At Home with NW Kid Chaser - NW Kid Chaser

Super Bowl Sunday ...

1/30/2013

I'm throwing a Super Bowl party this weekend.

For those who know me, I realize this sounds strange. It's a little-bit like a vegetarian hosting a pig roast. But I'm a mother and mothers do crazy things for their children. So... I'm currently preparing for kick off.

My youngest boy has a passion for football. I'm not sure where it started, but it inspires him to run, and catch, and watch TV, and read anything remotely related to the sport. Of course, it's this last part that won me over.

This will be a Super Bowl/Family Party to celebrate my son's recent birthday. We'll have family, the football game, lots of food, AND games. I figure you have to have games at a party. Right? (Again... I'm a bit out of my range here, but I'm trying to go with it. Super Bowl experts: send me encouragement!)

As part of the preparation, this week my son and I sat together at the computer and came up with two games. I'm actually looking forward to Sunday. I know he'll be watching the game and I'll be watching him, but we'll both be cheering!

Here are the free game print-outs if your crew wants to play too:

#1 - Super Bowl Predictions
Before the game begins, each guest will record their game predictions (Which team will score first? Who will be ahead at half-time? Which team will win?) The individual with the most correct predictions at the end of the game wins a prize!

superbowl_predictions.pdf
File Size:	32 kb
File Type:	pdf

#2- Football BINGO
Mark your card throughout the Super Bowl. First Four-in-a-Row gets a prize, with play continuing until First-Blackout wins a second prize.

football_bingo.pdf
File Size:	99 kb
File Type:	pdf

Tis the season...

11/22/2012

Looking for homemade Christmas gifts for Grandma?
Dad?
Friends?
Look no further...
Here's a few ideas the neighborhood kids and I cooked up...

Paper, scissors, and old encyclopedias
=
Handmade one-of-a-kind cards!

Canvas panels + colors pencils and watercolors
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One-of-a-kind wall art!

Model Magic
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Personalized Gift Tags!

Black letter cut-outs, a camera, and magnetic sheets
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Groovy refrigerator magnets!

Tagxedo + Dollar-Store picture frames
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Word poems for those we love!

NEW FAVORITE TV SHOW...

11/6/2012

I consider so very few TV shows to be “little-boy-friendly”, but a BIG, HUGE thank you to Grammy who told us about “How the States Got Their Shapes.” When I first heard of this show, I was thinking it was about geography (and it is), but after watching a few episodes I’ve come to realize that this gem of entertainment is also about the people who make up our great nation.

North vs. South; Democrats vs. Republicans; Sasquatch vs. Aliens: Host Brian Unger talks to folks across the nation about what we have in common and what divides us. Sometimes it is geography, but often it’s something else entirely. I know... it sounds a little odd (and by that I mean unusual). It is. It’s an unusually great mix of random facts, important understandings, geography, anthropology, history and sociology AND it’s funny. Hooray!

My boys and I have been watching and will continue watching. Will you?

Happy Halloween!

10/31/2012

Here are my spooky goblins...

Pizza Delivery Boy

Stockbroker (with business card)

My oldest dressed as the stockbroker last year, but with the economy as it is.. he had to find more reliable work. Ha! (Are we the only family who creates back stories for our Halloween costumes?)

Happy Halloween - May your imaginative ones be safe!

Lemonade Sale...

8/24/2012

We
found
another
great
game
for
my
oldest
son’s
Kindle
Keyboard.

     Browsing the games available, I gasped when I saw Lemonade Stand. This old-time game was available on the chunky apple computer that sat in the corner of my fourth grade classroom. Now updated to fit the hand-held computer (but still similar in format) this game asks players to become the proud owners of their very own lemonade stand (rain or shine).

    Check the weather; decide just how much sugar you want to use; set your price. Then sit back and hope sales cover all your costs. On a good day, they’ll be a parade and you’ll sell out of your refreshing drink. On a bad day, the feds may come and close you down for failure to have a business license.

    I like the fact that the game relies on a bit of luck and a bit of strategy – and reading! Of course, at our house it also involved a bit of writing. See the review my boys wrote HERE.

I have a Kindle kid...

7/11/2012

For his 10th birthday, my son received his first “electronic” gadget. Grandpa gifted him a Kindle!

       Watching my son learn how to operate this e-reader, I immediately saw that this device is a natural stepping-stone to a phone, which will certainly lead to a tablet, and then transition into a laptop that he will take to college – EKKKKK!!! (Sorry. Every day that my babies get older, I panic at the thought they’ll someday leave me. Of course, occasionally, I panic that they won’t.)

       With this birthday gift, came money from my sister to purchase a Kindle cover. At first, I thought we’d just head to the nearest tech store to buy a cover. However, my son and I soon learned that local stores only carry the covers made for the latest-and-greatest Kindle Fire. That meant we had to turn to cyberspace for a bit of on-line shopping.

     I thought perhaps we could log-in to Amazon and make a one-click-purchase, but that idea didn’t work as well as I had planned. There are a zillion options on Amazon!

      So... I took this opportunity to teach my son how to navigate through the Amazon "product reviews." It wasn't long before he was flexing his skills as a mindful consumer.

During the process, we had many-a-conversation about:
1) Free shipping (with purchase of $25 or more).
2) Reviews that offer only glowing reviews about every aspect of the product. (“Mom, do you think the seller posted this review themself?”)
3) Nasty reviews that can’t find a single redeeming quality with an item. (“Five people loved this cover, but this person absolutely hated it! Which is correct? Or are they all?”)
4) Confused reviews that go on and on about a product – although not the actual one detailed in the listing.
5) Seller ratings.
6) Return policies.
7) Price comparisons (considering individual delivery and included accessories).

Whew!

    Overall, the online shopping experience was a great lesson for my son. He used critical thinking and decision making skills AND in the end, purchased a durable, reasonably priced cover.

Hooray!

Of course, never one to miss additional opportunity for reading and writing – I then asked my son to post his own review. You can read it here (under SillyMom)!

“Go Herbie! You can do it!”

7/5/2012

I remember the day my husband taught our boys how to play “Slug Bug.”

They giggled and punched at each other.

I rolled my eyes.

Since that day, the game seems to have become exponentially more complicated. Apparently, a vintage Volkswagen bug is worth more hits than a modern day bug, a convertible VW bug is the ultimate jackpot, and all slugs should immediately be followed by shrieks of “No hit backs!”

Recently, all this boyish play led me to shout, “Instead of Slug Bug, can’t we have a Love Bug, please!”

Which got me to thinking...
once upon a time there was a Love Bug
and his name was Herbie.

It only took a couple of clicks of the Salem Public Library web catalog and we were in business. My boys and I checked-out the entire Love Bug series. My boys giggled their way through these old-time Disney films, and often shouted, “Go Herbie! You can do it!”

While the stereotypes were a bit difficult to watch for my husband and I, we did appreciate that:
- the bad guys were never really that bad.
- the characters and setting randomly change from film to film, but the premise is clear – Herbie will triumph!
- the hero is always the least macho and least egotistical human of the bunch.
- the fun theme song always lightens the mood at just the right moment.

Laughter in the night...

6/20/2012

My youngest son woke me up a few nights ago.

I could hear his laughter echo from across the hall. It began with a chuckle; then moved to a string of giggles; soon his cackle filled the entire upstairs. I was envious of his happy dreams.

The next morning, I asked my son about this middle of the night joy-fest and a slow smile came to his lips. “In my dream, I was playing with Pollyanna,” he said.

My conclusion: That’s one good movie wto share...

Clay yourself...

2/18/2012

     As many of you have noticed, I don't post pictures on this website that show the faces of my boys. I figure, there is plenty of time for them to control (or ruin) their own online profile. No need to empower Google images to spread their darling smiles in cyberspace - I'll just wait until they are teens and they can do it themselves with their cell phones. (EK!)

    However...I did recently run across a silly website that allowed my sons to create their own cyberspace alter ego. Here are the results:

My nine year old...

My crazy nine year old...

Now, while I can't argue with the first image: brown eyes, pale skin, loves green, often in a hat (to protect the beforementioned pale skin). However, the second image gives me pause and inspires silent prayers of: "Please help me, Lord! Please."

And my seven year old...

Crazy version of this boy:

    Again, I can live with the unibrow, but I'm going to need help (serious help) if his teenage years resemble this creative image.

    Easy to use and good for a giggle, the website that generated these "clay " images is free and needs no registration, no password, nor a download. It gives countless choices and countless ways to make your mother nervous. Also, once you've made a character you can use a silly Mad-libs-type script generator to type in nouns, verbs, and adjectives to come up with a nonsensical story.

    I saw this site used by an elementary teacher who allowed students to each "clay" themselves and then add audio for a school video. Very clever. Very fun!

Busy Builder Boys...

12/28/2011

The latest and greatest:

Lego Robotics
Power Saw

Remote
Control Car