All posts by NerdMom

gift worthy, kids, literature, math

Keeping Parents and Kids Happy!

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ArcadeI recently received a copy of JumpStart 3D Virtual World 1st and 2nd grade to review. My kids and I love it! For those of you that aren’t familiar with JumpStart, it is educational software. It has always been fun but wasn’t as always something kids would choose over video games. With the incarnation of the 3D Virtual World they have found the secret to kids hearts.

The kids start out creating their own characters, or jumpees, by picking out forms and then they personalize them by choosing all the characteristics. My oldest is excited that he can be a robot and NerdPie got to pick all her girlie things;). Then they cruise through the world that the conquering and earning jewels by completing academic missions. These are are in all different areas from sentance formations, charts, logical thinking, patterns, and lots more. There is also an entire online world! But that is another review;).
Then comes the parts for parents. First off I can register up to 3 kids, I love that. JumpStart will track each one separately. Then JumpStart sends me a progress report. They tell me what areas the kids have worked on and if they have completed it or if it is in progress. It is great because I can see areas the kids have mastery in and the areas they might be struggling in.
The kids seem to love this and I like that they are learning during their computer time without just doing drills. This would make an awesome gift the kid in your life if they are very familiar with computers or even just learning because it is so intuitive. So run out and buy a copy! Then let me know what you think about it!

FRN, gift worthy, kids

Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah’s Umbrella

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I recently received a copy of the brand new VeggieTales movie, Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah’s Umbrella! We loved it! Now, we here in the NerdFamily are huge VeggieTale fans to begin with. So we all snuggled in and watched it together. It was a huge hit!

This Minnesota Cuke story was great! It hit on so many issues that speak to all my children, regardless of their ages. It hit on the issue of not paying attention, friendship, and confidence. Even the Silly Song, Sippy Cup, spoke to the issue of spilling (we still have one in a sippy cup) and the whole family thought it was hilarious!
I would highly recommend this to anyone! It would make a great gift and a fun family night. So pop over to Big Idea and get this! They are even running a special right now!
This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program for Big Idea, who supplied the DVD for review.

Food

Top Chef Masters: Who’s the Master

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So who is going home this week? Who is winning another $10 grand for their charity. Let us jump right in to find out!

So in the chefs walk to find a table full of burgers and fries. The quickfire is that the chefs have to make gourmet burgers with a side. The judges are 3 people known for burger stuff. The guy from Super Size Me, a guy who has won best burger and Spike from Top Chef who owns a DC burger place. Michael is making a 2 1/2 pound burger with truffle oil. Hubert has enormous pressure on him because not only does he have a burger place, he sells the $5000 burger. The judges seemed to like almost everyone’s burger but Anita’s cheese soup with mini burgers didn’t seem to fair as well. The judges seem to think Hubert’s rouquefort cheese was too much.
Hubert: 3 stars
Anita: 1 1/2 stars
Rick: 4 stars
Art: 3 1/2 stars
Michael: 4 stars
Then we come to our elimination challenge. The have to cater a party for Zoe Deshanel. The catch, Food restrictions: vegan, gluten intolerant and no soy. They must each be responsible for 1 dish. The get 2 hours to prep. It sounds like both Rick and Michael have some experience with gluten free cooking. Hubert was running behind so Michael helped him out. Prepping on site Michael almost lost his plates when the table started to collapse.
Hubert: White Gazpacho, Timbale of Avocado and Asparagus, Red Beet Salad
Anita: Spicy Grilled Eggplant, Lentil Salad, Cashew Sauce
Michael: Quinoa Pasta with Salsa Verde, Pine Nut Gremolata
Rick: Sweet Corn Tamales, Chili-Braised Clack Beans, Braised Greens
Art: Strawberry and Champagne Soup, Strawberry Rice Ice Cream, Almond Brittle
Service and Judging:
Hubert lost a couple of shooter glasses of his gazpacho but had extras. Hubert’s salad and soup went over well but the avocado felt done. Anita’s eggplant was a little to spicy and the lentils were to squishy. Michael’s pasta went over very well. Rick’s tamales was a real hit. The diners weren’t happy with the ice cream.
The judges thought Anita’s plate was sad, oily and disjointed. They thought Hubert’s was good. Michael’s dish was a big hit! They thought Rick’s tamale was good but the salad got lost. It’s seemed no one liked Art’s rice milk ice cream that he bought. Art’s brittle was a success.
At this point I think either Art or Anita is going home with either Hubert or Michael winning.
Art: 12 1/2 Stars
Anita: 13 Stars
Rick: 19 Stars
Hubert: 19 Stars
Michael: 22 Stars
Right now I think I am predicting Michael to win everything but I am not sure. See you next week!

life, Wordless Wednesday

First Tooth!

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We are so excited when our kids get their first tooth. Who would have thought after we waited for it to arrive we would be so excited to see it leave? NerdPie lost her first tooth last night eating pizza. She was so funny because she gave a shriek, said she lost her tooth, handed it to me and then took another bite of pizza. Kids are funny;). Now we are waiting for the one right next to it to fall out. It is just barely hanging in there.

household, WFMW

Best $20 I Ever Spent!

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A couple of years ago NerdDad bought me this Brother P-Touch PT-1900 Electronic Labeling System from Costco. This is the best $20 we have ever spent for any kind of home organization tool. I can label everything! We put those large plastic drawers in the pantry and labeled them. I label the bins and boxes in the garage. I label folders in the desk drawer. I labeled my cooler when we went to the Fresno Fair. I even labeled my basketball hoop when I lent it to church.

You can get refills, change the font and even the orientation! So if you don’t have one, go and get one!

home projects

Tackle It Tuesday: We Have Paint!

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OK, I understand. Painting an office may not be a huge accomplishment for many of you, but it is grand for us. Our office has been our junk/storage room since we moved into this house. This means it has been piled high with stuff. So back at the end of October I decided to reclaim our office. Then I had major surgery, then Christmas so it totally got shelved. Just recently I decided to try again. We finally got it totally cleaned out (or really, all the junk is in the garage;) and painted. This was my first experience painting these walls with builder paint. I have never need to use primer and these walls took about 1 1/2 cans of it.

So now we are just waiting for the paint to cure for a couple of days and then we will put the outlet covers back on and move back the furniture. We need to get that part done this week so we can start organizing the paper work before I go back to Stanford (the 12th). So what do you think of our Moose Mousse?

Food

Next Food Network Star Finale!!!

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So who will win it all! Melissa or Jeffrey? The slightly high strung stay at home mom or the overly zen dad? Let’s find out!

We see got glimpses into Jeffrey and Melissa’s life. It doesn’t surprise me to see that Jeffrey does marshal arts but it did surprise me to see he works in real estate. Melissa has 4, 3, and twins 1 1/2 year old girls. That are some close kids;). Back to the competition.

Alton Brown walks into the room. He tells them that they are going to shoot the pilots. AB will the director. So AB meets with each of them to go over concept. I think this is the perfect final challenge. With some previous winners that was the problem. They won but their shows stunk.

Jeffrey is going to focus on a foreign ingredient and bring it back into the scope US cooking. So they come up with the name Ingredient Smuggler. AB then met with Melissa and she needs to center hers around survival, Your Kitchen Survival Guide.

Melissa is going to make a rustic lemon onion chicken dish using her 4 step chicken method. Melissa was busy harried but Alton reminds her that is isn’t about recipes and concepts but personality. It seemed to calm her down.

Then it was Jeffrey’s turn. He is making a Harissa Steak sandwich with a Sun Dried Tomato and Mint Mayo. Jeffrey was too focused at first and wasn’t relaxed at all. Of course, he finally relaxes and the last take went off well.

Then we launch into the actually finale. I am excited that winner’s show will air in 1 week! Sometimes I think they wait too long.

All boils down to who won? Well…….Melissa!!!

I think she was the best choice! I am excited to see her show next week!