Shape Builder Lite (Free) or Shape Builder ($0.99)- A fun puzzle app. After you assemble the whole picture, it both writes and speaks the word. If I can’t find the two year old, she’s probably hiding in a corner of my bedroom with her sister’s ipod and playing this game. We have the free version.

Shape Puzzle (Free) – Another puzzle app with animal shapes. 

Mickey’s Road Rally (Free)- We love Disney at our house and got the Mickey’s Road Rally a while back and it’s still a favorite. While I was writing this, I discovered that you can now only get it as part of the Disney Junior Appisodes Package, which is FREE! 

Endless Alphabet* (Free) – This is the overall favorite app for all of my kids. And, admittedly, I kinda sorta like it as well. You move the letters around into the correct spot and as you move each one it makes it’s own sound. Once you have all of the letters in place, it acts out the word. Not only do you have letter recognition and letter sounds, but also vocabulary. And these aren’t words like CAT or DOG, but words like BELCH (the one I hear most often) and GARGANTUAN. When they hear the music start up, they all flock to the ipad. 

Rocket Speller* (Free) – This app is similar to Endless Alphabet, but with a completely different word set. There are levels and as you complete stages, you get to build rockets. 

Toca Doctor ($2.99)- This app is far from scientifically accurate, but still a lot of fun! Clean up a scraped knee and put on a bandage, help a bloody nose stop bleeding, put cogs in the brain to make it work. I originally got this app when I was free for a limited time, but my kids love it enough that I would pay $2.99. 

*I also mentioned this for the big kids, but wanted to list them again because all of my kids really love them and have learned a lot!

Previous App Posts: Apps for English Language Arts, Apps for Math, Science, and Social Studies, Spacial Thinking Apps, Just For Fun Apps

Angry Birds Star Wars ($2.99) – Pure family fun. Every single person in our family has played this game. The kids will take turns trying to beat a level. I’m a little bit of a meanie because I won’t let them play it on my phone. That’s my game!

LEGO Friends (Free) – My 6 year old daughter loves this game. It seems simple and boring to me, but she loves it. It was also a great marketing tool because she learned the names of all the LEGO girls. Well played, LEGO. Well played. (I honestly don’t mind. LEGOs are my favorite toys and I don’t mind buying more. )

Temple Run: BRAVE ($0.99) – Temple Run plus Disney’s Merida? Win-win! Run, jump, catch coins. It’s just your basic video game, but with Merida!

Tap the Frog (Free with paid upgrade available) – I admit it. This one is addictive. The little kids can’t do this one very well at all, but the big kids do enjoy it. I probably like it the most though.

Talking Ben (Free) – We started with Talking Tom. When Asa was a baby he would laugh and laugh and laugh at Talking Tom. He accidentally got erased from the ipod and was replaced with this funny pup. He copies you and will do several silly things if you poke or tickle him. You can also help him mix up some potions.

Jake & the Neverland Pirate School (Free) – The little kids really like this one, but the big kids like it some as well. You complete tasks in your pirate training school taught by Jake, Izzy, and Cubby!

Previous App Posts: Apps for English Language Arts, Apps for Math, Science, and Social Studies, Spacial Thinking Apps
Coming Up Tomorrow: Apps for Toddlers

Jelly Car2 ($0.99) – A puzzle game where you control the track and the car. The graphics are barebones, but it’s still a fun game. My oldest really loves it. Jelly Car 3 has just been released for $1.99 and a lite version is available for free.

One Touch Draw (Free) – Connect the dots without picking up your finger. Once you’ve mastered the basic idea, new levels expose tricks to trip you up like one way streets and points that move you to a different spot!

Doodle Fit Lite (Free) – This app looks a little bit like Tetris at a glance, but the pieces aren’t falling from the top. You have to arrange the shapes given to fit in a specified area.

TanZen Lite (Free) – Similar to Doodle Fit. Arrange the pieces in the correct way to form a certain shape.

Cut the Rope (Free or $0.99) – Cut the rope so that the pieces fall just right and let the little monster eat the candy. Makes you think about cause and effect and properties of physics.

Doodle Find (Free) – Fun little app that asks you to search for certain items in a sea of other items. It may ask you to find four doughnuts out of the 50-100 other objects in the grid.

Previous App Posts: English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies
Coming Up Tomorrow: Just for Fun Apps
Later This Week: Apps for Toddlers

Sky View Lite (Free) & Sky View ($1.99) – This app is really cool. You point your device towards the sky and it can tell you which stars or planets you are seeing. It can show you where the sun and moon are at any given moment and what time it will rise or set. The paid version gives many more options and info about the stars and other objects that you can see, including Hubble and the International Space Station.

Sushi Monster (Free) – Designed to meet common core standards, this app focuses on addition and multiplication facts. Use speed and accuracy to feed the hungry monster.

Splash Math ($9.99) – Each Splash Math app is designed for a different grade level. It is also aligned with common core standards. Students answer questions and get to build an aquarium bit by bit as an incentive.  You do have to purchase each grade level separately, which can add up quickly, but I was pleased with the content and my kids like it. Each app is equivalent to one year’s worth of math worksheets. I believe there may be free trial versions for each level.   Kindergarten*   First Grade   Second Grade   Third Grade   Fourth Grade*   Fifth Grade*
*K is a little different because it is designed with jungle animals instead of marine life. Fourth and Fifth Grade apps are outer space based.

Math Ninja ($1.99) – You play the part of a ninja and you are trying to protect your math treasure from Tomato-San and his robot army. Sounds crazy but we blew through the free trial version quickly and the kids begged for the full version. 

Bobo & Light ($4.99) – We have all learned so much from this science app! It’s fun and interactive and tells about lots of unique and interesting science facts. It covers topics such as lasers, lightning, and bioluminescence. Even the baby likes to play with the lasers.

Pocket Frogs (Free) – Raise and breed frogs. Sounds boring, but it captivates my kids. And it’s free!

Stack the States ($0.99) – Learn about our states, capitals, state flags and mottos, and geography in this fun app. In the paid version you can have multiple players set up on one device. I’ve learned as much as the kids! (There is a lite version for free).

Awesome Eats (Free) – This fast-paced game helps kids identify fruits and vegetables and promotes healthy eating habits. There are also new levels that show more about recycling!

Previous App Posts: Apps for English Language Arts
Coming Up Tomorrow: Spacial Thinking Apps
Later This Week: Just for Fun Apps, Apps for Toddlers

Today’s list is of our favorite ELA apps for elementary and preschool kids.

Toontastic (Free with option for paid upgrade) – This app allows you to create your own cartoon! We have laughed and laughed and laughed over this one. You can use the backgrounds and characters that are provided or you can draw your own. Remember how we used to play with felt boards? This is similar except it records you playing with it so that you see the characters moving and you narrating the story. You can go back and add music as well. I love to hear all the imaginative stories my kids come up with!

Mad Libs (Free) – Exactly what you think it is. Perfect for learning the parts of speech, and usually good for a laugh.

This Week’s Words ($3.99) – I rarely spend more than $2 on a kid’s app, so it has to come highly recommended. This one was great because you could put in your own words and you can set up accounts for each of your children. Then they log in and practice the words. After they pass the first two practice levels, it gives a spelling test.

Endless Alphabet* (Free) – This is the overall favorite app for all of my kids. And, admittedly, I kinda sorta like it as well. You move the letters around into the correct spot and as you move each one it makes it’s own sound. Once you have all of the letters in place, it acts out the word. Not only do you have letter recognition and letter sounds, but also vocabulary. And these aren’t words like CAT or DOG, but words like BELCH (the one I hear most often) and GARGANTUAN. When they hear the music start up, they all flock to the ipad.

Rocket Speller* (Free) – This app is similar to Endless Alphabet, but with a completely different word set. There are levels and as you complete stages, you get to build rockets.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App ($5.99) – This app was on sale when I bought it, but we really love it. The kids laugh and laugh at Pigeon’s silly antics and the Mo Willems shows you how to draw Pigeon. Funny and interactive app.

Coming Up Tomorrow: Apps for Math, Science, and Social Studies
Later This Week: Spacial Thinking Apps, Just for Fun Apps, Apps for Toddlers

And they don’t stop there. Minted has something for every stage and age. After you get married, you may need baby announcements. Minted has some lovely clean and simple options and this telegram one? LOVE! And get this? They offer FREE recipient address printing so tired moms and dads don’t have to worry about writing 400 addresses!

They have birthday party invitations and decor. They have art prints for your walls. They have stationary for all ages and styles. They have graduation announcements and moving announcements. They really are a one stop shop for all your stationary needs plus they have tons of pretty things for your house. Just look at these super cool family tree prints.

But the thing I love the most? The journals! I’m a journal girl. (You’re shocked, right?) And they have a huge assortment.

Wedding journals. I really wish I’d had one of these. Think of all I’ve forgotten since then!

Baby journals. To jot down all those sweet little moments.
(You think you’ll remember them, but you won’t).

Kid journals. For you to write down all the funny things your kids say or for your kid to start his or her own journal.

That’d be perfect for keeping those writing skills sharp over the summer!
 

When I was 16, my grandmother took me on a trip to Europe – just the two of us. She loved to travel and always bought a new travel journal for each trip. She made me keep one the whole time we were gone and I thought it was ridiculous back then, but I am certainly glad to have it now. Look at these cool travel-inspired journals.

They even have the option for lined, plain, or graph paper.
I’m a lined paper girl for writing, but I love plain paper for doodles. And I do love to doodle.

Okay, so who wants to buy me one of each?

It’d be easy for one of you because I’m giving away a $50 credit to Minted! :-)
Entry is easy. Leave one comment here about your favorite Minted product.
One entry per person. Entries accepted until 11:59 EST on May 15th.
The winner – who will be picked at random – will be notified by email, so make sure you leave a correct address!

**COMMENTS NOW CLOSED. Winner has been chosen and notified.**

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have noticed that recently I’ve posted pictures of one of my children more than I’ve posted of the other three. Here’s the thing: having a big family is hard. Having a big family means sometimes things and people get lost in the shuffle. Having a big family means that everyone has to help out, but often it’s the squeaky wheel who garners the most attention.

Lately I’d noticed my sweet Asa crying a lot more, coming up with more and more elaborate stories, and talking even louder than normal. If you know him, he’s already loud enough at his “normal” volume. It was the combination of all those things that made me really start to notice that he was struggling. My happy-go-lucky little lad just wanted my attention. The baby is a fit pitcher (what two year old isn’t?), his big sister is usually my shopping companion, and his big brother is very often bending my ear about science or Star Wars or something like that. He just wants to be heard. And so I’m trying very hard to stop and listen, even when a stuttering three word sentence takes two minutes for him to say.

I got a sitter when I went to his school program so that I could focus on just him and we ate lunch together and danced in the parking lot on the way to the car. He helped me cook dinner and he made dessert for the whole family. I cuddled up with him when he needed a nap and we laughed and giggled and nuzzled noses before we drifted off to dreamland. I watched him ride his bike all the way up the drive and back while the others were still inside. Little things, really, but not to him.

He’s not the squeaky wheel. At least not until recently. And I’d found myself frustrated with him for all the whining and crying and now? Now I feel awful because I realize he just wanted me to see him, to hear him. I try to celebrate them all. I try to make them all feel special sometimes. We go on dates and do one-on-one things together, but sometimes I miss the mark.

I’m trying really hard to see them as individuals and not as one unit. I’m trying to praise each one for what they do best and to help them understand that everyone is different and that that’s okay. I’m trying my best to make the everyday moments ones that lift their little spirits. It’s only fair, really, because they all certainly lift mine.

*****

I am a Christian.

But I am not a good one.

I believe in one God-the maker of heaven and earth, the creator of things both seen and unseen.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, who inspires, encourages and directs us.
I believe in the forgiveness of my sins through the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.
I believe in life everlasting.

Just because I believe it doesn’t mean I understand it.

I believe that the bible was divinely inspired, but written by humans.
I believe the bible may not be perfect, but it is perfectly the way it’s supposed to be.
I believe that it’s not really the words that matter
as much as the meaning of the words
coupled with the inspiration of God
that is most important.

Just because I believe the bible might have some inconsistencies, doesn’t mean I think it’s invalid or unimportant.

I believe that God gives us unlimited, undeserved grace.
I believe that God gives us unlimited, undeserved mercy.
I believe that God gives us unlimited, undeserved chances.
And I believe that, as Christians, we are called to be like Jesus Christ-who demonstrated these perfectly.
I believe that although I may not be able to really comprehend it or even be successful at it,
I am still expected to try.

Just because I teach it, doesn’t mean I always live it.

I believe that God is love.
And out of love…grace, mercy, compassion, understanding and thoughtfulness flow freely.

Just because I know love – and know it abundantly – doesn’t mean I always show it.
Just because I know love – and know it abundantly – doesn’t mean I always accept it.
Just because I know love – and know it abundantly – doesn’t mean I always feel it.
Just because I know love – and know it abundantly – doesn’t mean I always savor it.
Just because I know love – and know it abundantly – doesn’t mean I delight in it.

I am a Christian.

But I am not a good one.

But (thanks be to God)
God is love.
And even when I don’t show it, accept it, feel it, savor it, delight in it…
God is bigger than me and my failures.
God is bigger than me.
And God is LOVE.

The greatest of these is LOVE.

I recently re-read the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. I’ve never seen the play or read the book when Emily’s words in the graveyard didn’t knock the wind out of me:

EMILY: Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?–every, every minute?
STAGE MANAGER: No. Saints and poets maybe…they do some.

Do we realize life as we live it? Do we see each moment for what it’s worth? Or do we focus so hard on what’s coming next that we don’t see the now? Are we so focused on getting it all right that we get it all wrong? I don’t know. I just don’t know. Although I do think that maybe I’m over-analyzing it all. Stop, Bridget. Just stop it. Stop and realize life – right here, right now. Every, every minute.

I’m certainly no saint, but I’d like to be a poet – even if it means getting a little muddy.

I hear someone else call my name and by the time I’ve gotten back, I’ve missed my window. She’s terribly cranky. Arms stretching out, I pick her up. Appeased for a moment, she nestles into her favorite spot but my necklace scratches her face and she throws back her head nearly toppling both of us over. I put her down, but that’s wrong, too. She wants milk! No…juice! No…milk! Really she wants nothing at all. At least nothing from me. I discard the still-empty cup and hold her in my arms, her weight a reminder that she’s not a baby anymore.

Knowing this may take a while, I flop down on the floor. It doesn’t even matter that we’re in the kitchen. Her cries ebb and flow because even she isn’t sure how she feels. (I’m the same way when I wake).

She snuggles in and catches a few soft snores. “Just one more minute, Mom,” I imagine her teenage self mumbling from beneath a pile of blankets. The girl does love a good blanket. (I do, too).

I rub my fingers gently across her back and she bucks if I stop. She periodically rubs my arm in rhythm with my strokes back and forth on her back and legs.

There’s so much I should be doing. There are so many other things that need to be done. Dishes. Laundry. Dinner. And yet I sit on the kitchen floor with a baby-no-more, tears in my eyes and hers.

Babies don’t keep, I think. Babies don’t keep.

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
~Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

I don’t always get it right, but this time I’m pretty sure I did.