Candy Experiments (aka Getting Rid of Excess Candy)

With all of the fall festivals and carnivals, my kids seem to accumulate an excessive amount of candy around this time of the year. In attempt to discretely get rid of some of the candy, we usually do a few candy experiments! Below is a photo from our “Floating M” experiment!

{Photo shows a floating “m” from a m&m candy.}

For more fun Candy Experiments, check out the links below:

• my original Candy Experiments post (shows other experiments we have tried)
• my Candy Experiments post on Heart of the Matter (explains the Floating “m”)
• the official Candy Experiments website (lots more experiments to try)

In the name of science, I am usually able to eliminate quite a bit of candy that my kids would have otherwise tried to convince me to let them eat! I love when I am able to “out-smart” my kiddos!  {grins}

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Raising Real Men {Review}

As most of you probably know, I am the mama of four boys (6 year old twins and 4 year old twins) plus one princess! With that said, there was no way I was going to turn down the opportunity from Timberdoodle to review Raising Real Men by Hal & Melanie Young, who happen to be the parents of SIX boys!

The title alone spoke to me: Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys. I would like all the Biblical help and guidance that I can get in learning how to survive, teach and appreciate my boys!!! And, after reading the book from cover to cover, I was NOT disappointed! Take a peek at just one of the MANY pages of the book filled with all of my highlights! So much GREAT information and guidance!!!!

You can even read a sample chapter from Raising Real Men.

Raising Real Men is a thoughtful, practical, and enlightening look at how to raising these little young men that God has entrusted us with! The book provides guidance for those with boys of all ages of boys and addresses a plethora of boy-specific topics/issues. One of the main things that stood to me (and how I view my young boys) is their desire for power and control.

God has placed in our boys a desire to be in charge, because one day they will be in charge. Today’s boys will be the fathers, and bosses, and elders, and statesmen of tomorrow. We’ve got to teach them how to submit to authority without destroying their leadership.   Raising Real Men p.24

And what about all the extra energy that boys seem to have?!?!

God made that little boy energetic so one day he could go out and conquer the world. At least, one day he’ll have the gumption to support his family, minister in his church, be a pillar in his community. Right now, he just needs to learn some self-control. Raising Real Men p.24

I was not really surprised to read about a boys desire for power or about how energetic they can be. I see it first hand on a daily basis! {grins} However, what excited me was how I could change my view and perspective of these God-given desires/traits and how I can focus them in a more positive light. What may seem burdensome about my boys today is the very thing that I need to mold and train so that they can use the very same traits and desires to be productive men of God in the future! I find that I constantly need to remind myself that:

Our focus must be on leading our sons into godly manhood, not just trying to manage them to make our lives convenient and more pleasant. Raising Real Men p.25

I am so thankful that I was introduced to Raising Real Men! It is a jewel that I am certain I will refer to MANY times throughout my journey of raising my boys into “real men”!

{Photo of my rough n’ tough boys “resting” on their bean bag chairs, which have survived thousands of dives, flips, jumps, crash landings, and free-falls! Gotta love boys!}

MORE INFO: For more info on Raising Real Men, visit any of the links below.

• Raising Real Men on Timberdoodle
• Timberdoodle on Facebook
• Raising Real Men website/blog
• Raising Real Men on Facebook

BUY IT: You can purchase Raising Real Men directly from Timberdoodle! There is even a Raising Real Men audio book available for purchase!

Be sure to check out Timberdoodle’s parenting helps section for more great books and tools to help you on your journey as parents! While you’re there, be sure to sign up for their free homeschool catalog, which is chock full of tons of awesome homeschool resources!

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Raising Real Men in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

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Dd for Dinosaur {MFW Kindergarten Printables}

As much as I love the hands-on activities and crafts in our My Father’s World Kindergarten Curriculum, I was not very good about doing the Words to Remember badges with my daughter. So, I came up with something a little different for the boys. I created printable art/copywork pages for them to work on their penmanship while creatively depicting the Words to Remember.

These are the Lesson 8: Dd for Dinosaur pages that my boy’s made during their kindergarten school year. For this page, we used the Dinosaur Sizes & Puzzles printables from 1+1+1=1. The boys each chose a different dinosaur, cut out the shapes, arranged them into dinosaurs, and then glued them onto their copywork pages. They had tons of fun and got lots of fine motor practice with this activity! Plus we got to work on identifying shapes!

You can download the Words to Remember printables from my
MFW Kindergarten Supplemental Printables page.

PLEASE NOTE: These copywork printables are only for students who are reading and writing easily. This type of copywork is not a regular part of My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.

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Circus Tent Craft

We have had some circus fun lately and I wanted to share this super cute, super easy circus tent craft that we made!

I got idea for the circus tent from First Palette. The site provides complete step by step instructions on how to make your own circus tent as well as a printable circus tent template for you to download and use! LIke I said, easy-peasy!

My 4 year olds worked on patterning as they colored in the template, alternating from red and white.

We used the tent in conjunction with the Circus Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations. We glued the ring-master, lion, and a few others inside the tent!

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The Mighty Macs {Movie Review} Opens in Theaters 10.21.11

As a former collegiate basketball player, I JUMPED at the opportunity to view an online screening of the new movie The Mighty Macs, which opens in theaters on Friday, October 21, 2011! Let me just say, I was NOT disappointed! My husband and I watched the movie together and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

The movie is based on the true story of Coach Cathy Rush and the Immaculata College women’s basketball team. Set in the early 1970s, the movie showcases how Cathy Rush transforms the rag-tag women’s basketball team at a small Catholic, all-women’s college into winners of the first ever women’s national basketball championship. Winning their first national championship in the year 1972, the Mighty Macs also won back-to-back championships in both 1973 and 1974!  

The Mighty Macs, rated G, is a family-friendly movie. My husband and I tend to watch/preview movies before allowing our kids to watch them and we would have no major reservations about our kids seeing The Mighty Macs. Here are a few things that we noticed. While there is no swearing/cursing in the movie, there is a bar scene in the movie where Cathy Rush and her assistant (a nun) casually drink a beer. There is a scene where one of the players is extremely distraught over a break-up with her boyfriend. There is also a scene where the main character tells a lie and pretends to be a nun so that she can get free airfare. However, with all that said, I don’t feel that there is anything completely offensive in the movie. We really enjoyed it and would definitely allow our kids to watch it!

Take a peek at the movie trailer:

Prior to viewing the movie, I had not heard of the Immaculata College women’s basketball team. Nevertheless, I was truly inspired and encouraged as I was able to see The Mighty Macs and discover that “Immaculata is the birthplace of modern college women’s basketball.” The movie gave me a greater appreciation and respect for the game that I once played and continue to love! I would recommend that all girls/women who play basketball to watch this movie to get a better idea of how far the women’s game has come and to learn more about those who blazed the trail for us all!

The Might Macs opens in theaters October 21, 2001!

For more information, be sure to head over to The Mighty Macs website! While you are at it, but sure to like The Mighty Macs on Facebook, follow the The Mighty Macs on Twitter, and check out some scenes on YouTube!

Disclaimer: I received a free online screening of The Mighty Macs for review purposes on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and were not influenced by the free screening or the company.

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World Cake {Edible Continents & Oceans}

One of our first activities when we began our MFW ECC curriculum, was making a world cake! My daughter loved making this and of course, it was very yummy! There is nothing quite like learning the continents and oceans when you are able to eat them!  LOL!!!

If you are interested in making one, here is what we did:

Supplies:

• boxed cake mix (add ingredients required for the mix)
• white icing
• blue & green food coloring
• plastic baggie

Directions:

1) Bake the cake in a 9x13'” pan according to the directions on the box.

2) While the cake is cooling, scoop out a few spoons of icing and put it into the plastic baggie. Add green food coloring to the baggie. Close it and squish it around until the icing is tinted green. (Add more food coloring to enhance the color.)

3) Add the blue food coloring to the remaining icing and ice the cake (making the oceans).

4) Clip a tiny bit off of the corner of the plastic baggie and pipe out the outline of the continents with the green icing. (I did this part.)

5) Once you have the outline of the continents on the cake, pipe some more green icing inside of them.

6) Using a knife dipped in water, spread the green icing within the continent outlines.

7) ENJOY your continent cake! Be sure to locate all the continents and oceans before devouring them!!!

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“Mama & Me” Journal Labels {Now on MamaJenn.com}

I just wanted to let you know that I have updated the “Mama & Me” Journal labels! You can now download them from the new Writing Printables page on my website, MamaJenn.com!

The “Mama & Me” Journal has been wonderful for me and my daughter! The journal provides a peek into her heart and her world that I will treasure for the rest of my life! In fact, I think that my older boys are now ready for a “Mama & Me” journal. So, you know what I will be working on!  ;-)

For details on how we use our “Mama & Me” Journal (including a sample 1st letter) visit the original “Mama & Me” blog post. To download the labels (including both a girly label and a boyish label, visit my Writing Printables page.

 

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Cooper and Me {Review & Giveaway}

Cooper and Me is a cute little book about a girl and her fun-loving black Labrador Retriever. The book, illustrated by 11 year old Alexa Peters, is co-written with her mother, Monique Peters, and is about their real life family dog, Cooper.

The girl in the story is nervous about her first day of school. Not wanting to leave her best friend, Cooper, at home, her mother helps her with the separation anxiety by finding a small replica of Cooper for her to have at school.

“Cooper and Me provides adults and children with opportunities for meaningful conversation and tools for constructive problem-solving. Kids will laugh at Cooper’s antics, and adults will appreciate the resilience nurtured in their children.”

As soon as the book came in the mail, my daughter quickly sat down to read it! I later found her curled up on our bean bag chairs and a blanket reading it again to her brothers before bed!

While they all enjoyed the story, my daughter was most intrigued by the fact that an 11 year old had written and published a “real” book! My daughter has been “writing” and creating books/stories for quite awhile and seeing a “real” book written by a young girl totally excited her over the possibility of “really” writing and publishing her own book! What a neat inspiration!

A portion of the proceeds from Cooper and Me goes to the Happy Hearts Fund, which is founded and run by supermodel Petra Nemcova, who was directly affected by the tsunami in Thailand. The Happy Hearts Fund helps improve children’s lives through education and sustainable programs in natural disaster areas.

Giveaway

Would you like to win a copy of the book Cooper and Me? I have the opportunity to give away a copy to one of my readers! The first and mandatory entry is to leave a comment simply letting me know you would like to win!

Optional (Additional) Entries: The following are additional ways that you can enter to win. However, you MUST complete the mandatory entry above. (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!)

• Follow Mama Jenn via Google Friend Connect (see right sidebar on blog) AND/OR subscribe to Mama Jenn via RSS and/or via email and leave a comment letting me know that you do. Leave a comment for EACH follow or subscription. (max 3 entries) 
• Check out the Cooper and Me friends and let me know which personality you most identify with. (max 1 entry)
• Check out the other books in the Copper and Me series and let me know which one you would be most interested in reading! (max 1 entry)

The giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, October 21st! Giveaway is for US residents only. Winners will be randomly selected and emailed. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and a way for me to contact you in case you win! For more info about the book, be sure to visit the Cooper and Me website or the Cooper and Me Facebook page!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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DIY Colored Sand {Tutorial}

Not too long ago, we needed some colored sand for an art project. So, we decided to try to make our own! This is a easy tutorial in case you would like to make your own colored sand as well!

Supplies:

• food coloring
• bowls
• aluminum foil
• water
• clean sand (Below is a photo of the sand that I found at the Dollar Tree.)

Directions:

1) Pour some sand into a bowl.

2) Add enough water to the bowl to just barely cover the sand.

3) Add food coloring. The more you add, the darker the color.

4) Stir and let the mixture sit for an hour or two.

5) Carefully strain out the excess water and scoop the remaining pasty mixture onto aluminum foil. (I used a separate piece of aluminum for each color and then placed them on a baking sheet.)

6) Bake at 200 degrees until the sand is dry.

7) Once the sand is dry, allow it to cool and then store it in plastic baggies or containers until you are ready to make a masterpiece with your colored sand!

DISCLAIMER: Yes, these are old Gerber baby food containers. Yes, my youngest are 4 years old. No, they do not still eat baby food. Yes, I have had these containers for a LONG time! Yes, I save just about everything if there is a possibility of re-purposing it!!  LOL!!!

NOTE: I did try allowing the sand to air dry on paper towels in the sun. This did NOT work! As the sand dried, the paper towels soaked up the excess moisture AND the color!!! I ended up with colorful paper towels and very bland looking sand. I probably should have known this would happen…but I didn’t think about it…until it happened! Maybe you can learn from my mistake!!  :-)

ART IDEAS: I will soon be sharing how we used the colored sand.  However, in the meantime, you can grab some glue and create wonderful art projects by simply “drawing” with the glue and then sprinkling the sand over the glue! Allow to dry and enjoy your artwork!

Want to make colored rice? I have a tutorial for that too!

 

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Scottie Dog Grid Game {Angus Lost}

I have been having fun making grid games and I want to share the most recent one with you!

I made this one with BFIAR users in mind. First, I saw Michelle’s super cute Angus Lost post. Then I saw Jolanthe’s Angus Lost printables. Then I saw this cute Scottie Dog graphic that I just had to use! So, for those who are reading Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack, this one is for you…or for those who just love Scottie dogs! 

We usually play our Grid Games along with our Education Cubes and the coordinating insert cards. Using standard dice is possible with some of the games. However, we think it is much more fun with the Education Cubes! To play the first game, roll the cube and count the number of objects on the cube. Using counters of some sort, cover the same number of objects on the grid until it is full. To play the second game, roll the cube with the different colored apple insert cards. Find and cover a matching apple. Continue until the grid is full. (Click here for information on the Scottie Dog insert cards.)

Helpful Hints: I prefer to slide the game into a page protector and use it on top of a magnetic cookie sheet. We use our puff ball magnets as counters to cover the grid. As an option, you could use dry erase markers and simply mark off the objects on the grid rather than using counters. Click here to see one of our grid games in action!

Download the Scottie Dog Grid Game (and many others) Here!

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Carlito C. Caterpillar MathHouse Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered to win the giveaway for the Carlito C. Caterpillar MathHouse giveaway!

 

Commenter #34: Kori Ireland who said,

“Myth number 4 says direct instruction is unnecessary and their reality says it is. Could be a matter of semantics but I believe Young children don't need direct instruction. I believe it can be "instructed" through play, games, rhymes, experiments and fun. They will get older and have plenty of direct instruction. Don't start too soon! And talking to them in a fun way they understand for an explanation or question is not what I mean by direct instruction. To me direct instruction is sit down and listen while I give you a lesson.”

For those who didn’t win, you can purchase the game cards directly from the Carlito C. Caterpillar MathHouse website or via Amazon.

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Uu for Us {MFW Kindergarten Printables}

As much as I love the hands-on activities and crafts in our My Father’s World Kindergarten Curriculum, I was not very good about doing the Words to Remember badges with my daughter. So, I came up with something a little different for the boys. I created printable  art/copywork pages for them to work on their penmanship while creatively depicting the Words to Remember.

This is the Lesson 7: Uu for Us page from one of my older boy’s kindergarten school year. We talked about how God made each one of us special. We also talked about our 5 senses. For this page, we simply traced and cut out our hand! You can download the Words to Remember printables from my MFW Kindergarten Supplemental Printables page.

PLEASE NOTE: These copywork printables are only for students who are reading and writing easily. This type of copywork is not a regular part of My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.

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Tt for Turtle! {MFW Kindergarten printables}

As much as I love the hands-on activities and crafts in our My Father’s World Kindergarten Curriculum, I was not very good about doing the Words to Remember badges with my daughter. So, I came up with something a little different for the boys. I created printable  art/copywork pages for them to work on their penmanship while creatively depicting the Words to Remember.

This is the Lesson 6: Tt Turtle page from one of my older boy’s kindergarten school year. I created a Turtle Shapes printable pattern for my kids to cut out to make this cute little turtle. We printed the pattern on both green and brown paper and then interchanged the parts. We discussed all of the shapes as the boys cut them out and then they glued their turtles together. Then we added some cute little googley eyes! You can download the Words to Remember printables from my MFW Kindergarten Supplemental Printables page.

PLEASE NOTE: These copywork printables are only for students who are reading and writing easily. This type of copywork is not a regular part of My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.

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Mission of the Month October 2011 {and Sept Accomplishments}

Welcome to Mama’s Mission of the Month! My hope is that this will help me {and you} follow through on some of the goals that we have set for the month! So, if you are a mama and you want to join in, check out the intro post! (If you have already read the rules, you can easily grab the buttons from the Buttons Tab on the top of the sidebar.)

September Mission Update: My September mission was to gather ideas and materials so that my 4 year olds would have some structured “assignments” while I work with my older kids during school time. Well, I have gathered lots of great ideas and have even come up with a few of my own! The plan to is start with identifying the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. Yes, we will be doing a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree, which my little guys are VERY excited about! I have started filling in my Preschool Corner Planner Pages from the awesome Weekly Homeschool Planner created by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations and we are geared up and ready to start on Monday! (I hope to get together a few posts to show what the little guys will be up to!!) It seems like I have been “planning to do this” for so long and I am finally starting to see if all come together. So, I really feel like I deserve this:

 

 

However, I have not made ANY written progress on our African American history units. I have checked out books and organized things in my head, but still nothing concrete. So……….

 

My Mission for October 2011: Well, I feel like I can’t continue to put it off. My October mission is to make some real (written) strides with our African American history units. Plus, I feel like my life is a bit chaotic (uummm, very chaotic would probably be a better description)…and I realized that I have not gotten back to the SHE Method since we moved. Plus, the kids are in need of a new chore/job system that is tailored to our needs. So, those are my missions (plus a few extras):

1. Make progress on the AA History units.
2. Start back up with the SHE Method.
3. Create & begin our new chore/job system.
4. Clean out and organize my deep freezer and pantry.
5. Start back scrapbooking.
6. Start getting up at 6am (hopefully before the kids are up)
7. Go to bed by 11pm (In order for this to work, I HAVE to do #6)
8. Make our Christmas gift-giving and wish lists.
9. Finish reading Tim Tebow’s book Through My Eyes and Raising Real Men by Hal & Melanie Young. (Reviews of both coming soon!)
10. Call our local nursing home/senior living facility (more info to come…Thanks Susana!!)

Yes, I know this a rather ambitious list, but I am in desperate need of some change and there is no better time than the present…right?!?!?  LOL

What is your October mission of the month?

If you participated last month, how did you do?

Feel free to link up and share! It is a great way to hold yourself accountable! For more information on how to join in, please read the intro post. The linky will be open until midnight, October 5th.

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