Geography Matters......The Munford Series Review

 I was so thrilled when I discovered we were going to receive a series of books that teach history/geography is such a fun way. This series of books follow Munford, a water molecule on his many adventures to places all over the world. After spending time reading the series over the past week, I was excited to hear there input after reading the books. I decided to conduct an interview with each of the boys and here is what they had to say.

Lance consumed all four books in two days...Caleb has completed two book in the series and is working on the third.

Lance: 10 years old, 5th grade/Caleb: 8 years old 3rd grade

Q: What did you think about the Munford Series?

A from Lance: I thought they were very good books, I enjoyed reading them.

A from Caleb: I liked them. They were fun.

Q: Would you recommend these book to your friends and why?

A from Lance: Yes, I would recommend them. They helped to me to learn.

A from Caleb: Yes, I would recommend them. They teach you about history in a fun way.

Q: What age kids would you recommend to read these books?

A from Lance: 7-12 yr olds

A from Caleb: 8-11 yr olds

Q: Which book was your favorite and why?

A from Lance: The Klondike Gold Rush. Munford discovered that he didn't need gold to be happy.

A from Caleb: Munford Meets Robert Fulton. I learned that he invented a kind of bottle rockets.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest what would you give the Munford Series? 

A from Lance: 8

A from Caleb: 7

I think it's exciting when we can find products, such as these, that introduce our children to learning new things in such fun ways...not dry bland facts and dates thrown at them that they will never retain. If you want to stay up to date on all happening at Geography Matters~Where Learning Comes Naturally head over to their Facebook and hit the LIKE button, or Twitter goers can go here! .If you'd love to excite your own children about learning...or need a good Christmas gift for some kiddos be sure to pop over here to buy your own books! Each soft cover book for this series are only $8.95 each.

 OR 

SPECIAL FOR GAERTEGANG READERS!! Buy 3 get the 4th FREE!! Use the code 4MUNFORD43 

A big thank you to Geography Matters for sending us the complete series FREE in exchange for our review and honest opinions. It's been a pleasure!

New Happenings at THE GAERTEGANG Household!

A few things have been happening around here as of late. Our basement flooded (after a faucet handle decided to just blow off), two weeks ago. Since everything is still in a "mess" we have been unable to function as normal, whatever that is. Here are a few pictures...I know they don't show a whole lot.

super soaking wet carpet....

more super soaking carpet!

When all is said and done, it could have been SO MUCH WORSE! I'm glad we were home and could start clean up right away. We are all dried out, with pretty minimal damage. For that I am truly grateful!

On Monday we discovered that our youngest little man, Zach needed some vision correction. He was so super cute and excited about getting his glasses!

His before: LOVE THOSE FRECKLES!

 His after:

I would LOVE TO KNOW how to eliminate those glares on his glasses. Is it my picture taking skills that need tweaked or can I just use something in editing to get rid of them.....do tell!!

On the very same day, Caleb got his braces! (Can you hear our bank account groaning?)

I can't tell who is more excited Caleb or Julia.....I can tell you that later that day and today Julia is defiantly more excited. With an upper & lower expander and braces all in one setting his little mouth is aching pretty good.

It makes me all warm and fuzzy to see how excited they were for each other.

(Believe me I need those fuzzy moments.....every once in awhile......in between fights!)

Preparing for the Christmas Season.....

I know it is only October, but when you plan on crafting October means getting busy on projects. The last time I got together with my sewing bee ladies, we were making stockings for soldiers. I was inspired to use up some of my stash fabric and whip up some more. I don't know about you but I LOVE INSTANT gratification projects. I don't know if I will actually keep any of these, but maybe. I've thought about maybe selling some them for a little extra cash. If that doesn't pan out I have a Plan B in mind. Here are my fruits of labor thus far.

Next on my list....Make stockings with CAMO fabric! 

If you are by chance interested in any of the stockings I am asking $12 for one....$10 when you buy three or more.

Changing Colors!

In case I haven't convinced you how much I LOVE this time of year, I have a little more proof. I walked around the Homestead last week snapping away at all the loveliness of the harvest and changing colors.

Uncle Jim was running beans in our field, so of course we all ran out to watch.

Then we ran over to way hello!

They were able to ride with him on another day...until the combine sprung a hydrologic leak!

I am so thankful for such a LONG stretch of PERFECT weather. 

Happy FALL!

Taking Advantage of the Season!

"Seize the Moment" (weather), has been our mantra this week! Has it been yours also? We spent a whole morning do all things FUN and FALL! First up.....a FALL scavenger hunt!

I complied a list of 12 "must finds"

Then I divided the kids into 2 teams...an older with a younger, each team was given a list. 

(no looking at the list was allowed until I said "GO!")

Each person was given a plastic bag to collect their goodies.

A couple rules were given:

One of each item on the list must be collected in their own bag (except the rake...1 per team)

They had to go in order of the list

Stay together...don't leave your man behind!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TEAM ONE: Lance & Julia

TEAM TWO: Caleb & Zach

OFF THEY GO!!!!!

Each team finished just seconds apart, Team 2 first....now we showed our goods to see if the first team done had all items they needed. One member was missing an item so Team 1 was crowned the winner. They all enjoyed a piece of candy for their efforts!

Next were took off on a nature hike through the woods.....

We raked our little path....

We played....we were silly...

catching leafs.....

resting.....

we enjoyed the splendor of the season...

Then we came back and read all these wonderful FALL books in the sunshine!

Loving EVERY SECOND of the season and all it entails!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip!

It's been a few years since we visited a pumpkin patch......this year we had a great opportunity to visit a local farm and hear all about pumpkins and gourds. When we arrived all the kids gathered in the barn for "Pumpkin School".

 

The kids listened intently to all the good information they were being presented.

Here are a couple of fun pumpkin facts.....

Is a pumpkin a veggie or fruit? 

A: Fruit was her answer, because it has seeds inside.

When a pumpkin vine produces a blossom a bee must pollinate the blossom. How many times must a bee visit before a pumpkin can form? 

A: about 13 times

She explained how they plant, care for, and harvest the pumpkins & gourds. She also showed each kind of pumpkin and gourd so the kids could know what seed type to plant in their own garden. We made our list! NEXT, we loaded onto the hay wagon, and headed to the patch!

Zach cruising the patch...

Here are the pumpkins everyone settled on.

We enjoyed looking around at the things the farm grew and had for sale.

The HUGE gourds were so COOL....about 20-30 lbs!!!

After completing the field trip, we came home to paint/carve our pumpkins.

A hint: When painting we use egg cartons to hold each color of paint. It works really well!

Julia painted, but the boys wanted to carve. We harvested, rinsed, salted, and oven-dried all the pumpkin seeds from the boy's pumpkins for a tasty snack. We rinsed and let Julia's pumpkins seeds dry (on a towel), then stored them in an envelope. We plan to use them in our own patch next year.

Hosting A Fall Sunday School Party!

We had the privilege of hosting a fall party for our Sunday School class this past weekend. It really is such fun to get together with so many lovely people that LOVE THE LORD! We kicked off the night with some hotdogs, snacks, & desserts. Then moved onto some bobbing for apples....

Slapping around a pinata was next, although the first child (mine) broke it.....disappointing for some, but the end result was the same~candy collection.

The kids played until they couldn't play anymore, and the adults enjoyed lots of time visiting and getting to know each other better.....Here is a few pictures of the night.

I wasn't able to capture a picture of everyone present, but I think we had around 27 of us total.

Have you been wanting to get together with some friends?

I couldn't think of a better time of year than fall.

The Splender of Fall!

My favorite season (okay maybe it's a tie between Spring/Fall), has arrived and I couldn't be more thrilled! I love, love, love this time of year! This time of year I like to throw a few splashes of seasonal color around to add to the fall charm. Here's a little peak around the homestead....

When you pull up to the house, I have this arrangement on both side of the garage door to welcome you.

 

On the porch, you will find my newest garage sale finds.....the rocker and side table are both made with HEAVY wood, Sometime this winter or early Spring they will get a "makeover" but for now I'm using them to enjoy the warm fall air.

On the other side of the porch, a whole gathering of fall fun.....see that little box (behind the wreath?)

If you missed my post on how to make those lovely looking quilt pumpkins GO HERE!

These little cuties might be hanging out there....there are 4

 Once you come inside I don't have a ton of fall decorations, just a little here and there.

 This is part of the living room

I took two old windows and put fall fabric behind them. I thought it will by a fun but frugal way 

to add seasonal charm to the room. I have on each side of the TV.

I just love my little table pumpkin display....I saw this idea somewhere 

(don't remember where) I didn't come up with it myself.

As you can see nothing over the top special, but I like the little touches of fall around here!