Update on Card Game Reign of the Judges

Here are some updated cards of the game, Reign of the Judges.  Reign of the Judges is base off of characters and events of the Book of Mormon.  These images are more like they will look in the finished product.  Pretty nice?  I think so too.  You can see them on Kickstarter.com under updates.  To see more images not on kickstarter, visit Micah's blog.  Please send the word out about this game!

New Reign of the Judges Card Game

My husband Micah has been blessed with the opportunity to illustrate a car game with a couple friends here in Houston, TX.  We want to spread the word to all who would be interested in this artistic venture of Micah's.

It will be on Kickstarter.com to raise money to fund the production of the game starting Monday, April 21st and will be open for donations for 60 days.  The way Kickstarter works is you pledge an amount of money and when the goal is reached, everyone receives the promised merchandise, according to the amount you pledge.  (If the goal isn't reached the money is never collected-no loss to you.)  Here is more info on Micah's blog.

We hope you like the game!  I've played it and it's lot of fun.  It is a lot like "Mafia".  The name of the game is "Reign of the Judges" and is based off of events and characters of the Book of Mormon.

Please pass on this info to anyone you know who might be interested in this game or just interested in funding a few guys' dreams!

Beautiful Storm Clouds at Sunset

Here's a photo of stormy clouds during sunset a couple days ago.  There were many swirls in the clouds, and the light cast a golden glow on everything outside.  The new spring green plants looks hyper in this light.  There was a tornado watch in effect.

How to Limit Screen Time

One of the best rules we've come up with as a family is Technology Days.  This was made to discourage computer and TV use every day.  Instead, we only allow a certain amount of time of each technological thing on days of the week that have a 'T' in the name.  So, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  They are allowed this screen time AFTER they have cleaned their room and made their bed.  It has worked pretty well.  We do have exceptions for holidays and occasionally Sundays, but doing that sometimes makes the technology day rule a little too relaxed, so be careful about doing that.

We also have a system of coupons and clips on a behavior chart.  We will soon be implementing the Technology Days with the coupons so that they have buy coupons from earned 'behavior money' (tokens) to on those days instead of just being given them after they clean their room and make their bed.  Here are some of the coupons I've made:

The cost of the coupons vary, of course, according to the value the kids have for it.  I print them on cardstock and laminate them at a teacher's supply store.  We had the kids come up with their own ideas for coupons to encourage them to work harder for the coupons.  Here is what they came up with:

The important thing to remember when trying a new system/idea in parenting is to stick with it and be consistent or it will not work no matter how great the idea or system is.  I know this from experience.

  Good luck!

No Parking Backpacks

I made this sign to encourage my kids to stop putting their school backpacks all over the kitchen floor.  I grabbed a few images from the internet and combined and edited them.  It took about 10-20 minutes.  I love Photoshop.

Head Jewelry for Renaissance Festival

We were planning to go to the Renaissance Festival this fall but decided last minute not to. I made a piece of head jewelry for each of my daughters plus an extra.

Katara Costume Pajamas from Avatar the Last Airbender

My oldest wanted a Halloween costume as Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender, but this last Halloween was not the best time for it- (not that Christmas time is much better!)  I bought a pajama pattern to use to make it and ended up not even opening it.

Finished

First, I found a dress and shirt that I knew fit her well and used them as the base for the pattern. I allowed extra room around the chest and waist since these are pj's and she is very particular about comfort.

Pattern like I want it to look before adding seam allowances and pattern pieces

I drew with rulers and careful hand the entire layout of the dress. Then I folded it down the center and made sure it was symmetrical (change drawing/trim to even out).

Paper placed over Pattern and traced to make smaller pieces of the pattern.

Next, I put the tracing paper over the full drawn dress and made each piece by tracing and adding seam allowances.

 Always remember to do seam allowances if you make a pattern!

Close-up to pattern pieces

Purple pieces

White trim pieces

Cut and Ready to Sew

Cut and place on the appropriate fabrics and cut and sew!  If you have a basic knowledge of how a garment is pieced together, you should be fine.  This one didn't have sleeves! Yea! That's the beauty of making your own patterns- you make them as simple as you want.

She loves wearing this to bed, and it looks so cute on her!