Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas 

from the Bentz Bunch!

M - Missed our Christmas letter... here's your update!

E - Esther, age 4 is our baby.  No more birth announcements, we're just adopting college kids now :-)

R- Renita beat breast cancer this year!

R- Redheads, why yes - 5 of 8 children are!

Y - Y'all - you might could hear some of us say that now and again 'round these parts... (our best Arkansas slang!)



C- Co-op.  One of our best blessings, our KCA homeschool family!

H- Homeschooling.  All 8 of them!!  10th grade to Preschool.

R - Racing.  Matt won a couple of trips to drive race cars with HP.  Renita just races around town in her big, white van!

I- India.  Sam and Renita went on their first mission trip.  A life changing adventure for both!

S- Sam, age 16 and Selah, age 10.  Our "s" kids.

T - The rest of them - Luke -14, Noah-12, Lydia-9, Joshua -7, Chloe-6, Esther -4.

M- Matt and Misha.  Matt has a thing for redheads, even the dog has red hair!

A- Arkansas, a beautiful place to visit...when are you coming?

S- Savior - Our reason to celebrate this season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

American Girl Club - Colonial Christmas Party

I just had to bring this one back - We really "outdid" ourselves this time!

For our American Girl club this month - we went all out and had a "Colonial Christmas" party.  We brought out the china, silver, even the cloth napkins!  Everyone dressed in their finest, colonial style (or at least, our interpretation of it.) The MCA - aka...Masculine Club of Awesomeness, even participated - they "Did Hard Things" and put into practice what they've learned by serving our young ladies.

I think I had almost as much fun setting up the house for the 42 (yes, 42..) place settings!  Every mom dusted off the china and brought out the table linens.  My house looked amazing!

Our "craft" for this night was assembling the Fruit Pyramid centerpieces.  I am in love with our handiwork...pretty impressive I'd say!

After our dinner was finished, we treated several homes in our neighborhood to a "large" group of dressed up "colonials" singing Christmas Carols.  I think we were a hit!

What an enchanted evening it was!  The food was amazing - Smoked Turkey, Venison Stew, Beef Pie, Sweet Potatoes with Apples, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and homemade bread.  Dessert was Raspberry Flummery and the most amazing Bread Pudding anyone has ever tasted!  Punch, Cider and Egg Nog as well.

The American Girl Moms - amazing women!

Our Colonial Young Ladies (with their best manners...)

The "Littles" even had silverware!  The knives were a big hit....

The MCA Men - they clean up nicely!

How will we top this evening?

A "Last-Minute-No-Mess-Even-Your-Kids-Can-Make-Them" Cookie

Ok - I'm not much of a cook...  BUT, if you need a"Last-Minute-No-Mess-Even-Your-Kids-Can-Make-Them" Cookie recipe , I'm here for you!

Here you go:

Heat oven to 200 degrees (not hotter, did you know you can actually burn chocolate kisses?  Don't ask how I know this...)

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet

Have your child lay out a layer of pretzels (we like the holiday shape ones from Sam's Club)

Put a chocolate kiss on each pretzel (you can use Hugs too, for a stripey look)

Heat for 4 min.

Firmly press an M & M into each kiss





PLUS A BONUS Recipe for you (these are highly addicting, make with caution & self-control, or give away immediately!):

THIS YEAR we went wild, we melted Rolo candies (follow the same recipe as above) and pressed in a pecan.  Presto - we had "turtle treats"!

We can really mass produce these treats around here, good thing too - we eat as many as we make!

It was so much fun that we made 33 (YES!) gift boxes for my hubby's co-workers in just a short time.

I picked up these adorable treat boxes at Christmas clearance last year (75% off!)  So, we put a couple of our treats in a cute baggie, added a candy cane, some hot chocolate, and some more candy for color - and we had an adorable treat.  Looks like we spent hours - but, we didn't!

Best part - just throw away the parchment paper, and clean up is done too!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Writing - I Needed Help!

I'm so excited, I just have to share.  I teach a bunch (14 to be exact) wild and creative 3-4th graders writing at our Co-op.   I have to stop to breathe... 14 of them and only 1 of me.

Well, I was supposed to get a break  , I mean have to go to jury duty this week.  It's our final week before Christmas break. 

I called to check on my jury duty status - like how long will I be there, what kind of snacks to bring,  no children - right?, and that kind of thing.  I started with "I'm a homeschool mom of 8" - the judge's secretary put me on hold and came back and told me I was excused by the judge!  Wow - I've never had that response before :-)

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled rant about my writing class.  GLUP!  I'm now going to be teaching tomorrow!! (of course, I usually don't prepare until the day before... see comment "I'm a homeschool mom of 8" above)  We're currently working in the All Things Fun & Fascinating by IEW.  But, covering Christmas poetry should be a fun day.

Off to my friend - Pinterest.  I found wonderful, FREE templates for each of our Christmas poetry types, and they are too good not to share with you!

Christmas Acrostic:   Take the word "Christmas" and create a poem with each letter.  (If you're on my Christmas card list...I want you to know I had this idea loooong before I saw this lesson!)

Christmas Cinquain:  A poem of syllables.  Cute template with instructions

Christmas Senses Poem:  Describe Christmas with a line for each sense.

A couple of ink cartridges later, I'm ready for class, and with cute printables!  I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

India on my Mind - Part 2

Did you miss my intro post...  read it here.


We did it, we actually traveled 27 hours to the other side of the world, and we were in India.

India is an overload to your senses.  It's bright, crowded, noisy, smelly, hot and completely wonderful! I know that not all of you would agree...  but, I fell in love at first sight!

Our first task was to go shopping... we needed Indian apparel.  We wore the - "Salwar Kameez".  A tunic like top, with drawstring baggy pants.  I'm telling you, Indians are on the right track - comfortable clothing that is pretty too!!  So many colors, fabrics and designs to pick from.  It was an experience in itself, picking out our outfits.    Imagine Black Friday - everyday!   I got 4 new outfits for around $60, what a deal.  
 

We actually had to cross the street to meet back up with our van. It was a bit like a "Frogger" game... Here, I tell my children to carefully look both ways before crossing. In India - we had to look for an opening and run for it! I was terrified, but excited.

People, people, people - everywhere! Animals too... Motorcycles and Auto rickshaws are the main vehicles, but there are many trucks and buses too. All shoulder to shoulder, no lanes. Rule of the road - "largest vehicle has the right away". Hey, with my big van, maybe I could drive in India?!

 
Here we are in our new outfits. Sam did the typical male thing... the men went to one store, picked out one shirt and were done. The ladies of the group took a little longer... :-) But, he chose well, I think India looks good on him!

Aren't we colorful?

Stay tuned...more to come!

Christmas Book Favorites to Share

What else would I want to share with you... But of course - some of my book Christmas book favorites!

These suggestions have come from the Christmas Unit Study Adventure and my personal family experiences -

Bentz Family All Time Favorite (remember Advent starts Dec. 1st):

Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent, by Arnold Ytreeide.

This is an exciting advent story for the whole family about a ten year-old boy, Jotham, and his journey across Israel in search of his family. His adventures are exciting -- this is the first advent book that we read completely through, cover to cover! 

Actually - look for Bartholomew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels (2 Advent stories that go with this book - you can read them in a three year cycle) We're starting this book this year for the 3rd time - and they never get tired of it. One of our favorite family traditions!

Last Year's "find" -

The Jesse Tree, by Geraldine McCaughrean. Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

As Mr. Butterfield carves a Jesse Tree in an old dusty church, a curious young boy distracts him, asking about the various symbols on the tree. Against his better judgment, the old man finds himself retelling the familiar Biblical tales that trace the lineage of Christ, from the Garden of Eden to Jesus' birth. Under the carpenter's skilled hands, the Jesse tree grows--and an unlikely friendship begins to take root as well. The Jesse Tree will captivate readers who know and love the Bible stories as well as those who are reading them for the first time.

We read this as we would put on our Jesse Tree ornaments, all of my kiddos were giggling through it - great lunchtime activity for us!

What we're going to try this year:

One Wintry Night, by Ruth Bell Graham. Published by Baker Books.

In this beautifully illustrated book, a young injured boy seeks help from a grandmotherly woman during a snowstorm. While the two wait out the storm in her cabin, the woman lovingly shares the story of the Bible from Creation to the Resurrection, and each chapter ends with a bit of a cliffhanger -- perfect for family reading time during December.

Do you have a favorite Christmas book to share?  I'd love to hear your suggestions!

India on My Mind - The Adventure Begins

I can't seem to get my mind off India!  I know I left parts of my heart there,  and I guess, my mind too.

We have had a whirlwind of activity since we returned, and I'm only now getting a moment to begin sharing this amazing journey with you.


Let's start with the beginning (for this post...more to follow)

I'd like to introduce you to the spark that lit this fire for India in me... My sixteen year old son Sam.

He had a vivid dream when he was only 5 years old, that God was calling him to be a missionary to India.  He's never questioned that,  always responded to the "What do you want to be when you grow up question?" with   "A missionary to India." 

I don't know about how many 16 years you know, but I haven't met many that are so confident of God calling them to India.

When our church mentioned they were planning a mission trip to India - we went.  If you want to read more about that experience - check out this post.

After months of preparation,  including spiritual gift testing, ministry bios, cross-cultural preparation and team building - we were ready!

Oh, by the way - did I mention that I happened to find out I had breast cancer during this time?  Satan was not happy about our plan to go, and tried his best to derail God's plan.  (maybe another post about that fight will be coming soon...) 

But, God's plan won out!  We successfully raised our support in a matter of weeks,  helped support the team financially with a huge Consignment Sale (read about that here!) and kicked cancer's behind!

We were off to INDIA.... 

The morning we left, the team, our families and several friends came to pray us off...  This is one of my favorite pictures - my husband praying a blessing over Sam and I as we are about to leave.  (sniff, sniff - still get a choked up.)

We tend to travel in a crowd.  Wonder who was taking care of the crew while I was gone?

Grandma came from MN (a cross cultural mission trip of her own)


Here are some of the most amazing WORLD CHANGERS - aka... Sam's friends!


Here we go - watch out world - we have passports and visas and we plan to use them! 


One of Sam's greatest fears about this trip wasn't the food, wasn't the being so far away in a completely new culture, wasn't even being seen with his mother!  It was flying.  He was truly scared stiff at the thought of getting on a plane.  I was so proud of him,  not only did he face his fear and overcome it, but he was an accomplished world traveler by the time we got off the 27 hours of travel to India.

India 2013 - NLC Team

About to embark on a life-changing adventure.

 

 



WE MADE IT!!   Our first picture in India!  A realization of a dream is happening...  my son has set foot on Indian soil - I'm not sure that either of us will ever be the same.

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more "India on My Mind", as our trip unfolds.

At Home in Dogwood Mudhole from Franklin Sanders: A TOS Crew Review

Franklin Sanders from At Home in Dogwood Mudhole

From their website:
"When Y2K looms and modern life fails to satisfy, Franklin Sanders and wife Susan go from nuclear family to multigenerational farm. Despite Susan’s admonition that they acquire nothing that eats, they gain dogs, chickens, horses, cows, pigs, ducks and sheep. Their children move back in and bring their spouses, filling Dogwood Mudhole with grandchildren. It’s no Green Acres, but through sheer persistence and good humor, they learn to farm. At Home in Dogwood Mudhole, a three-volume collection of letters, provides a running account of an attempt to live an authentic life, as Franklin writes every month for seventeen years a personal letter to his The Moneychanger newsletter readers."

Cost:

Volume 1, Nothing That Eats, 379 pages, available in paperback for $22.95, or ebook formats Kindle, ePub, or PDF for $16.95. 

Sample chapters for both Volume 1, Nothing That Eats, and Volume 2, Best Thing We Ever Did, are waiting for you online. 

Best Thing We Ever Did is currently available in PDF format, with Kindle and ePub to follow in late November, and the paperback is expected to ship the first week of December.

Finally, a review for me - At Home in Dogwood Mudhole - a treat to savor.  This heafty book is a collection of letters inviting you to visit "Dogwood Mudhole", the destination of a lifetime!

I took this book with me on a weekend escape with my hubby.  Our setting - high in the Ozark mountains, in our private cabin with a view that stretched for miles (it's okay to be jealous...) just helped set the stage for getting lost in this book!

I remember the Y2K scare... but, living in suburbia at the time, we just bought some extra bottled water.  Franklin Sanders and his wife, along with 7 children, did far more.  They made a move to Dogwood Mudhole, Tennessee.

His stories are heartwarming, encouraging and inspiring.  Right off, in the preface - he clues you in on his motivation.  "So here we are, all of us - you, too - at home in Dogwood Mudhole, sunk in the mire of the world but surrounded always by the promise of resurrection, the assurance of grace, and the hope of glory.  That hope transforms the mudhole back into a garden."    

I was hooked!  Being a transplanted northerner, I loved his descriptions of the south.  Having a large family myself, his family antics made me chuckle with agreement.  Growing up on a farm, it brought back plenty of childhood nostalgia.  

Now - if only I can convince my husband to sell everything and head to Dogwood Mudhole...  :-)   Seriously, you will enjoy this read.  

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew

IXL: A TOS Crew Review

IXL - 

Online Math Membership (K-12)  & Online Language Arts Membership (2nd - 4th)

From their website:
"Practice makes perfect, and IXL makes math and language arts practice fun! IXL motivates students through interactive games and exercises while keeping teachers and parents informed and involved. With more than 2,500 skills spanning pre-school through high school, IXL offers a dynamic and enjoyable environment suitable for any learning style. Students who use IXL are succeeding like never before."

COST:  IXL - $9.95 for math only, $9.95 for language arts only, or $15.95 a month for both.

 If you purchase a yearly subscription it is $79.00 for either math or language arts, and $129.00 a year for both subjects. (Each additional child is only $2 per month, or $20 per year)

The Bentz Test Laboratory was excited to get a fresh new look at IXL -  Online Math Membership (K-12).
My five testers were grades K-5th grade.  IXL arrived at a great time, we really needed some extra practice in the dread subject... math!

IXL is a very comprehensive drill and review program.  It's not full curriculum, it doesn't actually teach the concepts.  However, I think it is one of the most appealing, user friendly online programs we have used.

After setting up a family account, I was able to create child accounts, complete with their own avatar :-) for each of my testers.  That was painless... and they were ready to begin!  I hate complicated parent account set-ups,  IXL was so easy to get started.

It's been a tough time around the Bentz Test Labortory - I recently finished radiation treatment, and a 2 week mission trip to India.  So, needless to say, math practice has be automated, or it may not get done.

My testers were able to easily log in independently and choose from skills for their appropriate grade level.  In addition, they could choose the specific topics they wanted to work on - from simple counting all the way to geometry! They could choose whatever they wanted, and jump around within their level.  As they complete each topic, they earn awards and medals.  This was surprisingly effective.  Seeing their percentage correct advance until they reached their goal, kept them motivated.

It was an easy way to incorporate math review into their day.  They all enjoyed the computer time, and found the program enjoyable.  Not too bad for math review, wouldn't you say?

Weekly progress reports were emailed to me, so I could see exactly what they had been working on, and what they had mastered.  I think this is a useful tool to add to your math toolbox.  However, with multiple children it can be a bit pricy.  I found it worth the cost during this season of our life - math practice was getting accomplished on a daily basis!

Another fun addition (PUN intended!)  is the FREE IXL App for your iPad.  You don't want to miss getting to take IXL on the go.

We did not spend any time with the IXL - Language Arts section, but - you may want to check it out for yourself.  Online Language Arts Membership (2nd - 4th).

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew