Fight List Fun

I don't remember who discovered the game first ... but I liked it a lot. Very simple, you are given a topic, and you have a certain amount of time (60 seconds?) to get out as many answers as you can. Head to head competition with someone else. I always said my lack of texting skills hampered my game, and it was partially true ...

Most of the time, just playing was fun. But from time to time, there were funny things happening within the game, and I'd get a quick screen shot.  Since when is inch/foot/yard/mile a metric unit (middle, bottom row)?? And I loved that the only Kate Callahan could even think about was HIS Kate (bottom right). You can add suggestions, that are hopefully reviewed before being added (metric mile!) like my Robin Sparkles (a Canadian singer in How I Met Your Mother).

I remember once I wanted more games, and Callahan had just come in from school or work or basketball and I did a little Sesame Street "Somebody come and play, somebody come and play today" and when that didn't get the desired result I did a little toddler temper tantrum "play with me, play with me, play with me!" Callahan just looked at me with wide eyes, then laughed. Then played with me. 

Landon and the littles played with me too (I can't remember if Keaton ever did). 

Here were some funnies from Landon ...

I played with others too ... you could connect it to your Facebook to see who had the app and was playing. You add peanuts to chili Colton? Sorry Phil, I was trying to see if I could enter words quicker with Siri. Ah, Paul adds love to his guacamole (and I only knew the ingredients because Grayson had started to make it from scratch quite often). 

Similar to the accepted "metric" measurements ... I disagreed with weights and such being cardio (but sometimes you'd had the category before and remembered some of the answers, but seriously, neigher of us put "treadmill"????).  Stoned fruits? Ah ... those with a pit or seed. You could start games with random players, but there were some "pros" out there ... bottom/right screen grab ... 96 answers? HOW do you even type that many, let alone actually know that many? I stuck with friends after that ;) 

When you finished a game, you could click and see the "answers" ...

It wasn't just a straight one-point per correct answer, very common/easy answers were just one point, while more complex or rare were worth a bit more. Of course that was subjective to the game creators. I didn't always agree with the points. I played this game quite a bit for a few months ... and then interest in it petered out. I still sometimes think of things fitting into certain fight-list categories.

There was a second game by the game company that was more like scattergories ... lots of different categories, but the answers all had to start with the same letter. I didn't like that game as much, but played it a bit too. 

Grandparents and Games

For the past several years, we've had my parents over to our house for games on New Years Eve. The boys really enjoy playing games with Grandma and Grandpa, and I always make a little resolution to invite the folks over more for "Grandparents and Games" nights. We did get them in several times this past year. 

We are a game family. We have an entire closet of games (Got Games?)  My parents introduced us to Rummykub, New Years 2014, and it has continued to be a favorite. But lately? It's Apples to Apples. Cooper wants to play it All. The. Time. We have several different versions, both a kids and a junior version, a Disney version, a "to go" version, plus the original of course. The Junior and Disney are favorites, and a little easier for the younger boys to recognize the words/people on the cards. 

I also introduced the boys to Scattegories ... at first they fought trying a new game, preferring to stick with the favorites. It seemed a little too hard ... but it has become a favorite now too. My mom and dad are more than willing to make the trek out to our house (and I TRY to include dinner with the invitation, although Mom says that isn't necessary).   As I write this post, it's been a bit since our last Grandparents and Games night, I guess I need to get on that!

DrawSomething

So a new game has hit the Ipods ... DrawSomething. The older boys were the first to try it. They still play some, but it is COOPER who has become quite addicted. After watching his brothers play, he really wanted to play it himself. I went ahead and got him set up, and he's been happily drawing something multiple times a day. He doesn't want to play anyone he doesn't know, and there aren't too many people who want to play with an 8-year old, but he does have a few friends (and a few of mommy and Landon's friends) who are being good sports about his attempts. Grandma Westra went in for knee replacement surgery mid-April and to help keep her busy during her recovery, my brother Derek loaned Mom his Ipad. So now Mom is playing DrawSomething too (and Scramble ... I haven't succumbed to DrawSomething yet, but I do still enjoy Scramble).  Playing games with Grandma takes on new meaning in this digital age! Both Cooper and my mom were calling the game "DrawSome" ... as I guess there isn't room for the full title to show. As I corrected Cooper, telling him it was "DrawSomeTHING" not just "DrawSome" ... he replied "No, it's DrawSome ...rhymes with Awesome!"

Here are some of Cooper's drawings ...

While online, I found this link to some AWESOME drawsome sketches ... (here) ...

So Sorry

It was a few weeks ago, when Callahan and friends were bored ... I suggested they go pull out a board game, and they did. They played a rousing game of "Sorry" and introduced it to Colton, who hadn't really played it before. Colton LOVED Sorry! Since then ...

... he played it with Jacob and Bradley ...

and Jaxon

... and when Landon's friend Maddie came over

he even got her to play with him.

Sometimes I catch him playing it all alone ...

Just taking turns as each color.

 of course, 

there have been multiple games

with the Blackham Bunch

Colton doesn't look SORRY ...

He looks HAPPY!

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!

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.

Word Games

So ... the other day, the boys decided they wanted the "Words with Friends" game application for their Ipods. Now I don't think I could have ever gotten them to play Scrabble if I tried (and that's basically what this game is!). They are addicted. You play it across wi-fi, you can take as much time as you need, you can have multiple games going at once with different people. I've never been good at Scrabble myself, so when I play, with full disclosure to those I am playing against (which so far is just Landon and Callahan), I like to get a little "help" (there are many websites and even another application that can help). So if you have Words with Friends and want more "friends" to play with, Landon and Callahan can't seem to get enough, and I love that this game is at least a little educational ... if you want to start a game with me ... what can I say ... I NEED help, so I have to cheat ... and you'd still probably beat me! Of course, anyone playing me is welcome to any "helps" too!

Games on the Go

While we're out driving in the car, we play many of the usual travel games. The boys have been spotting VW Bugs for as long as I can remember... I do try to discourage the "slug" part of that game (don't the kids hit each other enough?) When Cooper noticed certain little cars carried his name, we started to point out Mini Coopers as well. As the older boys got interested in "cool" cars, they would oooh and ahhh over as we would see them on the road (cool cars being a Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, Charger, Corvette, etc.) I have to say I'm pretty good at pointing them out now too *Ü*

I know there are many variations of the "License Plate Game" ... spotting all the letters in alphabetical order, making words from the letters, sighting different states ... Cooper especially LOVES finding plates from different states. The boys also call out patterns in the numbers or letters ... if they are double or triple, or "skippy" (the same number or letter with one number or letter in between).

So if you're ever in the car with us, don't be surprised to hear the kids (or me) calling out "Mustang" or "Skippy Two" or "Look, Texas" ... in fact, the picture at the top I took because I Cooper had fallen asleep during our drive and I happened to have my camera on my lap ... I knew he would be sad if he missed the "Triple O from Idaho" ...

Got Games?

I'm a sucker for games ... can you tell? Unfortunately, we don't play them as much as we could or should. During this past summer, as I instituted allowances, I tried to encourage their use saying that playing a board or card game would count one of the possible "jobs" each day. The kids would have to play different ones each day (not just the same one over and over). I just wanted these games to get some use, and figured playing them would foster some intellectual and social development. There was a lot of game playing over the summer. Monopoly is always a favorite (not MINE, but for the boys it is). Many games that hadn't been played in quite a while were rediscovered. Some games were played for the first time ... although there are still some in there that have never been played yet. The picture doesn't really even show all the various card games (which are in the big box there). Probably the ultimate family favorite is UNO, and the little boys can play on their own without any adult help. Colton will often approach other family members asking plaintively "you want to play UNO?". There is the basic game, and the variations. We have Uno Spin and Uno Attack, and I just recently picked up the ToyStory3 version (just the basic game with the familiar characters, one new card for a new twist). What are your family favorites?

Puzzled

In an attempt to keep the kids busy during the summer with items OTHER than television and video games, I pulled out some puzzles, and even purchased a couple new ones. We had gone to see Toy Story 3 recently, so I thought the kids would like a puzzle with that theme. At the store, I actually only had one ToyStory3 puzzle to choose from, and it featured Jesse, Bullseye and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. I picked it up. At home, upon opening it and dumping out the pieces ... I could tell this was Buzz, Woody and Lotzo (I actually did NOT see enough to recognize Hamm at that point). Now I am one who relies heavily on the picture for help. Trying to put together a puzzle without knowing what the finished product was supposed to look like ... (I had even done a Google search and checked the Hasbro website with no luck) ... it's HARD. Luckily, these characters are ones we are pretty familiar with, and Cooper and I were able to complete the puzzle all on our own. But I figured I'd take a picture ... for future reference!