Month: February 2011

Eat this, Not That! for Kids

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date February 15, 2011
1 Comment on Eat this, Not That! for Kids

We have enjoyed Eat This Not That! for Kids! by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding

Our kids have especially latched on to the designations on pages 12-16 about what kind of superpowers vegetables and fruits give you–depending on which color they are.

“Red food makes you dash like the Flash!”
“Orange foods give you night vision!”
“Yellow foods make you jump higher and play harder!”
“Green foods give you sharp vision and superhuman healing abilities!”
“Blue foods make you the smartest kid in the class!”

We got our copy from the public library.

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Allie Milestones 7-9 months old

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date February 14, 2011
1 Comment on Allie Milestones 7-9 months old

Here are some milestones from Allie (as best as I can recall) from 7 to 9 months.

at 7 months: she crawled (which is earlier than the boys did); and started eating Cheerios, wet Crispix (bad choice, parents–very sticky to clean up) and baby food; buzzed her lips; and got two front bottom teeth.

at 8 months: she waved, pulled herself up in her crib and everywhere else; and began to eat almost everything with her hands (meat, vegetables, fruit, bread); said dadadada and lots of other expressive things; and began to wave her hands to signal stuff; followed the boys around everywhere crawling and getting into their stuff; usually napped 9:45-11:45 and 1:45-3:15 pm and then went down to sleep (after the boys) at 8:30 pm and slept until 7:00 am. We give her pacifiers in her crib. We often put on static on the radio to drown out the rambunctious boys but didn't use the static at night. No allergies–hallelujah. We started regularly using the barrett to keep her hair out of her eyes.

at 9 months: she began to cruise including sheer surfaces like a wall; and began to get two front top teeth; began to signal "more" with Sign Language; can get down from couch by letting herself down legs first on her tummy. She is not too into music, books, or the sippy cup yet.

The pictures below are from 8 months (January 2011):

Parenting website Video

What’s in the Bible DVD’s and JellyTelly from VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date February 13, 2011

We would recommend the “What’s in the Bible” DVD’s. We have watched the first three DVD’s (6 episodes) with our three and five year old. They seem ideal for elementary school kids–maybe 7 is the ideal age as some reading capability is useful though not necessary. It is a project of Phil Vischer who created VeggieTales. The first three DVD’s give an overview of how the Bible is structured, Genesis, Exodus, and (amazingly) Leviticus. We have checked out the DVD’s from our church library. I guarantee that adults would learn a lot as well.

You can also watch the same characters online at JellyTelly–which hopes to be edifying television streamed from the internet–“easily-accessible, high-quality, Biblically-sound online entertainment.”

Back in 2000, Westmont College theology professor Telford Work wrote a nice piece called “VeggieEthics” on VeggieTales back for Theology Today in which he generally recommended the early VeggieTales stories. “Evangelicals are learning to be “fiddlers on the roof,” conserving both their christological center and their commission as God’s ambassadors to a world that needs redeeming. VeggieTales are a sign that they are beginning to get the hang of it.”

He mapped them this way:

Faith: Rack, Shack, and Benny; Dave and the Giant Pickle.

Hope: Where’s God When I’m Scared?; Josh and the Big Wall.

Love: Are You My Neighbor? God Wants Me to Forgive Them? Madame Blueberry; King George and the Ducky.

Prudence: Dave and the Giant Pickle; Where’s God When I’m Scared; Rack, Shack, and Benny.

Justice: God Wants Me to Forgive Them? Are You My Neighbor? Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space; Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed; King George and the Ducky.

Temperance: Madame Blueberry; Rack, Shack, and Benny; The Toy that Saved Christmas; King George and the Ducky.

Courage: Rack, Shack, and Benny; Dave and the Giant Pickle.

See also Vischer’s memoir for the story of how, “Big Idea,” the company Vischer started, went bankrupt and was sold to Classic Media in 2003 so that Vischer lost editorial control of VeggieTales.