Make Art Monday!

First, I thought that Photojojo’s Photo-opoly game would make a great Christmas gift, using photos and landmarks from around your own home town.  But then I started to think about it: wouldn’t you rather have a game that reminds you of a great vacation that you took?

I think the hardest time you’ll have is culling through the photos and picking only the best of the best…what a hardship that will be 

Over the weekend we had a great time. Why did we have a great time? The simplest answer I can come up with is because we spent time together and you know the old saying, “Family time is quality time,” I really do think someone was onto something when they came up with that. But it is true, the more time you spend with your family the more you get to know them.

IMG: Sxc.hu

Friday we all decided to hit up a brand new chinese restaurant out here, “Aikou” and I must say it was delicious. I made sure that we all tried something new though and everyone had to try something. Even if they never had it or didn’t think they’d like it. I grew up with hearing you never know if you’ll like it if you don’t try it. Today, our saying is “try it once, if you don’t like it never eat it again.” I figure this way at least they know and can say they’ve tried it. Granted I’ll probably never make them eat Rocky Mountain Oysters or a cow’s tongue but they’ll try other things. Oh and yes I’ve tried the second one, when I heard about the first one I couldn’t get near it. Course in all fairness I was almost completely vegetarian during that time period and had thought it was oysters I’d be eating. Do you make your kids try things even if they think it looks gross?

On Saturday we went off to a last minute baseball game, which I posted about yesterday. Today we played a few rounds of rummy and go fish and after that it was family day in the terms of cleaning house. Okay, so the kids didn’t honestly love the cleaning house part but they loved that everything we did was with them. I will admit to enjoying that too. Just think in less than two weeks they’ll be here all summer long….I’m not sure if I’m counting down until they get out of school or until they go back. What time of family time did you do this weekend?

OK…lets just say you have this “friend”…and sometimes you hook up, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you fight, sometimes you get along. Neither one of you have ANY idea what the other one is thinking, and so, you basically spend half of your “relationship” in an awkward impasse of things left unsaid.

The sad truth is, most couples (and especially must “hook up friends”) don’t really TALK. And they are especially unlikely to talk about sex. Whether you are scared or ashamed or embarrassed, it just becomes the giant elephant in the room.

The fact of the matter, though, is that the lack of communication and the sexual frustration that results can ruin an otherwise sound relationship.

How do I advise you fix this??? How about…playing a game! It’s a return to the sand box - playing together melts inhibitions and lets the good times roll.

Check out the Sexy Slang game, it is a combination of pictionary-esque drawing games and charades, but uses 500 “sexy slang” terms.   (From “reverse cowgirl” to “litte man in the boat.”) Sure, it may not solve all your relationship problems - but you’ll have a lot of fun in the meantime!

Image: SexySlang.com

Employers are specifically instructing managers to not send them World of Warcraft players. It’s believed, and with good cause, that WoW players cannot give 100 percent to their job because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great and varied other factors that play into diminished performance abilities.

I can’t say I blame them.

I know a man who is 40+ years old and was recently placed on 2 weeks suspension, AGAIN, for not showing up to work on time or simply not showing up at all as the result of gaming instead of sleeping.

If your teen has addictive gaming tendencies, you might want to get a grip on that before they get any older. They may just end up becoming a long term liability that won’t leave home rather than a productive taxpayer and fellow citizen.

Source: NY Times – Image credit: Newscom

Heather, over at Inside Motherhood, has tagged Gayla and I to play an exciting round of meme tag! The topic is pregnancy questions. I will try my best to answer these without rambling incessantly, which I tend to do very often when the topic is pregnancy. That is partly why I started the Fertile Farmer blog. I love talking about pregnancy, probably because I’m a tad knowledgeable about it. Ha! Here we go:

1. How did you find out you were pregnant?

Uhhhh….which time? The first time around, I missed my period and was sleeping all the time. A test confirmed my suspicion. After that, I just always knew. Whenever I started feeling tired and nauseated, I just knew. With my last pregnancy, I had an IUD in my body….but I still knew.
2. How did you tell your partner (if you have/had one)?

I always just told him and then started crying (and is was not happy crying after the first two.) The last time, I walked into the kitchen and threw the pregnancy test stick at him. I was soooooo mad that he did not get the vasectomy he was supposed to. But now I’m so glad that he didn’t!
3. Did you secretly hope for a girl or a boy?

I always wanted girls to dress up, but the boys were always better babies. When they arrived, it did not matter what sex they were. I fell in love with all of them!
4. Did you feel ready to have a child?

Never. I never felt ready to have another baby. I was usually pregnant again, by the time my current baby was 6 months old. After the shock wore off, I was always excited.
5. What bit of advice did you get that you hated?
‘Try to get a nap.” Uhhh…hello? How am I supposed to nap when six other kids are running around? 

6. What bit of advice did you get that you appreciated?

My mother in law always told me to enjoy them, despite the stress of raising them. She said, “Stop and just look at how cute they are, sometimes. ” I love any advice she offers because it comes from a woman who knows my pain, even more so , since she had 13!

Now it is my turn to tag people:

Eliza ~ Babylune

Cyndi~ Busy Family Meals

Bill~ Inside Fatherhood (yes, a man! I want his side of the story too)

Elizabeth~ Career and Kids

Ever had one of those days when your head feels like it is going to split down the middle? Or maybe you just plain feel like crap, but errands still have to be run, meals cooked and the house cleaned? That would be today, for me. I woke up with this headache and it has plagued me all day. Yet, the cupboards were bare and the kids were hungry, so shopping had to be done.

Shopping with three kids is always a lot of fun, if you enjoy saying “No” a thousand times, keeping items from falling off the shelves as little hands extend out to knock them off and keeping your cool when they ultimately cause the mountain of apples to come crashing down. Today was especially fun because of the throbbing in my noggin. I spent the first half of the trip clenching my teeth in frustration and cursing my empty cupboards. Then I realized that I was shopping harder, not smarter. I was ignoring the golden rules of shopping with kids:

1. Keep them entertained. Think of games such as finding the letter on labels, spotting colors and “I Spy”.
2. Feed them. Pack snacks to curb the hunger whining and keep their little mouths busy so that they do not accidentally insult passers by with comments like, “Why does that lady have a mustache, Mommy?”
3. Bribe. I believe in bribery. It works. It doesn’t hurt anyone. I use it when necessary.
4. When all else fails…visit the butcher. Our deli employees know the kids well. Every time we pass by, the kids get hats. It keeps them busy for a good ten minutes, so I hold off on visiting him until right before my last stop at the produce section.

I was so consumed by the pain in my head, that I completely forgot the rules of smart shopping. Once I realized my mistake and made the proper adjustments, the trip went much smoother. Don’t get me wrong, it was not a picnic by any means. The headache is still lingering. We did, however, get through the trip and back home with sanity and groceries. Now that is what I call a successful trip!