Creating Easy to use curriculum since 1989

Exceeds Expectations Learning offers tutoring and mentoring services for students ages 7 and up, online worldwide via Skype or Zoom and in person in the Seattle area.

Learn about bridges, domes, skyscrapers, dams and tunnels. Find out the facts about large structures around the world and how they are built.

Kathy Lowers, Founder of Considering Homeschooling This week we are hoping to hear some happy cheeping from the chicken eggs we are incubating.  Homeschooling is ideal for do-it-yourself living creature projects and the butterfly, lady bug, praying mantis, silk worm projects -- to name a few -- that we have done were easy and yet so valuable. How wondrous it is to view the metamorphosis of one of God’s creatures, right in your own home. A public school classroom might have a fish tank with some leaves and a chrysalis or an incubator with some eggs; the students may or may not see the butterfly or chicks emerge during school hours.  Their teacher might teach the life cycle of a butterfly or chicken, but no credit to the Creator could be given. In contrast, Christian parents who teach their children at home find that such a project rises to an infinitely higher dimension.  At home, there is a bonding between parents and children and among siblings as they experience a living miracle -- and there is a resulting acknowledgement and awe of the One who designed it. So, I jumped at the chance when a homeschooling 4-H mom offered her incubator and a clutch of chicken eggs.  Never having incubated eggs before, I assumed it would be a cinch, just like a cocoon.  Just pop the eggs in the incubator and after a while, you would get your chicks, right?   After some web sites, books and experience regarding this subject, the children and I discovered that incubating can be a complicated and risky process. For one, the incubator we have is not the expensive, digital kind that controls its own temperature and humidity.  It is the old-fashioned version where you have to keep checking the temperature, which seems to meander up and down on a whim.  A few times it got below or above the instructed 99.5 degrees, and we panicked, tweaking it back to the proper temperature, but wondering did the fluctuation affect the chicks? Chicks cannot survive extreme temperature deviations.  And then you have to keep the humidity at the ideal level, which varies according to where you are in the 21 day cycle.  You have to add water into special wells in the incubator.  If there is not enough water, the chicks will stick to the shells.  If too much humidity is present, the chicks will drown. Eggs in an incubator must also be turned several times a day.  A hen instinctively turns her eggs to keep the developing embryos from sticking to the sides of the shell. One of more interesting aspects of the incubator project is “candling” the eggs. You shine a light through the eggs to see if you can determine if there is life in them; sometimes you see a beating heart or movement -- very cool.  What you usually find is that some eggs were never fertile while others started growing but “quit” -- either because the environment was not right or just because they were not meant to make it.  You have to remove the non-living ones because they could explode. Out of fourteen eggs we had five infertile ones, two rotten ones, and seven that may or may not make it -- we’ll know in about three days.  I have to admit I have felt pretty incompetent and stressed when I thought the humidity or temperature was off.  But, we tried our very best to give these eggs the cleanest, safest, most conducive environment possible for coming out healthy.  That, along with prayer, gives us some optimism. I could not help realizing there is a strong analogy here between incubating eggs and raising up children.  While at the beginning all the eggs appear the same, all children start out with such potential, such seeming innocence before some are destroyed by the way of the world. But some Christian parents think that they can place the fragile soul of a child in any old environment, like the extreme anti-God environment of government schools, believing that child will come out just fine through going to Sunday school 45 minutes each week. These naïve parents imagine their child being a great evangelist to all the other youngsters there, not realizing their child is being evangelized more smoothly and intensely, by humanist teachers and curriculum. By the time the process is nearing the end, some have really become rotten, both eggs and children.  While sometimes there was no preventing a bad egg, Christian parents putting their children in the perverted incubators of the public schools is by far the biggest contributor to failed children. If you are a loving parent who really knows Jesus and adheres to His Word in all you do, if you can create an uplifting, safe, inspiring Christian environment for children in your home – and I am convinced most real Believers are more than capable of this -- then you should be homeschooling.  Don’t let the world incubate the souls of your children; God gave that job to you!

Kathy Lowers, Founder of Considering Homeschooling This week we are hoping to hear some happy cheeping from the chicken eggs we are incubating.  Homeschooling is ideal for do-it-yourself living creature projects and the butterfly, lady bug, praying mantis, silk worm projects -- to name a few -- that we have done were easy and yet so valuable. How wondrous it is to view the metamorphosis of one of God’s creatures, right in your own home. A public school classroom might have a fish tank with some leaves and a chrysalis or an incubator with some eggs; the students may or may not see the butterfly or chicks emerge during school hours.  Their teacher might teach the life cycle of a butterfly or chicken, but no credit to the Creator could be given. In contrast, Christian parents who teach their children at home find that such a project rises to an infinitely higher dimension.  At home, there is a bonding between parents and children and among siblings as they experience a living miracle -- and there is a resulting acknowledgement and awe of the One who designed it. So, I jumped at the chance when a homeschooling 4-H mom offered her incubator and a clutch of chicken eggs.  Never having incubated eggs before, I assumed it would be a cinch, just like a cocoon.  Just pop the eggs in the incubator and after a while, you would get your chicks, right?   After some web sites, books and experience regarding this subject, the children and I discovered that incubating can be a complicated and risky process. For one, the incubator we have is not the expensive, digital kind that controls its own temperature and humidity.  It is the old-fashioned version where you have to keep checking the temperature, which seems to meander up and down on a whim.  A few times it got below or above the instructed 99.5 degrees, and we panicked, tweaking it back to the proper temperature, but wondering did the fluctuation affect the chicks? Chicks cannot survive extreme temperature deviations.  And then you have to keep the humidity at the ideal level, which varies according to where you are in the 21 day cycle.  You have to add water into special wells in the incubator.  If there is not enough water, the chicks will stick to the shells.  If too much humidity is present, the chicks will drown. Eggs in an incubator must also be turned several times a day.  A hen instinctively turns her eggs to keep the developing embryos from sticking to the sides of the shell. One of more interesting aspects of the incubator project is “candling” the eggs. You shine a light through the eggs to see if you can determine if there is life in them; sometimes you see a beating heart or movement -- very cool.  What you usually find is that some eggs were never fertile while others started growing but “quit” -- either because the environment was not right or just because they were not meant to make it.  You have to remove the non-living ones because they could explode. Out of fourteen eggs we had five infertile ones, two rotten ones, and seven that may or may not make it -- we’ll know in about three days.  I have to admit I have felt pretty incompetent and stressed when I thought the humidity or temperature was off.  But, we tried our very best to give these eggs the cleanest, safest, most conducive environment possible for coming out healthy.  That, along with prayer, gives us some optimism. I could not help realizing there is a strong analogy here between incubating eggs and raising up children.  While at the beginning all the eggs appear the same, all children start out with such potential, such seeming innocence before some are destroyed by the way of the world. But some Christian parents think that they can place the fragile soul of a child in any old environment, like the extreme anti-God environment of government schools, believing that child will come out just fine through going to Sunday school 45 minutes each week. These naïve parents imagine their child being a great evangelist to all the other youngsters there, not realizing their child is being evangelized more smoothly and intensely, by humanist teachers and curriculum. By the time the process is nearing the end, some have really become rotten, both eggs and children.  While sometimes there was no preventing a bad egg, Christian parents putting their children in the perverted incubators of the public schools is by far the biggest contributor to failed children. If you are a loving parent who really knows Jesus and adheres to His Word in all you do, if you can create an uplifting, safe, inspiring Christian environment for children in your home – and I am convinced most real Believers are more than capable of this -- then you should be homeschooling.  Don’t let the world incubate the souls of your children; God gave that job to you!

The electric SkySpark flew for 8 minutes and hit a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h) on June 10, 2009.

This contest has ended.I came across the most adorable shop on Etsy.... It's called The Woobie Shop, and the owner makes the coolest crafts!!! As a matter of fact, she was so booked up, we had to schedule this giveaway in advance! :)She was so generous to send me a sampling of her items- my girls have LOVED them! As you know, we are in the car ALOT, and these items have not only helped with our car organization, but have helped to keep the kids entertained! You will love the variety of items she has in her shop!The package included the following: A crayon holder/wrap, a reusable, lined snack bag with velcro closure, a Kleenex cover, and an adorable button hair bow to match!!!! Check it out-Here is the crayon roll, all tied up and ready to go!The reusable snack bag was a big hit- my 4YO had to run off immediately and fill it with snacks! The velcro enclosure ensures that nothing will sneek out of it!How cute is the Kleenex holder??? And this just took the cake- a matching button hairbow!! I love it!!And THIS is the gift I bought for my neice's birthday! How adorable is it??? The Woobie Shop hand-stamps these necklaces with the initial of your choice, adds a Swarovsky Crystal, and ships it off in an adorable tin!! I love them!The Woobie Shop is offering a $10 shopping spree to one lucky winner! her prices are so affordable, you will be able to choose most any item!To enter, please do any or all of the following:1. Comment below, with your email address2. Visit "The Woobie Shop" store by clicking HERE, and leave a comment telling me what you love in their shop!For optional additional entries, please…3. Subscribe to this blog (enter your email address in upper right corner), and comment that you do.4. Follow this blog (in right hand column), and comment that you do.5. Become a fan of this blog on Facebook by clicking HERE, and comment that you do.6. Email this contest out to your friends, and copy me on it at vaagen@bellsouth.net7. Follow me on Twitter (vaagen) and ReTweet this contest on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vaagen/statuses/2837082564. Comment below that you did.8. Favorite this blog on Technorati by clicking HEREThe winner will be chosen by random drawing on http://www.random.org/integers/ on Monday, August 3rd at 6pm. Good luck!Thank you for coming to Mingle Over Mocha with Anna!

I am a HUGE fan of Norah Jones. And when I heard that One2One Network was offering me a chance to review her music, I was SO excited! She has that husky, bluesy, smooth voice that I have always loved. Take a listen by clicking below!? Another awesome thing about this album is that she is only "featured" in all the songs!? She is performing with many other artists, and there is not one song on this album that is like another.? Some of them completely shocked me, for example, her duet with Willie Nelson in "Baby It's Cold Outside!"? What a strange combination- Norah and Willie, and what a strange song to imagine them singing together- but it was FABULOUS!The album "Featuring Norah Jones" was released to the public November 17th, and if you haven't bought it yet, this would make a wonderful addition to your music collection!See below for the list of songs and artists in this new album.if (browserHasRadio()){ document.write('');}1. Love Me - The Little Willies 2. Virginia Moon - Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones 3. Turn Them - Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones 4. Baby It's Cold Outside - Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones 5. Bull Rider - Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson 6. Ruler Of My Heart - Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones 7. The Best Part - El Madmo 8. Take Off Your Cool - Outkast featuring Norah Jones 9. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones 10. Soon The New Day - Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones 11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John - Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones 12. Here We Go Again - Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones 13. Loretta - Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings 14. Dear John - Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones 15. Creepin' In - Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton 16. Court & Spark - Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones 17. More Than This - Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones 18. Blue Bayou - Norah Jones featuring M. Ward Thank you to One2One Network for offering me this album for my review. I was in no way compensated for this review, and the opinions expressed above are solely my own.Thank you for coming to Mingle Over Mocha with Anna!