And Another Makes Six!

During my long absence from the blog, we have added another family member! We welcomed baby L to the family in June, and she has been a delight.  Yes, you read that right, we now have SIX girls--an even half-dozen!  She is now six months old, and is learning to sit up and roll over.

Life as a family of 8 has been as busy as ever!  I am still homeschooling, and we have a 5th grader, 3rd grader, 2nd grader, kindergartener, preschooler, and a baby. It has required some adjustment for all of us, but we are in a groove now, though that "groove" also requires some flexibility!

Powerocks Magicstick Review

I received a Powerocks Magicstick to review right before Christmas, a fun time to get a new toy in the mail! The Magicstick is a portable charging device, and is small enough to take on-the-go.  It arrived just in time for our trip out of town for Christmas, and it was really nice to be able to plug in my phone to get a charge when I wasn't near a convenient charging source.

The Magicstick is a 2800mAh rechargeable battery.  It comes in a cute carrying pouch with a micro-USB-to-USB cable so you can plug it into your computer or laptop to charge its battery.  There is a button on the top that, when pushed, indicates with an LED light how much charge is available.  Blue light = 70% - 100% full, Green light = 30% - 70% full, Red light = 1% - 30% full.  
 
The Powerocks Magicstick is able to recharge any device that plugs into a USB or micro-USB, and it comes in a variety of fun colors!  It is really easy to use, and has a sleek, lightweight design that only weighs 2.6 ounces!  

I used it to charge my iPhone with my USB charging cable.  After I plugged in my phone for the first time, I was a little worried because the light went from green to red immediately, but it still had plenty of juice left to charge up my phone.  I have used it several times since then, and it seems the light automatically goes down a step when you use it to charge (from blue to green or from green to red), but it has never gone dead on me before I've been able to charge it up again.  

Sometimes near the end of the day my iPhone's battery will be down to 10%, but I still want to use it and don't want to be "plugged in" and tethered to the computer or wall outlet.  With the Powerocks Magicstick, I have been able to plug in my phone and settle on the couch, and even while I am using it, my phone will end up with a better charge than when I sat down. 

2800mAh rechargeable battery

2800mAh rechargeable battery

2800mAh rechargeable battery handy

2800mAh rechargeable battery handy

Interested in buying one?
Here is a 20% off promo code, and shipping is always FREE!
Powerblog20

You can also buy the Magicstick on Amazon, but with the 20% off code above and free shipping, it might be a better bet to buy it from the Powerocks website. They have a variety of rechargeable battery styles available. 

*I received a Magicstick to review, but all opinions are my own.

6 FREE Issues of WORLD

Sign up for 6 FREE issues of WORLD magazine, covering today's news with a Christian worldview.  We have received these magazines before, and really enjoy the articles.  Click here and type in the code world to sign up.  No credit card is required, just an address, email, and phone number.
Thanks, MoneySavingMom!

Book Recommendations for ages 5-8+

As you've likely noticed, blogging has taken a back seat to life this past year.  A lot has changed!  One quick update is we are expecting girl #6 in June!  Yes, another girl, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

One of the questions I get asked a lot is what books my girls have enjoyed reading and that we would recommend.  It is so hard as a parent to keep ahead of your kids once their reading takes off!  Which books and series are suitable and appropriate for their ages?  I have searched high and low for a good book recommendation site (kind of like pluggedinonline for movies, but for books), but so far I haven't found one.  If you know of one, please let me know!  It would be great to have a searchable site with some details about content, etc.

Since I haven't found something yet, I rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends I trust.  When picking up a new book, I also read the back, try to scan a few pages throughout the book, and then hand it over to my oldest with the qualifications of "you know what is appropriate--let me know if this book is okay". So far she has demonstrated good judgment, we've had some good conversations about topics that are starting to come up in the "tween" books, and some books we decide to skip. Then she can recommend them to the younger girls! ;-)

I have done a couple of other posts in the past with books we have read and recommend, and you can see those here and here.  I won't repeat those recommendations again here, so be sure to check out those links for other good book choices.

Since I did those last two posts awhile ago, there have been MANY more books the girls have read individually or that we have read together as read-alouds.  So it is high time for a new post! Here is a list of books and series that I have tried to group into rough age groups, but you can certainly go outside these age ranges. 

Early Readers and Short Chapter Books (ages 5-8, or as read-alouds to younger kids)

• Chronicles of Narnia "I Can Read" early readers--a good introduction to Narnia for younger kids, or for them to read on their own. 

• Amelia Bedelia Chapter books--Everyone loves Amelia Bedelia, and now there's a new series of chapter books about Amelia when she was young!  

• Henry and Mudge (a boy and his dog), Annie and Snowball (a girl and her bunny, also with Henry and Mudge), Brownie and Pearl (a girl and her cat), and Mr. Putter and Tabby (an old man and his cat) 

• Arthur Chapter books--Arthur and his friends have adventures in elementary school.  Check the content of these for what you think is appropriate for your kids' ages.  

• Mercy Watson series--Mercy is a pig (a porcine wonder!) who has all sorts of funny adventures, and loves toast with a great deal of butter on it! 

• Berenstain Bears Chapter books--there are "First Time Chapter Books" and "BIG chapter books", about 85-105 pages.  Check the content.

There's more to come!  Stay tuned for more posts with longer chapter books for ages 6-9 and 8-10+!

Do you have any recommendations to share?  

I'd love to hear them!  

FREE Harriet Tubman Animated DVD from Nest

Register at NestLearning.com to receive a FREE animated DVD about Harriet Tubman. You will also get a free downloadable Harriet Tubman activity and coloring book. We have seen several of the other movies in this series, and our girls like them, so I was really excited about this freebie!

After you register, the items will be placed in your cart and a coupon code will automatically be added that will make your total $0.00. You can order other things if you like, but if you don't, just enter your shipping information and it won't even ask for any credit card information since your total is $0.00! Shipping is even free!

Thanks Deal Seeking Mom!

MakaziVille: Online Missionary Game

I discovered a free online game last week that I can't wait to share with you! It is called MakaziVille and I found it through the Duggar Family website. I know it was God who led me to this game at this time. We are currently studying Africa in our homeschooling, so when I saw the link to the game, I was so excited and I checked it out right away.

In MakaziVille, your child travels to Tanzania as a Bible translator and builds up a village including tents, churches, gardens, hospitals, markets, and more! They complete challenges and devotions to earn coins and points used to purchase things needed for the village, and along the way they learn about another culture and translating the Bible into other languages. You as the parent will get email updates about what your child is learning, and there are a few breakout challenges that get emailed to you that your child will need to complete before entering a code to get their reward.My 5 year-old likes to play the game with help from me, but my 7 and 8 year-olds can navigate the game themselves. There are a limited number of challenges that can be done each day, which can help limit game time. Another plus--there are no banner ads that kids can click on to accidentally bring them to another website. There is a leader board option where kids can add their friends' avatars to see their stats, which could add another component of friendly competition. :-) The game was developed by OneVerse, an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators, in cooperation with the Duggar Family. So far we are loving it! If you try it, let me know what you and your kids think!

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Mary Anne, the winner of Money Saving Mom's book! Thanks to everyone who entered! And thanks again to Crystal for the opportunity to review her book. For the other 127 people who entered but didn't win, you can get Crystal's book The Money Saving Mom's Budget on Amazon, either paperback for $11.09 or on Kindle for $9.99. You could even use your gift cards earned through Swagbucks and get it for free! ;-)