Review: R&R Games- Pig Pile

One of the newest editions to our family game night is Pig Pile from R&R Games.  It is a quick flowing card game for 3-6 players ages 7 and up.  The game comes with 80 cards and 40 little pink pigs.  The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards first and be rewarded with piggies.  The player with the most piggies at the end of the game wins.

Our family really had a great time with this game.  At first glance, the directions were a little intimidating.  There seemed to be alot of rules, especially for a game targeted to children ages 7 and up.  But as with any new game, we trudged along hoping that as we played the game we would get the hang of it.  And we did!  Turns out the rules really aren't that complicated and even Little M (age 3) could play along with a little help.

We have played this game every week for family game night since we received it and the kids and I have played it at least two more times each week.  The Hubs is the most picky gamer we have and he gave it two thumbs up (although he did complain that their wasn't much strategy, mostly luck of the draw).  We sent the game with Ms. Q to the Grandparents' house when she was visiting them for the week.  They loved it!  All in all it has been a wonderful addition to game collection.

Pig Pile sells for $15.95 and can be ordered through the R&R Games website HERE.  R&R Games is offering TOS Crew readers a discount on any purchase from their website now through the end of 2011, use coupon code CREW20 and receive a 20% off your purchase.

To see what other TOS Crew members thought about this game and other R&R Games, you can visit the Crew Blog TOS Crew: R&R Reviews.







Disclosure: As a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew, I was provided this product for free in exchange for my review.  No other compensation was given and this review reflects my honest opinion.

Review and Giveaway: MathBlaster.com

Ms. Q and I were recently given the opportunity to review the online game world of Math Blaster. From Knowledge Adventure, the makers of Jumpstart, MathBlaster.com is a fun "out of this world" adventure game that challenges players to use math skills to help them complete intergalactic missions while playing arcade-style computer games.  

Ms. Q proclaimed Math Blaster her new favorite game to play on the computer but wasn't sure what it has to do with math.  Perfect because if Ms. Q knows a game is in any way related to schoolwork she'll complain.  If the "school stuff" isn't that obvious, she thinks the game is much more fun.  Well, the math practice in Math Blaster is sneaky.  One games uses patterns, shapes, and direction following to create a monster of your own formulation.  In another game, the player has to use number skills to escape some flooding ooze and climb to safety.  The games are fun and the characters are really cute (even the weird alien mutt thing Ms. Q adopted).

The website has a free play option and a membership option.  With the membership your child gains access to a greater variety of math based games and really neat options at MathBlaster.com that they will really enjoy.  The membership for MathBlaster.com also includes some game downloads and is a dual membership giving your child access to JumpStart.com as well.  You can add up to six children per membership so everyone can have their own avatar and own adventures!

If your kids like playing computer games (and whose don't) and you want them to practice their math (and who doesn't) then why not try out MathBlaster.com.

You can enter to win a free three-month membership to MathBlaster.com!
Leave a comment for each entry.

1 entry by leaving a comment below telling me you would like to win
1 entry by following Quinsmomma on GFC or email
1 entry by liking Quinsmomma on Facebook
1 entry by posting or tweeting about this giveaway

One winner will be chosen on September 14th using the Random.org number generator.

Good luck and enjoy!


 

Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

 

Weekly Wrap-up: Earthquakes, and Hurricanes, and Tornados, Oh My!

It sure has been an exciting place to live here on the East Coast this week! We were shook up on Tuesday by a small earthquake and by Friday we were preparing for Hurricane Irene and possible flooding and power outages.  During the storm on Saturday night a tornado was spotted in our town.  Luckily our family saw very little of the damage predicted and we are all safe.  Our thoughts are with those who may not have been as lucky.

We tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed during Saturday's storm.  We had lots of snacks and watched lots of movies.  Ms. Q is old enough to be worried in these types of situations so we decided to involve her in our planning.  We discussed how to prepare for an emergency (one predicted and those unknown), what to do in an emergency, and the importance of staying calm.  She was really helpful with filling water jugs and with moving and securing items outside.  We used the emergency preparedness planning tools at the Ready.gov website.  I encourage everyone to visit this website and be prepared for any type of emergency.  You don't always get advanced warning for an emergency so prepare today!

 

Weekly Wrap-up: Rain and a Bathroom Redo

Rain, rain go away, come again another day!  I am starting to feel like such a complainer.  First the weather was too hot now it's too rainy!!  Some thunderstorms broke the heat wave of 100 degree weather we've been having but now it won't stop raining.  We've watched alot of movies on Netflix and we rented some Redbox movies this week too.  It's been nice to snuggle on the couch with the kids and relax though.

Little M enjoying a summer movie marathon

Between raindrops on Saturday and Sunday Little M learned to ride a "big boy bike" with training wheels.  He was really excited and ready to give his tricycle away to Baby C.  Ms. Q is back from zoo camp.  I was hoping to hear more about it but she seems to be starting her teenage attitude a little early.  It seems every question I ask is extremely annoying to her.  She had a great time though and wants to go again next year.

Thursday Ms. Q went to work with Daddy and the boys and I decided to redo the bathroom. Boy were they surprised when they got home!  I wish I had remembered to take some "before" pictures but I was so excited to start the project that it wasn't until I was halfway through that I thought about taking pictures.  Trust me when I say it was the saddest looking room in the house.

This is a picture of the linen closet in the bathroom.  It used to have wooden bi-fold doors but Little M broke one of the doors a few months ago and in the process did something to the rail it goes in.  Therefore we only had one door and it was driving me crazy!  I finally removed the other door.  Then I purchased a pretty shower curtain that matched the bathroom and used a tension shower curtain rod to cover the opening.

Here is an "after" picture of the vanity.  This also only had one door (are you seeing a pattern here?) from someone swinging on it and pulling the door, hinge and all, off the cabinet.  The drawer fronts were white laminate that over the years had bubbled from the steam and begun to peel off.  I painted the drawer fronts, removed the remaining cabinet door and created these covers from pillowcases.  I placed a wooden dowel inside each pillowcase so it would lay flat against the cabinet.  The flowers in the center are decoupaged.  I had a really great time fixing up this little space and the boys were surprisingly helpful.  I have my sights set on some more home improvements...

We are still on summer break next week and hoping for nicer weather!

 

Garden Update and Nature Study: Tomato Hornworms

Look what I found munching away in my garden!! 

Wow these things are creepy.  I literally screamed out loud and ran from the garden when I spied them.  I was watering the tomato plants and looking for any tomatoes that were eaten or ripening and when I stood up I was eye to eye with this guy and his friend.

EEWWW!!!

I ran into the house for dear hubby who helped with the removal.  He pulled off the leaves they were on and then squished them.

Being the homeschoolers that we are, we decided this would make a great little nature study.  So here is what we learned.  First of all - not worms as the name would imply.  They are actually the caterpillar of the sphinx moth.  The hornwom grows to be about 3-4 inches in length.

From About.com:
               The moths overwinter in the soil as dark brown pupae, then emerge and mate in late spring. 
               They lay their eggs, which are round and greenish-white, on the undersides of leaves. The 
               eggs hatch in four to five days, and the hornworm emerges. It spends the next four weeks 
               growing to full size, after which it will make its way into the soil to pupate.

 Next we wondered what are all those yucky white things on it?  Well turns out these are the larvae of the Braconid wasp.  And according to several sources I found on the internet, we should have left these hornworms alone because their days were numbered anyway.  The Braconid wasps are harmless to humans and beneficial to gardens.  They lay their eggs inside hornworms and a few different species of beetle, then the larvae push their way out and when the fully grown wasp emerges from those rice looking cocoons, the host, in this case the hornworm, dies. Then you have no more hornworm plus a bunch of new Braconid wasps to lay eggs in any new hornworms that may make their appearance.

After all the difficulty I've had with my tomatoes this year I needed some vengeance.  Those little puppies were squished and I felt good about it!  Maybe we'll finally get some tomatoes to eat.

Weekly Wrap-up: Zoo Camp and Car Troubles

Have you seen Ms. Q?

Ms. Q has been gone all week at Zoo Camp.  She's been staying with my parents and attending a day camp at the Cape May County Zoo. The house has been so quiet.  Which is nice but we miss her.  We only talked to her twice all week and both times she excitedly told us about her day and then rushed off because her friends were waiting for her.  I'm glad she is having a good time.

The boys and I had big plans for our week alone.  Unfortunately our van had other plans.  It was in the shop most of the week and we were stuck at home.  Oh well.  On a positive note, I did get some house cleaning done which makes me feel a little less stressed and the boys got to play outside in the yard thanks to temperatures that are finally below 95!  When our van was fixed we went on a picnic to celebrate.

Baby C getting some work done

We are finally able to play outside!

We celebrated with a picnic lunch

And some fun on the playground

Hopefully next week we'll get out and enjoy some more summer adventures.