The Game of Life...or SEEMINGLY UNENDING TORTURE

Michael blogged about our Family Home Evening experience with playing Life. We started by rereading the rules, which, apparently, were being played fast and loose by Rachel and Noah. Playing by the rules and correcting misconceptions of the rules took up most of the game. Rachel was the banker and was consistently overwhelmed by her nagging customers. It reminded me of the scene in "Its a Wonderful Life", when Jimmy Stewart was trying to convince everybody to calm down and not make a run on the bank. I am all for changing the name of the game Life to something like "EPIC", or "ETERNITY"...or better yet..."PIT OF HADES".
My mom would say I deserve these moments because of my intensly competitive nature as a kid that made games no fun to play. I'm thinking my debt has been sufficiently paid and we should stick to the game CLUE or SCRABBLE, which I enjoy infinitely better. Though it was funny to see Noah getting hit with a lawsuit every few turns. He chose to be a doctor and we explained that it was par for the course. Eve was such a good mom to her plastic brood. She wept when she lost her "teaching" career, and found little solace in becoming an "accountant", but she felt better after her first raise. Aaron was kind of giggly throughout the game and his people kept falling out of his car.

::::::::::::::Teacher Conference for Eve:::

I met with Eve's Kindergarten teacher. I really like her and think she has Eve's interests at heart. She sees Eve struggling with some letter identification. Eve sees "u" as "n" and visa versa, as well as, "d" as "p", "m" as "w". The teacher is working on several strategies at school and had some great suggestions for reinforcement at home. I pulled out the cards I made for Aaron in Kindergarten and Rachel and Noah went to work helping their sister. Then, Eve brought me a work book and I was proud she recognized the letters and their sounds. I'm going to pop in Electric Company videos, this week to start reinforcing, as well. I love the show, too, so that helps.

::::::::::::::Freakishly Cold Day


It was 20 degrees colder today, than at the same time last year. When I was walking in the park the temperature was at 37 degrees Farenheit with a strong wind. I wore Aaron's cool glow-in-the-dark gloves to add some warmth. My lips are in the beginning stages of chapping and my skin is feeling a little tight. I did get my six miles in, so far, 12 for this week. I saw some bluebird playing in one section of the park and they make me smile. I love bluebirds!


:::::::::::::::Turkey Cake:::::::::



This is one of my favorite recipes. Michael, Rachel, and I made this recipe design a few years ago and it turned out soooo cool! These photos are from 2004 and Family Fun Magazine is rerunning the recipe on their blog:




I just thought someone might want to make that as a part of their feast. Fun stuff!

Well, take care and stay warm! :)