Blink!

Our homeschool family loves to play games. We play all sorts of games. Some of them are part of our school routine and others are just for the plain fun of it. We tend to play a couple of different games for a couple of weeks and then move on to something new or forgotten. (We have been playing Mancala lately. Remember that game? I think Aaron and I got it the year we got married!)

One game the kids love right now is Blink. They actually have been playing it regularly since Christmas, when Glory received it as a gift. It is a card game from the makers of Uno that claims to be the "world's fastest game". It is actually a really quick game so everybody gets a turn. The idea is to try to be the first to get rid of your pile of cards by matching the shape, amount of objects on a card, or the color. Lots of options for having a card that plays. The direction indicate ages 7+, but 5 year old Glory has had no trouble with it.

My girls like to make up new ways to play. So it is a fun game with other options.

What homeschooling mom doesn't appreciate open-ended activities?

Even if you don't homeschool, it is a fun and quick game that the kids can play while you are cooking supper, giving baby a bath, etc.

This is what the girls did today while I cleaned up the mess from lunch.

Perfectly entertaining and not at all difficult to set up or put away.

Around the Bend

-18 degrees Fahrenheit. That is what I saw on our thermometer when I got up on this sunny, yet frigid February morning. The weatherman posted the possible upcoming temps. 20's. 30's. The possibility and hope of 40's brings joy to my heart.

I don't usually mind winter a whole lot. We are mostly homebodies around here so I often don't even notice the temperature. This year, however, seems like it began early and has been especially loaded with snow, bitter cold, and illness.

So the promise of 30's and up for a stretch thrills me to the core.

Around the bend I can see rhubarb poking its head through the new grass. The flowers will be begging to be cut and put into canning jars on the middle of the table.

I can't wait.

Dry Erase Boards

Dry erase boards are one of my favorite homeschool helps. We have them in varying sizes with lots of choices of color in markers. We use them for all sorts of school-related things. I use a medium sized board when teaching Carlie and Caleb grammar. The kids (especially the youngers) love to use boards for spelling practice and tests. It seems to take a lot less effort to write on a dry erase board than on paper all of the time.

Glory just loves to copy words onto her board.

Bad Hair Day...I Mean, Crazy Hair Night

The girls look forward to Crazy Hair Night at Awana's all year long. This is the first year that Glory was old enough to be part of it. Somehow, her hair ended up being more cute that crazy, but she was still thrilled.

I think Glory was a little excited!

Maggie had 13 ponies in her hair, all the same size.

The child truly has a mop of hair.


Carlie did Ellie's hair. Isn't that what big sisters are for?