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Save Magic City 04/20/2011

Save Magic City

A story of hope, action and adventure as 13th Century Edmund the magician lands in the present-day USA. A fantasy where medieval times meets modern times.

A City in a recession: The corporation employing the townspeople has left, the bank’s foreclosures have created whole streets of empty houses, and people are leaving in droves. With the help of the children and Edmund’s magic, they save their beloved city.

The Story Behind "Save Magic City"

By Auhor Rocsanne Shields

While I was working for a big corporation, ten-hour-days seemed the only way of keeping up with the work load. However, after retiring, I got lots of time to look around me and take stock of the changes that had taken place while I worked.

The world is dominated by corporations who conduct their business in a globalized way. They change work forces the way we, plain humans, change clothes. The process of finding new jobs entails such stress that families split and children suffer.

I believe firmly that people should help each other when misfortune strikes; the need to put something on paper became an obsession. How to help people in a small community, where the major work supplier left and has taken their living means away?

Leo, eight, needs a father figure, to love and grow to resemble. Edmund fills the role to perfection. Leo is the glue; he unites all the characters around their common goal -- to save their town from death.

Squirrel, a vivacious girl of eight, is one of Leo's best friends, and she is always there to help with communications among teams. Through Edmund's cooperation, she finds the courage to tell everybody about her talent. Without her effort, the town's children would have been left to perish by their abductor.

Raccoon, the oldest of the trio of friends, is calm and ponderous and lives most of the time he is not with his friends in front of a computer. He helps the grownups with their problems with the Internet and sets up the website for their town. He also is the one to find, through the Internet, a lawyer to volunteer his services for the problems that are sure to crop up in their strife for a new, independent life.

The town becomes a unit and they might as well adopt the Musketeers' logo -- one for all and all for one. The children surely live by that. To read their story, go to my website, www.rocsanneshield.com. You will find an excerpt of "Save Magic City"; if you are intrigued to hear more, you can purchase my book there as well. Save Magic City is also available for purchase at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

"Save Magic City" is an excellent book for adults who want to teach their children the importance of caring for each other and the environment they live in. My book makes great reading and you will, I hope, tell others about it too.

About the Author, Rocsanne Shields

Rocsanne was born in Romania many years ago, when communism was still the way of life in her country. She desired to escape the communism and find more about a freer way of life in the West. For this, she left Romania as a tourist, and never looked back. Her education includes Geological Engineering and Construction Estimating, thus being able to find work wherever she went. During all these years she wrote short stories, mostly about the people she met, finding them extremely interesting. But always she was sure she will write a novel someday.

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Stargazing With Your Family 03/30/2011

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Stargazing With Your Family
by Jay Ryan

We hear a lot about “space” in the pop media, but we mostly see pretty pictures taken by the Space Shuttle or the Hubble Space Telescope. Meanwhile, a lot of people would like just go outside and look at the night sky, to explore the mysteries of astronomy with their own eyes, rather than just look at pictures on the computer.

Learning the sky poses many challenges, particularly for the total novice. For people who live near big cities, the sky isn’t much to see from their own backyards. Most of the stars are hidden behind the glow of the streetlights, and only a handful of the brightest stars can peek out feebly through this haze.

Also, most average people today don’t know a lot about the sky. We hear that astronomy is the oldest science, and has a long, rich tradition, but we don’t hear very much about that, or how to understand and appreciate that history. Maybe you’d like to learn about the sky with your homeschooled kids, but have no idea where to begin. What’s a mom to do?

First, Do Your Homework!

The first thing you can do is try to find out what’s up there! Familiarize yourself with the constellations for the current season before venturing outside. You’ll want to find an effective depiction of the sky that will help you get a sense of which stars are actually visible. Useful tools include star maps, computer programs, and live planetarium shows.

Be careful when selecting a star map! Many maps do not adequately indicate which stars are brighter than others, so you have no way of telling the difference. Other maps present complicated “connect the dot” patterns between stars, and this only adds to the confusion when you can’t see such patterns in the night sky. Avoid the common “star finder” planispheres, since these don’t give an accurate impression of the sky and are confusing for a beginner to figure out.

A very good star map is included in each issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, available on most newsstands and bookstores. Also, you can also learn a lot by experimenting with astronomy software. An excellent program is Stellarium, which can be downloaded for free at http://www.Stellarium.org. Also, there is much to learn from a live planetarium show, which usually includes a demonstration of the stars currently visible in the evening sky.

By reviewing the brightest stars and their patterns beforehand, you can learn to recognize some constellations before stepping outside! There are only first-magnitude stars, which are the brightest. These stars have names that are usually indicated on the star maps. Get to know the stars by name! Can you learn 15 stars over the span of a year? If so, you can learn a lot of constellations!

Learn What You Can From Home

Can you see any stars at all from your house? If so, pick a clear, warm, moonless night to pitch a blanket in the backyard for a family star night. Otherwise, go to a nearby park or other open place. With everyone laying down and looking up, spot the constellations you learned from the star map. Identify the brightest stars and use those to find the patterns of the constellations.

The Big Dipper and Orion are the most famous constellations. If you know these or any others, start with those and then learn the ones nearby. For example, if you already know the Big Dipper, try to find nearby Cassiopeia! Or if you know Orion, try to learn nearby Taurus and Gemini.

If you learn the “neighbors” of the constellations you already know, you can expand outwards into the whole sky. As the seasons pass and new constellations roll into the evening sky, you can rack up quite a number just by learning the neighbors of the neighbors!

Don’t worry if you can’t find every single constellation shown on a star map. There are some “fill-in-the-blank” constellations, formed of faint stars, that are hard to spot even from a clear, dark rural sky. Most star maps include these faint constellations, which adds to the confusion for beginners. If you focus on only the constellations that have bright stars with names, you can learn a whole lot without trying very hard.

Here’s a tip for mom! If you’re busy with everyday homeschooling, delegate the star-finding chores to dad! A lot of dads are interested in astronomy, and this is one subject that dad can tackle to get more involved with the family’s home education.

Here’s another tip! If you have little kids, get them looking! Little kids are very observant and notice things that adults miss (especially the dads!) They are also very good at recognizing shapes and patterns, and they can teach the older kids and the parents!

Best tip yet! Don’t run out and buy a telescope. Learn the stars first, and look through someone else’s eyepiece before deciding to buy. Instead, buy a pair of binoculars. You can use binocs to look at the sky and also other things like birds and sporting events.

Planning a Stargazing Outing

Once you’ve learned to spot a few constellations from home, head out somewhere under the real dark skies! Does your family like to camp? Plan to add some stargazing to your next campout! If you can learn some constellations from the city, you will be ASTOUNDED at how bright they appear from under some pristine, velvety-black rural skies. Also, you might have better success spotting all those faint “fill-in-the-blank” constellations shown on the star map that you couldn’t find from home.

When planning a rural astronomy event, it is crucial to schedule around the phase of the Moon. Even a little moonlight spoils the velvet-black quality of the night sky. Never plan sky watching around the Full Moon! Instead, plan an event near the New Moon, or at least after Last Quarter, when the Moon rises late at night. These Moon phases are indicated on most wall calendars. Also, try to plan around meteor showers, which are excellent sky sights!

For a one-night sky experience, find a local astronomy club in your area. Such clubs are everywhere, and most have monthly public telescope observing nights. These clubs include many veteran astronomers that would LOVE to give your family a tour of the sky and answer everyone’s questions. Ask about scheduling a night for your entire homeschool group to attend. Spend time looking through their telescopes before deciding to buy one of your own.

Astronomy Resources
There are a great number of astronomy resources for learning the sky. You can start with Sky & Telescope magazine, which has been helping people learn the sky for over 70 years. Visit their website at: SkyandTelescope.com. Also visit their “Community and Organizations” page to find an astronomy club, planetarium or observatory near you

Classical Astronomy is an astronomy site especially for Christian homeschoolers. Stay informed of upcoming astronomy events by subscribing to our FREE email newsletter. Also, check out Signs & Seasons, our homeschool curriculum that includes information for learning the constellations. Visit ClassicalAstronomy.com and find us on Facebook!

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Winners of the Kiboomu iPhone App Give-Away! 03/28/2011

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Thanks to all who commented (entered) the drawing for iPhone apps from Kiboomu!

The following three people won ALL FOUR of these fabulous apps just by leaving a comment! There were nine comments, in total. A random number generator was used to determine the winning entrants. Winners will be contacted this coming week via email. Thanks again for participating!

Winner #1: Gayle!

Winner #2: Amanda!

Winner #3: Ali!

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Kiboomu Give Away! 03/12/2011

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Kiboomu Give-Away: iPhone Apps!

Kiboomu is all about kids, providing simple and easy kids crafts, educational songs with lyrics, activities and printables, recipes, musical iPhone and iPad apps, and all-around fun play for preschool, daycare, kindergarten, and home school children. Developed by Wendy Wiseman and Sherry Segal, self-professed technology geeks who love children, education, music, and business.

Kiboomu has graciously provided four amazing iPhone apps for Stone Soup readers! Three piano apps and Kiboomu's newest app, Toddler Sing and Learn! These entertaining apps combine touch, sound and color, making them educational and fun! Three fortunate people will win ALL FOUR of these fabulous apps!

Discover the alphabet from Ant to Zebra! The best way for your toddler or preschooler to learn the alphabet with our perfectly paced sing-along ABC Song! Also great for ESL Learning!

Aspiring toddler and preschool pianists now have a new way to take piano lessons! With the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Piano iPhone App, You can even record your little one playing and singing along!

"With an Oink-Oink here and an Oink-Oink there!" With this app Animal and instrument sounds are introduced as toddlers play, Sing and learn with the Old MacDonald Piano iPhone App!

Toddlers will learn words, letters, numbers, colors and shapes, body parts, food, as well as sing along songs with Toddler Sing & Learn! Choose from 10 songs, 10 puzzles and 10 coloring pages!

To Win:

Mandatory Entry for Giveaway

Leave a comment on this post. (Not on Facebook or on Twitter) Links are provided so that you can visit the above Kiboomu links to view the products, if you like...

Additional Optional Entries

Become a fan of Stone Soup on FB (Or leave a comment letting me know you already do!)
Follow Stone Soup on Twitter (Or, again, leave a comment letting me know you do.)
Subscribe via email to Stone Soup (Well... you get the gist!)

(Of course, you can still enter, even if you already follow or subscribe.)

Giveaway Information

Entries will be accepted until midnight MST, Sunday, March 27, 2011. Winner will be announced by Monday, March 28, 2011.
Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry; The winner will be chosen by random number generator.
Please provide your email address in the field labeled "Email (not published)" That way I can contact you if you win, but your email will be shared privately---not for everyone else to see. Again, emails are NOT published unless you type them into the comment box.
NOTE: This giveaway is open to residents of U.S.A. & Canada.

Disclosure:

I was not provided with anything free for this giveaway, products were provided for Stone Soup readers by Kiboomu. The opinions posted here are my own, and were not influenced by Kiboomu.

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Discover Spanish: A Review 03/03/2011

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A Skill Lost & Found
You would not know it by looking at him, but my husband is Peruvian. His Peruvian father and Castilian mother (from Spain) moved to the united states when my husband was a little boy. Wanting to fit in at school, he refused to speak Spanish unless it was absolutely necessary. His parents spoke to him in Spanish, but he answered them in English. It wasn't until he grew to adulthood that he sold everything he owned, took leave from his job and spent an entire summer with his relatives in Spain. During that summer, he re-learned Spanish, and became fluent again. Though he was again fluent in Spanish, he did not see the tremendous value that a second language was.

We met, married and had children. Despite urging from his family and mine, my children have only occasionally heard their father speak Spanish. Not living very near to his family, my children had very little exposure to the language. I realized if my children were to learn Spanish, I would have to teach them. (Oh my.)

We Tried a Few...
I have tried a few programs, one or two of them were very expensive. I was not impressed with anything I had seen for younger children, and the programs that appeared most comprehensive---teaching the whole language---were not terribly "kid-friendly" so they were reserved for my older children. The younger ones tried the more complicated programs, but after a few weeks, they were no closer to understanding the language, and they were frustrated. I decided I had to wait until high school for them to learn.

Discover Spanish!
Discover Spanish contacted me and asked me to do a review. I was skeptical, but I thought "What can I lose?" My girls (ten and thirteen) were willing to be my guinea pigs.

The program is for all ages 9-99, and can be used alone or as a supplement to existing curriculum. It is equivalent to 2 years of middle school Spanish or 1 year of high school.

Audio-Visual Learning
Discover Spanish is a very visual program, and allows an exchange between characters that can be repeated as much as you like by clicking the mouse. My girls and I loved that we controlled the pace of the lessons. We also like that we could easily revisit sections of the lessons again and again. It is easy for us to find where we are and where we want to go, because each element of the units are clearly labeled, with buttons leading to each element.

Success is the Best Encouragement
My thirteen-year-old does not seem to have an "ear" for language. Imitation is difficult, and with other programs, she was frustrated to tears. She enjoys Discover Spanish very much, and I no longer have to coerce her into completing her Spanish work. Also, because the phrases in the lessons are short, and constantly in front of her (she can listen to the phrases over and over!) she is FINALLY placing her "r's" and "l's" in the right places! She wants to continue using the program because it gives her a sense of accomplishment---she feels "smart" in an area where she has previously struggled! (Phew!)

Simply Enjoyable
I was concerned that like many other programs we have tried, this would be either too juvenile, or too difficult for my ten year old. She is a natural mimic---She frequently imitate accents, and she is very curious about other languages and cultures, so I was disappointed in my inability to find a program she could use. She LOVES Discover Spanish, and she is terribly disappointed if she feels she cannot spend time on Spanish every day! She enjoys the matching game, and clicks the speaker buttons over and over to compare her pronunciation to that of the character in the program. She wants to continue with the program because it's fun!

Online or On CDROM?
The program is available through online subscription or on a set of CDROMs. The CDROMs have audios accompanying all 36 lessons. (CDROMs don't have to be renewed.) All updates to the program are free with the online subscription, along with free audio podcasts of the lessons. The podcasts that go along with the online version are available only through unit 4 at this time, whereas the audios that accompany the CD version cover all 36 lessons. (Click on "free audio podcasts" to go to the page with the links.) You can try a free, sample lesson, HERE.

Discover Spanish also has a wonderful BLOG in Spain! (Click the photo or "BLOG" to see it!) The blog is written in a very student-friendly format, which encourages kids to join in and comment or ask her questions. They will be able to learn a lot about Spain and learning Spanish in the process!

I was very pleased with the program, and I am planning on purchasing it for our next school year. I am not sure yet if I will get the CDROMs or the online version, but I am certain of one thing: We will be using Discover Spanish! (http://www.discoverspanish.com)

Disclosure: Stone Soup Homeschool Network (our family) was given a free trial of this product for review purposes. I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own.

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The Stone Soup Daily 02/16/2011

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The Stone Soup Daily - The News is Out!

I can't take credit for it. Somebody else thought it up. It is pretty amazing though. Included in this FREE newsletter are blogs, articles, links---you name it! All for you, and all about homeschooling.

The articles and links included in this FREE publication are pulled directly from the Stone Soup Twitter List. It is NOT necessary for you to be involved with Twitter to read all the great info, provided daily.

Let me know what you think of The Stone Soup Daily! I am very excited to have ideas, resources and insights from many of my favorite authors, blogs, and sites pulled into one place---with fresh, daily content!

Comments? I LOVE them! Please, click HERE.

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Quick and Easy Valentine Bookmarks 02/12/2011

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Quick and Easy Valentine Bookmarks
(Or Elaborate Any-Time Bookmarks, Made by You!)

You have a Valentine's Day get-together with your homeschool group (or play group) and you forgot to buy valentines. ( I know I am the only one who has done this!) You don't have to spend big bucks, or go out of your way to buy a boxed cards that will be tossed away as soon as the kids get home!

Handmade in a Hurry!

Think outside the box. You can use anything! Old magazines, buttons, notions, foam embellishments, ribbons, rick-rack, embroidery floss, stickers, punches, old cards, scraps or even paper plates!

You Might Be Surprised by Your Supplies

Crack out those scrap-booking supplies, old cards and even your notions. You can use anything to make these useful Valentine's Day bookmarks. (These will be used for months to come!)

These bookmarks would be acceptable to give to girls or boys!

The Basic Bookmark

I use my old paper-trimmer, but a ruler is just about the right width for a bookmark, which makes it easy to trace one and then cut along the lines. Those scrap-booking scissors with the funny edges are really nice to have too. They add interest to even the simplest bookmarks. The basic bookmark is two layers. (In addition to embellishments.) The top piece measuring 6" x 1.5", and the bottom piece measuring 6.5" x 2". Anyway, the top piece measures 1/2 an inch larger than the bottom piece, which creates a nice border of contrasting color.

Cut It, Glue It and Tie It Off - You're Done!

If you have the time, adding sequins, jewels, glitter paint or other embellishments add "Wow!" but when my daughter was in a hurry to get somewhere with her collection of Valentines, we set up an assembly line. My daughter picked two or three papers she liked, one of us cut paper, the next person glued the papers together, and the third punched the hole at the top, fed the ribbon through and tied it off. Voila! We had a dozen valentines finished in about fifteen minutes!

Older kids will enjoy embellishing in lots of ways!

Punches, Stickers, Buttons or Rhinestones!

I love using paper-punches. Not just heart-shaped, but all of them! These bookmarks might be used for years to come, so anything goes. If you are a purist, however, stick to pinks, reds and hears. You will still get "ooh's" and "ah's!" Fix the embellishments to the bookmark with glue, scrap-booking adhesive or double-sided tape. I have used glue-sticks, but sometimes the pretty stuff falls off after a while. The adhesive is just not strong enough for creations that are handled much.

Punch a hole in the top for the finishing touch - a ribbon!

Valentine Bookmarks for Every Age

When my children were younger, I would construct the basic bookmark, then let my children embellish them with stickers, and sign their names. Now that they are older, they enjoy using funky scrap-booking scissors, rhinestones, glitter paint and even stamps to embellish their creations.

Little ones will enjoy adding stickers for their friends' bookmarks.

Don't Forget the Signature!

It's especially fun to save one from each child, each year, in your memory box. Their creations show big changes, and their signatures do too! If you make some Valentine Bookmarks (or any bookmarks, for that matter) send me some photos and I will feature them on the Stone Soup Project Gallery! Email Stone Soup!

Comments? I LOVE them! (Click HERE!)

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Ticket Giveaway to Heart of the Matter Online Conference! 02/04/2011

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Thanks to all who commented (entered) the drawing for free tickets to the Heart of the Matter Online Homeschooling Conference! It's going to be a really informative, uplifting time for sure! I am excited too, because I will be a "hostess" so I might get to "chat" with some of you between sessions!

There were 18 comments, in total. A random number generator was used to determine the winning entrants. Winners will be contacted this coming week via email. Thanks again for participating!

Congratulations...

Winner #1: Julie CC!

Winner #2: Kim Wright!

Winner #3: Kim Chance!

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The Great American Road Trip 01/26/2011

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By Heather Thomas

Expenses often make flying to vacation destinations prohibitive or all together not possible especially for a family living on one income. Instead of ditching the idea of vacation we fall back to an American institution – the road trip. Anyone can travel and occupy their children with today’s modern technology. Movies, cell phones and gaming systems have taken over our lives to the point where we feel naked without them. I propose there is a better way. A way where our family relationships can be strengthened and our road trip becomes part of our vacation instead of just a means to an end.

Books
Take a trip while you take a trip. Explore someplace you’ve never been. Do something you’ve never done. Read a book. Yes, I know as homeschooling families we may have a tendency to consider reading a book too school-like. So don’t just READ the book, make it a family affair. Bring a story that excites and intrigues, maybe one that is above your children’s reading level and one that dad can enjoy as well. Discuss the story, ask questions such as, “Why do you think they made that decision?” or “What would you have done instead?” I find these simple questions engage the listener and can help us to create a story of our own. If you happen to be one of the unlucky few that cannot read in a moving vehicle, you can enlist one of your older children to do the reading or as a last resort, many books are now offered in audio form.

Plan Interesting Stops
Everyone knows that traveling with a family requires more frequent stops; I suggest we use these to our advantage. If you do a little research before your trip you can find free historical sites not too far off your main route. Enlist the help of your children; they will have something to look forward to. Learn about our country’s pioneers, the Indians who traveled the Trail of Tears or Military forts or landmarks. We live in a historically rich nation and there is always something nearby if we just take the time to look for it.

Culture Through Food
Use your trip as an opportunity to learn of other cultures and experience the food they eat. We have chosen to expose our children to many different cuisines since they were toddlers and they have a broader palate than many adults we know. Our country is a melting pot of ethnicity, of people who fought against the odds, made great sacrifice and immigrated to our country legally. These many cultures make our country great. Some of the many cuisines you may want to try are: Asian, Greek, Indian, German and Mexican. There is fare available to appease even the pickiest of taste.

Story Game
Option #1 – Employ the use of story starters or story prompts. Choose a prompt to start the story and go around the vehicle as each person adds to the story. We have laughed so hard using this method because the story never ends up going where you think it will. If you want, you can also record your story and when you get home edit it and submit it in a writing contest.

Option #2 – Each person can tell a story and the rest of the passengers have to guess if it is fact or fiction.

Learn or Practice a New Skill
There are certainly times on a trip where quiet is desired or necessary, driving through St. Louis during rush hour comes to mind. During these times it may be best to work on a new skill. Some quiet skills that are road worthy might be:

Needlepoint
Knitting
Crocheting
Sign Language
Travel Chess
Crossword Puzzles
Word Search

Bring an Atlas
As homeschoolers our children are familiar with using an atlas but nothing is better than learning about the state of Nebraska as you drive through miles of corn, observing the oil rigs in Wyoming or driving past the arch in St. Louis. We have the opportunity to learn of commerce, agriculture, natural resources and the people of each state we drive through and enrich our children’s outlook of the great nation we call home. Take the time to point out the cotton fields in the south, the cornfields in the mid-west, and the herds of Black Angus that dot the fields beside the road. Discuss the goods these things produce and how we benefit from the labor of others.

To some a road trip may seem like necessary torture to get to a desired destination. I suggest that a road trip can be a time of enrichment and fun if only we take the time to plan a little in advance.

Heather Thomas is a freelance writer and eclectic homeschooler. She resides in North Georgia with her husband of twenty-one years and two homeschooled children.

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Shadow of Doubt 01/20/2011

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Shadow of Doubt

Photo: stock.xchng

When Robin first asked me to write a guest post I was honored. Then as I sat down to write, a new emotion crept in. Not fear, I am used to writing. It was a moment of self doubt. What makes me qualified to write about homeschooling? Well, that question is easy; I have been home educating my girls for 13 years now, therefore I have plenty of stories to tell, antidotes to share, and bits for knowledge I have picked up along the way. Plus I have written dozens of articles on homeschooling in the past.

The doubt came from burn out, and I was embarrassed to admit it. It seems that the homeschool parents I know are alway smiling and actively engaged with their well mannered children. But not me, I was ready to throw in the towel. I was tired of homeschooling, tired of the snow, tired of wanting time for myself, and just plain tired. For the first time in my life I had a brief moment of understanding as to why someone would put their kids in school. But that was it, just a moment, then I remembered all the reasons I homeschool. So we plugged along, and I got more tired and even bit grumpy. To add to it, I am an immigrant in a culture where people don't complain, they suck it up. And my family, well both of the girl's Grandmother's are former public school teachers.

Now don't get me wrong, my girls are delightful. Smart, happy, funny, talented and generally growing up to be the kinds of people I am really proud of. So, why the burn out? I asked a lot of myself. In Dec 1996 I was traveling in central America, single (although dating my husband), had a great job and was active in both sailing a dance clubs. By Dec 1997 I was married with my first child and by 2000, I had two wonderful girls. I was a stay-at-home mom by choice. Homeschool was a natural extension to our lifestyle. My husband is a good guy, but busy too. And we had somewhat traditional roles, so the kids were always with me.

So, how could I sit down and write about how great homeschooling is, when I wasn't feeling it? So, I decided to ask my friends how they do it year after year maintaining a picture perfect family life - turns out they go on holiday. No kidding; One went up north for a week, one to Hawaii and the third to Central America. No husband, no kids - just a complete break. And they all recommend it.

Now I realize we can't all do that, and many of us (myself included) wouldn't want to, but we can take time for ourselves. And that is the number one lesson I have learned from this process. Maybe a walk, a bath, or just to sit and watch a sunset or the waves crashing on the shore, whatever it is, I need some time everyday for me. Lately I spend mine on-line. I use my creativity on Zazzle and write on Squidoo. Most recently I have started a slightly twisted humor blog, Laugh Quotes and Comedy Shirts so I can laugh everyday. And, like everything else there are few surprise bonuses from taking time for me - I am happier, our time together is more productive, I am a more attentive tutor, I have more patience, my kids have become a bit more independent in a good way, and overall, I think I am a better mom. And, the girls are spending more time with their dad and learning about his interests too. My husband says, everyone is happy when mom is happy.

Rhonda Albom, writes under the pen name of Pukeko. She sees beauty in everything and lives on the lighter side of life. She is a comedy writer, graphic artist and travel photographer. Her fun creations are featured on Zazzle, and on her blog, Laugh Quotes and Comedy Shirts. On Squidoo she is a "Giant Squid" "Rocketmom" and "Squidoo Angel." Rhonda is an American expat living in New Zealand. She homeschools her children, races yachts, searches for summer and avoids wearing skis.