WARNING
I will continue to celebrate motherhood. So if breasts, birth, dilation and mother's milk makes you uncomfortable please consider yourself warned.
Follow at your own risk. You'll find the follow button at the bottom of the side bar.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

We love to SCRATCH!

We have to Scratch every day and we don't even have lice. We have the technology bug thanks to a great free program called Scratch. MIT has stepped up and designed a computer programing site that is available and free to all children. It is designed so that kids can work independently through trial and error. When my daughter gets completely stuck she can search tips and tutorials on her own and solve her own problems. Scratch is unique in that even the youngest users can find, fix and report glitches themselves. She never asks me to jump in and save her. Honestly, I probably couldn't anyway. All of the toys we have discovered that rely on technology seem to reward button pushers and not creators. This is the first time we have found anything in the realm of technology that is as open ended and limitless as blocks.

Educational tasks for children using Scratch:
Hide spelling words in scenes.
Create an animated card for a fictional character, historical figure or current politician.
Draw historical figures, animate and add famous quotes.
Create a commercial geared towards a time or event in history.
Sketch out the water cycle, anatomy or even plant cells and animate in a skit.
 
Let them be free! Parents should resist the urge to be a fun sucker and
trust that children will find more educational and amazing things to do with Scratch than
anyone could ever imagine.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Writing Contest Alert!

There is a cool writing contest for short stories and poetry coming up with a $1,000 prize! Sadly for Sixfold Journal submissions are down but that just means better odds for my fellow poets. The deadline is July 24th and I know you bloggy babes have some poetry and stories lying around.  So wipe the oatmeal and breast milk off your keyboard and get to work. I did! The best part is the winner is selected by your writing peers and not some elusive editor with pursed lips and a stash of preprinted rejection letters. You'll even get to act all professional and leave feedback. If you enter let me know and I'll send you a gumball and a temporary princess tattoo. What? It works for my girls! I guess I need to start a separate big girls prize box if I intend to effectively bribe you all. The entry fee is only six bucks. You get to enter and read other people's work. I spend more than that in library fines! I loved being able to submit online. The kids were able to duct tape the walls, swirl the cats tail in the toilet and finger paint my favorite bra without any interruptions from me. Good Luck!!

Sixfold Journal

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Loving Georgia








When we first came to the Augusta area we were miserable. It was hot, sticky and beachless. We missed Hawaii. We missed our friends. We missed the reef walks, waterfalls and sea turtles on Oahu . As temperatures in Georgia dropped our optimism rose. One of the first things our girls fell madly in love with here were Alpacas. The owner of Twisted Fence Ranch opened her home and hearts to our family. She dazzled our girls with her Angora bunny, her llama, alpacas and chickens. For a moment our girls forgot about the adventures they left behind and they smiled. The owner, Judy, showered the girls with information and was so wonderful with both of them. We fed the animals, checked for eggs and even helped sort and wash the wool. Judy is a whirlwind. It seems like there is nothing she can't do. She even won over my shy and stoic daughter. Her energy and kindness inspired our family to try harder. Thank you for helping us conquer our homesickness! Please Click Here  learn more about Twisted Fence Ranch tours, classes and products in Grovetown, Georgia.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Magical Scat Recipe

When hunting for anything deer, cougars, leprechauns, bears or fairies you need to look for scat.
Magical creatures are elusive and scat is sometimes all you'll ever find. Your children may love scat hunting. They can dissect it, smell it and even guess what their magical creature ate. Or they'll look at you like you've lost your mind like my children. The only thing you need is a little glue, a lot of glitter and various spices, seeds and beans from your pantry. We used green glitter and dried pinto beans for our Leprachaun scat. I mix it in individual cupcake liners so it's easy to dump and scatter in individual mounds and it keeps the glitter contained. I love to use mustard seeds, coriander and flower petals depending on the size and nature of your creature. A good book to read with this activity for younger children is Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.