This Afternoon

This afternoon I held my first Zoom meeting with the youth group. It was wonderful to get to catch up with the youth and hear their thoughts on life during this pandemic. Not only did Rev. Bonnie and I get to spend some time with them this afternoon but we also got to meet their pets which was super fun! While I was hanging out in our kitchen on Zoom with the youth group kids Dave and the girls (and Gretchen!) were in the living room playing yet another game of Villainous! xo

{This Moment} Family Game Night

{This Moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Hoping that each of you are enjoying this time of social distancing and reconnecting with those you share your world with. xo 

Before Bedtime

Some nights just call for a little Princess Magic Fairy and Herd the Sheep before heading to bed. xo

This Afternoon

Some days just call for a little Balancing Moon. xo

Wordless Wednesday

A Wonderful Surprise

As we were getting our day started today I noticed that there was a package waiting for us on our front porch. The girls went out to get it and we all wondered what we'd find inside. Looking at the return address I noticed that it was from my friend Rosemarie over at Sweet Home Days. She is busy packing for their upcoming move to Vermont and came across some things that she thought the girls would like and sent then our way. It was such a lovely surprise! We took each of the books and games out and right away the girls asked if we could play Herd the Sheep. We got it set up, figured out the rules and muddled through our first round. We instantly fell in love with this sweet game.  By the second round we were playing with much more confidence and for the third round the girls felt so confident they asked if we could play with one of the other variations.  The pictures below are of our first round of play. 



We just love how sweetly simple it is (which I find to be the case with many games that come from Europe).  This game is so us and is one that we will cherish for years to come.  Thanks Rosemarie for sending us such a lovely surprise package!  This game was the perfect way to spend our Thursday morning (and evening).  The other game and books will surely be loved and used lots as well.  Thanks so much for thinking of us and enjoy the last little bit of time you have in Connecticut before heading north!  One of these days we'd love to meet up and play!



Unschooling Tools::Games

My friend Stephanie over at Ordinary Life Magic is doing a series of posts on tools that unschooling families are using in their days.  The first in the series is about games.  Games are something that we love, and lately Dave and I have been on a quest to find new, wonderful games to add to our collection. So much of what we have come across just does not seem to be what we are looking for and so it was with that in mind that I had recently asked Stephanie what some of their favorite games are. I was thrilled to see this wonderful post about all the games in their home, and have already started making a list of ones to add to our game cabinet.  So without further delay here's a peek inside our game cupboard:

We don't have nearly as many games as we'd like yet but the ones that we have are indeed well loved.  Some of our favorites are:

Uno.  This was the girls first card game (and as you can see by the fact that Em's hair is super short these pictures are old).  When we first started playing Uno with the girls we had to hold the cards for them but now they are able to play without much help from us.  Such a great game for color and number matching! 

Candy Land.  Another tried and true favorite (and another old picture. This time from the October Nor'easter). 

Balancing Moon.  We bought this from Magic Cabin a couple years back.  It's a simple game.  All about color matching and balancing.  It's great for the very young but also is just as much fun when your a mama (or older!)! 

 

The Ladybug Game is simply fabulous! What makes it so fabulous is how simple it is. Since reading is not required kids can easily learn the rules and play on their own. 

And we love to put our alphabet blocks to good use and play Alphabet Hide and Seek.  A game that I made up one day when the girls had their Easter baskets out and were going on treasure hunts.  Why not hunt letters?  It was a blast! You can read more about it here. 

If you have any games to recommend to us we'd love to hear about them.  So far, as a result of a trip to the lovely toy store in Concord this week, and reading Stephanie's post we're looking forward to playing Blokus, Boggle Jr., Qwirkle, Mystery Garden, Math Animals and Mighty Mind.  Can't wait to see what else we discover along the way!

Unplugged Sunday::Uno

We had another lovely Unplugged Sunday today.  We spent lots of time doing things around the house, running errands, playing, and planning a celebration that is to take place in a little over a year from now, but most of all we just enjoyed being together!  It was a simple day full of family time and love, and it was a great way to reconnect before the week begins.  Tonight, before we tucked the girls in we decided to teach them how to play Uno (one of my most favorite games).  We formed two teams so that we could each help the girls learn the rules of the game. It was a total blast!  Emma is a ruthless Uno player and I have a feeling it won't be long before the girls no longer require our guidance when playing!  What a great way to end a lovely day!

A First

For the first time today the girls got out a game and played without my help!  By the time I got in there they had placed a good few pieces on the moon. The object of the game is to place one of the pieces on the moon without knocking any off.  The pieces come in three sizes (small, medium and large) and you can choose any size as long as the color matches what you rolled on the dice.  It's a great first game for the girls to play on their own.  Simple, easy and confidence building!