Fall Family Fun

We recently set off one afternoon to take the kids fishing.  There are so many great spots by us. 
Our favorite spot is a very family friendly pond.  It has a trail all the way around it and has a variety of habitats.  A marshy area for birds, a forest with moose, deer and elk, and of course the pond, which is home to a beaver (we see him quite often), fish, and other insects. Ducks have even landed right on the water while we were fishing.  

Katey does know how to fish, on this day she mostly enjoyed the outdoors, and burning some energy off by walking around the pond and climbing on rocks. 

As Katey was posing for this picture, Tommy caught a fish right next to us. 

We stayed there for a while after that, and no one caught another fish. 


We all tried to fish all around the pond.  This is a picture of Paul fishing from the spot where Tommy caught his fish, he got skunked! 


Everyone admiring Tommy’s catch!


Here is a scrapbook page that I made with My Memories using some fishing pictures from that day.  (Save $10 using coupon code on the side of my blog)

LOTS AND LOTS OF FIRETRUCKS!

Marshall Publishing
 Is the company that publishes those movies, you know the “Lots and Lots” ones.






Did you know that they offer educational movies as well?

Lots and Lots of Fire Trucks is one of them.
I will be honest, when I saw Lots and Lots of Fire Trucks up for review it said the ages were from 4th to 8th grade.  I thought they made a mistake and it would be for 4 to 8 year olds.  I honestly had no idea how much more this video was than just a bunch of trucks. 

Sure there are fire trucks and lots of them, but that just helped keep my children’s attention longer, while the video went through fire safety tips and what to do if there is a fire.  It was very informative so that (along with the trucks) kept my older kids interested.  It was very sing song so that (along with the trucks) kept my younger kids interested. 

On top of the video they offer a 20 Chapter 124 page book full of interesting facts, regarding fires, fire trucks, fire fighters, fire house RECIPES, websites to learn more, and a list of fire museums in each state, and more.

The video was best for my younger children.  However the book is a real gem for my older children, especially my son (12) he is really into cars and trucks, particularly the details of them.  The book offers many pictures and descriptions of many details, from things on the truck to gear the firefighters wear. 

Another thing is that this book and video will teach your children of all ages what to do in case of a fire and if they are trapped by a fire to NOT BE AFRAID OF FIREMEN.  Sure they are going to look scary, but they are there to help you. 

The cost of this book and video is $49.90 On sale right now for $29.95

And then save an additional $10 using coupon code TOSF1

Check out Marshall Publishing today and see what they have for your child’s interests. 

They even have historical videos such as George Washington Carver, which some of the crew received for review as well! 




To see what others though of this check out this post. To see a wide variety of reviews check out our crew blog.



As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew I review products like this, which I receive for free in order to be able to write my review.

What my first grader has been reading.

 

 

 

Katey and I have started a new chapter book this week.  It is Winnie The Pooh by A. A. Milne.   

We will read a chapter a day, doing a special activity with each. 

Today was chapter one.  Pooh tried to get some honey from a beehive, high up in a tree and he used a blue balloon to try and get it.  Katey was very excited after the story when I presented her with her own blue balloon to reenact the chapter we read. 

For the record, In an effort to prevent any fighting I did get one for her little brother as well.  I was so excited/surprised to see her telling her little brother the story and acting it out with him (well, sort of with him, he’s only 2 after all)

 

Our other readings so far this year have been:

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle  which is a hilarious chapter book curing all children’s ailments such as “Won’t go to bedders”, “The Talker Backers”, “The Won’t Pick Up Toys”, and more.    It has really helped around our house with behavior, not that it was bad, it is just a fun friendly reminder when they need it.  If they talk back, I ask do you want me to get a parrot?  If they won’t go to bed, I remind them of the fun they will miss out on. 

Balloonia is a short story book that tells you where balloons go when they fly away into the air.  It helps your children deal with that awful loosing a balloon feeling.

A Bad Case of the Stripes We did this one as an audio book.  It is also a short story it has a good moral about being yourself behind it.  For a snack I even served Lima Beans (which I have loved ever since I was a child).  YUMMY! 

We have also been reading some poetry and working on writing some of her own. 

She has very much gotten into reading Phonics Readers on her own as well.  One thing that I think helped with that is I got her her own bookmark. 

 

Preparing for the Winter Blues.

Ok, so as you can tell, my posts are getting more frequent. I thought I was more in the swing of things, sooner than I really was. I am just not pressuring myself to blog. However, I really can see us settling into a great routine now. The kids are all where I want them to be, education wise. This year took the longest for s to fall into routine. I think it is because of the new curriculum, we were all getting used to it. We are really enjoying school and family life.

The days are starting to get cold and the nights are getting down to freezing. I have heard rumors that our lows this Winter will be getting into –40 degrees F. YIKES! They have also predicted this to be a fairly bad Winter snow wise. So this will limit any driving to the city.

I am NOT prepared for this mentally. I moved here toward the end of last Winter, so I have never really lived here through the Winter.

What have I been doing to get prepared?

I have recently made a huge trip to Sam’s Club and stocked up on groceries, such as canned soups and non perishables.

I have been making a list of Winter comfort foods to make, such as turkey, chicken noodle soups, chili, pot roasts.

I have been making a list of things to do in our small town. We have great Dinosaur museums and some other fun things. We only have one fast food restaurant with a playground. It is not that great of a playground either. We do have a ceramics place and a blow up toy type place. I am also checking a book out from the library about indoor games.

If you have any suggestions to beat the cooped up Winter blues, I would love to hear them.

Say Anything~ Family Fun Game

North Star Games as you have read on my blog before, make some pretty fun games.  I am grateful for such fun family games. 

Say Anything Family came with dry erase pens, answer boards, player tokens (2 in each color, that match the answer boards), a score board, the questions and of course the state-of-the-art SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 (which by the way is very cool and will have you laughing right away)

This game is recommended for ages 8+ for 3-6 players.  For your child to be able to play it, they will need to know how to read the questions and write their answers.  I just read and wrote for my 6 year old and she told me her answers as well as lobbied for herself. 

Say Anything can be taught in less than 5 minutes. 

First the youngest player is the judge.  They will have the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000.  The judge does not answer the question. 

The first question is asked and everyone writes their answers.  The questions range from:

• What would be the coolest thing to have in a mansion?
• What would you do if you won a million dollars?

Then the answers are laid out.  The judge will use the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 to select their favorite answer.  You can lobby for your answer.  (Which in my opinion is the funniest) The SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 will then be placed upside down.

Then you will place your tokens on the answer you think the judge selected (you can place both tokens on one answer or each token on a separate answers, if your just not sure)

Check the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 then score the round. 

Pass the SELECT-O-MATIC 6000 to the left and then that person becomes the judge. 

The games ends when each person has become the judge twice.  The player with the most points wins. 

This game is so fun and you will find things out about your family and/or friends that you never knew.  It is also a great way to break down a communication barrier with your teens or preteens.  The subject of our previous answers have continued to come up in conversations. This game really makes memories. 

What a great way to bring the family together and just have a great time.  This game retails for $19.99.  It can be purchased online or at many retailers. 

 

North Star Games has many games, most of which have won numerous awards. 

To see what others though of this check out this post. To see a wide variety of reviews check out our crew blog.

As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew I review products like this, which I receive for free in order to be able to write my review.

Wits and Wagers Family

Wits and Wagers Family is an quick fun family or party game designed by North Star Games.
This game comes with everything you need to play; a score card, dry erase markers, Meeples (large and small), answer boards and question cards. 

The way you play is easily explained in less than 5 minutes.
Ask a question from a question card
Everyone writes their guesses on their answer card
Place the answer cards in numerical order
Place your Meeples on what you now think the best answer is (whether it be yours or someone else’s.  Big Meeples are worth 2 points and small ones worth 1 point. 
Turn the question card over and see the answer.  Determine the winning guess (whoever guessed closest without going over).

Score points
1 point for winning answer
1 point for your small Meeple on the correct answer
2 points for your big Meeple on the correct answer

Play the next round

The game is over when the first player or team scores 15 points. 
Such a quick game. 

The games age range is 8+ however any child that can write and recognize numbers can play.  Even if their guesses won’t be as educated as the older ones.  As I saw with some of the questions, I wasn’t even close to sure of some of the answers. 
A few sample questions are:

So as you can see this is a trivia game where getting the answer right is not what determines who scores the most points. 


You can purchase North Star Games including Wits and Wagers online or any many local retailers.
The retail price is $19.99, and Christmas is coming.  What a great way to bring a family together.  And it is half the price of most video games!

We have really enjoyed this game and in fact keep it on a bookshelf in our dining room, for those “I’m bored” moments.  It is so fast paced and fun. 

North Star Games makes a variety of fun games.  Many have won awards.

 



To see what others though of this check out this post. To see a wide variety of reviews check out our crew blog.



As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew I review products like this, which I receive for free in order to be able to write my review.

Fall Shoe Shopping

Many of you know that my husband has a pretty wonky work schedule.  He works two weeks on, one week off.  We try to take as much advantage of his time off for family time as we can. 

Recently on his week off.  We took a trip to Grand Junction to do some much needed Winter shopping.  Clearly while we were boot shopping a child, who if you look closely you can see her in the mirror taking pictures, found an activity to keep her busy. 

She even got a picture of what the boys do while we were shopping.

We love going to Grand Junction, it is the big city for us.   We most likely won’t be able to go back there until after the Winter, as the mountain pass is just to treacherous for us. 

This only became a post because I was going through the pictures on my camera and I found these lovelies.  ;)