Fun & Games

Our 2 oldest children are finally at the age, after lots of practice with Dad, where they can play a round or two of a board game without it ending in tears and shouts of "YOU CHEATER!!". It's actually been a good experience for them to learn about the rules, fair play and being a good sport.

We've recently discovered (rediscovered, in my case) some classic games that I remember playing as a child with my family. These are both great games that even a Kindergartner can understand and enjoy.

Guess Who? is a two-player guessing game first manufactured by Milton Bradley in 1979 in Great Britain. It was brought to the United States in 1982.

Each player is given an identical board containing cartoon images of 24 people identified by their first names. The game begins with each player selecting a card at random from a separate pile of cards containing the same 24 images. The object of the game is to be the first to determine which card one's opponent has selected. This is done by asking various yes or no questions to eliminate candidates, such as "Does this person wear glasses?" When one's opponent provides the answer, one eliminates those that do not fit the criterion by 'flipping down' the cards on one's board.

Secret Strategy...figure out early if the person is a man or woman....there are only 5 females on the board, verses 19 males.

Each turn involves one player throwing two model pigs, each of which has a dot on one side only. The player will have points either given or taken away, based on the way the pigs land (see below). Each turn lasts until the player throwing either rolls the pigs in a way that wipes out their current turn score or decides to stop their turn, add their turn score to their total score and pass the pigs to the next player. The winner is the first player to score a total of 100.

Scoring:

An example of a roll in Pass the Pigs.
Single Pig
The pig is lying on its side - 0 Points
Razorback - The pig is lying on its back - 5 Points
Trotter - The pig is standing upright - 5 Points
Snouter - The pig is leaning on its snout- 10 Points
Leaning Jowler - The pig is resting on its snout and ear - 15 Points
Both Pigs
Sider - The pigs are on their sides, either both with the spot facing upward or both with the spot facing downward - 1 Point
Double Razorback - The pigs are both lying on their backs - 20 Points
Double Trotter - The pigs are both standing upright - 20 Points
Double Snouter - The pigs are both leaning on their snouts - 40 Points
Double Leaning Jowler - The pigs are both resting between snouts and ears - 60 Points
Mixed Combo - A combination not mentioned above is the sum of the single pigs score
Pig Out - If both pigs are lying on their sides, one with the spot facing upwards and one with the spot facing downwards the score for that turn is reset to 0 and the turn changes to the next player
Oinker - If both pigs are touching, then the total score is reset to 0 and the turn changes to the next player
Piggyback - If one pig lands completely resting on top of the other, then the player is out of the game.

These family games are tried and true, give 'em a shot!

Contrast

I took this shot yesterday, my lone little hyacinth popping out of the snow. I love the contrast between the colorful spring flower and the icy white stuff that is just about engulfing it. It's like a promise, even though it's downright frigid out there, this lil guy is promising that warmer times are just around the bend.

Growing up in California, the flowers that came from bulbs may as well have been from another planet. It just didn't get cold enough there to leave them in the ground and allow them to "do their thing" year after year. Every time I visited Utah I was astounded by all the tulips, crocus, daffodils and hyacinth! It was always such a beautiful thing for me to see, being so foreign.

One of the things I love about living in Utah is the constant changing of the seasons. We have wild weather here sometimes. It is far from the consistent weather I grew up with, which was generally between 60-80 degrees, and some rain in the winter. Most of our cars didn't even have a/c because we didn't need it.

The nice thing about 4 distinct seasons, is that you have certain ways of living during those seasons, traditions, if you will.

Here is a list, from a kid's point of view:

In the fall, you head back to school when it is still warm. You mourn the loss of your flip-flops. You rake the leaves and jump in them for hours before Mom and Dad finally decide they need to be bagged and put on the curb until the pick-up day.

In the winter, it gets chilly and you wait for it to snow! Snow means sledding, snowmen, ice fishing, ice caves, shoveling the driveway, and HOT CHOCOLATE! Snow means Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't far behind!

Spring is when it finally warms up enough to not wear a coat. It gets warm for a week around the beginning of March. Out come the bikes and scooters! Out come the short sleeves. Then it snows again and they all get put away for a month more, until the REAL Spring starts sometime around Memorial Day!

Summer is when school lets out. Summer means HEAT and popsicles and swing sets. Kiddie pools and trips to the community pool with friends, burning the soles of your feet as you wait in line for the snack bar. Camping trips and hiking adventures. Visits to see cousins and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

There is something to celebrate about each season, something to appreciate in all. And very much like the necessity of knowing sadness in order to recognize the joy in your life, you must have cold, to enjoy the warmth of the sun. A hot relentless day in order to enjoy the breeze of another. The barren dark days of winter to enjoy the rebirth of Spring. You need contrast. That's what I'm thankful for during this transition of seasons.

Wild Weekend

When did this happen? We used to have rather relaxed weekends. Ones when we would wake up (after sleeping in as long as our little hearts desired) on Saturday with the day stretched before us.

Unencumbered.

Unplanned.

Wide Open.

No more, the kids have gone and scheduled us up! Plus, there is a heck of a lot of laundry and dishes that seem to pile up on a regular basis. Whatever!

This weekend was Gunnar's endless celebration...but even without that, it would've been nuts. I have to say as crazy as it was, it was all happy good busy! I am so grateful for that.

Here are a few of the highlights...

Gunnar's 4 HOUR Birthday Party, what he now refers to as the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

She's got the golden ticket(S)Syd, racing Bayou Boats with Nater!Waiting for the much-anticipated Bumper Boats, after a round of Laser Tag and Arcade games.

The aforementioned Bumper Boats...too bad it was so cold, they had to turn the squirt guns off..

And of course, the presents. He got building sets, books about volcanoes and other natural disasters, chemist style bubble bath set, games, and even some cold hard cash. He was in HEAVEN. In fact at 10:30 that night as I was making my final rounds, he was still playing with everything on his bedroom floor...he was so keyed up from the excitement of the day. Happiest Birthday Boy I've laid eyes on.

Mother-Daughter "Tea" Party:

This is the spread. I was in charge of the Frogeye Salad, and thankfully someone else handled the rest...We made "Spring Hats". I was in charge of this craft, and it seemed like everyone really loved it. YAY! We have some really creative girls.

Savi and her BFF Kenzie modeling their creations.

We woke up Saturday am and were instructed that right after breakfast it was PRESENT TIME, since Dad came in late Friday.

A BIG thanks to Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles who made his day extra special by sending gifts and cards, he LOVED everything!

Another BFF got Baptized, and we wouldn't have missed it for the world! Congrats Rachie!

And to top it all off, I tried out a new recipe on Sunday from one of my fave blogs for Indonesian Chicken. Sydney and I loved it! I'm not saying much about the rest of 'em...apparently they have not developed their palates yet. YUM Asparagus... I'm so glad it's in season!

T-Ball Starts in 3 1/2 weeks....no slowing down here...

Gunnar's 6th Birthday!

" Happy Birthday to you! You smell like a zoo, you look like a monkey and you play like one too.

A party today, at Boondock's we'll play! We'll eat cake and ice cream and spend HALF THE DAY! "

"Happy Happy Birthday Gunnar Dear, Happy Days will come to you all year. If I had a wish then it would be a STINKY STINKY Bithday to you from me. "

I sang songs of this nature for the 20 minutes this morning that we were getting dressed and ready in the same vicinity. It's kinda my thing, I'm silly like that. Gunnar tried to grimace at me and act like he didn't like it....but I know he did.


Not only did he get to wear the Birthday Crown at school, he was also the VIP today. We put together a poster of pictures and he provided narration to his classmates. (...in the quietest voice I've ever heard come out of his cute mouth! I didn't even know he was capable of speaking that softly. I actually asked him to speak up for the first time in his life!)

His classmates then got to ask questions:

Q: Why do you like volcanoes so much?
A: Because they're interesting and I just got a book about them at the book fair.

Q: What is your favorite ice cream?
A: Rainbow Sherbet. (REALLY??? That's news to Mom...2nd surprise of the day after the quiet talking..)

Q: What is your favorite candy?
A: Whistle Pops (nice and old school!)

Q: What is your favorite cake?
A: The one my Mom made me last night with confetti. (See below, the coolest confetti EVER!)

I just loved that all the kids' questions revolved around treats. They were too cute! Gunnar picked out Fun Dips to hand out to all his classmates as a birthday treat. I NEVER let him buy them because the dyed sugar always ends up staining his fingers for a week....he crunches through the stick and then has nothing else to dip, but the fingers!

We did the 9x13 pan for easy transporting to the party.

Check that close up! Isn't it so fun and colorful?

These are the "family presents". We'll open these tomorrow when Dad is home. It's killing Gunnar, he's already shaken them all and commented on the strange shapes of a couple of them. He can't figure it out and he's anticipating like crazy. That's half the fun, you know!

Happy Birthday to our FAVORITE son!!

Down the Drain

I volunteered to contribute some Frogeye Salad to our Mother Daughter "Tea and Etiquette" Party that is happening tomorrow evening. (I feel compelled to mention that there will not be any ACTUAL tea, most likely the beverage will be a fizzy and sherbet combo pleasing to those of the 8-11 year old set) It will be a fun activity with fingerfoods, my scrumptious side salad, and delicate desserts. We even have a craft planned!

After happily boiling my acini de pepe to Frogeye perfection, I went to drain them. I needed to use my strainer because they are so small, and it gave out on me!!! Arrrrghhhhh! A pound of pasta literally DOWN THE DRAIN. Dumb strainer... I even scalded myself in an attempt to save the stuff!



The only saving grace is that I picked up an extra box to keep in the pantry today. So now I am not as happily boiling the 2nd batch, but I'm grateful that I am not having to make a 10pm run to the grocery store.

When it's done, I will use this little made up contraption below. It's the best I've got for now. Do they make colanders with really small acini de pepe-proof holes? That's what I'd REALLY like to know.

On a happier note...look what jumped into my cart today and screamed, "I'm only $5, what else can bring you such happiness at that price?" So home it came...and it is already doing a great job.

Springtime Snowmen

Dear Dad,

You missed most of the snow yesterday. It was the BEST kind. We got AT LEAST 9 inches at our house. It makes awesome snowballs, and Syndey ate ALOT of it. Mostly off the grass, but she got some off the running boards of Mom's car before Mom noticed and told her that snow was dirty. We all had a fun day...

Today we remembered that last time we had a storm, you wanted us to make a snowman for you that you would be able to see when you came home from New York. We didn't have a chance that time, so we thought we'd do it this time.

Ta Da!
This is Gunnar's "Boy Snowman"

..and here we have Savannah's "Girl Snowman" (and Sydney helped, but she ate more jellybeans than anything else)

Aren't they cool? We hope you like them, because we built them for YOU (we didn't have any fun at all doing it, none at all...LOL).

Maybe they'll still be here when you get home.

We love you, 3 Critters

Boo

We're about as far away from Halloween as you can get....
I'm not talking about THAT Boo, I'm talking about THIS one...




And THIS one...


Don't tell me you don't see the resemblance.. Especially when she's got the signature hairstyle going.



I've been hearing it on and off for the past year. Even without the pigs, but especially WITH. Lately her hair has come in thicker and fuller in the back and I can pull ALL of it up, and I am hearing it almost daily...

Pretty funny, I've called her Boo-Bear for a long time, but wasn't ever thinking of the Monsters, Inc. character. I wonder if she'll like that comparison or not when she's old enough to care.