ARTistic Pursuits: Video Lessons to Explore Art of the Modern Age {Product Review}

I don't regularly schedule in art in our homeschool. I love art, but with my boys, it's just not a priority. Yet, thanks to several reviews I have done, I have collected a whole host of supplies to handle just about any type of art lesson that comes our way. We have reviewed several art programs before, and have discovered that we really enjoy the curriculum from ARTistic Pursuits Inc.. This company released a new collection of K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8 last year (adding 7 and 8 in late 2018) to give an additional aspect to their already fabulous art program. We have been reviewing Art of the Modern Age, K-3 Vol. 7 from this collection over the last several weeks with my youngest son.

About ARTistic Pursuits

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is an art curriculum company believing that all children are able to understand the concepts of art, and enjoy putting ideas and visual images on paper. They are committed to helping children become observant in our world and to be able to work creatively in it. They are determined to offer parents and children a quality art education presented in an easy to understand format for both the teacher and child and gear their books towards the homeschooling community.

Lessons from Arts & Crafts (Summer Camp 2018)

For the last several days, we have been enjoying our annual trip to our church pre-teen summer camp in Northern Ohio. This was my 6th year and even though I typically work as a counselor for the youngest girls dorm, I "got a break" and worked as activity staff in the Arts and Crafts class. This class is my second most favorite place to work because unlike most of the other activities that encourage working as a team and don't allow for much interaction, we interact ALL THE TIME with our kids that come through. Our usual job is to help these kids make their imagination become real using various craft tools. 

ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with Video Lessons {Product Review}

While our family isn't an "artsy" family, we still enjoying doing art projects. I have collected a whole host of supplies to handle just about any type of art lesson that comes our way. We have reviewed several art programs before, and have discovered that we really enjoy the curriculum from ARTistic Pursuits Inc.. This company recently released a new collection of ARTistic Pursuits Art Instruction Books with DVD and Blu-Ray to give an additional aspect to their already fabulous art program. We have been reviewing Art of the Middle Ages from this collection over the last several weeks.

About ARTistic Pursuits

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is an art curriculum company believing that all children are able to understand the concepts of art, and enjoy putting ideas and visual images on paper. They are committed to helping children become observant in our world and to be able to work creatively in it. They are determined to offer parents and children a quality art education presented in an easy to understand format for both the teacher and child and gear their books towards the homeschooling community.

Building Vehicles with Super Beads from Zirrly {Product Review}

Are your kids into those fusible bead sets? The ones which almost make you shudder because of all the tiny little beads which then have to be heat set with your iron? Do you have horror stories of a time when you accidentally dropped your child’s creation sending beads everywhere and causing a complete emotional meltdown in your child? Wish there was an easier way? Maybe you should check out the Zirrly Super Beads we have been reviewing!

About Zirrly Super Beads

Zirrly Super Beads are unique in that they only require water and air drying time to fuse together. Once your child puts all their beads in place, simply spray it with water and let it sit! After about an hour the creation will be set and ready to go! Unlike other popular fuse bead

Adventures in Crochet ~ Craft-a-Long and FibreShare

I really have been enjoying deepening my interest in crochet. I have found it is very peaceful to be able to sit with my family and crochet. I also LOVE yarn. It's so colorful and squishy! Finally, I like the challenge of following a pattern and creating something from it! Because of this, I have decided to take my crochet hobby up a notch. I decided to enter a YEAR LONG craft-a-long project, as well as participating in a FibreShare swap!

The Craft-a-Long.

I decided to do the Moogly CAL2018 this year. The craft-a-long itself idea is simple--A group of crocheters all work on the same pattern at the

Adventures in Crochet ~ Endings and New Beginnings

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Now that it's 100% totally winter, it just feels right to be sitting on the couch surrounded by my favorite yarn as I work on a crochet project! My husband likes to tease me and say it's my "old lady habit", but I just ignore him. I love that I am able to create something that will keep my family warm. 

Thankful Wreaths and Turkey Lurkey Cupcakes~ A Thanksgiving 2017 Recap

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Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Hello all! I hope you had a simply marvelous Thanksgiving! We had a low key one this week with my parents and brother. We are having the BIG one with my husband's family, when they all arrive next week. It's going to be a madhouse! LOL. I promised that I would share a few things that we did to make our Thanksgiving week fun.

On Monday, we began reading about Thanksgiving and how it came about. We read a few Thanksgiving books to give background about the topic--I did this mostly for my youngest. My oldest is very knowledgeable about it after

Our Favorite THANKSGIVING Books and Activities

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It's that time of year! When if you are a homeschooler or maybe have preschoolers and/or toddlers at home, you might be considering planning out things to do next week for Thanksgiving! Maybe you have eyeballed some crafts on Pinterest. Or are trying to collect some great books to read. In order to help fuel your ideas, here are some things that I try to work in to our Thanksgiving week studies each year!

Thanksgiving Books

Okay, let's not beat around the bush. Finding books is probably like the EASIEST thing to do. Nearly every library already has them up on display for you--but there are SOOOOOOOOOOO many! How do you know what ones to get? Well I always go with our "tradition" ones, and then like to add in a few new ones each year. Some of them are factual but most of them are just fun! Here is a short list of my favorites, as well as the ones that I grabbed for our reading basket this year--they are mix of older and younger reader books!

Thin Stix Creativity Pack ~ One of Our Family's Favorite Products {a review}

We have been fans of The Pencil Grip, Inc. products since our very first experience with KwikStix back in 2016. We have LOVED seeing the brand add new products to their line, and were very excited when they released ThinStix earlier this year. Our one wish was that they would turn all the KwikStix colors into Thin Stix. Needless to say I was thrilled to learn that the company had done just that and we were given a chance to review the Thin Stix Creativity Pack—all twenty-four beautiful colors!

About Thin Stix Creativity Pack

Thin Stix Creativity Pack is the newest in the Kwik Stix family from The Pencil Grip, Inc. Thin Stix Creativity Pack consists of the twenty-four colors of the Kwik Stix line, in the newest thinner size of the Thin Stix. Now your child can find the size of stick they need—whether thick or thin!

The Thin Stixs Creativity Pack ($19.99) consists of:
12 Classic colors
6 Neon colors
6 Metallix colors

These are the same colors offered in the original Kwik Stix line too!

What makes the Kwik Stix unique?
They are tempera paint in a stick—drying in 90 seconds! They are non-toxic and washable, as well as being nut, egg, and gluten free. No water or paint brushes are needed—simply uncap, twist, and paint. The paint works on wood, paper, cardboard, poster board…even pumpkins! Using these sticks means that much of the dreaded painting mess has been eliminated!

Our Thoughts on This Product

As soon as I told my boys we had gotten the full line of Thin Stix they gave a yell of happiness and asked to get them out right away! Over the course of the review we have used them for regular free paint time, book report illustrations, and even map work. The thinner size of the tubes and paint sticks makes them much handier for more detailed work.

My son wanted to use them to do his mapwork—and because I knew it would be dry in 90 seconds and they were as “clean” as using markers, I didn’t mind at all!

Because of our reviews, we now own a COMPLETE set of the Kwik Stix AND a complete set of Thin Stix—with a bonus smaller classic color set. I am thrilled to have all of these and we regularly pull them down for our creations. My boys have now requested that The Pencil Grip, Inc takes it the next step—making the Thin Stix as thin as a color crayon! We can only hope for that wish! LOL

I whole heartedly recommend the entire line of Kwik Stix by The Pencil Grip, Inc. Especially if your child adores painting, and you don’t adore the mess. We have used these all regularly and still have not run them dry, though I know it will happen sooner or later. Our favorite line is definitely the Metallix. I just love the shimmer they leave on the paper!

Size comparison between the Kwik Stix and Thin Stix

The Pencil Grip, Inc. is happy that Kwik Stix has been picked up with several retailers, including online retailers like BJ's, so make sure you keep your eyes open for a chance to snag some Kwik Stix for your whole family to try!

Want To Know More About The Pencil Grip, Inc?

Over the last several weeks, we have been enjoying our review of Thin Stix Creativity Pack from The Pencil Grip, Inc. You have seen how we used them, but there are so many other uses! I encourage you to visit some of my fellow crew members to learn more!

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Make Paper Mache and Sculpting Projects Easier with ACTIVA Products! {Product Review}

We recently were given Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit and ACTÍVA Products' Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS from ACTÍVA Products to review. It seems in homeschool there is always the need for a plaster or paper mache product sometime or another, but prepping all the supplies can take time, and be expensive. ACTÍVA Products is the answer for that and something that is not only easy to store, but easy to use!

About ACTÍVA Products

ACTÍVA Products are a special crafting supplier in the vast arts and crafts world. ACTIVA Products include Clay, Colored Sand, Paper Mache, Sculpting Materials, and More! What also makes them special, is all ACTÍVA

New from The Pencil Grip, Inc.: Thin Stix ~ Paint Without the Mess {Product Review}

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I first learned about The Pencil Grip, Inc. last year when their solid tempera paint came into my radar. We quickly fell in love with their Kwik Stix--we just wished they were...thinner. Needless to say when I had the opportunity to review the company's newest product Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors, I was pretty excited and hoped they would be the thinner style of Kwik Stix we had wished for.

About Thin Stix

Thin Stix is the brain child of The Pencil Grip, Inc. Designed to alleviate the mess of painting,

My 10 Gift Ideas for the Art Lover {2016 Gift Guide Series}

Do you have art lovers in your house? Do you have children who could spend hours drawing? Are you looking for things you could add to your classroom to help promote art? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you will appreciate this next post in my 2016 Gift Guide Series! Today I'm going to share Ten Gift Ideas for the Art Lover!

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

1. Kwik Stix Solid Tempera Paint

Price: $8-11

Have you heard about KwikStix yet? They are a fabulous creation from The Pencil Grip, Inc. and designed with kids in mind! They are tempera paint in a tube--just like a glue stick. You twist the bottom to make it come up and your art lover can hold it like a crayon and paint! They are non-toxic and dry in 90 seconds--two MAJOR pros in my book! They come in a variety of colors--we started with the classic set, but recently were given the metallics and neons to try and we love them too! I recommend these 100%. I love using them too. They are especially great for when you want to paint, but don't want to go through the hassle of getting the tubes, brushes, and water!

2. LolliZ Gel Pens
Price: $14

Collection of 48 different gel pen colors, including neon and metallic. A pen lover's dream come true! And this special listing gives you TWO sets for $14! One for you, one for a friend! Or in may case--keep it and replace the ones that run out of ink. LOL. I can also affirm that unlike some gel pens, these start writing as soon as you uncap them! I have only had 2 in the whole set that didn't flow smoothly, which is excellent. I love these pens!

3. Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils
Price: Varies

Considered to be THE best in the line of colored pencils, your art lover will enjoying diving into the rainbow myriad of colors included in this set of 72 soft core pencils! These are on my wishlist for our classroom. I am making due with the cheaper knockoffs---but they just don't hold a candle to Prismacolor. I would love ANY of the sets--and if your budget needs less expensive ones, go with the smaller sets! They also have Primacolor watercolor pencils which are simply marvelous as well, for the artist taking it up a notch.

4. Ed Emberley's Drawing Books
Price: Varies

One of our favorite authors for anything drawing is Ed Emberley. His books contain easy to replicate steps for drawing anything from machinery to characters to monsters to the natural world. One of our favorites is his Make A World book. The boys LOVE the machinery they can draw. This is a great book to keep in your home or classroom--especially for those kids who aren't necessarily "natural" artists! (ahem. me!)

5. ARTistic Pursuits series
Price: Varies

Do you have a child that wants to learn more about art? To try out different mediums? To have simple lessons with real paintings from the masters as a guide? If you are seeking an art curriculum for your children from Pre-K through High School, make sure you look at ARTistic Pursuits. I have reviewed three of the ARTistic Pursuits books on my blog and my boys have enjoyed the experience every time.

6. Spirograph
Price: $9.99+

Love love love the Spirograph sets. Boy, girl, child, teen, adult...I don't care your gender or age. These are just fun! I love the designs that can be made, and you could even do them on the front of blank white notecards for a custom card creation. They make excellent gifts for children going on road trips, or for quiet toys to take with you to church or when you go out to eat to keep them occupied--especially the Spirograph Tin set!

7. Creative Expressions: Cards to Color and Share
Price: $3.77

If you are looking for a simple way to let someone know you are thinking about them--and enjoy those popular adult coloring books, you may want to check out these Creative Expressions: Cards to Color and Share. These small cards feature 44 cards with ink drawings you can color. These are the perfect little thing to tuck into someone's bag, purse, Bible, book, lunchbox! If you have a coloring book enthusiast, they would probably think these are very cool and enjoy sharing them with others!

8. Mr. Sketch Scented Markers
Price: $5.98

Seriously. Do I need to explain why Mr. Sketch Scented Markers are on my list? LOL. Because they take me back to my childhood and all the fun we had using these in school! I just bought a pack for my boys and the moment I uncapped them, I remembered exactly what they were going to smell like. The Cherry and Grape were ALWAYS my favorite. Share this love with your family or friend. There is just something fun about coloring with these markers!

9. Adult Coloring Books
Price: $2.99+

I would be remiss, if I didn't include the current love of adult coloring books on this list. There are soooooo many versions out there, from the simple florals, to fairy tale worlds, to Bible themed books. There are even ones that coordinate with popular TV shows or movies--Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, and many more! You can find these in almost every store--even Costco carries a wide variety of them. I have picked up a few for me to enjoy in the quiet moments when I just need to relax from a hectic day. It is very peaceful to work through a page.

10. US Art Supply 82 Piece Deluxe Art Creativity Set in Wooden Case with BONUS 20 additional pieces - Deluxe Art Set
Price: $29.96

If you want to make your art lover's day...you can always just go for the gold with this complete art kit! Containing 4 different mediums, the supplies for applying them, and the paper to put it on...it's going to be a winner for sure! It's an all-in-one art set for the young or old!

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I am sure that choosing any of these items will be sure to make your art lover smile! Many of them would be ideal for the home arts n crafts, or homeschool too. I hope that I have sparked some ideas for you to explore! Make sure you check out my guide next week--a collection of some of my favorite Doctor Who themed gifts! (Doo-we-dooo!)

Simbrix Expert Kit {A Timberdoodle Product Review}

If you have children or grandchildren, you are probably aware of the latest thing in crafts: fusible beads. These beads are super popular because of the creativity they encourage--BUT many a parent has had to deal with a child's emotional meltdown, when transferring the beads to the ironing board causes the beads to fall out of place, or {horrors} the pegboard holding them in place gets dropped on the floor causing UTTER destruction. Enter Simbrix! These new-to-the-market fusible beads created in Nottingham, Great Britain help eliminate that worry--they INTERLOCK! No pegboard is necessary and the designs can be moved around easily without fear of messing them up. Although I didn't have first hand experience with fusible beads, I have heard and seen all the stories about their cons from my friends, thus I was very interested when I had the chance to review the Simbrix Expert Kit for Timberdoodle with my boys!

About Simbrix Expert Kit

The Simbrix Expert Kit contains 4,000 interlocking fusible squares which can be put together to create pixelated art. Once in place, the creation can then be ironed, thus fusing the beads together to create a "permanent" version of the design that was created. Because the pieces are interlocking, your child can design, and then take apart their design and try something else. The Simbrix help your child to create 2D images for anything their imagination can design.  The Simbrix Expert Kit contains 4,000 pieces in 17 different colors, and includes a basic instruction pamphlet that even gives several design ideas to get your child's imagination started! The set is geared for ages 5+, retails for $56.95, and is a component in the Timberdoodle 2016 4th Grade Curriculum Kit.

Our Experience with Simbrix Expert Kit

This was one set that I was very eager to get my hands on. I had a feeling that the design element of it would greatly appeal to my engineering minded boys who have a passion for buildling things. I had never had a chance to explore fusible beads in the past, and honestly stayed clear of them thanks to the horror stories from friends about how careful you had to be with them. I was curious to see how these would work for us. I was impressed right away with the fabulous drawstring bag that the set came in. How handy for storage! Once I explained how the Simbrix worked to my boys, they eagerly cleared off a table, grabbed two bowls to hold the beads, and helped me dump them out. The beads came in three plastic bags: one for primary color tones, one for more pastel color tones, and a small package with glow-in-the-dark beads. I poured each of the larger bags into a bowl, and kept the glow beads separate. The boys went RIGHT to work seeing how they fit together. 

He loves that he can stand up what he's making without it falling apart

Little Britches made a creature

Yep, even i got involved. I wanted to make a ladybug from the pamphlet

So I did.

Concentrating hard on his creation

I think we must have worked on these Simbrix for at LEAST 45 minutes. Everyone working on their own thing and allowing their imagination take over. My boys really liked that they didn't HAVE to fuse their creation together. They wanted to use the pieces again later, so we just put their creations in a little baggy and poured the rest of the beads into ziplock bags and put them all back into the drawstring bag. It was interesting that later that evening, when my husband came home, I caught a glimpse of him trying them out himself. He thinks they are pretty cool and easy to work with. The next time we got the Simbrix out, my oldest decided he wanted to make the minion that was in the ideas pamphlet. Now there aren't any directions, you simply have to count the number of squares for each color and go from there. No problem!

They both decided they DID want me to fuse this one together, so following the included directions I did just that. It works well and I LOVE that the pieces stay locked together for easy transport to my ironing board. No worries that they would all come apart.  Because these make pixelated designs, just about any pixelated image can be replicated. This is something that really appealed to one of the boys' friend who is really into Minecraft. He could see how easy it would be to replicate things from that game with these pieces. I think these are GREAT for a child's imagination. I also love that if you wanted to, you could purchase some of the other Simbrix sets besides what Timberdoodle carries (you can find them on Amazon) and they would all still fit together! I think a set like this would be an excellent gift for a family with children and a definite alternative for the much complained about yet still loved popular fusible bead pegboard sets. I definitely see us continuing to pull these out to play with, and I plan on trying to work them into our homeschool studies this year as well. 

Learning About the Basics of Sculpture with ARTistic Pursuits {Curriculum Review}

We have been blessed to have two of the great books from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. and have enjoyed exploring all the different lessons they offer. But my oldest really wanted to explore things in more of a 3D aspect, so when we had the chance to review Sculpture Technique Construct, I hoped it would give him what he was looking for. 

Product Information

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is an art curriculum company believing that all children are able to understand the concepts of art, and enjoy putting ideas and visual images on paper. They are committed to helping children become observant in our world and to be able to work creatively in it. They are determined to offer parents and children a quality art education presented in an easy to understand format for both the teacher and child and gear their books towards the homeschooling community.
Through their program, they encourage children to look at the expressive and technical aspects of art according to their age level. The goal is for the children to be able to be free to explore their world however they see it...not the way that adults think they should see it! There are no "rules" or "boundaries" in the art lessons--no small boxes or limitations. ARTistic Pursuits is all about letting them color outside the lines!
ARTistic Pursuits offer curriculum for Preschool to High School age making it easy for you to find a curriculum just right for your school age child.

Each book has a comb binding, is non-consumable and sells for $47.95. One set of all the books can serve your entire family--from ages 3-18! 

We reviewed Sculpture Technique Construct with Little Britches though Baby Britches joined us when he could.

How Did We Use This Product?

Sculpture Technique Construct is one of the books designed for upper elementary through high school, so I knew that we were going to be doing more than just painting. Fortunately, ARTistic Pursuits partners with Blick to provide packages to match each of their art books, which makes it easy for me to view in advance what will be needed. I saw that I only had to purchase a few things for us to get started on the book when it arrived, which was great. When the book arrived, I flipped through it to get an eye for the different projects that would be done--mostly to see what will be easy to get started on and what has a lot of prep. Because we didn't have the corrogated cardboard paper yet, I decided we would skip ahead and cut our teeth on wire sculptures...I was happy to see that not only did I already own wire that would work thanks to my floral experience, but our local hardware store carried the other gauge that I needed for very inexpensive. Speaking of supplies, I was tickled to find corrogated cardboard sheets in cool neon colors at our local Dollar Tree store! It was a great addition to the package I purchased on Blick.
The book provides a nice introduction about sculpture and how it captures volume and how it deals with blank space. This is information any art teacher could easily provide, but something us parent teachers enjoy having at our disposal--so we sound knowledgeable! 

The book is very straight forward--you get a unit lesson. Within that unit are theme related lessons, an example of the project that matches each lesson, and then you get the list of materials and a guide for what the project is going to be. This same method is repeated throughout the book with each new lesson. In this book, however, there is also a simple unit quiz where the student can test their knowledge relating to the lessons in the unit--all questions that are art related and can be answered right from the book.
We were able to complete several projects over the course of the review period and are preparing for our big paper mache project in 2 weeks. We are collecting newspaper and plastic bottles for our form right now. We will be making paper soon after. I'm eager to use my Ninja blender for that. LOL.

Baby Britches enjoyed working on our plane projects. Although he STILL thinks we were creating airports and frontal shots for airPLANES. LOL. He enjoyed designing his posters.

If you guessed Star Wars, you are correct! :)

What Are Our Thoughts on The Product?

As always, the ARTistic Pursuits book has not let me down. I found the lessons to be easy to follow, and the lessons easy to teach--even as someone who isn't all that artistic. I really didn't have much trouble getting the supplies, though we chose not to purchase the paper making kit at this time--I am pretty sure we will end up making one for ourselves from various hardware we have on hand. 

I was surprised at how much Little Britches really took to the wire sculpting--which was his most favorite of the projects we have done so far. He patiently would work on it for up to an hour in an effort to give it the dimensions the lesson suggested. At one point, he said he liked it even better than his LEGOS, which is high praise indeed. He's very very artistic with a fine eye for detail, so this book was just what I wanted for him and it gave me the guidance that I needed to at least point him in the right direction when it came to working with the materials.
I did find, that unlike the previous two books we used, this one had projects which extended over more than one session. We usually ended up doing the same project for 2-3 days a week, and even went into a second week--especially for the wire projects. I felt like I had to clear out a lot more time FOR Art with this book because of that. Which isn't bad--just meant I had to rearrange our school routine to accommodate it.
As it was also for upper elementary through high school, Baby Britches couldn't do very much of the projects independently, though he did enjoy the corrogated paper projects for learning about shapes and planes.
Little Britches always has high praise for the art books because they feed his desire to be creative. I love that he never tries to replicate what is shared in the photos, always choosing to do something different--well, except the fish. He did try to make a fish in his wire.

Standing up 2D fish

Definitely a fish!

Meanwhile I attempted a butterfly

The only cons are really that it's not an open and go program, that it requires more unusual supplies, and that it might take you more than one sitting to finish the project--oh and it's harder to store the finished project! Like his wire duck. Where am I going to store this thing??

A 3D wire duck.

Will we continue to use this product? Absolutely. I have plans for that paper mache lesson, and I really do want to make our own paper. It will be a good book to continue to pull out as he gets older and his skills advance.

Would I Recommend This Product?

Yes and No. If your chid is wanting to take art into the 3D level and you need simple lesson ideas for you to do at home, this is a great product. If you are able to supply them with the more complicated supplies (paper making kits, wire, etc) than this will be a good match. 
But--if you are looking step-by-step directions? This probably isn't going to be your type, as the directions, while basic, are open to allow for your child to explore and create. There are photos with information to guide you, but not any that are "first, you need to...next you need too..." This is also not an open and go program, and it DOES require more complicated supplies that you wouldn't necessarily have on hand.

Want to Know More?

We reviewed the Sculpture Technique Construct book from ARTistic Pursuits Inc. I hope that you will take a moment to check out what the rest of our team created as they explored more of the ARTistic Pursuits books!

I encourage you to keep up to date with ARTistic Pursuits by following them via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticPursuitsInc

I am definitely going to be using this book some more, but we need to break it down to just a one day a week project, making it far more likely we will finish it. It is definitely something Little Britches enjoys and I am glad it's challenging him.

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