Cord Cutters Rejoice!!

Since my post about Cutting the Cord is by far the most popular on this blog, I thought I would share some exciting news with everyone. Our favorite media streaming service has just had a huge update making it much more user friendly. Its called PlayOn, and allows you to cast any videos you can watch on your PC to a Roku, Chromecast, Playstation, Xbox, Wii...what have you (we love the free episodes on NickJr.com and the free hulu episodes). It can also link up to any paid subscription service you have (netflix, amazon, etc.) I paid $70 last year for a lifetime licence, and now they are offering a scaled down version for free. If you do upgrade to the paid program ($30 annually or $60 lifetime), you can also use your PC as a DVR for any online video and watch it later (including hulu and netflix videos about to expire), skip commercials on certain videos, AND now you can also stream it to a tablet or smart phone (in-network as far as I can tell). Also, the videos are recorded in Mpeg 4 format and can be added to any device you want to watch offline. We seriously use this program on a daily basis. Check it out if you think its up your alley, or if you are considering cutting the cord.

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Homeschooling on a Budget

We finally took the plunge. For the last year and a half we have been homeschooling. We made the decision for a combination of academic and social reasons, and I'm telling you it was so worth it to see a once struggling student be successful and have confidence again. Unfortunately, the investment of time into my children has resulted in a dearth of postings, and will likely continue to do so. But, lucky for you, I have decided to post a few of the awesome free resources we have found that have been helping us to homeschool on a budget. They include both secular and Christian resources, so hopefully you can find something that will suit your needs. 1. The Good and The Beautiful language arts curriculum. Jenny Phillips has created an amazing Christian curriculum resource available for FREE for families. Levels 1-5 of The Good and The Beautiful's language arts curricula are free in their .pdf formats. The links to the free digital versions are buried below the "w

Tip For Peeling Eggs

Image by khunaspix via freedigitalphotos.net The best part of having your own chickens is fresh eggs. Since spring feels like it has arrived in our neck of the woods, our chickens have ramped up their egg production significantly in the last couple of weeks. This occurred right after I bought a dozen and a half eggs from Costco since I wasn't expecting to have so many fresh ones on hand for a few weeks yet. Oops. So here I was with a huge amount of eggs, trying to figure out what to do with them. Then I remembered a family pot luck we had coming up and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to use up a dozen or more eggs in hard-boiled form on a big batch of potato salad. Since I was making hard boiled eggs, I though I'd share my little trick for peeling them. I never realized that people have a hard time peeling hard boiled eggs until I got married and my husband was complaining one day about how he couldn't get the eggs peeled very easily. Then I noti

Christmas Planning Part II: Our Christmas Gift Philosophy

It is very easy around the Holidays to get caught up in the "magic" of Christmas. And what could be more magical than a giant pile of presents under the tree, right? While this may paint a lovely picture, it can't always be the reality financially. And even if you can swing it for one year, it might set up an expectation or precedent for years to come. Years that might not be as abundant. In our family, we have decided to shift the focus as much as we can from getting and gifts, to giving, making memories, and traditions (more on that to come). We still give gifts, but we have pared it down quite a bit to make it more manageable. We have settled on giving our kids 4 presents each year, based around the following rhyme shared with me by a friend: "Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read." I can already hear your brains ticking, "Do you seriously only give your kids ONE TOY at Christmas?" Well, no. These are the

Keeping Hearth and Home

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