I love the Wii because it is so interactive and has such a great selection of games for 4 players. Our favorite Wii party games are:

• Wii Sports – Bowling is by far the best game made for Wii because everyone can pick it up easily and be successful.
• Smarty Pants: Trivia for Everyone- Wii puts a fun twist on trivia! Play tug of war with your opponents over questions, shoot targets to determine point values, and then there is the ever popular double points dance!
• We Ski – Join your teammates on the ski lift and race, explore and test your ski skills in a very realistic multi player ski environment.
• Game Party- The darts game in Game Party is fun and you don’t have to worry about crazy dart throwers or your newly painted walls being damaged.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – Now that the Olympics are over, the whole family can be champion swimmers, trampolinists, canoists, and high jumpers (there’s more).

We are always looking for more fun games to add to our family favorites – what is your favorite?

Post from: Blisstree

Wii Party Night

When the MomCentral.com team asked if I wanted to help them test out the Game Stop concept, I was very quick to raise my hand. Game Stop, a nationwide chain, is the perfect solution for us as they buy back gently used video games and resell them for a fraction of their original price and they sell new games, accessories, and consoles as well.

So, if your child just can’t wait to have the latest New Super Mario Bros. game you can stop at Game Stop and pick it up for less than retail. By the same token, if they have grown out of the Pokemon series you can sell back the old games and apply the credit to a new game.

I went into the store looking for a new game to play as a family for the Wii. Since we have the Wii Fit game with the board (which I LOVE), I was so happy to find out that there are some new games that are specifically for the Wii Fit that help expand the play of the board. I bought We Ski and the entire family has had fun playing it. Basically it builds on the motion behind the ski jump and slalom in the Wii Fit game and takes you to a ski resort where you can play different levels (with or with out the board), and in multiplayer mode you can race each other down the slopes, talk on the ski lift and test out new runs.

The Game Stop employees were great! As a matter of fact they were gearing up for an in-store tournament. The employee helping me was also very knowledgable on the game systems and let me know that there are two new games coming out for my Wii Fit – one is a Cheerleading game coming in September – We Cheer and the other a Skateboarding game due out in November called Skate It. I’m thinking I should have spent an extra $5 and reserved We Cheer to guarantee a copy when it comes in. I know my girls and I will have fun doing all the dances and balance moves.

Post from: Blisstree

Game Stop – For Kids Who Love Games

But then a friend showed me how to put my cell phone on a different setting so I could just type words rather than scrolling through letters. I started to get a little more excited about the possibilities. Then I got my new smartphone with a full keyboard and I’m all over this new fangled text messaging thing.

The other day I was sitting on the couch in the family room with my work laptop. Papers were strewn about as I was reading through contracts. My yellow highlighter was highlighting. I had a whole system going and I didn’t want to get up to go tell my son to call his grandmother to thank her for his birthday gift. So I texted him. I texted him from the couch while he was hanging out in his bedroom upstairs. Yeah, I’m cool like that.

But now, just as I’m starting to get this whole texting thing figured out they are coming out with new things. Over in Germany they are creating a “scent chip” that will have to go in “scent chip” enabled phones. Great something new my kids will be begging me to buy them. “Mom I have to have a new cell phone because this one doesn’t smell.”

All I have to say is, why do we need phones that send scents? Ok, maybe a rose scented “Happy Mother’s Day” would be nice, but not great. I don’t want a scented text message. I want roses. I want a card. I want my kids to come give me hugs and kisses and wish me a good day. A scented text message isn’t going to cut it.

Next thing I know my kids will be sending me text messages that say “pratice is over” and it will smell like sweaty socks. Who wants that?

Post from: Blisstree

Scented Text Messages

Last summer we got each of the boys a cell phone on our plan and we make them pay the extra $10 a month for their lines. When we got the phones we had them put a text message block on their phones. Even at just $0.15 a text, texting can get quite expensive.

After much begging, I finally gave in and removed the block this week. I also added unlimited texting to our family plan. The boys were so excited. I’m pretty sure they have sent at least 100 messages in the last two days.

Tonight I was sitting at my desk, working on a post when my cell phone dinged. I looked over at it and I had a text message. It was from my oldest. Instead of coming downstairs to say good night, he texted us. From his bedroom.

Teenagers. *eye roll*

Post from: Blisstree

Speaking of techie teens

He has saved his money, offered to do chores daily, and has offered to forgo any birthday presents in order to get new components for his computer. Every day he is checking the Internet for good deals, and every other word out of his mouth has to do with computers. Yikes!

The other evening my husband’s nerves were wearing thin and he asked my son to check if there were any computer shows in the area and maybe they would go to one and pick up the parts he needed to built his ultimate gaming system from scratch. Imagine my son’s delight when he found there was one the next day near by! He was in heaven.  The two of them went off to the show and bought a new case, motherboard, memory, video card and all the bits and pieces they needed to make TechBoy happy. All in all they did well, too. The whole shebang cost less than $500.

For the time being they have set up shop on my kitchen table – you know to give it a good testing. The Saitek X52 Flight Control System was the first accessory added and so far, they are both very happy about the performance.

It is just amazing to me that an 11 year old boy can figure out how to build and maximize something this complicated, but can’t remember to turn in his homework (even though it is done) and put his shoes in the same spot every day!

Post from: Blisstree

My Tween Techie

My daughter is almost 10 and loves everything medical. She watches when they her draw blood at the doctors, she grills her siblings on the specifics anytime they go to the doctor or dentist, and thinks watching the Science channel is cool. When her 12 year old friend called to say she just got a new game for the Wii, all my daughter could say was “Sweet!” when she found out that Wii makes a game that allows you to diagnose, heal and perform surgeries of your own.

She couldn’t wait to get to her friend’s house to test this out herself. (The game is rated T for Teen due to the graphic nature of the procedures they perform, but it is really a judgment call for parents to make. My daughter is not grossed out by it at all – where as I am. ) Once she started I could not get her to put the game down. She was removing virtual tumors, healing infections, and trying to perform perfect sutures and stitches.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – (description from Amazon) The follow-up to Trauma Center – Under the Knife, this is the first surgical video game for the Nintendo Wii. Sure, we’ve all imagined what it would be like to become a doctor. Years of medical school, residency, and clinic duty eventually pay off in a rewarding position saving people’s lives. Or, you could skip all that and just put in a few hours after dinner.

The critically acclaimed medical drama simulation is making a house call on your Wii! Dr. Derek Stiles is back, but he’s not the only surgeon on call?a new player joins the team, bringing along everything the doctor ordered: difficulty modes, new surgical implements like the defibrillator, and an exciting never-before-seen conclusion. So what are you waiting for? If one dose of Trauma Center wasn’t enough, it’s time you got a Second Opinion!

Trauma Center: New Blood – (description from Amazon) – Keep your hands steady and your mind focused for Trauma Center: New Blood, sequel to Trauma Center: Second Opinion. This time around there’s a lot more on the line. Every cut of the scalpel, every pinch of the forceps, each and every second that ticks by is of the absolute greatest importance. If you think it’s too much to handle alone, invite a friend to assist with the operation and work together to save patients from flat lining. The adrenaline is pumping, lives are at stake, and only you can save the day. Have you got what it takes?

At a remote hospital in Alaska, Dr. Markus Vaughn, a surgeon who has forsaken the politics and power struggles of his former ward, quietly toils. He is content to use the power he has discovered within himself, the Healing Touch, to positively affect the lives of those in need. His partner is Valerie Blaylock, a promising young doctor eager to unlock her own dormant abilities.

When the facility unexpectedly closes, they are forced to return to Concordia Medical Institute, where politics are more important than patient’s lives, and doctors more concerned with image than their ministration. There they are recruited into the government organization Caduceus, where they will learn of a conspiracy with dire ramifications, and their lives will be changed forever.

I love that Wii is taking gaming to a new level by incorporating fitness, movement, realistic and unique educational concepts in their games!

Post from: Blisstree

Trauma Center: Wii Game for Budding Doctors

A recent study shows that 64% of teens are participating in at least one type of online content creation which is up dramatically from numbers a few years ago.

According to a post at Social Media Optimization:

Girls continue to dominate most elements of content creation. Some 35% of all teen girls blog, compared with 20% of online boys, and 54% of wired girls post photos online compared with 40% of online boys. Boys, however, do dominate one area – posting of video content online – online teen boys are nearly twice as likely as online girls (19% vs. 10%) to have posted a video online somewhere where someone else could see it.

And it is not just content creation that is interesting teens. It is also about participating in conversations fueled by that content. Nearly half (47%) of online teens have posted photos where others can see them, and 89% of those teens who post photos say that people comment on the images at least “some of the time.” Teens who post videos report a similarly large incidence of feedback, with nearly three quarters (72%) of video posters receiving comments on their videos.

It really doesn’t surprise me that girls and boys are using social media sites differently – after all, traditionally, boys and girls communicate differently period. I have watched my own kids embrace technology and social media and they go about it very differently. My son is more interested in racking up points at Club Penguin than he is in making “friends” where as my girls weigh success based on the number of “friends” they have and the “cool” stuff they purchase for their online characters.

My son is into using Skype to talk to his friends while playing video games but my daughter would rather IM, email, and call her friends – all in the same evening.

Here are some more interesting statistics from the same post:

Asked about the communication they have every day with their friends, the multi-channel teens say:

• 70% talk daily with friends on a cell phone
• 60% send text messages daily
• 54% instant message
• 47% send messages daily over social network sites
• 46% talk to friends on a landline phone
• 35% spend time with friends in person daily
• 22% send email every day to friends

Are your kids multi-channel teens? I know I am a multi-channel Mom and fully expect my kids to follow suit as they get older.

Post from: Blisstree

Multi-Channel Teens are Super-Communicators

Once we got it set up, the fun began. We have four controllers so it could become a real group game. We started with Wii Sports and did family bowling. Our 5 year old daughter is now the reigning bowling queen – she beat everyone, every game! Even my Mom (the kids’ Grandmother) was playing and laughing the whole time. The baseball game is pretty tough, but tennis and boxing are definitely good ways to get that heart rate up!

The kids also had fun with the Carnival Games Wii which includes activities like ring toss, basketball toss, and other standard carnival games.  When we picked up some of the extra remotes they came bundled as Wii Play with Wii Remote which has games like ping pong and pool.

After the kids all went to bed, the grown ups continued to bowl well into the night! The game system is expensive and hard to find, but when I think of how much money we normally spend to take the family to the movies or bowling, the Wii will “pay” for itself quickly this winter. Family bowling night will be taking place regularly in our living room.

Post from: Blisstree

Wii Family Fun

Do your kids have cell phones?

My older two have started asking for one – but mostly because their friends have them. While I have considered getting them, the real need just hasn’t presented itself yet. We live in a neighborhood with very few kids so they don’t really ride bikes around the neighborhood much – and on the occasion that my son rides his bike to his friend’s he just takes the walkie talkie.  As for other activities – the kids are usually one or the other parent.

Maybe next year – but in the meantime, my kids will just have to be part of the 65% of tweens who don’t have cell phones.

Post from: Blisstree

Nielsen Study Reveals that 35% of Tweens Have Mobile Phones

“The government or school authority now is attempting to regulate speech that is occurring off-site or off-campus,” Sharp said. “The analysis for the courts will be whether or not the school can reasonably forecast a disruption of school activities because of the speech.”

Personally, I do not agree with the Bullit County school board AT ALL! It is not the school’s place to be monitoring students’ MySpace usage. The school’s job is to teach students – not monitor their extra-curricular activity.

MySpace, Facebook, and all other questionable sites should not be accessible from school computers. It is up to parents to monitor their child’s online activity and if their child is being threatened during non-school hours, then they need to approach local law enforcement – not the school!!

Instead of wasting tax-payer dollars monitoring online activity off-campus, the schools need to ramp up their technology programs and teach students how to use technology in their daily lives – responsibly. Chances are, most of the students in any given high school across this country are more tech savvy than the teachers in charge of their education.

Maybe the students and the teachers need to be working together to learn how to use MySpace, Facebook and other social media tools to enhance the educational experience rather than be so paranoid about the whole thing.

What’s your take? I would love to hear from parents, students and teachers!!

Post from: Blisstree

Should Schools Be Able To Punish Students For What Is Posted on MySpace