My Love/Hate Update

Many years of the dreaded "love/hate" with the Valentine's Day boxes! But,  sniff..sniff..  I't almost over!  cheers..

Finally, after years of agony the week of Valentine's,  the paper mache, the paint, the glitter, the mess... the stress of coming up with EIGHT, original, award-winning Valentine's boxes....

This year is the year of  JUBILIEE!   My oldest daughter completely created the ONLY TWO Valentine's boxes needed for Co-op...all.by.herself!!

Presenting -

The Rocket  and the Gnome  :-)

Egglo Entertainment: A TOS Crew Review

Egglo Entertainment
 The Bentz Test Laboratory loves traditions, and egg hunts were family traditions since the beginning. However, we don't like the focus being on the bunny. Egglo Entertainment  has brought us a fun way to keep the true meaning of Easter the focus in our Easter Egg hunt fun!  


Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs - 12 eggs of 4 different colors (pink, blue, yellow and green) and two different designs (a cross or plain).   The Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs were a HUGE hit! You "charge" them under light (we just used natural sunlight) and they will glow for 1-2 hours. My testers are so fascinated by anything that glows. The 12 eggs are made of sturdy plastic, some are decorated with a cross, others are plain. I really liked the sturdy construction (not like the discount store plastic eggs) 
In just a short time, they were off and glowing. So many fun ways to use these eggs - a scavenger hunt at night, a treat in a basket, or even better - a memorable object lesson.  The glow reminds children of the TRUE light of the World - Jesus!

I found another use for these handy little eggs...  a bit off the Easter theme.  With so many of my testers loosing teeth lately, I thought - hey, these would make great "tooth fairy" containers!  My testers have been stashing their lost teeth, and hiding the egg.  The glow-in-the-dark feature has helped me locate these little treasures!

The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure book -  This beautifully illustrated 40 page storybook tells the story of 3 children and a dog that are sent on a scavenger hunt type of adventure around the world. At each stop along the journey, they find another glowing egg each containing two scrolls, one with a Bible verse and the other with a riddle for them to figure out. 

It's a bit long, but my testers really enjoyed the story, and the challenges!  For busy moms who spend a lot of time in the car... check out the The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download) - it is a quality audio telling of the storybook.

Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls - 12 super cute little plastic scrolls with Scripture printed on them.  These fit easily into the eggs, and make a great alternative to candy!

 Egglo Bible Verse Stickers -  set of 12 stickers, made to remind your child of the scrolls in the adventure story book.  The stickers can be tucked into the eggs, or used to decorate them.

The Egglo Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt Event Curriculum - 60 page downloadable PDF guide with step-by-step guide featuring how-to instructions, visual aides, activity ideas, snack ideas, decorations, coloring activity pages, Bible verse scroll and cross Easter egg cutouts to put in the eggs and more.  The curriculum can help you turn this into an Egg-cellent Adventure (sorry, I couldn't help myself)  for your group or Coop.  

The program is best suited for ages 4-12 years, but is easily adaptable for younger or older ages.  All the testers at Bentz Test Laboratory found something to love.  A new family tradition has been born!

Find Egglo Entertainment on Social Media:
Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/eggloeggs/egglo-easter-egg-hunts-about-jesus/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EggloEggs
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/EggloEggs
Instagram: http://instagram.com/eggloeggs
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/EggloEggs
Google +:  https://plus.google.com/+Eggloentertainment/videos
Tumblr:  http://egglo.tumblr.com


See what other members of the Crew thought here

Egglo Entertainment : A TOS Crew Review

I love discovering new family traditions!  Especially those that bring the true meaning to our holidays and celebrations.  I am so excited to get to introduce you to Egglo Entertainment featuring their  Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs & The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book). Designed for ages 4-13 (but, I thought they were pretty neat too!)
 Egglo Entertainment is committed to helping our children discover the true meaning behind Easter.  I know, it seems like our culture thinks it has something to do with chocolate bunnies and colored eggs...  We have never focused on that at Bentz Test Laboratory - but, we do like to have fun with our holiday celebrations.  
The entire product line is a basket of fun  focused on John 1:5 - "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  (cool... we just memorized that!).  The  Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs - $11.99  & The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book) - $12.99- are the basic teaching tools.  



We were also blessed to recieve: The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download) - $2.99 Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls - $4.29  The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Program Guide - $14.99 

I fell in love with this product as soon as I saw it.  We have always had an egg hunt (my hubby's childhood tradition). But, I have struggled to find ways to make this more meaningful and keep the focus off all the candy.  

The Glow in the Dark Egglo Eggs were a HUGE hit!  You "charge" them under light (we just used natural sunlight) and they will glow. My testers are so fascinated by anything that glows!  The 12 eggs are made of sturdy plastic, some are decorated with a cross, others are plain.  I really liked the sturdy construction (not like the discount store plastic eggs) 

 In just a short time, they were off and glowing. So many fun ways to use these eggs - a scavenger hunt at night,  a treat in a basket, or even better - a memorable object lesson!  The glow reminds children of the TRUE light of the World - Jesus! 

The Egglo Treasures Scripture Scrolls are tiny plastic scrolls printed with a scripture verse, perfect for putting into your eggs and a great alternative to candy! My testers wanted to keep these for their dolls, they thought they were  very cute...

The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure is a full color, 40 page, paperback book.  My testers told me "this is a good one!"  The story in the book follows three children on an egg hunt to various times and places.  It's a bit lengthy, but my testers did not want to stop the story until they got to the treasure.    I liked how the story incorporated the egg hunt and the gospel story of  Jesus.  For busy moms who spend a lot of time in the car... check out the The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure (book audio download)  - it is a quality audio telling of the storybook. 

Ever the homeschool mom, I loved the extra ideas in the  The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure Program Guide.  This 60 page resource includes suggestions for incorporating the lesson, coloring pages, snacks and even a printable scavenger hunt.  This would be a great program to use in your next Sunday School or Awana classes too!    

This collection is sure to become a new  family tradition!

Find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,  Pinterest, YouTube, and Google +

Check out what others on the Crew had to say!

Valentine's Boxes - 2014

Another year of Valentine's boxes...  Do you realize that we have now constructed 32 boxes in our 4 years at our Coop?   Yikes!


Want to see some of our past creations  (I didn't take pictures of our first year, not realizing what a BIG deal these were going to become!


Without further ado... here are the latest and greatest Bentz creations.  Since I was horribly sick this week, they were independently and co-dependently created entirely by children! (Including our latest adopted college student...)  I love how their creations completely reflect their personalities, welcome to our family!

This would be the "Samuel M. Bentz - NFL Trophy", and one of the ancient wonders of the world - the "Pharos Lighthouse"

"Noah's Ark" - where candy rides free....  and of course, the "Pretty Pink Castle" with lace curtains, stainglass windows and a velvet throne with gold carpet runners...

Some girls do pink, and some do "A School of Man-Eating Piranahas!"   "Joshua's Jericho", complete with marching army men...er, Israelites.

Complete sweetness demands a "Candy Covered Cottage" - will furniture, curtains and all kinds of sweet surprises.  Despite the look of utter enthusiasm - the "Cool Valentine Panda" was one of our favorites this year.


Whew...  glad we only have to do that once a year!

The Love/Hate Update

You asked for it!  An update on my love/hate with Valentines boxes!

Here's what we managed to create...I put off the chaos for as long as I could (we started on Wednesday - due to Co-op on Friday!) Every child had their own ideas, and just used my skills in locating materials, and cleaning up their messes :-)

Here's my special "disclaimer" - All of these boxes were made with 100% recycled materials (Pringles cans, corn dog boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc.) and paint/paper supplies already in the house.
Total expense to create 8 boxes = $0.00

We even had a "God moment" during our Valentine box adventure this year.  Lydia was painting her Cross (see below) and ran out of brown craft paint.  "Oh no", I thought - "There is no way I'll have time to run out for more..."

  Lydia calmly relplied - "Don't worry Mom, God will provide."

Of course, I thought - he'll have to provide some TIME for me to make a run to Hobby Lobby!  Off to the laundry room I went, complaining about my lack of time, and abundance of tasks.  Grumbling all the way.

 I opened the cabinet to grab some fabric softner - and what do you think I found...
A BRAND NEW UNOPENED bottle of BROWN paint!  God provided.  I love how HE thinks of everything!!

Lydia, of course - was not in the least surprised by this - she knew God would...

Sam - his own love/hate with Valentines expressed in his creation "Descpicable Valentine" minion

Luke - A Rubics Cube - carefully hand colored to exactly match his own Rubics cube

 

Noah - a very clever "Ten Command-mints" with all candy theme (very well thought out!)

Selah - what else?  A pink-mained Horse, of course

 

Lydia - "Lay your Candy Burden at the Foot of the Cross"

Joshua - a big, blue,long-neck Dino Pet

 

Chloe - The "Good Book"

Essie - a Snowman, almost as tall as she is

 

 

I'm please to report - Bentz Academy made another great showing in the Co-op competition - winning 4 out of 6 classes and Lydia's creation winning the "Best use of Bible" award!

 

Whew, glad that's over...

 



A Love/Hate Relationship

Time for true confessions, I have a love/hate relationship with Valentines Day! 

I used to love it - flowers, candy, kisses, romance, a date night with my wonderful husband...

But, now it means something entirely different - it means "valentines day boxes" for our Co-op!  Who turned this delightful holiday into this?

Let me tell you our "story" - we joined a fabulous homeschool Co-op several years ago.  My children were delighted to experience some "normal" school-like activities (we have always homeschooled - no bus rides, backpacks, etc...)

 When the annual Valentines Day party arrived, they were excited to make a "box" to hold their loot - and to have so many friends to give valentines to. As we arrived with our very simple-paper-covered-boxes - we were introduced to the world of "Competitive Valentines Boxes"!  Who knew that you could have motorized, dry-ice-filled-smoking, 2 story high Valentine Boxes?  I thought a "box" was a "box" - boy, was I wrong!

Okay - fast forward...  Year 2 arrives and we are now no longer "rookies" - game on!  We know what "box" means, and we are Bentzs (another true confession - we're sometimes, slightly, er...competitive)  We were not going to just show up with our cute, simple, valentine holder - we are were going to dominate the competition!  You know, "go big or go home"!

Let me tell you something...  sometimes having a larger-than-average family isn't easy.  Paper-Mache multiplied by 8 is a bit daunting (not to mention - we are still cleaning it up).  After each child had their consultation concerning what they wanted to create, and some logistical planning (glad I saved those boxes) - the building began! I'm proud to say minimal parental involvement was utilized - I was there for clean up only...

 

Each child picked something they are passionate about - Football and Ancient History (including secret, but authentic, hieroglyphic messages)

 

 

Gaurdians of Ga'Hoole - Owls (the book du jour) and Mailboxes with sparkling hearts

 

The Whole World, and what is Valentines Day without a Snake?

 

A Giraffe lover (she has slept with this most of the year...not kidding) and thankfully, a child that really only wanted a "Box"!

 

I am proud to say, the Bentz Academy made a great showing - winning best of their class for 5 out of 8 kiddos! 

Now, we are facing Year 3 - how do we top last year?  Any suggestions...  I'm not feeling the "love" yet?!