Wordless Wednesday: Maroon and White #hailstate #truemaroon

For whom the bell tolls . . .

True Maroon Crew

Forever Friends

DG and DG wannabe

In search of a tailgate

Alumni Love

Blurry sunshine

Bulldawgs!

Family Selfie

March it

a grand ole flag

Clanga

Clanga

Upper Deck

Headed Home

What a great day with family and the friends who ARE family.

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Schoolhouse Review: SimplyFun #hsreviews #familygames #homeschoolresources

“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!”
                                                                                    ― Benjamin Franklin

Bring on the Game Night!  Ready, Aim, Fire away!  I have a family that loves games -- and we enjoy sharing them with our friends.  SimplyFun has brought another neat treat our way.  I’m reviewing Archery Dice, one of four of SimplyFun new releases. Archery Dice is perfect for ages 7 and up which means we ALL qualify to play at my house.  We are just a wee bit competitive around here, so it wasn't hard to get the married daughter and her sweet husband in on the action when we pulled out the game during their latest visit.  A strategy-based game of fast-action, quick-flicking dice, Archery Dice is a good way to bring smiles, laughter, and even a good-hearted evil chuckle to the room.  (How's that for an oxymoron?  But 'twas all in fun.)

Flicka, Flicka -- you're out of there.

How do you play the game and how does it work in the real world?

Archery Dice is designed for four people to play at a time, but we found that even more could be included if you set up teams instead of just individual competition.  Three flat targets are placed in a triangular pattern in the center of your playing field (a table or ottoman works great!) and four players (or teams of players if you so choose) stack their three colored dice on corresponding flat wooden disks outside of the triangled targets.  We enjoyed trying out different spacing for the set up of the home base for our dice, but instructions recommend at least two target widths away.  Players take turns "flicking" or thumping their dice in an attempt to have them land in the bulls-eye of the targets.  Hand-eye coordination is helpful as you aim to land your die closer to the center than your opponent's land theirs and strategy comes into play as you bank targets for capture and try to knock out your opponents.  The winner is determined when one person or team has claimed four targets.

Even my married daughter and the son-in-love agreed to play

This quick-paced game (seriously, it takes 15 minutes or less) is sure to please contestants of all ages.  Just be careful that there is no "out of control" thumping and no cheating or "moving" targets.  Ask me how I know that those are even possible.  And beware of flying dice because all bets are off when the object of the game is to send pieces and parts flying legally.  I can't wait to share this game at Kid's Night Out at church with my grade school students, and I'm thinking the middle schoolers will love it as well as be all about a little friendly flicking competition.  Ah, the possibilities!

You might recall that we reviewed a math game called Expanders earlier this year from SimplyFun.  It's still a perfect fit!  Games that are fun for the entire family and that are worth sharing, too?  I love them.  How about you?  We are looking forward to testing out a few more of the other newly released games as well.  Water Balloons?  Oh, yes!  Bring it on!  For more information about this game and others, check out the following Social Media sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Blog

Aren't you ready to learn and connect through play?  For family fun and adventure, make sure to check out ALL of the cool games from SimplyFun.  With four new releases already this year, you're sure to find the perfect combination of laughter and learning for your family.

I was given the opportunity to review Archery Dice by SimplyFun as a member of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew thought of this and other products as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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Good News of Great Joy Advent Celebration {a Christmas review}

Do you count down the days until Christmas with your family with excitement and anticipation or would you like to?  Would you like help bringing the Christmas story to life in a way that will help your children look past the tree, the lights, and the presents and focus instead on the greatest GIFT ever offered?  Or maybe you need to give yourself permission to stop the chaos and find the calm that is CHRIST in Christmas?


If any of these sound like they would offer a little sanity to your home, may I suggest that you take a few moments to check out Good News of Great Joy -- a four-week family devotional that will help you rediscover the JOY of Christmas?  Now is the perfect time to begin.   I love this little eBook and have enjoyed reading through its pages and praying with my family as we look forward to celebrating the birth of our MESSIAH.

This holiday season, you can make the Christmas story come alive for your children! Good News of Great Joy by Rachel from Thriving Home is a simple devotional book that's intended to help your family focus on the story of JESUS' birth, who HE is, and why HE was sent by GOD to be with us. The discussion questions and wide range of activities are designed for children ages 2-11 (but older children can be involved as well).

In each individual devotional in the book, you'll focus on a different aspect of the Christmas story, building on the previous lesson:

Devotional 1: The Story of Mary and Joseph

Devotional 2: The Story of the Shepherds and Angels

Devotional 3: The Story of the Wise Men

Devotional 4: Review and Celebrate!

Each of the four individual devotionals are organized in the same way, making it easy for parents to lead and children to follow:

Read: Choose one or more of the ways listed to communicate the story, depending on the age of your child.

Pray: Take a moment to pray the written prayer or say your own to help connect the Bible story to your own lives. This demonstrates to children how we can use GOD’s Word to help us talk to HIM.

Discuss and Do: To help children further understand and connect to the story, choose one or more of the simple activities. Have fun together and help the Christmas story come alive for your kids!

Wondering how to use Good News of Great Joy with your family?  A great first step for any family wanting to try this devotional is to set aside one, regular time each week to do it.   Maybe right after dinner would work best for your family since you’re already gathered together at the table. Maybe you prefer to start the day together around the breakfast table when the kids are fresh, to have a family devotional.  Remember, this time doesn’t have to be long and it won’t be perfect!  Do whatever length and format works best for your kids.

A good next step for using this family devotional is to read the same story from the different Bible versions suggested and/or try a different activity more than once a week.  Perhaps you’d like to even set aside a brief daily time to read and pray together, like before bedtime.  Remember, children learn best through repetition, and it helps to look at the same story several times through different angles.

You can buy your copy of Good News of Great Joy HERE.  I hope that as you read and talk about the story each week with your children, your hearts will be captured by the “good news of great joy” this Christmas season.

Enjoy!

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