Posted By Cyndi on May 13, 2012

May is National Bike Month, and THIS WEEK is National Bike Week!  So, in honor of this awesome holiday, we are having a bike decorating contest!

We will choose 1 boy winner and 1 girl winner, and each will receive a $25.00 gift certificate to our website! Entries will be judged on CREATIVITY and INDIVIDUALITY.

Here is how you enter:  Decorate your bike in ANY way you want, and email a picture to Cyndi at Cyndi@knowledgeboxcentral.com.  ALL entries are due by Friday, May 25th, and the winners will be announced in the newsletter on May 28th!

We thought we would try our hand at decorating a bike too!  Since we live in Louisiana, we decided to decorate this one with some of the things we caught at this year’s Mardi Gras parades!

Are you ready???  Get to decorating!!

Category: Contests, Holidays | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on May 13, 2012

Ok… so it’s Mother’s Day ~ and I love her tons ~ and I truly do believe that she is one of the smartest women I know.  HOWEVER, she had a blonde moment yesterday…. and I just have to share. 

My cousin, Terry, was chatting with my mom’s sister, Shelia.  Somehow the subject of cleaning their ovens came up.  Shelia told Terry that her oven was “self-cleaning” and that it cleaned itself all the time.  Terry, confused by this, told Shelia that she had to push the button to tell it to clean.  Shelia informed Terry that this was surely not true because her sister, Judy (my mom), said so.  Shelia told Terry that Judy told her that the oven cleans itself all the time, on its own, with no button-pushing necessary. 

Terry just couldn’t believe that Mom had really told Shelia that.  So, Terry decided to find out for herself and to ask Mom about it.  Lo and behold, Shelia was right.  Mom confessed that she really did NOT know that there was a button that she had to push on the oven to make it clean itself….she had believed for all of these years that “self cleaning” ovens just cleaned themselves continuously. 

So, this is a public service announcement ~ “Self-Cleaning Ovens” are NOT magical….. UNLESS you push the button (or flip the lever, in my oven’s case) and tell them to be!  LOL

Category: Aunt Shelia, Mom | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on May 10, 2012

I am feeling nostalgic this morning ~ remembering the days when my daughter was just a little girl…. I remember her loving to crawl up in my lap and watch movies or read books.  I remember all of the fun craft and sewing projects we used to do together.  I miss those days.

Don’t get me wrong ~ My daughter is still my bestie, but she has so many other “irons in the fire” now, and Mom-time takes a backseat these days.  She graduated from our homeschool when she was only 15 and started college a few weeks later, at the age of 16.  She is now 17 1/2 and just finished her 3rd semester of college.  Pretty amazing, right?  I’m so very proud of her, but I do miss our mother-daughter times.

When we were homeschooling, she wrote a story that she called, “Spot, Come Home!” about a cow who got lost in the woods.  It was SO cute!  She used to spend a lot of time with my parents when they would go to visit John and Laura’s farm…and that is where she got the idea for this story.

Recently, we decided to publish a children’s book by another author…and I thought, “Why not publish Shelby’s book too?”  So, we did.  It really is a sweet story with a lesson about using the buddy system and not wandering off alone.  I created a Lapbook that goes with it too. 

I hope you will consider checking it out ~ If you want to see animals throwing a party, it’s the book for you!  It has gotten some AMAZING reviews!

Spot, Come Home! by Shelby Kinney

Spot, Come Home! Lapbook

Category: Homeschooling, Lapbooks, Miscellaneous Stuff | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on May 8, 2012

Goat Poop.  Yep, I said it. Goat Poop.  Don’t you just love how gross that even sounds to SAY????  Well, welcome to my world.  Lately, that’s all I see, smell, and deal with, and it is driving me NUTS! 

We have only 2 goats (Thank you, Jesus!), and that’s enough.  I mean, they are cute….definitely cute.  Wait a minute… they are cute in the DAYTIME.  They are, however, NOT cute when they scare the bejeebies out of me at night!  Where I sit in the living room is right next to a window on our front porch, and there is nothing quite like catching, out of the corner of my eye, this set of the strangest color eyes I have ever seen seeming to glow in the dark while staring straight at me!  I have had several “bladder emergencies” over this recently!

   

Annabelle

Dori

Anyway, back to the cute part… they have these sweet little “smiles” that just crack me up.  They look up at me with their heads cocked to the side, and I swear they smile.  And when we have any company at all, the goats are the first to greet them.  They run up to the car and just can’t wait to greet whoever has come to visit.  WELL… what the visitors DON’T know is that the goats aren’t running up to them because they REALLY want to welcome them.  The REAL reason that they run up to them before they can even get out of their cars is so that they can do 2 things:

1.  Stick their heads into the cars and find any leftover french fries or candy that might have been dropped in the floor boards of the car.

2.  Get to the front door before the visitor so that they can deposit a pile of poop on my porch, just before the visitor enters my house….a pile that the visitor has to step over.

Seriously – my porch is ALWAYS covered in goat poop. ALWAYS!  I sweep it off EVERY single day ~ sometimes multiple times per day.  Then, I walk back outside, and THERE it is ~ another trail of goat poop!  I mean, how can this much poop come out of these small creatures???? 

Every time we have any company over, I just cringe when I see them headed to the porch…because I know what’ s next.  They are going to look down at the porch, where they are walking, and see the poop.  Then,  they get this look on their faces like, “Oh my Lord ~ Does she really expect me to walk through poop to get to her door?”  I finally am to the point where I just smile and say, “Welcome to the farm.”  I mean, what else am I supposed to say???  Either that, or hand them a broom and let them make a path!

And these goats don’t even care where they poop ~ they have no dignity whatsoever.  I’ll be out in the yard, standing there talking to the mail carrier, and the goats just walk up between us and poop…… forever.  She looks at me…I look at her… we both look at the goats…and then back at each other…. and just crack up laughing.  What else can we do?  I mean, really?  I can’t walk around behind them with a pooper scooper, can I?  I don’t think so!

There literally is not ONE place on our 10 acres that doesn’t have goat poop on it.  I’m serious!  It’s everywhere!  So, I’m thinking that I need to come up with some kind of way to make money off of this stuff.  I mean, people pay for horse manure for their gardens all the time, don’t they?  Goat poop has GOT to be good for SOMETHING, right???  Well, I started doing some research, and found that there is some oil in goat poop that is supposed to be good for your hair.  Are you KIDDING ME?  Do they really think I’m going to put goat poop in my hair?????  I just don’t see this happening.  So… I’m looking for another way to convert this goat poop into something useful.  Any ideas???

Category: Animals | 8 Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on May 7, 2012

On Mother’s Day, we always talk about our moms… naturally, right?  I love mine dearly….and see her all the time….and I know that I am truly blessed to have my mom here.   She absolutely is my best friend.  I’m grateful that my daughter has really had some amazing times with her as well, and they are so very close.

Me & My Beautiful Mom

This got me to thinking about my grandmothers….and how I had a special relationship with each one when I was young.  I wish so much that my daughter could have known them.  I have gone through and shown her pictures, but the pictures don’t really tell the stories of my heart.  

The ladies on our team here at Knowledge Box Central and I would like to share with you some of our memories of our grandmothers.  Please enjoy them, and PLEASE consider leaving us a comment with a favorite memory of your own grandmother.

Cyndi Kinney, Knowledge Box Central Owner:  One of my favorite memories about my Grandma Allen is of her cookies.  LOL ~ She always wore an apron.  In fact, I don’t think I have any memories of her without the apron.  What made the apron so special was that she always had cookies in the pockets.  Each time she would see me, she would motion for me to come over, and she would let me reach into her apron pocket and take out a cookie.  These were the most delicious cookies in the world, mainly because they came from her.  These were our special cookies, made just for me.  I would give almost anything to have one of those cookies right now.

Pam Sutton, Operations Manager:  One of my fondest childhood memories was each summer my cousin and I would always get to spend one week at our Granny’s house.  She spoiled us terribly by always buying our favorite breakfast cereal and snacks and having new books and toys for us to play with while we were visiting.  I vividly remember one such summer when she bought each of us a tiny baby doll wrapped in a blanket.  One baby doll had a pink blanket, the other one had a green blanket.  Of course, both of us wanted the baby doll with the pink blanket, because that meant it was a girl baby doll. And neither of us wanted the baby doll with the green blanket because in our 7yr old minds, the color of green represented all the things we didn’t like, broccoli, frogs, boogers,,, well, you get the picture.  Anyway, my cousin being the oldest, she bullied,, or,, umm,  rather, she firmly convinced me to take the baby doll with the green blanket. Naturally, the pouting ensued, that is until my Granny, in her gentle way told me her favorite color was green and the reason why. She told me that green represents the color of nature and the majestic beauty of ALL that God created. I never knew for certain if green was truly her favorite color, or if she was just trying to pacify my hurt feelings, but to this day my favorite color is green.

Candie Donner, Marketing Manager & Writer:  I have so many wonderful memories about my grandmother! She was a wealth of knowledge and taught me so much about being a wife, mother. daughter and homemaker. She was definitely not your typical bridge playing, blanket knitting, cookie making grandmother but she was so amazing. She taught me all about being real to who I was, living frugally and enjoying life to the fullest! My only regret is not seeing the importance in some of the things she taught me until she was already gone. If I could do it all over again I would sit and listen to her for hours, just soaking it all up and taking it all in!

Kim Smith, Financial Manager:  My Grandmother (Granny) was 94 years old when she passed away 4 years ago. She was a saint, she was a faithful woman of God and served in the church all of her life. This wonderful woman taught us not only ABOUT God, but about how to serve Him. Not just to ‘believe’ but to have faith in Him and have a relationship with Him. Granny was an awesome cook, owned some restaurants of her own throughout her life, and taught me a lot about that, too. Most of all, she taught me through the way she lived her life to be accepting of others, to be self-disciplined about work and to give above and beyond, that family is so important because it’s really all you’ve got here, and above all, to serve God.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our grandmothers, and we also hope that you will comment below with a story about your own.  Let’s remember them this Mother’s Day and everyday.

Category: Family, Holidays, Mom | 1 Comment »
Tags: family, grandmother, memories, mom, mother

Posted By Cyndi on May 5, 2012

I’m not sure that I was in the “humility” line long enough when God was passing out that trait ~ In fact, I’m sure of it.

What is “humility” anyway?  Webster defines it as “the quality of state of being humble”  Ok – but what does “humble” really mean?  He defines it as “not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offering in a spirit of submission.”

Wow ~ I’m finding it difficult to fine ME anywhere in those definitions.  Pride has always been such an issue for me.  I seem to always be starting my sentences with “I” for one thing ~ it seems to always be about me.  This is something that I have struggled with all of my life…..and it continues.

Candie Donner recently designed a new lapbook that we have published for her ~ and it is on the subject of Humility.  She wrote it for children K-5th grade, but as I was reading it through for the final editing process, I found myself really evaluating my own self….. and realizing how much growing I really need to do in this area. 

If you would like to check it out, it would truly make a great addition to your homeschool curriculum.  It is one of several lapbooks that will be available in our Character Study Lapbook Series.  So far, we have one lapbook on Modesty and this one on Humility.  Please consider adding them to your homeschool lineup… I promise that you and your children will learn so much and truly be blessed through the studies.

Category: Bible Study, Homeschooling, Lapbooks | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on April 12, 2012

I almost can’t believe it myself!

473 Pages ~ 10 Products ~ $129.99 Value

ONLY $15.00

Includes 5 Lapbooks, 2 Copywork Notebooks, 1 Notebooking Pages, 1 Mini-Lapbook, and 1 Activity Book!

Category: Lapbooks, Miscellaneous Stuff | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on April 12, 2012

Have you joined the

Knowledge Box Central

“Knewsletter” yet?

When you confirm your subscription, you will receive a coupon code worth $10 off ANYTHING on our website!  Plus, you will receive a weekly newsletter, making you one of the first to know about new sales, products, and promotions!

Category: Knewsletters, Lapbooks, Miscellaneous Stuff | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on April 12, 2012

Have you been to our business page on Facebook?  Well, if not, NOW is the time!  Go over to our page and click “Like.”  As soon as we reach 500 fans, we will be giving away a code for $10 off anything on our website!

So – head over there now, and also share with your friends!

What are you waiting for?  Go NOW!

Category: Lapbooks, Miscellaneous Stuff | No Comments »
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Posted By Cyndi on March 2, 2012

I have SOOOO neglected this blog….. and I’m very sorry…. but there has been SO much excitement around here ~ lots of new things on the horizon!  I’ll tell you about some here…

We decided not to do any conventions this year because we wanted to concentrate on some new and exciting projects….some personal and some business.

Our daughter, Shelby, turned 17 in December. She is in her 2nd year of college (after graduating at 15), and we decided to convert a workshop on our property into a small house for her .  We (well, mostly my hubby) have been working on tearing down an old house about an hour from here so that we can use the old wood for Shelby’s house.  She wants it to be really rustic ~ and I think it’s going to be beautiful!  I’ll post pictures when we get a little farther into the project.

Since Scott is busy on that project, we decided to hire a Virtual Assistant to help with the website, customer emails, vendor orders, etc.  Her name is Pam Sutton, and she is AMAZING!  She is absolutely perfect for this job….perfect as a friend as well ~ we are so blessed by her!  You can reach her at Pam.Sutton@knowledgeboxcentral.com.

Just yesterday, I finished our latest product, Apologia’s Human Body: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Lapbook Journal!  It’s still at the pre-order price until Monday when I put it on the website in its complete form ~ so hurry over if you want to get the special price!

I’m working on several new projects.  One is the Lapbook for Jeannie Fulbright’s Human Anatomy book.  It should be finished within a couple of weeks, and we will be having a special pre-order event for it as well.  Watch the newsletter for details!

Color Psychology – my passion, right?  Well, I am writing a book ALL about it ~ how to use it in your homeschool, home, office, business marketing, website.  It’s going to be AWESOME!

There’s also a REALLY exciting project on the horizon… but I can’t tell you about it yet!  Stay tuned!

Category: Family, Lapbooks | No Comments »
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