More Word Games

While I never was a fan of "Scrabble", I really have been enjoying playing "Words with Friends" for the past few months. The same company introduced another game called "Hanging with Friends" and while the boys really liked it, it just didn't quite stick with me (it was like Hangman).  Zynga company has introduced yet another word game, this one is called "Scramble with Friends" and it is like "Boggle", which is a game I have always enjoyed ... and it is my new favorite. I actually fought it a bit when it first came out. As usual, the boys were the first ones to give it a try. They installed it on my Ipod and started a game for me ... I ended up using this same technique to get Grayson to give it a go. He's now hooked as well.

Unlike traditional Boggle, Scramble gives the letters a numeric value, the same as those in Words/Scrabble. There are also three rounds, in in the second and third rounds, there are double/triple letter and word tiles to boost points as well. 

I've admitted that I "cheat" in Words with Friends. There are a lot of "helps" where you can input your letters and be given several word possibilities in return. Even when cheating, I'm usually right on par with those I play with (I really wouldn't be much of a challenge otherwise).

Now in Scramble, there isn't time to cheat, and I actually like that. There are "powerups" that are provided ... three little "helps" that you can choose from. Freeze gives you extra time, Inspiration will show you up to three words you haven't found, and Scramble rotates the game board, providing you with a new perspective.

The Blackham Bunch is Scrambling right now ... we all seem quite addicted to this game. What Gray and I  can't figure out is how Callahan keeps beating us both!

Weekend "Work" & Blackham Basketball

Grayson has been working with Havenhill Homes for a couple of years now. The guys (Dave, Tony and Gray) left for a company retreat to St. George over the MLK weekend(Jan12-15). Gray said it was for planning, but it sounded like they got in a lot of playing too. They golfed, biked and even hit the casinos in Mesquite. They left Thursday after work and got back Sunday afternoon. Gray said it was a good trip. The photo above is some of their hard "work" ...

Back at home ... there was basketball. Now with five boys all involved, I've been leaning pretty heavily on Gray to help out each Saturday with the inevitable scheduling conflicts. Without him around I had to figure it out on my own (and with a little help from teammates, Grandpa and Maga). Just to complicate matters a bit, one of Callahan's teams was participating in an AAU tournament too (which added four additional games, two of them on Saturday) AND church ball started this week as well! So ... guess how many games we had on deck for Saturday ... TEN. 

It started  early. At 8:00, Callahan (and the teachers/deacons from the ward) had a game, which turned out just to be a scrimmage because the other team didn't have enough players. I was there with video camera in hand (see the game here). Too bad it wasn't a real game, because Callahan did really well :)  10:00 had three games. Callahan had his 7th grade Junior Jazz game,  Landon had his church ball game (priests), and Colton had his kindergarten game. I sent Callahan with a teammate, Landon was already at the church, and I went with Colton. At 12:00, I went with Callahan to his High School Prep game. His 8th grade Junior Jazz game was at the same time, unfortunately he can only be in one place at a time, but the team managed to win even without him *Ü* ... Callahan's Copper Hills team won too (video here). 2:00 was busy again -- Callahan had a tournament game (I sent him with teammates and Maga went there to watch), Keaton had his Junior Jazz game (Grandpa took him, and dropped Landon off at his ref shift which also started at 2:00) and I went with Cooper to his Junior Jazz game (he is SO cute, check out his game here). Then at 4:00 Callahan had his last game of the day (same location as the 2:00 game, so he had just stayed and I joined him there to watch).  Callahan had gotten a knee in the thigh during the 12:00 game, and it did affect his play in the 2:00 and 4:00 games, and made him admit that there could possibly be such a thing as too much basketball. He had actually had enough for the day.

I did still have to go pick up Landon at 7:00.

A big thanks to Grandpa and Maga for coming  and helping out (Grandpa has come out a few times other weeks,when Gray and I needed to be in three different places at once).   I was still sad that I missed some of the games myself (I made it to five, just half). I really enjoy watching the boys play! If the schedule had worked out that I could have attended all 10 games, I happily would have!

Ping Pong PUNISHMENT

 

The ping pong table continues to be popular at the Blackham home. A regular game scores to 21. The boys also play "consecutive" which one person wins if they can score five points in a row (it's actually hard to do). Then of course, there is "around the world" where multiple players rotate quickly around the table. It's a favorite game ... and to it the boys add "PUNISHMENT" ... which means if you miss, one of the other players gets to try and pelt you with a ball. Now you would think a ping pong ball wouldn't inflict much damage, but these boys hit it HARD. They are ecstatic when it leaves a mark ...

Callahan's back after a game of "punishment" ping pong.

Fun?

Socks and Underwear

I think it's a familiar scenario ... a child is excitedly opening up a Christmas or birthday present only to find it contains SOCKS and/or UNDERWEAR. The child is NOT happy.  Actually, in the Blackham home, this is completely untrue. My boys LOVE getting new socks and underwear! The little boys love the cute socks with various cartoon characters on them. Christmas, Easter, Birthday ... a few new socks are almost always in the mix. I really try to discourage the boys from wearing the bright socks on Sundays ... they don't exactly go with church dress! Now the older boys are a bit more picky. They want Nike socks ... gotta have that "swoosh". Much to Grayson's dismay, the older boys like the long black ones for basketball (Gray doesn't care for that look). Of course we suffer from the well known "disappearing dryer" sock syndrome just like most families, but we also have Cooper. Cooper tends to take off his socks and shoes, leaving them to get lost and separated. We're always finding socks ALL over the house. Also Grayson will often find complete sets of socks disappearing ... only to have them resurface in Landon's laundry ... he's a sock stealer!

A while back I picked up some compression underwear that I found on clearance. It happened to be in Keaton's size, and Landon and Callahan immediately demanded some for themselves ("we're the REAL athletes in the family, come on!").  Since then I have picked up several pairs for all the boys (yes, even the little ones wanted them for their "sports") ... they are the only underwear that will do now.  This leads me to another laundry quandary ... as I sort the boys clothes (about a week's worth) ... sometimes there is only ONE underwear in the entire load. Hmmmmmm, that doesn't seem right. Although a while back (during the potty training phase) the opposite was true, 20+ pairs on underwear? I remember when Colton was going camping overnight and I told him to pack some extra socks and underwear. I checked the bag and he'd put in about a dozen of each, it made me laugh. 

... now shoe stories ... that's a completely separate post ...

Tummy Trouble

Back in April2010, I posted about a "sick day" in the Blackham home ... when the stomach bug took down all five boys. We'd never been hit quite that hard before ... but it happened again, and I have to say, this time was actually even worse! It's bad enough dealing with it during the day, but when you're up ALL night ... this bug hit fast and furious with almost NO warning, and this time, I wasn't able to escape. Boo!

Just like before, Cooper started it. It was the first day back to school after the holiday break. He'd been just fine in the morning. I'd been at the school volunteering in his classroom from 11:00-12:00 and there was no sign anything was amiss.  It was shortly after 3:00, he threw up all over himself, his desk, his backpack. I came as quickly as I could, but not before he threw up again in the office (a couple of times). I got him home, a quick bath, then I had to go back for the carpool kids, and poor Cooper had thrown up again by the time I got home. It just kept coming and coming.

The timing was especially unfortunate, as that Tuesday evening we had tickets to the Jazz game from both Cooper and Colton's Junior Jazz teams.  Grayson was planning on taking the boys and Cooper had been so excited. With Cooper out of commission, Keaton went ahead and took his ticket and he, Gray, Landon, Colton headed to the game. 

It wasn't long after 7:00 when Grayson texted me ... Keaton had thrown up there at Energy Solutions Arena. They had gotten Landon and Colton settled, but hadn't even made it to their seats yet. Gray arranged for neighbors to bring Landon and Colton home and he headed back with Keaton. He'd just made it home when he got a text from Landon ...  another Blackham boy down. Grayson headed back up to grab him (and Colton). 

It was a miserable night. It was such a violent bug! Landon actually got a bloody nose. Right after a "session" the boys would be hot and sweating. I had a fan and a cool cloth for them, but soon they would chill again. I got up to answer Keaton's call in the middle of the night when I had to grab a bucket myself. I was pretty much useless after that. 

Unfortunately, Gray had some things at work he had to do. Landon was feeling a bit better by morning. Callahan and Colton seemed ok, but they still stayed home from school. I was in no condition to drive Callahan to school, and I was afraid with the recent Blackham propensity for puking in public places, that they would get sick and I wasn't sure I'd be able to go get them if that happened.  The boys were pretty much done throwing up, and now it was the recovery phase ... long naps to make up for the lack of sleep during the night. I pretty much stayed in my room all day, so everyone had to fend for themselves, with Callahan and Landon helping out. My VT teachers brought over some dinner, and another neighbor brought in a care package (Sprite, crackers, soup, etc.).

Thursday Landon went back to school, as did Callahan and Colton. Cooper and Keaton probably could have, but I let them recoup for one more day. In the evening I dropped Callahan off at basketball practice just to get a call 15 minutes later that he was feeling sick. At least he did make it to a garbage can! Just like Keaton and Landon, starting in the evening, it was a long, miserable night. I think he must have ruptured some blood vessels when he vomited, because he had red blotches all over his face and neck.

Friday Callahan stayed home, but the rest of the boys went to school. Colton came home from kindergarten and immediately started crying ... and then it was his turn (although he didn't seem to have it quite as bad as the other boys). 

I'm not sure how Grayson survived without coming down with it! As our family first came down with this bug, we heard that it had also hit at Clay and Courtney's house (both Will and Addie). Then Pam too. Kolby and Jami's girls had been hit a few days beforehand, and other cousins on both sides had been down over Christmas. Everywhere, we seemed to hear stories of people coming down with this nasty bug. A few days after my two boys barfed all over Energy Solutions Arena, one of the Jazz players was listed on the "injured" list with ... FLU ... Keaton and Landon looked at each other like "did we do that??" I don't think I've even been aware of a stomach flu being SO prevalent.

I hope it's a looooooooooooooooooooong time before it hits again! 

Laughter ...

It is said that laughter is the best medicine ... there are many things make me smile. Often times I'd like to look back on something that made me laugh but it's lost in the shuffle. I thought I'd take a moment to save them all here in one central location so I could come back and laugh at my leisure. A collection for those inevitable days when one might need a pick me up ...  hopefully some of the items here will tickle your funny bone too *Ü*

• Kid History:  Christmas2011 at the Westra party, we discussed putting on our annual nativity when my brother Shane said "Dave's AlwaYs the donKEY" ...and thus we were introduced to KidHistory. It was an immediate hit with our family. Just short, FUNNY "episodes" of one family's memories -- told by the kids, reenacted by the adults. Extremely Quotable!  Here's an newspaper article about it as well. 
• Comedians: These Stand-Up guys make me giggle ...
• Commercials: I don't know if making me laugh will make me buy the product ... but it will make me watch the commercial *Ü*
• Star Wars Humor: I've seen SO much stuff floating around I had to make a page all it's own. Hopefully some of the stuff I've seen will come back around around (as I know there was more than what's here).
• WordPlay: If you're in for a little lite reading.

A few more miscellaneous giggles ...

Mommy's Nose is Scary

Nerf Wars
Powderpuff Cheerleaders Dance

Sleeping Baby Wakes to Favorite Song
Human Puppet (Nina Conti)

**Update ... I discovered Pinterest, and it's a great way to complete a collection of funnies! There is so much out there to make you smile ... if you want to see what made ME smile, here's my LAUGHTER pinboard. I will update here some on my links, but for simple pictures and quotes, check out the link above.

Laugh and the world laughs with you ... *Ü*

Another New Year

2011 has come to an end. Last year we hosted a big get together for the Westra side of the family, but this year we kept it small. The older three boys went to their own activities, and Grandma and Grandpa Westra came over and played some games with Colton and Cooper (I should have snapped some pictures!). After the munchkins went to bed, we played a game of  Progressive Rummy. The grandparents headed home around 10:30 and Gray and I would have happily gone to bed too, except we did have to wait for Callahan to get home, and had to go pick up Landon. Keaton had come home right around 10:30 too, just as the grandparents were leaving.

With New Year's falling on a Sunday, we saved our celebration for Monday. We went up to Maga's house for the annual pastry wreath and for more games. Ticket to Ride anyone? I think Clay won.