Roll 'n Add Game Review

e had the opportunity to review the Roll 'n Add Game from Emines.  This is a great 2 player game that is wonderful for addition practice.  It is recommended for children that are between the ages of 5-8 years old, but for the record, my 9 year old enjoys playing with her younger sister.  This is one of those games that I just love, it is awesome to sneak in learning when the kids think they are just having fun!   

The kids pretty much figured out this game with on their own, I was heading into the room to explain the directions to them and they were already playing.  They have really been enjoying it ever since!

Basically, you have a small square game board, 20 double sided game chips, 2 10-sided dice and an addition table answer sheet.  There are 2 ways to play, according to the directions.

The first way to play is called Plus.  A player rolls both dice and then adds the 2 numbers together.  If they answer the problem correctly they can place a chip with the same number on the board, with their color facing up.  This game is played in Tic Tac Toe fashion, but with a CATCH!  Your piece and be "captured" and flipped over to be your opponents piece.  Which adds a fun twist to the game!

The second way to play is called Double.  This game is like the first, but instead of adding the 2 dice together the player rolls 1 dice and then doubles the number rolled.  If the player answers correctly he or she can place his chip on the board. 

In the spirit of being creative with our resources, you could definitely have 1 child play alone.  They could play by adding the 2 dice or doubling the 1 and just filling up the board.  This game would be great to put into workboxes and a wonderful way to switch up from math drills!  Playing together or playing alone, either way they are learning their math facts and having a great time in the process!

Emines not only sells the Roll 'n Add Game, they have a whole line of math games:

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  Roll 'n Add
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  Roll 'n Subtract
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  Roll 'n Multiply
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  Roll 'n Divide
• 
  
  Flip 'n Link Fractions
• 
  
  Flip 'n Link Money
• 
  
  Flip 'n Link Time

You can find them on Amazon.com and Rainbow Resources.  I hope to try the games for Time, Multiplication and Money soon!

I Got to Meet & Stamp with Shelli!

If you have every heard of Stampin' Up! then chances are you have heard of Shelli Gardner.  She is the owner and co-founder of Stampin' Up!

Do you all remember those cards I posted a few weeks ago?  Well, the demonstrator that held that workshop, Maryann, won a Work Shop of a Lifetime with Shelli, meaning that Shelli was going to come to town to do a special workshop for Maryann.  Well, this was the first time that I had ever met Maryann, who is super sweet BTW, and when she was telling me about the workshop I said, "I wanna come!"  Long story short, I was in! 

Last Monday evening was the workshop.  Shelli actually was the "demonstrator" and did a great workshop.  Once we arrived we were able to make a cute little tag for pens, and Shelli demo'ed 2 cards.  We got to make one of them ourselves, although I was so busy chatting with Shelli that my card looked like I had never stamped before, LOL! 

Shelli, is so friendly and easy to talk to.  My sister and I got to talk to her about how she and her sister started Stampin' Up!, her family (I told her that they take the best family pictures!) and I had her show me how to properly tie a knot on a card. 

Shelli posted some pics of the workshop on her personal blog So Shelli, if you wanna check them out.

Saturday Solutions - Blueberries

Not sure about you guys but I am ALWAYS looking out for helpful hints and tips to make my life, home and homeschooling ventures a little smoother.  I thought it would be a great idea to share some of the things I have learned with you all.  My first tip taht I want to share is very practical, especailly if you have little ones running around.  And they love blueberries!

Ever had blueberry stains on clothing?  I just bought this adorable little Tiger & Pooh outfit for Little Boy Blue and next thing I know it is covered in blueberries.  I know, what was I thinking, right?  Guess I wasn't thinking at the moment. 

I knew that if I washed it, the blueberries would likely set and the shirt would have to continue it's life as a rag.  I happened to be out of stain remover and I am not the kind of gal that loads up four kids to go to  the store for Shout.  So, what is a girl to do?  Google, of course! 
After reading several suggestions, I picked the craziest one and decided that it really couldn't get any worse at this point.  I put on a pan of water and waited for it to boil.  I laid the now blueberry colored tee shirt in the sink and waited. 

Once the water was at a boil I took it and slowly started to pour it on the stain.  At first it didn't look like much, but I repeat the process 3 times and Viola!  The stain came completely out.   Didn't cost a dime, other than the water.  No chemicals, which is a big whoo hoo for me!

So if you are ever fortunant enough to encounter one of these lovely stains, give it a try!

If any of you have a tip you would like to share please do so in the comments.  Thanks!

Things have been winding down

We are coming to an end of our school year, Praise the Lord!  We have finished MFW, which included Bible, Geography/History, Science, Music and Art.  The girls just have a few more lessons to finish up with their Language Arts and Math. 

I have decided that the girls are going to continue practicing their math facts and keep up their reading this summer.  They are several Summer Reading Programs out there this year,  we are going to participate with the ones for Barnes and Noble, Borders and Book Adventure.

We have several fun reviews that we are getting ready to start on, some of which are science and math based so we will still be learning even though we aren't "doing school."  I love being able to just learn as a family in a fun, relaxed environment.

I definitely want to relax this summer but facts are, my kids are much more well behaved and happier if they have some form of a routine.  So, I would like to come up with a relaxed routine for the summer that includes learning games that we don't always get to, some fun science stuff and like I mentioned earlier, their reading and math facts.  I also would like to hit some of the local museums, take a few day trips and hang at the beach and pool a bit.

I am sure many of you share in this end of the school year joy!  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy learning with my kids but homeschooling is hard work and taking a summer break is SOO nice.  Around the 1st of May each year I am mentally done and ready for summer!  I was really thinking this morning about starting in early August this year, since it is pretty hot and yucky here, and ending late April next year.  Anyone else do this?  I am thinking we could school in the morning, just keeping it simple with mostly our core stuff (Math, Reading & Lang. Arts) and pool in the afternoon. 

Also, I guess I am also going to be rethinking my curriculum choices for next year, I thought I was all set and now I am not to sure. I just really need to pray about it and see where the Lord leads us.

I hope that everyone else is enjoying the slower pace of things and getting ready to have a relaxing  summer!

Homemade Biscotti

I have been in the mood to do a little baking lately and I finally got my chance!  For the first time I made homemade biscotti!

Last Wednesday, was the girls last night for Pioneer Girls (kinda like a mix between Girl Scouts and Awana), so I wanted to do some baking as a thank you for their teachers.  Note to self for next time:  DO NOT WAIT TIL THE LAST MINUTE! 

So, there I am out with the 4 children, on the way to the grocery store to get the ingredients to make Beth's Spicy Cookies (these are sooo gooood!)  and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  In route, I decide that it would be a much better idea for the kids to make a craft for the teachers, so I turn around and head to Michaels.  I decided to call one of my buddies that I always call for ideas.  This poor friend of mine is trying to work her full time job and here I am calling her for recipe ideas (Love ya Mel!)  Long story short, we came up with coffee mugs and biscotti, homemade Almond Chocolate Biscotti to be exact.  My girl emailed the biscotti recipe to my Blackberry, you know the one I can barely operate.  Thankfully, I figured out how to retrieve the recipe and I was on my way.

Michaels had these cute little ceramic mugs that came with PERMANENT markers that the kids could decorate themselves.  Perfect!  I grabbed six of them.  Ok, so cute little mugs hand decorated by the kids with yummy biscotti inside.  Can't go wrong with that idea, right?

Next stop is the grocery store and then home to get going.  I think at this point it was about 2pm and we had to leave at 6:15 at the latest.  I figured I had plenty of time since we had decided to forgo a home cooked meal and stop for a burger.  This was situational, I really try to stay away from fast food restaurants.  Have you seen Super Size Me?  or Food Inc?  They explain it all.

Back to having lots of time.  I must have forgotten that when you are baking something and with 3 little "helpers" plus there is a toddler running around that you should at least double triple your 'Ready In" time.  The kids alternated between helping me with the biscotti and making their mugs. Their mugs looked great, they were really cute!  Unfortunately, only 4 for of the mugs made it out the door with us, one got chipped and my 3 year old decided that he wanted to color the inside of his teacher's mug and not the outside (why? no clue, other than he's 3).  Did I mention that those wonderful PERMANENT markers ended up on my less than 3 years old, wood kitchen table.  Still haven't figured out how to remedy that problem, if you have any suggestions please comment below.  The hubs had agreed to stop off at Michaels on his way home from work to get to 2 new mugs. He grabbed the plastic kids cups and not the cereamic mugs.  I really had to laugh at this point.

Only 4 of the 6 teachers that I wanted to give mugs to actually got them.  One of the non mug getters got a hug and the other one got some pretzels dipped in chocolate.  Sorry guys, we tried!

Thankfully, the biscotti worked out.  And looked beaut-i-ful! And tasted great!  All of which you are going to have to take my word for.  In my rush to get the biscotti baked, the white chocolate drizzled and them bagged and ready to go, I forgot to get a final picture.  Again, I am laughing!  Even though it was a little hectic, we did have lots of fun and we hoped that the teachers enjoyed their gifts.