introduced to the student by a boy or girl dressed in traditional Roman clothing.

We were a little thrown by the stick figures, mainly because my kids are gamers and they just expect awesome graphics, this is one of the only places where the graphics disappointed.  Everywhere else in the game was well done and beautiful.

Once you finish digging up all of your artifacts, you are directed to the lab to sort out your finds: metal, pottery, glass, mosaic, etc.  From there you play different games that help reinforce the learning of the many artifacts and their uses.  For example, one of my favorite was a sort of hunt and find.  You would look at a room and figure out what doesn't belong, i.e. the laptop or books.

Finally, once the student finishes all of the learning games, they will fill out this journal entry to show their understanding and knowledge.  There are 6 levels, all with a variety of artifacts and games.  Never fear, when your student is finished with the 6 levels, the game can be replayed and it will be different each time.

We really enjoyed the game Roman Town.  My only complaint and it's fairly minor, is that I had to read everything to my young learners, the game could really use a voice over, it frustrated my littles a bit.

The super awesome thing is that Dig! It games is offering a great discount to our readers.  Roman Town can be purchased for $39.95, but until February 21 use the coupon code TOS2011 to get the game for $19.95.  Awesome, right?!?

Don't forget to take a look at the Teachers manual, available for $19.95, it will help you utilize the game in your homeschool or classroom to its fullest.

We really enjoyed reviewing Roman Town, head over here to see what other crewmates thought of this fun and educational game.

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{Roman Town was provided to me by Dig! It games and the TOS Crew, for the purposes of writing this review.  I received no other compensation and was not required to write a positive review.}