What's New?

February seems to force us to think up new things to do. Since the weather is usually less than inviting, we bury ourselves indoors and brain storm ideas to fight the long winter boredom.

Last week, the kids and I created Tennis Bocce Ball.

I have to admit, we kinda stole the idea from our Wii summer sports 2 game.

What we did is gather four tennis balls from the garage. We marked one for each player and one for the bocce ball. We then just tossed the bocce ball around the house and tried to roll our own tennis balls closest to it. The one who rolled closest to the bocce ball got to toss the bocce ball for the next round. It is just like outdoor bocce ball without the five pound cannon balls putting holes in the sheet rock. One added challenge is trying to roll or throw your tennis ball around corners, through doors, up and down stairs, and into bathtubs.

Our dog, Liberty, also thought she was playing since we were using her fetch tennis balls.

Fortunately, no lamps or wall pictures were harmed during the match.

On an unrelated note, Sweet Pea recently was the recipient of a brand new pair of pajamas. They were the requisite color of pink with a High School Musical theme. The best part of the pj's was the matching HSM bedtime blindfold. You know, the fancy, frilly blindfold that rich people wear to bed to sleep off their merry making from the night before.

Well, SP was showing me how it worked last night. She proceeded to slip it over her eyes, laid back and then banged her head on the wall on her way down to her pillow. Maybe that's why those snooty rich people always wake up with headaches.

We told her that it might be a little unsafe to sleep with an elastic band around her head all night. She responded rather forcefully, "But I need it."

So we let her wear it that night. When we went in to check on her a few minutes later, she was sound asleep and her sleeping blind had indeed slipped from her dream filled eyes to her neck. Even though the blind is very flimsy with weak elastic, it has been removed from SP's room in the hopes that she will soon forget that she needs one.

So that's what's new with us. How about you?

Happy Dick Clark Eve

I hope everyone rang in the new year with enthusiasm and made it to the other side safely. Everything was pretty tame for us this year. One of the most exciting things about our new year's was our new year's plans. Since Dick Clark's personal invitation was lost in the mail, we were planning on a low key celebration this year. Taking the kids to a movie, followed by a 'Game of Life' marathon was our original plan leading up to our sparkling cider toasts.


Those plans were changed by an invitation from our neighbor to party at their home. They have a couple of girls close to Number One Son's age so all of the kids could have fun too.

We then got invited by another neighbor of ours to go out to eat for supper. More kids, more fun. So now, instead of quietly watching the ball drop at home, we got to eat out and sing Auld Lang Syne in chorus.

We will have to see Alvin and the Chipmunks another weekend I guess.

Even though we missed the movie, we were still able to play Life. Our friends also like to play games, so we brought our Life game with us. It was a memory jogger. Many of our friends remembered playing as kids. We got to laugh about how our lives have paralleled the game in many ways. Now we are all hoping to move into Millionaire Estates in the future.

We also played 'Balderdash', a game that requires you to make up definitions to obscure words and try to fool your opponents into believing you. As the time got later, the definitions got wilder. We had some interesting meanings for the word 'quondong' by the end of the evening. And just so your mind doesn't visit the same gutter ours were in, a quondong is an Australian fruit bush.

The kids were a little miffed about not being able to play with the adults, but they played well on their own and got to watch a couple movies.

Everyone stayed up to see the heroic Dick Clark count down to the new year. The kids got their sparkling cider and we got our Asti Spumonti. Sweet Pea was sitting on Lady Di's lap and was squirming and wiggling so much, Lady Di asked her if she had to go to the bathroom.

"No, I'm just so excited for the New Year!, she squealed.


N1S will also have something to be excited for in 2008. This year, Lady Di observed, N1S's age will be double digits for the first time. He will turn ten and will no longer be a single digit kid. He showed a little sign of growing up that night when he wouldn't kiss his Mom in front of his friends when midnight hit. He did later when no one was looking though.

All in all, this year's celebration was a lot of fun. We got to see friends, play games and get a jump on 2008. I would like to thank both of our neighbors for thinking of us this year. We have some very great friends.

So raise your stemware and toast to good fortune in the new year. And while you are at it, plant a quondong this spring.

Start your engines

What a beautiful day. I got off from work early this afternoon, got the lawn mowed and started playing. The kids and I played a game of Bean Bag. This is the game where you throw bean bags at some wooden car ramps, trying to get them into the hole in the middle. With a little expert instruction, Number One Son started to hit the target pretty well. His little sister, Sweet Pea was pretty good about nailing the fire pit ten feet away with her bean bags.

Grampa Ray came for a visit and he brought his boxer, Rosie, with him. Rosie is quite a bit bigger than our poodle, Liberty, but they get along OK. Since Rosie is still a puppy, she has to be tied up or else she will run to the next state. So she is tethered to the kids' swing set and was happy to have them play around her. Their swing set has an elevated club house so Rosie could rest underneath in the shade.

Tonight after supper I asked the kids if they wanted to go for a bike ride. "Nooooo!", was the immediate response. I guess the babysitter walked them to the park this morning and they were still tired. So instead of a bike ride I got out something better.

N1S got a NASCAR electric race track for Christmas two years ago from his Grampa Gary. I'm ashamed to say that I've been too busy to set it up before now. You know how it is. After work there's dishes to wash, lawn to mow, deck to build, snack to eat, game to watch, etc. Anyway, it's OK to be a little late as long as you use it eventually. So long as the kids are still at an appreciative age to enjoy it. Since the weather was so nice I set it up outside on the deck. Almost immediately, the kids started enjoying the concept of assembly required.

"OK, kids! Who wants to untwist all of the twist ties?!"

"We do!", was the trusting reply.

The glamour of that job quickly faded. I heard, "Is it ready yet?" , just after I found the instructions. Luckily it was a simple set and I had it set up just as the kids were finishing the sticker application to their cars. Yellow car for Sweet Pea, and orange car for N1S of course.

You could feel the excitement as they anticipated the squealing of tires with the first squeeze of their controller trigger. I placed their cars correctly on the track and off they went. Spinning out on the first curve. This race track set is the same as the one I had as a kid. When you squeeze the controller all the way down, the cars lose control and leave the track. Next, the kids practiced how to get their cars around the track without having to pick up the car and replace it on the track every four inches. They would carefully squeeze their trigger ever so lightly. The car would move a few inches and stop. Then a few more inches and stop. Gradually the car would go half way around the track before stopping. The giggling really started when both cars got around the track without stopping or crashing. After a while the racing got boring and the crashing got more inventive. Each tried to see how far their car would fly after removing one of the guard rails from a curve. After that standard was set, they pretended to go to restaurants with their cars and order drive up.

The main thing is that they had fun. It was a simple toy that provided a lot of entertainment and imagination. It also allowed the kids to enjoy the nice weather with something new to do. The most enjoyable times we have as a family usually involve a simple game or activity. A deck of cards, a board game or paper and crayons are usually enough to produce many memories. The kids actually played pretty nice together and it didn't get competitive at all. Thanks Grampa Gary.

Now what can we do tomorrow?