Bridgeblogs.com

2 kids

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30 GMT

Sawyer found an orange spider ring the other day. He was very excited to put on the “halloween spider.” He then said to me, “take me to Halloween, mom, please.” I told hime I couldn't take him to Halloween, it just happens during the year, like Valentine's Day is coming up- we had just bought bubbles for the kids in his class for Valentine's Day. He wasn't happy with my answer, he kept begin me to take him to Halloween. Silly boy.

He's been doing this for a while; I'll call him a monkey while giving him a piggy back ride and he tells me, “I not a monkey, I a kid!” He loves pretending to be a baby or a kitty cat or a monster, but when he's finished he'll tell me, “all done now, not a —, I a kid now!” I guess he loves being a kid!

Avery's update is easy, she has pretty much ceased whining! FOr the last month I've been working in the Kids Church with the 2nd & 3rd graders. All the grade level kids cover the same info and concept, just in different ways, so I was able to talk to Avery more about the lessons during the week. I focused on whining and communicating- huffing and puffing, groaning… It worked! She's doing way better and life is much more pleasant for all of us.

Dear Diary,

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:12 GMT

I have been reading “Little House in the Big Woods” to Avery. We are really enjoying it. I was telling her that the stories in the book are autobiographical, the stories are about Laura and written by Laura. She asked how she could remember the stories, there are so many. Laura kept a diary. That peaked her interest. She's been talking about keeping a diary or a journal for a while now, no time like the present.

This is the diary I bought for Avery. I thought one that she could decorate would be good, she loved it and got right to work.

Working on her first entry.

Showing off her new "gorgeous" diary.

When I was a little girl I kept a diary too. My parents still have them in the basement. I'll have to dig them out the next time we are there. It'll be fun to look through them with my daughter.

Students math scores jumped 20% with iPad textbooks, publisher says

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:49 GMT

On the heels of Apples e-textbook announcement in New York City this week, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced the results of its “HMC Fuse: Algebra I” pilot program at Ameila Earhart Middle School in Californias Riverside Unified School District. The Algebra I digital textbook is touted as the worlds first full-curriculum algebra application developed exclusively for Apples iPad.In its test run, the “HMH Fuse” application helped more than 78 percent of students score “Proficient” or “Advanced” on the spring 2011 California Standards Test. That was significantly higher than the 59 percent of peers who used traditional textbooks.

via Students math scores jumped 20% with iPad textbooks, publisher says.

New bike

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00 GMT

Sawyer got a new bike for Christmas. It's a bike with no pedals, he uses his feet to make the bike go. It helps him with balance so it's easy to transition to a bicycle- not training wheels. We didn't take it to Boise so he got it on NYE Day.

What is this? A new bike!! He kept asking if it was his bike.

Figuring out how this new bike works.

He loves his new bike!! He rides up and down the street, from the street to the sidewalk swerving from side to side.

He asks to ride his bike just about every morning and every afternoon. He loves riding his bike. He'll transition to a two wheel bike soon…

games

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:14 GMT

I've been trying to play more games with the kids. We have them, and we rarely play them. Why? I am now making time to play the card games, board games and puzzles.

So far Avery and I have played Boggle, mancala and Spit. She's beat 3 out of 4 games of mancala!! I made her a deal that when she finds a word in Boggle that I don't have, I'll give her a quarter. She earned herself 75 cents tonight.

Ready to play another game of Mancala.

Sawyer and I have put together 4 puzzles and played with a tangram set we have. He is really good at it. He can “build” the easy shapes, no problem. I was quite impressed with him and I am happy that he wants to play it again.

2012

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:59 GMT

Since it's the beginning of a new year, we try to make changes that will better our lives and blah. blah, blah….

I've decided that I want to use the kitchen gadgets I have that I've never used or barely used. So far, I haven't.

I'm working on emptying our freezer. It's ridiculously full. I can't even put anything else into it if I wanted to. On that same note I've decided make real dinners again- no more open a bag up and throw it in a skillet. That means I need to plan ahead, such a pain! It's been 2 weeks, and I'm doing it!

I've been making more time to play games with the kids. Avery and I have played Blink, Mancala and Boggle so far. Sawyer and I have done puzzles & tangrams. They are each enjoying the games and pretty good at them. They both asked to play games tonight.

Cheers to 2012.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:07 GMT

Forgot I watched this movie as well during our holiday break…I think that's a good enough review.

Review Rating: 2.5

Kindle Touch

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:59 GMT

The kindle has been around for a long time and I'd imagine that they'd have a refined UI, it's not the case with the Kindle Touch. There are times when navigating around gets very frustrating, at very least the touch interface makes it easier but it's still frustrating none the less.

Since the Kindle is for reading…it's does an excellent job, however it gets very awkward to hold with a single hand because you need to touch the screen to flip the page.

The one major complaint is how it allows for chapter navigation by swiping up or down, it's too easy to do this accidentally and the result is very very frustrating because you can't just easily flip through the book and quickly find your page.

We have one of the newer non-touch kindles in the house and I'd still recommend the touch; navigation and typing is extremely slow and gets tiresome without a touch screen.

Review Rating: 4

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:48 GMT

First fiction book I've read in a really long time; another first, it's the first book I've read on my Kindle Touch.

The story dragged in the beginning but very integrating after 20%…plots started unfolding and rooting for characters started.

Review Rating: 4.75

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:40 GMT

I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since I made the goal to read the book before watching the movie. Like many book to movie translations, readers of the book will be disappointed. The changes they made to fit a 600+ page book into a two hour movie were tolerable but the changes in the story and character oversight in some critical pieces were not.

Book aside – this was a great movie and is highly recommended.

Review Rating: 4.75