Category Archives: Family Fun

Adam Lambert is Top Choice for American Idol. That’s our Final Answer.

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We don’t watch much television through the week.  Hubs goes to bed early, kids have lots of homework, and after sitting at a computer all day, it’s hard for me to sit still and watch tv.  Everything stops, though, for American Idol.  Does your family watch it together?  Who are you rooting for?

After last night’s performances of Season 8′s Top 8, Sari announced, “Bottom line Ma, It’s gonna come down to Adam and Danny, then it’s anybody’s guess.”  Such musical wisdom from a 9 year old with frosting on her top lip and clenching her gut because she has to pee.  But in addition to the bladder infection she is going to have from holding it, she also has a good point.  We have been torn between Adam and Danny for 8 weeks now and trying to decide who should win.  Over the last couple of weeks the choice has become abundantly clear.  Adam is so far beyond the talent and excitement of everyone else that he doesn’t even belong there anymore.  But will America let him win?

My concerns just three weeks ago about Adam were that he did not fit the “American Pie” mold and he would alienate the majority of voters.  Danny, on the other hand, in addition to having an amazing voice IS the American pie mold.  I was pretty sure he would win.  Until now.

Adam Lambert’s RING OF FIRE rendition sent America into a tizzy.  I thought it was amazing but I thought he might go home.  It was too weird.  Even though I loved the sound of it, his performance was too provocative and made me uneasy.  Part of the beauty of Adam, though, is once the performance is over…regardless of how dramatic, uncomfortable, dark, or over the top it is… it is over.  And there stands this smiling, happy, charming, nervous boy.  He is a performer.

Whereas I thought RING OF FIRE might be the end, it was actually the beginning.  Adam got people talking about him and they haven’t stopped.  Since then he has delivered two tender, beautiful performances and one funky dance tune, each one remixed to suit him, and each one more genius than the last.  When Adam showed up for Motown week with a suit on and slicked back hair, he startled us with his heart breaking rendition of Smoky Robinson’s TRACKS OF MY TEARS.  Smoky gave him a standing ovation.  Last night’s performance of MAD WORLD was breath taking.  Simon gave him a standing ovation.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so enthused.

Meanwhile, Danny has been pretty consistent, but the goosebumps have faded and he doesn’t seem to be growing.  We still have several weeks to go, of course, but I don’t see how anyone can top the magic and electricity of Adam’s performances.  They would have done it by now if they had it in them, you know?  Adam is without question the most talented contestant this year.

But back to my original question.  Will he win? Will the majority of American voters vote for a good natured, handsome Emo style Elvis Presley look-a-like who wears black nail polish & eyeliner, kisses boys, and pushes the envelope of comfort and originality with his breath taking and electric performances?

I hope so! How about you?

If your dvr cut out Adam’s performance of MAD WORLD due to American Idol running over, you can check it out at this official American Idol link.  All the youtube videos have been taken down.


Do Your Kids Play Too Much Video Games?

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This post goes out to my fellow Parents & Guardians of children who fall into the category, affectionately intended, VIDEO GAME FREAKS.  After years of struggle, I have found some other great things that my kids enjoy and I am going to share.

First, let’s talk about video games.  What’s the big deal?  I loved playing Pac Man and Tetris growing up, didn’t you?

Well for starters, the kids aren’t playing Pac Man and Tetris.  Or table tennis, jai alai, or super breakout.  If we’re lucky they are playing some variety of Super Mario Bros.  But even then, the game addiction is strong.  In the case of my Son, the more shooting and fighting there is involved, the better.  I do not allow games that are rated “M” to be played in my house.  The exception being a spy game that he plays with my husband.  But even Hubby gives me a hard time about this rule.  He believes the games are all fine and that I am being overprotective.

Is it fine, really, for my kid to play a game that involves shooting cops and picking up hookers while he races his car through the streets?  Is that all in good fun?  Not gonna happen under my roof.  I get a twitch, as it is, when I hear some of the language (mild, teenager trash talk) spouting from the Tony Hawk skateboard games.  And the famous excuse I always hear from my Son and other parents is, “it is just bloody. No big deal.”  AS IF that is my criteria for what is and is not appropriate.

I wonder why people, Hubs included, think it is okay for kids to take part in video games and movies where heads are being blown of and people are being torn limb from limb by various bad guys/monsters/aliens etc.  But then they freak out over an “F bomb”.  No kidding, my husband will come out and lecture me on MY standards because I am watching a meaningful, thought provoking movie with my kids that has a bit of language but he thinks that all the blood and guts under the sun is going to settle healthily into their psyches.

ANYWAY!  I strayed a bit, didn’t I?

My Son is 13 now and my daughter is 9.  She seems to be appropriately interested in Mario games.  I am smarter this time around and I have been sure to enforce limits and make sure she engages in other things so she doesn’t forget about the other activities she loves.  My Son’s situation is more complicated.  We went wrong in the beginning, mainly from Hubby and I not seeing eye to eye on the need for limits and variety.  So trying to find other things he loves to do after the video game bug has already bitten hard has been tough.  But here is what we have come up with…

  • Both of my kids love Magnetix/Magnexts and will forget about video games all day long if we dump the whole bucket out and let their imaginations run rampant through the living room.  A little more costly is the Magnext roller coaster. But I have to say it is worth it.  We have tried and given up on many of the big themed kits that come along with Legos and Bionicles, etc.  But this one is awesome!
  • Any kind of magnets, in fact, keep  my kids busy.  You know, those really strong ones that work through your hand or a table and you can do all kinds of cool stuff with them.  Find them at the Discovery type stores.
  • BENDAROOS!  Don’t be afraid of them.  We, too, were disappointed by the likes of FLOAM and MOON SAND, but the Bendaroos have been getting a workout since Christmas.  Not messy, easy to play with and you will like it too.  I made the coolest duck!
  • Rubik’s cube.  My Son got the regular cube and the electronic one for Christmas and one of the two of them has been in his hand almost constantly.  More often the regular one.  It was a gamble.  He didn’t say he wanted it but I remembered how much I liked it as a kid and put it in his stocking.  Big hit!
  • Arts and crafts.  This is more of a girl thing at our house.  We set my daughter up with a painting easel and all the supplies (Thanks Granny!) and when she is down there with her palette and apron on, Mario himself could walk by and I don’t think she’d bat an eye. :-)
  • Multi game table.  This was a great buy.  It has table tennis, air hockey, chess, checkers, soccer,and I don’t know what else.  We all love it.  We didn’t buy a super cheap one but I did shop around for the best bargain and although this one does the job, if I had it to do again I would spend a little more.  The air in the air hockey doesn’t work that great and the table is a little small for table tennis for me and Hubby.  But the kids love it and get a little exercise playing it.  SUCCESS!

So that’s what has been working for me.  Your own kids have their own tastes, of course, and you have to find what they love enough to get their mind of the games, but these items have worked wonders for us.

Please share any of your kids favorite activities and video game distractions!


Happy Valentines Day

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My Son apologized to me today.  “I’m sorry you are going to have a bad weekend” he said.  When I asked him why, he laughed and said, “Cus Dad doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body and you are going to get juked for Valentine’s Day.” So true.

But enough about me.  How about you?

Television ads and in-store marketing lead us to believe that everyone celebrates the big red & pink holiday with wine, roses, and lavish gifts.  Do you?

I wonder how many “real” folks like me actually get diamonds and jewelry for every Valentine’s Day?  Our budget is so tight I’d probably go bananas if I DID receive an expensive gift.  Plus I am still boycotting diamonds.  Partly because I don’t trust that the evils of the diamond industry have magically disappeared and partly because I am rebelling against the inflated value of them.  It’s a shiny rock found in abundance where people are dying over them, then sold here, at ridiculous prices, as a rare commodity.  No, there is no romance in diamonds for me.

You know what I want for V-Day?  Gift cards !  Want to talk about a rare commodity?  Shopping!  I would get great joy from going to Sephora or Pier 1 and shopping for me and my house.  Ahhhh.  Sounds heavenly.

So the humanitarian in me rejects diamonds. The realistic housewife in me accepts there will be a shortage of romance this weekend. And my inner practical gal would love a gift card or two! Hmmm. Maybe Dad isn’t the only one with broken romance bones.

When all is said and done we MIGHT have gone to dinner.  But more likely we will sip a bottle of Traverse City wine, (ask the kids to stop running in the house), munch on some top of the line chips & salsa, (yell at the kids to stop fighting), and enjoy a bootleg movie, (while marveling over the fact that the kids will barge in without fail the moment someone onscreen gets murdered, gets naked, or drops creative curse bombs).

So what are you expecting from this Valentine’s Day?

Blogging for Vacations!

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Well I have had the blues today for some reason.  My doctor diagnosed me a couple of years ago with seasonal affective disorder because I hit some real lows in the winter.  Although I agree that I may have some lower lows from December to March than I do from April to September, I think everyone experiences this to some degree, right?  Do you?  I think I am just coming down off Christmas and exhausted from working in these extreme temperatures.  Whatever the case, when this frigid cabin fever hits I think about OTHER places.

So yesterday I was thinking about a lazy, relaxing trip to North Carolina.  A friend pointed out to me that I don’t need a lazy vacation.  I barely have a pulse right now as it is.  She suggested what I need is sunshine, fun, and music.  The picture she painted in my mind got me giggling and thinking about Branson, Missouri! Talk about a mismatch!

I hate country music and never imagined wanting to go there.  But just for fun I googled it in case the universe was trying to send me a message by embedding the thought in my mind in the first place.  You know what?  It DOES look fun!

At first I was reminded of the trip to Opryland I took with my Family when I was a kid.  I rode my first roller coaster and I saw Dottie West in concert at the Grand Ol’ Opry when I was 8.  That’s pretty cool.  Suddenly my mind was becoming more open.

My family loves theme parks and rides so Silver Dollar City caught my eye right away.  Just looking at the pictures of the people screaming with arms flailing riding the roller coasters cheered me up.  My blues started melting.  I found lots of shows ranging from magic to musicals that looked like a lot of fun.  Hold up!  Was I smiling at the thought of going to my PARENT’S uncool vacation destination?

Here’s the thing.  I think I was misinformed.  Sometimes you get a notion in your head as a teenager that whatever your parents would like is dumb and not cool.  Geez Louise though, just think what we could miss out on over the years by dismissing things for silly reasons without taking the time to investigate. And if just pictures of Branson’s attractions and elegant hotels cheered me up, imagine what an actual visit could do.

I am sure that few of us would categorize ourselves as being closed minded.  I know I didn’t think I was until I realized I had shut out pieces of the world and slices of life just because they were things my parents enjoyed. (EW!) I think I will rethink some things and think outside my box.  Try a new vacation spot… sample some different music… read a different genre of book, etc.  After all, my parents never steered my wrong before.  And just think… what if I had never tried coffee!

The Mom Song Made Me Cry

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There are happy tears and there are sad tears.  We know about those, right?  I do not know the name for the tears and emotion I am experiencing right now.  Hysteria? Madness? Overwhelmed?  I don’t know.  But this is the funniest and most beautiful clip I have ever seen.  Whether you are a parent or someone’s kid, this is something you cannot miss.  Please Mama Mar, I know the clips are hard to view way up there in northern Michigan, but this one is worth it!

Thanks to my friend Nancie for sending it my way!

Over Spending at Christmas

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No matter how many times I say, “This Christmas I am going to be more reasonable.” I always over spend. Nothing like a little recession to tighten your holiday shopping budget, though, am I right Mamas? But we still love to shop and we want desperately to give our most precious ones the gifts their little hearts desire. Just please tell me, why do our precious ones want such expensive stuff?

Before I was a Mom I was an Auntie. I had a niece and a nephew and there is where I learned how fun it is to spend ridiculous amounts of money on little people whose wide eyes and screeches touched the very core of my heart as they opened their gifts.

Then came more nieces and nephews. Cha-ching!  Then as they got older the wish list’s of their heart’s content came with higher and higher prices. Cha-Cha-Ching! I now have nieces and nephews ranging from 3 to 15. The boys all want video games which are not at all cheap. And the list of my sweet angel 15 year old niece now contains things like Coach purses and Ugg boots. Considering I now have kids of my own to shop for in addition to the rest of the brood, I haven’t been able to shop off her list for years.  It is more sad to me than her because she would probably trade her gifts from me to spend a day together just me and her like the old days, and that of course makes it even harder!

My own kids have a Wiion their list this year.  If they both weren’t in agreement on it I don’t think we could swing it. You have to buy the console plus games, plus start up kits, accessory kits, expansion kits, and who knows what else. How could you make that a gift for just one kid?

Another problem I have is REGARDLESS of the cost of the one main gift I love to do GROUPS of gifts with themes and beautiful displays.

I read an article yesterday written by my very good friend about being bipolar and she mentioned the high she gets from getting paid and going shopping and how she actually keeps herself home for a couple days after she gets paid and waits for the high to wear off so that she won’t spend recklessly. I can identify with that, can you?

Cool Gadget: Talking Watches

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I love gadgets.  Before parenthood I was a collector of gadgets and loved playing with new gizmos.  These days I don’t have the time or the money to stay on top of the latest technology buy I do enjoy at least hearing about what is going on out there. I giggled when I ran across these talking watches Idon’t even wear a watch anymore because my pda phone is rarely NOT in my hand.  But this is something I could see my Dad being interested in if, in addition to speaking the time and date, the watch would announce, “Robert, it’s time for your pills.”  That’d be excellent.

Pop Up TV: Luxury or Necessity?

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Sometimes there is a fine line between what we need and what we want, right? And sometimes even the most elaborate and frivolous sounding gadgets can even have purpose. Case in point – A pop up TV.

I like television. I find value in it for many reasons. I will admit right up front that I have used it as “childcare”. Week days from 9 to 2:30 is all I’ve got to work on my growing freelance writing business. If one of my kids is home sick or there is a snow day, I do not have the ability to not work that day. It’s a great day for a Star Wars marathon. There are a few shows that I enjoy watching with my kids because they stir up questions in them about how people treat one another, life choices, etc. Ellen is my dose of sunshine in any weather, as you know, and my kids are free to share in that with me, as well. You get it, right? I like TV.

What I don’t like is for it to be on all the time. I don’t like it as “background noise” and I don’t like the assumption that one gets to watch it. As much as I like it, I still consider it to be a privelage to anyone that must be earned, whether through good grades, completed chores, be it Me, Hubby or Kids.

I removed my Son’s TV from his room a couple of years ago because he didn’t respect the TV rules. It wasn’t just that he watched when he wasn’t supposed to, but because it RULED him. He saw it there, eyeballing him, and was a major distraction. Once it was gone, he didn’t even miss it. He reads in his room, builds things, uses his other resources. Out of sight out of mind.

Until they come into the living room. My kids come home from school and head straight toward the remote control. Which is odd because it was never a routine. It is off when they get home. They turn it on. I turn it back off and they move on. But they just HAD to do it to see if THIS DAY is the day they get away with it.

This is where the pop up TV comes in handy. You know, where the TV very gently is elevated up out of a cabinet or some type of furniture? That is what I need I think. It would make the room look more clean and streamlined, which I like, and would not be a constant antagonizer unto my kids. I know I know I am on a budget today. But since I was just a minute ago talking about the sacrifices we are making in this economy I got thinking about what I would like to splurge on if circumstances were different. Pop up TV would be my splurge. How about you?

I would put a timer on my pop up TV so that it would automatically come on and start playing my favorite workout Turbo Jam. Here is a clip of a couple of little ones all suited up and doing Turbo Jam. Too cute!

That Poor Bride

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This video is not really related to parenting and would probably be better served at a wedding blog but it is so delicious I just have to serve it up here.

We need comedy more than ever, don’t you think?  I, for one, currently find more value in laughter and encouragement, than tips and advice.  With all the rumors flying around about GM buying Chrysler and tens of thousands of Chrysler employees being let go, (Hubby is Chrysler employee) there is nothing more important to me than the power to stay positive and the motivation to keep going.  Whether you are stopping in to actually read the blog or just to drop your entrecard and generate traffic, I know you are feeling it too, to one degree or another.  I can tell by the comments I receive at my various blogs and the emails you send me that everyone has a story.  I think about you all when I write.

There are blogs I visit frequently that just make my day.  Sometimes for the humor and sometimes just because it seems like the author is speaking directly to me.  WooHoo!  Somebody “gets” me!  I don’t know what I can do to create that sense of “feel good” for my readers but I am thinking about it.  In the meantime I’m making a priority out of making you smile with the funny stuff I run across.

This particular video made me laugh so hard I cried.  My Son didn’t think it was that funny, and honestly, it shouldn’t be.  Wedding day mishaps suck.  The Bride has planned and primped and organized and spent money and prayed for perfection.  In a twisted way it is EXACTLY all that stuff that makes it so funny.  You KNOW the Bride and Groom laughed about it… eventually.  Why shouldn’t we?