Navigation Made Easy

If you are a regular reader, you may notice a feature that is new to my blog and something I'm really excited about! Can you guess what it is? Hint- it’s located above this post. Have you figured it out yet? Okay, I'll give you one more hint...it's blue with words written in white. Yay! That’s right, you got it! It’s my brand new menu bar!

From now on if you stop by just to read my posts about homeschooling, you’ll be able to click on Homeschooling Adventures and all my posts in that category will pop up, you won’t have to wade through everything. If you want to read about our Motor Home Adventures, you’ll just have to look under Everyday Life since well, that is our life after all. I’m also excited to have a spot just for all the fun places we’ve been- you'll find these under Destinations. And starting next week I’ll have a regular feature, Tonya’s Travel Tips that will be posted every Tuesday under, you guessed it, Travel Tips. Have no fear, if you forget to stop by on Tuesday, you can find my tips easily. Finally, want to read the neat interviews that I post with roadschooled teens? Check under Featured Friends- I’ll be adding more to this category soon. And, to make it a bit easier, if you do happen to click on the menu bar and want to get back to the new stuff, just go Home.

Now, back to the menu bar-doesn’t it look great? As always, I can thank my wonderful blog designer, Louise from Adori Graphics for doing such a great job. Actually, she isn’t just ‘my blog designer’, I do have to share so if any of you are looking to spruce up your blog, twitter or Etsy pages, why not stop by Adori Graphics and have a look at all the great things she can do?

Now, it's your turn, what do you think is the best feature you’ve ever added to your blog?

Statue of Liberty: Extending our Travels into our Classroom

In case you haven't noticed, this week I've kind of been at a loss of what to write. Or I was until I began looking through some of our past homeschool portfolios last night and discovered all the fun things we've learned over the years as a result of our travels. But some of you may be wondering how we mix the two; education and travel. So for those who aren't quite sure how this lifestyle works, I decided to share how travel influences what we learn here in our home.

Taken from my homeschool portfolio: In October of 2004, we decided to take a long weekend and venture to New York Harbor to take a peak at The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had prepared for our trip by reading books and watching movies about both places, coloring pictures of the Statue of Liberty and completing much of the Jr. Ranger books for both The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (which we forgot to take on our trip). In my research, I'd discovered that it would be best to leave from New Jersey vs. New York since we weren't there to see the city but just these attractions before moving on to Pennsylvania. My research paid off, there were no lines for this ferry and we were able to purchase our tickets and board the ferry quickly. The only thing I didn't pay attention to was the weather for New York and arriving we realized that it was much colder than we had expected it to be. We dug through the vehicle and put on all the extra clothes we could because we knew we would freeze on the ferry.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty in the New York Harbor was breathtaking. Our trip was wonderful from the ferry ride (even though it was cold) to the top of the pedestal that the statue stands on. Our tour started with a Ranger led discussion with the old torch, a trip into the museum which is in the pedestal of the statue and an elevator ride to the top of the pedestal where we had a beautiful view of Ellis Island and Manhattan. We could also see the Brooklyn Bridge from this point. We tried to visualize where the World Trade Center would have been in the skyline; saddened that we hadn't visited before.

My daughter was especially enamored with our experience and before we left to visit Ellis Island decided that she was going to focus on the statue for her Education Expo project in the spring. The Education Expo is an event that our local support group offered to its members each year. The kids were invited to select a topic that they wanted to know more about and they would prepare a presentation board and a short report that they would give as a speech for a small group of judges.

Though there were judges, they were basically there just to ask questions and to offer constructive criticism. All children that participated received a certificate and a ribbon as this was basically for them to practice their public speaking skills in a non-threatening environment. Anyway, Chelsea began to collect material for her presentation for us to work on at home. Chelsea worked really hard on her display and made an adorable scrapbook and dressed up as Miss Liberty. Had we not gone to the Statue of Liberty, my daughter surely would have found something else to talk about, but since we had been there, she was extra excited to share her knowledge with everyone else. And, since it was something SHE had chosen, she still remembers much of what she learned.

Want your children to truly remember something? Capitalize on their interests. I'll share more later...until then...Happy Homeschooling!

Do you encourage your children to learn about their interests as part of your homeschooling lifestyle?

Creation Museum:1/2 Off for Homeschoolers

Well fellow homeschoolers, have I got a deal to tell you about! The Creation Museum near Cincinnati is offering a winter deal that's hard to beat. During the months of January and February each Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday admission is reduced for adults to $10, students to $7 and planetarium tickets $4. That's an incredible savings- more than 1/2 off for adults and nearly that for students! If you have little ones under five, they are automatically admitted at no charge. Yep, they are FREE. But for all others, you will need to print the coupon so be sure to click on the picture above and print it out before you go so it can be presented at the ticket counter. If you have any problems, contact me thetravelingpraters at gmail dot come or leave a comment and I'd be happy to send you a pdf copy.

I realize not everyone here homeschools but if you are Active-Duty Police, Military, or Firefighters you receive free admission and dependents will receive 50% off with proper ID.

We haven't made it to The Creation Museum yet, but this is one museum that we will not miss! We really can't wait to go!

However, you may enjoy reading about these places near Cincinnati we have visited. And if you're planning a trip of your own, don't miss this link for some more incredible deals.

Have you been to the Creation Museum or the Cincinnati area? Why not leave a comment and tell us about your favorite attraction?

Easy Meals for this Week

I love the days when I can throw some ingredients in the crock pot and a couple hours later sit down to a yummy meal or side dish. This is one of my favorite recipes for that occasion.

Cheesy Potatoes

1 bag of frozen hash browns
1 med. onion, diced
1 16 oz. container of sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup

Add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Season with salt & pepper if desired. That's it. So easy, even a camper can do it. With a crockpot of course.

To keep it easy, we served this with Turkey hotdogs, and green beans. Just heat and serve. Can't beat it. Total meal cost $8.05 plus tax- yes, some places do pay tax on food...

Wanna try another easy meal?

Beef & Bean Burritos

This is a super easy recipe that we enjoyed last night. Sorry, I didn't think to snap a picture before they were all devoured, I'll try harder next time. Promise. Anyway, here's the recipe and believe me this is so easy, I prepared it all in the microwave in under a half hour. I'm not going to tell you how many pounds of hamburger or cans of beans to get but I'm sure you'll be able to adapt it easy enough for your family.

This is what you need:
A lb. or two of Hamburger
A can or two of Pinto Beans
A pkg or two of taco seasoning
Tortillas of your choice (I used 10" flour tortillas)
Mexican blend cheese
Salsa

What you do:
Brown the hamburger and drain. Add taco seasoning to hamburger according to directions (personally, I don't use as much water as they typically call for, just enough to enable me to mix it all up). Open the beans, drain, heat through. Warm tortillas and layer each tortilla with hamburger, beans, cheese and salsa if desired. Serve and eat. Yummy!

Total meal cost: $10.75 (we ate the burritos with corn chips)and don't forget the tax, of course.

How about you? Why not share your favorite easy and cheap meal idea?

Myth or not?

Bred and born a Yankee, growing up in the Northern States, I am accustomed to cold winter temperatures with inches and inches of snow. We play in it, drive in it and yes, go to school and shopping in it. It takes a lot of snow, really frigid temperatures, or threat of a blizzard to shut things down in my home state.

That’s why I never believed the rumors I heard growing up, thinking the source must surely have gotten their information wrong. Really wrong. But I now know the rumors are not some fantastic myth created to make us Northerners jealous, it is true. I’ve experienced it firsthand. No longer fiction, but cold, hard fact. When it snows in the South, everything really does shut down. Everything. The Interstate, the highways, even Army bases. It’s all closed. And Wal-Mart nearly runs out of food. Well, bread, milk, soup and popcorn, everything that we went to the store to buy on our regular list, not because a ‘storm’ was coming.

And how much snow does it take to cause all this upheaval? Not a lot. How about less than 2”? Just enough to cover the roads and freezing temperatures. Because unlike the Northern States, they aren’t accustomed to snow. So what little bit they do get apparently doesn’t warrant the expense of an investment in snow removal equipment that they may or may not use again this season. Or next.

But I’m not complaining, really I’m not. After all, my husband was able to enjoy a snow day with us. Who could complain about that? It WON'T be me!

I just thought I’d escaped this kind of weather, that’s all.

So, do you have snow in your neck of the woods? If so, what do you do to enjoy it?