Hanukkah Fun

 Happy Hanukkah !!

 We had a little Hanukkah celebration with some of our homeschool friends today.
Our contribution was the Sufganiot. Princess read me the recipe, I did the cooking.

They were not too bad for my first try.

Ollie was hoping at least one of the five kids would drop something for him.

 They had lots of fun

 Possibly learned a thing or two

 It was a great day!!

uDraw and Box Tops for Education

I know a lot of my homeschool friends love using the uDraw tablet from THQ.My Princess certainly does!

My friends at THQ have asked me to let you know that they have teamed up with General Mills to help support America’s schools through its newly introduced eBoxTops® “Click & Earn” Box Tops for Education® program.

From now until December 31, participants who simply view a uDraw commercial and answer a quick survey here

and earn three eBoxTops® credits toward their designated school, no purchase necessary.

According to General Mills,the Box Tops for Education® program has earned America’s schools more than $400 million since the program started in 1996, including $59 million last school year.More than 90,000 K-8 schools are enrolled in the program and each school can earn up to $60,000 every year.

“THQ has always been a proponent of helping children and supporting education,” said Martin Good, executive vice president, Kids, Family and Casual Games at PlayTHQ^®. “We are delighted that uDraw, our drawing and gaming device that encourages creativity and appreciation for the arts in kids, is the first interactive video game product to be featured with the Box Tops for Education® program. This is a great beginning to what we hope to become a long-term partnership with General Mills.”

Check out worldofudraw for more information about uDraw and the current uDraw games.

Stop SOPA Censorship is NEVER the answer

Censorship .

What an ugly word. To many pf us living in my region, this is something that used to happen.

Not part of our daily lives. Something they do in China. Not in the United States.

Today, Congress held hearings on the first American Internet censorship system.This bill can pass. If it does the Internet and free speech will never be the same.Join us to stop this bill.

Think this won't affect you? Censorship affects us all.

Under this bill it will become a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than$2,500.00 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user,e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats.

People trying to keep the Internet more secure wouldn't be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

How does website blocking sound? Under this bill the government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users. Read more here.

I am asking all of you to take action on this.

Out and About

 We have been home since Sunday morning when I woke up sick, but today was Homeschool Soccer,
so off we went.

Princess did not want to play soccer,

 but she wanted to play with her friends.

It was nice to be out in fresh air, even if I was freezing for most of the day.

The kids did not look cold.

We had a nice warm lunch when we got home.

Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App !

This past Friday, Princess and I took the train into New York City

to attend a luncheon announcing the new Mo Willems app...

Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App!

Princess was delighted, because she has been,"waiting her entire life"(yes, all 9 years!)

to travel into New York City .

The luncheon was held at the Magnolia Bakery. It was too crowded to get pictures inside worth
posting. (Sorry my cupcake loving readers)
Held by Disney Publishing Worldwide, we enjoyed checking out the new app as we ate lunch.

Princess was disappointed to see there were no children her age, and had started to complain until she started playing with the app. She loved it!

Then Mo Willems himself came in and told us a bit about the app.There have always been a long list of things the Pigeon can't do- drive the bus, stay up late, eat a hot dog. With this interactive app the list will continue to grow as children decide what the Pigeon will try to do next. Mr. Willems played a lead role in the design,writing,and illustrating of the app.He also gives voice to the Pigeon and, in the app's drawing tutorial, he guides children in the exploration and illustration of their own pigeons.With kids in creative control, the app brings new surprises and an enriching reading and playtime experience each time they play.

Mr Willems talked about putting a lot of thought into finding a way to use the technology as an interactive tool for children.

 "Interactivity has always been a key to the Pigeon books," said  Mr Willems,

"Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App!" takes that interactivity to the point where the child is not only the audience, but the author as well.. I can't wait to see what awesome ideas kids will come up with.They're going to put the Pigeon through the wringer!"

Features of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App!” include:

• A fully animated storytelling experience inspired by the award-winning children’s book series;
• A starring appearance by the Pigeon, voiced by Mo!
• Three unique storytelling modes so that readers can enjoy limitless one-of-a-kind Pigeon stories;

• Read-along option;
• Ability to personalize the content with readers own voice;

• Shake the Pigeon to start the stories;
• A Pigeon drawing tutorial with Mo;

• “Favorite stories” section where readers can create their own personal libraries.
• Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App is available for $6.99 from the App Store

 He took questions and signed books and posed for pictures.

 We received some lovely gifts for attending as well. This great tote bag .

 It was filled with Mo Willems products (which Princess really enjoyed on the train ride home!)

My only regret at attending? Now Princess knows just how close we live to New York City.

"Now we can go all the time!"

Can't wait. ;-)

Giveaway winner

We put all your names in a hat

The winner is Shana!!!

I hope you enjoyed the craft show with Ava.
Princess and I didn't get to attend due to the storm that blew in Saturday.
Snow in October?!? Who expected that?
Thanks to everyone who participated.

Sugarloaf Crafts Festival Ticket Giveaway

It's that time of year again....my lovely friends at Sugarloaf Crafts have sent me tickets to the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival taking place in Somerset,NJ .

Starting Oct 28 through October 30th 2011

With puppet shows by Middle Earth Studios for the kids (4 shows each day!)

and musical performances by Ngu Mbandi , craft demos by stone sculptors and copper spinners,

potters and so much more! Princess loves to walk around and talk to all artisans and find out why they were drawn to the art form they create. Want to know who will be there selling what?

Click here for a list of exhibitors. Don't worry my foodie friends...there are plenty of vendors for you as well...see here for a list.

If you would like to win two tickets to the show leave me a comment here.

Want another chance? "Follow me". Be sure to leave me a comment telling me so it gets counted.

The contest starts now and I will have my Princess pick a winner out of her witches hat on Wednesday morning so I can mail you the tickets! C'mon and enter now to win. I will be there as well on Sunday! Thanks again to my friends at Sugarloaf Crafts for sending me tickets again this year, not only to give away on both blogs, but a pair for me as well!

Homeschool Field Trip

Princess and I recently joined our homeschool group for a class called

Happiness is a Horseshoe Crab at the NJ Sea Grant Consortium.

The instructor read a book about horseshoe crabs, passed around some "sheds"

for the kids to look at and some mysterious substance in a bottle that looks like the famous blue horseshoe crab blood! That was a big hit with Princess. He went over a life sized model of a full grown female and took questions as well.

Then it was craft time!

Off we went to the bay side to Seine . The kids all helped carry the above equipment.

Have I ever mentioned how much we LOVE Sandy Hook?

Down to the bay side we went.

The tide was especially high due to a new moon, so parent volunteers were requested

for the seining. I am the one in the Farm Aid hat. ;-)

The gear kept us warm and dry and it was fun. (Special thanks to one of my favorite HS Mom's Michelle O. for taking pics while I waded out into the bay with the net. )

The high tide made it harder to get any good catches, but the kids enjoyed the jellies,

and hermit crabs and such. Putting anything "alive" into a bucket of sea water to be studied.
These were all returned to the ocean before we moved on.

Then we had a beach walk and learned about all the shells and creatures and plants we came across.

Our time ended as the rain began. Nothing beats a great day at the beach!