family math

Math + At the breakfast table = FUN.

Here's a quick little game that kids of all ages can have fun with.



You need:
pencils
scrap paper
deck of cards (just one of each Ace - #9)

First, each person draws three boxes on their piece of paper.

Then someone draws a card from the nine cards.  (Ace is one, of course.)  This is a great job for your pre-writer...Diego drew some of the cards, and then had to try and recognize the number and call it out.

Make sure to replace the card into your pile each time...it doesn't matter if a number is repeated.

Everyone chooses one of their three boxes to place that number in.   No erasing or changing later!

Repeat three times.

After that, each person reads the number they have on their paper...the person with the highest number wins!

So for example, say an Ace, Nine and Seven are drawn.

You could have
197
179
791
719
917
971  (this one wins!)

We quickly decided three numbers was too easy for us and added one more box.  We kept adding a box each time we played, making it more challenging, until we got to the millions.

I found this game in the wonderful math book Family Math!

summer activity #1

I don't know about your family, but for our family, Memorial Day weekend is always a gentle preview of what's to come in summer.  It's only one day off from school, but it's a doozy.

This weekend we were all sick.  The summer cold sick where your nose runs so fast you can't get a kleenex in time!

Add to that, that it was H-O-T.

And somehow, that equals lots of kids saying, "I'm bored,"  then raiding the freezer for the mini ice pops I mistakenly bought, thinking I was getting a great deal on a hundred big ones.

So I thought I'd share a fun boredom buster that always works for us:  making your own board game.

It can be as hard or as easy as you like....be about any topic you're interested in...and creativity runs wild with this craft.

Joaquin had to do a project about an animal last week in school...his animal was the hedgehog.  And while he wanted to simply throw some dirt in a box and make the habitat for his clay hedgehog, I convinced him a board game would be a lot more fun.

For this project all you need is:
foam board
construction paper
any bits and pieces you can find around the house
imagination
hot glue

You can really do a lot with just imagination and hot glue, but I'll simply stick to this game for now.

He came up with the title Hurry Up Hedgehog....the two hedgehogs have to cross the board, avoiding the obstacles, and the first one into the paper cup hole, wins!



He laid out the pathway first, using 1" paper squares, then added the details as we brainstormed together.  I thought Joaquin's tunnel and paper cup hole were brilliant.



The great thing about foam board is you can stick things in it and it stands up (with a little hot glue for added support.)  Look at this berry bush tunnel.



For some reason, I only got one blurry picture of his hedgehog hiding in the hole.  It's made out of clay and toothpicks.  We also checked out Jan Brett's site on how to draw a hedgehog.  A great eye opener for Joaquin who is still drawing circle heads with two dot eyes and a squiggle smile on everything.



Plastic figures are fun to glue down on the game, too.  And when you're done with the game forever, you can simply pull them off, and the glue peels off easily.  (You may remember this dog from our Alaska game awhile back.)



This can be a fun learning activity, too.  Joaquin created questions about hedgehogs that must be answered correctly before you can move forward.

I'll give you an example of one of the questions.  (We like to use open ended questions instead of yes and no.)

What does the hedgehog do at least once during hibernation?
No, the answer is NOT go to the bathroom, although that is sure to draw lots of laughs.
The answer is:  he moves to a new hole at least once.

We are all experts on the life and habits of the European hedgehog now.

And one of the kids spotted this trash can at Busch Gardens the other day...Joaquin was already thinking of a sequel...Hedgehog Makes a Friend...but I couldn't get him to pose next to it, so Isabela did.
Aren't they the cutest things ever?  Both of them!

our summer retreat

Let's go back...way back...this is how we spent Mother's Day 2012.  But since tomorrow is Mother's Day in Bolivia, it's really like I'm a day ahead.



We are so last minute.  I heard the day before that Busch Gardens is always empty on mother's day because "people always do what the moms want on that day, and moms don't want to go to Busch Gardens."  So I mentioned it to Juan Pablo, and it was that easy.

(And yes, it's true, Busch Gardens is EMPTY on mother's day!)



It cracks me up how you ride the great tram ride and think you're already in the park for at least fifteen minutes before you even hit the ticket booths.  We've been twice already now, so we're slowly learning the insider tricks and short cuts to every bathroom in the park.

Ice cream anyone?



If this picture gives you any idea about Diego and rides....this is the train ride that slowly trolls all the way around the park.



It turns out he doesn't like rides.
He doesn't like to get wet.
He doesn't like Big Bird.

But dinos are okay.



And so is the Azul Elmo.



And really, he's just like me.  I've always hated roller coasters.  And I found out I hate the simulated  movies, too.  I haven't felt sick on a ride since the Scrambler when I was like eight...but Europe in the Air, I had to close my eyes half way through and prayed I wouldn't throw up until it stopped and then speed walked outta there as fast as I could.   That one is now crossed off the ever-shortening list of things I will get on at Busch Gardens.

But Joaquin's list is growing, just like him.  He's tall enough to ride lots of stuff now, and is waiting for the day he can ride the Griffon...sheer terror, if you ask me.



Diego got a cozy ride in the stroller we rented, but he's never been one for strollers so I think Joaquin and Isabela used it more.



We finally found something he did like...the carousel horses.  We rode four times in a row.  He chose a different horse each time, encouraged them to go faster, and frowned at the horses beside him that were beating him.



I told him if you hear the ding at the end, you won the race.  It dings every time.



Oh, here's one more ride I don't mind, the boat.  I love making small talk with the captains....it turns out the lake is full of snapping turtles, that's why you don't see any ducks or geese.



So why would a mom who hates roller coasters want to come here on mother's day?
To see her family happy, of course!

celebrating

I've been on an unofficial blogging break due to the busy-ness of life.

Being born, living life, it's hard work,  isn't it?

Take this handsome man, born on May 15th.  But many years ago.




Can you guess how many?



That's a big 3 with four little candles around it.  And that was our cake....one giant chocolate chip cookie.  I spared everyone the messy-cake-that-didn't-turn-out that I've been plagued with the last few birthdays and went for something everyone would love.  It lasted 24 hours, I do believe.

Plus on that very same day, my cousin and her husband welcomed their very first baby, a precious little girl, named Anaum, into the world.  We are anxiously looking forward to meeting her!

history lives

How much do you know about Susan B. Anthony?  How about that she learned to read and write at age three! (Diego, you've got some work ahead of you.)

Isabela was Susan B. Anthony for the annual third grade project, "History Lives", which brings to life a subject that otherwise might be a little boring for kids.  If you press that star on her hand, she'll stand up and tell you all you wanted to know about Susan B. Anthony.

Here, I'll press it for you.  (Although it might be in a language called fastspeak that only a mother can understand.)

shop 'til you drop party

We gave up the big, themed birthday parties a year ago.

I tried to begin a new tradition, just our family, celebrating the one whose special day it is.  But not everybody's on board yet.  So we compromised.

A small party.  Just two friends for a sleepover.  And a trip to the mall.

But that was enough to get us all excited and ready to plan the best.day.ever.

I came home the day before the party, and Isabela had sewed three wallets out of cardstock.  All by herself.  No pattern, no help.  I was truly impressed.



Actually, the whole idea for the party was gotten here, including these cute licenses, with our own additions of fingerprints and pictures.



These girls were ready to shop.



Here is was our 'things to find' list.



High heels were definitely a 'high'light.  They tried them all on and grabbed tightly to my arm as they tried to walk around.  I think I'd need to hold on to someone if I was walking around in those, too.



Love the tags on the sunglasses.



We found a red dress in Hollister...only my second time ever in that store, and I'm good with that.



The 'things to do' list just added to the excitement.  The girls were squealing all over the mall.




The massage chairs were quite the experience.  Not quite as comfortable as they sound.



See those pouty lips?  I had to insist a little at the clinque counter, but it is still possible to try on lipstick in the year 2012.  And it was here that I heard, "This is the best day ever."  Totally worth making the make-up lady earn her check that evening.



There was one incident in the Bath and Bodyworks Shop when Isabela sprayed herself in the eye with the body spray.  It had to happen.... or it would have a been a perfect day.  I did point out that the list said body lotion instead of spray, but that didn't make her eye feel any better.  So we washed it out at the water fountain, and she put on a good face for her friends.

To top the evening off, I gave each of them $10 to spend at Claire's any way they liked... instead of a goody bag.  I knew this would take some time, as we tried to get the most bang for our buck.  The sales in there are a good test of advanced math skills, too, by the way.

And out of all the parties we've had over the years, I have to say I think this was the cheapest, easiest and one of the most fun.

the big day

It's always hard when your real birthday falls on a weekday. Other obligations, like school, take over and your day somehow doesn't feel as special as you imagined it.

She wanted me to pick her up early from school...she'd like that every day.

The best I could do was this: Another horse riding lesson, with her favorite horse, Oh, Daddy! (that's his name.)
Getting on is still one of the trickier parts.  And that's a real gun on that picnic table!  Strange how the real ones look fake, and the fake ones look real.


Diego tagged along this time.  He met Walter, the cat.  Oh, how he loved him.




Walter is easy going and pet-able.  Diego gave him an hour's worth.



Then Isabela and I hit the town for the night!  On a Thursday.

So a little background....she has one movie on her mini Ipod.  West Side Story.  It's there because Juan Pablo gave it to me one year as a present...it's one of my favorite movies.

I remember going to the Byrd theater with my mom to see it for the first time.  I was probably Isabela's age and did not want to go, simply because my mom wanted me to.  But there I sat, in those musty, bouncy seats and watched as the buildings rippled across the screen and the opening music began.  I was hooked.

And so is my little mini-me.

And what production should the local high school have opening on May 3rd?  Nothing but West Side Story!  So off we went!

It was great.  High schools are so professional these days.  If you haven't been to a high school show since...uhem...high school, it's time to go back.

Isabela really enjoyed it.  But alas, it was a school night, and the first act didn't end until 9:15pm.  So we ended up leaving during the intermission.  Still, it was a special evening.

I wonder if she'll end up remembering the night she saw West Side Story with her mom, like I do.

nine

We've been busy growing up around here.

Celebrating nine years.



And what does every nine year old want?  Do you see them?




It was a happy birthday indeed.





There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.  Chinese Proverb

boys and guns

I picked up these colorful pumpkins from Tuesday morning one day. I thought they would be great manipulatives for little hands...we could do patterns, colors, sizes.  We pulled them out last night to occupy Diego while I worked on something else with the big kids.



The picture on the box gives several examples of things to build...love the name of them, too, 'Stack 'ems Pumpkins'.



Diego decided to get creative and branch out with his own design.



Really, Diego?  A gun made out of pumpkins? Boys!