It’s been so long since I’ve blogged, I feel quite out of practice. Is there such a thing as Dead Air on a blog? We were traveling yesterday and completely missed posting our weekly Parenting Tip. Some people would have blogs in reserve and wouldn’t let something as trivial as flying across the country cause a slip in posting.

Those people don’t live in this house.

I’m also drawing a complete blank on today’s Works for Me Wednesday post.

Educational computer games.

With five children, a programmer husband, and several computers in the home, you can be sure we have invested money in educational computer games.

Some of Our Favorite Educational Computer Games

Crazy Machines - In this game you build imaginative machines, turn cranks, rotate gears, pull levers, create unique contraptions. You also experiment with gears, robots, explosives, and more in your own virtual lab. The early levels are fairly easy but the game gets progressively harder. All the children have taken a turn at the game, although Joshua is the one who truly enjoys it. He received Crazy Machines 1.5 for his birthday.

Jumpstart Typing - We have gone through several different typing programs in an attempt to master those oh so important typing skills. Joshua and Rachel agreed that the Jumpstart version (although we have a much older one) is their favorite.

Cluefinders - The Learning Company makes a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade level of the Cluefinder game as well as some other versions. The older children especially enjoyed Cluefinder 5th Grade. Amazon describes the game: The adventure begins with the ClueFinder kids shipwrecked on a mysterious island. Two of their teammates are trapped in an underground hideaway, and the ship’s captain and crew are missing as well. It’s up to the rest of the gang to find their friends and get off the island- all before a monstrous volcano blows its top. To solve the mystery and save the day, kids help the ClueFinders complete activities and collect the strange CrypTiles that will unlock the island’s secrets. The ten activities cover math, social studies, reading, critical thinking and science. Sounds like fun to me.

Reader Rabbit - there are probably dozens of Reader Rabbit games, and I think we’ve accumulated almost all of them over the years. We’ve played preschool, phonics, math, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, etc. As the computers advance (shifting from Windows 95 to 98, XP and beyond) we occasionally update our stock of Reader Rabbit games. Recently I had the older children go through our EXTENSIVE collection of computer games, weeding out the ones that don’t work on our current computer or are dull and rarely played. The Reader Rabbit cds remain consistent favorites.

Do you have an educational game your family enjoys? Leave a comment and share titles. After all, Christmas is right around the corner and I need all the help I can get.

For other great ideas, go to Rocks In My Dryer

Kathy

This tip is so basic, I feel a bit sheepish posting it, but I still think it’s worth sharing.

Take the time to play a game with your child.

That’s it.

Ignore the mess in the family room. Let the dirty dishes sit in the sink for an extra hour or two. Don’t worry about folding laundry. Screen calls and allow the answering machine to do its job.

Put on the kettle and make tea or hot cocoa. Pop some popcorn. Turn an everyday, average afternoon or evening into Game Night.

I know it’s difficult to set aside time with dance, gymnastics, and sporting events eating up the week days. And don’t even get me started about homework. What joy, however, to carve an hour out of the day to sit together and play a game. The laughter and time spent as a family will create precious memories and a legacy for your children.

For a great collection of game reviews (complete with pictures and detailed information), go to Callapidder Days. Katrina regularly share games that her family enjoys. I’m planning to plunder her site for Christmas gift ideas this year.

Games don’t have to take hours and hours. Gamewright sells dozens of card games, almost all of which can be played in less than 40 minutes, many in only 20 minutes. The website sorts the games by recommended age and is a wonderful resource of kid friendly games.

We played Citadels this evening, one of Joshua and Tim’s favorites.

Another excellent source for games of all kinds (with categories for card games, children games, dexterity based ones, 2-player games, party games, and on and on) is Newspiel. We have purchased many games from this company over the years and been consistently pleased with their prices and selection.

We are always looking for new and fun games to add to our collection. Leave a comment and share your family’s favorites.

Kathy
Project 365 - Day 281

Today our pastor preached the fourth sermon in our month long Choose stewardship campaign. The four topics were Invite, Belong, Serve and Give. This morning’s sermon was on giving, looking at the story of the widow’s coin in Luke 21.

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)

You decide, are these two giving out of their wealth or poverty?

It was an excellent sermon, encouraging us to give generously and delight in God’s blessing in our life as we serve Him with our time, energy and finances. I was struck by the picture of Jesus visiting the temple and observing people as they placed their gifts in the offering.

“What would it be like to have Jesus watching you as the offering plate passed by?” I whispered to Tim, my eyes wide at the thought.

“Um,” Tim’s expression was a bit puzzled, “Kathy, He is watching you.”

Ouch. Somehow the image of Jesus sitting next to me and looking at me while I take and pass on the offering basket was very convicting. Thinking of Him searching my heart and counting all the treasures I’m storing up here on earth, brought a flush to my cheeks.

Maybe we’ll find all those missing socks when we get to heaven.

This afternoon we watched a portion of one of our favorite family movies, FlyWheel. Flywheel, produced by the church that filmed Facing the Giants, has a low-budget but an incredible message. I encourage everyone to go out and find a copy of this movie! It is slow in places and the acting “raw” but the transformation of the main character, as he decides to trust God with his whole life, is remarkably powerful.

Early in the movie the family attends church together. When it’s time for the offering, the father takes out his envelope, makes sure it is EMPTY, and then very carefully places it into the basket. His wife sees him and shakes her head with disgust.

If someone were watching…

Jesus sees what I do with my time and my money. The scriptures are full of promises regarding rewards the Lord will give those who are faithful, loving, and generous. Do I trust His Word? Do I believe the treasures I can store up in heaven are worth more than the temporal things of this world?

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:26-27)

It was a day full of conviction and challenge. What would it look like, I wondered, if I gave sacrificially, loved with my whole life, and said “Yes!” to the Lord? Am I willing to be stretched? Do I believe He is watching?

Kathy
Project 365- Day 273

So says my beloved, 11 year old daughter. No doubt she could write today’s blog in her sleep if I would just do the typing for her.

Here Rachel is saying, “I’m cold, stop taking my picture and get me a sweatshirt.

I’m hungry but it’s close to bedtime and I’m trying to be careful not to eat late at night. I had a lovely cup of tea but somehow it wasn’t quite as tasty as the huge bowl of popcorn Tim and the children devoured. Go figure.

We watched The Ultimate Gift this evening. It was a moving tale about a spoiled young man who receives 12 gifts from his deceased grandfather. Each gift (or task) is designed to teach him a lesson about life. There are some intense scenes of peril in the second half but our entire family enjoyed the movie.

The Ultimate Gift certainly made me wonder if I am teaching my children the lessons illustrated in the movie - the gift of work, true friendship, the value of money, how to help others, etc. It is so refreshing to find movies the entire family can watch together.

Kathy
Project 365 - Day 271

When you find yourself crafting opening blogging sentences throughout the day, you know it is a sign that blogging has become a serious hobby. I don’t know if that is efficient or obsessed. Hey, that might be an interesting poll.

Kathy and Tim are:
1) Efficient bloggers
2) Totally obsessed bloggers who need to get a life
3) My blogging heroes
4) Who are Kathy and Tim?

Maybe we’ll save that poll for another time. It turns out I actually do need sleep to function well as a homeschooling teacher and mother of five children. Over the summer I could stay up late blogging and reading, sleeping in each morning. With a full homeschooling schedule, that ISN’T a healthy life plan.

All of which to say, I’m not going to blog tonight. No, I’m not. I’m going straight to bed. Someone else can take over the insightful, amusing, creative blogging for today. I’ll leave you with a picture of my younger two cutie pies and a link.

David and Sarah pose for pictures - this is their “serious” look.

A homeschooling friend recommended Crosswalk as a source of Christian online music. They have 10 music “channels” with everything from hymns, rock, kids and praise music. Crosswalk requires you register to enter the site but there is no cost and the music selection is incredible. As a serious variety chick (always interested in new and fresh music), I love having a new source of music available at my internet/fingertips. I mean, just now I got to hear a rocking version of the Veggie Tales theme song by Rebecca St. James. Wow! Have you heard that one? It’s wild.

P.S. Oh dear, even when I’m not blogging, I end up using up more than my share of the blogging web space. NIGHT!!

Kathy
Project 365 - Day 270