Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2016

Family Game Night



Happy New Year!  I wanted to share some of our favorite family games that we played this holiday season- just in case you're looking for some fun ones to play with your family this year! I love having everyone over to play games.  This year, Jeff made LOTS of trivia questions- and we had a competition with those for prizes.  That was so much fun.  He's making more questions for our next get-together, as we speak!  Here are some other favorites we like to play-

Spot It! is a really fun little game.  The cards are small and circular- it's easy to pack and take with you for a quick game anywhere you go.  The idea is to spot the match on the two cards that are turned over.  That's it. It sounds so easy- but for some reason when you're racing against someone to be first, it's not easy at all!  There are four different variations of the game- or you can think of your own. 

There are LOTS of different Spot it! games- Disney, sports, hipster, camping, on the road, NHL...


 These would be fun for school!




Word A Round is another small, circular game- that sounds easy but is NOT.  You must be the first one to read the word in the circle.  It's challenging- and really fun!  This is from Amazon:
                                              box and instructions
Who knew that positioning a word in one continuous ring would make it so tricky to read? The challenge in WordARound is to quickly figure out where the word starts and to read it aloud before your opponents. The game seems so simple, but you’ll find yourself baffled as you race to spot and call out words. YOUR GOAL:Win 10 cards. Collect cards by being first to correctly read the word written in the designated ring on the card. EXAMPLE ROUND:
step 1
Players look at the word in the black ring. Greg is the first to call out “CALORIES!”
step 2
Greg wins the card and flips it over to reveal the color Red.
step 3
Players now race to read the word in the Red ring.
cards

INCLUDES: 100 Cards with 300 Words • Travel-friendly storage box • Instructions


Lighting Reaction Extreme is just ridiculous.  We got this for our kids years ago- and it's fun every time we play it.  There are different settings- but basically, you hold onto one of the handles, listen to the ominous music, and try NOT to be the last one to click the top of the handle when the music stops.  LOTS of laughs!

Here is a video I found...



It's a much more stressful version of Crocodile Dentist (which is still one of my favorites, by the way...  my class LOVES Crocodile Dentist- probably because I scream every time he chomps down on my finger... maybe that's it.)


After that excitement, we quieted down with a Password Tournament.  I have the Password game from YEARS AND YEARS ago.
                                    
It's always a favorite with all of us.  I still remember watching Allen Ludden host Password on TV when I would be home sick from school.


My own kids didn't know that Allen Ludden was married to Betty White.  I felt so smart with that little tidbit of information. That should have been one of Jeff's trivia questions- and I would have nailed it- darn it!

Moving on-  Our whole family ALWAYS loves Apples to Apples. From Amazon:
General game play is as follows: players are dealt red cards which have a noun printed on them, and the judge (a different player in each turn) draws a green card on which an adjective is printed and places it for all players to see. Each player then chooses a red card they are holding that they think best describes the green card. The judge then decides which adjective she likes best.

The fun is in the variety of unexpected comparisons people make, sometimes apt, funny, creative, or simply absurd. For example: people might match "Awkward" with "Oil Spills," "My First Kiss," "Dandruff," and "Gold Chains. " Or: "Painful" with "High School Reunions" and "Regis Philben. " Strategy comes into play since, because each player takes turns being the judge, you begin to pick up on the preferences of each player and tailor your choices accordingly.
Apples to Apples Party Box
The party box includes over a thousand cards for many card combinations.
View larger.
Players can also try variations on the basic game play. For example, instead of choosing the most apt comparison, players might try choosing the red card that is least like the green one. These variations keep the game fresh and interesting every time.

Catch Phrase is a must have.  We play girls against the boys.  Your team needs to guess the phrase being described, then pass the game to the next player as fast as you can- so you're not the last one holding the game. 

Mad Gab is great, too.  We just read a card and see who can guess the phrase first.  Lots of laughs!



Here are some sample cards so you can try them!


My sister got Bounce Off  for our family this year.  We love it! I can't wait to use it for a game night. You race against a partner to be the first to bounce the balls into a pattern shown on a card.  



Jeff and I love playing Rummikub and Banagrams, too. 



And of course, last but not least... Pie Face.  My favorite since I was a little girl.  It was gone for YEARS and I actually tried to find it, and then it came back as great as ever!  Lots of laughs with this one, too!
Here's Emily...


The next game I want to try is the Saran Wrap Game!

Here's a little description.  I can't wait...





Have fun and thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

My Favorite Things

I am so excited to be a part of this fabulous blog hop, hosted by Laura at Where the Magic Happens! Thank you so much, Laura, for all of your hard work!

What an exciting time of year- and what an exciting give away we have for you! Wait until you see all of the great prizes.   We all decided to share some of our FAVORITE things- and then donate one of our favorite things for a HUGE give away.
                                             

Here are a few of my favorite things to share with you...

First of all, my favorite restaurant-
For me, it's all about the company- not about the restaurant.  When Jeff and I are with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law on Sunday mornings for breakfast, it is Wegmans. Every Sunday!



We all meet and eat and talk. It's perfect. The food is good, but that's not the reason it is perfect! It's just being together.

Where ever we get to meet my daughter Ellie and her husband Matt out for dinner is my favorite- Texas Road House, Applebees, or the little pizza place we meet half way between our houses. My son, Matt, and his girlfriend like to go to Friendly's. Emily and I love to go to Subway or California Grill.  Their French fries are totally worth eating. You know how sometimes fries aren't really worth the guilt? Well, these are. OK maybe we dip them in ranch dressing, too.  Neither one of us is proud of it. It just happens.



 If Jeff and I go out, we aren't really fancy "out to dinner" people. We like trying new, nice places, but we love our good old Spiedie and Rib Pit.

Yum. Our area is sort of famous for spiedies. We always say that if we were traveling, we would never stop here, at Lupos (below), just because it's so "understated." You literally go inside, order, move to the side, get your order, and go. (Think Seinfeld's Soup Nazi), but the spiedies are fabulous- so fabulous. There's always a line- no matter what time of day.
Y.U.M.  Seriously.

Our area even has a Spiedie Fest each year to celebrate this awesomeness.


The first Wednesday of each month, my friends from school and I all go to Antonio's- a great little Italian restaurant.  We just love to go and eat and talk and laugh. I'm pretty sure we could be just about anywhere together as long as we had a chance to talk and laugh.


My favorite beauty item lately has to be Wen fig shampoo and sixthirteen from Chaz Dean, from QVC. My sweet mother got some for me because my hair was breaking and just so sad.  My hair is naturally curly (but not that "pretty naturally curly" that does what it's supposed to do) so I straightened the life right out of it.  I really do think this cleansing conditioner is helping.  Thank GOODNESS.  I am also taking all sorts of vitamins to make it stronger from inside out. And trying to drink more water, and not washing it so much... and spending all this money...  I should just let it curl.  Anyway, meanwhile...



 My favorite thing to do over the holidays is definitely play games as a family.  We love our games.  Here are some of my favorites!




My favorite thing to use for school is probably my Prezis.  I use them all the time on the Smart board. I have all of my favorites together in one place, easy to use, ready to go! In fact, I even made one about My Favorite Things! I teach the children the song each year. They love watching all the different people sing the song.  The children  bring in their favorite thing to share with the class. I take each child's picture with his/her favorite thing, and then we all write about our favorite thing. Here it is if you would like to use it, too! The pictures that go with the words of the song are in the middle. I just click though them as we sing.  Around the edges are different people singing the song that the kids love to watch!

My favorite thing that I am giving away for the give away is an ebay gift card.
... And here's why. Everything that I seem to really like, goes away.  I know that sounds over-dramatic, but I used to love Lipton Cherry-Almond tea. It's gone.  I loved Ryder perfume from Hollister. Gone.  I loved Mood Sweet Cravings lotion from Victoria Secret. Gone.  I loved chocolate raspberry creamer for my coffee. Gone. Jeff and I even had just found a favorite restaurant we LOVED, and ... it closed. Do you see a pattern? I know. I am sort of scary.  I feel like I'm the best anti-marketer out there.  If I like it, take it off the shelf!  Anyway,  thanks to ebay, sometimes I can find those long lost things I loved like perfumes and lotions (ok- not the coffee creamer...) , so I thought you'd have fun finding something for yourself there, too.  Merry Christmas!

Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:









Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:






7 winners for 7 prize packs!















Come and enter the giveaway and check out my bloggy friends' favorite things:



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