It's Great to Be...

Today was a busy day. 

And tomorrow?

It promises to be even busier than today.

Why? 

Why do I do this summer after summer, football and soccer season after football and soccer season?

Oh, you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?

Then I envy you.

No, I ENVY you...

You must be one of those lucky families whose kids don't play sports or join clubs or have friends who all seem to live across town...

I SO want to be that family...

I think...

Or not...

Never mind...

You can keep your life...

and I'll keep mine...

Shhhh...

Don't tell the kids but I think I would go mad with the inactivity of those other families lives so...

Back to being BusyMom to TheBusyFamily...

Ahhh... It's GREAT to be back! 

Wii Party Gets the Party started Right!

A month or so ago I received an email from someone who said someone had given my name as a person with a family who might enjoy having a party with pizza and the New Wii Party game.

Well, I checked into it and someone really did say that stuff about my family and they were right about it so...

I answered the questions about our Wii system.
Yes- we do indeed have one.
Yes- we do have controllers... 2. I have been holding out for Christmas hoping to get 2 new motion plus ones
Yes- my family enjoys both pizza and parties
Yes- we would be thrilled to try this game and have some pizza
Yes- I would definitely let them know how it went... and I might even blog about it...

Guess you can tell I decided to blog about it, right?

So yes, we did get the Wii Party Pizza Party kit in the mail. It actually arrived a day early and SURPRISE! In the box was a 25.00 Gift Card to Dominoes Pizza and the Wii Party game AND a Motion Plus Controller.... and it's PINK!

Wii Motion Plus in Pink available HERE!

Yeah, I hate pink, but the kids can tell which one is MINE now which is nice.

Did I mention there was a box with a big pink bow on it and some Mii Masks in there too?
No, the kids weren't crazy about the masks, but everything else, You Betcha!

We decided to wait until Thanksgiving break to have the party.
There were 7 kids in attendance and 2 adults,
Or 5 kids and 4 adults, it depends on who you ask.

There was a variety of games to play. Some were long- an hour or more.
Others were 30 minutes.
Then there were the quickie games.

Our group played a couple of the 30 minute games then opted for the shorter games.

First came the challenge where a series of games would be played and the first player to win 5 of the challenge games won. This took some time with 4 players. The challenges were random.
Some were more fun than others.
Some were easier to understand than others.

But this led to the kids exploring the mini-game options and going on to play about 10 of these.

L liked the water games. There were only a few but he liked those the best. He's 3 and his mother helped him when needed. Okay she helped him a lot!

E liked the racing ones. The spaceships. The racing through sheep. Ski jump racing. Anything that looked like a race he wanted to play. He's 9. He could work the controller all by himself. Except when it was a steering wheel. That was a bit awkward. It was a steering wheel a lot. But that's okay because he finally got the hang of it, mostly.

BratChild looked on with distain. She's 13 so... but she did not leave the room and she even slipped up a few times and cheered for L. I think if her friends had been able to come she would have been more into it. Or if I wasn't anywhere in the universe. I did say she's 13.

TeenBoy was into it. After a slow start that is. He expected it to be 'Baby Games' and was pleasantly surprised at the skill level and the fun that was had with every game. Even the 'baby game' that L actually won.  TeenBoy said yeah, he would definitely play again and he was sincere.

SIX, with a broken hand, was the most reluctant to play, and/or like the Wii Party. The best part for him was the pizza, or so he said. Until the games began. Even with one hand in a brace and fingers he couldn't really manipulate well, he was able to steer a car, jump hurdles, dodge sheep and race a spaceship through the sky. He even won several times. And he was cheering and having a great time in almost no time at all.

SmartGirl and ManBoy watched and commented and gave advice. They both thought the games looked fun, some more so than others. They also said they would rather play with people at their own skill level or age than with the little kids like L and E since it would give them the option to play one of the longer games like the board game or trivia.  But they agreed it was fun to play all ages together for a family fun nite.

Honestly, all of the kids, and the adult-like people too, had a good time. Pizza and soda to start off was perfect. Got everyone into a fun and games mood while we got the games set up. They all had fun and they each won several games along the way.

The general consensus was that they all had fun and will play again.
Except me, I won't play again, I will finally get to play, and use my very own PINK controller with the  motion plus.
I can hardly wait.

We've got a challenge for New Year's Eve with some out of town friends...
And Team BusyFamily plays to win!
And eat pizza .

Thanksgiving 2010 Part 2

don't forget to read Part 1 below
Thanksgiving is a week-long holiday that begins with Parent-Teacher conferences on Monday.


This happens every year. 
Some years they go much better than others.
This year was a 'better' year... sort of.


After working all night I had to be at the school at 8am 
with BratChild and SIX - who were too tired to get up on time-
for a student-led conference. 


Which means they tell me how they are doing in school.
Yeah, that's so very helpful... lucky for me a teacher was available to answer my questions.
Thank You God!


After working all night I had to be at the school for a Team conference with ALL of BratChild's teachers at 11am...
because of the Math teacher... who did not seem to think there was a problem... 
the other teachers did not agree ....
things should be better when school resumes! 
Yeah! not a bad day after all...


Oops! 
Spoke too soon...
TeenBoy lost his temper... you know, the way teen boys do.
And his poor bedroom window paid the price... 
well that and his hand that, after a quick (yeah right) trip to the ER was stitched and bandaged and totally useless for a week...


Why? you ask... he was mad. Bad mom, I made him get off the computer...
good news is he doesn't have to worry about that anymore... No More Computer until.... Easter?


Yes, Thanksgiving is a week long celebration of family love and togetherness...


Please God, let me make it to the end without killing, or at least maiming , anyone! 


But wait! There's more.... Look for the continuing saga of Thanksgiving 2010... 


Part 3 and the story of the Midnight Madness sale that wasn't...
Mad that is

The Heartbreak of Defeat.... or the broken hand... take your pick

SIX broke his hand.
Badly.

Actually, he didn't break it, the kid on the other team did.
Or in the words of SIX, 'Thunder Thighs broke it".

For a team of 11 year olds, there sure were a lot of BIG kids on it.
And by BIG, I mean Thunder Thighs probably weighed in around 230.
No joke!

SIX is 5'5" and 107... just a little difference in size.
But SIX stopped Thunder Thighs from getting the touchdown ... which was good.
His team still lost... which was not so good.

The season officially ended with the play after SIX's hand got crunched... yeah, figures.
No more nightly football practice.
No more Saturday's spent at the field.
No more searching for elusive uniform pads and socks before a game.
That's what our team has to look forward to.

The other team?
According to SIX...
They're at home eating donuts by the fire.
Fattening up for next year.

You know, I think he just might be right about this one.

Just when you start thinking your kids are growing up... Think Again!

Kids.

You gotta love tthem.

Except when you might actually hate them.

But then, you don't really hate them, you just don't like them so much.

Anyone with teens knows what I mean.

Exactly what I mean.

Today I am not so loving TeenBoy and Manchild. 

Why?

I used to have a really nice breakfast bar on my kitchen island.

Now I have a really nice partial breakfast bar on my kitchen island.

And a really pretty piece of butcher block pine...

Yeah, today I am so not loving those boys.

Writer's Workshop... How I see myself

I see myself in my children around me every day...



In the traditions and little things we do together...







Like Christmas morning breakfast...




And gathering around the tree





















Spending time AND enjoying each other's company...



















And in my child's Child...







All that is good in me comes out in them...





That is how I SEE My Self.

Friday Foto Feature

Okay today IS Friday.
But I lied. There is no photo feature.
Instead there texts...The ACTUAL texts I got from BratChild this week while she's been out of town.

And please... she really is a smart and intelligent girl... you just can't tell from the texts, I know.

"we watched a raccoon eat cat food. didnt know they liked that"
"U R wrong. My makeup dosnt look like a raccoon"
"went to conowingo dam. its big. it had a lot of water"
"i'll cut ur hair for u"

And that my friends it what I heard about from my daughter while she has been gone all week long.
Hey, at least I heard from her, right?

Lie To Me... Or Not, and I would SO prefer the not!

"What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive..."

Who the HECK wrote that? And WHEN were they talking to my kids?

I have the TeenBoy, TeenGirl and TweenBoy... they eat a lot. I mean unreasonably large amounts of food for the actual normal sizes they are.

In an attempt to manage the intake of junk food, and not-so-healthy foods, I started limiting the amounts of these that I purchase and bring into the house.
Makes sense, right?

Apparently not!

Nope, my kids ate, in one weekend cuz grocery day is Friday, 2 boxes of peanut butter bars, 1 box of swiss cake rolls, 2 packages of snickerdoodle dough (the raw break-apart kind) AND 10 pounds of apples and 3 pounds of bananas.

Yep- these kids ate all that, and the regular meals. Like breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2nd breakfast, 2nd dinner and bedtime snack.

I only grocery shop every other week. This, theoretically, keeps the food bill down, and limits the junk coming into the house.

Well, actually it has done exactly that.

The only problem is HeMan Hubby, GirlChild, ManBoy and I are the ones not getting the junk food and snacks!

Maybe this is the Teen and Tween way of watching out for our health?
Or maybe they just are gluttons who are compulsive eaters, and liars...

Because NotMe sure is eating a lot for someone that appears to be invisible...
for that matter IDon'tKnow is too...

But, they are well fed compulsive eater liars...

I'm so... proud?

I love Doctor Who, the real one from last season, not the new one... I wonder if he makes house calls?

It's Official! Monday IS the BEST day ... of this week so far that is...
Why? you may ask... especially if you read my post on 'The Secret is in the Sauce' this morning.

The spawn of satan I begat actually ASKED before going to out to play AND the breakfast dishes were in the sink without any help from me! AND they (the 2 smallest spawn - 11 yo son and 12 yo dd) cleaned their rooms all by themselves... Heck they even put the dirty clothes IN THE HAMPER! WooHoo!
The water in the shower- the one I had to take to hide my tears after seeing The Anissa Love video on The Bloggess.com was HOT... I mean really and truly hot, like it made steam and everything!
The DH got himself up for work-- in a timely manner - which means he was on track to only be an hour late-- AND he MADE THE BED!!! I think I shall swoon from the shock!
The pies and cake in the fridge are all still intact... no late-night snacking from the bottomless pit otherwise known as The 20 yo son...
And the Teen From Hell (14 yo son)... he slept until NOON and then got up and MADE HIMSELF FOOD without any whining about there being NOTHING to eat!
And to top it all off the 25 yo Girl-Child offered to pick me up a Janet Evanovich book, or 2 !, from the library!

Did I tell you this was a great day or what?

But Wait!There's More!
And it is the VERY BEST PART!

I got comments on my BLOG from people not in the Friends and Family category... and you know what that means???

I am a writer... for total strangers and the whole world to enjoy!

Okay- maybe not the whole world, yet... but give me a little time to implement, er, begin, er, plan my World Writing Domination and then... well you better watch out for me!... or you could check back here now and again. Or subscribe as a follower and then tell 2 friends who can tell 2 friends who can... you know, like the Faberge Shampoo commercial from the 70's... not that I was alive in the 70's or anything...oh, I know about it cuz I saw it on ...YouTube, that's it... right?